The Ultimate Southern California Vacation
If you’re overwhelmed with booking the bet California vacation for the whole family- this post is for you! This trip combines theme parks and beach time for the best of both worlds. Here’s our itinerary that you can copy if you don’t want to plan it out yourself. This trip works for families with kids of all ages! Here is my ultimate Southern California vacation.
The Ultimate Southern California Vacation: The Itinerary
We flew into Burbank. We took an Uber from the airport and stayed the night at the Garland Hotel in Hollywood. This hotel has a free shuttle that takes you to and from Universal Studios Hollywood. Because we only spent one day at Universal, we took an Uber to Disneyland (it took about an hour to drive there on a Wednesday night). We spent two days at Disney: one at California Adventure and one at Disneyland. We then rented a car and drove to La Jolla and spent two and a half days there.
What We Packed
Here’s a rough list of all the items we brought that I would recommend.
First off, I love, love, love, these suitcases. They are the perfect carry-on size and can even expand if needed. We decided to do all carry-on instead of checking bags, and 5 of these plus a backpack for each of us was exactly the right amount of luggage for a week in Cali.
We started each day with these electrolytes and never felt dehydrated despite the hot temps and thousands of steps. I love the easy to carry packets too!
If you have to share a hotel room with the entire family, bringing a small white noise machine is key! This one is the perfect size!
What We Packed
I wore these shoes with these inserts for all 3 theme park days, and they were great! My husband wore these and also said they were great. Our kids all wore their crocs which was handy, because I could wash them in the hotel sinks every night and they looked brand new the next day. My 12 year old kept getting soaked on the Grizzly River Run ride at California Adventure, and wearing crocs was perfect for that ride!
Definitely remember to bring a small portable phone charger! My 12 year old forgot his which threw a wrench in our plans when he wanted to split up from us and his phone was dead. Wish we had packed one of these for him!
This fan was the real MVP of the trip. We all fought over it during the hottest part of the day. I wish I had brought more!
I am kicking myself for not buying one of these ahead of time. They are les than half of what you will pay at Disneyland. And you will definitely get suckered into buying one at some point, because literally every child we passed by had one. They are almost identical to the ones they sell there, and Amazon has several options in addition to plain old Mickey. Get the Bubble Wand here.
What We Packed
A cooling towel would also have come in handy at the theme parks. I saw a lot of people buying these at Disneyland. Here’s a 4-pack if you want to bring one for the whole fam.
I packed one of these little guys in my fanny pack that I wore at the theme parks. It’s the perfect size, smells so good, and is great for reapplying all day long!
Another small item I had in my fanny pack was one of these for easy hand washing. They make your hands smell so good!
I kept my favorite deodorant in my backpack at the theme parks. You get so hot and sweaty and stinky that this was a must-have!
Speaking of being sweaty and hot- the best thing to wear are athletic shorts and a sports bra. It’s like an all-day-long workout! I did 30,000 steps one day!
For the beach, I like to bring smaller, thinner towels so we aren’t lugging such a big beach bag around everywhere. These or these are the perfect size & weight.
I also packed some collapsible sand buckets that come with other beach toys.
This is my favorite pool bag and this is my favorite beach bag if you have a lot to carry.
Here’s my favorite sand blanket (no sand sticks to it!)
Universal Studios Hollywood
The Garland Hotel
We stayed at The Garland Hotel in Hollywood. This was the perfect location in my opinion! It’s close to the Burbank airport, they have a pool, they have a free shuttle that takes you to and from Universal Studios, and it fits a family of five (which is harder than you realize)!
We arrived in the afternoon on a Tuesday and took an Uber to the hotel. This was the fastest and cheapest way we found to get to the hotel.
The Garland Hotel was perfect for our family of 5! It had bunks beds so we could all fit. The pool was lovely and just what we needed after a long day of traveling. The pool had a more casual vibe than their fancier restaurant, so that’s where we decided to eat.
