Disfans

This is a great idea, a friend of mine just sent me. A temporary tattoo for your child, with your cell phone number pre-printed on it. If your child becomes lost at Disneyland, he or she has your cell phone number on their arm, so when the child is found you can be contacted immediately. Safety Tat
Personally, I think this is a fantastic idea even for an older child. I thought my school aged children knew my cell phone number, because we had practiced it over and over, and I thought they had it memorized. I found out differently, to my surprise.

My then 12 year old daughter went on a field trip with her girl scout troop to the movies. Their leader made a decision to go to a different theater, with a different movie time. The leader couldn’t find my cell number in her phone, and my daughter couldn’t tell her what the number was. My daughter was safely under the supervision of an adult this time, but what if she had gotten separated from her group? She wouldn’t have been able to call me even if she could have found a phone, because she didn’t remember the number I thought she had memorized. This temporary tattoo would have helped.

My daughter is now old enough to carry a small cell phone in her purse when she goes out, with my number programmed in. My son, however, is an active 9 year old and while I still recite my cell phone number for him to memorize, I’m getting the temporary tattoos for outings.

I love that they have included some for special needs kids, who may not be able to speak, have autism or food allergies. As the mother of a special needs child I appreciate this aspect of this product immensely. This kind of information is essential in an emergency, difficult to obtain from a child in an emergency situation, and even more critical if you are separated from your child when the emergency occurs.

If you have already tried this product, please leave a comment and tell me what you think. I’ll be giving it a try the next time I’m bound for Disney, and I’ll let you know my thoughts as well.

I’m not sure how I feel about this: LA Times story Customizable Mouse Ears Coming to Disneyland

On one hand, its kind of cute… I can see that little girls would have a blast picking out little sequins and princess things to stick on the ears, or that little boys would like putting pirate stuff on their ears, and getting your name on the back is still the same. On the other hand, why are we messing with a classic?

Mouseketeers made the Mickey Ear hat popular, from the old Mickey Mouse Club Show. Black for boys, and black with a Minnie Mouse polka dot bow for girls. Yellow script letters on the back with your name on it. Cute pink ears with sequins are not Mouseketeer Ears.

What do you think?Click Here to take survey

The Toy Story Midway Mania ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, in WDW was open for a Preview last week. Why do I care? Because a similar ride will be opening this summer, at California Adventure. When we visited DCA last summer there were walls up all around the midway, from King Triton’s Carousel all the way down the boardwalk and in front of the Ferris Wheel.

Here is a link to some photos of the WDW preview of the ride: Midway Mania

I don’t know about you, Disney fans… but Toy Story is one of my all time favorite movies. I withstood thousands of viewings of the Toy Story Movies when my kids were little. It was their absolute favorite, and we can all recite lines from the movies. So, I can’t wait to see the new Midway Mania ride… its sure to be full of clever and entertaining features.

There are some great video previews of Mr. Potatohead outside the Midway Mania ride at DCA, on You Tube. Here are a couple.

Mike and our little brother made a holiday visit to Disneyland and CA and these are some of the photos they took. I thought y’all would enjoy seeing some of the holiday decorations. Which reminds me of what I should be doing this weekend, putting my stuff back in the attic until December 2008. I wonder how many Rubbermaid containers they have in the Disneyland attic?

Mike forwarded me a link to the OC Register with photos of the new Mark VII monorail train which has arrived backstage at Disneyland. Its pretty cool looking, red and futuristic. Apparently this is the first new monorail car in 2 decades, the last new one having been installed in 1987. The coolest thing I read about the car is the new look, blue glass and red stripes on the exterior that change color in sunlight. The new cars are also electric powered and feature bench seats that face the windows, as opposed to the current seating arrangements that have passengers facing either the front or back of the train.

Check out the OC Register article here:

Are you ready? Here is my number one, best ever tip for having a great time at Disneyland with the kiddies. I’m going to put it in bold, so you don’t miss it.

Do NOT go to the park on a Saturday.

That’s it, the number one best tip ever for having a good time at Disneyland. There are a number of reasons I don’t recommend setting foot on Disney property on Saturday, and all of them are this: Everyone in the world is at the park on Saturday.

Remember that people who live in California have no choice but to visit on the weekend, because they have jobs during the week. Also, most travelers have to stay over a Saturday because of the rates airlines and hotels charge if you don’t. You may have encountered this phenomenon yourself.

If you can avoid trying to enter “the Happiest Place on Earth” on Saturday, you will be much better off. Lines are longer, everything is more crowded, and just trying to walk around is hazardous. Add your hot, tired, possibly hungry, and crying and/or whining child, and pretty much no one is having fun anymore.

