Courtesy Disney California Adventure
Disney California Adventure
Anaheim, California
Entering the iconic Disney California Adventure park is a lot like a history lesson about how Disney created his characters.
“They [guests] will experience an entrance themed to Hollywood in the late 1920s,” senior publicist John McClintock said. “They’ll see Oswald’s Gas Station that might have inspired Disney’s cartoon character, Oswald [the Lucky] Rabbit, and then they’ll find Red Car Trollies and a restaurant, which is modeled at the Carthay Circle Theater, where ‘Snow White’ had its premiere.”
One of the more popular attractions to see at the park is Cars Land.
“It’s like walking into Radiator Springs,” McClintock said. “The Radiator Springs Racers are the main attraction. It starts as a tour of Radiator Springs; then, at the end, you participate in a race against a car of other park guests.”
During October the park has a family-appropriate Halloween celebration. The Mad T Party is part of the celebration. It’s a nightly dance party inspired by “Alice in Wonderland.”
For the Christmas season, there is an after-dark water show called “World of Color.”
“This Christmas will be the first time for ‘World of Color: Winter Dreams,’ for the upcoming Disney movie ‘Frozen,’” McClintock said.
Holiday World
Santa Claus, Indiana
It can be Christmas all year round at Holiday World. It can also be the Fourth of July, Halloween and Thanksgiving. A park themed after four different holidays offers fun for a whole year in just one day.
“We concentrate on families,” director of communications Paula Werne said. “We’re very old-fashioned. We want families to come and be comfortable. We have wonderful family rides.”
As a courtesy to its guests, Holiday World offers free soft drinks, sunscreen and parking. The Pepsi Oasis stations in the park allow visitors to fill up with Gatorade, iced tea, lemonade, water or a soda of choice.
For Happy Halloween Weekends in October, the whole park is decorated, not just the Halloween section. “We like to say it’s not so scary, so you can bring smaller children,” Werne said. A chainsaw carving artist will be at the park during the celebrations. Guests can also walk through a 3-D black-light adventure path or find their way through corn mazes. Rides are open as well.
For serious thrill-seekers, guests can ride the No. 1 wooden roller coaster on the planet: the Voyage. The coaster matches highway driving speeds and gives riders 24.2 seconds of weightlessness in zero-gravity sections.
www.holidayworld.com
