Downtown Disney: Getting Better All the Time

In the "old days" before Downtown Disney, most family's Disneyland visits began with the tantalizing view of the main entry across the vast expanse of the parking lot (now the site of DCA).

I still miss the fun of approaching the park from the front, but I must admit that the new entry route through Downtown Disney is growing on me. It really is a beautiful and lively creation, and it actually provides a smooth transition from the real world to the fantasy realms of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.

And it definitely provides a more enjoyable walk at night than the old parking lot ever did.

VALENTINE SEASON FUN -- Be sure to check out This Happy Place Blog, a truly terrific site where Estelle Hallick is presenting the Disney Love Meter -- a series in which different writers present their thoughts on some classic Disney couples. I feel very honored to have been invited to contribute, and my look at Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet can be found there right now. I can't wait to see the rest of the entries!

Paradise in the City

This photo of early-morning Paradise Pier, taken from an upper corridor window at the Paradise Pier Hotel, shows how the city of Anaheim brushes right up to the borders of Disney California Adventure. Inside the park, the illusion of strolling along an early-20th century waterfront boardwalk works brilliantly; the outside world seems miles away.

Zooming in a bit. On the left, we see the green rooftops of Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta, the California Screamin' launch track along the edge of Paradise Bay, and the Pier-facing cliffside of Cars Land's Ornament Valley mountains.

In a couple of hours, this tranquil scene will come (literally) roaring to life with thousands of excited visitors.

Everything's Better With Dragons

The humongous new Maleficent dragon atop the remodeled Lego store is the best thing that's ever landed in Downtown Disney...besides chocolate-covered marshmallows on a stick. The fact that it's made out of Lego just makes the creature more wonderful. Downtown Disney's a great place, but a few more jaw-dropping sights like this would add extra fun to the mix.

It's hard to believe the shop originally opened with nothing up there. I'd like to shake the hand of the person in charge of the remodel -- the visionary who gazed up at the plain rooftop and said, "Something's missing...Aha!"

Disney and Lego -- what a perfect pairing! It's nice to know that, even though the building-brick company operates a competing theme park a bit farther south, the two giants can cooperate to create something as cool as this.