Day 243: A New Home?

I often credit Walt Disney World as my home. Many call it their second home, but to me, it isn't even that. It is, in every way, my home. But what then, do I call my house and "home" back here in Wisconsin, and now with the addition of my dorm room here at college, what do I refer to now as "home."

I suppose it's fine to call more than one place home. When I'm at college I call my house in Seymour my home. You refer to it as "I'm going home for the weekend" or something like that. In fact, today I'm about to go home for the weekend. Back to my house with my family and my bedroom and my cat. I'll be there till Monday, but I do wonder what I'm going to feel like part way through that when I'm not necessarily "home" anymore. It's weird to feel like a guest in the place that was your home for the last 18 years.

And then there's just that, my dorm room. Recently I've been finding myself saying I'm going home to my dorm. Just naturally. Like I just automatically say I'm going home to that space now. Just is nice, and a large portion of me does consider this my new home. I live here, I sleep here, I eat here, I do my work here. I blog here. This is, in the reality point of view, my home now. And I'm good with that. I absolutely adore college!

But where does that leave Disney? My brother and I are very adamant about calling it home. When we are headed to Walt Disney World we say "We're going home," and when we get there, cast members welcome us with nothing less than "Welcome Home." And when we leave, we never say we're going home, but instead that we're going on vacation. For a really really long time. I guess that doesn't necessarily fit the definition of "vacation" though, because generally that's a retreat from everyday life, when here this obviously isn't the case.

So do I have three homes? I guess the best way to decide which is true is the saying "Home is where the heart is." This actually occurred to me almost a year ago now. In the Christmas version of Wishes, they do mention that Home is where the heart is, and you know, my heart is and always will be at Walt Disney World. I've talked about it before, and in the end, that means that Disney World is always my home.

Here's today's Disney History: 2009: The Walt Disney Company announces that it is buying Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a library of over 5,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years.

Have a magical day!

Day 242: "Air Cooling"

I've been adjusting rather well to living here in my dorm room. No kidding, I absolutely love college. I like having a smaller room and don't mind living with someone. I walk to all my classes all the way across campus, and then study in the library until the late hours of the night. It all works out really well for me.

But there is ONE aspect of living here that's just absolutely terrible.

The heat.

Of course, my house has AC, and the second I left that house, the heat decided to show up and I was left without AC. Well, not just me, everyone who lives in a dorm here. It was terrible. And I'm on the top floor too, so that certainly didn't help either. And especially when you're trying to sleep, it's just really difficult to deal with the heat.

So last night I had an idea, and you'll quickly see where the Disney comes into this situation. You know how in The Carousel of Progress there's the four holidays, and the second one is the Fourth of July? In the middle of that scene Uncle Orville appears in the bathroom taking a bath with what he calls "Air Cooling." That time when he took a block of ice and put it in front of a fan much to the dismay of the rest of the family. Yep, that's what occurred to me.

So I planned to go ahead and set that kind of thing up for myself last night, but once again of course, the air changed and it was actually comfortable in my room, and therefore I didn't need to set up my own air cooling, and now I'm going home for the rest of the weekend. We'll see though, maybe it will be hot again next week and I can try it. Or it could just stay cool for the rest of the year. I'd be good with that.

Here's today's Disney History: 1936: The first comic strip entirely devoted to Donald Duck debuts in newspapers. Prior to this Donald has only appeared in the Silly Symphonies Sunday pages. Donald will get a daily strip in 1938.

Have a magical day!

Day 241: A Walk through Disney

You know what I could go for right about now? A walk through the Magic Kingdom. That's just about it. I spent a good couple of hours working in the library on my homework, and just got back to my dorm room (which is insanely hot by the way), and can honestly not figure out what I want this blog post to be about. I have a lot of ideas about what I would like to talk about, but I just can't find the right words or connection to Disney.

Originally I was going to talk about Paradoxes, but I just didn't feel like writing about that either. I'm kind of in a strange mood because I'm like so happy but unhappy at the same time. Like I'm learning things about how much I've changed in the past year, and it's changing how I look at things and people. It's just really weird.

And you know what? As I was sitting in the library I had a couple of thoughts. First, that I would give anything to be sitting in the Tangled Rest Area doing my homework, although the library area I was in had almost a similar atmosphere (just without all the Disney awesomeness), and second, that I would give anything to just stroll through one of the Disney parks. Not necessarily go on any attraction, but just kind of walk slowly and look around, maybe take some pictures or something. Just to stop and think. That kind of thing.

Of course, I'm here in Wisconsin and Disney World is still in Florida, so that sucks, but I guess I'll just have to deal with it. I am happy to say that through this blog though, and throughout this past year, I've really been able to kind of find where I'm most happy, and what's most important to me. Right now it's just all kind of confusing, even if I do know what those things are, because I'm in a period where I can only go through with so much change, but I suppose things will get better.

