Sunday, November 30, 2014

Day 699: The Grass Is Greener...

This is one of those blog posts where the title is really longer than I can fit in the actual title line, so here's the full one:

The Grass Is Greener...On The Marching Field

Tumblr is one of those great places where you can find lots of things. It's a place filled with humor and angst and the people that are parts of fandoms that casually tend to remind you that, of course, your favorite ship actually has this super tragic backstory that they decide to tell you through GIFs and then you just end up crying. (Not that this happens to me...often). 

But Tumblr's also a really inspiring place, and by far one of the most inspiring stories didn't originate on Tumblr at all, but rather with Jennifer Morrison. I've talked about this wonderful role model more than a few times on my blog, but this is one of those times where I just had to share. I have this really weird list of reasons as to why JMo and I are alike, and it's getting weirdly long, but this article she wrote, "The Legacy of Positivity" is something that just got me. 

You can read the full article HERE, and I really do suggest you read it before the rest of this post. If you don't want to read the whole thing, the important parts I'm hitting will be summarized in my spiel about it and so on and so forth.

Jennifer's parents, as I already knew before this article, are music teachers, meaning that music has had an important influence on her life, just as it has mine. The article goes one to talk about the things that she learned from her parents. I, of course, am not an alum of the Prospect Marching Knights, and I've never met the Morrisons, but I do know exactly what she's talking about, and I agree with every single word. 

We live in world so filled with negativity that I'm all for every chance we have to make things more positive. It's one the biggest reasons I'd love to just sit down and have coffee with Jennifer Morrison. Not to talk about Once Upon A Time or anything else, but simply talk about how she keeps things positive. As my own social media presence increases, it has occurred to me time and time again that I have to do the same thing she does, and keep things positive. Arguments don't help anyone, and negativity only works against us. But as JMo points out, it's all about your mindset. 

Over the past few days I've actually been debating this whole thing. The idea of happiness and positivity. For the last several nights, just as I'm about to go to bed, I find that I can't. Not because I'm not tired, and not because I don't have to go to bed yet or because I'm in the middle of a super angsty episode on Gilmore Girls, but rather because I'm happy. I'm excited about life. Sometimes it's excitement about things that will happen in the new future, such as my trip to Disney World that's coming up faster than any of us could possibly imagine. Once and a while I'll think about my Disneyland trip in August, and the fact that on that trip I'll have the incredible chance to meet some of the friends I've made through Disney and Once Upon A Time. And then there are the moments when I'm excited about things that are so far in the future I don't even know when they'll happen, like the simple fact that someday, somehow, I'll meet Colin O'Donoghue and yes, Jennifer Morrison. These are the things that make me excited, and you know what? I can't remember a time in the last two years when I've been so completely, truly happy. 

These past two years have been a trial for me. Tests have come in every shape and size and around every single bend, but somehow I've made it through all of it, and if there's one thing I would remind my past self if I had to do it all over again, it would be to stay positive. It's a mindset, and now that I'm in that mindset, I no longer am angry constantly, I'm not disappointed in the work I've done or the moments I've missed out on. I've grown, and my positivity has grown with it. 

After all, as Jennifer Morrison mentioned: "...'The grass isn't greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you water it.' And it's also green where you march, my mom and dad would say. So put one foot in front of the other, even if they're baby steps and let's all walk towards the light, lean into it, and grow green together." 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 19 due to finals!)

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Day 698: Cousin Dave

I like to think I'm a pretty funny person, and if I'm not funny, I'm at least sarcastic. I really enjoy my puns and truly believe that The Jungle Cruise is one of the greatest gifts to the world. Why? Puns, of course. There's actually punny stuff all over Walt Disney World, and I tend to enjoy making jokes about stuff I find there in my everyday life. I'm sure I've mentioned a few of them before, including anything from the Carousel of Progress or Haunted Mansion.

Which brings us to part one of the discuss: Haunted Mansion. A few weeks ago I happened to make a joke involving the following headstone to my roommates:


These gravestones are all over at Haunted Mansion, and I've read each and every one of them multiple times. Of course, my roommates hadn't, so I was met only with blank stares. No, blank confused stares is more like it. The bigger problem? When I make a Disney joke, Megan often will catch onto the fact that it's a Disney joke and she should just go along with it until we get to Disney and I can explain it further. Everyone else, however, isn't used to my constant Disney jokes. She is because I said them all the time in High School. Things are different now.

Which is why I make OUAT jokes instead. It seems that when I share something like this following one, they all understand:


Actually, numerous people have sent me this meme, including one or more of my roommates. Then again, with the way things work in our room, we laugh whenever someone mentions the word Hook period. It always ends with me in a fit of giggles and then they all laugh at my fangirling. But hey, he's my favorite character, what am I gonna do? 

So you can see the problem here. I can make Disney jokes all day and get nothing but blank stares, but the second I make a Once joke everything works out. Maybe I need to find some new material. Yeah, I should find some new jokes having to do with the Disney movies. They'd probably understand those! That or I need my own headstone: "Here Rests Cousin Lizzie, She Gave Us Jokes 'till We Were Dizzy."

No? Tough Crowd. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 19 due to finals). 

Friday, November 28, 2014

Day 697: The Falcon Is Back!

I'm late to the blogging game when it comes to one of the biggest Black Friday releases of all time: the first trailer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. While we may have a year left before the actual release, Star Wars and Disney decided to give us a sneak peek at the new film with a trailer featuring more than a few new characters. If you're really behind and have yet to see the trailer, here it is:



Now, I'm not quite sure what to make of all the new characters. We actually know some of the names of them at this point, but that's a whole other story (and probably another future blog post). The important part here? The Falcon. The Millennium Falcon has returned, and I couldn't be more excited. 

If you're a long time reader of my blog, you'll know very well that Han Solo is super important to me. He's been my favorite Star Wars character since I watched the entire thing a number of years ago, and I highly doubt that's about to change anytime soon. After all, my love of Harrison Ford withstood the fourth Indiana Jones movie, and if it can hold up after that I doubt anything else can break it. 

Other than that, I really don't have much to say about the trailer anymore. It's been almost a month since it originally came out, and while I was bouncing off the walls when it originally came off, I've finally calmed myself down. It's an impressive feat, and now I'm just rambling on when I have a good 20 other blog posts to catch up on. 

What'd you think of the trailer? Are you excited for the new Star Wars Episode or did the Soccer Ball Droid throw you off? 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 19 due to Finals Week!)

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Day 696: Thankful

Happy (Late!) Thanksgiving everyone!

As usual, I meant to write this ever so long ago, you know, like on Thanksgiving, but alas, homework and finals took over my life for a good couple of weeks. Regardless, it's never too late or early to be thankful, and just as last year, I've got a list of things I'm thankful for. Previously, I did a list of 5, but this time I'm going to just kind of list them in any given order. I've had such a wonderful year so far that I don't think I could pick and choose what I'm most thankful for. I'm thankful for all of it, and that's the point. I won't comment on every single one, just because I am on a time limit and have plenty of other things to get done today, but either way, here's the list:

Once Upon A Time


Don't tell me you didn't think this one would make it on the list, especially since this has a bunch of subcategories. Once has played a crucial role in my life in the past year and a half (although it's stemmed from long before that). The show filled a void in my life left by friends (or people I thought to be friends) who abandoned me, people who tried to control my life. Now, somewhere along the line, I found that I could closely relate to the characters and themes on the show, and it taught me how to hope again. I'm a million times happier at this point now than I was a year ago, and infinitely happier than six months ago. Now, it's not ALL thanks to Once, but a good portion of it is.

