If you’re just tuning in, you can find Part 1 of our girls’ weekend adventure here.

When I left off, Colorado Sister and I had just taken a ride on Tower of Terror. This is one of my favorite rides in California Adventure, so I was excited to share Colorado Sister’s first ride with her. She liked it…at least, I THINK she liked it…sort of. Afterwards she said her brain felt like it had been taken out of her head, shaken around some, and then put back in her head upside down. Not exactly the reaction I expected!

Originally, our plan was to head over to ride California Screamin’, but since Colorado Sister was out of sorts, we decided to head over to the Animation Building to do the Animation Academy and Turtle Talk with Crush. If you haven’t been in to the Animation Building, I highly recommend visiting. Colorado Dad and I “found” it when we were doing the D23 scavenger hunt a few years ago and always make it part of our trips. It’s a great (air-conditioned) break from the crowds.

Animation Academy gives you an opportunity to get a group drawing lesson from a Disney animator. Each session focuses on a different character, so if you really wanted to, you could stay there all day long and have quite a collection of character drawings! Our character was Tigger and we had fun trying to follow along.

Learning to draw Tigger at the Animation Academy

After our animation break, it was almost time for our dinner reservation at Carthay Circle, so we decided to head over a little early to have a drink in the lounge. The bartenders at the Carthay Lounge are top notch and the drink menu offers some unique options that are a cut above the normal drink options you can find at Disney. The Lounge is an excellent place to have a snack, or even a late night dessert if you don’t want to eat a full meal. It was tough to decide, but in the end, Colorado Sister ordered a Sparkling Mare, which includes sparkling wine and elderflower liqueur, while I opted for the Double Pear Martini, made with pear Absolut and pear nectar. Both were delicious!

Sparkling Mare at the Carthay Circle Lounge

Double Pear Martini at Carthay Circle Lounge

While we were waiting for our drinks, I went over to the host stand to check in for our reservation but let them know we were in the lounge and were in no real rush for a table. I was impressed with how well the waitstaff in the lounge communicated with the host stand – the hostess came to get us right after we received the check for our drinks.

The menu changes seasonally at Carthay, but there are a few menu staples we knew we wanted – the signature fried biscuits and the firecracker duck wings. We had been thinking about those fried biscuits all day and they did not disappoint. One of the servers kept trying to take the basket away, but we kept sending him away For our entrees, I chose the short rib ravioli and Colorado Sister had the mushroom risotto. Our dinner was fantastic, and of course, I was so busy eating that I only got one picture.

Short Rib Ravioli at Carthay Circle

After we found a little bit more room for a couple bites of brownie sundae, we received our World of Color preferred viewing tickets and I headed out to the patio to take a few pictures. The Carthay patio is a great place to watch the fireworks over in Disneyland, but it was too early for that, so I took a few pictures of the crowds instead.

A view of Buena Vista Street from the Carthay patio

We rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and headed over to take a spin on Toy Story Mania. The wait time was supposedly 35 minutes, but by the time we got to the front of the line, it had been more like 50 minutes and we only had a few minutes to get back over to Paradise Pier for World of Color. The Carthay Circle preferred viewing section is right in the middle, so it’s a great spot, but by the time we got over there, it was pretty full, so we were in the back. World of Color is one of my favorite Disney shows, but it’s definitely tricky to photograph. I took about a zillion pictures but only got a couple decent ones. The best photo time, in my opinion, is AFTER the show. The fountains are low, but still on, and the crowds have moved on.

After World of Color

We were getting pretty tired at this point, but we hadn’t been over to Colorado Sister’s favorite part of the park yet, so we had to do a quick spin through Cars Land. The single rider line for Radiator Springs Racers was about 20 minutes long, so we decided to go for it. Unfortunately, our big meal, standing to watch World of Color, and then standing in a line that wasn’t moving as fast as we would have liked, did us in. After our ride around Radiator Springs we headed back to the hotel where our comfy beds were ready and waiting for us…Well, almost.

Remember how I said we didn’t get our room keys when we checked in? Yep, I forgot too. I had to visit the Front Desk, explain the situation to the very confused Cast Member (“you really should have gotten your keys”) and THEN we were able to fall into our comfy beds and drift off to sleep.

Sweet Dreams at the Disneyland Hotel

Next up: A day in Disneyland!

After 3 weeks of waiting and discussing plans, Colorado Sister and I were up and at ‘em early on Friday morning to make our 8am flight from Denver to Orange County. A quick stop at Starbucks ensured that we were fueled for the day and our trip to, and through, the airport was an easy one.

