First time in California: a 17 days trip and I need your suggestions!

[isabellea]

I am in the early planning stage of our summer vacation in SoCal (mid -August) and I need some inputs on our plans so far. Our daughters will be 5 and almost 8 yo when we go. We are used to long drives since we drove to Florida from Montreal, QC 4 times in the last 3 years , a 24h drive not counting the stops and we are WDW vets. This trip I call our hybrid trip because it will include our usual vacation activities of going to the beach and theme parks but for the first time I want to add some more grown-up, touristy things to do by visiting national parks and landmarks. In a way, I want to introduce my kids to another way of traveling without overwhelming them. For now, I am planning 17 days in SoCal and we will be flying to SNA where we will rent a car for the duration of our trip.

To prepare this trip, I have listened to most of the DIS Disneyland Podcasts called Day 6 Drive/Adventure and selected what sounded the most fun for our family. I am very opened to any suggestion, favourite places to stay, eat and visit included! It’s our first time in California so we are newbies for lots of things!

Plan (version 1):

Day 1 (Wednesday): Fly to SoCal YUL-SNA (almost 9h of travel) – stay close to airport for that first night

Day 2 (Thursday): Huntington Beach (DH wants to take surfing lessons)

Day 3 (Friday): Dana Point and whale watching (captain Dave)

Day 4 (Saturday): Drive to San Diego with stops along the way

Day 5 (Sunday): Easy day downtown, visit USS Midway

Day 6 (Monday): San Diego Zoo

Day 7 (Tuesday): Another day at SD zoo? Or maybe go to Legoland and visit Palm Spring the next day instead?

Day 8 (Wednesday): Legoland

Day 9 (Thursday): Drive north to Sequoia National Park (any scenic route or interesting stops along the way?)

Day 10 (Friday): Sequoia National Park

Day 11 (Saturday): Drive to San Luis Obispo

Day 12 (Sunday): Drive south to Disneyland on Hwy 1 (should we stop at Griffith Park Observatory?)

Day 13 (Monday): Discovery Cube and Downtown Disney

Day 14 (Tuesday): DL/DCA

Day 15 (Wednesday): DL/DCA

Day 16 (Thursday): DL/DCA

Day 17 (Friday): Fly home SNA-YUL

Thank you!

 

[SMD]

Sequoia is a good 5 hours from Anaheim, whereas you're only about 2 hours from there for the rest of the trip. I'd do Disney in the first part of the trip, then add King's Canyon to the northern part and fly home from Sacramento or San Jose, both of which are going to be a little bit close then going back to Anaheim. There's a cool train museum in Sacramento and Sutter's Fort. SFO would probably take about as long as returning to SNA, but might get you better flight options since it's a larger airport. I'm not a fan of Palm Springs in August. Unless you like to play golf and be extremely hot while playing golf. It's only 2-2.5 hours from SNA to San Diego, and not that many great places to stop. You could just drive straight through and do the Midway that day, neither driving or Midway and downtown are really full day activities.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

Sounds like a fun trip! There's a ton of stuff you can do in Southern California as you figured out.

I lived in Orange County/Long Beach for 4 years, but I didn't have kids at the time. We did take our kids (4 and 2) to San Diego in December for 8-9 days, I can tell you they pretty much just wanted to go to Legoland every day.

Palm Springs is not all that exciting, especially with kids, I wouldn't waste your time going there. Another day at SD Zoo or Legoland would be good, or I would also recommend the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which I personally like more than the San Diego Zoo. The Safari Park is much more spread out than the zoo and will take more walking, but your kids are old enough to handle it I think. Despite the name, it is actually in Escondido, not San Diego.

Have a great trip!

Edit: one other thing I forgot. The traffic down there is brutal during rush hour on weekdays pretty much everywhere (both morning and afternoon), so take that into consideration in your plans, or try to avoid rush hour.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

Sequoia is a good 5 hours from Anaheim, whereas you're only about 2 hours from there for the rest of the trip. I'd do Disney in the first part of the trip, then add King's Canyon to the northern part and fly home from Sacramento or San Jose, both of which are going to be a little bit close then going back to Anaheim. There's a cool train museum in Sacramento and Sutter's Fort. SFO would probably take about as long as returning to SNA, but might get you better flight options since it's a larger airport. I'm not a fan of Palm Springs in August. Unless you like to play golf and be extremely hot while playing golf. It's only 2-2.5 hours from SNA to San Diego, and not that many great places to stop. You could just drive straight through and do the Midway that day, neither driving or Midway and downtown are really full day activities.

I've never been to Sequoia National Park, but I think it's still a good 4 hours from Sacramento.

Another possibility would be to skip Sequoia National Park altogether, it would save a lot of travel time. Plan a trip to Northern California in the future and go to San Francisco/Santa Cruz/Carmel/Monterey/Big Sur if you want to see the redwoods. IMO, I prefer the nature-y stuff up in the North compared to the South (no offense SoCal people).

 

[SMD]

I've never been to Sequoia National Park, but I think it's still a good 4 hours from Sacramento.

Another possibility would be to skip Sequoia National Park altogether, it would save a lot of travel time. Plan a trip to Northern California in the future and go to San Francisco/Santa Cruz/Carmel/Monterey/Big Sur if you want to see the redwoods. IMO, I prefer the nature-y stuff up in the North compared to the South (no offense SoCal people).

