West coast road trip with a 10 year old

[Lily8]

I'm working on our 2 week west coast itinerary for April 2020, starting with 4 nights in San Francisco, travelling down the pacific coast highway towards LA, with 2 nights in Monterey/Carmel-By-The-Sea, 1 night in San Simeon/Cambria, 1 night in Santa Barbara, 4 nights in Anaheim and 2 nights in Hollywood for Universal Studios, then back home.

The Pacific Coast Highway looks beautiful. However, I'm slightly concerned that my daughter - who will be 10 and a half next spring - isn't going to find this trip quite as exciting as her daddy and I. There's a good dosage of Disney in the second week (best timing in terms of predicted crowds) but the first week or so is quite 'grown up', and involves quite a bit of driving. She is a smart/mature 9 year old, takes interest in her surroundings and generally travels very well. But I can't help thinking that she would enjoy a return trip to Orlando (a little) more?! I'd be very grateful if anyone could share their experience of a west coast road trip with children of that age, in particular anyone travelling with an only child. Thanks.

[daytonababe]

I don’t have a only child

But I’ve taken my own kids to the west coast many times from babies to now when they are 16 & 20 and we also took our 6 month old granddaughter in March

We love the west coast and ours are fab travellers but we never do stays less than 3 nights and no drive more than 5/6 hrs

Universal studios only needs 1 day , Disneyland can easily be done in 3 days .

Mine have always been quite happy in cities , in fact the younger would much rather spend his time in Vegas than Disney and that’s always been the case .

[red cuillen]

Santa cruz has a fun fair on the board walk which is fun, inland to Fulton for redwoods and a steam train ride, monterey the aquarium. These might keep her interested.

[Lily8]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

I don’t have a only child

But I’ve taken my own kids to the west coast many times from babies to now when they are 16 & 20 and we also took our 6 month old granddaughter in March

We love the west coast and ours are fab travellers but we never do stays less than 3 nights and no drive more than 5/6 hrs

Universal studios only needs 1 day , Disneyland can easily be done in 3 days .

Mine have always been quite happy in cities , in fact the younger would much rather spend his time in Vegas than Disney and that’s always been the case .

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Thank you for your input. Yes, it's the longish drives and short hotel stays that I think she may not be too keen on. She likes the idea of a road trip, I'm just not sure she is ready for it and/or would enjoy certain aspects of it.

[Lily8]

Originally Posted by red cuillen

Santa cruz has a fun fair on the board walk which is fun, inland to Fulton for redwoods and a steam train ride, monterey the aquarium. These might keep her interested.

See more...

Thank you for your suggestions. I've seen the Santa Cruz fun fair and the aquarium in Monterey - both look fun. We've given it some further thought and decided to shelve our west coast trip for 2-3 years. It's going to be Orlando again for us in 2020, then funds permitting, California in 2021 or 2022.