We just returned from Huntington Beach and Disneyland on points and miles. This time, we took another squad with us—five of the cutest, confident cousins who let us tag along on their adventures and pick up the bill. They range in age from eight to twelve, and all of them remind us that they are almost “tweens” and barely check to see if we are tagging along.

The squad consisted of Alex’s three oldest, Eli, Cruz, and Kai, and their cousins Knox and the lone girl, Liv. They absolutely love hanging out together, and credit card points and miles made this latest adventure possible.

 

Flights to Southern California

Alex and her boys tried out a new airline that flies from Ogden to John Wayne Airport in Orange County. Breeze Airlines cost them a whopping $70/person round-trip for this flight! The rest of us (my daughters Kasey and Kelly and their youngest children) flew on United Airlines, although Southwest would have been a good option also.

 

Beach Stay at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach

This is one of our favorite resorts. Alex and I used 25K Hyatt points to stay here. She was upgraded to a large room with a king bed and a queen bed. At check-in, I noticed they had a standard suite available so I asked if I could be upgraded to that as a Globalist, and they happily agreed.

 

 

The biggest dilemma the cousin squad had was how they could all sleep in one room. Grandma’s suite upgrade solved that problem—sleepover in Grandma’s room it was! Four of them slept on the large sofa bed and one slept in the king bed with me. A trip to the hotel store to spend our two $25 food credits on candy and treats was the perfect pre-sleepover plan!

 

Pete’s Grill

We had lunch when we arrived at Pete’s Grill—delicious burgers and fish tacos! Dinner that night was pizza from the hotel also.

 

 

The Beach at Huntington

Once we arrived at the hotel, the cousins were anxious to head to the beach and look for sand crabs. We grabbed chairs, towels, and beach toys from the concierge and were off. It was a brisk 65 degrees, but that didn’t stop these adventurers from having a great time digging in the sand, looking for crabs, and a quick (and cold) dip in the ocean. We love that you can just walk over the hotel’s overpass and are safely at the beach!

 

 

Water Table Breakfast

Truth be told, the adult’s favorite part of the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach is the breakfast. We all agree it is probably our favorite Globalist breakfast anywhere. Four people per room were covered by our Globalist status, and we had a total of nine people. That can be an expensive breakfast anywhere.  They covered all nine of us, and we ordered side dishes and extras that were also covered, along with the tip. The SoCa and Lemon Ricotta Pancakes are among our favorites!

 

 

Hyatt House at Anaheim Resort/Convention Center

We then headed to the Hyatt House Anaheim Resort/Convention Center which was a short walk from Disneyland. It was a great place to stay and included a standard buffet breakfast so we could fuel up before we hit the parks. It definitely was no Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach breakfast, though. However, I liked it a lot better than the Hyatt Place down the road.

We opted to book this room with cash as it was large enough to let the cousins stay together. And yes, Grandma was the chaperone once again!

 

 

There are many suites that can be booked on points here that a family could stay in starting at 30K Hyatt points/night, or standard rooms with two queen beds or a king bed with sofa bed for 15K Hyatt points/night.

 

 

Disneyland

We spent the first day at Disneyland. We were there at rope drop and quickly hurried to Star Wars Rise of the Resistance and were some of the first ones to ride it. It cost $30 extra for each ticket to get the Genie+ access which made our waits much shorter throughout the day. We “thought” we were going there on a lower load day. Does that even exist at Disneyland anymore? How were so many children off of school on a random Monday? It was BUSY and we had the usual complaints by the kids about waiting in lines but, all in all, they LOVED it!

We paid cash for our tickets, opting to save our Capital One Venture Miles for future flights rather than “erasing” our Disney ticket purchases.

One of our favorite things about Disneyland for the adults is the food. Here are some of our favorites:

• Birria Grilled Cheese at Jolly Holiday Bakery
• Raspberry Macaroons at Jolly Holiday Bakery
• Beignets and Huckleberry Mint Julep (non-alcoholic) at Mint Julep Bar
• Corn Dogs
• Churro Toffee Bark and Candy Apples
• Pineapple Dole Whip
• House Gumbo at Tiana’s Palace

 

 

California Adventure

Day two was spent at California Adventure. Unfortunately, I had to go home a day early which was disappointing as this is my favorite park.  Alex said this park was less busy than Disneyland had been the day before and they enjoyed the food even more.

 

 

 

Bottom Line

The very best use of credit card points and miles is for family trips and creating wonderful memories. I thoroughly enjoyed watching my grandchildren interact with each other (and me).  Our trip to Huntington Beach and Disneyland on points and miles was one we will long remember.