Disneyzone News - March 2001 Issue - TEXT VERSION This is the text-only version of the DZ News. This version will not include any photographs, special charts, calendars, or graphs. Please note that Disneyzone is not affiliated with Disney in any way. We are a group of Disney World enthusiasts who want to assist you in making the most of your next Disney World vacation Newsletter and content Copyright © 2000 & 2001 Disneyzone - Please do not alter or copy any or all of this material, or use it on a website, or printed media without prior written permission, from Disneyzone or from the individual article's author.. New Park Opens in California Disney's California Adventure opened on February 8, 2001. From Disney literature: Located directly across from DISNEYLAND® in Anaheim, California, DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE has its own distinctive identity, separate from that of the classic original DISNEYLAND. With a brand-new theme park, a handsome new hotel, and a new shopping, dining, and entertainment area, the DISNEYLAND Resort in Southern California is acquiring a whole new identity as a vacation destination. The theme park is divided into three primary "lands" -- Golden State, Paradise Pier, and Hollywood Pictures Backlot -- each layered with myriad themed experiences that celebrate the California dream. Barry Braverman, Walt Disney Imagineering Executive Producer for DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE park explains, "it was planned to enhance, not compete with, the DISNEYLAND Resort experience. Frankly, if we had tried to compete with DISNEYLAND on its own terms, we would have failed. He continues, "DISNEYLAND is a classic, it's the original and it's had over 45 years to evolve into what it is today. We wanted DISNEYLAND's sister park to be a really different kind of place telling a different kind of story, and I think we've really succeeded in doing that with DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A new resort was built inside the new park-a first for Disney. The Grand Californian is a gorgeous resort! The atmosphere is this hotel is similar to that of the Wilderness Lodge, with wide open lobby, craftsman style architecture, and attention to the details! It's a deluxe resort, with deluxe pricing. My family will be staying there shortly, and our review will be posted on the site after we return! Also added was a Downtown Disney area! Similar to Disney World's, but smaller! There are 10 restaurants, (Catal, ESPN Zone, Haagen Dazs, House of Blues, La Brea Bakery, Naples Ristorante, Rainforest Café, Ralph Brennans Jazz Kitchen, Wetzels Pretzels and Y Arriba Y Arriba. There are 16 shops, including Lego Imagination Center, and the World of Disney! If you cant find anything else to do, and want to see a movie, there is even a movie theater! The attendance at Disneys California Adventure has been low. I would expect it is partly because it has rained here practically the entire month! Once the weather gets nicer, and spring break starts, I would expect larger crowds! There have been mixed reviews on the new park, I am waiting to form my own opinion & then I will share it with you! Traveling Twosome ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tips from Grandma Jeannie and her six-year-old Grandson Lars This is the sixth article in a series about traveling alone with a small child. I took my grandson, Lars, to Disney World in August to celebrate his sixth birthday. What a grand time we had! This article focuses on snacks, simple activities, and interesting people we met. For snacks, his favorites were the twisty fruit popsicles sold at the Studios and a banana split we shared after lunch at Ghirardelli's in Downtown Disney. I had a bite of the popsicle and it was yummy! For this age, a simple boat ride between the Grand Floridian and Polynesian Hotel or anywhere on the Seven Seas Lagoon is a big event. And riding the monorail just to ride is a bigger event. And riding the monorail in the front is the biggest event, as in Lars' words, "like one of the rides in the park." He got a monorail co-pilot's license and the driver had a birthday two days after Lars. You can only ride up front from one of the hotels and then we asked about six times before it became possible. Choose an odd time, when people are busy at the parks -- mid morning, mid afternoon, or mid evening. An upfront ride on the monorail is another pure magical happening! A hotel room without a parent may be an unfriendly place for a child this age. I read about some activities to make the room friendlier from the book Grand Loving by Johnson and Carlson. You can make up some games too. With this one, play it before your room has turn down service for the evening and you have a few used towels that are not too wet. Scatter them on the floor to make islands that you both hop and jump to. The rest of the floor is ocean. This is probably a game only a grandmother could tolerate. The balcony of our room at the Boca Chica section of the Grand Floridian was a respite for just watching the comings and goings, checking out the treetops, drying our suits, enjoying the sun, and playing Game Boy. When you travel in a twosome you have a better advantage of getting to know some other people along the way than when you are in a large group. We met many but here are just a couple of sketches. First, the greeter at the Grand Floridian. He is dressed in turn of the century garb, showed Lars the old time autos and carriage parked in front of the hotel and took some of the best pictures of us. He went out of his way to make us feel very special. We were on the monorail at dusk one night when we saw a young girl, 12 to 14 years old, with her family. She was reading the 4th Harry Potter book. She could barely see! She could barely hold it! This book is big! Thanks to J.K. Rowling for bringing our kids back to reading, even at Disney, even on the monorail! We met a man on the bus as we left Fantasmic! going back to the Grand Floridian who persuaded his teen daughter to stand so we could have her seat. I was so grateful! She was so gracious. Lars was very tired by then. We ducked into the Art Gallery at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom right after we saw the Electrical Parade in order to wait for the crowds to thin out. We looked at the Collector Society sculptures, which I collect and then saw a dazzling leather jacket with a battery that lit up a design of the parade on the back. This jacket was truly amazing and one of a limited number made. To my surprise, the cast member asked Lars if he wanted to try it on. You better believe Lars felt special being treated like a grown up with a jacket on that was valued at $1,000. The cast member didn't ask me if I wanted to try it on, didn't ask me if Lars wanted to try it on, but talked directly to Lars. Very impressive. Finally, many cast members in the gift shops and restaurants were charmed by Lars and obviously charmed me with their attitude and by being so kind to my delightful grandson. Ours was a perfect Disney trip for a traveling twosome that created lifelong memories for Lars. