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Matrix Elite Detonics 1911 Combat Master Airsoft Pistol Review

Many airsofters prefer to use compact or sub-compact size gas blowback pistols as their secondary airsoft weapons. These small pistols often have very similar performance profiles to their larger brethren but are a lot easier to carry. Space is at a premium on a plate carrier or battle belt, and a smaller holster/pistol setup can leave more room for ammunition pouches, utility implements, etc. The .45 1911 Combat Master Pistol is obviously a 1911 style pistol – albeit with a much shorter grip and barrel. Where does this fit in with actual firearms? Well, this is actually a replica of a real firearm – the combat master pistol manufactured by Detonics. It offers .45 ACP power in a carry-size handgun. But, how does this help your airsoft game?

For starters, the Matrix Elite .45 1911 Combat Master Pistol is extremely affordable. While the base pistol and magazine combination retails for $99 dollars (although it can be found on sale for cheaper from time to time), its magazines are only $18 dollars each! Each of these magazines carry 18 BBs and best accept green gas for optimal performance and reliability. There are no CO2 magazines for this pistol at the time of this publishing. This small form factor means that it won’t hog your belt real estate, which is always nice. Also, those players with smaller hands would probably prefer an airsoft pistol they can more comfortably grip. Something to note about the magazines is that they don’t hold a lot of gas due to their small size. I averaged 1 1/2 magazines out of a full charge.

Shooting Tests Using 12×18″ Target

In terms of performance, we chronographed this pistol at 310 feet per second while shooting .20 g BBs. Also, for those of you who like your pistols to have some felt recoil – thanks to this model’s metal slide and short grip, the felt recoil gives some decent feedback while shooting. Unfortunately, that’s where our praise stops as we shot six magazine’s worth of BBs through the pistol. On the seventh run-through, the magazine lost all its green gas after one shot, consistently. It looks like a seal has busted somewhere in the output system. Prior to this, the magazine seemed to operate without any noticeable issues.

The Matrix Detonics 1911 Combat Master Pistol is a fine choice for a secondary airsoft weapon. Its small form factor, full-size performance, and affordability are a great combination to have in an airsoft pistol. Just be warned that its out-of-the box magazine may have some trouble after sustained usage – thankfully, additional magazines are only $18 dollars a piece. Hopefully, this magazine that we have here can be fixed, we shall update this review if we can figure out where exactly it failed.

Product Link


Matrix Detonics 1911 Combat Master Pistol Score:

[mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#eeee22″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#eeee22″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#eeee22″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star-o” color=”#eeee22″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star-o” color=”#eeee22″ type=”fa”] (3 out of 5 Stars)


Product Photos

Mountain High Media Day 2017

Mountain High was once again nice enough to invite us to their media day to kick off the ski season. The snow has been falling like crazy in Wrightwood over the past couple weeks and it is keeping quite nice on the mountain – so nice that, on the day we visited, they were able to open the other side of the resort as well as the Tubing park! Our day started off with a cold drive up into town which was stopped temporarily as CalTrans was requiring people to attach snow chains to their tires in order to go any further into town. If you have never put snow chains on before, I highly recommend that you practice before you get to this point! Thankfully, the chains I have are auto-tightening which made things pretty straightforward but, if you don’t have those you are in for a time of it. Once we arrived, we hustled into the lodge and met up with the Mountain High / Oster Ads PR crew who provided some light breakfast foods and lift tickets.

From there, we embarked on our skiing and snowboarding adventure in some seriously cold weather. We were at about 30 degrees and active snowfall while we were there, which caused “white out” conditions for a time. You can see how things looked in our photo gallery below. We are still new to skiing and so we spent a lot of time around the practice slope just getting used to our skis. Going up the lift to the higher slopes would have been mighty harrowing with that weather the way it was! Usually, our Southern California Winter seasons don’t offer the kind of snowfall they are seeing at the mountain right now. It is a great time to go skiing as the powder is fresh and your board or skis will glide very easily over it, making for some quick downhills. We eventually settled into an après-ski lunch and then headed on into Wrightwood proper for some sightseeing and sledding (unfortunately, there is no place to bring your own sled or toboggan into Mt High).

