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ATP Travel Agency: SoCal Spring Break with kids

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HoosierDeac

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Looking to take the family to Southern California area for Spring Break next year (early April) and am trolling for good suggestions for things to do with the kids (ages 10 and 7) as well as family-friendly lodging. So far I've come up with the requisite Disneyland visit (though probably will regret given it is Spring Break), the touristy Hollywood/Beverly Hills/Venice stuff, and general sightseeing driving along the coast. Will probably have 7 days so want to keep it fairly compact (i.e. probably won't travel down to San Diego, but maybe take a day visit to Catalina?). My other idea was to go out to Palm Springs area for a couple days where it would be warm enough to swim. Any suggestions? TIA
 
The boat ride to Catalina can be a little choppy. If you get the kids a patch it's OK. You can leave from Long Beach or Newport Beach. When you get to Catalina, you can rent a golf cart (there are no rental cars on the island). There are paddle boats to ride in the harbor. You can also see buffaloes on the island. You may see some dolphins our whales or the way there. It is an all day thing. Make sure the kids will like it.

It would be much more fun for the kids to go to San Diego than Palm Springs. They are about the same distance and there's virtually nothing for the kids to do in PS.

As to where you can go swimming in the ocean in April, the answer is nowhere without a wetsuit. There is no gulf stream here. The water is very cold.

How about the Griffith Planetarium? They have a great show at night.

If they are both boys, they (and you) would probably like the Peterson museum. It's one of the greatest collections of cars you'll ever see.
 
RJKarl said:
The boat ride to Catalina can be a little choppy. If you get the kids a patch it's OK. You can leave from Long Beach or Newport Beach. When you get to Catalina, you can rent a golf cart (there are no rental cars on the island). There are paddle boats to ride in the harbor. You can also see buffaloes on the island. You may see some dolphins our whales or the way there. It is an all day thing. Make sure the kids will like it.

It would be much more fun for the kids to go to San Diego than Palm Springs. They are about the same distance and there's virtually nothing for the kids to do in PS.

As to where you can go swimming in the ocean in April, the answer is nowhere without a wetsuit. There is no gulf stream here. The water is very cold.

How about the Griffith Planetarium? They have a great show at night.

If they are both boys, they (and you) would probably like the Peterson museum. It's one of the greatest collections of cars you'll ever see.
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RJ- thanks for the advice. Wife tends to get a little motion sick so maybe I should rule the Catalina trip out. My rationale with Palm Springs is that it would be upper-80's there vs. upper 60's out by the coast so would allow for some pool swimming if we could find a fun pool resort (JW Marriott?) in the Palm Springs area. Agree that there is lots to do in San Diego.
 
I had a blast on my only-ever trip to Palm Springs. Mt San Jacinto and the aerial tramway were very cool. It was hot in the desert and seven minutes later you're standing in a foot of snow and freezing. Joshua Tree Nat'l Park is awesome, too.

There is plenty to do in SoCal in general so you can't go wrong.
 
If you have kids, I'd think going down to the zoo in San Diego would be worth it.
 
HoosierDeac said:
RJ- thanks for the advice. Wife tends to get a little motion sick so maybe I should rule the Catalina trip out.
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I've dived off Catalina and Clemente- I've seen guys who never get seasick toss their guts on that boatride. It worth it but it's rough.
 
HoosierDeac said:
RJ- thanks for the advice. Wife tends to get a little motion sick so maybe I should rule the Catalina trip out. My rationale with Palm Springs is that it would be upper-80's there vs. upper 60's out by the coast so would allow for some pool swimming if we could find a fun pool resort (JW Marriott?) in the Palm Springs area. Agree that there is lots to do in San Diego.
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You can do pool swimming in LA. The pools are heated.

If you did SD rather than PS, the kids could go to a Wild Animal Park Safari with animals coming up to the car and you go a whale watching trip for a couple of hours.

A hint, for much of PS, I'm on the young side. :)

Six Flags/Magic Mountain is 30-60 minutes north of LA. It's mostly intense rides. There's also the original Universal Studios.

Kids might also like the 3rd Street Promenade and Santa Monica Pier.
 
Continuing my tradition of resurrecting old threads, I just moved to South Pasadena for the summer (not with kids). What are the LA-area things that I need to do before I leave? Also any bar/restaurant recommendations would be welcome
 
I'd like to hear how this vacation turned out too. I've visited SoCal a few times and don't really see it is a great vacation destination.
 
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