Legoland or Wild animal Park?

[KyMattDisney]

Hi there...trying to decide which park would be best for us....we will be starting vacation in San Diego

Fri-arrive from NJ in SD
Sat-Zoo/Padres game at night
Sun-SeaWorld
Mon--Which to do Legoland or Wild Animal Park...included in our vacation package is the 3 for 1 SD pass which covers WAP but my boys (ages 10 & 5) seemed more interested in Legoland......

We will then be traveling late that day/early evening to Anahiem for our 7day/6 night stay at DLH.......

Any thoughts? Is there something else better to do along the way......

Also...any good driving tips on SD to Anahiem on a Monday afternoon/early evening?

 

[lap3]

Your 5 year old may take a liking to Legoland moreso than your 10 year old. I went there for the first time a few weeks ago for my DS's 6th birthday and the way it's designed and laid out appeals more to toddlers. However, your older child will probably like a couple of the rollercoasters that they have. If you haven't been there before, I would suggest going to Legoland.

BTW, 6 days at Disneland? That sound like fun! With that much time, you can take your time visiting the parks. Most of the DISers that are experts on DL have mentioned that 3 days are plenty to see any do just about everything. That includes 2 days at DL and 1 day at CA. With 6 days, you can take your leisurely time to do everything. Also, consider going to Knott's or Magic Mountain for a day each. Your 10 year old might like these places.

 

[KyMattDisney]

thanks....we will actually be there for 5 days (Tues-Sat) since we arrive late Monday evening and have an early flight on Sunday morning...so we are planning on doing some sightseeing in LA/Hollywood and take our time enjoying the parks......that is one thing we are looking forward to.

We are WDW veterans and since there are 4 parks and 2 water parks you constantly feel like you are on the go...with this we can enjoy downtown disney and the hotel more (DLH)

 

[lark]

Every five year old is different, but I've yet to hear about one who has been to legoland and not loved it. It's basically a big park made just for him. Unlike Disney, or the zoo, or any other attraction, it offers, almost quite literally, absolutely nothing for you and everything for your 5 year old. The ten year old is a little more iffy, but there's still plenty there to be enjoyed.

The problem with going to the wild animal park is that you're already going to a zoo two days earlier. When we go to SD, we don't do both the zoo and the wild animal park in the same week. Also, since you're going to Sea World, which is mostly just another zoo, but for fish and sea animals, you're really talking about 3 zoos in 3 days.

All that said, your itinerary looks very very ambitious. The zoo on Saturday involves ALOT of walking. The baseball game will have you up until late, and Sea world is another exhausting day. To go to yet another theme park and then have a 2 hour southern california drive (not to mention packing and checking in) is more than we'd be able to do. I'd be a zombie at legoland. The advantage to the Wild Animal Park is that it's basically passive. You can do a lot of walking if you like, but mostly you just hop on the monorail and watch the animals. (You can see 80 percent of the WAP in 2 hours, which gets you on the road quicker and might get you up to DL before rush hour.) As for the drive, you're definitely doing it the right way -- either from the WAP or legoland, you're already basically as far north as Carlsbad, and the disney drive will be much quicker. (Actually, legoland is right next to the highway, so that's the quickest.) There are no real driving tips. You'll probably be hitting Anaheim at rush hour. Nothing much you can do other than make sure everyone used the bathroom before you hit Capistrano. Use the carpool lane.

 

[abby]

Last year we did San Diego (this year disneyland is coming soon) I would go to Lego Land. Took my 4 year old last year and she loved it, although there were one or two things she was too small for. We also did Wild Animal park, they have a train ride around the park to see the animals, but they were too far away for her to see very well. Some of the non train stuff was fun, but if you are doing the zoo and sea world (another fav of her's) I would go to lego land.

 

[matsterrocks]

Legoland

 

[msteddom]

Since you are already doing the zoo, and you have boys who are still a good age for it, I would go with Legoland. I love the Wild Animal Park, but I think it might be boring for you boys after the zoo.

As far a driving to Anaheim goes. try to leave as early as possible, I would say around 3 PM, if not earlier. If you have internet access check out sigalert.com to see how traffic is moving and listen to traffic reports on the way up. AM 1070 and 640 both have frequent reports. Have fun!


