A couple of days ago I got an email from a reader. I love that! Email me!

But this one I have been debating on how to answer. 

Mary asks: "My main question is how easy it is to exchange your point and get other vacations through RCI?"

Hmm.

I've personally never done. But I did a lot of research. And it brings me back here to you, reader, asking for your help. I've read of people having great success with the RCI exchange as long as it is done well in advance and it is not for popular weeks during the year (Christmas, Easter). I've heard of many beautiful beach getaways and places in Europe. But many others say that it is not a good value to exchange your points.

To me, your points are your points, use them however! That is why you bought them! But I'm just not sure if I can recommend buying DVC with the expectation to use your points that way primarily. My thoughts are this:

DVC is a wonderful timeshare for those who like to visit DVC resorts on Disney properties. It is also wonderful for the occasional trade or cruise. But it is not a timeshare for trading all the time. On the other hand, many timeshare properties can easily trade into DVC.

So help me and Mary reader! Have you traded? Did it work? Have you tried and been unsuccessful? Let me know in a comment or tweet! 

I recently traveled over to the Disneyland Resort. Did you know? And one of the major surprises I found there was Disneyland's version of Downtown Disney. I kept meaning to do a post on how much I loved it but it slipped my mind after traveling to WDW. Well after we arrived back I was stalking Twitter, obviously, and saw all of these tweets about Pleasure Island roped off and no one being let through.

Tear.

Rest in Peace Pleasure Island. You certainly weren't the best. But at least you were something.

One of the things that bothers me about Disney World is its version of Downtown Disney. This was even more affirmed after traveling to Disneyland.

In Disneyland the Downtown is smaller, but somehow has much more energy. It has much less "Disney" stores, it even has a Sephora and a Jamba Juice!

A Jamba Juice people!

Disneyland's Downtown Disney has some great shopping and restaurants.  The bars seemed so lively and energetic after late nights at the parks.

Disney World should be able to take this and plus it by a thousand. There are so many stores and space there. Add some more restaurants and bars and "regular non Disney shops". And listen reader, I'm no alcoholic by any means, but can you believe there are only like three bars on Disney property open past midnight right now?

So what are your thoughts? Have you been to the Disneyland's Downtown Disney? What did you think? Do you think WDW has some major Downtown renovations to do? And what happened to Pleasure Island--would you want it back for some Disney nightlife?

Leave a comment here or tweet some love to @kidanikatie! Can't wait to hear from you!

A week ago I drove 10 hours to Orlando to meet people from the Internet. 

Man that sounds creepy.

In all reality, though, these aren't just "the twitter people" any more. We're fans of Disney. We're fans of Twitter. We talk all day, every day. We're best friends.

Have you ever had the kind of bond with people that is just instant? You can talk with them all the time? There is no judgment or harshness. If something bad happened, they would offer support, hugs and laughter without a thought? Initially it was Disney that brought us all together, but much more than that has kept us friends. Some of us have known each other for years, some months, some just met this trip. But by noon on Monday when we said goodbye, I'm positive all of us felt the bond we share.

We dub ourselves the #crew on Twitter. And before I go on, there are many of our closest Twitter friends who didn't come this trip and many Disney crew we'll see soon. Please don't be shy to talk with us all!

It's a refreshing miracle of sorts when you find people who have the same likes and interests as you. More so, if they are adults who like Disney, well, start up the wedding march. I've said before and I'll say it again, some people in my everyday think my husband and I are lunatics for our Disney fandom. Finding the crew has literally changed our happiness level. Imagine if you liked basketball. But not a single person around you liked to play. Then one day you find a group of like thirty who wanted to start up a game every day and we're bummed when they couldn't!

I've just described the crew.

After the WDW Today TentFest trip many people there quickly realized that it no longer takes an organized event to bring us together! We are all attended WDW Today's Reunion this December (and you should be too!) but many of us agreed we had to take another Disney trip soon.

I'm not sure how it happened, but soon more than twenty of us were traveling down to Orlando in August. Funny enough, it is Twitter that does this. We talk so often, all day, every day, that December was much too far. Even some of the crew who had never met the rest of us were now booking August AND December. What a bond.

