San Diego + Disneyland Trip Report: Part 1

This summer, we had a two-part trip that started with a beach house in San Diego and ended at our favorite place: Disneyland.

One of the best things about vacationing at Disneyland is how easy it is to pair it with other Southern California destinations. You can turn a Disneyland trip into a fuller vacation without adding a ton of complicated logistics.

I have had multiple friends start or end their trip in San Diego and take the train between the two. For example, you could fly into Orange County or John Wayne Airport, or LAX if you have to, spend a few days at Disneyland, and then take the train down to San Diego. The train station is a short Uber ride away, and the train ride itself can feel like part of the experience. It can also be more cost-effective than renting a car for the entire trip.

Then, after the busyness of Disneyland, you get a beach vacation to decompress.

However, that is not exactly what we did. More on our transportation and tips in a bit.

Day 1: Arrival in San Diego

For the first part of our trip, we rented a beach house with my dad, stepmom, grandma, sister, nephew, and my family: myself, my husband, and our 9-year-old daughter.

I found a great house and booked it for our family, which is one of the perks of being a travel agent. The setup was ideal. We were within walking distance of the beach, local coffee shops (must try coffee shop with multiple CA locations) and restaurants. Most importantly, we all had our own bathrooms!

Once we got settled in, we walked down to the beach, which the kids loved. Later, my sister, husband, and I made a Trader Joe’s run to stock up on the essentials. That night, we ordered pizza from a local sourdough pizzeria called Odie’s and enjoyed it on the balcony with wine while the kids played in the hot tub.

It was probably the most relaxed we would be the entire vacation.

If we do this trip again, which spoiler alert, we hope to, I would take out one activity day and make it a pure relaxation day. When you are combining beach time, family time, theme parks, and sightseeing, it is so easy to overfill the schedule. But that first night reminded me how nice it is to just arrive, settle in, and actually enjoy where you are staying.

Day 2: Legoland California

The next day, we went to Legoland, and my husband and I both agreed that it exceeded our expectations.

Of course, it is not Disneyland, but it is cute and had way more to do than we expected. In fact, we spent the entire day there and still did not get everything done. Our tickets included aquarium access, but we did not have time for it. There is also a water park, which we definitely would have tried if my daughter had not been in a cast.

The biggest con for us was the price of the skip-the-line passes. They were very expensive, so we stuck with standby. Honestly, the standby lines and crowds were not bad, especially for a summer weekend. What made some of the waits feel long was the ride loading process. It just seemed like several attractions could have been more efficient.

The food was decent, though. I had chicken tacos, and my husband had steak loaded fries.

The ordering system at the place where we ate was actually really efficient. You ordered from a screen with options from different restaurants, and then picked everything up in one central area. For a multigenerational group with different tastes, this was ideal.

My Legoland Tips

• Pack your own snacks and water

• Do not go straight to the first ride you see, because it seemed like most people did that

• Instead, head toward the back of the park or choose one area and work your way forward

• Take advantage of the Lego building areas and play areas when kids need a break from lines

• Consider staying one night at a Legoland hotel if you want to do a 2-day ticket, aquarium, and water park

• Be aware that parking is pricey. I believe we paid $40

Day 3: San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo is famous for a reason. It is beautiful, impressive, and absolutely massive.

My biggest tip is to get familiar with the map before you go. I was surprised by how often we got turned around. There is so much to see, but the size of the zoo can make it feel a little overwhelming if you do not have a general plan.

The food was good, and parking was affordable and plentiful, which is always appreciated when traveling with a group.

My San Diego Zoo Tips

• You can bring your own food and drinks

• Arrive early

• If the polar bears are a priority, go there early before it gets too warm

• Use the GPS feature in the app to see where you are on the map

• Do not miss the Safari Tram

• Do not miss the pandas

The Safari Tram and pandas were both highlights for our whole group.

Day 4: Heading to Disneyland

After our San Diego portion, it was time to head to Disneyland.

Our first Disneyland day was going to be with the entire multigenerational group, so I want to cover those tips in more detail in the next post. Traveling to Disneyland with a bigger family group is a completely different experience, and there are definitely things I would recommend doing to make the day smoother.

But first, let’s talk about how we got there.

Our beach house was about an hour from Anaheim. My husband, daughter, and I were staying in Anaheim for four nights, so we drove our rental car there. To avoid paying hotel parking fees, we planned to drop the rental car off at the Enterprise/Alamo location on Katella, which is within walking distance of Disneyland. There is also a rental car location at Pixar Place Hotel.

Before returning the car, we drove straight to our hotel to drop off our luggage. This was around 7 a.m., which means yes, we had to leave before 6 a.m. to make this happen. But arriving early to the parks matters that much to us because we know how much can get accomplished in those first few hours. My plan was to leave our luggage with bell services, but they actually had a room available. The early check-in fee was only $25, so we took it.

We stayed at Sheraton Park Hotel, which we have stayed at many times before. It is modern, about a 15-minute walk to Disneyland, and usually a more affordable option compared to some other walkable hotels.

Once our luggage was dropped off and our rental car was returned, we headed to the parks.

The rest of my family was meeting us there. Since they were not staying overnight, they parked in the Toy Story parking lot.

And this is where our Disneyland portion officially begins.

In the next post, I will share what it was like doing Disneyland with a multigenerational group, how we handled lightning lanes, what worked, what I would do differently, and my biggest tips for making a group park day feel less chaotic.