Be sure to check out the gift/pro shop in the Mountain High lodge for souvenirs of your day’s fun as well as any supplies you may have forgotten. We personally forgot ski gloves, so we picked them up in the shop. The resort also offers equipment rentals, so don’t feel like you have to bring your own skis, boards, poles, or boots. The rental process is pretty straightforward, just head inside the building and use the terminals along the wall first – THEN wait int the line for the rest of the gear. If you wait in line before using the terminal, you are wasting your time. Also located on the resort is the Bullwheel Grill, where you can get something to eat and drink. Unfortunately, the grill was closed on the day we were there, but we have eaten there before.

Also, parking is available on site but you will probably want to be there as early as you can as the lots tend to fill up quickly. There is additional parking at the East and North resorts but that might not be where you want to spend you time depending on your goals, skill level, etc so it’s your call. For my purposes as a beginner, the West resort was best as that’s where the lodge and practice hill are located. If you feel like doing some tubing, the Tubing area is located to the North of the resort and tickets have to be purchased on site. I would recommend doing this early as the tubing park will sell out for the day after a time. Tubing is a lot of fun for adults and kids alike – the experience is a total blast.

Overall, we had a great time visiting Mountain High and highly recommend it to any of you Southern Californians looking to get your skiing or snowboarding adventures on. Plus, once you are done at the resort you can head into Wrightwood and enjoy some small town shopping and dining experiences. Lift tickets, season passes, and more are available at the official mountain high resort website. Also of note is their M.A.X. Pass program, which is a shared annual pass between Mountain High and 38 other mountain resorts! If you are a ski buff who chases the snow throughout the entire year, you might seriously consider this.

Mountain High Official Website

Mountain High Media Day 2017 Photo Gallery

Otakon Vegas Report and Photo Gallery

I love conventions that allow cosplay, it lets people be who or how they want to be amongst others that, for the most part, won’t judge them.  There is of course costume judging but otherwise you might see a huge group of characters from the same show walking together, made up of people who didn’t even know each other beforehand. It brings people together!  Some characters are a bit obscure so that only the hardcore fans will know what the costume is at first sight, while others are mashups between multiple characters – or even a re-imagining of how that character would be in our world.  What it comes down to is that the limitations of a cosplay character is only that of the imagination… and safety issues (no real 7 foot steel swords allowed).

Some people buy a costume because to them being in the skin of the character is all that matters while others might spend hundreds, even thousands of hours putting their costume together trying one type of assembling before giving up and trying again.  The detail has increased with the affordability of 3D printers to make armor and weapons but at the same time there are a lot of costumes that just require sitting down, creating patterns and sewing away.  To me and to many involved in cosplay, it is how much fun they have in the end – that they love how they feel to be their hero that matters most.

Otakon Vegas is a little different than most of these events because Otakon is a broad look at Japanese culture from anime and manga.  At Otakon Vegas, you get to see real life Japanese Sumo wrestlers show their flexibility as well as learn about the tradition of their art and what sparring actually looks like.  I have seen martial arts sparring before, even done some mix martial arts myself, but to see a man who weighs 300 pounds wrestle a man who weighs 600 pounds and feel the floor as one or the other gets thrown to it is amazing.  There were rooms just dedicated to anime all day and night, others just dedicated to video games and even a couple floors of booths to buy various object and trinkets.  There was even a dubbing room where you could test your voice acting skills.

There were a lot of people sitting in halls doing nothing as they waited for one event of another which I found odd since there was always something scheduled, most of the time a few things available simultaneously.  I just chalk it up to Otakon Vegas still being young and having not quite caught it’s groove yet.  It would be cool to have better places to hang out at the show – perhaps throw some props and background sheets up for the cosplayers to take pictures with? Just an idea. Otakon Vegas just needs a bit of tweaking but I definitely recommend going now to get your own feel for it while it is young.

For tickets, event info, and more, check out the Otakon Vegas official website.

Photo Gallery

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 Character Profiles Released

WARSAW, Poland (January 19, 2017) — CI Games introduces Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, the most complete sniper experience in the market to date. Each character has his or her unique experiences and motivations, both professionally and personally. How each of the characters’ goals and personality quirks conflict or complement each other makes for a deeper, richer player experience.

Jon North is dropped into a hot conflict zone in the Republic of Georgia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, Georgia is of critical strategic importance and is sliding into the chaos and slaughter of civil war. Jon’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) mission is to neutralize the Separatist Leaders who are destabilizing the country.

