Day 1072: Not One of Us

I've lived through a lot of interesting moments, many of which were some serious arguments that, in a few cases, turned into absolute war. But never have I been broken quite the way I was over the last few weeks of the semester, and in this case, it was mostly due to my roommates. Weirdly enough, these are the same people I considered to be some of my best friends, which was apparently not the case here.

Without getting myself all worked up again, I found, while sitting working on my final portfolio for Literary Theory and Writing, that the best way to describe how I felt was through a song...and of course it's from Disney. Basically, I'm Kovu.

This makes it sound a lot worse than it actually is. I haven't been Exiled or anything, but it sort of feels that way, and in any case, the situation certainly isn't good. It's far from over too, and the next few weeks are certainly going to be a determining factor in the ultimate outcome. Hopefully it'll end something like Lion King 2 where everyone is happy, but only time will tell for that. 

Now I kind of just want to watch Lion King 2 though. I haven't seen that movie in ages! 

Have a magical day! 

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

Day 1063: We Put Him In the Corner

As I'm sure you're aware, we love Cardboard Colin dearly. He's a great roommate actually, always quiet and he never moves. In fact, the most he does is scare you a little bit if you forget that he's there! But when his alter ego Captain Hook on Once Upon A Time does something that he probably shouldn't have done, we have no choice but to put our wonderful roommate in the corner.

Actually, Cardboard Colin has all sorts of adventures with us at college, and you can keep up with him on his own personal twitter, @CardboardColin! Since the episode of OUAT that forced us to put him in a time out, he's turned back around and has become a part of our everyday lives again, but that could change at any time! To find out if he behaves, give him a follow on Twitter! 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on December 25).

Day 1012: My Cardboard Roommate

If by now you don't know that I have a cardboard pirate for a roommate, you need to catch up.

Meet Cardboard Colin, my pirate friend who has now moved in with my roommate and I at college. Yes, we refer to him as our other roommate, and he's a he not an it. It's just easier if you acknowledge him as a person...much less scary.

But living with a cardboard pirate isn't always easy...

He's actually a rather good roommate though...even if he doesn't seem like one in the video. It's a weird relationship, but in the end we love him...sort of. 

Have a magical day!

Day 952: Pink! Blue! Pink! Blue!

My dear friend from high school is on her way to college this fall, and of course she's got herself an awesome new roommate. Well, we all remember what it was like to first start chatting with that new college friend, especially when it comes to making decisions on the dorm room you'll end up sharing. Some people try to match all their stuff, something my freshman roommate and I did mostly on accident. But for them, things are a little different, especially when it comes to the debate between pink and blue.

She told me this morning that they're very similar in many ways except one: the things they're buying for the dorm room. Of course, we each have our own personal space, but as she buys blue sheets and towels, her roommate finds a great pink comforter and pillow set. Of course, there was only one thing I thought of when she told me about this pink and blue debate:

Now, I highly doubt their dorm room will end up a complete mess of pink and blue, and instead it'll look rather awesome as it showcases both of their personalities. That's one of the greatest things about dorm rooms. There's little bits of each of us in a room that's completely blank, despite the fact that you share the space together. 

A quick note before I go: From August 11 to August 20 I'll be headed to California for a Disneyland and D23 EXPO adventure, so Everyday Disney won't be updated until I return (all missed posts will be made up on August 21). However, you can definitely follow my Instagram and Twitter for live updates and all the adventures I'm having! I'll be posting on both daily, and you might just find a periscope in there too! Follow all my social media for the fastest updates and I'll see you all in a week and a half! 

Have a magical day!

Day 864: No Worries

There's really only one motto that can explain the feeling you get when you complete another semester of college and only have a summer to look forward to: "Hakuna Matata."

Of course, as worry and carefree as the end of the semester is, there are a few other emotions that might just be running through your mind. The end of every semester is pretty bittersweet, regardless of who you are. So to celebrate the end of the semester for us college kids and the upcoming end of the school year for pretty much everyone else, here's a few emotions you might experience when you finally don't have to worry about papers and exams and actually going to class anymore:

We've all had that one professor or teacher that decides to give you a final that had absolutely nothing you studied for on it. I'm talking like the one you studied day and night for...and then they put completely irrelevant information that wasn't even in the textbook on the exam.