Secondly, I'm extremely thankful for the cast of this show. When I go back on my TimeHop, it's hilarious now to watch as I try to get tweets from cast members, and now here I am with a list of favorites, retweets and tweets too long to even remember who all responded. I may not have had the chance to meet these lovely people in person, but that contact has become a constant source of happiness, and I couldn't be more thankful for each and every one of them. Special shoutout to Colin O'Donoghue for making my birthday one of the best ever as well! Can't really beat out a tweet from one of your favorite actors!

Finally, I'm thankful for the people I've met through OUAT and the Internet. I'm extremely excited to head out to California next year and finally meet some of you, all while Disneybounding, of course!

My Friends & Family


Walt Disney World


Starbucks & Delicious Soy Chai Lattes


My Roommates


I don't talk about them all the time, mostly because it might get redundant to say "Today's Disney reference is that we sang another Disney song!" Regardless, I'm sooooo thankful for the wonderful people I get to live with, whether that means my roommate from last year, Megan, or my newest roommates, Hannah, Ashley and my best friend Megan (but not the same Megan)! You guys bring so much joy into my everyday, from Newsies and crazy late night laughing to tea time, Chuck breaks and Starbucks trips. Plus, every single one of you have put up with my constant talking about OUAT and Disney and I'm not even sure how you do it. You all get awards. Every one of you.

Disney Movies


LillyBelle


Leather Jackets


Everyday Disney


This blog, of course, gets on this list every year. I've been fortunate enough to find an actual following in the past year, and I'm extremely excited to see where Everyday Disney goes in 2015, especially with two Disney trips and lots of surprises in between.

St. Norbert


Music


New Friends


A Million Other Things


And finally, The Seymour High School 2014 Band Trip to Walt Disney World


This trip, as you all know quite well by this point, was hell. It was awful. God awful, painful, frustrating and almost killed me. I wanted, more than anything, to just give up and throw everything I'd worked for away. But somewhere along the line, in between my friends, OUAT, my college community, my Band Director and Disney, I found a way to balance it all out into what I now define as one of the greatest experiences of my entire life.

Going into something like a band trip to Disney World, especially when it's something you've been dreaming of your entire life, has a lot to live up to. It's dangerous. The chances of you being disappointed are a million times higher than you not, but I agreed to disagree, and on every aspect of the Disney side, I was perfectly content. I said at the very beginning that as long as I got to do three things - march down Main Street U.S.A, go on Spaceship Earth and Watch Illuminations - I would be happy. And I was, only I failed to realize the impact and the living hell my life would become thanks to the people that wanted me gone. I get it. I understand. I graduated, and it was difficult to share your spot with someone who already got their own individual spotlight. In every aspect, I shouldn't have been there. But I was, and haters are going to hate, I guess.

Which is why through all of it, I'm more thankful for a couple of things when it comes to this trip than anything else. First off, thank you to Disney Performing Arts for allowing us to perform. Thank you, and I can't say that enough, for allowing my dream to come true. Thank you to Nick, the cast member that got me through the parade without crying, and to my best friends who stuck with me through thick and thin. But I think, more than anything here, I have to thank my High School Band director, Mr. Alban. I've said it a million times before, and I'll probably say it a million times again, but you're the one who helped get us there. You pushed us, myself included, to be the best musicians we possibly could be, and it was from that foundation that you helped make my dream come true. I'd be an extremely different person if not for your influence, and this trip, whether any of us liked it or not, taught me a lot about life, adulthood, responsibility and persistence. Thanks Mr. Alban, for being a mentor through every second of it.

This list could go on for a very long time, but I think I'll stop it here for now. But here's one last thank you, to all the people, whether you know it or not, that have helped me through the past year and a half. It's given me the strength to one important thing: keep moving forward.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 15 due to finals!)

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Day 695: Turturkeykey

Thanksgiving. It's really a wonderful holdiay, my second favorite in fact (just after Christmas, because who doesn't love Christmas?) It's just one of those great times of year when the whole family can get together and you eat a ridiculous amount of great food and gosh, the pie. Granted, this year I spent a good amount of my Thanksgiving working on homework because those Music History Research Papers just don't write themselves, but that doesn't mean there isn't a chance to have a great holiday (plus, once Christmas comes around I'm off of school and don't have to worry in the least about homework).

It's funny though, because throughout the progression of the day, I came across several various references to things, the first of which refers to my all time favorite episode of How I Met Your Mother, Blitzgiving. It's one of the Jennifer Morrison episodes in Season 6, so of course I really enjoyed it in the first place. It was a Thanksgiving episode, which is probably one of the best kinds of episodes to have, and featured all our favorite characters going from apartment to apartment trying to figure out where to have Thanksgiving dinner and cook Ted's "Turturkeykey." From what we understand, it's a turkey stuffed inside of a turkey (it ends up being really gross, but I'd still totally try it). I'd been planning to use #Turturkeykey all day, but of course, the lovely Jennifer Morrison beat me to it, using it on her own Thanksgiving instagram picture. Great minds think alike?

Regardless, that's not the regularly scheduled Disney reference of the day. Not even close. I spent most of my thanksgiving sitting at the kitchen counter of my cousin's house, as I said, working on my research paper. It meant that as the rest of the family played cards, I got to sit closest to the food and watch as the last of the dishes (turkey included) were prepared. Best seat in the house if you ask me.

A bit of the way into our visit, the turkey finally hit the oven. It wasn't frozen or anything, but it was a giant turkey, and it did go into the oven. Of course, my Dad and I were there, at the counter, watching as they put it in the oven, and all we did was crack up about Frozen Pizza. Yep, that's just how we roll.

The Frozen Pizza Joke seems to be a popular one in our family, going right along with the blowing of a fuse and "Temperature set to 375," and if you haven't figured out what we're referencing yet, here's a hint: It's about a family moving through the 20th century.

The Carousel of Progress, as I've blogged about before, is a commonly referenced show in our lives, and I remember watching as my friends saw it and finally understood what we were talking about when we took them to see it on the trip in June. Now it's been requested for a return trip this January, and I couldn't be more excited that they enjoyed yet another of my favorite attractions. I think that means more to me than most other things do, just the fact that I was there to see laughter and smiles and understanding of the random crap Lizzie's been talking about for the past 7+ years that never made any sense.

Does it mean my extended family understood when my Dad and I laughed about Frozen Pizza for dinner? No. Not in the least.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 15 due to finals!)

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Day 694: The GMR Montage - A Tribute

I can bet you right now that there are few people in the world sadder than I am about the changes happening the Great Movie Ride. As was announced a few weeks ago, Disney is changing the Great Movie Ride, just a bit, although I'm pretty sure greater changes will come in the future, as a part of a new sponsorship. I think that updating the attraction a bit is a wonderful idea, but YOU DO NOT TOUCH THE MONTAGE.

