Yearly Archives: 2023

Adventure

Disneyland Planning Tips for First-Time Visitors

Disneyland Resort in California is the original Disney theme park, with a great mix of classic rides and newer additions such as the popular Cars Land. With its 60th anniversary Diamond Celebration underway, many guests are looking to visit Disneyland – here are some tips for first-timers to become familiar with how to plan for a visit.

Make use of FastPass to avoid waiting. With FastPass, guests can obtain a return ticket for eligible attractions and return to the ride later. Then, guests can enter the FastPass queue for a much shorter wait. Note that, for most rides, you can only hold one FastPass at a time. Keep in mind that not all Disneyland rides offer FastPass, such as Pirates of the Caribbean and the Matterhorn. Disney California Adventure’s most popular ride, Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land, is so popular that it typically distributes all its FastPasses for the day before noon.

Guests should also definitely try to get FastPasses for two of Disneyland’s nighttime spectaculars, Fantasmic! at Disneyland and World of Color at Disney California Adventure. These FastPasses are distributed like regular FastPasses and allow guests access to some of the best viewing areas for these shows. FastPasses for Fantasmic! are distributed behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and for World of Color by the FastPass machines for Grizzly River Run. These FastPasses also disappear quickly, so try to get them as soon as possible. There are also dining packages available for both these shows that include lunch or dinner and FastPasses for the show.

Another way to avoid waiting is to make use of single rider lines. Only a few rides have it, but they’re especially useful for high-demand rides without FastPass, like the Matterhorn, or the incredibly popular Radiator Springs Racers. You’ll be separated from the rest of your group during the ride, but your wait will be much shorter.

Guests should also consider purchasing a Park Hopper. The entrances to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are barely two minutes’ walk from each other, making it incredibly easy to hop between the two parks. If you’d like the freedom to bounce between the parks, add a Park Hopper to your ticket.

Disneyland offers a Magic Morning Hour, early admission to one of the two theme parks on select days. Guests staying at a Disneyland resort hotel have early admission to both parks when offered (typically Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday for Disneyland, and Monday, Wednesday, Friday for Disney California Adventure). This is a huge advantage at Disney California Adventure, because resort hotel guests will have first crack at riding or getting a FastPass for Radiator Springs Racers. Guests with a 3+ day park ticket can also take advantage of one Magic Morning Hour during their visit at Disneyland only. Typically, only Fantasyland, Toontown, and Tomorrowland are open during the Magic Morning Hour.

Keep in mind that the time of year you visit will have a large effect on how crowded it will be. Summers and the holidays tend to be the most crowded times of year, whereas January and February, early May, and September through early November tend to have fewer crowds.

Restaurant

Top Denver Restaurants

Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs
A gourmet hot dog restaurant probably isn’t what most people would expect at the top of a restaurant list, especially in a foodie city like Denver, but that just shows you haven’t been to Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs. Yelp.com rated this Five Points food stand as the top restaurant in Denver. They serve of 20 different dogs, all crafted with gourmet sausage. In addition to the hot dogs, Biker Jim’s has two burgers on the menu. The causal restaurant keeps true to its roots. Biker Jim’s started when Jim Pittenger started selling dogs from a cart on a busy street corner. But these weren’t normal hot dogs; instead they were often prepared with reindeer, wild boar, elk, antelope, pheasant or buffalo. As its popularity grew, a permanent home was needed. Enter the casual eatery on Larimer Street that still holds true to its street foodie vibe. Top off your dog with the coke soaked grilled onions and cream cheese, and you have had the complete Biker Jim’s experience.

Pho 95
Coming in as the second top restaurant in Denver on Yelp.com, Pho 95 on Asian Restaurant Row is always packed. Booths at this South Federal Boulevard eatery overflow with pho fanatics slurping up bowl after steaming bowl of various pho combinations. The menu features everything from tripe to meatballs and filet mignon and each pho order is served with a massive pile of accoutrements that are all fresh. The broth behind this noodle dish is homemade, fresh and featuring bold, big flavors like cardamom, star anise and clove, all helping to make Pho 95 worth every slurping bite. The steak that comes out of the kitchen always seems to be the front-runner, with customers raving about the spring rolls with grilled beef and the pho served with raw steak.