Our flight into Orange County was about 10 minutes early and we didn’t have any baggage to pickup, so we were quickly on our way to the resort. I’ll mention here that 98% of the time we go to Disneyland, we hire a town car to take us to/from the resort. It’s basically the same price as a taxi and Colorado Dad found a great driver when he was out for work one time so we’ve used the same guy ever since. He’s almost part of the family now and has met everyone in our family except my Dad The drive usually takes 20-30 minutes, but it never seems that long. We were soon pulling into the familiar drive of the Disneyland Hotel.

Mickey & Minnie at the Disneyland Hotel

We arrived at the hotel before 10am, which meant we could check-in, but our room wasn’t ready. After getting our paperwork (but no room keys, which seemed weird), we dropped our bags with bell services and headed into our first park – Disney’s California Adventure!

Colorado Sister wanted to do as many attractions as possible on our trip, so I used the personalized touring plans on TouringPlans.com to come up with the most efficient way to get things done. If you aren’t familiar with the TouringPlans site, I highly recommend it – for both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Their crowd calendars and wait time estimates are the most accurate I’ve seen, and that makes for very efficient touring plans.

Our first stop was Grizzly River Run. It had a pretty short wait – about 15 minutes. I haven’t done this ride in ages, so forgot how totally soaked you can get. Neither of us was in the “lucky seat” in our raft, but we both ended up with some damp clothes – a nice start to what was turning into a very warm day.

From there we headed over toward the Hollywood Land section of the park to do Monsters Inc. and to look at a few things in the Animation building, like the Toy Story Zoetrope. BUT, before we could make it over there, we HAD to stop for a churro. My sister has an addiction to churros. Seriously…it’s a problem.

Colorado Sister after Grizzly River Run

Churro Heaven

After finding a hard-to-spot Hidden Mickey in Monsters, Inc., we were getting hungry, so decided to grab a bite at Paradise Garden Grill. Even though we were on the other side of the park, the Grill is my favorite counter service restaurant, so it was a must for me. They serve Mediterranean-style skewers that are always tasty, but it’s really the atmosphere that I love. With all the trees and a bandstand where the Ellis Island Boys play 20s and 30s style jazz, it’s a great place to sit and relax away from the hustle and bustle of the park. As a matter of fact, it’s always SO relaxing that I NEVER remember to take pictures.

We planned to meet a couple of my friends for the afternoon Aladdin show, so after finishing lunch, we headed toward the Hyperion theatre, checking out It’s Tough To Be a Bug (Colorado Sister thought this was hysterical), Flik’s Flyers (cute, but definitely a “kid” ride) and grabbing a FastPass for Tower of Terror.

A snack box in the sky

Our timing was perfect, as we got to the Hyperion Theatre and found my friends with just a few minutes left to wait until the show started. I don’t know why, but for some reason, I’ve never seen the Aladdin show. I’ve always heard great things about it, so I was excited to finally see it. The show did not disappoint and, as expected, the Genie was fantastic!

Whadd’ya say princess? Is this guy a catch or what?

The show ended just at the start of our return time for Tower of Terror (thank you TouringPlans!), so we said goodbye to my friends and headed over to our date with the Hollywood Tower Hotel’s service elevator.

A beacon for the show business elite?

Our time in the Twilight Zone left a lasting impression on Colorado Sister…enough that she was…different…for the rest of the day. But, that will be a story for the next post as this one is already getting long.

Next up: The rest of Day 1 including Carthay Circle, World of Color and…Cars!

D23 has just announced that starting June 17th, they will be launching a whole website with lots of new content as well as “locked” areas that are only available to D23 members. In addition, they announced a new free membership level that includes access to the member content on the website, as well as a few other things.

The free membership doesn’t do much for me, although I’m sure we’ll see an influx of members now, but I am excited to see the new website. I don’t spend a ton of time on the site now, but some of the new content sections like Weird Disney, Attraction Rewind and Muppetology sound intriguing.

You can read more in the official press release below!

BURBANK, Calif.– May 16, 2013 – On June 17, D23: The Official Disney Fan Club, will launch a massive reimagining of its D23.com website, opening up the wonderful worlds of Disney like never before to its members. The site will provide access to newly digitized content that delves deeply into The Walt Disney Company’s vault of material, past and present, along with exclusive glimpses of the future. The new gated content will be free to current D23 Members; plus D23 is launching a new free level of membership, which will include access to this incredible content. D23.com will continue to offer the latest Disney news free to all guests who visit the site. But D23 Members can unlock even more magic in each section by logging in and accessing content whenever a golden key is shown.

“We’re creating a unique destination that celebrates, in all respects, the essence of Disney,” says Steven Clark, head of D23. “We believe the new site will offer one of the most engaging Disney experiences yet—with even more to come in the future. We look forward to debuting the new D23.com to our current members as well as to new ones from around the world.”

