Sleeping Beauty Pavilion Renovations

Over the last few months the Disneyland Hotel has been undergoing a lot of construction.  It didn't affect the Rose Court Garden but the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion was completely transformed as well as the area surrounding it!  

Here is a photo of the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion and the hotel from 2010.

Here are a few photos of the Pavilion during construction.  I must admit it did make me a little nervous when it was completely covered.

Recently the Pavilion was unveiled with it's new look that matches the renovated area surrounding it.  

The changes don't bother me and I'm kind of excited by how the whole hotel is looking overall.  They also recently started doing work on the Neverland Pool which is near the Pavilion.

I am a little sad with The Neverland Pool undergoing major construction because I loved that pool.  But, with the changes that they've already made to the rest of the hotel I have hopes that it will look just as great and be just as fun when it is finished! Take a look at these other newly renovated spots around the Pavilion!

Trader Sam's across from Pavilion opened a couple months ago!

 

  

Tangaroa Terrace near the Pavilion is also now open!

The new Monorail slides next to the Pavilion

Silhouettes at Disneyland

When Jared and I got our wedding packet in the mail we decided we'd do something to celebrate. We love Disneyland and had always wanted to get silhouettes at their studio on Main Street so that's what we did! 

We've walked by the studio several times but had never been inside.  

At the studio, they cut out your silhouette and then if you like you can have them put your silhouette next to your friends or family's silhouettes or next to your favorite Disney character.  

We went to the studio first thing when we got to Disneyland because we figured we would have to come back for our silhouettes later that day.  The cast member in the store had us take turns sitting in a chair facing the window.  When I sat in the chair she pulled out a piece of black paper and her scissors and in about a minute she had cut out my silhouette.  She was done with both our silhouettes in less than five minutes!  She didn't trace our shadows or anything.  She simply looked at our profile and cut out our silhouettes.  It was really quite amazing. Here is what our finished silhouettes looked like:

Pretty cool, don't you think?  The price was very affordable and it's a great souvenir from Disneyland! It's especially nice for families and couples. Maybe we'll put this on our guest book table at our wedding reception!

Festival of Brides/Sleeping Beauty Pavilion Pics

Yesterday was a pretty awesome day!  Jared and I went to the Festival of Brides at the Disneyland Hotel.  I had never been to any bridal festivals before so I wasn't sure what to expect.  We were able to to get free tickets to it since we are having a Disney wedding and pre-registered for the event.  We got there early to grab an iced mocha (our favorite!) and muffin from the coffee shop at the hotel and then headed towards the festival.

The ballroom where the festival took place looked great!  They had a big replica of Sleeping Beauty's castle on the stage.

In the ballroom there were several booths for different vendors such as companies that do invitations, flowers, decorating, catering, and some that featured honeymoon destinations.  Since we are having a wedding with Disney a lot of these tables weren't very useful for us.  Flowers, decorations, food...Disney's got us covered.  We did make a couple stops however at  the booths of companies that did photography, tuxedo rentals, and wedding registries.
Disney Weddings had an area of their own as well that we looked at.  The Cinderella Carriage was there which I'll never get tired of seeing as well as a table that had Cinderella's glass slipper.

They had a table display with flowers and place settings.

Lucky for us our Disney floral designer, Kelly, was there and she told us to go check out the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion that she had decorated earlier that morning.  We were excited to find out our reception spot was open so we headed over after we found out so we could take a look. I was especially happy because I'd be able to take pictures of it to show my family.
Before I show the pictures I took inside the Pavilion I thought I would share a picture of what the outside looks like.  Right now the outside of the building is undergoing a great deal of construction as it gets fixed up to match the rest of Disneyland Hotel renovations.  There is a new restaurant being built at the hotel that is going to be Polynesian themed and when we met with our coordinator last week she told us that the outside of the Pavilion will match it.  The only change made to the inside of the Pavilion however will be that the windows will no longer be arched and be rectangular instead.
Here's what it looks like outside:

Lots of construction right?  Well I have to tell you I was curious about the inside and I must say it still looks amazing!  The room already has the rectangle windows and I think it still looks great.

