Disneyland Diva

Carnation Cafe and a chef named Oscar.

2011-07-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

The Carnation Cafe is certainly one of our favorite places to eat in Disneyland. We love their breakfast and lunch menus. Below are some pictures of our favorite meals and our favorite places to sit in the cafe.

This is the Oscar Special and it is one of our favorites for breakfast.

This is Chef Oscar. He has been working at the Disneyland Resort for 55 years!! He has some great stories to tell too.

Mr. Diva and Oscar chatted quite a bit on our last trip to Disneyland. We were sitting in one of our favorite little corner spots by the double doors. Chef Oscar told us that when they expand the cafe next year that he may be retiring. If that if true, it will be a very sad day for us!!

This is another favorite breakfast, the Breakfast Croissant with an Iced Coconut Latte.

And we are sitting at our favorite spot next to the window in the back. I love sitting by that window. In September when we came in to the cafe for lunch, it was empty but for one couple and they seated us here. Then we noticed that one of the other two people in the cafe was DICK VAN DYKE! I didn't take a picture or stalk him, but it was a huge thrill!

Now for lunch, Mr. Diva likes the French Dip Sandwich and fruit.

I like the Loaded Baked Potato Soup with fruit and of course...and Iced Coconut Latte.

That's right, we score our favorite spot again!

Now tell me you aren't going to order the Loaded Baked Potato Soup and an Iced Coconut Latte the next time you're there. It looks scrumptious doesn't it??

Chef Oscar can ususally be found hanging out on the weekends.
As you can see -- I never veer from something that is a winnner!

If you ask nicely, Chef will sign a copy of the Loaded Baked Potato Soup recipe for you.
This was on a girls day at the parks and he sat down with us and chatted for about a half an hour and then signed our recipes.
We love the Carnation Cafe and Chef Oscar!!

Gitchy Gitchy Goo means that....You're a Hero in Training??

2011-07-14T19:50:00.001-07:00

There is a lot of construction going on all over Disney's California Adventure Park this year. So, to keep things interesting, since parades just aren't a possibility this year, there are a few street performances that you may be interested in checking out.

The Incredibles make an appearance in the Hollywood Backlot area. Mr. and Mrs. Incredible and Frozone show up and they do a Hero In Training show that involves the kids.

Another fun show for kids is the Phineas and Ferb Rock Rollin' Dance Party that takes place out in the area in front of the wharf and the Little Mermaid ride. Phineas and Ferb drive up and then go out and start dancing to some of the songs from their TV show. They get the kids involved too and let them come out and show off some of their dance moves.

So don't let the construction at DCA keep you from having a great time this year! Check out both of these fun little shows and let the kids have a good time!

Calling All Wilderness Explorers!

2011-07-14T18:10:00.001-07:00

The Redwood Creek Challenge Trail in Disney's California Adventure has recently gone through a rennovation of its own. The changes are minor, but I think they bring the area into the present with the inclusion of the characters Russell, Dug and Kevin from the Pixar movie UP!

The camp notices board right at the entrance shows the new characters in some of the activities available to guests in the Redwood Creek area.

These are some of the Wilderness explorer badges that are displayed on both sides of the entrance. If you complete the activities in the Wilderness Explorer Guide, you could get them.

This is the Wilderness Explorer Guide you are given as you enter the Redwood Creek area.

It opens to tell you some of the activities you can get involved in (if you are a kid!)

You can see that this map has some silver circles on it. That is because as you complete the challenges, you get the rub off the silver and reveal the wilderness badge you earned for that station. Follow me and Mr. Diva as we tried to earn our Wilderness Explorer Badges.

Station 1 - Tracking! You have to find Kevin's foot prints.

Woot!! Found 'em!

Badge #1! We're on our way!

Challenge #2 - Bravery

This time we were to take on the tire slide.

Badge #2 - Bravery

Station #3: Rock Climbing

Badge #3 - Rock Climbing

Station #4 - Howl like a Wolf as you do down the slide.

Don't these look fun?

Badge #4 - Wolf Howl

Station #5 - Find your animal spirit.

You go into the Spirit Cave, press your hand on the screen and your spirit animal will appear.

Mr. Diva got a Salmon.

That is supposed to mean he is instinctive and strong-willed.

The have added a new animal spirit at the bottom. I think that is mine!

Badge #5 - Animal Spirit

Badge #6 - Puzzle Solving

This challenge directed you back to your Wilderness Explorer activity guide and you had to go to each of the statues listed and find which description matched the statue, then put the corresponding letter in the blank to see what it spelled.

HAWK

TURTLE

RAVEN

CATFISH

BUZZARD

DRAGONFLY

MOUSE

FROG

Badge #6 - Puzzle Solving

When you have completed all of your activities and earned your badges, then you proceed to the Awahnee Circle for the Wilderness Explorer ceremony to earn your Senior Wilderness Explorer badge.

You must raise your hand, and you must know the Wilderness Explorer call and motto.

"An explorer is a friend to all,

be it plants or fish or tiny mole."

"Caw, Caw, Raaawr!"

Once you have completed the ceremony, you get a Senior Wilderness Explorer Badge.

Here are me and Mr. Diva with Russell after getting our Senior Wilderness Explorer Badges.

And we met Dug too!

As you can see, this is a really fun, cute area for people to spend some time, especially if they have kids. But if you are just adults like me and Mr. Diva, it can also be a nice, fairly quiet corner of DCA where you can get a little respite from the crowds.

Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta

2011-07-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

This is one of the two new restaurants to open in the Paradise Pier area of Disney's California Adventure. This is in the restaurant that used to house Pizza Oom Mow Mow.

As you can see, the decor has changed significantly from the surfer beach hut to more of a classic beach boardwalk feel. They have separated the restaurant into three areas, pizza in the middle,

pasta on the right side,
and salad on the left side.

Let's start with the pizza.
The pizza they served at this location before was that horrid stuff they serve at Red Rockett's Pizza Port in Tomorrowland. I always say it is hand's down the worst food in Disneyland and Pizza Oom Mow Mow was the worst food in DCA. I was interested to see if they had made any changes other than to the decor.
As you can see, just glancing at the pizza it looks much better! This is the portabello mushroom and spinach pizza with ricotta, artichokes and romano cheese.
Looks good doesn't it? This pizza is $8.99
These are the cheese pizzas, and the pepperoni pizzas looked exactly the same
but with pepperoni on them.
They are $8.49 for the pepperoni and $7.99 for the cheese.

I don't know what is wrong with me here, but I somehow managed not to get a picture of the BBQ chicken pizza, which is the one we got. It has BBQ sauce, chicken, bacon, red onion, cilantro, mozarella and smoke gouda. And it was good! I like the thin crispy crust on pizza. Kind of Boston style pizza. I'm not a fan of the thick breaded pizza. This pizza was good enough that we think it is as good as CPK's BBQ Chicken pizza, and that is CPK's claim to fame pizza.
This pizza costs $8.99
For dessert we opted for this fruit pizza, which is actually more like a fruit and cream cheese danish. They warm it up in a little pizza cooker thing for you. It was tasty.
Mr. Diva said he would definitely get one again.

Moving on to the pasta. The true test of Disney cuisine for me. I have yet to have a really good pasta at DLR, except for the chicken alfredo at the Plaza Inn in Disneyland. They had three pasta choices and they were warmed on the spot and didn't sit long at all.

We decided to split the Cheese Raviolis in pesto sauce with pine nuts. Sadly, it was just mediocre. I would not get it again. If they would let me, I might try the raviolis in their tomato cream sauce and see if I liked it better, but their pesto had pepper flakes in it and it was hot and just not really good. I finished my half, but Mr. Diva only managed one ravioli.
This dish is $9.49

I almost got the chicken and campanelle in sundried tomato cream sauce, but opted for the raviolis instead. I may try this next time to see how it compares to the Plaza's Chicken Alfredo. This dish is $9.49

Of course, you can't have pasta without spaghetti and meatballs. This is Mr. Diva's favorite meal and he orders it every time we eat Italian, so I didn't even consider it. This dish is $9.49.

Children's pizza and spagetti are available.