What I really wanted to stress here is that this bond and closeness is so strong, we no longer need a reason, excuse or event to travel to see each other. Many of us visit each other's hometowns. We make vacation plans just to "hang out". 

The planning for this became a fun event, and a challenge. So many people were adding on to the trip, "amped" about all the sheer excitement, that dining reservations became for a group in the twenties. I am still amazed to think about it.

So maybe you are reading this and thinking, "Wow, kidanikatie, your group of friends seem like pretty cool cats. But what do you all do when you go down to Disney? And would I be welcome?"

Of course! When we travel to Disney, I'll have to admit, it is a little less about the rides and a little more about just having a chance to talk and catch up in "real life" versus the internet. But we have meets, and ADRs and have a ton of fun. We also apparently travel in August when the heat index is 115. 

One of the best parts of this trip was that one of us brought a friend from home, a "non Disney person", if you will. I think we all were a little nervous that she wouldn't enjoy herself.

Yeah, our dearest Erin purchased an annual pass during that trip!

Power of the crew.

So, to my crew members. Thank you for the amazing trip and being there everyday. Thank you for the laughter and the talks and being there when I most need it. Thanks for traveling to Disney with me and understanding why Soarin' makes me tear up and why you need a good skipper on the Jungle Cruise. Thanks for Poly Beach confessions and wishes and dreams and La Cava. And to about eight of you. Thanks for Kimonos. Every day you all make my life brighter and better and it wouldn't be the same without each one of you. I hope you know that!

And all the rest of you who may be reading this, feeling a little awkward in your life because you don't have someone who likes to "play basketball" as much as you do. Please feel free to introduce yourself and come down in December. We'll all be there, plus even more wonderful crew people that couldn't make it this August, and we will welcome you with open arms. 

There's such a bond in traveling to your favorite place on Earth with your favorite people. My life is much better since I've found the Disney online community.

So are you coming in December to the WDW Today Reunion? Leave a comment here and introduce yourself! I can't wait to meet you!

The world is a carrousel of color. A rainbow of imagination. A blue rolling sea. A red summer rose. A sunset in the sky.

When the single star flies during Wishes I tear up every time.

And when Tink flies, I gasp like a child.

When the torches are blown out before Illuminations, it never fails, I start to cry. 

And the holiday tag to Illuminations steals my breath away.

But readers, tweeps, facebookers, rss feeders and muppets.... I have never, ever, been touched by a Disney nighttime show like World of Color touched me. It is partially to do with the music, but the other thing that brings a tear to my eye is to see how far Disney has come.

This is a "brand" we love. Defend. Disney is a feeling we can't explain. Do we get emotional at these nighttime spectaculars just because? No. It is because it is a reminder.

Our kid's first time on Dumbo. How we got engaged in front of the castle. How, that one time we brought our Mother and Father, we saw them as kids again. How five years ago we went to Disney to celebrate the first year we conquered together and now we just got back from our Disney honeymoon...

We Disney fans are a rare wonder. We are the closest of friends who will travel miles to see each other. We travel to Marceline just to be there. We stop at the dollar store every time we pass to see if we snag something up for our child's surprise welcome bag. We make countdowns, podcasts and blogs.

We need the nostalgia and yet we honor the refurbishments and additions to the rides we love. But when something comes along so new like this, the true Disney fan feels something special that supersedes any other feeling that I just described in their hearts. "Yes, Walt would have loved this."

I've heard many things about this show.

"I don't know about another character driven show."

"It is probably just like Fantasmic!"

Hmm.

So you haven't seen it then, huh?

1st and foremost, the score. Amazing. Every single part fits perfectly like a book. There are parts I laughed out loud. There are parts my 30 year old IT nerd husband cheered in excitement. There are parts the audience smiled together. There are parts the entire. ENTIRE. Audience cheered. There are parts we all cried together. And I'm not over exaggerating here. The music is addicting. Each part holds its own and is necessary to hold the entire show together as well. 

As the show begins I don't think most of the audience knows what to expect. And you can feel the energy of the entire Paradise Pier area rise as the fountains begin.

