I often get to the point where I’m hungry, but not in the mood for food. When that happens I turn to many of the wonderful snack food areas in the park. The plus side to these are that that most are out of the…Read More

I often get to the point where I’m hungry, but not in the mood for food. When that happens I turn to many of the wonderful snack food areas in the park. The plus side to these are that that most are out of the way so the lines aren’t as long during peak season; however some don’t appear on the park maps so they have to be sought out. I’ve broken down the snack food places according to locations in the park.

Main Street

The Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor is located right on Main Street near the candy shop and the Blue Ribbon Bakery. Walking in feels like stepping back into to an old fashion ice cream parlor. There are a few tables next to the windows and in the back of the shop, but they are almost always full. My suggestion is to go outside (as if heading to Adventureland) where there is some outside seating or getting a seat on the parade route (at least 1 hour early…trust me).
Gibson Girl serves the usual single scoop cones (3.39 and up) and double scoop ice cream ($3.99 and up), but the real draw is the sundaes. Each ice cream place in the resort serves similar sundaes, but each with their own twist, and here there are four to choose from. First is the Strawberry Street Car sundae with vanilla ice cream, cherries, and strawberry sauce. Near is the Main Street Mocha Sundae with mocha fudge ice cream, hot fudge, and caramel. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Hot Fudge Sundae with vanilla ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, and hot fudge. Finally my favorite: the Firehouse Dalmatian Mint Sundae with mint ice cream and chocolate chips. All of the sundaes come in a waffle cup and range in price from $5.49-$5.79

Just next-door is the Blue Ribbon Bakery, which feels like I was stepping into mom’s kitchen. The lighting is a little dimmer then the rest of the shops and there are kitchen utensils hanging on the wall. From the outside it looks mostly like a pastry shop serving cheesecake ($4.99), cream puffs ($5.49), croissants ($2.59), cinnamon rolls ($3.49), Mickey Mouse shaped cookies (2.79), muffins ($2.59), and other sugary treats. However on closer inspection they can also whip up other food items like turkey, ham, or tuna salad sandwiches for ($6.99) and parfaits ($3.99).

Adventureland


Hands down my favorite place to eat in the park is the Tiki Juice Bar. Located in front of the Enchanted Tiki room there is a small hut like cart that severs on both sides (one side to passersby and on the other to those waiting to go into the Tiki Room. They offer a limited menu with everything revolving around the pineapple. They offer fresh pineapple slices ($2.50) and pineapple juice ($2.25), but the real attraction is the Dole Pineapple whip. This is soft serve pineapple flavored ice cream. There is also the Dole Whip Float ($4.50) which is the Pineapple whip on pineapple juice; a combination that made my stomach turn on hearing it, but after trying it my life change (I know a bit dramatic, but I often find myself craving it when I’m not at the park.
Across form the Indiana Jones Adventure ride is a snack bar that I often passed by with little notice. A tiger’s mouth holds a sign that states the name of the Bengal Barbecue next to a stand that looks like it was carved out of a tree. Truthfully what keeps me away wasn’t lack of interest, but the prices. The place offers things like Banyan Beef Skewer ($3.79), Bengal Beef Skewer in sweet Zulu sauce ($3.79), Chieftain Chicken Skewer in Polynesian sauce ($3.59), the Safari Skewer wrapped in asparagus ($3.59), and the Outback Vegetable Skewer ($3.29). The prices listed are for one skewer. I tried the Chieftain Chicken Skewer and was pleasantly surprised. The chicken was a bit dry, but not to the point where it was bad. The Polynesian sauce gave it a tangy sweet but a little spicy kick to it.
The Bengal BBQ offers very limited seating; mainly three tables and a large counter with no seats next to the stand. It really made me feel like I was eating a skewer in the middle of the Amazon and just happened to be surrounded by hundreds of people who were running around with mouse ears on.


