Thank you for that information! The flight to San Diego is about 6 hours, right? I'm asking because we will be flying out of JFK so our flight time will be the same as yours is.
I've heard LA isn't so nice, so we only figured we would check it out one day. Mainly to see a few sights, like the Hollywood sign, Rodeo Drive in nearby Beverly Hills, and to visit and have dinner with my cousin who lives in the LA area.
How early do you think we would have to leave to drive to Universal from Anaheim? I know traffic is going to be a killer (I've heard it's much worse there than in NYC). We're not really looking to do a ton of rides at Universal, but the main things we want to do are the Studio Tour, the NBC Universal Experience, and the kids really want to do the Simpsons ride and the Minion ride. I did explain to them that a lot of the same rides are at Universal Orlando, which we will go to the following year, so the goal is to see the things that are only in Hollywood before doing anything that is duplicated in Orlando.