Which San Diego Attraction Would You Pick?

I grew up in southern CA. I think sea world is the best! We used to have passes and we went all the time. The zoo is boring and legoland is very small.

SeaWorld is awesome, and when I lived in SD (1990), I loved the zoo. The aviary was exceptional.

ETA: ah, yes, the hills at the zoo.... SeaWorld was, as I recall, relatively flat. :)

Definitely do not do Legoland. Your younger one will be too short to ride anything (unless she's a giant). Every ride is a minimum of 34" and MOST are a minimum of 36" with some being even taller than that. So I really don't think that would be a good fit for you.

Choosing between Sea World and the Zoo is a tough choice. Sea World has some neat shows like Shamu and the Dolphin show (which I think is better than Shamu). It also has a big water play area that would be fun for the girls. They would get soaked, so bring bathing suits or extra clothes. It's also a lot less walking.

The Zoo, on the other hand, has tons of great animals and exhibits. It's much better than any other zoo I've ever been to. however, it's A LOT of walking, including many hills. When we went last year, my son was almost five and he was EXHAUSTED after about 3-4 hours. He fell asleep before the car was out of the parking lot. There was a lot more we could have seen, but didn't get a chance because he couldn't walk anymore, and all of us were pretty tired. We had my then-18 month old in a stroller and pushing it up the hills was tiring.

So, Sea World might be your best bet with the girls at this age. Save the others for when they are older and will get more out of it. The shows at Sea World do sell out, so plan your day in advance and get your tickets as soon as you get to the park (if you can) or else plan to line up early so you can get in.

Omg, Seaworld is awesome. In fact Seaworld anywhere is awesome!

:)

I lived in S.D. for over a decade.

It's either the Zoo or Seaworld. The zoo is a personal favorite of mine, but Seaworld also has shows and a big play area, in addition to critters. I would definitely choose either of those over Legoland, though it's cute in its own way. Plus Legoland is far away.

I highly recommend The Best Western Plus Hacienda Hotel in Old Town, which is really nice and is in the perfect location. Last time we went it was really affordable.
http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/US/CA/San-Diego-h...

(Yes, lots of walking at the zoo -- so if you have really little ones, you might prefer Sea World.)

How exciting! We just took our 4 year old to San Diego for Spring Break! Best vacation ever! We stayed at Hotel Del on Coronado Island - - pricey, but so memorable! Huge sandy beach for kite flying and sand castle making, bike cart rentals, etc! We chose Seaworld as our main attraction - - crazy pricey - - I couldn't believe it! But was sooo awesome! The shows they put on are really first-rate these days! Aside from that, you've got to take the girls to Old Town for lunch/dinner. Best Mexican food and live music! Have a great trip!

The zoo hands down I love granted I haven't been in 10 yes but its huge and nothing like you'll ever see

Zoo first. Sea world 2nd. Legoland only if my life depended on it.

Another vote for Sea World. We went last May with our then 5.5 y.o., nearly 3 y.o., and 1 yr old. It is very feasible to do everything there in 1 day. Tickets are, indeed pricey, but it isn't an overwhelmingly big place, so you can pretty much do everything there if you use your time wisely.

We loved staying at the Sheraton Marina, which is right next to the airport. Beautiful hotel with great views of the marina, a less than 5 minute drive to downtown, spacious rooms, nice outdoor pool, and you can even rent a boat if you just go down the steps from the hotel to the marina.

None of them are "cheap"

Sea World is a blast! They just opened a water park last weekend!

The W. Animal Park (In Escondido) is fun too.

Never been to LEGOLAND - so can't tell you that. Do your daughters even play with LEGOs?

if I had to pick JUST ONE? It's not listed - the San Diego Zoo.

Have fuN!

I would skip LEGOLAND. Your kids are going to be too short for a lot of the rides there. It's really better when kids are a little older/taller. Double check the height requirements. We had annual passes for a couple years. It's fun enough. But it's not good for little ones IMO.
We love the Safari Park in Escondido! It can get a bit hot during that time of year though. But they have a good deal of shade and ways to beat the heat. The Safari ride to see the animals is really great. We have had Zoo membership for years and my kids always love going to both the Safari Park and the Zoo.
Sea World is also nice and good for your children's ages. They have special 4th of July fireworks that they may enjoy. We had passes for them for a couple years and really enjoyed going. Hoping to be able to afford to get them again.
San Diego is very spread out. To give you an idea, the Safari Park is a good 30-45 minutes north of Sea World which is at the other end. Traffic for 4th of July can be a bit of a challenge along the coast because that is the last weekend of the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar. The 5 can be a bit of a mess. LEGOLAND is in Carlsbad which is at the opposite end of San Diego as well.
If you want to see San Diego proper, as in Downtown and the larger tourist places I would recommend Sea World or the San Diego Zoo as opposed to the Safari Park and get a place to stay further south, closer to the action. Hotel Circle has a lot of places to stay and it's close to everything around there.