On to the salad station. I hate salad. I only eat lettuce or greens, carrots and celery dry with no dressing at all. I pick off tomatoes, cucumbers, etc, so this station held little interest for me, but I sacrificed and took some pictures for the salad lovers out there. (*yucky shiver*)

Not being a salad aficionado, I'm just guessing here, but I think this is the Boardwalk Field Greens - with tomatoes, blue cheese, cucumbers, craisins, pecans, raisins and a basil vinaigrette. This salad costs $7.49.

This one must be the Italian Chef Salad - salami, capocollo, ham, provolone, mozzarella, pepperoncini, red peppers, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and red wine vinaigrette.
This salad is $8.49

They didn't have any of the Chicken Caesar made when I walked by but it is $8.49.

There is a self- serve drink bar, also a section with bottled water, milk, and juice drinks.
Warning though, the drinks are not free refills!

As you get ready to check out there are refrigerated stations with espresso brownies
and lemoncello cheesecakes for $3.29. Yum!
But we already had our fruit pizza, so we will have to try them next time.

As you can see at the check out stand, above the desserts are some small green salads
(more my style). I didn't see how much they were. We thought that for a light lunch sometime, we might split a pizza and each get a side salad (and a lemoncello cheesecake!)

When you exit the restaurant, they have made a really nice outdoor eating space.

There are lots of tables and chairs next to the restaurant, but there is a lovely plaza with covered eating areas that had overhead fans, as well as some chairs out under the trees and greenery.

They have even added a bandstand and had some live music playing on and off all afternoon.

It was great to have a nice eating area along the back of Paradise Pier.
It was so hot and sunny over there before.

All in all, Mr. Diva and I really liked the BBQ Chicken pizza and the fruit pizza. We are the type to eat only at the places we know we like, so it was nice to find another restaurant in DCA that we would frequent. And next time -- I'm all over that Lemoncello Cheesecake!!!

Goofy's Sky School

2011-07-11T22:06:00.000-07:00

Part of the Re-themeing of Disney's California Adventure includes taking some of the current attractions and re-making them to fit some of the older Disney shorts. That is the case with Goofy's Sky School. This ride used to be Mulholland Madness, but they decided to take the 1940 short entitled "Goofy's Glider" and use it as the theme for this ride. Other than some new signs and a new paint job, the ride is essentially the same. I still scream like a little girl when I ride it too!

Student Pilots read for take off!

Glad we didn't have to use this parashoot!

And here is where I found the Hidden Mickey!

See it on the top of the wrench?

Now, for those of you who won't have a chance to ride Goofy's Sky School anytime soon, here is a video of the ride.

And if you haven't seen "Goofy's Glider," then you need to watch it. It's classic Goofy!

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure Ride

2011-06-12T21:40:00.001-07:00

On May 31, 2011, Disney's California Adventure Park had a ride preview of The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure. It was only for Annual Pass Holders and you had to show your pass in order to ride. They also had limited edition ride pins just for AP holders also.

Here are some pictures from the ride and at the end is a video that was posted online and I thought is was a fantastic video of the ride!

Gotta love Disney landscapers! This wavy succulent was so cool!! I'd love to know the name of it, so if anyone out there knows, can you put it in the comments for me?

This picture of one of the tile murals in the queue is compliments of my friend Heather.

I rode it twice, once early in the day with friends, and then
at the last minute with Mr. Diva when he drove down after work.

Mr. Diva is still working on holding the camera still when he takes pictures. ;-D

This picture of the ride entrance was also taken by Heather.

Just a warning, we were not allowed to take any flash photography, so I followed the rules and consequently, many of the pictures are a bit blurry, under exposed or over exposed, but these were the best of what I got.

After you pass Scuttle, you "descend" under the sea!

Entering the "Under the Sea" room -- so fun!

Kiss the girl already!

What? Ursula can't believe she got her voice back and got her man!

Everyone is celebrating, including Ariel's Dad, King Triton!

Prince Eric and Princess Ariel

And since Scuttle started the whole story, it is of course, important that he ends it as well.

This is a really cute, very Disney dark ride! I loved it, but I don't think it is my favorite dark ride in DCA. Monsters Inc. is still my favorite DCA ride, hands down. But the Ariel ride is beautiful and definitely one I will ride over and over again! Well done imagineers!

Here is a fantastic video made by Asianjma123

Star Tours - The Adventure Continues

2011-06-02T21:31:00.000-07:00

We got the chance to ride Star Tours two weeks early because they were having some soft opening times when we were there for the weekend. Here are a few pictures and then a video of more of them at the end.

Look what happened to Rex!!

This is the droid from Sector 2!

I loved this window at the end of the queue area where different travelers walk past it.

I'm a little sad that the lady with the eyebrows is gone.

Okay, and I had to add this because it is so funny!

Disney Studio and Archive Tour

2011-04-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

I had the chance last year to attend a movie screening at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, and then to take a tour of the studios and archives this February. Here are a few pictures and a short video I put together at the end. Enjoy!

Walt Disney's first archivist! Thanks Dave for salvaging all the great Disney stuff from years past! In this picture he is holding the first ticket for entrance into Disneyland.

The gold medallion from Pirates.

This globe from Mary Poppins was found by Dave on a shelf in a janitor's closet. It was one of the things that caused him to start thinking about salvaging things from Disney movies.

Stuff from "Bednobs and Broomsticks"

These are all things from Walt or that were in his office or things about his life.

This is the hat the pirate ladies word in Blackbeard.

King Brian's crown from "Darby O'Gill and the Little People"

Me and Mr. Diva with Disney Legend, Kevin Corcoran.

This is Walt's Office -- the three windows on the end of the second floor.
It is now leased out to Shawn Cassidy of "Hardy Boys" and "Da Doo Run Run" fame.

Silly Symphony Swings

2010-07-10T00:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, after I rode on the Orange Stinger in Disney's California Adventure, I vowed never to go on it again, but last weekend when we were down at the Disneyland Resort, Mr. Diva and I found ourselves in DCA at the rope drop, so we decided to avoid the running maniacs and head toward the quieter corner of Paradise Pier.

We happened upon the Silly Symphony Swings and Mr. Diva wanted to give it a try.

As you can see it is a swing ride, but they changed the theme from a giant orange, to "The Band Concert" short from 1935. It is supposed to mimic the tornado the band ends up getting swept into, and yet they continue to play the William Tell Overture as the spin through the air.

Band Leader Mickey is proudly ensconced on the top of the swings and leads the concert.

There is a picture of the concert on the sides of the canopy.

Mr. Diva was really looking forward to the ride.

I was a little reticent seeing as I got a little nauseous when I rode the Orange Stinger.

As you can see, Mr. Diva had a fabulous time.

I couldn't get a picture of myself without screaming...I didn't enjoy my ride as much as Mr. Diva. It's now one of his favorite rides in DCA.

In case you haven't seen "The Band Concert" here it is. The ride makes so much more sense if you have seen the short.

Festival Inspired Dining throughout the Park!

2010-05-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

"Select from a unique menu of Festival foods created especially for Disney's California Food & Wine Festival and welcome back some of your favorites. Expertly paired wines and beer may also be available for purchase."

This sounded like a terrific thing to try, but honestly, after the delicious tapas tasting, we were so full that we decided to just take a spin around DCA and see what they were offering at the different eateries in the park. We were surprised to find so many things offered at almost every restaurant.

Award Weiners on Hollywood Blvd was offering Mangia Meatballs and two types of beer.

Mangia Meatballs - Marinara simmered meatballs with sauteed peppers and onions and shredded mozzarella in a hoagie roll. $7.99

I don't eat meatballs, mainly because they are made from ground meat and I don't eat anything ground unless I grind the meat myself at home and see what goes into the grinder. But, if you're a meatball eater, this sounds like it would be a tasty sandwich!

At the Taste Pilot's Grill in Condor Flats, they serve some great ribs and criss-cut fries, but they have added a yummy pulled-pork sandwich for the festival.

Southwest Pulled-Pork Sandwich - Slow-cooked pulled pork in a chipotle BBQ sauce with caramelized apples and onions in a toasted cornmeal bun. $9.59

In addition it looks like there are two wines and two beers available for purchase.

This one sounds pretty good. I'm not big on sweet with my savory as in apples with the pork, but I'd be game to try it!

At the Farmer's Market just past Bug's Land, they are offering a Festival Chicken Wrap.

Festival Chicken Wrap - Crispy chicken strips tossed in spicy buffalo wing sauce, wrapped in a spinach tortilla with diced celery and crumbled blue cheese. $8.19 (really? 8.19? You couldn't have just made it like 8.25? This really sent my OCD into overdrive after the 9.59 at the Taste Pilot's Grill.)

Okay I was with them on this until they got to the blue cheese part. UGH! How 'bout some nice California cheddar huh?

On to the Lucky Fortune Cookie. This has moved across the Pacific Wharf area into the smaller walk-up area where the Cocina Cucamonga used to be.

The Lucky Fortune Cookie is offering Thai Rice Spring Rolls.

Thai Rice Spring Rolls - Chewy rice noodles with julienne carrots, green onions, Thai basil and red bell peppers are rolled up in a rice paper wrapper. Served with ginger sauce. $3.99 ($3.99 - I can handle that!)

I'd be willing to give this a try. I'm not normally a big fan of the spring roll, and don't think I would like the sauce, but since it is for dipping I could adjust how much I get so it might be fun to try it, and it wouldn't break the bank. Know what I mean?

On to one of my favorite places to eat in the Pacific Wharf area, the Boudin Bakery Pacific Wharf Cafe. You can always get yummy soup and salads here, or take home a sourdough Mickey.

Wine Country Chicken Salad - A salad of chicken breast, roasted corn, carrots, artichokes, red bell peppers, and celery. Tossed in a creamy cumin mayonnaise. $8.99

This one gets a big no from me, mainly because I hate salad and especially salad dressing. I can only handle a green salad DRY. And if I am invited to some "luncheon" thing with a bunch of women, I always know that it will be a big salad fest and the place is going to stink to high heaven of vinegar and salad dressing. I will walk in and get sick to my stomach just from the smell, so all salads are on the "no go" list for me as well as salad luncheons. But if you are a salad lover, it sounds like it would be a pretty good one. Just don't order it and sit by me okay?

Across the wharf is the Cocina Cucamonga. They serve a variety of Mexican food here.

At the Cocina Cucamonga, they are serving:

Anahiem Chile Relleno - Battered local Anaheim chilis stuffed with dos quesos and served with traditional ranchero sauce and crema fresca. $9.99

Dulche de Leche Cheesecake - creamy dulche de leche drizzled on a graham cracker crusted cheesecake. $4.99

In addition it looks like three beers are available at the Cocina Cucamonga.

I've actually never had a chile relleno, so I don't know if I would like it. I don't tolerate heat well, so it would probably be too hot, but it has some things that I do love: it's battered, fried and filled with cheese! Yum! The cheesecake sounds good too. It's really tough to screw up cheesecake.

Pizza Oom Mow Mow is back in the corner of Paradise Pier by the Jumpin' Jelly Fish and Mulholland Madness (soon to be Goofy's Flight School). Just a warning, Mr. Diva loves to go to Pizza Oom Mow Mow for the atmosphere, but the food is horrible! It's just the disgusting food from Red Rocket's Pizza Port in Disneyland transported over to DCA and dressed up surferish.

Pizza Oom Mow Mow is serving Pasta di Anitpasto - Angel hair pasta with buffalo mozzarella, julienne salami, pepperoni, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, green olives, and red onions. Served chilled and tossed in Apulia Extra Virgin Olive Oil vinagrette. $9.29

In addition two wines and two beers are offered for purchase.

(again with the weird pricing. yeesh! Hey DCA, how 'bout you make the chicken wraps $7.99 and this $9.75 and call it even?)

I would not eat this. First, it is a salad, secondly, it has pepperoni and salami two meat products derived from grinding up some kind of mean and packing it in a casing and then hanging it up for who knows how long, and thirdly, it is served cold. (yucky shivers!)

Two of the nicer restaurants in DCA are found here, across from the Pacific Wharf. The Wine Country Trattoria is listed as offering Festival inspired dining, but it isn't going to open until the last week of the festival due to some renovations, so I couldn't find out what their menu item would be.

We forgot to check Ariel's Grotto to see if they were offering anything special for the Festival, sorry! We like Ariel's Grotto. It has pretty good food and has a decent character meal too. I will check when we go back the last weekend of the Festival for more of the tapas in the Marketplace!

DCA's Food and Wine Festival 2010 - Taste of California Marketplace

2010-05-05T17:46:00.000-07:00

"The Marketplace returns to Disney's California Food & Wine Festival! Enjoy unique festival food created especially for the Festival. Delicious tapas-size tastings are available in the Festival Showplace, located in Stage 12 in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. Expertly paired wines and beer are also available for purchase."

Well, after a description like that, who could resist trying some delectable little tapas in Stage 12? Not me! So we headed over to the Backlot area and checked out the menu.

Being the picky eaters that we are, there were obviously some items on the menu we would not be tasting, and those would include the Santa Rosa Pear Salad and the Island Ahi. Yuck. Seeing as each one was between $4 and $5, Mr. Diva and I decided to try several and split them all between us.

You know I can never resist a cute photo op!

As you enter Stage 12, there is an area set up for the cooking classes. These classes, called Sweet Sundays, cost $70.

In the right corner is a beer and wine tasting.

In the back center is the area to order the tapas.

We ordered several things off the menu.

Festival Flight: a selection of artisan cheddars with sundried raisins 7 sliced baguette drizzled with Apulia Extra virgin Olive Oil. $5 plus tax

RIP OFF! Don't order this. They have better cheddars for free at Whole Foods.

Artisanal Cheeses: A selection of artisan cheese with sundried raisins 7 sliced baguette drizzled with Apulia Extra virgin Olive Oil. $5 plus tax

Another RIP OFF! Don't order this either. Again, way better cheese at Whole Foods. And I ask you, does this cheese look appetizing? No! It looks old, dry, and oily. And it was. This gets a big Booooooooooo from me!

Then we moved on to some of the main courses.

Karl Strauss Pale Ale & Canadian White Cheddar Soup with Smoked Bacon. Served in a famous mini Boudin Bakery sourdough boule. $4.25 plus tax.

This one got a BIG thumbs up from me. WOW! Delicious! It was so good I didn't want to give Mr. Diva his half. If we go back before the end of the month, I'm going to go back and order two of these!!

Sorry for the poor quality of the close-ups. They looked fine on my camera and I didn't realize how blurry they were until I got home. Guess I'll just have to go back and try it again.

Marketplace Slider - slow braised beef with spicy mayo in a sweet brioche roll. $4.50 plus tax

Okay, anyone who knows me knows I have a strong aversion to all condiments, salad dressings, and anything pickled. So, the spicy mayo was an immediate turn off. Thankfully, it was only on one side, so guess which side Mr. Diva got?

My condiment free side was fabulous! the meat was perfectly seasoned. If we go back, I would order this with no mayo and eat the whole thing!!

Not a big fish fan either, but I can almost always do fish and chips.

Beer Battered Halibut - Crispy Karl Strauss Woodie Gold beer battered halibut with traditional malt vinegar. $5 plus tax.

I thought this fish was cooked perfectly! It wasn't oily and was so nice, light and the batter was really tasty. Another winner!! Mr. Diva tried dipping in the malt vinegar and hated it, but we both loved the plain beer battered halibut.

We wanted to end our meal on a sweet note and decided to go with chocolate instead of berries.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Profiterole - A cream puff filled with vanilla pastry-cream topped with chocolate ganache. $3.75 plus tax

This was a very tasty dessert! I would definitely get another one of these too!

As you exit the Marketplace, there is a store area where you can purchase bottles of wine, t-shirts, totes, and wine accoutrement.

I found the tapas tasting to be a lot of fun. The food was surprisingly good for the most part and I would definitely go back and get some of the items again. In fact, Mr. Diva and I would like to get back before the end of the month and if we do, I'mdefinitely getting some more of that soup, a slider, halibut and another profiterole. Mmmmmmm mmmmm good!

