Day 304: Happy Halloween!

Honestly, I've never really been a fan of Halloween. I'm more of a Christmas person, and I never saw the appeal is dressing up to go out and get a bunch of candy. I never ate the candy anyway, so what was the point, right? It just didn't make any sense to me. I mean, I generally had a costume (and I really love funny ones honestly, like one year I dressed up as a Christmas disaster. I have pictures somewhere), and I went trick or treating when I was a kid, but I generally didn't dress up for school or anything. It just wasn't my thing. In fact, for a long time I hated it. Yes, I hated Halloween.

But I guess getting older has mellowed me out a bit. I don't really hate Halloween anymore, and I generally do participate in festivities now, only I'm just not crazy about it like some people. I have very few decorations, but my house does look pretty awesome at Halloween. Of course, I did have to steal something to put in my dorm room for the holiday, and nothing says Halloween like my family's set of Hitchhiking Ghosts. Not that my family was very happy about that, but I think they fit in quite nicely here in my dorm room. =)

And of course I had to have a costume. Last year, as you saw in yesterday's post, I was Han Solo, and I worked pretty hard on that costume. I loved being Han Solo. But you can't be Han Solo forever, you just can't, as awesome as it is. So this year, of course, I went with Hook, because, well, I already had the entire thing done because of OUAT this last week, so it worked out great. No clue what I'll be next year but we'll cross that path when we come to it. 

Actually I was almost Indiana Jones, and a little bit of me is sad that I wasn't because I did Hook this week already and Indy would have been something different. That's ok though, I'll just have to do that some other time. I mean, I guess I technically can Disneybound as Indy whenever I want to. 

One of my favorite parts of the costumes on our floor in our dorm though was the fact that our RA Allyson was dressed as the Evil Queen. Worked perfect, so here's a picture of Hook & The Evil Queen, just because that's seriously awesome. I sent it to both Colin and Lana...no response as of yet. 

And then here's a picture of pretty much my entire floor dressed up. Just felt right to include. We took like 20 pictures because everyone wanted on their phone and honestly that just a long time to hold the eyebrow. 

So that was my Halloween. My best friend has a midterm tomorrow, so she didn't dress up at all, but we decided that if she had she should have been Charming because that would have just been hilarious. We would have been mates! 

Here's today's Disney History: 2005: Gary Estrada rides Walt Disney World's Haunted Mansion ride for the 999th time. He's the first person (to Disney's knowledge) to hit that goal in just 10 months. Estrada began his marathon riding in January. 

Have a magical day!

Day 303: A Year of Star Wars

You know, time really does fly. In fact, I very specifically remember the day that occurred exactly a year ago. It was the day that The Walt Disney Company bought up Lucasfilm, and therefore, bought Star Wars and Indiana Jones. It was an interesting day, to say the least, on both sides of the equation.

On the negative side, a lot of people were upset about the other announcement of three new Star Wars films coming in the future. It seems that people in our world forget that Disney is more than just Mickey Mouse, and they also forget that Disney and Lucasfilm have had a long and successful relationship before this event occurred. It really surprised people, who thought that if it should go to anyone it should go to like Universal or something, or, "a company that doesn't make cartoons and fairytales."

Personally I believe that to be ridiculous. I have since the beginning. Disney has had Star Wars in the parks for a long time, and it's all been very successful, as have the Indy attractions at the different parks throughout the world. Just as Disney bought Marvel, they bought Lucasfilm, and honestly I felt that this second purchase was much less shocking. If George Lucas was ever going to sell his company, it would be ridiculous to sell it to anyone other than Disney. It just wouldn't make any sense.

And so, as you can tell, I'm happy about it. In fact, my first response wasn't happy, but was worry. I am a fan of ApprenticeEh, as you already know (although lately I've gotten behind because I've been so busy! That seriously makes me sad), and Corey is a huge Star Wars fan. In fact that's how I got into Youtube, and I've talked about all of that previously. Either way, my first question was "what will Corey think? Will he be happy? Angry? Confused?"

It was hardly 20 minutes after the announcement when this appeared:

And then once I knew that Corey was cool with it, I was relieved. Especially since I was Han Solo for last Halloween, and therefore a Disney character (just because me dressed as anything BUT a Disney character is seriously ridiculous). 

It was a pretty legit costume. 

Either way, it's kind of crazy that it's now been a year since all that happened. It feels like it was just the other day, but at the same time, thinking about how much has all happened since then, it feels like it should have been more than a year. I mean, now we've got some various news about Star Wars, such as the latest rumor that Han Solo will be returning for not one, but three films (and that in order to get HF back they are throwing another Indiana Jones into the deal!). It's all just kind of crazy!

So I guess this is kind of a birthday. Not really though, unless you count it as the birthday of the partnership between Lucasfilm and Disney. Not that that's a good way to say it either, but oh well!

Here's today's Disney History (which you already know): 2012: The Walt Disney Company announces an outlay of $4.05 billion for the purchase of the Lucasfilm company, founded by director George Lucas and the creator of franchises like "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones." Disney also reveals that it plans to create a new chapter in the famous galactic saga - "Star Wars: Episode 7" - to premiere in 2015. 

Have a magical day!

Day 302: Youtube Goes Spooky!

It's almost Halloween, and of course there are a few Disney Youtube videos out there that just don't fit in any other time of year. So I figured that, especially since it's been a while, I would have a Youtube post on some of my favorite Disney themed Youtube videos.

Pat Carroll reads The Haunted Mansion:



Ok, so you may not know Pat Carroll off the top of your head, but in reality you do know her. She's the voice of Ursula from The Little Mermaid. And of course, in this video she's doing a reading from The Haunted Mansion. I watched it only yesterday but I could not stop laughing! It's just too adorable and funny all at the same time.

Nick Pitera - This is Halloween:

I love Nick Pitera, like seriously, so when Oh My Disney worked with him to put out this one, of my favorite Halloween Song, I was just like "YEAH!" Of course it's on this list because, well, why wouldn't it be here?