Here are a number of alternative suggestions for Saturday in Southern California. You will notice that not one of them is a theme park.

1. Sleep in, if you like that kind of thing.. have a late breakfast, and hang out at the hotel pool. Relaxing.

2. Go to the beach. Orange County is well known for its sunny beaches, and Saturday is a great day for a beach trip, if you get there early in the day. Newport, Huntington, and Laguna are a short drive away from Anaheim.

3. Visit friends and family in Southern California. My parents live locally, so we often spend our Saturday with them, hanging out at the pool and/or having a BBQ.

4. Go shopping. There are many, many malls and shopping centers in the Orange County vicinity.

5.Discovery Science Center. My kids love to go to this children’s museum, and we usually will make a stop here. If you have a membership card to your local Science Museum, check the back of your membership card, you may be able to use your membership here.

6. If you are brave enough, take a drive up to Hollywood and walk around. They really do have Movie Stars names on the sidewalk, and the kids enjoy looking at them. Put your feet in the footprints at Grauman’s Chinese. Warning: It is a long drive to Hollywood from Orange County, and there will be traffic, it will probably be pretty crowded when you get there, and there are some strange characters in Hollywood. You have been warned.

7. Go to Catalina Island. You’ll need to take a boat out to Catalina, where no cars are allowed. You can rent a golf cart and tour the island, go fishing, or just hang out. Avalon is very picturesque and peaceful, its a great place to spend a Saturday.

8.If you’re visiting during Whale Watching season, go Whale Watching at Dana Point. Check it out!“Each winter, thousands of California Gray Whales leave the cold Artic Seas and follow the coastline to the warm, calm waters of Southern California and Baja. This 5,000-mile migration brings much of the pod past Dana Point, where pods of Giant Grays can be easily seen and photographed.”

These are just a few suggestions, Orange County is a diverse community, full of fun activities and things to see and do in the immediate area. Pick up the Orange County Register and check out all the fun things to do, but don’t go to Disneyland on Saturday.

I asked my brother Mike what his Top Ten favorite things about California Adventure are. Mike is younger than me, and also single with no kids, and he lives in Southern California. I thought he might have a slightly different perspective that y’all might enjoy. Here’s what he had to say…Jen

Yes, I was the one who made the joke about doing everything in California Adventure in a couple hours. This is the public perception, and I am used to park hopping, after all. Somewhat surprisingly though, you can fill out the whole day with nothing but California Adventure. Of course, CA has one major advantage over it’s neighbor: they can sell alcohol freely throughout the park. (Although this doesn’t make a difference to me personally.) You see, when CA was built, they applied for a liquor license in advance. At Disneyland, they needed an address, and that’s part of how the famous “Club 33″ got started. Anyhow, here are my top ten things to do at Disneyland’s California Adventure:

10. As soon as you enter, you are greeted by Gift shops. Not at all surprising. What is interesting is the exclusive toys you can find, such as monorails, cars and dolls. Noticeably absent are any replicas of the submarine voyage subs. (hint, hint). The true draw for me tho, are the many different parts of Mr. Potato head! You can grab a box, get a potato head (if you need one) and fill it with as many parts as you can fit in there. (the lid has to close) They are always making new parts, like Mr. Incredible, pirate eyes, Disney princesses, etc. If you have a nephew or godson, you have the perfect excuse to go in and play with toys.

9. Grizzly River Run. This is pretty much your standard get in a round raft and spin around and get wet ride. Oh, and the mountain is shaped like a bear. Something to do if it is very hot.

8. Ariel’s Grotto. I like this place. It’s a fun restaurant to sit down and eat. You will either have to make reservations, or show up at a certain time for “stand by” seating. It costs about 20 bucks, but the meal includes an appetizer (soup or salad) a main entree, drink and dessert. That’s too much food for lunch to me, so I usually go there for dinner. The Disney princesses will come out to your table for a photo op. One time when Belle came around, my brothers and I all said “Bonjour!” …It was funny at the time, I swear.

7. Disney Animation: Animation Academy. This is a new favorite I discovered fairly recently. It’s basically a drawing class. When you go in, you are given a huge clipboard with paper and pencil. An artist will show you step by step how to draw a different character each time. My Minnie Mouse and Pooh Bear were ok, but my Tigger needed help.

6. Disney’s Electrical Parade. While no longer “The Main Street Electrical Parade”, the name is the only difference. I wasn’t really all that into it as a kid, but It grew on me. That darn music still gets stuck in your head.