DCA's Food and Wine Festival -- The Wine Tasting

2010-05-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

Mr. Diva and I headed down to the Food and Wine Festival at Disney's California Adventure on a mission to check it out for a friend. Being a picky eater and wine detester, I was interested to see how this would go, but we were both game!

One of the first areas you can imbibe is in the Beer Walk area just to the right of the Sunshine Plaza. You pay $10 and you can taste several different beers. We didn't do the beer walk, because I hate the taste of beer more than I hate the taste of wine.

There are two specific regions of wine available for tasting. Across from Grizzly Peak is the Italian wine tasting.

The Italian wines are from the region of Apulia.

It costs $10 to taste 4 wines from this region.

We opted for the California Wines since the theme this year was a Taste of California.

Again, it's $10 for a taste of 4 wines. You can taste one wine from each region of California, or you can taste all four from one region, or any way you choose to select the 4 wines. They give you a wine glass and a passport that is stamped each time you taste a wine.

We started with the Napa Valley wines and I decided to try one wine from each region.

This lady recommended that I try a white wine since I don't really like it. This Chardonnay is from Walt Disney's daughter's winery. Diane (Disney) Miller and her husband own the Silverado Winery in Napa Valley.

She told me to smell it.

Then taste it.

and........yuck! Too pungent and bitter!

I tried to finish it in two gulps on the way over to try the Paso Robles wines and got the yucky shivers all down my neck and back.

Again this lady recommended a Paso Robles white wine. This one was from Carina Cellars and is a Viognier.

I was a little apprehensive after the last wine, but gave it a shot. This wine was okay. Not one I would want a whole glass of, but it was definitely fruity and not so bitter. Better than the Disney wine.

Again, I swallowed it down on the way to the Central Coast region and got the yucky shivers again.

Yet again, it was recommended that I try the white wine from Tangent called Ecclestone.

The eyebrow says it all. Not good. It was milder than the Disney wine, but not fruity at all. I didn't like it.

I again swallowed it as fast as I could to get rid of it, got the yucky shivers and my eyes were watering at this point. I wasn't sure I could do another one, but I was determined.

At the Sonoma wine counter, the girl again recommended a Navarro Vineyards white wine called Gewurztraminer. She said this was a very sweet dessert wine. Okay, FINALLY! (I thought)

The look says it all. Obviously what I thought a dessert wine should taste like is vastly different than what it actually tastes like. Although definitely the mildest of them all, I'd had enough at this point, and the lady at the counter had mercy on me and told me about the pitcher on each counter. Apparently you can DUMP the wine in them after you taste them if you don't like it. HELLO? Why didn't anyone tell me that before?

That was it for my wine tasting experience. I just couldn't do anymore. I'm sure if you love wine that it would be a fun thing to do, but it's not something I'm going to try again. I still hate wine, but I do know that they each taste different. It may be all bad different to me, but I did learn something!

Here is a layout I did of my wine tasting experience. If you'd like to see close-ups, get details or see more of my Disney layouts, check out my scrapbooking blog, Plays Well With Paper.

D23 1st Anniversary Party!

2010-03-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

We attended the D23 1st Anniversary party at Disneyland on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. It started with us driving through an endless amount of traffic to get down to Anaheim before the party started. Then when we got there, had to sign in for our wristband and get in line with 10,000 of our closest friends.
After the park was closed and cleared with regular guests, we were ushered up Main Street and waited in front of the castle for ages until at about 9:10 they finally shot off some fireworks and we crossed the gate into Fantasyland again with 10,000 of our closest friends.

Mr. Diva and I met our friends at Peter Pan and that was one of the only attractions we had time to ride for the rest of the night.
Coming off the ride we spotted Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio.
"Always let your conscience be your guide!"
Then stopped to peruse the dessert and coffee table.

Guess who showed up? None other than the Three Little Pigs!! These guys are so RARE!! Tough to get pictures of them much less with them!!
from Wikipedia:
"Three Little Pigs is an animated short film released on May 27, 1933 by United Artists, produced by Walt Disney and directed by Burt Gillett. Based on a fairy tale of the same name, Three Little Pigs won the 1934 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. In 1994, it was voted #11 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. In 2007, Three Little Pigs was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Here is Practical Pig
Fifer Pig
Fiddler Pig
"Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"

I couldn't believe when Clarabelle Cow walked out!

from Wikipedia
Clarabelle Cow is a Disney fictional character within the Mickey Mouse universe of characters. Clarabelle Cow was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in 1928. Clarabelle is one of Minnie Mouse's best friends and is usually depicted as the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar, although she is occasionally paired with Goofy instead. She appeared in the 1990s branded licensing program Minnie 'n Me. Clarabelle has never been anything more than a supporting character in the USA, her country of origin; only in Italy has she been treated as one of Disney's leading lights. Nevertheless, the character remains famous in the United States, surprisingly so in light of her decades of relative disuse.

And then Clara Cluck joined us!
from Wikipedia
Clara Cluck is a character made by The Walt Disney Company in 1934 when she debuted in the Mickey Mouse cartoon Orphan's Benefit. Since then she has appeared as a semi regular character in the Mickey Mouse cartoons. In the comic books she is shown in The Donald Duck/Scrooge McDuck Universe as Daisy Duck's best friend. Clara has been a member of Mickey's original farmyard gang since the beginning of his career, although she is seen less often than Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar.
We had quite a time trying to get the Mad Hatter to cooperate for a picture with Alice and the White Rabbit!
Then we had the privilege of meeting Mr. Bob Gurr, Disney Imagineer extraordinaire.
from the Disney Legends site
"Imagineer Bob Gurr has always been a man on the move. And for nearly 40 years, he's helped move many a happy Disney theme park guest aboard vehicles and ride conveyances of his own design. As he's often quipped, "If it moves on wheels at Disneyland, I probably designed it." And he certainly has, developing more than 100 designs for attractions ranging from Autopia to the Matterhorn Bobsleds to the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Monorails, and more."

and this guy was there from Lost -- no idea who he is.
Cinderella brought out her coach for the evening.
then on to meet the Country Bears. We love them!

Liver Lips McGrowl- Liver Lips is perhaps the funniest-looking bear. He gets his name from his very large lips. He is a brown bear and plays the guitar. He is voiced by Van Stoneman. He becomes an Elvis impersonator in the two seasonal shows.

Big Al- Big Al is the fattest bear. He is grey with a light grey belly and wears a tan hat and a red vest. He plays an always out-of-tune guitar and is voiced by Tex Ritter. He sang the song "There wuz, Buh-lood on the Sahddle." In the Vacation Hoedown he wears a miner's cap and red and black flannel shirt. During the Christmas show, he's dressed as a New Year's baby (sash and diapers) and wears an icepack and a party hat on his head.

Wendell- Wendell is a hyperactive golden brown bear who plays the mandolin. He wears a blue bandanna around his neck and a light brown hat. He also has a massive overbite and buck teeth. He is voiced by Bill Cole.

Such crazy bears.
And before leaving we met Disney Archivist, Dave Smith. If Dave doesn't know, nobody knows!

"The ultimate authority on all things Disney, Dave Smith founded the Walt Disney Archives in 1970 and, four decades later, continues to serve as Chief Archivist. In 1996, he assembled an unprecedented amount of Disney lore, facts, and figures into an unparalleled reference work, "Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia."
The next day, the Sherman Brothers were honored with a window on Main Street in this building. We took a picture since we couldn't miss work for the ceremony.
It was a nice time, but very rushed and we didn't really get to ride many rides because we had to keep jumping in line to get pictures with characters. We suggested that they make it a little longer next time so we have time to do a little more. And we never did see Kevin Corcoran, so that was a bummer, but we did get a picture of Kathryn Beaumont even though we didn't have time to get in line and get a picture with her.

If you have a chance to join D23, we have enjoyed it so far!

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln Returns

2010-01-10T13:10:00.000-08:00

That's right! One of my all-time favorite Disneyland attractions is back!!!

We both love Abraham Lincoln and it is tradition for us to get our picture with him and then watch the show. This is the new photo that hangs in the lobby.

The model of the U.S. Capitol is still on display.

