San Diego - where to stay with kids
 

Hi,
After much deliberation we decided to take the kids to San diego for our fall location. We'll be visiting the zoo, Sea World and other places of interest. We also want to make it to either Legoland or Disney for a day. We'll be there for 5 days. Looking for recommendations on a nice resort to stay where the kids will have fun and we'll get to relax as well. Looking to stay within $250/nt budget.
Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.
Thanks!

Look at the Bay Club on Shelter Island. They have a pool. Its also aross the street from a park on the water and well within your hotel budget.

You can have pretty good choces with $250 per nite. Question is a resort really necessary? especially if it is only for 5 days. (I am assuming you are flying there, but you drive, it shoudln't make that much of a difference)

Disney and Legoland are both day trips. Gray line will pick you up at hotel and take you there and then back. Typical pick up time is 7 am and drop you off back at the hotel same evening. A stop at Disney or Legoland and Seaworld will take up 2 days out of 5.

The S.D. Zoo is a whole day affair as well, and if you take in the Wild Life Park, that would be another day. You can consdier a cab or a shuttle. Balboa Park would be a nice stop with all the museums there, and the S.D. Zoo as well. Depending on the age and gender of the children, you have options of which museum the kids would enjoy.

Last but not least, give some consideration to the waterfront. There is the Midway Museum and Maritime museum nearby.

I would consider a hotel around downtown, where Gray line tours will do pick ups. Unless you are driving, then it won't make any difference.

You will be so busy out on teh road and not in the hotel that paying a higher price for a resort seems uncessary. The kids will remember the zoo and the Legoland but not the hotel. If the hotel has a nice pool where the kids can play, that's probably all you really need.

Kids are 5yo, all boys (traveling w friends). Must do are the zoo and the sea world. Should we take them to Legoland or Disney (they have not been to Disney Florida yet, we r not into theme parks, really). Any feedback on the Paradise Point resort?

We stayed at the Park Hyatt Aviara last weekend. It's near Carlsbad and very close to Legoland.
It's outside your budget but they do a package which includes 2 Legoland tickets and breakfast for $355 per night. 2 nights here would give you 4 tickets I presume.

Spend your other 3 nights in San Diego.

If you must do Sea World bear in mind that they sell a one day ticket which allows you to return anytime within 7 days (so 2 days really). This is great with 5 year olds as sometimes they can't manage a full day in the park and this way you can spend half a day by the pool and the rest at SW.

We enjoyed the zoo (arrived by cab at 9 am when it opened and stayed until 3pm). We saw everything we wanted to see and more (revisited the pandas 3 times!). Make use of the aerial sky car to save your feet or one of the many buses. We walked miles but I think you would need a stroller for 5 year olds before the day was out.

Homewood Suites are very nice with children. There are two locations in San Diego. You will have more room with a suite and breakfast is included everyday and a lite dinner with beer and wine is served Monday-Thurs.

If your boys are into legos, then I would do Legoland over Disney. They will outgrow Legoland pretty quickly - you never outgrow Disneyland. You however will probably be bored to death at Legoland.

Based on info, they are more suited for Disney with their main street, magic castle, adventure land etc. Legoland offers a lot of rids and more suitable for older children.
Other than the SD Zoo, consdier the Wild Life Park.

Eschew, there are not a lot of rides at Legoland for older children. I wouldn't drive the one hour plus to Disney from San Diego with 5 year old boys who surely love legos. My kids love Legoland until they got too old, and five is prime age for that place.

If you are staying in San Diego, I wouldn't do Disneyland but would opt for Legoland. You don't need the aggravation of driving to Anaheim, dealing with traffic and then driving back after a long tiring day. I think Legoland is perfect for 5 year old boys.

Not sure you'll need a resort but might be fun to have a pool/relaxing day both for you and the kids. I wouldn't stay downtown with kids. I would plan one full day for each of the sights you want to see-Sea World, Legoland and the Zoo. You could use the other days as down days and maybe see a few sights in San Diego. I'm guessing you'll have a car but with the exception of driving to Carlsbad (Legoland) nothing is too spread out. Carlsbad from San Diego takes from 30-45 depending on traffic.

Oh, and regarding Legoland, know that if you buy a one day ticket but at the end of the day your kids want to go back you can go to guest services in the park and pay only the difference between a one and two day pass (I think $8.00). Really nice that they do that, when my kids were young they always didn't see enough the first day. And at Legoland, get the apple fries in the pirate area (near the big playground). Really yummy.

Thank you, everyone. We are definitely doing Legoland as the boys love legos! They've been really excited about it since they heard we were going there! We will rent a car as it was suggested to us by many. We are from NYC and walk everywhere or take public transportation but we realize NYC is unique this way...
Back to our dilemma as to where to stay... We've realized that as much as we would love to relax and kick back with only 5 days in SD and that much to see, we won't really have time to enjoy the amenities of a nice resort anyway. We are now looking for a recommendation for a good value hotel, in a convenient location, which would preferable offer complimentary parking and breakfast... Any recommendations would be very much appreciated, as always!

If your budget is $250/night I would recommend staying on Coronado island. It is within a 5-10 minute drive of downtown San Diego, the Zoo, Balboa Park, Old Town, etc.

Coronado is a lovely family oriented town where you can bicycle everywhere, they have one of the nicest beaches in all of SanDiego.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...esort-and-spa/

http://www.hoteldel.com/

The Residence Inn chain caters to families like yours. Almost yearly, my son, his wife, and 3 kids made a pilgrimage to Sea World San Diego and stayed at a Residence Inn. I asked them which one and this is their response.

"Well, we have stayed at a couple of different ones. A couple of times we stayed at the one in Rancho Bernardo. And we've stayed at the one in La Jolla. The one in Rancho Bernardo was a little newer and nicer we thought."

To echo sassy cat, the Park Hyatt Aviara is very very nice. You can book it through the Four Seasons website and get the 3rd night free, less than $250 after taxes. We like to throw in a day at the Wild Animal Park too

http://www.fourseasons.com/northsand..._reservations/

There are merry-go-rounds in Balboa Park (near the zoo) and Seaport Village.

Any of the hotels in Mission Valley/Fashion Valley would be close to Balboa Park and not far from Sea World.