Places to stay in Southern Ca

I am planning a trip to Southern Ca for the first week in April. Would like some input on my plan.

My wife is not much on flying and thus getting there and back is all she will put up with.

We are planning three days at Disney Land and 2 days at Lego Land.

I picked CRQ (Mc Clellan-Palomar Airport, Carlsbad, California) as the fly in airport and plan to drive up to Disney Land....and other spots.......

Is there a better place to fly in close to Lego Land?

Which FBO would you recommend at CRQ?

Forget Legoland!!

As a big Disney fan (made over 50 trips there with the family over the years), I'm probably a bit biased but I'd say bag Legoland and spend more time at Disneyland! We took our kids to Legoland, once. All we could take was a few hours in the morning then we all went to the beach! This was years ago so maybe it's less dull these days. Two days seems a bit much for Legoland though.

I've flown my old plane to Fullerton Airport a couple of times, rented a car, stayed at the Candy Cane Inn next door to the park (our go to lodging for the Mouse House for years) and had a great time.

Have fun!

One day at Legoland is plenty. Great place for kids under 12. Palomar is right next door. For Disneyland, Fullerton is convenient and close.

bruceh said:

One day at Legoland is plenty. Great place for kids under 12. Palomar is right next door. For Disneyland, Fullerton is convenient and close.

Click to expand...

I completely agree withthe above quote. There isn't all that much to see or do at Legoland, espcially if you're under 10. One day at Legoland and you'll do it all and then some.

For going to Legoland there isn't a better choice than Palomar.

As for Disneyland, Fullerton is a great choice. It's easy in/easy out (the LAX airspace looks intimidating, but you've got a 6,000 foot floor all the way in from the coast to Fullerton, more than enough room to get in and out easily). It's not a bad flight up the coast from Palomar, talk to SoCal and they'll route you right over the top of John Wayne (commercial traffic airport for Orange County).

The drive up to Disneyland from Palomar is a pain in the a**, lots of traffic heading that way in the morning. You definitely don't want to do that drive back and forth everyday. If you do land at Palomar and don't want to fly to Fullerton, I highly recommend you stay at a hotel near the park in Anaheim.

Also, go to Legoland first. It would be quite the let down after spending a few days at Disneyland.

If you need any info on the airspace and preferred routes around SoCal feel free to send me a PM. I fly out of Santa Monica and am very familiar with the area.

John

after legoland - local dinner

Go up the hill to the Sheraton Carlsbad, have dinner at the Twenty/20 Grill.

Outdoor dining is great on a clear day; it overlooks Legoland, so the kids have something to look at.

Tapas menu is very good, wine selections are good, and they take care of kids as well. Ocean views, for 100' MSL, are great as well.

If you like Pizza, head in to "downtown" Carlsbad, and try Pizza Port. Everything is handmade, they make their own very, very good beer, and their ice cream is fantastic.

Here is where I would stay in OC, it's near enough to Disneyland and close to South Coast Plaza, shoppers paradise. http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/SNAOC/main.wnt
It's also near the performing arts center. I concur with the others, driving is to be avoided, but if you have to, remember the best defense is a good offense. Fly into Orange County, KSNA, if you want fun bigger airport experience, but the FBOs are expensive, Fullerton is probably better. No need to be intimidated by flying into the LA basin, look at the back of the VFR terminal chart and fly those recommended VFR routes, no problem. Get flight following before you get into the basin, they'll just hand you freq to freq. until you get to tower. Departing, fly out to the coast, up through the LA VFR special flight rules area and back, it's fun. Stop in Big Bear (L35) on the way, cheapest avgas around, I'll show you the RV12 and help you pick a route wherever you want to go.

When we were in Palomar over the holidays, we tied down at Magellan. They only charged $10 per night, and arranged a rental car on short notice - fuel prices were actually pretty reasonable, and for buying fuel, they took a night off the tie-down bill. They are in temporary facilities at the west end - seemed like nice folks. They even chased us down at the restaurant to tell us that they had found a car!

Paul

Carlsbad, CA...

Hello everyone,
New to the RV community and will be passing through Carlsbad, CA soon for a couple days.
Found this thread in a search and thought I'd inquire as to any RV owners around the area (CRQ) who might be up for chatting RV's over a cup of coffee.
If so welcome to drop a pm.. take care and thanks.

Goose