So Cal people - help me choose the right APs!

[Laura]

Up until a month ago, I had never been to California in my life, but I will be moving there in just a few weeks. In April, I flew out there for 3 days to see what it was like and to check out Disneyland. Though I only spent about 8 total hours in the parks, I absolutely fell in love with both Disneyland and California Adventure. I've been visiting WDW 1-4 times a year since I was born 27 years ago and did not expect to be impressed by Disneyland, but I thought it was unbelievable.

I know that the first thing I do when I get to California is buy AP's for my family, not only for Disney, but for all the decent local attractions. But having had only 3 days of California experience in my entire life, I want to make sure I make the right decisions.

We are going to live in Oceanside which is about an hour from Disneyland and 45 minutes from San Diego. My thoughts are to get annual passes to Legoland (which is 5 minutes away), Sea World, San Diego Zoo (my son LOVES animals and zoos), and Disneyland of course. First of all, are these all worthy choices of AP's for the first year or do you recommend other things to spend our AP money on?

Second, WHICH Disneyland AP's should my family go for? I know that I will be getting a Premium pass for myself so that we won't ever have to pay for parking, and I also am the biggest Disney nut of the family and will probably be going more times than the rest of them. I have no idea what AP's to get for my family though. I have 2 kids (will be 6 and 8 when we get there) and my husband is a Marine. I feel like I should get the less expensive So Cal resident passes for them, but I am worried about the blackout dates. I'm assuming those dates are blacked out for a reason - because the parks will be crowded and miserable...so we won't want to go on those days anyway? Or are there some really good days that are blacked out that we will regret not having a pass for? I just have no idea what to do and want to make sure we get the right one. What happens if you get one of those less expensive passes and then you DO want to go on a blackout day? Do you have to buy a full price admission?

I guess I am mainly trying to figure out what are the BEST TIMES throughout the year to go to Disneyland (low crowds, nice weather, lots to see) that we won't want to miss because we have the wrong pass.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Glad to see that your so excited about your upcoming move Laura!
I'll leave it up to our SoCal friends to give you the advice on AP options, but I think your other choices are good ones, particularly the SD Zoo. Definitely a place to visit over and over. Again, deferring to others, but I seem to remember a combination for SeaWorld and the Zoo....

What about Universal?

Keep us posted, exciting times! :sohappy:

 

[Nicole220]

The block out days for the SoCal passes are weekends, holidays, and most of summer. AKA, the times you want to avoid the parks. When are you planning on taking the kids? If you want to go during the summer and on the weekends when there isn't school, then go with the Deluxe. I currently and have always had a Deluxe and it has worked perfectly for me. I add parking and have never encountered a day where I wanted to go to the parks, but couldn't because I was blocked out. Except for the Pirates premiere. In that case you can buy a blockout pass. Last time I checked, they were $30 for one park. But I'm sure the price has risen with all the other tickets.

Anyway. If you aren't planning on going weekends, holidays, and summer, then the SoCal Select gives you enough days in the middle of the week to make it worth it. My mom had it and it worked well for her. She hates crowds, so she never wanted to go during the times she was blocked out.

You will definitely want to hit the parks during the Fall when the Halloween decorations are up. It's a fun time. And you don't want to miss Christmas time, the MOST magical time at Disneyland. My favorite times to go to Disneyland were fall (Sept -early Nov) and early December. The crowd level was low and the temperature was comfortable. Once the holiday crowds left, late January till spring break was the same. But once spring break comes around, the crowds increase. Summer is crazy with the large crowds and hot weather. I go right when the park opens and leave by 12 or 1 when the crowds start picking up. Going in the morning I was able to walk on most everything and miss the crowds and hot weather. This is what I've experienced over the years. I was in Colorado at college this past year, so I don't know if anything has changed, but I'm gussing it hasn't changed too much.

I love love love the San Diego Zoo and Sea World. Great choices and definitely worthy! But I might be biased seeing as I want to work there after college. :lol: San Diego overall is amazing. I've never been to Legoland so I can't say anything on that.

