Carsland trip: Planned!

What's up Mousers!

We all know that it's been a huge couple of weeks for the Disneyland Resort.
Anyone who's reading this blog probably already knows how exciting it is to be there first hand or for the not so lucky, we can feel the excitement coming from other people who've been there.

Well, I officially planned a trip to go and see it with my own eyes. I'm so excited!! We plan to make use of the new Early Admission perk for Annual Passes.  If you're unaware what that perk/policy is, here's a link to a blog post I wrote about it.

This trip is going to be a bit different than others because we're going for a main purpose.  Operation: CARS LAND.

It's interesting coming from the viewpoint of someone who doesn't get to visit the park as often as I used to when I lived much closer.  Disneyland time was usually spur of the moment and even if we did go a full day, it was at a leisurely pace.  Friday nights frequently ended up  filled with people watching, Gibson Girl ice cream, and multiple rides on Pirates.

THIS time, we're having to plan a bit in advance due to crowds and to get the most out of our time.  Granted, I have been fortunate enough to be able to go to the park multiple times throughout the year even with the distance, so if parts of Disneyland are unavailable or if for whatever reason, we don't get to experience something, it's completely ok! .... well besides Cars Land... lol

1st on the list was to decide which days to visit the parks and we're planning to do 3 days this time.  Do we want to hit over a weekend? Or do we want to stick to only weekdays?

2ndly, Part A: which day do we want to hit Carsland? Knowing crowds over the past few weeks have been pretty intense, we'll probably go one day, take however long we need to take to do all we want, and then steer clear unless for some crazy reason it dies down.
            Part B: register for the Early Admission to DCA. Noting that the scheduled days vary and we need to be aware of which we're allowed to do so.

3rd, Figure out if there is anything special/new that we can make reservations for, ie The Carthay Circle Restaurant. This dining "experience" started taking reservations before it had even opened it's doors and became full very quickly! Your best bet is to call as far ahead as possible - you can make reservations as early as 60 days out. (call 714-781-DINE for the Disneyland Resort).  Dining here is also very advantageous because if you order an entree paired with either an appetizer or a dessert, you get reserved Center seating for the World of Color show, eliminating the need to go stand in line for a fastpass.
I should mention also, again because of the crowds and anticipated long wait times for the attractions, we made reservations for the restaurant on a separate day than our Cars Land day.  The last thing we'd want to do is have to get out of a line or leave a packed area to make the reservation time.

 Other than experiencing and taking in all the new aspects of Buena Vista street, that's about it as far as hard core planning.  I'm positive we'll have plenty of time to do all we wish to do in 3 days, especially with early entry.  I'm holding out hope that Disneyland park numbers continue to stay level and wait times remain lower than normal summer cues.  It seems as though the popularity of the new DCA has relieved poor Disneyland of some of its summer load. It was getting pretty packed out there for the last few years, craziness!

Till next time, Have a Magical Day!

Annual Pass Early Entry

Good Morning Mousers!

Hope you all have had a pleasant first part of your week, the end is near! It's almost weekend time and that means, maybe for some of you lucky ones, a bit of time in the parks.

The Disney Blog came out with an entry last week on Early Admission information for the Disneyland Resort.  Normally, I don't pay a whole lot of attention to those topics because as an Annual Passholder (I have the Deluxe) we haven't had that perk available to us.  Until Now.


For those of you who may not know what "Early Admission" is or involves, I'll give you a quick run down.  When staying at a Resort Hotel, ie The Grand Californian, The Paradise Pier Hotel, or the Disneyland Hotel, guests can enter into Disneyland park or Disney California Adventure an hour early before the scheduled opening times.  You must present a valid theme park ticket and your active hotel key for admission.

     Disneyland park Early admission for Resort Hotel Guests are scheduled for: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays
     Disney California Adventure park Early admission for Resort Hotel Guests scheduled for: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. *DCA open lands are Cars Land, Hollywood Land, and Paradise Pier.


Now the new addition comes with the inclusion of Annual Passholders to this offering which started June 18th 2012 and will continue until September 13th 2012.  Considering the popularity of Cars Land for the next foreseeable future, an extra hour in the morning for the top 2 Annual Passes could be quite the advantage! I say "top 2 Annual Passes" because as of July 1st the lower passes will be blocked out for most of the summer. I would think this has added to the congestion of the last few weeks in Cars Land. All these AP'ers are trying to get their trip in before the black out days hit.  The Deluxe AP has much fewer black out days and if you're lucky to be able to afford the Premium AP, you're good to go no matter what.

This perk has come alongside price increases to both tickets and annual passes that hit in the spring.  It's nice to get a few extras thrown in when one year differs so drastically from the last.

In order to take advantage of the new admission perk, AP'ers much register the date they'd like to enter on.  You can go to that website here.
You must be 18 or older and have a valid Annual Pass both at time of registration and the entry date.  In order to be valid, your annual pass needs to have been activated by the ticket booths at the Resort.  If you have an online print out or a ticket from off sight it, will not work until validated in the system.
Please note that the entry days for Annual Passes are opposite as Hotel Guests!

    Disneyland Park Early admission for Annual Passholders are scheduled for: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
    Disney California Adventure park Early admission for Annual Passholders are scheduled for: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays


I hope this information helps some of you Annual Passholders plan your summer trips to the original Magic Kingdom. If you have any questions regarding policies or would like more information, here is the entry from the Disney Parks Blog regarding early admission or you can comment below and I'll do my best to answer :)

Have a magical day!


**Update** Make sure you check the website for current admission times.  I recently asked during a visit to the park and the Annual Pass Early Entry was limited to the weekends only!
This could be due to a high volume of crowds or a winter/spring schedule for 2013.

Mary Blair and Mermaids: Part Duex

Wha-Wha-Whaaat?! Two posts in two days?? It's summer vacation! hahaha

This will be a continuation of yesterday's post, "Mary Blair and Mermaids", so if you haven't read that first part, please click the link and check it out.

This morning after eyeing those delightful bags again, I once more pulled up a google search to see what I could find out about this line. Surely more than just one person had discovered this. And of course they had!

D23, which is the "Official Disney Fan Club" by Disney itself, put an article out at the end of last month (May) about a special line of collaboration bags with Le Sports Sac.


Disney It’s a Small World by LeSportsac Collection Takes Consumers on a Trip Around the World

05.21.12 – LeSportsac and Disney Consumer Products recently announced the launch of the Disney It's a Small World by LeSportsac collection, featuring handbags, totes and accessories that combine the bright aesthetic of LeSportsac with inspiration from the mid-century artwork of Disney artist Mary Blair.

LeSportsac and Disney Consumer Products recently announced the launch of the Disney It’s a Small World by LeSportsac collection, featuring handbags, totes and accessories that combine the bright aesthetic of LeSportsac with inspiration from the mid-century artwork of Disney artist Mary Blair, who created the whimsical look of the beloved Disney theme park attraction it’s a small world.

Disney It’s a Small World by LeSportsac collection includes five seasonal deliveries, each inspired by a specific country. In addition to celebrating a country, each delivery will be anchored with a Signature Tote and a colorful print that pays tribute to the unique facades and architectural works of Disney’s it’s a small world attraction. The collection kicks off with a celebration of Tahiti that includes two graphic totes and a range of 12 styles in two vibrant prints.

“We are so inspired by Blair’s original art and the it’s a small world theme of global awareness,” said D’Arcy Jensen, vice president, Global Creative Director, LeSportsac. “Each collectible design we are creating is a colorful narrative that is sure to delight fans of Disney, Mary Blair and LeSportsac alike.”

The it’s a small world attraction, which debuted at the New York World’s Fair in 1964, was created by Walt Disney both as a salute to UNICEF and his belief that everyone is united in their love of children and dreams of a better tomorrow. In keeping with the original philanthropic message of it’s a small world, Disney will make a donation to UNICEF in honor of it’s a small world, and all product in the Disney It’s a Small World by LeSportsac collection will include a special hangtag sharing the history of the original attraction and the connection to UNICEF.

“Our collaboration with LeSportsac pays homage to the magical experience of it’s a small worldwhile continuing the legacy of the message behind one of Disney’s most beloved theme park attractions,” said Robert Oberschelp, director, Disney Collections, DCP. “Walt Disney’s vision is as powerful and true today as it was when he first shared it with the world.”

The Disney It’s a Small World by LeSportsac Collection is available online at LeSportsac.com and at all LeSportsac flagship boutiques worldwide. LeSportsac is also available at better department stores and select specialty stores.