The story moves through various Disney and Pixar movies, both classic to new. You'll see characters that you grew up with and you'll see the new ones that stole your heart just recently. And of course you'll see my husband's favorite part of the show.

The story takes a turning point at my personal favorite part of the show. You'll just have to watch for yourselves... 

After this the story turns to the Villains part of the show. Which is actually another favorite of mine. The fire and graphics here are amazing. This video doesn't do it justice. But will you watch anyway? 

After this comes "The Lion King part". I highly debated putting a clip of this in here. But I decided against it. I firmly believe this part has to be seen as part of the show as a whole to have the affect it does. So I guess you can just go YouTube this on your own if you are annoyed I didn't put it in here. But readers, trust me. If you can, wait to see this in person.

And then of course the wonderful finale.

So there you have it. World of Color. The videos, pictures, blog posts, tweets... it won't do it justice. It is worth a trip to Disneyland alone. Ed and I had plans to see it one night. After the show we changed all plans for the next night and saw it again. Yes, it is that good.

Tips and Tricks

Get the dinner package if you can. Ed and I did this both nights. Hey! You have to eat dinner anyways right? You never have to wait in line for FastPasses. You just eat dinner, then they give them to you. The dinner package area is dead center, not crowded and you don't have to get there super early before the show. Ed and I arrived close to 8pm both times and got on the first ledge of steps, an awesome location, without much effort.

Your other option is to wait for FastPasses in the morning, then get to your FastPass color section super early and get a spot there. The positive to this is if you are staying onsite at Disneyland they let you get in and get them early. Ed and I tried this and waited a mere 10 minutes. 

If you are willing to get wet the lower area is a great viewing area for the show. I wasn't brave enough since I had my iPhone with me and I saw the huge puddles down there. But many have said it is a great area of the show.

So have you seen World of Color? Did you love it or hate it? Will you travel to Disneyland to see it or do you just wish it to come to the World? Leave some comments here and let me know!

Please feel free to take my videos, but just do it in a cool way like that banned iPhone app that let's you download them and also pay some homage to The DVC Life. Thx! 

Disneyland.

Le sigh. 

I'll be honest, going into the trip, I was a little nervous. Walt Disney World is like my home. We go so often I feel I could navigate the parks with my eyes closed. The smells make me smile, the music makes me feel alive.

I was nervous hearing that Disneyland "could be done in a day" when I could spend a month at Disney World and not scratch the surface. It is similar to loving Le Cellier dinner. But needing to try Yachtsman just once. Right?

Well, readers, I didn't hate Disneyland. I loved it. Loved it. We're talking cry when we left loved it. Tried to convince Ed to cancel part of our San Diego leg of the honeymoon so I could stay at Grand Californian Villas. I loved me some of Walt's original.

The Amazing

Indiana Jones. When I tweeted how much I loved this ride a few people said, "Why it is just dinosaur with different scenery?" Hmm. Maybe logistically. But in reality I loved this much more than Dinosaur. It was one of my highlights at Disneyland. To walk through the queue is worth it alone! Wow factor!

Space Mountain. Enough said. I "lol" at Disney World's attempt now. I have no idea why they don't refurbish Disney World's. I feel no need to ride it any more. I'm being so honest. Disneyland's is amazing. It is smooth, fast and fun. Disney World's literally makes me sick from the harshness of it. I loved this ride at DLR.

Pirates of the Caribbean. Wow. Again. What was Disney World thinking?! I know WDW's Pirates was "last minute" and they "didn't have the room" right? No excuses! Disneyland's is a must ride!

Blue Bayou (and the food in general). Blue Bayou has to be one of the best restaurants, atmosphere wise, I've ever been in at Disney. We were lucky enough to have a seat right on the water. And Pirates goes through it! Speaking of food at Disneyland, I will seriously book a non stop flight to LAX right now to get some Pommes Frites. Drool. Drool. Drool. Disneyland had much better treats, snacks and food in the park!

The Downtown Disney Area. Wow! This is what a Downtown is supposed to be. Great stores and restaurants and a much more upbeat "vibe". I'll be doing a full post about this alone!

Walking Distance. Something makes me smile at Disneyland when I realize I can walk to everything I need. No waiting in line. The monorail loop is simply a "fun ride" and not mandatory. Love.