For our graduates, this is a big one. The world is big and scary and, as I grow closer and closer to my own senior year of undergrad, I know the feeling well. Will I find a job? Will I become a hobo? Where will I live? How will I pay off my student loans? 

I'm probably not helping, am I?

"When was the last time I showered? I don't remember! I haven't had time!" 

One of the absolute saddest parts about the end of the semester is just that...it's the end of the semester. We have to leave our friends and roommates and school and dorm room and go back home. Yes time at home is nice, but not seeing your best buds for three months is also one of the most depressing things in the world. 

And don't even get me started on cleaning out your dorm room. 

Ultimately, however, the end of the semester brings a lot of JOY! We're done! No more class! No more homework! Yeah we still have responsibilities and jobs, but we don't have to schedule our lives around the hours the caf is open! We no longer have to sit in front of our computer with a blank stare, willing a paper to write itself! Textbooks are turned in, final exams taken, and worries put aside! Hakuna Matata! 

Inside Out begins playing in theaters June 19! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on May 24 due to finals...haha!) 

Day 858: Last Day of School

The last day of school in college is literally a million times different from the last day of High School...especially since it's almost as though we have two last days. There's the last day of regular classes, and then the last day of finals. They both have their benefits, that's for sure, but I think personally I prefer the last day of classes. Why? Because our college really spoils us on that last day...even if our college tuition is high enough for it to be more expected than anything else.

I remember last year's last day pretty well, and as a matter of fact, I blogged about it too! We were quit excited to get our balloon animals, and when this year's last day rolled around, we got excited all over again. Balloon animals are literally so fun, especially when you put a Disney twist on them!

Katie went first and he made her that adorable little Tinkerbell. I have another picture of it, but because of a corrupt laptop situation, it's stuck on there and I haven't had a chance to reedit the photos on a different computer...so maybe that'll show up sometime later this summer. Megan got the Minnie Mouse, which was adorable but got sort of creepy looking by the time we got rid of our balloons a week or so later. Hannah got the Ariel one for her sister and finally I asked for a miscellaneous Disney character, to which he provided me with the most adorable thing ever: My Knight in Shining Armor! 

As a lover of OUAT and Fairy Tales, this was pretty great. Pretty sure he was reading my inner most thoughts that not even I was aware of, but I then spent a good portion of the day pretending it was Josh Dallas behind the little helmet.

And for those of you who might be wondering, here's another fun thing we did! A photoshoot! My roommates and I had a great time after the campus picnic taking pictures together, and special thanks to our photographer, Brody, who I'm sure you'll see before the summer is through as we've got a few ideas for a photoshoot or two that may just have something to do with Disney. Left to right we have Megan, Katie, Hannah, Ashley and, of course, me.

So here's a question for you: If you got a balloon animal, what would you get? 

Have a magical day!

(This blog post was written on May 23 due to finals).

Day 831: Look At That!

If you remember, back in January my laptop, HAL9000, had a bit of an accident involving a lot of water, a lot of rice, and a lot of waiting. He survived, amazingly, and I'm currently using him now, but that whole experience, along with a giant band trip video that took up way more of my time than I really wanted it to, the files on my computer and my external hard drives were spectacularly messed up. I've been meaning to fix it for ages, to go through and reorganize those files, putting the pictures from my phone into the correct places, sorting through the ridiculous number of saved photos for Everyday Disney and so on and so forth. The process takes a long time though, and that meant that I needed something to listen to in the background during the six hours I spent staring at my laptop screen. Of course, Disney fit the bill perfectly.

Last week I was listening to my Pandora when a song came on that sounded familiar, and I had this feeling that it was in one of the Disney Parks Videos I had. It wasn't, after all, but I felt the need to check, and when I found myself with hours spent in front of the TV (I happened to be on the back room futon), it felt like the perfect time to do so.

Of course, I've seen these videos time and time again, almost to a ridiculous point, but sometimes I forget that two of my roommates haven't exactly taken the same "Everything You Probably Didn't Need to Know About Walt Disney World" class as Megan has. We were all definitely working on stuff, but every once and a while, one of my roommates would pop into the room and watch a little bit of a video with me, asking questions about everything from New Fantasyland to Mission SPACE and all over the world.

