Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort

Today is the first full day of Autumn and last weekend HalloweenTime began at the Disneyland Resort. At Disneyland, this means the return of Haunted Mansion Holiday with new effects and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy with the same cool effects from last year.

Fireworks will be presented weekends but the Halloween Screams fireworks show that debuted last year, will be presented this year only during the Mickey's Halloween Party, which is featured at Disneyland this year and is a separate ticketed event. 

Due to construction at DCA, Disneyland received the vast majority of decorations for Halloween this year. Main Street has never before had so many jack-o-lanterns and just about every other land in the park feature a Halloween display.

HalloweenTime is lasting a full six weeks this year and will likely continue to grow in the years to come.

Self Serve Stroller Rental

From DisneyParks blog:

The Disneyland Resort has made stroller rental easy.  There are now four self-service stroller rental kiosks at the Stroller and Wheelchair rental booth in the Esplanade, located just to the right of the Disneyland entrance.
It's easy to use, just bring a credit card, go to a kiosk, select your language (English or Spanish) and rent up to five strollers for up to six days.

See you there.

World of Color at Disney California Adventure

The premiere of Disney World of Color took place on June 11th. I don't think I can properly describe or rave enough about the amazing and beautiful show. World of Color is Disney California Adventure's newest attraction and it will definitely not disappoint! The new water show is made up of different color lights, your favorite Disney characters and the most incredible music.

The show features 1200, new animation projected on one of the world's larges projection screens and which is 380 ft by 50 ft high. It is an incredible show to watch and one that the entire family will love. The show features some of my favorite  Disney characters such as Wall-E, the gang from Toy Story and The Little Mermaid. My kiddos were able to watch the streaming podcast from the premiere and they haven't stopped talking about and are looking forward to watching it in person!

There are a couple of ways to watch the show. The first is to pick up a FASTPASS at Grizzly River Rapids. If you are planning to watch the show this way, make sure to get your fast pass early, because there are limited tickets available and they will run out fast.

The second and in my opinion the best way, because you can take care of two things at once, is to order a picnic lunch with comes with reserved viewing. Picnic meals are $14.99 and include dessert and choice of beverage. Children's meals include a Souvenir World of Color light-up bracelet. Pick up orders or purchase picnic meals at the Sonoma Terrace between 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. You can order your picnic lunches up to 30 days in advanced. Annual Pass holders will receive an additional discount. To order your meals head over here.

The third option and one that we hope to try out next week is to receive preferred  viewing from Ariel's Grotto or Wine Country Trattoria. There will be two seatings. One for the first show from 4pm to 7pm for the first show and from 7:05pm to 830 for the second show. Reservations can be made by callingcall (714) 781-DINE or (714) 781-3463.

The show is 25 minutes long and show times vary each day. For example there are two shows scheduled for today, one at 9pm and one at 10:15pm. To check the schedule, make sure to visit the daily calendar by clicking here.

Since opening, the show has also announced 11:15 PM performances which following the park's extended closing hours of 11 PM.  A Fastpass is also needed for the 11:15 PM performance.

New Tram? - Wordless Wednesday

Spotted this new style of Tram car at Disneyland Resort ...

World of Color Premieres June 11, 2010 at DCA

“World of Color” debuts this year at Disney's California Adventure as part of “Summer Nightastic!” (the resort's summer nighttime entertainment lineup) which includes Disney fan favorites Fantasmic! and "Magical" fireworks. “Summer Nightastic!” will run from June 11 through August 29. “World of Color” will continue entertaining guests year-round at Paradise Bay.

Kids And Mice will have a review posted for you prior to the big public debut.  Stay tuned for details!

Finding Nemo Ride Waterfall at Night - Wordless Wednesday

A gorgeous night time picture of the waterfall coming out of the Finding Nemo Submarine ride at Disneyland...

Strollers at the Disneyland Resort

There is now a central stroller location found just to the right of the main entrance to Disneyland.  This now allows you to rent your stroller before entering either Disneyland or DCA. You can pay at the rental locations or at the ticket booths when you buy your passports.

There are many benefits to renting a stroller. It can be difficult to get on and off the tram with your own stroller or you may not wish to bring your expensive carrier to the parks. Disneyland's strollers are very easy to maneuver and you don't have to worry about it getting stolen. If your stroller is taken, you can get a new one free of charge just by showing your receipt.

Remember that regardless if you are renting or using your own stroller, use a type of marker to easily identify it in a crowd of strollers, such as tying a ribbon around the handle. Disney will provide you a name card to place on the roof of your rented stroller. Since many strollers are similar, the ribbon will make yours easily visible, and also keep someone else from mistaking it as their own. We experienced this with the popular Winnie the Pooh umbrella stroller sold at Target stores.