#14 - Hey...what’s your superhero sign?

The summer season hasn’t officially started, but it is already in full swing and especially ‘super’ at Disney California Adventure. The Summer of Heroes has landed at the resort and Julia was able to #heroup and experience some of the most sought after offerings at the park, including Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout - twice in the same morning, before noon.

First, let’s preface this by saying the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror was Julia’s favorite thrill seeking attraction ever since it opened in 2004. The news of the reimagining of this attraction was not well received by half of the DBFF team. Why change a popular attraction? The other half could NOT wait for the change. Bring on Marvel Land! Mission Breakout opened recently and with it came some truly impressive (if not horrifying) wait times.

Wanting to avoid said wait times, like any good superhero, Julia had an action plan for experiencing the Summer of Heroes. First up was Mission Breakout. Lining up about an hour before the park opened proved to be the best way to ensure multiple ridings (especially on a morning when the park had Extra Magic Hour). The standby line first thing in the morning was manageable and left plenty of time to snag a Fastpass for a second riding.

Comparing Mission Breakout to the dearly departed Tower of Terror is basically useless. All that is the same between the two is the building structure. The experiences are completely different and both are equally amazing. Needless to say, Mission Breakout is quickly becoming Julia's new favorite attraction and she is excited to rock out to all the different soundtrack variations with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Meeting Groot was also high on the list of must-do’s. The line for this photo op is a little deceptive, as is the timing of when to get in the line. Groot appears after the Awesome Dance Off that features Star Lord and Gamora, who do not stay for pictures but rather make way for their deciduous ally. Getting in line (which is marked by tape near the gift shop for Mission Breakout) in advance of the show is the best bet for making it within the short photo window.

Groot will likely make the most character resistant person change his/her tune. Case in point, Julia's sister fell head over heels in love with Groot and was starry eyed the rest of the day after her moment with him. In response to seeing her face paint of Baby Groot (which is complimentary during the event) he enveloped her in an extended slow rocking hug. Groot can talk and is surprisingly expressive, hopefully he sticks around longer than the season.

Other offerings include:

• Heroic encounters - photos with the likes of Captain America and Black Widow. Check times guide for appearances.
• Groot bread - The Fairfax Market has regular sourdough while the Cosmic Canteen has jalapeño cheddar. Tip: head over to the bakery to watch the making of this carb loaded treat.
• Food fit for a hero - The Cosmic Canteen and Knowhere Eats stands are ready to fuel you up for more adventures. FYI: the Groot bread tastes great dipped in leftover cheese from the Obviously Nachos while the Sol Horchata quickly calms any spicy tongues.
• Hero Action Center - Find out who your inner superhero is at the stand located near Monster’s Inc. and get a couple of fun takeaways in the process. Who doesn’t love a good sticker?
• Face painting - Free for all ages. Choose a design from the menu and maybe you'll get a hug from Groot as well. At the very least, you'll impress all the other Terrans.
• Need more Groot in your life? The Animation Academy offers several classes of Baby Groot throughout the day (arrive early to ensure your seat).
• The Avengers Training Initiative is for the littles, but It seems to be the same idea as the Jedi Training Academy. Signups happen by Stage 17.

Whew, that's quite a list and not even an exhaustive one. We can't wait to visit again and experience more of these mighty adventures. Hmmm...perhaps we will smash Hulk donuts in our faces next time?

Hey...is traffic always this good on a Friday night?

"It was a dark and stormy night" - that’s always a fun way to start writing, isn’t it? Can’t you just see Snoopy on top of his doghouse click-clacking away on his typewriter? Wow, we're already digressing - and not even about Disney. But wouldn’t it be great if the Peanuts gang were brought into the Disney family? Okay, let's get back to this post, which is mostly Disney related, we promise. At least it was a Disney location that brought us out, on a dark and stormy night...

With each February brings the glitz and glamour of the Academy Awards - the time when Hollywood comes together to celebrate the best movies of the year. While many of us watch the telecast from home in, say, pajamas and facial masks (not just Julia, right?), the Walt Disney Family Museum is here to help its members get up close and personal with the films and filmmakers from a category near and dear to the museum's mission.

On February 17, the museum opened its doors after hours for a special members-only screening of the five Oscar nominated animated shorts for 2017, accompanied by a dessert reception with the filmmakers.

Julia’s favorite short was "Blind Vaysha." This film is about a girl that is born with a unique form of blindness. Through her left eye she sees the past and through her right, the future - but never the present. In a world where it is increasingly normal to view life through a screen without really taking time to be present, this film rang true and relevant.

Tina’s favorite short was Pixar’s "Piper" - a sweet coming of age story about a young sandpiper learning to scavenge for food. The animation is hyper-realistic making it seem more like a nature documentary than an animated film, but it is beautiful nonetheless. At the end of the screening, attendees were given pebbles, which they used to cast votes for their favorite film of the night. If the Oscars go the way of these voting results, "Piper" will take home the golden statuette.

