When I heard the title, “Disneyland Explorer” I figured it would be more of a “fun” app vs. planning or facts etc. And this is true. This is exactly how I like my Disney information and entertainment. This may shock some, but I’m actually not a planner when it comes to Disney Parks. Maybe I take visiting Walt Disney World so often for granted, but even on my first visit to Disneyland last summer, I didn’t read one guide book or really do anything before I arrived. I just walked in and explored. That being said, I do want to put that little disclaimer in that for anyone looking for solid planning information, this is not the app for that. This is more like a way to be in Disneyland Resort virtually, with some extras thrown in too.

As you would expect from an official Disney app – it is breathtakingly beautiful. As you press the screen to enter the app, you are instantly transported to Sleeping Beauty Castle, with Walt standing in front. An image that makes any Disney fan just sigh with contentment. From there you can just start touching various park icons to discover how you can explore. Some attractions will feature a photo, others a short video of the ride in action, and still others will offer an interactive game or activity.

Pirates of the Caribbean game

As you scroll through the different lands, the music blends seamlessly from one area to the next and each new land offers lush backgrounds and foregrounds with all your familiar favorite scenes. It’s just wonderful. Once you explore all of Disneyland, the landscape continues to the Disneyland Resort hotels, Downtown Disney District and then on to California Adventure. There’s even a section for Cars Land, opening soon – so I’m sure the app will be updated in the future with more interactive elements. [edit: just heard from one of the developers that they are working on this update and the Buena Vista Street area as we speak!] You then end up back on Main Street, U.S.A. and back down to the Castle to explore all over again. (I won’t give away all the surprises, but there are a lot of them!)

Quite a few of the interactive games are perfect for little ones and rated my 3 year-old’s seal of approval. Now I know I can keep him entertained with Ariel’s undersea friends, any time of the day. I think my favorite games were trying to capture a photo of the Yeti from Matterhorn (I wish it saved these to my photos on my iPad!) and the epic pirate battle within Pirates of the Caribbean. You can even enter the Animation Academy and learn how to draw one of the Fab 4 characters. There’s also a menu button to press and see all of the location choices in list form, in case you want to look for a particular attraction or dining location.

Ariel's Undersea Adventure offers fun for the littlest fans

I know I will spend hours just relaxing and enjoying the magic of this little app – free from the AppStore. It is the perfect pick-me-up in between Disneyland visits. I can imagine something like this for the Walt Disney World Resort would require many more months of creation time, but I have hope they’ll be releasing one for the Florida parks and even better – the international parks. I may never let my iPad leave my side if that were to happen. If you need even more convincing, enjoy the Disneyland Explorer preview video below –

The magical sights and sounds of Disneyland Resort can now be discovered with “Disneyland Explorer,”the official Disney Parks app available for iPad. The free app invites parents and kids to explore some of the many thrilling and whimsical experiences that can be found at Disneyland Resort, a premiere, multi-day, family vacation destination in Southern California.

With “Disneyland Explorer,” users can swipe their way from Pirates of the Caribbean to “World of Color” to themed suites at the Disneyland Hotel, discovering more than 100 exciting things to see and do across the resort. Users tap beautiful images, animation and interactive touch points that represent experiences inside Disneyland park, Disney California Adventure park, Downtown Disney District and all three hotels of the Disneyland Resort.

Touch points within the photo-realistic carousel reveal photos, videos and special activities inspired by classic attractions and entertainment.  As users explore the Resort, day changes to night with spectacular colors, lights, and fireworks.

Animations are triggered as users scroll through the parks, hotels and Downtown Disney District, revealing surprises such as Dumbo in flight above Sleeping Beauty Castle. Users  discover items that are both fun and historical, from the Mad Hatter popping out of a tea cup to vintage video of Walt Disney dedicating Disneyland.

Users will:

• Tour the galaxy with Star Tours – the Adventures Continue
• Learn to draw their favorite Disney characters at the Animation Academy
• Create their own musical water show in “World of Color”
• Steer a Soarin’ hang glider over California, while collecting and sharing personalized postcards
• Bring the iconic dolls of “it’s a small world” to life and hear the classic song in five different languages
• Snap photos of the elusive Yeti as he roams across Matterhorn Mountain
• Take part in a raging sea battle in Pirates of the Caribbean

“Disneyland Explorer” is a free app, available exclusively from App Store on iPad (www.itunes.com/appstore). More of the fun and excitement at the Disneyland Resort will become available on “Disneyland Explorer” throughout the year.

Interactive World of Color

In addition to the downloadable demo of the game, consumers who are interested in getting a first-hand look at Disney Universe can also visit a participating Best Buy store beginning December 12. Select store locations will have an Xbox 360^®video game and entertainment system available for consumers to play the demo of the game.

