San Diego

eeyorefanuk

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 6, 2009
first visit :)

What would you recommend for half a day and then a full day please (children as well)

Many thanks
 
Half day: Old Town - make sure the Whaley House is open on the day you are going to visit.

Full day: Legoland or the zoo.
 
Full day - Sea World or San Diego Zoo. The zoo is huge and amazing, if you don’t have an awesome zoo near you it is a great choice!

Half day- USS Midway and old town are good choices.

(Legoland is not in San Diego, it is about 45 minutes north in Carlsbad)

If you happen to have a military Veteran or Active Duty member in your family you can get in to Sea World free through July 4 for Veterans and through 12/31 for active duty! www.wavesofhonor.com
 


Full Day,
SeaWorld. Zoo as a close 2nd.

Half Day take your pick of a couple.
USS Midway, Jet Boat (older kids, teens, adults), Bay Cruise, Whale Watching
Birch Aquarium at Scripps (Just north of San Diego near La Jolla).
Old Town (Eat at Rock'n Lobster or Fiesta Del Reye's)
 
Full day, the zoo and Balboa Park. It's a beautiful zoo and just feels like San Diego. Balboa Park, where the zoo is located, is a wonderful park filled with museums and places to sit and explore. I end up in this park 5 or 6 days a week. It's a gem. I never get tired of it.

I'd avoid Old Town, tourist trap.

Birch Aquarium is wonderful but small, but it also puts you in La Jolla which is a great little beach town about 12 miles north of Downtown San Diego. Great places to walk, tidepool, some fun playgrounds, and of course, some very nice beaches to play on. This also has the Children's Cove which is now home to a sea lion colony. Great fun to explore!
 
We have two full days in San Diego. I’m planning on one day for the Zoo and anything else we have time for & want to see in Balboa Park.

The other day we will go to La Jolla in the morning to see the tide pools & sea lions. Maybe do Birch Aquarium if the kids are interested in that. I figure this won’t take us all day though, especially if we don’t do the aquarium. Any suggestions for another attraction for the afternoon? Kids are 5 and 9.
 


We have two full days in San Diego. I’m planning on one day for the Zoo and anything else we have time for & want to see in Balboa Park.

The other day we will go to La Jolla in the morning to see the tide pools & sea lions. Maybe do Birch Aquarium if the kids are interested in that. I figure this won’t take us all day though, especially if we don’t do the aquarium. Any suggestions for another attraction for the afternoon? Kids are 5 and 9.


There is the sea cave that is pretty cool. Just south of La Jolla is PB and Mission Beach. Mission Beach has Belmonts which has a great wooden roller coaster and boardwalk games. North of La Jolla is Torrey Pines State Park which is a great hike. Also has a glider port and we love watching people run and jump off the cliffs.
 
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Full day, the zoo and Balboa Park. It's a beautiful zoo and just feels like San Diego. Balboa Park, where the zoo is located, is a wonderful park filled with museums and places to sit and explore. I end up in this park 5 or 6 days a week. It's a gem. I never get tired of it.

I'd avoid Old Town, tourist trap.

Birch Aquarium is wonderful but small, but it also puts you in La Jolla which is a great little beach town about 12 miles north of Downtown San Diego. Great places to walk, tidepool, some fun playgrounds, and of course, some very nice beaches to play on. This also has the Children's Cove which is now home to a sea lion colony. Great fun to explore!

Well, to me, the zoo, balboa park, most any attraction is a tourist trap! But they offer entertainment I cannot get at home! We enjoy walking around old town, wandering the shops, dining etc. There's a couple restaurants a block away that always have long long lines so we've never been but gotta believe they must be good!
 
Well, to me, the zoo, balboa park, most any attraction is a tourist trap! But they offer entertainment I cannot get at home! We enjoy walking around old town, wandering the shops, dining etc. There's a couple restaurants a block away that always have long long lines so we've never been but gotta believe they must be good!
I showed my 9-year-old a “Top San Diego Attractions” list to see what she’s interested in, and she wants to go to Old Town and see the haunted Whaley House!

For anyone who has done the tour there, how scary is it? Do you think it’s too intense for a 5-year-old?
 
I showed my 9-year-old a “Top San Diego Attractions” list to see what she’s interested in, and she wants to go to Old Town and see the haunted Whaley House!

For anyone who has done the tour there, how scary is it? Do you think it’s too intense for a 5-year-old?


I've never actually done the tour but I've been to the house and the focus is more on the historical background than the "haunted" aspect, so I would guess the tour provided by the museum would not contain anything overly scary and would be fine for the whole family. The independent "ghost tours" are where you get more of the "feel the energy" creepy stuff.
 
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I showed my 9-year-old a “Top San Diego Attractions” list to see what she’s interested in, and she wants to go to Old Town and see the haunted Whaley House!

For anyone who has done the tour there, how scary is it? Do you think it’s too intense for a 5-year-old?
It is not scary at all. Some people have reported seeing a rocking chair move. I've been there about a dozen times and have never seen anything out of the ordinary. In the court room, they have scrapbooks of pictures people have taken of orbs over the years. It is literally just a circle light in the picture.
 
Well, to me, the zoo, balboa park, most any attraction is a tourist trap! But they offer entertainment I cannot get at home! We enjoy walking around old town, wandering the shops, dining etc. There's a couple restaurants a block away that always have long long lines so we've never been but gotta believe they must be good!

I'm not sure I'd use long lines to determine if a place is good or not. I mean Olive Garden is always crowded, but to each their own.
 
I'm not sure I'd use long lines to determine if a place is good or not. I mean Olive Garden is always crowded, but to each their own.
I have never seen Olive Garden packed in the waiting room plus a line out the door and down the street a block! I have every single time at a couple restaurants in the Old Town area.
 
Is this for your October trip? If so there could be a lot of spooky stuff to check out. When we were there last Halloween there was a lot of spooky stuff advertised so be sure to look it up. My oldest loves spooky stuff but was 7 then and everything I checked was age limited.
 

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