Just a fair warning that my post is long but I hope it helps!
Here is my two cents worth about traveling to Disneyland and San Diego.
We did a trip to San Diego and only stayed for two nights (one day) and only went to Sea World. It was fantastic! We stayed at a local hotel and didn’t have any problems. Sea World was able to be done in one day. The thing with Sea World is that they have scheduled events for their shows like the dolphins and Shamu and stuff like that. So when you walk in they give you a schedule of events. We felt like we were running back and forth at times to make a show, but it was great fun. We did have sore feet by the end of the day though.
The next day we went to Disneyland and spent two days there. We did stay at a Disneyland hotel and I feel it was very much worth it. Everyone there was there for Disneyland so it was fun to see more families instead of “business people.” They also had a pool so we took a break half-way through our second day to swim, which was a great thing to rejuvenate! One great thing about staying at a Disneyland hotel is the access you have. You get to go through a shopping center outside of Disneyland and ride a “train” to the park. You do not have to wait in line at the gate, you get right in.
There is also a great restaurant outside the tram that is called Rainforest Café. It is a must go to if you go to Disneyland. When you walk in it is a little store but behind it is a restaurant. It has huge fish tanks by the doorway to the restaurant and when you get in the restaurant it is like a mini jungle! It is hard to describe but my children absolutely loved it! There was tons of stuff to look at and every so often the animals came “alive” and made noises and stuff. I am no an orator so I cannot describe it only that it was worth it.
Also the Goofy Café was awesome! They had the Disney characters that came to each table to say hi. The food is buffet style so it is easy to find something for everyone. But the kids only cared about who was coming to their table! Just make sure you find out what time the characters are there, they are not there late in the day!
Now, my advice for Disneyland is to bring little fanny packs for everyone to wear and put water bottles and snacks in it. We only brought a few snacks and had to buy drinks. Bottles of flavored water (no regular water there) were almost $3! It was crazy. Food prices are very high at the park itself. I didn’t do the meal plan so I cannot say for that, but we did spend a fortune on food. One more food advice, do not, I repeat do not eat at the hotel. The restaurants are very expensive. We ended up spending $100 on one dinner at the hotel. We were shocked. The menu had no prices on it, which should have been our clue!
We also had our girls (5 and 8 at the time) save up a lot of money by doing chores and stuff, so they could choose what they wanted to buy. My 8 year old had save up about $100 and my 5 year old had saved up about $70. It was a great teaching tool because of course they wanted everything but they had to stay in their budget. By the end of the trip we did have to go back to certain shops to pick up what they really wanted, but that was ok. Oh, the other thing nice about staying in a Disneyland hotel is if you buy something at a shop at Disneyland, they will send it to your hotel for you! That was great for things you find you want but do not want to carry around all day!
One last thing, bring or buy hats. Standing in line under the sun is very hard on your head and face!
Have a great time!