Let's back up a step though, just for me to calm down, and actually talk about the changes they're intending to make. According to the release, it sounds like they're making changes to the queue and then the montage at the end, as well as possibly adding some sort of photo option? That part's a bit fuzzy. Regardless, these aren't major changes at all, as for right now they're not touching any of the scenes on the inside of the attraction.

However, I have lived so much of my life based on the Great Movie Ride Montage. Literally, it's one of my goals in life to watch through every single movie in that montage, which is probably going to take me a really long time. When I realized that Star Wars ends the montage? Well, you remember that. I freaked out about the Great Movie Ride several times back in the first year of my blog, and things aren't any different now. It's definitely my favorite attraction at Hollywood Studios, and it killed me when my friends and I didn't get on it in June.

Which brings us to our next problem. It's said that these new changes will be in place sometime in January, and we're going in January. So will we go and be able to see the regular, old version one more time, or have I witnessed my last ride through of The Great Movie Ride as we know it? This is literally a Maelstrom situation all over again, and it's NOT FAIR! I feel even more for you guys that lost Maelstrom now, as if I didn't before. What in the world would I do if I wasn't going in January and had even the chance to ride one last time with the montage I know and love?

Well, I'd cry, for one.

So let's just take a moment to watch, for about the 5th time on this blog, the Great Movie Ride Montage:


That was nice, wasn't it? Now why can't it stay? Brace yourselves. If the new one isn't better, I'm going to be severely disappointed. 

Regardless, have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 12 due to Finals).

Monday, November 24, 2014

Day 693: Face Characters

Sometimes, and by sometimes I mean all the time, I forget that my friends haven't been to Disney as often as I have, and therefore they don't realize the same kinds of things that I do about Disney. They don't know what Spaceship Earth is and they haven't had a dole whip and they most certainly don't know what I'm talking about when I say "Fastpass." But beyond that, there are apparently a lot of things that I just take completely for granted, such as face characters.

I wasn't actually in the room when the initial conversation happened, but it's been an ongoing thing over the past few days. Of the four of us that live n Room 309, three of us have been to Disney World, and therefore we've had just a bit of experience of it at all...or at least parts of it. But that leaves Ashley, who's never been before (and we hope to fix that in the future!). Initially, from what I've heard, she didn't realize that face characters actually act like the characters, instead they would just freeze for a picture and sign and autograph and that's about it.

Of course, we all know that there's so much more to it than just that. Face characters are an essential part of the Disney Parks. Not every character is a "Face character," and by that I mean they're portrayed by an actor, who has the ability to speak with the guest and make their own facial expressions, unlike the other characters (Mickey or Minnie for instance), who have a large head put on top of their's with no ability to talk.

So when we watched some videos of Gaston, things got a bit excited around our room. Here's the specific video that started it all though:



You sure can't beat kids when it comes to meeting characters, and a little bit of me wishes I had met more kids when I was a kid. Granted, in just a few weeks I'll be meeting as many characters as humanly possible because I WANT TO MEET THEM ALL and I have friends with me and even if Megan isn't a huge fan of characters we're going to meet Anna and Elsa anyways and it's going to be wonderful. 

And yeah, of course we'll be meeting Gaston. 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on December 12 due to Finals!)

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Day 692: New World Bound

Honestly, after about three weeks of not blogging, but simply writing down the blog post topics, it gets a bit difficult to remember what exactly it was that the topic was about. I usually just note the title of the post and that's just about enough for me to remember, but sometimes I honestly have no clue. Like the one for the day after this post. I don't know. I honestly don't know. But I guess we'll figure it out.

When I first looked at the topic for this post, I knew what it was about. After all, New World Bound is a pretty easy one to figure out when it comes to how Disney is involved. That's the name of one of the songs in The American Adventure, specifically the one about the pilgrims. Why I intended to blog about it, however, took me a bit longer to remember. So before I get to the rest of the blog post, here's the song, just to refresh your memory, and mine, apparently: 


Alright, alright, I did actually remember what it was before I started the blog post (otherwise I would have tried to figure something else out for the post). You see, this particular song always comes up this time of year, Thanksgiving, because of the Pilgrims. It's just kind of standard. Of course, so few people in my world know what in the world I'm talking about that it hardly even pays to mention it outside of my blog (or at Disney World). 

The American Adventure is filled with such wonderful music though, and not just this one. Two Brothers is beautiful too (and you better bet I'm off to listen to that part next). I have the piano music for some of the stuff though, and it's always fun to go through it. I can play New World Bound pretty well at this point, but I have yet to find actual sheet music for Two Brothers. Golden Dream I've got down pretty well too, and thank goodness for that because I'll come home from Disney and be singing American Adventure music for weeks. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 12 due to Finals!) 

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Day 691: Fairy Tales Continue

You know, last semester held one of my absolute favorite classes here at SNC. Actually, no, it was my favorite class at SNC. Now maybe I loved it so much because my friends were there or because it wasn't especially difficult work to go through it, but let's be real. It was probably because of the fact that it was a whole class on Fairy Tales, and with OUAT being my favorite television show, it really got me started on the path of reading all the original stories that they bring onto the show. It's fun to find the little connections and think about how new stories could be incorporated. However, that's not what I'm talking about in this blog post. That's a topic for another day. 

You see, part of that class was a competition to see who could find the most fairy tale references within our society. I know I blogged about it previous, but the idea was that we would try to find fairy tale references within commercials, movies, songs, advertisements in general. Everything counted, and I definitely won the competition (no really, I won). 

The problem is, even now, I still seem to find every single reference. It's sort of weird sometimes actually. Even just watching Gilmore Girls I'll stumble across a billion different references to everything from The Wizard of Oz to Snow White. And then I'll watch Chuck and there'll be a reference there too. IT'S CRAZY. 

And the sad part? Every single time someone says the word Hook now, I just burst out in a ridiculous fit of giggles. What in the world has this semester done to me? Granted, my roommates are the real champs here, for putting up with my constant talk of Once, Disney and Fairy Tales. They deserve a reward. 

I should have made a list of all the fairy tale references I've found in the past few weeks though. Now that I'm going through and trying to think of some I've just got nothing. NOTHING AT ALL. Alright, that's a lie. There's that Geico commercial with Pinocchio. I don't know if I actually included that one on my original list from last semester. I wonder if I have that...I FOUND IT! 

