Last June, when we were at Walt Disney World to celebrate my parents' 25th wedding anniversary, I made my first attempt at the Four Parks, One Day Challenge, which takes you to all four of the WDW theme parks in one day, and has you visit at least three attractions in each park. Last year's attempt more or less failed after a nap and rain overthrew the plans to get to Epcot on time to finish off the day and complete the three attractions in that park.
So we attempted it again.
This past January we worked hard to complete the challenge for real, and you can find a more in-depth count of everything that happened in a blog post from January, but I thought I would share the video version of the day so you can see just what we all got up to throughout our day! I've been saving this video so it goes with the vlogs that are appearing on my YouTube channel, giving a behind the scenes look there as well:
Part 2 of our Four Parks, One Day Vlog will be up next week, so be sure to keep an eye out for that too!
A good number of my professors have related over the past few days that there were roughly only one or two times they can remember school getting canceled here at St. Norbert College, and I was already lucky enough to experience one of them. For those of you that don't live in Wisconsin, or have yet to enter the wonderful college world, I'll let you in on a little secret: college here almost never gets canceled. While other schools, elementary schools, will be canceled hours before the storm even hits, college students and professors tend to still make the trek across the winter wonderland we call home for months out of the year. So for school to actually be canceled, and campus closed, for the majority of the day is an absolute blessing.
It also means that there is suddenly a lack of things to do. College campuses are busy places, especially during the school year. The summer and J-Term, when I'm frequently on campus for work, leave the college quiet and peaceful, but with the bustle of students around during the semester, there's always something going on and somewhere to be. When we're all trapped up in our dorms, however, just as everyone in the area is trapped in their houses, there isn't much for any of us to do other than watch Netflix, do some work, or, if you're me, practice conducting.
Then again, there is one thing you could do! I've been working incredibly hard these past few weeks to get my life in order and not only catch up on my projects, but then get ahead, and make attempts to keep it in order from here on out. It's one of my goals for this semester: stay ahead and stay happy. Now, Everyday Disney is caught up, my homework is almost finished for the entire week, I'm practicing every day as much as I can, the music library is getting cleaner, my food is made for the week, and new videos start TODAY on my YouTube channel!
I figured that since it's been two months or so since my last video (aside from Star Wars), we could start simple in 2016 with a Disney Haul from my last trip! It's a bit long, despite the fact that there isn't that much in my basket of Disney treasures, but I think this makes it clear why I don't usually do haul videos. I'd have to either talk for over an hour or split it up into sections!
I have to say that it's good to be back making YouTube videos, and you can expect one every Tuesday from here on out, beginning with a new vlog from my January trip that will go up next week Tuesday! I don't think I realized how much I missed making these videos until I was editing this one yesterday, and now I have a whole list of ideas for future videos I'm playing around with in my head! Let's just say it's going to be an interesting year!
If you haven't caught it already, my newest YouTube video is up, and you don't even have to go all the way to YouTube to watch it, because you can watch it right here!
When I watched Sarah's Pin Tag video, I figured it would be a great way to guest star my brother and Frank, my two pin-trading friends that I happen to live pretty darn close to. In reality, I thought it would be fun to have them do the tag with me because we all pin trade differently! My brother is a pretty serious collector and trader, searching, specifically, for the Walt Disney World Pennant set, although he has huge shadowboxes full of pins he's traded for! Meanwhile, I spent most of my time searching out rare or limited edition pins. Many of the ones I have came from D23 Expos, but I definitely have my fair share of pins I've found elseware too. Finally, Frank is new to the pin trading world, so I thought it might be interesting to include her perspective too!
Of course, we all have more pins than are featured in the video, and if you want to check out a few more of mine, you can do so HERE!
Now I encourage you to do the pin tag yourself, whether it be through a blog post, a comment below or a YouTube video!
Have a magical day!
(Note: This blog post was written on September 25 due to a tight schedule).
With every new semester comes new classes, and that means awesome new opportunities for Disney connections! This fall I'm taking several new classes, including one on Marriage and Family as Vocation that fulfills an upper level religion requirement. The course covers everything from Hook Up Culture to Marriage to Friendship, and it was one of our first days in class that our professor shared an adorable video that really stuck with me. The title? "An & Ria's First Flight." You can watch it below:
When I first watched this, I couldn't help but think of my friends and I as we headed to Disney this past January. None of us are exactly fond of planes...or rollercoasters, sort of like An. And yet, by the end of the day, every single one of us is like Ria, laughing all the way home.
Ashley and I especially talk a lot about how Disney has made it possible for us to try new things. A few years ago I wouldn't go anywhere near a rollercoaster, but largly thanks to Expedition Everest, I went on several large ones this past summer at ValleyFair. I wouldn't of tried sushi, and now I eat it as often as possible. I can't speak for Ashley, but I do know that the best part about all of it is that we get to experience these things together. Sure, I've been to Disney how many times, and she's only been there twice, but it's all about the moments we share together, the same way An and Ria got the chance to fly together for the first time!
