Hi ~
I am planning on vacationing in California with my husband and 2 girls - ages 12 and 10 this Spring - end of March - early April. Plan on flying into San Diego - staying there for a few days and then driving up the coast to Anaheim to go to Disneyland. We were in California a few years ago and had a great time. Went to Disney, Hollywood and some great places that were recommended to me from this discussion board.

My question is what would you suggest to do in San Diego besides the San Diego Zoo? Plan on being there for a few days.

One more question about Disneyland. The Castle - can you go in it? Do they have character meals in it? Any info would be helpful!

Thanks so much!

Welcome!

I am sure you will get a lot of great ideas here. Our family likes to go to San Diego in May. Our favorites are visiting the U.S.S Midway and going over to Point Loma. Point Loma has tide pools, and Cabrillo National Mt. & Light house with beautiful views of San Diego.

There are no eating places in the castle, it's just a walk through with a couple of shops. You can get character meals at all the DL hotels and I believe at the Plaza inn.

Oh mi_mous!!!! This is one for you!!! And, the Barbossa/Munchkinsmom crew!

Personally, I LOVE Balboa Park. It's so beautiful to walk around and there are some great restaurants with nice settings. I also like Old Town, even though it's touristy, I still love it. Something near Old Town is Bazaar del Mundo, I love shopping there! We also love the beach in La Jolla, it's such a lovely town.

Oh mi_mous!!!! This is one for you!!! And, the Barbossa/Munchkinsmom crew!

Personally, I LOVE Balboa Park. It's so beautiful to walk around and there are some great restaurants with nice settings. I also like Old Town, even though it's touristy, I still love it. Something near Old Town is Bazaar del Mundo, I love shopping there! We also love the beach in La Jolla, it's such a lovely town.
Bazaar del Mundo has been gone for about year. The woman who owned the concession for the park lost it to an east coast management company.

There was a general discussion of things to do in San Diego in the Parks General thread. See here--http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=60003

My question is what would you suggest to do in San Diego besides the San Diego Zoo? Plan on being there for a few days.


Sea World, Wild Animal Park, Lego Land, Whale Watching (seasonal), Belmont Amusement Park, Birch Aquarium, Science Center, Natural History Museum, Gas Lamp District.

Belmont Park is fun if you want to go to a real old fashioned beach side amusement park with a classic old wooden rollercoaster. All rides are individually ticketed so you can just walk around and ride what you want to ride.

Seaport Village is a nice shopping area, a bit touristy but can be a fun time if you like nautical themed shops.

I also agree with the above: Balboa Park is great, Old Town is definitely worth the trip (hope you like Mexican food).

I love the tour of the USS Midway, a retired air craft carrier, but it probably would be boring for the girls.

I also think a harbor cruise can be fun, but you should plan ahead (and wear warm clothes).

I don't usually post commercial links, but this one really does have some good links: http://www.missionbeach.com/activities.asp

Thanks so much! I have tons of things to do now!

Oh mi_mous!!!! This is one for you!!! And, the Barbossa/Munchkinsmom crew!

Personally, I LOVE Balboa Park. It's so beautiful to walk around and there are some great restaurants with nice settings. I also like Old Town, even though it's touristy, I still love it. Something near Old Town is Bazaar del Mundo, I love shopping there! We also love the beach in La Jolla, it's such a lovely town.

What she said! :)

Some other recs:

1. Horton Plaza. A very interesting shopping mall in downtown San Diego.

2. Seaport Village. Another cool shopping complex. Right on the bay.

3. Hotel Del Coronado

4. Sea World. Cliche', but still a cool place to visit.

5. Harbor Excursion. 1 or 2 hour narrated boat tours of San Diego Harbor. Lots of things to see.

6. If you like static aircraft displays, there's a little known military aircraft museum right next to Marine Corp Air Station Miramar. Take I-15 to Miramar road West, go about 1 mile until you see lots of airplanes.

7. Legoland. Not DLR, but great for kids 10 and under.

Note that the weather in March/April in San Diego can be a little chilly and rainy, so bring yer jackets/rain gear!

Bazaar del Mundo has been gone for about year. The woman who owned the concession for the park lost it to an east coast management company.
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It moved from Old Town, but, is still nearby....from what I saw. ??? http://bazaardelmundo.com/shops2006.shtml

How chilly is chilly? We are coming from Long Island, NY.