It was actually pretty entertaining to see what kinds of things they might ask. My roommate Hannah has only been to Magic Kingdom, where I happened to see her last Spring Break, while Ashley hasn't been to Disney at all. Megan, of course, has been twice now, both times with me, and considering how long she's known me, she can generally answer a bunch of their questions herself. I do know, however, that we've been talking about us all taking a trip to Disney after our graduation from SNC, so that's exciting. Then again, I find any and every Disney trip exciting...

Either way, there's plenty more for them to learn, and I'm sure that in a few weeks when my new Disney Vacation Planning DVD gets here they'll stumble into the room and ask me a few more questions while I'm watching. I'll let you know how that goes when we get there though!

Have a magical day!

Day 785: Introductions

After catching up on blog posts from pretty much the entire month of February, it occurs to me that I really didn't have a problem trying to come up with post topics for the days I've had to make up. Whether this is because Disney has just played a key roll in my life lately or because February is the shortest month of the year, I don't really know. However, I do know that this last day I had to make up was kind of difficult to come up with a topic for.

And then I realized that the topic has been staring me in the face for the past half week.

This past Friday, my roommate Ashley and I finally got around to step one of introducing one of our other roommates, Hannah, to Star Wars. Like so many others, she's never seen the entire series (I actually have several friends who have never seen all of Star Wars, and while on some level I feel like this is a crime, I also didn't see it until just a few years ago so....). Of course, we took it upon ourselves to introduce her to the wonderful galaxy that is the series.

It's funny because Ashley and I like totally different episodes when it comes to Star Wars. If you've been around since 2013, you already know that my all time favorite Star Wars film is Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back. I just can't get past all of the Han Solo in that episode, and now, talking about it, I really want to watch it, but I don't have time for that. I have plenty of other work to get done tonight! Ashley, however, prefers Episodes 6 and 3, so it's going to be interesting as we move forward and we both sit, watching Hannah eagerly to see her reactions to our favorite portions of each film.

I am happy to report, however, that Hannah did indeed enjoy the first episode (aka the fourth episode: A New Hope), and she was super tired while watching it too, so this is a major accomplishment, at least in our books. Plus, introducing Hannah to Star Wars obviously gives us an excuse to sit and watch Star Wars, and with our busy college schedules, that's something we're all definitely willing to do.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on February 25).

Day 703: The Door of Encouragement

College is hard, but I'm sure most of you already knew that. Granted, I get significantly more sleep in college than I ever did in High School, and I definitely eat better and I'm probably just healthier in general, but the homework? The homework is definitely harder. Which is why my roommates and I need encouragement.

Of course, we have little Melvin to keep us company, sitting in between my desk and Ashley's desk, but as motivational as Melvin is, we need some other motivation too. Actually, it all started with one very specific picture:

It's in a frame and sits on one of my shelves, and so the rest of my roommates were kind of jealous of my extremely awesome study motivation, so we found/made some for them: 

Don't ask. 

Anyways, even before that occurred, we had another idea. We love the television show Chuck in our room, and we all love the character Casey, so one night, when we were listening to our favorite relaxation song, Hang On Little Tomato, I was hit with an idea. A motivation board. And I had the perfect place to put it. The front door of our room is giant and green and a perfect spot for some motivation. And so, the door became one of encouragement. 

Every few weeks, something new will appear on the door. We started out with Hang On Little Tomato and the "Keep Studying" Poster with Chuck's Casey, as well as the "Tiny Potato," and just went from there. Lots of things have been added, and I'm excited about the fact that there's already a few motivational posters to find a home on the door when we get back from Holiday break. 

As you can see, there are a few Disney things on the door, including: 

The door definitely keeps us going through the hard days, and will be added to in the future. Maybe I'll have to do another post at the end of the year when the door is completely filled! Regardless, the things that Captain Hook starts in our room. It get crazier with each passing day, but we love it.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blot post was written on December 22 due to finals).

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). 

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!

Day 674: Drawing Games

When stuck with piles of homework to do, every good college student has to come up with a way to take a break. Popular options, of course, always include Netflix and, for some, maybe drinking or a party at a friend's house. Around here we do watch our fair share of Netflix (Megan and I are currently binge watching Gilmore Girls while our other roommates binge Psych), but that's not the only way we keep our sanity in the midst of a giant study session.

