A Legacy of Making Memories

This past Sunday, the world lost a truly great and inspiring man. Mike Rodriguez passed away October 16, 2011. Mike loved his family, and he loved to make memories.

One of Mike's lifetime goals was to take his entire family to the "Happiest Place on Earth," Walt Disney World. Two years ago he fulfilled this goal and took each of his five children, all of their spouses and children, and his wife Darin to Florida to experience happiness as a family. Mike may be gone, but those memories he made during his life will live on with those he cared for. Those cherished moments will serve as a reminder of his love and of his pursuit of happiness.

At his funeral service, as I was listening to each of his children stand and honor him with words of appreciation and respect, I couldn't help but hope that someday my children would speak similar words of me. I hope that Disney World, Disneyland, road trips, or whatever may end up being my go to memory-maker, will truly be what my children remember me for. Because it is during those trips, and those experiences, that we get as close to perfection as possible while on this earth.

The place we decide to make these memories is irrelevant, but the effort and devotion to make them is essential to their existence. Mike knew this, he lived his life making eternal memories with those he loves.

"The world has not lost such an imaginative mind since we lost Walt Disney" -Jon Rodriguez

Avatar at the Disney Parks!!!

That's right, you heard it. Avatar is going to be a new "land" in Disney World's Animal Kingdom. Everything is in the Blue Sky phase right now so there are little details on what exactly a Disney/Avatar experience would entail.

Granted not everyone loves the movies, and many people probably think that Avatar doesn't really fit in a family-oriented Disney world, but I don't think that any of us can argue that the world of Avatar (Pandora) is a magical one that we all wants to visit, and who better to do that than Disney.

If you think about the integration of Star Wars and Indiana Jones into the parks, they have provided some of the most beloved Disney attractions, yet they aren't from Disney. So this isn't something new for Disney to adopt popular material into their parks.

I am personally pretty excited about the potential of Disney's Pandora, especially with the technological mind of James Cameron being so heavily involved. What do you think???

To read more click here for the official announcement and here for a follow up FAQ or here for a fun list of "suggested rides"

History of Disneyland

Check out this really cool infographic of the history of Disneyland. It highlights all of the major events in the parks history since it's opening.

A NEW REASON TO CELBRATE DISNEYLAND DAY!!!!

Watch the video before you read anything



So, we are going to be moving Disneyland Day for 2012 to January 27 & 28th since the baby is due 5 days after the previous Disneyland Day in March (currently set for March 16th). The reason for this date is that Brit (hopefully) will be "power walking" her 1/2 marathon still on the 29th.

We are so excited to add to our family. We are excited to celebrate our baby's birthday (and Savy's) every year by continuing to have Disneyland Day in March, but for obvious reasons it'll be different this year.

This means that the Mouse Hunt challenge will start sometime in early December to get ready for an awesome ROUND 2 of the Annual Mouse Hunt challenge.

Thanks to everyone for your love and support!

Awesome Disneyland Photos!

Here is a link to a great site that Savanna sent my way, check out some of the cool pics they have!

Click here to see more

No more awkward lap sitting

Well, I have been gone at Sony for 2 months, I have A TON of news to post about, but it's a bit overwhelming so I thought I'd start with this sneak peak of the new bob sleds for the Matterhorn. Are you glad there will be no more lap sitting? Or did you like the uncomfortable/fun bouncing around?

Pixar's Brave

I know it's not technically Disneyland news, but since more than half of all new attractions at Disneyland are from Pixar movies, this will most likely make an appearance in the parks someday.

Here is the newly released trailer

Pogo

Pogo is a musician who loves to remix Disney movies to make inspiring and amazing songs. Here is the newly released Bloom featuring Little Mermaid, Jasmine, Snow White, Cinderella, Mary Poppins and more...



And here is my all time favorite pogo remix from Up called Upular

Inspiring Video of an Imagineer

THE IMAGINEER from Drea Cooper on Vimeo.

Welcome Wilderness Explorers!!

Well the fans of Up will be happy to hear that the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail will finally get a worth while theme. Once the home of Brother Bear, now your favorite characters from Up will guide you in this much ignored part of Cal Adventure. Russel and Dug will help you become Senior Wilderness Explorers.

