Help me plan my first summer living in Southern California!

[Laura22]

I am moving to Oceanside, California with my family in a couple weeks after living on the East Coast for 27 years. My husband is a Marine (has orders to Camp Pendleton) and we have 2 kids who will be 6 and 8 when we arrive.

Right now we are on a waiting list for housing on base, but the housing is still being built and should be completed before September. In the meantime, we will be living in a hotel with our dog. Yes - 4 people and a dog crammed into a hotel room for up to 2 months.

The bottom line is, we are gonna want to get out of that tiny little room as much as possible and have fun without breaking the bank. I haven't seen my husband in months as he moved out there back in March, so we can't wait to finally have some quality family time. (He also just got back from a long deployment, so I've hardly seen him at all in over a year).

Right off the bat we plan to get annual passes to Disneyland, Legoland, Sea World, and San Diego Zoo & Wild Animal Park, but aside from the initial investment in AP's which we've already saved up for, we are not wanting to spend much money. See, we have had our house up for sale here in NC since February with no luck, so we're looking at having to pay for 2 houses simultaneously until this one sells....who knows how long that will take. Money is going to be really tight in the meantime, so I'm looking for all sorts of inexpensive or free things our family can do in Southern California to keep busy and stay out of the hotel room. Also any dog-friendly places in or near Oceanside that we can visit to keep the dog stimulated would be great. We plan to put her in doggy day care daily just so she's not stuck in the hotel room, but we'd also like to bring her some places for fun once in a while.

Also, are there ways to visit the parks (Disneyland and such) without breaking the bank on food? It would be cool to go to Disneyland over and over living so close and having AP's, but it costs a fortune to feed 4 people for a day there. Any cheap restaurants walking distance from the park? Any picnic areas?

Any and all advice from locals is appreciated. I want to know all the most fun places to see, eat at, whatever! We are adventurous and love to do everything! I'd be thrilled to even hear the "expensive" ideas as well - to file away in my mind for when our house sells and we have money again. lol

Thanks!

 

[dismsn]

I've read on the Disneyland board that there is a picnic area at Disneyland but I've never used it so I'm not sure where it is.

I don't live in California so I don't know where Oceanside is but we just visited San Diego in April and loved just playing in the ocean and on the beach. That didn't cost us a dime . I live in Washington State and enjoyed just soaking up the sunshine--which we didn't have much of in April.

I do think you should visit the parks you plan to buy an annual pass for and find out if they'll upgrade your day pass to an annual pass at the end of the day. You might find that you don't enjoy some of the parks enough to visit more than once a year.

I'm glad your family will be together and I hope your house in NC sells soon! Enjoy California!

 

[shelemm]

Maybe the greatest museum in the world, the Getty, is free. You have to pay to park, though. Usually has activities for families/ kids there. It is a stunning hilltop campus. Your kids are not too young to appreciate some of what is there. An amazing place.

 

[Laura22]

I've read on the Disneyland board that there is a picnic area at Disneyland but I've never used it so I'm not sure where it is.

I don't live in California so I don't know where Oceanside is but we just visited San Diego in April and loved just playing in the ocean and on the beach. That didn't cost us a dime . I live in Washington State and enjoyed just soaking up the sunshine--which we didn't have much of in April.

I do think you should visit the parks you plan to buy an annual pass for and find out if they'll upgrade your day pass to an annual pass at the end of the day. You might find that you don't enjoy some of the parks enough to visit more than once a year.

I'm glad your family will be together and I hope your house in NC sells soon! Enjoy California!

Oceanside is a coastal city about 35 miles north of San Diego and 55 miles south of Anaheim. I should have put that in my original post. So I'm basically close enough to do anything from Mexico all the way up to Los Angeles without much of a drive.

How warm is the ocean? I know that the weather in So Cal is absolutely gorgeous, but does the Ocean actually warm up when it's only 75 out every day? I mean it must be if so many people go to the beaches all the time, unless everyone is just tolerating it.

As far as the AP's, I would PREFER to visit first and buy the AP's later, except for the fact that I get a huge discount by purchasing my tickets in advance on base. Disneyland is a given, San Diego Zoo is a given (AP's there are very inexpensive) and Legoland is a given because it's only 5 minutes away. Sea World would be the only one I'd be iffy about without visiting first, but even if we visit once every 364 days it still is a big savings to go the AP route...and seeing as my son is addicted to learning about whales, we may as well do the AP. LOL

Maybe the greatest museum in the world, the Getty, is free. You have to pay to park, though. Usually has activities for families/ kids there. It is a stunning hilltop campus. Your kids are not too young to appreciate some of what is there. An amazing place.