We woke up early to catch the first shuttle to Universal. We also checked out and had the front desk store our luggage for us while we went to Universal for the day. I would highly recommend getting to the shuttle early! It started filling up 30 minutes before the 8 a.m. departure time and some late comers had to wait for the next one!
Universal Studios Hollywood
You can definitely do all of Universal in just one day. We didn’t feel the need to explore anymore after we spent the entire day there. We didn’t get to everything, but we felt like we had seen enough and repeated the rides we liked best.
I highly recommend the fast pass if you plan on only spending one day there. I bought the fast passes for my husband and 2 older kids, since I knew they’d be riding more than my youngest and me.
We brought some snacks and water bottles in and no one cared. My kids were able to make it the whole day without a stroller, which was great because of those super long escalators. That would have been such a pain! But the nice thing about a stroller is you have somewhere to store the backpack filled with snacks and waters. I ended up carrying the heavy backpack the entire day!
Super Nintendo World
We wanted to get to Universal as close to 8 a.m. as possible because we paid for the “Early Hour” for the new Super Nintendo World. We went straight to the Mario Karts ride since that one gets the longest line. You have to be at least 40″ to ride this one.
The rest of the time spent in Super Nintendo World is all about using your Power Up Bands to collect points so you can fight Bowser. You go around playing mini games and punching ? Boxes to get points added to your bands. When you have enough points, you can play the final Bowser game.
Make sure you get your Power Up Bands and play all the mini games!
One other thing to remember about going to Nintendo World is scanning the QR code for Toadstool Cafe. It sets you up with a dining reservation so you don’t have to wait in person. We were able to go eat an early lunch which was great since we didn’t really eat much for breakfast and we were hungry!
Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Once we were done with Nintendo World, we split up for a bit so that my husband and oldest son could ride some of the bigger rides. I took the little bros to Harry Potter World to get some Butter Beer and practice our magic wands. There’s an Ollivander’s Wand Shop there if you don’t have a wand yet. Better yet- wait in line to watch the Wand Show and you might be lucky enough to get selected to receive your own magic wand FOR FREE!
You will find little markings on the ground indicating where to use your magic wands. If the spell you cast isn’t working, ask an employee for help. If it still isn’t’ working, you can take your wand back to Ollivander’s for a repair. We drank our (frozen) Butter Beers and cast wand spells while we waited for my husband and son to join us in Hogsmeade.
When we were all together again, we rode the two rides in Harry Potter World. Kids must be at least 39″ tall to ride Flight of the Hippogriff. My youngest was tall enough for this, but was too scared, so we waited while the other 3 went on. Then we went over to ride Forbidden Journey. I should have researched this ride a little better, because it’s just awful for those people who get really motion sick. I am one of those people! We did the rider-switch for this one since my youngest wasn’t tall enough. You have to be 48″ for this ride. It’s not scary, but it will definitely make you feel super motion sick!
Studio Tour: Is It Worth It?
I don’t know! We opted not to do it, because we only had time for one more thing before we had to catch our shuttle back to the hotel. Our kids don’t really know the old movies all that well, so we thought they wouldn’t be that impressed by the Studio Tour. I know that’s the main reason a lot of people choose to go to Universal, so maybe we’ll go back someday once our kids have seen more movies. We decided to do the WaterWorld Show instead which was awesome! You definitely will get wet if you’re in the green bleachers. It was a fun way to end our day (and get a chance to sit down)!
Little Kids at Universal
There are plenty of rides for big kids (like The Mummy and Jurassic World), but what about the younger/shorter kids? My youngest is a short 6 year old (he’s 42″), and was able to ride plenty. He loved Mario Karts, Minion Mayhem, Secret Life of Pets, Silly Swirly. We also really enjoyed watching the Kung Fu Panda 4D movie at the hottest part of the day (it’s the coldest AC in the park). He also could have done Flight of the Hippogriff, but was too scared.
Disneyland/California Adventure
We took the shuttle back to the hotel after spending the day at Universal, got our luggage, and took an Uber to our hotel at Disney. It was only an hour drive and cost us under $100. Again, this was the cheapest/fastest option. We wanted to be at Disney the next day so we could get there for rope drop, and we didn’t rent a car because we knew it would just be sitting around in amusement park parking lots wasting money.
