Day 1236: Rare Gems

There's probably a good four or five autograph books from my childhood, at least, sitting on a shelf at home, and I can almost guarantee that the majority of the autographs in those books are from Mickey and Pluto. And then there was a period where I didn't really care much about characters or autographs at all, which lasted until I really became a part of the Disney community on Instagram and watched as so many others had memorable experiences with characters. Now, since bringing my friends to Walt Disney World for the first time, I've really been trying to meet more characters, and as with any trip, I found a few new ones.

Disney World and Disneyland are very different in regards to characters. In Florida, each character has an attendant nearby to help control the line and any unruly children that may be around. At Disneyland this isn't always the case, as usually face characters will roam more on their own, sometimes without even a photopass photographer. Second, the variety of characters is much wider at Disneyland, and it's where I managed to pick up a couple of characters that I'd never be able to meet in Florida, like Oswald!

There are opportunities to meet rare characters at Walt Disney World, but you just have to keep an eye out for them. This past January, my Mom attended the inaugural Club Villain event, and when there was an opportunity for her to bring me this May, we took the chance. At Club Villain, which I'll blog more about later, you have the opportunity to meet four distinct Disney villains, none of which you'll find anywhere else at Walt Disney World on a regular basis: Maleficent, The Queen of Hearts, The Evil Queen, and Cruella de Vil. Dr. Facilier is there as well, hosting, and while you can't necessarily meet him, he does stand near the back for a good portion of the show, where you can catch a picture with him if you wish (I didn't, unfortunately).

While you used to only be able to meet Olaf out at Disney California Adventure, he recently made the move to Florida again, and this time it seems like he'll be staying. Currently, or at least when I met him, he's in his own little private meet and greet near Star Tours in one of the old sound stages, and honestly you can't beat the adorableness that this snowman is all the time. 

Early in my trip, I happened to be walking around World Showcase and had stopped to listen to Alberta Bound in the Canada Pavilion when the gates to the old Millennium Celebration building opened, revealing a wealth of rare characters. I'm talking Baloo, Captain Hook, Smee, the Country Bears, and a few others. Since I wanted to round out the performance by Alberta Bound, I only had time to stand for one character, and despite my love for Captain Hook, I went with Baloo, who was just super sweet!

And finally, I was walking out of Animal Kingdom in the mid-afternoon one day when, suddenly, off to the side, a head popped out of the brush. Tarzan happened to be meeting on a side trail near the Tree of Life, and since he was out of the way and not directly visible, no one was there. Another family went in addition to ours, so we waited for a minute or two, but my conversation with Tarzan about cameras and bananas was well worth the stop! 

I must say that despite the fact that there are so many half-empty autograph books at home, I'm almost finished with the one I started a couple of years ago with my friends. We've met a lot of characters, and I'm always looking for new ones! I am saving one special page for Flynn Rider though, whom I met once. I didn't get his autograph then, and I'm definitely determined to get one next time! 

Who's your favorite rare character to find in the Disney Parks? 

Have a magical day! 

Day 954: Character Mania

If there was one thing I loved about Disneyland more than pretty much anything else, it was the characters. Alright, so that's a half-truth, because you just can't beat World of Color and Paint the Night (among other things), but the character selection in California is VERY different from the ones we have back at Walt Disney World. So of course I set out to meet as many of them as possible in my short time there, and the results were definitely rewarding.

It took me all of about two hours to spot my first character of the trip, the one and only Queen. When I noticed her meeting in the shadow of the Matterhorn, my inner Evil Regal kicked in and I just had to stop. To be completely honest, between the chilling sounds of the Matterhorn behind us and her rather...cold...attitude, I got a bit of shiver on my spine. I wouldn't call her evil though...just misunderstood. Once a Oncer, always a Oncer. 

Then it was off with my friend Laura to meet a couple of the greates heroes our world has ever known, Thor and Captain America! Thor was a bit put off by the fact that I had my Cap shirt on and wasn't wearing a shirt that had him on it, but I managed to convince him that it was alright and that he should come to visit Florida sometime. After all, it's closer to New York, right? 

Then, over by Cap, I was completely heart eyes. Think Captain America is charming in the movies? You should meet him in person. Greatest three minutes of my life...well...until I met my next character. 

I personally think it's ridiculous that this guy doesn't meet in Florida, so when I saw him after getting off the Carrousel Laura was like "Go, Live your Dream" and I ran over to meet him. Having him sign my autograph book was basically the highlight of my afternoon, especially since because he only has one hand you have to like hold the book for him while he signs. It was a Hooker's dream. 