The sad part though? I won't be able to go on a stroll through a Disney Park for a long, long time.

And yes, I know that's not a picture from in a Disney Park, but it is at night and I just really liked the picture.

Here's today's Disney History: 2011: At approximately 6:30 a.m. Hawaii time the doors to the Maka'ala lobby of Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, open and the first guests enter. 

Have a magical day!

Day 240: In the Library

You know what's interesting and great about college? The fact that I can go and sit in a legitimate library, with my chai tea and do my homework. Now, if you're smart you'll point out that right now I'm not doing homework at all, but am instead blogging, and you'd be right, but it just felt like time for a break.

But you know what sucks about college? The fact that you have to leave so much behind. I mean, it's this time that will probably end up being the best years of your life, and you're finally free from the confines of your house, and I absolutely love college, I really do. There are so many things I love. But at the same time, back home, I can't help but feel I'm already being replaced.

I guess I knew life would go on without me, and it's something I'll have to eventually accept. It's just like how when I was sitting on the top of Bay Lake Tower the morning of my departure, I couldn't help but think about how life will continue to go on there. Even after I've left, the monorail will continue to run and everything, and that's how I related this, even though I'm pretty sure I've discussed this concept before.

Like it's not that people have forgotten me, since in reality they probably haven't, but to me, everything they say or do is like a knife in my heart. Like they'll talk about stuff going on, and I'll be like "yeah. I know. I was there two days ago." I've been gone for two days and already it seems to me like they're doing all of these things without me. Things I never got to do and will never get to do. That part of my life is gone...but I really REALLY miss it.

In fact, I think I miss it as much as I miss Disney.

Here's today's Disney History: 1989: At Disney-MGM Studios, Jim Henson (who is making a special appearance to announce his pending partnership with the Walt Disney Company) and Kermit the Frog leave their imprints & signatures on the courtyard of The Great Movie Ride.

Have a magical day!

Day 239: Reading

Here in Wisconsin it's insanely warm. Like seriously hot. Our dorms don't have AC either, meaning that it's basically like walking into a sauna that you also sleep in. Luckily the rest of the building on campus DO have AC, so I just end up spending a lot of time in those. This morning though, after my three classes and eating lunch with a couple of my friends, I went to the library to study with my best friend. Of course, we were just studying for our own classes, but we were there, at the same time, in the AMAZING basement (that I'll have to show you sometime), and I was reading for my Survey of American Lit course.

Basically my course studies American Literature from the 1600's until the end of the Civil War. So I sat down this afternoon in the library to read our homework, the introduction to the course. Now, honestly a large portion of me is somewhat confused about what this introduction has to do with the rest of the course, but there are several things that really stood out to me as "DISNEY!"

I was annotating the entire time, so I was able to kind of mark them all down too! =)

First, this passage: "A written alphabet had been used by Europeans to preserve and communicate information for many centuries, and Gutenberg's invention of movable type in the mid-1400's had shown the way to a mechanical means of "writing"; by 1492, Europe was on its way to becoming a print culture" (The Norton Anthology: American Literature Volume A).

Any ideas on how I related that one to Disney? I'll give you a clue: Epcot. Get it now? If you guessed Spaceship Earth, you'd be right! There's actually two references in that quote, but the most obvious is Gutenberg's Movable Type Printing Press, actually invented in 1450. Yes, the second I read that every time I hear the line in my head "In 1450 Gutenberg invents the movable type printing press..." and so on and so forth.

Next, a few pages later, I was annotating and came across the section on the Pilgrims and Puritans. I don't really have a direct quote for this one, but as I read it, I really thought of the American Adventure. I mean, they talked about the colonists surviving the first winter in the New World, and if you recall, in the American Adventure, there is a portion of the song about the Pilgrims talking about that same cold winter.

Finally, and this one will probably come up more in the future, but my next assignment is the autobiography of Frederick Douglas...which can also be related to the American Adventure. Of course, this one is obvious as well, as Frederick Douglas himself makes an appearance in each and every show. I'm really looking forward to reading his work too, so I can finally relate the words in the attraction specifically to the man himself.

And so, that was my Disney relations for the day, or at least what I can tell you. There is another part of my day that included Disney, quite obviously, but I'll wait to tell you about that one later. All I can tell you is that it has to do with Disney and Wind Ensemble, and that I'm REALLY excited about it!

Here's today's Disney History: 1964: Disney's live-action and animated film Mary Poppins has a lavish world premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The comedy-musical stars Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. Some of Hollywood's biggest stars like Angie Dickinson, George Hamilton, Angela Lansbury, Carl Reiner and Debbie Reynolds are in attendance. After the screening and a 5-minute standing ovation the audience moves on to an elegant party hosted by the Technicolor Corporation.