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If I owned Disney World: Cailyn, 8 1/2 , I would plant more (real) trees in the Animal Kingdom so there would be more shade! Jared, 4, I would share it with everyone Skye, 9, I would make sure everyone could go every year. Tony, 11, I would make more big roller coasters. Micah, 9, I would make all the characters walk around and not just stay in one spot. They are hard for people to find. Rochelle, 6, I would go there every single day of my life. Cheryse, 9, I would have a lot of money. Drew, 12, I would let people in free on their birthday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Restaurant Review By Danielle Everyone always does reviews of regular meals. I decided to do a review of my favorite Disney World eatery. I like desserts and basically plan my entire day around what sweets I am going to have. So I am going to tell you about Ghiradellis Soda Fountain. It is located in Downtown Disney Marketplace. This place serves chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. I have tried most of the things on the menu, but these are my favorites. I have heard that they make their hot fudge sauce daily, with a special recipe of their own. I don't know what the secret to it is, but it is the BEST hot fudge anywhere. #1 in my book is Chocolate Decadence. You get a couple scoops of delicious chocolate ice cream with hot fudge smothering it! It is topped with a creamy raspberry sauce and as much whipped cream as you want! #2 for me is the Famous Hot Fudge Sundae. Its no normal hot fudge sundae. You get 2 scoops of ice cream, smothered with the yummy hot fudge sauce. You get whipped cream (also delicious, definitely not Cool Whip), nuts and a cherry. You can also ask for marshmallow crème on it, which adds a little richness and a sweeter flavor! #3 favorite; Some times I just want to make up my own dessert. You may choose your ice cream flavor, and choose from their choice of toppings to make it exactly how you like. They have 5 or 6 ice cream flavors, and a good variety of toppings (fruit, fudge, marshmallow, butterscotch syrup). If you are not up to a rich and yummy ice cream treat, just buy some of their delicious chocolate candy for later! I would not step inside this place if you are on a diet, however! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kids' Views By Evan, age 4. My mommy and daddy are very smart because they took me to see Mickey for my birthday. I got to eat with Goofy and he is funny. I like to drive the cars and to go swimming at the big pool. I like to splash my daddy and try to swim away from mommy. My favorite toy I got at Disney is a big giant Pluto dog. He is soft and sleeps with me on my bed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disney BRICKS! Make a lasting impression by sponsoring your own personalized brick on Disney's "Walk of Magical Memories." inbetween Disneyland and California Adventure Parks! Each brick can be inscribed with your name, hometown, state, a special date or commemoration of any extraordinary occasion such as a wedding anniversary, or birthday. Your brick will be numbered and it comes with a special certificate of authenticity. Each Brick is $150. There are a limited number of bricks available. You may order a brick at the entrance area to the parks, or at (800) 760-3566. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Travel Polls There is a Poll on the DZ Resort Biographies Page on the site. In February it asked your favorite theme park.. It was fun to see which one was the most popular! Here are the results : Magic Kingdom : 38% Epcot: 21% Disney Studios: 13% Animal Kingdom: 6% Never been to WDW: 22% We'll have a new Poll for March! The more people who participate, the more accurate the poll will be-so visit the link below TODAY and submit your vote! www.disneyzone.net/resortbios.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hey Kids… Complete this sentence: I need to go to Disney World because... Send your replies to us, and some of them will be included in the next, and future newsletters! Include first name and age! Send your replies via e-mail to kids@disneyzone.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fun Contests The current contest is another fun one. Check out the contest page to see what the new contest is! The winner, chosen on March 17, will win one of 2 Disney DVDs! Some of the contest entries will be listed in next month's newsletter! Make sure you enter the contest, or you can't win! DZ Contest Page: www.disneyzone.net- click on the NEW contest link to play! All prizes for the contests are donated. A sincere Thank You to the generous contest sponsors. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tell your friends about Disneyzone! They can get their own copy of the Disneyzone News emailed to them each month, all they have to do is go to the site and register. They will automatically be put on the list. If you would rather, you may print it out or forward it. www.disneyzone.net Have questions about this newsletter, or about anything regarding Disney World, please visit the site at: www.disneyzone.net/contact.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit the Message Boards! One of the most popular sections on DZ just happens to be the Message Boards! You can post questions/answers/advice or just hang around and read what others say! We have a very friendly, helpful group on the boards! Give it a try… www.disneyzone.net-click on the FORUMS link! Hope to see you there! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THANKS to all the Disneyzone visitors for their help with the newsletter and the site!!! Newsletter and content Copyright © 2000 & 2001 Disneyzone - Please do not alter or copy any or all of this material, or use it on a website, or printed media without prior written permission, from Disneyzone or from the individual article's author..