Welcome to California! :sohappy:

 

[Laura]

Hey Nicole - I had no idea you could add on a parking option. That totally changes my thoughts on which AP I'll be getting. After googling it, it looks like it's only $59 to add on the parking. The same website also said blackout tickets are $40 (and include both parks). Now that I know all of this I will DEFINITELY be buying us all Deluxe passes which will save us $420. The SoCal passes aren't gonna work for us now that I've looked at the calendar because we plan to go a bunch during the summer and on weekends since the kids will be in school during the week.

Thanks for helping with my decision!

I'm also glad to hear the rave reviews about Sea World and San Diego Zoo. I can't wait to check them out. I am sure Legoland is nothing incredible, but seeing as it will only be a 5 minute drive and I have 2 little kids it would be stupid NOT to get an AP for there.

 

[Kerby626]

We had the Deluxe passes before they expired in March We added on the parking to mine since I would be more likely to go without Sean. We will renew them once the babies are a little older nad Jerome isn't on oxygen anymore. We got more than enough use out of the Deluxe because we didn't want to fight the crowds on Sat and during the holiday time. You will quickly learn that DL becomes the local babysitter for southern CA.

Seaworld does a fun card that you can buy at the beginning of the year that gets you in all year for the price of a one day admission. I think you can still buy them right now. Look at the website

For the Zoo we become members and was able to get a dual memebership for both Sean and I for $94 and that gets you into the Zoo and Wild Animal Park(over in Escondido abotu 30 from here) I think the kids are $28 for the annual pass.

If I can help anymore just shoot me an email.

 

[Laura]

We had the Deluxe passes before they expired in March We added on the parking to mine since I would be more likely to go without Sean. We will renew them once the babies are a little older nad Jerome isn't on oxygen anymore. We got more than enough use out of the Deluxe because we didn't want to fight the crowds on Sat and during the holiday time. You will quickly learn that DL becomes the local babysitter for southern CA.

Seaworld does a fun card that you can buy at the beginning of the year that gets you in all year for the price of a one day admission. I think you can still buy them right now. Look at the website

For the Zoo we become members and was able to get a dual memebership for both Sean and I for $94 and that gets you into the Zoo and Wild Animal Park(over in Escondido abotu 30 from here) I think the kids are $28 for the annual pass.

If I can help anymore just shoot me an email.

:lol:

I don't know why I didn't think to just ask you first. :brick:

Deluxe definitely sounds like the way to go.

 

[sponono88]

In my family we all have Deluxe, but my mom has the Premium Pass. It already comes with the parking option plus the additional restaurant/store discounts. If you plan on spending money on food/merchandise in the park, consider getting one Premium pass to take advantage of all the discounts you get.

Premium pass gets 15% discount and almost all stores/restaurants - I think Deluxe gets 10% on select stores/restaurants.

Universal studio hollywood is worth checking out as well. It's a really fun park Right now they have the 'Buy 1 day get all year free' promotion.

 

[TP2000]

My humble advice in a nutshell? Perhaps hold off just a bit on jumping in to AP's for the SoCal parks except for Disneyland and the San Diego Zoological Society.

Sounds like you are steered in the right direction when it comes to Deluxe passes with a parking option on the side. Keep in mind that Sunday afternoons are busy as all the Deluxe AP's hit the parks for a few hours after church or shopping at Target, but Sunday mornings and Sunday nights are far less crowded than the afternoons.

As for Legoland, have you been to this park yet? Are your kids total Lego nuts? If you can say no to either question, you might want to hold off on buying AP's for the family to Legoland. I've been to Legoland about three times since it opened in '99, and it's a reasonably nice park. But you either really need to be into Legos or be rather starved for entertainment to get a great deal of enjoyment out of the place. Not to knock it, as it is a fun day every few years, but the park is very basic compared to Disneyland or even Sea World. There is no parade, no fireworks, no large scale entertainment of any kind. And their basic operational skills and level of customer service is noticeably a step below Disneyland. It's just sort of a pleasantly landscaped Lego park in the hills a mile from the beach in Carlsbad, run by a bunch of teenage kids in baggy polo shirts. :lol:

I was at Legoland last in May, 2008 with a group of friends, and it didn't compare very favorably to Disneyland. The surfer kid running the Volvo Driving Academy on the microphone loudly asked a young 5 year old boy who accidentally ran a stop sign in his little Lego car "Hey kid, you ran the stop sign! Are you drunk?!" While that was horrifically funny to us adults, it obviously wasn't something Volvo would want said at their sponsored car ride. And it's something you would never hear a Disneyland CM say to a child at Autopia in Tomorrowland. Just one example of the type of vibe Legoland has.