Grand Californian Villas. Enough Said.

New Orleans Square. The charm. I loved it. I just stood there taking it in every time I walked though. The Magic Kingdom needs this area.

The Aladdin Show in DCA. Amazing! Better than any stage show in Disney World. I loved it! It was so well made and put on.

Most amazing of all: World of Color. I'm going to do a full review on this alone. This nighttime spectacular blew my kidani-mind. 

The Good

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Wow I really loved this ride. It scared the heebie jeebies out of me! Someone told me it is because you end up in H-E- double hockey sticks. Yeah I said that..

Haunted Mansion. The Haunted Mansion is relatively the same as WDW but I really enjoy the area you walk through as you get ready to load into the buggies. And I love this cult following I saw there. The scream in the stretching room is HUGE at Disneyland! Can anyone else confirm this?

The Main Street Vehicles. They have them at Disney World right? Well they have a TON more at Disneyland! They are so fun! We rode a few. They really add to the magic!

The Monorail. It has windows that open! Enough said.

Fresh fruit stands. They are everywhere! Yummy fruit. Simple lemonade. No wonder why people in California are so healthy and beautiful!

The Columbia. A pirate ship looking thing that is a slow lazy ride down the river. We loved this! It gave great views of the park.

Fantasmic. Just seemed way better here. Maybe it is the heartfelt cult following of the locals when "Murphy" (did I get that right? Leave me a comment and please let me know) appeared. Loved it.

The Meh

The castle. So sorry. I'm wearing my flame retardant suit so you can throw the flames now. It was charming. Yes. But being a Disney World-er....I can't get over its size! Ironically, a picture of it is actually my iPhone background right now. But that is another story..

Adventureland. It is my favorite land in the Magic Kingdom. But here in Disneyland it felt SO crowded. My goodness. I nearly had a panic attack every time I walked through it! All the other lands seemed totally fine and then you hit the "Adventureland wall" as I called it. 

Main Street. Yikes. This is a big one huh? I just felt Main Street at Disneyland is a tad underwhelming. From the stores to the overall atmosphere. But perhaps this is just simply the focus on the castle. I'm not sure.

Magical. So I'm not sure if this is Disneyland's "Wishes" or this is just the Nighttastic fireworks. (It isn't. Fantasy in the Sky is Disneyland's Wishes right? Leave some comment help..) Either way. Magical was meh. Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed parts and when Dumbo flew I really teared up. But compared to Wishes...Hallowishes.. etc. I was "meh'ed" by it and didn't feel the need or urge to see it again.

Tinkerbell's flight. During Magical Tink flew. Just like Wishes. Kinda. She flew too long. And I could really see the wire. Wow this is petty, huh? I'm just trying to be honest with you. I was like, oh no I so miss Tink's flight at WDW. I said that! Out loud! 

Splash Mountain. Hmm. Really lacking the story line I always see and love at Disney World. And I didn't like the ride vehicles. 

The Bad

Tomorrowland. I love Disney World's Tomorrowland. The music. The lights. Walking through it at night. Disneyland's seemed to be a crowded un-themed mess. 

Lack of background music. Ed and I pointed this out to each other immediately. Disney World seems to always have amazing background music going on. I usually don't even know it is there when I am in the parks but it is part of the atmosphere that makes it magical. Whether Disneyland has it or not we couldn't hear it. And we really really really felt it was missing. Ah the International Gateway loop.... le sigh.

Paradise Pier. I think they should knock it out and put a World Showcase around the water. But hey... that's just me. World Showcase Pier. Just saying...

The price. Wow. Disneyland is expensive. I won't blame it on Disneyland I guess. California itself is expensive, right? I paid $4.50 for a bottle of orange juice. I'm not kidding. I wasn't prepared for it and it was shocking. Sadly, it could honestly hinder us traveling there often. 

The seating area for Fantasmic. You'll wait awhile to see this. Standing or sitting on hard cobblestone. I actually missed the uncomfortable bleachers at The Studios.

