LA and San Diego with toddlers
 

We will be headed out to California in May with our two boys who will be 2 and 3.5 at the time. DH and I have been to San Francisco numerous time, but have never visited southern California. The plan is to fly into LAX and spend a few nights. I'm thinking of the Fairfield Inn in Anaheim that is right at Disney. My gov't rate is $125/night which sounds awesome to me. I also love that we can just walk to the park. Are there other hotels nearby that are worth a look? We don't need fancy...just clean and child friendly.

Is Legoland worth a visit at their ages?

Then I think we'll head down towards San Diego and maybe spend a night along the coast..maybe Laguna Beach??? Or is there another place we should make a top instead?

As for San Diego, we'll hit the zoo and maybe Seaworld. Any lodging recommendations?

Any other attractions you would recommend with toddlers? Our boys love to be outdoors. DH and I love wineries and have brought the boys before.

Family friendly dining recommendations are appreciated as well. Our boys do great in restaurants and like all cuisines.

Thanks!

A few things to add...

Is it worth visiting Hollywood and LA with toddlers? Neither my hubby nor I are in to the whole "famous people" thing. Just didn't know if there was anything fun we should make sure to see.

Also, I'm thinking about the Ritz for our night or two at Laguna Beach. I can get a great deal.

As for San Diego, what neighborhood should I be looking in for hotels??? Gaslamp?

125 is a reasonable price for the Fairfield

Legoland, I think is a great choice as are the Zoo, Seaworld and Wild Animal Park

Hollywood...not really, well maybe a studio tour

Gaslamp might not be the best choice for a young family, maybe Mission Bay would be better

Temecula has some nice wineries, but it isnt in the same league as N CA

I love the Ritz in Dana Point, anything under $300 is a good price

Very much doubt they allow toddlers on studio tours. Not much of interest to toddlers in Hollywood (although they'd probably enjoy Train Town in Griffith Park).

You might consider staying in Coronado for the San Diego part of your trip. Easy access to San Diego, great beach, beach-town atmosphere. The Gaslamp quarter is very adult -- all shopping, eating and drinking, along with Petco Park..

I was also going to say Griffith Park, because it is so wonderfully toddler friendly. That was THE weekend spot for us when our son was a toddler, and same for my husband by his parents when he was a toddler. There are little pony rides and several train options (all great fun for parents and kids!): Travel Town is the name SF was thinking of, and it was born in 1952 and has been a Griffith Park staple ever since. It's located on the northside of the park.

Griffith Park & Southern Railroad is located on the southside, right off of Los Feliz Blvd.

Both areas have pony rides as well.

http://www.griffithparktrainrides.com/

Then, on Sundays only, there's rides at the life steamer museum area where hobbiests (is that a word?) work on their little mini trains and allow you to ride on them. Oh, that is the most fun thing ever!! Gee, I wish my kid was a toddler again!

http://www.lals.org/

So. Cal baby boomers who used to watch Engineer Bill can relate with my enthusiasm!

Admission to TT is FREE but a donation would be nice, and the little rides are very very cheap.

There's also the zoo -- a lovely day out, the Gene Autry Museum (never been to that -- I don't have the cowboy gene); the old fashioned carousel (that periodically is "about to be sold")

http://www.laparks.org/dos/parks/griffithpk/mgr.htm

Other things at Griffith Park are some wonderful walks, the Observatory, of course (remember Rebel without a Cause?), the Greek Theatre, great hiking trails, playgrounds, and just an all around neat place to spend a day.

Travel Town - yes! My kids loved it when they were little.

surfergirl you should try the Autry, it'll bring out the cowboy gene in you for sure. Their lunch cafe is very good, too (or used to be, haven't been for several years).

I think rizzo's plan is a little heavy for 2 and 3 year olds, might want to cut out Sea World this time around. Legoland great for that age, also Travel Town trains and maybe L.A.Zoo next door if your time in San Diego is too full.

$125 seems a bit high for Anaheim in May if it's weekdays, keep watching for a $99 special, govt rate is not always the lowest with Marriott. Check the rates at the nearby Residence Inn which will give you more space, Fairfield rooms are on the small side. Note that being close to the park still involves a lot of walking once you reach the perimeter of the park, then getting into the park, then of course all day at the park.
And you should stick to weekdays for Disney if you can schedule it that way. Sat and Sun would be best for any driving up to L.A/ Griffith/Travel Town.

STay around Mission Bay in San Diego. Also, if you're east-coasters, take advantage of the kids waking up early as traffic will be lighter, entry to the parks quicker, etc. A drive down to San Diego would be sweet at 6am, and if that's 9am for your body clocks it shouldn't be a problem.

The Hyatt Regency and the Hilton San Diego Resort (both in the Mission Bay area near Sea World) often have great government rates. Both are quite nice.

The San Diego zoo is a great zoo. It does require a lot of hilly walking. Take advantage of the bus tour which drives you past many of the exhibits.

Fairfield is a good location because it is right across from the parks - and it is tiring with little ones. It is a decent hotel (I have stayed there) it is more of a "motel" feel as the room doors are outside like many of the properties in that area.

