Day 1155: Leap

It never occurred to me when I started Everyday Disney that it'd be the fourth year of the blog when we finally hit a Leap Day. However, I guess I didn't necessarily plan to continue past year one. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what to blog about today since it's literally just an extra day that doesn't entirely exist. My blog count at the end of the year will read 366 instead of 365 and that'll probably trip me up when I'm rounding out the last blog posts. Meanwhile I mostly just spent my day sitting at my desk doing homework. What an exciting life, right? 

I suppose once could have spent their Leap Day doing any number of fun things, like watching a Disney movie marathon, or planning a Disney vacation, but in all regards, it's sort of like an extra day to catch up on things, which is nice when there's so much going on and it's barely a month into the semester. Let's see though, what else could you do on an extra day of the year?

I suppose you could go to the Disney Parks, especially if you live close enough to just go for the day. That's not really an option here in Wisconsin. Watching Disney Parks videos is fun, like a vlog on YouTube or a vacation planning video. It's not quite the same, but it's something! 

I already mentioned the Disney Movie Marathon, but you could also do that any day of the year...so it's not really special to Leap Day. Same thing with planning a Disney trip, because let's be honest, we all do that constantly. 

DisneyBounding somethng special could add some magic to the day, but so many of us do that already, and with the March DisneyBound challenge coming up that's probably not always an option. 

Personally, it's just made me think a lot about just how many days I've been blogging. An extra day seems like nothing compared to everything I've done so far. And actually, Leap Day doesn't seem very special after all...unless you're Irish. Then it's a whole other thing...

Have a magical [leap] day everyone! 

Day 1154: Zero to Hero

There are a few Disney movies that I just love to watch over and over again because for some reason, they never get old. The weird part is, they're not necessarily the most popular of the Disney movies. Instead, they're the ones that are just so unique that you can't help but love them. Example? Hercules!

I realized that I haven't seen Hercules in a while, and when I realized it was on Netflix it seemed like the perfect background noise for some note-taking, and away I went. But did you know that Hercules actually had a mini-parade at Hollywood Studios, then MGM-Studios, back in 1997? That's right! Meg, Phil, The Muses, and all your favorite Hercules characters took part in one not-so-giant parade back in the day, and if I do say so myself, I think it was pretty darn adorable!

I mean, you just can't beat the muses singing on the opening float. And while we're talking about the floats, just look at the intense detail that went into some of these!

The "Zero to Hero Victory Parade" only stayed from 1997 until 1998, failing to return for a second season, but from the video I recently found in our home movies, it's definitely one of the more entertaining things that's happened at the Studios! 

Now if only they'd bring back Hercules, Meg, and Hades for regular meet and greets. They're absolutely on my list of "wish to meet," and who knows! Maybe once Herc finally finishes defeating all those monsters they'll make a stop back at Disney World! 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: Pictures from The Disney Parks Blog).

Day 1153: Anna, Elsa, Tiana

The world's latest obsession is definitely adult coloring books, and I couldn't be more excited. As an artsy person in general, I've always loved coloring, and now that's apparently socially acceptable for adults to color too, I'm even more excited. Even Disney is getting in on the action, creating adult coloring books that are by far some of the most intricate I've seen out there. My mom gifted me the first two in the set - Disney Princess and Frozen - to test out, and Megan and I put them to use while watching Newsies recently. Because why wouldn't you want to watch a Disney movie and color in a Disney coloring book?

Megan picked the Disney Princess book, eager to find her favorite Disney Princess: Tiana. I watched as she colored the page, and I got really excited when I saw her color choice for the intricate heart outline. I really thought the dark blue brought some real contrast to the picture and made it different from what one might usually expect! 

Meanwhile, I dove into Frozen, specifically intent on finding a picture of both Anna and Elsa. I found this one, and quite honestly had to look up a picture of them from the movie to make sure I got the color combinations correct. I think it turned out rather well though! 

I think it's pretty obvious at this point that I'm going to be spending more time with my nose in a coloring book than I may have before, but with all the pictures I now have available to color, I don't think that's going to be a problem.

