Before you read on
- When you race
- 3–6 December 2026
- How many nights to book
- 3 nights
- Who this race suits
- A race you can walk to from your hotel, in a mild December.
- Nearest airport to the venue
- John Wayne (SNA), About 26 min by rideshare, or 73 min on routes 76 and 43
- Cost for the weekend
- USD 900 (USD 900) per person, Flights and race entry.
On this page
Should you race here?
A walkable race in a mild December, with Disneyland across the road setting the price of everything.
Reasons to
- You can walk from your hotel to the start line, which almost no American race allows.
- 21.4°C (71°F) afternoons in December, while most of the calendar is racing in the dark and cold.
- John Wayne airport is 26 minutes away and small enough to clear quickly.
- Little Arabia and the Packing District are ten minutes away and are worth the trip on their own.
Reasons not to
- Rooms average about USD 215 because it is Disneyland at Christmas, not because of the race.
- The resort district is pleasant and completely artificial. Real Anaheim starts a mile north.
- Parking is USD 25 per entry, which adds up fast if you are driving in and out.
Conditions on the day
Centr HYROX Anaheim runs December 3rd, 2026 to December 6th, 2026 at Anaheim Convention Center. Here is what that specific window is like on the ground.
The catch
Mild afternoons, cold mornings
21°C (71°F) by day, 9°C (48°F) at night
Anaheim in early December
- The December average reaches 21.4°C (71°F) by day and falls to 9.0°C (48°F) at night.
- The gap between morning and afternoon is twelve degrees, so a morning wave and an afternoon wave are different races.
- December is the start of the wet season: 61mm across about six days.
- Daylight runs 06:42 to 16:43, so the light is gone before five.
- Daylight
- Dark
- Bar height is temperature
What racing here is like
Your race is here
Anaheim Convention Center
December 3rd, 2026
Centr HYROX Anaheim
- Everything below describes this building first, and the other for comparison
The venue at a glance
- Address
- 800 W Katella Avenue, Anaheim, California
- Parking
- On site, USD 25 a day per entry. Leaving and returning costs it twice.
- From the nearest hotel
- 5 to 10 min from Hotels on Katella and Harbor
- Altitude
- 48m above sea level, low enough to make no difference to your race.
- Bag drop
- Hyrox has not published the bag drop arrangement for Anaheim.
- Supporters
- Hyrox has not published spectator ticketing for Anaheim.
Anaheim has moved building, moved season, and grown from a single day into the best part of a week. Where you race, and when, changes the day more than most people expect.
Anaheim Convention Center, your race is in this building
The largest convention centre on the west coast, directly across Katella Avenue from Disneyland.
Known for. NAMM, VidCon, WonderCon, and most of the large trade shows that do not go to Las Vegas.
The building. Opened in 1967 beside the then twelve-year-old Disneyland, and expanded six times since, most recently with the glass ACC North hall.
Race day and start times
The thing that shapes your travel is not the race date. It is when you find out what time you are racing on it.
Hyrox links individual start times on the event page about three days before the race. A provisional schedule goes up earlier.
What to bring
At the convention centre, and only on the day you compete. Registration opens 90 minutes before the first wave of your division.
You do not bring a chip. You collect the ankle strap at check-in, wear it for the race, and hand it back after the line.
What your wristband does not cover
You are given a wristband at check-in. Hyrox has not published what the Anaheim one admits you to, and check-in is open only on the day you race, so do not assume it covers a second day.
Getting there on the morning
Walk, if you are in the resort district. Otherwise the ART shuttle, or a car park you only pay for once.
What you need to book
Before you book
Book flights and the last night around the provisional schedule, not around a wave you have not been given.
If Hyrox cancels or postpones the event, its terms do not cover your flights or your room. Check the cancellation deadline on both before you pay for either.
Flying into the city
LAX is an hour away in traffic and has everything long-haul, with Long Beach and Ontario as the other two options.
