Day 960: Paint the Night

The Main Street Electical Parade on steroids? Sounds just crazy enough to work, doesn't it? And let me tell you...it DOES. Prior to heading to Disneyland I definitely did my reserach, so that by the time I finally got around to seeing Paint the Night my first evening in the parks, I knew every word and note. I believe that throughout the course of my trip I "Stumbled" upon Paint the Night around 5 or 6 times for sure, which means I saw Paint the Night more than I did anything else other than World of Color. If that doesn't say something I don't know what will.

This new nighttime spectacular is largely based off of that original Main Street Electrical Parade, which we still enjoy at Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. I love the Electrical Parade, and while I don't always take the time to stop and watch it, over the past few years I've become more likely to take up residence along the Frontierland stretch for the later parade showing when there's no one there to enjoy the magic. However, having now seen Paint the Night, I want nothing more than an updated show at Magic Kingdom.

The only problem? I'm not totally sure it would fit.

The Main Street Electical Parade has become a staple of the Magic Kingdom, and change is always strange and difficult, but without a huge reason, like the Diamond Celebration was for Disneyland, a large scale parade update like that seems a bit odd. Granted, we just got Festival of Fantasy not that long ago while Disneyland's Soundsational has been there for years, so I'm not complaining. But that's not the only reason. Disneyland also has a huge Pixar presense that we don't find at Walt Disney World. Between Cars, Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, and A Bug's Life, the Pixar name has certainly made a name for itself at the Disneyland Resort. They even have a whole parade dedicated to Pixar! And believe it or not, a huge portion of Paint the Night is based on those same films, with Cars, Toy Story, and Monsters Inc. floats along with appearances from many of our favorite Pixar Characters.

In particular, I was completely in love with the Cars section of the parade, which I think I could just stare at for hours. In a particularly magical moment, as we headed on the train from Toontown to Tomorrowland, we passed the staging location for the parade, similar to the way you do as you head through Frontierland at Walt Disney World, and the entire Cars section, was ready to go on. The dancers from that section waved to us as we passed, and as if they weren't already my favorite part of the parade, they definitely were then.

But we don't have a Cars Land in Florida. We may be getting a Toy Story Land, but we don't have A Bug's Land or a Monsters Inc. attraction either (we do have the Laugh Floor, but the scale of popularity is still no where near what it is in California). We have more Star Wars (actually guys a Star Wars segment of Paint the Night would be pretty awesome), and the Muppets, and what is apparently lots and lots of Frozen. So while there are definitely things that spill over from park to park, if Paint the Night ever makes it to Walt Disney World, I have the feeling it would be quite different from what we see at Disneyland.

Although if we're changing things can we just get Belle out of that dress and get rid of the Ariel float? Let's bring in some new characters! Star Wars, like I said, or a bigger Rapunzel float! Maybe even Figment? How cute would he be all lit up with his imagination?

How do you think Paint the Night would appear if it was at Walt Disney World? Would it be the same, or would you make some changes?

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 8 due to the Disney Trip and College).

Day 595: Cars Land

I had some really high hopes as I headed to Disneyland. I mean really, really high hopes. When I visited four years ago, progress on Cars Land was slowly coming along, but it was definitely a long ways from completion. In fact, the entirety of Disney California Adventure was half under construction. Since then I've eagerly watched on social media as part after part of the new update was completed, and when I finally got around to seeing it, I wasn't at all let down.

As you can probably figure out from the title of this post, by far my new favorite thing at Disneyland was Cars Land. Cars is one of my all time favorite Pixar movies, and walking into Cars Land was like walking right into the movie. I felt as though Sarge or Lizzie was about to pop out of nowhere, right beside Red, Lightning or Mater.

So let's start at the front of Cars Land, where just to the left of the entrance you can find my new favorite Disneyland attraction, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. I have absolutely no clue why I love this attraction so much, but it makes me laugh like I haven't laughed in years, and the music has been stuck in my head for weeks. Why is it so fun? Is this just an impossible to answer question aside from the answer of "because it just is!?!" 

The big E-Ticket attraction of the new land, however, is Radiator Spring Racers, which I was lucky enough to go on a total of three times in my short time at Disneyland. The line gets long fast, and Fastpasses run out early on in the day, but if you manage to snag one, it's definitely worth it. In fact, when I went on it the first time I almost cried. The moment you come through the tunnel and see the bridge with the waterfall is magical, and the race at the end left me with a look of absolute joy on my face...except for in the pictures because I always managed to blink and be too focused on winning to actually take a good picture...

Additionally, the merch that you can find all over Cars Land is basically the definition of amazing. I could have gone broke just in Cars Land. I think I bought as much of it as I could possibly handle before I had to stop. My favorite souvenir has to be my new Dinoco Oil Can though, because when you're feelin' a quart low, better go with Dinoco! 

But as beautiful as Cars Land is during the day, it's even more stunning at night! Lit up in the Neon fixed by Lightning himself, the town glows and completely comes alive. I'm amazed I ever left to be honest. 

I also loved the wonderful details put in throughout Radiator Springs, my favorite of which has to be the flashing yellow light, which my Dad managed to get a picture of! Let's be honest though, if he caught it on the third blink it would have been just slow enough to catch a picture in one try!

I also have to comment on the other thing I love about Radiator Springs though. A lot of us have a Disney character we share a name with, and how lucky am I that mine is in one of my favorite movies that also happens to have a giant land devoted to it in a Disney park and the name also happens to be spelled correctly! It's Lizzie, not Lizzy! 

Radiator Springs is definitely the place to stop on the heart of Route 66, and I can't wait to drive back as soon as possible for more races, towing, oil changes and fun! If you haven't had a chance to check out Cars Land yet, definitely put it on your to-do list, because there's nothing quite like it anywhere else in the world!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 7 due to the Disney Trip and College Move-In).