The particular design I've been oogling is the "Tahitian Dreams" collection.  As the article mentioned, they'll have 5 seasonal designs so I'm assuming this will be available through the summer and then in the fall a new design will replace it.  All the more reason to buy! (Disney marketing at it's best!)  I do wish they had a preview of the upcoming prints so consumers could see what's coming and plan to purchase one or the other.  But considering I'm mermaid-obsessed, I'm fairly certain I will love this print the best! 

The main site of Le Sports Sac has a really nice video and description about the collection here, check it out! 

Thats it for today! Hope you all have a fantastic rest of your day and see you back here soon. 

Mary Blair and Mermaids!

Hey Mousers!

This blog has been a bit of a bore lately and I apologize for that.  My lack of Disney posts have been the result of too hectic a schedule for waaaay too long.  Good news is that I'm out of school (I teach at a few elementary schools) for the summer, I'm planning a multi day trip in a couple weeks AND a whole mess of new things are happening over at the  parks. Although, I'm sure that if you're reading my ramblings, you probably already know the majority of them. :)

I wanted to show you guys something that I found on Instagram this week that had me squealing with delight! If you've read previous entries on this blog, you know that I'm OBSESSED with Mermaids! I freaking love Mermaids. I have red hair, my room is seafoam, I still have my Ariel barbie doll.... get the picture? haha

Anyway, I was perusing along Instagram, (my username is Anniemcbeth! Come follow me!) and I came across Zannaland's picture of this....  *gasp*

taken from Zannaland's Instagram

I died.  I love Mary Blair and her design but to have an entire line of bags marrying both her and mermaids?! Again... I died.
(For those of you who may be reading this and aren't sure who Mary Blair is, she was the creative genius behind "Its A Small World" and many other Disney projects including concept illustration for Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, and CInderella.) 

I had no idea where you would find such bags, so I googled "Le Sports Sac Disney" and an entire line of these gems came up in my search. Online store here. The sad part is a lot of the online stock is sold out already, but I can completely understand why! The print is adorable and that little mermaid charm.... *sigh*  I'm assuming that you could find them in the parks, but I have yet to see that nor do I have any evidence of anyone else buying it there.  I plan to investigate when I go in a couple weeks.

I'm seriously debating purchasing one of the larger bags... These are not items that come along everyday in park merchandise or even at the Disney Store.
These are my favorites I think...

small cosmetic bag $28

travel cosmetic bag #28

picture tote $128-$148

large weekender bag $138

They're all so cute!

 I'd love to have the cosmetic bag but that's one of the ones which have sold out. :( Sad Panda.  Which do you guys like the best?

The larger weekender bag would definitely get a lot of use and it doesn't have to "go" with an outfit like a regular bag would.  Of course, if you were visiting the park a lot, it would be fun to have a smaller one be your "Disneyland/World bag". So many choices! and so much cuteness!!  What's a girl to do?!


Alright, enough drooling over handbags hahaha that'll do it for this post!

I hope you guys enjoy some other types of posts as well as some park info, I know there are a lot of blogs and huge online resources (ie Mice chat and Dateline Disneyland) that can give you better information than I.  I hope this helps fill in a little bit along the way :)

Hope you all have a fantastic rest of your week!


*I've discovered a bit more information regarding the bags. Check out Part II of this here!*

Running a Half Marathon?! at Disneyland?!?!

Yep! you read that correctly!! You can in fact run a Half Marathon at Disneyland!!

Most of you who are reading this blog, probably already knew that both the Disneyland Resort and the Walt Disney World Resort have had Marathons and Half Marathons and 5Ks and all sorts of other races available to run.  For a few years, I'd heard about the Disneyland Half event but what I didn't know was the extent to which this running program has gone. There are so many races to be a part of!! And I'm extremely excited to say that I'll be running in the next Disneyland Half Marathon in September! :D

So what got me interested in all this?

