Trip motivation
In February 2018, we flew to the West Coast for a trip to Disneyland and to see other sights in Anaheim and Los Angeles. We specifically wanted to go to Disneyland with Carter while he was under 3 and free. Because my parents live in Hawaii, a far distance from Nashville, we try to often look for destinations on the West Coast where we can both take a non-stop flight and meet up for some quality family time. They were able to meet us in LA and spend some quality time with their grandbabies. We are planning another trip now that both kids are older.
Flight: BNA to LAX
Getting There: Nashville (BNA) to Los Angeles (LAX) Tue 5:05-7:50p (4h 45m)
Coming Back: LAX to BNA Sun 1:55-8p (4h 5m)
Flying Southwest
Ben + Jenn+ Carter: $268/person RT
Ellie was a free lap-baby at the time.
We love flying Southwest. At this point in time, we did not have a Companion pass or extra points, so we paid cash. The price was reasonable. For future trips, we would try to take advantage of having a Southwest Companion Pass. We had 2 in 2019 and will have 2 in 2022-2023 from credit card sign-ups . 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.
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.
Van Rental
We rented a van through Costco Travel. Because we were doing part of the trip with my parents, we needed more seats than a typical car. Also check the large 7-seater SUV prices. The van was a costly $290 for 5 days, but we needed it to get around. For more info on car rentals and the best credit card to use, see this post.
Accomodations
Anaheim AirBnB
LA is a large area. For the first portion of our visit, we wanted to be near Disneyland. We picked an AirBnb with 4 bedrooms near the downtown area. The cost was a reasonable $350 a night for 3 nights.
Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills
For the second half of our stay, we separated from my parents and our family stayed 2 nights at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills. This luxurious hotel has rates that are regularly $800-$1000 a night. How much did we pay to stay here? $0. We used a credit card sign-up bonus on the American Express Hilton Card to earn 2 free weekend nights (no longer available). The points cost for this hotel is 95,000 points and could also be earned with current sign up bonuses. I still have a Hilton card, however it was downgraded to a card with no annual fee.
This hotel was amazing. Every staff member knew our names and our kids’ names. They kept notes on us and staff members who we had never met worked to anticipate our needs and make us feel important. When we left the room to go to the pool, everyone would greet us by name on our way up and the staff at the pool would be waiting with drinks for the kids and for us! And the hotel staff would clean the room while we were at the pool or out at any point throughout the day.
The room had an awesome patio and amazing black-out curtains. They had an iPad that had mood lighting buttons and Carter’s favorite part was the button that turned out the lights to the bathroom while an adult was showering. Carter took over the rooftop pool and our gold status gave us a $60 food credit instead of free breakfasts. $60 didn’t go very far but it was just enough for hot dogs and tacos at the pool.
We had access to a driver in a Rolls Royce (car seats included!) who drove us around sights in Beverly Hills. This is by far the fanciest hotel we have stayed at, and it was completely free.
Activities in LA
There are so many fun things to do in LA. It is so large and things are spread out, so be sure to look at where things are and how you want to spend your time.
Seal Beach
Of course, the first thing we had to do in LA was see the Pacific Ocean. We ventured out to Seal Beach because the water was calm, and it was closer to our AirBnB in Anaheim than some of the other options along the coast. The water here is calm, and the beach offers restrooms, showers, a children’s playground, volleyball courts, and a nearby grassy park.
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. At the time of our visit, we specifically wanted to go to Disneyland while Carter was under 3. He was 2 years and 360 days old 🙂 Ellie was 4 months old and spent most of the day hanging out with Grandma. Disneyland has two parks. We went to the Disneyland Park side when it opened at 9 with just Carter. The highlights for Carter were the rides for kids of all heights in Tommorowland and Fantasyland and meeting Moana and Mickey.
In the evening, after we took a short break at the AirBnb, we did bring Ellie with us when we returned to the park to do some fun small rides that she doesn’t remember. After a busy day, we did a character dinner with my parents at Goofy’s kitchen.
We will definitely need to repeat the trip soon! We have an upcoming trip planned for February where we’ll aim to see the California adventure side of the park as well.
Explore Hollywood Boulevard
The next day after leaving the Anaheim area, we spent several hours exploring the downtown Hollywood Boulevard area. We visited the Chinese Theater and walked in the area nearby looking at the celebrity handprint and met various characters dressed up. We also spent some time at the Disney Store nearby. We ate Poke for lunch nearby and then headed off to our Beverly Hills hotel.
La Brea Tar Pits
La Brea Tar Pits and Museum is considered to be “one of the richest depositories of Ice Age fossils.” The museum is on the list of reciprocal ASTC museums if you have a membership to the Adventure Science Center or other science centers across the US. Even if you don’t explore the museums, the outside areas have a lot of interesting things to look at as well. There are animal statues and various pits where you can see bubbling asphalt with bones.
Beverly Hills
As a benefit of our hotel stay at the Waldorf Astoria, a driver with a Rolls Royce drove us on a short tour around the neighborhood to gawk at houses and take selfies in front of the Beverly Hills sign. We also spent a large portion of time in Beverly Hills enjoying the rooftop pool at the hotel and relaxing on the balcony.
City Hike at Runyon Canyon Park
We found this short kid-friendly hike near Beverly Hills. There are slight inclines but it was fine for Carter, age almost 3 (Ellie was in a carrier)
Favorite Restaurants
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 and had to get some yummy pastries and plate lunches.
Choi Ga Nee (no longer open): There are numerous All You Can Eat Korean restaurants in Koreatown. You grill your own meat and also have sides and soup to go with it. We had a great time here and ate so much delicious Korean BBQ.
Nobu LA: We sat in the bar area and ordered sushi and appetizers during Happy Hour. So good.
Final Thoughts
This was a really fun trip we will need to do again soon. 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 a Disneyland trip? If my parents can meet up with us again, maybe we can leave them and go on a date night!