Have a magical day!

Day 238: First day...for real!

Today was our first day of classes here at SNC, and honestly it went pretty well. I have an 8 am class so I suppose I really shouldn't be writing this right now and should instead try to go to sleep, but it's just too darn hot. You know it's too hot when I start eating ice cream too. Like just to try and stay cool I bought a little pint container of ice cream (well, Froyo really) from the store here and have been slowly snacking away on it. I can only eat a little bit at a time, but it cools you off for at least a few minutes.

I started the day out with my very first music theory class, which I really did enjoy. I mean, we didn't do much, not at all, but I'm looking forward to the rest of the class. Then I headed to my religion (theology) course, which was equally fun, although I found out I have the incorrect books...so that should be an adventure. And then I had a nice giant break before my final class (sort of I suppose), Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Now this is where my blog can relate here. I honestly think I'm going to like this class. Why? Well the name Harrison Ford literally came up. No joke, my professor said Harrison Ford, and then we talked a while about Blade Runner, a Harrison Ford movie, and Star Wars of course, and Star Trek and so on and so forth. In the end, although I'm not necessarily always into sci-fi, I have a feeling that there's going to be a lot of really interesting stuff in this course.

Plus, I really feel that the next time I do go to Disney, I really am going to have to eat at the sci-fi because it would just be silly not to. If the band does go there I kind of want to take a couple of my friends in there though, so maybe that will happen after all.

A kind of short blog post tonight, but it's been a seriously long day, with me going home and everything. But I got into Wind Ensemble! I'm really excited about that! Sure, I may be last chair, but there's like....four of us, and two are freshman, and I messed up my chromatic, but you know! I'm still happy!

Here's today's Disney History: 1918: A young Walt Disney forges his parents' signatures to enlist in the American Ambulance Corps (part of the Red Cross) as an ambulance driver. He changes his birth from 1901 to 1900.

Have a magical day!

Day 237: Fireworks...on a River!

So today was the final day of our college orientation kind of thing, and it all ended with a bang...literally. You see, at the beginning of each school year here at SNC, they have convocation for the new class, in my case the class of 2017, and then shoot fireworks off from the River. It's all honestly pretty awesome. It really is.

Now, I was trying to get a video up of it, but it just wasn't working, so I guess I'm just going to have to wait on that one for the moment. Maybe I'll be able to get it up tomorrow, and if I am, I'll add it to this post.

Either way, I'd like to say that it was pretty awesome to see some of these giant fireworks right here at home. That's something I really don't get to see very often. I'm kind of spoiled in the fireworks department though. I mean, Disney is the top consumer of fireworks in the world, after all, and there shows are also some of the best in the world. Like there's always the fourth of July fireworks and stuff, but they only happen once a year. Disney does their stuff EVERY NIGHT. That's crazy.

The one thing I will say about the fireworks tonight though...there wasn't any music. That was kind of sad. They had barges out on the river to shoot the fireworks from and I had to laugh at the end because they were basically a "Fire barge." Both were on fire at the end of the thing, and that certainly made a connection to Illuminations right there.

So here's the Instagram picture I posted of the fireworks because obviously when I'm writing this the video is being stupid. The only thing I found sad about the fireworks was the lack of music. Because Disney ALWAYS has music to go with their fireworks. Then again, you can't say that I wasn't running Illuminations in my head...because if you did say that you might just be lying.

Here's today's Disney History: 1989: The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular attraction is dedicated at the Disney-MGM Studios in Florida. It is the fire theme park attraction to use a computer based show control system in conjunction with a programmable logic controller system to trigger, control and sequence complex live events in real time...in many cases controlled by the actors! The 30-minute stunt show recreates some of the most thrilling and heart-pounding moments from the Indiana Jones films.

Have a magical day!

Day 236: Trust is a Must

College so far has been pretty great. And I mean it! I've really been enjoying my time here so far, and as much as I don't want to spend my entire life working again, I can't wait for classes to start either. Today though, we continued our "orientation" kind of thing. These first like four days all we do is meet with groups and see things and so on and so forth. That's just how it works I guess.

Anyway, the way we do all these activities is in a program called First Year Experience, or FYE. It's a group of about 12 of us that goes around to all the different activities. We meet until like the end of October to just basically get used to being on campus, and we each have a mentor for our group. Mine is Quincy, and she's pretty darn awesome, I have to say. =)

This morning though, we spend three hours on what we call a "ropes course," even though we didn't actually go on the actual ropes course. Basically it was like six different team building activities. The first one we did was a trust fall exercise, and we did it two ways, once with just one person, and then another time with people standing all around us and they move us in a circle. It's kind of scary. That's also where the title for the post comes from, since I feel like that's worth mentioning.