"But we're the original". Cast members often asked us if we had been to Disneyland before. We usually responded "no, but we often go to WDW". A lot of times they looked generally upset and said "but we're the original". I laughed it off a couple of times but after it kept happening consistently we stopped saying that we ever went to WDW. We felt a little uncomfortable! I love the passion and fire those cast members have! But wow! I wasn't expecting it!

The Ugly

AT&T service for your beloved iPhone 4. Be prepared. It is bad. I had to keep putting it in airplane mode and then turning it on again just to tweet a picture. Droiiiddd...

Whew that was a blog and a half! Now---you may agree with me on these or want to murder me in my sleep. But please. Remember as a Disney fan it is okay to compare and contrast, like things or not, and agree or disagree. I loved Disneyland. We are already planning a long trip there next year. And I love Disney World too. As fans I can see the ups (and downs) of both and will do a full compare and contrast of the parks if you'd like.

But what do you think? Have you been to Disneyland? What are your goods, bads and uglies? Leave a comment here!

Update on Monday, August 9, 2010 at 08:44AM by kidanikatie

Your Disneyland comments were amazing! Before I continue my articles on Walt's Original I wanted to respond to some of them in detail. 

-Allie, you need to go again! World of Color is a must see!

-Hey Scott! Thank you for the help on the Disneyland fireworks information! Apparently Magical equals boo and Remember Dreams Come True is a must see. Is it gone now? Re: Illuminations vs. World of Color. Totally different animals. You won't like one better than the other but you'll appreciate the advancement in World of Color over other nighttime shows.

-DVCMom, Thanks for the information about Tomorrowland and Adventureland. We plan on a September/October trip next time so maybe it will be less crowded!

-Lindsay, thanks for agreeing with me! We have to love all aspects of Disney!

-Ray, it looks like I missed those stores. See? I need way more time there!

-Beth, WedWay Radio and my podcast Betamouse recently did some shows on Disneyland Paris! Check them out!

-Marci! We didn't walk through the castle and see that! Do you think it is a good enough excuse that Ed will take me back this year?

-Lissa, it is funny with the food. Perhaps we crave what we can't have as often! :)

-Matt, thanks for the read and joint love of Indy with me!

-Jonathan, World of Color is a MUST! Look for a full post about it soon!

-Zeravlar, I did NOT get to ride the subs. Tear. We honestly may regret this the most!

-Hi Paul! What a bummer re: your World of Color viewing and I'm so bummed for you I'm almost teared up. We got the dining package so we just went to dinner and they gave us fastpasses. We then got to our section and stood on the first level of steps. It wasn't crowded in the dining package section at all! I hope you'll get to see it again!

-Southern Web Girl- Disneyland is now a must do in my opinion. At least every other year! Hope your hubby changes his mind!

-Tricia, thanks for reading! The cast members are truly passionate about their park!

-Debra, I do agree that I missed out putting the Matterhorn and Storybook Land Canal Boats in the good. Both unique awesome Disneyland rides!

-Paul, I agree the viewing for both Fantasmic and WoC are a bit iffy but to give them credit I couldn't think of how else to do it. They really do a lot with the space and size restrictions of Disneyland.

-Sean! Great comments. Re: what I missed. I did miss some of them! We never went to Mickey's ToonTown or saw Innoventions, Tower of Terror, Streetmosphere, the Animation building or the Subs. Can I go back now? I totally missed the Matterhorn--loved it! Def. in the good section. And the Tiki Room! 100X better than WDW's! Really enjoyed it!

-WDWAlone, Thanks for reading! I can't wait to go back!

-Dennis, plan away my friend! Disneyland is a must visit!

-NitroStich, I have a personal vendetta against Paradise Pier because I get extremely bad motion sickness and most of the rides on there would make me very ill! lol

-Datatully, thanks for reading and the info on the FAA restrictions. Although I can understand why it is small it is still a shocker! Do you mind sharing what ABD trip this was? Sounds so interesting!

-Rene, I agree! Small World at Disneyland blows WDW's out of the water!

-Phil, thanks for reading! And making me crave those pommes frites again...

-Jessica! Thanks for reading and I hope you get to visit soon!

 

Thanks everyone for their comments. It was truly interesting and helpful to read each one. And one thing is for sure. Ed and I are ALREADY planning our trip back!