A short Q&A followed the screening with the filmmakers of both previously mentioned shorts. These two films were the clear favorites of the night, as evidenced by the tallied votes. "Blind Vaysha's" Theodore Ushev shared the story of what made him fall in love with animation. Growing up in communist Bulgaria, Mickey Mouse was not a well known figure like he was in America, but he remembered that somehow Fantasia made its way to the theaters. This film so greatly impacted young Theodore that it eventually lead him in the direction to become an Academy Award nominated filmmaker. As Ron Diamond, host of the evening, observed: Walt Disney and the work he produced profoundly influenced the world and continues to influence every animator that has come along since.  

At the dessert reception, your DBFFs were able to mingle with fellow friends and members of the museum while patiently waiting our turn to talk with the filmmakers. This year we had the good fortune to meet Marc Sondheimer (the producer of "Piper"), Theodore Ushev (writer/director/animator of "Blind Vaysha"), and Marc Bertrand (producer of "Blind Vaysha"). It was a treat to express our appreciation for their work in person - not to mention the excitement of adding to our autograph collections at the same time.

We are already anticipating visiting the museum next February for the next crop of animated shorts...especially since we have discovered that the traffic going over the Golden Gate Bridge into the city on a Friday night is smooth, even on a dark and stormy night...

Hey, when can we do this again?

Big news! Tina and Julia finally made it back to the parks together...as in, at the same time!! Ok, so maybe it's not that newsworthy, but we were excited about it.

What brought us to the parks you ask? The Disneyland Half Marathon weekend, of course. It seems like all we do lately is talk about RunDisney, but between the two of us we have you covered course to course and step by step as one of us participated in each race morning. This means that we had a string of very early mornings hitting the pavement and the parks hard. This always proves a fun challenge.

Julia went all in for the Dumbo Double Dare and successfully completed the 10K and the half marathon on back to back mornings. Tina also doubled up and created her own challenge, that we believe should also entitle athletes to a special medal, and raced in the 5K and the 10K. What is fun about the Disneyland Half Marathon races is that you never know what characters you will encounter on the courses. Rather than drawing from a specific movie or universe, any and all characters can be used - which is great.

First up was the 5K. The theme for the 5K was none other than the Country Bear Jamboree. This theme alone was a deciding factor for Tina to sign up for this race. As always, the race started with the playing of our National Anthem; however, this time we were treated to a live band - a Country Bear Band and it was amazing!

All three races started and ended at the same location, right outside of Disneyland Hotel. Our first mile was located in California Adventure and then we went underground to meet up with Disneyland before heading down the home stretch through Downtown Disney. Some of the photo ops for the 5K included Big Al and Liver Lips but sadly no Trixie.

 

A pleasant change for the 5k was that all medals are actually metal and not the usual rubber medallions. Look for these new metal medals with the Super Heroes 5k and Star Wars 5k as well.  Of course, with the new medals, Disney decided to no longer print the Event Guide; however, you could receive an electronic version of the Guide and then a printed version of the course maps.

On to the 10K, which we both enjoyed...mostly. The course was great with a lot of time in the parks and behind the scenes (it was kind of fun to run by the piles of dirt that will soon enough become Star Wars Land). An eclectic smattering of character photo ops tempted us as we passed. We do not usually elect to stop for pictures during the races, but with the addition of Photopass photographers to the course these decisions have become a little harder to make.  

The theme this race was Dynamic Duos and Aladdin and Genie were the mascots. Both characters were represented along the course with photos ops along with Aladdin’s sidekick Abu and favorite princess Jasmine. This theme also inspired us to Disneybound as a Dynamic Trio (we were a group of three this time) in the park.

Finally, the half marathon. Julia will be the first to admit that she was not well trained for this event, however, she laced up her shoes and put on her bib and ran (while Tina finally had a chance to “sleep in”). She ran 13.1 miles in perfect weather and a cheerful atmosphere. There was a diverse group of performers placed along the route. In addition to marching bands and cheerleaders (which are a familiar sight for racers) there was also a Folklorico group and a Polynesian group dancing, singing, and high fiving racers with such energy that it was infectious.

These added touches help to make the miles outside of the parks entertaining and are a nice distraction from the running. As mentioned in a previous blog post, each half marathon course has its own special feature. Going in, we heard that there was going to be a spot where vintage and classic car owners lined up to cheer on the runners, but there must have been at least a mile and a half of cars lined up on the streets of Anaheim that provided a much needed energy boost on the last half of the run.

This boost was shortly followed by a run through Angels stadium (and even though we are Bay Area baseball fans we can appreciate how cool it is to run through an MLB stadium). Inside the ballpark, Julia was pleased to high-five the cheering Girl Scouts who came out and served as spectators for the runners. All of these different parts put together made for an enjoyable half marathon...the medals at the end also helped.

Once we were showered, dressed, and somewhat revived, we headed back to the parks to take advantage of the last couple days of Disneyland’s Diamond Celebration. While we never did win the Diamond Sweepstakes, we completely enjoyed the spectacle that was the 60th anniversary of the Happiest Place on Earth. So much so that we made the fatal error of sitting..in one spot...on the hard cement...for hours...waiting for the second to last performance of the Paint the Night parade. Luckily we had the cutest family sitting next to us help past the time…oh, and of course, Pokemon Go.

The stiff muscles and sore backs were all worth it to see this spectacle of lights make its way down Main Street, USA for the last time in the foreseeable future. As the catchy parade song ponders, when can we do this again? We say, see you in November friends...will you be assembling?