Disney Villains Take Over Disneyland:

Since I follow pretty much every Disney page on Facebook, I get the updates for all the new videos, and this one came out a few weeks ago. I actually shared it on Facebook because it just really made me laugh pretty hard. It's not every day you can pair up Disney Villains, a Disney Parka and Christmas Music and make it all work logically. It's pretty epic. 

The Cadaver Dans:

Ok, so I just found this one right now, but it felt like a good way to end this post of spooky Youtube videos. I love that Disney puts this stuff out because then even those of us who can't be there can still kind of see it. It's just kind of nice since I'm not at Disney 99% of the time and I always feel like I miss way too much. 

And so, there are just a few of my favorite Disney Halloween Youtube Videos. =)

Here's today's Disney History: 1971: A 90-minute NBC-TV Special, The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World, shows the park to approximately 52 million people in the U.S.

Have a magical day!

Day 301: Good Form

Ahhh, my favorite time of the week: Once Upon a Time time. Always a great time. Actually, I hate Mondays, other than for the single hour I have right after my alto sax lesson and before Wind Ensemble where I get to rewatch the episode of Once Upon a Time for the week, and it also helps that then I've seen it twice and am able to accurately describe my feelings from throughout the episode.

Honestly, speaking of my feelings, this episode had them all over the place. I guess that's to be expected since it's an entire episode about my favorite character: Captain Hook, or should I say Killian Jones? Oh, speaking of that, Spoiler alert starts right now for episode 3x05: Good Form!

That's not how the episode started though. In fact, it started with Neal...and then a surprising clip of Henry and the Lost Boys. Was that Henry using magic right there? I mean, he made a sword...by believing it was a sword. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one freaking out about the fact that Henry is becoming a Lost Boy...sounds like Emma & Company will have to save him in more ways than one.

After that, in the opening of Hook's story, we find Emma and everyone in Neal's cave. Emma, struggling with the mattress-like thing Neal apparently slept on all those day in Neverland, encounters yet another pun from Hook about hands. Honestly I love it when he does that because it always makes me laugh. The scene wasn't funny though: Neal (then Bae) apparently stopped counting his days on Neverland. Problematic. Still, we get our first moment of Hook being awesome in his little discussion with Emma...in which she blows him off.

And then Charming. Oh dear God, I am honestly starting to hate that man. Stubborn, and ugh! Does he just forget that he was once just a Shepherd? He has no right to call Hook "just a pirate" and therefore infer that he never has a chance with Emma. If that were the truth, then Charming certainly wouldn't be married to Snow, right? I mean, come on!

But it brings up a great point: How did Hook become a pirate? And that's just what we're going to find out. Turns out that Killian Jones was not always a pirate...but I think we knew that already. Actually, Litenient Jones was an honorable man, always concerned with Good Form (hence the title). He notes that Rum leads to drunkenness, and drunkenness leads to bad form, and when I was working last night on finishing AlcoholEdu for college stuff, they had all these questions about alcohol, and I really wanted to list that quote as a reason why I won't drink. I didn't, but I really really wanted to.

And then we find out that Hook actually has a brother, or had a brother, named Liam, and they set sail aboard what will eventually become the Jolly Rodger on a mission to find a plant for the king. This offers us my absolute favorite shot from I think any of the episodes this season, and especially from this episode. I don't know why, but it just makes me smile every single time. He's so happy! Good to see this side of Hook!

Meanwhile, back in the enchanted forest, Charming continues to be annoying and not telling Snow and Emma about the fact that he's gonna die in what, a few hours? Hook seems pretty annoyed with this, and it turns out that he's annoyed by this because he lost his brother in a similar fashion...dreamshade on the island. He never really had a chance to say goodbye and that's why he's so angry that Charming isn't telling them. He won't have a chance to say goodbye, and more importantly, they won't have a chance to say goodbye.

Back in the enchanted forest (or should I say on the enchanted ocean), The Jolly Rodger is flying with a special sail right to Neverland. And so the brothers set a course to the second star to the right and straight on till morning.

Meanwhile, again, Emma and Company are chatting with Hook, who's letting everyone know of a special sextant that will help them get home. And then there's a tearful goodbye between Charming and everyone...which is also somewhat awkward because, well, Emma doesn't exactly expect hugs from her dad every day of her life, especially ones that he sees as a goodbye. Then Charming and Snow have a moment before Charming heads off with his new mate, Hook!

So while they're off on their adventure, Emma, Mary Margaret and Regina have a little adventure to capture a lost boy to send a message to Henry. They take out his heart, which is a decision that Emma partly made against her mother, and they send the kid off with a mirror to give to Henry that ultimately enables them to see and talk to Henry. Honestly that part was pretty adorable.

Charming and Hook, up on a hike, start to bond and then attack each other, and then bond, and then Hook climbs the mountain and meets Pan, who, in a shocking moment, offers Hook a deal. Hook can leave, on his ship, with Emma. Everyone else has to stay, but he can run off, if only Hook kills Charming and puts his body atop the mountain with his hook in Charming's heart. Huh, didn't know Pan was one for gruesome scenes. Either way, Hook refuses, or does he?

Back in time, Killian and Liam arrive in Neverland and meet Peter Pan, who's pretty confused about who they are and who the King they speak of is, especially because they're looking for Dreamshade. Huh, they think it's medicine, turns out it's not and the king wants to kill them all. At least that's what Killian thinks. Meanwhile Liam is being all adult like and doesn't listen to Peter, even though in reality they should. They hike up the mountain and find the dreamshade, and then, of course, Liam, being all angsty and stupid, cuts himself with the stuff and pretty much dies. Meanwhile Pan appears and lets Killian know that there's special water right there that can heal him. Too bad he fails to mention that the water and the healing power only works on Neverland. Liam dies once they get back. More on that later though.

Charming climbs the mountain up after Hook and they go to find the sextant, but in reality Hook has lead him right to the place where the dreamshade is really thick, behind which is the water that will save his life: but only if he stays on Neverland. Charming almost dies, but drinks it anyway and is healed.

