Pros:
A well-balanced city park course with ace runs, a couple of par-3/4 tweeners, and pleasant surroundings.
-Amenities: Concrete tees (except for three long pads which are rubber), tee signs with info and map (updated since the course photos here were taken), practice baskets, DD Veteran baskets (I think), next tee arrows, brooms, bag hooks, and pin position indicators (often overlooked but perfectly implemented here!).
-Vibe: A safe, neighborhood park feel throughout. Plenty of friendly park users of all kinds. However, parts of the course feel a little more rugged, and the greens of (11) and (13) were extremely peaceful.
-Wide Appeal: Generally a beginner friendly course that shouldn't punish bad shots too much. However, with a few longer holes and interesting lines, it should also be enjoyable for white-level players.
-Maintenance: Grass and plants in the main part of the course are excellently landscaped, and crews were freshening it as I played.
-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: a varied layout with all the basic kinds of holes. Though a long stretch in the middle is pretty simple par-3s, there are also a number of cool holes adding variety, including downhills, guarded greens, a couple of tunnels, and blind shots. The par-4s played perfectly for me, but they could also play as challenging par-3s for long throwers. I would peg holes (2), (5), (11), (13), (17), and (18) as all being very enjoyable and a step up from typical.
-Free: In San Diego, you don't get many free to play courses. In fact, I'd argue from my experience that there are none better than this in the whole county.
Cons:
Mostly related to being crammed into the park.
-Safety: Walkways come into play fairly frequently. Substantial road danger is also present a couple of times. The flow of golfers also poses safety issues (backtracking through fairways and adjacent holes that are too close) - I marked about half of the course as being a likely place to be hit by a drive from another hole.
-Navigation: Awkward a few times. There's a long (5)-(6) transition and a few other spots where the next tee isn't in the intuitive direction.
-Traffic: Seems on the more popular side. By 8:30 on a Saturday the front half of the course was completely full.
Other Thoughts:
Kit Carson is what I imagine everyone's first disc golf course to be: public land, somewhere between red and white level, generally well-maintained, multi-use space, some creativity but generally straightforward. (I may be biased because my first and longtime home course was this way.) It's a pleasant playthrough with high replay value that can appeal to both new players and mid-level amateurs. Destination? No. But decidedly an important and Good addition to its community - especially in San Diego, which has too few courses for the number of players.
-The Snake: I think the giant Snake has seen better days, but it's still intriguing. I don't have anything to say, I just felt the need to mention it in a review of this course.
~Similar Courses: Alexander Park (Snellville, GA); Veterans Park (Arlington, TX); middle section reminiscent of Seven Oaks Park (Columbia, SC).