West coast - 7days (San Diego, San Francisco: renting, amusement park, how much)

[Seagreen10]

Hey,

My husband and i, along wih our 2 yr old daughter, are planning a 7-8 day trip to West coast (Mainly CA and NV) in September (Around labor day). Wanted to ask which are the places most wirthwhile visiting and toddler friendly.

I have googled a lot and found an overwhelming number of itnieries but some places just dont seem interesting. Most of the itineries have visit to shopping complexes, something we are not interested in. Just looking for first hand opinions.

Hope this is not much to ask Tons of thanks in advance!

[Krispytopher]

I live very near the center of the state and have friends coming to visit from Texas, our game plan includes, Disneyland, San Francisco, and Yosemite. Unfortunately everything requires significant drive time to get to (3+ hours). However, depending on where you are coming from and your exposure with beaches, I would suggest a beach/aquarium.

[RudyOD]

OC/SD seem like a good fit. Lots of beaches for your kid to play in sand in (September is still hot, so great beach weather.) In O.C. you'll have Disneyland accessible, as well as cute areas like San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano. San Diego has Legoland, La Jolla. From Anaheim (Disneyland) to San Diego, it's only about an hour an a half drive. You can also take Amtrak (Surfliner down). From O.C., you can also take Amtrak for a day/two day trip up to Santa Barbara. Or even into the L.A. area if you wish. Old Town Pasadena is beautiful with its historic charm, and even a 2 year old well enjoy all the flowers at the Huntington Library . Also nearby O.C. in Long Beach is the Aquarium of the Pacific.

I hate malls btw!

[OwlKaMyst]

San Diego Zoo....pass on Disneyland until your daughter is older and can ride more of the rides. Knott's Berry Farm might be a good substitute, but it is still an amusement park with a lot of things that the child can't enjoy.

[freepelican]

I would leisurely drive the entire Monterey County coastline (Big Sur etc) FOR SURE... stopping a lot. It's jaw dropping beautiful. From there, it isn't too far to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which kids of all ages love. Good place to see sea otters up close and underwater and the touch pool is fabulous for tots. Pacific Grove is also right there with some of the best tide pools if you time it on a nice low tide. This is one of the safest tide pooling areas for small children since it is in a protected bay... still watch your tot close... and I would NOT recommend tide pooling anywhere near Big Sur... very dangerous even on a "calm" day. Pacific Grove would also have much safer beaches to play on.

The aquarium also has a nice outdoor area right on the water which is a good place to spot wild sea otters. Anywhere in Pacific Grove and Monterey is also good... they'll sometimes swim right up to the docks in Monterey. Kids (and adults) go wild for them.

[Seagreen10]

Thanks a lot! this is great info

I forgot to mention, we are flying in from NJ. So planning to cover as much as we can , dont know when the next trip might be.
Driving is not really an issue, we will be renting a car for the entire stay. As of now we are pretty sure that we want to see Grand canyon. How kid friendly it is, i dunno.
From the posts above, the following looks interesting
1. SFO - What exactly in SFO, clueless lol
2. 1 beach - maybe pacific grove
3. knott's berry farm looks interesting
4. Old Town Pasadena - sounds interesting
5. Monterey County coastline
6. Las vegas - casinos (I know one will have to babysit)

Ever since summers hit the east coast(Finally!) we have been making rounds to aquariums and zoo every weekend, and to be honest all 3 of us are kinda done with watching animals. Maybe we will build up some excitement to include sandiego zoo by then.

This was very helpful, thanks again!

Looking for more suggestions to add to the list, and then can finally pick up and build up an itinery.

[Wells5]

Can't you leave the toddler at home with a trusted relative or friend? I can't see why parents today insist on bringing the little ones along with them.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by Seagreen10

Thanks a lot! this is great info

I forgot to mention, we are flying in from NJ. So planning to cover as much as we can , dont know when the next trip might be.
Driving is not really an issue, we will be renting a car for the entire stay. As of now we are pretty sure that we want to see Grand canyon. How kid friendly it is, i dunno.
From the posts above, the following looks interesting
1. SFO - What exactly in SFO, clueless lol
2. 1 beach - maybe pacific grove
3. knott's berry farm looks interesting
4. Old Town Pasadena - sounds interesting
5. Monterey County coastline
6. Las vegas - casinos (I know one will have to babysit)

Ever since summers hit the east coast(Finally!) we have been making rounds to aquariums and zoo every weekend, and to be honest all 3 of us are kinda done with watching animals. Maybe we will build up some excitement to include sandiego zoo by then.

This was very helpful, thanks again!

Looking for more suggestions to add to the list, and then can finally pick up and build up an itinery.

SFO= San Francisco

You could do a beach theme park combo by hitting Santa Cruz (beach & boardwalk)

I would choose the Mouse House (Disneyland) over Knott's, but that's just me.

Old Town Anywhere can be interesting

Regards to Vegas, some hotels do offer bonded, CPR trained and licensed babysitters

Another poster suggested leaving your child with a trusted friend or relative. Honestly? Not a bad idea. You and your husband are in the child rearing years, enjoy some freedom and how much of this trip will a two year old remember? No matter your choice I hope you have a wonderful trip. Oh, don't forget to plan ahead, Labor Day weekend is a last blast for Summer and hotels will be booked well in advance, considering you're from the East Coast I'm going to think you've already covered this

[freepelican]

Originally Posted by Wells5

Can't you leave the toddler at home with a trusted relative or friend? I can't see why parents today insist on bringing the little ones along with them.

Seeing things through the eyes of a child is half the fun!

[beb0p]

Originally Posted by Seagreen10

Ever since summers hit the east coast(Finally!) we have been making rounds to aquariums and zoo every weekend, and to be honest all 3 of us are kinda done with watching animals. Maybe we will build up some excitement to include sandiego zoo by then.

This was very helpful, thanks again!

Looking for more suggestions to add to the list, and then can finally pick up and build up an itinery.

You can easily spend two weeks in either North or South CA alone. So one week to cover the entire CA and NV is very rush. Don't expect to see everything. But here's some things suggest (obviously I don't expect you to visit all of them), in no particular order other than grouped by cities:

Northern CA:

San Francisco:
1. Fisherman's Wharf
2. Alcatraz
3. Union Square
4. Chinatown
5. Alamo Square
6. Twin Peaks
7. Japantown
8. Golden Gate Bridge
9. Lombard St
10. Ghiradelli Square
11. De Young Museum
12. Asian Art Museum
13. Golden Gate Park
14. Palace of Fine Arts
15. Mission District (for food)
16. Exploratorium
17. Walt Disney Museum



North of SF:
1. Sausalito
2. Muir Woods (hiking)
3. Berkeley downtown
4. Napa Valley - Napa downtown
5. Napa Valley - Yountville


South of SF (mostly ocean towns):
1. Half Moon Bay - Mavericks (if you're really into surfing.)
2. Santa Cruz boardwalk
3. Monterey
4. Camel
5. Pebble Beach 17-mile drive


Sacramento:
1. State Capitol building
2. Old Sacramento
3. Fairytale Town
4. Railroad Museum


That's it for now. I'm sure I've left out a few more; and I'll leave the South CA attractions to the locals.