We will have a more in-depth review and photo report of the ride but for now, enjoy this awesome video from the Disney Parks Blog!
Welcome, The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventures!
Welcome, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue!
We will have a much more lengthy review of this incredible and amazing ride soon, but for now, enjoy this little gem we captured last week!
As well as this ABSOLUTELY GENIUS piece of marketing done by the folks at TDA!
Happy Memorial Day!
Hey everyone! We hope you’re all having an amazing Memorial Day this year. Maybe you’re out barbecuing or at the Disneyland Resort for the long weekend, but whatever it is, I highly recommend witnessing this event in person at the DLR or watching this video.
I had just gotten engaged in July of 2010 and my financé and I took a lovebird trip to Disneyland to celebrate. We watched this ceremony at sunset and took it it’s beauty and emotional grandeur. It certainly touches you no matter what your age! This is also my favorite security guard at the resort taking down the flag!
Enjoy!
Sometimes, It’s Great to Eat One’s Words…
Let me tell you — we haven’t even launched this site yet as of the time of this posting and already, I need to update my stand on a certain attraction. For years — since I can remember, really — I have stood by my hatred (distaste, really) for the Enchanted Tiki Room.
I always let visitors experience it. I never recommended it but I would let those that wished to bask in its — what seemed to be — huge wast of time, I would allow them and either browse for a hooded sweater or take a cruise through the jungle. But this past weekend was a different story.
Call it excitement from the news of Osama bin Laden’s death or maybe there was something in the air, but I was in a really good mood and I thought, “Ya know what? Tiki Room!” We also wanted to check out the bath rooms while we were there. SO TINY!
Even while in the lobby / waiting area, I had this sense of amazement and wonder. I love Hawaii and have been a few times now, and I suppose I just haven’t been to the Tiki Room since going to Hawaii. It really hit me how well done that attraction is and how isolated one feels when they’re on the other side of the Dole Whip stand.
So we went in and sat along the north wall. It was night-time and it wasn’t too crowded in the room — or the park, for that matter. The show started and about a minute into the show, I realized I was having an amazing time and once the entire room was erupting in music and energy, I was hoping not to hear the thunder because I didn’t want the show to end.
So while in my original post about my top 10 Disneyland Resort Attractions I condemn the Tiki Room, I now back it as one of my favorite and must-do attractions in the park. How blind but now I see how awesome the Enchanted Tiki Room is!
How Do You Prepare for a Trip to the Magic Kingdom?
Every couple of weeks-or-so, my financé and I, with a few friends, head out to the parks. It has become so routine that we hardly think about it. However, there are a few items we NEVER leave home without. Here’s my list of things I either never or rarely forget to leave home without. Continue reading “How Do You Prepare for a Trip to the Magic Kingdom?”
Diets and Disneyland
I recently went on a very strict diet and Disneyland was the one place I allowed myself to “cheat.” One of my favorite things to get at the DLR is pizza from Pizza Planet and a cookie. Actually, the chocolate-chip cookies at Disneyland ANYWHERE went with every meal I got. I suppose I’ll get into my favorite DLR snacks another time (Churros, for example, do not remind me or get me excited for Disneyland).
What I wanted to talk about today was the discovery of the Disneyland Guten-Free Menu! We discovered this 6-page (double-sided, even!) menu when going to City Hall on Main Street to suggest they leave the park’s restaurants open later than 10pm when Disneyland Park guests will potentially be roaming the park for another 2+hours. While looking for food after 10, we continuously were pointed toward the bread-bowl stand for food and while that was a viable option for everyone else in my group, it does not fall in-line with my diet.
City Hall said they would take the suggestion into consideration and went a step further by offering up this awesome menu! One would have never thought that there would be gluten-free buns at most burger and sandwich-eateries! Who would have thunk that while your friends and family were having churros and bread-bowls, you can enjoy something else without having to have brought your own food?
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And while all of the gluten-free options might not fall 100% into my diet (I cannot have corn and other strange things I’d rather not go into), it certainly is a healthier option for someone like me who LOVES Disneyland food and is also trying to “shape up” for a wedding! I’ll be reporting on some of my favorite foods from this menu in future posts but I would love to hear what your favorite healthy Disneyland snacks are! Heathy dining at Disneyland? I back it!
