Day 143: Free the Goat

A while back, Disney did a brilliant promotion for their newest and most popular attractions, "Free the Goat."

It was, after all, about a goat from Big Thunder Mountain, and that's easily one of my favorite attractions at Disney. It's been the one roller coaster I think I've always gone on...which is a pretty big thing for me, or at least it used to be, when I never went on stuff like that. I've moved up to the bigger ones now...like Everest. Billy was a bit more adventurous than I am though...

Zero to Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh in 3 seconds!

I think he got the description of that attraction pretty correct. 

But that's not all Billy did once he was free for three lovely days! He also tried one of my favorite dishes, sushi...which apparently isn't terrible once you've tried flip flops. 

He also took some time to visit Epcot, which is pretty obvious since he had sushi. But the flowers are also good there...not that I'm going to try any the next time I'm there...so I'll just take his word for it.

But by far my favorite picture from his trip is this one...I think it captures so much of classic Disney, and really shows how much fun he had. Sadly...he lost the Mickey Ears once he got bolted back down. Hopefully he gets them back!

To see more of Billy's Adventures, you can visit the official website. And his thank you video is down below!

Here's today's Disney History: 1910: Character actor, singer & dancer Scatman Crothers - the voice of Scat Cat in Disney's 1970 release The Aristocats - is born in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Have a magical day!

Day 142: Awards Banquet

Tonight was my senior Academic Awards Banquet, and I have to say that while it was pretty long, it was also pretty great. I haven't always had the best grades, but my work has still shown through and I got several awards and scholarships. The best part of the night though? All the talk of Disney!

It seems that every time I was up on stage, someone was talking about Disney and me...well, every time it was just me they were talking about. It came up at least three times...well four depending on how you look at it. First as I got my Business Department Award (Outstanding Computer Student), my Business Teacher gave a bit of a shout out to this blog, which was pretty awesome if I do say so myself. She also talked about how I went to National FBLA with her and we went to Disney, which is still one of my favorite Disney trips to this day.

And then, as I got both scholarships, Disney came into play. For one, the presenter wished me luck with my internship at Disney (College Program and hopefully an Imagineering internship), and that really meant a lot. Second, as I got a Memorial Scholarship, my Creative Writing teacher, who was presenting the scholarship, mentioned that I was receiving the award because of my love of "reading, writing and Disney." He should know plenty about my love of Disney since I'm writing my memoir on it! Speaking of that...I should probably keep working. I'm only on chapter three and I have seven chapters total...unless I write more, which at this rate is quite possible.

Either way, it was a successful night for me, and I have a pile of certificates and a plaque and cords for Graduation now sitting in my house. Now I just have to stop denying the fact that I'm graduating I suppose.

Here's today's Disney History: 1998: Disneyland officially unveils its newly renovated Tomorrowland. New additions include Rocket Rods (a high-speed attraction running on the former PeopleMover track), Redd Rockett's Pizza Port (a restaurant located in the former Mission to Mars attraction), NASA Space Experience and the short "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience." Also re-opening is the Astro Orbitor attraction, having been relocated to the entrance of Tomorrowland and placed on ground level, thus making the ride the new focal point as guests step from the main plaza of Disneyland into Tomorrowland.

Have a magical day!

Day 141: Disneyland and Instagram

I'm amazed at how that rhymes. Disneyland and Instagram. It just works.

And that's why I'm sharing news that recently came out of...well...Disneyland. Since the resort is the most Instagramed place on earth, they launched a Disneyland Instagram account, and it's going to feature guest photos from the resort. How cool is that? My new goal in life...probably to get a picture in on this...but that means going back, once again, through all my Disneyland pictures...something I really don't have time for at the moment. Still, I suppose it's one of my many summer projects (whether or not I'll actually get all those summer projects done or not is a great question).

I mean, still though, this is pretty awesome. Now all we need is for Disney World to make something like this...and then I will be super happy. I mean, then every Sunday really WOULD be Spaceship Earth Sunday!

If you'd like to follow me and my crazy bunch of Disney pictures, you can find a link to my Instagram on the left side of my blog. 

Here's today's Disney History: 1928: Walt Disney's trademark application for "Mickey Mouse" is filed with the United States Patent Office.

Have a magical day!

Day 140: MCO

Now, this might seem like kind of a strange post for today, but trust me, it does have a bit of a point.

This last week, one of my friend's parents took a trip to Florida, and of course they flew in through Orlando International Airport. And since my own Disney trip is quickly approaching, I figured I'd make a post just about it...the airport that is.