Sea World for the reasons Mommyc mentioned :)

We went over spring break and went to EVERYTHING in San Diego and SoCal including LEGOLAND and Disneyland. Both the Zoo and SeaWorld are great for the kiddos, it just depends on what they are into.

The zoo is big and they have a sky rider and a bus, however be prepared to walk. SeaWorld is very manageable to get around, the shows were fun and there is a dolphin pool where you can interact with the dolphins. We didn't even go on the rides. I do not recommend Legoland. We have an 8 yo boy who plays with Legos and he thought it was boring, except the the lego towns in the middle. The rides are not worth it and lines are really inefficient, thus making them long.

My recommendation for hotel is a Marriot Courtyard, Liberty Station. It is located just west of the airport. It is very close to everywhere in SD. 10min to SeaWorld, 15 to Zoo. Very reasonable and family friendly. They have a good breakfast buffet. Look up their rating on Trip Advisor and Yelp. The area it is good, getting to the freeway, you will go through an area where you will see a few homeless, but not anything to be fearful of.

Safari zoo hands down.

Be aware that the San Diego Zoo and the Safari Park are two different things. We have been to the zoo twice and love it! We have never gone to the safari park because it sounded like it was more just riding through the park and with the ages of our children we didn't think they would be able to sit for that long.

We have also been to Sea World twice and enjoy that too. If you want the amusement park rides Sea World might be a better choice. They do have a Seasame Street area for little kids with rides, a splash pad, a stage show and meet and greet with some of the characters. My kids loved that area when they were that age.

I should also add, we stayed on Coronodo Island and loved the beaches there. They also have a fun 4th of July parade and fireworks there. We stayed at Lowes (sp?) Resort.

We made sure to see the SD Zoo because of the pandas. We have beautiful zoos in our area, but no pandas, so it was something we could see that we haven't before.

Sea World is amazing!

Seaworld has one of the best 4th Fireworks around! Really great. I love Sea World and the Animal park. If you do Seaworld check out paradise point hotel. Very fun for kids. Not as lovely as the Del Coronado but right across the street from Sea World. I love Legoland but its not really in San Diego and Carlsbad is really another hour into Mission Bay. Have fun!

I would suggest the San Diego zoo. It's one of the largest in the world and they have animals that you can't see at ordinary zoos. Wyndom garden is good for the price. Check it out at bookit.com Pacific beach is also a nice one for families.

The Zoo would be my 1st choice. Seaworld would be my 2nd choice.

I have been to all the places you listed and for your children and the ages they are, I think the Zoo is your best bet, by far!!

Legoland is up the road from San Diego, and it may take you quite a bit of driving time, depending on the traffic congestion. However, it's a lot of fun for kids. It's probably less enjoyable for adults, although to me the Lego City is phenomenal.

We've been to the other places and like them all. In May we met some family members (who were in the area for a different reason than we were) and went to the Safari Zoo. It was a lot of fun for us all, and the 3-year-old and 1-year-old liked it, too. It was a nice, manageable one-day trip.

Can't recommend any hotel - my husband is in charge of that and he always goes for the cheapest! But that isn't always the best when you have children. (His thought is that a hotel room is just a touchdown base, not a featured part of the vacation....)

Zoo is my first choice. We did San Diego in February and enjoyed the zoo. I am not sure why it is deemed by some the "best zoo" as we have been to many large zoos across the US and it was not our favorite. The hills and ongoing construction were a bit of a pain. Also, the exhibits seemed really far apart so it was a lot of walking with less to see. I wonder if we had too high expectations for it.... Anyway, we also did seaworld and I was not very happy with it. We went to the seaworld Orlando and it was so much better. The dolphin/killer whale shows were great but that was about it. I do not think it was worth the money. If I had to pick I would choose the zoo. We did look at lego land but had a very short time and based on reviews decided not to do it.

We stayed on Shelter Island Dr. as a friend of ours lives in San Diego and recommended that area to be away from the city but close to the activities. It was a great location and we were very happy with the hotel. We were doing the trip on a budget so this place was perfect. Clean, nice staff, really nice area. We asked for a marina side room and the view from our balcony was amazing of all the boats and the water. We actually ordered room service the first night as we arrived really late and the meal was surprisingly good.

We stayed at this one - http://www.hotels.com/hotel/details.html?pa=3&pn=1&am...

We also looked at this place but it was a little more expensive at the time. It looked really pretty from the outside - http://www.hotels.com/hotel/details.html?pa=2&pn=1&am...