New Orleans Square
The Mint Julep is one place that won’t show up on any Disney map. Located behind the French Market near the train station is a small window. For those who don’t want to wait in the impossibly long lines in New Orleans that tend to grow after sun down should stop by here (I have yet to see a line longer then two people here.) They serve some foods such as fritters with dipping sauce ($3.39); cinnamon crisps ($2.29) funnel cakes ($5.49), and croissants ($2.59). They also sever the regular cold beverages as well as mochas, lattés, and espressos. The real attraction is the Mint Julep. It’s a carbonated minty drink with a hint of lime. I wasn’t a huge fan of it, but was happy that I tried it. I suggest getting one for your group and everyone trying it.
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Ariel, the Little Mermaid, can ALWAYS be found in her special greeting area on the castle side of the Matterhorn. Except for her break times, your child is guaranteed to be able to see her. Also, you may run into some of the other Disney…Read More

Ariel, the Little Mermaid, can ALWAYS be found in her special greeting area on the castle side of the Matterhorn. Except for her break times, your child is guaranteed to be able to see her. Also, you may run into some of the other Disney characters in Fantasyland, and if you do, they may be some of the lesser-seen characters. The only time I saw Cinderella's fairy godmother was here in Fantasyland, for example. More usually, one of the Disney princesses will be in this area. One of the Fantasyland stores holds a children's story time, and there's ALWAYS a princess there--Belle, Cinderella, or Aurora, most likely. If you have a youngster, the story time is good to attend. It is one of the few less-crowded attractions that are really GOOD. Plus, it's air-conditioned!

Story time is a great activity for the crowded mid-day hours. Speaking of crowded mid-day hours, a good thing to do during the afternoon, when the lines for the rides are long, is to take in the live production of "Snow White--An Enchanting Musical" in the theater across from It's A Small World. This outdoor theater holds a huge crowd (1,500--1,800 depending on size...because the seating is on long benches), it's in the shade, and the production is top-notch--and it has plenty of Disney characters in it for your child to enjoy watching. Basically, it's a mini-musical which tells the Snow White story and features the songs from the movie---such as "Whistle While You Work," and "Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho." The artistic, detailed sets of the castle and the woodland cottage are very beautiful. This past summer (2005), there have been five daily shows of this musical. If you want to know the showtimes for the day you'll be visiting, do this: go to disneyland.com, click on "calendar" (or write "calendar" in the search box), and once the calendar appears, follow the instructions. Not only will you get the schedule for the Snow White musical, but for all the entertainment in the park for the day, including the parade and the fireworks. (If you haven't pinpointed the exact date of your trip, checking the calendar may help you make your decision. At the end of August every year, the number of show times dwindles--and some things you might want to see (such as the Electrical Parade at California Adventure) aren't available at all on some days of the week.

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland there are 50 Golden 50th Mickeys hidden throughout the park. Some are rather obvious and easy to find, while some are more hidden and fit in well with the surroundings. Although, we were not truly…Read More

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland there are 50 Golden 50th Mickeys hidden throughout the park. Some are rather obvious and easy to find, while some are more hidden and fit in well with the surroundings. Although, we were not truly looking all that hard during the weekend trip, we did find about 40 of them.

On Main Street you will find a good amount of the Golden Mickeys as each one on the lightposts count. I think that gives 12. There is also one on each side of the Train Station. Some of the other real obvious ones around the park are the one on the Mark Twain Riverboat, the one hanging above New Orleans Square, and the one on the Shooting Exposition Sign. A few of the more hidden ones are the one on the Observatron, the one around the Indian’s neck by the Shooting Exposition, and the one hanging in the net above the entrance to Indiana Jones. Although, I found some more than listed I will not list them as to allow others to still enjoy discovering the rest on there own like we did. If you really want to find them all while there, you can do a simple Internet search and find a list of the location of all 50. I did not find the list of all the locations until I came back because I wanted to see how many I could find on my own and with my family’s help.

Also, in celebration of the 50th all rides that have been at the park since 1955 have a special Golden vehicle added. Most rides with a Golden vehicle also have one outside the ride, so you can get a picture in it. The original rides that I can remember at this moment are Dumbo, Casey Jr. Train, Mad Tea Cups, Autopia, King Arthur’s Carousel, Jungle Cruise, Mark Twain (The whole thing got a Gold accent paint job), Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and Peter Pan’s Flight.Close

A while back, when my former manager, Tammy, asked me what I was doing mid-September. Racking my brain and realizing I didn’t have any plans, I just answered, "nothing special". Then I was informed I would be going to the national meeting. Well, okay, I…Read More

A while back, when my former manager, Tammy, asked me what I was doing mid-September. Racking my brain and realizing I didn’t have any plans, I just answered, "nothing special". Then I was informed I would be going to the national meeting. Well, okay, I guess, sounded good to me. And when Disney got thrown into the picture, it started sounded very good to me. Yes, it meant time away from my hunny bunny, but I was going to Disney. It was a just a few days, and he had to play that weekend anyway, so oh, what the heck.