Have a magical day! 

Day 1152: Fuller House

Full House fans rejoice!

Full House was always one of those shows that had reruns on night time television when I was young, and so I guess I grew up somewhat with the Tanners that way, even though the original show premiered and had it's full run about ten years before I was anywhere near the age of one of the sisters. Still, a few years ago the entire series was available on DVD and I jumped at the chance to really understand what the Tanner Family was all about. I didn't regret it.

After watching absolutely every episode of Full House, I probably felt much like those who grew up with the show: I was a part of the family that I had watched on TV for hours and hours and hours. To have that family come back to my television screen, or in this case, sort of my computer screen, was pretty darn great. To have Steve back was even better.

If you're not familiar with Full House, one of my absolute favorite episodes heavily involves Steve. It's right in the middle of his relationship with DJ, when the family heads to Walt Disney World and DJ keeps seeing Steve everywhere she looks. He even shows up as Aladdin, who he just so happens to voice in the original motion picture. But not even Steve dressed up as Indiana Jones can top my favorite part of the episode...when Steve falls quite literally head over heels in the middle of The Grand Floridian.

It's also not lost on me that Spaceship Earth is the first shot of Walt Disney World in the episode. Maybe it's a sign that I should do a reenactment of Full House goes to Disney World sometime. How awesome would that be? Either way, if you haven't binge watched Fuller House on Netflix yet, it's there waiting for you, and I highly recommend it!

Have a magical day!

Day 1151: Hours and Hours

When I get really behind on blog posts there's only one thing for me to do: bunker down in some comfortable clothes with plenty of food and good music until I somehow manage to catch up everything that I've missed. However, finding the motivation needed to write for hours and hours on end is pretty difficult, even when it means I do get to talk about Disney the entire time. Really though, as every college student knows, you can only write for so long before you just get really, really bored of sitting in front of your computer typing out some combination of 26 letters. 

Which is why I've gone back to some of my roots in Disney on the internet, including Disney Parks music that's kept me working for years now. Unforunately, Live365 recently shut down, meaning that I have to go elsewhere to find my recorded Disney music. Thankfully, YouTube has a wealth of options in regards to Disney music, and this time I went back to Dan Gooding's Disney Park Mixes, which is definitely a fan favorite. His combinations celebrating various parks really just bring the magic of Disney Parks Music to life, which is why I could probably listen to these videos for hours. 

I added on the Hollywood Studios Mix above, but you can check out his entire channel HERE, and it's filled with tons of great Disney Parks Music celebrating Disney all over the world! 

Have a magical day! 

Day 1150: The GIF Button

GIFs, which we still apparently can't agree on the pronunciation of, are quickly taking over the internet, although if you're like me and you've been around for a number of years, you absolutely already know of our obsession with the moving pictures. And of course, for a very long time, we had to save the GIFs to our phones and computers and then organize them carefully so we'd be able to find the GIF we want to post as a reaction to something. 

And then the world woke up and realized that this was an incredibly slow process and wouldn't it just be great if we had pretty much every GIF imaginable at our fingertips?

Twitter, like Facebook, now has a GIF button, and it's actually the greatest thing ever. Want a Disney GIF of Sadness to express how much you miss Dole Whips (which, as you can see, also have a GIF)? No problem! Just search for it. And because we obviously all need to clap along to a song like Snow White does (she's flawless, isn't she?), there's a GIF of that to share too. There's GIFs of everything, and it's amazing. Why? Because we all know there's no better way to express happiness than through a GIF of Flash: 

Have a magical day! 

Day 1149: Pesticides

Here we go again with the whole environmental science class correlating with something I've learned at Disney World. This time, my studies bring me to Epcot, specifically The Land, where I've heard for years and years about how they're working to find natural ways to control pests instead of the pesticides, which was the topic in my class not long ago. So basically, while we watched a movie about the book Silent Spring, I sat there thinking about Ladybugs.