5. Drawn to the Magic. While you’re near the Disney animation building, check out the “Drawn to the Magic” stage show. It is usually on the stage next to “Monsters, inc.”, or just outside the animation building itself. Three singers dance and sing various songs from the Disney animated features. Three costumed characters appear at the end for the kids. They are generally one “hero” (Hercules, or Woody) one “princess” (Cinderella) and one “magic sidekick” (Sorcerer Mickey) There are generally around 3 or 4 shows between 11 am to 4 pm. I’ve heard rumors that this show may end soon, so I may have to come up with a new number 5.

4. Speaking of music, you have to see “Aladdin the Musical Spectacular”. It is a well done professional musical, in an air conditioned building. You can view it multiple times, thanks to the Improvisation role of the Genie. One time, when Aladdin tells the Genie he wants to do something special for him, the Genie responds: “Guitar hero for X-Box?” You have to see it. Put it on the list. Right now.

3. Ok, now for the rest of the thrill rides. These are the things I do whenever I go to CA, whether park hopping or not. First is Soarin Over California. Once you are strapped in, you are elevated in front of a huge screen, and treated to a flight simulator.

2. California Screamin’. This is the Second thing we usually do, after getting a fastpass to Space Mountain at that other park, and hitting Soarin’. Need for speed, baby! Can you say 0 to 55 in zero seconds? I knew you could. This coaster uses steam catapaults to launch ya, so you can pretend you’re in “Top Gun”. The only Disney coaster with a loop, so far. Lotsa fun. Don’t forget to goof off for the camera.

1. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. If this were just an elevator ride, it would be much less appealing. For fans of the Twilight Zone, this is a must! Rod Serling himself* Introduces the ride, and sets up the whole experience. Then you have the randomness of the drops, and the “slightly faster than natural” speed. Well worth it, every single time.

*They used an old clip from the Twilight Zone, and hired an impersonator. It sounds dead on tho.

Well, there ya have it.
MJT

I’ve got an ice pack on my back, and I’m still recooperating, but I put together my Top Ten favorites from California Adventure for you, and I also put a Slide show together.

Jen’s Top Ten from California Adventure:

10. Disney’s Electrical Parade: AKA: The “Main Street Electrical Parade”… A darkened street, and then that music, followed by all the floats that we loved as children with all those light bulbs..it can only be the Electrical Parade. The only difference is that its now no longer on Main Street USA in Disneyland. I love this parade, and I’m so glad Disney brought it to California Adventure so those of us who remember and still love this parade can still enjoy it.
9. Bountiful Valley Farm: A great place for the kids to run and play and get soaking wet. I get to sit down and have a drink, or an ice cream while the kids refresh themselves. Not to be missed if you have hot, tired kids, on a hot afternoon.

8. Grizzly River Run: If you’ve done a water rapids ride, this will be familiar to you, but its still a great ride. Fun to get wet!

7. Monsters Inc: Its a dark ride, like the ones found in Fantasyland in DL. Fun for the kids, short, and even better, the line for this one is not usually as long as the ones in Fantasyland.

6. California Screamin’: Roller Coasters are not really my thing anymore, but this one is fun. There is one upside-down loop, but other than that, its your standard wooden roller coaster, at really high speed. Not sure this one is really wooden, though.

5. Muppetvision 3-D: I’m a sucker for the Muppets, ok? Kermit, Fozzie, Ms. Piggy and Gonzo are all in this fun show. The appearance of all these old favorites, and the horrible, horrible jokes (which are standard for the Muppets) make the annoying “new” characters bearable.. Wukka, wukka, get it? BEAR-able? Hm. Well, I love this show, and I see it every time we’re at CA Adventure

4. It’s Tough to Be a Bug: I’ve seen this one a few times, too. It’s a really creative 3-D show, and lots of fun, even when you know all the gags already, its fun to see the audience reactions. Word of warning, this one is a tiny bit scary for little ones or those that don’t care for bugs or spiders.

3. Soarin’ Over California: This is an awesome ride, do not miss it. Even my son, who hates anything that might remotely resemble a roller coaster in any form.. LOVED this ride. You really feel like you’re flying and gazing down at the beautiful landmarks familiar to Californians. I felt a little homesick for my native California.

Two way tie for first: Two things I was really surprised and impressed by. These 2 are excellent examples of why we come to the Disney parks.

1. Aladdin-A Musical Spectacular: I was taken by surprise by this one, quite frankly. They say “Spectacular” right in the name, but I wasn’t expecting this. This is a full, staged musical of the story of Aladdin with great songs, action and “special effects”, in a “real” theater. The genie steals the show, of course, and there are some unexpected surprises. Everyone in our group loved it, from my 8 year old son to my mother. My son was actually entranced by this show, and engaged by all the characters. While I loved the show itself, I loved watching my son enjoy it even more.