Now...if only we could fly in a beautiful little plane like that.
Have a magical day!
(Note: This blog post was written on September 24 due to a tight schedule).
Well, here we are again. Gosh, I have a lot of series posts. Ok, not really, only like three of them, but this one is one of the most fun, I do have to say that. Why? Because I get to watch Youtube videos until I find just the right ones to include in the post. Actually so far it hasn't been all that difficult because I have a lot of these videos. But I sometimes still watch them anyway because, well, I talk about them, so I'd better know exactly what I'm talking about.
So here's the third bunch of Disney-Inspired YouTube videos that I just love to death!
Hipster Disney Princess - THE MUSICAL:
AVbyte has been around for a while, but this is most certainly the way I first found them. I mean, it's just kind of hard not to click on a video about Disney Princesses being Hipsters, and this is like one of my absolute favorites here on Youtube. Granted, would it really be on this blog if I didn't like it? Probably not, unless we were doing a fail post. Oh yeah, and that second one, all about Princess Leia...and just as awesome!!! The Disney Princesses actually show up a lot in their videos, which is something I am most certainly cool with. Toyz Noize:
Honestly, nothing can make your day better like a bit of Toy Story, and here's a great, quick way to do it, especially if you don't have time to watch the entire movie. Nick Bertke has actually made several of these, but this one is by far my favorite. It's just so adorable. My actual favorite part? The "You are a...BUZZ LIGHTYEAR." Gets me every time.
Disney Dudez:
This one is fairly recent to my Disney collection of favorite videos, but I most certainly had to share it. This has got to be one of the best Disney inspired videos out there, just because the entire thing is hilarious, and musical and just overall great. I do have to say that the band, IM5, is pretty awesome...other than the fact that I find it slightly disturbing that I'm older than all of them. Since when am I older than the common Boy Band member?
Well, unlike the Star Wars edition, I try to limit myself to three different videos per Youtube post. For one reason, it makes it so that I don't use all the videos at once, but it also means that you don't sit at your computer for hours watching video and that I don't get you in trouble for not doing your work. Or maybe it's just me that won't do my work?
Here's today's Disney History: 1995: A ground breaking takes place for Disney's newest Florida theme park Disney's Animal Kingdom (the largest of all Disney's theme parks, it will open in April 1998).
At the moment, the last two days aren't up yet, but because I have so much to do between now and when I leave tomorrow, I won't be completing them before I leave. I have to edit pictures for one of them. The other might pop up at some point while I'm in Florida though. Basically, yesterday was my Grad Party, and of course there's a lot to talk about with that, and that's why I need the pictures that I currently don't have on my laptop or anywhere accessible to edit.
BUT, the great news is, TOMORROW I LEAVE FOR DISNEY! Yes, that's right, the day that I've been waiting for all year is finally here. It feels like just the other day that I did that post called 124 Days, and about how I was so obsessing over Disney at the moment, and now I'm sitting here with a suitcase on my bed and a list of last minute things to do in the morning. It's crazy!
Now, one of the things I did today was create a short little packing video to once again practice my editing for this trip. I think that after the editing I've done these last couple of days, the vlogs are going to hopefully go smoothly, especially if it takes the same amount of time to upload them to Youtube as they did on my last trip. This is going to be wonderful.
So here's that packing video, the one that finally uploaded!
Here's today's Disney History: 2006: Disney's newest feature film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, opens in theaters the same day the attraction Pirates of the Caribbean re-opens at Disney World's Magi Kingdom. Captain Jack Sparrow, and Barbose (characters from the Pirates films) have been added to the popular Florida attraction.
Today marked our first day of finals for seniors, which is, honestly a day I've been dreading for the entire school year. Finals means the end...and that means graduation...and that means leaving, and that's terrible. But finals also means that it's my last chance to make a lasting impression on those in the school, and it requires a little backstory.
Throughout high school, I, often times along with my best friend, Megan, have produced a great number of over-the-top projects. We made the Silent Film, The Amazing Chase, which was 8 hours of editing and two days of filming to create what really appears to be a silent film from the 1920's. There was the Les Paul National History Day Project...which is honestly the most stressful project I have ever done, but I'm proud of it none the less. There was our American Bandstand skit...which was just awesome. The Julius Caesar Project and Animal Farm Scrapbook, in which many sophomores still want to hunt us down with pitchforks for. Freshman year, Megan and I dominated in our Public Service Announcements, and our debate was a rift of only one vote between us (she won, but it was still a lot of fun!). And during this final year, while we had less projects, in psychology we were still on top, and our English papers were some to remember!
And so, when it came to my final semester of my senior year, and specifically my final projects, I wanted to keep going. I wanted to create projects that really showcased my hard work.
