Showing posts with label Disneyland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disneyland. Show all posts
7 reasons to visit Disneyland during the holidays Read Post

7 reasons to visit Disneyland during the holidays

During the holidays the happiest place on Earth becomes the merriest place on Earth. Here are seven reasons to visit Disneyland this December.

1) Over 50,000 lights turn the facade of Disneyland’s beloved “It’s a Small World” ride into a sparkling wonderland every evening through January 6.

2) Prancing reindeer, skating silver snowflakes, marching toy soldiers and dancing gingerbread cookies march down Main Street during the daily Christmas Fantasy Parade. You'll also see your favorite characters atop floats: Mickey and Minnie take a romantic twirl on a frozen pond while Woody and Buzz wave from atop giant wooden building blocks.

3) When the sun goes down, shimmering icicles and twinkling lights make Sleeping Beauty's castle appear even more enchanting.

4) Jack Skellington and the residents of Halloween Town from Tim Burton's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' take over the Haunted Mansion ride.

5) Kids can decorate cookies and sit on Santa Claus's lap at the Jingle Jangle Jamboree. Also, don't miss the live toe-tappin music from the likes of Billy Hill and the Holiday Hillbillies.

6) Dazzling pyrotechnics burst high above Sleeping Beauty Castle in the Believe... In Holiday Magic fireworks spectacular, complete with a snow flurry finale.

7) Snow (really soapy suds) falls on Main Street after the fireworks show.

Best Western tip: Stay at the Best Western Anaheim Inn, just across the street from the Disneyland entrance.
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2:56 PM No Comments
What's the tastiest treat at Disney's new Carsland? Read Post

What's the tastiest treat at Disney's new Carsland?

Oh, Chili Con Queso at the new Disney Carsland in Anaheim, Calif. Let me count the ways how I love thee:
Your cone made from bread is perfectly chewy.
The spicy chili that fills your cone has a kick but you're not too spicy so kids love you too.
Your melted cheese adds richness;
And the Frito's chips add crunch,
Which makes you fun to munch.
I love how I can hold you in my hand as I eat you.
You're this most perfect hand-held meal.
No wonder everyone walking around Carsland was eating you.
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5:10 PM No Comments
Mirror images: Is it Disney's new Carsland or Route 66? Read Post

Mirror images: Is it Disney's new Carsland or Route 66?

Four years ago our family drove Route 66, 2,400 miles, between Chicago, Ill., and Santa Monica, Calif. We drove through baking hot desert, climbed majestic mountains, and make stops in a litany of fabled towns: San Bernardino, Flagstaff, Gallup, Albuquerque, Tucumcari, Amarillo, and Joplin. We saw the Grand Canyon, the St. Louis Gateway Arch andMeramec Caverns. And we followed in the footsteps of dreamers, ramblers, drifters, and writers: John Steinbeck, Woody Guthrie, and Jack Kerouac.

We also followed in the footsteps of the Disney and Pixar animator and director John Lassetter and his crew of movie makers who rove the highway only a couple years before us to get inspiration for Cars. The animated film about an anthropomorphic race car named Lightning Queen who helps save Radiator Springs, a dying town that was once a popular stopover on Route 66. The town and many of its characters are based on real-life places and people along the famed American Highway.

And now Disney and Pixar have created a new land in California Adventure based on the film—and another crew of Disney imagineers made the trip along Route 66 to gather ideas.

Our family visited Carsland this summer and we spotted similarities between those roadside diners, auto shops, gas stations, souvenir stands, and burger joints we visited along Route 66 and the shops, restaurants and fluorescent signs lining Carsland. We snapped a lot of photos at the new area of the park and we later pulled out our Route 66 pics. It was fun to draw connections between what we saw at Disneyland and places we visited along Route 66.

Below I've paired a few Route 66 and Carsland images. Can you tell which one is the real deal and which one was created by Disney?





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12:09 PM No Comments
Disney California Adventure: Flo's V-8 Cafe takes you back to the 1950s Read Post

Disney California Adventure: Flo's V-8 Cafe takes you back to the 1950s

Where's the best place to fuel up at the new Carsland in Disney California Adventure. We loved Flo's V-8 Cafe, that's inspired by the drive-ins along Route 66 and takes you back to the 1950s. We tried the roasted citrus turkey breast and chocolate Ugly Crust pie.






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3:05 PM No Comments
What's the hottest-selling souvenir at Disneyland this summer? Read Post

What's the hottest-selling souvenir at Disneyland this summer?

Goodbye mouse ears! Hello tire hats.

This year Disneyland fans are walking around the park wearing Luigi Flying Tires hats for sale at $24.95 at Sarge's Surplus Hut in the new Carsland.
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2:38 PM No Comments
The day I surprised my kids with a trip to Disneyland Read Post

The day I surprised my kids with a trip to Disneyland

 The plan was to not tell the kids we were going to Disneyland for the day. Instead we told them that we were meeting a work friend of my husband's. His friend had two toddlers and their assignment was to watch the children who we named Aidan and Emily. We told our kids that if they behaved at the meeting, we'd buy them ice cream.

They were obviously annoyed but perked up after I told them about the ice cream. We were living in a Southern California mountain town at the time. The kids were attending an art camp and my husband and I were working remotely. It was a two hour drive into Los Angeles, where we were supposedly going to meet my husband's work friend.

But instead we turned off the freeway into Orange County.

