What are some things to do in the Anaheim area?

[Nancywitt]

Wow! So many great ideas! It will be hard to decide. We may just stay on Disney property since we have switched hotels. We were staying at the Hilton but have been calling everyday to get into the Disneyland Hotel, and we were lucky yesterday! So now we will be right in the action and may not want to leave the resort.

Thank you all for the great ideas. I can't wait to go. I'll let you all know what we ended up doing.

[brigeet]

> The Queen Mary is there along with the Spruce Goose. The Spruce Goose left the area several years ago, but the Queen Mary is still there.

The Spruce Goose isn't in Long Beach anymore! I found out when I nearly took my in-laws there last summer after watching the Aviator. I looked it up and it's in some flying museum in Washington or Oregon I wish I saw it when it was here

[FantasyWatersDude]

Well when I lived in Anaheim I was never bored, just put it that way, there is plenty to do, knott's, soak city, universal, disneyland, dca, midevil times, downtown disney, city walk, beach, plenty of museums, and hobby city's mini park.

[Sue Kruse]

Hi everyone,

My family and I will be going to Disneyland next week for three days and have a hopper pass for two days. Since we have one day free, can anyone suggest some things to do in the local area?

How about antique shopping ... do you like antiques?

If you do, head on over to Old Towne Orange which is just a few miles south of Disneyland. You can literally spend the entire day going through the stores there. A lot of the antiques you see in displays at Disneyland come from the stores at Old Towne Orange. Have a look at the antiques in the "Walt's Apartment" display in the window in front of Disney Clothiers or the big wooden trough next to the candy store (I forget the store's official name) near the entrance to Frontierland (and the antiques in the displays in that same store), some of the stuff in Tarzan's Tree House, a lot of the frontier stuff like old pots and farm equipment that you see both in Frontierland and Critter Country... those antiques all came from stores in Orange, so you can shop where the Disney decorators shop.

If you think that might be a little bit boring for the kiddies, hand them a few dollars and tell then they are going on a treasure hunt and see what they can get for their money as you browse the stores. I used to do that with my two daughters when they were little and they always came away with the greatest stuff. Remember, at antique stores you can barter and usually get a much better price. The phrase, "Can the dealer do any better on this?" works wonders.

Also, Old Towne Orange is used a lot for movie and television shoots, you can see the house that was Big Momma's house, eat in the old drug store that Tom Hanks ate in in the movie That Thing You Do, and see the town square where the pilot episode of Ghost Whisperer was shot.

Watson's is the drug store from That Thing You Do and I don't know a kid who doesn't love eating there. It's a step back into the 1950's ... completely nostalgic, from the red stools at the counter to the grilled cheese sandwiches and yummy shakes and root beer floats (don't count the calories, just enjoy).

There's also an old gas station that has been converted into a restaurant with really yummy food, a bakery called The Blue Frog with the best chocolate eclairs, and a new restaurant called Mustard that has the best everything (the ham and cheese panini is scrumptuous), if you and the kiddies don't want drug store food.

And, you will find more than just antiques in town, there's a cheese store name Frog's Breath (the name comes from Nightmare Before Christmas), a running shoe store that gives fabulous personal attention so you get the best fitting shoes you've ever had, a kitchenware store, a bicycle store, and a very nifty art gallery that features beautiful watercolors and hand blown glass (the glass pumpkins are stunning), you can hang out at one of the two coffee houses in town for a little relaxation before you get back to shopping, and there's even a store that carries Disney collectibles.

And for a Disneyland connection, the town has what they refer to as the Plaza in the middle of the town's traffic circle. In the Plaza, you will find a large fountain that is very pretty. The man who built the fountain years and years ago also was one of the contractors who helped build Disneyland.

There's so much to do and see in Old Towne Orange that I keep meaning to write an article for MiceAge about the town and the town's connection to Disneyland. One of these days, I'm going to get around to doing just that.

For more information you can check out the offical Orange Web Site:
http://www.cityoforange.org/
or the Web Site of my favorite Old Towne Orange antique store
http://www.countryroadsantiquesandgardens.com

Have a great time on your trip!

[Radiobarry]

How about antique shopping ... do you like antiques?

If you do, head on over to Old Towne Orange which is just a few miles south of Disneyland. You can literally spend the entire day going through the stores there. A lot of the antiques you see in displays at Disneyland come from the stores at Old Towne Orange. Have a look at the antiques in the "Walt's Apartment" display in the window in front of Disney Clothiers or the big wooden trough next to the candy store (I forget the store's official name) near the entrance to Frontierland (and the antiques in the displays in that same store), some of the stuff in Tarzan's Tree House, a lot of the frontier stuff like old pots and farm equipment that you see both in Frontierland and Critter Country... those antiques all came from stores in Orange, so you can shop where the Disney decorators shop.

If you think that might be a little bit boring for the kiddies, hand them a few dollars and tell then they are going on a treasure hunt and see what they can get for their money as you browse the stores. I used to do that with my two daughters when they were little and they always came away with the greatest stuff. Remember, at antique stores you can barter and usually get a much better price. The phrase, "Can the dealer do any better on this?" works wonders.

Also, Old Towne Orange is used a lot for movie and television shoots, you can see the house that was Big Momma's house, eat in the old drug store that Tom Hanks ate in in the movie That Thing You Do, and see the town square where the pilot episode of Ghost Whisperer was shot.

Watson's is the drug store from That Thing You Do and I don't know a kid who doesn't love eating there. It's a step back into the 1950's ... completely nostalgic, from the red stools at the counter to the grilled cheese sandwiches and yummy shakes and root beer floats (don't count the calories, just enjoy).

There's also an old gas station that has been converted into a restaurant with really yummy food, a bakery called The Blue Frog with the best chocolate eclairs, and a new restaurant called Mustard that has the best everything (the ham and cheese panini is scrumptuous), if you and the kiddies don't want drug store food.

And, you will find more than just antiques in town, there's a cheese store name Frog's Breath (the name comes from Nightmare Before Christmas), a running shoe store that gives fabulous personal attention so you get the best fitting shoes you've ever had, a kitchenware store, a bicycle store, and a very nifty art gallery that features beautiful watercolors and hand blown glass (the glass pumpkins are stunning), you can hang out at one of the two coffee houses in town for a little relaxation before you get back to shopping, and there's even a store that carries Disney collectibles.

And for a Disneyland connection, the town has what they refer to as the Plaza in the middle of the town's traffic circle. In the Plaza, you will find a large fountain that is very pretty. The man who built the fountain years and years ago also was one of the contractors who helped build Disneyland.

There's so much to do and see in Old Towne Orange that I keep meaning to write an article for MiceAge about the town and the town's connection to Disneyland. One of these days, I'm going to get around to doing just that.

For more information you can check out the offical Orange Web Site:
http://www.cityoforange.org/
or the Web Site of my favorite Old Towne Orange antique store
http://www.countryroadsantiquesandgardens.com

Have a great time on your trip!

I don't know about her, but you've sold me for a look around next time I'm in the DLR area! It's great to see what a lot of cities throughout SoCal have been doing to beef up their "Old Town" or "downtown" areas...

--Barry