Annual Passes
I have been a consistent annual passholder for the past 6 years. My very first Disneyland Annual Pass was back in 1994. It cost only $99 and was not a part of any tiered system. My whole family got passes and we would go down right after school to see “Fantasmic!” at least twice a week!
Those were some amazing times. We had our passes for two years, I think. Then I only went sporadically from 1996-2001. I may have had a pass sometime in there but I can’t remember. Unfortunately, as into Disneyland as I was, I took advantage of things like the Rocket Rods which I was never able to ride, the Skyway which I never got to do “one last time.” Same with the PeopleMover! I never got to take that “last ride” which I am always sure to do now.
I remember when I went to grad-night as a junior at Hollywood High School, I was SO confused because the parking lot had completely changed and we had to walk to the park from some weird area past these huge cones (I guess we parked in the old Lion King parking area? Not 100% sure). I was very confused but excited because I had no idea what DCA was! I felt like such a “poser.”
Grad night was fun but then I started going a lot after graduation. A friend and I got passes from 2001-2002 and had a blast that whole time. I really enjoyed DCA and DL together and made the most of those days.
Fastforward to now and here I am — an adult who tries to go once a week if I can but more commonly once every couple of weeks. I have my core group of people I like to go with, we have the path that we take, we have days where we only do things we have never done before, and we have a blast!
The thing I miss the most today is that they don’t change the design as often anymore. That was always the fun thing: getting a special design when renewing and having it match the theme of that year’s DLR theme.
All of that said, one of my favorite things about the AP is that I still have that picture of myself from 2001 on my pass. I was 18 then and love that just by this little feature on my pass, I can always feel like a kid! I back it!
What are your favorite AP memories? How old is your picture? Let us know down in the comments!
“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” Preview at the DLR
I’ll be honest, I was pretty worried about there being a 4th “Pirates…” movie; especially without two of the main characters. Then the first trailer came out and I was really worried because it was a teaser with what seemed to be a last-minute little thing shot with Johnny Depp announcing the new pirates film to a small audience at the Downtown Disney AMC theatre.
Then, they kept using it for each and every trailer and I got really worried because I didn’t think that little announcement was well produced or well acted. However, the trailers have been getting better and better and this looks like it could be the most fun “Pirates…” film since the first.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, TDA announced that they were going to do a big preview event similar to what they did with “TRON”. I was pretty upset and confused about the whole thing even though I remember how cool I thought the “TRON” preview was. Then I started seeing the construction photos and artist renderings for a transformed Festival Arena has gotten me all giddy!
I don’t care at all for the 3D aspect to the movie nor the preview event but what they have planned in the way of cast-members interacting with the show as well as pyrotechnics, etc… I think Disney has created a new way of showing movies. They have been doing it for years with films like “Captain EO”, “It’s Tough to be a Bug” and one of my favorites, “MuppetVision 3D.” But in recent years, the El Capitan theatre in Hollywood has been doing these interactive shows with the movies as they’re shown.
Same with the “TRON” preview at DCA, this new interactive storytelling is immersive and fun for the audiences and really gets the audiences pumped up for a thrill ride not only at the park that day, but in the theatre when the film is released this summer.
I suppose it’s more the technology than the film that I am excited about but there’s something about this installment that excites me. I back it!
Moldering Sanctum
Robert pointed this out to me the other night. It was parked right out in front of my apartment! I back it AND Robert Tinks It’s Great!
Fav’s at the DLR
We all have our favorite DLR attractions. Some of you are lucky enough to have favorite Disney attractions the world over. Today I’ll cover my favorite local attractions from the Anaheim Disneyland Resort.
- Haunted Mansion
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Remember… Dreams Come True
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Space Mountain
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Fantasmic!
- California Screamin’
- Blue Sky Cellar
- California Food and Wine Festival
Probably a less-than-traditional list and not all of my favorite things are rides. Many might be shocked to see rides such as Splash Mountain, Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Indiana Jones are missing. But fret not — I do enjoy those rides but this is a list of my top 10 and compared to this list, those just don’t do “it” for me. These attractions — I back ’em!
Feel free to comment and let me know what your favorite attractions are!