2 nights in San Diego with 6 y.o., What's are your favorite experiences?

[Anonymous]

You've already got some great responses, so I'll just add the beaches. I've always loved La Jolla Shores for laid back fun, see the sea lions at the Children's Pool at The Cove, and Mission Beach is always a happening place for people watching.

Oh, and I second the carne asada fries. The Berto's are great, but El Cotixan is even better! We're talking real hole in the walls.

Tons and tons of animals at the Wild Animal Park in Escondido, but they will be viewed at a distance on the tram. I always imagine it's how they would live all together on the African savanna.

I always enjoyed Sea World. If your kiddo likes sea creatures, there's lots to see up close and touch.

Lived there for twelve years and always looking for excuses to visit. Have a great trip!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts on the aquarium there? I hear it is nice and the area it's in has tidepools that are fun.

You are referring to Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, right? It's impressive, but not very large. We were there about 3 hours with our 6-year-old a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Also, you might try Mission Bay.

It's cheesy and slightly seedy (think Venice Beach). There's a smallish amusement park there that a 6 yo might enjoy.

But it's a nice surf beach, a relaxed time. Last time we were there my kids took surf lessons.

[Anonymous]

sorry i meant Mission Beach.

[Anonymous]

We had the opposite experience of a PP. Kids 7 and 6 liked Sea World better than Legoland for both the shows and the rides (and my oldest is into Legos). I think it's so child- (and parent-) dependent. Fun can be had both places.

[Anonymous]

The Wild Animal Park (which now has a different name) is fabulous. There is one tram "ride" but you still do plenty of walking throughout the rest of the zoo. It is owned and operated by the same people as San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, but is more for research. When we were there, we must have seen 10 juvenile elephants playing in the water with their mothers. It was incredible.

I don't think Sea World is anything spectacular. I'd do 1/2 day. But I'd honestly skip it if we were going back.

I think LegoLand is incredible. We were there from opening to closing. The rides are perfect for a 6-year-old. The MiniLand area, with all the cityscapes made out of Legos, including Washington DC. My child wouldn't leave MiniLand, even though I wanted to go back and do some more rides a second time since all the lines had died down.

You can do hiking (very easy) in Torrey Pines State Reserve. Very nice views, too.

If you like burgers, you'd LOVE Burger Lounge. They were fairly new a few years ago but now have several locations; La Jolla, Hillcrest, Coronado, Gas Lamp, including others in SD and some in LA area. I actually "like" them on Facebook because I loved them on vacation. My DH went back to SD for a work conference not too long ago and was happy his hotel was near a Burger Lounge.

[Anonymous]

Just got back from San Diego with a 2yo.

I would skip Sea World and their obnoxious $15 parking fee. It is largely about cheesy shows there. Admittedly they have some nice animals, but you can see those at the Wild Animal Park in Escondido or the La Jolla aquarium. They have some thrill rides, but they seemed too wild for a 6yo.

I would check out the aquarium in La Jolla (tidepools out on a deck, lots of marine life, including something cool called sea dragons, which I had never seen before). If you go to La Jolla, you can go down to the area called the Children's Poll, which is where the sea lions hang out.

The Wild Animal Park in Escondido is similar to the zoo in terms of layout, but in some ways it feels more intimate. For instance, there isn't plexiglass separating you from the gorillas; you can see a cheetah running demonstration; the tram that drives through the "safari" area is nice because you see lots of animals in a big natural space. We saw 4 rhinos, including a sweet baby, a ton of giraffes, gazelles, etc. If you want to go on a truck and feed the giraffes, there is an extra charge for that (no idea how much, but guessing it is pricey).

In Balboa Park on Sundays from 2-4 (I think), the international houses have a free mini-festival where one ethnic group puts on a little performance of music and/or dance wearing traditional costumes. Most of the houses give out free snacks (waffles with jam, tea and cookies, etc). It is a nice atmosphere and might be a fun, relaxed way to sneak a little culture into the trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just got back from San Diego with a 2yo.

I would skip Sea World and their obnoxious $15 parking fee. It is largely about cheesy shows there. Admittedly they have some nice animals, but you can see those at the Wild Animal Park in Escondido or the La Jolla aquarium. They have some thrill rides, but they seemed too wild for a 6yo.

I would check out the aquarium in La Jolla (tidepools out on a deck, lots of marine life, including something cool called sea dragons, which I had never seen before). If you go to La Jolla, you can go down to the area called the Children's Poll, which is where the sea lions hang out.

The Wild Animal Park in Escondido is similar to the zoo in terms of layout, but in some ways it feels more intimate. For instance, there isn't plexiglass separating you from the gorillas; you can see a cheetah running demonstration; the tram that drives through the "safari" area is nice because you see lots of animals in a big natural space. We saw 4 rhinos, including a sweet baby, a ton of giraffes, gazelles, etc. If you want to go on a truck and feed the giraffes, there is an extra charge for that (no idea how much, but guessing it is pricey).