Then there were other activities, such as a "Web" we had to crawl through without touching any of it, but each time we went through one of the areas, that one closed off. So basically a bunch of us had to be lifted up through the upper webs, and I was one of those people. Although it was kind of fun. Then we had to cross the "Delaware River" because we were American Soldiers in the Revolutionary War and the British were coming. That was my favorite of the activities. We had like four boards, and we always had to be on one and had to get all the way across without falling in. I was in the front, so that was pretty entertaining.

Then there was a battle where we were blindfolded and had to throw easter eggs at the other team while relying solely on the voice of our partner. And finally we had to all get through a jump rope while half of us were blindfolded. Now that one was scary.

What does this have to do with Disney? Honestly, it's another one of those times where I'm not really sure, but I felt like it was something worth blogging about anyway. Like there are just some days where I have to blog about something because it was interesting. It doesn't happen often though, because obviously I have over 200 other posts about Disney in my everyday life.

Here's a picture of my FYE group, the Blue Unicorns!

Here's today's Disney History: 1989: In Florida, the Ewok Village opens at the entrance to the Star Tours attraction at the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park. 

Have a magical day!

Day 235: A Room in a Dorm

College is a wonderful thing, and honestly one of my favorite things was having the ability to design and create stuff for my dorm room. Yes, I know. It won't be as glorious later on as getting to set up your desk and everything, but I'm still excited about it, and there's so many Disney things in my room that I HAVE to make a blog post about it too!

Sadly I was silly and didn't take a picture of the entire room (I'll have to get on that), but here's some of the Disney inspired pieces of the room. Nothing really jumps out to you as Disney other than the Vinylmation and my Han Solo in Carbonate Bank, but you'll see those below.

So here's a full picture of my desk, which is basically where I spend most of my time, and it's where most of my Disney stuff is. You can see that most of my desk is taken up by my printer, but I don't really mind. I shouldn't be doing all my homework at my desk anyway. I actually plan to do it in the library. Still, I love my desk. In the back there (or middle of the picture) you can see the shelf my dad and brother custom made for me. Luckily everything JUST fits on my desk, so I'm pretty happy about that.

 Now, down below you'll see numerous things. On the left I have a letter L, which represents Lizzie, obviously, and it's covered with an Epcot Park map. It's something I saw, again, on Pinterest. It was pretty easy to make. I just spray painted the outside and then modge podged the map on. Next to that I have my vinylmation collection. The shelf was actually specifically designed to fit these five little characters. It might get complicated trying to choose which one I want next year when I have a new one though...

 Down below you can see one of my park map coasters. This one, specifically, is Epcot, and it's the one that sits on my desk. I think I have Hollywood Studios out up on my bunk shelf and Magic Kingdom on the counter, but I'm not positive on that one. And next to that is the picture frame I made that somewhat matches my best friends. Speaking of that, this blog reminds me I must send a picture of that frame to someone!

There you can see my Han Solo in Carbonate Bank, which does, indeed, have some change in it. I forgot to empty my wallet before I came so I just threw it in there. And then I have a whole bunch of Disney themed magnets...including the Attraction Poster ones I bought in Florida. I have the It's a Small World one as well, along with the A-E Ticket Magnets. 

And finally, moving away from my desk, you can see a view of my bunk, which has a bunch of bullatin boards alongside it with a ton of pictures. Those are the instagram photostrips I made. It honestly looks really awesome. And then our room is basically lined with lights. Finally there's the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious pillow I got in Florida, which fits in perfectly with our futon!

Like I said, I'll have to try and remember to take a picture of the whole dorm room sometime, but this is what the Disney stuff all looks like and how I tied it in with the room. Like I said, it doesn't scream Disney at all. It's just little hints of it here and there. I love it! 

Here's today's Disney History: 1989: In Florida, the Ewok Village opens at the entrance to the Star Tours attraction at the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park. 

Have a magical day!

Day 234: First Day...kind of.

Today was the day that I finally got to move into college. Yes, that means that my family loaded all those boxes into our van and drove to my college, unloaded them, and then I spent a large portion of today setting up my room and meeting new people and so on and so forth. It was quite the interesting experience. Well, not bad necessarily, just interesting. I suppose it's a good sign that I'm tired because I am so out of it that I'm surprised I'm actually writing right now. But I did decide that I should actually complete one of the blog posts that I still need to work on, even if it is just the one for today. That's better than nothing, after all.

I'll talk more about my dorm room tomorrow for sure, because I'm just too lazy to take my camera, get the pictures off of it and upload them here. That's just too much work. I can say that even though my schedule gets interesting from here on out, I don't plan on stopping with this blog. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's going to be like that one thing I look forward to each day. Well, unless I'm just really really tired. Then I'll probably just sleep. Sleep is always a good thing.

