141124 Hotel Indigo Anaheim (11)

Which Disneyland Hotel Should You Stay?

Disneyland’s inherent problem in California is that they are landlocked and surrounded by area businesses right up against their front gates. However, for our family, that is one of the great appeals of visiting Disneyland and being able to walk across the street to get into a park.

So there are lots of hotel options to choose from when visiting Disneyland. Yes, one could stay in one of the official Disneyland hotels, but that comes at an expensive price.

On our family’s previous two trips, after price shopping area hotels and amenities, we landed our heads at the Howard Johnson Anaheim. Paired with a discount from Mousesavers, and timing the reservation at their lowest point, we saved a bunch of money on previous trips to Disneyland.

On this trip over Thanksgiving, things were different. We found ourselves going to Disneyland because I made a mistake keeping my United miles active, and justified to myself paying the reinstatement fee by redeeming miles for this trip. Higher airfares over Thanksgiving, paired with having just the right amount of miles for our family to fly domestically meant the trip came together.

We also have been sitting on a large pool of hotel points across various brands, and getting the hotel for free was factored into the decision making process. So we elected to try out the Hotel Indigo Anaheim, part of the IHG program.

Hotel Indigo Review

Upon checking into the Hotel Indigo, we found out Platinum membership in IHG come with the benefit of being upgraded to a Disney fireworks view room on the third floor.

The hotel in general was very contemporary and beautifully appointed. The staff were amazing, and our stay was great!

The room was appointed with modern furnishings and two queen size beds. The walls were appointed with sophisticated patterns of wallpaper. Lastly, the bathroom was gorgeous with vessle bowl sink, Aveda products, and tiles shower. The room was appointed with a flat screen television and Keurig coffee maker, replenished daily with new pods.

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There was an outside swimming pool that looked great, especially with weather in the 80s during our visit; however, due to luggage and time constraints, we did not bother packing swimwear for this visit.

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The hotel also featured nightly water fountain shows to lights and Christmas music out front.

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Also, the only meal we ate at the hotel was on Thanksgiving night, following a long day in the park. The boys were tired and wanted to go back and play with their souvenirs and enjoy a meal at the Hotel Indigo.

We elected to have the corn and lobster chowder, paired with the traditional turkey dinner, and served with a slice of cheesecake, for the respectable price of only $18.99 per person. The food was excellent!

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Therefore, our family loudly proclaims we would stay at the Hotel Indigo Anaheim anytime in the future. It was a great hotel, with comfortable beds and nice amenities. Even if we had paid for our stay with cash versus points, it would have provided a good value.

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Source: InACents

141125 Knott's Merry Farm (1)

How to Guide to Knott’s Merry Farm with Kids

Our family was provided with media tickets to facilitate our review of Knott’s Berry Farm. No other compensation was received, and all opinions are those of our family.

Our family is quite spoiled with the best amusement park in the world right in our backyard, Cedar Point. As our boys get older (currently ages 5, 3, and 1), and their love of rides and attractions has gotten greater each year, Cedar Point has been a great park that caters to families of all sizes and ages.

In 2014, our family spent 12 visits to Cedar Point for various occasions. In addition, we elected to purchase Cedar Fair Platinum passes for the 2015 season because it will not only get us into Cedar Point, but also all of their other parks across North America (which we plan on featuring throughout next year).

So when our family elected to spend this Thanksgiving out in California to visit Disneyland, we also really wanted to take the opportunity to visit Knott’s Berry Farm, a sister park to Cedar Point.

A quick background on the park shows that it was started as a small farm creating the boysenberry, and over the years transformed into America’s first theme park. Today, they continue to offer some amazing food featuring the boysenberry, as well as provide guests with all the fun of traditional amusement and theme parks.

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What also was appealing to our family is that it is one of only two Cedar Fair parks that is open beyond the Halloween season. Our first also happen to correspond with Knott’s Merry Farm, the transformation of Christmas throughout the park.

Since we are from the Eastern Time Zone, we naturally were up bright and early before the park opened. So we decided to wander around the outside of the park, which features a variety of shops, and the iconic Mrs. Knott’s Kitchen.

Looking to expand their business, Mrs. Knotts started serving her fried chicken, and it caught on like wildfire, today being one of the major things the park is known for in food experience. So what better way to start the day then with a complete fried chicken breakfast.

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The food was outstanding, and in addition to the chicken, was served with potatoes, eggs, sausage, and biscuits and gravy. Of course, the biscuits were also EXCELLENT when topped with some boysenberry jam. Not to mention a tall glass of Knott’s boysenberry punch.

Following a fulfilling breakfast, we headed into the park promptly at opening.

On select days this December, the entire front of the park is free to come and experience the Christmas Crafts Village. Area vendors come in and set up stalls to sell their wares. This is also a great way to get into the park and see it decorated for the holidays, and try some of the great Knott’s food.

When you are done shopping, you can then head into the theme park with paid admission to see the rest of Knott’s.

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We started off the day riding the iconic Calico Mine Ride and Timber Mountain Log Ride. Talk about an incredible way to start out the day! Our family is BIG fans of animatronics and themed rides, and both of these rides featured storylines that enhanced the overall experience.

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Our family then continued to make our way around the park, taking in all sorts of rides.

The great thing is that Knott’s is very accommodating for families, by allowing them to child swap. Once one of the parents rides the attraction, and the other watches the kids, the other can then proceed through the exit to get right on the ride. This takes the stress out of trying to decide which parent will ride.

Our family spent the entire day, and into the evening taking in the entire park, eating the famous foods, seeing a show, and all of the holiday decorations.

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Our family was extremely impressed with Knott’s! The park was the perfect size, and the perfect combination of theme rides to thrilling attractions. Together with some fantastic food and unique themed shopping areas, Knott’s Berry Farm is an ideal family attraction.

What is your favorite family friendly aspect of Knott’s?

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Source: InACents

121122 Colonial Williamsburg Apothacary

Colonial Williamsburg 2014 Cyber Weekend Sale

One again, Colonial Williamsburg has brought back their Cyber Weekend sale. Due in part to this same sale in 2011, our family was able to visit Colonial Williamsburg for Thanksgiving for half off in 2012, and it was a great experience!

Since then, the annual sale has not been quite as promising as that introduced in 2011. The Cyber Monday sale of 2011 included daily admission tickets. Since then, the sale has only offered discounts of annual passes and hotel nights.

For 2014, the Cyber weekend sale for Colonial Williamsburg is as follows.

The sale runs November 28-December 1, 2014.

– Purchase an annual pass for $64.95 (Adults) or $32.50 (Youth (ages 6-12)) and get one free. Passes are valid for one year from the date of purchase. Available only through the website and not at onsite ticket locations. Offer is valid for adult and youth Annual Passes only. No promotional code required.

– Book one or more nights in a suite room at the Williamsburg Inn, Williamsburg Lodge, or Williamsburg Woodlands Hotel & Suites and receive the next night, FREE!

Offer valid only by calling (855) 266-3567 and mentioning the promo code: CYBER

Stay dates must be between November 28, 2014 and March 26, 2015. Blackout dates for remainder of the year include December 5-7 and 25-27, 2014. Blackout dates for 2015 include February 13 & 14, 2015. Must book a minimum of two consecutive nights in a suite at the Williamsburg Inn, Williamsburg Lodge or Williamsburg Woodlands Hotel and Suites. Based on availability. Available only through the Call Center. Reference promotional code CYBER.

– You can also save 30% on your order at WILLIAMSBURGMarketplace.com from Nov 24–Dec 1 plus free shipping using offer code: E141105N.

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Source: InACents Sister