Travel Tuesday: Rainy Day Disney Magic

It's no secret that we are Disney fans around here. Disneyland and hopefully Disney World soon is definitely on the top of our favorite travel destinations. Something about the magic of being there just sticks with us. One of the things my boys have always loved to play is Disneyland. They pretend that they are there in different ways. They've done Pirates of the Carribean in the pool, Astro blasters around the house etc.

The one that gets "played" over and over is The Jungle Cruise. It's my oldest's favorite attraction and always has been. I used to have to pull him around the backyard in the wagon over and over pretending we were on the ride. Did you know they are working on a Jungle Cruise movie (with Tom Hanks AND Tim Allen)? We are SO excited!

One of the ways you could bring the Disney magic home if you're stuck inside on a rainy day is by making your own attraction playset. We made up a Jungle Cruise playset to show you how.

 The boys drew animals and cut them out. Taped an opened up paper clip to the back to set them up, made a boat out of craft sticks and duct tape and the rest was up to them.

We made a video because this must be seen to be truly appreciated ha!

What is your kids' favorite attraction?

Dis­clo­sure: This post is part of a spon­sored cam­paign for Dis­ney on MomTV. I received a pro­mo­tional item as a thank you for participating.

Wreck It Ralph Party!

We love Wreck It Ralph so natrually I loved this idea for a Wreck It Ralph viewing party from Not Just a Mommy. I think this is a fun way to have a "birthday party" without the stipulation of presents. Kids can watch the movie and participate in fun related activities without having to call it a birthday party. Or just an excuse for a party because I'm always looking for those!

The BEST part is the candy car making!

Check out all the fun details, specifics, and other awesome parties at Not Just a Mommy.

Disneyland without Kids?

Shhh I went to Disneyland without kids! Ok it's not a secret I DID bring them back souvenirs after all ;) In January I attended the Craft and Hobby Association trade show and there was no way I was going to stare at The Happiest Place on Earth and NOT go in. I got together with some blogger friends and headed over just as it was starting to get dark (a little time is better than no time at all right?!). I hit up a few rides while waiting (The Little Mermaid usually has no wait in California Adventure) and when everyone arrived we headed straight to Carsland since some of them had never been! (Read about our first time there HERE)

(My gluten free dinner - spicy and good! (You can read about eating gluten free at Carsland here)

Junkyard Jamboree is SUCH a cute ride

Thanks to a Dis­ney Photo Pass Pho­tog­ra­pher, we got one with the whole group!  L-R Katie from Sweet Rose Stu­dio; Bev from Flamingo Toes; Viv from The V Spot; Angie from The Coun­try Chic Cot­tage; Me; Sara from Mom Endeavors. Bot­tom — Car­olina from Always Expect Moore

After checking out Carsland we had to visit Soarin Over California - one of my favorites since I first went on it on my honeymoon! I called Parker before going on the ride to find out if there were any hidden Mickeys on the ride and sure enough he told me there was one on the golf ball that flies right at you. I made sure to pay attention and sure enough Sara and I saw it. I called him to let him know and could hear the smile on his face!

We couldn't be so close and NOT go to Disneyland so we headed that way.

We went straight to Tomorrowland and hopped on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters where I got my best score yet putting me into L5 Aw yeah!

My goal for the end of my trip was to find the boys the perfect souvenirs (besides some photo and video I took for them). After much searching and shopping here's what I found.

Two books for Disney's biggest fan, a pin collectors lanyards and a couple pins (the California Adventure one is from our honeymoon before it actually opened to the public!) and the new Disney dollars! I picked up the Disney dollars at guest services and they had just gotten the new ones in. The boys found one I had from 1991 so I thought it might be fun to start collecting them. They were a hit!

Obviously souvenirs will be different for each child but it was important for me to find them something that made them feel like I really thought about them while I was there.

Right now the parks are debuting Limited Time Magic which goes on all year, with weekly announcements made on www.disneyparksblog.com and www.limitedtimemagic.com. My boys are checking out all the announcements as they are made! If you are there on a limited time schedule be sure to check out what they are doing to see if you can squeeze it in!

So would you ever go to Disneyland without your kids?!

Disclosure: I was given a pass into Disneyland/California Adventure but was not required to write - all photos, opinions, and gushing are my own.

My Little Blogger

I've mentioned before that my 10 year old is obsessed with Disney! He loves learning how rides are made, the history, and any weird fact he can find. We bought him some books for Christmas and he's been reading them cover to cover! Here are 2 of the non-fiction ones we bought: Disney Trivia from the Vault and The Disneyland Encyclopedia

           

To save myself from hearing every. single. thing. he read I suggested maybe he write about it. We like to visit our friends' blog Disney in the Desert so we got together with them and he started his own little blog series! I'll add a link to the sidebar if you want to stay up to date with his posts!

You can read his first post HERE (I'm sure he'd love any comments as well or requests for facts!)

Do you encourage your kids' interests? Do you have any fun ways to encourage your kids to follow their passions?

Carsland!