They have a wall of these little statues that apparently represent something from the American Adventure at WDW. I guess they each represent something about the "American Spirit."

This is the screen that shows the preparation that went into making the animatronic Lincoln. You can see it in the video I linked below.

As you go in, this silhouette is on the curtains, and then the show begins.

I must admit to being a bit nervous that they would do something that would mess the whole thing up. Let's face it, over the years they have done some weird things to the show, such as adding that part in the intro where you had to wear earphones and they made it feel like you were getting a hair cut, and adding that "Two Brothers" song with the pictures, or the WORST was ending it with that horrible "Golden Dreams" (or Wings?) song. UGH!! (shudder)

Over the past few years I have made numerous trips to the City Hall to lodge my feelings on the return of Mr. Lincoln and some ideas about what to incorporate and what to lose when they do return him. I envisioned a show where they would drop the "Two Brothers" song, the "Golden Dreams" song, the hair cuts and the like, and just get back to what Walt envisioned; Lincoln, his personal history, how he was important to our nation, and then end it with the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Not difficult - just keep it simple and true to Walt's dream.

I can't tell you how incredibly surprised and pleased I am with the new show. WOW! Not only did they make a new animatronic that shows emotion, but they returned the show to its original roots. They have Lincoln telling his story in his own words, and new illustrations to go with the historical portion. They did include the "Two Brothers" song and photos, but I just tried to overlook that part. Then, the very best part is that they ended it with the "Battle Hymn of the Republic!" Well done imagineers! Thank you for bringing back a family favorite and for doing it so well. We love it!!

Here is the 1964 World's Fair Version. Although there is a copy on youtube of the current version, it isn't good quality and you aren't supposed to video tape it, so I'll just post a link to this version and you can do your own you tube research on the current version.

A Toon Town Christmas

2010-01-10T13:04:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love to wander around Toon Town at Christmas time! What fun! They do such a marvelous job of making all the decorations tooney and fitting to each of the characters. Enjoy as you peruse the pictures of a Toon Town Christmas.

Notice the dalmation balls on the Firehouse.

This is the Toon Town Tree

And the Toon Town Gazebo

The Jolly Trolley and light posts are so cute!!

Goofy's house

Minnie's House

And her matching tree

Mickey's house

and his matching tree

Donald's Boat

and his decorated mail box.

Although it can get pretty crowded back there during the holidays (who am I kidding, that place is always crowded!!) it is worth it to walk back and enjoy the decorations, at night and during the day.

The Castle Lighting

2010-01-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

Not a lot needs to be said about the castle lighting. Throughout the evening, the lights dim and a young boy talks about hoping that it snows for Christmas. The castle lights up a little more each time, and each segment is ended with a bit of snow falling along Main Street, the central plaza and even back near It's a Small World.

Small World Holiday

2010-01-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful spectacle of lights It's a Small World becomes during the holidays! I can't imagine how long it takes to put all of these lights up, but it is so beautiful!

But the outside isn't the only thing that is transformed during the holidays! Take a look at just a few of the gorgeous vignettes inside.

As you go into the Northern lands area:

Heading into Great Britain:

In the Africa area:

This Santa gopher cracked me up in the America area!

And the decorated cactus was cute.

The Finale:

If you get a chance to visit the Disneyland Resort, don't miss It's a Small World Holiday. It's just beautiful!

Haunted Mansion Holiday - Outside

2009-11-01T16:08:00.001-08:00

The Haunted Mansion Holiday is a fun addition to Disneyland's Halloween Time. Here I have some pictures of the outside of the mansion in it's holiday decor, thanks to Jack Skellington and his band of merry halloweeners. I added some night time shots too. they really don't do it justice, but it was the best I could do with my little Canon.

Once in awhile, if you're lucky, you will find Jack and Sally in New Orleans Square taking pictures with the mortals. Last year we were lucky enough to get in line early.

Candy Corn Acres at DCA

2009-11-01T14:22:00.001-08:00

Candy Corn Acres at Disney's California Adventure is such a fun place to hang out in October. They figured out some of the funniest ways to grow candy corn, and there are such adorable decorations that it really isn't too hard to sit in the Sunshine Plaza amidst "acres" of candy corns and wait for the characters to come out in their Fall outfits.

Candy Corn Games

Heimlich pops up out of the giant 1st Prize Candy Corn and talks for a few seconds, mentioning several times how much he LOVES Candy Corn!

Candy Corn Silo

One of my favorite parts is the Candy Corn Churro Cart!!!

DCA's Candy Corn Acres is a "must see" if you are ever at the park in October!

The River Belle Terrace

2009-08-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, another meal suggestion. The River Belle Terrace is a great place to eat lunch or an early dinner. They have sandwiches and salads and the sandwiches are made with real meat, not the pressed lunch meats. Here is the menu.

Once you choose your lunch, you can get a side salad (fruit, macaroni, potato, bean, etc.) and then put what ever condiments and fixin's you want.

This is the Mississippi Turkey Breast Sandwich.

This is the Tennessee BBQ Pork Sandwich

And the River Belle's Roast New York Sandwich.

It's pretty good and makes for a quick lunch. Plus you can sit out on the patio and people watch or listen to the different musical groups that play in and around the New Orlean's Square area.

This is Not the Center of Disneyland

2009-08-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

That's right folks! Contrary to popular folklore, this gold dot under the back side of Sleeping Beauty's Castle does not represent the very center of Disneyland. There are a lot of stories regarding this and various debates, but it appears that this little gold dot is merely a spot for
surveyors. It does line up directly down the center line of Main Street and up to the Train Station, but unfortunately is not the very center of Disneyland.

This aerial photo shows Disneyland back in the 1950's with the central hub as the center as noted by the intersecting red lines. The blue line at the back is approximately where the golden spike is located, making it obvious that the spike is not the center, but rather on the central line allowing surveyors to estimate elevation and such.

photo from smd4

With the addition of Toon Town, the center has moved farther North, but the spike still isn't the center. And since it was there before Toon Town, it can't be surmised that it was placed there to represent the very center of Disneyland.

This becomes a heated topic for some, which I find rather entertaining! If you would like to read a few of these discussions, here are a few sites that discuss this little golden spot.

Mousepad Discussion

Visions Fantastic

Finding Mickey

Enjoy!

Matterhorn Turns 50

2009-07-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

June 18, 1959 the Matterhorn Bobsled ride was opened in Disneyland Park.

Walt Disney returned from Switzerland where they were filming "Third Man on the Mountain," a 1959 Disney film based on James Ramsey Ullman's novel, Banner in the Sky, and set about getting a 1/100th scale model of Switzerland's famous Matterhorn mountain built in the middle of Disneyland.

When Disneyland opened in 1955, the Skyway ride from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland was held up in the middle by a large, tall structure. Walt thought the Matterhorn would be a wonderful way to conceal the unsightly "pole." So the W.E.B Imagineers and a construction company set about building the enormous mountain so that it would not only cover the pole, but also allow for a roller coaster to run throught the mountain.

When it was finished, The Matterhorn Bobsleds ride was the first ever tubular steel track roller coaster in the world.

The Matterhorn Mountain has changed many times over the years due to rennovations and improvements, but since 1959 it has remained an icon of the Disneyland skyline.

In the springtime.

In the summertime.

There are two of these impressions. This one at the front of the mountain as you approach it from the central plaza, and

And this one that is out in front of the queue. the sign below each one says:

Cast of footprint discovered by Matterhorn Expedition
South Slope
May 27, 1978

Sometimes climbers can be seen on the side of the slopes, including Minnie, Mickey, Goofy and Pluto. I have found this to be fairly rare.

Several of the rennovations have included filling in large holes in the mountain that were there for the Skyway.

The ride itself is supposed to mimic bobsled rides, and the steel tubular track really makes you feel as if you are in a bobsled sliding down an icy track.

In the 1994/1995 rennovations, the mountain got a new resident - the Abomidable Snowman!

Here are a few things you may not have noticed when you were on the ride:

See the tiny black hidden Mickey on this decorative plaque? This is in the right queue.