Another question - can anyone recommend a place to stay that is nice in San Diego but not that expensive? Clean but nice.

In Anaheim we have stayed at the Candy Cane Inn which we will probably stay at again because it was clean, not too bad price wise and they had a shuttle but we could walk to Disney if we wanted to. They also have breakfast included!

Any suggestions for San Diego hotels?

I totally forgot about this.

There's a tour that takes off near the aircraft carrier (which is also fun to tour). You load into a bus that is also a boat. Basically it's a land and sea tour. It was a lot of fun, and not too expensive. Was about 90 minutes if I recall.

How chilly is chilly? We are coming from Long Island, NY.
?

To you, it may feel perfect! I'd watch weather.com a few weeks prior to your vacation.

Hotel Circle has a lot of reasonable hotels in one general area but you need a car to get to anywhere of interest. The more high end fancy hotels are downtown and within walking to Seaport Village and the Gas Lamp district. If you want something more reasonable within walking distance of things, I would get something near Old Town or near Balboa Park.

Agree with what everyone else said.
But don't forget that Mexico is just a half-hour (or less) from San Diego.
That might be a really fun and different thing to do!
Plus you get to say that you LEFT THE COUNTRY!!!

Tijuana is a weird and dirty place, but it is also very interesting, and your kids will be exposed to something they've never seen., It's both culturally/socially important, and can be a very fun way to spend a day!

Easy to drive to the border and walk across (or take the trolley from San Diego and then walk across), go have lunch, walk around the center, pet a donkey, take pictures, go shopping, then bring home some funky cheap handmade stuff that you'll have for years!

It might be interesting for your kids to see how kids in other places live - for example that there are little street kids who sell gum on the street to help feed their families. It can be sad, but you can remind them how lucky they are!

I went to Tijuana when I was a kid (with my family) and I remember thinking it was really neat! I always try to go when in San Diego!

Anyway...something different!

I agree that Point Loma is worth a visit. It's nice to park at the top of the hill (where everyone parks) and hike down with great views of the city.

I like the San Diego Wild Animal Park more than the zoo, but there have been debates on that on Mouseplanet recently. The Wild animal Park is about 30 miles North (inland) on the east side of Escondido.

Sea World is fun, and so is going to the LaJolla Cove on the coast to the north of San Diego. It's a rich little area (LaJolla), but wear comfortable clothes and walk out on the rocks to watch the waves crash around you.

Balboa Park is a nice place to hang out. The Space Theater (Rubin Fleet?) has a nice science museum theater attached.

And if you want your kids to start looking forward to college, the campus of The University of San Diego (not UCSD) almost rivals Hearst Castle in the beauty department.

Does anyone know the rules on passports? I know the last time I went to TJ (Tiajuana) I just had to show my driver's license. I don't know the rules now, but I imagine that is still all that is required. I have no idea for children though.

Do not go to Mexico. Ask the family of the man who had a traffic accident (his fault). Needed medical attention. But his victim wouldn't let him return to the US until the case was settled (yes that's how it works there). Finally he was released, too late, he died. Oh, btw who was the victim who wouldn't give his permission for the man to get medical attention? The human rights commissioner of the baja region!

One of only many stories that we read about here. A truly screwed up country--70 million Mexicans said they would like to immigrate to the USA--tells you something.

I did a big trip last year, starting at LA and working my way down to San Diego. did quite a number of things mentioned above.

initially, I wanted to go to TJ, but I read too much and decided it wouldn't be worth it. My fears were validated by a colleague in the west coast office (he's Mexican and has family in Mexico that he visits semi-regularly) and suggested going elsewhere. TJ is seedy and suffers from high crime rates and drug activity. I've read some real horror stories. evidently, if you stick to the main road, you'll be okay, but what's the fun in that?

i absolutely love san diego though. if any city could convince me to leave new york, it's sd.

We ventured into Tijuana and I'd probably not do it again. Seedy, as BradK said, and it was depressing to see the children begging on the streets. :( Not that we can't handle a little discomfort, since we don't have to live there, but, it was just upsetting. We were there maybe 2 hours and came back state-side!

And if you want your kids to start looking forward to college, the campus of The University of San Diego (not UCSD) almost rivals Hearst Castle in the beauty department.

