Disney Park Secrets: Disneyland’s Feral Cats

Disneyland really is the happiest place on Earth for all beings, cats included. I’d heard rumors of this but I never thought it was true: Disneyland employs an “army” of feral cats to keep the park rodent-free. Alley Cat Allies, a national organization for the protection/understanding of feral cats, reports on the details. No one knows exactly when the feral cats moved into Disneyland; they weren’t put there intentionally. They’ve definitely been there for at least 25 years, and some think they’ve been there since the park opened in 1955. Perhaps it was built on land on which feral cats … Continue reading

Disneyland Good Neighbor Hotels

Disneyland and Disney World aren’t identical. One of the big ways they differ is in size; Disney World is much larger than Disneyland. Because of this there are far fewer hotels at Disneyland than Disney World; I can think of dozens in Orlando, but Disneyland has only three: the Disneyland Hotel, the Grand Californian, and Paradise Pier. Disneyland makes up for that by teaming up with several local Anaheim Hotels as part of its Good Neighbor program. A Disneyland Good Neighbor Hotel isn’t officially a Disney hotel. Anyone can stay at them without going to the park (though I suppose … Continue reading

Disneyland: The Most Sued Place on Earth

I made a strange assertion in my article about the girl kicked out of Disney World for wearing a Tinker Bell outfit: that a lot of people like to sue Disney. It’s something I said because, following Disney news professionally for the past 3 years, I’ve noticed a few lawsuits brought against the parks for one reason or another. Apparently I’m not the only one to notice the trend; The Orange County Register recently published an article focusing on how two southern California amusement parks, Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland, are frequently the targets of lawsuits. The most recent involved … Continue reading

One More Day at Disneyland Too

When I wrote about One More Disney Day I made an oversight: I didn’t check to see if the event was exclusive to Disney World or if it’s happening at Disneyland as well. My article on the subject only mentions the Orlando park. Thanks to The Orange County Register I’ve found out that Disneyland is also celebrating Leap Year by keeping its gates open for a full 24 hours. In fact, the event is going to be basically the same as in Orlando: the fun starts at 6 a.m. on the 29th and will continue to that same early hour … Continue reading

Disney’s Recent Racial Controversies

Disney might be considered a family-friendly company, but that doesn’t mean it’s free from all controversy.  When it comes to its own properties, Disney is far from perfect, and there have been some big examples in the past year. The first has to do with “Princess Sofia,” and it’s not over whether or not she’s teaching princess obsession to toddlers.  I didn’t comment on the story for a while because the details kept changing, but things have seemed to settle down.  In the fall, promotional images of the film were released.  They revealed that Sofia’s mother had darker skin, eyes, … Continue reading

Stomach Virus Spread at Disney’s Wild Africa Trek

The provided snack In the past couple of years the spate of food poisoning cases on cruise ships put a big “health alert” smirch on the often laid-back and envied vacation. This year, however, Disney World might be taking that dubious crown. At least, the Wild Africa Trek at the Animal Kingdom could. NBC News reports that several dozen people became sick at the beginning of June, and the primary link between them was that they’d all gone on the Wild Africa Trek right around the same time. The safari-style tour, that takes guests to parts of the park usually … Continue reading

How Disney Chooses Park Attractions

After reading my posts on Disneyland California Adventure’s now-open Cars Land, a close friend and loyal reader (hi, Becca!) asked me what I really thought about the park. She knows my feelings on the “Cars” franchise, and thought that maybe I’m feeling more negative about it than I let on in my articles. I admitted that while I’m not super excited that Disney keeps choosing to promote “Cars” in the parks, I don’t really mind. I’d rather them open another “Cars Land” at Disney World, for example, than make a “Cars 3.” That led me to wonder about the process … Continue reading

Disney Parks Raising Ticket Prices

It might really be time to take advantage of those cheaper flights to Orlando, because Disney World’s just raised its ticket costs. The Orlando Business Journal reports that over the first weekend of June, Disney World bumped its one-day, single-park ticket to $89, when previously it cost $85. This might have been in response to Disney World’s biggest competitor, Universal Studios Orlando, raising its one-day single-park ticket price to $88. I think not, because the prices on many types of park tickets are going up this summer. Four-, five- and seven-day tickets to Disney World now cost $256, $268, and … Continue reading