The Silent "I"

Aulani Resort & Spa: The Disney is in the Details

I had the opportunity to visit Disney's new Hawaiian Resort & Spa, Aulani last week.  It is a gorgeous resort that was much more Hawaiian than Disney, but a little Disney magic thrown in for good measure.  The decor and ambience pays homage to the Hawaiian culture, without being over-the-top or kistchy. There isn't a tiki bar in sight (which is not authentically Hawaiian anyway), nor is there an anthropomorphized animal wearing a grass skirt and doing the hula at every turn.  Instead, it's a restful, rejuvenating place where familes can relax and have fun, while learning a little about Hawaiian culture along the way.

 

The standard room with two queen-sized beds is big enough for a family of three or four to enjoy without tripping over themselves. There was a folding crib in the closet and an empty mini-fridge that you could fill up with your own snacks and drinks. Each room comes equipped with a DVD player, so you can bring along your favorite Disney movies to enjoy when you need a little down-time. It's those little touches that make this family-friendly resort even more friendly to families traveling with small kids.

The decor is fairly simple, with accents of koa wood, batik-style prints, and Hawaiian quilt patterns.  The only noticeable Disney reference was a cute Mickey Mouse lamp, carved out of wood and distressed to blend in with the rest of the room's Hawaii-centric theme.  It reminded me more of upscale version of the Volcano National Park Lodge than the Disneyland Hotel.

My room had a balcony with a "partial ocean view", meaning the ocean was right behind the parking lot.  Luckily, the room was on a higher floor, so the view of mountains and ocean were not obstructed when I sat out on the balcony.

As if Hawaii itself were not enough, the main attraction of the resort is the incredible pool/waterpark within the resort itself. Fashioned to look like lava tube structures, the xxx square foot pool features a giant slide through the rock structures, a climbing structure and a "lazy river" where you can float around in a large innertube.

Disney Aulani Resort: A Very Disney Sunset

I'm in Hawaii this week, attending the opening of the Disney Aulani Resort.  As if on cue, the first night fell with a gorgeous sunset on Oahu's northwest shore.  The colors were spectacular, and I could swear I could see a hidden Mickey in the clouds.  More on this adventure later, but I had to share a little bit of Disney magic, Hawaiian style.

Disclosure: Disney Parks & Resorts paid for my airfare and accommodations to attend this event.  I did not receive any compensation for writing this review, or payment in exchange for posting.  The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of the Walt Disney Company or any of its affiliates.

Disneyland's New Soundsational Parade

Disneyland's new Mickey's Soundsational Parade down Main Street litterally takes off with a bang...of drums played by a rocking drumline, and then the Mouse himself. Part of our press tour last week involved some excellent viewing of the new spectacle.  Mombloggers Ana from Finding Bonggamom, Charlene and Liling from Trekaroo, Akemi from Chalk & Cheese Chronicle, and  Colleen from Travel Mamas were all on hand with me and hundreds of other members of the media to take in the sights and sounds. We could hear the drums coming long before they reached our vantage point across from the train station. 

When the drums finally made it our way, they were keeping a funky beat to an old classic, the theme from "The Mickey Mouse Club."  For some reason, I thought Mickey would be at the end of the parade, kind of like the arrival of Santa at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Instead, the Mouse in Charge followed the drummers on his own float, and showed his talent as a drummer.  Who knew Mickey could even hold drumsticks? Not me, that's for sure.

Ariel's Undersea Adventure: The Little Mermaid Comes to Life

Attention all "Little Mermaid" Fans: There's a new ride in town with your name on it.  It's called "Ariel's Undersea Adventure" and is a colorful, musical extravaganza located in Disney's California Adventure.  I was one of the lucky members of the media invited to the grand opening last week, and got to experience it first-hand.

The ride opened with a great deal of fanfare, with a live musical performance by some talented Disney Cast Members and special guests, including composer Alan Menken. 