Melissa

 

[challada]

We are members at the zoo, so we get the wild animal park too....we always do the two in one week and my kids (5 & 9) really get a kick out of....depends alot on your tourguide too. Frankly, you can do BOTH wild animal park and Legoland in one day (we have) and then not feel like you missed anything! Go to WAP first thing in the morning when it opens...you will walk on the tram and get a good look at the animals in the morning (more active then before the heat of the day). Get off tram, visit the birds (feed them) and then go see the nursery if there are babies....that's about it for my kids to see (though dinosaurs were cool last year too).
Get in your car, drive over to LL (about 30 minutes away)...you won't have to wait in the early lines to get in. Then you can tour LL until the park closes (crowds leave about 4pm).
As previously mentioned, your 5 will love it, your 10 will be bored out of his gourd. I personally can't stand LL, but the kids like it!

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

I'd skip them both and either spend the day at Balboa park or spend the day at the beach and go to the Scripps aquarium in La Jolla.
You could also just take a nice drive up PCH and stop whenever you feel like it. Have a picnic lunch in Laguna and fly a kite. Stop in Oceanside and walk to the end of the pier and have lunch at Ruby's. If your boys like trains you could take the train from San Diego to Oceanside and have one parent dive and meet you there. You can also find the tide schedule on line and go tidepooling in North Sandiego County. I did a google seach for California tidepooling and it had sites and directions. If you absolutely need to do another amusement park drive into OC and do Knotts there is Camp Snoopy for your little one and bigger rides for the 10 year old.

 

[CalGal]

What a wonderful vacation you have planned! I also vote for Legoland. Its very worth seeing, but it is not for teenagers. This may be the last chance you will be able to go when both of your boys will enjoy it. It will still be a fairly light day compared to the others, so it will fit in well after your busy weekend and before your week at DLR.

 

[geffric]

we went 2 years ago and my boys loved Legoland so much that we actually went 3 different days.. Lots to see and do, much more causal relaxed day the Disney... the kids liked the rides, we signed up for all sorts of building stuff times and robotics building times.. we loved Legoland!! If your kids are into Legos.. it is a kid heaven..

 

[HLester3]

That is such a hard decision because they are both so different. We went to both last year as well as sea world. As a side note, Costco offers the LA City Pass for around $140-$150 and it includes 3 days at Disney, KnottsBerrry Farms, Sea World and either the San Diego Wild Animal Park or the Zoo.

My kids were only 2 1/2 at the time and loved both of the parks. There are a lot of rides with hardly any lines and it was a nice park you can easily do in one day. They loved all of the water play areas with shooting fountains, the dino dig area and the driving rides.

At the wild animal park we got some great pictures. We fed the giraffe's (which was my highlight) and the lorikeets, which fly around and land on your shoulder to get the sugar water they sell. Also got some great pictures in the petting zoo which has deer instead of the usual goats at other zoos.
I actually preferred the wild animal park it to the San Diego Zoo. However, the zoo does have the Panda exhibit and the great polar bear exhibit.

Have a great time.

 

[sunie]

Does Sams offer the same type discount on the parks as Costco? I'm in Oklahoma city and there isn't a Costco in my area.

 

[undertheradar]

We are also SD Zoo members and I suggest that you start at the zoo and end your day at the SD Wild Animal Park. Both have lots of animals, but the Wild Animal Park is much more "laid back." You would then have an entire day for Legoland. When planning for your drive to Anaheim, don't understestimate our Los Angeles area traffic. Leave earlier rather than later.

 

[HLester3]

I read some place on these boards that Costco.com would sell them to people who were not members, but that if you were a member you got an additional 5% off. I am not sure, but you can check their website under the travel section and tickets.

Good Luck.

 

[HLester3]

As for the traffice, it probably took at least an hour from Anaheim to get to Carlsbad leaving around 9 a.m., then at least another 1 to 1 1/2 hours on to San Diego. It took a little longer than I anticipated to drive from San Diego to the wild animal park. We tried to get there early, and then went almost straight to the giraffe feeding and we were the only ones there.