San Diego Only, Or Include 3 days in Disneyland?
 

We are planning a March 9-17 spring break to San Diego. My wife and I are taking our 8, 6 and 3 year olds with us. Our original plan was to spend Wed-Mon in San Diego (house in La Jolla), drive to DL on Monday, spend tuesday and wednesday there, and drive back to San Diego for departing flight Thursday afternoon.

We are planning a trip to Disneyworld (FL) in June (and have been there several times). Our family really enjoys the Disney stuff.

However, because we have done so much "Disney stuff" lately, I'm having second thoughts about going to DL while we're in California.

Are there enough "must see" things for the kids in San Diego that we should just stay there? And is DL too repetitive with DW that it's not worth going, particularly in light of other things in San Diego? What sorts of additional activities would you recommend in San Diego if we stayed there for the full trip?

We currently plan to do Legoland (1 day), Sea World and the SD Zoo, as well as an aircraft carrier tour. Our kids are really into legos, so if we were to spend two days at Legoland, that may push us into skipping DL, but I've heard that one day is plenty in Legoland for most people.

Any thoughts?

If you are doing Disney World in a few months, there is no reason to to Disneyland in March.

I would do maybe one day at Disneyland at the most - three days is way too much.

OK; I've got the idea that DL may be overkill. What else would you recommend in San Diego with kids that are 8, 6 and 3?

I would spend a day on the beaches in la Jolla (la Jolla Cove) etc. Obviously weather permitting. Would normally recommend a boat tour of San Diego harbor but with a 3 year old, he might get bored too quickly.

Could also look at SD Wild Animal Park but thats overkill doing the Zoo and that in a short stay.

Do the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park owned and operated by the zoo in Escondido. You can do safari type rides at the animal park which makes the experience more fun than just wandering around the big complex but it costs extra to do that. The Birch Aquarium in La Jolla is great too.

San Diego has great beaches in Coronado. There are plenty of things to do in Balboa Park--many many little museums. Each one doesn't take too long to visit so kids won't get bored. If they get bored in one move on to the next. Get a museum pass that allows you to enter as many as you wish. They have a model train museum, a car museum and a sports museum besides the natural history and hands on science center at Fleet. Tons of things to do in San Diego for a week.

You could go to the La Jolla Cove to watch the seals, play on the rocks and look for hermit crabs and other sea life.

Coronado has lots of fun stuff for families - go to Glorietta Bay and rent paddle boats, play in the sand at the beach, rent bikes at Hollands on Orange Ave and bicycle (Coronado is very bike friendly and flat) over to their main park on Orange and 6th Ave. where they have kid friendly play equipment.

The San Diego Zoo has a children's petting zoo which is quite large. And outside of the zoo is a wonderful 100 yr old carousel, and a train designed for sitting which takes you on a little ride.

Balboa Park (right next to the Zoo) has the Natural History Museum and The Ruben H. Fleet Science Center which have lots of hands on stuff for kids of all ages.

There is Legoland in Carlsbad,
and Sea World near Pacific Beach,
and a nice aquarium in La Jolla called the Birch Aquarium (on a clear day you can see whales migrating).

A fun place for kids to eat is the Corvette Diner in Point Loma. (It's like a old fashioned burger place with wacky waitresses who throw handfuls of gum at you, 50's music blarring in the background, etc).

I'd actually do one day at DL --but limit yourselves to California Adventure and maybe a meal in Downtown Disney. Just the World of Color and Soaring over California in CA would be worth a Disney detour. I wouldn't bother w/ Disneyland so that would save you the $$ of park hopper tickets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbzJ0R9Q-h8

At the ferry landing in Coronado, You can rent a surrey like this:

http://www.wheelfunrentals.com/Content/Home.aspx

Great fun for a family. Coronado is a very safe (and flat) town with lots of cute homes to look at.

Although I haven't been to Legoland since the first year it was open, I can't believe that you could spend more than one day before you became bored out of your mind.

If you decide to spend a couple of days at Disneyland and you find that it is too much of a repetition to Disney World, then perhaps spend the second day at Knotts

I think I might also skip Disneyland entirely. California Adventure isn't all that great for kids. The World of Color is difficult for the little ones as it requires standing and it's hard to see over everyone else unless you're about 6 feet tall. Also, virtually all of the "good" rides in Cal Adventure have a 40" to 48" minimum height requirement which probably excludes the 3 year old..this means using the baby switch pass and having everyone else wait for parent #2 to ride. Not ideal.

Lots of good ideas for San Diego here.

if you get a fast pass for world of color (or better yet VIP seating from the Sonoma Terrace restaurant) you get right down front and can sit down

"<i>Also, virtually all of the "good" rides in Cal Adventure have a 40" to 48" minimum height requirement </i>"

I hear this all the time -- so I actually just looked at the website. <B>25</B> of the rides/attractions in CA have either no height limitations or 36 inches or less (one is 30" and one is 36"). So 23 have no age/height restrictions.

Only <B>6</B> have restriction of 40" or more.

The vast majority are good for pre-schoolers.

Do you know even know what the "good rides" even are at DCA, janisj?

Everyone needs a FP. Getting a Fastpass for WOC gets you nothing except access to a particular section.

Sonoma Terrace is where you pick up your picnic meals. They come with a pass to the preferred view section. (There are color coded sections, some of which have a better angle of view) You still stand.

"<i>Do you know even know what the "good rides" even are at DCA, janisj?</i>"

Yep --I was just there in December -- spent 3 days at the Grand Californian. Sure - a handful of the "good" rides would be off limits. But there are still a full day's worth open to everyone.

"<i>You still stand.</i>" Not necessarily-- yes the picnics give you standing room. But if you get a picnic or eat at the sit down Wine Country Trattoria (I mis-spoke -- the Sonoma Terrace is adjacent to the Trattoria) you get VIP. I ate at the Trattoria and when being led through the throngs (really massive crowds) they asked if you wanted to stand behind the iron fence or sit down front - I did it in Dec).

I'm not saying CA is the be all and end all -- but the OP's family are self-described Disney fans. I just personally think a one day CA visit would fit their likes w/o taking much time away from other interesting things.

Not sure why you seem so angry about this. IMO cutting back from the original idea of possibly 3 days at DL to one day at CA is a reasonable option.

Who's angry? You're the one with all the snippy comments.

Considering you're going to Disneyworld in June I would skip Disneyland. Spring break is about the worst time to go, so very crowded. There is plenty to do in San Diego, we go for a week a year and still manage to find stuff. You could easily go to Balboa Park more than once, there are too many museums to see in one day and kids love to just run around and play in the fountain. Last year there were monarch caterpillars in all stages right near the doors to the arboretum, the kids spent I think an hour looking at them (on the milkweed, naturally). La Jolla tidepools are cool. There's always Julian (and wine tasting along the way) for a day trip. The Del Mar beach is a nice one for kids, they have a playground and a nice stretch of sand.