So I ordered my little Anaheim visitors guides and had dreams of spending some time at the "Happiest Place on Earth" now celebrating its 50th anniversary. Well, as luck would have it, we enrolled for the conference and soon had our conference schedule. Once I got that schedule in my hands, my world came crashing down. Turns out I would have classes from 7am until somewhere after 7pm! Gulp!

Since my classes started at 7am, that would mean I would have to be up at about 6:15 to get ready. Let me just say this: I am not familiar with 6:15am. I have heard of this, but it is not a concept I have exactly grabbed on to. Despite my IgoUgo moniker of vampirefan, I do not practice this lifestyle. I just happened upon the movie The Lost Boys in the '80s and just loooved that movie, especially Billy Wirth (black-haired vampire), and since then, hunks like Tom Cruise, Gerry Butler, Thomas Ian Griffith, etc., show up as hunky vampires in movies. So what is not to like? But the thing I do share with vampires is my dislike of the morning. So I don’t do 6:15am as a general rule. Now, here was my little world coming to a crawl, and I hardly saw time to pee in that schedule, and to really ruin my day, I didn’t see Disney anywhere on that agenda. I could feel my mouse-shaped heart breaking!

What was once seen as a wonderful, fun and happy time, was now looking as evil as Jason Isaacs in The Patriot! As it got closer to the conference day, I began to dread it more and more. Having already packed the night before my flight, I was expecting to be in bed by 10pm. I am familiar with 10pm, just not as a bedtime. But I had to be at the airport by about 6:30am, and the drive was about 1 hour and 15 minutes. This meant I had to be up at 4:30am--a time I am also familiar with, but often as bedtime! Unfortunately, this was a Wednesday night, and I have a hard time missing magician Criss Angel (even thought I was taping it), so I ended up going to bed at 12am. A few hours later, I dragged my sleepy butt up and got going toward the airport.

After a brief stop in Chicago (which left with me with a huge blister from sprinting from one plane to another), we touched down in sunny Anaheim. I found the view of the mountains nothing less than stunning. We hopped on our bus that would take us to our hotel about 20 minutes away. It was a pleasant drive, and the view of the mountains was just as stunning from the ground. As we pulled in and turned onto Disney Way, my fellow employees made sure to tell me that that was as close to Disney as I would get. Here I was, a 10-minute walk from Disney, and I would never get to see it. Again, my mouse-shaped heart wept a bit.

We checked into our room at the Marriott, located across from the convention center. I was sharing a room with my ex-boss, Sandy. Then we quickly joined the convention across at the Hilton. The Hilton was beautiful, and we quickly grabbed some appetizers at their grill downstairs. Afterwards, we spent the remainder of our day in workshops and listening to our guest speaker. Our evening ended with a so-so meal atop the hotel. The menu was varied and so was the result of the food. They had one section of Chinese food with a mock Golden Gate Bridge, one with Italian food set up to look vineyards in Italy, and so forth. After trying several disappointing items, I fixed a roast beef sandwich and was finally satisfied. And the dessert offerings were to-die-for--nothing bad here. Finally, we called it a night, since 6:15am would come all too soon.

The next day went pretty much the same, with workshops and a vendor fair. Here, lunch was provided, and it was a huge improvement over the previous night choices. I had Caesar salad, pasta salad, and yummy gumbo. Once again, the dessert was spectacular. At our vendor fair, I managed to win a pair of tickets from America West. Yeah for me! So now I have to decide where to go. At this point, LAX is looking very good, so we can go diving. Again, we had a great speaker.

After our day, we decided to skip out early and have dinner all on our own. I had been suggesting Downtown Disney so I could at least be near Disney. Plus, they have tons of choices for dining and shopping. But my suggestions were ignored. Unbeknownst to me, my co-workers had been planning to go to Downtown Disney. So I am forever grateful to Sandy, Tammy, and Margaret for allowing this Disney fan a few hours in this happy place. We ate at Ralph Brennen’s New Orleans restaurants, which had food to-die-for. Afterwards, we did some shopping at the Rainforest Café, Legoland, House of Blues, and the Disney store. I left with a lot less money but a quite HUGE smile on my face and my mouse heart recovered!