As you pass this icy vignette, you might have noticed the abandoned gear in the botton right corner from the Wells Expedition. This is a tribute to former Walt Disney Co. President, Frank Wells. He was apprently a mountain climber and died in a helicopter crash in 1994. During the 1995 rennovations when they took out the skyway, this tribute was added.

This one you won't notice, but there is a small basketball hoop and key within the mountain for the mountain climbers to use on their breaks. A few people other than cast members have also gotten to play here:

This is a picture of former LA Laker Vlade Divac and an LA DJ playing some on-on-one.

If you've never gotten a chance to ride The Matterhorn Bobsleds, here is a little virtual ride for you.

Happy, Happy Birthday!

2009-07-18T00:50:00.000-07:00

Disneyland turned 54 yesterday!! I sure wish I could have been there to commemorate the day, but maybe next years when it turns 55.

"To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past...and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America...with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”

Here are a few glimpses of that wonderful day 54 years ago.

You can see all the action here:

Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk Through

2009-06-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

The Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk Through has been a Disneyland fixture since 1957, two years before the movie was actually released. Walt Disney asked Eyvind Earle and Ken Anderson to head up the project. Later the two would work on the movie as well. They made a series of dioramas using some special effects such as forced perspective, mirrors and multi-layering to make each scene spectacular. Apparently once the walk-though opened, there had to be some changes. After the movie came out, it was clear that the walk-through varied significantly, but it remained relatively the same until 1977 when the first rennovation took place.

The 1977 renovation took the Earle-Anderson dioramas out and replaced them with scenes incorporating dolls and miniature scenery. Sadly, the dolls and scenery weren't very representative the the movie either. Many of the scenes can be seen at Yesterland.com

After Sept. 11, 2001, the castle was closed due to security issues. As the 50th Anniversary of Sleeping Beauty approached, imagineers thought that reopening the Castle Walk-through would be a wonderful and nostalgic way to commemorate it. When they got in to take a look at the castle, years of neglect and the additions of snow machines, fireworks machines, et cetera, had taken up a great deal of much needed space. As demolition got underway, a delightful surprised emerged -- many of the original Earle-Anderson dioramas were still in place!

This gave imagineers a great place to start. They were able to combine some of the wonderful old diorama ideas, with new special effects as well as to add new scenes so that the walk-though actually told the story of Sleeping Beauty as depicted in the movie.

Below are some of the scenes and the manuscripts that help move the story along as you walk through. Be warned - it is still a very tight corridor and if you get a lot of guests in at the same time it can become crowded around some of the dioramas that have animated effects.

The entrance is to the left as you cross the drawbridge and walk unde the castle, just before you get to the new Bibiddi Bobiddi Boutique.

Some of the photos are a bit blurry as there are moving parts and a flash wouldn't have worked.

The last manuscript has her dress turning from blue to pink and back.

One addition to the Castle Walk-through is the wheel-chair access. If a guest is unable to climb the many stairs within Sleeping Beauty's Castle, a virtual tour can be seen in a small room off to the right as you pass under the castle from the drawbridge.

I really liked that they hearkened back to the original feel of the Walk-through, and yet were able to incorporate the scenes and characters from the movie to make it more authentic. Excellent job to Imagineer Tony Baxter and crew! You can read more about the rennovation here.

For those of you too far away to get to see this in person any time soon, you can take a virtual tour through this youtube video:

Big Thunder Ranch Celebration Round-up & Barbeque

2009-06-17T22:16:00.001-07:00

This last weekend when we were at Disneyland, we knew that they had re-opened the BBQ at Big Thunder Ranch. It has been at least a decade since it was open and we loved it back then, so we figured we would give it a try this time.

A few things have changed - first, it is a little pricey. $28 per person for all you can eat BBQ and some characters. The food is served family style and you can ask for more at any time. Although we had already done a character breakfast that morning, we really felt like some BBQ, so we decided to splurge and give it a try.

Here is the menu. You get a little of everything on it.

First, you tell the folks in the booth how many in your party and then wait to be called.

There is a stage area in front where various bits of entertainment are provided for the guests as they eat. You can see that tables are covered slightly by canvas. It was overcast, and there are a lot of trees back there so I imagine on a hot day that it would be fairly shady, but don't quote me on that.

As your party is called, you get pictures with a character (or two) before you are seated. We got Chip and Dale in their Western vests. Love those guys!

Sasparilla Sam is the resident piano player and he does a musical show throughout the day. He likes to have his picture taken and doesn't charge for it. (He let me know that after I took his picture) Tumbleweed Tex also performs with his guitar, but I was too busy scarfing to get his picture.

Miss Chris is the proprietess of the Round-up Celebration and BBQ. She called my mom up on stage for her birthday,

and let her ring the celebration dinner bell. As you can see, Mom really got in to it!

Then Miss Chris discovered that Mom was married to a cowboy and had to come over to meet Dad. She wanted to know what was under his hat and when she saw he was bald, she gave him a big kiss on the top of his head.

Bullseye showed up to do a dance number.

Then, out came dinner. As I said, it is served family style. I was so hungry I forgot to take pictures before we started eating, so these are the best I could get of what was left. As previously noted, I also forgot to take pictures of Bullseye and Jessie doing their numbers, missed Woody and also Tumbleweed Tex. I guess if I had eaten my Cowboy Crunchies for breakfast I might not have been so hungry!

Ranch Beans - a little spicy but I could eat them, and I can't eat Taco Bell sauce, so...

Corn Cob Wheels - great way to serve corn on the cob! It was good sweet corn too, not that tough stuff they usually serve at BBQ places.

Cornbread - the slightly sweet kind.

Cookie's Coleslaw - no mayo kind. Mom and Sis LOVED it!! They asked for the recipe. I don't eat slaw, but they said it was soooooo good and it was also a little spicy.

Barbequed Chicken and Ribs - They serve the meat with sauce on the side. The chicken was moist and tasty. I didn't think it needed any sauce. The ribs were a little spicy, but had great flavor. It was a spicy Texas-type rib, not the sweet Kansas City kind of BBQ like they have at the Taste Pilot's Grill in DCA. These were much, much better than Taste Pilot's.

Jessie comes around to visit and take pictures and she also does a few things on stage, like teach yodeling.

Miss Chris's Cupcake Sensation - I love the way they do the presentation for the desserts!! You get your choice of three kinds of cupcake sensations.

This is a chocolate with cherry filling cupcake in a cone.

This one was a vanilla cupcake with strawberries at the bottom.

And this one was chocolate cupcake with raspberry creme filling.

Despite the price, we were able to fill up and make a double meal out of this one. We ate at 3pm and it counted for lunch and dinner and it stayed with us so we didn't really get hungry again!

Great food, fun entertainment and a nice place to get away when those crazy summer crowds are getting to be a little too much for you. This restaurant comes highly recommended by me.

Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad, Wolf?

2009-05-31T23:25:00.001-07:00

In 1933, Walt Disney and Company released it's first short film in color. It was a much discussed move from the black and white shorts and the cost at first seemed prohibitive. Along with adding color to this short, Walt also wanted to set it to music. Frank Churchill was brought in to write a song to move the story along. It was a risky move and one that Disney hoped would pay off. It didn't take long, for the Three Little Pigs to take off and become a huge success.

In 1934, it won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject, and the title song, "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf" became a best selling single, and kind of became an anthem for the Depression-weary Americans. It was voted one of the top 50 Greatest Cartoons, was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress because it is "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," and to this day is considered the most successful animated short ever made.

Although a very popular short (even more so over the years), this film became one that Disney would reference as his inspiration not to ride along on its success, but to continue to press on with ground-breaking, risk-taking ideas that were bigger and better than the last. The saying, "You can't top pigs with pigs!" became one of Walt's favorite slogans.

It's no wonder that when Disneyland opened in 1955 and began offering photo opportunities, that the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf were among them. Here is a picture of them in the early days of the park.

Imagine our surprise last October when we came around the end of Hollywood Boulevard in DCA and found the Big Bad Wolf posing for photos. His costume is practically the same as it was back in the 1950's. I have a copy here in black and white so you can compare.

We were thrilled to get this picture with Mr. Wolf as it was kind of like getting a picture with an icon of Disney history. So if you are ever wandering around Disneyland, DCA or WDW, and you see Mr. Wolf or any of the Little Pigs, be sure to stop and take a picture with them. They were an important and influential part of making the Disney Corporation what it is today.

