Okay, I%26#39;m getting down to the wire. We have our flights. (Coming in early on May 27th and leaving in the afternoon on June 10th). We have our rental car - a big honking gas guzzler to hold all our stuff and kids!! We have our hotel reservations and we have discount tickets to the major stuff we want to do. Sooooo... since ya%26#39;ll have already been so kind, I%26#39;m hoping you%26#39;ll shoot some more ideas my way and help my iron out the rest of our itinerary so we don%26#39;t spend too much of our trip driving around in circles on the CA freeway system. (We have feeder roads here in Texas - the California freeways confuse the heck out of us!!) :)
So far...
Hotel #1 - Marriott Residence Inn San Diego Mission Valley
We%26#39;re staying here the first week we%26#39;re in town. We figured we%26#39;d hit the zoo and whatnot this week, but don%26#39;t know what order to do things in. We also want to go to the Strawberry fields in Carlsbad - probably in conjuction with our trip to Legoland. (I know it%26#39;s weird that we%26#39;re doing Legoland with preteens, but my boys have fond memories... they said they wouldn%26#39;t go back to CA if we didn%26#39;t go there!)
Hotel #2 - Hyatt Regency Irvine
We%26#39;re staying here 3 nights mid trip. Our oldest son has a karate tournament in Irvine on June 4th. We thought we%26#39;d hit Universal Studios during this period of time and the whole day on the 4th is going to be about karate, but other than that we don%26#39;t have anything planned.
Hotel #3 - Paradise Point Resort
We%26#39;ll be here the last 4 nights. My husband said he%26#39;ll be tired by this time and will just want to sit by the beach and maybe rent a sailboat or something, so we probably need to get all the amusement park stuff done the first week. (Also the tickets I bought are only good for 5 days anyhow.) This might be the time we%26#39;d do the Hornblower and possibly shopping stuff.
So, there it is. I feel like I%26#39;m being a complete spaz for a) not figuring this stuff out for myself and b) trying to plan ahead at all, but this is the first family vacation we%26#39;ve managed to take in half past forever. It%26#39;s my husband%26#39;s first time to CA if you don%26#39;t count layovers in LAX and the kids and I haven%26#39;t been back in 5+ years. I just want everything to be smooth and as close to perfect as a trip with to preteen boys can be!!
Thanks in advance for all ya%26#39;ll help!
Gas $$ saving itinerary...and my last chance to change...
In order to save gas you might consider doing a circle on your day up to Carlsbad and do the fields, Legoland,(for part of the day) and then go inland on 78 to Escondido for the Wild Animal Park.
Another idea would be to combine your trip north to Irvine with a stop in Carlsbad(which you pass along the way). That might be better idea because the other would be a VERY full day.
Gas $$ saving itinerary...and my last chance to change...
Okay. Repeat after me...big breath in........release. Aaah.
I can laugh because I am just like you. I want to reseaerch and plan the heck out of our trips.
It sounds like you have a good basis, and you just want to flesh out the details. I agree with riffsmom about maybe hitting Carlsbad on the way to or from Irvine. Maybe allow time on the way up to visit Legoland, then do the strawberry fields on the way back (will they even still be going on?) - the fields won%26#39;t take a huge chunk of time, so maybe visit the outlet mall for lunch/shopping, then the strawberries. I%26#39;d allow a whole day for the WAP, as there is plenty to see and lots of walking if you are so inclined. And yes, save the last part for just being lazy. Beach, Hornblower, shopping. You have to have that chill time! Remember, this is your vacation too. Don%26#39;t forget to let yourself relax. And take some time to drive around and sightsee - as much as you%26#39;re spending for transport and lodging, what%26#39;s a few more bucks for gas?? Just be sure to fill up at Costco or somewhere cheap, not the stations closest to the freeway!
Jen... Deep breathing now! Thanks! LOL! :) I guess I%26#39;m more concerned about spending inordinate amounts of time tooling around on the freeways than anything. I love the idea of making our stops in the Carlsbad area on the way to and from Irvine. I hadn%26#39;t thought of that! See why I%26#39;m here?
