Trying to figure out what we want to do. We’ll have a Max of 2 weeks, but maybe less depending on flights. I’ve been to many of these places years ago, but it will be my children’s 1st trip to California. This is what I’m thinking so far:
San Diego zoo
Safari park
Sea world
Maybe another day exploring San Diego
5 day tickets for Disney
Universal Studios 1 day
Legoland 1 day
So, 11 days plus 2 travel days.
Anything you would add or drop? My children are 2, 4, and 6 years old.
Maybe a day at the beach?
Your kids are the right demographic and will love LEGOLAND. It is really tough for parents IMO but it’s worth it for the pure joy on the kids’ part. My kids (similar ages) said they liked it more than Disneyland, which is just crazy talk but there it is. They especially loved the hotel, which is relatively cheap in a package.
With that in mind, you might want to do another half day at LEGOLAND and do the beach the other half. Often it’s essentially free for the second day. They also have a water park that was lots of fun. The crowds were much worse for us on Saturday than Friday and it was much less fun with crowds, so try to find a less crowded weekday for your trip (try UT crowd calendar).
I too would love to take the family to San Diego/Disney Land in the near future so am thankful for this thread. I may have more like 8 days though. I was potentially considering an afternoon in Hollywood, what is everyone’s thoughts on that?
We spent a morning in Hollywood.
We had 8 days in SoCal and did four DLR and four non-DLR.
One day was aquarium and Mother’s Beach
One day was Hollywood and Santa Monica Pier and beach
One day was San Juan Capistrano and Crescent Beach
One day pack and rest and some went to a movie.
We did a similar trip in 2012, we were able to be out there in the first few weeks of Carsland opening. That was a lot of fun. Our kids were 10, 6 and 4 at the time, and we had a blast.
We spent 5 total days in and around LA and 3 total days in San Diego. We had 2 day park hoppers for Disneyland, and with Carsland being so new, we never hopped over to Disneyland on the first of our days. One other day was spent at Seal Beach, and another up in Hollywood, including a tour of NBC studios. I do not recommend the NBC studio tour for the kids, it was all inside the buildings and honestly was pretty boring. In San Diego, we spent a day at Sea World (which by the way is not as clean and sprawling as Sea World in Orlando). We spent a day at the beach in San Diego as well, and
ate as much local Mexican food as we could. Another good idea was spending some time down at Waterfront Park in San Diego, including the Maritime Museum of San Diego. This included tours of some old ships, including my favorite - a Soviet-era submarine.
I recently spent some time on Hollywood Blvd near the Walk of Stars, Chinese Theater, Dolby, etc. It was a nice stroll. Lots of tourists. If that is your thing, you could definitely enjoy it. There are several studio tours, some more interesting than others, but I haven’t done them so maybe check out Yelp reviews.
A lot of people go to Hollywood and nearby downtown to check out the restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. Most of which are not family oriented, obviously.
I enjoy Sea World San Diego, but I agree with the comment above. I wouldn’t spend more than a day there and you could get away with leaving at dinner time and still see most everything in a morning/afternoon. I believe they have a nighttime show but I haven’t seen it in years.
I was actually recently considering what my SoCal dream itinerary would look like & yours is very similar to what I drew up in my head. The only additions I would have for you are (and I would keep all that you have already lol so these would probably have to work into the 2 travel days you have if adding more days isn’t a possibility):
And then possibly the only other thing I would consider (but would required taking a day away from Disney which I don’t recommend or adding a day to the trip if possible) is Knotts Berry Farm. They have some really fun coasters, are very close to Disney & also have an Old Town/Western area that looks pretty fun/decent. But I would prefer all the San Diego stuff you have over Knotts Berry ( I would consider doing at least some of the Zoo on your explore San Diego day bc it’s huge & fitting it all into 1 day is a long, hard day- this day could also be your Old Town evening/afternoon).
Thanks so much for your input! Love your posts.
Have you been to Universal studios? Should I plan more than one day there? We did 3 days at Universal Orlando and we probably could have done more.
I think we will spend part of a day in Old Town, or at least eat there. IIRC, some of the tourist part closes early. I’m hesitant to do a beach day, although the girls would probably love it if we can work it in. We do live close to beaches at home and we never go, lol.
I just booked a flight out to San Diego. Going to look at park tickets, car rental, flight home now.
