Huntington Beach and Disneyland on Points and Miles

Pam

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.

 

Living room area of hotel suite

Four children slept on the sofa bed in this suite.

 

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!

 

Children in bed with a grandma.

Grandma ended up with all five children sleeping in her room – good thing it was a suite!

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.

 

Children at restaurant

Pete’s Grill was the meeting point for lunch and a reunion of the cousin squad!

 

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!

 

Children playing on beach.

It was a little chilly on the beach, but that didn’t stop these kids from having fun!

 

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!

 

Family sitting around brown table at restaurant.

The Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach is very generous with what they cover for their Globalist breakfast.

 

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!

 

Screenshot Hyatt hotel room

 

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

 

Family walking down street in Disneyland

Every day starts out with a ton of energy!

 

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.

 

Family of women and children in front of Ferris Wheel

I was so sad to miss this day!

 

Four boys and one girl with rain ponchos on.

The cousin squad rode this ride over and over again!

 

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.

Large group standing in front of amusement park

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. American Express is a Travel Mom Squad advertiser, but we always show the best public offer even when we don’t earn a commission. Terms Apply. 

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  1. Sarah says:

    I’m doing this exact trip this summer with my family (except doing the 2 Disney days first, then Huntington Beach)! I like to use points and miles to make my travel budget go further, so my goal isn’t to travel for nearly free – it’s to travel more often and/or for longer thanks to points and miles.

    My trip is similar to yours – using cash for Disney tickets and hotel room, but points for airfare and the fancy beach hotel. I’m so happy I’ve joined the Squad to make the most out of my travel budget!

  2. Pam says:

    Have so much fun! We did!

  3. Jenna Y says:

    This post is such perfect timing, as I’m planning a trip similar for summer 2025!

  4. Lindsy Primo says:

    I’m hoping to book this same trip soon but I’m getting hung up on how long to stay at each location. How many nights did you stay in Huntington Beach? Did you rent a car to drive to Anaheim or Uber? How long did you stay in Anaheim? Tia 🙂

    • Pam says:

      We only did one night in Huntington Beach but we’ve been there before I would do two and three probably. We Ubered everywhere. Stayed 3 days in Anaheim.

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