San Diego?

[♥ms.pacman♥]

I don't even know where to begin, as i've never really been there (despite growing up in Northern CA and living in LA for a year!)

We are tentatively planning a Disneyland trip in late April/early May..we were first thinking of spending the whole week there but now we are thinking to go for 2 days to DL, then rent a car to drive down to San Diego and then then do stuff there for a few days (we'd love to do the zoo, go to the beach, and then maybe do something else low-key ), then drive back to airport and fly out. We are hoping to coordinate the trip with my parents who would fly down from Northern CA.

My kids are 3 and 4yo. I am thinking they'd really enjoy the zoo there...anybody been and have any advice? My kids love monkeys, giraffes and seeing animals and always ask to go to the zoo, so i'm thinking they'd really like it. It seems like there's the zoo itself and then the Safari Park...am wondering if the Safari Park is something my kids would enjoy/sit through. My mom has a bad knee and can't walk a lot so i'm wondering if the tram rides would make things easier vs spending the entire day walking around a zoo.

I know there's Legoland too, and my kids do play with Legos but i don't think they'd be quite old enough to fully appreciate it. (I'm thinking we'll go back when they're like 7 and 8 and they'd probably get way more enjoyment out of it then!)

Also, we were thinking of seeing a naval ship museum of some sort. We visited the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi (bc we were there visiting family) and the kids *really* liked it. i googled and saw there is the USS Midway museum...anybody been there?

[sunnyside]

I don't even know where to begin, as i've never really been there (despite growing up in Northern CA and living in LA for a year!)

We are tentatively planning a Disneyland trip in late April/early May..we were first thinking of spending the whole week there but now we are thinking to go for 2 days to DL, then rent a car to drive down to San Diego and then then do stuff there for a few days (we'd love to do the zoo, go to the beach, and then maybe do something else low-key ), then drive back to airport and fly out. We are hoping to coordinate the trip with my parents who would fly down from Northern CA.

My kids are 3 and 4yo. I am thinking they'd really enjoy the zoo there...anybody been and have any advice? My kids love monkeys, giraffes and seeing animals and always ask to go to the zoo, so i'm thinking they'd really like it. It seems like there's the zoo itself and then the Safari Park...am wondering if the Safari Park is something my kids would enjoy/sit through. My mom has a bad knee and can't walk a lot so i'm wondering if the tram rides would make things easier vs spending the entire day walking around a zoo.

I know there's Legoland too, and my kids do play with Legos but i don't think they'd be quite old enough to fully appreciate it. (I'm thinking we'll go back when they're like 7 and 8 and they'd probably get way more enjoyment out of it then!)

Also, we were thinking of seeing a naval ship museum of some sort. We visited the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi (bc we were there visiting family) and the kids *really* liked it. i googled and saw there is the USS Midway museum...anybody been there?

I went to San Diego when DD was nearly 2, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. My parents were in SD and joined us for a few days. There is a great shuttle bus in the SD Zoo that can help go between the areas to reduce the amount of walking for your crew. One member in our party had had dual knee replacement surgery and cannot stand for long periods or walk long distances. The shuttle was very helpful. There are also lots of benches everywhere. My one piece of advice for the SD Zoo is to figure out ahead of time when you can line up to feed the giraffes and get in that line early. It's a really fun experience for the kids and a great photo op.

I have not been to the Safari Park. I've been to a private party event at the USS Midway, but I don't have any idea what it would be like on a normal day.

Have fun. We are trying for an SD trip soon too. I think you'll really enjoy it. Oh, and you didn't mention it but Sea World is there as well.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We did SD last year. We did Disneyland too (just a day- that's all that fit our schedule).

I did t think the zoo was as amazing as the price would have you believe. It was almost $100 for 3 of us. None of us thought it was that good... The safari park is at least a more unique experience for the same price. We did the bus around the SD zoo, fwiw. The bummed was that sometimes animals were off to one side and you couldn't see them from your side. The tram at the safari park was a bit better though no guarantees animals would be close by.

Legoland could be fun. By 5yo, my adventurous rider, ds1, was almost too old for the rides. We still had fun though.