Park Vue Inn
We have stayed at a Disney hotel in the past (Paradise Pier which is now Pixar Place), but this time we picked the Park Vue Inn and had a lovely experience. It easily fit our family of 5 (2 queens plus bunk beds!) and it was a short walk to the parks (right across the street)!
Breakfast Tip
One thing that was really helpful was placing our Starbucks coffee/breakfast order through the app right as we were leaving the hotel in the morning. The family waited in line to get into the park while I passed the lines and kept walking to the Starbucks inside Downtown Disney. By the time I got there, my order was ready, and we were able to eat/drink it in line while we waited to get into the park. The timing of it all worked so perfectly that this is what we did on our second day here too.
California Adventure
We had two days to spend at Disney, and we went to California Adventure first. This was mainly because we happened to have friends going there that day too (it was a random fluke that we booked our trips there at the same time). We got the Genie Plus for all our tickets too, which I highly recommend if you are going over a busy time. We got there right at rope drop and made mad dash to get over to Radiator Springs so we could hop in line for the Lightning McQueen ride there. Genie Plus doesn’t work for this ride, so if you don’t want to wait for this ride, the best bet is to get there first thing.
After we all rode that one, we split up. I stayed with my youngest, and the older kids went off to ride the bigger rides. We all met up a few times throughout the day, like for meals and to watch the parade and World of Color. We left after WoC and sat down on the ground to watch the Disneyland fireworks right outside the park.
The best tip was that we brought this fan! It clips to your waist or hangs around your neck. It got so hot in the middle of the day and we were all fighting over this fan. I wish I had bought more.
Professional Pictures
The nice thing about the Genie Plus package we bought was that it included all the professional pictures from the cast members standing around with their camera. They take the pics, then scan your code, and all the pics just appear in your Disneyland app! They can add cool effects like this too:
Parade
We sat down to watch the Pixar Parade late in the afternoon. It was nice to have a break from walking. We had just seen the new Inside Out movie, so seeing those characters was exciting!
Little Kid Rides
There was plenty for my 6 year old to ride during our full day spent at California Adventure. He loved the Jumping Jellyfish and Cars Land rides!
Pickles, Churros, Bread, and Pixie Dust
One of the best kept secrets of Disneyland California Adventure are the pickles! We found some in the Cars Land area. They were the giant dill pickles (and spicy pickles) and they were delicious! We shared a big pickle and a giant churro in some shade:
San Francisco area near the Ghirardelli also had a sourdough bread cart! This seemed strange, but the nice lady working the cart gifted my son a loaf of bread for no reason! We call this type of magic getting “pixie dusted”. It’s when a cool and unexpected thing happens to you at Disneyland. One year, a cast member offered to take my boys to the front of the line for no reason! Another pixie dusting!
Disneyland
This is in no way trying to be a Disneyland tip blog. There are so many of those and they do it way better than me! I will say a few of my tips on here though. We were able to bring in waters and snacks and no one said anything. We all really love getting treats at Disney (beignets! churros! Dole Whip!) so we didn’t bring that many snacks in.
One item I am kicking myself for not buying on Amazon is this bubble blower. All the kids we passed had one, and of course my 6 year old would not stop begging me to buy him one. They are $35 at the park and only $15 on Amazon. The ones at the park are cuter and there are more options, but Amazon has Mickey, Belle, Minnie, Elsa, Ariel, Tiana, and Toy Story!
We used the Genie Plus passes a ton at Disneyland too, those really came in handy. I am not about to recommend the best ways to use those (it still confuses me!) but you can find a ton of advice on those all over the internet (or just designate someone in your party to learn it all and decide for the group).
We waited at the rope to Adventure Land to make a mad dash to Star Wars Land to ride Rise of the Resistance first. The app said it was open so that was our plan for our first morning at Disney (because you can’t use a Genie Plus with that ride). We ran all the way there, but unfortunately the ride was closed for repairs already by the time we got there. I wish the app had indicated this ahead of time so we wouldn’t have ran all that way (it’s far!).
