Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides Exclusive 3D Sneak Peek at Disneyland

Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides exclusive 3D Sneak Peek is at Disneyland.

Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays March 25- May 30

 Nightly April 15th- May 1

After dusk till park closing.

Head over to Big Thunder Ranch to set sail with Jack Sparrow's crew.

Once the sun sets, Festival Arena is turned into a pirate ship. 

 There are pirates all around interacting with you.

Three up front and four in the middle of the arena. 

But before you set sail, here are a couple of things you should keep in mind: 

•You will have to sit on the ground with lots of people all around you. 

There are some benches along the outside, but they are for guest with disabilities. 

•The extended movie clip is a sword fight on a ship, so if you have small children with you, use your judgement on if you want them to see it.

•I didn't notice any strollers inside, so be prepared to hold your children if they are at that younger age. 

•To avoid long lines to get in, wait until later in the night to watch the preview. 

My little guy doesn't like to sit still for long periods, so I was thankful to not have him with me when I went last weekend. Not only would he probably squirm during it, but if I had to get up and leave it would have been very hard to do. I had people all around me with nowhere to move. 

So for me, this experience isn't very kid friendly for my family. Terrible two's with no way to escape = not fun. Last thing anyone wants is a meltdown in a sea of "pirates". 

Since I didn't have my son, I did have a great time. I really loved the pirates that interact with everyone and get you saying, "Yo Ho". Not only is it all fun, but they really set up the excitement of the 8 minute preview.  

Once the preview is over, you are greeted with Jack Sparrow along the exit. Need I say more? 

Yes, he is real. 

 I missed the talking parrot, but my friend Chad from Days in the Park was nice enough to share some photos with me and my readers. 

Photo courtesy of  Chad from Days in the Park

 As Chad was taking some photos, the parrot said, "Oh, I see the cameras taking my picture.  I need to show them ALL of my good side...  right... left.. middle...".

Photo courtesy of Chad from Days in the Park

I also didn't notice any merchandise carts, but Chad found two by the exit. 

Photo courtesy of Chad from Days in the Park

Overall the Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides 3D Sneak Peek is worth checking out, in fact I'm trying to figure out my next visit without the little one. 

Did you see it yet? What did you think? If not, do you plan on it? 

Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides hits theaters on May 20th. 

Wordless Wednesday -Random Photos Around Disneyland

The Cell Phone Series

All photos taken in the last week. 

We share a birthday a day apart. 

Which one is your favorite? 

"Two-Fer" Tuesdays: Our First Completed Vinylmation Series

You could call me a Vinylmation collector. I have just a little over forty of them, but I only have one completed set. I would be what you call a slow Vinylmation collector. 

When the first series came out,  I bought a few of them, but then I stopped buying them. I just decided I didn't need anymore. Then the Toy Story series came out, and it was right around the time my son was obsessed with Woody. I knew I had to start collecting that set. 

 I started a slow tradition of buying one or two boxes every couple of weeks at the park. I would buy them, and then my son and I would find a nice spot at the park to open them. My son quickly caught on to the excitement of ripping the box open to see which character we would get. 

 Each time no matter which one we got, he would exclaim, "OoOOOoo" once I  had helped him open the foil packaging. I would make sure to turn my head away, and ask him which one we got, as he would pull it out to show me. I liked being surprised until the last second. 

 We were lucky at first, always drawing characters we didn't have, but once you almost have the whole collection getting duplicates is almost a certain. 

I could have stopped and just bought the ones I needed off eBay, but what I really enjoy about collecting them is the hunt. Each trip I would carry my duplicates in my purse, and check all the trading spots for the ones I needed. After 6 months of searching, I only needed Bullseye and Woody. 

Then one day I decided I would move on to the Animation series, I almost passed on buying a Toy Story box but still grabbed one. We picked a spot to open them, and it was Bullseye! Now I was on the hunt for Woody. 

I thought about buying him on eBay because then I'd have a completed set, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. On March 11, my husband went to the parks with us. Right before we were about to leave, I had him go with me to one more store to see which traders they had. Guess who we saw in that clear box... Woody!! I freaked out. My husband rushed over to a cast member, who wasn't with anyone, and told them he wanted to trade for Woody. He knew how long we had been searching for him, so it was fun to see his excitement for us. 

After 7 months, we had our first completed set. 

Much celebrating was done, and I was on a natural high beaming with the biggest smile.

You may notice that there is no chaser in the above photo. I don't have it, so you may say I don't have a completed set, but I would still say I do. A completed set to me, is the one you see on display. Chasers are a bonus in my eyes, but not something I need to have for the set. 

I'm now trying to complete the Animation series. I only need a few more, but again I am in no hurry. 

 I just recently traded my last duplicate for Cruella de Vil from the Villians series. I was excited to find her at Disneyland (The Villians series can only be bought at the Disney Store), but sad because now I don't have anymore duplicates for a quick trade. Looking for traders is my favorite part about collecting the Vinylmation.

The Vinylmation collecting has slowed down a bit for us, as we have moved on to collecting Cars at the moment.
Do you collect Vinylmation? Do you enjoy the hunt of finding them, or buy them all at once? I always find it interesting to see what every one's approach is to collecting them.

Now I'd like to point you in the direction of my friend Chad at Days in the Park. We decided to each do a post today about our Vinylmation collections (hence "Two-Fer" Tuesdays), so make sure to head over to his page now to read about how he displays his collection. He has a very good tip! 

ABC DIsney Photo Theme: The Letter F is for...

This weeks ABC Disney Photo Theme is the letter F. 

F is for ....

 Fireworks

 Five and Dime

 Frog

 Fish (Thanks to my Lil One for pointing this fishy out)

Fire Station

Fruit Cart

 Flowers

Frozen Treats

Fireworks

Visit my previous ABC Disney Photo Theme photos here. 

Thanks to That Disney Blog for hosting the photo theme. 

Adventures with the Mouse #3

 Mickey is back to share one of his latest adventures at the Disneyland Resort.

Mickey started his day in Disney California Adventure to watch a preview of Disney Junior Live on Stage, and he collected his gold doubloons (and some streamers) from Jake and The Never Land Pirates. 

Then he headed over to Disneyland with us.

 While Mickey was waiting on the fence in front of Casey Jr. Train, we noticed his cute shadow and made him pose for a picture. He didn't mind at all, since he loves having his picture taken. 

Mickey enjoyed a churro, but he sure left a sugary mess all over the place.

 He ran around with the Little One in his Toontown. Together they tried opening all the gag boxes. 

While posing for a picture in Pixie Hollow with the beautiful flowers, he noticed Peter Pan running by and waved hello. 

 We then headed back to Disney California Adventure together and looked at the progress of Carsland. We talked about how excited we are for that part of the park to open. 

 Then we watched the people on Grizzly River Run go by and waited to see them get soaking wet. 

 And they did. 

To end our day we went for a ride on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, which made all of us hungry for a snack. For some reason we had cupcakes on the brain.  Mickey said he was buying. 

Click here to see more Adventures with the Mouse.

Wordless Wednesday -Random Photos Around Disneyland

The Cell Phone Series

All photos taken this week. 

Which one is your favorite?