Awesome new show brings disney magic to your backyard!

Wow, I sure hope that I can win this someday. HGTV has a new show called "My Yard Goes Disney". Every Monday at 8 watch a lucky family's backyard be converted into a Disney themed backyard. Check out the video of the premiere and this image of another park with a safari theme

Dumbo the Flying Elephant

This is a fun video, woulda been awesome to see in person. Every decade or so the Jungle Cruise elephants go through a 7 week refurb.

Random Disney Fun (and some bad news)

Well, it seems sort of hard to top the post about both Star Tours and Little Mermaid opening, but there are some fun things going on right now.

First off, the bad news... The beloved Tortilla factory in DCA is officially closed for good.

Apparently they are going to replace it with a chocolate factory, but that will most likely take quite a while since their efforts are focused on Cars Land. Sorry everyone, no more saving money by eating 6 samples of tortillas and sourdough for lunch(it'll have to be just sourdough from now on).

Speaking of Cars Land, since Mermaid and Star Tours are done, the parks have released some fun facts on the Disney Parks future. Here is a link to a video presentation that was given just after the grand openings this week that explains Cars Land in detail. Basically radiator springs will house several "snack" stands, some gift shops, plus two lower budget rides; Mater's tow trucks (featuring an original song made for the ride) and Luigi's tires. Best of all will be the Radiator Springs Racers. I think that this may very well be the best new ride added to the Disneyland Resort since Indiana Jones. It's a HUGE attraction. Cars land is a 12 acre expansion, SIX of those acres are used by Racers. A huge amount of detail is being put into the rides queue as well. The line will tell the back story as to how Radiator Springs was established.

Ok, this is amazing!! Forget season passes or long car rides, you can now bring Disneyland home, with the new game, Disneyland Adventures for the kinect.

Looks like they have faithfully recreated the entire park for you to be able to walk through. Which in my opinion, would be enough to make an awesome game. But the rides themselves will be themed mini games. It really looks cool.

My favorite game as a kid was Disney's Adventure in the Magic Kingdom for the original Nintendo. I think that technology has advanced somewhat

Obviously these won't really replace going to the park. The best part about Disneyland IS the road trip and the company. But it's still a really cool way to experience the Disney Magic.

Make sure to leave your comments. Do you think Radiator Springs Racers will really be the best addition since Indiana Jones (will it be better than Little Mermaid, Star Tours 2, Tower of Terror, Buzz Lightyear and Midway Mania?). Are you sad about the Tortilla Factory or happy that we'll someday get free chocolate?

It has begun!!! [Updated]

Well everyone, it is finally here. The day many of you have been waiting for has finally come, 2 new Disneyland rides are now officially open and we have a new parade! Many people have ridden/experienced these attractions and the reviews are fantastic! I couldn't be more excited.

Here is the grand opening of Little Mermaid

Pat Carroll, the original voice of Ursula was in attendance

From what people are saying, the ride is great. Though many people make sure to point out that it is not supposed to be an E-Ticket attraction (as a point of reference, all the Fantasyland rides are considered D or C ticket rides). I've heard several people put Mermaid between Peter Pan and Haunted Mansion, which sounds like a pretty stellar position to be in.

And the opening of Star Tours

Here's a fun commercial for Star Tours


Everyone seems to be very pleased with the update and it seems to be unanimous in approval. It sounds like everyone agrees that this is a worth while update to the old attraction.

And Soundsational Parade

It's been a while since Disneyland has had a new Parade that was very memorable, but from what I can see in pictures this parade really seems to be a great one. The detail in the floats and costumes is great. The selection of characters is fantastic (Lion King, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, Rapunzel just to name a few). All early reviews of this parade are also super positive!

Overall Disneyland seems to be on a major role. With these additions, plus World of Color, I have some great hopes for the future (Cars Land anyone!!). This will be a great summer for Disneyland lovers!

Bringing the Magic Home

* click image to enlarge

This awesome theater was installed in a man's home in Florida. The project cost him 2.5 million! It is an amazing concept and is certainly on par with the classic atmosphere of the Pirates attraction. There is even a dome ceiling that has been painted with a night sky similar to the ride. Even if you weren't entirely fond of the latter installments in the Pirates franchise I don't think anyone could refuse watching them in this home theater. Click here to read more.

