Find space beds, secret doors, and backyard playgrounds at these wild rental homes in Orange County
We must ’ve walked past the refrigerator of our Orange County Airbnb at least six times before we agnise it was a hugger-mugger doorway . To be fair , it was pretty innocuous : A 1950s - style fridge positioned in the box of the kitchen , with a “ Ratatouille ” rat perched atop its lip the only lead at something amiss .
Insidewas a child ’s dream of a playroom , let in a individual movie theater with three rows of tiered leather seating , and two walls of stand - up arcade game . In one box sat not one , but two stainless steel washer / dryer combos — because kids .
“ This is the cool affair ever , ” I heard my daughter say . Or possibly I said that .
Photo courtesy of OC Adventure Homes
Because it really is . At least , if you ’re the kind of person who can appreciate the quirk factor of make a room access out of a kitchen appliance and convert a perfectly good garage into a bonus room that you ’ll only witness if you depend for it .
receive to thePixar Pierhouse , one of 19 over - the - top theme homes in the Anaheim area design to appeal to Disneyland visitors who would rather sleep in a Millennium Falcon than a Marriott Bonvoy .
“ We want people to experience like they ’ve been transported to that Earth , ” says the owner ofOC Adventure Homes , a fleet of 19 themed home near Disneyland available through Airbnb as well as on its standalone website . He conk by “ James Johnson ” on the household rental situation , though that ’s a pseudonym .
Photo courtesy of OC Adventure Homes
OC Adventure Homes ’ rental properties — all of which look unremarkable from the exterior — are designed to make kids feel like they ’re walking into their favorite motion-picture show . We ’re talking bunk bed that forked as space cod , game rooms hidden behind bookcases and refrigerators , rooms with light show set off by clitoris , and enchant theme medicine that flicks on with the flip of a light replacement .
“ A pile of it is just try on to imagine how to bring the movies to life , ” Johnson says . “ We do n’t desire to just put poster on the paries . We require to do the rooms and the stem jurist . ”
The pandemic pivot that stuck
Johnson never intend to become Orange County ’s king of Disney - theme Airbnbs . His first themed home happened on a whimsy when the COVID-19 pandemic ram an unprecedented yearlong closure of Disneyland in 2020 , leaving his handful of 3 - sleeping accommodation vacation rentals empty .
“ When COVID befall , and Disneyland closed , no one was coming , ” tell Johnson , a former clientele strategian in the video game manufacture . “ So I had to make the homes an attraction . I was like , ‘ How do I make people want to get along to these home ? ’ ”
Clearly , the answer lie ingiant backyard dinosaursandspace bedrooms — because once Johnson start offering these sort of uniquely - themed component , his rental concern necessitate off .
Photo courtesy of OC Adventure Homes
“ straightaway , I have it away that every young home had to have a theme , ” he says . “ I lead off to realize that multitude wanted to go to Disneyland during the day and amount back to a home where they could still have an interactive experience . ”
But OC Adventure Homes does n’t just slap a mural on the wall and call it themed . Every elbow room is think out to the very last teacup . At “ The Disneyland Dream , ” for instance , each room in the house is an ode to Walt ’s world : There ’s a Frontierland way with Old West music and a working train that circles the ceiling , an Indiana Jones room with hide artifacts in every corner and cranny , and a Steamboat Willie elbow room done in opprobrious and lily-white so visitors feel like they ’re walk into a 1920s Mickey Mouse toon .
And then there are the backyards — private resort area with frame super acid , climbing structures , cut sets , wendy house , old - fashioned kiddie rides , ping pong mesa , K games , and , in some case , consortium .
Photo courtesy of OC Adventure Homes
The cost of a hotel room vs. a home
There ’s a wad to be tell for ride out in Disney - owned property . For one thing , Disneyland hotel node can get into the park30 moment before the cosmopolitan populace , a splinter of time that can give you the edge on a desired Lightning Lane for theRise of the Resistance drive . And for another , Disney hotel are not blate about their theme either , withlight - up headboardsand beyond .
But lease ’s confront it : A head trip to see Mickey & friends is expensive . It costs about $ 700 a Nox to stay in a individual room at Disney ’s Grand Californian Hotel , the opulence guild at Disneyland ’s California Adventure — and that ’s just an average , terms can go right smart up at elevation fourth dimension . By comparing , a night in one of OC Adventure Homes ’ 3 - sleeping room rentals averages out to about $ 500 ( though it also climbs over $ 1,000 a night on pop weekends ) .
There are also thing the Disneyland hotels ca n’t provide : originality , playrooms , and outer space — literally or thematically , in the case of the Star Wars house . If you ’re visiting with a group , especially one that includes kids , it ’s hard to overstate how nice it is to have multiple bedrooms , and a material kitchen .
Photo courtesy of OC Adventure Homes
Theming sells (at least near Disney)
There are plenty of themed homes in Florida , where Orlando ’s numberless entertainment parks — Univeral Studios , Disneyworld , Epcot , Legoland , among many others — draw more than 70 million people per yr .
According to short - term rental data point analytics party AirDNA , there are an estimated 35,000 Airbnbs to opt from in the Orlando area . Which is why it take a leak horse sense that dimension owners might choose to transform a run - of - the - mill lease into , say , a whizz - themed world .
“ Orlando has the highest engrossment of theme parks in the world , so it ’s no surprisal that traveler want more than just a place to slumber : they ’re looking for an experience , ” says AirDNA spokesperson Chloé Garlaschi . “ In a competitive market place , a themed rental helps hosts stand out by offer something fun and immersive that Edgar Albert Guest will think long after their head trip . ”
But while Orlando may be teeming with over - the - top holiday rentals — regular wonderland with bunk bed skid , ball perdition room , and pools mould likeice cream cones — southerly California ’s short - term renting grocery , for whatever reason , has n’t jumped on the thematic bandwagon .
There are few than 600 Airbnbs throughout Anaheim and its neighboring Garden Grove , according to AirDNA . perchance there is less demand for standalone lodging — or more demand at the Disneyland hotels themselves — and maybe some of that is due to Orange County ’s comparatively strictshort - full term rental regulation .
And of those 600 , OC Adventures seems to be one of only a light few property proprietor offering immersive theming . In fact , the only other fully - theme forgetful - term letting that I could get hold was this delightfully spooky standalone “ Haunted Mansion ” house , plan by a special effects veteranJeffrey Schiefelbein .
Of naturally , there are also legalities that might dash away possible competition . After all , Disney is notoriously litigious , even go so far as tocrack down on licence fibre at children ’s birthday parties .
Technically , householder are allowed to have Disney itemsinsidetheir homes since those are private property . The cunning part descend in the public verbal description . Florida themers have sex this quandary , which is why you ’ll see a myriad of listings for “ Wizard Homes ” instead of “ Harry Potter Homes ” or “ Galactic Themed ” instead of “ Star Wars themed , ” for instance .
For now , Johnson ’s biggest snafus have include one kid accidentally lock himself into the secret colonnade elbow room ( “ Not a bad position to be stuck , ” he says , and the kid was out within the hour anyway ) and another kid who took apart a with child custom - designed LEGO model .
Now he ’s attempt to figure out how to put an genuine ( tiny ) roller coaster into one of his backyards so he can become “ the only Airbnb with a roller coaster . ”
All of it occur with one end in mind : Making sure his house are destinations in their own right .
“ I think the biggest compliment I get is that the kids will be at Disneyland asking to go back home so they can go to the house , ” Johnson says . “ It ’s just so much playfulness for them . ”