Personally, Jon is coming to grips with the capture and presumed death of his younger brother, Robert, nearly two years ago. Jon was present at the attack and was unable to save Robert. Recent intelligence chatter puts a very much alive Robert in Georgia, in an area controlled by Separatists. Jon believes he has a second chance to do right by his brother.

Jon is a Marine first, and deeply committed to the relentless pursuit of his professional mission. Frank Simms, Jon’s long-time JSOC handler, is sympathetic to Jon’s personal goal, as long as Jon completes his official assignment. Jon chooses a team who will help him accomplish both.

His first pick is Lydia Jorjadze, an ex-Georgian SFB and mercenary. Lydia is a battle-tested veteran who fought bravely at Jon’s side in Afghanistan. Their passionate affair ended when Jon abruptly disappeared after emerging from a deadly firefight. Lydia agrees to help Jon, with a personal agenda of finding out what really happened in Afghanistan.

Raquel Shein, a deadly MOSSAD agent, also agrees to help if Jon will help her find Sergei Flostov. Flostov is a brilliant rogue scientist conducting forbidden experiments. The Israelis want to find him and shut him down.

As the team eliminates Separatist Leaders, and teams with the Georgian Resistance, a mysterious high-tech sniper, named Amazi, both thwarts and assists them. Jon fights through a treacherous web of criminal, military, and shadowy terrorist forces only to find the violence keeps leading back to Robert. Eventually, both brothers must face the deadly truth – only one brother can survive.

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[mks_tab_item title=”Jonathan North”]

Jon grew up on a sprawling ranch at the foot of the Colorado Rockies. His best friend and greatest rival was his younger brother, Robert. His family always considered military service the highest form of patriotism. Both brothers enlisted when they came of age.

Jon quickly climbed the ranks of the US Marine Corps and was selected to join a prestigious scout sniper platoon. His spotless record, combat prowess, and exemplary self-discipline brought him to the attention of the JSOC. He completed multiple successful black ops for JSOC and was awarded the Navy Cross for heroism during a mission in Afghanistan.

At the start of the Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, Jon arrives in the Republic of Georgia, a strategically important country at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Rogue Separatist groups are destabilizing the country and pushing Georgia toward a bloody, chaotic civil war.

Jon’s task is to sabotage Separatist operations and neutralize key Separatist leaders. He is perfectly suited to wage the deadly war of attrition needed to stop the ruthless Georgian traitors and rescue innocent civilians.

Personally, Jon has never given up hope his captured brother is somehow still alive. Two years of following every lead and tracking down every stray bit of intel leads Jon to believe his brother, Robert, is in Georgia. Jon volunteered for the present mission immediately.

In Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, Jon is driven by the conflict between his sense of duty to his country and his loyalty to his brother. He must walk a fine line, balancing both patriotic and personal goals. What is his higher duty? The player will help him decide.

Jon is supported in his professional and personal quests by his former lover and comrade-in-arms, Lydia Jorjadze. The two share a deeply troubled past and their intense feelings for each other both help and hinder their mission. In Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, characters battle not only exterior obstacles but their inner demons as well.
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[mks_tab_item title=”Lydia Jorjadze”]

Lydia became an expert marksman as soon as she was able to physically lift a rifle. In rural Georgia, being a skilled hunter was often the difference between living to see another winter
or slow, freezing starvation.

A military career seemed the obvious choice in a country with limited opportunities for women. Lydia immediately made a name for herself, and her skill and fearlessness outshone most
of the men around her. She applied to the Special Forces Brigade and engendered the disapproval of General Boris Rokva. He blocked her career and attempted to trade continued promotion for sexual favors. Lydia steadfastly refused.

When General Rokva finally tried to force himself on her, Lydia reacted with characteristic decisiveness. She shattered his orbital bone, blinding him, and threw him out a window breaking his spine. Lydia fled the country with help from her grandfather’s Georgian Mafia connections.

Lydia started a lucrative new career as a mercenary. She has since honed her skills in almost every military hellhole across the globe. Her reputation and her ability are unmatched.
Her warmth and loyalty to those she respects and admires is unparalleled. Beautiful and deadly, she is an iron fist in lovely deerskin gloves.