Now, it gives me great pleasure to share with you the first of my two final projects (The other will be in a blog post this Thursday), Memories. For my final in Creative Writing, we had three parts. First, the memoir I discussed on Sunday, second, a short story we wrote, and finally a collection of three poems. Earlier in the semester we had to write a total of ten poems, but for the final we were instructed to edit and digitally produce three of these poems to present to the class. It wasn't hard to decide on three poems: One I wrote on the Gettysburg Address, another on Google Chrome (Oh, I love thee!), and the last on my memories of Disney World.
But when it came to how to digitally produce each one, it took me quite a while to decide. The first two I created using Animoto, but the Disney one, I wanted to make that one special. My teacher, who I am absolutely and completely lucky to have as a teacher, hadn't seen some of my other projects. Megan and I didn't take the advanced English course our Freshman year, which he taught, due to some interesting circumstances, so I never had him up until creative writing this year, which I took both to have him as a teacher and because the class sounded like a great class for me to take. I spent most of Saturday attempting to figure out what to make for this Disney video, and came up with nothing. So on Sunday, when I was on my computer trying to figure out what music to use....it hit me. Stop motion and the tilt shift video.
If you have read my blog for a while, I have a series of posts on Disney inspired Youtube videos. The first videos I shared were the Disney Parks tilt shift videos for Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Each features a great soundtrack with music I love, and the music from the MK video was perfect for what I wanted to do. So I jumped in my car and went to shopko, picked up a big white board, came back and had my dad set up the camera and lights and went to work on my video.
Here is the finished project:
When it came to presenting it in class, I was a little nervous. My Creative Writing class is filled with a lot of really inappropriate people, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that some of them even politely asked me about how I made it and said honestly that they liked it. But it was the comments from my teacher that made it worthwhile.
Back in January, during my last finals, a teacher said to me "I don't think it's childish," five small words about my love of Disney that really meant a lot to me. This time around there were more words, but there are few that really stood out. I won't share them all here, but one was that it was projects like this and people like me that remind him why he loves teaching.
It sounds really strange, but I honestly don't like it when people lavish praise on me, and as I read How to Be Like Walt, it came to my attention that Walt was the same way. He didn't like to have all kinds of praise. He just loved what he was doing. He wanted to make people happy, and as I look back on all my projects in high school, I feel the same way. If I can bring a smile to someones face, often times the teacher, then my job is done. I have accomplished what I set out to do. It's things like reminding them why they love teaching that makes me want to do what I do, and that's hopefully something that will never ever change.
But along with that, this project opened my eyes to a few more things. It reminded me why I love Disney. It gave me a chance to reflect on why I personally love the company, and it brought me closer to home. It reminded me why I want to become a Disney Employee. And most of all, Memories sums up everything I have done so far, and it lays the foundation for what I want to achieve in the future.
Here's today's Disney History: 1994: Disney's Wilderness Lodge opens at Walt Disney World. The 728-room lakeside deluxe resort (inspired by the beautiful early American National Parks) features an 80-foot tall fireplace in its lobby. Only a mile away from the Magic Kingdom, the resort is surrounded by 56 acres of oak and pine trees and includes and artificial geyser and hot springs.
As we begin to round out the month of Star Wars, I remembered that I did promise to share some of my favorite Star Wars inspired Youtube videos. I mean, I already have two blog posts explaining the Disney inspired ones...but by far my largest playlist (because I'm silly and don't save all my favorites to playlists), is my one for Star Wars. So here are some of my absolute favorite Star Wars themed ones:
How Star Wars Should Have Ended:
You may have seen the series before, but it's honestly one of my favorites. I remember that the first time I watched these videos, I just could not stop laughing...at all. I laughed and laughed and laughed. I mean...it's just hilarious.
George Lucas Strikes Back:
The same goes for this video, which made me laugh for longer than I probably should have. Short Round and Chewie and Leia...and a George Lucas that wonders what a cell phone is? Priceless. Plus there's the part about Bret Farve that just made me crack up.
Star Wars TV Intro: The Friends Version:
I love Star Wars, and I also love Friends, so this is just pretty awesome. My personal favorite part is when Han hits the Falcon when the lyrics talk about second gear. Overall it just really describes the series pretty well, and everything fits together perfectly. Now who which character would be I have no clue, but it's still one of my favorite Star Wars themed videos.
Jedi Kittens:
Oh come on, I know you can't resist Star Wars and kittens combined. There are three Jedi Kitten videos overall, but this is my personal favorite. The kittens are super adorable too. And they're Jedi...adorable.
And so, those are some of my favorite Star Wars themed Youtube videos. I might have a few more, but I'll discuss those some other time. For right now I'll just have to stop because there's already a ton of videos on this blog post. So Enjoy!
Here's today's Disney History: 2007: Thousands of colorful fireworks fill the nighttime sky over Barcelona, Spain as, for the first time, the Disney Magic cruise ship enters the Spanish port city. It is Disney's first-ever foray into the European cruise market.
