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Family San Diego vacation?

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CHDeac

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Any suggestions? Brother in law lives there but has no kids, is clueless when it comes to kids and will plan when we arrive.

Planning on sea world and of course the zoo. Will also tour Stone brewery.
Thinking of Tijuana for the kids so they can learn the trade

Thanks in advance.
 
Forgot to mention Kids are 6 and 10. They want to go to Lego land which I've heard mixed things about.
 
Would not recommend TJ for a family trip. For one thing it's not a very family orientated town to vacation in the first place, for another the cartels have made a considerable push into the area over the past 5-6 years. If you just want to take your family down to Baja Mexico, then I recommend towns further south of the border. Rosarita is just to the south of Tijuana, but nowhere near as trashy. Ensenada, is a little farther south and has some very cool whale watching spots.

I lived in the San Diego area for 2 years and loved my time there. Downtown has plenty of tourist street shopping and restaurants to see. A short walk from there to the pier and you can take your family on board the USS Midway. Balboa park is a neat area, close to the San Diego zoo, which the family will enjoy. After you're done in Sea World, there are a few other amusement park areas close to the Mission Beach area, Belmont Park is right down the road, and I believe LegoLand is close by, but might be more closer towards Carlsbad. Anaheim and LA is also a short 1.5-2 hour drive up the road on I-5. You can find a lot to do up there as well (Universal Studios/Disneyland/Knott's Berry Farm/ etc.).
 
Coronado is nice -- it's fun to walk around the hotel, step out to the beach, etc. They have a good ice cream spot there. While you're at the zoo, Balboa Park is nice to walk around. Not sure if you or your family is into the military stuff, but the Midway museum is kind of neat if you've never stepped foot on an aircraft carrier. Not sure when you're planning to go, but it's real easy to get tickets to PETCO and the park is supposedly pretty awesome. My wife's family loves it.
 
On the plane now! And the TJ reference was a joke. Scary place last time I went.
 
Balboa Park is right by the zoo. It has a bunch of museums two of which the kids might like. The science museum is really cool with tons of hands on exhibits for kids, would be right in you kids age range. If either of them like trains there is also a cool model train museum.

I've never been to legoland but have always heard good things from kids about it so may be worth it depending on how much money you want to spend. With Sea World and the zoo already on tap you will already be spending a bit of dough.

The zoo is by far my favorite thing. I always recommend taking the bus around once to see lots of things and then using the hop on hop off bus to get back to the areas you want to spend a lot of time on.
 
CHDeac said:
Forgot to mention Kids are 6 and 10. They want to go to Lego land which I've heard mixed things about.
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TJ is better than it was, but is still dangerous and dirty. Do not go.

Your kids will love have burgers and shakes at Hodad's in Mission Beach.

When are you going?

You are about 70-90 minutes from Disneyland depending on where your brother lives. The kids will love that.

Theyhave "safari tours" near the zoo.
 
RJKarl said:
TJ is better than it was, but is still dangerous and dirty. Do not go.

Your kids will love have burgers and shakes at Hodad's in Mission Beach.

When are you going?

You are about 70-90 minutes from Disneyland depending on where your brother lives. The kids will love that.

Theyhave "safari tours" near the zoo.
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Hodad's is a must. Fish Tacos (another SD specialty) are good everywhere, but George's in la jolla has the absolute best. Get Carne Asada fries too, good Mexican everywhere. There's a Nobu dt, but that might be too much with kids.
 
RJKarl said:
TJ is better than it was, but is still dangerous and dirty. Do not go.

Your kids will love have burgers and shakes at Hodad's in Mission Beach.

When are you going?

You are about 70-90 minutes from Disneyland depending on where your brother lives. The kids will love that.

Theyhave "safari tours" near the zoo.
Click to expand...

DeaconBrews said:
Hodad's is a must. Fish Tacos (another SD specialty) are good everywhere, but George's in la jolla has the absolute best. Get Carne Asada fries too, good Mexican everywhere. There's a Nobu dt, but that might be too much with kids.
Click to expand...

Oh man, Hodad's is so good. So many things I miss from the West Coast out here. Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits, Green Flash, Del Taco, In-N-Out Burger, etc....
 
Legoland is in Carlsbad, but the Zoo (both downtown and the Safari park) are incredible so I would prioritize both of those above Legoland unless one of your kids is a huge Lego fanatic.

My wife took the kids to La Jolla to see the sea lions and other stuff there and they really enjoyed that (I was on a work-cation so I didn't go with them).

The hop-on hop-off tourist bus is really cool. The drivers are nice old dudes with lots of knowledge about the area, the views are great, and the kids don't have to walk so they complain less. We spent a whole day just riding that around.

We didn't do the Midway museum but that's on my list for next visit.

ETA: Sea World was really cool. Do that over Legoland. Also, definitely go over to Stone. Good food, great beer, and the architecture, all-stone-decor, and views are great. It looks like a warehouse from the road, trust your nav when it tells you to turn even thought there won't be a visible sign and you'll think you're turning into an office park or something.
 
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If you drop the wife and kids at Disneyland, you can come down to the beach and have some drinks with me.
 
If the Legoland there is like the new Legoland Florida, the 10 year old may be a little too old for it.
 
I know this is easy for me to say bc I don't have kids clamoring to go to Sea World, but fuck that franchise.
 
As mentioned, Ballast Point is must do. Take the kids a coloring book.
 
Free parking in Coronado thru the holidays...see you at Leroy's.
 
Thanks everyone. All good stuff.

Drinking with RJ would be like Xmas morning.
 
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