San Diego Trip In August

[Jake]

As the title says I'll be visiting San Diego this August for 4 days or so. I'll be visiting (all for the first time) SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park and Belmont park. So since these could all be classified as "Amusement Attractions" expect a trip report from all of them.

I'm posting this so far in advance because A) I need to get it out of my system, and B) I was wondering if any of you had any advice for these parks.

The dates I'll be there are the 11th to the 15th, or something like that.

So any help is appreciated!

[R.C.]

Don't plan to spend a whole day at Belmont Park, you should really only need a couple of hours there to ride everything, unless the lines are really long. Also at Belmont Park you have to buy tickets and each ride requires so many tickets to ride, so try to plan how many tickets you are going to need ahead of time, so you aren't constantly having to wait in line to buy tickets.

It's been several years since I've been there, so I don't know what rides the park has to offer for sure...

[Jake]

^ My family will be at the beach, and I'll be purchasing an all day pass kind of thing. I'm sure I wont be there all day, but at least for a good part of it.

[thatdancingbear]

For $25, you can get to ride the Giant Dipper three times, and once on each of the flats.

You might consider that, because that is all thats really worth riding there.

[rcwhiz]

For the San Diego Zoo I suggest doing a bus tour around the park as you get to see a lot and you'll get some great information about each exhibit. But you wont see absolutely everything on the bus so there are a few things you'll need to walk around to like the panda exhibit and the shows which are really good.

For the Wild Animal Park I went when it was really hot and the air was really dry so walking around was not very good on account sprinklers were sparse on the paths and shade was very limited just like at the zoo. So taking the train ride is a definite and a good thing to see is the giraffe area as you are allowed to feed them so there really close to the little deck area most of the time and you can get good looks of them. But if your willing to pay the money there is a little jeep ride through the park and you are allowed to touch the animals and feed them and you literally are on the plain. Its not like the Disney jeep ride at Animal Kingdom as this is very limited to people so booking ahead of time is probably recommend.

For Seaworld San Diego I recommend doing the Cirque de la Mar as that is an excellent show you do not want to miss it and if you want to participate in the show I recommend sitting close to the front as that is where the guy usually chooses people. Also if you want a good view of the fireworks you should get to the Clyde and Seamore's stadium before the show so you can get a seat near the top before it fills up and so you can get a great view of them.

Now somethings may be outdated but as far as I'm concerned everything I mentioned is still the same because I went to these places back in 2005. But my brother just went there and so did my parents and they said these things were still there.

[rollercoasterfreak91]

I enjoy walking around the zoo, that's pretty mcuh an all day place. Belmont Park, it depends on what you want to do. If you just want to get the credit and take a few pictures, you can easily fit in half an hour (on a weekday). If you want to ride the rides or play in the arcade, make it one hour. (I wouldn't reccomend this as the only park that doesn't have better thrill rides that BP is SFMM, you can ride better thrills at KBF.)

[Ben]

personally, i hate the wild animal park and the san diego zoo, but that may be because i do not like animals/nature. However, if you are going to be there, do take the train ride thing, but make sure that you use the bathroom, because the ride is over 45 min. long. (my sister went in some guys hat... haha)

Belmont Park offers the all day pass, which you have noticed, and it's like around $25 or so. Usually, there are no crowds, but since you are going in the summer, expect anywhere from 2 min.-20 min. depending on what time of day and how many trains they are operating. They have that really cool "surf" simulator, which can be found at some water parks, but it costs additional money than the "all day pass", i think that it's $10 for an all day pass on it. it's fun, but depends on if you like surfing/water activities.

Sea world is a lot of fun. I really like their shows (the dolphin show in particular) and journey to atlantis is a really fun ride, which can have a long line. One saturday night when i went, it was an hour, so you should try to plan accordingly. Shipwreck rapids is ok, but you get extremely wet, more wet than any other rapid ride i have ever been on. Dont bring any cameras or anything electronic or valuable on their, and i would recommend bringing/buying a poncho. The polar bear simulator thing was ok, but i dont really like simulators (i get nautious).

hope that you have fun and that the crowds aren't too bad for ya.