Fun

Think Disneyland will let me live in Star Wars land?

February 16, 2020 by Ole Leave a Comment

The Millennium Falcon in Star Wars land at Disneyland.

Back in the late 1970s, my dad took me to see Star Wars at the Big Newport theater in Fashion Island. I was blown away. Back then, there was nothing like this movie and seeing it on the largest screen on the west coast (at the time) made it even more magical. I’ve been a Star Wars fan ever since.

When I first heard that Disneyland was going to build Star Wars land, I knew I had to go. It just took me a little while. My wife and I finally went about a week ago and I loved it. If my dad were still around, he would have loved it too.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit, here are a few pictures:

This looks like a nice place to live. Maybe Disney will let us move in.

You’ve probably already seen a billion pictures of the Millennium Falcon, but wow. My inner child wanted to jump the barrier and run inside, but my inner responsible adult said no.

Well done Disney, well done.

Star Wars land (officially called Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge) is much larger than I expected. If you plan to go, here are a few tips we learned the hard way:

If you want to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (the newest attraction) you need to use the Disneyland app to join a “boarding group”. We went on a Friday and it was completely booked before we walked into the park. Check Disneyland’s website and learn what you need to do before you visit the park if you want to get on this ride.
Oga’s Cantina can be booked 60 days in advance, so plan accordingly. Again, we missed out on this experience because we didn’t plan ahead.

Even though we missed out on a few things, just walking around the place was awesome. A bit too commercial with all the shops, but still awesome.

After visiting Star Wars land, we had lunch at the exclusive members-only Club 33 in New Orleans Square. If you’re not familiar with Club 33, here’s a little blurb from a Disney Parks Blog post:

Envisioned by Walt Disney, who drew inspiration from the executive lounges at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, the club opened in 1967 and has since held a place of mystery and legend among Disneyland park guests.

We are not members and were asked by our host not to post any pictures from inside the club, so here’s a picture from outside.

Inside, we enjoyed a gourmet four-course meal and received exceptional service. It’s not every day that I have filet mignon for lunch at Disneyland.

It was a unique experience, but once in a lifetime was plenty for us. I’ll stick to the gumbo at Café Orléans and the corn dogs from the Little Red Wagon on Main Street.

Paradise Pier at Disney's California Adventure.

We don’t go to Disneyland very often anymore, and this was our first trip without any kids. We had a fun day, but it was definitely not as magical without the whole family.

Yahtzee – Family Game Time with a Little Nostalgia

December 31, 2016 by Ole 2 Comments

We haven’t played too many board games as a family since my kids were much younger. The game we played the most was Monopoly, and we even started to collect various Monopoly editions (I think our favorite was the Transformers edition).

Last night we drove over to Target with the single goal of buying some new games. The first one on my list was Yahtzee.

As we were playing, I remembered that I had some old Yahtzee scorecards from when I was a kid and decided to break them out.

After a little research, I realized that these old scorecards are from the original 1956 version of Yahtzee. I guess that we had plenty of the old ones when I was a kid in the 70s/80s.

I remembered the basics of the game, but I wasn’t sure if there was a Yahtzee bonus on the scorecards we used when I was a kid. Nope.

Thanks to the bonus, my wife demolished us. Three Yahtzees.

It was fun to play a game with my family that I enjoyed as a kid.

As a bonus, I also found my late parents’ travel Scrabble game.

A little nostalgia built in to family game night.

One Last Lap at the World Famous Orange Y BMX Track – 08/27/16

August 28, 2016 by Ole Leave a Comment

Orange Y BMX held a special event last night called “One Last Lap”.

Although the last official race is happening as I write this, last night was a chance for riders from the past and present to hang out with friends and say goodbye to the track. This event also raised funds for a local rider’s family.

It was nice to catch up with some of my BMX friends and take a few last laps. I sold all of our race bikes when my sons took up water polo, but I kept this modified dirt jumper so that I would have something to ride at the track every now and then.

I also bought a few t-shirts.

