5 MUST SEE, DO
Disneyland Resort
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is the Magic Kingdom’s top draw now—who could pass up a smuggling operation in the Millennium Falcon or battling the First Order with the Resistance? Pixar, Marvel Comics and Twentieth Century Fox acquisitions may overshadow classic Disney characters, but princesses, witches and cute animals galore still enchant youngsters. There’s also a new carousel and Emotional Whirlwind ride at Pixar Pier in California Adventure. Look for Mickey, Minnie and Goofy to make a big comeback in 2022 with their own high-tech ride in Toontown.
› disneyland.disney.go.com
Orange County Great Park
Marked by a huge orange balloon floating 400 feet overhead, the continually evolving 1,300-acre park on a former Marine air station is a family favorite offering open space, educational play areas, art galleries and studios, summertime movies on the lawn, a performance plaza and a weekly farmers market. 2019 brought one of the nation’s largest public ice facilities and 1.5 miles of walking/biking trails through restored native landscape that includes a playground and picnic area. Also last year, the 194-acre Sports Complex, which opened in 2017 with a soccer stadium and fields and tennis and volleyball courts, added baseball, softball and basketball facilities.
› ocgp.org
Lot 579, Huntington Beach
Just south of “Surf City’s” downtown, steps from Huntington Beach Pier and the city’s famous sands, the sidewalk cafés and markets of this waterfront food hall offer a delicious variety of towering gourmet sandwiches, fresh fish, Vietnamese comfort food, gelato on a stick and other treats. Lot 579 is an anchor of Pacific City, the two-yearold shopping, dining and entertainment complex whose Craftsman-style bungalows pay homage to the early oceanfront village that became Huntington Beach. The communal space upstairs offers plenty of seating and a killer ocean view.
› gopacificcity.com/lot579
Laguna Beach’s Pageant of the Masters
Art literally comes to life in the unique Pageant of the Masters, in which living actors take up positions against painted backdrops to re-create world masterpieces in eerie 3-D fidelity. It’s the pièce de résistance among the festivals, workshops, galleries and proliferation of public art in the picturesque beach town that began life in the early 1900s as a small artists’ colony.
› visitlagunabeach.com
› foapom.com
Old Towne Orange
Not to be missed in this square mile of Early California homes, sporting handsome Victorian, Craftsman, Bungalow and Spanish architecture, is the Old Towne Orange Walking Food Tour. The county’s oldest operating bank and soda fountain can also be found among the locally owned shops, galleries, fountains and pretty sidewalk cafés. › oldtownorangewalkingfoodtours.com