The reimagined D23.com will feature exclusive celebrity interviews; vintage film clips; rarely seen artwork and photography; treasures from the Walt Disney Archives; behind-the-scenes previews of new movies and theme park attractions; and more.

Website highlights at launch will include:

• 23 Questions – We enhance our popular feature with audio interviews with Once Upon A Time star Ginnifer Goodwin who reveals her Disney favorites—and what she’s looking forward to in the next season of the hit ABC show. Plus an exclusive with Phineas and Ferb’s popular “evil mastermind” Dr. Heinz Doofenschmirtz, who talks about his truly devious plans… and Christmas.
• D’scovered – Treasures unearthed by the Walt Disney Archives. In the coming weeks the Archives will share extremely rare imagery from the proposed Mickey Mouse Park, a concept which evolved into Disneyland; spine-tingling alternative dialogue for the Haunted Mansion penned by Disney Legend X. Atencio; the illustrated story script for “The Karnival Kid,” the 1929 short in which Mickey Mouse first speaks; and a very special memento created for Walt by legendary artist Salvador Dali.
• Disney A to Z – A complete and newly-updated electronic version of the definitive Disney encyclopedia with more than 7,000 entries written by Dave Smith, founder and Chief Archivist Emeritus of the Walt Disney Archives.
• D23 Presents – A deeper dive into all parts of Disney from the opening of Mystic Manor in Hong Kong Disneyland to rarely seen footage of the former Disney Studio onHyperion Avenue.
• Disney Legends and the Walt Disney Archives – Two new microsites; Disney Legends will provide a deeper look at those who’ve made significant contributions to the Disney legacy, and the Archives site will open up the doors of this venerable institution so D23 can share more of The Walt Disney Company’s expansive collections.

In addition, new departments and sections include: Weird Disney, looking at some of the more unusual and outrageous pieces of Disney’s past; Characters, profiling the most beloved characters from television, film and comics with concept art and complete biographies; The Quotable Walt Disney, a digitized version of the out-of-print book featuring some of Walt’s most enduring words; Ask a Legend, a video feature in which Disney Legends like Marty Sklar answer fans questions; First Look, which gives members a glimpse into what’s new and what’s next including Monsters University; Attraction Rewind, celebrating the beloved attractions of Disney’s past which once delighted theme park guests; and Muppetology, which opens up the Muppet-acular universe of our fuzzy friends. D23’s popular video series Armchair Archivist and Disney Geek will also return with all-new episodes.

And that’s just the beginning—on launch day, D23.com will reveal even more surprises.

D23 Free Membership will include:

• Members-Only Website Content: Access to all exclusive content on D23.com.

• Exclusive Merchandise: D23 offers its members access to exclusive, limited-edition merchandise and collectibles.

• Subscription to Weekly D23 FanFare E-newsletter with breaking news and special offers. (You may opt out of receiving FanFare after your first e-newsletter arrives.)

• Discounted tickets to the D23 Expo 2013: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event (For more information click here.)

Disney fans can join the world’s only Official Disney Fan Club by visiting www.D23.com or www.DisneyStore.com/D23. To keep up with all the latest D23 news and events, follow “DisneyD23” on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

Here are a couple semi-rare “K” characters to celebrate today’s Wordless Wednesday theme of the Disney “K”!

Kenai and Koda – On the Disney Wonder, Alaska – June 2012

Make sure to visit our host Deb over at Focused on the Magic to see posts from a bunch of great Disney bloggers! And make sure to link up if you have some Disney “K” to share this week

My sister and I just returned from a surprise girls weekend at Disneyland to celebrate her 30th birthday. I’ll get to the specifics of what we did during our visit in the next couple posts, but first, I thought I’d share a couple of planning tips since I had to plan the trip while keeping Colorado Sister in the dark (it was a birthday surprise after all!)

Enlist some help
Since this trip was a birthday present, I wanted to make sure Colorado Sister had no idea it was coming. But, that made planning a little tough since I couldn’t really ask her when she would have an opening in her schedule. Luckily, I had help from my mom as well as Colorado Sister’s boyfriend. They were able to give me info on her schedule and also made sure that no other plans were made for that weekend. There were a couple times when I was positive the secret was out, but we all were able to keep things quiet.

Stay on-site
Admittedly, I was very lucky to have some extra DVC points to use for our hotel stay for the weekend, but even if I hadn’t, I would have chosen an on-site Disney hotel. Why? I just don’t think the atmosphere can be beat, especially when you’re planning a special trip. It was also important for us to have access to early morning hours, a perk for Disney hotel guests, so we could maximize our time in the parks.

