"D"-lightful, Part 2

July 30, 2011, continued

Ryan & Natalie in Disney Animation

In addition to Disney's Aladdin – a Musical Spectacular and Disney Junior, Live on Stage!, the other "D’s" at California Adventure are Duffy the Bear and Disney Animation. Disney Animation is a large room surrounded by dozens of various size screens, each playing a scene from a different Disney tale. It would be easy to simply sit in the middle of the room and spend hours just watching the screens. This animated room is also the gateway to three other attractions: Animation Academy, Character Close-Up, and Turtle Talk with Crush.

Alexis and Wade at the Duffy display

The Duffy the Bear attraction is a designated place where Duffy, a giant bear, sits and greets guests and poses for photos. He only appears for a few hours each day. We went by his spot a few times, but we kept missing him. We'll have to catch up with Duffy next time.

Continuing with the “D” attractions, we headed to Disneyland to ride Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes. These are actual canoes that seat about 20 people. There are two cast members - one in the front of the boat and one in the back. Each guest has a paddle and, if the guests don't row, the boat's not going anywhere. As we paddle around Tow Sawyer Island, the cast member in front entertains us with light banter. It's a pleasant attraction. It's nice to be on a ride where you do more than just sit.

After the canoes, we went to Disney Princess Fantasy Faire. What a mecca for little girls! The Princess Faire includes a theater for various princess related shows and a separate "throne room" where visitors can sit with and talk to the princesses. (By the way, according to our friend Rachel, there are 10 Disney Princesses. Do you know them all? A couple of them are rather obscure.) After visiting the princesses, you can go to the shop to purchase your own princess outfits and accessories.

Next stop: Donald's Boat in Mickey's Toontown. The large boat is a stationary structure that kids can walk on and through. A nice addition to Toontown but I wouldn't go out of my way to go there.

Our day isn’t over yet. In the next post will be: Disneyland Monorail, dinner at Ariel’s Grotto, World of Color spectacular, and ElecTRONica.