Disney Daze: The Happiest Hotel on Earth Tour

We've done just about all of the guided tours Disneyland and California Adventure offer while The Happiest Hotel on Earth Tour was complimentary for guests of the resort. There was a small group of us, most from the local Los Angeles area with one from New Orleans. Apparently their spouses were all at the medical convention going on so the tour was a nice activity for them. Starting in the lobby of the Disneyland Hotel, you're basically taken around the three towers. Next to Goofy's Kitchen and Steakhouse 55 you watch a video that gives you some interesting history on the hotel as it started off as 100 rooms and was partially funded by ABC who required a weekly program in return. The resort kept growing and growing with a golf course and a marina once part of the magic. One tower became three and 100 rooms has grown into just under 1,000.

Like the park, you notice that each themed tower or land changes in design and decoration. You have tropical plants and bamboo outside the Adventure Tower and the lobby has maquettes from The Jungle Cruise. Over by Frontier Tower you get pine trees and a waterfall with an awesome model of Big Thunder Ranch in the lobby. Our guide Ron joked that it wasn't true to life because not a single figure on the map had a churro in hand. Good one, Ron-Dawg. We got a glimpse of the dark and classy Steakhouse 55 along with a little bit of history as Walt Disney had a huge affinity for classic Hollywood of the 1920's and 30's. His wife was a big fan of tea time so 55 now offers one over the weekend. We were taken into Trader Sam's to check out their "storm" show where lights are dimmed and displays on the wall look like they're getting attacked by nature. Lots of historic tidbits adorns the walls and you hear more about the design of the park including The Lost Weekend where Disney an and artist holed up for 3 days creating a map of the proposed park to present to possible investors. All in it was a nice little bonus for staying in the hotel and I still can't imagine there used to be a functioning marina in the middle.

Workout of the Day: Disney (Dolph) Daze

On Saturday morning I woke up at 6:00 AM after a full night's sleep and hit the hotel's gym. It's a solid facility, better than the Grand Californians I'd say. Pretty standard hotel gym with dumbbells, a cable machine, yoga mats and balls along with plenty of cardiovascular machines. Apparently everybody else in the resort was on vacation mode as I had the place to myself. There's permanent music you can listen to or put something on the TV's. I opted for tunes and a Shoulders and Arms session:

Arnold Press/Face Pull/Incline Close Grip Push Up
Rear Delt Raise/Incline Zane Curls/Rope Pushdown
Side Raise/Concentration Curl/1-Arm Extension

9 exercises done as one giant circuit repeated 3 times. I threw in 4 sets of standing calf raises along with some front delt work and forearms before hitting the Elliptical for a mile and another on the stationary bike.

Later in the weekend I would come across a new Dolph Lundgren video where he shows you his superset based workout routine along with juice and protein centric diet. Dude is still doing the Damme thing in his 50's so you have no excuse not to get up. The big Swede talks dealing with an abusive father, therapy, Arnold waking him up at night and much more.

Disney Daze: The Hotel

It's Annual Passholder days down at Disneyland and with Long Beach Con a short drive away along with my accountant for taxes, it was time for a weekend on the road. We arrived at the Disneyland Hotel Friday night and checked into the spacious joint that has three towers of rooms along with a convention center onsite. The room was nice with Mickey stuff everywhere, on the carpet, in the bathroom and a pretty cool headboard across the wall that lit up. We had a nice view of the park's nightly fireworks from our window and set out to explore the grounds. 101 Dalmatians was playing in a field near the gym then we walked right into Trader Sam's and snagged a table. Like Kurt Russell, I'm charmed. We'd tried coming to the Tiki bar before but it was slammed. For 7:00 PM on a Friday night it wasn't too bad but got more and more packed as the night went on. We grabbed some whiskey based cocktails and opted for the souvenir mugs that look like barrels. Every time someone orders the namesake drank, a bell is rung, lights are dimmed and it's announced to the crowd. The ambiance is nice with island paraphernalia all over the walls even if there weren't any obvious nods to Kirk Douglas and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea where they come into contact with island cannibals.

Foodwise there's Polynesian tinged sammiches and flatbread with pulled pork along with burgers. There was a medical convention going on so lots of folks with name tags started rolling in vying for a table. We walked around a bit more and had a Disney first, seeing a cat! It's rumored that hundreds of feral felines roam the grounds to take care of rodents but I'd never seen one. This white and brown guy was just chilling on the sidewalk. Back in the room we poured our new favorite concoction, Merlot with Fireball! This is BJ's Brewhouses version of sangria and like a Jameson Mule, is basically black out juice. We watched the fireworks from our window and took in some Disney programming that fills up the first dozen channels. The park was open until midnight and we had every intention of making it there but I totally passed out.

Disney Daze: Halloween Happiest Haunts

 
Earlier this week we trekked down to Anaheim to partake in Disneyland's wildly popular Happiest Haunts Tour. When I say wildly popular I mean that I had to call at 7:00 AM a month in advance otherwise it sells out in 15 minutes. DL already does a Halloween themed series for locals, Mickey's Trick or Treat something or other where you get a separate ticket to go around the park and collect candy. Ticket holders are limited each night and the park closes early so it's a fun experience we've checked out a couple times and come home with way too much candy we never eat. Happiest Haunts is billed as a three hour tour and we had two guides, your usual Disneyland one who told you about old attractions and park info while the other was a representative from Haunted Mansion who gave you the straight dope on where Halloween customs came from. This was probably the biggest tour we've been on in the park as our group reached 20 members. The park was pretty crowded so that made it a little more difficult to hear in the ol'd ear piece. The tour is solid if not as exclusive as Walk in Walt's Footsteps or eye opening as Cultivating the Magic. It scores by giving you a couple of treats (dipped marshmallow pop and sugar cookie) and getting you onto five rides (Ghost Mountain, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain and The Matterhorn). On the Disney side I learned that the Kirk Douglas classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea had an attraction in the 60's, when it was dismantled, the organ went to the Mansion (which I knew). Apparently the giant squid was there though! Kirk! Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is the only opening day attraction in the park and we were shown a small pond by The Matterhorn has been site to many a closed down rides. All in the tour came in at under three hours and you get a Haunted Mansion Death Certificate along with a pin. You're not invited to stay in the park to enjoy the Trick or Treat party, in fact, you're escorted out!