Legoland does have a fairly large collection of kiddy rides themed around Lego blocks, and a few mild family thrill rides. I can't imagine going there more than once every two years unless I was a hardcore Lego fan. Perhaps you should spend the day there once the family gets settled in to Oceanside before you jump right in and buy AP's? I imagine they offer discounted tickets of some sort for USMC families at Camp Pendleton. And if your kids love the place, you could upgrade your day tickets to AP's at the Guest Services office at the end of the day.

But on the other end of the spectrum to Legoland is the fabulous San Diego Zoo, and the equally entertaining San Diego Wild Animal Park. The Zoo speaks for itself as one of the finest, if not the finest, zoos in the country. They've got a huge new elephant exhibit that opens this summer, and you can't miss the open top bus tour of the entire park. They also still have a Disney-esque skyride across the canyons that is fun. The Wild Animal Park is up in Escondido, about 30 minutes inland up the 78 freeway from Oceanside, and is actually also run by the San Diego Zoological Society, the same group that owns and operates the Zoo near downtown San Diego. The Wild Animal Park opened in the early 1970's and was Animal Kingdom 25 years before Disney tried it. If your son loves animals, he will be in hog heaven at either the Zoo or the Wild Animal Park. The Wild Animal Park, as it's name suggest, is far more rustic and wild than the zoo. And they've just added some "extreme" zip lines and active sports elements intertwined with the animal exhibits out in the hills north of Escondido. Either place is really a great day, especially if your kids like animals.

You might consider joining the Zoological Society for family admission and discounts, although it might be wise to visit either park just once on regular day tickets before you jump in on a big monetary investment like that. The Zoological Society is a nonprofit group, so you can be assured that your family membership will be going mostly to the society's preservation and sustainment programs, instead of the pockets of shareholders or overpaid CEO's. Check out the membership page to see if it might be right for you, after you visit the Zoo or Animal Park at least once. http://www.sandiegozoo.org/membership/index.html

You might also want to hold off on AP's for Sea World. Anheuser-Busch is actively shopping their theme parks to buyers now that the Belgians bought them out, and that includes their first theme park that opened in 1964 - San Diego's Sea World. Until the ownership issue gets settled later this year, or 2010 at the latest, it might be best to hold off investing in AP's for Sea World. I find Sea World to be a really fun day, but then I don't need to go back for at least a couple of years. Your mileage may vary of course, but just a heads up on the corporate ownership issues now swirling around Sea World with a slightly murky future.

There are so many other fun adventures your family can do on a weekend in SoCal that don't involve theme parks. (See my post in the other thread that you already commented on). In my humble opinion you might just go for a Disneyland Resort AP option and Zoological Society membership, and then just sample all of the other things SoCal has to offer before you commit to Annual Passes for the secondary theme parks in the area. Just an afternoon down in La Jolla basking in the sun with the Sea Lions at the Children's Pool will create family memories to last a lifetime, and all you will pay for is a parking meter and a picnic lunch.

 

[Laura]

In my family we all have Deluxe, but my mom has the Premium Pass. It already comes with the parking option plus the additional restaurant/store discounts. If you plan on spending money on food/merchandise in the park, consider getting one Premium pass to take advantage of all the discounts you get.

Premium pass gets 15% discount and almost all stores/restaurants - I think Deluxe gets 10% on select stores/restaurants.

Universal studio hollywood is worth checking out as well. It's a really fun park Right now they have the 'Buy 1 day get all year free' promotion.