Now, I'm still not caught up on all the Tinkerbell movies, but heading to Pixie Hollow was pretty amazing. In Florida we can obviously still meet Tink, but the expansion of Fantasyland took away her fairy friends! Rosetta was the cutest little honey-bunch and I just wanted to take her home to be honest.

Of all the characters in California, Oswald was the one I knew I just had to meet. This guy is a huge historical figure when it comes to the Disney company, and the fact that he's finally in the parks and back in our lives is absolutely wonderful. He was SOOOO Cute, especially in relation to the vlog and the camera. Which brings me to my next question...when can we get him in Florida? 

And last but certainly not least, I headed on a 45 minute mission to meet our favorite snowman, Olaf! One of my best friends is a huge Olaf fan, so because she can't meet him in Florida, I figured the least I could do was go and get his autograph for her! He actually doesn't sign regular autographs yet, and instead does a little self-portrait, and Olaf was kind enough to sign one for me and one for my friend! Plus look at how happy we were! Warm Hugs indeed! 

Not bad for five days in the parks though, right? I wanted to see if I could catch Cruella and the Fairy Godmother as well but time just wasn't on my side, so I'll have to save them for the next time! And who knows, by then ALL the Avengers might be there! 

Which character would you most want to meet at Disneyland? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a magical day!

(This blog post was written on September 2 due to the Disney Trip and College Move-In).

Day 771: Thinking Warm Thoughts

Here in Wisconsin, it is cold.

And I mean it's COLD.

Down in Florida this past week, I know several people who were complaining about how their hands were cold and they couldn't feel their fingers and COLD and I'm up here like...dude, I can't feel any part of my body. While it may have been around 50 down in Florida (it's now closer to 80), back up here it's currently 7 degrees out, but don't be mistaken. It actually feels like -8 out, and our low tonight, without wind chill, is scheduled to be that same temperature, meaning it'll probably feel more like -28 by the time we get to the coldest part of the day.

This means that we have to get pretty creative in our mission to remain frostbite free. The number one way is to just not go outside at all, something that's literally impossible when you go to college, or school, or work...or live in general. So instead you just limit how many times you have to go outside. For instance, I remain in the music building from around 2 until 7 tonight, and tomorrow I'll spend 11-6 here, even though I only have classes at 4 and 5. Why? Because that means I don't have to venture outside into the cold.

But when you MUST venture out, you tend to bundle up. Personally, I've even pulled out my bigger, thicker peacoat, and that means it's REALLY cold, because I LOVE my red one. So for me to replace that red with grey, that's saying something. On top of that, I end up generally wrapping my giant winter knit infinity scarf (referred to as "The Colin" scarf, via Christina Perri's "The Words" - it looks like the one he wears kind of), around my head and neck and then sort of tucking it in a little bit and literally I won't go anywhere without it now. If I'm wearing a different scarf during the day, the big knit one still goes on top. Head protection can go a long way in keeping warm. Of course, my leather gloves are necessary, and leather jackets that double as layers are also a common way for me to go.

Sometimes though, you just are still cold. You can be wearing six layers and go outside and still not feel your arms or legs or, let's be honest here, face, so you need other ways to warm up. Sometime last year, I started this thing to try and keep myself warm on the long walks back to my dorm (my walk this year is about half the distance it used to be). I call it "The Warm Circle of Hugging," because apparently using Olaf's theory of thinking of all things hot does sort of warm you up...if only for a few seconds.

So when I'm really cold you'll see me close my eyes while continuing to walk (probably not my greatest idea, but that's beside the point), and then I'll say the following words, trying to convince myself they're real: "Han Solo is hugging me. Chewbacca is also hugging me. Captain Hook is hugging me as well. It is a warm circle of hugging." And then I bunch my shoulders up and for a few seconds, it works. I do feel warmer. And then the realization that none of the above characters are really there and there certainly aren't any Taun Tauns around to keep me warm either (then again, could any of us really bear that smell?), so the cold seeps back into my bones.

But at least it works for that short while. Because really, you haven't felt pain until you've felt negative temperature wind chills on your bare skin.

Have a magical (and hopefully warmer) day!

(Note: This blog post was written on February 23).

Day 767: Olaf

Well, I finally remembered to take a picture of our door decorations during the day, and it's probably good that I'm finally getting around to blogging about this because I currently have a note on my desk that tells me to start thinking about the new ones that I'll be putting up soon (around St. Patrick's Day...so we have a little bit of time yet, but still).