Here's the official list of the sightings I had for Fairy Tale class, since I never actually shared it. This is one of those topics that got lost in the summer of random blogging. So here's the list: 

1. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicopters : Seven Dwarfs
2. Prom: Once Upon A Time Theme
3. New Girl : Peter Pan
4. Newsies : Humpty Dumpty
5. TLC : I Found the Gown (All Those Princess/Fairy Tale Feels)
6. The Rite : Tinkerbell
7. The Ugly Duckling : Modern Marvels
8. The Princess Diaries : Queen of Hearts
9. The Princess Diaries 2 : Rapunzel and Prince Charming
10. The Goldbergs : Glass Slipper 
11. The Fault in Our Stars : Prince Charming
12. Fairy Tale Creature Quiz
13. Spanish Lecture : Red Riding Hood
14. Museum of Science and Industry : Puss in Boots
15. Museum of S&I : Fairy Castle
16. Museum of S&I : Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives
17. Photographs with Real Animals
18. Trophy Wife : "I don't think we're in Ohio anymore."
19. WDW : Alice in Wonderland Book
20. WDW : Once Upon A Vine
21. Dark Horse : "That Fairy Tale ending with a knight in shining armor. She can be my Sleeping Beauty, I'm gon' put her in a comma."
22. Emma Approved : Cinderella
23. Which Grimm Fairy Tale Princess Are You?
24. Solo and Ensemble : Goldilocks and the Three Bears
25. High School Musical 2 : Once Upon A Time & Happily Ever After
26. About a Boy : Fairy Dust & Through the Looking Glass
27. Blitzgiving (HIMYM) : Cinderella's Evil Stepmother
28. GEICO Commercial : Pinocchio
29. Buzzfeed Articles
30. Raven Symone : Alice
31. The Avengers : Flying Monkeys
32. FAFSA Sign : Don't be late for a very important date!
33. Megan & Luke : King Midas (Muppets reference to Goldilocks)
34. Legally Blonde : Sleeping Beauty
35. Fresh Prince of Bel Air : "What is this? Oz?" and "The Little Mermaid."
36. Intelligence : No Need to Huff and Puff
37. Shirley Temple's Storybook
38. Alice and Olivia Presentation : Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, etc. 
39. Dad's Fairy Tale Books
40. White Rabbit Meme
41. I'm a Believer : I though love was only true in fairy tales
42. Sociology : Fairy Tales in Mass Media
43. Somewhere in Neverland : Song by All Time Low
44. Wonderland Magazine
45. The Monster : Rumpelstiltskin 

That's just the official list I had for last semester, but since then (probably because it's been another semester), the number has at least doubled. It's honestly crazy how many fairy tale references are out there in our world, and how much of an impact they've had on us whether we like it or not. It's definitely interesting to explore as a topic in general. No wonder Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis created a whole show based off of these stories and characters, and no wonder we all love it! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 12 due to Finals Week!)

Friday, November 21, 2014

Day 690: Where in the World

One of my all time favorite games is "Where in the World." It's pretty popular among the entire Disney fandom to be completely honest, with just about everyone playing the game. But recently I've been playing it in a whole new way. This past week, someone Megan knows has been at Walt Disney World, and so she'll pull up the latest pictures and we'll be sad together about the fact that we're not at Disney. It's a common thing these days as we approach the next trip.

Actually it makes me pretty proud a lot of the time because Shovell will come in and it'll be a picture from some super random place on property and she'll know exactly where it was taken. That doesn't happen very often. Normally people don't know where stuff is, even my family once and a while. But yesterday Megan came in and couldn't figure out where the people were, and to be completely honest, I couldn't even figure it out at first.

We knew they had been at Hollywood Studios earlier in the day, and it definitely looked like they were waiting to eat dinner somewhere. I just couldn't figure out where that place was. It took me a really long time, but eventually I thought about it. I knew where it wasn't, but considering the fact that I haven't been to every single place constantly, there's a significant part of me that won't recognize things right away. However, it's pretty easy to narrow things down, especially when you have an idea.

In one of the photos they were holding a menu, definitely the only thing needed to figure out where they were dining. The menu honestly gave it away:


Once we'd narrowed it down to 50's Prime Time Cafe, all I had to do was search for pictures of the waiting area, and sure enough, that's where they took the first picture. The chairs at the counter matched up and so did one of the couches. Easy enough, right? 


The irony is that in just over a month, we'll be in that same room. We're eating at 50's Prime Time in January, just because it's one of the best themed restaurants at Walt Disney World, if you ask me at least. As a kid, it was my absolute least favorite restaurant because of a bad experience with the "no elbows on the table rule." I was three. I couldn't reach my milkshake. You can figure out the rest. But it's just one of those things that I felt my friends should experience, so we're headed there for what is sure to be one of the most interesting meals I've ever had at Walt Disney World. 

As for Where in the World, that's it for this time, but maybe this will be a new series kind of thing. I love trying to figure out where pictures are taken at Disney, and I definitely can see this as a regular part of my daily Disney experience. After all, you should see some of the pictures my family takes. It's always an adventure trying to figure out where they were taken.

Have a magical day!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Day 689: Cinderella

I'm not the first and I'm certainly not going to be the last to discuss this. It seems that when there's news in the world of Disney, everyone covers it. I debated blogging about this for that same reason, but since I'm a huge fan of both Disney and fairy tales, it seemed like a natural thing for me to discuss today. I am, of course, talking about the trailer for the new live action version of Cinderella, which my roommates and I are all super excited about.

Here's the trailer if you haven't seen it yet:


First off, I love the trailer. It's the perfect combination of action, story, characters and classic scenes. I love it. But can we just stop for a second and talk about the music? I don't know who works on the music for these Disney trailers, but they nail it Every. Single. Time. I'm constantly amazed with the music in the trailers for all of the Disney movies, live action and animated. It's going to be stuck in my head all night now. 

But that's not the only thing I'm loving about this movie and trailer so far. The costume design is beautiful, for one. I'm so used to seeing wonderful costumes on Once that I'm prety sure I have higher standards now than I did before. And of course, they got it ever so right here. Cinderella's ball gown, for instance, is stunning, and I'm quite happy to see a scene depicting the animation in the original animated film. 

Other things I love? The fact that they bring her mother into the story. Such a grand idea. I feel like there's always so much debate about where that mother went (although in many of the stories, she dies, and it seems to be that case here), so it's nice to see some extra backstory. Second, I adore the fact that her name isn't "Cinderella," but simply "Ella." In the fairy tale itself (or at least many of those original versions), her name isn't Cinderella at all. Sometimes it's Ella and sometimes it's actually Ashley, but either way it isn't Cinderella. A nice touch indeed.

And finally, let's just stop for a moment and discuss how odd it is to see Helena Bonham Carter playing the Fairy Godmother. We're all so used to seeing her in darker roles that you almost miss it when she appears in the trailer and then you second guess yourself for thinking it was her when really, it was! 

Regardless, I'm very excited to see this movie, as I am all the other new films coming from Disney lately. I'm also pretty excited that my roommates are excited. It means that we might be able to go see the film together, and that's something that sadly doesn't happen very often. We spend a ton of time together in our room though (and boy do we have adventures), but it seems to me that this is the perfect movie for a March weekend. 

Have a magical day!


Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Day 688: Hugs

Before I came to college, I wasn't one for hugs, and I still find that I tend to shy away from physical contact. I don't really know why this is, and it actually baffles me since I used to hug my Dad all the time when I was younger. Regardless, I'm not a hugger, or at least I wasn't before. I actually remember this one time in High School when a friend learned of this fact and attempted to hug me, only for me to escape by ducking out of his arms. It all ended up being quite hilarious.

