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• The Kids from Slumdog Millionaire Go to Disneyland

  As countless winners before them have said, this celebrated group of kids from Mumbai got to declare proudly,  “I’m going to Disneyland!” The day after an ultra big win of eight Oscars for the film Slumdog Millionaire at this years award's, the kids who appeared in this sleeper hit were treated to a trip to someplace that is pert near the polar opposite of their home of Mumbai… Read More... Posted Feb 23 2009, 10:06 PM by SunnyChanel with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: academy awards, oscars, Disneyland, Mumbai, kids from Slumdog go to Disneyland, Slumdog Millionaire, Rubina Ali

• Love it or Hate It- Get Into Disneyland For Free

  Get into to Disneyland, yes Disneyland for FREE! Yeah, not much in this capitalistic world of ours doesn’t come without a price attached. But the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts behemoth will be starting a promotion in 2009 where if you go to one of their parks... Read More... Posted Sep 20 2008, 07:25 PM by SunnyChanel with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: travel, Disney World, los angeles, florida, Disneyland, family time

• Disneyland Doesn't Care What You Think Anymore

  Did Mickey Mouse blow off your kid during your family vacay in Disneyland?  Was your funnel cake undercooked?  Don't bother to look for those nifty comment cards at Guest Relations - as of the end of July, Disneyland stopped accepting comment cards or written complaints of any kind. Read More... Posted Aug 07 2008, 08:03 AM by Amy S.F. Lutz with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Disneyland, frivolous lawsuits, comment cards, customer service, guest relations

• Walt Disney World Says No Kids Allowed

  Walt Disney’s original vision for Disneyland and, thereafter Walt Disney World, was a simple one: to create a place that both parents and children could enjoy. Yet anyone who has visited either Disneyland or Disney World knows that there is a fatal flaw in that vision and now over 50 years after the opening of Disneyland Theme Park in Anaheim, CA The Walt Disney Company has taken the first steps towards removing the imperfection from what is otherwise the happiest place on earth: the children. Read More... Posted Jan 07 2008, 09:30 AM by makeitadouble with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: disney, Disneyland, victoria & albert's, children banned, no kids allowed, walt disney world

• Travels With Kids: Abroad Is Better Older

  Not that I'm bitter that the extent of my summer traveling was a seven-hour van ride to Disneyland: here's a nice piece on the pros and cons of traveling with kids. Most of the folks agreed that for any kind of big-deal, sightseeing vacation, you are better off waiting until the children are old enough to appreciate the adventure. I like these tips from Lonely Planet co-founder Maureen Wheeler. She advises "waiting until kids are 3, 'when they're out of diapers, when they can eat food, when they can talk.' If you're planning once-in-a-lifetime trips, 'then maybe you don't start traveling with your children until the age of 7 to 10.'" Because do you really wanna deal with changing a poopy diaper at the Sistine Chapel? On the pro side of venturing forth with kids, travel author Pauline Frommer says, "'So what are parents with wanderlust to do? Just stick with the tried and true theme park and cruise vacations, squelching their own desires to see the world? For many, leaving the kids at home over vacation just isn't doable, financially or emotionally.'" I know a few families that have traveled extensively with tiny babies and toddlers, and I will tell you they posses an easy-going, adventurous attitude I will never have. They also do things like eat food from stands on the side of the road and meet locals who invite them to stay in their homes. If you are one of those people, you could probably roam the streets of Nepal with two children under the age of three and be fine. Me, I'm just glad I survived the van ride. Posted Jul 09 2007, 06:33 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: Europe, Disneyland, kid activities, travel advice, vacations

• Saving Dollars at Theme Parks

  A couple months ago the family packed into a minivan and headed to SoCal for a Disneyland adventure. I think I'm still recovering. The trip came at the behest and expense of my mom and stepdad, who are far, far braver than I am, and at the end of the day my kid had a blast. Therefore my first tip for how to save money at theme parks is: see if the grandparents will foot the bill. However, if that isn't an option, here's a list of ways to hang on to the almighty dollar while chasing after Mickey or another giant costumed freak. Some of these tips boil down to carrying enough clothing that you'll wish you had a pet pack mule to accompany you. I'm going to second one tip in a big way: bring your own snacks. Not just because you'll end up spending three dollars for a bottle of water and five for an ice cream. It turns out that the food you can get at most theme parks is naaaaasty. More salt than a gallon of ocean water, heavy on the preservatives, and generally designed to make you feel barfy afterwards. I know I get the "duh" prize for not realizing how bad theme park food would be but since I think I like junk food, I wasn't prepared for how crappy I'd feel. Along those lines, I'll also second "don't overstay" for cost-cutting and sanity reasons. Because crying at the Magic Kingdom just feels bad.    Posted Jul 06 2007, 11:30 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: saving money, Disneyland, advice, theme parks

• Babble Talk: A Day Out With a Boy and a Train

  I have girls, so Thomas the Tank Engine has never really been a part of our lives.  Not that girls can't like trains, of course - in fact, my girls love their Brio train tracks and battery operated train engine - but they typically don't go nutso for trains, planes, cars or any other form of transportation, the way their male counterparts do.  Personally, I find Thomas a little creepy - I think it's his face.  It's like a John Wayne Gacy painting or something.  And Sir Topham Hatt?  What's his deal?  I don't even want to know.  But I admire Katherine Ozment's whole-hearted attempts to experience, with her train-loving toddler son, the Thomas and friends phenomenon with an open mind and a heart full of love.  I can relate to the way she and her husband went round and round about whether or not to introduce William to their local "Day Out With Thomas" event, and in the end, decided "how could we not?", because it reminds me of my own family's ongoing too-young-for-Disneyland? conversation.  Unlike the Ozments, we have yet to reach a resolution, but thinking about seeing living, breathing "princesses" through my 4.5 year old has cast on a whole new light on the idea. You really do get to experience childhood again when you have kids - even if you have to force yourself at first.  Being a kid is tough, even the second time around. Posted Jun 29 2007, 10:55 AM by Alisyn with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: Babble, trains, Disneyland, thomas the tank engine, katherine ozment, parents as kids

• The Disneyland Submarine Ride Returns. All Hail the Sub!

