Anaheim is the only convention city in America where a real share of your attendees bring their kids. That single fact changes almost everything about how you plan here, and most planners figure it out the hard way somewhere around the second day. Here is what to know about badges for an Anaheim event, and where to point people the moment the last session ends.
Planning an event in Anaheim
The Anaheim Convention Center is the largest exhibit facility on the West Coast at roughly a million square feet, and it has hosted the shows that define their categories. NAMM fills it with musical instruments every January, VidCon takes it over in the summer, and a steady run of national association business fills in around them. The campus sits directly across Katella Avenue from Disneyland, which is either your greatest asset or your biggest scheduling headache depending on how well you planned for it.
Everything here is walkable in a way Southern California usually is not. The Anaheim Marriott, Hilton Anaheim, and the Sheraton Park are all within a few minutes on foot, and the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center connects to Amtrak and Metrolink for attendees coming down from Los Angeles without a car. For arena-scale programs, the Honda Center is a short drive east.
Watch the theme park calendar as closely as you watch your own. Spring break, the weeks around the winter holidays, and the summer stretch push hotel rates up hard and fill the surrounding restaurants. A show that would be routine in October becomes a very different budget conversation in July.
A quick word on Anaheim: Half your attendees are going to walk out of your closing session and straight through the Disneyland gates, and a good number of them will have a spouse and two kids waiting. Fight it and you lose. Plan around it and you get something no other convention city gives you, which is attendees who genuinely want to extend their stay. Build in a free afternoon, put your closing reception early, and let people go.
Choosing badges for an Anaheim event
Anaheim badges live a harder life than most. Southern California sun is relentless on an outdoor patio session, attendees are moving between air-conditioned halls and eighty-degree afternoons all day, and a meaningful number of those badges are going to spend an evening on a theme park ride. Uncoated paper does not enjoy any of that.
- Multi-day conventions: 30 mil plastic survives four days of handling, re-entry scans, and whatever happens after hours.
- Pre-registered conferences: 18 pt paper gives you full-color branding at the lowest cost per badge once your list is locked.
- Outdoor sessions and patio receptions: Plastic, or paper in a rigid holder. Direct sun is harder on print than most planners expect.
- Guest and family credentials: A visually distinct badge for spouses and kids keeps your session rooms controlled without making anyone feel unwelcome.
- Staff and crew: The 2.125 x 3.375 mini reads at a glance and stays out of the way on a busy floor.
Ordering timeline
Custom badges print within 5 business days of proof approval, then ship. Custom lanyards run 10 to 12 business days after proof approval plus shipping, so lanyard artwork is the piece to finalize first. Work backward from your in-hands date rather than your show date, and confirm the convention center's receiving window before you schedule delivery.
Things to do in Anaheim
The obvious answer is across the street and there is no point pretending otherwise. Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are a ten minute walk from the convention center doors, and Downtown Disney in between them is free to walk into with restaurants and bars that work perfectly well for an informal group dinner.
Beyond the parks, the Anaheim Packing District is the local favorite and genuinely good, a restored 1919 citrus packing house now full of food stalls and a bar in the old boiler room. The Center Street Promenade nearby covers downtown Anaheim proper. Angel Stadium and the Honda Center are both a short ride east if the schedule cooperates.
The coast is closer than people realize. Huntington Beach and Newport Beach are about half an hour west, Laguna Beach is worth the extra fifteen minutes for the coves and the galleries, and Balboa Island is the kind of afternoon that makes attendees email you afterward. For food, Little Arabia along Brookhurst Street is one of the best Middle Eastern food corridors in the country and almost no visitor knows it is there.
If your program overlaps a park visit, tell attendees to leave the event badge in the room. Lanyards catch on ride restraints, badges get soaked on the water rides, and a replacement on day three is a headache nobody needs. A separate guest credential for family days solves this cleanly.
Give your Anaheim attendees a badge that holds up through four days of sun and one very long evening, and a city that will do the rest of the work for you.
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FAQs: Event Badges & Things to Do in Anaheim, CA
Where can I get custom event badges in Anaheim, CA?
Billy's Badges prints and ships custom paper and plastic event badges to Anaheim and throughout Orange County. Orders print within 5 business days of proof approval and ship to your venue, hotel, or the convention center's receiving dock.
How far in advance should I order badges for an Anaheim conference?
Give yourself at least two weeks before your in-hands date for badges alone. If custom lanyards are part of the order, make it three to four weeks, since lanyards take 10 to 12 business days after proof approval plus shipping. Build in extra room around spring break, summer, and the winter holidays, when the whole resort district runs at capacity.
What badge material works best for an Anaheim event?
30 mil plastic for anything running more than a day. Southern California sun fades unprotected print during outdoor sessions, and attendees cycling between air-conditioned halls and warm afternoons will curl uncoated paper by day three. Paper works well for shorter indoor conferences, especially in a rigid badge holder.
Should I issue guest badges for family members at an Anaheim event?
It is worth considering here more than almost anywhere else, since Anaheim draws a high share of attendees traveling with spouses and children. A visually distinct guest credential lets families join receptions and open areas while keeping session rooms and the exhibit floor controlled, and it saves your registration desk from making judgment calls on the spot.
What is there to do near the Anaheim Convention Center?
Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are a ten minute walk away, with Downtown Disney free to enter in between for restaurants and bars. The Anaheim Packing District is the local favorite, a restored citrus packing house full of food stalls a short ride from the convention center. Angel Stadium and the Honda Center sit just east, and Huntington and Newport Beach are about thirty minutes west.
Where should attendees eat in Anaheim?
The Anaheim Packing District is the best single stop, with a couple dozen food stalls under one roof and a bar in the old boiler room. Little Arabia along Brookhurst Street is one of the country's strongest Middle Eastern food corridors and stays under the radar with visitors. Downtown Disney handles informal group dinners without a reservation battle.