College started changing me though. I have a friend or two that loves to hug, and I've gotten better about it. I hug people more often, although not everyone. I have to have a certain amount of trust for the person to hug me. Ironically enough, I swear that when I meet Colin O'Donoghue someday the first thing I'm going to do is ask for a hug. It's my goal.

Anyway, I know I've come pretty far with hugs because as much as the Disney parade on the band trip is still sort of fuzzy in my mind (I only remember bits and pieces to be honest), everything that happened immediately after the parade is seared into my brain. I remember coming off the parade route and my band director was waiting there for us to get back and the first thing I did was go and give him a huge hug regardless of the fact that we were both probably super sweaty and gross because Florida is HOT in June when you're wearing band uniforms and march a parade. I gave him another hug later, simply because I was so overwhelmed by everything.

But today one of my friends just needed a hug. It had been a bad day so far and you know when you can just tell that someone needs a hug? It was one of those moments. However, because of my lack of knowledge in the rules and regulations of hugging, I honestly sat and debated when to pull away. Should I pull away? How long is the hug going to last? Is there some sort of hugging length regulation? I don't know these things. And then I remembered this:


Previous to the hug, I had no idea what was making my friend upset, so I had no idea what was going on. Although the hug was long, I made a point to pause and just wait for him to pull away, because I thought about it. Honestly, I may not be very good at hugs, and they may not be my favorite thing in the world, but I think this lesson is an important one. You don't have to be a Disney Princess and you don't have to be hugging a child for it to apply. When someone is upset and needs a hug, let them lead. You really don't know how long they need it. 

Does this classify as Things We've Learned From The Disney Princesses? Yeah, I think it does. 

Have a magical day!



Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Day 687: Donuts

How do you spell donuts anyway? Is it donuts or doughnuts? Or is one of those weird words that you can spell either way?

Regardless, that's our discussion of the day...or at least part of the discussion. It's one that's been on the topic list for a really, really long time and I just now finally got around to blogging about it for real. Why did it take so long? I'm honestly not really sure because, if you ask me, it's a pretty good representation of Disney in our everyday lives.

Story time! One trip, many years ago, we got these donuts from the store at Old Key West for breakfast. I have no idea what prompted this, other than the fact that we wanted or needed something for breakfast (we rarely eat in the parks for breakfast). We ended up liking the donuts, and ever since they've made our way into the fridge at whatever resort we happen to be staying at. In other words, the classic Entenmann's donuts have become known in our family as "The Disney Donuts."



Lucky for us, because this is a brand that's sold all over the United States, we can sometimes find these donuts in our fridge at home too, and that's what happened. I happened to be at Walmart picking up some food to make dinner and figured I would grab some of the donuts to share with my brother since I know they sell them there. There's only like 8 donuts per box, so it definitely doesn't last long, especially with Jonny around, but they're good for a day or two, and when you refer to them as the Disney Donuts, the second you bite into one it's like a flashback home.

Of course, there are other things like this throughout the world. For instance, sometimes when I buy a new bottle of water from Phils, the college "convenience store" and grill, I'll pick up a Dasani water instead of something else (although SmartWater, also sold at Disney, is also a popular option for me). Why do I prefer this water over the other water that is literally probably no different whatsoever? It's because that's the water they sell at Disney, and for some reason I just feel natural walking around with one of those versus a different brand.

The same thing can go for a coke. When I was younger I would only drink Pepsi, giving into the coke world only when at Disney, but somewhere along the line I switched over. I don't drink soda very often, but when I do you bet it can be something that reminds me of Disney, and that generally means coke.

Want another example of my super weird Disney Food obsession? Although I'm lactose intolerant now, as a kid I was a huge fan of the Toll House Cookie Ice Cream bars, although I also seriously loved the "Minnie's Strawberry Bar." Here's proof:


Yes, that's me. Of course, they sell these things all over the place, and I'm more likely to pick up a Toll House Cookie Sandwich than I am a Drumstick if I'm going to eat ice cream. And the Minnie's Strawberry Bar? It's an Ed's Strawberry Bar and I keep them around quite often (pretty sure there's some in my freezer at home...unless I finished them all again). 

This is just one of the really weird ways that Disney's worked it's way into my life and mind. It's not a subconscious thing whatsoever, because I know for a fact that when I go to Phils to buy water I walk in there thinking about the Dasani water or SmartWater I'm going to walk out with, and that leads me on a train of thought that goes back to Disney. I'm sure it happens with more of than these four, but they're the most prominent for sure, bringing a little bit of home into my college and Wisconsin life. 

Have a magical day!



Monday, November 17, 2014

Day 686: Becoming a Tradition

As much as I do talk about Once, it's been a few weeks since I shared my Disneybounds here. We left off after the first ever Double Disneybound of Emma and Hook for CaptainSwan date night, and since then there's been not only several outfits, but also quite a bit of hype about some of them. It doesn't happen often, but once and a while I do get comments from cast and crew on the latest outfits, and last night was certainly a great one for that. But let's go back a few weeks: 


After Hook and Emma, I went back to a Season One outfit that we haven't seen in a while. I am extremely lucky to have a television show that I'm doing this for that not only has a spectacular costume department, but also two entirely different sets of characters. It means that I can Disneybound and do an outfit for Mary Margaret in Storybrooke, but also Snow White in the Enchanted Forest. It's a good combination if you ask me. 


Then I was Belle for a week, and yes those shoes are as high as they look. I think this one was pretty fun to put together simply because of those shoes though. They caused quite the interest in my dorm room, as I'm pretty sure all my roommates and then some have tried them on. To say the least, they're really fun to wear...if only for a short time. 


Although I missed the episode itself (I caught it later in the night), the Snow Queen, or as I call her, the Dairy Queen, Disneybound came on time. This was both easy and hard, simply because I wanted to do something that was true to the character but also easy enough for me to wear to the meeting I had to catch during the episode itself. I'm happy with it either way. 


And finally we get to the most recent Disneybound, Marian. This one is one of my favorites outfit wise, for sure. I absolutely adore the dress I found for it and the hairstyle is one of my favorites to do when my hair is curled, meaning that it's just great all around. BUT, it gets better! This is, by far, the most popular Disneybound to date! Why? This: 


Yes, that's right, both Christie Laing, who plays Marian, and Adam Horowitz (whom you already know is one of the writers/creators of the show) comments on it, and it totally made my night, especially after the emotional rollercoaster I went through during the two hour episode. It's always a goal to get the cast and crew to see these, considering they bring the inspiration for each outfit, and it's funny because I always get two incredibly different responses to these outfits. 

The people that don't necessarily understand are all like "Why in the world do you dress up for a television show? That's ridiculous." And yep, they're right. Spending probably two hours on each outfit (including hair on makeup) for a television show that barely lasts an hour? That's crazy. BUT...then we get to the other people, who mention that eventually the cast and crew will probably end up remembering me. I do one of these literally every single week, and I have no intention of stopping as long as the show goes on, so they're very right. At some point I could find myself in Steveston or somewhere else meeting these people and one of the cast members could say "You're the person who does all the outfits!" It's a long shot, but it COULD happen, and that's the thought I keep in the back of my mind. 