In fact that's what I really feel like doing right now. Sleeping. That sounds nice. So even though this is an extremely short blog post (probably one of the shortest to date...not the shortest though because I'm pretty sure that was day like day 124 or something), I'm going to probably head to bed. I still want to watch an ApprenticeEh vlog, so I must do that yet before sleeping too. I'm going to try and keep up with them from now on because, well, that sounds like a great thing to do when I've been working for hours and need a break.

Ok, I'm just rambling, so here's a picture of something that I haven't decided yet (although I guess that doesn't matter to you because you can see it right there).

And here's today's Disney History: 1920: Science-Fiction, fantasy and horror writer Ray Bradbury, friend to Walt Disney and a consultant to the Imagineers who designed Epcot's Spaceship Earth attraction, is born in Waukegan, Illinois.

Have a magical day!

Day 233: Happy Birthday to...Jonny?

Nah, I'm just kidding! Happy Birthday to my brother Jonathan! He's turning 14 today, which I suppose is pretty awesome. That does mean that he really is, officially, a teenager though. Since today is his birthday, I figured I'd talk a little bit about some of his favorite stuff. I mean, he likes completely different stuff from what I do, and I sometimes feel bad that I just talk about the same stuff over and over again, so let's mix it up.

I'm honestly not sure what my brother's favorite stuff is, but I do know that he has a strange obsession with three things. 1. River Country, 2. Discovery Island and 3. The Disneyland Peoplemover. So I suppose let's take a quick look at each of these:

River Country

River Country was the first Disney water park. My brother would be angry if I left this out, so it opened June 20, 1976 and closed on November 2, 2001. Basically, it's theme was the "Good Old Swimmin' Hole." It featured numerous pools, but the most famous was the one actually connected to Bay Lake. It had body slides and even a Barrel Bridge, similar to the one currently found on Tom Sawyer Island. Oh, and apparently there were also Pony Rides. I'll have to ask my brother about that one. River Country was closed for numerous reasons, but I'll have to do a separate blog post on that sometime. If you want to see what it looks like now (SKETCHY) go back to my blog post from my Disney Trip in July and there's a vlog there where I went to River Country.

Discovery Island

The second of my brother's obsessions is Discovery Island, and I don't mean the area of Animal Kingdom called that with the Tree of Life and everything. No. I'm talking about the first, original Discovery Island. The one on Bay Lake that was honestly pretty close to River Country. Currently though it's called Riles Island, which was it's original name before Discovery Island (or Treasure Island technically. It opened on April 8, 1974 and closed permanently on July 9, 1999. It was an area for guests to basically be surrounded by nature. Mostly birds honestly. In fact, there is one species of bird known to have gone extinct on the island, meaning that the last remaining bird of that species lived there until it's death. Looking at the island closely this past trip because being so close (Bay Lake Tower), it's easy to see that there are still tons and tons of birds there. It's illegal to go to either of these places, just to let you know...and you'll probably be banned from all Disney Parks for life if you attempt to get there, but here's the incredibly creepy story of Shane Perez's Illegal sneak over there a number of years ago: http://shaneperez.blogspot.com/2009/12/discovery-island.html

The Disneyland Peoplemover

Now, as much as I've seen the past two (I've actually been to Discovery Island), I have never even actually seen the Tomorrowland PeopleMover of Disneyland...other than the about 60 pictures that my brother took of the empty track when we were there back in 2011. That's really it when it comes to this one. It opened July 2 of 1967 and closed on, of all days, my brother's birthday in 1995 (yes, that's today). It originally opened as a part of New Tomorrowland, and can still be somewhat found in the PeopleMover in Magic Kingdom. It was also themed for a while to TRON, at least I believe it was. Oh, and here's an interesting fact, two people have died on it, trying to jump between the moving vehicles and dying because of it! The lesson? Keep your hands, arms, feet and legs inside the vehicle at all times!

Does my brother have any thing else he loves? Sure. Test Track for instance. That's one of his favorites, but other than that I'd have to say that these three things really are his main interest. He'd give anything to be able to walk into River Country (ok...he took a picture in the bathroom......) or take a ride to Discovery Island. We keep telling him he'll get killed or suspended from the parks, but it's just something he really wants to do.

I guess that's good though. I'm glad he's interested in something like that. He could be interested in something crazy you know. Like Universal.

Here's today's Disney History: 2007: The "Muppet Mobile Lab," featuring robotic Muppets Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his pale assistant Beaker riding in a two-wheeled rocket-ship, interact with guests at Epcot. The lab is part of a play test that Walt Disney Imagineering is running for the next few weeks, giving the research and development staff a chance to try out a more advanced robotic, interactive and transportation technologies, mixed with human comedy talent.