Out on the Enchanted Ocean, Liam is dead. The saddest part about this I feel is that he died in Hook's arms, just as Milah did. Turns out that Killian Jones has had more loss that any of us really knew about. His father abandoned him, who knows what happened to his mom, his brother died in his arms and then his love Milah did the same. No wonder he wants to help these people and maybe get a happy ending!

So they trek back down the mountain and meet back up with Emma, Mary Margaret and Regina. All seems happy again. Charming mentions that they couldn't find the sextant, but that Hook saved his life. He doesn't say how (therefore continuing to lie), but everyone seems pretty happy with the fact that Hook is ow a hero. He didn't bring it on himself or anything. Charming did. So they all drink to Hook and then, CaptainSwan fans prepare yourself, again, we get a heated kiss between Hook and Emma. Doesn't seem too far away from camp though. I mean, Charming and Snow and Regina are totally right there, but you know. Whatever works. More on this in a minute.

Finally, we find out just how Killian Jones went from respectable to pirate. After the death of his brother, and the fact that the King apparently wants everyone dead, Jones gives a rousing speech that turns his crew and himself into a bunch of pirates. Now, if I were on that ship I'd want to be a pirate in that moment too. It was a pretty epic speech if I do say so myself.

But the real shocker of the episode is this: Hook knows. He's now got a big fat secret: Neal is on the island and is alive. Pan told him, and now Hook has to make the decision of whether he should tell Emma or not. Boom. That's about all I can say there, other than the fact that he'd better tell her.

So overall, this is honestly my new favorite episode, probably because it's just Hook, Hook and more Hook, but I thought it was a great backstory with wonderful parallels to everything. A lot to keep track of, but it's not every day a man becomes a pirate, so yeah. And it's not every day a pirate becomes an honorable man again.

Gosh I could talk about this for hours. I have been talking for almost an hour actually because I just basically rewatched the episode as I wrote to get the screenshots. Works for me! I have an hour in between classes on Tuesday, and after this break I have a ton of classes. Either way, if you have seen the Princess Bride, you may or may not have caught up on the reference Hook offers. If not, I have three words for you:

"As You Wish."

You see, in the Princess Bride, the entire thing is about how Wesley says that to Buttercup, and everytime he says "As You Wish" what he really means is "I love You." Turns out that this moment right here is where Hook realizes that he more than just "Fancies" Emma. Looks like we have a legitimate love triangle on our hands.

But I will leave you with this, and a question. Who is in that other box hanging next to Neal!?!

I totally almost forgot (Actually I did forget and am adding this in later!), but here is my Hook Disneybound from this week! Honestly it's probably my favorite so far, just because it was pretty epic to have the hook and everything, and the eyeliner and to match up the pictures. Gosh it was fun. One of my favorite parts, aside from the hook itself was one of the rings I had (yes, I had three, just like Hook himself) has a little ship on it (thanks to my mom!) and that just made me laugh so I had to add it in. Next week was originally Henry, but I've changed that, so you'll have to see what I have in store!

Here's today's Disney History: 1971: The Dapper Dans of Disney World (a barbershop quartet) perform their first show outside of WDW, an evening performance at a convention in Cocoa Beach since relocating to Florida from Disneyland, California. 

Have a magical day, and remember: Rum leads to bad form!

Day 300: A Day in the Life of Hook

So it's not a question really that tonight had a super awesome episode of Once Upon a Time...one that, as I write this, the West Coast has yet to see. So that's not what I'm talking about. Tomorrow's blog post will be "Good Form," and include all my feels about tonight's episode...and there were a lot. So prepare yourself.

But what I'm here to talk about is a little adventure I took on in the past twenty four hours. As you all know, every week I have been Disneybounding as one of the OUAT Characters for the episode. First was Emma, then Mary Margaret, then Charming and finally Neal. But of course, there's a certain pirate that had his own episode this week, and I couldn't pass that one up.

Yes, tonight I was Captain Hook, and you'll see the official picture from that tomorrow as usual. But you see, last night as I was out with my two best friends for dinner and some simple shopping at the Shopko across the river from our college, I was struck with an idea.

Now, honestly this was probably not my best idea. And I mean that seriously. I've had a lot of better ideas. Not that it was my worst idea, but it does make for a wonderfully interesting blog post! And so you ask: What is this idea?

Well, for the past 24 hours (6:30 last night until 8 tonight, right after OUAT), I lived as Captain Hook. No, I didn't go find the Jolly Rodger and fly away to Neverland wearing leather pants (I don't even own that...and don't intend to). But, I did channel my inner Hook, and I used only one hand. ONE HAND. Of course, there are a few things that you can't do with only one hand, so I did use my left hand once and a while, but only in the shape of a Hook, and when I did finally get my hands on a fake hook for the costume (which I'll also be wearing for Halloween this week), I used that quite a bit, because honestly, if I couldn't have a hand...I'd want a Hook. It's actually fairly useful (and would probably be even more useful if it was legitimately attached to my arm and make of metal and I wouldn't have to just hold on to it with my actual hand.

But just as my friends were wondering...how did I do some of the things I did in the past 24 hours? In order to come up with the things that were hardest, I made a list! So let's start with Yesterday...

Putting on a coat. That is really difficult with one hand. Probably one of the more difficult parts of getting dressed with one hand actually. Other than that, buttons are terrible things. Terrible, awful things. As is the idea of tucking in your shirt. That's not fun either. You'd think pants would be the hardest...but nope...it was the shirt and all the stupid buttons and the coat. Gosh.

Now, last night I was still trying to get used to not using my left hand...and I have to mention that that's one of the hardest things. Forgetting that you're not supposed to be using your left hand. I guess this probably isn't a huge problem for Hook, since it's kind of attached to his arm and he doesn't have a hand....while I had a hand the whole time.

Texting is a lot slower with just one hand. It's just hard. Anything with your phone is.