As you might remember, I had these done when I returned to SNC in January, but for some strange reason, one of them went missing and I had to turn back and make a new sunflower for Megan. And then, because I'm rarely at my dorm when the sun is shining, I kept forgetting to take a picture of the whole thing, until now.

So I present to you, our newest door dec theme, All Things Hot:

Our newest problem is a missing L in "All," but I'll deal with that eventually (probably tomorrow actually). I wish I had thought to take closer pictures of the door decs themselves, but it's just too darn dark and cold out now to do that (and I'm on a blogging spree, so there's no going back now). As you can pretty much see though, each of my roommates and I represent a different "hot" thing. So, for instances, I have a coconut drink, Ashley has a little campfire with a roasting marshmallow, Hannah is the mug of hot cocoa, Megan has a sunflower and our honorary roommate Katie is an adorable little bumble bee. 

Of course, Olaf is around to tie the entire thing together, and I think that, as much as I loved our Halloween Monsters Inc. door decs, these have to be my favorites so far. As for what's next, all I can say is that there's definitely more Disney up my sleeve, and I can't wait to share it all with you! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on February 19, 2015). 

Day 717: Frozen Swag

Who doesn't love Disney themed shirts? I mean, really. A while back I posted about the shirts I got from Hot Topic, and here's another one for you. But first, a backstory.

A few weeks ago, during my last week at SNC, I headed to Walmart with one of my friends and happened to see a Christmas Disney Shirt. It had Mickey Mouse and was basically patterned to be a Disney Christmas Sweater, and I loved it. Of course, in that moment I didn't buy it because did I really need it? No. So I left without that new shirt.

And I really wish I had bought it.

I went back three days later only to find that the shirt had sold out. So I went to another Walmart. Sold out there too. I looked online. SOLD OUT. Which left me with a serious dilemma. I had already planned a day in for this Christmas or sweater theme and I basically had no further options. That is, until I came up with a backup plan.

Hot Topic has had these Frozen things for a while, and besides my Frozen dress I got on my last trip to Hot Topic, I didn't have any other Frozen themed stuff. I fixed that:

You could say that I'm pretty prepared for Disney World with my new Frozen Swag, and yes, I'm very excited about it. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 29 due to Holidays and Computer Issues).

Day 640: Baby Sven

Frozen is certainly a big thing, but apart from the strangely accurate Elsa dress currently hanging in our front closet, you'd probably hardly even know I like the film. Then again, I love Tangled and you probably can't tell that from my desk either but we'll get there.

My family used to always collect the plush characters from each Disney movie. That means I have several Tiggers and the Cars characters and more Mickeys than one can probably count sitting at home. Maybe sometime I'll go through them and make a bigger post about it, but that's not why we're here at the moment. It's a topic for another day. The problem? Disney hasn't made the same plush figures as they have in the past. I mean, they're definitely out there, but really. As far as I know there isn't a plush Flynn Rider out there. Ok, I looked it up and I guess there is technically, but not really. Not like there used to be. And in all honesty I had no intention of buying any of the Frozen characters that came out.

And then I saw Baby Sven.

Several of my fellow Disney Instagrammers got these when they initially came out and that was great. I debated getting one of my own, considering they were limited edition, but I just kind of lost track of time and then they weren't being sold anymore. A month or so ago I was on eBay though, like I so often am just to look around. I rarely actually buy anything, and I came across a Baby Sven. My interest peaked and I ended up finally getting one of my own.

Now Baby Sven sits on my shelf here at college, bringing a bit of Frozen into my carefully crafted Disney display. He's pretty darn cute though, you have to admit. I mean, even Jennifer Morrison thought so (because yes, she favorited this picture when I posted it as a smile of the day!), meaning that he's worth every penny.

I'm pretty sure I draw the line here though. I honestly don't have a want for an Olaf to show up anytime soon. Building a snowman sounds cold.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on October 20).

Day 491: Make a Change

Day 11 of the Disney Photo Challenge: A picture of the thing you wish you could change about the parks. 

Blast from the Past: 

Something I would change about the parks...hmmm. This is a lot harder than you think. 

I guess something that I wish was different is Epcot. It was such an amazing park back on its opening day almost 30 years ago, and since then it's gone through so many changes, many of which aren't exactly great. Most of the opening day attractions are either completely gone or changed. Actually, the only attractions that still resemble the original on opening day are Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land and slightly the Universe of Energy. 

