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Anaheim: A slice of Orange County
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There are six regions in the United States named Orange County, but none can lay claim to the collection of world-class shopping, trendy restaurants and nightlife, inviting beaches, exciting professional sports, posh resorts and classic family attractions found in Anaheim and Orange County, Calif., which this year plays host to the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show.
Located in the heart of Southern California between Los Angeles and San Diego, Orange County, including Anaheim, spans 798 square miles, and has 42 miles of scenic coastline and 34 cities, each with distinctive personalities.
Orange County is known throughout the world as the home of the original Disney theme park, Disneyland, built by Walt Disney in 1955.
Today, the area continues to be a premier trendsetter, from internationally syndicated television shows depicting the area, including Fox network’s “The OC,” to the area’s pioneering entrepreneurs in the surf apparel, sportswear, biomedical, aeronautical, coffee and theme park industries.
Anaheim/Orange County also is recognized for its booming tourism industry, as the area attracts more than 44 million visitors each year.
Anaheim forms the hub of the county’s tourism industry. The city is a vibrant metropolitan area with a reputation for fun and exceptional hospitality. Anaheim is a top business and leisure destination, featuring professional sports, the new Platinum Triangle urban center, which opened its first phase last August, and the Anaheim Resort district, which encompasses the Disneyland Resort and the Anaheim Convention Center, the West Coast’s largest convention center. The resort is filled with palm tree-lined boulevards, lush landscaping, a modern visitor transportation system and a variety of accommodations, dining, shopping and entertainment.
Meeting in style
There are nearly 500 hotels and resorts in the Anaheim/Orange County area offering a diverse selection of meeting and exhibit space. With a variety of hotel facilities, outstanding off-site meeting venues, fine dining, premier shopping, an array of nearby activities and beautiful weather year-round, Anaheim/Orange County is a world class meeting and convention destination.
As the largest convention center on the West Coast, the Anaheim Convention Center offers 1.6 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space. In 2005, more than 1 million convention and trade show attendees met in Anaheim/Orange County, generating more than $880 million in revenue for the area. Wall-to-wall wireless capability allows visitors anywhere inside the center to access the Internet from laptops and personal handheld devices.
The 1,100-acre, campus-like Anaheim Resort district, which completed a $5.5 billion transformation in 2000, encompasses the Anaheim Convention Center, the Disneyland Resort and Downtown Disney, a vibrant esplanade in the center of the Disneyland Resort that features a variety of shops, family-friendly restaurants and entertainment venues, including Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen and ESPN Sports Zone. A lush, urban resort with a classic Southern California feel, the Anaheim Resort features pedestrian walkways and a convenient visitor transportation system. Anaheim Resort Transit (ART) provides convenient daily shuttle service and nine interchangeable routes between hotels, Disneyland Park, Disney’s California Adventure, Downtown Disney, the Anaheim Convention Center, shopping, dining and evening entertainment.
Anaheim/Orange County is located approximately 30 miles south of downtown Los Angeles and 90 miles north of San Diego. The area is accessible from four airports, including John Wayne/Santa Ana-Orange County Airport (SNA), Long Beach Airport (LGB), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and Ontario International Airport (ONT).
Sizzling dining, shopping and nightlife
Sample an eclectic array of more than 1,500 award-winning restaurants and eateries from neighborhood coffeehouses and family-friendly dinner theaters to romantic fine dining and lively oceanfront restaurants.
For those in a gaming frame of mind, the area offers exciting gaming action and Vegas-style fun, as Southern California’s casinos are the hottest destinations for the “big kids.” Guests must be 21 years old to play at all Southern California card clubs and Indian reservation casinos, except for Barona Valley Ranch, which allows guests as young as 18 to play.
Golf and pro sports
The area boasts more than 40 championship courses. Putt for par at one of the serene coastal links or take a swing in the rolling foothills of inland OC. The closest course to the Anaheim Resort, Anaheim Dad Miller Golf Course, also is home to the new Tiger Woods Learning Center.
The National Hockey League’s Anaheim Ducks take flight on the ice from October through April, and the NBA Development League team has expanded to Anaheim this year, bringing a Los Angeles Clippers-affiliated team to the Arena at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Any way you slice it, Anaheim/Orange County offers show attendees an experience like no other.
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