The Orlando International Airport is the place most Disney-goers fly through, including myself, and that makes the airport all part of the great adventure each time we go. If you've been there, especially more than one, you know that there are plenty of little things that makes the airport all part of the Disney vacation itself. 

The first one is obvious...the Disney Store. It always makes me smile to see Spaceship Earth and the rest of the icons on that wall. I know I did get some video it the last time I went, for the vlog, but it didn't make it into the actual video because I didn't do one for the first day...that will change for this next trip though...since I already have an idea for my first video. But either way, it's a little piece of Disney that's there early, or, if you forgot to grab something from the parks, it's a great last chance to get that extra souvenir.

But if you're like me, you also know that the very first (and last) "attraction" of a Disney vacation is also at the airport...the tram ride of course! Or monorail...I'm not absolutely sure what it's called, at least not off the top of my head, but it's still awesome. I mean, it's a little sad when you don't get that front window seat (although my brother and I always used to like run to get it), but it's still fun to be able to take a ride! I'm pretty sure we have film of this from just about every vacation too...just saying. 

And so, MCO is really a big part of the Disney vacation experience, unless you're driving, because that's an entirely different story. But if you do fly, between the Disney store and the monorail and the way the suitcases click on the tile floor (I don't know why it always reminds me of vacation...), it's certainly another great thing you can experience on your trip. And then there's the rental car or Magical Express or a Taxi, or whatever you use to get to Disney, but I feel like that's another post entirely. Maybe I'll do that on a later post, sometime after I've made that trip again. It is only a few months away, after all!

Here's today's Disney History: 2011: Star Wars Weekends returns to Walt Disney World for the 2011 season, the same day as the much anticipated Star Tours attraction reopens with a grand ceremony. More than 50 story combinations are possible for guests to experience aboard Star Tours, so guests can enjoy the attraction multiple times without ever experiencing the same adventure. 

Have a magical day!

Day 139: Hyperspace Hoopla!

If you are in the Disney loop at all, you know very well that this weekend was the start of the 2013 Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios...and if you love Disney AND Star Wars as much as I do...you also know that it's certainly something to celebrate!

As we make our way through Star Wars season (which starts May 4th and goes through the end of Star Wars Weekends at Disney...but includes the release of all current 6 Star Wars films!), there's always a lot to celebrate, especially this year with the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi. And you know what, there's nothing I love to do more to celebrate everything than watch the yearly brilliance that comes out of Disney with Snig & Oopla's Hyperspace Hoopla!!! I mean...come on...even THEY got the whole Return of the Jedi memo!

I highly suggest you watch the below video...but do make sure you're in a place where you can laugh hysterically without making too much noise for other people to hear. I generally watch it with my brother, so we are as loud as we want...and we may or may not dance along (although I'm limited at the moment because of shin splints). Either way...here's the 2013 Hyperspace Hoopla...and all I have to say is that you need to watch all the way to the end because I don't think there's been a better HH EVER.

Soo...what did you think? I honestly can't decide if my favorite part was Lobot, Chewie doing the splits, Thrift Shop, the Harlem Shake or Jedi Mickey. It's just so hard to decide. Well...actually...the entire thing was great.

The only things I would change are this: Get rid of the characters no one knows, and bring in HAN. I mean, COME ON! AND LUKE! And let's have Leia be...well, Leia...for once...and get rid of Padme (although I have to say, I very much enjoy the yearly Vader/Padme song/dance). But seriously...HAN. Get on that. Now. 

Other than that, I love these, and I really wish I could be at Star Wars Weekends myself sometime. Maybe when I do the college program I'll apply for the spring so I can finally go to this! 

Here's today's Disney History: 2000: Plans for Disney's newest attraction Mission : SPACE (to be completed in 2003-2004) are launched into space aboard Atlantis, NASA's International Space Station shuttle flight. The crew, made up of six American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut  will spend nearly 10 days in space.

Have a magical day...and may the force be with you!

Day 138: Disney Conversations

This probably isn't what you think it is...so just keep reading.

Last night, I told my friend that this was going to be today's blog post, and I'm keeping my word because I think it seriously is something that totally works for a blog all about how Disney impacts my everyday life.

I think this is a pretty good picture to help explain...

To say I speak in movie quotes is an understatement. It's like all I speak in, and with my friend's, it's no exception. So when last night my friend and I had the following conversation, I just couldn't not make a blog post about it!