Our last day was more of the same of workshops and a speaker. That evening ended with our gala formal dinner. The room was set up to look like something out of the movie The Aviator. It was silver and white and carried a 1940s art-deco Hollywood theme. After our tasty meal we were in for a big treat, when we had three HUGE celebrities in the house. We were thoroughly entertained by Elvis, Cher, and Celine Dion! These impersonators were unbelievable and put on a wonderful show. Elvis had women, young and old, still screaming as if the king were still with us. Boy, I sure do have a lot of Elvis sightings in my journals! After meeting Cher and Elvis, we retired for the evening.

The next morning, I was ready for my flight back home. Our flight into Denver was incredible. We flew over the Grand Canyon, offering the people on the left side of the plane (of course, I was on the right) an unparalleled view. We had the pleasure to sit with a State Representative from Wyoming who was a delight. The view of the mountains was incredible as we flew into the airport. Next, we were finally off to Charlotte and back home after a busy weekend.

So, as you can tell by my Spring Break journal, we LOVE Disneyland. However, on this trip over Spring Break, the lines and crowds got to us. We felt we spent more times in lines than on rides - the fact is, we…Read More

So, as you can tell by my Spring Break journal, we LOVE Disneyland. However, on this trip over Spring Break, the lines and crowds got to us. We felt we spent more times in lines than on rides - the fact is, we did! When a wait in the line is 90 minutes and the ride is only 5 minutes, you have to question your sanity!!

This year, the kids had off on a Monday in May. It was a day when most schools in the area did not have off, and I felt maybe we would try visiting the park on an off-day. So we loaded up the van and headed to Orange County.

I quickly learned we were not the only ones who hated going to Disney and fighting the lines. There are entire web pages dedicated to fighting the lines and planning your day at Disney to avoid the lines. There is one called RideMax that will actually map out your day a Disneyland to hit the fewest wait times!

We arrived at the park about a half-hour prior to opening (8:30am). Disneyland opens at different times on different days, so check the Disneyland webpage for the times on the day you plan to go. When we arrived, parking was a breeze. We zipped in and got a prime spot near the escalator on the second level! I bought a day-hopper ticket at the booth--again, NO LINES! The lady selling the tickets was delightful. She gave us a discount, as were Southern California residents, and then gave us an insiders' tip to do California Adventure first, as the lines will be much shorter here in the morning. She then gave us a big smile and a cryptic message, "You are in for a real treat later today, Welcome Home!" I wasn't sure what she meant by this, so I smiled and moved on.

We had breakfast and waited for the gates to open. We took our ticket seller's advice and did California Adventure first. The gates opened, and we were one of the first families to enter. The kids were picked to march with the rope and right behind Mickey, as the opening is very organized and you are not allowed to run ahead of any group.

The kids were dying to try the new Tower of Terror ride, and we headed right to the tower. Surprise - we were the first ones there and got right on the first elevator. The elevator drops 13 stories and is well-named - The Tower of Terror! The kids loved it and wanted to do it again. Normally the line would go around the block, but there was NO line, and the kids got a second go at it by walking right in.

We found the same thing at California Screaming and Soaring over California. We went to the rapids ride and again - no line. We had so much fun, we got off and got in another raft and went again. They were sending out empty rafts, as nobody was in line for this popular ride. There was a short line at the small roller coaster called Mullholland Drive. It was a pleasure not having to wait in line and going up to the ride you pick and just go on. We felt spoiled and did what usually takes us a full day to cover in just one morning!

We had no reservations for lunch but walked right into Ariel's Grotto. We got a beautiful table on the patio and had a fun-filled lunch with Goofy, Max, Minnie, Mickey, Pluto, and Chip and Dale. This was unheard of to walk right in and get a table without reservations; they even had empty tables all during lunch!

After a fine lunch, we headed over to Disneyland. Again, the lines at the gate did not exist, and we marched right in. I went to Customer Relations to pick up a map and again got the cryptic message. "Boy, are you in for a treat tonight!"

The lines were a little longer at Disneyland, but again, our wait times were less than five minutes. We walked right onto both Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion. It was a pleasure being able to pick your rides and get right on!

The one thing I did notice was that some rides were closed. The Aladdin show was canceled today, The Jungle Cruise was being worked on, and Space Mountain was still not open.