Plus, it seriously is really fun and very rewarding when even one cast member favorites or notices it. It's always a step in the right direction, and above all else, it's becoming a tradition in its own right. 

Also in fun moments this past week, I got to ride in a yellow bug and I was saving it to include on this post. One of my roommates had to go pick up the bug for a class field trip and I got to tag along, so yes...I got to ride in it and it was basically the highlight of my week last week. 


Have a magical day!


Sunday, November 16, 2014

Day 685: Lizzie Watches Her Vlogs

I go through a lot of video from Disney World. As I blogged about a while back, when it comes to the band trip video, I am selecting footage from over 30 hours of video, and that means that there's a lot to work through. In addition, I probably watch each vlog around 4-5 times in editing and every piece of any other video at least 70-100 times, depending on the length of the section. Why is this important? Well, I generally don't end up watching those vlogs very often after they're published on YouTube. I'll end up watching them with people from time to time, and when I have a really bad day I'll sometimes turn one on, but other than that I actually forget a lot of what happens in the vlogs. 

So when I was watching some of my vlogs the other night I decided to take it to Twitter as well. After all, there are a lot of things in the vlogs that you don't necessarily see within the video itself. It's hard to narrow down those 33 hours of footage to only a few minutes! Within my tweeting and rewatching though, I have to admit that it made me pretty sentimental, and I have a number of really good thoughts. Here's a few of my favorite thoughts I had over the past few days when going back through all my vlogs: 

"I feel like my vlogs have made me a more adventurous Disney Park Goer...like I went on Dinosaur for the first time in years in March so I could video it. I wouldn't have ridden that in 65 million years before (pun intended)." 

It's true though. I headed on Dinosaur in March specifically for footage for in the band trip video. Previous to that time on the attraction, I think I'd only been on it twice, if that. It just wasn't my thing at all. But I knew I needed the footage, so I forced myself on it, and I know already that I'll be headed back in January. It's amazing how just knowing that there are people out there watching you on your trip can make up be more adventurous. 

"A number of years ago my brother and I made a pact to not fight on our trips. We kid each other but still keep it."

I remember the conversations my brother and I used to have. When we were younger, the fighting on Disney Trips was non-stop. The 100% completely normal "we're siblings and we want to go on different attractions" kind of fights. And then one year we were outside out house playing catch, of all things, and we started talking about it. Mom had been freaking out for a few days about how we were probably just going to fight constantly on our upcoming trip, so the Kid and I made a pact. That trip we were going to surprise our parents and not fight at all. Somehow, the pact worked, and then it just became some sort of silent agreement. We argue all the time back home, and you definitely still see us "arguing" on camera, but not like we used to. Disney Vacations have been much nicer since we played catch that day. 

"If I had a dime for every time my bro mentions trash cans I'd have enough to pay for another Disney trip. And if he had a dime for every time I mentioned Colin O'Donoghue, my brother would be able to pay for five trips."

We all have our obsessions...they don't go away just because we're at Disney. 

"Filming on Test Track is probably one of the scariest things I've ever done." 

When I say that I have 33 hours of footage, I'm not kidding. However, not all of that is me walking around, and it's not all of fireworks and parades either. There's actually a TON of footage from many of the Disney attractions from all over the parks. That means I definitely have video of the thrill rides, and I get questions all the time about whether or not I was terrified for the camera in those moments. The answer is yes...I always am. The scariest? Probably Expedition Everest and Splash Mountain. For sure.

"In all 25 WDW trips, only once have I been held in Wisconsin due to weather. July 2013 was that trip." 

I live in Wisconsin, and I travel mainly in the winter. It's just what worked better for my family and it's much cooler down in Florida int he winter months. So you'd think that eventually we'd have run into a snowstorm or something that prevented us from making it to Disney. Only once has this ever happened. We've had close calls, for sure, but it was in July, of all months, that I didn't make it to Disney on time...because of a thunderstorm.

"I actually didn't really like Wishes until my high school band trip when my own wish came true. It was magical." 

I'm an Illuminations fan, forever. I grew up with it, and that made it my favorite, among other reasons. It also meant that I just didn't like Wishes quite as much, and I never really liked to stop and watch. It stayed this way until quite recently. For months before we found out about being accepted to Disney Performing Arts, I listened to Wishes and wished upon a star that we would be able to go. When we were, indeed, accepted, I couldn't help but wonder if the wish coming true was mine. Now the show definitely has a special place in my heart. 

There are tons of other thoughts that I had while watching my vlogs, and I have a feeling that #LizzieWatchesHerVlogs will be a hashtag I keep around for a while. Hopefully new vlogs and video will be appearing very soon as well! And be sure to follow my personal twitter (@epcotexpert) and the official Everyday Disney twitter (@EverydayDis) for my constant random thoughts on just about everything Disney!

Have a magical day!


Saturday, November 15, 2014

Day 684: Remember the Firsts

Oh My Disney is probably my favorite of the official Disney blogs. I head over there probably at least 6-7 times a week because of the brilliant posts included there, and I wish just about every day of my life that I could make a living writing for a blog like that...especially about Disney. I mean, last week there was a post entirely dedicated to the love of Captain Hook on OUAT. Doesn't that basically describe my life already? 

Anyway, one of the blog posts today was "Pinnacle Moments in Every Disney Fan's Life," so of course I clicked on it. It's very true, there are distinctly Disney moments in the life of every Disney fan, and they help shape the Disnerd inside of us. Plus, I love reflecting on Disney memories of my own, especially when my latest trip is under two months away and I'm getting pretty darn excited. 

But what I didn't really think about until I read the article is that my Disney experience isn't one filled with moments I can remember. The list has a great number of pinnacle moments, including finding a Disney Toy, seeing your first Disney film in theaters, your first trip to Disneyland and Disney World, etc. As I went through it though, I was faced with a lot of moments that I know I had, I just don't remember. 

To be completely honest, I don't know what my Disney Toy is. Maybe my parents remember me having one, but I certainly don't. I have my own fair share of Disney themed stuff now though...although I guess you could sort of count my Spaceship Earth collection. That's been a long time in building, and it's far from done. It'll be the highlight of my Disney collection someday. 

I don't remember seeing my first Disney film in theaters, nor do I even know what it would have been. I also don't really remember my first Disney Halloween Costume...unless it was like Han Solo two years ago or something. Then I guess I do...or Captain Hook from last year, depending on what you count. Then again, I wasn't ever really 100% into Halloween anyway. 

I do, however, remember my first trip to Disneyland, if only because it was in 2011 and I should in every logical way, very much remember that trip. It wasn't like it was ages ago or anything. My first trip to Disney World, on the other hand? Yeah, that happened wayyyy too long ago for me to remember, as did my first pair of Mickey Ears. I also don't really remember ever actually picking my favorite Disney song, movie and character, if only because it changes constantly. The only height requirement I ever remember actually meeting was Test Track, and I have no memory of my first dole whip. I can not for the life of me tell you when that was. I didn't need to wait for my Favorite Disney movie to come to Blu-Ray...Tangled came out on Blu-Ray right away (hahaha rhymes). 