Have a magical day!

Day 232: Stuff & Things

For lack of a better title for this blog post, I'll just call it stuff & things. I suppose I could have thought harder about it but that just seems like way too much work. You see, today was basically the last day I had with my friends before I head to college. So we did a whole bunch of stuff. And that was nice and really awesome.

But one thing that I did finally get to play with a little bit today was Disney Infinity! Now, I'll have to do more of a post on it someday later because I really didn't have a lot of time to play on it, but I'll just do a short post on my initial thoughts before I play more.

For starters, it looks like a super awesome game. I can't wait to have time to play it more. I mean, with all the characters and lands and the ability to basically make it your own game kind of thing, yeah, I'm excited. I'm not totally sure if that's what you do or are supposed to do, but it looks interesting.

The only downside I can see at the moment is that there are a lot of little pieces that go along with it. Like we have an entire box to just hold all the little characters and chip things and so on and so forth. It's crazy. Like as much as I'm really loving this game, I feel like that is a thing that shouldn't be happening.

Either way, I'll have to see what I think once I really get into it. There is one thing I want to comment on though: Spaceship Earth is on the side of the box:

The picture looks like of weird since I turned it so you could see it right side up even though I took the picture the opposite way. But you get the point. It's there, and it's Spaceship Earth, and that's awesome. 

Here's today's Disney History: 2011: Day 2 of D23 Expo 2011 takes place at the Anaheim Convention Center with a soldout crowd. This day's 15-plus events include: D23 Expo Talent Round-Up with Disney artist Mike Clitherow, a good look at Buena Vista Street featuring a sneak peak at the new entrance to Disney California Adventure with Imagineers and D23 Expo Live Auction where fans can bid on unique experiences, tours, artwork, props and one of a kind Disney treasures. 

Have a magical day!

Day 231: Disney Coasters

I bet you think I'm going to write an entire post on the coasters at Walt Disney World, don't you? Ha, I have you all fooled! Just kidding, there may be a few of you that actually figured it out...or you saw the picture below and looked at that before reading this.

If you did either then you know very well that I'm not going to sit here and talk about some of the greatest attractions at Walt Disney World. Instead I'm going to share a recent project I did for my dorm room! Well, it will be going IN my dorm room once I get to college. I got the idea off of Pinterest, from a person who did the exact same thing (although mine are slightly different anyway). It's Disney Park Map Coasters!

They really weren't all that difficult to make. You just buy the regular tiles from the home improvement store. I got mine at Home Depot for like 13 cents a piece. Then you place them face down on the park map and draw a line around the area you want to include. We made ours a little bigger so they would fit over the sides as well. Then you modge podge the maps to the coasters and let them dry. Be careful about getting the bubbles and stuff out though. Then we sprayed a clear coat over the top several times to make sure it was waterproof. Super easy to make, and they look great. 

So as you can see (sort of) we made six of them. Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. I certainly think the MK and Blizzard Beach ones look the best, although I love them all!!!

Here's today's Disney History: 1963: Actor, musician, Producer & Disney Fan John Stamos, who was the e-bay winning bidder for Disneyland's entrance sign used between 1989 and 1999, is born in Cypress California. TV fans will know him from Full House as Uncle Jesse. 

Have a magical day!

Day 230: Just a Few Days

You know, in just a few days I'll be moving into my college dorm room and get ready to start my Freshman year. That's absolutely crazy considering I feel like the school year just ended and that it isn't anywhere near the right time to be starting school again. I suppose that's what I get for doing so much this summer. Still, it has been one of the best summers ever, and why not let it go with a bang!

Actually, I'm not sure how it's going to go out with a bang, other than the fact that I have three days and a LOT to do in those three days. I have to finish packing and make a few other things for my room, and buy some food, and finish updating this blog and edit two more vlogs from my Disney trip (so I can go back and make up those last three from July), read Ender's Game, go for a nice long drive with one of my friends, spend a bit of time with my other two friends, wrap presents for people (I suppose ONE could wait, but we'll see), practice for Wind Ensemble and Jazz auditions, copy my Pep Band Music so I have a copy for myself when I go back to play Pep Band, go out for sushi with my brother (and maybe see Planes?), Transfer and organize some pictures to my laptop, reorganize my Google Drive AND make a record book for 4H. Yeah, I guess you could say I have a lot to get done these next three days.

But I suppose somehow I'll do it all. Quite honestly I'm not sure HOW I'm going to do it all (Ender's Game may have to wait... =( ), but I'm certainly going to try!