Lydia met Jon North during a JSOC black-ops mission in Afghanistan about three years before our story starts. They had the kind of intense love affair that only equal partners and true soul mates share. It was a glorious first for both of them.

She was shattered when Jon disappeared without a word of goodbye. It was particularly bitter since he barely survived a firefight that took out his whole unit. He lived and his response was to leave her.

Despite the years and distance between them, she could not say no when Jon asked her to join him again in their most dangerous campaign yet. Lydia wants things finally resolved even
if it’s likely one of them will die this time around.

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Robert is Jon’s younger brother. He is married to Milla, a smart gutsy war correspondent.
He has been “Missing in Action” for two years, and is presumed dead. Robert’s wife disappeared shortly after enemy agents captured him.

Whereas his brother, Jon, is a resolutely “old school” and “follow the book” kind of Marine, Robert is more rebellious and skeptical of authority. He is clever, quick to improvise, and has exceptional proficiency in high-tech weaponry. Robert can build or fix anything. He’s slow to trust and sees himself as a “lone wolf.”

Robert began his career in the US Navy, rising quickly up the ranks despite his sometimes unorthodox methods. Soon after he completed his Navy SEALs Sniper training, Joint Special Operations Command recruited him. Robert has successfully accomplished several key black ops for JSOC.

Robert is fundamentally a suspicious, sometimes reckless, but extremely brave and ingenious SEAL. He deeply loves his older brother, but he has dedicated his life to besting him. Robert also believes warfare has moved on to a new era, which will leave his brother hopelessly behind. Robert wants to lead the way forward and will not let Jon stop him, even at the cost of war between them.

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Aaero Gets New Screenshots

Twain Harte, CA – January 17, 2017 – Mad Fellows and Reverb Triple XP today released a new selection of screenshots from the upcoming console/PC pulsating music action game, Aaero. The screens feature a variety of levels from the game, with every level designed specifically around each bumpin’ electronic music track in the game. Each level features musical tracks from superstars of the bass-music genre, including: Noisia, Flux Pavilion, Katy B, and others. Download the new screens and check out the stunning world of Aaero.

Screenshots

A Look Back At CES 2017

Usually when I do a look back at CES it is a pretty lengthy read since it involves me running from place to place and taking everything in as fast as I can afraid I will miss something important.  This year was different because only a couple days into the conference I got a flu bug that had me down for the count and hallucinating for days.  As a result I like most other people who couldn’t make it had to rely of press releases and b-roll offering that I wasn’t even able to understand until it was old news.  So this year this will mostly be a large photo gallery with just a few mentions of things here and there.

Press Days And CES Unveiled:

This is usually when the big boys of technology pit press conference against press conference to try to provide the most interesting and sometimes flashy news.  This year to try to make this a little less competitive they split the press conferences into two days so it wasn’t one long rushing day followed by CES Unveiled.  The result was a little odd though because a lot of the big flashy boys were still scheduled against each other and the result of the split up meant two really long days with CES Unveiled at the end.  CES Unveiled is one of my favorite things about CES because it give you a little taste of some of the bigger companies and a large number of the smaller ones that are spread around the massive space of CES that you probably would have missed in the throng of crowds.  The whole Unveiled event is also held in a large room with gourmet food treat stations in the middle and bars full of free booze in every corner.  They even have ice carved to say “CES” that they run the alcohol through the top of and it is nicely cooled when it comes out the bottom.  As a result some people didn’t abide while others definitely abide WAY too much. Me, I got to try a new IPA for my Untapped, looked at a few booths for thinning hair (I need them), saw a computer, a bed, and a recliner massager all of which would definitely improve my quality of life and empty my bank account and a bunch of other stuff that I can proudly say I looked at having had too many snacks but not alcohol.  Honestly I don’t think I saw one thing I didn’t want to try out.

CES Convention Center:

This year CES was celebrating its 50th anniversary which is really quite incredible when you think of an entertainment based organization.  It’s saving grace is probably the breadth and width of the conference and it can’t hurt that it takes up pretty much every available foot of space in Las Vegas, 2.47 million net square feet actually.  It also has pretty much every imaginal use for an electronic from the way you wake up to how you get to sleep at night.  Trust me the how you get places is definitely covered as the automotive area expanded and the how you see places is very well shown by the massive growth of drones over the last few years.  Convention floors, hotel suites, even walkways were packed with people trying to show you how they are attempting to change the world.

