where to stay before going to DL???

[TwingleMum]

We have never been to Calif. We are going to DL in April 07. We will spend 8 days at GC and DH. Before we go to DL we want to do 3 days to see a few things the tar pits, a day at the beach and Lego land. Where could we stay that would allow us to travel from LA (Tar Pits) to Legoland?? Any town or hotel suggestions?? Also which beach would you recommend we have 3 kids under 6 yrs old. So they would be playing in the sand and wading. They swim but they wouldn't be swimming out far. Thanks for the help, its appreciated.

 

[ScooterL]

Have you thought about staying in Carlsbad or Oceanside (close to Legoland)? It would be a bit of a drive, but you'd be going in the opposite direction of most of the traffic on your trip to/from the tar pits.

I'm not familiar with the beaches in the Carlsbad/Oceanside area, but I know there are beaches there.

 

[tracys2cents]

Check out the Laguna Riviera in Laguna Beach, great family place to stay on the beach. You'd have quite a drive up to the Tar Pits, but since thats the only thing you're planning on up that way, it wouldn't make sense to stay up in that part of the city. By the way, you can see the L.A. Zoo on the same day as the tar pits, they're only about a 15 min drive apart.

P.S. If you can do Tar Pits on a Sat or sun, the traffic will be MUCH easier than on weekdays!

 

[TwingleMum]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into Laguna. Any other towns or hotels???

 

[bjakmom]

Dneph and I stayed in Carlsbad (Grand Pacific Palisades) for the Legoland part of our trip. We really enjoyed this resort (1/2 hotel, 1/2 vacation club) - the pool and water-play area were great - DNeph(8) met lots of kids there to play with. We walked across the street to Legoland (about a 5 - 10 min walk tops)- but you do have to cross the parking lot for Legoland to get to the front gate. We also spent a day checking out Carlsbad - went down to the beach, had lunch at In 'n Out burger, checked out the outlets and picked up some snacks there for the room.
We also spent a couple of hours at the tar pits on our way south and really enjoyed it.

 

[Poohnatic]

I just got back from a week in California.

Legoland was our first stop, so we spent two nights in Carlsbad. We did Legoland the first day, then drove down to the San Diego Zoo. I'm glad we opted to do this, because the drive from the airport took almost two hours. You may want to consider staying closer to Carlsbad than LA.

Enjoy Legoland. My kids are 10 and 7 and they loved it!

DH and I made a promise to not eat at any national chains while in CA, and we ate at a great restaurant in Leucides (about 15 minutes from Legoland) called Robbie's. Right on PCH-it was great. The night we arrived, we had our very first In and Out Burgers-YUM!


Suzanne

 

[TwingleMum]

Thanks everyone, I'm really looking forward to seeing Cailf.