November 1-3 part of trip...Part One About This Page:

[Flagger]

Flagger’s SoCal Trip November 1st-November 6th, 2005

I want to say at first that we had a wonderful, relaxing vacation. We enjoyed almost everything we did; we had no problems spending the four figures for this vacation; we got such a thrill seeing the priceless send of wonderment, joy and overload on our daughter’s face. Please note that ANY negatives you may read are just our honest impressions of our trip. We are giving are holw

Tuesday November 1st

We departed our home for San Diego after dropping off the dogs at the kennel, the car at the auto repair shop and straightening up the house for the maids which would come while we were gone. The drive from AZ took around five and a half hours. We pulled into the hotel just after 9pm. It was the Comfort Inn and Suites on the north ring of Hotel Circle. We picked it because we got a nice web rate and it was close to Sea World. The room had a Jacuzzi tub!!! So nice after a long drive.

Wednesday November 2nd

Sea World did not open until 10AM so we had a leisurely morning eating the bagels and danishes at the continental breakfast. After I could stand it no longer, it was time to head over to Sea World. We parked our car ($8 for parking) and headed into the early entry which really let you into the shops. Get your shopping done before traipsing all over the park. At 10AM after playing the star spangled banner, the gates opened and we were in the park. We had planned our day around the shows and our first one was not until 11:30, so we made our way to the dolphin interactive tank. Once an hour you can feed the dolphins frozen smelt fish (four fish for four dollars in a paper French fry tray). Our first opportunity was at 10:30.

It was then off to play with the rays in the next exhibit. At this point we had washed our hands at least twice after handling frozen and fresh fish and mammals. We were then off to secure a spot at Shamu’s stadium. I was a bit disappointed in they are doing construction on Shamu’s tank to make the arena bigger, which meant there was no glass area where DD could see him/her swimming under water.

We basically planned our day around the shows. We saw the sea lion show (waste of time IMHO), the pets rule show which my daughter thoroughly enjoyed, and the dolphin show closed out the day. The polar bears were off exhibit (my daughter said they were sleepin’), but we did manage to see the penguins which are always a delight. We stopped and ate in the park at the Calypso restaurant. The food was just ok, but what can one expect from park food.

At 4:15ish, it was back to the room to freshen up and relax and decide on dinner. We ended up at Casa Guadlajara about five minutes from our hotel and regretted it from the moment we sat down. We had one of the worst servers we have ever had and the food was barely edible. However, it was back to the hotel where we could relax in a nice hot Jacuzzi tub.

Thursday November 3rd

It was time to check out of our hotel and head north to San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park in Escondido. (Parking here was also $8) This park is located on 1800 acres and only half of it has been developed. Your park entrance includes an hour long train ride around the parks various exhibits. We saw lions, elephants, gazelles, Rhinos, gorillas and more on our circuit of the park. They keep the grass eaters separated from the meat eaters and there is no natural feeding in the park. They are about conservation and do not let the cheetahs in with the gazelles. I had to ask though.

We got quite an eyeful when we walked back to the gorilla exhibit as we observed male and female youngsters in all sort of human like um “positions” all under the watchful eye of the male Silverback. This was our rest and relaxation day so after shopping and having my daughter throw and break a $45 Christmas ornament from Poland, it was time to head out of the park.

We got a bit lost trying to find our way up 15 for the highway that would take us over to I-5, but eventually we made our way there and on up the coast. After a 90 minute drive or so, we were seeing the exits for Katella, Harbor Blvd. and Disney Way. I am not sure how I did it or what exit I took, but somehow I ended up coming up right along side the Ramada Maingate which would be our home for the rest of our time in SoCal. After having a room with a Jacuzzi, I asked how much it would be to upgrade to a Jacuzzi room. Another $20 per day! I booked it without hesitation and let me tell you it was the best $60 I spent last week!!!

The room was the Brandon Garr suite that sits over the main lobby and faces the park. ToT was right outside our window. The room was HUGE at least twice the size of the other rooms and the Jacuzzi was big enough for the two of us. We are not exactly tiny people either. That being said, I have to admit it was still a Ramada. We are not exactly hotel snobs since to us all rooms look alike when we are asleep. It was clean and comfortable and the tub was such a plus.

We got situated and decided it was time to head to DTD. I timed the walk from the hotel to just inside security and it took 8 minutes and 16 seconds which included waiting two minutes for the light to change. I took my SoCal City Pass books over to an open ticket window and turned them in for our 3 day park hopper bonus passes.

From this point on, my daughter was on Mickey overload. There are huge flags hanging on the light poles as you walk from the street and we and others around us would hear our daughter yelling out “Oh Mickey Mouse!!!” at the top of her lungs. At the WOD store, she started shopping. Thankfully she is still at an age where she will put things back when told to do so.

Following a tip from another poster, we headed off to Wal-mart two exits north on I-5 where we found the shirts we wanted for far less than we would have paid at WOD. We still dropped a good penny on picture books though at WOD. We also looked at the Thai places on Crescent, but decided the BBQ place was more what we wanted to eat. Oh yeah the temperature was a bit cooler than we are used to in AZ so we bought jackets at Wal-mart. It was back to the room because we had an early start Friday morning.

[Flagger]

The wonderful jacuzzi tub big enough for two:

[chezp]

Great start to your report. We're planning a trip to Disneyland and will be taking a couple of days to go to San Diego, so it was great to read your thoughts on both Sea World and the Zoo, as they'll both be stops for us.

More please! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]

[MKBaughan]

I too stayed at Ramada Inn Maingate last month. I had the room that is all by itself over the gift shop ToT right out my window! I really liked this hotel! Very convient to the main entrance to the parks... My room wasn't a suite, but I had plenty of room!

[lauren-roxy]

Great start to your trip report!! Can't wait to read more!!!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Thanks for the info on the other parks! I hope to get out there someday [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]