There are so many beaches in SD- my favorite is La Jolla Shores, plenty of parking and no bums. A beautiful sandy beach with lifeguards. Although food & snacks are not that easy to find so be sure to stock up before you go, the area is mostly residential. La Jolla Cove is a safe place to explore a bit more rocky environment, with tide pools, etc. And great stores up top for mom & dad, 
Also love to walk the boardwalk at Pacific Beach. Good breakfast places there. WOuldn’t venture further south than that.
Safari Park is wonderful, but your children are little. Animals that far away might not be that interesting to them. For sure, do not miss the Zoo, it’s among the best in the world. But I’d rather spend two days there including Balboa Park rather than drive out to the Safari Park.
We haven’t ever taken the kids to Universal as I have a hard time justifying the cost when we are already sunk into the Disney pass and there is so much more for them at Disney. The hubby & I have been to Universal Orlando & we loved it, but it’s been a good 15 or more years since I went to Universal Hollywood and I remember being bored straight (a lot has changed there though & most of what is fun wasn’t there when I was last there). I would say with smaller kids, 1 day there is good. And it would definitely be the first add-on I do after Disney on a Cali trip. We considered adding a day at Universal Hollywood for a long trip we have next month but our middle daughter isn’t 48" and the main Harry Potter ride has a 48" height requirement and she & her brother are starting to become avid fans so I wouldn’t want her to go & face that disappointment.
I hear you on the beaches, lol! We are in Cali as often as we can get to Disneyland and we’ve only done the beach 2x and I am not in any hurry to get them back there. Beaches are a lot of work with littles, especially bc the ocean is no joke!
As for the safari park…we were last there in 2013 so I don’t know how much has changed in 6 years but our oldest was just about to turn 2 & he loved it. He especially loved the safari part and the elephants. I loved the whole experience: the walking trails & the sense that the animals were in more natural enclosures & the whole place was just so serene (we also happened to go on a day when it wasn’t very busy so that helped a lot). There were times when the animals were quite close to us (gorillas, cheetah and then on the safari you get such a fun view of quite a few) so it was definitely worth the drive in my opinion. But I do agree that 2 days at the zoo (maybe one of them being a shorter or half day) plus 1 at the safari park gives you time to spread out that walking!!
Universal Hollywood has much less to do than UOR. One day is plenty, IMO. We were able to spend a morning there and do everything we wanted to do before 2pm. But take a look at the attractions list and decide how much you want to do - I am limited due to my aversion to motion simulator rides.
The Hogsmeade area of WWoHP is similar to the Orlando version except no Hagrid’s Motorbike, obviously. They do have the mini coaster, Flight of the Hippogriff as well as Forbidden Journey.
The backstage tour ride is fun and is pretty long. I enjoyed The Mummy and will want to ride Jurassic World when it reopens. The Waterworld show is worth watching. None of the rest of the park interested me much.
I totally forgot that we went up to Knott’s Berry Farm while we were in CA. That is an old family memory from when I was growing up, so I was not going to miss at least stopping by with my wife and kids. We went and ate the chicken dinner at the restaurant, which totally brought back memories. Also, picked up some Boysenberry jam and candy sticks. 
Knott’s is great if your kids like thrill rides and are bored by the ones at Disneyland. Also good if you want similar experiences as Disney but want to save money, and don’t care about the “magic” factor (and if this describes you, what are you doing on this forum?!) Otherwise, it’s more of a locals park - much better than whatever you have closest to you at home, but not quite up to the Disney standard.
I would agree with all of what you said! My kids aren’t bored at Disney ever, but they are starting to get tall enough for more thrills and so far what we’ve tried with them both at Disney & a local (but Six Flags-owned) amusement park leads me to believe that they will one day love Knotts just as much as I did the one time I went as a teen.
I do recall the zoo and especially Safari park being a lot of walking. We did a great truck ride through the Safari park many years ago, but my girls are probably too young for it.
Do they still have Snoopy there? I don’t know if kids these days even know about Snoopy & Charlie Brown but I have fond memories of that. And yes, the rides were pretty wild compared to Disneyland. Also less crowded, which could make for a bad afternoon if you eat too much chicken beforehand.
Yes, I haven’t been there in years but I have seen relatively recent pics of Snoopy and Friends at Knott’s. They have (had?) a kids area themed to Peanuts as well.