San Diego Early July or September?

[joyful mommy]

We have the possibility of going to San Diego with 1 and 3 yr old DSs either early July (covering the July 4th holiday) or sometime in September.

Can any of you familiar with this area recommend whether or not the July 4th time frame is just too crowded to do much (e.g., Sea World, Zoo, Wild Animal Park)?

Also, recommendations on hotels friendly to children and with a pool we could use? DH will be working part of the time while we're there.

Any related suggestions are also welcome!

[Tondi G]

July will be busy! September will be much less crowded cause the kids will all be back in school!

In San Diego proper we just stayed at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay (used to be the Hyatt Islandia) and it was very nice (they just completed a full remodel including the pool area).... their pool area couldn't be beat! Our boys are 3 and 6 now and they enjoyed the slides A LOT (they have a little small one that our toddler was thrilled with)! You want to request a room in the tower on the Marina side.... otherwise you get low rise buildings that are not as nice.

There are SO many hotels in San Diego it is difficult to make a decision. Other places that came recommended were the Marriott Hotel and Marina (this one might be a good choice cause it is very close to Sea Port Village... something you could do while DH is working too), the Omni, The Paradise Point Resort, The Coronado Marriott, The Hotel Del Coronado. They are all not particularly cheap though! You can also look up in Carlsbad around Legoland... its about 30 minutes north of San Diego! My boys had a blast at Legoland too! They just opened a new Sheraton hotel adjacent to Legoland that looks very nice!

The new Sesame Street Bay of Play just opened at Sea World and we can't wait to check it out this summer sometime!

I highly recommend check out this site

http://www.localwally.com/

and Also Check out Trip Advisor for reviews and they also have forums for San Diego and Carlsbad etc.

Good Luck with your trip planning!

~Tondi

[Page]

not sure where you live...but here in Southern California we're having record heat. IMHO I would recommend going in September because it will be cooler.

And yes, it will be less crowded then, too.

HTH.

[joyful mommy]

thanks everyone. looks like july isn't working out anyway -- so we'll probably all go in September.

any other input, ideas for the sept. trip are welcome.

[bluestarfish18]

I worked at SeaWorld for years before moving to the NW, and July is THE WORST time to visit any theme park-insane heat & terrible crowds. By the middle of September, the crowds have gone down considerably. We used to call July hell week.

If timing was not an issue, the absolute best time to visit SD is November. It's perfect temp, in 60's, NO crowds at SW or the zoos, and hotel rates are considerably cheaper. By spring, all the field trips and home-school kids start visiting.

HTH!