That is an exhausting schedule for an 8 year old child. Heck, it's and exhausting schedule for a 43 year old like me!

I thiml I would stay in the Disney Area for a couple days and then do day things from there. You can leave the park for a while and go back in during the same day. There are many hotels in the Disney Area and you can always try Priceline for that Area and get a good deal. I also agree with the others that I would take Amtrak to San Diego and back. Don't think the Greyhound would be fun or convenient. Have a good trip!

Gosh, don't you want to rest and take it easy at a really nice place like La Jolla for a day or half-day if you do decide to rent a car? Isn't a vacation all about not being in a rushed? I would try to limit the theme parks, never really liked them myself. I'd say limit these to SeaWorld & Disneyland.

It is easy to keep adding things to any vacation until it gets out of control - we are fighting that same impulse for our summer trip to Grand Canyon area - "as long as we are going all the way out here, we should ....."

Then we stop and think about why we are going on vacation in the first place - for us it is to spend some pleasant time together as a family, have fun and then see something (or else we would just stay home) We also plan a very tentative itinerary but, despite my need to be planned and organized, we remain very flexible. If we are not, I start to sound like a drill instructor each AM getting people out of bed for the endurance march of the day. Fight that impulse!

One of the best times we had at Disneyworld, for example, was when our older kid (about 8 at the time) requested we spend the day at the hotel pool, playing mini-golf, etc. Seemed like a waste to do that 1500 miles from home, but it was not.

You want a good time and pleasant memories, not a filled puch card with a list of all you did - I would cut almost half from your list and spend some time exploring, eating, relaxing - especially on travel days.