Disney is actually doing a lot of really great stuff in regards to environmental science though, and the Land is just filled with new growing techniques that are more fruitful, natural, and better on the environment, all of which is needed in today's society. It's been a while since I've headed on the Behind the Seeds tour in The Land, although these pictures are rather recent since my mom took the tour this past January. Who knows, maybe after taking Environmental Science this semester I'll have to go on the tour myself in May!

Here are some behind the scenes pictures from The Land though!

The Land is definitely one of the most underrated areas of Walt Disney World if you ask me, and honestly it was kind of sad to see how the entire pavilion looked this past January while Soarin' is closed. It seems that heading there isn't worth while these days unless there's a thrill attraction involved, even if we really could learn something by going there. 

Have a magical day, and be sure to check out the Land the next time you're at Epcot! 

Day 1148: Waste Nothing

If there's one thing I've learned so far this semester in my Environmental Science class, it's that we really need to pay attention to what we waste. Actually, the class as a whole really has me looking at my life, from what I eat to how much water I'm using when I wash the dishes to what I actually do end up throwing away at the conclusion of each day. Of course, if I'm going to adopt a "waste less" mindset for my life, then that has to apply to everything, right? Including airline points that expire well before your next planned Disney trip?

I occasionally get a call from my mom asking about a specific set of dates, and honestly it's been all over the map since I started college. As a kid, I headed to Disney in one of three months: January, November, or December. I also went in February once, but that's about as far as we broke from the pattern for most of my childhood. I also headed down in June once for a convention, but since my high school graduation, I've been to Disney in July and March as well as two trips in June and two in January. Apparently I'm just trying to knock every month off the list too, because in a very short amount of time I went from zero Disney trip plans to one in May and another in October.

Normally, this wouldn't happen, but because we had some extra airline points that were set to expire long before October, we figured that it would really be a shame to waste an opportunity to get an extra trip in and use that cheap airfare. We already have annual passes, after all! It's sort of strange, being more spontaneous with these trips, especially when we used to be so methodical with our planning. Now it's more of a "what haven't we had a chance to experience yet and how do we fit it into our schedules?"

The greatest part about this extra trip in May though? You get to help me plan! Head over to the google form I've created to help plan my trip to Walt Disney World! You can answer the questions HERE!

Have a magical day!

Day 1147: The Last 20 Minutes

Life outside of a Disney Park tends to do a few things. One, it somehow goes by incredibly slow and incredibly fast all at the same time. Two, it really gets in the way of an ideally Disney filled life. Disney is doing a great job of promoting the Disney Parks these days, especially through television, which makes a lot of sense considering the historically close relationship between the two. They've also been doing a bunch of Live Streams since Christmas, which makes it possible for those of us very far away to watch right along with everyone in the parks.

That is, unless you've got something else going on.

As a college student, and especially with a schedule like mine, there's not a lot of flexibility to just change when you have class or a concert because Disney is doing a special celebration from Disneyland. At least this time I was at a jazz rehearsal, which is just about my favorite thing in the world, but it still doesn't dull the fact that I missed what was basically the biggest Disney Television event in a long while...and I missed Harrison Ford by about 10 minutes.

I did, however, get back to my apartment with just enough time to catch the last 20 minutes of the Disneyland 60 special, which makes me laugh a bit simply because it's been a while since the actual anniversary occurred, and with everything they've done for this 60th anniversary, I can't even imagine what the 50th for Walt Disney World will be like in a few years. Let's just hope they don't turn the castle into a birthday cake again, am I right?

Since I missed most of the Disneyland 60 Celebration, let me know what your favorite part was!

Have a magical day!

Day 1146: Zoo Tycoon 2

There are some things that simply mark our childhoods and make us the people we are today. Zoo Tycoon was one of those things. 

Not long ago, my friends and I had an entire conversation at lunch about Zoo Tycoon. I'm not talking about a mention it and move onto the next topic type of conversation...no, a literal, real, half hour conversation about how much we loved Zoo Tycoon (and other old computer games...Rollercoaster Tycoon was at the top of that list too), and then my roommate and I proceeded to search out our copies of the game. Coming up empty handed, she ordered the game online and now we've all got zoos on our computers, filled with animals of every kind. 