I will have to check that out - I've never heard of it. Thanks! My kids love doing anything we bring them to. They really enjoyed visiting the Smithsonian last year so I think they'd be into any kind of museum, really.

 

[MomofM&M]

I moved to San Diego suburbs about 2 years ago and am still learning the area. Because of monetary reasons, the first year we only had Seaworld passes which was perfect for us as my kids love playing at what was then Shamu's Happy Harbor. It was 20 min drive to Seaworld for me. If I lived in Oceanside, I would forgo the annual pass. It isn't terribly close. If you really loved it though, I would get Fun Cards, price of regular ticket, free admission for rest of year and only buy one silver pass for the free parking. That's what we did last year.
The Zoo passes are relatively cheap so not much initial cost there. I don't know how much of a discount you get through buying DL Ap's on base. I think the most you can do is buy your ticket discounted thru the military and then upgrade to AP at Disneyland which would still be the same price. You would qualify for Southern california passes though and if you wanted to save the initial investment, you could do the monthy installments since you will be SoCal resident.
Don't forget there are other things to do at the beach beside swim. My kids love going pier fishing. No license is required just the cost of your bait. It is a cheap way to spend the day or evening and you might catch dinner too! Good luck on your move and hope they finish your new place quickly!

 

[lcasa]

We live in Huntington Beach - about 1 hr north of Oceanside. I agree with the suggestion to do the 'buy a day, get a year free' for Sea World. It's a good deal. And the zoo deal is unbeatable - renewal is even cheaper than the initial purchase, and it includes the Wild Animal Park, which is beautiful. We just went to the zoo yesterday and they're making a bunch of really great improvements to bring the animals closer to the guests and give them better environments. The zoo is in Balboa Park, which is full of other great inexpensive museums - an air and space museum ( Lindbergh was from SD ), a really cool model train museum, a good interactive science museum, and a small train and carousel for the kids. You can spend plenty of weekends there! And of course the beach - and there are many. You can take a cruise in the bay with a number of 1-2 hr cruise lines ( check for discounts - I use goldstar.com a lot for those ). Also you can go onto some of the naval ships. In the winter you can even head just a bit north to go to the mountains and the snow for a day or so ( I think Mt Baldy is the closest for a day trip). The downtown area ( gaslamp district ) is cool to wander around in SD.
I think the zoo is free to military members - and I think even Disney does have some military discounts ( everything should be free to our service men and women!)
Legoland has a 'mom's pass' deal which is really a good deal if you can go during the week. Last year I got a free kids annual pass by buying $100 worth of legos at the disney lego store ( easy to do with my 12 year old for his birthday) - so watch for deals....
Have fun exploring! There are lots of less interesting places to be stationed.

 

[lcasa]

I forgot. I am the world's cheapest mom when I go to parks ( ask my son- even my Mom think's I'm cheap). Disney is no longer as strict about bringing in food/drinks - just no glass. So i'll take in a snapple in a plastic bottle or cans of coke to start - since drinks in the park are $2.79 and up. No problem asking for a cup of ice with any order to put it in. I also bring in trail mix and fruit - sometimes those small packs of cookies or chips as well. There is a nice enough picnic area just to the left of the DL entrance ( as you face the park ) - we've gotten burgers before we enter and eaten there too ( I recommend In-N-Out - an excellent mostly local chain about 1 mile west of the park) . And we split food often - the chicken dinner at the Plaza Pavilion is plenty big for a child and an adult. I think the children's meals are overpriced - not very large for the price. I'd rather share. I split at the Rainforest Cafe as well - their combo dinners ( around $20-25 ) are plenty large for 2, and kids love the atmosphere.

The hardest part is saying 'No' to all the requests for the expensive snacks like Churros - but my son knows the ground rules by now - we go to ride & enjoy the sights, not to snack.

 

[Laura22]

Wow, great advice! What is the difference between Sea World's pay for 1 day and go for a year, and an annual pass? That sounds like a great deal.

