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Carlsbad Family Travel Guide! Where to Stay And What To Do

April 3, 2023
Life , Travel

Carlsbad, CA is such a beautiful coastal, Southern Californian destination that it really should be on your travel bucket list. From the South Bay area like in the Palos Verdes Penninsula where we live, it’s an easy 1.5 hour drive making it perfect for us to easily drive to for a weekend getaway. And it has lots of family-friendly attractions that make it totally worth the excursion. Read on for my guide on where to stay, and what to do while there!

WHERE TO STAY

The Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa proved to be the perfect home away from home. We were hosted there this past spring break and were quite impressed with their roomy suite. We couldn’t ask for anything more as a family of 3 but this extra large hotel room could have comfortably accommodated a family of 5.

It included a King sized bed, a separate room with 2 twin beds, a lounge area in between the two, a balcony overlooking sunset every evening, 3 TVs, a bathroom with separate bath/shower/toilet area, and your other typical 4star amenities in the room (fridge, conditioner, coffee station, wifi etc). What surprised us besides the 3 in-room TVs were the complimentary gelato certificates, fun pool slide and the fact that our key could unlock the neighboring Westin hotel’s facilities. With our one hotel key, we had access to 2 gyms, 2 pools, a beautiful spa, and 2 restaurants and lounge areas. I loved that!

We found that the 4 star ranking here was well-deserved. The grounds were immaculate and the grand palm tree lined, floral entrance was wow-worthy and would make any jaded traveler excited upon arrival. The receptionists were SO friendly and helpful, and our server, Anna at The 7 Mile Kitchen, (the gorgeous indoor/outdoor restaurant on – site) made us feel so at home. We especially loved the 7 Mile Kitchen. Everything tasted so good there that we insisted on having two of our family friends come join us for a meal there. It’s such a beautiful and family – friendly atmosphere with kids’ menus, crayons, heat lamps for the outdoor area, and good old American fare.

I also appreciated that the hotel had a Starbucks on-site too which allowed for a quick grab and go breakfast for our busy days out. Speaking of…

WHAT TO DO

Besides hitting their fabulous restaurant, pool and spa on-site, you might want to venture off property and check out all that Carlsbad has to offer! Here is our top list for a weekend getaway in Carlsbad:

1). Legoland. You can walk to Legoland from The Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa! What a perk!

2). The flower fields and the outlets are next to one another and like 6 minutes away from the hotel. Shopping and flowers?? Yes please!! Plus this flower field is amazingly popular with the kids.

They’ve thought of everything from engaging scavenger hunts, to gem mining, to an insanely Instagramable playground to the most colorful tractor ride the kids will ever take.

3). The beach and (city highlight) Carlsbad Village are just about a mile away. And the hotel provides complimentary trolley transportation to/from! The colorful architecture, and beachside, mom and pop stores and restaurants are really quite charming and worth the visit! And the beach, well it’s as glorious as you’d imagine from a Californian beach!

4). golfing (The Crossings at Carlsbad Golf Course) is right by the hotel.

5). San Diego is also just about 35-40 minutes away, so you can also easily access all that San Diego has to offer. (Think the San Diego zoo, the Safari Park, Sesame Place, Balboa Park and museums)

All in all, we highly recommend visiting Carlsbad and the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa. We hope you enjoy your future trip there and hope that this list gave you some great starting points for planning that trip! Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment telling me what your favorite place to visit in Carlsbad is if you’ve been or what you’d most look forward to from this list if you’ve never been!

Hauntoween Review and Top Tips

October 4, 2022
LA , Life , Popups

We love celebrating Halloween-do you? We kicked it off this season with a media preview of Hauntoween (in Hidden Hills, CA). And WOW was it spooktacular! If you follow us on Instagram, you know we are crazy about going to ALL the popups, so trust us when we say this one is GOOD. In fact, I dare say it was the perfect, family-friendly, way to celebrate Halloween. This interactive environment was created by Experiential Supply Co who also created the hugely popular, equally instaworthy and eye-popping, “Sugar Rush” popup years ago in the same location. If you’re familiar with that popup, you’ll understandingly be so excited to experience the same level of grandiose displays and over-the-top thematic environment again!

📍 6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd. Woodland Hills, CA (where these pics were from)

📍101 Crawfords Corner Road, Holmdel, NJ (They also have another NJ location)

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

over 200,000 sq. ft. of incredibly decorated, outdoor space, with wow-worthy halloween installations everywhere you look

Picturesque photo opps (and I mean, Disney style sets) at every corner

Theatrical moments with roaming costumed actors (they’re not there to scare you but rather make you laugh and smile)

Complimentary face-painting! And hair color spraying! See important tip below on that!

Bubbling cauldron science experiments

Halloween sand art necklace making

Green screen, broomstick flying special effects

A pumpkin: shaped bouncy house, patch and carving station

Free rides including: a merry go round, a kiddie car ride, and a mini coaster

Food trucks, and alcohol + treat stations (purchase at an additional price)

Carnival games, a hay stack mountain, and glow-in-the-dark neighborhoods

Trick-or-treating throughout!

INSIDER TIPS!

Buy tickets as far in advance as you can to ensure you get the dates you want and they don’t have on-site ticket purchasing options. tickets start at $40 and are all- inclusive of the rides, games, activities, green screens , trick or treating, and face +hair painting. WORTH IT!
Parking is free and easily accessible as this (HIdden Hills) venue is at a mall. Park off the entrance at Erwin otherwise you’ll have to trek all around the massive popup to find the entrance.
We stayed for a full 3 hours to fully take advantage of ALL the activations, eat and to get all the photo opps but most people would only need about an hour or a little more.
Children under 2 are free. And it is super family-friendly event where you don’t have to worry about it being too scary and there is lots of entertainment for the littles! It is also stroller-friendly.
Food and drink including alcoholic beverages are available on site but ONLY with cards, not cash. There are food trucks and picnic tables at the end of the experience and drink and treat vendors throughout.
FIND THE FACE PAINTING station FIRST! That way, all your pictures throughout has you in full costume. We unfortunately only found the face painting booth at the end of the night so I am here to alert everyone that it is available and complimentary with your ticket purchase. They have a couple experts on-site to help transform your costume to the next level. Take advantage! The one at the Hidden Hills venue was easily missed as it is behind the vintage cop car and beside the happy parents area. You are able to backtrack your steps at this popup (unlike many others in NYC where you are only allowed to traverse in one direction). So don’t worry about having to skip some displays on the way there. You can always retrace your steps and head back to whatever you missed after your face is painted.
The most Instagramable spot is the pumpkin tunnel. I suggest you head there immediately after getting your face painted in order to hopefully get there before all the crowds do. You’ll have better light to shoot with at the earlier part of the period too resulting in more photos without extraneous people, and better lit shots.
If you have kids that you want to photograph, make sure to entice them with the reward of endless rides (which are included in your experience). Get all your important photo opps done first, and then reward them with the time of their lives at the end of the path where all the rides, games and food trucks are.
There are porta potty booths throughout in case of emergency but I highly recommend you remember to use the bathroom before arriving as these are never ideal.
Pets are allowed so if you bring them, make sure to get them in costume!