Originally Posted by SWCPHX

I would skip San Diego. If you're only going for a day and then trying to drive to Santa Clarita in the "late afternoon", you're setting yourself up for a miserable drive. You will have traffic leaving San Diego, all through Orange County, all through Los Angeles County, etc. Spend the first night getting accommodated in LA and spend the next day touring LA before driving up to Santa Clarita. If you want another outlet mall to explore check out the Citadel Outlets on the 5 Freeway around City of Commerce.

And Six Flags is likely to be brutally hot in the middle of July.