Autumn Travel in Southern California
Download this page in PDF formatSeptember and October are among the best months to enjoy Southern California’s most spectacular, smile-inducing destinations. Outdoor temperatures tend to be mild and the theme parks are less crowded. And, armed with a Southern California CityPASS ticket booklet, travelers will find visiting the top attractions more affordable than ever.
Southern California CityPASS provides discounted access into the region’s highest-profile theme parks and wild animal attractions. Each Southern California CityPASS includes a Disneyland Resort 3-Day Park Hopper Bonus Ticket (which allows entrance for three days to both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park), as well as one-day admissions to Universal Studios Hollywood, SeaWorld San Diego, and a choice between either the San Diego Zoo or San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
An adult Southern California CityPASS sells for $269 (a value of $379), saving nearly 30 percent off combined admissions to the participating attractions. Youth (ages 3-9) ticket booklets retail for $229 (a value of $319).
Once the kids are back in school, lines get much shorter at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure Park and Universal Studios Hollywood, especially during the week. Plus, guests with a Southern California CityPASS ticket booklet receive an added bonus: Magic Morning admission into Disneyland Park before it opens to the public on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday.
Disneyland has all the favorites that keep adults and kids coming back: photos with Disney characters on Main Street, U.S.A.; the rowdy, swashbuckling antics of the buccaneers populating Pirates of the Caribbean; the heart-pumping thrills of Space Mountain; and, of course, all-age-appropriate rides like the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland and it’s a small world in Fantasyland.
Disney California Adventure Park’s new World of Color show is the latest eye-popping offering from the wizards at Disney. This magnificent, 25-minute nighttime water show projects Disney animation — everything from The Lion King and Cinderella to Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story and WALL-E — onto the world’s largest water screen.
Utilizing 1,200 fountains that shoot water as high as 600 feet, the production mixes elegant fountain choreography with music, animation and ingenious special effects. World of Color is part of the reimagining of the Disney California Adventure park, a multi-year, $1 billion makeover that will add new rides, including The Little Mermaid — Ariel’s Undersea Adventure in 2011; and the opening (scheduled for 2012) of Cars Land, a whole new section of the park with rides, streetscapes and restaurants based on the movie Cars.
With so much to do and see in the two parks, the 3-Day Park Hopper Bonus Ticket is a lifesaver, allowing visitors to go back and forth between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park on all three days.
Universal Studios Hollywood is the only film and television-based theme park to offer guests the authenticity of a working movie studio. On the back lot, visitors findKing Kong 360 3-D Created by Peter Jackson, which opened in July 2010. Described as “the world’s largest, most intense 3-D experience,” King Kong combines thrilling visceral effects with the world’s largest Surround Digital projection. Jackson and the Universal team have designed a chest-thumping, heart-in-mouth adventure that surrounds guests with all-new footage filmed especially for the ride and mind-blowing 3-D effects.
Also featured on the Studio Tour are a sprawling classic set from Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, Alfred Hitchcock’s original Psycho House and Bates Motel, the Desperate Housewives Wisteria Lane sets, and Courthouse Square, a film landmark featured in hundreds of movies and television shows, including The Music Man, Back to the Future and, more recently, the Ghost Whisperer TV series.
Another Universal favorite is The Simpsons Ride, voted “World’s Best New Attraction for 2008″ by the readers of ThemeParkInsider.com. This goofy, surprise-filled ride invites guests to join Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie on an over-the-top trip through the fictitious Krustyland theme park.
To enter Universal Studios Hollywood, CityPASS holders present their ticket card or ticket booklets at the park turnstiles, allowing them to skip the main ticket line.
At SeaWorld San Diego, CityPASS users also present their ticket booklet at the turnstile, thereby bypassing the main-entrance line. This faster entry leaves Southern California CityPASS travelers with more time to enjoy SeaWorld’s shows, all of which are included with CityPASS. Among the offerings is Blue Horizons, which debuted in May 2010. This “theatrical spectacular unites sea and sky,” showcasing energetic bottlenose dolphins, a colorful array of exotic birds and human performers, including divers and aerialists.
Visitors can learn more about bottlenose dolphins and California sea otters at the Rocky Point Preserve exhibit. Or, they can chill with the 250 penguins at Penguin Encounter … or perhaps spend a little quality time with the beluga whales, polar bears, walruses and seals at the Wild Arctic exhibit. And nobody will want to leave SeaWorld before braving the waves and underground cavern of the Shipwreck Rapids ride.
During the month of October, SeaWorld San Diego will be getting into the spirit of Halloween with a not-too-scary celebration: Halloween Spooktacular. Every Saturday and Sunday in October, families can enjoy trick-or-treating, costumed characters, and shows, including the spooky-kooky Clyde and Seamore’s Trick or Treat, Sesame Street’s Countdown to Halloween, and Pirates 4-D, a hilarious adventure featuring special effects and starring Leslie Nielsen.
Southern California CityPASS also includes an option ticket that gives visitors a choice between the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
At the San Diego Zoo, kids and adults will be wowed by the vast collection of interesting and endangered animals on display. Must-sees: zoo babies, including a panda, a camel and a langur; and the Skyfari aerial tram, for a bird’s-eye view of the park’s environs — from the koala colony in the Down Under exhibit; to the elephants, lions, jaguars, sloths and camels of Elephant Odyssey. Africa Rocks gets visitors up close to the big cats and entertains with free-flight bird shows.
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park has animal babies too, including newborn elephants, giraffe calves and antelopes. But what makes the park so special is its large, African and Asian field exhibits. Come eye-to-eye with the animals in Kilimanjaro Safari Walk and Lion Camp (yes, the lions are on the other side of the glass). Visitors can also get their hearts a-flutter in the Hidden Jungle, and enjoy majestic, bighorn sheep and North America’s largest birds in Condor Ridge.
Southern California CityPASS can be purchased online at citypass.com or at any of the CityPASS attractions. It is valid for nine consecutive days, beginning with the first day of use.
As a premier product for travelers who crave savings, convenience and a well-defined means to discovering a city’s leading attractions, the CityPASS concept showcases the best attractions in North America’s most exciting destinations at an incredible discount. CityPASS ticket booklets are available for New York, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Hollywood, Houston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Southern California and Toronto. For more information on CityPASS and its partner cities and attractions, visit citypass.com.