Which brings me to my current thought, and the topic of today's blog post. You see, when we go to Disney World or Disneyland, most of us only have a few days there, if that. Sometimes it may only be hours! So what is it that we do? What becomes the most important thing? Or do we try to fit as much as possible into the little time that we have?

I guess that before I did my vlogs I was more high-strung to go on the attractions, but since I've been vlogging, it's offered me an opportunity to go off and find new things, or showcase attractions or experiences I haven't seen in a long long time. I go slower, or have a list of things that I really want to do, and then I try to go do those, like on my bucket list back in November. I had a mission to do all of those things, and for the most part, I did them all. It may seem impossible, but we still end up doing it, because we're going to love it more in the long run.

So I suppose that's what I'm going to try and do these next few days. Part of me says "Slow down and enjoy your last few days" but the other part of me knows that if I do, then all this stuff won't get done and that just WILL NOT END WELL. Plus, it's not like I'm working all the time. A lot of those things on that list involve my friends and family, and things that I want to do with them before I leave.

Plus, and I'll leave you with this Walt Disney quote,

Here's today's Disney History: 1986: Crockett's Tavern opens in Walt Disney World's Fort Wilderness. Part of Trail's End Restaurant, it is located at the northern end of the campgrounds.

Have a magical day!

Day 229: Quote Frames

As we all know, I move into college soon. This seems to be a popular topic on the blog, but I promise we'll get on to other things soon! It's just another of those major steps in one's life! Anyways. My best friend was telling me that she felt she didn't have a collection like I had. I mean, my desk is full of stuff from home and of collections and so on and so forth...or it will be at least. So for part of her graduation present, I figured that I'd make her something for her desk. Of course, I was planning on making a quote frame for myself, but I figured that it would be great for her too, and there's only one quote I could put for her! 

Now I intended to give this to her a while ago, but I didn't really get to make it until just recently. The design actually comes from a Disney T-Shirt I saw when I was there in July that I really almost bought, and I thought it would work perfectly for this too (which obviously it did). For those of you that remember, my best friend Megan referenced this quote in her Graduation Speech back in June, and it was one of the proudest moments of my life. If you go back and find that blog you can watch the recording of her speech as well. I really hope our high school band goes to Disney this next summer because I can't wait to take her on the actual attraction if she is able to go with us! 

But I didn't just stop there. I also figured that since I now knew how to make one of these and I wanted to make one for myself, I'd just go ahead and do it! So I did...

The quote is from an actor I follow on Instagram. He was in the Lizzie Bennett diaries and is a big Disney fan, so of course I follow him! Anyway, he went to the D23 Expo and posted a picture he took there with a quote kind of thing he made and as soon as I saw it I asked if I could make it into a quote frame for on my desk at college! It's like the PERFECT quote! 

And so, I'm sure you'll see at least my frame soon once I get to college, but I knew I just had to share both of them! 

Here's today's Disney History: 1789: Congressman, frontiersman, soldier and folk hero Davy Crockett is born David Stern Crockett near the Nolichucky River (in what is now Greene County, Tennessee). David Crockett was the fifth of nine children of John and Rebecca Hawkins Crockett, and was named after his paternal grandfather. Commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier," in 1954 Crockett became wildly popular through Disney movies, television programs and even a hit song!

Have a magical day!

Day 228: My Disney Collection V4

I hope that by now you understand how this works. But if you don't, here's the rundown. I write a blog called Everyday Disney, and I try to write everyday. If I can't write I go back and make it up, but in reality I have one blog post for every day of the year. Either way, I have several series of posts going on, one about my favorite Youtube Videos, one on my favorite Disney things and then this one. The My Disney Collection Series now has four parts, and if you haven't seen the others or want a refresher, here's the previous ones! (V1 V2 V3). Just click one of the three links right there.

THIS Volume of the My Disney Collection Series focuses around one of the most important parts of my collection, my Spaceship Earth collection! Now, everyone seems to collect something. Some people collection rocks, other stamps, or coins or some other random thing that isn't stereotypical. I collect many things, including Snow Globes, and as you will see next time, Limited Edition Disney Pins. But there is one collection that I love more than anything else, and that's this one. So let's get started!

The first piece of my Spaceship Earth Collection is my favorite piece of it. My Spaceship Earth Snowglobe! As I said, I also collect SnowGlobes, so that makes this my favorite in that collection too. It isn't real big, but I remember getting it at the store outside of Epcot. Like the one by Guest Relations outside the park. I honestly don't know if it's still there. Either way, I saw it on the shelf and was like "nah" and then I ended up later going back to get it because I didn't see it anywhere else. I'm glad I did too because I haven't seen it since.