But most of all, my life has ALWAYS been completely devoted to Disney. It makes it sort of weird to think about people having a moment where they just realize it. I guess a part of me can definitely relate that feeling to starting Everyday Disney, but I don't think I can pinpoint one exact moment otherwise. It was more of a "it's just this way" sort of thing. 

On the other hand, I am lucky enough to have the chance to see some of my friends experience the same pinnacle moments. I got to see my friends visit Walt Disney World for the first time, and get their first Mickey ears, and as we go through the Disney films together I often even get to watch them choose favorite movies and songs and characters. Even their first dole whip was a moment I got to experience with them. So while I may not remember my own first moments, I certainly am able to remember theirs! 

Read the whole Oh My Disney article HERE!

Have a magical day!


Friday, November 14, 2014

Day 683: Perfect Score

As I may have mentioned in a blog post a few weeks ago, I seriously enjoy taking Walt Disney World quizzes simply because I know I'll get a perfect score (although sometimes I'll mess up like one answer because I was being ridiculous and not reading the whole thing). Regardless, there are currently a bunch of Disney World quizzes out on Disney Insider, and of course I took them. So why don't you take them too? 

Magic Kingdom!



Of all the quizzes, I feel like this was the easiest of them. Now, that either means that it was indeed the easy one or I actually know a ridiculous amount about Magic Kingdom. Maybe it's a combination of both. Either way, these questions were pretty simply to figure out, unless you're not constantly going to Magic Kingdom like I am. I wonder what would happen if I had one of my best friends take the quiz...???

Epcot!


This quiz was actually really good considering the fact that sometimes the Disney made quizzes are the easier ones. They have to make them sort of easier because there are a lot of people out there, and not everyone is going to be as fluent in Disney information as I am. Meaning that if they made it too hard, a ton of people would end up with scores of like 1 or two out of ten. Me? Yeah...perfect scores all around. The end of the description got me though...don't throw Promise in there. It makes me happy sad! 

Animal Kingdom!


Once again, a perfect score. These questions were pretty easy for me once again, but I do happen to know quite a bit about Animal Kingdom (not that I don't know quite a bit about Epcot...my username is EpcotExpert after all). Regardless, now I'm just waiting for the quiz on Hollywood Studios, which I'll probably also do great at. Let's just keep the quizzes coming, right? 

What was your score? Any questions that tripped you up? 

Have a magical day!





Thursday, November 13, 2014

Day 682: 76 Trombones

One of my favorite musicals of all time is, of course, The Music Man. I'm not totally sure how or when it became one of my favorite musicals, but I remember watching the TV movie version as a kid. I had it recorded on a VHS tape (except for the first couple of minutes...it started during the middle of the first song). Regardless, I watched it all the time, and I've introduced it to many of my friends since then.

When my roommate Ashley and I found out that our roommate Hannah hadn't seen The Music Man, we knew that we had work to do. We're constantly singing music from musicals, including this one, so it only makes sense for her to see the musical itself, right? Correct. 100% correct.

But whenever I hear 76 Trombones, a different thought comes to mind. Whenever you hear the song, I feel like a lot of people laugh because really, what band has 76 trombones performing? Not many, that's for sure. In my High School we were lucky to have 3 or 4, and here at college I think we probably have around 10. Granted, these were both smaller schools, so I suppose it's entirely possible to have 76 trombones, but I've never seen it...except for one time.

One of my favorite moments of the opening of Disneyland, which took place on July 17, 1955, was the parade, led by none other than 76 trombones!  And when Disney does something, he does it right. The actual composer of the musical, Meredith Willson, was present as a special guest of Walt himself. Art Linkletter, one of the hosts of the opening, asks Willson what he sees coming up Main Street, and there, to the joy of everyone, is 76 trombones playing the song itself. Willson went on during the special to actually conduct the group in a standstill performance as well.

Footage of the moment isn't on YouTube, but you can find video of it out there. I know I have it on a Disneyland DVD that's part of the Collector Series, so it does exist! But if you want some proof, here's a picture:


And since we've been talking about the song all day, you can listen to it here too!


We did finally get Hannah to watch The Music Man, and while Ashley and I watched it as kids, finding sympathy for The Music Man himself, Hannah didn't think so. Con Man forever. It was a debate we had throughout the movie, trying to figure out if we would feel the same way if we saw the film for the first time. Honestly, I still don't know how I would feel if I saw it for the first time today instead of as a kid. I guess we'll never know, will we?

Have a magical day!


Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Day 681: Two Years Ago

To be 100% honest, I almost didn't blog on time today, although I've spent the last five and a half hours or so working on my blog. See, I joined one of my friends in the library this evening and since we were sitting at the giant computer table in the basement, I figured that I would use it to write a blog post: this blog post as a matter of fact. Only, I noticed a bit of an issue when I started...the title for the latest day was 681, but the blog post count itself only showed 680. It meant that somewhere along the line there was still an issue, and I can't believe I didn't notice it over the past couple of weeks. 

So for the past five and a half hours I spent my life recording every single blog post in a giant spreadsheet that includes all the dates they're posted, Day numbers and titles. It. Took. Forever. Honestly though, it was probably a good idea. I found a couple of other errors, and now, and I swear this is the last time I'll say this, the blog appears to be all correct. The funny part? I found errors as far back as month 1, as in January of 2013. Yep, fixed those and am all up to date. 

In other words, at the beginning of this adventure I actually had an idea of what this blog post was going to be about, but at this point my brain is just kind of mush. I'm still sort of debating stopping this writing at the moment and picking it back up tomorrow because I don't even really know what I'm writing about. I have no clue how Disney has fit into my day, other than the fact that I've spent the last five hours looking back at all the old blog posts. 

I suppose, therefore, I'll talk about that. A long while ago, my friend asked me if it was weird looking back at the old posts. I mean, we're talking posts from over a year ago, and it is. I looked at just about every single post in the last year and a half. I didn't read them all, but I looked through them all, saw pictures of them all and added them all into the new master file I have. A part of it feels like "That was sooooo long ago," but the other part is like "That was THAT long ago?" It makes for an add combination. 

And since we're being sentimental today, I suppose I'll also mention that two years ago today (so a while before this blog even existed) was one of the most important days in my life. As far as I can tell from Timehop, two years ago today was the exact first day we decided to audition for Disney Performing Arts. We had a band council meeting and the entire thing was discussed and we set our minds to it. Now it's all over and done with (other than that band trip video which causes me pain and suffering constantly because it's just taking forever and I feel bad about that fact), and it's just a weird thing to look back at. In case you were wondering, I know this because of a Facebook Status I posted that day:

"Even though I've put so much of myself into this...I haven't asked for much in return...and if I have, it's for the opportunity to learn. now I've been blessed with even the possibility of not only a learning experience, but also for my greatest dream to come true...and I hope there is an understanding that this time, if I'm let down it will completely crush me. I've kept my hopes down for three years...and I thought that this would never come true...but due to the conditions...it's now a possibility...but if it falls through, it wouldn't be like before, it would be ripped from my hands. But I know I have a job to do...and no matter what I still have to do that job...and I will do everything I can to make my dream possibly for everyone else, even if I can't participate in it myself."

