Family of 4 visiting CA for the first time in the beginning of April. Little monsters are 10 and 6. We have 5 full days but I opened my big mouth and promised a day at Disneyland. That was when I thought it was a 30 min drive but now I know better. Anyway theres not a snowballs chance I can get out of that one so now we are down to 4 days. We are staying on Coranado.
I am thinking our must sees are,The Zoo, Seaworld and La Jolla but am open to suggestions. Also heard something about sea lions on the beach,and places to watch surfers and wind surfers, and Old Town and,bike rides on the boardwalk and yikes! too many choices.
Restaurant suggestions are also much appreciated.
TIA

There are lots of places to watch surfers, especially a cluster of beaches from Del Mar to Encinitas. And, if you watch carefully, you'll often see groups (pods?) of dolphins moving through the surf, pretty close to the surfers. Last time I sat and watched, I saw a pod of 8 swim by.

I'm sure you already know this, but bring lots of sunscreen and sunglasses. It's bright down there!

The seals are on the Children's Beach in La Jolla. Look, but don't touch.

Check out this web site for lots of information about things to do and places to eat.

www.sandiego.org

With 5 days but 1 going to Disneyland..go to Catel in downtown Disneyland for lunch..
4 days is fine for SD..break it down to the Zoo one day with Prado restaurant for lunch..walk around the museums..
La Jolla another day, Birch Aquarium and seals, lunch at Georges at the cove on the terrace or Alfonso's for Mex..
Sea World the 3rd day..maybe hit Old Town for dinner on the way home..Old Town Mex Cafe..
4th day, Coronado with the beach, Hotel Del,
rent bikes and cruise the town..happy hour at the Brigantine..kids love this place too! the best fish tacos.
Belmont Park in Mission Beach is fun to ride the wooden roller coaster..oceanfront..or take the water taxi from Coronado to downtown SD..

belmontpark.com
georgesatthecove.com
cohnrestaurants.com
brigantine.com
sdhe.com

Could you offer them Lego Land in nearby Carlsbad instead of Disneyland?

From what I hear, Legoland is basically for the really young kids..
7 and younger..maybe the 10 year old would like to go.
Disneyland drive time is about 2 hours..depending on time of day..

I don't think Legoland would be a substitute for Disneyland. LOL! Just leave early, and stay late. Going north on I-5 from San Diego you'll be going in the opposite direction to the morning rush hour in San Diego and you'll have missed the worst of it by the time you get to Orange County. The car pool lane starts just past San Clemente in San Juan Capistrano; sometimes the traffic is quicker and sometimes there's not much difference. If you stay to see the fireworks, you should have an easy drive back-just don't fall asleep!

Thanks for the great replies but I am changing the itenerary to something that seems to make more sense. Please let me know what you think.
Original..Arrive SAN Weds 8PM
Thurs ..easy day..maybe zoo
Fri Disney
Sat,Sun Mon..open in San Diego
Tues Dpeart SAN 3 PM
New..Arrive weds 3 PM
Thurs,Fri Sat open In San Diego
Sun (Easter) Leave SD AM..drive to Disney 1/2 Day at California Adventure..Stay in Anaheim Hyatt
Monday .. Disney
Tues drive back to SD 3PM Depart
BTW my hotel at SD is the Loews..I have read some very mixed reviews,any comments are welcomed

I think you'll be happier doing Disney as an overnight.

Just expect huge crowds as it will be Spring Break time for many schools.

Much better itinerary. Driving home from Disneyland on a Friday is not recommended. From Coronado with no traffic (Easter Sunday) should be light, it should definitely be less than 2 hours.

Will you stay overnight on Monday in Anaheim also?

