(That's our cat Milkshake over there in the snowglobe. For details on how to make a snowglobe with your own cat or other photogenic family member, read on.)
I went to Disneyland three days in a row. I like to say this to people, and then watch as their eyes grow wide with amazement and they shake their heads in disbelief. Then come the inevitable questions, things like, "Why?" and "Have you lost your mind?" But I'm here to tell you that not only did I survive, but it was one of the more leisurely trips there I've had.
First off let me tell you that it makes all the difference that my girls are older, and don't require strollers or snacks every five seconds or diaper changes in public restrooms. They're tweens now, and have the capacity to go for hours at a time without food and have enough energy (and patience) to wait in long lines. Also? My girls have inherited their parents' night-owl tendencies and can stay up late without having tantrums or melting down in the car on the ride home. Unfortunately, Rigel and I are the ones who can't hold it together but we're working on taking turns so that at least one person isn't crying while they're driving.
Our three day Disneyland marathon started a couple of Fridays ago when we were invited to a blogging event held at Disneyland's Grand Californian. I'm always looking for an excuse to visit this beautiful hotel - in the past I've pretended that I'm a lost tourist from Japan, just for an excuse to sit in the lobby. But this time I was actually invited and enjoyed valet parking, a wonderful buffet meal, photo ops with Disney characters, cookie decorating for the kids, a special presentation by Disneyland PR for the bloggers AND 3-day park hopper tickets - and I didn't even have to use broken English and pantomime to ask where the bathroom was.
After that we were escorted to a private area to watch the fireworks. Being escorted through Disneyland is the best - I couldn't help but feel super important, and I had to stifle the urge to hand out my autograph and say things like, "I really love what Walt did with this place" just to be obnoxious. It was while watching the fireworks that I called Rigel with my brilliant idea: Why not get a hotel for Saturday night, so that we could spread our Disneyland and California Adventure experience over two days? I have to admit he wasn't immediately receptive, but he came around when I told him that spending two whole days with his kids at Disneyland and treating his wife to a night in a hotel might be a good way to bank some karma for that ski trip he was planning on taking with the guys.
Sure it was exhausting, but I'd say our plan worked out great. We were able to leisurely check into our hotel on Saturday and then make our way over to the parks without feeling like we had to fit everything in by midnight. Although I didn't get to ride my favorite ride of all, we did finally get to check out the winery in California Adventure, which I highly recommend - we had a nice glass of wine, and then had a relaxing dinner on the patio. The menu is limited but surprisingly good, and a nice break from the usual pizza and hot dogs we usually have. And once again - they have WINE.
I have to admit our desire to sit in a dark room for a few minutes led us to main Street to view Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years, but the film ended up being interesting for the kids as well. It's narrated by Steve Martin and has some great film clips showing the history of Disneyland; Walt walking through the orange grove that would become his theme park, opening day ceremonies in 1955 (hey - there's Sammy Davis, Jr.!) and a glimpse of how the park looked in its early days. Unfortunately, it didn't address the rumor that Walt is cryogenically frozen somewhere waiting to be revived - we had just told the kids about that the week before - but perhaps that's coming in the sequel.
Some may argue that billions of twinkling lights and fake snow is a poor substitute for real holiday cheer, but I say seeing my kids crazy-happy and squealing as they race towards the Matterhorn in their Santa hats is real enough for me. And while I thought that three days in a row would satiate them, Kiyomi woke up on that following Monday and said, "Any day we're not going to Disneyland is not a good day" so I'm thinking she could have gone for a few more but I'll leave that for when she's old enough to go on her own. I think she's starting her own blog now.
View an exciting, animated, musical version of my Milkshake snowglobe here. If you'd like to make your own awesome snowglobe, read this to find out how. I only used our cat because my girls have forbid me to post any pictures of them online. Well, that and the fact that he's the only one that still smiles on cue.
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Thanks to Michelle Himmelberg in Disney PR for a memorable weekend and for giving us an excuse to stay in a hotel.
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tags: disneyland | disneyland photopass | california adventure | blogger events
I took my girls and some of their friends to a party thrown by Disney Interactive a couple of weeks ago, and besides having an amazing time and eating way too much expensive cheese, I came home with a gift bag filled with cool games. Better yet, the nice people at Disney gave me an extra one to give away to one of my readers. So, if you'd like a chance to win a bag filled with expensive games and other goodies, leave a comment below. I'll be picking a winner* on December 10th using random.org, which I've never used but is supposed to be a totally fair way of picking a number. Unlike me, who would just give it to the person who had the nicest hair.
Here's what's in the bag:
Disney's Sing-It for XBox 360 (with microphone)
Pure for XBox 360
Spectrobes for Nintendo DS
And in addition to all those games, a few things to fill your stocking: a cool Think Fast clock, High School Musical 3 MP3 earphones and a set of six Ultimate Band buttons.
Read my review post to get a description of Disney's new games, and see how I found my inner gamer without embarrassing my kids.
