Family Fun in San Diego

Belmont Park

Belmont Park is San Diego's only Amusement Park. Located steps from the surf and sand in Mission Beach, Belmont Park is home to the historic Giant Dipper Roller Coaster. Built in 1925, the Giant Dipper is one of only two remaining seaside roller coasters in California. Belmont park promises fun for all ages from thrilling rides like the Roller Coaster and Beach Blaster to the traditional Carousel. Belmont Park is a 7 acre amusement park located on the Boardwalk in Mission Beach and features amusement rides, games, arcade, shopping, traditional park food and sit down dining. Park admission and Parking are free.

Balboa Park

What could be better than an entertaining park where your kids can experience art, culture, and learn something new along the way? The largest urban cultural park in the United States, Balboa Park is often referred to as the “Smithsonian of the West.” Its 1,200 lush acres are home to 85 cultural attractions, including 15 museums, eight gardens and the San Diego Zoo. The park features a massive array of interesting and fun activities for all ages including: The San Diego Air & Space Museum, The Balboa Park Carousel, The Balboa Park Miniature Railroad, the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater, the San Diego Automotive Museum, the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum, the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, the San Diego Museum of Man, the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, the San Diego Museum of Art, and the San Diego Natural History Museum.

The New Children's Museum encourages children to think, play and create with innovative, hands-on art opportunities, classes and first-rate exhibitions designed by emerging and established contemporary artists. The museum ended the summer in the pillow room with Ziggy Marley for the final weekend of their first exhibition, childsplay, on September 7. The Museum will be closed until October 10, when it will re-open with their second exhibition, Animal Art, where kids will get a chance to think animal, play animal, and create animal.
 

San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo is more than a zoo: it is a sanctuary for thousands of animals, a landscape of rare plants from all climates and a living classroom that entertains as well as educates. Learn about animals that lived in Southern California 12,000 years ago and meet their living counterparts at The Harry and Grace Steele Elephant Odyssey. The new 7.5-acre multispecies habitat features elephants, California condors, jaguars and more and offers guests insight about the Zoo’s conservation efforts to protect wildlife from becoming extinct like the mammoth and saber-toothed cat.

Don’t forget to visit the international famous giant panda family. Home to five giant pandas the San Diego Zoo has had a love affair with giant pandas ever since two of the black-and-white bears came to for a short visit in 1987. In 1996 a female named Bai Yun arrived and has given birth to five cubs, including the youngster she is raising now. Come see the pandas and learn about the Zoo’s panda conservation efforts.

Even though the 100-acre Zoo is known for its amazing array of animals, it is actually the plants that are the Zoo’s most valuable collection. The exhibits often mimic the native habitats of the animals, including the plant life. Realistic enclosures promote the natural behavior of the animals; guests can get a better sense of how the animals live in the wild, from polar bears in the Arctic tundra to okapis in the Ituri Forest and bonobos in the jungles of the Congo.

The specially designed viewing areas in the Children’s Zoo ensure that even the smallest guests see animals in action. The San Diego Zoo offers a guided bus tour of the grounds, and the Skyfari aerial tram gives guests a bird’s-eye view of the 100-acre facility. At the Wegeforth Bowl and Hunte Amphitheatre, guests can watch animals such as sea lions and wolves, that can’t be seen anywhere else in the Zoo, show off some of their natural behaviors, The Zoo has an array of restaurants from gourmet to casual as well as a variety of shops.

 

The Gaslamp Quarter

In the historic Gaslamp Quarter, consisting of 16½-blocks around Fourth and Fifth Avenues, grand Victorian-era buildings are home to more than 100 of the city's finest restaurants, 35 pubs and nightclubs and 100's of retail shops, as well as theaters, art galleries, offices and residential/work lofts. When the sun sets, this downtown neighborhood attracts thousands of diners, shoppers, theater goers, and nightclub patrons.