The two rides that did have very long lines were Autopia and Matterhorn Mountain. Both lines were almost a half-hour. We left Matterhorn to come back later in hopes the line would be less, but the kids insisted on the wait at Autopia. We soon found out only half the lanes were open, and cast members were complaining openly to guests that the rides was grossly understaffed today and could not move any quicker. It seemed very UN-Disney that the staff was complaining about work rules to the guests, but it explained the long waits here.

Soon we learned tonight's surprise. It was an unannounced dress rehearsal for the 50th birthday party, and cameras would be filming for commercials. There would be the birthday parade and special deluxe fireworks tonight. We were thrilled! We felt like we had hit the jackpot - no lines, and we would get to see the 50th birthday celebration with no crowds! The bad news was that at that time, several rides closed down for the night unannounced, such as Matterhorn Mountain.

The parade and fireworks are not to be missed. I wish I had the words to tell you how magical these birthday party events are, trust me when I say they have to be seen to be believed! The park closed at 8pm, and we headed home, happy. The only way to see and really enjoy Disney is without the crowds, and we made the promise never to go over Spring Break again!

The only disadvantages we found were that some shows and rides were closed or canceled. These are the less busy times they use to make repairs. The park was somewhat understaffed. The park closed early, at 8pm on off-peak days, and some rides close even earlier. However, the advantages far outweighed the disadvantages, even though the workforce was happier and more cheerful.

Busiest Times (in order):

President's Day Week

Mid-March to Late April (spring break)

Memorial Day Weekend

Mid-June to Labor Day

Thanksgiving Week

Christmas Week

Least Busy Times (in order):

The month of January (after New Years)

Labor Day to Thanksgiving

Week after Thanksgiving

Week before Christmas

Busiest Days:

Sunday

Saturday

Monday

Thursday

HIA is the acronym for the Hobby Industry of America, the largest association of any group of craft related businesses. It holds an annual show at the end of January, which always coincides with my birthday, thus my slight annoyance at having to…Read More

HIA is the acronym for the Hobby Industry of America, the largest association of any group of craft related businesses. It holds an annual show at the end of January, which always coincides with my birthday, thus my slight annoyance at having to spend it in a town not of my choosing, and working, to top it off. I chose for my company not to attend HIA last year as the economy did not look brilliant, and every small business was holding its breath waiting for "something to happen".

2002 proved to be very good for a lot of exhibitors, ourselves included. People had been cautious for way too long after 9/11 and apparently showed a strong willingness to play ball again, so to speak. This show is not open to the public, however, if you are a small business owner with any relationship to the arts & crafts industry, you can obtain entry with proof of your business credentials and $80. If you are a member, there is no cost to attend. Since this is a gigantic venue, for the last 3 years, there have been subdivisions of areas to facilitate the buying process for the attendee. In other words, if you are into floral arrangements, you may not want to visit the section for general crafts, or art materials, and vice versa.

An 8 ft. x 10 ft. booth costs our company $1100 bare. That's what they call the standard booth; if you wish to have a corner, it's $210 extra. There are table top exhibits which run $450 for a 2 ft. x 6 ft. space, but for our purposes, paper is best displayed in a vertical manner. They also provide "islands" (20 square feet for $5300, or 20 ft. x 30 ft. for $7600) and parlor booths with a cap of $7000. The most expensive are the "peninsula displays" which run close to $10,000.

We need to add carpeting, at least one draped display table, 2 chairs for weary customers, and other services provided by the exposition company, such as electricity, daily cleaning and vacuuming of the booth, and whatever else is needed. We usually ship our own furniture from New York, and over the years, I've gotten a lot smarter about it, and rather than ship our custom made booth which weighs upwards of 4000 lbs., I am now sending wooden paper dowels which are a fraction of the freight, coast to coast.

Our booth was located in the Art Materials/Scrapbooking and Frames Section, and we ended up right against the wall of Exhibit Hall A, which for most people, meant the first aisle of the show. Lucky for us!

I had contacted some of my preferred customers ahead of time to arrange for personal meetings, away from the show floor. Joining me in the booth were two of my territory representatives, Rona, from Phoenix and Gail from Denver. Two of my other representatives attended the show, and came by for specific inquries. This year, we were showing a lot of new papers and paper products; there was a strong showing of metallics which are very hot right now, and acid free journals and albums, for which I had provided our suppliers in India some design specs which they followed faithfully to produce some stunning results. The ensuing orders were also a tribute to a job well done. I have included some photos which tell the story so much better.