The original voice of Ariel herself, Jodi Benson, was on hand to sing "Part of Your World", and honestly, she doesn't seemed to have aged a bit since the movie opened 22 years ago.  Pat Carroll, the original voice of Ursula the Sea Witch was in the audience.  Broadway Star Sherie Rene Scott was on hand to sing Ursula's famous number, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and later joined Jodi for a duet. Sherie portrayed Ursula in the Broadway production, and she is a fantastic singer.  It was like a mini-musical highlighting music from both the movie and the ride.

Disneyland's Star Tours: New and Improved

On June 3, Disneyland unveiled the newly refurbished Star Tours attraction. We were fortunate enough to be sponsored to attend the media events surrounding Star Tours, Ariel's Undersea Adventure, and the new Soundsational Summer Parade by the folks at Disney Parks & Resorts.  For my 10 year old son, Alex, getting to ride the 3-D Star Tours attraction until it literally made him nauseous was a dream come true.  It's a wonderful, fun-filled ride that will delight the Star Wars die-hards like Alex and the Star Wars skeptics like myself.

When the ride officially opened on Friday, the line to get in at 9:00 am was like nothing I have never seen before.  At 9:00 am,  it hadn't even opened and the line was four hours or more long.  These were the true Star Wars afficianados, who came to the park just for this ride, many carrying light sabres and in costume. There was also a huge crowd of onlookers gaping at the crowd in line, most of whom had no idea what was going on.  There were no FastPasses available for opening day, but I understand that they will be available later.

 
The ride opened with a bang, with a press-only "Opening Ceremony" done in true Disney/Hollywood fashion. Tour Guide Angela welcomed everyone to the opening, including a few Jedi, Stormtroopers, and the dastardly Darth Vader.  There was only one ticket left, and both the Empire and the Jedi wanted the seat.  A light sabre duel ensued, with the bad guys being dispatched by a hooded figure, who was later revealed to be Disney Parks & Resorts CEO, Tom Skaggs. Fortunately, no lives or limbs were lost in the fight, and good prevailed over evil. With a little razzle-dazzle and some pyrotechnics, Skaggs cut the ribbon and declared the ride open.

Disney Wonder Comes to San Francisco

For the first time ever, the Disney Cruise Lines fabulous Disney Wonder arrived in San Francisco, en route to Vancouver.  The ship was on a repositioning cruise, moving from it's southern base in Los Angeles up to Vancouver for its maiden Alaska voyage in May.  Several of my favorite fellow mombloggers and I got to spend some time aboard the Disney Wonder on Friday afternoon, while most of the passengers were off exploring San Francisco.  Kimberley from Tippy Toes & Tantrums, Ana from Finding Bonggamom, and Whitney from Rookie Moms were all along for a special press tour and luncheon.

Each Disney ship features a character statue at the main floor landing, and Arielle is the star of the show on the Disney Wonder.  Ana was nice enough to pose with her. The ship, like Disneyland and Disneyworld, featured themes in every restaurant, hallway, and common area.

I really loved the giant Dale Chihuly blown glass sculpture hanging over the main atrium in the ship.  It was like hundreds of giant technicolor blue and gold poppies hanging from the ceiling.

Halloween at Disneyland

Our family was treated to a preview of Disneyland's Halloween Time festivities a few weeks ago by the Disney PR team.  I've been so busy with school plays, two jobs, and refilling the soap dispensers in our house that I haven't had a chance to share some of our photos and some of the fun things that lie in store for October Disneyland visitors.  Ok, that last part is a lie, because the hand soap dispensers are still empty, but you get the drift. Love Disney. Busy life. No blog time.

We drove down to LA from the San Francisco Bay Area this time around, and arrived at the Disney Grand Californian just in time for...a scheduled power outage.  We arrived at the witching hour (midnight) and were greeted by spooky bellmen carrying flashlights.  I guess they weren't realy that spooky, but when you drive  up to that big hotel and almost all the lights are out, it's a little scary.  The bellmen assured  us that there was nothing to be alarmed about, but that every year they check all the circuits in the hotel (to avoid a real power outage.  Surprise! we happened to arrive just as it was starting. 