Search flights to AnaheimBy train
Check train times and faresSomewhere to stay
The closest beds go first, and those are the ones that matter on race morning.
Compare hotels near the venueSomething to do with the rest of the weekend
Most people fly in for one race and see nothing. The day before is dead time if you do not plan it.
Tours and tickets in AnaheimSomewhere to put your bag
Flying out the same evening? This is the difference between a good afternoon and hauling a kit bag around a city.
Left luggage in AnaheimYour entry
Sold by Hyrox, one ticket per division per day. We earn nothing from this link and include it because you need it.
Official Hyrox entriesEstimate weekend cost
| Item | Local currency | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Three nights Nights near the venue | USD 645 | $645 |
| Travel, airport and around the city | USD 90 | $90 |
| Eating, three days | USD 165 | $165 |
| One athlete plus one supporter | USD 900 | $900 |
Getting to Anaheim
John Wayne is about 26 minutes from the convention centre by rideshare, for roughly USD 39.
Rideshare from John Wayne
Twenty-six minutes and about USD 39, from an airport small enough to clear in twenty.
The bus, if you have time
OCTA routes 76 and 43 connect the airport to the convention centre in about 73 minutes for two dollars. Slow, and the cheapest airport transfer on the calendar.
Entry requirements
Quick tip
LAX has far more long-haul routes and is an hour away in traffic. If you can route through John Wayne or Long Beach, do.
Getting to the venue
The resort district surrounds the convention centre and most of it is a ten-minute walk from the hall. That is the whole case for staying there.
Southern California runs on cars and this is the rare corner that does not have to. The resort district is walkable end to end, and the ART shuttle loops the hotels for five dollars a day, so you can land, check in and never drive.
Where to stay
The resort district wraps around the convention centre, and most of its hotels are within a ten-minute walk of the hall. There is no reason to stay anywhere else.
Open in Google Maps · Get directions
1. Hotels on Katella and Harbor
The closest, averaging about USD 215 a night in December. Walkable to the hall and to Downtown Disney.
2. Hotels in Downtown Anaheim
Cheaper, smaller and next to the Packing District, which is where the food is. A short drive from the hall.
3. Hotels in the Platinum Triangle
Newer blocks by the stadium and the ARTIC transport hub. Useful if you are arriving by train.
December is the Disneyland Christmas season, which sets room prices here regardless of the race. Book as early as you can.
Neighbourhoods worth the commute
Anaheim is flat, spread out and divided into districts that do not run into one another. These are the ones worth the drive.
| Area | To the venue | Why | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Anaheim Resort | 5 to 10 min on foot | The hotels, Downtown Disney and the convention centre, all on the same two streets. Expensive and effortless. | |
| Downtown Anaheim | about 10 min by road | The old centre around Center Street, with independent shops and the best coffee. Quieter and much cheaper. | |
| The Packing District | about 10 min by road | A 1919 citrus packing house turned into a food hall with thirty kitchens in it. The one place here that is not a chain. | |
| Little Arabia | about 12 min by road | A mile of Brookhurst Street that is the largest Arab district in the United States. Bakeries, grills and the best value food in the county. | |
| The Platinum Triangle | about 10 min by road | Angel Stadium, the Honda Center and the ARTIC rail hub. Where you stay if you are coming in by train. |
Eating before and after
The night before a race is not the night for the best meal of your trip, which is harder discipline than it sounds in a city this good at food.
Downtown Disney
A five-minute walk from most of the resort hotels, open without a park ticket, and full of places that will serve you pasta at six. Unexciting and exactly right.
The Packing House
Thirty kitchens under one roof, so a group with four opinions can eat in one place. Ten minutes by car from the resort and much better value.
Orange County food is Mexican, Vietnamese and Middle Eastern, and the resort district serves almost none of it.
ADYA, in the Packing House
Indian street food from a counter in the food hall, about USD 13 a plate. Fast, cheap, and better than anything on Katella Avenue.