1. Turtle Talk with Crush: I was also not expecting this to be as much fun as it was, the effect of Crush talking to the audience is really amazing. Crush spoke to my daughter first, and we were all really charmed by him. She was amazed that the animated character could actually see her and talk to her about where she was from and how she got to California Adventure. He didn’t get around to everyone in the audience, but we were all captivated by Crush, and his reactions to people in the audience. For a little while you really believe that animated character is real, and talking to you.

Honorable Mention: Ariel’s Disney Princess Celebration at Ariel’s Grotto. The food is decent, we were able to sneak in without a reservation, but the highlight of this place is really the princesses. They gave my kids a lot of individual attention and we never felt rushed even when 4 or 5 of us all wanted pictures. The princesses are very sweet and attentive to the children, calling them “Prince Charming” and “Princess”, and pretty much giving them the royal treatment.

Service is so-so, and we did wait a while for our food. The picture guy was kind of annoying, to the point that I felt I needed to buy a picture package from him to get him to leave us to eat in peace. The prices for the food are kind of high, but this is a Disney establishment, and if you want a sit down meal, you’re going to pay for it.

The food is ordered as a complete meal, including soup or salad, entrée and dessert. I kept one of the kid’s menus. For $13.99 plus tax, you get carrot & celery sticks with ranch dressing, choice of drink, choice of entrée (spaghetti with green beans, fish sticks with mashed potatoes and green beans, chicken tenders with mashed potatoes and green beans, or mac & cheese with hot dog slices and gold fish crackers), and choice of dessert (apple slices with caramel sauce or yogurt and berry parfait). The kids meals are for those 3-9. My daughter ordered off the adult menu, which was waaaay too much food for her, and my son was disappointed when he didn’t get the same kind of fancy dessert offerings on the kids menu that were offered on the adult menu. I knew that would probably happen, though. My daughter is a very fussy eater, and doesn’t eat very large portions even if she loves it, and the adult portions of food were very generous. My son was satisfied with a few bites from grandma’s dessert, and a couple bites from mom’s dessert. There was plenty to go around.

I liked that the restaurant seemed to do a good job of thinking about what kids like to eat, and putting some nutritious choices on the menu, offering veggies and fruit. I loved the individual attention that the kids got from the Princesses, and the general relaxed and welcoming atmosphere of the restaurant. I would definitely try Ariel’s Grotto again.

I hope to add Mike’s Top Ten coming soon.

OK, I have to tell you that I love California Adventure. I enjoy this park just as much as Disneyland, and with fewer people in the park, it’s sometimes more enjoyable than Disneyland.

When we went, it was a Friday, the second to last weekend of August 2007. We entered the park about 30 minutes after the open, and spent probably another 20-30 minutes outfitting the children with hats. You need to have a hat for that warm California sun. I took my two children, and went along with my mother and 4 of my brothers. The temperature was warm, but not stifling.

Another word about the sun. You MUST put on sunscreen, and wear a hat. Drink lots of water while you are walking. California is a desert, in disguise, if you aren’t careful, you will get burned or dehydrated very quickly. I dressed the kids for warm weather, and for the possibility of getting wet. They each wore a swim suit with regular, lightweight shirt on top. (my daughter also threw on shorts over hers, but my son wore his suit as shorts.) I stowed a change of clothes for each of them in a locker outside of California Adventure. There are lockers outside the park, to the left of the California sign, and there are also lockers inside the park, to your right as you enter the park, near the rest rooms. I always stow our gear in the lockers outside the park, they are usually pretty plentiful, and it gives us something to do while we wait for the rest of our group to meet us at the “C” in California. At the time of our trip, it was August. Pretty warm in California. As I’m writing this, its Fall in California, and still pretty warm. But if you’re planning to spend the whole day, you might want to add a sweater to your locker for later. After the sun goes down it can get a might chilly in the evenings.

Um, this will sound silly, but I actually heard someone say, “Meet me by the “A” in California.” There are 2 “A’s” in California, you may want to specify a consonant, like “C” or “F”, or be really specific and say ‘Meet me by the LAST “A” on the California sign’, if you’re going to meet someone in front of that landmark. I’m just saying. Or, you know, at least learn how to spell California, before you make this embarassing mistake. Lots of people like to use these letters as meeting points. You could spend a long time looking for someone who went to the wrong letter “A”.

My mom and I had planned out a few of the things we had wanted to see the day before, but we really hadn’t hashed out a “game plan” like some folks are known to do. Here’s the cool thing we found, to plan what we wanted to see ahead of time. Click Here for planning fun, on the Disneyland.com website. My Mom and I used this tool, to make a list of attractions we wanted to be sure and see.