Vert Kitchen
Opening its doors in 2009 in Washington Park, Vert Kitchen is all about real cooking with fresh and healthy ingredients. Noah Stephens is the owner and chef behind this sandwich eatery that pulls from old world influences and classical French techniques. Stephens graduated from the University of Denver and then went on to study at a cooking school in Paris. From this education, Stephens masterful crafts a menu that seamlessly combines food, wine and culture all together. Everything coming out of the kitchen is 100% organic and furthermore, Vert aims to only use sustainable meat and dairy products. Diners describe the fare as featuring heart and soul as a main ingredient and they go as far as to say it doesn’t matter what you order because every single dish on the menu is carefully crafted and elegantly presented at this spectacular Denver restaurant.

Rooster & Moon Coffee Pub
The Golden Triangle Gastropub, Rooster & Moon Coffee Pub, is more than just a restaurant. This Denver restaurant is an all-encompassing hot spot, with a high end coffee shop that serves only the highest quality espresso beverages, a sandwich place that uses only certified organic fare and a bar where local musicians play while beer, wine and signature cocktails are readily flow. Rooster and Moon Coffee Pub prides itself in its free wireless Internet and abundance of outlets, so lose a few hours doing work, enjoying a fairly traded cup of joe and a heavenly sandwich. The service is quick and attentive and the environment is comfortable and inviting; the perfect place to have an intense conversation discussing local politics or the merits of a particular new band.

XNews

10 Tips For A Smooth Family Road Trip

Do you find yourself dreading the annual family vacation? Does the idea of a road trip with your kids make your toes curl? Sure, family vacations can be stressful, but the joys can far outweigh the woes if you begin with realistic expectations and plan carefully. The following tips will go a long way toward making your family road trip memorable for all of the rights reasons.

1. Schedule twice as much time as you think you will need. If you are planning a 4-hour road trip to the family reunion, leave 8 hours before the scheduled event. If you arrive early, find a local playground and let the kids run off some steam before they have to politely greet all of their aunts and uncles.

2. Print the map. It tempting to do a quick check on MapQuest and head on out the door. But taking an extra 2 minutes to print out the map can save you two hours of wandering around, lost in Amish country or on the big city expressway.

3. Stay clean. Kids (and parents) get sweaty and grimy on hot car trips, so bring plenty of wet wipes to wash hands and faces at each rest stop. Take a few minutes to de-trash your car at each rest stop, and you’ll feel much more relaxed and energized when you reach your vacation destination.

4. Try to maintain regular routines. Try to get the kids to bed no more than a half hour past their regular bedtimes. If your young children still nap at home, try to arrange a similar nap schedule while on vacation. An all-day adventure will quickly turn to chaos if you two-year-old misses his afternoon nap, so why not plan to enjoy the amusement park in the evening when the weather is cooler and the crowds are thinner?

5. Plan short excursions. This allows you more flexibility to work around nap and meal schedules.

6. Schedule time for goofing around. The kids (and parents) get cranky when they are constantly dragged from one activity to the next. Why not take the morning off to hang out at the hotel pool, or let the kids play with their own toys in the hotel room.

7. Keep plenty of snacks on hand, but skip any perishable foods. A bag of goldfish crackers can be a lifesaver when find yourself stuck in the slow line at Disney.

8. Pack lightly and be prepared to do laundry. Laundry day offers a wonderful bit of downtime during a hectic week of vacation and allows you to travel much lighter.

9. Let your kids take some of the pictures. You will probably be amazed at the quality and creativity of photographs taken by kids. If you want to hold on to the expensive digital camera, why not give each of your kids a disposable camera of their own for the week?

10. Keep your sense of humor! Whether it is a wrong turn, a forgotten item, or even a forgotten kid, it would not be a family vacation if something did not go amiss. But the biggest vacation bloopers usually make the best vacation memories – the ones you and your kids will be laughing about for years to come. So keep a smile on your face at all times. If you laugh, your kids will laugh along with you.