Shopping. That is a difficult thing with one hand. You use your arm a lot though when you're without a hand. I went to Shopko with my friends and had leftovers from my meal earlier so it was interesting trying to carry everything and not look crazy. That's another thing: Looking crazy. Eventually you become so aware of the fact that you're not supposed to be using your hand in an experiment like this that you are suddenly like "What are others thinking?" I mean, it's kind of awkward to use your mouth to do things when you have a perfectly good hand right there that you're obviously not using...and you know why that is, but the other people don't so it's just awkward.

Getting out of my bunk bed was WAY harder than getting in. Climbing up I just pretended I was Hook climbing the beanstalk, so it was kind of interesting. But getting down...yeah, totally almost fell. Especially since I was really trying to be quiet for my still sleeping roommate.

Driving, that was kind of interesting with one hand, but not awful. Not terrible at all really. I mean, I used my hand a couple of times here because, well, I wanted to live, and I would prefer it if others around me stay alive, so I used it there once or twice, but mostly I just used my right hand. In other words, if Hook ever wanted to settle down in Storybrooke, there's good hope for him being able to use a car.

Carrying things is also interesting...especially a laundry basket up two flights of stairs and having to open two doors in the process.

But then we get to the parts my friends just could not figure out until I showed them: doing my hair and makeup for tonight's Disneybound. As you can see in this picture, I have eyeliner on, my makeup is totally done otherwise and my hair, yes, is curled. The question I got a lot was how in the world did I curl my hair with one hand? Well, truth be told...I did not do it with one hand. I did it with one hand and a hook. The hook makes it surprisingly much easier...actually it was easier with the hook than without the hook (but still not using my hand, obviously). I'll talk more about why my hair was curled tomorrow though. The makeup wasn't all that bad to put on either. A lot of walking back and forth between my counter and my mirror, but that wasn't bad. It was really difficult trying to open all the makeup though. Those lids are on tight and with one hand it just doesn't work very well. Contacts are also interesting. So let's hope Hook never needs glasses.

Going back to hair though, I finally figured out why Hook on OUAT does not have a perm...hair with one hand & a hook sucks. It's terrible. Like it's so frustrating because it's just there and you have no way of moving it and you can't put it up and ugh. Probably one of the more obnoxious things to deal with in the last 24 hours.

Otherwise, here's a short list of other really difficult things I faced: plugging things in to a socket and taking them out (mostly from an extension chord - then again Hook and technology would be interesting no matter what), opening any sort of box or thing, not looking ridiculous, having a numb left hand because you didn't move it all day, putting mousse in my hair to curl it and finally, carrying a chair across the way from one friend's dorm to another friend's dorm because you use that chair pretty much every time you watch OUAT.

Overall, being Hook was kind of fun. Not that I would want to do it all the time unless I was getting paid for it, much like Colin is. But otherwise it was certainly interesting and made for some great laughs.

Now if only I could get Colin to tweet me back.

Here's today's Disney History: 1966: Walt Disney films a special television presentation at his studio in California, a 25-minute preview of his plans for the Florida Project - Disney World, and especially the details for EPCOT, the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow."

Have a magical day!

Day 299: Once Upon a Pinterest

Looking through my Pinterest boards trying to decide which to do a feature on is sometimes kind of difficult. I mean, I have some 52 boards, 18 of which are Disney I believe (those are just guesses though), and I really could do a feature on any of them. But I've done features on several of them before. A few weeks ago I did one on The Laugh Floor, my board of all things funny that are also related to Disney, and previously I've done posts on my Disney Truths Board, and my Star Wars board and several others.

But there was still one sitting there untouched...well, at least it is when it comes to this blog. In reality that board isn't untouched at all. Right now it's probably the one I pin to the most. Which board could it be?

If you guessed my Once Upon a Time board, you'd be correct, so here's a spoiler alert for Season 3, because there may be a few spoilers hidden in there, but for the most part it's just the series overall, and gosh is some of it funny. Also note that this is a blog post I made up, so there ARE spoilers for episodes that, as of October 26th, have not yet aired...but they have because I'm writing this way after.

Yep...this seems pretty legitimate. I mean, those poor characters. And can we just talk for a second about how like no one has mentioned Graham since he died, other than that one episode where he came back and the fact that Emma wears the shoelace on her wrist? 

I don't even know what to do with this one honestly. It just makes me laugh, as every good Finding Nemo reference should.

Hehe, Rumple. Warm Rumple, Soft Rumple, Little Ball of Magic. Happy Rumple, Sleepy Rumple, Bae! Bae! Bae! So adorable. 

This one isn't actually on my Once Board (it's on The Laugh Floor), but it fits in perfectly with this post and is honestly one of my favorite Once pins. Seriously made me laugh, even though I was sitting in the music lobby. Good thing no one else was there. 

There's a whole bunch of this series, but this is one of our favorites. It's just so true!

Now let's transition into the CaptainSwan part of this post, since of course I have some funny stuff that goes along with that! This is another of the favorites, because my best friend and I seriously did some laughing at that last part. You read the first half and are like "Yeah, I've heard this before," but you just never expect it to end that way. 

There are a whole bunch of posts that are kind of like this, but this is certainly one of my favorites. He's just all "Now that was a fun day!" Haha just makes me laugh! That would be why it's here though...

Only Adam Horowitz. 

Actually you can pinpoint the second all our hearts ripped in half, not just Hook's. 

This is by far one of my favorites. I found it and laughed for a good couple of minutes, and then proceeded to tell it to all of my Once watching friends. 

Anyways, that's all I've got for today, although I'm pretty sure I could do another post just like this since there's just so much hilarious stuff. I'll have another one on the Laugh Floor sometime too because people on the internet are seriously funny. 

Here's today's Disney History: 1997: ABC-TV's the Wonderful World of Disney airs the movie Tower of Terror for the first time. Starring Steve Guttenburg and Kristin Dunst, it is an early attempt at turning a theme park attraction into a movie. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on November 14 due to time commitments).

Day 298: #ProudMomentsOfLizziesLife

I really hope this is different from any previous post I've done because I really just did a search through my entire blog for key words that go along with this, and while I found a couple posts that are kind of similar, one specifically, I don't think I've had a blog post on this specifically, so it get the honor of being it's own post!

Here's the backstory and explanation as to what the title of this post means:

Whenever I'm texting or talking with my friends, they will sometimes make a reference to something Disney, whether it be a quote or a saying from a movie or something about the parks that I really didn't think they knew. They surprise me with them all the time now, meaning that, as I've discussed before, I've done a great job teaching them about all things Disney, especially since for the most part, my friends have never been to Disney World (and certainly not as often as I have).

So when these moments arise, I have a saying, and I'm sure you can guess what that saying it. Yep, you guessed it, Proud Moments of Lizzie's Life, although I tend to put it in a hashtag because that's just how it works.

But now I'll share a few of the recent Disney references that they've come up with and have made me smile:

Dole Whip: 

Today one of my friends had surgery at the dentist, meaning that her diet now consists of everything and anything that you don't need to chew...mostly shakes and pudding and jello and the such. Earlier when I was asking them what I should write about for this blog post (and others), her only comment was: "What to eat after you go to the dentist Disney connection? A dole whip would be nice right about now." Yes, a proud moment of Lizzie's Life indeed.

Movie Quotes: 

These seem to come up all the time, and some more than others. For instance, when I go back to see my High School Band perform, sometimes I'll ask "How's it Goin'," in which someone will respond, "Same as always" and I'll reply "That bad huh?" Yeah, Star Wars for the win. And it goes right hand in hand with the fact that whenever I see one of my friends I'll be like "I love you" and she always responds "I know."

But tonight when I was texting my friend we were talking about decisions people make and she added in "A terrible decision really," and I just sat and laughed. Flynn Rider always has the best quotes if you ask me.

Disney History: 

Today at lunch there was a Proud Moment of Lizzie's Life when I was telling one of my new college friends about Disney and showing her a few pictures of my last trip to Disney because we were talking about something or another and got onto the topic of Disney, because, really, when don't I get on the topic of Disney? Anyway, one of the pictures was this one:

And my college friend goes "Some guy with Minnie Mouse" and I responded "Roy Disney," to which Megan replied "Walt Disney's Brother?" Yes, yet another moment that makes Lizzie Proud.

But then there are the random times in which my references are lost on them. I mean, yesterday we were talking about our deaths approaching with finals, and Megan and I decided we would share a Crypt....and of course a wealth of Haunted Mansion references popped into my head, from "No Mourning, Please" to "The Crypt Doors Creak" and back to the numerous headstone sayings. Yeah, I wish they would understand my jokes sometimes, but maybe after we all go to Disney they'll totally get more of them!

For now, let's just continue having #ProudMomentsOfLizziesLife

Here's today's Disney History: 1971: The formal dedication of Walt Disney World in Florida takes place with Walt's Brother Roy O. Disney officiating. The park has been open since October 1. Standing alongside Roy O. Disney during the dedication in Town Square is Mickey Mouse. A grand opening parade down Main Street USA, featuring a 1076 piece band and led by Music Man Meredith Wilson (the composer of 76 Trombones) kicks off at 2 p.m.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on November 19 due to time restrictions).

Day 297: Harriet Jacobs

We read a lot of authors in my Survey of American Literature course, and I'm sure you'll hear more about others as the remainder of the semester goes on, but today in class we were talking about one author in particular: Harriet Jacobs.

Now, for those of you that aren't really into history and don't know who Harriet Jacobs is, here's a quick background. Jacobs was a young slave girl with two children some years before the Civil War. She lived as a slave for the first years of her life, and after having two children, she hid in a small room of her grandmother's home for 7 years, never leaving and only seeing her children through a small hole in the wall, although she could not have any sort of contact with them. After she eventually gained her freedom, she wrote a book narrating her experience as a slave girl, titled Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

When I found that we were reading her my mind instantly went to Disney, or at least I was pretty sure it did. At first I wasn't totally positive, but once I got around to looking at the video on my laptop, I found I was correct.

In the American Adventure Pavilion of Epcot, they recently changed the exhibit in the downstairs area. It used to have pieces of history from various subjects, but was recently changed to a narration of Black History.

The new exhibit is wonderful. I'll say that flat out. I loved it. The way they incorporated technology with the exhibit is great and the entire thing was just super interesting. Honestly I wish I had more time to go through it, and I really hope that I'll have a couple minutes to go through it on this next trip.

Back to Harriet Jacobs. As much as I love learning about the Civil War, I had never really heard the spectacular story of this young woman before. I guess I had heard her name, but never gave it much thought. In fact that I didn't give it a ton of thought back in July either when I heard her name for the first time at Disney, but I did pay attention to the exhibit, and here's yet another example of how you can learn things from Disney!

If you go through the exhibit you'll find one of the lanterns explains the story of Harriet Jacobs and talks about how she took action even though she was afraid, and then I believe there's a copy of her book there in one of the cases (although I'm not totally positive on that one). Either way, when I did figure out we were reading her for class, my mind went right back to The American Adventure, and I made those connections with what I was reading for class.

So in other words, because of that little bit of information I got at Disney, I knew a little bit about Harriet Jacobs before I read her narrative, and it really made me enjoy the book even more.

Here's today's Disney History: 1982: EPCOT Center (Disney's third theme park) is officially dedicated by Disney Chairman E. Cardon Walker 23 days after the park's opening day.

Have a magical day!

Day 296: Promo Video!

I can share this on my blog now since everyone has pretty much officially seen it (at least my High School Band has all seen it as of now). I was waiting for the high school to see it before posting in on my blog. Plus now the video is finally up in 1080p. The other day when I first uploaded it, it wasn't in that HD quality yet because as fast as my internet is here at SNC, it's not that fast.

So here's what I'm talking about:

That's right, I made a promotional video for my high school band trip to Orlando and Walt Disney World. You could say I'm a bit excited. Actually, apparently I was the legitimately first person signed up to go, my brother is second. Probably because my mother went and brought in our payment before the High School even got their brochures, but you know. 

Anyway, there certainly are some favorite moments I have with this video. I mean, I love the entire thing, obviously, because I edited it all, but there are just a couple of moments that are my absolute favorite. For instance, I love the first time we see the band marching, because the steps all line up with the music. And when we're dancing in that opening section, our dance moves match the song too. Then I think it's safe to say that the next thing I adore is when we're going down Splash and it transfers into Big Thunder and such, and I love the ending with the Thrills and Classic Attractions. But my absolute favorite part is the end, when the projections on the castle match the music perfectly. Can't get much better than that if you ask me! Also, if you watch closely you may find hidden hints to Colin O'Donoghue and Harrison Ford! My two favorite actors!

Here's today's Disney History: 2011: ABC-TV premieres the fairy tale drama series Once Upon a Time. About a woman with a troubled past who is drawn into a small town in Maine where the magic and mystery of Fairy Tales parallels real life, the series stars Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin, Lana Parrilla, Josh Dallas and Jared Gilmore. Created by Lost and Tron: Legacy writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, Once Upon a Time is distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television. (MY FAVORITE SHOW!)

Have a magical day!

Day 295: Mickey Talks!

Two years ago I went to the 2011 D23 Expo in Anaheim, and one of the things I got the chance to see there was the prototype for the talking Mickey Mouse. This really surprised me and I absolutely loved the idea. It always always always makes me sad to have to break the bad news to an excited Disney fan that the character won't talk back to them. I mean, for a long time the technology just hasn't been there, but it was still disappointing. In other words, I get why, it's just I always wished it had been different.

Well turns out that the time for different is now! Check out this video!

This was just published today and I could not be more excited about it. It's for the revised version of The Town Square Theater, the location where you can meet, you guessed it, Mickey Mouse. But it's not just the area that's been updated...it's Mickey himself. And he talks! RIGHT BACK TO YOU! 

Either A. I am finally getting over my Disney Depression (that would be great because it's been driving me INSANE) or B. I am just so obsessed with Disney that this is the coolest thing ever. Well, it is either way. I can't wait to see more of this technology within the parks because I think it's just wonderful, and hopefully when I head down to Florida next June I will have a chance to meet this "high tech version" of Mickey!

Here's today's Disney History: 1982: At Walt Disney World, the formal grand opening of EPCOT Center begins. To be held over the next three days, the official Future World dedication takes place on this day. 

Have a magical day!

Day 294: Nasty Habits

Sooo....it's a....time for another episode of Once Upon a Time. Just a word that you may want to not read this if you want to avoid spoilers. There shall be a lot of them. Well, moreso for next week than this week really. But either way, thar be spoilers ahead!

I will now do my best not to freak out as I did last night when watching episode 3x04, Nasty Habits (specifically as we reach the end of this post). But I can't promise anything.

When we got into this week we found Tink with Emma & the Gang, while Rumple was off somewhere, Pan was chatting with Henry and Neal, amazingly, got to Neverland after hitching a ride on the shadow...whom he summoned by using Robin Hood's son. We don't really talk much about that at the moment though. This episode is all Neal and Rumple, and for good reason.

It's no question that I do not ship SwanFire (aka Emma & Neal), and instead am an avid shipper of CaptainSwan (Emma & Hook), but that doesn't mean I don't like Neal. Let's just get that out of the way. In fact I love the character as a whole. I think he can certainly be funny at times and the entire Bae & Rumple backstory is just absolutely heartbreaking. It's just I don't see Neal and Emma working out...kind of. This episode brought up a lot of new thoughts when we were so certain this past week that CaptainSwan was happening. You'll hear why we were so sure a little bit later.

But anyway: Neal is in Neverland. This is a surprising development because honestly I feel it should have taken him a bit longer to get there. I mean, that gunshot wound healed pretty quickly for him to be running around. Either way, the episode opens up with Neal talking to what seems to be old enemy Felix (Pan's right hand man...or Lost Boy). Apparently Pan never taught them how to tie knots because Neal easily gets rid of the ropes and punches Felix in the face, knocking him out. The interesting thing from this particular scene? At the end the shot does not pan (no pun intended) to Felix lying on the ground...but instead to the rope. How is this significant? Why are we panning to the rope?

Meanwhile, Tink yells at Emma & the Gang for not having an escape plan, and she heads back off to her little treehouse while Hook leads everyone else to the cave where Bae stayed during his time in Neverland. Of course we get a bit of Charming & Hook Bromance, but what I noted from this is the real concern Hook has at the end of the conversation. I think this is certainly one example of how Hook really has changed since we first saw him a year ago in "The Crocodile." Again, more on this later.

While all this is going on, Rumple is off talking to Belle about his Nasty Habit of Self Preservation, hence the title of the episode: Nasty Habits. Eventually Neal pretty much runs into Rumple, almost literally, and then they go find a squid and get some magical squid ink to stop Pan for a while. Speaking of Pan, he's in the middle of a party with Henry, and it turns out Henry can't hear the music from Pan's pipe, which leads us into our weekly backstory.

It's the return of young Bae! Rumple is still being the Dark One and Bae is still not liking it (honestly as much as I love him, this is getting kind of annoying). So when Bae goes missing, Rumple is eventually led to a campfire with dancing boys and, you guessed it, Pan. Also turns out that Peter Pan and Rumple have a serious history. I'm starting to get the idea that EVERYONE has a backstory with Pan. When I watched this the second time though I was trying to pinpoint how this all fits together in a time line, because at this point Milah is already dead, right? Maybe? I'm not sure. Not super important, but something I was debating for a while.

Back to present day, where Neal and Rumple run in and get Pan trapped for a while with the squid ink. They steal Henry, who's knocked out with a sleeping curse kind of thing from Rumple, and then some yelling ensues because Pan had to mention the prophecy about Henry and Rumple to Neal, so now Neal thinks that Rumple is gonna kill Henry. Which honestly I'm not sure if he's going to or not or what is going on. It's really kind of super confusing.

