MAY 05..McKinley's first trip to Disneyland

THIS WAS MCKINLEY'S FIRST TRIP TO DISNEYLAND...SHE WAS GOOD AT LEARNING THE PRINCESS POSES AND MEETING NEW PEOPLE!

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR FAMILY PHOTOS

DILLON IS CURRENTLY THE HIGHSCORE HOLDER FOR THE RIDE. NOTICE THE SERIOUS LOOKS ON THE FACES AS THE CAMERA CATCHES YOU....GO GRANDMA!

CURRENT HIGH SCORE FOR TOY STORY

THIS SCORE IS THE CURRENT HIGH SCORE IN THE FAMILY. THIS AWARD GOES TO KENZIE WHO WAS ASSISTED BY BROOKLYN.......IF YOU HAVE BEEN ON THIS RIDE, YOU KNOW YOU NEED BOTH HANDS FREE TO PLAY...I THINK BROOKE WAS WATCHING THE LAPTOP AS HER DAD WATCHED CHEAT CODE STORIES!

ANY NEW HIGH SCORES MUST HAVE A PHOTOGRAPH AS PROOF! (AND ONE EYEWITNESS)

GOOD JOB KENZIE AND BROOKLYN!

DISNEY JAIL

EVEN THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH HAS A JAIL...NOT THIS

CUTE ONE YOU ARE LOOKING AT...IT IS UNDERGROUND...DON'T DO ANYTHING YOU SHOULDN'T DO!

Celebrate! A Street Party

Here is a short article from the Los Angeles Times highlighting some of the plans for the new Disneyland parade for 2009: Celebrate! A Street Party. Aparently Disneyland wants this new production to feel more like a street party and less like a parade. Either way, it's going to be pretty awesome.


Although Disneyland isn’t calling it a parade, the new “interactive street party” debuting March 27 will travel along the parade route, replace the outgoing parade and essentially serve as the daily parade.

In typical punctuation-challenged Disney fashion, Celebrate! A Street Party will feature seven floats and 90 performers in a “celebratory song and dance party.”

Banners and ribbons will connect the floats as if in a long chain, according to Screamscape, with periodic high points punctuated by confetti-cannon fodder. Cue the street sweepers.

The anti-parade will make at least two show stops — on Main Street U.S.A. and in front of It’s a Small World — where singers, dancers, stilt-walkers and Disney characters will shake and shimmy to party songs.

Similar in scale to the Parade of Dreams, which the new whatever-you-do-don’t-call-it-a-parade replaces, Celebrate! A Street Party will typically run twice on busy days and once on slower days.

Freekly Update - January 21, 2009

Couple of items you might be interested in. This weeks update includes information about the new, larger sized drinks for this year, and also some possible dates for "Mini Gay Days" coming in April. The dates are not official yet, but I will be sure to keep you updated.

- Select casual-service restaurants at the Disneyland Resort have introduced a 32-ounce soft drink. The 32-ounce drink is $3.29, compared to $2.69 for the 20-ounce drink. During an introductory promotion, Disneyland Resort annual pass holders can purchase the 32-ounce cup for $2.99 with any food purchase.

Upcoming Park Events for Spring of 2009

Mini Gay Day at the Disneyland Resort (unofficial event) – Event planners have not formally announced the dates for their Spring event, but based on past scheduling it will likely be the weekend of April 3-5.

Disney's California Food and Wine Festival – Daily, April 24 to June 7, 2009. No additional details are available at this time.

MouseAdventure – Sunday, April 26 (competitive event) and Sunday, May 11 (noncompetitive event) at the Disneyland Resort. Additional details will be announced as available, so be sure to register for the MouseAdventure Newsletter to receive future announcements.

The 20 per Paycheck Plan!

OK, so I've been thinking. I know, I know... big surprise. Well, here are my thoughts: We like Disneyland. We like staying in the Disneyland hotels. The Disneyland hotels are expensive. We really, really want to stay in the Grand Californian. The Grand Californian is the most expensive hotel of all.

Big problem, right? Wrong.

I've developed a plan to get us into Disneyland's Grand Californian hotel. No, we're not going to spend the next several months planning the greatest scam of all time. And no, we're not going to push Marcus into the front lobby in a wheelchair in hopes of gaining sympathy from hotel staff - which would obviously lead to a free nights stay(although that probably would work). No, we're not doing either of those things. What we are doing is much more dangerous, much more risky... we're going to... ready for this? SAVE MONEY. I told you I'm a genius.

On the 20 per paycheck plan we'll have Chip and Dale serving us breakfast in no time! Here is how it works: Every paycheck, each of us will put away $20 into an envelope, jar, bank account, etc. If you don't receive bi-weekly paychecks, just plan on saving $10 per week. As the weeks and months pass, we'll sit and watch as our Grand Californian funds slowly become larger, larger, larger, and LARGER. Before you know it, we'll have enough to spend several nights in the most luxurious hotel known to man! Ten dollars a week is nothing when you think about the end result. So whose with me? Who will sacrifice one In-N-Out cheeseburger meal a week so we can achieve this goal? Rally the troops! Scream the battle cry! Grand Californian here we come! If you're in, leave a comment. If you're not in... you're a NOOB (gasp).

P.S. All disney freeks can contribute (Amanda/Clayton), the more contributors, the faster we obtain our wildest dreams

P.S.S. I posted two posts today, so if you haven't seen the other one, just scroll down a bit.

