by Michele Wilmonen

Created on: February 23, 2009   Last Updated: January 11, 2010

Spring Break is a great time to plan a get-a-way for your family. School is out, the weather is getting better and there are a lot of vacation deals this time of year. So where do you want to go?

*Destination: Southern California

Why do people like Southern California? For one, it is warm and after you have endured a cold winter, warm weather is a must for a vacation. Also because of the large population there are plenty of things to do there in the form of Zoo's, theme parks, museums, professional sports and beaches. Pretty much anything that you would like to do in the warm weather you can do in Southern California.

*Buy a City Pass

If you decide that Southern California is where you want to spend your spring break you would be good to go for a week if you were to purchase a City Pass. The City Pass is a booklet of tickets to the popular destinations of different tourist locations around the United States. The attractions on the Southern California City Pass change from year to year and can include tickets for the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Universal Studios, Knotts Berry Farm and 3 days at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. But no matter what the year, there are 6 days worth of theme park tickets in the booklet.  The destinations are spread out and additional planning would be required to take advantage of it. But, money wise you are going to save more money by using the City Pass then any other ticket package.  To find out more visit http://www.citypass.com/ .

*Plan it out

There are so many different things to do in southern California that you are going to want to plan out each day so that you can make travel arrangements.  For example, if you are going to use the City Pass you will have to plan on at least 3 days in San Diego and then another 4 in the Los Angeles/ Anaheim area.  The extra day in San Diego is for the day at the beach and/or Balboa park because you can not go to San Diego and not visit at least one or the other.  Also don't try and get two of the theme parks done all in one day.  Each park that is represented in the City Pass are day long adventures and you will waste not only your money in not staying there for the full day, you will also waste an opportunity to enjoy everything that they have to offer you and your family.

Your best course of action is to fly into San Diego, rent a car and stay a couple nights there while you use your tickets.  When it is time, drive up to Anaheim to finish the rest of your vacation.  Depending on the day keep in mind how bad traffic is in Southern California and that you want to time it so that you arrive in the Anaheim area after the morning rush.  The drive itself isn't very long but is gorgeous and easy as you never leave I-5 and most of it is along the coast.  When you vacation is over you can drive back to San Diego to fly home or save your self the drive and return the car and fly out of Santa Ana instead.  The reason that going to San Diego first is recommended is because Disneyland is a tough act to follow for any other theme park so it is best to build up to Disneyland and not start with it.

No matter what you do or how you do it, Southern California is a great family destination for Spring Break. You don't have to do the same thing everyday and your kids will be entertained for the whole trip. It's a win-win situation for the whole family.

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