During the day it is a mad rush to get from one meeting to another then at night if you are lucky and know the right people you might find yourself watching Sting well into the night.  Yes that Sting, I’m told.  Next year maybe I’ll get into it, next year.  Because you can bet there will be a next year of CES as long as the world has a way to power their devices.

ShowStoppers:

One event that isn’t designed to relax you into the night but instead helps you know a bunch of the little folks who may someday prove to be the trending giants is an event called ShowStoppers.  It is a great deal like CES Unveiled but there are less of the big boys present, in fact there are often big parties the same night and the exhibitors at this event often don’t even have a booth or suite space in that 2 and a half million feet of show.  For them they don’t get days to talk folks into their gadget, they have minutes as part of a few hour night.  We get to chat with old time friends like Alex Verrey who this year was working with some nice looking headsets called Lucid Sound instead of where he usually hangs his hat which is at Mad Catz who was showing less audio and other peripherals instead. Soul Sound was having a lot of fun around the place and one of the companies thanked me for suggesting their little robot would help teach kids in school how to get started in coding, they now have 100,000 of units helping children learn in our countries schools.  Previous years I had helped get word out about a project to get low cost solar lighting into third world countries.  I guess what I am trying to say is ShowStoppers is a place to watch and think of others because you never know if someone around the world may benefit from a suggest of how a product can actually help humanity.

Closing The Show (For Me):

During the Showstoppers I started to feel a little weak, I just thought it was the long hours.  I got to meet one of the PR people I have always wanted to meet because of her great announcements and her knowledge of who is moving and whom is shaking.  After meeting some cool PR people and getting to check out the awesome GameSir G3s game controller, I went to rest a bit and that rest got long then I realized I was full on sick with the flu and running a brutal fever.  Suddenly CES was over early for me with the last days where I get to kick it with a buddy named Keven and give a friend a copy of an old jewelry selling broadcast I used to work at still in my pocket.  I still feel cruddy but time waits for no man, I have sumo wrestling and cosplayers at a convention to see tomorrow.  And there is always CES 51.

Universal Studios Hollywood Grinchmas 2016 Review

Grinchmas has once again returned to Universal Studios Hollywood and I, while not quite sure what to expect when driving to the famed movie studio/theme park, had a wonderful time that made my heart grow three sizes that day. When we first walked up to the front gates of Universal Studios, the park decorations were striking. They are a blend of whimsy and class, with elegant ornaments and swooshing lines all throughout – especially in the Grinchmas themed area. It’s a delicate mix of Hollywood and Seuss that they balance extremely well. The security checkpoint was on top of their game, using metal detectors and going through belongings to look for any dangerous items (they have such an important job in keeping the guests safe – please give them some patience), and into the park we went!

The area of the dedicated to Grinchmas is a kid’s dream come true. There is a gigantic, Seuss-inspired christmas tree with some seriously cool lighting effects, as well as numerous activity stations where people can do festive things. Things like decorate a Grinchmas tree, buy holiday themed food and drinks, take a their pictures with the Grinch himself, and even scout out a good spot to watch the tree lighting ceremony which takes place every half hour. This fast turnaround time is excellent for guests as, unlike some other Southern California theme parks where people have to line up for hours on end to watch one show, if they miss one show another one is just around the corner.

Hogsmeade and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter are in full form, although not really decorated for the season. We ate at the Three Broomsticks and had a great lunch – the establishment offers a wide variety of food – from beef stews to full English breakfasts! This is where I discovered the unsung hero of Grinchmas, hot ButterBeer. I love frozen ButterBeer – way moreso than the regular ButterBeer. However, this hot butterscotch-y beverage with full head of sweet foam warmed me up nicely on the cold Winter’s day we attended the park. The biggest thing that I would like to see in Hogsmeade is decorations to coincide with the season at hand. Christmas and Halloween are both displayed in the Harry Potter film and book series, it would be nice if story-themed decor graced the land for these holidays.

We ended up hitting the Universal Studios Tour a bit later in the day – I would say around 7:00 PM which, right now, is already in basically darkness. The tour was a lot of fun and, although some stuff was a bit too dark to enjoy comfortably, we saw some really cool movie locations. I finally came to the conclusion, however, that 3D film and glasses are being used way too much by the Studio these days. Peter Jackson’s King Kong 3D and the Fast and the Furious 3D drive-through areas are fun, but don’t feel real at all.

