Great America-Best In Northern California Family Fun!

California's Great America

If you’re a resident of Northern California, then you already know how lucky we are to live in a place rich in culture, art and family fun.  With today’s tough economic times and rising gas costs, it can be almost impossible to find an affordable place close to home where the entire family can laugh and play together. 

Nestled an hour south of San Francisco, in the heart of Silicon Valley is the perfect place for a day of family entertainment and fun- California’s Great America part of the Northern California Bay Area since 1976. My family and I were treated to a fulfilled day last weekend at California’s Great America which is now part of the Cedar Fair Entertainment Group and are in total agreement when we say that this is Northern California’s biggest and best choice for world-class family fun and thrills.

 Being coaster fanatics, of course our first stop was the new Gold Striker, the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in Northern California. Throughout the day, we were kept busy by the plethora of thrill rides the park had to offer but as a grandma and kindergarten teacher, I was even more delighted in the Peanut’s themed KidZville and Planet Snoopy area that featured Snoopy and his friends in a well laid out and fun self contained area of it’s own that ensured that even the smallest of visitors has just as great a time as the teens and adults while visiting the park. 

You never have to ride a single ride to enjoy the day at Great America. With a full range of entertainment scheduled throughout the summer and the return of Snoopy and the gang in the summer ice spectacular Happiness Is Snoopy! California’s there truly is something for everyone. Food choices were plentiful with such fares from Subway and Panda Express to amazing and delicious eating choices throughout the park.  

Did you know that Great America is home to the most rides and most water rides in Northern California? Plus, it is the only theme park in California to offer a complete water park inside – free with park admission. For not much more than the cost of a one day ticket, you can enjoy Great America all summer long with a Season Pass which includes extra benefits such a payment plan, bring a friend, discounts, admission to Boomerang Bay Water Park not to mention the ability to play all summer long.

The new free interactive app made navigation of Great America a breeze. In the Fall, the park also features Halloween Haunt, the ultimate Halloween extravaganza featuring walk-through mazes, scare zones, and Halloween themed rides and shows. What are you waiting for? Great America is the Northern California destination for family fun. The 100-acre theme park is located on Great America Parkway between highways 101 and 237 in Santa Clara, Calif. Open March through October. For more information or discount tickets, call 408-988-1776 or visit www.cagreatamerica.com.  We can’t wait to return to Great America, Northern California’s best in family fun.

Disclaimer: My family and I received admission for review purposes for this promotion however the opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Gayle is a lifelong educator by day and avid blogger by night and is the owner and cofounder of the Disney Gals, one of the most popular Disney blogs around! Proud mommy to 5, Grammy to 4 she is blessed to share her life with amazing family and friends who encourage her to chase her dreams no matter where they may lead.  When not in the classroom, she can be found following her son as he dances his way through life, or working with young performers in free nationally recognized after school children’s theater program that she founded 13 years ago. On any given day you will find Gayle skipping her way through life with a giggle and a smile knowing that today is meant to be lived and enjoyed. To learn more about Gayle, click here.

Kids Love to Cruise with Disney

The whole family loves cruising with Disney but specially the kids!  Disney offer so many fun, exciting, and adventurous opportunities for all ages!  Disney makes it easy for your kids to have a blast even without mom and dad!

When you board the ship you have the opportunity ,as a family, to explore all of the youth activities before the ship sets sail.  The ship offers It's a Small World Nursery or Flounders Reef nursery for children ages 3 months to 3 years.  For children ages 3 years to 12 years the ship offer the Oceaneers Club and Laboratory.  Tween ages 11 through 14 can have a blast at Edge.  Finally your teens ages 14 to 17 can get to know more teens on the ship at Vibe. Your young ones may even get a picture with their favorite character!
  
The younger cruisers can enjoy Goofy golf (No pun intended), basketball, soccer, ping pong, and shuffleboard.  The ship also offers an arcade and some nights free arcade play time.  As a family you can enjoy family games and family dancing at the D Lounge or Studio Sea.  My favorite things are the Bon Voyage and Pirate on board deck dance parties! 

My kids enjoyed the Edge so much that we had to pull them away every night to go to bed!  They did so many cool activities with the kids such as a scavenger hunt that brought them throughout the ship to solve puzzles and each puzzle told the kids where to go and what to do.  They played Gender Wars Boys vs Girls!  The girls had to answer questions about the boys and the boys had to answer questions about the girls!  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall!  They also played "Who can make the worst drink", and the cast member had to drink it!  My kids team won that because they put hot chocolate, creamer, lemonade, water, and Dr Pepper together and it made the poor cast member gag!  They also had video game tournaments, make a pizza night, and matching games.  With every adventure there was a prize to be won! 

As parents who love our children and love to be with our children Disney has provided a wonderful tool called Wave phones.  You automatically have two that come with your stateroom but for a small fee you can add more to link together.  This provides communication between you and your children throughout the day and evening. As you're young cruisers meet other young ones on the ship they are able to use their Wave phones to communicate with one another.  Disney has definitely done their part to make sure that all young cruisers have an adventurous voyage!

So don't worry if your family will enjoy Disney Cruise and don't worry if they're too young or too old because Disney offers something for everyone!  When cruising with Disney everyone will have their own adventure and the memories you will make individually and as a family are limitless!  All that's left is for your family to pick the date of your "Bon Voyage"!  Happy Sailing and We'll see ya real soon on the open sea!

By Tamela Hansen

Kid's Korner- Torn Paper Snowman

Do You Want To Build A Snowman?