When the show opened on January 28th at 9:00am, our booth was taken by storm; we were writing orders the very first hour of the show, something totally unusual and unexpected for any of the trade shows we attend. And it did not abate until the last day, which was a complete waste of time, as hardly anyone was there. The show officially closed at 2 pm, and it tooks us less than 90 minutes to take it all down and ready the items for crating.

The weather was stunning, finally, in Anaheim, where one could actually walk around without a jacket. I was really pleased with our appearance here and doubly so, as a 4 day vacation was waiting for me in Baja California with Chuck.

If your interest has been piqued, you may wish to check out Victoria Paper and see what I do for a living.

One of the most beautiful destinations for holiday is Anaheim city, which have to be found Disney land, harbor, luxury hotels at lowest prices, and astonishingly delicious food with more activities. Anaheim city situated at Orange County in California State in USA. National Hockey League’s…Read More

One of the most beautiful destinations for holiday is Anaheim city, which have to be found Disney land, harbor, luxury hotels at lowest prices, and astonishingly delicious food with more activities. Anaheim city situated at Orange County in California State in USA. National Hockey League’s is positioned there with Major baseball League. But Main attraction of family visitor is Disney land; it is awe-inspiring and beautiful place for all ages. Anaheim journey one of the best journey to me, I was exited and very glad when arrived that city. Skyline and nightline of Anaheim was looking a Indian bridal women, if you seem to be that you understand. Whatever, if you visited that sections of Anaheim then you appreciate that I was true. At late evening we arrived our reserved hotels at downtown in this city. Cheap Anaheim hotels are sited there because not very expensive but very luxury and provide great services. You appreciate if you visited. That hotel provided to me more services. Less than one mile from our hotels located, Disneyland, "the happiest place on earth" from my hotels, Next Day, I went to Disney land with other hotels friend, Disneyland, certainly, is main statement to recognition to since in 1955. Huge of children and his parent crowd there, which are the most adventure place in Anaheim city. I was feeling Disneyland at that time. In childhood I was always want to see Mickey mouse and Donald duck, which appreciate that journey. Which have other destinations to see also like Anaheim harbor where located more ships, which show our status at there in all visitor and this is very nice sections for our visiting. Other city roots were very great just like variety of shops, restaurants, and most unexpected theater there near by city of Orange. Angel Stadium is the other hot spot at Anaheim city. There are many greatest and famous places for lunch nearby Disney land, I would taste that delicious food that place and enjoyed also, which have also a Japanese restaurant nearby Disneyland, if you interested in that food then taste a bite there. Secondly I was never forget that "beaches of Anaheim". You did more activities there like swimming, boating, fishing and more with your friend and alone also, I could not feel alone there because there were more people located and both were very friendly with each other, between two days I would enjoy at beaches and second last day of our trip I want to see city zoo which are very famous at this city, you will see there more birds and animals at great locality, In evening I was going to shopping place near the Anaheim market and purchase some cheapest thing for our family and our friend because I want to take some remark at that city which remind that city. I was taking great fun and adventure at that city and never forget and wish come back again and again these beautiful places. Close

Looking at the "rusty," corrugated steel buildings of Condor Flats, my stepdaughter was once fooled into thinking that these structures were old relics. Of course, that's the point---they LOOK old. Condor Flats was indeed built in the 21st century---I watched the park as…Read More

Looking at the "rusty," corrugated steel buildings of Condor Flats, my stepdaughter was once fooled into thinking that these structures were old relics. Of course, that's the point---they LOOK old. Condor Flats was indeed built in the 21st century---I watched the park as it was being built! These quonset-hut-type shacks pay homage to the long number of years that Californians have been involved in aviation pioneering. (In fact, when I was growing up in L.A., my dad was one of the aeronautic engineers for Howard Hughes. Think of me next time you watch "The Aviator!")

There aren't many attractions in Condor Flats. Other than a chance to meet "Aviator Goofy," there's just "Soarin' Over California." This, though, is one of the most acclaimed attractions in the park. I won't spoil the surprise for you, but it is indeed different than any other ride you've been on before. It's extremely popular, meaning it draws a crowd! Luckily, there are two ways you can circumvent the line.
1.) Use the FastPass feature.
Or, 2.) Often times, single riders can walk right up and enter the FastPass lane. If there's no sign up about this, you can ask the attendant if they're doing the "single-rider" deal on the day you visit. Once, our party of five split up and all saw the attraction as single riders. We saved lots of time!

