Two day rush San Diego trip - opinions

GaryDis

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 24, 2015
Here's the plan:

  1. On July 4, leave right after breakfast from Palm Springs by rental car to the San Diego Zoo.
  2. Get to the Zoo by noon. The only must see are the bonobos, otherwise spend as much time there as we want.
  3. Head to hotel in the evening. We're looking at the Bristol at 1st near Broadway.
  4. On July 5, check out, check our luggage with the hotel, and walk to the Midway Museum.
  5. Return to hotel by 2, fetch luggage and car, drive to the Long Beach airport to return the car to the rental agency and catch the 9:30pm red eye back east.
  6. Custom 2 attraction advance ticket Go Card from smartdestinations.com
Opinions? We want to make sure the drive from Palm Springs to SD is reasonable, leaving our car with luggage at the zoo is reasonable, walking from hotel to Midway is reasonable, and most important, how late can we leave SD to make sure we return the car and catch our plane? Also, is smartdestinations reliable for the Go Card?

Seeing everything is a non-goal at the zoo or Midway, but we do want to get our money's worth. We saw the pandas at the Toronto Zoo, so that's not even a high priority in SD. We're getting old, and we'll be worn out from activities earlier in our vacation.

Many thanks.
 
Well I work right next to the Midway and often walk farther than the Bristol for lunch or even coffee. Your plan seems fine. Expect to spend around 3 hours on the Midway, more if you eat lunch on the fantail, or walk up to the other old ahips. But driving to Long Beach after 2 is my worst nightmare. I would personally look at taking the Coaster or Surfliner up to the Metro or something else that goes to Wardlow station at that time. Return the car a day early.The Coaster/Surfliner is actually a really nice relaxing ride, a short walk from the Midway, you can grab a drink and enjoy the coastal views. Driving in traffic for several hours just enfuriates me. That drive is around 2-2.5 hours with no traffic, but has taken me over 5 if you add an accident or 2 or 3.
 
Looking at the train schedule, and considering our already limited time, I don't think that would work. But thanks for the suggestion.
 
Looking at the train schedule, and considering our already limited time, I don't think that would work. But thanks for the suggestion.

Ah ok. If you can leave at 2, you will at least avoid a good chunk of traffic, then if you get in that vicinity early, you can head toward the beach and take the Pacific Coast Highway up the rest of the way. I usually take the 73 toll road to avoid some of the heavier traffic. Newport Beach and Seal bach and the drive between are all beuatiful areas and you could grab an early dinner somewhere around there. Enjoy!

The drive to Palm Springs is usually a 2-2.5 hour drive without traffic depending on which way you go. I kind of enjoy the longer way through the mountains and Temecula(win country).
 


I don't think there's any good way for us to use the 73 toll road. Hertz wants $4.95/day, max $25, to process tolls for us, regardless of the number of days we actually incur tolls. And I don't think there are any tolls between Long Beach and Anaheim, Anaheim to Palm Springs, or Palm Springs to San Diego. So that would add $25 plus the toll to our rental fee.
 
I don't think there's any good way for us to use the 73 toll road. Hertz wants $4.95/day, max $25, to process tolls for us, regardless of the number of days we actually incur tolls. And I don't think there are any tolls between Long Beach and Anaheim, Anaheim to Palm Springs, or Palm Springs to San Diego. So that would add $25 plus the toll to our rental fee.

You can pay-per-plate on time use on their website https://www.thetollroads.com/help/paying-tolls if you want, or just skip it, it'll just take longer.
 
I agree your plan sounds reasonable and you're not trying to do too much. Also with leaving SD as soon as possible (by 2) to avoid as much traffic as possible, and then relaxing/dinner further up the coast. Plan for 3 hours of driving and hopefully you'll be surprised with half that. The train is nice, but with returning the rental car early/different location, transfers and luggage it sounds like more hassle than you're wanting to manage. Enjoy the zoo and Midway, both are amazing!
 


Correction, the SmartDestinations was $57.60. The $72 was the list price of the two attractions. Costco works out to $2 cheaper per person on the Midway but $5 more expensive on the zoo.

Still, that's good to know. I never see the city cards in my local store, so I didn't think to search for them, and they don't show up on Costco's travel site. We have friends coming later this summer, so that will be useful.
 

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