Oooh. I didn't think about discounts. Maybe I should go back to my original idea and get 1 premium pass and 3 deluxe to save on the food. :hammer: :lol:

My humble advice in a nutshell? Perhaps hold off just a bit on jumping in to AP's for the SoCal parks except for Disneyland and the San Diego Zoological Society.

Sounds like you are steered in the right direction when it comes to Deluxe passes with a parking option on the side. Keep in mind that Sunday afternoons are busy as all the Deluxe AP's hit the parks for a few hours after church or shopping at Target, but Sunday mornings and Sunday nights are far less crowded than the afternoons.

As for Legoland, have you been to this park yet? Are your kids total Lego nuts? If you can say no to either question, you might want to hold off on buying AP's for the family to Legoland. I've been to Legoland about three times since it opened in '99, and it's a reasonably nice park. But you either really need to be into Legos or be rather starved for entertainment to get a great deal of enjoyment out of the place. Not to knock it, as it is a fun day every few years, but the park is very basic compared to Disneyland or even Sea World. There is no parade, no fireworks, no large scale entertainment of any kind. And their basic operational skills and level of customer service is noticeably a step below Disneyland. It's just sort of a pleasantly landscaped Lego park in the hills a mile from the beach in Carlsbad, run by a bunch of teenage kids in baggy polo shirts. :lol:

I was at Legoland last in May, 2008 with a group of friends, and it didn't compare very favorably to Disneyland. The surfer kid running the Volvo Driving Academy on the microphone loudly asked a young 5 year old boy who accidentally ran a stop sign in his little Lego car "Hey kid, you ran the stop sign! Are you drunk?!" While that was horrifically funny to us adults, it obviously wasn't something Volvo would want said at their sponsored car ride. And it's something you would never hear a Disneyland CM say to a child at Autopia in Tomorrowland. Just one example of the type of vibe Legoland has.

Legoland does have a fairly large collection of kiddy rides themed around Lego blocks, and a few mild family thrill rides. I can't imagine going there more than once every two years unless I was a hardcore Lego fan. Perhaps you should spend the day there once the family gets settled in to Oceanside before you jump right in and buy AP's? I imagine they offer discounted tickets of some sort for USMC families at Camp Pendleton. And if your kids love the place, you could upgrade your day tickets to AP's at the Guest Services office at the end of the day.

But on the other end of the spectrum to Legoland is the fabulous San Diego Zoo, and the equally entertaining San Diego Wild Animal Park. The Zoo speaks for itself as one of the finest, if not the finest, zoos in the country. They've got a huge new elephant exhibit that opens this summer, and you can't miss the open top bus tour of the entire park. They also still have a Disney-esque skyride across the canyons that is fun. The Wild Animal Park is up in Escondido, about 30 minutes inland up the 78 freeway from Oceanside, and is actually also run by the San Diego Zoological Society, the same group that owns and operates the Zoo near downtown San Diego. The Wild Animal Park opened in the early 1970's and was Animal Kingdom 25 years before Disney tried it. If your son loves animals, he will be in hog heaven at either the Zoo or the Wild Animal Park. The Wild Animal Park, as it's name suggest, is far more rustic and wild than the zoo. And they've just added some "extreme" zip lines and active sports elements intertwined with the animal exhibits out in the hills north of Escondido. Either place is really a great day, especially if your kids like animals.

You might consider joining the Zoological Society for family admission and discounts, although it might be wise to visit either park just once on regular day tickets before you jump in on a big monetary investment like that. The Zoological Society is a nonprofit group, so you can be assured that your family membership will be going mostly to the society's preservation and sustainment programs, instead of the pockets of shareholders or overpaid CEO's. Check out the membership page to see if it might be right for you, after you visit the Zoo or Animal Park at least once. http://www.sandiegozoo.org/membership/index.html

You might also want to hold off on AP's for Sea World. Anheuser-Busch is actively shopping their theme parks to buyers now that the Belgians bought them out, and that includes their first theme park that opened in 1964 - San Diego's Sea World. Until the ownership issue gets settled later this year, or 2010 at the latest, it might be best to hold off investing in AP's for Sea World. I find Sea World to be a really fun day, but then I don't need to go back for at least a couple of years. Your mileage may vary of course, but just a heads up on the corporate ownership issues now swirling around Sea World with a slightly murky future.