This status is incredibly important for me, since there was so much drama surrounding the band trip, with words put not only in my mouth, but the mouths of those around me. The situation, as you know, was not good in any shape or form. But throughout the whole thing, I constantly related back to this thought, and it's nice to know that the whole time, I was indeed telling the truth. This point has stuck with me since the first day the Disney trip came up in conversation, and it held true until long after the trip itself was finished. 

Right now though? I really need to go back to my dorm room and sleep. I need to sleep...so darn much. 

Have a magical day!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Day 680: Kitchen Kabaret

As you know well, my classes provide ample opportunity for me to relate things to Disney. It happens almost daily in some classes (like Fairy Tales was), and sometimes it's a bit less often. I've talked about class after class, but I'm actually not sure if I've ever talked about a reference in my French class. Mostly what we do is sit and learn vocabulary there, so it would be rather difficult to relate things constantly. But today? Today I actually had a very Disney-sort of thought, since we're studying food, and it all goes back to my Sophomore Year of High School.

I took French my first two years at SHS, and I'm taking it again now, mostly because I honestly didn't remember much by the time I got around to taking the college language competency test. So here I am, taking French again. But I do remember a project that we did in High School, which was actually one of the first videos I did and it was tons of fun.

Now, I can't actually find the whole video anymore. It's been long lost to the internet I fear, but I do have the introduction to the cooking show we made for class, titled Cooking Don'ts. Honestly, I believe it would be a pretty darn good television show, all about the things you SHOULDN'T do while cooking or baking. I remember filming the video and miss Lilly came up and ate some of the pie. Gosh this was all a long time ago.

When I made the film though, we had to pick a song, and I couldn't come up with a better song than the Kitchen Kabaret melody. It fit perfectly with what we were doing, even if the lyrics are in English instead of French. Regardless, here's the intro:



Honestly, it's weird to look back at that and then look at some of the things I've done more recently in the world of film. Actually, I'm kind of glad that the rest of it is lost to the world. Who knows what Megan and I look like. Although if this whole thing taught us one thing, it's that poutine is great...and we can't wait to have some at Le Cellier in January. 

Have a magical day!


Monday, November 10, 2014

Day 679: Colors of Disney

Since I have one less class than any of my three roommates (or four if you include Katie!), and I'm only just training for my job here on campus, I take it upon myself to do things around the dorm room. Some days that means cleaning, and sometimes I do nothing more than update Melvin's adorable little outfit. Regardless, the past couple of days I've been hard at work deciding how to decorate the room for Christmas, and while you'll see that in a future blog post for sure, the important part for right now is that I was working with lots and lots of color.

Which got me thinking. As I picked out colors of paper for one of the projects, I'd come across a color that simply reminded me of something at Disney. Generally, it was a lot of Old Key West thinking, because the color palette at OKW is absolutely one of my favorites in the entire world. I wouldn't be surprised if my house is themed to the Gingerbread Architecture and soft pastel colors that make up the resort someday.

Either way, once I thought about color palettes, I figured maybe it would be fun to search out some Disney ones. The thing was, I couldn't find too many, so I decided to make a few of my own instead! I picked out some of my favorite Disney Instagram pictures and used an online generator to pull out the colors and then created the color palette picture myself.






It took me a while to figure out how to make these, and I'm sure it's not exactly how the color palettes work, but they were a lot of fun to make, that's for sure! I think that it's safe to say that there will be more color palettes in the future. Also, I figured I would share this. On the last one, of Spaceship Earth, the main color it supplied me with is the color featured on the plaque (although it's not actually on the palette itself), and the name of it is Matterhorn. Seems even color names are Disney-like! 

Have a magical day!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Day 678: A Frozen Wish

I feel like with Frozen, you either love it or you don't. There is no in between, especially when it comes to Disney fans. As awesome as the film is, and it's great that it was so absolutely successful, there are a lot of hardcore Disney fans that are just sick of the entire thing. And then there are the people that are the exact opposite and wish for everything to be Frozen all the time. It's an odd, but delicate balance.

I, personally, I stuck in the middle...sort of. It depends on the day whether I love or hate Frozen, and even today I'm not sure where I stand. When I saw the film, I did fall in love. I loved the music and the plot and the characters and...we've already covered this multiple times over. And I loved Frozen for quite some time, and then I just kind of got sick of it. And then it was decided that they would be on Once and I groaned a little bit...and then I met the versions on OUAT and fell in love and then I was definitely back in that state. In fact, Georgina Haig, who plays Elsa on Once, posted the other day about how she's finished filming for the show and I just wanted it to be a lie because I want them to stay forever.

And then the Christmas stuff at Disney started.

Now, I can't really say that I ever attended the castle lighting ceremony at Magic Kingdom. Maybe once I did a really long time ago, but I certainly haven't seen it recently, and I did watch the Frozen version that's brand new this year. To be honest, it almost made me cry. The simple ease and smoothness between the actors, the projection, lights and fireworks makes the entire thing mesmerizing.

And then they decide that the Christmas Parade will be Frozen and everything else will be Frozen and FROZEN, FROZEN, FROZEN!

So I'm back to wondering if I like Frozen or not. It's a difficult decision to say the least, especially when your opinion seems to change with the day. For now though, let's all just watch the Frozen Castle Lighting Ceremony:


Have a magical day!


Saturday, November 8, 2014

Day 677: Changing the Countdown

I've been counting down to Disney Trips for almost as long as I can remember, and over the years I've had some pretty creative ways of counting. Sometimes it would be a countdown for the last ten days, other times the wait would be in the hundreds, but regardless the ending was always the same: Disney.

Now a days, I count down to a lot of things. On my phone I have a countdown app that allows me three separate countdowns, one of which is almost always set to a Disney vacation. At the moment, a second one is set for a Disney trip, which happens to be Disneyland next August in addition to my WDW trip this January. In between I have one other countdown, since I'm quite excited about the fact that in a few months I'll be meeting Alton Brown, Food Network Television Host and Creator of Good Eats, the show that actually inspired me to cook and bake. We'll get into that in February though. Actually, I'm not sure what I'm going to do in a couple of weeks when I have to recreate a countdown for Once Upon A Time because it'll go on hiatus again and I always countdown when it's on hiatus.

Either way, aside from my phone, I have other ways to countdown to my latest vacation, and this time I'm quite excited about the fact that I share the countdown with my best friends. It's definitely depressing to have a countdown just for yourself. You want to share the excitement, and that's something I can do now!

The problem? Countdowns have to be updated. The nice thing about the phone is that it updates how many days are left all by itself. I don't have to worry about it whatsoever. But if I have another countdown I have to make sure that it stays up to date. It took over a year to figure out how to do that, but I finally realized that the best day to keep it updated is to make the amount larger, or wider rather. So instead of counting specifically how many days, I've been doing months...although I was still behind until today. Once we hit the one month mark in a few weeks I'll count it down by the weeks themselves, although eventually I'll head home and make a different countdown there. The countdowns have gotten more colorful over time too. I think this is my favorite so far, and there's been countdowns for just about everything on that whiteboard!


Of course, Butterfinger the Bear is pretty darn adorable too. He keeps me company. =)

Have a magical day!