"Freek"ly Update - Ride Closures/Important Dates

Alright, well here are a few dates you might be interested in. The new parade, "Celebrate!" is scheduled to open on the 27th of March. The new Sunwheel is set to re-open on April 24th, 2009. I don't know if that's when they plan on having the lake filled again. Rumours are the wheel will be renamed "Mickey's Fun Wheel". Also on April 24th, the "Games of the Boardwalk" section of DCA will be re-opened with a new Disney theme. Sweeeeet...

Disneyland

Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams – originally said to be dark through February 13, 2009, Disney has now announced that this parade will not return due to a repaving project on Main Street. The "Celebrate! street party" is scheduled to begin on March 27th.

"It's a small world" – closed through February 5, 2009 to remove the holiday overlay.
Haunted Mansion – closed through February 13, 2009 to remove the holiday overlay.
Blue Ribbon Bakery – closes January 12, 2009 for one day.
Matterhorn Bobsleds – closed February 9-12, 2009 for a brief refurbishment.
Pirates of the Caribbean – closes February 15, 2009 for refurbishment.

Disney's California Adventure

Sun Wheel – closed for refurbishment and to install the new Mickey face. No reopening date has been announced, but an employee publication lists April 24, 2009 as the return date.
Golden Dreams – now closed. This attraction will eventually be replaced with the new Little Mermaid ride.
Burger Invasion – now closed. No announcement has been made about a potential replacement for this former McDonald's location, but an employee publication lists June 25, 2010 as the return date.
Games of the Boardwalk – now closed to install a new facade and new Disney-themed games. No reopening date has been announced, but an employee publication lists April 24, 2009 as the return date.
Grizzly River Run – closes January 20-27, 2009 for refurbishment.
Boudin Bakery & The Bakery Tour – closes February 9, 2009 for refurbishment.

A Word of Caution

I understand that most of us get really, really excited about Disneyland. Hence, the blog dedicated to all things DL. However, there are some things I need to warn all you freeks (including myself) about. If one is so hypnotized by the majesty of the DL or DCA parks, he/she is in danger of falling into one of the following categories; a noob or a nerd. And while noobs and nerds have their differences, they both are equally disliked. Here is a brief summary to help you understand these two horrific illnesses:

NOOB - The technical definition of a noob is as follows:
Someone behaving or giving the impression to others that they are a novice (even though they might think otherwise). Often used as an insult or derogatory remark intended to imply that the person is naive, ignorant or has little or no skill.

Pay particularly close attention to the "even though they might think otherwise" portion of that definition. It is a fact that most noobs don't even know they are. Unfortunately, when someone doesn't know he/she is a noob, that person tends to display outward attributes which some would consider embarrassing. Because noobs are generally oblivious to their noobness, they have no idea they should be embarrassed. Here is a classic example of some Disneyland noobs:

These two are completely unaware that they are noobs. In fact, they probably feel like they fit right in with the rest of the parks visitors. We all know it's their first time despite a valiant effort to look like seasoned park veterans. The goofy hats, tie-dye shirts, 3D goggles, and two ton lanyards give them away. The rest of us get a good laugh as we watch these two DL noobs enter Toy Story's Midway Mania ride. But hey, looks like their having a good time, right?

NERD- an unattractive, boring or unpopular person, esp. one who is obsessed with a particular subject.

These are the guys who score 15,000,000 points on one round of Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. While we freeks like to get high scores... we don't ever want to get that high. Watch out for nerds, because you can't always immediately identify one. There are some nerds, however, who couldn't hide in the darkest part of the Indiana Jones ride. This guy for example:

If you ever get home after a DL trip, and find a picture like this one in your camera... it's probably a good idea to take a break from the park for a while. Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing weird about taking some funny photo's in the crazy hat shop. Those pictures are just hilarious. The nerd problem arises when you don't think you're taking funny photos, but you actually believe you're taking cool action shots. Clearly this guy is planning on posting this picture on his myspace.com account when he gets home... you know... cause chicks dig this kind of stuff.

OK. I'm glad we had this little chat. Let us continue DL and DCA for all the awesomness it holds, but let us also be aware of our surroundings and never let one another fall into one of the two aforementioned categories. We're freeks, not freaks. Let's keep it that way. Oh and just one last word of advice. If you think DL security tolerates noobs and nerds, think again. This could be you the next time you "let go" and let your inner noob/nerd come out:

DisneyFreeks.com

Ok all you Disney "freeks" out there (yes, I know that is not the correct spelling), I created this blog just for you! Pretty sweet, huh? You can thank me later. There are several reasons I put this little piece of cyber space together. Those reasons include, but are not limited to:

1. Disney News - upcoming ride/attraction information, special events, etc.

2. Disney Deals - special prices listed for hotels, coupons, cheap trading pins online, etc.

3. Hidden Mickeys - lists kept of all the hidden mickey's we've located at DL and DCA

4. Pictures - do I need to explain this one?

5. Ride Secrets/Tips - so we can be inducted into the high score hall of fame!

6. Anything else DL or DCA you want to add or mention... it's up to you!

-

Obviously this site will be viewed by a small group of people, but we can list helpful hints and tips so other vacationers can benefit from our experience at the happiest place on earth. For example; how is someone going to know they can buy a gigantic turkey leg for 7 bucks if we don't tell them? The world needs our help!

-

DISCLAIMER: This website is NOT a one man show. I need several authors on here so we can keep this blog up and running! In put from everyone of you freeks is not only needed, it's required. So if you're interested in becoming an author to this blog, you need to shoot me an e-mail or leave me a comment. Some of you don't have a choice... some of you will be forced to post on this site regularly... you know who you are.

Let's make this site informative and fun. The more help I get from all of you, the better this little resource will be. I know most of you who are reading this already know everything there is to know about DL, so smile and pretend like you're excited anyway. OK. Let the weirdness begin!