California - Things to do in San Diego for small children

We are planning a trip to San Diego. We are planning to visit the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. Our son is 2 (25 months) and we are wondering if SeaWorld and Legoland will be appropriate for him or should we wait to visit Legoland and SeaWorld on another trip when he is older. We want to make sure that there will be enough rides and things for him to enjoy and etc. Your comments, suggestions, recommendations and etc. will be appreciated. Thanks.

Pretty sure a search of this forum would turn up extensive useful data.

Legoland is fine for a two-year-old; it's aimed at toddlers up to 8- or 9-year-olds. There are a couple of (relatively tame) roller-coaster-type rides that will be out of his reach, but the "Miniland" models of American cities, the live shows and the hands-on build-and-play centers will be fine.

SeaWorld is fine also. You can focus on the animals and shows and skip the more advanced rides. Free beer for as long as Anheuser-Busch owns the place. Lots of walking though.

Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo are great. There's a big model railroad museum / layout in Balboa Park, and a fine aviation museum.

Boat rides around the harbor are relaxing and a good way to get your breath back... and the Star of India sailing ship anchored in the harbor is worth touring.

The Wild Animal Park is actually a better attraction than the Zoo IMO, but if you can manage it with your kid's maintenance / sleeping schedule, try to be there late afternoon through sundown. Crowds thin out, the inland heat is less daunting, and the free-roaming animals come out late. At the height of the day, there's a long queue to ride these monorail things through the free-range area that are the main point of going to the park, and the sun can be quasi-brutal.

Hope that helps.

Years ago we took our then 2-year-old son to San Diego and the highlights were the Zoo and Wild Animal Park. I remember how much fun he had in the petting area. Other suggestions are the beaches and I just had breakfast next to the new San Diego Children's Museum, which is near the GasLamp and Convention Center area.

Good advice from the other respondents. You don't mention when you will be in San Diego but if you are here before 6 July the San Diego County Fair has tons of kiddie rides and animal exhibits and food, food, food.

It's a HUGE fair, well attended, and is held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Something to consider if you're in town; you can find out more info by doing a search for "San Diego County Fair".

visited Legoland a few months ago with a 2-year-old, 5-year-old, and 6-year-old. All of them LOVED it. A little more for the 5-and-6-year olds, but the 2-year-old got to "drive a car" by himself, and play with the water cannons that you shoot in the lego-frog's mouth, and take a couple of kiddie rides, and play with legos. The older kids actually preferred it to the zoo, which we had done the day before...and they're pretty big zoo kids.

If you *do* go to Legoland, follow the advice and go to Costco to get the tix--you'll save $15/person. (If you're headed north on I-5, you get off on the 1st exit with access to Legoland and take a right.)

Enjoy....

I agree with all the other posters.
My family and I come from from New York and Arizona every summer to SD. The kids who were babies are now teenagers and loved all the attractions in San Diego. Again as an earlier poster said, if you are going in July or August to the Wild Animal Park, the heat will be brutal during the middle of the day.

Sea World has just launched a Sesame Street themed play center for the younger set. To do so, they closed down their toddler play area for a number of months -- the old one was pretty robust for the toddler/preschool crowd, so I'm thinking the new one could very likely be nirvana for the 2 or 3 year old set.

Info here (http://www.seaworld.com/sitepage.aspx?PageID=178).

Between Sea World and Legoland, I definitely believe Sea World would have more to offer your 2 year old than Legoland. I think Legoland is a fantastic choice for someone in the 5-8 year old kind of range.

The dates you will be here would be helpful.

The San Diego Zoo is a near DT San Diego at Balboa park. The train ride is there too. A number of museums are located in the park and 8 different gardens (only the Japanese gardens charge a fee). The park is quite active and you may find activities appropriate for your child there. The Wild Animal Park is in Escondido. They are a fair distance apart. There are package tickets available for visiting multiple places in San Diego County. Knott's soak City in Chula Vista and Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Naturally, the ocean is nearby and wonderful. Areas are available to get close to the seals. At the right time of year you can go Whale watching.

You can get help at:

www.gosandiegocard.com
sandiegozoo.org/
sandiego.org
sandiegonorth.com
gocalifornia.about.com
travelforkids.com


We believe the zoo is better for children under 8 than the WAP. We retired in Escondido to be near the WAP (our "children"). Having said that, the WAP has a "squarepants" ride, a petting zoo, a play yard, a water squirting area, 2 shows especially for childern and lion camp when it is sometime possible to be a plate glass distance from the lions and 7 cubs are on exhibit. Unlike the zoo, when most things are concentrated (200-300 acres), the WAP is 1800 acres, with 800 developed. It houses herds of animals. It have several animals that no longer live in the wild, so with less that 50 in captivity. An example is the Northern White Rhino. We have 2 and there are a few in the Chech Republic...thats all. Our lady is too old to mate and our guy has lost interest. As previously stated, it is often quite hot in the summer at the WAP. The WAP is a center for saving the endangered animals and plants. A walk up to Condor Ridge will take you by many of the trees, plants, shrubs, etc and the animals of the USA, porcupine, bald eagle, falcon, big horn sheep etc.

If you come in later September or in October, a ride to Julian can be fun (for you) and you can go pick apples with your two year old!

Don't forget to have fun too. Two is a bit young to take advantage of most thing on a trip except free entry, IMHO!