Day 6: One last fling

It is 1pm. The conference has ended! We are sitting next to the pool at the Candy Cane Inn, updating our blogs.

The morning started with Khaled Hosseini and ended with Diahann Carroll, with some time to browse the exhibit hall in between. All that is left to do now is use up the last day on our Park Hopper passes, so we will soon be leaving for the parks for our last day of play before returning home in the morning.

Anaheim has been the ideal location (from this Disney parks fan's point of view) for an ALA conference. Our hotel is equidistant from both the convention center and the parks - and we have taken full advantage of that! For example, last night after all our conference events ended, we left for Disneyland aroung 9:30pm and once again closed the park at midnight. We rode all the rides in Fantasyland with minimal waits and we weren't surrounded by strollers!


Photo above: Valerie, Linda and Gerri on the Carousel.

We have all been functioning on very few hours sleep each night, but what the heck - sleep is highly overrated and there will be plenty of time for that on the plane. I think we'll go to California Adventure, at least to start out with - and there are a still few things to buy in Downtown Disney. It's a safe bet that we will wring out every last bit of fun before Disneyland closes at midnight tonight.

See all our Fun in Anaheim photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/msla/sets/72157605829097639/

Day 5: Club 33

Gerri and I had an amazing night at the private and very exclusive Club 33 in Disneyland. Here are the photos, and you can read about it on the MSLA Anaheim en Mass blog. What a night!


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Day 2 in SoCal

The time difference between the east and west coast worked in our favor. We're up bright and early with time to exercise and have a light breakfast before heading over to the conference center to pick up our badges, bags, and other conference materials.

We spent the rest of the day at Disney's California Adventure, mostly in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area, where first we rode Monsters, Inc, Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! and Muppet*Vision 3D. We had a quick lunch at Award Wieners, followed by Disney's Aladdin - A Musical Spectacular. It was more than spectacular! From flying carpets to a giant elephant coming down the aisle, beautiful sets and costumes, great singing and dancing, and dazzling special effects. It took my breath away.

Around 4pm, while the others went to see Turtle Talk with Crush, I walked over to Disneyland and got us all FastPasses for Indiana Jones ride. While walking through Main Street, I got to see parts of the Parade of Dreams again, from a closer vantage point. It didn't take too long to get our FastPasses, which were for 10pm - an indication that the park was extremely busy today.

Back at California Adventure, we all rode Soarin' Over California - the ride that was later replicated at Walt Disney World. Everyone loved it. Then we went over to Paradise Pier and looked at all the carnival rides and games. Linda and I rode the Sun Wheel with a couple of very nervous librarians from California. We caught part of Pixar Play Parade on the way out of the park and everyone took our last ride of the day on the Golden Zephyr.

Then is was over to Downtown Disney for dinner at the Italian restaurant Naples. While we waited for our table we were entertained by an excellent (and extremely handsome) flamenco guitarist, Emilio, and his partner. Sandy's daughter and her friend who are here on vacation joined us. Our meal was really great and it was a nice break after being out in the sun with all the noise and activity all day.

Afterward dinner, we went to Disneyland to watch the Remember...Dreams Come True fireworks (fabulous) and ride Indy. This was another resounding success. We all alternately screamed and laughed throughout the ride. What a great day acting like kids, laughing and playing together in the sun.

See all our Fun in Anaheim photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/msla/sets/72157605829097639/

Day 1 in Anaheim

After a long, but uneventful flight across the country, we arrived in Anaheim at 10:30am Pacific time, checked in at the Candy Cane Inn, dropped off our luggage, and headed for Downtown Disney for lunch at the House of Blues. Then we made our first foray into Disneyland.

Photo above: Linda, Valerie, Sandy and Gerri take a break while waiting for the Parade of Dreams to begin.

It was a beautiful day in Anaheim and the crowds were fairly light in the park. We took in several attractions, listened to the All-American College Band and watched the Parade of Dreams before fatigue and the time difference caught up with us.

We walked over to the the new and deserted-looking Anaheim Gardenwalk and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Back at the Candy Cane, we got our luggage and quickly settled in before crashing into bed.

See all our Fun in Anaheim photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/msla/sets/72157605829097639/

Anaheim en Mass.

I'll be posting the more frivilous aspects of the trip to Anaheim here on kay-lo's world. With my colleagues from MSLA, I'll also be blogging the ALA conference on the new blog we created for that purpose, Anaheim en Mass. [Get it?] I hope you'll follow both!

Club 33

Oh - my - goodness!

I got a call the other day from our local rep at Disney Educational Productions inviting me to a very private dinner (with only 8 other school librarians and their guests) at the very exclusive and legendary Club 33 in Disneyland!

My colleague Gerri will join me Sunday night, June 29th, when we will be admitted to a place very few Disneyland visitors ever get to see, or even know about. I have heard that the food and service are second to none. This will be the highlight of my trip to ALA in Anaheim, without a doubt!

Read about Club 33

Back to Anaheim...

...this time for the Annual Conference and Exhibition of the American Library Association at the Anaheim Convention Center - right next door to the Disneyland Resort!

What could be a better combination for a Disney-loving librarian? I'll be traveling with four fun colleagues/friends from the Massachusetts School Library Association's executive board - Sandy, Gerri, Valerie and Linda. We'll be there to listen, work, think, plan and learn, but unless you're a librarian too, you have no idea how much fun can be had at these huge national conferences (almost 30,000 of our kind will be there)!

In addition to the usual conference presentations and exhibits in a hall the size of a small city, speeches by famous personalities, and authors signing and reading from their books, there will be meals hosted by vendors in classy restaurants, receptions, happy hours, and "meet and greets" galore - all with free food and drink, of course! And this year, because of its proximity, the big party - the Scholarship Bash - will take place at Disneyland!

During our 7 days in Anaheim, we will try and maintain our decorum, avoid sore feet, total exhaustion, overindulging in food and drink, and public faux pas as we cram as many meetings, speakers, exhibits, workshop sessions, dinners, tours, parties - and of course, forays into Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure - as we possibly can.

Our plans are just about set, our Google calendars are filling up, we've printed lots of extra business cards, and we are making sure we leave enough room in our suitcases with our librarian-chic outfits, funky jewelry, and comfy sandals for a couple of extra bags to carry home all the swag we will collect in the exhibit hall.

More of the exciting adventures of the MSLA Five coming soon, here in kay-lo's world!