As far as the Ritz - awesome property if you can get a good rate - watch for the valet charges etc - they can add up fast. It is high on a cliff over the ocean but they have shuttles down to the beach.

I would not stay in the gaslamp with little ones unless maybe at the Marriott Harborside or the Hyatt. Seaport Village is fun to walk around with that age group.

Maybe go to Lego land on the day you are driving down to SD - it is in North county. Where are you flying in and out of?

the Zoo is GREAT and wonderful for your age group.

Enjoy!

joesorce: <i>Note that being close to the park still involves a lot of walking once you reach the perimeter of the park, then getting into the park, then of course all day at the park.</i>

Agree completely.

The better way is to have a hotel that has a free shuttle to and from Disneyland. The shuttles will drop you off closer to the ticket booths.

http://www.ehow.com/list_6611075_hot...isneyland.html


If you can get a good package rate, try the Disneyland Hotel. It's the fastest way to get into Disneyland. You take the monorail which will put you inside Disneyland itself without having to negotiate the front gates.

thanks for all of the great responses! we've been without power for 5 days so i wasn't able to get back on until today. will look them all over and redo my travel plans.

tentative plans:

fly into LAX on a thurdsday and just relax at the pool
friday: disney
saturday: griffith park
sunday: drive down the coast and stay at the ritz
monday: head to san diego
tuesday/wednesday: zoo and legoland
thursday: fly home out of SAN

so saturday and sunday will be pretty low key. we'll just hang out and see what we can find. i think we'll skip seaworld and do that in a few years when we go to orlando..honestly, i'm not much of a seaworld fan anyway.

Friday would be a much better day for Disneyland than Saturday, since you've got the day free anyway.And the day at Disney will be a long one for toddlers so Sat as a leisure day would be welcome. Maybe a short afternoon drive to Crystal Cove Beach Park.

Here are a series of maps of Disneyland.

If you click on the parking and transportation map, you will see the parking lots marked in purple/magenta. They are quite far away from the park entrance.

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/maps/

We loved the Zoo, but liked the Wild Animal Park even more. However, I think to get the most out of it you would need to spend some $$$ on the extra activities. Like roar and snore, or the rhino/giraffe feeding tour. They have several "extra" tours that are really good.

You trip sounds nice. Personally, I would stay at Grand Californian.

I think we are going to go with the HoJo Anaheim instead. It's right at the park and has awesome reviews. There is a water park included with your stay so the boys will love that. Mousesavers recommends it as their #1 hotel.

clarkgriswold: I was hoping Friday would be quieter than the weekends.

spirobulldog: I feel like we have to visit the SD Zoo since we will be there....

Now thinking about La Jolla for our San Diego hotel. The boys would love the tide pools and I'm assuming it's convenient to the zoo...well, convenient enough.

Is it worth spending a night along the coast somewhere in between LA and San Diego or not?

***fly into LAX on a thurdsday and just relax at the pool
friday: disney
saturday: griffith park
sunday: drive down the coast and stay at the ritz***


Disneyland is in Anaheim, Orange County a minimum and I do mean minimum 45 minute drive from Griffith Park in L.A.. You don't mention where in L.A. you're staying , regardless you'll have more drive time.
Disneyland shouldn't be that crowded on Saturday as long as it's not Memorial weekend. If it were me, I'd spend less time driving and use that time for vacationing.
For time constraint purposes think about basing yourself in L.A. and do L.A. then head south to Anaheim so you aren't backtracking.
Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Dana Point(Ritz) are great beach areas in Orange County. For a more relaxing trip I'd check out of your Disneyland hotel and see them on the way down to San Diego so you don't have to check in-out 3- 4 times(not sure by your itinerary of base ) on your trip. You'll find plenty of things to do in San Diego, especially with kids.
Just my two cents.

thanks socaloc. i didn't realize just how close lax and san diego are so i think we will limit ourselves to 2 hotels. we'll do anaheim and san diego.

what about la brea tar pits?? worth it??

okay, san diego hotel help now please. since we have the boys, i'm not looking for fancy. here are options around $125/night that i've found:

BW Coronado
Loews in Coronado
BW Inn By the Sea La Jolla
Clarion Inn Del Mar

I'd like to stay at the beach...my husband hates getting sand in the car so we'd like to be able to walk. Hey, everyone has their issues :)

Knowing that we will visit the Zoo, Legoland, and maybe Sea World, which area would you recommend? Any thoughts on these hotels?

Hi, rizzo,

Since your trip is not until next May, have you thought of bidding on Priceline? Especially for your Anaheim hotels? For example, n that area, the 4* Hilton is currently going for $50-$65 a night; which, together with fees and taxes would probably run you around $80 a night.

If you haven't ever used Priceline before, you have lots of time to come back here and get tips from Fodorites who use Priceline a lot.

As for the hotels in San Diego, have you checked the reviews on websites like tripadvisor.com? There's quite a bit of difference among those hotels and you need to isolate the factors that matter the most to you personally. Unfortunately, we can't do that for you. Are you basing your choices solely on your government rates?