Techmamas

Media Trip: Disney Dream

I am packed up and heading to the Florida for the Inaugural Sailing of the Disney's newest ship Dream. I will be looking into the technology and innovations to give a behind the scenes glimpse of the third ship in the magical Disney Cruise Line. I will also do my best to search out WiFi at sea so I don't have to wait to share the fun until I return.

Night fun:

Disclosure: This is a media trip, my travel expenses to attend were covered. I am under no obligation to blog, just to experience this special event. But of course, I will want to share with my audience such an exciting adventure!

Media Trip: Disneyland Holiday and Whats New For 2011

My family moved to California when I was 11 years old and one of our first vacations was a trip to Disneyland. I can still see my brother having the time of his life at age 6 on "It's a Small World". Fast forward (more than) a few years and my own fond childhood memories are now complimented by new memories together with my three boys and husband together at our recent visit to today's Disneyland.

As a parent, I found some creative strategies (included in the middle of this post) to make sure we all had the chance to enjoy our favorite rides on our recent visit. As a blogger, I enjoyed attending the Disneyland media events and learning the "behind the scenes" tricks, meeting Imagineers, previewing what Disneyland has planned for the holidays and learning about whats coming up for 2011.

First I had a chance to connect with Kimberley Clayton Blaine, the producer of MommytoMommyTV (an online show I am thrilled to have hosted). We met a Daisy Duck, discussed some our favorite Disneyland rides and admired her beautiful red bow and red shoes:

Disney w/TechMama and Kimberley!

One of the beautiful backgrounds for our video was the “It’s a Small World” Holiday. Just after the video ended, we enjoyed watching digital imaging in action as images were displayed on the facade of the attraction. There are additional holiday decorations in place in Disneyland through Jan. 2. Here are some of the highlights:

Press release:

“It’s a Small World” Holiday:

Inside Look: Disney's new "World of Color" attraction and tour

I just returned home from a trip back East and was very busy getting my kids summer schedule finalized, when I received an email about a Disney media event in San Francisco. Attending Disney media events are always worth the schedule shifting and babysitting recruiting time, in return for some Disney magic. So - on July 8 - I attended the Disneyland World of Color road show stop in San Francisco. Here is the link to the World of Color road show press release  with details on the tour, my pictures of the event are at the bottom of this post. The tour was created to take some of the magic of the World of Color attraction on the road.

I first heard of the new World of Color attraction at Disney California Adventure park last spring and hoped to bring my kids to see it after it opened June 11, 2010.  I showed my kids a World of Color video and they were fascinated with the fountains, images and special effects.

The World of Color opening day event at Disneyland press release explained the details of a the new attraction at Disney California Adventure:

"There has never been a show like “World of Color,” the mega-scale, after-dark celebration of Disney storytelling.  “World of Color” brings animation to life with powerful fountains that become stars of the show as they create one of the world’s largest projected water screens.

The Disneyland News press release also explained some of the details of the special effects used in the World of Color attraction, which runs just under 25 minutes: