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Hello everyone,
Welcome to part four of my grand circle tour of the Magic Kingdoms of the world. In this part we will take an in-depth look at Fantasyland. In case you missed the previous three parts of this tour, you can find them here:
This article features many
photos, so be prepared if you are on a slower internet connection. This is going to be the longest of any of the parts in this tour, since Fantasyland at all the parks contains the highest number of attractions and other experiences, compared to any other land.
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Hello everyone,
Fourteen years ago today, the then-named Disney's California Adventure Park opened its doors for the first time. Since then, the park has undergone huge changes, eliminating entire lands and building new ones from scratch. It has probably undergone the largest transformation in the past 5 years alone than most parks have in their entire lifespans. Disney California Adventure, as it is today, is a tribute to the unending dream of Walt Disney, to keep moving forward and to continue to bring joy to people all around the world.
Let's take a look back at some of our favourite moments from the park over the years.
Happy 14th anniversary Disney California Adventure!
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Last weekend we were in Disneyland to see the end of their holiday offerings and the start of Frozen Fun.
This post is photo heavy so be warned if you have a slow connection speed!
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Hello everyone,
First of all I must apologise for the large gap between this post and the previous one in this series. We have had a huge amount of things happen in real life, and writing a large post like this unfortunately had to go on the back burner for a while. However, we are here now, and I am excited to finally present to you the third installment of our “Grand Circle Tour”, this time for Frontierland (and all its equivalents). In case you missed the previous parts, here they are again:
Part 1 - Main Street USA
Part 2 - Adventureland
In this edition I will be including Critter Country, Grizzly Gulch and Liberty Square at the various parks around the world. The reason for this is that they all share a common theme of the frontier and wilderness, and also because otherwise there would be nothing else to compare them to (for example, since there is only one Grizzly Gulch, that wouldn’t make for a very interesting article!).
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 | Happy 87th Birthday Oswald the Lucky Rabbit! | |
| DisneyDan
Friday, September 5, 2014 6:45:02 AM |
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Hello everyone,
Today, 5th September, is the 87th anniversary of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's debut in the United States.
As we all know, sadly, Oswald was lost by Disney for many years due to an unfortunate set of circumstances. However, he was returned to the Walt Disney Company in 2006 thanks to Bob Iger, and has since found his permanent home at Tokyo DisneySea's American Waterfront. In nine days time Oswald will finally come home to the US when he makes his first ever greeting debut at Walt Disney's original Disneyland Resort, on Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure. Buena Vista Street is the perfect place for Oswald, as it is a monumental tribute to the early days of Walt Disney's career and his arrival in Hollywood.
We can't wait to meet Oswald on Buena Vista Street, but we have met him in Tokyo, and so I want to share some of our pictures from our trip there in May (below). You can check out our dedicated Oswald the Lucky page that has many more pictures, here.
Happy Birthday Oswald!
Dan.
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Hello everyone,
In part 1 of our grand circle tour of the world's Magic Kingdoms, we toured Main Street USA and World Bazaar.
In this second part we are going to adventure into the depths of Adventureland. For reasons that will become clear later, I'll also be including New Orleans Square in this tour.
Before we begin, I just want to clarify the usage of certain names in this article. Some of you may dislike the fact I refer to each park by its location, but please bear in mind that when referring to “Disneyland”, there are actually four parks that carry that name in one way or another, and while I could type “Tokyo Disneyland”, for example, each time, it would be very time consuming. So, to avoid confusion, for the most part I will simply refer to each park by their physical location, to avoid any confusion (for example, Paris, for Disneyland Paris).
Throughout this tour you will also discover that not everywhere has a comparable experience in the other Magic Kingdom style parks, but in fact sometimes lie in other parks. Although we are comparing Adventureland overall, you will find that I throw in other parks too, where necessary, in order to show the comparable experiences.
There are many, many photos in this article, so be warned, it might take a few minutes to fully load! [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
I'm starting a new series here on the blog in which I aim to share my thoughts and experiences of the different lands of the Magic Kingdom style parks around the world. Think of it as the ultimate "grand circle tour of the Magic Kingdom", to coin a classic phrase!
Of course, there will be many, many photos, so be warned, this post might take a while to load!
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 | Happy 59th Birthday Disneyland! | |
| DisneyDan
Thursday, July 17, 2014 11:52:47 AM |
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Hello everyone,
Today (17th July) is the 59th anniversary of the grand opening of the original Disney theme park, Disneyland in Anaheim, California!
For a change, for my photo tribute, I thought I'd share with you non-character pictures. Let's celebrate and enjoy the beauty of the park itself!
