My Year With The Mouse

There’s always so many miscellaneous pictures that hang around while I photograph the park. Lot of exciting stuff this summer!

And the walls came a'tumblin' down

This summer is going to be an amazing one for the Disneyland Resort. Cars Land opens, which will be incredible. I can’t wait to report on that for you! Also opening is Buena Vista Street at the entrance to California Adventure, similar to Main Street except themed to represent what Los Angeles looked like in the 20s when Walt arrived with a suitcase and a dream. I’m particularly looking forward to a street show similar to “Newsies” on Broadway.

Exciting times, my friends. Exciting times.

And you know what’s great about construction at CA Adventure?

Secret exits!

Lights! Shiny!

You currently exit out into Downtown Disney instead of the Esplanade, which is super-convenient if you’re going home, but not really so much if you want to go back to Disneyland. Still…

No, I'll be seeing YOU!

Doing some pick-up back in the Animation building, the rotunda has these amazing giant screens which cycle through various movies.

Like Up!

For realz people, I LOVE Up! It’s a great movie, but the dogs are worth the price of admission (well, rental) alone. Dug pretty much speaks for all dogs. If you’ve ever wondered what’s going on in your dog’s head, definitely watch– SQUIRREL!!!!!

Casey Jr. comin' round the track, comin' round the track, Casey Jr.'s back

Dumbo! Casey Jr. holds a special place in our hearts, not only because he’s a train and all trains hold special places in our hearts (except Thomas for me, I can’t stand him), but because Casey Jr. was the first ride Theo ever rode at Disneyland.

It's like Thomas except significantly more awesome

I can’t remember exactly why we chose Casey Jr. I think it had to do with it being a train and easy to sit in or something, and we forgot that there’s a part of it that actually goes kind of fast. But anyway, there ya go.

Oh, also? How adorable is this???

My favorite Disney animated movie of all time is The Lion King.

This is not, however, the cheeriest part of the movie

I can’t say exactly why it’s my favorite. I mean, it’s a great movie all by itself, but I think that’s also coupled with the fact that the year it came out was one of the best summers of my entire life, and I have so many good memories wrapped up in this movie.

Also, it’s just an awesome movie.

And Theo wasn’t at all afraid of the whole Scar scenes like the above. So maybe it’s time to show it to him? He enjoyed both Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid.

But then again, he found Ratatouille to be EXTREMELY upsetting. Go figure.

You've got a friend in me

Another thing I love is the concept art that shows up on various screens. I’ll admit it–I’m a sucker for concept art. I find it endlessly fascinating, how ideas get transferred from sketches to the big screen.

Plus Toy Story is awesome. Theo has watched Toy Story 1 and 2 and loved both (he calls them “Woody Buzz”) but we’re holding off on #3 due to the fire scene. Because this is the kid who’s afraid of Pixar-animated rats.

Anyway, Theo found the entire rotunda to be extremely fascinating.

Whoa!

It even kept him occupied for a full 2 minutes, and THAT is an accomplishment.