MomDDTravel

Oh Yes! Legoland! I forgot about that - you could stay in San Diego - go to Seaworld for the day and another day Legoland. That is the perfect age for Legoland.

VJ

Is it possible to go LA for just one day and visit Universal studio only. That way we will have little experience of LA as well.
Please advice whether it is feasible to spare one day for LA out of 5 full days.
@ MomDDTravel, do you know any one who has Universal studio 2 day pass but used one day and interested to recover some of it.

MomDDTravel

VJ - I am sorry I do not know anyone - we are going for two days in order to get the most out of the tickets. You could put an ad in the San Diego Craig's list area - in the "wanted" section.

To answer your question - are you planning on driving up from hotel Circle and going to Universal and then driving back to your hotel?

It is a long day, but yes of course possible. The hours are 9-9 the week you are here - except new years eve. It is 9-8. You could drive up - it is a 2 hour drive with NO traffic - it could take up to four hours... more likely it will be around 3 hours...

So only you can decide but yes, of course people from all over Southern California go for the day.

ksucat

remember there are height restrictions on all rides and I don't know how tall your 7 year old is but Legoland is geared for small children and it is one of the biggest theme parks that rivals any Universal studios because its for small kids.
It will take you at least 2+ hours to get to Universal and if you have never driven LA traffic..its a freakout!
So you have around 5-6 hours of drive time..
IMO, its no worth it..especially for a young kid!

mlgb

I think I might not go to Disneyland, it will just be sooo crowded. However that week traffic is quite light as a rule. So it may only take a little over an hour to get to Disneyland. IF you can get yourself going very early and get there at about the time the park opens (8am) you should have maybe 3-4 hours when it isn't all that bad. In the middle of the day you can watch some of the entertainment, parades or do some of the rides that have FastPasses which you picked up earlier in the (such as Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain). If your 7-year old is a girl I'm sure she would love it's a Small World, do that early in the day because they are promoting it heavily and the lines get pretty long. Other attractions with no height limit include Buzz Lightyear AstroBlasters, Submarines (long lines), Star Tours, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Winnie the Pooh, and all the rides in Fantasyland. Fantasyland unfortunately has long lines that move slowly and is busy as soon as the park opens.

But don't go on NY Eve.

MomDDTravel

I would agree with Ksucat - I answered the questions that yes you can do it but I would not.

lcuy

We used to go to San Diego every year for Christmas. When our kids were young, we went to Disneyland the days after Christmas several times, but finally quit after the day we got onto FIVE rides during the entire day. it is just too crowded. A gate attendant told us they let in something like 65,000 people each day between Christmas and New Years, vs the 15,000 or so on regular days. I think Univ studios is even worse as they are smaller.

I understand if you will only have this chance though, so get there early, allow at least 2 hours from San Diego to the parking lot, and be prepared for a lot of lines. Study up on ride locations and how the fast pass system works so that you can make the most of your time.

Not sure about Univ Studios, but Disney passes are quite difficult to sneak and transfer to others. Good chance you'll end up getting caught.

ksucat

no offense to vj but if you disregard what all of us are telling you about going to upper LA/Burbank area with a 7 year old to Universal, and you think your advice is better than ours..you will reap what you sow..
nothing like 6-7 hours min. in traffic when you could go to the biggest theme park for 5-8 year olds at Legoland in Carlsbad, North San Diego.
It drives me nuts when one asks for advice and they think they know better and then complain..not that you will vj but I can't tell you how many times we take our time to give advice and its thrown out the window..
It makes you never want to give advice since no ones seems to appreciate all the hard work that goes into a reply!!
To all our locals..Merry Christmas!

ksucat

mlgb..our friend went to Disneyland from Mission Hills/SD yesterday..took over 3 hours to Anaheim..one way..please don't state its going to take an hour when those days just don't exist anymore..
Thanks!