Disney Sundays

Meet the Cubs – Disneynature’s Bears

Tomorrow, Disneynature’s newest film, Bears opens everywhere. This was the first Disneynature film shot in America, as they filmed it entirely in Alaska.  It follows the story of a year as a mother and her cubs get through life and prepare for next winter’s hibernation.  The film is rated G and has some moments of drama and some bear fights, but it is generally safe for all ages.

bears

Here are some fun bear facts:

  • Katmai National Park and Preserve, where the movie was filmed,  is home to an estimated 2,000 brown bears who are attracted to the abundance of salmon — there are five species of Pacific salmon in Katmai, including sockeye, or red salmon.
  • The brown bears that live in Katmai eat a variety of food (while waiting for the coveted salmon run). Bears snack on sedge grass, use their claws to pry open clams and other shellfish, munch on mussels and in late summer, will dine on ripe berries.
  • A brown bear’s home range can span 100 square miles.

 bears2

In collaboration with Disneynature’s work for worldwide conservationism, the program SEE “BEARS,” PROTECT OUR NATIONAL PARKS invites moviegoers to see the film during opening week (April 18-24, 2014) and Disneynature, via the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, will make a contribution to the National Park Foundation , the official charity of America’s national parks, to protect wildlife and wild places across America’s national park system.  So go this weekend and see this wonderful film.

 

#MeetTheCubs

#DisneynatureBears

Disney Sunday: Make your own Pizza

 

Last week I met up with my friend and her son for a playdate at Disney’s California Adventure. We decided to have an early dinner and headed for Storytellers Cafe at the Grand Californian Hotel.

I love when we have dinner there, because it means free valet for 5 hours. We called ahead, made reservations and enjoyed a few rides before we headed to dinner.  We’ve had dinner there before but never noticed that their children’s menu, had a special make your own pizza entree.  You can either have the chef make your own pizza or you can have the kiddos make it themselves.  My son was thrilled with the idea of making his own pizza and being a “chef”!

It was a fun process. They bring out the dough, cheese and pepperoni in a big Mickey shaped tray. My son had a great time assembling his pizza! He loved the entire process and ate his pizza right up.

It’s a fun and reasonably priced treat. I believe the Make your own pizza entree is $7.99 and comes with a side of fruit and a drink.  If you have an annual pass save even more with your discount!

If you are looking for a special treat at the resort, you might want to give this special treat a try. For additional info head here.

Holidays at the Disneyland Resort

I love the holidays and this time of year.  The holidays aren’t the holidays without a visit or two  to  the Disneyland Resort.  I love Disneyland at Christmastime. It truly is my favorite time to visit and experience the magic of the holidays Disney style!

We had the opportunity to visit last Saturday for a special mom blogger preview of the resort decked out for the holidays. I’m not kidding when I say that every year it gets better! There are decorations everywhere. The park is absolutely breathtaking during the holidays.

One of our family’s Christmas traditions is to head over the park at least once during the season and watch the Christmas parade. We pick a spot near small world, pack a snack and watch the very fun parade.  This year I paid close attention to my daughter who was absolutely awestruck watching her favorite characters and Santa of course! We enjoyed every minute of it and can’t wait to head back this week to watch it again.

After we finished watching the parade we headed over to Big Thunder Ranch that is transformed into Santa’s Reindeer Roundup. You can head over to see Santa’s reindeer close up, color, create a craft and of course visit Santa himself! It was a hot day and we enjoyed being able to sit down, relax, color, enjoy the atmosphere and course take a picture with Santa!

I think Santa’s Reindeer Round Up is a hidden gem that not many guests know about. Make sure that you bring your camera and take a picture with Santa. We even found out what my daughter wanted for Christmas, a panda pillow pet. I’m sure that Santa will make sure to deliver that Christmas  morning.

After catching Santa we couldn’t miss taking a ride on my favorite ride of all, especially during the holidays. Small World is just beautiful during the holidays. I could ride it over and over! The ride even smells like the holidays with gingerbread and peppermint smells in the air. We like to head over before the parade or fireworks to avoid a long line.

We then headed over to for a very special dinner at the Grand Californian and experienced many of the fun dishes served throughout the park. One must dessert this holiday season is the Gingerbread Mickey Mouse beignettes, that are found at Cafe Orleans. They are out of this world! We also were able to meet the newest character to the Disneyland Resort, Duffy the Bear. He is  a popular Disney character in Japan and you can now find him at California Adventure. My daughter and I both fell in love with him. He is absolutely adorable!

We ended our special day with a warm mug of hot chocolate watching the beautiful fireworks and the snow fall on Main Street. I am a bit of a wimp for admitting this but I couldn’t help but get teary eyed as the beautiful firework show ended, the castle was lit up in all it’s glory and the snow started falling down on Main Street. The snow  on Main Street and firework show has become part of our family’s Christmas tradition. We made many memories last week and I can’t wait to make more beautiful memories at Disneyland with my family soon. Make sure to take the family at least once this year! It is truly a memory making experience!