There are so many other fun adventures your family can do on a weekend in SoCal that don't involve theme parks. (See my post in the other thread that you already commented on). In my humble opinion you might just go for a Disneyland Resort AP option and Zoological Society membership, and then just sample all of the other things SoCal has to offer before you commit to Annual Passes for the secondary theme parks in the area. Just an afternoon down in La Jolla basking in the sun with the Sea Lions at the Children's Pool will create family memories to last a lifetime, and all you will pay for is a parking meter and a picnic lunch.

That is all wonderful advice! As far as Legoland, I am not expecting anything spectacular. But with it being only 5 minutes away it would be a nice way to let my kids blow off steam for a couple hours if they're bugging me. I could be like "if you guys stop fighting and shape up I'll take you to Legoland for an hour". :lol: From the pictures I've seen online, it looks like the park is kind of meant for kids their age (6/8) so I think they'd enjoy it...even if I don't. Plus, I believe the AP also includes an aquarium? I think I remember reading that somewhere.

You make a good point about Sea World. It's hard to judge before I even visit there if I'd visit more than once in a year. But then again, if I do visit once in a year, it costs only a couple bucks more (if not the same amount) to just go ahead and get the AP and use it every 364 days...so I may as well go with the AP, right?

I didn't realize Universal was doing a 1 day for the price of 1 year thing. I love Universal in Florida. Are they pretty similar? That would be a much longer drive for me, but maybe it's worth it.

Do you people living in SoCal EVER get bored? :lol:

 

[sponono88]

Oooh. I didn't think about discounts. Maybe I should go back to my original idea and get 1 premium pass and 3 deluxe to save on the food. :hammer: :lol:





That is all wonderful advice! As far as Legoland, I am not expecting anything spectacular. But with it being only 5 minutes away it would be a nice way to let my kids blow off steam for a couple hours if they're bugging me. I could be like "if you guys stop fighting and shape up I'll take you to Legoland for an hour". :lol: From the pictures I've seen online, it looks like the park is kind of meant for kids their age (6/8) so I think they'd enjoy it...even if I don't. Plus, I believe the AP also includes an aquarium? I think I remember reading that somewhere.

You make a good point about Sea World. It's hard to judge before I even visit there if I'd visit more than once in a year. But then again, if I do visit once in a year, it costs only a couple bucks more (if not the same amount) to just go ahead and get the AP and use it every 364 days...so I may as well go with the AP, right?

I didn't realize Universal was doing a 1 day for the price of 1 year thing. I love Universal in Florida. Are they pretty similar? That would be a much longer drive for me, but maybe it's worth it.

Do you people living in SoCal EVER get bored? :lol:

I visited Legoland with my little cousins about 2 years ago and I thought it was pretty fun. Sure, I wasn't able to get on some of the rides (in some cases only little kids can ride) but I thought overall it was a fun little park. I loved the miniature cities made of LEGO, the 3-D movie was fun, and they have a bunch of cool little places to explore. I liked it and would go back again if I had the chance. I am sure your kids will enjoy it!

Universal Studios Hollywood is definitely worth a visit! The Studio Tour Tram is worth the price of admission. It's like a 45 minute tour through the actual working studios of Universal. really fun

 

[ClemsonTigger]

I visited Legoland with my little cousins about 2 years ago and I thought it was pretty fun. Sure, I wasn't able to get on some of the rides (in some cases only little kids can ride) but I thought overall it was a fun little park. I loved the miniature cities made of LEGO, the 3-D movie was fun, and they have a bunch of cool little places to explore. I liked it and would go back again if I had the chance. I am sure your kids will enjoy it!

Universal Studios Hollywood is definitely worth a visit! The Studio Tour Tram is worth the price of admission. It's like a 45 minute tour through the actual working studios of Universal. really fun

what a concept....:animwink:

Also they will be adding Transformers