Kareem's, in Little Arabia
Falafel, shawarma and bread from an Anaheim institution on Brookhurst Street. The district around it is the largest of its kind in the country and almost nobody visiting the race will find it.
Race day supplies
The practical failures that spoil a race weekend are almost never the training. They are forgetting the gels, or carrying a kit bag around a city for six hours.
Pack list
- A warm layer for the morning. It is 9.0°C (48°F) at dawn and 21.4°C (71°F) by mid-afternoon.
- Something waterproof. December is the start of the rainy season, about 61mm across six days.
- Walking shoes you do not mind. The resort district is flat and you will cover a lot of it.
Quick tips
- Pay for parking once. It is USD 25 per entry, so going back to the hotel and returning doubles it.
- Buy an ART day pass rather than a rideshare for each hop. Five dollars covers the resort loop.
The resort district has convenience shops at resort prices. There is a supermarket ten minutes away in Downtown Anaheim if you want a normal one.
The last race in Anaheim
The convention centre is a recent addition to the Hyrox calendar, so there is little previous form here to pass on.
What happened
The last edition, in short.
- The centre has several halls and more than one entrance, so check which hall your race is in.
- The resort district is walkable, which almost no other race venue in the United States is.
What it means for you
How your race differs from that one.
- Parking is 25 dollars a day per entry, so leaving and coming back costs twice.
- The Ducks are at home at the Honda Center on the Friday, two miles away.
What else is on that weekend
A quiet weekend by Anaheim standards, with nothing in the convention centre itself.
| What | When | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Ducks against the Seattle Kraken | 4 December | The Honda Center, two miles east | Friday evening. Traffic on Katella afterwards, and nothing on race morning. |
| Randall King | 3 December | House of Blues, Downtown Disney | Thursday night in the resort district, a few minutes from the hall. |
| Slow Joy, then Unloco | 4 and 5 December | The Parish at House of Blues | Small rooms, both nights. No effect on the mornings. |
| Disneyland at Christmas | All December | Across Katella Avenue | The busiest season of the Disneyland year, which is what the hotel prices are reflecting. |
What to see
Written for someone racing tomorrow, not a tourist with a week. Each entry says how far it is, because some of these are worth a longer trip and some are not.
The Anaheim Packing House
A 1919 citrus warehouse with thirty kitchens inside it, open late and busy with locals rather than visitors. The best hour you can spend here that does not cost a park ticket.
Disneyland
It is across the street from the hall and it is the reason the district exists. A day ticket starts at USD 129 and the queues in Christmas week are what you would expect.
Downtown Disney
The shopping and eating street between the two parks, free to walk into and open to anyone. Useful the night before, when you want food without a park ticket.
Little Arabia
A mile of Brookhurst Street, formally recognised in 2022 as the first Arab district in the United States. Bakeries, butchers, grills and sweets, and almost no visitors.
What to do
Oak Canyon Nature Center
Six kilometres of trail in a wooded canyon in the hills east of the city, free to enter and free to park. Shaded, quiet and the opposite of everything else in Anaheim.
Huntington and Newport beaches
Twenty minutes south-west and the Pacific starts. December water is about 15°C (59°F) and genuinely cold. The boardwalk and the pier are the point.
The Ducks at the Honda Center
NHL hockey two miles east, and they are at home to Seattle on the Friday night of race week. An easy thing to do on an arrival evening.
Old Towne Orange
Ten minutes north, a hundred-year-old grid of antique shops around a traffic circle, which is a strange and welcome thing to find in Orange County.
Raced here? Tell us about it.
Anything you wish you had known. It goes into this guide for the next person, and most of them have never done a Hyrox.
Things people find useful
- How early you really needed to arrive
- What caught you out
- What the hall was like inside
- Where your supporters watched from
- Anything good you did in the city
Not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Hyrox. HYROX is a trademark of its owner, used only to describe the races discussed.
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Last updated November 7th, 2026.