My kids have only been to Disneyland once when they were young so they had no clue where we were going. We drove in a back way to avoid signage but when we turned onto Disneyland Drive and the Matterhorn was in sight my son asked, "Mom, is that the real Disneyland?"

I told him, "Yes."

And then he asked nonchalantly, "Can we go?"

My husband and I broke out into joyful screams, "We're going to Disneyland!!!"

My kids looked at us absolutely dumbfounded. I thought they'd be screaming too but they were too surprised to make a sound.
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2:21 PM No Comments
Virgin gets Mickey ears! Read Post

Virgin gets Mickey ears!

Good news for families: Virgin America is going to Disneyland, according to the NY Times.

Last week, the airline announced new service to Orlando from Los Angeles and San Francisco.

One-way fares will start at $149 and $199 respectively.
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10:00 PM 4 comments
When's the best time to visit Disneyland? Read Post

When's the best time to visit Disneyland?

The Weather Channel has extended its popular travel-planning resource, Destination Guides (weather.com/destinations) so include Southern California's Disneyland. Using the site's "Best Time to Visit" feature you can easily find out when the weather is the warmest, coldest, driest and wettest months along with average temperatures and average rainy, sunny and cloudy days. Now the question is...what's the best weather for experiencing Disneyland? In the rain and cold you're bound to find shorter lines?

Click here for the Disneyland destination guide.

Image credit: My Life in a Nutshell Blog


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10:41 AM 4 comments
Funniest family vacation photos Read Post

Funniest family vacation photos


I love this blog post from TripBase: 13 Funniest Family Vacation Pics. They have compiled a bunch of photographs such as the one above that are certain to make you laugh--and recall just how painful and awkward a family vacation can really be (especially when you're 16 years old!).

To see all the photos: click here.
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9:58 AM 5 comments
iPhone apps for getting around Disney parks Read Post

iPhone apps for getting around Disney parks

Disneyland and Disneyworld may be the happiest places on earth but they also can the most overwhelming. How do you navigate them? How do you avoid long lines? Where do you get a decent meal for a fair price?

Enter a bevy of iPhone apps aimed at helping you answer these questions. In the iTunes store, you'll find options ranging from WaitWatch offering up wait times to Hidden Mickey helping you find the mouse ears cleverly hidden throughout the parks.

Of the dozens of apps, here are the best for navigating Disney parks:

MouseWait--This newly released free iPhone app provides accurate wait times at Disneyland and California Adventure, and the chance to bring your Facebook friends into the app to create a true social Disneyland experience. Free.

Disneyland Wait Times--ride wait times for Disneyland and California Adventure. Users submit wait times so the level of accuracy is dependent upon the number of users. Free with ads; 99 cents without ads.

Notecast Disneyland and Disneyworld--a guidebook to the parks wtih over 120 pages of in-depth info on everything from parade times to "must dos" to finding Disney characters. 99 cents.

Disneyland Checklist--Are there a few rides you must go on? This app allows you to develop a checklist. 99 cents.

Disneyland Facts--Did you know that sleeping Beauty Castle was given its name four years before the movie was released? Did you know that until the 1960s young men with beards were not allowed to enter Disneyland? This app will bring alive the history of the parks--and it provides educational entertainment while you're waiting in line. $1.99.

Do you have a favorite Disney park iphone app?
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11:43 AM 6 comments
Volunteer and receive free Disney tickets Read Post

Volunteer and receive free Disney tickets

"Disney is offering a free day's admission to 1 million guests who complete a day of volunteer work next year," according to USA Today.

Beginning January 1, 2010, when you sign up online for the "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" program and volunteer a day of service with a participating organization
(and your service is completed and verified), you'll receive one day admission to a Disneyland or Walt Disney World theme park. (Click here to sign up.)

You must be at least 18 years of age to sign up, and you may sign-up up to a maximum of 8 additional members of your same household. Children must be at least 6 years of age to volunteer under this program and receive a theme park ticket. Children ages 6-17 must be accompanied by an adult when volunteering. Other age restrictions may apply to certain eligible volunteer opportunities.
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8:53 PM 7 comments
Hot tip: Go to Disneyland now! Read Post

Hot tip: Go to Disneyland now!

Word is out: The lines are getting shorter and the crowds thinner at Disney parks. Now is the time to plan that family trip. According to an article in yesterday's New York Times: "Attendance at Disney’s theme parks in the United States began to slip in the last part of 2008, dropping about 5 percent compared with a year earlier."

If you're still looking for a spring break destination, Disneyland or Disneyworld might be places to consider. Much to my kids' delight, Disneyland is now in the running for our family's upcoming break in April.
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11:00 AM No Comments
Disney theme parks offer wait times by cell phone Read Post

Disney theme parks offer wait times by cell phone

So let's say you're at Disneyland with the family and you just got off the Matterhorn. The kids scream, "Space Mountain!" and you're game but not if you have to wait in another two-hour line. What do you do? Beginning next year, you'll be able to pick up your phone to determine the wait time at the popular roller-coaster, according to an article in today's USA Today.

The Walt Disney Co. and Verizon Wireless announced Wednesday that they have reached a multiyear deal to provide theme park information and extras to Verizon customers who download a special application.
Beginning next year, visitors to Disneyland and Florida's Walt Disney World will be able to use their Verizon phones to locate shows, costumed characters and restaurants; find wait times for rides, play mobile games and receive messages from Disney characters.
Because cellphone technology pinpoints a device's location, users can tell how far away they are from Mickey Mouse, for example.
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8:58 PM 2 comments