LSP2005
Bunny kisses are so cute!
Member since 5/05 19453 total posts
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California Vacation Review
We just returned from California and I wanted to write a review with everything fresh in my mind.
I used United Vacations to book my airfare and car rental. I found that by combining them together it was the least expensive way to get tickets.
We stayed at the Welk Resorts in Escondido. The rooms were well appointed and the bathroom was fantastic. It had multiple shower heads and the shower easily fit 6 people (did not try that many but it was incredibly roomy). They had multiple pools and some (limited activities - candy sushi making, and ceramics painting were both big hits). This resort is close to Leogland and the SD Zoo Safari Park (we only went to Legoland nearby. Everything else was a lot of driving.
The one thing we came to realize is that everything will take you a long time to drive and CA traffic can add a lot of time onto your trip.
I purchased the California Southern City Pass and found it well worth the money spent and would highly recommend purchasing your tickets from them. It is a substantial savings over any other coupons or ticket purchasing options I found. We opted to add on the Zoo addition and were very happy we did that (can only be added if purchasing directly from them - you can go to the parks and get one in person too.)
I always packed bathing suits, changes of clothing, turbo towels, sun screen, and blister block. We used all of it and it was very helpful to have these items. Many parks have water areas for kids. Things I would absolutely do again: get to the parks before/at opening. Have lunch at 11:30. If not you are going to be waiting a lot more. Find shade between 1-3 pm. Reapply sunscreen often.
I am going to start my review of places in the order we visited them:
Monday 6/24 Sea World - Do not miss the Circ show. It is fantastic and well worth the price of admission for this show alone. The animals are really nice to see. We particularly enjoyed looking at the sharks. If you go see shamoo please reapply sun screen as it is in direct sunlight. In order to get wet you realistically need to be in the first 1-2 rows, the third or fourth row might get barely wet but not really. I got burned very badly sitting at this show. There is no shade, so bring hats. There is a really cute Sesame Place area that is similar to the dry area found at Sesame Place. We got to the park at opening and for the first two hours had the park to ourselves. We started at Sesame place and were able to ride the rides by ourselves and go on them multiple times. I highly recommend going early. We also played a carnival ride against each other and won minions - much cheaper than purchasing them at Universal. In the afternoon we swam at Mission beach. It has a nice boardwalk and there is an old school theme park there too (we did not go to the theme park there.)
Tuesday 6/25 San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park, Rail Road Museum, Carousel, Ride on Train, La Jolla
We got to the Zoo about 30 minutes after opening and it was already packed. We took the zoo bus tour. I highly recommend it to get a lay of the land. You will see about 70% of the zoo this way. The zoo is really hilly. We loved the zoo. We went to the restaurant at the front of the park – the tuna melt is really spicy. I would get a refillable coffee mug from them as refills in that are free. They basically don’t have regular cups. The coffee mug was about $9 but we absolutely got our moneys worth from it. Right outside the park is a cute ride on train. It is a nice activity for the kids. Around the corner is a great carousel. Be mindful of operating hours. After that, we walked to Balboa Park. The architecture is great there. We walked to the train museum and my kids were in love. It was a great museum. There is also a very nice reflecting pond with water lilies a few steps away. In Balboa Park there are also a lot of nice museums to see. On our way back up to the resort we stopped in La Jolla to see the children’s beach. The beach is now occupied by Sea Lions. It was breathtaking and we all loved watching them frolic in the water. You too can go swim there.
Wednesday 6/26 Universal Studios – this is back near LAX. In retrospect I am not sure I would have gone to this park, but it came with the City Pass tickets. It was also perfect because my brother was in CA this one day for business so we were able to meet him for dinner.[After asking my kids, they said they loved the Curious George area and thought it was one of the best parts of the entire trip]. My son is a huge transformers fan. We went on the ride but it was honestly way to scary for him. The ride was intense. I screamed at points in it. It was an outstanding ride. We also took the studio tour. My kids were board – it takes an hour. Bring drinks. It was a good ride for an adult who wants to see behind the scenes. My kids favorite part of US has to be the Curious George area. As our tour book put it – it is about as close to drowning on dry land as possible. Behind the area is a family changing area. Bring water shoes and bathing suits for the kids and a complete change of clothing for you. It is tons of fun. My kids could have stayed in this area the entire day and would have been thrilled. It really is a great area. My kids loved meeting the minions.
Thursday 6/27 We relaxed at the resort. My husband and I had couples massages while his Aunt who lives in CA watched our kids at the pool. It ended up being a 100 degree day, so we stayed inside for the afternoon because it was difficult to breath outside. We did arts and crafts with the kids at the resort. We were also exhausted from the night before so having a break was really good for our family.
