^^^ +1 on
-Phil's BBQ - I haven't been there myself, but I've heard MANY good things about the place.

-Extraordinary desserts. OMG.... the BEST Desserts EVER! The desserts were soooooooo good. http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com/

Seems like the Extra. desert is a must. Is it a dinner thing? Or after dinner?

phil's bbq is great. definitely a must have when visiting sd.

i'm not overly impressed with extraordinary desserts, though.

^^^ +1 on phils bbq...go or die....once you go get the combo of chicken n ribs...you shall be hella full...good food damn good!!!

seems like Phil's bbq and extra. dessert are must! I assume they are close to Mission Valley? ( I am living in there.)

Question:
Is Seaworld a whole day thing? Or half a day?

Mission Valley is Sea World area right? If so, both Phils and Extraordinary Desserts are only a few miles away. I stayed at the Hyatt Off Mission Bay Dr right across the way from Sea World. Most of everything we did was only a few minutes away. Legoland is in Carlsbad, which is about 30 minutes away. Look back on page 1 for my post. I have the links there.

I don't think i put up Phil's BBQ, but here's the link: http://www.philsbbq.net/

I haven't been to Sea World since i was a kid... but i would imagine you'd need most of the day to do/see everything there. Last time i went to the SD Zoo, it was A LOT of walking and took us most of the day to see all the exhibits.

I'm not sure where Phil's is. But I'm guessing it's only about 15 - 20 mins away max. from where you are staying in Mission Valley. The dessert place is in downtown. Which is about 10 - 15 mins away from Mission Valley. Parking sucks in downtown. I would say to go there during the night. When there is more parking available. You'll probably end up street parking, but it's not that bad. It's free after 6pm. Otherwise it's 0.25 cents per 15 mins.

How is Hyatt? I am planning to stay in Hilton hotel in mission valley. It's a bit expensive, but I am not feeling to stay in cheap motel/inn this time.

List of places taht i am planning to go:
- Universal Studio
- Sea world
- Extra Dessert
- Phil's BBQ
- Fashion Valley mall

Where else? Anything cool in LA? I will be there for 1 day, too.

I heard someone said 5 level Horton Plaza?
Where is that "COOL" Asian district in LA or SD?

There's so much do in LA. Here's some just to name a couple: Santa Monica pier, Malibu, Griffith observatory, Getty museum, Rodeo drive, Hollywood walk of stars, or whatever it's called.

Horton Plaza is whatevers IMO. If you're heading up the 5 fwy NORTH to get to LA, then take the 405 fwy NORTH, and exit off of Bristol. South Coast Plaza FTW!! If you keep heading NORTH on the 405 fwy, you'll eventually end up in Santa Monica which is about a 45 min drive without traffic.

"Cool" Asian district in LA/OC there's ton.

OC - biggest Vietnamese district in Westminster, CA
LA - Chinatown, Japantown, Koreatown, Filipinotown, Thaitown, etc....
Chinatown, and Koreatown are the 2 biggest in the LA area.

Pacific Beach - college bars/very chill
La Jolla Shores - very nice beach
Fashion Valley Mall - upscale outdoor mall
Convoy Street - Asian food
Gaslamp - nice clubs/bars/restaurants
Balboa Park - nice area that has tons of museums/art/music
Coronado - Hotel Del Coronado
Old Town - tons of Mexican food restaurants

Go to Sea World. Skip the Wild Animal Park and Legoland...not very nice places to go in December.

Hyatt wasn't as good as i thought it would be. I mean the hotel and rooms are nice... but the housekeeping staff didn't do their job. It wasn't BAD... but not what i expect for a 4-star hotel.

As far as LA... where are you going in LA? Orange County or Downtown?

I visited SD alot from the bay and we stayed at that Hilton once. It was pretty nice. One thing if your bringing your G and its a coupe the driveway to get to the parking garage is hella steep! You'll defintely scrape your exhaust and you'll feel your car is going teeter on the driveway. Scraper, scraper!

Hilton is 3.5 stars, and Hyatt is 4 stars. Hyatt has better recommendation and seems like it's a better place to stay in. Yea, i hard Hilton's parking garage is bad. Hyatt only cost $8 per night, so i probably will sigh up for Hyatt at the end.

anyone has discount codes for these two hotels?

Parking at the Hyatt is $10 self park per night. Driveways are not steep at all... but beware of door dings. We took the wife's Toyota Echo and she doesn't care if she parks in between 2 giant SUV's

Yea...that's why i am going to stay in Hyatt. anyone tried Hyatt in SD before?