Personally, I think I took Zoo Tycoon 2 a bit too seriously as a kid, but I have the feeling that has something to do with Disney and how the parks look. I was always obsessed with making sure the themes matched the animal habitats and that everything looked as natural as possible, just like it does at Disnye's Animal Kingdom in Florida. I haven't had a ton of time to really make much of a zoo yet, but when I do I'll be sure to share all the random little Disney references that appear. I know for one that the very first elephant I buy will be named Red...and her little baby elephant will be Little Red. 

Have a magical day! 

Day 1145: I Love That Wookiee

When my friend Allie asked if I wanted to go to Build-A-Bear, of course the answer was yes!

Disney, and especially Star Wars, is literally everywhere these days, which is a far cry from what it used to be. Now, even adults can find constant merchandise right in their backyard, which is great for those of us who live far enough away from the Disney Parks that we tend to go a bit overboard if we do manage to find a Disney store...or anything Disney related for that matter. Build-A-Bear has had connections with Disney for a long time, but now that Star Wars has come into the mix, we figured that a trip to the store would be the perfect way to get rid of some stress after a long week of college.

Being the Star Wars fans we are, we just had to make a Chewbacca and a Han Solo, and because they're the coolest duo in the galaxy, they obviously needed sunglasses too. They're all set to go with their Star Wars sounds and blasters and outfits...unless they happen across Kylo Ren. That could be a problem.

Long story short, we spent a lot of money going to Build-A-Bear at age 20 and we loved every second of it...because we all need a bit more Star Wars and a lot more Disney in our lives. 

Have a magical day! 

Day 1144: #ShareYourEars

I'm a bit late to the #ShareYourEars Game, at least in regards to blogging about it. Still, I definitely participated, like so many of you, and Disney actually ended up giving double the amount to the Make-A-Wish Foundation! I absolutely loved the entire campaign, which will help to grant wishes for amazing young children, and since I didn't get around to blogging about it until now, here's a few extra #ShareYourEars photos from me! 

To learn more about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, check out their website HERE, and you can find out more about the #ShareYourEars campaign HERE! 

Have a magical day! 

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

Day 1143: All the Tsum Tsums

It's been about a year now since I got my very first Tsum Tsums, which I bought as a reward for nailing an on campus job that I never expected to get. The fact that I got my very first paycheck seemed like a good enough reason to make an addition to my Disney Collection, and Tsum Tsums seemed like the way to go. Because they're so inexpensive, they make a great gift and their size makes them an adorable way to decorate, but it also means that they're really addicting...especially when every new Tsum Tsum release seems better than the last! 

It all started again when I became rather Twitterpated...with these Bambi Tsum Tsums of course. You just can't deny the adorableness that is this little collection (although really...we need a Flower). 

Just when you thought that maybe you don't need all the Tsum Tsums, this collection came around. Disney has definitely been spilling over into the parks for inspiration for new characters, and I'm pretty positive that this batch has us all yelling out "We wants the redhead!" 

The theme here seems to be "if you collect one, you collect them all," and with the wide array of Zootopia Tsum Tsums out there, I think we might be spending more than anticipated. To be fair though, if you didn't want to buy all of the characters in the Zootopia collection, you could always just stick with Nick, Judy, and...yep, Flash. Or you could buy them all. 

From what I can understand, stacking up Tsum Tsums in giant towers is a part of the fun...which means that the Tangled Collection is definitely a perfect fit. So if you're asking "When will my Tsum Tsum Collection begin?" I think we've found the answer. 

We all need more Star Wars. Enough said. 

It's not well known, but Tsum Tsums do more than just look adorable sitting wherever you've placed them in your room...they also help protect you while you sleep! When it comes to protecting, the Avengers and other various characters from the Marvel Universe seem like the perfect Tsum Tsums for the job! 

Now we have a problem though...which ones to we buy? 

Have a magical day!