Let me give you some kid-friendly ideas / restaurants:
- Rent bikes in Coronado. Bike to ferry landing. Take the ferry to downtown San Diego. Bike to Seaport Village.
- Definitely do the Zoo at Balboa Park. Could also fit in one of the museums while there. Dinner at Corvette Diner in Hillcrest.
- I don't know when baseball season starts, but staying on Coronado you'll be near downtown and Petco Park. It's a fun place to see a ball game.
- Travel to North County for the day. Go to the Children's Pool in La Jolla. Travel up the coast to Del Mar. There's a great little downtown with good restaurants and a playground and park at the beach. The Poisiden (sp?) has seating on the beach. Also, The Brigintine has great views. In downtown Del Mar, Epazote is good but more expensive. If you continue up the coast to Solana Beach, have dinner at Fidel's (really, really, good Mexican food).

Let me know if any of these suggestions appeal to you and I can come up with more ideas.

Take them to a burned out warehouse and tell them Disneyland burned down like on "Deep Thoughts With Jack Handy."

Oops...I forgot Sea World.

Day 1: biking and downtown
Day 2: Zoo and Corvette Diner
Day 3: Sea World
Day 4: Disneyland
Day 5: Disneyland
Day 6: drive from Anaheim and stop in North County to see surfing on the way to the airport. Let me know if you want breakfast and lunch suggestions for North County.

Your plan (was it A? or B? or C?) to do Disneyland first and get it over with is the best. Stay the night in Anaheim, everyone will be so tired, NO one will want to drive to San Diego, no matter how lovely the hotel there.

Get up early the next morning and drive to San Diego. It's only two hours at most and you can do a number of things once in San Diego before checking into your San Diego hotel.

Have fun! Great part of the country to take little kids!

My son went to Legoland at 10 years old and he was bored. And he's loved building with Legos from 5 - 13 ish.

Thanks for the ideas.sd family itinerary looks like a keeper but a couple of questions. We are coming fron NYC so I am not sure if the Zoon is going to be that much better than the Bronx Zoo. I was thinking that maybe Animal Adventure would be more unique for them.
Also La Jolla seems to be a must do. Wife needs a shopping fix.
Chopped Liver would love to catch a game at Petco Park but we all know that aint happening.
The stop in North County sounds great and I would love a lunch suggestion.
Also I read somewhere about Crab Catcher so I made a reservation but I am having 2ns thoughts. Definately would like one good fish restauarant while we were there but must have a kids menu.

SD Zoo is considered the best in the world..SD Wild Animal Park is nice but no where near the caliber of the zoo..
plus you have the gorgeous museums right next door.
Crab Catcher has a kids menu but the seaside cafe next door has a seafood happy hour that is the cheapest in town and has the same killer view..CC can be very expensive but good..
Georges is really good too..shopping in downtown LJ will make the wife happy..small boutiques shops..
Padres opening day is April 6th and it is sold out but you might catch a game on the last day you are here..great baseball stadium!
Staying at Loew's is a great resort..it is on the outskirts of Coronado but it is a nice resort..
Have a good time and keep us posted what you have decided!

In April the Wild Animal Park will be very pleasant (very hot in the summer usually). Yes, you may enjoy the Wild Animal Park more. The San Diego Zoo is a beautiful and unique zoo though. I haven't been to the Bronx zoo, so I don't have a comparision.

Here's two goo link to the zoo & wild animal park:
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wap/ex_jo...rica_tour.html

I just can't imagine going to SD and not seeing the Zoo. It really is a fabulous zoo. I have never been to the Bronx Zoo, but the SD Zoo does have a lot of really neat animals and exhibits. I recommend the bus passes. Great way to see evrything before deciding where to return.

Crab Catcher probably not for kids. Just a little on the fancy side. Not that they couldn't do well there, I just think they might enjoy somewhere else more.

We enjoeyd the outdoor patio area at the Crab Catcher, they have really good clam chowder there. Don't miss the La Jolla Cove, it's gorgeous!

You may also want to consider a meal at the Sheerwater at the Hotel del Coronado, we enjoyed a nice lunch there and they have a daily breakfast buffet that is very good. There is also outdoor seating here, lots of families were there with kids.

SeaWorld will be great fun, schedule your time to take in the all of the shows, they are about 30 minutes each. The Sky Ride over Mission Bay and the Journey to Atlantis are fun rides at SeaWorld. Have a nice trip! ***kim***