(Of course, there were no children with us that day. This ride does lift into the air, and so you'll want to stay with your child if he/she isn't yet a teen.)

Disney's Grand Californian Hotel can perhaps be best appreciated by those who have toured or stayed in one of the grand old lodges of our national park system. When I stepped into the Grand Californian Hotel's lobby for the first time, my mind was…Read More

Disney's Grand Californian Hotel can perhaps be best appreciated by those who have toured or stayed in one of the grand old lodges of our national park system. When I stepped into the Grand Californian Hotel's lobby for the first time, my mind was instantly transported back to the lodge at Yellowstone. Perhaps yours will be too---ah, the memories! Like the lodge at Yellowstone, the lobby is tall and conveys a sense of grandeur. The furniture is comfy and rustic-themed, inviting the visitor to just sit down and enjoy the atmosphere. A roaring fire conveys warmth and friendliness. The lighting is dim, providing the visitor a rest from the glaring sun of the outdoor theme parks. You should plan to visit this exquisite lobby when you have the time to "set a spell" and drink-in the lobby's aura. If you've never been to a national park lodge, don't worry--it would be easy, I'm sure, to enjoy this classic atmosphere even at first sight. Enjoying the grounds of the Grand Californian, though, is a bit problematic.

Unlike the Disneyland Hotel, the grounds aren't path-laden. To truly enjoy all the beautiful greenery, you'd have to stroll across the thick, manicured lawn. Yes, I did that---but nobody else that day was feeling so bold. The grounds, though impressive, almost say "don't touch." The swimming pools are eye-catching, and the child-oriented pool is whimsical and fun-looking. The view of the California Adventure theme park is great from the lawn and pool area, and certainly must be from the windows of the hotel rooms on this side of the building. (There is a steep price to pay for this view, though. Theme-park-facing rooms start at $325 in the OFF-SEASON!)

Fine dining in the Napa Rose Restaurant would be another good reason to visit this hotel. (Entrées are over $30.)

To sum up: If you visit the Disney resort, duck into this hotel, if only for a few moments. The sights you see will be described with the words "venerable hotel" 100 years from now.

The Disneyland Hotel's grounds are very beautiful and relaxing. During the off-season at least, you can stroll and enjoy the area as if it were a quiet, nearly private park. The greenery is lush--a visual treat. There are Disney topiary figures to…Read More

The Disneyland Hotel's grounds are very beautiful and relaxing. During the off-season at least, you can stroll and enjoy the area as if it were a quiet, nearly private park. The greenery is lush--a visual treat. There are Disney topiary figures to enjoy. Flowers are always in bloom. Your family photos will turn out well if you take them here--the beautiful backgrounds can make even a child's photo look like a masterpiece.

If you're touring Downtown Disney, it's only a few steps away to tour the hotel grounds, and yet, it gives you a whole different atmosphere. I enjoy Downtown Disney as well, of course, but the hotel grounds are more relaxing. For me, the reason is that there's just a lot less concrete. The sidewalks are narrower and the percentage of plant life is higher. Plus, there's an intangible satisfaction just being in a place that's so historic, at least for me, as a Southern California native. It would be hard for a brand-new visitor to realize that this hotel began as a flat, small motel-looking structure---yet it did. It has been fun to watch it grow over the years, a place that has only grown more beautiful with time.

I enjoy being here, and yet, I've never stayed here. The rooms themselves begin at over $200 in the off-season. I'm too miserly to pay that! It's a lot easier for me to enjoy the hotel ground's beauty for the free price of a stroll or the moderate cost of a meal at one of the restaurants! Speaking of restaurants, you can linger in the Disney atmosphere longer if you grab a bite. The choices range from snack shops to heartwarming "dining with Disney characters" to upscale restaurants. Depending on your selection, you could spend anywhere from just a few dollars to over $30 for an entrée. To sum up: No, the Disneyland Hotel isn't a destination for which you'd cross the country in and of itself. But, if you're here enjoying the Disney resort anyway, adding on a bit of time at the Disneyland Hotel might be a nice bonus for you.