Disneyland Fun Facts: Food

Food: In one year guests buy at both parks: An estimated 3 million hamburgers, 2 million hot dogs, 6.5 million orders of french fries, 1.6 million servings of popcorn, 3.2 million servings of ice cream, 1.9 million gallons of soft drinks and 2.8 million churros.

Disneyland Fun Facts: Maintenance

Maintenance: More than 5,000 gallons of paint are used each year to give Disneyland a better-than-new look. There are almost 20 million gallons of water in the ten bodies of water found in Disneyland. There are more than 100,000 light bulbs used, including 11,000 “rim lights” outlining the buildings on Main Street, U.S.A. Disneyland streets are washed and steam-cleaned after closing each day.

Disneyland Fun Facts: Costuming

Costuming: Total Disneyland Resort Operational costume inventory is roughly 800,000 pieces. From initial design to public view, a new costume takes from eight to 12 months to produce. The Operational Costume Division stocks 500,000 yards of material, covering 900 different fabrics. The Resort issues, maintains and cleans costumes for more than 15,000 Cast Members. More than 300 different costumes, comprised of more than 850 different styles of garment pieces, are issued from nine Costume Issue locations across the Resort and Hotels. More than 20,000 garments are exchanged weekly for cleaning during the summer. Approximately 150,000 individual pieces and 300,000 buttons are replaced each year. Costumes are also maintained for more than 650 Audio-Animatronics® figures.

Disneyland Fun Facts: Landscaping

Landscaping: More than 800 species of plants from more than 40 nations are represented at the Disneyland Resort, making it one of the most extensive and diverse botanical locales in the western U.S. The landscape panorama includes approximately 17,000 trees and 100,000 shrubs.   Each year, about 1 million annuals are planted. The grounds are watered with more than 60,000 drip emitters and sprinkler heads. It takes a 100-person horticulture staff to maintain the many acres of greenery. Trees range in size from one-foot dwarf spruce in Storybook Land to 80-foot high eucalyptus trees. The Mickey Mouse flower “portrait” at the Disneyland Main Entrance is planted six times a year.

Disneyland Fun Facts: Band

Band: The Disneyland Band has logged more than 3,500 marching miles and more than 90,000 performances since opening day in 1955 and draws from a repertoire of more than 400 musical numbers.

Family friendly airlines to Disney destinations

I have been asked before what airlines are more accommodating for families with young children. The differences are rather diverse among the various domestic airlines, and international airlines tend to provide more accommodations and amenities. However considering the majority of people will be flying domestically, here are some tips:

Pre-Boarding: Most airlines still provide pre-boarding for families with small children, usually before or just after first-class and priority boarding. However American Airlines and United are the exception to this and typically do not pre-board families.

Seat selections: more airlines are moving towards unassigned seating (following Southwest in this style) and will often up-charge for the privileged of selecting a seat in advance. Check to see if the airline you are travelling with permits advanced boarding for families, and be sure to check in at the gate as such to verify their procedure for that gate. However, if pre-boarding is not an option, then you will definately want to go the route of paying for seat selection in advance to ensure your family stays together during the flight.

Additional accommodation: international carriers tend to make special accommodation for children, just like many domestic restaurants do, however the budgets are so slim on domestic airlines that they have stopped providing anything special for making a child’s flight more comfortable. At best, you can hope for a sticker or just some plastic “keepsake wings”. Otherwise they treat children just like adults — no frills. And on some airlines, United in particular, they will no longer warm bottles, so be prepared.

Special needs: If you have any special needs or accommodation requests be sure you bring them up to every person you encounter. Be sure to have a specific way for them to accommodate you in mind, don’t simply come with a problem, but offer a way they can accommodate your specific need. Avoid booking directly online, but work with either a Travel Agent or call the airline directly, let them know of your special need (medical conditions, special disability, young child flying alone, etc). Then bring it up at the gate, and with the flight attendants when first boarding.

Best airlines: We typically see a slight increase in service for all categories, but particularly for families flying coach, in the smaller or regional airlines, such as Jet Blue or Southwest. The larger United and American will serve you better if you’re flying first class, or will be options if you’re flying internationally for for business.

In all cases, be sure to read the fine print and understand the terms and conditions for each airline as they are subject to change at any point. Also, it is a good idea, if you are relying on any specific accommodation provided within the fine print, to bring it with you to help ensure you receive what you’re expecting.

 

New events at the International Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot – March 6 – May 19

International Flower & Garden Festival is a spring special event filled with a colorful array of flowers, gardens, topiaries, culinary creations, live music and educational programs. You don’t have to be a gardening expert to love this event. It’s perfect for Guests of all ages who enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature! Finish off the day with a melodious evening at the Flower Power Concert Series in the America Gardens Theatre and enjoy music from some of your favorite bands of yesterday. Popular bands rock the open-air theatre every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

New this year:

• Land of Oz Garden and children’s play area based on new film “Oz the Great and Powerful”.
• Dramatic topiary and garden lighting so that Guests can enjoy festival highlights in a new way after dark.

HGTV & DIY Designer Presentation Lineup

• Chris Lambton, Going Yard - presenting March 8 – 10
• Chris Grundy, DIY Network’s Cool Tools - presenting March 15 – 17
• Egypt Sherrod, host of Property Virgins - presenting March 22 – 24
• Brandon Johnson, My Yard Goes Disney - presenting March 29 – 31
• Meg Caswell, Meg’s Great Rooms - presenting April 5 – 7
• Jason Cameron, DIY Network’s Desperate Landscapes and Man Caves - presenting April 12 – 14
• Sara Peterson, Editor-in-Chief, HGTV Magazine - presenting April 19 – 21
• Carter Oosterhouse, Million Dollar Rooms - presenting April 26 -28
• Casey Noble, Design on a Dime - presenting May 3 – 5
• Dan Faires, HGTV.com, DanMade - presenting May 10 – 12
• David Bromstad, HGTV Design Star, ColorSplash, Design Star All-Stars - presenting May 17 – 19