Disneyland - January 2011 New Things

We go to Disneyland enough that this post is just going to be a list of the new things we discovered on this particular trip to Disneyland.

Here they are:

1. Family Fun Weekends - Big thumbs up! We met new characters and had a blast at the lunar new year celebration. We loved meeting new friends and the girls adored being in the lunar new year show.

2. Big Thunder Ranch BBQ - It was as expensive as a character breakfast, but it was amazingly tasty and was the only meal we ate all day because it was an all-you-can-eat experience.

3. Character Sketches from "Off The Page" store in DCA - did you know that you can get a character drawn specifically for you by a Disney artist for the same price as a stuffed animal?! Neither did we, but they sure do look adorable in the girls' rooms - pictures of the redone rooms to come later when curtains are complete. Major thumbs up!

4. New Shows at DCA - I give them a thumbs down. The talking, blinking Mickey was cool to see (once) at "Mickey's Dance Crew", but the show itself was kinda lame and had very little audience participation and familiar Disney-isms (our favorite parts of "Drawn to the Magic" that Dance Crew replaced). I also give a thumbs down to "Disney Channel Rocks" where there was absolutely NO audience participation. I know they were trying to get the tweens demographic, but really, not even Laura was thrilled.

5. Pixar Pals - Thumbs up! This was in lieu of a parade. We did both the Monster's, Inc. one and Heroes in Training. The girls participated and had a great time with familiar characters and lots to see.

6. Cafe Orleans Priority Seating - we love this restaurant (Pommes frites, salmon for the girls, crepes and a HUGE Monte Cristo) and now we can do it more because we don't have to wait! Hooray!