The tables and flowers looked beautiful!

They had snacks in the ballroom and while I was taking picture of the dessert tray, I ran into another Disney bride named Hope that recognized me from The Disney Wedding Blog (My posts from this blog have been featured on the site).  Meeting Hope was probably the highlight of my day!  I also remembered her as soon as I saw her because her engagement and wedding pictures were also on the Disney Wedding Blog. She had a gorgeous wedding at the Disneyland Resort that was Sleeping Beauty themed.  We talked a bit about the festival and the pavilion.  It was really neat to meet her!
After the stop at the Pavilion, Jared and I took a break and later on I went back to the ballroom to see Mickey and Minnie come out on the stage.

After that we left the festival. I wish they had more booths that would apply more to Disney weddings and that the photography company that we were interested  in (Beverly Hills Photography) had been there but overall we were pretty happy.  We didn't expect to be able to see the Pavilion again and take pictures there so we were very pleased!  And to Hope- it was wonderful to meet you! I thought of like a dozen Disneyland wedding questions after I left the festival so if you ever want to shoot me an email, please do! (nerissa@sodisney.com)

Cinderella's Carriage

Our first meeting with a Disney Weddings consultant (Cynthia) was on one of the days they had an Open House.  This was nice because it meant that they had their big ballrooms at the Disneyland Hotel available to show us some of the things they offer for weddings. The ballrooms are also used for receptions but they aren't an option for us because we are trying to keep our guests down to 50 and you need more guests for a space that big.  They had one of the ballrooms set up to show off what they can do with lighting.  The ballroom was very nice with the special lighting but I was more interested in the replica of Sleeping Beauty's Castle that they had there.  It is an example of one of the many neat things you can add on to your wedding.
Before we entered the next room, Cynthia took a peek through the doors and told us to wait.  After a moment she let us into the ballroom.  It had an elaborately decorated table in the middle and a stage not far from it.  We went to the table and took a look at what they can do with place settings. After looking for a minute suddenly the lights dimmed and music started as the curtains on the stage came up and revealed the Cinderella Carriage!

Major Domo was there holding Cinderella's glass slipper!  Cynthia told us that it is all available for weddings and she let us go and sit in the carriage.

I loved the carriage so much!  It really is beautiful and makes you feel like a princess!  Unfortunately the cost to have the carriage is very expensive and since we're on a budget it's not something we can have at our wedding but it was still neat to get to sit in it.  It was after this that Jared and I had no doubt that we wanted a Disney Wedding.  Seeing the carriage and that room showed us the kind of magic Disney can add to your wedding and we loved it.

Reception Locations

When we met with the Disney Weddings consultant she also took us to some spots for receptions.  Most of the rooms we saw were in the Grand Californian.  I can't remember the names of the rooms that the first two pictures are from (most likely Sorrel B or one of the Sequoia rooms).  But as you can see they all have a similar style and and fit in with the 1900s Arts and Crafts movement that the hotel is based on.

The last room we saw at the Grand Californian is called the Wisteria Room.   It stood out above the rest to us because of its high ceiling!  It also had windows and a door that led outside.  We really liked it.

I love the ceiling!

The last spot we looked at was the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion. I didn't get to take pictures of the inside because there was actually a reception going on when we went in. (I thought it was really neat that we were able to go in during a reception. If I see a consultant with a couple visit our reception for a moment I won't mind because I'll remember how we were once that couple looking in.)
The Sleeping Beauty Pavilion is located at the Disneyland Hotel and I really liked it too!  It made me think of my favorite Disney movie Beauty and the Beast with its gorgeous chandelier and tall windows. Here is a picture I took of it almost a year ago from a room at the Disneyland Hotel. 

 

The outside of the location looks different now because of the current construction at the hotel but the windows are tinted and the room is still just as stunning!

The Sleeping Beauty Pavilion ended our tour of location options for our wedding.  After seeing these places for ceremonies and receptions, we really had to give it a lot of thought!  We liked so many of them that we knew it was going to be hard to pick from them.  We had one last stop before the end of our meeting that day.  It was a fun surprise that I'll be writing about next!