Let me say first off, that I am NOT an athlete. I never have been and probably will never become a hard core have-to-get-my-run-in-while-its-hailing/snowing/raining/hurricane/tornado/earthquake/uphill-both-ways person! [phew!]
What got me thinking about doing this, or shall we say running at all, was my cousin.  She signed up to run the Inaugural Tinkerbell Half Marathon that took place in January. She asked me to tag along to keep her company on the drive and because she knew I love anything that involves Disneyland.  At first, the thought of someone actually wanting to run 13.1 miles was completely bonkers to me, (LOL) but I tagged along because she was really excited about it and I was very curious about how these things went down.
We got down there in the afternoon and checked into the hotel across the street. It wasn't a bad walk to the Disneyland Hotel where the expo was so we didn't bother driving the car.  It's a good thing too because parking was very limited and there were hundreds if not thousands of people walking around the property.  We needed to go pick up my cousins bag with her bib number and get her checked in, so we headed down to where all the signs were pointing.  Which happened to be the entire bottom floor of the hotel parking structure. Remember what I said about limited parking? This is why...

they actually had black carpet over the cement!

It was completely organized craziness! There were sooooo many people there for the marathon.  How on earth did I miss the last 5 or so years of this event?? One really cool thing that I'm super jealous about is the collectors pin that was put out for the race. I'm not a Disney pin trader but I do think it's cool to get one for special events ie new attractions, special events, etc.  You better believe I was all over the Little Mermaid attraction pins!
Check out this one..  

 After checking in, we went over to the actual expo room where they had all kinds of booths and speakers set to do mini talks and FREE STUFF! I'm all about free stuff at expos! I don't care if they were handing out jock straps, I'd probably go get one! We grabbed a few things from the vendors and checked out the official merchandise for the race.  As would be expected, the majority of the items had Tinkerbell all over it.

yay, for free breakfast!

I can't talk about the Expo without showing the most hilarious "Disney" thing I've ever encountered in my life.  Let me just say that there were 12,000 people there for the race and about 95% were women.  In an attempt to, I guess... beautify? the Men's restroom for the ladies... I almost peed my pants because this happened....

........  O.o

Good Work Disney!!

After that we went back to the hotel, had some dinner, and then tried to get to bed early so my cousin could have a good nights rest. Didn't exactly work out that way, but we tried! haha

She got up bright and early while I gratefully kept sleeping hahaha.  My other cousin and I headed down there towards the end of the race a few hours later to meet up at the finish line.  We were able to stand on some bleachers to watch her cross the finish line, which was pretty cool.  The race used a special chip to keep track of the runners and when they crossed a marker, cast members yelled out their names! Really cool to hear her name be called out at the end and I'm sure it helps as she was going through the miles during it too.

All in all, it was a really cool experience even just being a spectator at the event.  I can't wait until I can actually be a part of the race itself and see first hand inside the park.  Everyone looked like they had so much fun and there were so many costumes!! Tutu's, fairy wings, sequined skirts, leg warmers, princess dresses, it was all so cool to watch!

Of course the best thing, well besides the feeling of great accomplishment for her, was the medal each finisher received. (Not gonna lie.... TOTALLY jealous!)

That about sums it up. Maybe this was a little inspiring to you too? I know the event was for me and I wish I could do all the races!  Ultimate goal would be to do a race in Disneyland and then do a Walt Disney World race within the allotted time frame to receive the Coast to Coast medal. How cool would that be?

See you in September Disneyland!!!

My cousin as she ran through Sleeping Beauty Castle at sunrise!

If you want to check out all the races and information on the Disneyland Half Marathon in September check out the Run Disney website.

Remember When...

 I sit here drinking out of an old Disneyland plastic mug and it got me thinking about all the fun memory filled things that are no longer available at any of the parks.  Which of course made me want to write down all the ones I could remember :)  Granted, I wasn't around when a lot of the bigger changes happened to Disneyland, but there are a lot of little things I wish you could still do.

Remember when...


1. You could get rootbeer floats in special souvenir plastic mugs?

2.  Indiana Jones had decoder cards?

3.  Pirates of the Caribbean didn't contain certain political changes or Jack Sparrow?

4.  Splash Mountain logs were just a single bench?

5.  You could still purchase Fantasia Ice Cream?

6.  You could take the monorail over to the Disneyland Hotel to walk around or have a meal?

7.  It was nearly possible to park your car right outside the entrance gate?

8.  The big dill pickles weren't Kosher? .... sorry, but they really aren't the same

9.  There was something called "Light Magic".... ? (LOL)

10.  The Dole Whip line didn't take 10 years?

11.  There was an entire, albeit little,  kiosk dedicated to purchasing camera film?

12.  It was just known as "Disneyland" .... no Park, no Resort tagged behind?

13.  Mickey ears were just that,  Mickey Ears! They didn't have princess hats, pirate earrings, clouds, jack-o-lanterns etc on them?