Friend: A is transporting to a new location, she will be with you again shortly.

Me: Your time machines could begin moving again at any moment. Please remain seated. 

Yeah, not a huge conversation (although there is more...but that's the important part), but do you get it? That's right...if you've been on Spaceship Earth anywhere near (ok...probably even just once or twice), you might already know that what I replied with is the narration that comes over when they have to load a wheelchair onto the ride! It's ok though..."Your time travel is resuming now" is what happened later. 

But that's not all the funny conversations we have. At my school, and while it has literally nothing to do with me, whenever there's a drill of some sort where we have to stay in the classrooms, our vice Principal goes over the system when it's over and says "You are free to more about the cabin!" and I crack up just about every time!

Many of my friends and I have a back and forth thing where one of us says "I love you" and the other says, you guessed it, "I know!" And next year when I return to visit my friends still in high school, I already know that as soon as I walk in I'll go "Together at last! How we doin'?" and they will go "Same as always" and finally I'll return "That bad huh?" Oh yes...Return of the Jedi still reigns. But more Star Wars will certainly come in tomorrow's post! 

But one final "conversational movie quote" we have and use almost every day comes from Mulan...when Mushu goes "Dishonor on you! Dishonor on your family! Dishonor on your COW!" Considering we live in Wisconsin this shouldn't come as a surprise honestly. 

Either way, I could go on for hours and hours and blog post after blog post about all the random movie quotes that pop up in my life...many of which are Disney, but I couldn't help but share that with you...and these few. 

Here's today's Disney History: 1993: The hit TV series Full House goes to Disney World in Part 2 of "The House Meets the Mouse." (Note: This is one of my two favorite episodes of Full House of ALL TIME!)

Have a magical day!

Oh, and one more thing...I will raise the safety bar for you...and a ghost will FOLLOW YOU HOME!!! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!

Day 137: Ranting

You know, I've written this blog post about three or four times now...and each one was totally different.

There are just sometimes those nights when you need to rant, and for me, writing has always been a great way to get my frustrations out. I tend to get caught up in the moment and write a bunch of nonsense anyway, so I might as well write something that no one's going to see anyway, right? 

Well, tonight's rants consisted of a variety of things, but one of the main themes I in both was learning from experience. There's recently been a lot of backlash over the redesigned Princesses, especially Merida, and I honestly think a lot of it is just outrageous people being completely rude, but one of the things I mentioned is that the person who created these designs must be feeling terrible right now (or if they're awesome, they're embracing and learning from it). People are saying they should be fired and that they don't know what they're doing and that their sexist. How is that even fair to them? It's not! So the population didn't like the redesigns, say your piece politely and move on, they'll fix it if there's really that much upset. They don't need to fire anyone, because everyone is going to learn from the experience anyway!

The same thing then applied to learning by yourself, as one of my friends had a really bad day in our creative writing class (We're in separate hours, but it's the same basic class and group of people). There are just a lot of people who don't care and don't do their work in the class, and she was frustrated because they were distracting her. I feel awful that she had to go through that, and she was most upset over the fact that the teacher did nothing, but at the same time, I feel like she overreacted. I know how hard it is to be in a class like that, since I'm in the same position the following hour, but the teacher didn't say anything because in a few weeks, we'll be out on our own, having graduated, and there won't be a teacher there to save us from an annoying person sitting next to us any longer. We have to learn to fend for ourselves, and that's what he's really teaching us. I initially was going to drop out of my class period and switch to a different hour, but I didn't, and now I'm glad that I made that decision. I have learned so much, both about my writing and about how to deal with people, and I feel like she just overlooked that lesson a bit. But like I said, she'll learn through experience, and eventually everything will work out.

Disney has taught me to learn from experience, and that it's ok to make mistakes, because it's only going to make me stronger (Now I have the song Stronger in my head...). I am defined by the experiences I have in life, and I wouldn't change them for anything in the world. But at the same time, people need to understand that others do make mistakes, and that they can't just give them a hard time because of it. Friendly suggestions and advice is ok, but saying that you should be fired or something of the same matter is never ok, and I think that's a lesson that everyone needs to learn. 

Here's today's Disney History: 1921: Disney legend Harrison "Buzz" Price is born in Oregon City, Oregon (through he grew up in Southern California). A research economist who recommended Anaheim to Walt Disney as the location for Disneyland, Price later formed Economics Research Associates and conducted studies for theme park clients. He also had a helping hand in the finding the location for Walt Disney World. 

Have a magical day!