As those of you on Facebook know we surprised the boys with a trip to DISNEYLAND!! I LOVE surprises like this. We had just sent off the last boy from a sleepover and were talking to the boys about what we should do that day. Dad suggested the fair and I said it was too crowded on the weekend. My oldest jokingly suggested "Fine then let's go to Disneyland" "Ok!" we said. And for the next 10 minutes we had to convince them that we weren't pulling their legs. I had to pull out the printed tickets to prove it haha! Guess we joke around with them too much huh?

So they packed, we packed, and we were on our way. We have family in southern California so there are no real arrangements to be made for where to stay other than who "gets" us this time. We arrived in time for dinner and bed so we could wake up bright and early.

Our first (and main) order of business for the day was Carsland at California Adventure! We have been talking about wanting to go since it first opened. We got a fast pass for Radiator Springs Racers when we first got into the park by reccomendation of others (and I'm SO glad we did!) then we stepped foot onto Route 66!

(You know I love to tell stories through my photos so here is our trip through our photos)

The first ride we came to was Mater's Junkyard Jamboree and the wait was very short. We hopped in line and listened to Mater serenade us with his amazing voice ;) We loved when he repeated the instructions in Spanish. His "accent" was hysterical.

Really cute/fun ride! The boys knew they wanted to eat something out of a cone and no one really had breakfast so we headed towards the Cozy Cone Motel.

Breakfast from a cone was pretty darn good! We got the bacon scrambled cone and the verde scrambled cone.

Since we had our fast pass we decided to hit up the other big rides at California Adventure while it was still early. California Screamin was next on our list.

I LOVE his face right before the ride started. I was able to capture it quick on my phone.

Then we went to one of my favorites Toy Story Mania. If you aren't familiar it's an interactive 3D ride where you get to play carnival type games and try to earn more points than your partner. For the official record I am the family champion.

We decided to head over to Disneyland and come back when it was time to use our fast pass!

I LOVE the nostalgic/magical/happy feeling I get when walking into Disneyland. Nothing like it! It was all decorated for Halloween which gives it that added Holiday feel.

 

To make it even better the castle already had snow on it! (If you go between November 12, 2012 and Jan 6, 2013 you'll have the pleasure of seeing the whole place decked out in Holiday cheer)

We went on so many rides here and I took the time to talk with the boys while we were in line. I love the time together we have on these trips and Disneyland is so fun for the boys that they don't bicker back and forth as usual lol!

A Disneyland tip - if you are celebrating while you're at the park (birthday, anniversary, honeymoon,  your first time) let a cast member know and they can tell you where to pick up a pin! The next day was his birthday so we got him one and people/characters all throughout the day will tell you Happy Birthday!

It was early afternoon and time to head back to California Adventure to finish our trip to Route 66! I was able to stop and get another photo of the 4 of us.

Walking down Route 66 the boys kept yelling out things they noticed - "Mom! look at this! Wait no look at this! Take a picture of this!" You really feel like you are in a different place. So cool!

Lightning McQueen! Look he's looking right at me!

Radiator Springs Racers was definitely all of our favorite rides. You get to drive/ride in a car through Route 66, get all cleaned up, and RACE through the desert against another car. It went faster than we thought and put a smile on all of our faces! (It helped that we won) ;)

A snack is much needed in the afternoon.

At this point my little one started seeming "off" to me. Not because of his weird face but he started getting quieter. I asked him if he was ok and he said his head was really hurting so I set off in search for some children's pain meds. (Bad Mom for not having some with me) The staff at First Aid were super nice and helpful and had just what we needed. 

We started moving a lot slower at this point so rides that we could sit for a bit were good. Luigi's Flying Tires was a fun interactive bumper car sort of ride where the tires are floating on air and you steer by leaning in the direction you want to go.

We enjoyed more of California Adventure and headed back to Carsland one more time as it turned dark. It really lights up and has new life at night!

Then my little man really pooped out. He started to feel warm and I had to convince him that it was ok for him to say he was ready to go home. An 8 year olds worst nightmare - leaving Disneyland and California Adventure at 7:30pm when you wanted to stay all night. Poor guy.

We said "See you next time" to Carsland and headed back.

One thing I truly LOVE about Disney is their hard work and willingness to make your trip special even with special needs. I can't eat gluten and often just plan on having my own food on hand (which sometimes isn't fun when everyone else around you has fun new food to eat). Disneyland has amazing food intolerance/allergy policies. You can get a list of what's available at Guest Services or talk to a head chef at each restaurant location.

The chefs will prepare your meal themselves and bring it out seperately. Everyone is so happy to help and you NEVER feel like you're a burden or a "pain" because you have a special request. I've rarely experienced the awesome treatment you get at the Disney parks anywhere else. I can't say enough good things about vacationing with Disney and food intolerances/allergies. 

Is it obvious that we are huge Disney fans?! We will for sure be back (hopefully sometime soon!) If you're thinking of going soon take advantage of the holiday events and be sure to share your adventures with me!

Anyone else big Disney fans? What's your favorite ride?! My top rides are Tower of Terror, Radiator Springs Racers, Toy Story Mania, Star Tours, and Big Thunder Mountain! (ok I picked more than one)

Disclosure: I was given 2 media passes to the Disneyland Park and California Adventure but was not required to post or was compensated in any other way. All opinions are my own and our love for Disney is geniune ;)