New Year's Eve at Disneyland and DCA

We love ringing in the New Year at Disneyland and DCA. We have celebrated New Year's Eve at Disneyland and DCA on a couple of nights in years past. Disneyland's New Year's Eve Celebration is a blast but is definitely busy and the trams stop running at midnight. In my opinion although it is a busy night, it is one of the best places to ring in the New Year.

If you are planning on spending New Year's Eve at Disneyland or DCA here is some updated info:
Disneyland will be open from 8am to 2am. Disney's California Adventure will be open from 10 am to 1pm. Both parks will host countdowns to the New Year.

Disneyland will have the regular fireworks at 9:25 and then the special New Year's Eve Fantasy in the Sky fireworks at 11:30 PM.  Also featured is Jump, Jive, Boogie Swing Party Featuring Doc Anello and the Swing Machine at the Plaza Gardens Stage, running shows hourly up through 1 AM.

Over at DCA you'll find several dance parties with different themes.  They are each sponsored by Southern California radio stations:

Power 106 New Year's Eve 2009 Dance Party

Hollywood Pictures Backlot

9:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.  

Super Estrella New Year's Eve 2009 Dance Party

Pacific Wharf Stage

9:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.  

104.3 MYfm New Year's Eve 2009 Dance Party

7:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.   9:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Also, DCA will be featuring the last Electrical Parade of the year at 8:45.

If you are planning on heading to either park make sure to arrive early as both parks fill to capacity and they will turn people away at the gate. If you can get it in it really is a fun family extravaganza!

One Last Holiday Post...

I don't know about you, but I'm sad that the holidays are coming to an end.  It's become a tradition in our family to sneak back to Disneyland one last time before they take down the holiday overlays, stop the Christmas Parade, take the tree down and change the fireworks.  There's just something magical about seeing the parades at night. 

I've uploaded a couple videos from our trip earlier tonight to YouTube and embedded them below for you to enjoy.  After this, I promise no more holiday postings until next year.  :)

Tree lighting on Main Street:


Mrs. Claus:


and finally Santa Claus (with the Reindeer of course!)...


Happy Holidays!
-Katie

New Years Eve at Disneyland

This Thursday is what was once one of the busiest nights at Disneyland, although with the blackout dates in effect for all but the premium annual passes, it does not get quite as crazy as it once was.  The park typically hands out party favors and noise makers in the evening hours.  There have been DJs playing different kinds of dance music set up in various locations throughout the park.  Just before midnight, the countdown is projected up onto the side of the Matterhorn.  It's a really fun and safe way to spend New Years Eve, especially knowing that within the walls of Disneyland, there is no alcohol consumption going on around you.

Castle at Disneyland - Wordless Wednesday

Storybook Land Canal Boats

Storybook Land Canal Boats at Disneyland have recently re-opened.  They were closed down for a draining of the canal (imagine the dropped cell phones, keys, toys, etc. that were at the bottom!) while they replaced the Casey Jr. Train track. 

It is one of my favorite rides in the park (okay, so most of them are favorites of mine...).  There's just something about riding in the boats through the small scale world of fantasy that mesmerizes me.  Disneyland never ceases to amaze me with the attention to detail.  Notice in the pictures (sorry they are a tad blurry because the boats move) that there are tiny Christmas trees and decorations throughout each scene!

Whether it's Cinderella's Castle, complete with pumpkin carriage, Princess Jasmine's Palace...

The dwarf's house from Snow White...

Pinocchio's village...

Or the Three Little Pigs house made of bricks...

The Storybook Land Canal Boats are great for everyone in the family, young and old.  Make sure you keep a close eye on young children though because unlike some of the other boat rides, the water is quite deep - not the normal couple of feet that most rides have.  Also note that the ride closes down 30 minutes before and 5 minutes after the parades go through to prevent the line from blocking the flow of traffic because it is so close to the parade route.

Disney's Electrical Parade is back

We love Disney's Electrical Parade and are excited to share that the parade is playing nightly until January 3rd. The parade will be play nightly starting at 8:45pm. It will be a while before it makes an appearance again. Make sure to catch it if you can. The park will be super busy during the next couple of weeks but DCA is usually not as busy as Disneyland. We are packing a bag and heading over tomorrow night. Hope to see you there.

Handicap Friendly Attractions at Disneyland

Going to Disneyland is a magical experience, but sometimes it is easy to forget how challenging a theme park can be if you or a family member is handicapped.  But when you look at this list I am sure you will see that it can still be a magical experience with a little bit of research! (A question from my son's teacher prompted me to write this post) 

On several rides Disneyland offers what is called an "alternate experience" in which you can still experience much of the aspects of the ride without needing to climb up or down stairs.

Disneyland offers an Audio Tape Tour, Braille guidebook and written aids for several things around the park.  If you are looking for more assistance you can always go to City Hall on Main Street in Disneyland and there is a special guidebook available to guests with disabilities at the Information Centers throughout the parks. 

