San Diego
Last minute changes gave rise to an impromptu mini vacation down to San Diego and LEGOLAND. It seems I'm on a theme park kick this year and checked into the Doubletree San Diego-Mission Valley. The hotel is under some minor upgrades (namely the elevator) and it was generally quiet at the hotel. The mall and lots of other types of restaurants were either adjacent to the plaza of the hotel or the next block over. If you were staying here for work, it is a nice location for eateries as well as hotel amenities.
Having had a very late lunch at Brewbaker's and bought some snacks from the grocery store next door to munch on. The next morning, grabbed breakfast before heading out to LEGOLAND. The breakfast options were nice and I enjoyed the granola.
LEGOLAND tickets are available at local grocery stores and the prices are better than at the actual ticket office. My park hopper (aquarium but not the water park) was $50 less than the posted rates. Overall, the theme park was pretty manageable with rides mostly geared towards children. I thought the displays in miniland were interesting and appreciated the amount of effort and time it took to create the diaspora. There are a couple of roller coaster rides and a short lagoon ride that is friendly to older kids/adults.
The food was also pretty tasty and I think theme parks must realize that they have to improve the quality of food for their captured market. There is a pizza and pasta buffet restaurant that is reasonably priced and amazing that it is all you can eat. There was also some of the best churros I've had in a long time inside one of the food kiosks. I escaped the gift stores with minor damage to check into the Hilton San Deigo Resort and Spa. A wonderful location within the bay with views of the SeaWorld fireworks show. The resort has a large pool facing the bay with two hot tubs at the edge of the property line. I was given a room with balcony facing the fireworks and was able to catch the show in the comfort of the room. The restaurant, Acqua California Bistro, was nice and relaxing. The service was very good and friendly. The food was tasty as well. I enjoyed my prix fixe menu but I would suggest opting going a la carte if you can. The dessert was lava cake and it tasted like a microwave oven cupcake.
The next day, grabbed my free coffee and granola (which was also good and maybe they have the same supplier as the Doubletree) and lunched at Leilani's Café before heading home. The hilo style loco moco was pretty tasty (and I've never really seen this in Hilo so I will have to look for it when I'm in Hilo next) and the spam musubi was good. The Leroy's chicken was ok.
Having had a very late lunch at Brewbaker's and bought some snacks from the grocery store next door to munch on. The next morning, grabbed breakfast before heading out to LEGOLAND. The breakfast options were nice and I enjoyed the granola.
LEGOLAND tickets are available at local grocery stores and the prices are better than at the actual ticket office. My park hopper (aquarium but not the water park) was $50 less than the posted rates. Overall, the theme park was pretty manageable with rides mostly geared towards children. I thought the displays in miniland were interesting and appreciated the amount of effort and time it took to create the diaspora. There are a couple of roller coaster rides and a short lagoon ride that is friendly to older kids/adults.
The food was also pretty tasty and I think theme parks must realize that they have to improve the quality of food for their captured market. There is a pizza and pasta buffet restaurant that is reasonably priced and amazing that it is all you can eat. There was also some of the best churros I've had in a long time inside one of the food kiosks. I escaped the gift stores with minor damage to check into the Hilton San Deigo Resort and Spa. A wonderful location within the bay with views of the SeaWorld fireworks show. The resort has a large pool facing the bay with two hot tubs at the edge of the property line. I was given a room with balcony facing the fireworks and was able to catch the show in the comfort of the room. The restaurant, Acqua California Bistro, was nice and relaxing. The service was very good and friendly. The food was tasty as well. I enjoyed my prix fixe menu but I would suggest opting going a la carte if you can. The dessert was lava cake and it tasted like a microwave oven cupcake.
The next day, grabbed my free coffee and granola (which was also good and maybe they have the same supplier as the Doubletree) and lunched at Leilani's Café before heading home. The hilo style loco moco was pretty tasty (and I've never really seen this in Hilo so I will have to look for it when I'm in Hilo next) and the spam musubi was good. The Leroy's chicken was ok.
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