We liked the aquarium at UCSD and hanging out at the beach and eating at the restaurant operated by the school right along the water. We liked seeing the sea lions too.

Could have used a day to really enjoy the museums.

The Homewood Suites was great.

[Tenasparkl]

There's some fun stuff at legoland for kids that age, but there will be lots they can't ride too. We took DD when she was about three and there were several rides that she wanted to do but couldn't due to height/age. I might wait on that if you plan to go back to the area.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thanks everyone!! i am trying to come up with an itinerary and this is all very helpful!!

SnuggleBuggles - for the SD Zoo, did you do both the zoo and the Safari Park ? Was it in the same day? What we're debating now is whether we should do the zoo and safari park (probably 1 day for each), or just do the Safari Park in 1 day. We are sort of leaning to do just doing the Safari Park since we are figuring that would be more "unique"...for $46 i am wondering how much better just the zoo portion is than other zoos, IYKWIM. If we did just one day at Safari Park, we'd probably do a day at UCSD aquarium. I know the kids love aquariums and once nice thing would be that it'd be indoors so a bit of a break from being outside at DL, the zoo etc.

[SnuggleBuggles]

No, one trip we did the SD Zoo and the other the Safari Park. The UCSD aquarium (Birch) is really small. 2 hours is about all you really need. http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/

I know I am in the minority but I just didn't think the zoo was really better than others I have been to. We go to zoos in every city we visit. At least the Safari Park is unique. We liked the tram ride through the exhibit. We didn't splurge on anything more.

[happymom]

DH and I went to San Diego pre-kids. I was actually 6 months pregnant with DD. All I remember about the zoo was the endless walking!! When we finally decided we had enough and it was time to leave, we discovered we were about 15 min from the exit and I wanted to cry! DH spoke to one of the zoo employees and he called for some kind of bus/tram (don't remember exactly) to pick us up and drive us to the exit. I was quite relieved! I'm sure others can chime in about whether the amount of walking is too much for kids or not, but I'm thinking t may not be the best choice for your mom.

About Legoland- we went with DD to the Legoland in Florida 2 summers ago when she was 3.5. It was by far the best park experience we've ever had with her. She was not into Legos at all at the time btw so we didn't go into the Lego store. But other than that, it's a regular park just it's full of cool Lego creations which we all found to be amusing and fun! DD loooved the rides- she's a bit on the daring side when it comes to these things and basically was happy to go on very single ride in the park. It was particularly nice because it's not nearly as large or crowded as a place like Disney so it's less overwhelming and much more doable in my opinion. I highly recommend it!!

Have a great time- San Diego is beautiful. We can't wait to go back one day!

Oh, DH and I also stopped in La Jolla when driving from San Diego to L.A. We went segwaying (spelling?) on the beach at sunset. It was so much fun and so beautiful. We also loved watching the sea lions just hanging out on the rocks on the shore. It was really such a beautiful place!

[sariana]

The Zoo and Safari Park are too far away from each other to do both on the same day. You would waste too much time on the road, IMO.

I would not do LEGOLAND on the same trip as Disneyland. And LEGOLAND's hours are kind of weird--they might not even be open when you want to go. (Why does my computer keep capitalizing it?) LEGOLAND is a great park, and I don't think your kids are too young, but it can't compare to Disney. And that many days in theme parks might be too much with the driving involved in between.

It has been a long time since I was at the SD Zoo, so I can't comment on that. (It has been even longer since I was at Safari Park.)

You may just want to explore Balboa Park. It has some great features for kids and adults. The Zoo is located there, but there is so much more to the park.

I haven't been to the Midway either, even though DH is in the Navy!

[SnuggleBuggles]

We did DL and Legoland in the same trip. They are so different. I was annoyed by how much Legoland charged- same as DL practically but not as much stuff. We did like doing them both though. When you don't live nearby then you need to do stuff back to back.

[egoldber]

I will echo that I think your kids are too young for Legoland. We went when older DD was almost 7 and younger DD was almost 2 and there was almost nothing that younger DD could ride because of height restrictions.

I like the Zoo, but I LOVE the Safari Park. I agree with SB that it is really unique. The zoo is very nice, but it is still a zoo. It is also super hilly. There is a bus, but it's a pain IMO.