It’s a celebration of friendship… and beyond!
In my story below for California Life, I take you to the Disneyland Resort for a look at some of the things you can experience during Pixar Fest.
Check it out – the celebration continues through September 3rd!
Just in time for Halloween, the Happiest Place on Earth is showing off its spooky Disney side! And I got a peek at all the frightful fun!
Jack Skellington and Sally from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas are back, and as they do every year, they’ve brought a bit of Halloween Town to Disneyland… transforming the Haunted Mansion into Haunted Mansion Holiday. This year, they’ve cooked up an extra special gingerbread treat (check it out in the video below!)
Space Mountain has also undergone a terrifying transformation. Your ride begins as a typical Space Mountain adventure, but suddenly takes a turn into a haunted section of the universe, where ghosts rule the galaxy!
For something a little more tame, there’s the Halloween Carnival at Big Thunder Ranch.
There, you can play games, do arts and crafts, enjoy a magic show and even conjure a Disney Villain at the Astounding Cauldron of Magic.
Halloween Time continues at the Disneyland Resort through October 31st!
To see what else is new this year, be sure to click on the video below!
It’s summertime, and Donald Duck and the rest of the Disney gang are inviting you to Explore Your Disney Side!
And there are plenty of fun new ways you can do that.
For starters, try riding the rails on the new and improved Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
The ride is back open this summer, after being shut down for more than a year for renovations.
It has a smoother track, new paint and new special effects (find out more and get a sneak peek in my video, below)!
Another way you can explore your Disney Side is by dressing up as your favorite Disney character. A relatively new trend called Disney Bounding is gaining popularity at the Disney Parks this summer, and some of the looks are so stylish you’d never know the people wearing them are actually in costume.
The Disneyland Resort has lots of other tips for summer fun.
‘Tis the season to celebrate, and if you’re like many Californians, those celebrations just wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the Disneyland Resort. And this year, there are even more reasons to be merry.
In addition to classic attractions like Haunted Mansion Holiday, It’s A Small World Holiday and the A Christmas Fantasy parade, there are lots of fun and festive new additions.
The Jungle Cruise has been transformed into a Jingle Cruise, the Mad Tea Party features Alice and friends performing rock versions of your favorite Christmas songs and World of Color: Winter Dreams puts a holiday twist on the popular nighttime show.
Cars Land is also revved up for the holidays. Stroll down Route 66 and you’ll see caution cone Christmas trees, hubcap wreaths and even a snowcar! You may even spot Tow Mater in his Santa hat!
Over at Paradise Garden in Disney California Adventure, the holiday celebrations have taken on a little Latin flavor, with Disney ¡Viva Navidad!. Activities include crafts and face-painting for the children, live Latino music, dance lessons and the “Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party.”
You’ll also find traditional Latin holiday dishes, like sweet tamales (recipe to follow, if you’d like to make them at home!)
Pineapple and Golden Raisin Tamales
Disneyland® Resort
Makes 22 tamales
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1 cup honey
3 1/2 cups masa harina
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups golden raisins
1 1/2 cups finely diced fresh pineapple
3/4 cup vegetable oil or a cooking spray
22 dried cornhusks, soaked in boiling-hot water for 2 hours
The holiday fun continues at the Disneyland Resort through January 6th!
Just in time for the holidays, Disney California Adventure has debuted a cool new version of its dazzling World of Color show, called Winter Dreams.
Hosted by Olaf the snowman, from Disney’s new animated movie Frozen, World of Color − Winter Dreams combines new animation with classic winter scenes from beloved Disney and Disney•Pixar films, such as Bambi, Fantasia and Toy Story. 
The show also includes new music and special effects, including new methods for utilizing the massive “stage” of water, color and light that comes to life with the power of nearly 1,200 fountains.
I got a chance to speak to the technical producer for World of Color – Winter Dreams.
Click on the video below for my peek behind the scenes!
Disneyland has just launched its first new live stage show since 2006 at the Fantasyland Theatre–Mickey and the Magical Map.
In the show, a very mischievous Mickey Mouse embarks on a series of musical adventures through the magical powers of a sorcerer’s map.
Along the way, he encounters such favorite Disney characters as King Louie from The Jungle Book, 
Mulan, Pocahontas, Rapunzel, Flynn Rider and Tiana.
Mickey and the Magical Map features classic Disney songs like “I Wan’na Be Like You,” “Under the Sea,” and “Reflection.” There’s also a brand-new song created just for the show called “Journey of the Imagination.”
Mickey and the Magical Map will be performed five times daily this summer.
I recently got a chance to go behind-the-scenes of this magical show for BroadwayWorld.com.
Click on the video below to find out what it took to bring it to the stage!
It’s Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort and I got a peek at all the spooktacular fun!
This year, the fun is even spookier with the new Disney’s Halloween Time Carnival featuring “The Astounding Cauldron of Magic” at Big Thunder Ranch, where you can conjure a Disney Villain (as you can see, I conjured up Jafar. Yikes!)
Also new this year, “The Art of Frankenweenie” exhibit at Disney California Adventure. The exhibit takes you behind the scenes of Tim Burton’s new film.
Of course, you can still enjoy frightful favorites, like Haunted Mansion Holiday and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy. The annual Main Street Pumpkin Festival has also returned. More than 300 pumpkins are on display and if you look closely, you’ll find no two are the same.
To find out more about Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort, click below!
It’s no secret that comedians Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Jason Segel and Russell Brand are characters. But it was only recently that they became Disney characters for an artsy new ad campaign.
As part of the Disney Dream Portrait series shot by acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz, Black, Ferrell and Segel were made over into the three hitchhiking
ghosts from Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion attraction, while Brand was transformed into Captain Hook.
For a look behind the scenes and to find out how these famous funny men prepared for their photo shoots, check out my story below!
I don’t know about you, but “it’s a small world” is one of my favorite rides at Disneyland. And during the holidays, I enjoy it even more.
During a recent press trip to Disneyland, I got a chance to ride it with a fantastic Disneyland Spokesperson who shared all kinds of interesting facts I never knew!
Click on the video below to ride along with me!
Disneyland’s newest parade is now rolling down Main Street, USA daily, and I found out all about what went into creating it!
Mickey’s Soundsational Parade features nine floats, each designed in the style of a children’s pop-up story book, as well as dozens of dancers, musicians and Disney characters. And leading the parade is Mickey Mouse himself, on the drums!
Each parade unit is brought to life through the fun and lively rhythms of drumlines, percussion teams and jazz horns. Images of musical instruments and oversized drums decorate the parade lineup.
To find out much more about the parade and the Disney magic behind it, click on my story below!
On The Entertainment Beat 