San Diego
 

Hey guys. I' ll be heading to San Diego on Dec 6th for a week. My daughter just had a kidney transplant and was selected for a Make-A-Wish trip and she wanted to check out the zoo / safari / Sea World. I am heading there with my wife and teenage son and daughter and we will have a couple of free days to kill. Didnt know if some of you guys may have some suggestions on things to see/do while in the area. We're pretty much open minded to anything family oriented, so obviously an escapade to Tijuana is out. We've been to Northern Cal and LA , but never to the San Diego area so we' re going in blind. Any suggestions? Things that must be seen, places to explore, places to avoid , etc.
Thanks. Mike

wow,how is she doing? Blessings and prayers up[on you and your familly.

I grew up in SD. Hope y'all have plenty of time.
I would mainly eat. then eat some more.
Balboa park, mission hill, old town etc. of course.

What about the roller coaster at Mission beach? is that still there?

Oh, Wahoo tacos at sunset grill on the beach at (sunset) MMMMMMMMmmmm. yum.

Surfing lessons always a nice idea.

There a lot of museums in Balboa Park just west of the zoo that are good for all ages. My kids (though younger at 2 and almost 5) love the Ruben H. Fleet Science Museum and the Natural History museum. They also really love the Children's Museum downtown, which has stuff for older children, as well. Right now the Hotel Del Coronado has an Ice Skating rink set up on the beach and the hotel is decorated beautifully for the holidays. Seaworld and Legoland both have snow for kids to play in right now. On Sunday December 11, down town on the harbor they have a holiday boat parade of lights.

I would second the experience at Hotel Del. I would also recommend LegoLand - but damn it is expensive.

She is fantastic, thanks for asking.
Well, we made it home safely last night, thank you all for the suggestions. We were a little shorter on free time than we would have liked to have been but got to see some cool stuff non the less. We hit Old Town, Sea World, the Zoo, the Zoo Safari, Sea Port Village, Coronado Island and the Hotel Del, which was amazing. My kids tossed the skates on and took a few hot laps on the rink on Saturday night. That place was packed! Managed ride some Segways as well, something that I had never done. Pretty cool area out there. People were very nice, fairly easy to get around and I never felt unsafe at all anywhere. It will not be the last time we visit that area. Thanks again for the tips.

Good to hear your family had a blast. Glad your daughter is doing well also. Hope you have a great holiday!