Disney Universe offers a four-person multiplayer action experience, with frenzied gameplay that appeals to players of all ages. The game features 45 classic and contemporary iconic character costumes inspired by well-known and legendary properties, such as the Disney•Pixar hits WALL•Eand Monsters, Inc., Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Academy Award® winning classics, The Lion King and Aladdin. You can check out a review at my friend and fellow Disney blogger’s site DisneyEveryDay.com, with review from another friend, John Saccheri, who you may remember from his touching Give Kids the World post here last year. Check out the trailer below:

The downloadable demo available now features swashbuckling adventures with the first level of the game’s Pirates of the Caribbean world and includes costumes inspired by Stitch from Lilo & Stitch, Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc., Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean and one of Disney’s most beloved characters of all time, Mickey Mouse.

Disney Universe is now available for the Xbox 360^®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, the Wii™ system from Nintendo and Windows PC.

Published by Disney Interactive Studios, Disney Universe is rated E10+. Please visit www.DisneyUniverse.com for more information.

For more information about Disney Universe, please visit www.DisneyUniverse.com. DisneyUniverse is now available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation, Wii and Windows PC.

Friend and zannaland correspondent Nicole Siscaretti got to experience Disneyland Adventures first hand, as one of the games creators explains the ins and outs of the game. Things like “you never die in Disneyland” (you just splat and come right back) and how you collect coins and can then purchase costumes for your avatar in Bibiddi Bobbidi Boutique within the game.

Kinect Disneyland Adventures arrives in stores November 15th. Be sure to pick it up for your adventurer or the whole family!

Walk right down the middle of Main Street, U.S.A.

Become Alice's croquet ball!

Paddle with Pirates!

Disney Sing It: Party Hits

The game requires a microphone and you can select easy, medium or hard levels to test your singing skills. If you need a little help, the vocal exercises are a great tool for budding stars.

Song selection screen

You select which song you want to sing and the music video plays behind the words and pitch bar showing the length and level of notes and where you measure up. When you finish a line you get a “nice” “great” or “awesome” star as your score increases. 

Disney Sing It: Party Hits allows players to sing solo, partner with a friend in duets and compete in new competitive modes. In the new Sing Off mode, two groups with up to eight players, go head to head in a huge sing-off. The players in one group sing solo and as an ensemble, while the opposing team does the same. The group with the highest score becomes the winner.  In Performance mode, the song lyrics and pitch bar are removed for a more relaxed experience for beginners, while expert singers can try their hand at getting high scores without on screen prompts to ease their performance. Also new to the Sing It franchise is Karaoke mode where players have the ability to reduce the vocal level of the artists in each song, giving themselves a chance to shine.

"Introduce Me" from Camp Rock: The Final Jam

My tweens (10 and 11) loved the game, as did I. It’s a little more relaxed and not as loud and chaotic as a Rock Band type game, so there was really no pressure, just lots of fun. I will say that Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” is a lot harder to sing than I thought!

Unfortunately for the Wii version, there is no way to add on additional songs, so I feel like the number of song choices might get old after a while. Then again, the audience it’s aimed at does seem to like hearing the same songs over and over and over so perhaps it’s not an issue for them! With the PlayStation 3 version, you are able to purchase additional songs, including a free track that is available now – “Ordinary Girl” by Hannah Montana from the Disney Channel’s last season of the show, “Hannah Montana Forever.” Two other song packs consisting of three songs per pack will be available in November and December, respectively, for $5.50 each. Individual songs from the downloadable packs can be purchased for $1.99.

Allstar Weekend's "A Different Side of Me" (wow, professional screenshots look much better, huh? )

Track listing for Disney Sing It: Party Hits –

Disney Sing It: Party Hits for Wii and PlayStation 3 from Disney Interactive Studios is rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and available now.

Other Disney Sing It titles include:

Disney Sing It

Disney Sing It: Pop Hits

Disney Sing It: Family Hits

Disclaimer: I was provided a free review copy, which did not affect my opinion or thoughts here.

Disney Interactive has delivered a fun game for fans of the popular Disney Channel show Phineas and Ferb; Phineas and Ferb: Ride Again for the Nintendo DS and DSi. The game follows the adventures of the title characters as you guide them through the environments of Danville looking for parts to build various contraptions. There are many mini games to break up the action and keep the game play fresh. You can also download content to share rides and compete against friends.

A personal favorite is a Pac-man style game in which you try to collect screws for a project while steering clear of Candice. After playing through the first level of the game the only complaints were that Perry was relegated to being a “save point” and is not included in the game play elements, although you can play as Agent P. while he battles Dr. D and his robots. Finally, the open style of game play, having no defined path through which to complete a level, may prove to be a little frustrating for younger players. Overall Phineas and Ferb: Ride Again is a fun and satisfying game for fans of Danville’s most famous residents.