More often than not, our friend Katie, who lives next door, will join in on our study sessions, plopping down on the front room futon (which is by our desks) and doing her own homework. It's a great set up and we share our fair share of laughs in between French and Management assignments. Tonight was one of those nights, and Katie and I made life interesting by playing a rousing game of drawing.

The rules are pretty simple. Each person draws a line or two (or three or four) on a white board and then the players all switch. You end up with something sort of like this:

Then you have to draw something that incorporates all those lines. You can do pretty much anything to them: add to them, outline them with different colors, anything except erase. Those lines have to be present in the final drawing. Each player sets to work creating their masterpiece, without allowing the other person to see what they're doing. In the end, you get something more like these: 

You can still see those original lines, although in the case of mine (on the bottom), I added lines here and there to have the whole thing make sense. Katie's is a little bit easier to understand since it's still facing the same direction, but you can still see the development. And yes, that is Expedition Everest on the bottom. I told them while drawing that Megan would be the only one who would understand. Everyone else got super confused. 

We also had these from the previous round, although we didn't start taking pictures of the beginning lines until round three, and we didn't take a picture of round one at all. Round four? That's for tomorrow, and we're both bringing our A Game. 

"Oh the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord, for giving me the things I need, the sun and the rain and the appleseed. The Lord is good to me." - Johnny Appleseed

Have a magical day!

Day 671: Heartbreakers

If there's one thing that's a rule around here, it's that we always watch Once Upon A Time together. In fact, I hate watching it alone these days, despite the fact that entire first two seasons I spent my Sunday evenings with my television screen and my dinner. Since coming to college, our OUAT time is the one hour every single week that my roommates and friends and I all gather together to watch one of our favorite television shows. It's kept me calm many times over and I treasure that time spent with my friends. So when my roommates missed this last episode because of homework, things got a little crazy around here.

Don't get me wrong, they need to do their homework, and I'm not mad at them in the slightest (I'm a bit grudgy with other people for other reasons that also involve OUAT, but certainly not Hannah and Megan).

What made the whole thing funny was the continuous references to The Lion King that came out of them missing the episode. It began with deciding that they're heartbreakers for not watching with us, although that wasn't the end of it. Somewhere along the line, we got to discussing the fact that the entire situation reminded us of the moment in The Lion King 2 when Kovu is exiled. Of course we had to play the song...

I think Simba was a bit harsh on Kovu compared to us on our roommates, especially when considering the fact that I too will have to miss an episode of OUAT this next week (I'll be watching it later in the night with a couple of my other friends, so don't worry. I won't have to wait too long). After all, we love our roommates and school always comes first...unless we're on our last legs from exhaustion. Then we highly recommend they go to sleep.

Have a magical day!

Day 669: The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyways

Despite the fact that I spent the last two days in an extreme attempt to catch my blog up completely, I almost forgot to write today's post. This is also odd considering the topic for today was decided weeks ago (it is Halloween, after all), and all I had to do was take the actual pictures. But no fear, Lizzie's here! Or should I say Elsa...

After Disneybounding as Elsa back for the OUAT premiere a month ago, it was decided that Elsa would be my Halloween Costume for the year. Last year, if you remember, I reused my recent Hook Disneybound for Halloween, so this isn't really all that odd of a development, only this time a few more people ended up seeing the costume itself. And by a few, I mean a lot.

When I came back this past week, my roommates informed me that I should participate in a Halloween Costume Contest here on campus, and last night I did just that. Honestly, I can't believe my roommates convinced me to do it, but hey, I actually won second place in the contest and am getting $40 for it! That basically pays off the entire costume itself! So worth it!

And then tonight my roommates (and Katie!) and I went out to dinner at Applebees. It was an...interesting experience, but that doesn't really matter, now does it? We had a great time in our costumes though, and for real...it's not every day you get to be a Disney Princess (or Queen!).

Also, I just have to share these pictures because I do. The first is Ava, Jennifer Morrison's dog, who's dressed up as a Lady Bug. And then we have Buckley, Colin O'Donoghue's adorable pup, as (Na na na na na na na na) Batdog! I've been singing the Batman theme song but with Batdog since I saw the picture at dinner. Adorable.