I’ve visited California Adventure a few times, and I always come away saying things like, “I didn’t know that was there!”, or “I wish I had more time to see a couple more things.” With our list, we knew which attractions were MOST important to us, so we could skip the ones that weren’t as important, and add in things that other people in our group wanted to see, or just slow down for the kids, who were hot and tired and needed to go get wet in the play area. I was glad we did the list, because my Mom didn’t even realize that the parade formerly known as “The Main Street Electrical Parade” now runs at California Adventure every night.

Generally, and especially with kids along, we go with the flow and execute several “plans” along the way. Like when we’re hungry for lunch, we’ll generally consult on where we want to eat, what is available, and when we want to stop, etc. Depending on the whine factor the kids are exhibiting we make a plan from there.

My brothers made a couple of jokes about what we’d do after visiting everything in California Adventure, which they estimated would take about 2 hours. ha, ha. We spent the whole day at the park, campers.

I’ve never understood the complaints about this park, I’ve always found it enjoyable, and usually we don’t budget enough time to see everything. I have always left this park wishing I had more time. OK, yes, there are fewer roller coasters, and BIG rides, but I have to tell you, that I’m not so much into the big roller coasters anymore. I will still ride a few of them, but its not enough to ruin a fun day at the park for me if California Screamin’ is closed.

There is so much to enjoy about California Adventure, that I will keep coming back over and over again.

Here are a few of the attractions that made the list Mom and I made before our visit:

1. Soarin’ Over California: I hadn’t been on this ride before and had heard it was not to be missed. This time I wasn’t going to miss it.

2. Grizzly River Run: A great way to cool off, your standard water rapids ride.

3. Muppet Vision 3D: I have seen this show, every time I’ve been to CA Adventure, and I love it.

4. Disney Animation: Fun for the kids to go in and see how animation comes to life.

5. Bountiful Valley Farm: Getting wet for hot, tired kids can really get them cooled off and ready to go again. And a place for Mom and Dad to relax while the kiddies run around and play.

6. Disney’s Aladdin - A Musical Spectacular: I hadn’t seen this before, but again, had heard great things.

7. Turtle Talk with Crush: Another first for me, I was really interested to see what the hub-bub was about.

8. Disney’s Electrical Parade: An old favorite from my childhood, I never miss this parade. I was so happy that Disney brought the Main Street Electrical Parade to CA Adventure.

9. Monster’s Inc. : This is a classic dark ride, like those found in Fantasyland, and not to be missed.

10. It’s Tough to Be a Bug: Another 3-D show, but I never miss it. Great to come here and cool off while others in your party head off to the Tower of Terror, which is so not for me.

Tips for California Adventure:

• As always, start early, as soon as the park opens.
• Dress to get wet.
• Store a change of clothes in a locker at the beginning of the day. Clothes are available in the park for purchase, but they may not have your size, and they are expensive. You’ll be glad to walk back to that locker if you can have your own dry clothes that fit, instead of a $25, too small T-shirt.
• Dress for the season… it may start off warm in the Fall/Winter months, but gets chilly after the sun goes down. Put a sweater in your locker for later.
• Buy/bring a hat, sunscreen and sunglasses. You can get all of these items at Walmart/Target much less expensively than at the park. I usually will plan to buy hats at the park, because the kids love to have special “Disney” hats, but I try to pick up sunscreen at the store before we get to the park, because Disney prices are much higher, even on these basic items.
• Bring/buy and drink lots of water. I always bring one bottle of water per person, and buy others during the day, as needed. You don’t want to get dehydrated, heat exhaustion and heat stroke can ruin your day at the park.
• Bring batteries/film for your camera. These items are also available for purchase in the park, but very expensive.
• If you have a digital camera, make sure you charge the battery the night before, and pack an extra SD card in case you have some kind of malfunction when you get to the park.

• Plan ahead. Check out the Disneyland Resort website and check out the list of attractions and have an idea of what you want to see before you hit the park. (see my link above and at the right). Its not necessary to plan every single moment, but you should know what to expect before you get to the park.

Photos by: Mike, editorial comments by Jen

I have so much to tell you about our trip, including a review of the hotel we stayed in. I also have lots to catch up on that was neglected in my absence, including getting one child ready for school tomorrow.

I have many photos to upload and thoughts to organize, and many other details to manage, including additions and improvements to Disfans. So, Stay Tuned.

Here a cool photo to tide you over in the meantime.  Taken by my brother, Rob at California Adventure.