Tips from a Local: Central Orange County

I love where I live, and this month I had the opportunity to write an article for Travelocity on Central Orange County… and I really had to hold back and cut my article shorter than I would have liked. I mean, there’s just SO much to do here!!!

A Local’s Guide to Central Orange County – livingmividaloca.com

If you hop over to the Travelocity article you’ll see that I split it up into three sections: Anaheim, Buena Park and Irvine. For each section, I did an overall guide to what I thought familias traveling from out of state into Orange County would like. And to keep it simple, I left out Disneyland. Not because I don’t think that they shouldn’t go to Disneyland… but because I figured everyone knew about it. I’m all about giving the insider’s look…

So here’s what I recommended:

What to do in Anaheim

• Eating everything at Anaheim Packing District (especially Mini Monster)
• Catching a show at the Honda Center
• Watching a game at Angels Stadium
• Visit Anaheim GardenWalk after a day at Disneyland
  • FiRE + iCE – an interactive dining experience
  • Grasslands Meat Market for a unique meatery and eatery

What to do in Buena Park

• Enjoy a cortadito and a croqueta at Porto’s Bakery
• Medieval Times to watch a friendly joust
• Pirate’s Dinner Adventure for a show with a dragon
• Knott’s Berry Farm… because it’s my favorite theme park in SoCal
• Knott’s Soak City – because even in SoCal you need to cool off.

What to do in Irvine

• Play with the young ones at Pretend City
• Let all your energy out the Orange County Great Park
• Go shopping at the Irvine Spectrum

I worked hard at giving highlights… but here’s what I also wanted to include:

• Tossing pizzas at Naples Ristorante at Downtown Disney
• Where to brunch at Downtown Disney
• Enjoying a meal at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour
• Having a family get-together at Irvine Regional Park
• Catching a concert at FivePoints Amphitheater

And, of course, there’s still SO much more to do in Anaheim, Buena Park and Irvine… and don’t even get me started on the surrounding cities! LOL

What are you favorite spots to visit in Anaheim, Buena Park, and Irvine??? Leave them in the comments below!

Originally published on August 22, 2018. Last Updated on January 10, 2019 by Pattie Cordova