Here are the attractions where a wheelchair can roll right on to the ride (either by elevator or other mechanism and you don't need to be able to transfer to the boat or vehicle):

• The Tram from the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure
• Disneyland Railroad (use the New Orleans, Tomorrowland or Toontown entrances/exits)
• Main Street Cinema
• The Disneyland Story featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
• Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island
• Frontierland Shootin' Exposition
• Mark Twain Riverboat
• Big Thunder Ranch
• The Golden Horshoe Stage
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Enchanted Tiki Room
• Jungle Cruise
• Goofy's Playhouse
• Mickey's House and Meet Mickey
• Minnie's House
• "it's a small world"
• King Arthur Carrousel
• Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough (Alternate Experience)
• Pixie Hollow
• Disneyland Monorail
• Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (alternate experience)
• "Honey I Shrunk the Audience"
• Innoventions
• Starcade
• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

Additional rides that you can go on as long as you can transfer from the wheelchair in to the ride seat:

• Fire Engine
• Horseless Carriage
• Omnibus
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Splash Mountain
• Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
• Indiana Jones Adventure
• Gadget's Go Coaster
• Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
• Alice in Wonderland
• Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
• Casey Jr. Circus Train
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Disney Princess Faire
• Mad Tea Party
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
• Peter Pan's Flight
• Pinocchio's Daring Journey
• Snow White's Scary Story
• Storybook Land Canal Boats
• Astro Orbiter
• Autopia
• Space Mountain
• Star Tours

Did I miss anything?  Any other tips for guests with Disabilities?

-Katie

Roy Disney will be missed

For all the mud slinged at Roy E. Disney, there is an awful lot of good that he was often not awknowledged for accomplishing. Let us not forget, that without the actions taken Roy in the 80s, The Walt Disney Company of today would not exist. The company likely would have been broken up into pieces.

The vast library would have gone to one company, perhaps Ted Turner! The theme parks would have been purchased by another company, perhaps Six Flags or Cedar Fair! The studio operations would have probably been wound down and the lot sold off to a foreign company. Somebody that had the rights to the Disney name would have made some half hearted attempts at continuing animation, although those likely would have ended in a similar fate to The Black Calderon.

The Walt Disney Company would probably look like something similar to today's MGM, once great but now not much more than a footnote.

Roy E. Disney was the most important person for the Walt Disney Company, save Walt and Roy O. Disney.

RIP Roy E. Disney

Wordless Wednesday - The View from the Top of Mickey's Fun Wheel

(Image taken by Katie)

Monday Quote from Mr. Disney

I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.

-Walt Disney

Giveaway time! Family 4 pack of tickets to Disneyland

The Holidays are in full swing and Kids and Mice has an amazing giveaway to celebrate the season. We are giving away a family 4 pack of tickets to Disneyland to  one lucky reader. Want to know how to enter?  well here is how.

First things first-This giveaway ends 12/31/09



Here's how to enter:



Mandatory First Entry:



•1 Entry for leaving a comment letting us know  which is your favorite Disneyland ride and why.

Additional Entries:


•1 Entry (each) subscribing to the Email Feed of Kids and Mice, following through Google, RSS Feed Subscription or any other form of feed.


•1 Entry for following Kids and Mice on Twitter

•1 Entry for Tweeting about this giveaway. Be sure to come back and say that you have, to gain the extra entry.

•1 Extra entry per day when you leave another comment.
 
Winner will be selected using random.org
 
Good luck !!

*****Quick UPDATE:  We've now added the email subscription link, so you can count that as an extra entry now too, just be sure to comment about it.  We're loving all your stories about what rides you love! 

Thanks!     
 - Katie

Snow seen at Disneyland

Wordless Wednesday - Holidays at Disneyland

Two of my favorite signs that the holidays are here at Disneyland...

-Katie

Innoventions

Last week the kids and I decided to head out to Disneyland on what was a very busy day. I love visiting Disneyland and yes, even on a busy day. One of the keys to enjoying the Happiest place on earth on a busy day is to head to the attractions that are the least visited. We decided to check out the Jedi Academy and then head over to Innoventions.

Innoventions, is located in Tomorrowland, next to Pizza Port and across from Tomorrowland Terrace. You enter through one of four themed doors to experience a vision of the near future. The kiddos and I walked right up and did not have to wait longer than two minutes to walk in through the doors.

The first floor and your fist stop on your walking and self guided tour is the house of the future. We loved exploring every inch of this area. My kiddos were particulary facinated with one of the kids bedrooms that featured a mirror of the future and which they became obsessed with.

 

They also loved the table of the future that featured a touch screen plate setting. It was a huge hit with the fam!

After we explored the fist floor we headed upstairs to catch Honda's robot attraction and my daughter wanted to play with the different video games and stations. My parents were with me and they loved checking out the different health exhibits and also the video games.

It is a great place to let the kids unwind and take advantage of the air conditioned surroundings. We spent 45 minutes minutes exploring and it can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a couple of hours. It's a great place to visit on a busy day or if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle.

Disneyland Candlelight Procession

The annual tradition of the Candlelight Procession has occurred at Disneyland since 1958.  Walt Disney World has a more elaborate version that plays nightly throughout December.  At Disneyland it runs one weekend with two performances each night.  Did you know that it is actually considered a private event that just happens to be held publicly in the park?  Walt Disney himself, initiated the tradition.

2009's guest narrator was Jon Voight, who is Jewish, as seen by his appearances in the annual Chabad telethon.  The candlelight procession is a celebration of the holiday season for all.

Disneyland Freshly Made Candy Canes

Homemade candy canes are just one part of the fun holiday traditions at Disneyland.  They have become so popular over the years that you now have to pick up a reserve ticket ahead of time.

According to the OC Register:

This year, the Candy Palace on Disneyland’s Main Street is issuing tickets so park guests can reserve candy canes ahead of time, avoiding the massive lines that mark candy cane day at the Palace every Christmas.

photo (c) LA Times

Disneyland-goers can find out when candy canes are being made by calling a special phone number, updated each Sunday with information about what kind of candy is being made each day that week. The Candy Kitchen Menu line is 714-781-0112.

Wordless Wednesday at California Adventure

Happy Holidays!