Probably my favorite show at any Disney park is Aladdin ? A Musical Spectacular playing at the Hyperion Theater in Disney?s California Adventure.? This 45-minute show pulls out all the stops and includes Broadway quality sets, special effects, and costumes.? The plot follows the animated movie fairly closely.? Pivotal scenes are recreated in a song and dance spectacular.? The Hyperion is a beautiful theater which holds approximately 2,000 guests on three levels.? The upper levels are usually opened only when warranted by heavy crowds.

The special effects include the magic carpet ride sequence high over the audience and a parade through the aisles to depict Aladdin?s arrival in Agrabah atop an elephant reminiscent of Broadway?s The Lion King.? The dialogue by the genie is updated periodically to reflect current pop culture.? The jokes are spot-on and very funny.? The set design plays an integral role in the production and is used to great effect especially during chases and transitions from interior to exterior scenes.

This musical could easily make the transition to Broadway with a few added songs and scenes.? It really is that good.? Rumor has it that it will be replaced in the next year or two with a new Disney production so don?t walk but run to see it before it?s gone.

Note:? There are no bathrooms in the theater so make sure to make a pit stop before you get in line.? The nearest ones are next to Cruella de Vil?s trailer at the top of Hollywood Boulevard.

Next up:? Storybook Land Canal Boats?

A hidden gem inside the Animation building in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area of Disney?s California Adventure is the Animation Academy.? It is a 15 minute presentation by a real Disney artist who conducts a quick lesson on how to draw a classic Disney character.

The class is held in an air-conditioned auditorium.? The d?cor has a lot of visual interest and very well done.? The one we attended was fairly empty and there were probably under 20 people total.? Paper and pencils are provided to all guests.? The animator gives step-by-step instructions on how a character is drawn using easy to follow guidelines.? My daughter, who was nine years old at time, was able to draw a face that was instantly recognizable as Mickey Mouse.? Guests are allowed to take home their artwork as a nice souvenir.? I found this activity to be a wonderful respite to the hustle and bustle of the crowds and would be especially good if you need to escape the summer heat or a sudden rainstorm.? The classes are generally held twice an hour and I would recommend it for a future visit if you?re looking for something a little different.

?Next up:? Aladdin the Musical??

One of the highlights of any trip to Disney?s California Adventure is Disney?s Electrical Parade.? Originally shown in Disneyland as the Main Street Electrical Parade, it was reintroduced in July 2001 at the new park.? The parade is 20 minutes of electrical magic.? It is a timeless classic of floats spectacularly lit with over half a million lights.? A multitude of Disney characters appear and are choreographed to the infectious soundtrack.? Several of the ?human? characters like Alice and Pete from Pete?s Dragon are actually ?miked? so you can hear them converse with park-goers.? Many guests like to convene in the Sunshine Plaza area near the park entrance.? However, we found that the benches in front of the Corn Dog Castle in the Paradise Pier area offered a wonderful view and fairly light crowds.? From this vantage point, we were able to interact with the characters for a very intimate feel.? It was especially nice to have dancers make eye contact and acknowledge you with waves even while performing their routines.? This parade is the counterpart to the Magic Kingdom?s Spectro-Magic.? Having seen both, I don?t think the Florida version can duplicate the charm and magic of the original.? It is Disney at its best and a definite ?must-see?.

??Next up:? Animation Academy

When you tire of the selection and prices of food inside Disneyland, where do you go?? If you?re like our family, you?re on a budget but want something besides hamburgers and fries.? There?s a Mimi?s Caf? right across the street from the park at 1400 S. Harbor Boulevard.? If you?re not familiar with Mimi?s, they offer a wide selection of sandwiches, salads, soups and entrees in large portions with reasonable prices.? A crisp chopped cobb salad tastes especially good after eating french fries and popcorn all day.?? Also yummy is their thick corn chowder which tastes great after a cold day walking around the parks.? Their soup and salad combos come with a freshly baked muffin.? Carrot raisin muffins are large, moist and delicious.? We like to take our muffins to go for a quick breakfast the following morning.? If you?d rather eat in your room, their menu is available for take out.?

The kids menu offers a good selection of meals which should satisfy even the pickiest of little eaters.? The standbys of chicken fingers, mac and cheese and PB&J sandwiches are available but they even have a hot turkey dinner with the fixings or a soup and salad combo for under $5, drink and mud cup dessert included!? Service is always friendly and the location can?t be beat.? If you?re looking for good food at reasonable prices outside the park, give Mimi?s Caf? a try.?

Next up:? Electrical parade watching tips

You don’t want to spend your entire Disneyland Vacation standing in long lines. This can be avoided by using Disneyland FastPass. FastPass can be obtained from machines located near the rides that accept FastPass.