That's why I said it is a little bit closer. To me, it makes more sense to continue driving 4 hours north than go back 5.5 hours south going back to somewhere you've been before. I'd even recommend going to Tahoe then Vegas after Sequoia. It is more driving, but the fight options are going to be a lot better from LAS than SNA.

 

[isabellea]

Sounds like a fun trip! There's a ton of stuff you can do in Southern California as you figured out.

I lived in Orange County/Long Beach for 4 years, but I didn't have kids at the time. We did take our kids (4 and 2) to San Diego in December for 8-9 days, I can tell you they pretty much just wanted to go to Legoland every day.

Palm Springs is not all that exciting, especially with kids, I wouldn't waste your time going there. Another day at SD Zoo or Legoland would be good, or I would also recommend the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which I personally like more than the San Diego Zoo. The Safari Park is much more spread out than the zoo and will take more walking, but your kids are old enough to handle it I think. Despite the name, it is actually in Escondido, not San Diego.

Have a great trip!

Edit: one other thing I forgot. The traffic down there is brutal during rush hour on weekdays pretty much everywhere (both morning and afternoon), so take that into consideration in your plans, or try to avoid rush hour.

Thank you! Traffic is brutal here too so we are expecting it at rush hour and that's why I planned our big driving days on weekends.

I will check San Diego Zoo Safari Park for sure!

 

[isabellea]

Sequoia is a good 5 hours from Anaheim, whereas you're only about 2 hours from there for the rest of the trip. I'd do Disney in the first part of the trip, then add King's Canyon to the northern part and fly home from Sacramento or San Jose, both of which are going to be a little bit close then going back to Anaheim. There's a cool train museum in Sacramento and Sutter's Fort. SFO would probably take about as long as returning to SNA, but might get you better flight options since it's a larger airport. I'm not a fan of Palm Springs in August. Unless you like to play golf and be extremely hot while playing golf. It's only 2-2.5 hours from SNA to San Diego, and not that many great places to stop. You could just drive straight through and do the Midway that day, neither driving or Midway and downtown are really full day activities.

We also want to visit Northern California (San Francisco, Sacremento, Monterey, Yosemite and maybe Lake Tahoe) in 2-3 years. One of the reason I want to do DL at the end is to be sure we won't be jet lagged anymore and it will be our grand finale before going back home and starting school. They love Disney and in the past we preferred having WDW at the end of our trip versus at the beginning.

Palm Springs is out then! Thanks!

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

We also want to visit Northern California (San Francisco, Sacremento, Monterey, Yosemite and maybe Lake Tahoe) in 2-3 years. One of the reason I want to do DL at the end is to be sure we won't be jet lagged anymore and it will be our grand finale before going back home and starting school. They love Disney and in the past we preferred having WDW at the end of our trip versus at the beginning.

Palm Springs is out then! Thanks!

No problem!

If you're going to Monterey and Yosemite in a couple years, you may just consider skipping your visit to the Sequoia National Park and add some time elsewhere because you will probably get a similar (and probably better to be honest) experience in Monterey and Yosemite. I grew up near Sacramento and currently live in the Bay Area. IMO, the forest-type parks are really great up North, and I think the strengths of SoCal are the beaches, the theme parks, and the sun (San Francisco can be cold in July).

You could consider instead going to San Luis Obispo, then hitting some stops on the way back down south. There are more interesting places to stop in that area (Solvang, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica come to mind). There's no place you're going to want to stop in between the LA area and Sequoia I don't think, it's a pretty boring drive. The other option would be to spend more time in the San Diego area.

No matter what you choose, though, Sequoia or San Diego or Santa Barbara, there's fun things to do everywhere, you can't go wrong.

 

[Ndusmama]

I personally love sequoia and think everyone should visit at least once in their lifetime. The trees are the oldest on the planet and the sequoias even though they are a type of redwood they are not the same redwood as in Muir Woods. However it is a drive from la. So is San Luis opisbo (spelling sorry).
I completely agree that the safari park is a better choice then the actual zoo. If you watch the original Madagascar they make references to the safari park and not the zoo. Be prepared for heat and to drink lots of water. Escondido is hotter in summer than San Diego. Two days at Legoland is reasonable if you do the water park one day. If you are doing the USS Midway you are a walk away from seaport village. Also maybe look into Balboa park if you choose zoo over safari park. Or just take a day to do balboa.
There really is t much between Dana point and San Diego county. San Clemente is a nice quiets beach and state park.
Another thing to consider is one of the California missions. There are a ton. If I remember my elementary school days they are like 20 miles apart or closer. San Diego has a decent one. See about visiting the children's beach (not actually for kids) to see the sea lions in La Jolla.

 

[bcla]

I personally love sequoia and think everyone should visit at least once in their lifetime. The trees are the oldest on the planet and the sequoias even though they are a type of redwood they are not the same redwood as in Muir Woods. However it is a drive from la. So is San Luis opisbo (spelling sorry).

While SEKI is a great experience (I consider it to be one park really) there are other places to view large stands of giant sequoia. Visitors to Yosemite can take in a few, although Mariposa Grove is essentially closed until next year.