Next up is one of the favorites of a few of my friends. It's a Spaceship Earth Wind-up toy! I honestly have no clue where or when I got it, but I have it, and it's a part of my collection. I don't even understand the logic behind the fact that it's Spaceship Earth moving around as a little toy. Spaceship Earth doesn't move! LOL, I don't know, but it's cute, and it does still work! 

Next is the newest of the items I guess you could say. Well, sort of. The strictly Spaceship Earth items. It's my Spaceship Earth Baseball. I got it in November of 2012, but I had seen it the year before when I visited in June of 2011. Basically I was like "Nah" and then I ended up getting it anyway because, well, I have a Spaceship Earth Collection!

Still going with the Spaceship Earth stuff (yes, I have a lot of it), I have another one of my favorite pieces! My limited edition 300 Spaceship Earth iPhone Case. It's another one of those things put out for the 30th anniversary and this was the one thing that I labeled as a must have for myself. I figured I would never get my hands on one, but I did eventually find one through Ebay and got it for Christmas. Best day ever when I got it! Of course, it will never grace the sides of my phone, mostly because it's going to stay in it's case. 

Next up is one of the first pieces of my Spaceship Earth Collection I had! It's my Spaceship Earth Bank! It's actually pretty big, so trying to fit it on my shelf can sometimes get a little tricky. But either way, I must have gotten it a number of years ago, back when the Mickey Hand, Wand and Epcot were still across the top of Spaceship Earth. My brother got a Monorail Bank at the same time, but other than that that's all I really remember LOL. 

And then, around the same time, or earlier actually, I got this picture frame. I don't remember getting it, but it's been sitting on a shelf for years. Sadly, the one side is broken, so I can't really use it as a normal picture frame. But I keep it around anyway, and if there's any Disney collection post it belongs in, it's this one!

Next we have my Spaceship Earth pen, which I honestly have like never used. My mom and my brother went to Disney a number of years ago without my dad or myself, and they got me a couple of smaller things, this being one of them. It's blue, my favorite color, and the top is a mini-Spaceship Earth. So in other words, it sits on my shelf with all my other Spaceship Earth stuff. 

Next up, we head into my 30th Anniversary of Epcot stuff. Of course, they all have some reason as to why I got them. Back last year I had a minor (or major) freakout over the fact that the 30th Anniversary parkmap had Spaceship Earth plastered on the front. Yeah, of course, I had to have it, and for a long time I figured I wouldn't in the end. But then, at Christmas, I ended up finding a copy of it on Ebay and got it right away. It may have cost me enough for something that was originally free, but hey, I have it now! Plus, it opens up to include the previous park maps!

And along with the 30th Anniversary Park Map, I managed to get a 30th Anniversary Epcot Button too! Of course, the background of this is Spaceship Earth as well, but I mostly got it because the person on Ebay was offering a package deal so you could get both. Win in my book!

Next up is more 30th Anniversary merch. To the average person, it's an Epcot 30th Anniversary Lanyard for pins. But to me, what did I notice first? The fact that the entire backside was made up of a Spaceship Earth Pattern. I just had to get it. Of course, my brother got it too because he seems to want everything Epcot that I have, but we all know who the real Spaceship Earth collector is. 

Still looking at 30th Anniversary stuff (yes, I have a lot of that too), I've got this little set. My brother has one too but took it out of the package. I have no idea why he did such a thing. Either way, it's got the keychain and the lanyard, and I decided to just keep it in the packaging because it looks so nice, so why not! 

Of course, no Spaceship Earth Collection Post would be complete without my Spaceship Earth bow from Magical Rbbons! I love it sooooo much! In fact I've worn it a whole bunch of times and it'll be coming with me to college too!

And then, I put this one in this category for the following reason. If you look closely on the bottom chain you'll see a Spaceship Earth charm. That was the first charm my parents got me when they went to Disney World many years ago without me and my brother. Obviously since then I've gotten just a few other charms, but that first one is the reason it's included with the rest of my Spaceship Earth stuff!

And finally, I figured that I should include the two specific Spaceship Earth pieces of art from Larry Dotson that I have. So here they are. You saw them back in Volume 1, but here are the two specific to SSE. The left one was my first one, and the right one I got in November 2012!

That just about does it for my Spaceship Earth Collection, although I did try to find a picture of the chocolate Spaceship Earth I had Once Upon a Time. I couldn't find one, but I did have one once. We got it all the way home without it breaking too, and then it sat on the counter until it got gross and we had to throw it away!

Next time we'll take a peak at my pin collection! There are so many of those!!! And after that we'll take a trip into my closet to see all of my pieces of Disney clothing!

Here's today's Disney History: 1924: Actor Fess Parker, famous for the Disney role of Davy Crockett, is born in Fort Worth, Texas (although he was raised in San Angelo). Parker was named a Disney Legend in 1991. 

Have a magical day!