DL & Southern California

[Ariel_Fan]

Anyone do the LA (DL, Legoland) & Southern California (San Diego zoo, Sea World) trip? Recommendations on how to do it?? Do you fly into one airport and out of another?

[BrerGnat]

I haven't specifically done a trip, but I live here.

I live in Irvine (you can mapquest it). It's about 10 miles south of Disneyland, and about 80 miles north of San Diego.

I used to live in Oceanside, so am very familiar with the San Diego area as well.

I can help you plan if you want.

If you can, I'd fly Southwest, and fly into either San Diego or Orange County and then fly out of either (depending on where you want to start/end your trip). Since it's Southwest, you don't get penalized for buying 2 one-way tickets vs. a round trip.

At some point, you will need a rental car. A rental car is a necessity to get around San Diego. Legoland is about 30 min north of downtown San Diego. It would be good to spend the day at Legoland in between DLR and San Diego time, since it's approximately midway. You could leave DLR (or SD) early, spend the day at Legoland, then head up (or down) to DLR or San Diego. Legoland always closes early, so it's possible.

Anyway, you can PM me if you want some more help or need info. I've been to Legoland twice, the San Diego zoo once and the DLR over 100 times.

[Aisling]

That would be a very doable trip, but you'll need a car as mentioned above. If you are thinking of going to the San Diego Zoo, I'd suggest the Wild Animal Park instead. It's a bit of a ways out of San Diego (in North County), but the animal viewing/experience is so much nicer. I hate to see wild animals caged, and at the WAP, they are roaming free.
Also, for Legoland, what are the children's ages? It's a great place for younger kids (3-9), and very expensive for adults. Many of the rides have weight limits (200 pounds) and there are not many 'thrill' rides. They often have rides down, so check on that before you travel. If you have older kids, they will definitely be bored, but if you have younger kids they'll love building lego cars and racing them, or spraying people with water on several of the rides.
Sea World is fun and if they have the Cirque du Soleil show running, don't miss it! Very funny and the whole family will enjoy it. If you can swing dining with Shamu, I'd recommend it. You get to eat dinner five feet from the whale! Very cool.

In L.A., I haven't been yet, but I've heard Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum is great for kids. It's attached to the Wax Museum, I think. A visit to the Kodak Theater would be fun too. If you like Broadway shows, the musical Wicked is playing in L.A. and is just as good as the production in New York. We took our kids (9 & 17) and they both loved it.

Hope these ideas help!