This doesn’t mean that you get to immediately move to the front of the line. It is more like scheduling an appointment for the ride later in the day – at which time you actually will move to the front of the line. In the meantime, you are free to go enjoy other sites and rides around the park.

When you obtain a FastPass ticket, you will be given a one hour time in which to enjoy the ride. For instance, your FastPass ticket may say 11am to 12pm. This means that you can show up and move to the front of the line between the hours of 11am and 12pm. You must have your Disneyland ticket in order to obtain a FastPass ticket.
At Disneyland, FastPasses are available for Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Roger Rabbits Cartoon Spin, Autopia, Space Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear.

One source of frustration for many visitors at Disneyland is the long lines for the rides. You can literally spend several hours of the day standing in line to ride popular attractions. These lines can be avoided in one of three ways.

Get to the park early. The lines are shorter in the morning when the park first opens. Instead of jumping in line for the first ride you see, head for the rides that you really want to ride the most – the most popular rides. Another option is to purchase FastPass tickets for the rides that offer them. Again, do this early to ensure that you get to ride those rides earlier in the day.

The third option to avoid long lines at Disneyland is to ride many of the popular rides later in the evening, while the majority of people are enjoying the entertainment. Disneyland has nightly entertainment, and this is a good time to find shorter lines. Of course, it will mean that you probably miss the entertainment, so if you can use one of the other options for shorter lines at Disneyland, you should probably do so.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find a meal at Disneyland for under $10.? However, if you?re okay with standard theme park fare, the Corn Dog red wagon parked on Main Street right next to Plaza Inn is a good place to stop.?? For $5.80, you will get a very large hand-dipped corn dog made fresh with a choice of a small bag of Lay?s chips or a bag of apple slices.? A soda or bottled water will set you back $2.90. ?As far as corn dogs go, these are quite good.? They are served hot and crispy.? Packets of ketchup and mustard are available next to the cart.

??The Refreshment Corner hosted by Coca-Cola offers a hearty chili cheese hot dog for $6.49.? A choice of chips or apple slices comes with it.? Chili in a sourdough bread bowl and hot, soft pretzels are also offered here.? The best part is the outdoor seating area.? It is near the top of Main Street and a fantastic place to people watch.? Entertainment includes live ragtime music on the piano.? During our visit, Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter and Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum stopped by for a whimsical game of musical chairs.? It is a nice place to rest your feet and grab a quick and relatively inexpensive bite to eat before braving the crowds again.??

?Next up:? Cheap eats outside the park

Prices for food at Disneyland have skyrocketed in recent years.? It doesn?t seem that long ago when frozen treats on those ubiquitous carts could be had for $1.50-$2.00.? We would always stop for an afternoon snack of a chocolate covered frozen banana or Mickey-shaped ice cream bar and people watch.? A Haagen-Dazs bar will now set you back $5.00 which means a family of four will have to part with $20 for a quick treat.?

On a recent visit, we discovered a relative bargain in comparison.? At the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street, they offer hand-scooped sundaes for $5.49-$5.79.? We ordered the Chocolate Chip Cookie Hot Fudge Sundae and the Main Street Mocha Sundae.? The hot fudge sundae is made with two generous scoops of vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, chocolate chips and a cherry.? It is accompanied by two large freshly baked Nestle Toll House cookies.? The mocha sundae is mocha almond fudge ice cream, caramel, hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry served in a waffle bowl.? You can eat your dessert inside the shop which is adjacent to the charming candy store or you can take your sweets outside and sit in outdoor eating area near the Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner.?? This was a wonderful and delicious way to end a full day in the parks.

?

Next up:? Cheap eats inside the park

Traveling during the busy spring break period is not the best plan, but it was something we had to do to attend a performance at the park.? Knowing that accommodations might be hard to get, it started checking travel websites about six weeks in advance.? I found a room at the Super 8 (1 star motel) nearby on Katella Ave. for $59-64 a night and booked a reservation for three nights.? Their cancellation policy allowed cancellations up to the day before with no penalty.? ?

Starting nearly every day going forward, I put in an offer on priceline.com for a 3 star hotel in the Disneyland area for $45-50 a night.? As I put in my bid, the website would inform me that median price for 3 star hotels in Orange County ranged from $232-292.? Each time my bid was rejected but I wasn?t discouraged.? As the date of your stay approaches, the likelihood of a hotel selling a vacant room decreases.? From the hotel?s standpoint, it is better to get something for a room than to leave it empty.? About three days before leaving for Disney, I put an offer for $50 that was accepted by the Anaheim Hilton.? This is a large, full service hotel adjacent to the Anaheim Convention Center.? It is an easy 10 minute walk to the Disneyland entrance which saved us the daily parking fee.? The Hilton charges $15 per day to self-park which is pretty steep but since we only paid $50 a night, it wasn?t really a problem.? Our 9^th floor room had a partial view of the parks.?? All in all, we had a very enjoyable stay for a very reasonable price.