Re-thinking my itinerary, please help!

[MrsMud]

Re-thinking my itinerary: Please help!

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I am planning a trip to DL and San Diego the first week of Oct. Our park days fall between Gay Days and Columbus Day weekend. My plan thus far has been:

Sat: Fly into Long Beach, drive to Anaheim. Re-cupe from long plane ride.
Sun: Knott's
Mon: DL/DCA
Tues: DL/DCA
Wed: DL/DCA
Th: Leave Anaheim for a leisurely drive down to SD, stop at a beach or 2 along the way, check into SD hotel.
Fri: Seaworld
Sat: SD Zoo
Sun: Fly home from SAN
I have two concerns about this plan, first will the crowds be gone from DL by Mon, or will we still have long wait times? Also, I worry that SD with Seaworld and the Zoo will be anti-climactic after Disney, especially since it will be the longest my kids have ever been away from home and they may be getting home-sick by then.

So, my newly considered itinerary:

Sat: Fly into SAN, take the day to visit local beaches and relax
Sun: SD Zoo
Mon: Seaworld
Tues: Drive up to Anaheim early, do Knotts for 1/2 day
Wed: DL/DCA
Th: DL/DCA
Fri: DL/DCA
Sat: Fly home out of Long Beach
My only concern about this is Fri being the start of Columbus Day weekend, how bad do you think the crowds will be at DL/DCA? Probably worse than the Mon after Gay Days, right? And is 1/2 day at Knott's enough? On the plus side, I won't have to worry about the kids being let down at the end of the trip, I may get a better airfare flying back on a Sat than Sun, will save 1 night's hotel rate, and it is a day less for my kiddies to be away from home.

Please give me your opinions on which plan looks better. Thanks!

 

[marvel]

Hi MsMud,

We are going to be in Disney roughly the same time. We had planned to do DL/DCA from the 2 - 8th, and then head down to San Diego to do Sea World etc.

My thinking was that DL on Monday after Gay Days should be ok since most will be going back to work, better than the following weekend for Columbus day.
We will be there for about a week so hopefully be able to catch everything.

Have you decided where to stay in San Diego? We are still having trouble deciding. We have two kids 7 and 5.

Cheers from Oz

 

[iceskatejen]

I don't know if this will help you, but Columbus Day isn't a school holiday here in CA. Plus if you go to DL on a Friday, you'll get fireworks and/or Fantasmic at DL and the Electrical Parade at DCA. I think you'll see normal Friday crowd patterns that day (which still means some crowds, esp in the evening).

 

[LuvTigger]

I think either of your plans will work fine. I know what you mean about how other things can seem like a "let down" after DL, but for some reason, I only feel that way about WDW, and not so much about DL. I don't have any difficulty dealing with going to SD (or anywhere else) after DL, but that's just me. Plus, I LOVE SD, it's such a beautiful place, and I find it quite relaxing. You might find it to be relaxing and a good way to unwind from DL/DCA. However, I don't have children, so perhaps your second itinerary might be better for you.

As far as where to stay in SD, hotels can be pricey. I like the Dana Inn & Marina, it is right on the bay and very close to Sea World. It has a pool, and a good on-site restaurant. It's more motel-ish, but the rooms were big and clean, and I felt very safe there. Last year I bid on a 4-star on Priceline and got the Westin Horton Plaza for $90, which was also great, and extremely convenient. Parking was expensive though, $25. However, I think we would've paid that price for Dana Inn!

 

[tinafromidaho]

we are doing a similar time frame in October arriving on Monday the 3rd and leaving the afternoon of Saturday the 8th. We are just doing Disneyland and visiting around the area. Until it gets closer, like September, noone will know for sure if they will have fireworks or the light parade on weekdays or not. So we have planned to be there Friday night since they will have them for sure on that night.

 

[karylrocks]

I would choose the second option for all the reasons you listed, except that I would drive up to Anaheim on Monday night rather than Tuesday morning, avoiding the morning traffic and giving you more time at Knotts. We have a similar trip planned for the end of August, flying into SAN and out of Orange County. I found a great rental car rate at Avis (Alamo also has a good rate), be sure to check them out when comparing prices (rates vary by as much as $100 for the week).

 

[MrsMud]

Thanks for all your replies. I hadn't thought about fireworks, it WOULD be great to actually see them IN the park, and the ELP. However, it now seems like we will stick with my first plan as the flight times for the second plan are horrible, and it would actually be more expensive as prices have dropped for the original itinerary.
As to SD hotels, I have been waffling back and forth on this one too. I first looked at Days Inn Hotel Circle, then Radisson La Jolla, and now I am considering Embassy Suites La Jolla.
Can you say I N D E C I S I V E?