*Your 'number' is where your comment falls in the order of posts. First comment is 1, etc...
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tags: disney sing it | pure xbox 360 | spectrobes nintendo ds | nintendo wii games
MetroDad has a great post up right now about baseball. Specifically, baseball players of Asian descent, who he calls "our greatest weapons in battling mainstream media's perception of the emasculated Asian male." I say amen to that, since Asians certainly aren't getting any respect in Hollywood, where all the roles for rickshaw drivers and grocery owners have completely dried up.
I also have a post up about baseball, over on UpTake (formerly Kango.) The difference is, I don't know crap about the game - in fact, I'm probably more qualified to perform an appendectomy than I am to talk about batting averages and line drives. But I did some extensive research (I must have clicked on the Dodger Official Website like sixty freakin' times!) and I think I've greatly increased my knowledge of the game:
I’m not a season ticket holder, so I would head down to Chavez Ravine (as all us Dodger experts call it) and buy a one-day ticket. They range in price from $130 for MVP seating all the way down to $11 for what appears to be a seat in the top section inside a stall in the men’s bathroom. I’d decide to splurge for a $70 seat, which along with having a great view of the field appears to be painted a pleasing orange color that would go great with my complexion...Read More...
I remember when Kiyomi was turning six and had decided that the only place she wanted to celebrate her birthday was Chuck E. Cheese's. Not looking forward to an afternoon filled with screaming, the pinging of video games and hair matted together with a combination of punch and cotton candy (not to mention that stage show with the break-dancing Mr. Cheese) I bravely suggested an alternative, something more, well - educational.
How about a trip to the museum, where her and her friends could visit one of the exciting animal dioramas and come face to face with a life-sized bear? It sounded exciting to me, even though the bear was stuffed and the only thing even resembling a video game in the whole place was the ATM machine in the snack bar.
By the glaring looks I got I realized that majestic bear didn't stand a chance against a stageful of lesser creatures doing the cha-cha. She won that battle, but that didn't stop me from making it a point to take my kids to 'smart' destinations once in a while, and I wrote about my favorite ones in Los Angeles for Kango this week:
I’m familiar with the reactions: the sad eyes, the whining, the frantic efforts to hide in the laundry room. No, I’m not talking about your cat when faced with a vet visit, but your children when you mention that you’ll be taking them to ‘somewhere educational.’
Sure, you’ll get more cheers for Chuck E. Cheese’s, but sometimes it’s nice to take the kids somewhere that teaches them more than how quickly a roll of quarters can disappear when you’re mesmerized by a large waltzing mouse. Here are some of my favorite ‘smart’ destinations in Los Angeles. I’ll bet they’ll forget all about that dancing rodent...Read More...
My latest post is up at Kango. I wrote about American Idol this week. Not so much about the obsessive hold the damn show has on me and my girls, but about what you can expect if you're kind of crazy and decide to come to Hollywood and try and see a live taping. It's not something I'd really want to do, since half the fun is sitting on the couch and shaking our fists at the screen and shouting things like, "You suck" or Kira's favorite line, "OMIGOD I TOTALLY HATE HER." I don't think you can do things like that if you're in the audience.
If you happen to stop by my house on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday between 8 and 9:30 and you’re not delivering a pizza, chances are you’ll be left standing at the door. Okay, maybe my husband will answer, but he’ll be under strict orders to get rid of whoever is there as soon as possible. This is because me and my two daughters cannot be disturbed while we’re engaged in that most noble of American pastimes: Heckling the performers on American Idol...Read More...
I don't usually use my blog to hawk wares, but I just reviewed two products over on my other blog that are worth mentioning here. One is a toy for kids, and one is a toy for adults. Although if you're like me, you'll want to play with both of them.
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For the past few months my nine-year-old had been bugging me to make her a toy she saw at a birthday party awhile back. It consisted of two, 2-liter soda bottles joined together at their necks and containing colored water, and when the bottles were flipped one way or another the liquid would create a tornado effect. The ones she had seen were joined by a plastic sleeve made especially for this purpose, but she had been told (by a very "helpful" parent at the party) that the same thing could be achieved by using duct tape to join the two bottles. So go home, he told her, go home and tell your mom to get cracking on that craft in all that free time of hers...Read more...
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I'm the gadget nut in this family. While my husband would be content to use a rotary-dial phone and a TV that needs to be hand-cranked, I have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning unless I know that there is some electronic device waiting to be purchased that will make my day more exciting. I've got my eyes set on a one-cup coffeemaker (even though we already have a grind-and-brew and an espresso machine fighting for space on our counter) and my husband has noticed that I make odd slurping noises whenever an iPhone commercial flashes on the TV screen...Read More...
I don't do product reviews on this website, but while doing one on my other blog I remembered that the product had another use, namely for making awesome bubbles. I Googled it and found the video below. I love it, mostly for it's soundtrack, which is a song by Joe Jackson
(There's sound, so you may want to turn your volume down.)