14.  Tickets for a family of 4 cost less than a down payment on a car?

15.  The Electrical Parade was not in Florida, not in California Adventure, but at home as the "Main Street Electrical Parade"?

16.  Cast Member name tags were classic like Walt's instead of naming cities, years, or gold?

17.  Cast members had to change at work and use the lockers?

18.  You could watch The Country Bear Jamboree during a hot summer day?

19.  Inside the castle contained creepy doll Sleeping Beauty dioramas?

20.  If you were lucky, you could snag some Mardi Gras beads from the musicians on the balcony above Pirates?

21. The subs had mermaids, giant sea bass, and sea monsters?

22.  there were Sky buckets?

23. Most of the park merchandise centered around the Fab 5?

24. Name embroidery on hats were done by hand?

25.  Attractions weren't built to just fill up space?

Disneyland's Soundsational Parade!

The newest parade at Disneyland Park was designed by the Illustrator team of Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily.  Both have an extensive amount of previous work that has been available at the park.  Besides the parade they've had a lot of acknowledgment for their sculptures of past Disneyland merchandise and attractions. The parade floats you'll see in the pictures below were designed first as paper sculptures! That's right... no clay, no plaster... only paper! Then obviously they were built to full size after "fine tuning" (haha!) everything.

The whole of the parade is based off of percussion instruments mostly. It kicks off with a drumline doing all kinds of tricks and beats as they walk down the route. Most of the performers in this part were actually in the film "Drumline" that came out a bit ago.  You can also see in the picture below that Mickey has a set of drums too! Disney hired professional musicians for a lot of this parade.

drumline, Mickey & Minnie

Aladdin comes up next, which is pretty much the typical float and belly dancers, I didn't get a very good shot of it. But the best part is the little monkey Abu who follows behind. He clashes his symbols in time to the music.  I don't think Abu has been a part of any Aladdin attractions before.

Abu

Then Ariel appears behind her floating sea creature dancers! Her float is so pretty with all the bright colors.  She actually spins around 360 degrees so everyone on each side can see her and what under the sea float would be without bubbles! The octopus has all sorts of movement up there on the top.

Ariel and Friends

This little guy was cracking me up! He was so random and was just chilling towards the back of the float haha I don't know if he has a counterpart on the other side or if there is a similar awkward type character but I had to show you guys.

Next up was a tribute to The Three Caballeros! They haven't been a part of a Disney attraction in a really long time. I love their costumes and little bubble butts with tail feathers! (is that weird? ... probably...)

Then came the token Princess float. The only real difference I saw in the float design was the addition of Rupunzel's tower.  But really, how many princess floats can one design before they all start to flow together? (I was always secretly glad Ariel gets her own float ;P)

Simba followed suit with his entourage of African dancers, Turk, and King Louie.  It was fairly simple in this section, but cool to see a throwback to the Lion King parade.  Simba's drum float is similar to the one you'll see Tinkerbell has in a bit.

Tiana and her showboat came right behind.  This one was pretty cool! The boat is modeled after the Mark Twain and included musical instruments in the architecture. The "water" reflected on the underside of the boat too.

Next up was Tinkerbell and some generic fairies.  Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Smee, and some pirates also danced around her float.  Tinkerbell, I'm pretty sure was a drummer too. She had some bongo type looking mushrooms at the top of her drum.

Last, but not least, comes my favorite float of them all! Which probably is exactly why its the big finale section.  Mary Poppins comes through with her gang of Chimney Sweeps and the most magnificently designed float I've ever seen.  It's so intricate and amazing.
The Chimney sweeps come through with their dance number and then Mary and Bert ride around on their carousel horses!

it's a BIKE!

Ok, now remember how at the beginning I told you guys that this was all originally designed with PAPER?

Here's the rest of Mary Poppins's float .....

It was so good!  Some parades are hit and miss (the ones you run to the attractions during) but this one definitely works for me.  I wouldn't mind standing and watching it more than once.

Now after all this, it makes me laugh about how many times uninformed people automatically think "books" when the word Illustrator comes up in conversation.  Now you can add "parade float design" to the list of examples to give them ;)

If you would like to see more pictures i took of the parade, here's a public link to the album on my facebook:
Soundsational Parade