Hi everyone, thanks for your input. I'm from the San Francisco Bay Area, where we have a Marine World Africa U.S.A. (similar to Sea World) and the San Francisco Zoo. Of course, they're not as famous as Sea World or the San Diego Zoo and probably not in the same class either. My problem is we are only spending seven days in Southern California. So I have to limit the theme parks we go to. Legoland is a must, especially because we promised our kids. If I had to pick on other theme park, which do you suggest: San Diego Zoo or Sea World?

Also, keep in mind that since we live within driving distance, we will be visiting Southern California repeatedly as the kids get older, so there will be other chances to visit theme parks later, including those geared toward older kids, such as Universal. We were considering Knott's Berry, because I heard it's supposed to be geared toward little kids. But we could skip it, too.

BTW, we've eaten at Rainforest, both in L.A. and Orlando, and it's a neat restaurant. Except I won't recommend it for toddlers--my youngest was terrified of the darkness, jungle noises and robotic animals (back at the hotel, she was imagining there was a gorilla in our hotel room at bedtime). Older kids would get a kick out of it.

And once again, does anyone know what it's like to maneuver in traffic in downtown San Diego where our hotel is located? Thanks! Also, I assume the general consensus here is that La Jolla Shores is the best kid's beach to go to.

Marine World doesn't have a whale show anymore or any penquins. But I just asked my daughter which she liked better on our trip there last year(she was 8). She thinks the Zoo was better. As far as the beach goes, you're not that far from Santa Cruz/Aptos area. Just stick to Disneyland. California Adventure is geared toward a little bit older children. I would do: SDZoo, Seaworld,Beach/Legoland, Disneyland.

Downtown driving is not too bad. It's busy, but pretty simple. There are a lot of one way streets. Your hotel will give you directions to the freeway, I'm not sure how their parking exits and enters. To get to the Zoo-definitely go there - you don't even have to go on a freeway.

As I suggested before, La Jolla Shores is very good. Torrey Pines is also good and is actually where we go most of the time. There's a lot of parking there and it's only $4 (I think)for the day. Both have lifeguards and bathrooms. Be sure to have some kind of beach sandal for trips to the bathroom!

I'm going to disagree here. My kids like both places but...Sea World wins hands down for favorite, especially now that they have some rides. They also have more shows and a play area for the kinds to run around in. We love the Zoo too, but in small doses - it's just too much for young kids to do as an all day activity (LOTS of walking and hills, nowhere to cool off like at SeaWorld)

Thanks again, all, for your input. I will have to research the Zoo and Sea World. I hope we can go to both, but if we can't, we can save one for a future trip. We already go to local zoos a lot (San Fran and Oakland) because we have season passes, although of course they probably don't compare to San Diego Zoo. Whichever we choose, we might have to drive back to the hotel for naptime and come back again, if that's feasible, or just do a half-day. (Although that may be a waste of money.) Decisions, decisions...

Anne, I would second the opinion of skipping California Adventure with kids the ages of yours. There's just not much to do there. Knotts' is a good choice; they also have a waterpark called Soak City that is a lot of fun for arrival or departure day.