I%26#39;m also hoping that if anybody has anything icky to say about our hotel choices they will speak now or forever hold their peace. I%26#39;ve read reviews, and all these places rated fairly well, but I always think that there is a pretty decent chance that there is someone sitting in an office at the hotel somewhere padding the review sites -particularly when they get a ton of good ones! The places I%26#39;ve stayed at before were either completely booked or out of our price range for this trip, so I%26#39;m stuck trying new stuff. Ugh.
Deep breathing is the best!!!! You have a great mix of ideas for your hotels and activities. Now it is time to just let it all happen. I understand how you feel since I am the vacation planner in my family. Try to get a little southern CA attitude in your head.
1-';It%26#39;s all good!!';
2-';No problem';
Anybody else want to suggest more?
Riffsmom...
I%26#39;m always mega OCD like this when I%26#39;m planning a trip. My kids were in here checking out the itinerary that I was working on yesterday, complete with color coding and different fonts (so I can easily identify important things like addresses, directions and confirmation #s). They were LOL! Funny thing is, once I get on vacation, all the planning usually goes out the window and I chill out (get the California attitude!!). I guess I just like to have everything all planned so we don%26#39;t miss out on anything we REALLY wanted to do.
Anyhow, so far, for whomever is interested:
day 1- fly in, get car, eat breakfast somewhere (I%26#39;m good about leaving restaurants up in the air!!), pick up groceries at Trader Joe%26#39;s (God how i miss that chain of grocery stores), check in to hotel, hit Seaworld in the late afternoon/evening
day 2-brunch at the Del, hang out at the beach on Coronado, spend some time shopping (Old Town/Bazaar del Mundo,etc)
day 3- ship Sunday%26#39;s purchases home, spend the rest of the day at the ZOO
day 4-drive up to Carlsbad, possibly stop and watch the crazy people jump off the cliff at Torrey Pines gliderport on the way, Legoland, drive around our old neighborhood, say hi to neighbors and teachers and whatnot if school is in session, lunch around the outlet mall, stop at the Carlsbad strawberry fields to pick fresh berrries to take back to the hotel
day 5 - Harbor tour and Mirimar speed circuit - possibly more shopping
day 6 - Wild Animal Park - if we%26#39;re feeling really gung ho, we might drive out to Julian on this day for some PIE!!! after we get sick of looking at the animals
day 7 - Birch Aquarium at Scripps, tidepooling in La Jolla, Temecula Balloon Festival (if we blow off the balloon festival, we%26#39;ll probably go back to Seaworld in the afternoon this day)
day 8 - check out of Marriott, move up to Irvine, stop at Oceanside Marina and possibly Legoland on the way up to Irvine
day 9 - older son and I go to karate tournament at the Bren, younger son and hubby go to Wild Rivers Water Park in Irvine
day 10 - Universal Studios - Hollywood
day 11 - check out of Hyatt, check in Paradise Point
Once we get back down to Mission Bay, we%26#39;re pretty much done with the whole amusement park thing. We might return to Seaworld once more, but somehow I doubt it. We are planning on spending days 11 through 13 hanging out on the beach in Mission Bay. We might rent a sail boat, get the kids some surfing lessons, spend some time (during the day) in Gaslamp, if I%26#39;m lucky they%26#39;ll send me to the hotel spa. I%26#39;m leaving this part of the trip pretty open a)per hubby%26#39;s instructions and b) because I think I%26#39;ll be chilled out enough by then to do so!!! :)
day 14 - home :(
It%26#39;ll be fun to do a trip report for ya%26#39;ll and see how close we end up actually coming to our plans.
I still have almost two weeks to edit (yes, I know I%26#39;m psycho!)... feel free to tell me if you think I should flip stuff around. We%26#39;re starting out on a Saturday. I was trying to stay away from big amusement parks on the weekends and the karate tournament is a given. Other than that... thanks!
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