City Passes- San Diego was worth it!

Hello, hello!

I'm taking a step away from travel apps to discuss CityPass. For those of you in the know, City Passes (or GO Cards, CityPass) are a treasure trove of easy vacationing! If you're going somewhere new and want to tour it for all it's worth, it's your go-to for most of your travel destination needs. You pay for the card ahead of time per person and in that one swift payment you are welcomed to any number of tourist locations for a FREE or discounted rate. The card gets you into parks, museums, sometimes free parking, discounts on meals, skip the line features- definitely worth a look if you like doing as much as possible while saving your hard earned dough for other things like treats and stuffed bears! (no affiliation)

City Pass is an American company that produces and sells discounted ticket packages to top tourist attractions in various North American metropolitan areas- according to their Wiki. I first discovered these babies in 2014 when my husband and I were heading to the Southern California area for vacation. We stayed with friends in Imperial Beach (amazing place!) but got the SoCal GO! Card for 5 days here, which now has cash back from Ebates to sweeten the deal. (if you are not an Ebates member you should be-here's my link to JOIN). There are more offers on the card now than back then- rats! Guess I gotta go back!

With our GO San Diego card we hit as much as possible. Seriously, destinations on destinations on destinations! First day in town we went to the San Diego Zoo so I could cry about koala bears. I loved it! We got food discounts and I do believe I got 10% off of my stuffed koala bear in the Australia area. Pretty obsessed with koalas. With the card we got to line jump to get in (admission covered) as well and made some day friends who also had the cards, and who helped us take this traditional photo!
Sweet googly moogly!

We also went (camera free) to LegoLand (which, admittedly, would have been better if we had kids with us because half of the rides and activities were geared towards kids, so as adults it was just mostly a really long walk- something to keep in mind), Sea World (don't hate) and Belmont Park, a small seaside style amusement park that I was crazy about! All admission entries were free, plus at Belmont we even got free rounds of putt putt (I lost) and other games! It's a great way to spend the evening, it feels just like a tv show setting! 

Sup, bro?

We spent one day in sunny Los Angeles- which I really wanted to be my favorite day on the trip. It was pretty cool, for sure, but it was also not what I expected. But the Go Cards got us into a lot, A LOT, of neat stuff in LA! We started at the Max Factor Hollywood Museum, which I was obsessed with. There was a whole room of Lucille Ball, and as a horror fx makeup artists and costumer, I was just to the moon about the whole thing!

We also went to the Dolby Theatre (we entered through a mall) where I may or may not have sneaked a photo of Leo's Oscar chair, the Chinese Theatre filled with hands, feet and bus tours of people in EVERY infuriating direction (very hard to get photos of things you like when a group of 6 is constantly walking right in your shot even though you are CLEARLY standing with your camera down at the ground for a reason) and we got a discount on crepes while gazing at the Hollywood sign right outside the theatre. 
 Leo!
Harry Potter cast at the Chinese Theatre

Another trip we made in San Diego proper was the Petco stadium, which was neat. I like being aware of the bigness of an empty stadium. I like it back home at Comerica Park where the Tigers play, too. Like waiting for something to happen! We got free museum trips and discounts in Old Town San Diego State Park like the "haunted" Whaley House (maybe more on that later) We also had an adventure in La Jolla going on a Tandem Kayak tour where we saw sea lions, Dr. Seuss's old house and a Spanish guy yacking in the water. The tour was pretty great until that, even though the water was choppy and we could't do the full 90 minute's worth of sight seeing. 
I'll sight see this guy all day!

This adventure was amazing and we had such an unforgettable blast. I know that a huge chunk of us getting to do as much as we did was all thanks to the Go San Diego CityPasses I had only stumbled upon by chance trying to see if we would be in town during tapings of the Ellen show (we weren't). Not only did we milk SoCal for all we could with these babies, I've relied on these passes for a few other cities! Stay tuned for more Go! adventures and other resources for you to save some money on your next vacation!

I am not affiliated with anything listed above, I just like good deals and Ellen Degeneres!

Comments

  1. Awesome post! I love the way you write! Engageing and fun!

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  2. This is great info, especially when you have to plan for 5! I love a great travel bargain and something that can give ideas on what to see. Thanks!

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  3. Sounds like you guys had a great time in San Diego! I would go just to see the koalas haha

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    1. That was my number one priority!! I'd only seen them before in one of the Ohio zoos!

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  4. I used to city passes in Chicago and it was totally worth it. Glad to hear it's the same for San Diego! Awesome you went camera free in legoland sad though it was better suited for kids.

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    1. I think legoland was one of the only places that didn't get us free parking, too, so another con! If I remember well it was $20 to park! But all in all a good time. Have you gone to LL before?

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  5. Great googly moogly is right! LOL! We've been asked if we were using City Pass while we are here in Atlanta. It didn't work for us on this trip but we will keep it in mind in the future. Thanks for the great post!

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    1. I think every year they add a new city. Detroit isn't the kind of place for it, really, things aren't too over the top or close together like Chicago or SD or Orlando, but I def look into what options they have for other cities vs how much on their lists I would want to do. Dublin was the best one, I think, besides the koalas!

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  6. Thank you so much for posting this! I never heard of CityPasses until today! And funny enough, I was just in San Diego not too long ago - definitely could have used them!

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  7. It sounds like you had a really great time! Thank you for posting about the CityPasses. I've never heard about those until I read your post. I love that in places you get to skip the lines and free admission other places. Those are things that I look for when planning a getaway!

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    1. Me too, now! Even in Europe I found a few larger cities had them (different companies than these in the US) all totally worth it!

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  8. I love the zoo. I have never been to this one but hopefully someday. Thanks for all the great info!!! Love the pics. <3

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  9. Excellent and informative post. I've never heard of it since now, now I'll add it to my list of travel'need to' check out when travelling your way.. xxx

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  10. I want to go to San Diego with my kids this year. This is such good information!

    April

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  11. Looks like so much fun! I've never been to a tv taping but my mom actually just went to the ellen show taping today!

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  12. Great information. I have considered these passes!!

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  13. Oh my heck how fun! I wish we lived there! We would get them for sure. My kids would flip over all the sites!

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    1. There are other cities that offer good deals, if you're ever planning another family getaway i'd recommend checking it out!

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  14. I have never heard of this city passes, Great info, Thanks for sharing!

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  15. Lived in San Diego for years! Still one of my favorite cities ever!! Great post!

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  16. I've never heard of a city pass! It looks like you went to some ready great places. Does this work all around the US?

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  17. It looks like you had a great time! That giraffe was adorable!!

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  18. I've never done a CityPASS but I know A LOT of cities that have them all over the world. I always wondered if they're worth it. Glad you enjoyed SD.

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  19. I haven't heard of CityPass before. I'll have to check it out the next time I go on vacation.

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  20. this looks like a fantastic trip! I love SD and esp their zoo!

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