Disney’s Phineas and Ferb: Ride Again is available now on Nintendo DS and Dsi. The single-player game is rated E for Everyone and retails for $29.99. For more information including screenshots and game trailer, head over to Disney Interactive Studios Phineas and Ferb: Ride Again page.

There's a mint or candy for every mood at Disney...

Do you know someone that could use a tin to match their personality??

The Classic Minnie Mouse offers a bit of spice with cinnamon mints

Or perhaps some Elegant Cinderella peppermints?

Know anyone that would like the Grumpy orange sours?

Maybe you're feeling a bit Wicked??

Of course, my personal favorite is Feisty Tinker Bell...

I wonder what happens when you mix them?? Look for these at most Disney parks and resorts on your next visit!

YoBaby 3 in 1 Meals multipack

A while back I was given a chance to receive and review Stonyfield Farm‘s new YoBaby Meals. I was completely intrigued by this concept. I had been a YoBaby fan from when they first came out, when my now 11 year-old was a baby. I think he survived on YoBaby organic yogurts for breakfast or lunch for more than a year!

The difference with YoBaby Meals is they offer a unique 3-in-1 combination of protein-packed yogurt + fruit + veggie purée in one cup. They’re an easy, delicious and surprising way to help moms give their babies and toddlers a trio of important food groups at every meal. They come in three delicious flavors – Pear & Green Bean, Peach & Squash, Apple & Sweet Potato – just right for baby’s growing appetite.

When I tried YoBaby Meals my littlest guy was just under a year. He had already formed the discerning palate of ‘if it’s green, I don’t want it’ however. Surprisingly, he loved the YoBaby Meals! I was concerned that the flavor combinations might be too odd and he’d refuse them, but that was not the case. He loved each and every flavor we tried. His favorite was the Apple and Sweet Potato. The only issue I had when I tried them was that he couldn’t finish an entire container at once. Stonyfield Farm has fixed that issue with their new smaller sized meals. They listened, and created the new size based on what consumers were requesting. It’s that kind of personal involvement which is just one of the attributes of Stonyfield Farm.

If by chance you haven’t heard of Stonyfield Farm, let me share that they are celebrating their 26th year and are the world’s leading organic yogurt company. Their all natural and certified organic yogurt, smoothies, milk, cultured soy, frozen yogurt and ice cream are distributed nationally. The company advocates that healthy food can only come from a healthy planet. Its organic ingredient purchases keep over 100,000 farm acres free of toxic, persistent pesticides and chemical fertilizers that can contaminate soil, rivers and drinking water. To help reduce global warming, Stonyfield offsets all of the C02 emissions generated from its facility energy use. The company also started a nonprofit called Climate Counts (climatecounts.org) which shows people how they can help fight climate change by the way they shop and invest. Stonyfield also donates 10% of its profits to efforts that help protect and restore the Earth. For more information about Stonyfield Farm , its products and initiatives, visit www.stonyfield.com.

Look at this adorable stuff!

As part of my review, Stonyfield Farm is providing me with a GIVEAWAY for my readers!

One winner will receive:

1 Yobaby travel bowl with lid
1 Yobaby organic cotton bib
1 Eric Carle growth chart
3 free Yobaby Meals coupons

If you would like to enter the giveaway, follow the directions below–

STONYFIELD FARM GIVEAWAY

To enter, comment below sharing what Stonyfield Farm or YoBaby product you are most looking forward to trying. I’d love to hear if you’ve tried their yogurts in the past too, but that has no bearing on the contest winner.

Additional entries (please comment for each additional entry letting me know)

• Become a fan of ZannaLand on facebook
  
• Become a fan of Stonyfield Farm on facebook (I’m sure they’d love a comment too!)
• Follow Stonyfield Farm on twitter  (feel free to @ them with any feedback!)
• Follow ZannaLand on twitter
  
• Follow ZannaLand on Networked Blogs on Facebook
• Join ZannaLand on Google Friend Connect (join box on bottom right of ZannaLand)

That’s 6 additional entries for just a few clicks. Contest ends midnight February 25, 2010 and winner will be announced February 26, 2010. I will assign a number to each entry and use Random.org to pick a winner. Good luck and thanks for participating!

Disclosure: I was provided with coupons and free YoBaby meals for this product review, as well as the items for the giveaway. That did not affect my review in any way, my baby really liked them! I was also provided with facts from Stonyfield’s press release for use in this post.