Friday 6/28 Legoland. We all loved legoland and spent almost 10 hours in the park. We opted to get the waterpark add on and it was well worth it, but if you don’t there is still a small water area you don’t have to pay extra for. Bring bathing suits and towels. We all had a fantastic time at Legoland. I was able to get FREE kids admission to Legoland – if you can subscribe to the free Lego magazine (not JR) and in the back of the magazine there are free kids admission tickets. If you stop by the lego store sometimes they have extra copies and extra tickets. We loved Legoland and would highly recommend it. There was something for everyone and it was a great park. For an additional $15 you can get a second day park admission add on, and we almost opted to do it. I think it would have been worth it to do. There is a lot to see in this park.
Saturday 6/29. We relaxed at the pool for the morning from 9-1 and the kids made candy sushi . In the afternoon we went to the movies to see Monsters University. It was over 100 degrees outside so we did not want to be outside so much.
Sunday 6/30 We checked out of the resort and drove up to Disneyland. We stayed at the Howard Johnson. We used mousesavers.com to get a discount on the room price. It was about 150 per night. I had originally planned on using their pool/water features but timing was never right for us. The service was fantastic – if you need something just ask. The rooms were very spacious, but it wasn’t luxurious at all. It was very basic. I was spoiled by the last bathroom. The room was dated, but functional. They had a ton of pillows and all of them were great. The beds were really comfortable too.
We opted to walk around Downtown Disney – which was really nice. I would eat at the Rainforest Café. The food was outstanding, the service amazing, and the décor was first rate. Make reservations. If your DC is into cars, I would go to Ridemakerz. In the Disney visitors guide there is a $10 off $40 coupon. A basic remote control car will run about 60. This was my son’s only toy from Disney. What we said to him was that we would take pictures to see which item he wanted – to avoid buying a lot of stuff. I did end up getting him a shirt from Disneyland though as I realized I did not pack enough for him.
We got muffins from the La Brea Bakery for the next morning. Skip them. They are overpriced and don’t taste great at all.
For dinner we had a Character Meal at Chef Goofy’s. It was 100% worth it. My kids loved meeting the characters, getting autographs, and taking pictures. The pb&j pizza was a big hit for my kids. The food was great and we all really loved it.
I did go to Mimi’s (15 days before your trip) to download a coupon for their muffins for free. They are outstanding and we particularly loved the chocolate mousse muffin, the apple muffin and the blueberry muffin. We split them in ½ as they were huge and honestly all chocolate mousse would be too much.
Monday 7/1 Disneyland – we got to the park about 40 minutes before opening and it was worth it to avoid lines. It got crowded by 1 pm. We had reservations for the Bibbidy Bobbity Boutique (you can make them up to 60 days in advance). I purchased a dress for DD at Target before the trip. We all had a fantastic experience at the BBB. I got DS a knight package $15 and he loved it too. My DD was able to keep her hairdo for 3 days in almost perfect condition. They use a lot of spray. I used the Undercover Disneyland book/app to plan our visit and it really helped with lines. We had dinner at Blue Bayou and while the food was excellent I am not sure I would eat there again. Before you leave get a dole whip, it is so yummy. [EDIT - Not to be missed is Asimo the robot. It was amazing seeing it in person He can be found in Tomorrowland along with so many Iron Man suits of armor and the house of tomorrow.]
Tuesday 7/2 California Adventure. We 10000% loved Carsland. The cars ride was the best ride/experience ever. I cried I loved it so much. In order to ride the ride, you have to get to the park before opening. We got to the park at 8:04 am, the park opens at 8 am and the line to get the fast pass was insanity. It was actually shorter to just wait on the regular line. I would do the single rider line to get on faster. You might only get two people in the party on the ride at one time, but it will let you go on the ride faster. We started in Cars land and it was all fantastic. Get drink in an orange cone, at the cozy cone. Lunch at Flos v8 café was excellent. You have to go see the live Aladin show. It is Broadway quality and amazing. You also should not miss the Disney club jr puppet show. In a bugs world there is a water area – so bring swimwear for the kids.
Wednesday 7/3 Disneyland we went on all of the rides we missed. We left immediately after the 4 pm parade. My kids loved the parade. We flew out of LAX on the red eye this morning. My kids slept on me, but I was asleep all day today. We had an amazing time on vacation. We got home at about 8 am this morning.
Message edited 7/13/2013 9:25:09 PM.
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