2 week CA escape from Ohio for a wedding itinerary planning

[theresfrank]

OK, trip is getting close so I decided to update the post with our current strategy.
We have decided to kind of "wing" the first three days of the trip. We fly into Oakland Sunday, and need to be in Pismo Beach on Wednesday. We are going to kind of leave those three days unplanned to explore based on the weather and what catches our fancy. We have booked an Alcatraz tour but other than that we have no hard fast plans. We added a day on in San Diego as flights were really cheap on Monday as opposed to Sunday.

We are doing two one way car rentals, and overall I feel like it is a better option. We kind of want to do the train down anyway, and we will not need a car at Disney for those 4 days. Autoslash helped me find decent rates.
Oakland to Pismo, 7 day full size for $380 with drop fee
Anaheim to San Diego 4 day full size for $181 with drop fee

We did opt for the "business class" seats on the Surfliner This added about $100 to our total ($220 for 4 rather than $120 for four), but the text in the cheaper seats saying "SEATS NOT GUARANTEED" concerned us. Likely not a problem taking a train down the coast on a Sunday afternoon in February, but i can rest easier knowing we will all be together, and sitting.

I see the crowd factors for DL have gone from 3's to 5 or 6. Has me a little concerned, but I know the weather will play a bigger part anyway. Speaking of weather it was 3 degrees for my drive to work this morning, so I am sure will will be OK with whatever comes our way, even rain.

So below is our up to date plan, I am sure there will be more questions as we get closer.

Date* Travel * Attraction* Lodging*
Sunday, February 14, 2016 *Fly Columbus to Oakland CA, *Head to San Francsico *hotel TBD
Monday, February 15, 2016 *Open day
Tuesday, February 16, 2016 Open day
Wednesday, February 17, 2016 *Morning Drive SEKI to Pismo Beach *Travel day, slow pace *Cliffs Resort
Thursday, February 18, 2016 *None *Hearst Castle, explore Pismo *Cliffs Resort
Friday, February 19, 2016 *None *Rehearsal & sons birthday *Cliffs Resort
Saturday, February 20, 2016 *None *Wedding *Cliffs Resort
Sunday, February 21, 2016 *Amtrak Pacific Surfliner Train from San Luis Obispo to Anaheim *Brunch then travel to Anaheim *Candy Cane Inn
Monday, February 22, 2016 *None *Disneyland/CA day 1 *Candy Cane Inn
Tuesday, February 23, 2016 *None *Disneyland/CA day 2 *Candy Cane Inn
Wednesday, February 24, 2016 *None *Disneyland/CA day 3 & wife's b-day *Candy Cane Inn
Thursday, February 25, 2016 *Morning Drive Anaheim to Carlsbad CA (1 hr) *Free Day, Craftsmanship Museum in Carlsbad *Legoland Hotel
Friday, February 26, 2016 *None *Legoland day 1 *Legoland Hotel
Saturday, February 27, 2016 *Evening Drive Carlsbad to San Diego (1 hr) *Legoland day 2 *San Diego Kings Inn
Sunday, February 28, *None* Midway aircraft carrier, explore San Diego* San Diego Kings Inn
Monday, February 29, 2016 *Fly San Diego to Columbus

 

[quinnc19]

Glad to see you as are spending more time in San Diego.

 

[hodad]

I'm just reading this thread now for the first time, but here are my two cents:

When I lived in California my dad visited me from Ohio in February and we drove my Grand Am to Sequoia during a snowstorm and had a blast snowshoeing around the big trees and staying in the lodge.

Have you considered SEKI-Monterey-Hearst-Pismo? If you plan on visiting Hearst Castle, it's not much more driving and you would get to experience PCH, arguably the most beautiful stretch of road in the country. If you do this, consider changing the first night of your reservation in Pismo to something in Monterey or Carmel.

If you don't plan on using a car until you leave Carlsbad for San Diego, don't forget that you can take a combination of cabs and the Coaster from Anaheim to Carlsbad, possibly saving money. Having said that, I can't imagine three days in Carlsbad without a few trips around San Diego County, but I consider Legoland a one-day park.

It looks like you'll have a wonderful time! I'm jealous!