Staycation in Anaheim

Visit Anaheim approached us last month with a great idea; show families what Anaheim has to offer other than Disneyland. Honestly when they called, I had no idea what else there was to do in Anaheim other than the Disney experience. I quickly learned a long list of awesome activities as we went over some options for my family.

I cannot tell you how excited Goldie was to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. I’m serious, it’s all she talked about for a solid month. Great Wolf Lodge is a resort geared towards families, including the largest indoor water park..in the hotel! Like I said, Gold was stoked! Our hotel room fit our family perfect with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a family room and kitchen. This hotel is every kids dream! The water park had slides for every age, the water was clean and the life guards were super aware of the kids. In fact Goldie tried getting away without a mandatory life jacket in the wave pool. Like literally tried to trick the lifeguard and got caught, haha!

Goldie at Great Wolf Lodge

FOOD

TORTILLA JO’S: night one we headed to Downtown Disney for dinner at Tortilla Jo’s. Get the table side guacamole! It was amazing. The kids loved their virgin daiquiris and nachos too!

DAVE and BUSTERS: Jeff and I got Red Bulls and raw vegetables for lunch there (we can’t decide if that’s healthy or not;)). The kids got sliders and blue raspberry sodas with ice cubes that lit up. I was the only one at the table that didn’t know the “ice cubes” were plastic and could be turned on and off..

SABROSO: I’m a sucker for Yelp. Like to me it’s the Bible of restaurant reviews. Once again, Yelp did not lead me astray and sent us to the best meal of the trip! This family run Mexican restaurant was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We all gave it two thumbs up!

PACKING DISTRICT: We had been here a few times before. It really is such a cool spot in Anaheim. So many restaurant options under one roof. I’ve never had a bad meal here, for real! This time we ate at Georgia’s. Also, get a croissant from Pandor’s!

ACTIVITES 

ANGELS GAME: Jeff and I weren’t sure how long the kids would last at a baseball game. Turns out, they lasted longer than I did, ha. We had about 4 workers come up to us while standing in line to meet Ozzy and find out if this was her first game. Because it was, they wanted to make sure she got a special certificate from the team. It’s little details like this I love. The girls all chose Angels hats, Jeff got some Stance Angels socks, Ozzy an Angels binky and I got a nice big Diet Coke, extra ice (always).

VANS SKATE PARK: Hands down, everyones favorite activity! I lived in Orange County for 3 years and had no idea Anaheim had an outlet mall, let alone an outlet mall WITH a skate park INSIDE the Vans store! It’s not new either, the park has been there for 20 years and it’s beyond nice! Best skate park I’ve been to. We met up with 3 skate pros for the family. Avery had her own, Goldie and Poppy shared one and Jeff also had his own. Now the idea going into this was Jeff would skate while the girls were in lessons and take videos/photos for me while I hung with Ozzy. What ended up happening was Gabe (who works for the city of Anaheim) ended up running around taking photos of the kids..and Jeff. I’m actually glad it worked out that way, because Jeff loved the instructor and had just as much fun as the girls.

DAVE and BUSTERS: Also located at the outlet mall and where we had lunch. They gave us cards to play all the games we wanted. Basically all three girls were in heaven. If you saw my story that day and saw me make every shot on the basketball game…I need to come clean. It’s not luck. I grew up with one of those arcade basketball games in my basement and I played, a lot. So that’s why I made every shot. For the record, being really good at that game does not mean you are good at playing real basketball. I’ve learned that the hard way playing P.I.G over the years.

SWING IT: I never thought in a million years I’d be watching my kids in trapeze school. I also had no idea such a place existed in Anaheim. The kids did really well, the instructors were super impressed with how quickly they picked up on it and how fearless they were up there. I mean, it’s high up! I was slightly panicked watching Goldie’s little body climb all alone to the top and then to see her in the air holding the bar as she swung back and forth. I think this is the perfect place to take your family after the Disney experience. Trapeze lessons in old town Anaheim and then just a mile away for lunch or dinner at the Packing District.

Lisa Allen and Goldie in Anaheim Jeff Allen and Lisa Allen with kids at Angels Game in Anaheim

Thank you for having us, Anaheim. Check out more ways to plan your stay in Anaheim HERE. Your city has a lot of fun to offer! We’ll be back this fall.

Enjoy this video Poppy made of our staycation!