GRAD NIGHT!

Yes Grad night! The day where high school seniors come together to celebrate their freedom from hel- oops, I mean high school! My school, along with many others will be enjoying this day on May 30th this year.

What is Grad night exactly? Glad you asked! High School Seniors are given a park hopper pass and a wrist band signifying they are seniors on the trip. Then they go off with out teachers to celebrate the day away! Then at night after Disneyland closes the seniors go off to California Adventures and spend the rest of the night partying until 3 a.m! Seniors get to then enjoy a special World of Color showing just for them and get to party it up with other seniors from across the country in the dance areas at the Mad T Party.

Last year they spent the rest of their night in Disneyland but with the addition of Cars Land and the Mad T Party, Disney decided to have the fun over in DCA. It gives seniors more flexible times to share moments with friends and to meet new people from all over the place. I don't know about you, but spending 17 hours at the "Happiest Place on Earth" doesn't sound like a bad way to end senior year.

See you there Class of 2013. It's going to be one amazing night.

My most recent trip!

So I took a little trip on down to Disneyland and DCA, on April 13th with my mom, and what a great trip it was! We got to hit our favorite attractions, saw a few familiar shows, and got to check out some of the newer additions to the park!

First off, the new Fantasy Fair that recently opened was amazing! Not as big as I was expecting it to be, but the shows with the princesses and the little land itself was great. If I had to sum up the area in one word I would probably say cute. Every detail, down to the little Figaro robot that would wake up by the chirps of a robotic bird, was adorable and very princess friendly. Seeing all the little girls in their princess dresses going up to their idols and having the hugest smiles on their faces was, sorry to sound cheesy, a very heart warming experience. The absolute cherry on top of the cake for me in the Fair was Rapunzel's Tower. It was a beautifully done sculpture that tied everything together essentially.

                                      

We made our trip with two little missions in mind. First was to celebrate "Mini-Gay Day" which is an event held by a group that run the site "http://www.gaydaysanaheim.com/". We unfortunately missed the photo op with the other gay families, but we did get to join everyone on the train ride. It was a wonderful experience to see gays and straights together just having fun with no negativity being spout out. Plus it was really funny to ride in a train with a sea of people wearing red and confusing the hell out of random bystanders. The looks on their faces when some of the more flamboyant men would "princess wave" to the crowd had me dying from laughter.

(All the red is just some of the hundreds of people who joined us for the train ride)

(The most epic candied apple I've seen Disney do! Very delicious too)

Second part on my mother's and myself's agenda was to get my graduation cap Mickey ears. I know that sounds silly, but it is a big thing in my family for us to get it because right around when my sister was supposed to graduate we got her, her own pair. She didn't finish on time, but we already know I am so as a reward my mom wanted to get me my own hat. We got it, had my name put on it, and the lady who did the embroidery gave me a button that said "I just graduated!" It was really cool because I have never gotten a button for Disney events like birthday, first visit, or other events of that nature. Hearing the "congratulations" from the Disney cast members was cool too.

(This was the style of grad hat I picked, the other one looked small and silly)

(Mah button : D)

Another cool addition they made to the park was a new exhibit in Innoventions. For me, when ever I go to Disneyland I don't make it habit to stop in there because I've seen it so many times before. Never before have I seen such a huge line for that attraction before, and it was all thanks to the new Iron Man exhibits. They have all of the suits, featured in the films, and they have a cool interactive game where people can "suit up" and fight various things as if they were Iron Man. All this was made for the promotion of the newest film soon to be coming out, Iron Man 3.

 (First ever Iron Man suit)

(One of the newer suits) 

(The newest suit featured in the third movie)

We ended our night first with dinner at the Tiki Room, Bangle Tiger chicken skewers (which can be found across the way from the Indiana Jones ride) and a Dole pineapple whip (found right outside the Tiki Room). Probably the best dinner I've had at Disneyland, other than the gumbo served in the sour dough bread bowls. It was filling and not that expensive at all. Then after our little Tiki Room show we hopped on over for the World of Color which was spectacular as usual. We got the blue section which, in my opinion, is the best viewing area for the show. Just don't get to close to the water or you'll be SOAKED! After that we got to see Fantasmic back over in Disneyland. Now for the show they have the ending with a ton of Disney characters riding on the Mark Twain River Boat but it was being refurbished. Instead they had the characters come out onto the main stage where the rest of the show happens. It was still spectacular nonetheless. 