Happy 59th Birthday Disneyland!
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
This week's restaurant review is of Chip 'n' Dale Critter Breakfast at Storyteller's Cafe, at the Disneyland Resort in California.
The restaurant is located inside Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and Spa, and can be accessed either via the hotel main entrance, the private entrance from Disney California Adventure, or by the entrance from Downtown Disney.
The Chip 'n' Dale Critter Breakfast is one of our favourite character dining experiences at any resort, and is a must-do on any trip to California, for us.
The food is served buffet style, but there are menu options available, if you wish. The buffet though has an excellent variety, and includes fruit, waffles, hot food (sausages, eggs etc), and made-to-order omelettes. It should be noted that the Mickey waffles are not on the buffet, but can be ordered through your server at no extra cost.
The food is always fresh and the hot food is always hot, which may sound like a strange thing to say, but you'd be surprised at how many buffets I've eaten at where the food is left to go cold.
The setting and theme of the restaurant is really quite nice. There are two large dining areas, separated by the buffet in the centre.
The restaurant is designed to depict the great tales told by wise folk, and represents their stories and journeys. The restaurant continues the great American mountain lodge theme, has a very natural, earthy feel to it, and is decorated with pictures of great storytellers and adventurers.
The Characters will rotate between both dining areas, and are usually on alternating half hour sets. Seeing as it is Chip 'n' Dale's Critter Breakfast, you can nearly always guarantee that the naughty duo will be there. We have always seen them, and the breakfast is of course presented by them, but I do have good friends who ate there one time and Chip and Dale were not present! I think that is most definitely odd, and an exception to the norm.
Other characters you will find regularly include Koda, Kenai, Br'er Bear, Br'er Fox, Meeko - all of whom fit the theme nicely - and bizarrely, Terk. I'm not exactly sure how an African gorilla fits with a Northern Californian themed critter breakfast, but nonetheless, Terk is in attendance nearly every time we visit!
The excellent variety of food, the great food quality and the character interactions really make for a truly wonderful breakfast to start your day in Disneyland. A magical experience that I definitely recommend.
Breakfast hours are nearly always 7am-11.25am daily. Reservations are recommended, and can be made by calling (714) 781-3463 up to 60 days prior to your visit, by clicking on the official Disneyland Resort website, by visiting guest relations at either theme park, or directly at the restaurant itself.
Prices start at $27.99 plus tax for an adult buffet, or $13.99 plus tax for children aged nine and under. All other options and drinks are extra. The full menu is available on the Disneyland Resort website. Annual Passholders receive a maximum of 15% off the total, depending on which AP they have.
It should be noted that Storyteller's Cafe does offer lunch and dinner, but these are not character dining experiences, and we have not experienced them, as of yet.
You can leave your comments and ask questions by clicking here and being magically transported to our forums.
Dan.
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Hello everyone,
Apologies for the long gap between blog posts again, but if you follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram or Twitter, you'll know that we were in Disneyland Paris last week for their Halloween Season.
You can check out my album of pictures I uploaded yesterday to Facebook, here. You can also go through our wall photos to see what we uploaded live while we were away!
The big news yesterday was that Mickey Mouse has now taken the bold step of talking live to guests who visit him at Town Square Theater in the Magic Kingdom! Up until now, Mickey has only ever spoken live during shows and parades, and has made rare appearances at his meet 'n' greet location, which have always been unannounced. But, now, you can meet him daily at the the Magic Kingdom in his dapper new magicians outfit, and talk directly to the Big cheese himself!
Our friends at the Unofficial Disney Character Hunting Guide have already met him, and uploaded this video (click link to view on their Facebook page).
Staying with Walt Disney World, and today Anna and Elsa, characters from Disney's brand new movie 'Frozen' began greeting guests at Hollywood Studios!
This is the very first time they have met guests publicly. You can check out a photo of them on the Where Magic Lives Facebook page.
Jumping across the county to California, and rather suddenly, the popular show Minnie's Fly Girls, at Disney California Adventure ended last week. As far as fans are aware, there was no real reason given, it just happened! It was a fun show, and certainly brought some energy to the Condor Flats area of the park.
I have been really busy lately, and haven't updated the website as much as I would have liked to, but I have ten days off from this Friday, so next week I hope to make a lot of updates, refresh a bunch of pages, and if all goes to plan, officially launch the third in our excellent Trip Planner series - this time for California! When it's launched I'll make an announcement on Facebook and Twitter, so watch out for that!
Ok, I think that's everything for this evening. Have a good week everyone.
Dan.
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