Picture this: You’re winding through Ornament Valley riding in a shiny, convertible race car. While taking in the desert scenery and after traveling through an archway, there it is – just to the right – Firewall Falls, the most beautiful waterfall in these here parts.

Well, at least that’s how I felt the first time I rode Radiator Springs Racers at night. It only seems fitting that Firewall Falls is the second waterfall featured in my series, “Waterfalls of the Disneyland Resort.”

Here are a few more photos I captured that morning before sunrise at Radiator Springs Racers. Check back for the next post in my waterfalls series.

Tagged: DCA, DLR, Photography

Filed: Disney California Adventure Park, Disneyland Resort

Opa! A Celebration of Greece kicks off May 25 with all sorts of fun at both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure parks. There’s live entertainment, line dancing, wine education and tasting seminars at Disney California Adventure park, Olympic training with Hercules at Disneyland park … but for us, it’s all about the food.

Each day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., activities at the festival center around “it’s a small world” Mall in Disneyland park and Paradise Gardens in Disney California Adventure park.

Authentic Greek tastes include thin flatbreads; a classic gyro, the Greek version of a quick-service sandwich with rotisserie meat and veggies; spanakopita swirl, a fun take on the traditional spinach pie; and melomakarona (meh-loh-mah-KAH-roh-nah), a delicious cookie with honey and walnuts. Look for the Greek goodies at Carnation Café, Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port and special carts in Disneyland park. At Disney California Adventure park, treats are at Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta, Paradise Garden Grill and special carts in Paradise Gardens.

At 8 p.m. on May 26, Executive Chef Christine Weissman and her team of chefs from Disneyland and Disney California Adventure parks will work alongside Greek celebrity Chef Argiro Barbarigou to creatively interpret her recipes at “Celebrate Greece: A Culinary Experience.” Greek winemaker Christina Boutari will join the chefs at the Golden Vine Winery in Disney California Adventure park for a four-course Greek dinner featuring cod croquettes with roasted beetroot, arugula and skordalia; salad with caramelized figs, walnuts, pomegranate and fresh goat cheese; tender braised osso buco; and a trio of Greek sweets for dessert. Reserved viewing for “World of Color” nighttime spectacular is included. Tickets are $150, including tax and gratuity (park admission separate). For reservations and tickets, click here.

Tagged: DCA, Dining, DL, DLR

Filed: Disney California Adventure Park, Disney Dining, Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort

It’s shaping up to be a Monstrous Summer at Disney Parks, with a colossal lineup of unforgettable experiences, including entertainment enhancements celebrating the newest Disney•Pixar animated feature, “Monsters University.”

 
Mike and Sulley are dropping in from MU to scare up fun all summer long. Some of the monstrous surprises in store include all-new, collegiate settings in which to meet your favorite aspiring scarers. On the Backlot at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you’ll find the Monsters University Student Union, complete with a view of the campus. Meanwhile, when Sulley and Mike step through the door to Disney California Adventure park, you’ll find them right outside the university dorms, recreated in Hollywood Land.

Also at Disney California Adventure park, Mike and Sulley show their MU spirit as they lead daily performances of the Pixar Play Parade, and at Magic Kingdom Park, you’ll chuckle along with the gang at the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, where they’ve been studying new jokes and are ready to graduate to new comedic bits in honor of their alma mater.

It may be summer vacation, but Monsters University will be in session all season at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts! The fun starts on May 24th!

Tagged: DCA, DHS, DLR, WDW

Filed: Disney California Adventure Park, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort

It’s easy to feel small in “a bug’s land” at Disney California Adventure park – especially after dark. The huge clovers rise up around you, illuminated from below. The Hollywood Tower Hotel looms in the distance, giving you the feeling that you’re just a little bug crawling through its front lawn. The lightning bugs lend a hand – or rather, a tail – lighting your path. Nighttime is an enchanting time in “a bug’s land,” but be careful. It’s a bug-eat-bug world out there, princess.

Tagged: DCA, DLR, Gallery

Filed: Disney California Adventure Park, Disneyland Resort

H2O, agua, eau – no matter how you say it, water plays a big role here at Disneyland Resort – and so do the many waterfalls.


I took these first two photos of Frog Jump Falls at Grizzly River Run in Disney California Adventure park from the bridge on the Grizzly Trail.

I took this photo at about 500 feet above Grizzly River Run, from a helicopter.

Do you have a favorite waterfall at the Disneyland Resort? Let me know which is your favorite in the comments, and it may show up in the next post in this series.

Tagged: DCA, DLR, Photography

Filed: Disney California Adventure Park, Disneyland Resort

Ten years ago today, Playhouse Disney: Live on Stage! opened at Disney California Adventure park, bringing some of our favorite Playhouse Disney friends to life each day. Then, in 2011, the show became Disney Junior – Live on Stage! with the addition of new characters and stories. Last month, the show received another update with all-new segments featuring characters and stories from hit Disney Junior shows “Doc McStuffins” and “Sofia the First.”

In the video below, you’ll hear about these new additions from Scott Silson, puppet master here at the Disneyland Resort. Together with his twin brother, James – who is puppet master at the Walt Disney World Resort as well as show director – they worked to blend the new characters into the existing show.

I first met James and Scott when we were all puppeteers at Legend of the Lion King at Magic Kingdom Park way back in 1998. But performing was in their blood long before that. Before working at Disney Parks, Scott and James traveled the country performing with their parents and their three younger siblings. Since being cast for the “Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends” show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, they have both gone on to perform numerous puppeteering roles and are now training others as puppet masters.

Tagged: DCA, DLR, Video

Filed: Disney California Adventure Park, Disneyland Resort

James Franco, star of Disney’s “Oz The Great and Powerful,” visited the Disneyland Resort last week and there was one thing he wanted to do that he’s never done before during his visits: get to know Walt Disney.

When I met up with him on Buena Vista Street he said he was really looking forward to his “Walk in Walt’s Disneyland Footsteps” Tour that day. James said he was inspired to learn more about Walt for a film production class he is teaching at the School of Cinematic Arts at USC.

What better place to start learning about one of the world’s greatest storytellers than right here?

Tagged: DCA, DLR

Filed: Celebrity Visits, Disney California Adventure Park, Disneyland Resort