Here are some videos of other families who have tried to recreate the experience of Soarin Over California and World Of Color in their homes (on a MUCH cheaper budget).

Soundsational Summer!

Cool video of what'll be new this summer at Disneyland

Preview of Star Tours 2.0 destinations!!

Pretty cool stuff!!

Star Tours 2.0 First Look!

So some people have gotten the chance to ride this amazing attraction, the only word they use to describe it is "impressive". Check out some pictures and read more by clicking here

So Excited!!

Fun video from Disneyland's Pirates Premiere

More Pirates News

On the wake (get it, wake) of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, there are some really fun things happening at Disneyland. One thing (that will be temporary, don't worry) is the change of Davy Jones' appearance in the attraction through the smokey waterfall projection effect. As of May 20th, this effect will feature Black Beard, the new villain of Pirates. I love the Davy Jones effect, (much better than those Indiana Jones rats) and I love the character of Davy Jones, but it will be cool to have a temporary change, with Davy "returning later this year."

Pirates Premiere

Well, this weekend something pretty unique will be happening at Disneyland Park. Tom Sawyer's Island will be housing the world premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean:On Stranger Tides. The screen is 90 feet wide and 6 stories tall. It's the first ever 3d outdoor premiere. Tickets sold out in 3 days. They went fast because they only cost $1000 per person. Yup that is right! But all profits go to the boys and girls club. All of the main cast will be in attendance. Check out the cool pick or the Waters of America screen and for more info click on this link or this one

For Next Year...

Next year we aren't going to have matching shirts, but we are going to have matching tatoos!!

Tokyo's Fantasmic

Since most of us wont be traveling to Tokyo anytime soon, I thought it would be fun to post a video of the new Fantasmic show from Tokyo's Disney Sea Adventure Park.

It's 20 minutes long, it has a cool combo of projections and this cool escalating cake looking led screen that you have to see to understand (see example @ 1 min mark in Part I), and the dragon at the end is pretty cool (see it @ 3 min mark in Part II), it's wings are jets of water and it has lazer hands projected onto them. I think I prefer the Disneyland one because this one doesn't have the Mark Twain or the Columbia but it does have some really cool smaller ships with big blow up characters and neat lights. Anyways, enjoy the video!!!

Oh, and I think it's funny hearing Mickey and the gang speak Japanese

PART I


PART II

Happy Birthday Brit!!

Well honey! Be careful what you wish for!!! I thought that this would make a good Birthday present for you, and I thought it would be fun for you to find out about it through our little blog.

Here is your registration

Here are some links that contain info about the event.

Main Page for the Tinkerbell 1/2 Marathon

Here is a pdf for a training schedule

Here is a map of the course that GOES THROUGH DISNEYLAND AND CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE!!!



I love you sweetheart! I'm excited to help you prepare!!! Happy (very early) Birthday!!!

Star Tours 2.0

Here's a cool article with some fun info from C3PO(Anthony Daniels) himself

Anthony Daniels Explains Variability in "Extraordinary" New Disney Ride

...and in case you hadn't seen it yet...

This is fantastic!

Fun New Technology

Well, only 333 days until next Disneyland Day!
Though this video is of Disney World, apparently once the technology is perfected, it will be installed at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion! Looks really cool! Here's hoping!

Ariel's Undersea Adventure!!

Hey everyone! Here's some videos for ya to get you excited about the new Ariel attraction coming June 2011.


Ariel's Animatronic


Ursula's Animatronic


The Shell Buggies


Outer Decorations

WOW!!! What a voice!!

Ok, I have a confession, Brit and I like watching Glee together... and the Bachelor. Frankly I just like tv in general, and yes, I do watch manly shows too! (24, House, Fringe, Man vs Wild...) Anyways, back to my point, we like Glee, and this is very Glee-esc, but it's AMAZING!!! I seriously was blown away.



This guy is an artist at Pixar, who'd-a-thunk?!

Happy 44th to Pirates!!!

Check out this awesome video of the opening day!!