Back in the “good old days”, the back-lot tour attractions were created with physical effects. The best case for this is still in use at the tour – the Earthquake building. That stop is riveting, with actual objects coming loose, fire effects, scary lights, and a lot more. When things are physically right there in front of your eyes, they carry a lot more weight than 3D movies projected onto large film screens – but I digress…

Overall, the 2016 holiday celebration known as Grinchmas is a wonderful, fun attraction where families can come for some fun and joy. Plus, you get to enjoy all of the other attractions that Universal Studios Hollywood has to offer – attractions like HOT BUTTERBEER! You must try it – it is delicious and warms you up from the inside. Grinchmas runs until January 1st, so check it out before it’s too late!

Official Website

Photo Gallery

New German Destroyers Sail into World of Warships

December 21, 2016 — German reinforcements are ready to set sail and make waves in World of Warships. A branch of nine destroyers, starting from the Tier II V-25 to the Tier X Z-52 will unleash their devastating torpedoes to take on the mightiest of enemies in their path.

The Z-52 was one of the last German destroyers to be designed and laid down before the end of World War II. Her dimensions are considered to be quite large for your typical destroyer. Thanks to her dual-purpose artillery and current (for the period) automatic AA mounts, this ship boasts very powerful AA defense.

“We’re always excited to introduce a new ship branch with exclusive features to our players,” said Artur Plociennik, World of Warships Global Publishing Producer. “German destroyers excel in a number of tactical setups, and their torpedo armament is excellent and well-rounded. I’m really looking forward to seeing how players use these ships in battle.”

The Hydroacoustic Search consumable is definitely a boon for German destroyers. Combine this with the good ballistic property of their guns and their excellent torpedo armament, and these ships can be truly dangerous adversaries for enemy vessels. However, you should be wary of battleships and heavy cruisers, and plan your attacks against these ships in advance.

You can also check out your German destroyers on the new River Thames in-game Port.

For the latest information, visit the official World of Warships website:

Dark and Light New Screenshots

Snail Games has released four new screenshots from their upcoming MMO, Dark and Light, which is due out on Steam sometime in 2017.

Screenshots

Disneyland Holiday Season 2016 Review

Disneyland has once again transformed its two Anaheim parks for the holiday season. Throughout the two parks, you will find holiday decorations galore as well as some additional surprises to delight and enjoy. At Disneyland, there is the new Christmas Fantasy parade which is sure to entertain the younger guests in your group. In Fantasyland, the park has decked out It’s A Small World for the season, with an extremely-impressive makeover worth taking plenty of photos. Of course, the Haunted Mansion Holiday attraction makeover is still in effect, and has truly become a tradition for many families each Christmas season. The venerable Jungle Cruise attraction over in Disneyland’s Adventureland has also been made over for the season. “Jingle Cruise” features tons of holiday surprises, with lots of the attraction’s animatronics getting into the act.

At Disney  California Adventure, they have a new holiday themed World of Color light show for guests as well as a completely made-over Cars Land area, with Christmas trees made from all manner of materials – from road cones to tires. Guests can also take their picture with the “big man” himself, Santa Clause, as well as enjoy a number of musical guests from all manner of genres singing holiday songs and a lot more. Check out park maps and the DCA website for times and dates. Additionally, there are so many good food options at DCA, I highly recommend you and your party go check out some of their culinary fare.

Towards the end of your day at the two parks, I highly recommend you making your way over to Disneyland so you can watch the “Believe… In Holiday Magic” fireworks spectacular. No one does fireworks shows quite like Disneyland and this show is no different – it is amazing and wondrous as its explosions are timed to music. A lot of people will tell you that the best areas to watch are in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle, and they are probably right. However, I have also had some great fireworks viewing from inside Fantasyland, behind the castle. You miss some of the fireworks that launch over the castle itself, but the bigger ones are in prime view – you are actually so close you can get little particles of ash falling on you!

Overall, both Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure are both great stops for your family’s holiday plans this year. I recommend just investing in the 1-day park hopper pass which allows access to both parks.

Disney’s California Adventure Gallery

Disneyland Gallery