The hotel was dark, lit only by the ghostly chartreuse glow sticks positioned around the huge lobby.  The computers and elevators were working, so we were able to check in, but it was a little unnerving.  I couldn't help thinking that they might consider making this part of the Halloween package, a sort of haunted hotel deal. Alex thought that brushing his teeth by the light of the glowsticks was big fun.  The only part I didn't like was being awakened when the lights and radio came on at 3:30 in the morning, signaling the end of the blackout.  Of course, Frank and Alex slept throught the whole thing, so I got up to turn out the lights.

A visit from Cruella De Vil

Posted via email from glennia's posterous

this weekend, we were invited to a special media event at Disneyland in Anaheim.  At Disneyland, we did a special meet & greet with Cruella De Vil and the Evil Queen from Snow White. Both were campaigning hard for Disney's online contest for "Favorite Villain".  You can vote for your favorite, or I should say, least favorite villain of all time on the Disney website.

More about our trip to Disneyland and the special Halloween activities later.

Disclosure: We received complimentary passes, some meals, and one night of accomodations from Disney to attend this special event.  I received no additional compensation for this or any posts on this blog regarding Disney theme parks or products.  Opinions expressed herein are solely mine and do not reflect the opinions or policies of the Walt Disney Company or its affiliates.

Disney World of Color Road Show: SF, Sacramento, San Diego & LA Play Host to Disney Marvel

Last week, some local mombloggers and I were treated to a very special Disney show in San Francisco.  For a few hours that night, the historic Legion of Honor was transformed from it's normal ornate facade into everything from a Mayan temple to a Chinese Pagoda to a techno-marvel that looked like a giant motherboard.  How? Through some lights, cameras and a little Disney magic.

The World of Color Road Show is traveling to four cities in California (San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento and Los Angeles) to promote the wonderful World of Color light and water show at Disney California Adventure.  The Road Show doesn't have the fire and water, but it does transform a landmark building into a marvel of light and color.  The show runs 12 minutes, and has a different theme for each city.  San Francisco's theme was "Love".

July 15-18, SACRAMENTO:  The theme is "Nature" with forest and garden scenes from such films as “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Pocahontas,” “Bambi” and “Alice in Wonderland.”  The show will be presented in historic Old Sacramento, and webcast live from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. each evening.

July 22-25, SAN DIEGO: “Water” is the theme, with scenes from “The Little Mermaid,” “Finding Nemo” and others projected onto the U.S.S. Midway Museum at Navy Pier.

July 31-August 1, LOS ANGELES:  Check out "Sky", featuring scenes from such classic Disney films as "Alladin" and "Fantasia", projected onto the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles.

Each show features a live online presentation that is repeated continuously from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Check out these fine Bay Area blogs for more information on the World of Color Road Show and the World of Color show at Disney California Adventure:

• Xiaolinmama
• Tippytoes & Tantrums
• Who's the Boss? (excellent tips on how to get a good spot at the Disney California Adventure World of Color show)
• Techmamas
  

Hotel Review: Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

 

While I was attending the Disney World of Color event last week, I had the opportunity to stay at the Disney Grand Californian Hotel and Spa.  Disney paid for my accommodations, and I was thrilled to have a chance to check out the hotel.  I was assigned to a small suite with a park view.  The desk clerk warned me that it might seem kind of odd for a single guest to have a set of bunkbeds in her room, but this was considered an upgrade, so I didn't object.

The hotel reminded me of the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone, a kind of throwback to the 1940's lodge experience.  I loved the details in the decor, from the Arts & Crafts style lantern lamps to the wood silhouettes in the headboard.  With a fastidious attention to detail, the Grand Californian seems to be a little slice of a bygone era, with all the conveniences of the 21st Century.