 

Plus, since it's Halloween, we all need a little bit of Michael Jackson in our lives (we watched Thriller earlier, but I felt the need to watch some good old Captain Eo). So here you go: Captain Eo!

Have a magical Halloween! 

Day 660: Home

One of my best friends is in the middle of one of the biggest decisions of her life: college. It's a tough decision, and personally I hate how much they push such a decision at a young age. Yes, it's very important, exceedingly so, but that doesn't mean you have to know the answer to every one of their questions in second grade or even sophomore year. Gosh, a lot of times you don't even know your senior year. I think Everyday Disney was a big part of figuring out what exactly I wanted to do after leaving High School, and I'm forever thankful for that, but that's not what we're here to talk about.

I was discussing with her the reasons to choose a specific college over another one. I had it pretty easy, since I only actually applied to two colleges and made my decision fairly quickly based on the programs I wanted to go into, the close-to-home location, the campus and specifically, the people and staff who work here. I knew a lot of them previous to coming to SNC, so it sort of just felt like home. It was familiar and comfortable, and that's what's really important with a college experience. Without it you'll start to go crazy. Yeah, it won't feel perfect, and when you step onto campus for your first day you obviously have a lot to learn about where things are and where you'll study, but that comes with time.

Regardless, I couldn't help but think of Disney during our conversation, since she was upset to the point that she didn't want to even go to Disney. Sorry Mate, but this made me laugh a little bit, although the laughter had nothing to do with you. I explained that I found that odd, since when I get really upset I don't want to go to my room and curl up in a ball or go back to my dorm room and hide in the closet or something weird. No, I actually want to go to Disney.

I can't even begin to think about the number of times when people asked if I get homesick at college. I think, to some point, I really do. I miss my family and my cat and my shower and the privacy that comes with a bedroom of your own, but I love my roommates dearly and I love campus and I love SNC. It's just an odd sentence to ask me since I get homesick more at "home" than I do here. In fact, I get homesick far more often than I probably should, simply because my home isn't a half hour away. It's a couple of hours away by plane.

I can recall this one time several years ago when I was really upset about something. I honestly don't remember specifically what I was upset about, but I suppose that doesn't matter now. The point is that I do remember sitting on the staircase in my house, long after everyone else had gone to bed and just crying in the dark. Like I said, I was probably stressed out or something like that, but it was overwhelming, and I think that in that moment, I'd never felt more homesick in my entire life, despite the fact that I was literally sitting directly in the middle of my house. At first I don't think it occurred to me what that feeling was, but eventually I realized that all I needed was to go to Disney. I needed to go home, but sadly that wasn't in the cards for quite some time.

That's the thing about us Disney fans who really do see Disney as home. We spend the majority of our time missing it, and on some level that makes it all the more special. But it also is incredibly frustrating. Yes, we have our own ways of calming down because we have to, but trips are few and far between for many of us, and therefore we must find a different way to capture that magic. Everyday Disney does that, spending nights watching movies with my brother and my cat does that, Once Upon A Time parties do that and my roommates sure help do that too.

In the end, that's kind of what I said to her though. I see SNC as a home. Maybe not my only home, but a home because I'm pretty sure that by 20 years from now, I'll have about 5 or 6 of those. It's crazy, it's frustrating, it's difficult, but it's completely worth it too. After all, they do say that home is where the heart is.

Have a magical day!

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

Day 646: Cedar Point

My roommates and I have drastically different majors. I mean, while they sit working on graphs for economics or some sort of DNA chart for genetics (honestly I can't remember what that was), I sit at my desk and watch plays or write music. It's actually a fairly calm life at my desk, as long as I don't have a french test coming up. What else does this mean? It means that rarely we can help one another with our homework. It just doesn't happen very often. Once and a while I'll read through a paper or something, but that's about it.

At least, that was it until two of my roommates got a project based around a theme park. Honestly I don't know much about the assignment other than the fact that Megan asked me question after question about the travel industry, especially when it comes to amusement parks.