What do you do when weather or other factors trap you inside the house, or you just want something easy and fun to do with the kids-you create a Torn Paper Snowman of course? This is a great project to inspire creativity all while helping to develop your child’s imagination and small motor skills that become so necessary later on in life.  Let’s get started:

You Will Need:

Large Construction Paper or Tag board

White Construction Paper or computer paper

Scraps of assorted colors

Glue

White Paint

Marbles

Empty Box or box lid Place

Pencil and scissors

Soundtrack from Disney’s “Frozen”

Directions:

1)     Tear White Paper into small pieces-these will be the basis for your Snowman

2)   Have your lightly draw the basic outline of a snowman’s body-for younger children such as the ones in my classroom, we actually “drew”

the bottom circle directly with the glue, and when the students had completed the base, we drew the next circle.

3)   Have the child glue, (or place if the glue is already there) the torn white paper into the circles of the snowman, making sure the pieces overlap.

4)   Tear small bits of green, pink and orange to create the snowman’s eyes, buttons and carrot nose.

5)   From other scraps create a hat, scarf and arms for your snowman. We used a Cricut to create the ears so our snowmen could show their #DisneySide

6)   Place the finished product into the lid of a box.

7)   Dip two marbles into a bowl of while paint. Drop both marbles into the box and let the child roll the marbles back and forth to create the snow

Don’t have any paint on hand? Another fun alternative is to connect a large paper plate and a small paper plate  (or a large and small circle cut from tag board) and put out an assortment of treasures from your cabinets and drawers. Then stand back and watch their creativity take off!

Now the only question to answer is “Do you want to build a Snowman”  ( You know you’ve been singing it ever since I mentioned it)

Looking for the links on previous Summer Camps and Kid's Korner Quick and Easy Projects? 

Summer Camp Grows Seeds

Summer Camp Makes Ice Cream

Summer Camp Lowe's Build and Grow Field Trip

Summer Camp Tie Dye Mickey Head Tee Shirts

Summer Camp Flubber

Summer Camp Oobleck

Summer Camp Handprint Calendars

Summer Camp Play Dough

Summer Camp Sidewalk Chalk

 "Bleeding" Tissue Paper Art     

Gayle is a Disney Gal that loves churros for breakfast, still gets giddy with delight at the first sight of the “Disneyland next exit sign”, loves the overwhelming emotions and memories that come with each and every return to the Happiest Place on Earth and dreams of one day being the Captain of the Jungle Boat. To learn more about Gayle, click here

Kid's Korner Special Edition-Happy Thanksgivukkah

Gobble Tov! It’s Thanksgivukkah time!

This year, Thanksgiving and the first day of Chanukah both fall on November 28, making the special holiday of Thanksgivukkah. The two holidays won’t coincide again for 79,000  years so what better way to usher in this once in a lifetime event than with some special Kid’s Korner projects! 

We all know I love doing handprint art projects so what better way to start than with our 

Thanksgivukkah Menurkey

Disney Helps to Bring the Pier 39 Tree Lighting Celebration to Life

Holidays are even More Magical

With the Help of Mickey and Friends 

It’s time to usher in the holidays with a little bit of help from our friends at Disneyland as San Francisco gets ready to show their #DisneySide with the annual Tree Lighting Celebration on Pier 39 today from Noon-6: 30pm. Experience the magic – sing songs, give hugs to our Disneyland friends and welcome the holiday season of holly-jolly magic and merriment for the whole family.

The fun culminates at 6pm each night as PIER 39′s majestic 60-foot tree, adorned with glistening ornaments, bows and twinkling lights, will be illuminated against a stunning backdrop of the San Francisco City skyline.  Is there any better way to spend a Sunday in Northern California than to spend the day with your family and friends than with Mickey and Minnie and all that Pier 39 has to offer?  The fun culminates at 6pm tonight as Pier 39′s magical 60-foot tree, adorned with glistening ornaments, bows and twinkling lights, as Mickey and friends will bring the magic of the season to life as they help to illuminate the tree which is set against our one of a kind backdrop of the San Francisco City skyline.  Except for being in Disneyland itself, it just doesn’t get much better than this. 

Today’s schedule, which is the second of a two-day event includes:

Sunday, November 24th
 Noon – 3 PM: Meet & Greet with Friends from Disneyland Resort
 Noon – 5 PM: Letters to Santa with the United States Postal Service
Noon – 5 PM: Join Radio Disney Bay Area for Holiday Music, Games & Prizes 
Noon – 5 PM: Visit the Seasons Team at their special Help for the Holiday Tent located mid-Pier on Level 1. Let their team of experts show you the tricks and techniques to bring life to your holiday treasures. Click here for more information. 
Noon – 12:45 PM: Star Valley Children’s Choir
  1:15 – 2 PM:  Cantabile Youth Singers 
2:30 – 3:15 PM: Marin Girls Chorus 
3:45 – 4:30 PM: Contra Costa Children’s Chorus 
6 PM: Tree Lighting Celebration with our Disneyland Friends

Holiday Half-Off for Northern California Locals
Northern California residents can also receive special 50% discounts at participating restaurants, shops and attractions as part of Local Advantage Holiday Half-Off! Click here for more information and to download your coupons.

Can’t be there in person to enjoy the magic- PIER 39 Wants to Rev Up Your Holidays with Some Disneyland Magic! 
Pier 39 has your chance to win a family four-pack of 2-Day 1-Park Per Day Disneyland  Resort tickets, good for admission to Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park! Click here to enter online or grab your phones and text HOLIDAY to 55958

Disney Gals will be tweeting live throughout the day to bring you the merriment and fun. Be sure to follow along @disneygals and @thedisneygals or on Instagram @DisneyGalGayle to be a part of this memorable day.

Gayle is a Disney Gal that loves churros for breakfast, still gets giddy with delight at the first sight of the “Disneyland next exit sign”, loves the overwhelming emotions and memories that come with each and every return to the Happiest Place on Earth and dreams of one day being the Captain of the Jungle Boat. To learn more about Gayle, click here