If you have never had the opportunity to watch the Three Little Pigs, here is a link:

Boudin Bakery - DCA Pacific Wharf

2009-05-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

When you go to the park as often as we do, the food becomes pretty monotonous. So, even though we have our favorites, we try and switch it up as often as we can. There are and will always be those places you frequent and never return to again, and then there are those that you keep in the line-up and this is one of them!

First of all, they bake fresh bread in the shape of Mickey heads! How great is that?

If you rent a locker, this bread is really good and if definitely worth taking home, buy if you don't have a locker, you don't want to have to haul it around the park for the next 10 hours.

The small rounds of bread are for the soup and salad bowls. This is why we eat here!!!
I love the broccoli cheese soup in the bread bowl and a chocolate chip cookie for dessert.

My sister on the other hand loves the tuna salad with calamata olives and green beans and a Mickey Rice Krispy treat for dessert.

The food at the bakery is definitely a winner and I highly recommend it!

The New Face of Paradise Pier

2009-05-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

We were surprised to find the Mickey's Fun Wheel and the new center of California Screamin' completed when we were at DCA last night. I snapped a few shots of them. The pond is still under construction for the new amphitheater and night time water show, so you can see that in the foreground of the photos.

BEFORE:

The Sun Wheel (with the Maliboomer in the background)

California Screamin' (note the small Paradise Pier sign below)

The Sun Wheel and Screamin' at night.

Imagineer's concept art of the new face of Paradise Pier:

(notice the Hidden Mickey in this picture?)

AFTER: Tada! The new face of Paradise Pier:

The Orange Stinger hasn't begun it's transformation into Mickey's Silly Symphony yet, but it is scheduled to begin in June.

DCA's Games of the Boardwalk

2009-04-23T23:10:00.001-07:00

Part of the construction and reconfiguration of Disney's California Adventure Park, is to make the park less "California" and more of the California of the early 20th century as it appeared when Walt Disney arrived in the 1920's. Part of that renovation is to begin to add things around the park that hearken back to some of Disney's earlier movies, shorts and cartoon characters while at the same time trying to incorporate some of the new Pixar characters that we have come to know and love. The new Games of the Boardwalk is no exception. The imagineers have managed to bring the two together in a great old fashioned way.

Below, as I show each game on the boardwalk, I have posted the imagineer's concept poster that is showcased in the Blue Sky Cellar over near Bug's Land and the Trattoria. In the Blue Sky Cellar, the imagineers are showcasing the upcoming changes planned for DCA with concept pictures, models, maps and even a short video.

To play the games, you put cash into a machine that gives you a plastic card. Each card can be re-used. Each games costs 250 points (or 250 cents). If you purchase a $10 card, then you can play each game once. That's what we did.

The first game is Goofy About Fishin'. Everyone wins at this game. Your prize depends upon which color fish you catch.

The Dumbo Bucket Brigade is a game where you shoot water at a little hole and the clowns climb the ladders. The red siren light flashes when someone wins.

All four of us lost this game. They guy on the end in the picture below was the winner.

Casey at the Bat is the traditional baseball toss.

DH beat Dad - he was the only one of the four of us that actually got one in!

Bullseye Stallion Stampede is a horserace. Players have to roll balls up so that they fall through the holes in their individual gameboard. The higher the hole is on the game board, the faster the horse moves across the field.

Sis was the winner of the stampede game!

It's a fun way to spend $10 if you have friends or family you can compete against! It isn't something I would recommend if you are only there for one day and won't be back soon, but if you have the opportunity to visit DCA frequently, then it is something you should try. Then hop in line for a go at Toy Story Mania and your competitve nature should be pretty satisfied for the day.

Pixie Hollow

2009-04-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

For the opening of the Tinkerbell movie last October 28th, Disneyland removed the Ariel's Grotto photo spot and transformed it into a little place called Pixie Hollow. Guests can stand in line for approximately 60-90 minutes to get a picture with Tink and at least one of her pixie friends: Silvermist, Fawn, Rosetta or Irridessa.

Along the pathway that winds through what used to be King Triton's pool, you see little bits of pixiedom here and there.

It is a really, really hot, sunny line to stand in!

On the back side of Pixie Hollow is the Matterhorn.

To the left of Pixie Hollow is the castle.

Here we are with Silvermist and Fawn.

Me and my sister with Fawn.

And with Tink in front of her house.

I took most of these pictures on October 25, 2008 because it was the first day that Pixie Hollow was open (it wasn't supposed to open until Tuesday the 28th to coincide with the movie release) and since it was the first day, DH agreed to the 90 minute wait in the hot sun.

Right now, the pool and walkway are under construction again - I am hoping they are putting in some giant plants or something for shade. It is just an unbearably hot line to wait in.

If you get a chance, Pixie Hollow is a fun place to visit and get some pictures, however, I recommend that you get in line first thing in the morning if possible. It opens at 9am, so head right over and you can get in and out quickly!

It's a Small World - New and Improved??

2009-03-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Disneyland and were able to ride It's a Small World with all of the new additions. I have heard that many die-hard Disney lovers are not at all pleased with the inclusion of Disney characters into the lands within Small World. I must admit that when I first got wind of the changes that I was not particularly pleased with Disney's decision. The ride clearly needed cleaned up and a few modifications, but to change such an icon of the Disney theme parks just seemed wrong. I was able to view a few photos from friends before going today and what I saw changed my mind. The real test was to see it in person. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had incorporated the characters in such a way that they blended in nicely and I thought really added a touch of the rest of Disney without it being offensive or blatent. I really like the changes. A friend, and fellow Disney lover was with us, and she was not at all pleased with the changes and did not like the new version.

I thought I would include pictures so you could make up your own mind.

In the Great Britain part you find Peter Pan and Tink (she can barely be seen near the top of the moon in this picture) flying around in circles above London.

Alice and the White Rabbit are also in Great Britain.

Cinderella is the in Europe portion with my two favorite mice, Gus Gus and Jaq.

This is just a picture of the Netherlands for DH - the "homeland."

Abu is in the Middle East, holding up a diamond.

Flying above him on a carpet are Jasmine and Aladdin.

A quick trip to the continent of Africa where we spot Simba and Puumba...

...as well as some of the laughing hyenas.

In the Far East you will see Mulan and Mushu.

Under the Sea it is easy to find Ariel and Flounder...

...as well as Nemo and Dora.

Then up to the surface of the Hawaiian Islands you'll see Lilo and Stitch...

...as well as these cute hula dancers.

On to South America....

...where you will find the Three Caballeros: Jose Carioca, Donald Duck and Panchito.

And then we end with a quick trip through the USA where we spotted Woody and Jessie, but not Pocahontas.

So there you go, a quick trip around the world to see the newest additions to Small World. I'd love to hear what you think, so please leave a comment if you have a minute.

Storyteller's Cafe - Critter Character Breakfast

2009-03-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

For my birthday we decided to do a character breakfast, but wanted to do one with characters we don't often see, so we thought the Critter Breakfast at the Storyteller's Cafe in the Grand Californian would be a good thing to do.

You can order the buffet which is a little more expensive, or you can just purchase a breakfast off the menu and it is a lot more affordable. Breakfast for the two of us cost as much as one of the other character meals and we got quite a few characters!

Meeko - the racoon from Pocahontas.

Dale!

Chip! I love Chip!

Kenai from Brother Bear.

Koda from Brother Bear.

The crazy park ranger - he was hoot!

Terk from Tarzan.

They go out and dance in the middle of the restaurant and try to get the kids involved.

We highly recommend this fun character breakfast!!

Celebrate Good Times, C'mon!

2009-03-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

This year, Disney's theme is Celebrate Today!

Of course we have all heard that you can get in free on your birthday, or if you are an Annual Pass holder, like me, you can get a book of fast passes for up to 6 people in your party for the day, or a gift card worth the price of a single park ticket.

We went for my birthday in January and I got the gift card. I bought a couple of t-shirts and a sweat-shirt. they give you a birthday button, but since every other person seems to have a button on, it's really not that special, but I do have to hand it to the CM's, they did make a great effort to wish me a happy birthday when they saw the button.

