Subscribe Via Email

Like reading this blog? You can get the complete text of the latest articles at Within My Means in your email inbox each morning by entering your email address below, then verifying the subscription. Your address will only be used for mailing you the blog, and each one will include a link so you can unsubscribe at any time.

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

April 28, 2009

Disney's California Adventure Theme Park


My mom and I had a great day at Disney's California Adventure last week. We wanted to see all the new changes to the park since my family had lived in Orange County in the late eighties. Boy, have there been a lot of them! This whole park was new to us, so we chose it over the regular Disneyland.


One of my favorites was the animation room, where they have exhibits on old rotoscopes, how to do voice over, and the above, which takes a picture of you and inserts it in a book, asks questions about your personality, then magically melts to show you which Disney character you would be. The game told mom she would be the Queen of Hearts!

My other favorite feature was the Blue Sky Cellar, which documents all the plans and upcoming changes to the park. I have to admit, I'm biased, as I have a friend & neighbor who works for Disney in Ride Engineering, the folks who design and build the park.

Ride-wise, we enjoyed old familiars like the swings, and new ones like the shooting gallery that featured the characters from Toy Story.

mom as Nemo, a pic to send to her sister who loves hats

the flyer that tells about kennel services

Did you know that Disneyland even has a kennel for your furry friends? It's located just to the right of the main Disneyland entrance. The kennel's staffed by regular park employees (not vet staff) so they're not allowed to touch the animals--you have to come back to give your pet potty breaks. But they have shady, climate controlled crates that your pet can relax in while you wander the park. Multiple-pet households can even house the pets together in one crate. The staff allowed me in for a tour of the space, and I was impressed. It wasn't loud with stressful barking, like a shelter is when all the animals are housed right next to each other. It was orderly and quiet, a place to take a nap. You can click on the flyer above to enlarge it for more details. I'll remember it if I ever take Chance and Claire with me.

What's your best Disneyland memory? What do you feel is the ideal age to take a child? Let me know in a comment below.

1 comment:

  1. I grew up mostly in the San Diego area and we would go to Disneyland about once a year. My favorite thing was watching the stained glass blowers make little animals. I think it was near the Snow White castle- they actually used to be in there doing it and you could watch them. And then I was allowed to buy a set of animals- it would always be a mother and three babies. Funny- I just thought of it- no father was necessary!

    We went to Disneyland with friends as adults and I swore I'd never go back without kids. The next time we went we had our niece and nephew and had a blast. They were five and nine at the time. I'd say anywhere between five and twelve is a great age.

    ReplyDelete