Disneyland's Frozen Fun in California Adventure!

I go to Disneyland fairly often, but on a trip in April I got to do something a little more unusual than most of my trips to Disneyland.  I went sledding inside Disney's California Adventure.  Below you can see my mom and myself, each sledding with one of my nephews.

Sadly, Frozen Fun does not appear to be at Disneyland anymore, but you can experience a similar attraction in Florida at Hollywood Studios.  Click here for more information about this.  The rest of my post will be about Disneyland, specifically California Adventure.

In California Adventure they have a Frozen Fun area, where you can enter a world that resembles Arendelle, right down to the frozen fountain that graces the center of the room.

If you get hungry, they have a cute eating area and lots of fun snacks to try!

This is also the area you meet Olaf in.  The line can be rather long, but we got there at a time where we only had to wait 10 minutes!  Play it by ear, and ask an employee what time of day the line has been the shortest recently.

There are also performers that come to the gazebo area.  We listened to a group of singers, and then they had a brass group/accordion come out which was pretty cool.  They are very interactive and love to get the audience (especially kids) involved.  I don't have any photos of them, but here is the area they perform:

The real snow was very cool, too!  Employees build small snowmen and all the kids try and help.  One rule they have is no throwing snow, so make sure you don't start any impromptu snowball fights!

Every 15 minutes or so it also "snows" here, too!  It's really a cool effect.

Disney's Frozen Fun area is really a great way to beat the summer heat (or in our case, the spring heat) and enjoy Anna and Elsa's kingdom in a unique way.  If you get the chance to visit this area in Disneyland (if they bring it back) it will be located over by the Monster's Inc ride, where they have had indoor Tron stuff back when Tron: Legacy was in DCA.  Enjoy some more pictures of this area!

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Arches National Park

Arches National Park, located in Utah, is one of the coolest national parks you will ever go to.  Utah has some of the most unique geological features on the planet, and as a result, people travel from all over the world to visit this state.  Arches National Park is one of the top destinations of Utah outdoor enthusiasts, known for it's unique landscape, balancing rocks, and giant stone arches.

While you can probably spend days in this park, my family only had 1 day to spend here.  Luckily there is a very well maintained road with plenty of signs to direct you around the park to see all the major sites.  One of the most famous sites, Delicate Arch, was closed off when we drove through due to flooding (this was in December 2013) so we didn't get a chance to see it/photograph it.  Other sites not to miss, though:

Balanced Rock
Courthouse Towers
Petrified Dunes
Fiery Furnace

There are many arches you can see by hiking only.  We hiked to see Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch towards the end of our day, and as it was winter, we ran out of light fast towards the end.  The arches can be difficult to see in low lighting, so I recommend getting the hiking done sooner in the day,  Also, if you hike during winter, walk carefully!  Several of my family slipped and fell because the trails were icy/snowy.

Be sure to take your time admiring this amazing landscape and do every turnout/lookout that is offered, because the views are just breathtaking!

Enjoy my photos and a park map below.  Thanks for reading!

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Goblin Valley State Park, Utah

Many of you have probably never heard of Goblin Valley State Park, but if you've ever watched movies that feature unique rock formations, you've probably seen this place.

One of the most popular movies filmed in Goblin Valley State Park was Galaxy Quest.  This Star Trek-esque comedy features Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman and Tony Shalhoub and is one of my families favorite movies.  The scenerey is so unique here it made an excellent alien planet.  If you are wondering where this scene appears in the movie, look for the part where they need to find a beryllium sphere and visit a planet to do so.  That entire scene was filmed in Goblin Valley.  Above, you can see my mom and dad found a sphere!

The park is about a 4 hour drive from Salt Lake City, 2 hours from Canyonland National Park/Arches National Park, and about 4.5 hours from St. George.  It's definitely off the beaten path; the last 30 minutes or so we thought we might not be on the right road because it kind of goes on forever.  Keep on going and follow signs, though, as a visit is well worth it.  Keep track how many miles your GPS says and watch your odometer as the cell signal in this area is very, very bad.  We went in December of 2013 and we had great weather!  A snow storm had just passed through, but the roads were clear and the skies were sunny.  In this area we had fog/clouds as you can see in the pictures, but once you leave Goblin Valley it clears up.

Below are some more photos from this awesome state park.  For more information, please visit:

http://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/goblin-valley/

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