On the other side of the island, Hook and Emma are checking out Bae's cave with everyone else. After a wonderful few moments of Hook checking on Emma (CaptainSwan a little!) and a wonderful comment from Regina about making pasta, Emma discovers a chart of stars created by Neal when he was younger, one that will lead them home. Except no one can read it. Turns out Hook taught Bae a few things back in the day, including how to chart stars, but he also taught him part of the pirate code: secrecy.

Now here's where I'm really conflicted. So Emma comments "The only person who can read it is dead" and runs out of the cave. Snow and Charming, trying to be the parents they aren't really right now, run after her, and there's an interesting conversation that ends with Emma mentioning "Because I knew the moment I saw him that I never stopped loving him." She's crying and runs...back into the cave? Isn't that where Hook is? Don't know if that means anything but it's something to point out. Meanwhile Charming and Snow have a conversation about moving on if one of them died. Obviously Charming could very easily die at the moment...but is this a parallel to how Emma needs to move on from Neal anyways? I mean, she does think he's dead. And he's certainly had more than enough second chances. But then she really does love him? But Graham! What about him? She moved on for Graham!

To finish things out, Pan resets the board by capturing Henry and Neal because Neal previously left Rumple stuck with Squid Ink. Oh, and apparently Pan wanted Neal (aka Bae) to leave Neverland earlier. Everyone is where he wants them now, and the game is about to change. But what in the world is going to happen? Does that mean that everything that has happened on the show previously is designed perfectly by Pan? Is it all a part of his game? So when Henry wakes up from his little sleeping it turns out that he can now hear the music of Pan's Pipe, and Henry starts dancing with the other Lost Boys. Uh oh. Looks like Henry doesn't feel quite so loved after all. That's not going to make it easy for anyone to come rescue him. And so we end with a menacing shot of Pan.

And then we have the promo for next week's episode, Good Form, which I've successfully guessed correctly to be the Captain Hook backstory episode. Here's the promo, which you MUST WATCH!

And if you haven't figured it out yet? Yes...that's Emma and Hook. In fact a picture was released this last week already spoiling this kiss. Four pictures actually in total. But this promo offers a lot. LOTS AND LOTS. I mean, an entire episode of Killian Jones, whom we apparently have a lot to learn about. But there are a lot of questions that this poses too. What is up with CaptainSwan vs. SwanFire. If Emma still loves Neal, and is all upset about it, what is up with this kiss? Not that I'm really complaining. We've been waiting for that for a long while (ummm...they met exactly a year ago in episode 2x05). But why is young Killian up against Pan? And then there's the fact that everyone seems to be pretty happy with Hook. We know a little bit about this from the promotional photos released this last week, that the above kiss is due to a small but much needed victory in the quest to save Henry and it's all Hook's doing, so Emma's pretty happy with them. 

Now we will have plenty of time to talk about the world's most charming swashbuckler next week. PLENTY of time. Gosh I am so very excited for this next episode. Maybe it's just because Hook is my favorite character, but the promo for next week looks spectacular. I mean, we have some general idea of the backstories of every other character, so I am quite excited to finally see the backstory for Hook! 

Anyway, in honor of tonight's Neal-centric episode, I've got a Neal Disneybound for you! I'm actually really happy with how this one turned out. I've been putting more and more thought into these as the weeks go by, and there are some really exciting ones coming up too! Below you can also see that I removed my coat when Neal did during the episode. I was legitimately sitting in the chair and had to take it off because he did. Have to keep true to the character, after all! 

Here's today's Disney History: 2011: Google celebrates the 100th birthday of Mary Blair with a Doodle honoring the late Disney artist. Google's Doodle for this day features an image of the illustrator as she would have drawn herself, surrounded by the simplistic patterns and shapes that made up her familiar cartoon world. 

Have a magical day!

Day 293: The Nightmare Before Christmas

Since we're on a Halloween post roll, let's keep it going. I talked yesterday a little bit about one of my favorite Halloween movies, and now seems like the perfect time to continue talking about it!

The Nightmare Before Christmas!!!

Ok, so I guess it hasn't always been one of my favorite Halloween movies. I didn't see it for a really long time, and then once it was on Disney Channel and I decided that it was a good time to finally see this movie that everyone had been talking about for years. I mean, it's on TV and it's free and I had the time, so why not?

And you know what, I loved it! Doesn't mean that I ever bought it, because I didn't. I honestly did not buy it on DVD or in any form for a really really long time...until this month actually. Earlier this month I was out shopping with my mom and my brother and I was determined to find a copy and buy it. I was sick of always going to Disney World and being like "I should get that!" and then I never do. So finally, FINALLY, I bought The Nightmare Before Christmas.

And then I watched it twice this week.

My favorite parts are obviously probably the favorite moments of everyone...This is Halloween and What's This!?! I love both those songs SO MUCH! Goodness if this were a musical on Broadway I'd totally go see it (see what I'm hinting at here Disney?). I mean, the music and the storyline are just perfect...oh, and Oogie Boogie is just the coolest creepy character of all time.

Here's today's Disney History: 1922: Actor John Anderson, the voice of Mark Twain and Franklin Delano Roosevelt for Epcot's American Adventure attraction, is born in Clayton, Illinois.

Have a magical day!

Day 292: Hallowishes

I'll be honest, I've never been a huge fan of Halloween. It just never settled right with me, but you'll get to hear ALL about that in a few days when it actually IS Halloween and I talk about it. For now though, there are a few things that, despite my previous distaste of the holiday, I feel I've been missing out on.

Disney World, and Disneyland, are great places. We all know that, obviously, or else I wouldn't be here, and you probably wouldn't be here reading this either. But you see, they get even more magical at certain times of the year...or in this case Spooky.

You see, I've been to Disney World numerous times during the Christmas Season, and just as you'll hear about Halloween in general, you'll hear in a couple of months about everything Christmas and Disney. But Disney gets dressed up for more than just the Holiday season. That's right, Disney also gets all dressed up for Halloween, and that's something that even I have never seen.

Now, I doubt that I'll actually get to see the Halloween stuff at Disney for many years, as I hope to work the Fall Semester of the College Program (And if I'm really lucky I'll get to spend a whole year there and I can experience everything, but that's beside the point), but that doesn't mean that I can't wish that I could see all the Halloween awesomeness.

