Disneyland Resort Update: Springtime Food and Fireworks

Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, CA

Today's update is basically eye candy, to be perfectly obvious.  I had extra photos that technically relate to current goings on at the Resort, but combining them into yesterday's update would have just resulted in a little too many photos.  Yes, that's coming from me.  Speaking of eye candy, check out my Disney photo blog if you like these kinds of photos and more!  Cheap plug.

Anyway, lets take a look at three different current happenings around the Disney Resort!  Spoilers: they're identified in the title.

Spring Blooms at the Parks

It's officially spring, and for once, this has actually coincided with the blooms around the park actually peaking!  In recent years, the tabebuia blossoms have mostly come while it was still technically winter, but this year, they seemed to have all exploded into vibrant pinks at about the same time in actual spring!

Springtime at the Disneyland Resort means pink takes over everywhere.

EVERYWHERE.

Doesn't matter if it's in the ticket booths...

...Or a random tree behind Grizzly River Run...

Or Carthay Circle.

Beautiful florals can be found throughout the Resort.

Of course, the most picturesque and heavily photographed area happens to be The Hub at Disneyland Park.

Every year, the tabebuias here form a colorful backdrop that is eagerly awaited by Disney fan photographers.

Over the past few years, the blooms have come in unevenly, with a couple of trees flowering up together, but one or two straggling behind.

Not this year.  For the most part, all four tababuias around the Hub have bloomed pretty much together.

Consider it another benefit of all the rains we've gotten this season (don't ask for a scientific connection; just go with it).

Foxgloves are also the flower of choice during this time of year too, providing beautiful photo ops.

The blossoms get most of the attention, though.

They are *not* cherry blossoms.

But they're pretty nonetheless.

Honestly, spring is my favorite time of the year to photograph The Hub--during the day.

It's hard to beat that combination of rosy saturation and golden hour lighting.

And the foliage makes for a wonderful backdrop for the statuettes that circle the Partners Statue.

Donald's like, "Ta-da!"

One more day shot of Walt and Mickey.

Tabebuias of Tomorrow(land).  I wasn't kidding when I said they were blossoming everywhere!

Nighttime presents some fun photographic opportunities too.

Friday night, the lights around The Hub randomly turned off shortly after midnight.

So I went back Saturday night to try again.  This time, things were more illuminated.

The things you can do with long exposure...

Over in Town Square, a beautiful bouquet abounds as well.

Gotta hand it to the Disneyland horticulturists.  They can do some great work!

Food and Wine Festival Continues

The Food and Wine Festival at Disney California Adventure is still going on.  Check out our update on the event from a couple of weeks ago if you haven't really delved into the event yet.  It runs until Easter Sunday, April 16th, which means you have a few more weeks of delicious fooding still!

This past weekend was the third for the Food and Wine Festival, as the culinary and entertainment event continued.

I didn't photograph this in the update two weeks ago, but I did mention that there was live music over at the Garden Grill bandstand area too, in addition to at Paradise Park.

This area provides a more intimate and casual atmosphere.

Enjoy a meal and a show.

These are the little things that make the parks so enjoyable.

And Disney usually cultivates an enjoyable selection of live performers.

Showtimes occur throughout the afternoon, so guests are never too long of a wait away from the next performance.

The park continues to give away collector buttons to Annual Passholders.  Here's last week's, which they had leftover.

And also this week's.  I like the colorful designs of this year's buttons!

And a big of food porn while we're talking about Food and Wine... the Salmon Tataki from the "Sustainable Fish" marketplace stand.

Sweet Corn Chili Nuggets from the Off the Cob stand.  Probably top three food item in this year's Food and Wine Festival!

Beef Wagyu Polenta from The Onion Lair.  I actually had it this week (as opposed to just asking a random guest to photograph his dish).  Not bad... better than last year's version, but still not necessarily a great feature of the Wagyu.

Roasted Cauliflower and Lemon-Infused Yogurt at The Lemon Grove booth.  Good for a vegetarian kick, but not in my favorites list.

Bacon Mac n Cheese from the Bacon Twist booth.  Honestly, the French Onion Mac n Cheese from The Onion Lair is significantly better.  This pains me to say admit, given the bacon content of this dish!

Remember... Dreams Come True... With Projections

Finally, in a bit of oldish news, Disneyland has resumed presenting the 50th anniversary Remember... Dreams Come True fireworks spectacular.  I would have photographed this earlier, but the show kept on getting cancelled due to wind when I tried to photograph it.

This fan favorite is currently playing daily.  Although it's the truncated version (excluding the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad segment) that has been shown since after the Golden Anniversary concluded, this year's iteration has come with projections on Sleeping Beauty Castle!  Yes, in the tradition of all the fireworks shows that have been replayed since the introduction of Disneyland Forever (with the exception of Fantasy in the Sky), Remember... has gotten the 3D projection mapping treatment, and it looks fantastic!  The visuals bring new depth to the show, and though they're only visible at the castle, they're still a wonderful enhancement to a classic show.

Not-So-Hidden-Mickey!!

You can see the projections on the castle right from the get-go.

Oooooh, firework streamers.

The Disneyland Railrload pulling into Main Street Station.

The Main Street Electrical Parade!

Kind of cool to see this in projection form after watching it pass by in real life 15 minutes prior.

"In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room!'

Uh oh, the gods have been angered by all this celebratin'. Beware the Eye of Mara!

Onto the Haunted Mansion segment.

My personal favorite.

And the projections here reinforce this.

Madame Leota floats around the castle.

Dead men tell no tales...

So... you're looking for your Laughing Place, eh?

The Fantasyland segment is extravagant.

Plenty of pyros in all forms.

Rainbow colors on the castle.

It's a lot of fun.

Star Tours, you are now cleared for explosions.

And explosions there are!

Winding down to the grand finale.

These updates make an already terrific show even better, and I highly recommend checking out the show while it's running!

That does it for this week at the Disneyland Resort.  There are plenty of things to do and see, as the past several updates have demonstrated.  Though if the crowd level at the parks have given any indication, guests certainly know about all the attractions!

Speaking of things to do and see, this weekend marks the kickoff of Knott's Boysenberry Festival.  This sort of complement to Disney's Food and Wine has grown into a great event in its own right and is bigger than ever.  It runs through most of April, so be sure to check it out.

I was also going to plug the Sabroso Festival, a concert, beer, and taco festival at Dana Beach occurring next next Saturday, April 8, but it's apparently sold out.  So oh well.

If I get around to it, though, you might see another post featuring a popular L.A. tourist destination this week.  But no promises this time.  Better to set your expectations low, since that's the Westcoaster way!