Plan something special
I usually try to plan one “extra” thing for our celebration trips, just to make it extra memorable. Since this was Colorado Sister’s 30th birthday celebration, I figured it called for some “extra” extras, so I planned several things:

• Dinner at Carthay Circle + Preferred Viewing for World of Color — Carthay Circle is one of my favorite places to eat, so I knew this would be on our itinerary for sure. But, what I didn’t know was that you can get Preferred Viewing tickets for World of Color if you have either an appetizer & entree OR entree & dessert per person for either lunch or dinner. The viewing area is right in the middle and is only for Carthay Circle diners, so it’s a pretty good perk.
• A waterside table for lunch at the Blue Bayou — Another one of my personal favorites, the Blue Bayou is always a fun experience and if you can get a waterside table, it’s even better. I made sure to book an 11:30am lunch reservation – this is the first seating and as long as you’re not late for your reservation, you’re guaranteed a waterside table.
• The Fantasmic Dessert Package — I love Fantasmic at Disneyland, but I DON’T love getting there really early to get a front row seat on the ground. Booking the Fantasmic Dessert Package eliminates that crazy wait by allowing you to purchase reserved seats (an actual chair!) along with an assortment of desserts and beverages. It’s a bit spendy, at $60/person, but is well worth it for a special occasion.

The two dining reservations can be made up to 60 days in advance using the regular Disney Dining line at (714) 781-3463 or by emailing dine@disneyland.com. The Fantasmic Dessert Package can be booked 30 days in advance using the Entertainment line at (714) 781-7469.

Make the reveal memorable
Colorado Sister’s birthday was actually a couple weeks before our trip, just because of how our schedules worked out, so I had to decide if I was going to reveal the trip on her birthday or wait until the day we left. I figured it would be really hard to keep the secret as we got closer, so I decided to reveal everything on her birthday. I found a Disney itinerary template over at WDW Prep School that I used as a guideline for creating an itinerary and I also got a photo album from Michaels that I made into a “Disney Memories” album. But, I wanted to drag the surprise out for as long as I could, so I added a couple of pictures from our January trip in the album and then added these pictures:

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Colorado Sister was pretty overwhelmed when she opened the album, so I think it was definitely a memorable reveal!

Up next: Day 1 – From Colorado to World of Color

Relaxin’ on the Patio – Boardwalk Inn and Villas

Sweet Dreams! – Disneyland Hotel

Into the Woods – Wilderness Lodge

Room with a View – Grand Californian

Clockwise from top left: Relaxin’ on the patio at Boardwalk Inn and Villas; In to the woods at Wilderness Lodge; A Room with a View at Grand Californian; Sweet Dreams at Disneyland Hotel

Thanks to Deb at Focused on the Magic and Guest Host Mike from My Dreams of Disney for hosting this week’s wonderful Wednesday blog hop! Make sure to hop through to see some other relaxing resorts!

Happy May Day! I am SO excited for May to start because it’s the month of not just one Disney-related trip but TWO Disney-related trips! Woohoo!!

On Friday, Colorado Sister and I are heading to Disneyland for a girls’ only weekend to celebrate her 30th birthday. We’re planning on riding almost every attraction in both parks and will be taking lots of pictures so I’ll definitely be sharing our experiences when I get back. After that trip, it’ll be a few short weeks until we leave for our island adventures at Aulani, on the island of Oahu. I am SO ready for the beach! An Aulani trip report will be coming up early in June, so stay tuned!

To celebrate May, I decided to share a picture that signifies BOTH our trips – one of the tikis from the Enchanted Tiki Room. Sure, it’s not EXACTLY Hawaiian, but it’s island-y and it’s the best place to get that yummy Hawaiian treat – a Dole Whip!

Rongo, the God of Agriculture – Enchanted Tiki Room, Disneyland

Thank you for stopping by today! Make sure to hop on through to visit the other folks who’ve linked up to the Blog Hop on Focused on the Magic. And if you have something to share, please link up! Deb accepts all Disney-related blog posts, even if they aren’t specific to the week’s topic and it’s a great way to get more visitors to your site!

In terms of Disney, there’s not much that’s wilder than Wonderland, so today I thought I’d share a few photos from our walk on the wild side of Disney at California Adventure’s Mad T Party.

The Amazing Slinky-Man

Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum

Pink Flamingos

The Mad Hatter working the crowd

Thanks goes, as always, to the wonderful Deb over at Focused on the Magic, who continues to come up with fantastic themes for us each week. Make sure to hop through to see some other great examples of Disney’s Wild Side!