I was recently given the opportunity to try out some EcoStoreUSA products – and BOY was I glad I did. The well-packaged spray cleaner arrived in the mail after a day when cleaning the house had fallen to the bottom of the priority list. With a 9 month old cruising around, that happens every now and then. I was able to jump right in to testing out the Citrus Spray Cleaner because my stove and counters were covered in grease from cooking the night before. I will fully admit to being skeptical – “won’t all-natural mean it won’t work as well?” but I was quickly proven wrong. The citrus spray cut right through the grease and left no streaks. We have a clean-top stove, so streaks show up easily, however not with this spray!

EcoStore Citrus Spray Cleaner

Ok, I thought, let’s give it another tough test…dog stains. We have a Chihuahua. The kids love her, but don’t love walking her, so there are a few accident spots here and there on our light beige carpet. I had been avoiding cleaning those too thinking we’d have to lug out the big carpet shampooer. Nope! I sprayed the Citrus Spray Cleaner and the spots rubbed right out. Seriously, I was shocked. I almost hugged the bottle!

Next up, dried baby food, bananas and cereal on the baby’s high chair. By that time I wasn’t surprised that the cleaner cut right through that caked on mess with ease. In addition to the obvious cleaning ability, it smells great. A lovely citrus scent replaces the harsh chemicals you usually have to endure with other cleaners. I was so pleased with this product it has now become my favorite cleaner. The fact that it isn’t full of “nasty chemicals” as their website states is a wonderful bonus. I always worried about spraying the harsh Mr. Clean I used to use, with the baby nearby. Now those fears are forgotten when I use the Citrus Spray Cleaner. It’s the perfect marriage of effectiveness and feel good results.

I was also given a bottle of the Baby Moisturizer. I tried this out on myself first and loved the scent. It made my elbows so soft and it wasn’t greasy at all. I used it on the baby next and it worked wonderfully as well as making him smell wonderful.

EcoStore Baby Moisturizer

I had received several national brand baby moisturizers as baby shower gifts but was reluctant to use them because you could just smell the chemicals in them. I didn’t want to put them on him and risk a reaction. With this moisturizer, you know what’s in there, you can smell the ingredients from nature, and you feel good about putting it on even the most sensitive skin. We all feel soft and smell delicious around here now!

In order to pass on the news of their wonderful company and products, the good people at have agreed to giveaway a $25 gift certificate to one of my readers! You can use the $25 certificate to purchase anything in their line of products – baby products, hair care, pet care.

EcoStoreUSA Giveaway Entry Information:

There are 4 ways to gain an entry for this giveaway-

1. Comment to this entry telling me why you would love to try EcoStoreUSA products and which ones you’d be interested in trying. (counts as 1 entry)

Optional additional entries:

2. Subscribe to ZannaLand in a reader.

3. Become a fan of ZannaLand on facebook and EcoStoreUSA on facebook. Leave a comment on EcoStore’s facebook page mentioning the ZannaLand giveaway and tell them if you’re excited about their product line. Comment here with the link to your EcoStore comment on facebook. (counts as 1 entry)

4. Add EcoStoreUSA on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. Link to your tweet (click on your tweet’s timestamp to get the permalink) in a separate comment below. (counts as 1 entry) (you may tweet daily and comment with your tweet links for additional entries!)

Winner will be randomly drawn from received entries by midnight on Wednesday August 5, 2009. Good luck!

EDIT 8/6/09:

CONGRATULATIONS to Bethany, the winner of the $25 gift certificate from EcoStoreUSA! We wrote out names for every entry people submitted and my daughter drew Bethany’s name out of a hat. Thanks for everyone for participating and please be sure to check out EcoStore USA’s products!

This week’s review is on Gillette SatinCare Shave Gel – in Alluring Avocado. Now, I am not usually a shave gel kinda woman. I use body wash on a pouf usually and that’s just fine. However, after getting a sample size shave gel for a recent trip to Disney, I thought, why not “splurge” and get a full-sized can? So I perused the shaving cream aisle at my local SuperTarget, and Alluring Avocado jumped out at me. First, I thought “AVOCADO?! That’s not exactly alluring to me…” but then I thought, well, it must be nice if they made a whole shower gel based on it…(yes I am a consumer at heart). So I tried to smell it through the cap, and it smelled pretty nice, so I put it in the basket.

I used it a few days ago, and it was *delightful*!! It smelled light and cool, similar to a cucumber/melon scent, not overpoweringly sweet like other gels I’ve tried in the past. In addition, it worked wonderfully. I got a nice close shave and it didn’t dry me out. I highly recommend it! I have decided that $2 and change on a can isn’t that much of a splurge and definitely worth it for how much quicker and easier it is to shave with it.

So there you go. More reviews to come. If there is a product, service, film, book, or anything you’d like me to review here, please just drop me a line.