As the title of today's blog post suggests, one of these pieces of Halloween awesomeness is Hallowishes, which is the Halloween edition of Wishes at the Magic Kingdom. From what I hear it's a spectacular show, and, really, truly I'd like to see it sometime (since I refuse to watch it online because I feel like that might spoil it. I did the same thing with World of Color...I didn't watch it until I was there in person, and that was SOOO worth it...haha, this coming from the person who gets almost daily Once Upon a Time spoilers).

And if we hop over to Disneyland, we have another Halloween and Christmas tradition that I'd love to see. Ok, actually I'd love to go to Disneyland for the holidays in general, since that too is something I have never done, but I've always known about one tradition there...The Haunted Mansion Holiday. Only it's not just the Haunted Mansion. No, it's actually the Haunted Mansion paired with one of my favorite Halloween Movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas.

When I was younger my dad and I would always turn on ParkHopper Radio in his office in the Family Business and I'd either help him with some of his work (I loved to count money as a kid), or I'd work on some sort of work that I had, and we'd just listen to the Disney Parks Audio. Aside from Illuminations and Spaceship Earth, I have to say that one of my favorites that I remember was the Haunted Mansion Holiday from Disneyland. It's always been one of those things that's been in like the back of my mind of "I want to do that! I want to see that someday!" although it seems like that probably won't be happening anytime soon. I can wish, right?

In general, I think Halloween at Disney would be a lot of fun...and you'd better believe that I'd have a great costume. I've seen some awesome ones though, and here are a few of my favorites:

That last one though...

Here's today's Disney History: 2011: Disney Theatrical Productions announces it has commissioned its first original Broadway show, a prequel to Peter Pan called Peter and the Starcatcher. Based on the Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson novel of the same name, it is expected to open in spring 2012 at a Broadway theater. 

Have a magical day!

Day 291: OUAT vs. Disney World

I made a startling revelation the other day. And I mean it, but it all makes so much sense now.

You see, for the past few weeks I have been going absolutely INSANE about Once Upon a Time. And I mean, INSANE (and you'll see even more of that in a couple of days...just you wait). But what makes a lot of sense is that I'm still in a stage of Disney Depression...and Once Upon a Time is getting caught up in the middle of it.

You see, we've talked multiple times about how Disney Depression works, but apparently I'm in the stage right now still where I don't want to hear anything about Disney. Nothing at all. A few months ago that was totally different. I couldn't hear enough about Disney...and now I don't even want to go through my blogger feed because I know all the stuff will be there. So I have all this free thinking space, and obviously need something to think about.

So what do I start thinking about? Once Upon a Time.

It makes sense, right? I have all this empty brain that needs something to think about and it just so happens that OUAT is right there and being all awesome and I just can't handle it and therefore, instead of thinking about Disney, I think about Once Upon a Time.

Now honestly, I'm kind of getting annoyed with it. Especially after this last week (I'm actually writing this on October 27, after Good Form, because college gets the best of all of us), where I was continuously freaking out just about every day. Granted...those spoilers of a CaptainSwan kiss and the fact that the episode was entirely about my favorite character were not helping, but still. Is this what others feel like when I talk about Disney all the time?

Ponderings aside, I obviously need to move on with my Disney Depression. Too bad that doesn't exactly happen in a flash. Recovering takes some serious time. Leaving Disney and not being there for a number of months is terrible (Actually by the time I get back it will have been almost a year, so I'm not even halfway yet).

Gosh, these next few months are going to be terrible. The big question right now though? What's gonna happen in a month and a half when Once goes on it's mid-season Hiatus?

Here's today's Disney History: 1967: Disney's 19th animated feature film The Jungle Book has its general release. Rudyard Kipling's classic tale of the jungle is the last animated feature personally supervised by Walt Disney (who passed away during the film's production).

Have a magical day!

Day 290: Midterms, Coffee and Awesomeness

As a Freshman in college, I have to say that I'm learning to appreciate the little things in life. Like coffee. I love coffee. Actually, we have a great coffee shop here on campus, one that I drink way too much coffee from, but that's ok. Or the fact that I got an A on my first midterm, which I took last week. Or that I completed two other midterms and finished a paper and talked to my professor about a different paper. Yeah, all great things.

Oh...and Once Upon a Time.

But I'm not going to talk about that. I don't want to reveal anything. Although there's a fair chance that some of you already know what I'm talking about. Still, I will not be the one to spill the beans. HAHA that was actually no pun intended but ended up being a great joke. Gosh I love that show.

No, today we're talking about the little things in life, remember? Like the little bits of Disney that just make your day awesome. For instance, tonight as I was seriously procrastinating on my homework, I came across lots of little Disney things that made me happy. Just going on Youtube or Pinterest has a wealth of little Disney things, many of which I have discussed. If you follow Disney blogs like I do, then you obviously see a lot of this stuff.

But I'm saying the little things down to the Disney Parks Commercials on TV, currently which are running through the Disney Side campaign I talked about last week. Or the set of Vinylmation I have on my desk here at college. My E-Ticket mug that I probably use more here at college than I ever did at home. Or the Annual Passholder magnet I have on the side of my mini-fridge (which I use because it's right here next to my desk.

And what about the Disney Parks music I continuously have been listening to these past few days as I studied for all my midterms. I think I listened to my 3 hour long play list at least 10 times this week. At least. Probably more than that. I think last night I made it through 2 and a half times. Just goes to show you how long I was sitting here. Granted, depending on what I was doing I sometimes skipped a song, but you get the point.

Anyways, since I got really distracted by planning my future Once Upon a Time Disneybounds, it is now 11:55 and I want to actually post this today yet.

So here's today's Disney History: 1965: The World's Fair in Flushing, New York, officially ends. The fair included 4 attractions developed by Walt Disney: General Electric's Carousel of Progress, Ford's Magic Skyway, Pepsi-Cola's It's a Small World, and the State of Illinois' Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

Have a magical day!