This week on the Disney Parks Blog, some of my favorite photos came from the Norway Pavilion at Epcot, which just had its 25th anniversary. If you haven’t seen them, don’t miss the gallery below, which was snapped by Disney photographer Gene Duncan.

Not to be outdone, Disneyland Resort photographer Paul Hiffmeyer also showed off some amazing nighttime images of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. Have you visited Radiator Springs yet?

Be sure to check out the gallery below for more images of our week at Disney Parks.

Tagged: DCA, DLR, Gallery, Photography, WDW

Filed: Disney California Adventure Park, Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort

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

Just seconds ago, a 180-foot-tall Mike Wazowski from the upcoming Disney●Pixar film “Monsters University” made the official announcement that we’re keeping three theme parks open for 24 hours on Memorial Day Weekend, the traditional start of the family travel season, to kick off a Monstrous Summer on both coasts. Wazowski, the loveable green-bodied, one-eyed monster, joins best pal James P. Sullivan (“Sulley”) in the prequel to “Monsters, Inc.”, this summer as college students with hopes of becoming Scarers.

Our first-ever, three-park all-night party is happening at the Magic Kingdom Park in Florida and Disneyland park and Disney California Adventure park in California. The parks will stay open from 6 a.m., May 24 to 6 a.m., May 25, 2013, local time.

• In Florida, Magic Kingdom Park will feature a “Monsters University” theme where Mike and Sulley will be the Grand Marshals of the “Celebrate a Dream Come True” day parade and make appearances in Tomorrowland. There will be extra entertainment throughout the day and night, including characters in their pajamas in Town Square during the late night and early morning, and late-night dance parties in and around the courtyard of Cinderella Castle.
• In California, you’ll be able to party the night away at both parks with special entertainment including: a “Monsters University” “TLT Monstrous” Dance Club and Star Wars characters in Tomorrowland and late-night Character Pajama Party in Mickey’s ToonTown at Disneyland park. The new Fantasy Faire Royal Theatre at Disneyland park will become a Royal Dance Hall late at night with a live band and dancing; and guests of Disney California Adventure park will find Monstrous photo opportunities with new “Monsters University” “Dorms” in Hollywood Land and a new “Monsters University” float leading the Pixar Play Parade.

Tonight, the huge sphere of Spaceship Earth was transformed from Disney Parks icon to Disney●Pixar “Eye-con” for the announcement.

Walt Disney World Resort President George Kalogridis joined Mike to share the news of the Monstrous Summer. “This summer, Disney Parks are bursting with a monstrous lineup of new thrills, shows and happenings,” he said. “Guests can start Memorial Day Weekend with a 24-hour-marathon of memory-making as three parks stay open all day and all night to celebrate the bi-coastal kick-off of our Disney Parks Monstrous Summer.”

All three parks will feature limited-edition specialty merchandise and food and beverage offerings plus other surprises throughout the entire day. Keep an eye on the Disney Parks Blog and the Monstrous Summer site for more details in coming weeks.

Tagged: DCA, DL, DLR, Limited Time Magic, MK, Video, WDW

Filed: Disneyland Resort, Special Events, 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