This place was five stars in the '80s, and because of that, it's four stars now. How? Well, you see, I never came here in the '80s, and even if I had, it probably would have been with my parents and sister and brother or my parents and cousin (once my sister was in college and my brother was too cool/busy to hang out with us), but that wouldn't have been enough.
Why? Man, you're asking lots of questions; what are you, a reporter?
This is definitely an extended-family kind of park. Why enjoy your time with four members of your immediate family when you could, instead, spend time with dozens of cousins, oodles of aunts and uncles, and even some friends of your "older" cousins ("older" meaning in their twenties; everyone seems old when you're a kid) on whom you might eventually develop a crush even though you don't understand sexual attraction just yet. That's right, this is a park for epic beach-style barbecues (called weenie bakes in our family), complete with massive pickup games of soccer or Frisbee or football or volleyball or slow-pitch baseball (because who happens to have a softball in their trunk?). And after you'd eaten a little and drunk way too much soda because no one's paying attention to your sugar intake because this was (is?) the '80s, and parents were living their own lives and weren't obsessing over and micromanaging every little last aspect of their children's lives, you probably snuck off with your cousin Greg or Mike or Eric and started exploring parts of the park/island that just blew your mind. In fact, after you had worked up the courage to go under the scary overpass and realized it really wasn't that scary but was still kind of strange and weird and not where you'd like to spend too much time, you'd probably walk all the way around the island, and when you got back, your mom might ask where you've been, but not in a disapproving way, and you'd be slightly disappointed because even though you're growing up, you still kind of want your mom to worry about you. And then you and Greg/Mike/Eric might take a couple more laps around the island, and you might even bring along your younger cousins, who are definitely too young to do this by themselves, but they have their 11-year-old older cousin(s) you and Greg/Mike/Eric with them, so there's nothing to worry about.
What a day, huh? Just a spectacular experience, and you'd be sad when it ended, but also kind of glad, because you just want to fall asleep in the car on the way back home or to the hotel (I can't decide whether you live in San Diego or are just visiting in this fantasy).
I never got to experience any of this when I was a kid, not only because I didn't know about this park but because I didn't grow up in San Diego. When we came, we visited the zoo and Sea World, back when it was two words and before we knew how awful it was to keep those poor animals in captivity like that. You can see SeaWorld (one word) from the park, which brings back good memories that don't make me feel bad, but being here isn't the same as it would have been if I had discovered this place in 1988, so I'm dinging it a star.
Please bring your children here. It's a great park, and like so few places in the world, it shouldn't be experienced alone. Ideally, you'll bring lots of friends and family members. There is lots of room and lots of parking and lots of different areas that appeal to different parts of your vacationing/enjoying-yourself brain but that aren't so overwrought that you feel forced to participate in any one activity. If you don't know what I mean, stop trying to figure it out and just come here. read more