… and took a bunch of pictures. View them all here:

Orange Y BMX
1977 – 2016

Say Goodbye to BMX at the World Famous Orange Y – Come Out and Get Your Last Laps This Weekend

August 26, 2016 by Ole 1 Comment

The YMCA of Orange is shutting down the iconic Orange Y BMX track at the end of this month. Since 1977, this track has provided fun, fitness and friendship for boys and girls of all ages…

Here are some excerpts from public statements posted by Orange Y BMX and the YMCA of Orange, which offer differing explanations of why the track is being closed:

From the Orange Y BMX Facebook page:

ORANGE Y BMX was started by local parents on YMCA property in the late 70’s to keep kids busy and out of trouble. Today the sport has grown all around the world and has become an Olympic sport. BMXers from around the world know ORANGE Y BMX as the Mecca of BMX in Orange County. Today 40 years later the YMCA board and CEO Jimmy Ozaeta have decided to close the only program on their property that benefits thousands of families yearly. Tripling the cost to operate wasn’t enough .They want to charge BMX 10,000.00 a month to use a vacant lot that local parents started the track on.
Shame on YMCA of Orange they forget who they serve.
Last event on this site is AUGUST 28,2016 SUNDAY .Please come out and support us as it’s the last time kids will race BMX in Orange County.

From the YMCA of Orange Facebook page:

As committed volunteers of our community-driven organization, it’s our responsibility to maximize our asset in an effort to serve more youth and families. As an organization we made a concerted effort to allow the current track operator to extend their lease agreement in April, but when it became evident that the BMX track operator was neither going to extend their existing lease agreement nor respond to our request to submit a proposal, we, as a board, then needed to take a different course of action as to the future plans of our property. As a non-profit, we can’t be expected (nor are we able) to subsidize the operational expenses of a for-profit business. Contrary to the inaccurate statements made by, or on behalf of, the track operator, we adamantly deny that our organization requested an absurd monthly lease rate, and that our organization is at the brink of bankruptcy. We would like to thank our community for your continued support during this transition.
As an organization we stand by our decision to take the necessary steps to maximize our asset. The last day of BMX programming on our property will be August 31, 2016, please focus your attention on giving this BMX track the proper send off after so many years of creating life-long memories.

I wanted to find out more, so I asked the YMCA of Orange some questions on Facebook.

YMCA of Orange - Questions Deleted about BMX

Unfortunately, my questions vanished. I have also noticed comments from other people that have disappeared, so this isn’t surprising. In addition, the page on the YMCA of Orange’s website that previously listed its leadership team now returns a “page not found” error (it is archived here).

In contrast to the vanishing content on the YMCA of Orange’s Facebook page and website, the track operator has been very visible, and has even appeared on the news to share the track’s story.

Why do I care about this track? It is a part of my history. I raced here when I was a kid, and got to ride here again when my sons took up the sport about 30 years later. Riding this track (and others throughout SoCal) with my sons created memories that will last forever.

It is very sad that this will be the last weekend for anyone else to make new memories at this track.

Although my sons have moved on to another sport, I still have a lot of friends who call this track home. I didn’t get to race as often as I would have liked when I was a kid, but I know some people who practically grew up here.

The YMCA of Orange owns the property, and is obviously allowed to use it for a different purpose. I am sure that many people will be watching the YMCA to see if the new use conforms to the mission found on the Orange YMCA’s website:

The YMCA of Orange puts Judeo-Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all.

If not, I just might have to follow up on this issue in the future.

For now, I hope to visit the Orange Y sometime this weekend to take one last lap. If you would like to ride this track one more time, the last scheduled event is this Sunday, 8/28. Visit orangeybmx.com for more information.

I am ending this post with some pictures of the track that my dad took back in the early 80s. Since there is a certain novice / intermediate who didn’t race for a very long time in many of these pictures, please view them for the memories rather than the BMX skills. Maybe you’ll see yourself in some of them.

1981 – Before the retaining wall was built on the first straight:

1981 – Before the fence was built on the back straight:

1981 – The last turn (notice how close people were allowed to park back then):

1981 – The last straight:

1982 – Summer series?

