Los Angeles, CA

My husband and I took our kids on a vacation to LA area as part of their Christmas gifts this year. My kids are huge football fans so our first stop was Inglewood.

Our first two nights we stayed at Sonder Lum. The pool was amazing, the accommodations were modern and it is just short walk to SoFi Stadium. If I were to come back for an event in the same area, sans children, I would not mind staying here again for a night or so.

Our first big activity was viewing Titans vs. Chargers at SoFi. The stadium is huge and offers every cuisine imaginable.

Following our stay in Inglewood, we ventured to Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. We did the touristy things on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Rodeo Drive, visited The Grove and Santa Monica Pier.

Following our day of seeing the sites, we traveled down to Anaheim. We choose to stay at the Hampton Inn which is very nice with kids and had an included breakfast to make mornings easier. It was a short five minute walk to the Toy Story lot to take a shuttle each morning for our two-day visit to Disney. We found it very convenient because we did not have to pay for parking at the parks and you went through security prior to getting on the bus which was always shorter than at the parks.

Although, it was extremely busy the week prior to Christmas, we loved being able to see all the holiday decorations. It truly makes the magic of parks even more so.

Our first day we went to California Adventure. California Adventures was full of treat stands with holiday goodies. Our favorite rides were Radiator Springs Racer (which I recommend doing first thing upon arriving at the park), Incredicoaster, Soarin' Around the World and Web Slingers. Everyone besides me really enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy as well.

We had food at Corn Dog Castle (I do not even care for corn dogs and those ones were really good). My youngest also found a new love of churros, so we frequented many churro carts at both parks. While we did not eat in Cars Land, that would be my go to next visit.

The second day we spent at Disneyland. It is hard to choose favorite rides here but my kids favorite by far was Splash Mountain (it has since closed). We also enjoyed the rollercoasters the most, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventure and Matterhorn Bobsleds.

At Disneyland we chose to eat at quick service restaurants as well. We had our first dole whip at the Tiki Bar, ate lunch at the Galactic Grill and got treats at the Candy Palace and Candy Kitchen.

Overall, purchasing Disney genie+ (fast pass) is the way to go. It was convenient to know we had a designated time we could show up at the rides we wanted to ride and skip most of the line.

Our next stop was Huntington Beach. The kids played football on the beach for a few hours. After our beach time we went to the promenade for lunch and a little shopping. We ate and drank at Huntington Beach Beer Company. If you love sneakers, I recommend checking on Ziggy's on Main.

We made our way back up to our next stop, Studio City. We staying at The Garland for the remainder of our trip. The Garland has a bit of a retro vibe with spacious rooms and a fabulous pool area. It is close to Universal Studios and has a trolley that will take you to take park.

Our final big activity was a visit to Universal Studios. Our favorite rides at Universal, were The Mummy, Flight of the Hippogriff, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Jurassic World and the studio tour. We ate at Lard Lad Donuts and Luigi's Pizza. I finally got to enjoy butter beer in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which did not disappoint.

Overall, I feel like we checked off a lot of boxes in the LA area and had a fabulous holiday visit.