Star Trader Store
If you have any members of your party who don’t want to ride anything, hang out inside the Star Trader store! You can make your own Light Saber (and even purchase it if you’d like)! Make them over and over again in different configurations.
Character Breakfast
We decided to add a character breakfast to the day we were leaving Disney so it wouldn’t take up any of our precious park time. We did the one inside the Grand Californian at the Storytellers Cafe. The food was amazing and it was a good way to get to meet some characters without waiting in line.
Rental Car
We rented from Enterprise because there’s a location inside the Pixar Place Hotel, which is right at Disneyland. This was walking distance from our hotel. I would not recommend them, however, because they didn’t have our car ready, despite me calling to confirm it would be there the day before. I had to wait over an hour for the car, while my husband and kids were stranded at the hotel lobby waiting for me since we had already checked out. It wasn’t ideal, but once we got our car, we hit the road and drove to La Jolla!
La Jolla
We have stayed in the San Diego area several times, but I like La Jolla the best, so that’s where we chose to stay this time. Mission Beach is also a great place to stay if you’re visiting with kids. We booked the La Jolla Cove Hotel through Airbnb, which was cheaper for some reason. The suite was just ok. It is definitely older and has seen better days, but had plenty of room for our family of 5 with 2 queens plus a pull-out couch.
The suite was extremely hot when we got there (NO CENTRAL AC!!!), so we turned on all the fans, the AC units in the two bedrooms, and even cracked the door open. It eventually cooled off, but this wasn’t ideal. The other thing to consider about staying here that we didn’t realize was all the stairs! It’s a lot of work getting all the luggage up to the room!
We love seeing the seals in La Jolla! The big grassy park right across from the La Jolla Cove Hotel is great too. There’s a man blowing enormous bubbles on the lawn and always has a crowd of kids gathered around. There are cool trees to climb and lookout points to watch the waves and sunset. Further down there are tide pools that are worth exploring. If you’re looking for a gentle, swimmable beach, this might not be the best area for you. There is one good beach for kids (called Children’s Beach) that is calm, but it gets crowded quickly!
Where We Ate
You absolutely must have breakfast at The Cottage! It’s my favorite place for breakfast. Get the secret menu item: crab cake benedict. We also loved eating at The Spot for dinner, Lobster West for lunch, and got gelato and ice cream for dessert.
Professional Photo Shoot
One fun thing I love to do on vacation is to get professional pictures taken! We haven’t done this in 3 years, so I thought it was about time! I found Mattie through Camille’s blog, San Diego Mamas, and she was absolutely wonderful! We love how our pictures turned out!
La Jolla Tide Pools
One of the best parts of La Jolla is exploring the tide pools! We love this area and were able to see so many little crabs and creatures. It’s a must-do if you visit La Jolla.
La Jolla Shores Beach
This is the best spot if you’re visiting La Jolla with kids! You could find a good Airbnb close by, or book a room at the La Jolla Shores Hotel which is right on the water. I loved the chill vibes of this area. The main drag, Avenida de La Playa, has fun shops and places to grab a bite to eat. Jeff’s Beach Burgers and Dough Mamma Pizza are quick and easy food grabs along this street. Neighbor-Savor Market sells Thrifty Ice Cream! iykyk We also rented a boogie board from one of the local shops.
The parking lot was crazy crowded, but eventually we got a spot. There are life guard stations on this beach, a couple of restroom spots, a playground called Kellog Park, and even a spot with turf and umbrellas where you can sit and order drinks/food (La Jolla Shores Hotel Cafe). Ice cream guys walk the beach so you will be able to buy your kids cold treats all day long!
San Diego Zoo
My husband’s one request was going to the San Diego Zoo. We didn’t see the whole thing because the kids were begging to go back to the beach, but we did cover a lot of ground. The zoo had a lot of shady parts which was nice. We loved riding the sky trams too. You could make this the only activity you do on one day, or only do a bit of it and leave after half a day.
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