Disneyland Day 2011

About 2 years ago, Brit and I went to Disneyland. It was our first time being there together as a family. We loved it so much that we decided we were going to invent our own annual holiday centered around bringing family together at the most magical place on earth. We decided we would call it Disneyland Day. In 2010, we invited all of our immediate family to join us at the park. We had SO much fun. Kim, Cheryl, Chad, Rachel, Craig, Cindy, Brandon, Jon, Savanna, Nick & his friend Jake were all there. It was great. This year we wanted to include extended family, and that may have been the best decision we ever made! We knew people weren't going to be able to make it on such short notice, but we wanted to involve them, so we came up with Mouse Hunt. We had hoped at least 5 or so people would play. Obviously, a lot more than that joined in on the fun, and it was such a blessing to be receiving weekly emails from grandparents, aunts, cousins, parents, etc... Even if it was over something as trivial as a mouse, it was so good to hear from you all.

Then there was the fierce competition that developed as a result of the tricky weekly questions. We had so much fun choosing which facts to quiz you on, then to watch the answer roll in within minutes of asking. It was more fun than we could have ever imagined. Finally the breakfast arrived. Zapperman (Kim), Miss Nemesis (Savanna) and The Comeback King (Chad) all showed up to IHOP fully decked out in costume. It was priceless.

A few weeks back I had asked the family to answer some simple opinion questions about the park. Your answers were used to create a family feud like final/ultimate/epic challenge for the finalists of the mouse hunt competition. The 3 players were to guess the most popular answers to the questions that we asked you in a game of Disney Family Feud. A few examples that you all chose were: Pirates of the Caribbean as the favorite Disneyland ride (6 votes); Soarin' as the California Adventure favorite ride (10 votes); and Teacups as the ride most likely to make you sick (13 votes). We had the contestants answer 5 questions as a group and in the final round, they each gave their best guesses to the 6 remaining questions.

Numbers were tallied and Miss Nemesis squeezed by Zapperman winning by 2 points. She received a one-of-kind-trophy that had been hand carved by Michael, mouse ears with "2011 Mouseketeer" on the back, and a first place certificate. Zapperman took 2nd and won a small crystal sculpture of Sleeping Beauty's Castle and a second place certificate, and Comeback King took 3rd winning a custom, one-of-a-kind deck of Disney playing cards with "Disneyland Day 2011" printed on the back. It was a really fun finish to an amazing competition.

The digital winner ended up being The Turtle (Cindy). She barely beat out Marianne and Grandpa for her claim to fame. She had the most points out of those who could not come to the park. She will be receiving her prize in the mail shortly.

Everyone who attended received a Mickey Mouse bag that included a home made Mickey mouse rice-crispy-treat, tie-dye Disney shirts and a cd with music inspired by the different lands of Disneyland (mixed beautifully by Savanna). Everyone who played should be getting one of those cds either in the mail, or by personal delivery soon.

Those who made it to the park this year know how great it was! Seriously it was a day to remember. Kim, Cheryl, Chad, Rachel, Stephanie, Zack, Zoey, Jon and Savanna were all there. Having the kids there added such a great spirit. Unfortunately Grandma and Grandpa had to cancel their reservations last minute due to back trouble with Grandma. It was precautionary but keep her in your prayers. There absence was the only damper on the weekend. We love them so much and hope they, and all of you, can make it next year.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL OF THE PICTURES WE TOOK

The best part about all of this had nothing to do with the rides (which were wonderful) and everything to do with the people. Thank you all so much for making this one of the most enjoyable experiences we have had as a married couple. Please mark your calendars for next year and come with us on a family trip that you won't ever forget!!

1st MOUSE HUNT CHAMPION IS...

Miss Nemesis (aka Savanna!!!)

Wow, it was such a fun weekend. I couldn't wait any longer, I only have one picture, but we'll be posting a ton more. Savanna zipped past Zapperman finishing with 112 points. Kim was only 2 behind with 110, and Chad finished with 105. I'll post all the results but we used all of those surveys we sent to make a Disney Family Feud finale. It was great. More details and pics tonight!!!

The Magic of Disneyland

Well, we will be in the park today! We so miss all of you who couldn't make it!! Here are the wonderful pics that have been sent!

Well start with my favorite: Diane and her dinglehopper

Zapperman and his (MUCH NEEDED) side-kick! -Nice try Kim, this is not even Disneyland

Michael getting in trouble with security