In the lobby of the Opera House is a small display of Disneyland history. History was not my favorite subject in school, but if it’s Disney, I’m all for it! They have a scale model of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and Splash Mountain on display, as well as idea boards that show how some lands in the park came about.

They also have a display of the original ticket books that were used before the current ticket system took place. What I love about this display in particular is that moment when kids ask the adults what those books were used for. All of a sudden, stories start pouring out from the adults, and the kids realize that the adults are just kids at heart too (cue the awwww sound).

There are several other things that I didn’t take a picture of so you can enjoy it for yourself the next time you enter the parks, including a model of the entire park when it opened, and an actual park bench that Walt Disney sat on when he was inspired to make Disneyland.

Hope to see you at the parks soon!

Tommy “Honest Abe” Lincoln

*Planning a stay near the Disneyland Resort? Make the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel at Disneyland your home base for RETRO FAMILY FUN! Visit our website for the famous MATTERCAM, videos, and more information on this piece of Anaheim history! CLICK HERE TO BEGIN THE MAGIC…

Hello again! Now that the Holiday season has officially ended, Disneyland is now in its off season. The park closes much earlier and plenty of attractions are receiving some much needed TLC, but the crowds are not as heavy, which is why I love visiting this time of year. Amidst all the refurbishments going on all over the park, there is one place that just opened its doors recently at the end of Main Street. The Jolly Holiday Bakery is a quick-service restaurant that is inspired by none other than Mary Poppins.

The signage and the decorations look great inside and outside. The imagineers really took their time in paying attention to little details. They have miniatures in glass cases and paintings on the wall to look at while you’re in line waiting to order.

Before you step outside, you can see cutout silhouettes of Jane Banks, Michael Banks and Mary Poppins. Seating is outside right along Main Street so you get a good view if you’re a people watcher like me =)

The menu primarily consists of sandwiches, but they have soup and salad as well. Apart from the menu items, they also had deserts and pastries available. Most of these, however, can be found at other places in the park so I exercised control and didn’t go on a sugar binge.

I tried the Hot Angus Roast Beef on a Toasted Onion Roll for 9.69. I’m sad to say that the sandwich was very dry. It wasn’t bad but it definitely could be better. There are some other things on the menu that intrigue me so I will be back, but I’m sure there are other places to review until then. Hope to see you in the parks soon!

Tommy (practically perfect in every way)

*Planning a stay near the Disneyland Resort? Make the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel at Disneyland your home base for RETRO FAMILY FUN! Visit our website for the famous MATTERCAM, videos, and more information on this piece of Anaheim history!  CLICK HERE TO BEGIN THE MAGIC…

The exhibit features some interactive stations where you can build your own droid, levitate a small cart using magnets, and float on air. However, my favorite part of it all was the props and costumes from the actual movies. They have scale models of the X-Wing, Y-Wing, the Millennium Falcon, and many others.

Its amazing to think that these are the exact models flying across the screen from the earlier movies, long before computer graphics were popular. They had to make the ships with an incredible amount of detail because they put the camera real close to give the illusion of size. I could stare at these for hours!

In addition to the small scale models, there was also the Landspeeder that Luke Skywalker rode in. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to hop in and take a picture inside it.

Apart from the parking fee and the general admission price, the Star Wars exhibit requires an additional ticket, but it’s still worth seeing. I would suggest arriving earlier in the day so that you can experience the rest of what the Science Center has to offer then take your journey into a galaxy far, far away!

Until next time…and may the Force be with you! ( Sorry I couldn’t resist )

Tommy Wan Kenobi

The Discovery Science Center is just five miles south of the HoJo! A quick cab ride or these directions will get you there within about 5 minutes. Exhibit runs now through April 15, 2012.

*Planning a trip to The Disneyland Resort? The Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel @ Disneyland would love to be your homebase for adventure! Check out our HoJo Innsider Forums for videos, special discount rates and expert trip planning advise.

Let’s start with the Front desk shall we? As soon as you enter the lobby, you may spot a bunch of misfits – besides the Front Desk staff that is We have a beautiful diorama set up with Santa, Rudolph, The Abominable Snowman, and Charlie-in-the-box!

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The groundskeepers at our hotel are some of the best in town and when you walk around the property, you will definitely see why. No matter what the season, the plants look immaculate, but during the holidays, they look extra special. The Poinsettias spread all throughout the property just look amazing!

Now for our centerpiece! The Hotel went all out this year and we have a beautiful 20-foot Christmas Tree right outside our lobby. Our General Manager took charge of decorating and setting up this masterpiece of holiday cheer. We do apologize in advance to all those looking for giant ornaments around the greater Anaheim area because I think we may have bought them all! What sets this tree apart from most trees, besides its size, is the fact that it plays music! This is something you really have to see in person! The lights dance in perfect time to the song that’s playing, and it looks even better at night.

That’s it for now, and Happy Holidays to everyone! Hope to see you all this season!

Tommy the Elf

Here is a comment from a recent guest:

“Just finished our 6 night stay in the kids suite.  This was our 5th stay in the suite in one year.  Just wanted to say what an improvement the extra double sliding doors are on the balconies with the freeway noise!  Thank You!  See you next year.”