The assignment was based around a theme park in Ohio called Cedar Point, which, according to their website, is "The Best Amusement Park in the World." Either way, this post isn't about how Cedar Point isn't as good at Disney (I haven't even been there for goodness sake...), but rather about the random questions I've been able to answer about how they can maybe make their own system better.

It started out with talk about MagicBands, which is probably one of my favorite subjects these days. MagicBands are great, and while initially I was a bit skeptical, I'm now 100% in love with them. I like to travel light at Disney, and they make that easier for me to do. Plus, it's so far ahead in technology that it sort of makes the regular tickets at other parks look sad. But maybe that's just the Disnerd in me talking.

Then we talked about a variety of other things, from hotel rooms to restaurants to attractions. It was actually a pretty fun conversation for me to have since this is such a huge part of my life. I love talking about Disney, obviously, and I love learning about the new things they're bringing along to enhance the guest experience.

Oh yeah,we talked about that too, the idea that we're guests at Disney, not customers, and how that too makes a difference in the time we spend there. Just goes to show how well Disney does just about everything, right?

Have a magical day!

(Note; This blog post was written on October 10).

Day 633: The Great Pocahontas Debate

My roommates and I have really strange discussions.

Not that a debate about Kocoum and John Smith is really that strange because for real this is probably a conversation a lot of people have. I doubt it got to the level we did though, because what started as a simple debate turned into an entire dinner conversation with more than just my roommates.

Two of my roommates like Kocoum, although one of them commented that it's possible it's just because he never wears a shirt. Meanwhile, my other roommate and I are on team John Smith, and to be honest I don't really even know why. I guess I just always liked him better.

From there our conversation about Disney headed into sequel territory, specifically about Pocahontas 2 and the new debate: which John. Because you know, once upon a time we had a discussion about Love Triangles and how that all worked out. Again we were split on the decision. And then we discussed Hunchback 2 and Little Mermaid 2 and Lion King 2 and basically all the other sequels. In the end we basically decided that shorts are ok. So things like "Tangled Ever After" or the new Frozen short are ok, but entire movies just sort of ruin things.

And I agree, as much as I LOVE Tangled, I wouldn't want to see an entire Tangled 2. Just little bits of Flynn Rider every so often are great. This isn't Star Wars, after all. Sequels with completely new storylines are great, like when they made Planes or even Cars 2. And of course there's always Toy Story and the sequels, where each film has it's very own obvious storyline that has little to do with the first one. THAT'S what makes a sequel great, not just "continuing the story." You need something new and different, a factor most sequels forget about.

So here's the question: are you team Kocoum or John Smith, because my roommates and I really want to know?

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 27).

Day 529: Roommate...Bonding?

I love and adore the three roommates I live with now that I'm in my sophomore year (not that I don't love Megan, whom I roomed with last year! I miss you!). The four of us this year get along really, really well...almost too well. They generally say you shouldn't room with your good friends, but for some reason we make it work, and we share a TON of laughs in between all of it, while still somehow getting our work completed.

Last night we all participated in one of our favorite activities: roommate television watching. There are a few shows that we all just watch together, such as OUAT, Chuck and Hart of Dixie, and last night it was time for that last one. We're only in Season One, meaning that we have a long way to go yet, but that's alright. The problem? My roommates wanted to watch two episodes while the last roommate's resolve was a lot stronger than ours. I ended up rolling on the floor with laughter, and over the basis of about an hour there were multiple texts and phone calls, death threats (All in good fun, of course), hangers thrown under the door with pleas for help, countless laughs and one hole in the door (we swear we didn't put it there...it's just a long story).

But the Disney part of all of this? The songs. Somewhere in between the hangers and me laying on the floor, we ended up randomly starting to sing Disney songs. Not really sure where in the world it all came from, but all of a sudden we were singing Part of Your World, which moved into a wonderful rendition of "Belle," from Beauty and the Beast. It's probably because we all love our Disney movies around here, which is probably good because they do live with me, after all.

I do love roommate bonding though, simply because it's just an absolutely enjoyable thing to do, and we hardly even ever plan to actually do it. The last time we had roommate bonding, one of my roommates was in the closet, another in my laundry basket and me in my bed, up against the wall as we attempted to hide from responsibility.

Things get pretty darn crazy around here.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on October 29).