In Balboa Park on Sundays from 2-4 (I think), the international houses have a free mini-festival where one ethnic group puts on a little performance of music and/or dance wearing traditional costumes. Most of the houses give out free snacks (waffles with jam, tea and cookies, etc). It is a nice atmosphere and might be a fun, relaxed way to sneak a little culture into the trip.

Children's POOL (I know it was a typo) is great. Technically, you can swim at Children's Pool, but it isn't recommended due to the high amount of fecal bacteria. You can walk along the seawall and get down onto the sand, but it's clearly not the "cleanest" sand. (it didn't stop us from going down, but did make me wonder exactly what I was walking on.) Street parking is really crowded in La Jolla, so plan to be early - or make a few circles around the area. We went to Children's Pool on our first day, after landing and checking into our hotel (in La Jolla).

If you are of the "right age" and watched Beverly Hills 90210, Brandon's love Emily Valentine had some sort of connection to Scripps Institute, which operates Birch Aquarium. When I went to San Diego for the first time in 1996, going to Scripps was a big hit for me.

[Anonymous]

The tide pools are also amazing if the low tides are at good times while you are there- Point Loma were my favorite. I think that it would be more enjoyable than a day at Sea World.

Definitely do the Safari Zoo (formerly the wild animal park). I grew up near there and nothing else compares to it!

The aquarium in Long beach is amazing and may be a better idea than sea world which gets soooo crowded.

Can't comment on Lego land but I would try it out with a boy in that age range. If it will be warm at least you can enjoy the waterpark side.

Have a blast! I try to go home twice a year because I miss it so much. If you want more ideas just ask.

[Anonymous]

Please not the LegoLand water park is an extra admission on top of the LegoLand base price. There are some water rides (and a really great water-based "play ground") in the regular part of the park.

The Sea Life aquarium is also an extra admission charge on top of the base price.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Those first two words should be "Please NOTE" not "Please not". Changes the meaning of the sentence greatly -- sorry!!!

[Anonymous]

wild animal park was great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just got back from San Diego with a 2yo.

I would skip Sea World and their obnoxious $15 parking fee. It is largely about cheesy shows there. Admittedly they have some nice animals, but you can see those at the Wild Animal Park in Escondido or the La Jolla aquarium. They have some thrill rides, but they seemed too wild for a 6yo.

I would check out the aquarium in La Jolla (tidepools out on a deck, lots of marine life, including something cool called sea dragons, which I had never seen before). If you go to La Jolla, you can go down to the area called the Children's Poll, which is where the sea lions hang out.

The Wild Animal Park in Escondido is similar to the zoo in terms of layout, but in some ways it feels more intimate. For instance, there isn't plexiglass separating you from the gorillas; you can see a cheetah running demonstration; the tram that drives through the "safari" area is nice because you see lots of animals in a big natural space. We saw 4 rhinos, including a sweet baby, a ton of giraffes, gazelles, etc. If you want to go on a truck and feed the giraffes, there is an extra charge for that (no idea how much, but guessing it is pricey).

In Balboa Park on Sundays from 2-4 (I think), the international houses have a free mini-festival where one ethnic group puts on a little performance of music and/or dance wearing traditional costumes. Most of the houses give out free snacks (waffles with jam, tea and cookies, etc). It is a nice atmosphere and might be a fun, relaxed way to sneak a little culture into the trip.

When our child was 6 and we were in San Diego, the places she asked to go back to was Balboa Park and Coronado Island. We could only afford to stay at the Del one night but boy was it fun! On subsequent day we used the beach at the Del Coronado and then had lunch at one of the many fabulous restaurants in Coronado before returning to our cheaper 2nd hotel.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm from Bethesda and now live in the San Diego area and I have tons of good advice for you! First, the area down around San Diego is ok but it's really Carlsbad and Encinitas that are fun for families. The beaches around SD are fun but as a total college party scene. Carlsbad is super family friendly and has Legoland right there (which is awesome, by the way, and your kid will love it!) and there are reasonably priced hotels along the beach. Stay away from anything that's not off Rt. 5 (esp. the 15 and the 805). The beaches here have showers and bathrooms and the taco shop and fish joint aren't far away! And instead of theme parks, try the Children's Pool in LaJolla. It's a sea wall that has tons of seals and just to the north along the shore is a great beach with a fun cave to walk through and look for crabs. And Old Town is fun, too. Good mexican restaurants, shopping in the square and original adobes that are open and cool to see for all ages. Anyway, have fun and enjoy SoCal!