Great trip, amazing new stuff. Couldn't have asked for a better trip!

Field work!

Yes ladies and gentlemen I will be doing some field work this Saturday! My mother will be attending Disneyland and Disneyland California Adventures for the annual "mini-gay day." Every year during the first weekend of October the biggest official-unofficial event at Diseneyland, GAY DAY! Many people can't wait until October so they created a mini-gay day event a few months before actual gay day. We will be apart of the group picture and train ride with our fellow gay an gay-support members in red shirts. If you are going I hope to see you there!

The Beginning

Disneyland all started from the dream created by a remarkable man named Walt Disney. He wanted a place for children and adults to come and have fun together. Though Walt Disney's plan started off a bit rock, on July 17, 1955, Disneyland was opened! Though only first open to invitees, over 28,000 people showed up opening day to witness what had been created. Ronald Regan and frank Sinatra are just two of the many celebrities invited to be apart of Disney's opening day ceremony.

Disney management still remembers this day as "Black Sunday." Temperatures were well over 100 degrees, drinking fountains went dry (plumbers strike), toilets clogged, food ran out, there was a gas leak in Fantasyland, and women's heels would sink into the asphalt. They gave these guests free pairs of moccasins to get around the park easier.

ABC Broadcast the opening day event

They started off with 36 attractions, 22 of which were rides, and now to this day people from all over the world come to enjoy  55 attractions. The park consists of four lands, Adventureland, Fantasyland, Frontierland, and Tomorrowland, and in the center of all this is the immaculate Sleeping Beauty Castle.

After 365 days of hard work, Walt Disney's dream had come to life! Even though this wonderful man has passed, a team of imagineers has kept the dream alive and built up Disneyland into the amazing place it is today. Disneyland is currently 57 years old. On their 50th anniversary the Disneyland team turned the park into a golden celebration. This gave life to the Firework show that honored and remembered all Walt Disney had done for the park and its characters.

Home to many beloved characters and princesses, Walt Disney achieved his goal of creating a place where everyone, young and old, can com together to become kids again and share a few laughs and make new memories.

My Story

So to start off this Disney blog I've decided to basically tell my Disney story; what began my love for it and what Disneyland means to me!

I've been going to Disneyland for as long as I can remember. I go about 3-4 times every year and I'm still not bored of it. Every time I go I'm able to find new things to, and make more memories with the people I'm with. Disneyland never gets old in my eyes to honest. They are always coming up with something bigger and better to top the last year and that makes going to the park even more exciting.

Still with everything that's new I never get tired of some of the classics at Disneyland:

My favorite ride Pirates of the Caribbean

The Tiki Room

and the amazing Space Mountain!

As you can see I've been on this ride enough times to know where the camera is. (me at the top left)

These are just some of the things that I always need to tackle when I go to the park. A few other things would be enjoying a Creme Brulee at the beautiful Blue Bayou Restaurant

And the amazing Mint Juleps at the Mint Julep Bar by the train station in New Orleans Square.

 

 All classic aside, it's wonderful to get to see how Disneyland has grown to what it is today. From a plain back lot to what is now Cars Land:

 

The old Submarine ride to the newer Nemo attraction 

 

And even the transformation of the waters in California Adventures to the amazing show they have now called The World of Color

Disneyland has always been the place I can escape to and be a kid again. I've loved it when I was little and I still have the same, if not more, love for it now. My mission with this blog is to share my memories, the history of, and the current goings on of the Disneyland and Disneyland California Adventures Park. So hop on this journey with me into the world of Disneyland.

“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.” -Walt Disney, Opening day of Disneyland speech