Trip motivation
In February 2022, we flew to the West Coast for a trip to Disneyland and the LA area. My parents were originally planning on meeting up with us but decided to postpone their visit until later. We still had a wonderful time! For the post dedicated to all things Disneyland and California Adventure, see here.
Flight: BNA to LAX
Getting There: Nashville (BNA) to Los Angeles (LAX) Thu 4:10-8:55 (2h 25m + Layover in AUS + 3h 30m)
Coming Back: LAX to BNA Sun 6:00-11:40p (3h 40m)
Flying Southwest
Ben + Jenn: $220/person RT
Carter and Ellie flew as free companions.
We love flying Southwest. You can earn Southwest points from Southwest Credit Cards or by transferring Chase points using the Chase portal. See more tips on using points and miles here. We had a pair of promotional companion passes for this trip. Companion passes are a perk of getting a ton of Southwest miles in a year. Because of our companion passes, we just had to pay taxes of $11.20 for each person. This is an amazing perk and we definitely took advantage of the kids flying for free when we had the pass previously and will continue to do so again in the next few years. We will earn a full companion pass in 2022-2023 from credit card sign-ups. Be sure to read if you’re interested in learning more.
For more tips on flying with kids, see this post here. See this post here if you need tips for putting together a packing list.
Baby Carrier
Car Seat Travel Bag
Sleep Toy (with sound)
Wiki Stix
Magic Ink
iPad with Cover
Airport Lounges and Other Perks
When traveling with layovers or to new cities, we always check the website of the airport and the Priority Pass Lounge website prior to the trip. The Chase Sapphire Reserve card (in addition to others) comes with Priority Pass, which gives you access to lounges at various airports. Often, it is more common internationally. Our timing didn’t work out for any lounge visits on this trip, but if you’re traveling to LA, be sure to check the website to see if any of the locations work for your needs.
Another perk we get from several credit cards is Global Entry/PreCheck. PreCheck is a program that offers faster TSA lines at airports. There are separate lines for PreCheck travelers, and you don’t have to remove shoes, laptops, liquids, etc. It is amazing and has saved us so much time and makes it SO much easier to travel with kids. For more on this benefit and how to use a credit card to receive it for free, see here.
Car Rental
We rented a car through Costco Travel for $330 for 4 days. I highly recommend using Budget and their fastbreak system to pre-register so you don’t have to wait in line at the rental desk. You can do this even if you use Costco to get the best price. For more info on car rentals and the best credit card to use, see this post.
Accomodations
Hyatt Anaheim Resort and Hyatt Anaheim/Cypress
Doubletree Torrance
For stays in LA, I think it’s a good idea to split the stay with part in Anaheim, and part closer to the city. Last time we were in LA, we used free night certificates for the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills that we earned from using our Hilton card,
On this stay, after our visit to Anaheim, we stayed one additional night at the DoubleTree in Torrance. The southwest part of LA has a lot of good food and was convenient to our family visit but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this for seeing sights.
Similar to other large cities like Chicago, we like to eat lots of food that we can’t find in Nashville. Often this means Asian food like ramen, sushi, and Korean food. On this trip, we went to several restaurants, and all the food we ate was excellent
In-N-Out: Mandatory burger visit when on the West Coast. Yum!
King’s Hawaiian Bakery: We have family who live nearby in Torrance and we had some yummy pastries and cake.
All You Can Eat Korean: You grill your own meat and also have sides and soup to go with it. We had a great time and ate so much delicious Korean BBQ.
Mitsuwa This Japanese grocery store near our hotel had a food court area where we ate some yummy udon!
Activities in LA
There are so many fun things to do in LA. It is so large, and everything is spread out, so be sure to look at where things are and how you want to spend your time.
We wanted to spend some time at the beach during our visit. There are tons of options all along the coast. We spent some time at Long Beach, as this was on our way from Anaheim to Torrance. Before the beach, we stopped by a CVS for $10 of sand toys that we left behind at the hotel.
Because we were between hotels, we made sure to have towels and sunscreen in our suitcase.
Disneyland
We spent a full day at Disneyland. I love Disneyland. We have made multiple trips to Disneyworld, and I would go every year if Ben would let me. For this visit, we spent the day at the California Adventure side of the park. Be sure to read this post here for more tips and tricks. Highlights of this park included Toy Story Mania, Cars land, meeting Elsa, and a drawing class in the Hollywood Blvd area.
Final Thoughts
This was a really fun trip. We told Ellie we could go again when she grows a few more inches for more rides. We have extended family in LA, and it’s always nice to mix vacation with family. Who’s going to help me convince Ben we need another Disneyland trip?