The park is decorated with party hats, ballons, and bright colors, as seen below, and the online picture CD's can have some birthday, anniversary or plain old celebration borders. It was a good time, and I highly recommend trying to get down to the park on your birthday this year if you can!

Merriest Christmas on Earth - Part I December 2006

2008-12-23T14:13:00.001-08:00

We love Christmas time at Disneyland! Okay, we love anytime at Disneyland, but the holidays are so festive and the decorations are incredible to look at. DH and I went in 2006 and had a nice time together looking at the beautiful decor and taking all the festive sights and sounds. So here are a few photos from that trip.

The train station.

City Hall

Fire Station

Main Plaza

Giant Christmas tree!

Mainstreet Mickey garlands and tree

Mainstreet lampost

Mainstreet looking toward Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Partners Statue

The Castle all decked out for Christmas

Main Street tree at night

Mainstreet from the Partners statue.

The Castle at night

Snow on Main Street!

The Main Plaza at night

Train Station at night

Disneyland Halloween Time Part 3 - Woody's Roundup

2008-11-08T19:51:00.001-08:00

Since its inception in 1986, Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland has been home to many different shows and events; from the original petting zoo and BBQ, to the Festival of Fools, Billy Hill and the Hill Billies and now it is host to a couple of seasonal events.

During Halloween Time, you will find Woody, Jessie and Bullseye gracing the stage in Woody's Round-up. Kids of all ages can enjoy the brief show, hosted by Tex the Cowboy. You can decorate a cookie, color, make a craft or wander over to the petting zoo, the Scaredy Crow Shack and even watch an expert pumpkin carver at work. Not only that, but for the avid scrapbooker, there are fantastic photo spots and you can even get a picture with Woody and Jessie after the show. Bullseye works so hard during the show that he has to leave immediately to go back to the barn for some hay.

Big Thunder Ranch is definitely a stopping spot if you are at Disneyland in October!

Hey, howdy hey kids! This is the Woody's Round-up show. If you're lucky, you may get to go up on stage with Tex and attest to the tasty nutritional goodness of Cowboy Crunchies!

Cowboy Crunchies make you STRONG!!

This particular Tex is a friend of the family.

Me with Woody and Jessie this year!

Mom and Dad - 2007

Me - 2007

with DH - 2007

Cute photo areas in the Scare-dy-Crow Shack!

Dad, and the cowboy crow brew.

Me and the Saloon Hall Crow

DH and a game of Scare-dy Crow Poker.

One of the pumpkin carvers on duty.

R2-D2

Happy

The Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat

Sally

Jack Skellington

Mickey-o-Lantern

Photo spot in front of the petting zoo area - 2007

Mom, Sis and Dad - 2007

Disneyland Halloween Time Part 2 - Partners

2008-11-08T19:29:00.000-08:00

As usual, the Partner's Statue in the Plaza Hub is decorated for the seasons. Halloween Time at Disneyland is no exception. In 2006, the statue was surrounded by yellow and orange mums and artificially carved pumpkins representing each of the "lands" in Disneyland. In 2007 and 2008 the only thing that changed were the hanging plants and the color of the flowers around the statue. This year there were colorful snap dragons and last year there were pansies.

Pooh represents Critter Country.

Jack represents New Orleans Square.

Woody represents Frontierland

Buzz represents Tomorrowland.

Tarzan represents Adventureland.

Tink represents Fanstasyland.

Roger Rabbit represents Toon Town

At night they are all lit up, but I didn't ever take the time to stop and get pictures. It gets crazy busy with the parade and fireworks. Something to shoot for next October!

Disneyland's Halloween Time - 2006

2008-10-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

We're not big fans of Halloween in our family, but we LOVE Halloween Time at Disneyland! I thought I would dedicate a few blog entries to the many areas of Disneyland that are decorated for Halloween Time around the Disneyland Resort. Today's entry is dedicated to the DLR entry and Main Street U.S.A.

This adorable vignette is located around the first turn on the tram route on the way into the park.

This vignette is set up along the tram route straight away.

All of the entrance and exit gates have these giant character pumpkins above them.

In 2006 and 2007 the front was decorated with this Mickey made out of gourds.

Most of the buildings along Main Street have colorful fall banners hanging on them.

This is the view of Main Street from the Train Station.

I absolutely love the giant Mickey-o-lantern!

The lightposts are even festooned in fall foliage.

All of the store windows have a bit of a fall feeling.

And even areas inside are adorned, like these shelves in the bakery.

Jack-o-lanterns can be seen atop many a store front.

And then occasionally you can find Miss. Pumpkin singing, dancing and getting some kiddos involved in her pumpkin festival.

We have a winner!

2008-10-19T21:33:00.001-07:00

So I put everyone's name in a Disneyland bag and let DH pick two of them.

He picked Sara and Heather.

And here is the Indy twinchie you won! They are a Tamera original and are a limited edition.

I hope you enjoy them! Thanks for leaving comments!

Indiana Jones and the Summer of the Hidden Mysteries - Part 4

2008-10-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

This is the final installment of the Indy series.

Part of the brochure they were giving out had some hints about things to look for along the queue in the line for the ride. If you are much a Disney trivia buff, you would probably have been aware of at least a few of them.

Here are a few of the outside of the ride and along the queue:

Hall of Spikes:
"Previous visitors have been caught by surprise on this hideous hallway. See if you can deduce how many victims have met their fate before you." (what surprises some visitors is that if you pull the bamboo pole shown in the picture behind my cousin, the ceiling comes down and spikes come out.)

Obelisk of Doom Chamber:
"The ancient obelisk warns of four dangers that await you during your journey. Two of them are snakes and spears. What are the other two?" (We always go through so fast we've never stopped to figure this out, but you can bet I will next time!)

Indy's Office:
"Just past the projection room, you can peer into Indiana Jone's makeshift office. Can you find Indy's hat, his whip, Sallah's fez, Mickey Mouse and a crated artifact bound for Club Obi Wan?"

Mickey is on the magazine peeking out from under the drawing of Mara.

Indy's hat is in the top center of this picture.

Sallah's Fez is on the statue on the wall.

This is a Hidden Mickey within the ride. His name is Bones (it's on his hat) and he is on the first wall on your left as you come around the corner into the skeleton room.

This was when we got stuck on the ride in June right near the end where Indy is hanging above you on the rope and the giant bolder comes rolling out at you.

It was so cool to see how they did the rolling ball effect. You can see the warehouse behind it and the car in front of us is stuck on the track right below us.

This was what we saw over us for the entire 15 minutes. It was so weird because he just keeps moving like he is holding on for dear life and like he might fall on the car any second.

Indy saves the day again!

Exit Path:
"As you exit the Temple after your adventure, keep an eye out for an excavation mine car from 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' and a military truck from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.'"

Here is the mine car.

Here is the truck.

Well, that's about it as far as the Summer Adventures with Indy go. It was a fun promotion and it really was a great thing to do to spice up Adventureland for the summer.

This is the last blog you can leave a comment on to get in on the drawing for the original Indy twinchie. I will be posting a winner soon!

Indiana Jones and the Summer of Hidden Mysteries - Part III

2008-10-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

Part of the Summer of Indy was a show they did in the old Aladdin and Jasmine's story theater next to the Tiki Room. Since they already had the giant tiger head from the Aladdin story as part of the set, they called the show, "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Stone Tiger." It was a fun, little show that got the kids involved in solving an archaeological mystery using Indy's notebook and his student archaeologist. They figure out the signs and free Indy from the stone tiger. But just as the cheering begins to fade, the student archaeologist steals the special talisman that Indy found in the stone tiger, making her the most powerful person in the world!! (mwhahahahhaha!) A long fight ensues, including grunts, kicks, the whip, and finally the student runs back into the stone tiger and is imprisoned forever because Indy takes one of the teeth with him so no one will be able to let her out.

Here are some pictures of the show in order.

Don't forget to leave a comment and after the last Indy entry I will put all your names in a drawing for an original Indiana Jones twinchie for use on a card, tag, layout or just to keep for fun.