World of Motion has been replaced by Test Track, which is now once again being updated (I really hope it's open when we go, but there's been talk that it won't be...), Horizons has been replaced by Mission Space. The Living Seas is now "The Seas with Nemo and Friends" and has been dumbed down (don't get me wrong...I love Nemo, but there's just something different about it now...it's not as educational). The imagination Pavilion was changed, taking out the classic addition of "Dreamfinder." Communicore has been changed to Innoventions. The Land has several changes...the movie has been changed (although it hasn't been since The Lion King came out...and I can see it being updated, because it's not obviously stuck in the 90's, but the Lion King idea will probably stay the same), Soarin' has taken over the area that used to house "The Kitchen Kabaret" and then "Food Rocks." Living with the Land has been updated, but has stayed fairy similar to how it originally appeared. Club Cool, which needed an update badly, has been given one, but there's just something different about it when you don't have a giant snowplow out front. And finally, the Wonders of Life Pavilion has been closed altogether, now only used for special events. Even my Spaceship Earth has been changed...taking out some of my favorite portions of the ride and replacing it with an interactive program, which is...unique and amazing in its own way. But there's just something missing when the City of Tomorrow and the hope of the future doesn't follow you out of the ride. 

Epcot was a truly amazing park, and I'm not saying that it's not anymore...it still very much is, but I just wish Future World hadn't changed so much. Everything has been dumbed down, making it easier for people to understand. You know, back in the 80's, people understood very easily what everything meant, and now people can hardly figure out things as simple as the history on Spaceship Earth. And this is why I try to spend some time in one of my favorite locations in the park each trip...the Jumping Fountains that, until recently, even I had forgotten about. I hope those fountains never leave, because it's just one of the things reminding us of the city and the community that Walt had envisioned in his last public appearance. 

"We call it Epcot. Spelled E.P.C.O.T. Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow."

Back to the Future: 

I try to figure out my current answer before I go back and look at what I said two years ago generally, although sometimes I remember what they were. This time I honestly don't remember what I said though, so I'm going to go ahead and give my answer as it is right now:

If I could change one thing about the Disney Parks, it would most certainly be the number of characters you can meet, along with the selection. I understand that it's really difficult to care for all the costumes and constantly have the staff to pull something like that off, but you have no idea how sad I am that I always missed the Long Lost Friends weeks last year.

I mean, most of my own favorite characters can generally be found somewhere in the parks, and I'm more excited every single day about meeting characters in January with my friends, but there are a few I wish would be easier to find all the time.

Namely Flynn Rider.

I know, I know. You're reading this saying "But Lizzie! You've met Flynn!" and yeah, that's very true, but it was honestly by accident. He's not out every day, and for the most part at Disney World he's not there at all. So finding Flynn was like...HUGE. On that topic, I honestly just think that all the Princesses should meet with their Princes. I mean, we all love us some Phillip and Naveen for sure, right?

Plus I really want to meet Olaf. Someone, please...figure that out for real. And Kristoff, who is in the parks right now for Frozen Summer Fun. God, I would love to meet Kristoff.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on August 19).

Day 385: Frozen Appreciation

I saw Frozen again.

Yeah, that's about all I'm going to say about that because right now it's time for some Frozen Appreciation: AKA All of the awesome Frozen posts that I've been finding on Tumblr and Pinterest. Seems like a good time, right? Also, note that if you have yet to see Frozen, there will probably be spoilers on this post. So, with that said, let's start things off with some Hans Appreciation, because even though he's super evil, I still love him.

I admit, the top one is just a picture of Hans, but I liked it, so I figured I would share it anyways. And then the Lion King Mash Up just made me laugh. The Douche comes from "Smolder, By Flynn," which I shared not too long ago. It's totally true though. And then that bottom one just hits you right in the feels and you're like darnit! 

I just have to comment on the two above this, because it's happening again and it's the truest thing ever. I mean really, ETERNAL WINTER EVERYWHERE HAPPENED! 

Ok, as a college student, that one is totally a description of how we feel at the end of the semester. Like so much. We always tell ourselves that we'll be determined to do our work but that never happens. Hopefully I can beat it this semester though! (See what I'm doing already). Then I must comment on "HOW DOES ELSA DO THAT WITH HER HAIR!?!" I wish I could do that. We also all need a little Pocket Princesses in our lives, right? And finally, again...that last one hits you right in the feels. 

And yes, we all need more Olaf in our lives. So there's lot of him...cause he's awesome. I love Olaf. 

Also I did a second Frozen Disneybound for this time going to see it, Kristoff! 

Have a magical day!