Each year Get Away Today takes its agents to Southern California for an entire week to experience all of our partner hotel and attractions firsthand. It's just one of the many things that sets Get Away Today's travel expertise and customer service apart from the rest. This year's FAM (short for familiarization) trip began this past Saturday, November 6.
Our agents began their busy week in beautiful San Diego and are lucky enough to be staying at the
Embassy Suites San Diego Bay - Downtown. This gorgeous hotel offers spacious and family friendly accommodations. Each suite is appointed with either one king or two double beds in the main bedroom and a pull-out sofa bed in the living room area. Each room also has a microwave and refrigerator for added convenience and because it's an Embassy Suites, they offer a complimentary cook-to-order breakfast and a manager's reception daily.
The first stop on our team's itinerary was
LEGOLAND and the adjacent Sea Life Aquarium where they got to explore the park with more than 60 rides, shows, and attractions. In addition to a number of family friendly rides, LEGOLAND is home to Miniland USA where seven areas of the United States (including Washington D.C., Las Vegas, San Francisco, and more) are meticulously recreated in 1:20 scale by LEGO bricks. At LEGOLAND you will also find interactive activities, rides, and games that your family can all enjoy together.
After spending the afternoon at
LEGOLAND California, our agents were able to use the Sheraton Carlsbad hotel's private LEGOLAND entrance to tour this beautiful new hotel. The Sheraton Carlsbad is a full-service hotel with gorgeous guestrooms (featuring the famous Sheraton Sweet Sleeper beds), a sparkling free-form pool, a full-service spa (Ocean Pearl Spa) and much more. After enjoying dinner at the Sheraton Carlsbad, our agents finished their day by taking a tour of the nearby Grand Pacific Palisades which overlooks Carlsbad's famous flower fields. This "grand" hotel offers beautifully appointed guestrooms and features both family and adult swimming pools. Grand Pacific Palisades also offers daily activities to hotel guests and is within walking distance
LEGOLAND California.
Day 2 of our San Diego FAM trip began with tours of the
Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, the
Mission Plaza Hotel & Suites, the T
own & Country Resort and the
Hyatt Resort Mission Bay Spa & Marina. After touring these popular San Diego hotels our agents headed to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park located in Escondido (approximately 30 minutes north of San Diego).
The
San Diego Zoo Safari Park (formerly the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park) covers 1,800 acres and is home to elephants, lions, giraffes, gorillas, and more all within as close to their natural habitats as possible. Our agents were lucky enough to be able to participate in an exclusive Photo Caravan. The Photo Caravan can be purchased separately at the Safari Park and will
take you in a small Caravan onto the savanna so you can get up-close and personal with giraffes, rhinos, gazelles, and many more animals. You'll see everything you'll be able to see on the Journey into Africa tour (included in your Safari Park ticket) from a whole new perspective - and those on the Journey into Africa tour will see your caravan as part of the landscape.
After a day of fun at the Safari Park our agents were able to tour and were treated to dinner at the
Embassy Suites La Jolla. The Embassy Suites La Jolla recently underwent a major renovation and offers comfortable accommodations for any traveler. All guest suites include either one king or two double beds in the bedroom and a sofa bed in the living room. Guests will love the complimentary cook-to-order breakfast and manager's reception hour daily.
Today is another busy day for our Reservation Agents. They'll begin with tours of the
Crowne Plaza San Diego,
Days Hotel San Diego,
the Dana on Mission Bay,
Holiday Inn San Diego Bayside,
Best Western Island Palms, and
Humphrey's Half Moon Inn & Suites. After experiencing these San Diego hotels, our agents will see the city on a
San Diego Old Town Trolley Tour. Old Town Trolley Tours are fully narrated tours that make stops at all of San Diego's hot spots. When you get to a spot you'd like to explore, just get off at the stop, and then catch the next trolley. It's completely stress free and a perfect way to orient yourself with San Diego. After exploring the city of San Diego, our agents will explore San Diego from the water aboard a SEAL Tour.
San Diego's SEAL Tours offer a unique experience with their amphibious open air vehicles. While aboard the SEAL Tour, guests will see Point Loma, Shelter Island, and the Naval Air station.
After taking San Diego by land and sea, our agents will tour the
Catamaran Resort Hotel and the
Bahia Resort Hotel. These sister properties are perfectly located on Mission Bay and share the William D. Evans and Bahia Belle - a set of old fashioned sternwheelers. Guests are able to take a free bay cruise aboard the William D. Evans or Bahia Belle (depending on when they're cruising) and travel between the two
properties. If you're visiting San Diego, but aren't staying at either the Bahia or Catamaran, tickets for the Bahia Belle are available for $10/adult and $3/child. Our agents will be hosted for a memorable dinner aboard the William D. Evans to top off the evening. The Bahia and Catamaran Resort Hotels each offer a variety of room types perfect for any family.
Get Away Today will help you plan your perfect
San Diego vacation. We offer discount San Diego hotel rates as well as discount San Diego tickets for the most popular San Diego attractions. Our agents are just beginning the FAM trip, so we will keep you updated with all that they're seeing and doing. In the meantime, we do have Reservation Agents available from 8am-7pm Monday-Friday while the rest of our staff is gone. Book your
San Diego vacation package online or by calling us at 800.523.6116.