Icasa, how did you hear about the buy $100 in legos and get a kid's AP promotion? That would be excellent! On base the Legoland AP's are $108 each, so this would save $16 AND we'd get $200 worth of legos!

Is there a good website or something for the Southern California area that alerts you to these kind of discounts?

Balboa park sounds so nice. Oh man I cannot wait to get out there and see all this stuff!

 

[endy]

The Sea World Fun Card is good for the calendar year while a pass runs from the day you first use it for 1 year.
I do the same as a PP, I buy 1 pass & 1 fun card. The pass gives you free parking and a small discount on food. The parking alone makes the pass worthwhile that way you can go for an afternoon or a couple of hours.

There is (or was) a pass at LL that included your parking. Well worth getting - with kids your age they'll want to go often. I think you also get a food discount, it's been a couple of uears since I had one. You can also buy 3 month passes for LL from Costco for pretty cheap. Tho not as good as the free deal for buying Lego.

Even tho expensive to buy the first time - we have cups from SW & LL that we bring each summer & you get cheap refills, this was the case last summer & I hope it still works in August. My son loves the frozen lemonade (more of a slush) at SW & with our pass and as a refill it was around $2, a pop was just over a dollar.

 

[almostGoofy]

Well, if you're really going to get annual passes to all of the parks mentioned, don't think you'll need much information about what else to do. You'll be going to the parks quite a bit to get your money's worth out of those passes. If, however, you'd still like to know what to do, I highly recommend the book, Fun and Educational Places to go with Kids and Adults in Southern California. It's a thick book (800 pages, I think) that covers several counties in Southern California. Very comprehensive; you'll never need any other book to figure out what to do on a free day. Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Educational-P...dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1 This is not a travel book, so if you don't live in So. Calif, I wouldn't recommend it to you. The amount of information would be too overwhelming.

As for food at Disneyland, do as lcasa says. Although the official policy is outside food is not permitted, they are extremely lax in enforcing it. Just no glass bottles or large coolers. When I had an annual pass, I would always pack our lunches. I'd also try to leave the park for the day in the early evening and have dinner off site. I like Mimi's Cafe which is on Harbor near the Howard Johnsons. There are plenty of places up and down Harbor Blvd. to choose from.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

having lived in the San Diego area since 1970, I will tell you that your first visit should be to the MW&R on base. they have discount tickets for military dependents for all places. I live inland and south of Oceanside, and it takes us about 90 minutes(sometimes less!) to two hours to drive to DLR. so from Oceanside it should be about 65-70 minutes to two hours (L.A. traffic can be bad!)

there is a bunch of things you can do in and around Oceanside that won't cost much.

And for taking food etc. to DLR, there are lockers that you can rent and stash a cooler in (outside of DL and CA) and there ARE table that you can use to eat a picnic!

 

[Laura22]

Well, if you're really going to get annual passes to all of the parks mentioned, don't think you'll need much information about what else to do. You'll be going to the parks quite a bit to get your money's worth out of those passes. If, however, you'd still like to know what to do, I highly recommend the book, Fun and Educational Places to go with Kids and Adults in Southern California. It's a thick book (800 pages, I think) that covers several counties in Southern California. Very comprehensive; you'll never need any other book to figure out what to do on a free day. Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Educational-P...dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1 This is not a travel book, so if you don't live in So. Calif, I wouldn't recommend it to you. The amount of information would be too overwhelming.

That is EXACTLY what I've been looking for. Perfect! Just ordered a copy for $25 from their website. Thank you!

 

[Padrepride]

Padres games are lots of fun and your children would have a great time there. There's a grass field beyond the outfield where Padres staff supervise wiffle ball games. Also, you should get a $6 military discount on all tickets.

 

[scooter15]

http://www.dogfriendly.com/server/travel/uscities/guides/w/cities/wonlinecityCASan_Diego_County_North.shtml

There are a few dog parks and dog friendly beaches near you. There isn't one for Oceanside but apparently there is a group trying to get one.

Traffic from Oceanside to SD can get bad so just be prepared for traffic. The Getty is pretty far away from Oceanside. In all honesty, you might want to avoid LA in general because of the drive and traffic but do plan for a day to Hollywood. I mean you'll be living here so you have to experience it once. Up there, you have Griffith Park and Observatory. But I second Balboa Park in SD. Its a great place to visit and I believe they do have military discounts. Its right next to the SD Zoo.