  On Monday, Disneyland unveiled the new submarine ride. For those of you who haven't kept up with your ride lore, the old sub ride was closed in 1998, because it was expensive to run and could only schlepp a few people at a time. I guess people were kind of upset to see the old sub go, and one of them was Marty Sklar, at the time Disney's creative chief. "He publicly threatened to lie down on the busy street that fronts Disneyland to prevent the subs from being deep-sixed." Wow, he'd die for a sub ride? Now that's passion, people. Anyhow, boomers begged for the return of the ride and so finally it was overhauled and gussied up and finally relaunched as the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. Argh, not the clownfish!!! Will he never go away? The new ride has gotten rave reviews from advance riders. "'IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! i would TOTALLY WAIT IN LINE for like 6 hours for it,' wrote one satisfied rider...And even before its official opening to the general public today, dozens of grainy, blurry and dark videos had surfaced on YouTube." You know what? I just went to D-land a month ago (looong story) and I wouldn't wait in line for 6 hours to ride on Johnny Depp's lap, let alone squeeze into a tiny sub to oogle a clownfish. But just so you know, my childhood memories of the old subs were colored by the fact that 1. they smelled like feet, 2. I waited for almost six hours in the heat to get on it, and 3. while on that ride, I discovered I am claustrophobic. Age six. There's my trauma. If you get a chance to raise the periscope on this puppy, let us know if we should believe the hype. Meanwhile, I'm just going to try to steal the animatronic Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride for my own foul purposes.   Posted Jun 13 2007, 08:38 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: Disneyland, johnny depp, family vacation, submarine, kids activities

• Hell on Wheels: Family Vacations Gone Wrong

  Family vacation misadventure stories aren't usually funny when it's you and your kids stuck at the airport short of diapers, or visiting Great Aunt Clarisse and her 1000 glass elephant collection that your toddler destroys.  But honestly, there's hardly anything funnier than reading about someone else's horrid family vacation -- especially when it involves RV camping and poor dad's dreams of family togetherness. Reporter T.J. Simers describes his family's well-planned but ill-conceived 2-week road trip in rented RV that culminated in a family reunion in Kentucky.   The family couldn't figure out how to operate the thing (it was a beast with slide-outs) so weren't allowed to use either the toilet or the shower, and they all eventually succumbed to a stomach virus. Part of the charm of a horrid family vacation story is that it makes one feel less annoyed when that trip to Disneyland or visit to the grandparents turns into the third circle of Hell, rather than the delightful interlude one hoped. [Photo credit: Providence Journal]  Posted Jun 06 2007, 02:04 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Disneyland, hell, family vacation hell, funny stories, rv trips

• "A Day in the Life of Posh" - Heartbreaking Video Footage of Victoria & Sons at Disneyland

  Ever wondered what it's like to be a celebrity parent?  Of course you have.  But it ain't all $800 diaper bags and free designer baby gear.  If you really want to enter into the realm of the uberfamous, check out this video footage of Victoria "Posh" Beckham and her two older sons Brooklyn, 7, and Romeo, 4, at Disneyland recently.  The wall of photographers yelling, shoving and popping flashbulbs in their faces doesn't seem to phase them too much - until Romeo (who has epilepsy, which can be triggered by flash photography) is almost hit on the head by a camera, at which point Victoria unloads on the press.  Honestly, after seeing this, my heart just broke for her as a mother, and for those boys, who will never know what it is like to live anonymously. [Via TMZ]  Posted Apr 04 2007, 11:33 AM by Alisyn with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: paparazzi, celebrity babies, Disneyland, victoria beckham, brooklyn beckham, romeo beckham

• Working at Disneyland: Not Just a Job, An Adventure

  According to my calculations, based on age, time spent living and/or visiting California, I've been to Disneyland no fewer than 35 times. Add up the ticket prices for myself (and now my family), factor in inflation, and throw in several hundred pounds of churros and Mouskapops, the total amount of cash that I've either spent or had spent for me would equal the gross national product of Djibouti. I used to love going; these days, I'm decidedly less enthusiastic about The Mouse. That said, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the poor bastards who don the costumes and head out onto the mean streets of Fantasyland to greet the kiddies. Having working at a fairly well-known aquarium for a few years, I've seen firsthand the abuse that costumed employees take - at the end of the day, the guy that dressed up like Shamu frequently looked like the loser of a UFC match. So this article, detailing the punishment inflicted upon Mickey, Goofy, Donald, and the rest, really didn't surprise me. According to the story, over a third of the 1,900 actors and actress who work as Disney characters have suffered some sort of injury while working. Sadly, one employee died on the job, crushed by a parade float. (Disney was fined $6,300, which is about what Disney CEO Robert Iger made in the time it took you to read this sentence. Ok. I'm exaggerating. NOW he made $6,300.) In an attempt to reduce hazards to their employees, Disney has solicited NASA engineers to help them design safer costumes. Of course, it goes without saying that parents should also keep an eye on their kids - as the picture to the right illustrates, it's only a matter of time before Mickey exacts his revenge. Posted Mar 07 2007, 10:20 AM by JasonAvant with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: disney, Disney World, violence, bad children, mickey mouse, Disneyland