And while you're there, check out The Immaculata. It's a beautiful cathedral style church, has a turqoise dome, can't miss it.

It's where munchkinsmom0003 and I got married (to each other). :D

if you like to shop, hit the outlet malls just inside the US border before you cross into Mexico. We loved that. And we stayed at the Doubletree-Hotel Circle. So nice. But Stay away from the restaraunts close by there...
We did all the things every one has mentioned and you know, the day we just went and walked the beach was our favorite. It was nice to have some down time.

Last trip to to Southern California we bought the Southern California Citypass. So we did Sea World & the Wild Animal Park (other choice is the zoo) in SD, then DL, & Knotts (now it's Universal instead of Knotts) and had a great time.

We also went to the gaslamp district & Horton Plaza (very cool mall), and Coronado. Coronado was a pretty place to see, not sure if your kids would be too fond of that or gaslamp district honestly. But I suppose it's more about what your kids like to do. At that age I probably would have been bored with those types of places, except the mall.

As for hotels, we just stayed at the Red Roof in Carlsbad while we were down there. It was cheap, right off of the 5, so it worked out well for us.

I'd probably say that you need a car in the SD area. We've never relied on shuttles to get places, but I would assume that it would be a hassle to go to the different attractions in that area while relying upon shuttles?

Do not go to Mexico. Ask the family of the man who had a traffic accident (his fault). Needed medical attention. But his victim wouldn't let him return to the US until the case was settled (yes that's how it works there). Finally he was released, too late, he died. Oh, btw who was the victim who wouldn't give his permission for the man to get medical attention? The human rights commissioner of the baja region!

One of only many stories that we read about here. A truly screwed up country--70 million Mexicans said they would like to immigrate to the USA--tells you something.

No offense to ucube, but I'm with El hombre viejo on this one. You can get in a lot of trouble in Mexico. It's a third world country, that wonderful thing called The United States Bill of Rights doesn't exist down there.

Yeah I wouldn't do TJ either. We did it once on a Spring Break trip because we weren't old enough to drink in the US. That's about all I think it might be useful for. Even then it was a little skeezy and I was glad we cabbed it to the bar, and then cabbed it right back to the border.

I would vote no to that educational experience on a family vacation....

On the list of off beat, fun things to do in San Diego with kids, there is a park in Escondido called Grape Day park that has a huge installation of mosaic animals kids can play on next to the Children's museum. This was the last project by artist Niki de Saint Phalle. Some of her statues are in Balboa Park as well. Kids love playing on them. Grape Day is also near the Wild Animal Park.

As for hotels, the Town and Country in Mission Valley is nice and clean with a great pool. It is within walking distance of Fashion Valley Center (Mall) which is very popular. You can also catch the trolley to Old Town and Downtown from Fashion Valley, or ride it out east for a fun trip to the San Diego Mission and beyond.

Near the airport is Harbor Island and Shelter Island. Great places for walks along the bay and Shelter Island has a playground. There are also hotels there although Harbor Island is a little close to the airport.

One of our favorite restaurants with great views of the bay and Downtown, but still casual, is the Bay Beach Cafe at the Ferry Landing in Coronado. Steak and Sea Food and beautiful views. Several others are near that are more upscale with the same view. Go to the beach next to the Hotel del Coronado while you are there. BEAUTIFUL. And just across from the Hotel del is a marina where you can rent a boat to cruise on the bay. This is so much fun! You can also get to the Ferry Landing from Sea Port Village by Ferry if you don't want to drive.

AND I highly recommend the Viator tour company for some fun excorted tours of San Diego. Try this link
http://www.viator.com/san-diego/d736-ttd?mmod=DE-736-RH1a-6

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As for Mexico, I live in San Diego and NEVER go to Mexico anymore. Bad things happen to Americans there. My neighbor is a personal injury attorney and she could fill a book with horror stories and deaths. Very few of the stories make it to the news. Daily things are happening because Americans are targets there. And TJ is no place for children. I went many times when I was in college and stupid. My children aren't going as long as I can help it.

Go to Old Town to enjoy the Mexican culture and visit the shops in and around Old Town for Mexican trinkets. There are many "hole in the wall" Mexican restaurants if you want authentic food that won't make you sick.

If you must go to Mexico, take a tour with Viator to Ensenada whih bypasses TJ altogether.


Enjoy your stay and you'll know why so many of us have moved here.