 

[firsttimer2007]

Free stuff in LA

http://lawithkids.com/free-los-angeles-museums.html

Free stuff in San Diego

http://www.sandiego.org/article/Visitors/795

http://gocalifornia.about.com/cs/sandiego/a/sdfree.htm

Free stuff in Oceanside

http://attractions.uptake.com/california/oceanside/cheap_vacations/833605103.html

http://www.free-attractions.com/city_attractions.asp?City=Oceanside&State=California

Have Fun!!!

 

[JoMarie]

About 2 years ago, I stayed with my friend who lived on Camp Pendleton. I don't know what part of the base you'll be living on (it's HUGE) but where she was living (some secluded area by themselves) they drove along a really long rode that in the morning was GORGEOUS. With all the fog (that burns off by the mid/late morning) and the horses and the hills. Ahh! I loved it. There's also pools on the base which were fun and had a slide and diving board.

Also, there's always Oceanside pier which is really pretty during sunset. We went to eat at Ruby's and while we were waiting, we saw dolphins! I got really excited about seeing them, probably more excited than your average 20 year old.

You must try In-n-Out when you are there. It is, by far, the most amazing thing I have ever tasted. (Find out about the secret menu!) I'm pretty sure someone has mentioned Balboa Park. It's breathtaking, my friend now lives close by (Golden Hill) and it's nice to spend the day just lounging around.

Most important, treasure the weather. To me, it's one of the best things about San Diego. Oh now I can't wait to go! (I'm going in July! We might be riding up to Camp Pendleton so if you see a LGMH say hi!)

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

Here are some of our fav's

http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/
http://www.missionsjc.com/
http://www.discoverycube.org/
http://www.ocmarketplace.com/
http://www.beachcalifornia.com/adventure-playground-kids-vacation.html
http://www.balboapark.org/just-for-kids/


For food near Disney we like Mimi's Cafe and Red Robin.

For the pooch

http://www.dogbeach.org/
http://www.lagunabeach.com/points/dogpark/index.html
http://www.parkbenchcafe.com/

 

[Stephanie218]

Everyone else has given you great ideas! My husband's also stationed at Camp Pendleton, we live off-base in Carlsbad though. It's a few exits south of Oceanside off the 5.

There's great beaches on base - the Del Mar one is south, and I think San Onofre is north. We haven't been to the north one. The parking is wonderful though and obviously it's only military, so they are a lot less crowded than the state beaches.

I don't know if Sea World is still running the military special, but we both got in free last year for one day.

We don't have dogs, so I don't know much about that...but I do know there is a dog park somewhere in Oceanside, and a dog beach in Del Mar right off the 101.

Feel free to send me a PM if you ever need info about the area or base! We've been here for 2.5 years now, and I'll be sad when we PCS (most likely) in the spring.

 

[lcasa]

I went a couple of years ago with my son's best friend who was in the military - I remember he asked "do you have a military here' (meaning discount ) and they said they didn't need their own military - they were close enough to the navy base!
Anyway, after a chuckle he got in free.

 

[Laura22]

Thank you for all the wonderful replies! They have been so helpful. We moved here to Oceanside on July 2nd and have lived here almost 2 weeks now. We're currently living in a hotel and probably will be for another 5-6 weeks waiting for a house on base, but we're having an amazing time.

We've been to Disneyland twice, Legoland twice, a couple different beaches in Oceanside, Ruby's on the Oceanside Pier, the Westfield mall, and Carlsbad outlets. We got annual passes to Disneyland, Legoland, and San Diego Zoo (haven't used the zoo passes yet). We've confirmed that San Diego Zoo is free for soldiers (families still pay) and Sea World is free 1 time per year for a military family. We'll probably go to San Diego Zoo sometime in the next week and wait till the weather is a little cooler before we try the Wild Animal Park (Escondido is way hotter than the perfect weather here on the coast). We'll hold off on visiting Sea World as long as we can stand to because we decided to skip annual passes to there for now so we'll only be able to go once this year with our free admission.

There's still so many things to do and it feels like we wake up each morning wondering which beach or theme park we'll go to. The most amazing part about living here is if we feel like going to Disneyland for a couple hours, we just go! We went and rode 3 rides and had dinner last night there. Dream come true for me!