1983 – First straight. It figures that I quit the sport when I finally started to get out front.

Some info my dad picked up in 1981:

Disneyland Passport Price Increases – Effective 10/04/15

October 4, 2015 by Ole Leave a Comment

$1,049… the new price of an Annual Passport to Disneyland and California Adventure without blockout dates (subject to capacity).

The most recent price I could find for the “legacy” Premium Passport (no longer sold) was $779, which means having access to both parks without any blockout dates will now cost you $270 more per year.

Here is a summary of the Annual Passport options:
(source: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/)

I haven’t been following the prices lately since we let our passes expire a few months ago, but it appears that individual ticket prices remain unchanged since the prior increase:

$93 – one park access (ages 3-9)
$99 – one park access (ages 10+)
$56 – park hopper upgrade per ticket

Visit https://disneyland.disney.go.com/tickets/ for details.

MacGuffins Bar & Lounge – AMC Tyler Galleria, Riverside

July 10, 2015 by Ole Leave a Comment

“Alright, well, you can walk into a movie theater in Amsterdam and buy a beer. And I don’t mean just like in no paper cup, I’m talking about a glass of beer.” – Vincent, talking to Jules, in Pulp Fiction

Looks like you can buy a beer (along with wine and cocktails) in Riverside…

MacGuffins Bar & Lounge at the AMC Tyler Galleria 16:

“Named after a term coined by famed filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, MacGuffins is an inviting bar where guests can shake up their movie-going experience and order beer, wine, and cocktails. For the enjoyment of guests 21 and over only. Alcoholic beverages may be consumed at the bar or in the theatre auditorium.” – amctheatres.com

More forgotten pictures. I took these back in May.

Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration

July 7, 2015 by Ole 2 Comments

Our Disneyland passes expired a few days ago, so we squeezed in two trips last week to catch the 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration.

We haven’t been to Disneyland in a few months, so this is the first time we got to ride the newly refurbished Matterhorn and Soarin’ Over California. We also got to see the new fireworks show and the new Paint the Night Electrical Parade.

If you haven’t been on the Matterhorn since it reopened, you are in for a nice surprise. The new abominable snowman is awesome. I didn’t notice any changes (other than the exterior) to Soarin’ Over California, but I was told that new HD projectors have been added.

The Paint the Night Electrical Parade is shiny and new, but it just seems like a daytime parade with a bunch of lights. I prefer the old Electrical Parade.

BMX Pros Trick Team at Corona Crossings – 2015

July 5, 2015 by Ole Leave a Comment

For the fourth year in a row, we were able to watch the BMX Pros Trick Team show at The Crossings at Corona.

Here are some pictures of the action:

Austin Coleman:

Jared Eberwein:

Chris Gentry:

Dustin McCarty:

By the way, Dustin McCarty (the guy on the microphone) is also a rider. Here he is during one of the shows at Corona Crossings in 2013:

Disneyland Resort – Smokejumpers Grill is now Open

March 31, 2015 by Ole Leave a Comment

We went to Diisneyland over the weekend, and were surprised that it wasn’t more crowded. A few shots from our day…

The Matterhorn is closed for refurbishment, but the signs placed on the wall are kind of interesting.

Mickey beignets from the Mint Julep Bar in New Orleans Square for the wife and kids… none for me.

Green Army men street show at California Adventure.

Corn dogs… one of my favorite meals at California Adventure.

Condor Flats in California Adventure is undergoing changes, and will be reopening as Grizzly Peak Airfield. The Taste Pilots’ Grill is now Smokejumpers Grill.

From the Disney Parks Blog:

This is just the beginning of the Grizzly Peak expansion, which will bring new building exteriors, landscape features and more to the former Condor Flats area. Lush pine trees will bring cool areas of shade, making our guests feel they have been transported to California’s High Sierras.

When the rest of the area opens later this spring, Soarin’ Over California will also reopen with updates to its screen and projection system, bringing a visually enhanced experience. We’ll have more details to share here on the Disney Parks Blog as the project progresses.