Day 1227: Disney Accessories We Wish We Owned

You can't deny that there aren't a whole slew of Disney accessories that you might wish to own yourself. I know I spend more than my fair share time dreaming about all the things I could own if only I had the money to actually purchase them. And the great thing about accessories is many of them are perfect for both at home and in the parks, for Disneybounding and regular outfits! These are just a few of those accessories: 

Lately I've been obsessing over the various Minnie Ears you can now find on Etsy, like these Rose Gold ones from TheBowMama. There are tons of Etsy shops out there selling all sorts of different designs, so be sure to check out a bunch of them before you make your final decisions! 

And then there's these shirts, which you have to admit, are some of the best shirts in the world. They're also sold on Etsy, but by AllThingsCuteDecals and to be completely honest, this is up at the top of my list of things to buy soon! 

MagicBands are almost becoming the ultimate Disney World accessory, and The Disney Store sells all kinds of them! Personally I'm in love with this one featuring Cinderella Castle, but really I'm just waiting for the day we get a Spaceship Earth design.

One of my friends here at college has the most adorable castle necklace from The Disney Store that she wears all the time, and while this isn't the exact same one, it would be a perfect addition to the closet of any Disney fan! 

But if we're being honest, don't you think a real pair of glass slippers would be the absolute perfect Disney accessory? If you figure out where to buy some...and how to make them more comfortable, let me know because I'll buy them straight away! 

What are some of your favorite Disney Accessories? 

Have a magical day!

Day 914: Captain America Day

As the end of this week approached, there was that ever constant nagging in the back of my mind: "What about your Friday YouTube video? What are you going to do? You need to film this and edit it you know." And on and on my mind went. Of course, that nagging voice is right...I do have to, weekly, come up with an idea, write a script, film the video, transfer the files, edit the video and then travel a half hour to upload it because my internet at home is too slow. It's sometimes a bit tiring, but I do love every second of it, right up to the point where the other day I was trying to figure out how I might be able to continue weekly videos once I head back to school in the fall. It'll be difficult, but I'll see what I can do.

However, this week took a bit of thinking. It's obviously the Fourth of July and, at first, I had an entirely different idea. As ideas sometimes do, it fell flat, and I was left on Wednesday with no idea of what I would be uploading for this week's video. And then a tweet from someone I follow gave me a spark and I took it.

Which leads me to my confession...I've never actually seen any of the Captain America movies. Well, I hadn't when I filmed the video. I finally got around to watching the first one last night and loved every second of it. When the video was made, however, Captain America had yet to be watched. Which led to just a few projects...

As you can see in the video, I ended up attempting three Captain America inspired projects, and while the string art definitely took longer than expected, all three where super fun to create! 

Like I said, everything turned out really well and thankfully, despite draining basically every video camera battery I have, I got the video up on time! Remember, there's a new trip vlog on my YouTube channel every Tuesday and Friday Funday Video on Friday at Noon! 

Have a magical day!

Day 898: Cheater Cheater

I don't often go to other amusement parks, and quite frankly, I really don't enjoy them more often than not. So it takes a lot for me to have an honest to God good time in a "theme park" that's not Disney. It's really, really hard. My band director has been trying for years to take us to amusement parks on band trips, and not once have I enjoyed it...other than our Disney trip of course. So when I was asked to come along on this summer's band trip to film and record their experiences, I was delighted by the end of our first day when I realized that I had a really great time at Valleyfair amusement park in Minnesota.

The day started off, of course, with a nice six hour drive from little old Seymour, and we arrived to approaching clouds and storms for the band to play a pep band performance. Luckily, they got it finished and we were off to lunch before rain hit the pavement, but the first bits of our Valleyfair experience were a bit wet.

We did quite a bit during our day at Valleyfair. We found obnoxiously priced water...

If I ever hear a complaint about expensive Disney water again...not to mention the obnoxiously priced food...

But I'm making this sound all bad when in fact most of the day really was good! We hit up several of the rollercoasters and our band director made several challenges to students in return for them forgetting instruments or music they needed earlier that day. I watched, mostly, but it did lead to one of my favorite parts of the day: the Lazer Maze! Basically it's like in the movies or on TV with the spies and the lazers and it was an absolute blast, especially since I beat my friends and band director! 

However, it was a group of guys that really made our day: The Acafellas! As an a capella group, they were dressed pretty dapper, and we passed them earlier in the day before we all took refuge in one of the stores during the rain. They noticed our bright orange shirts from the performance earlier in the day and gave us a special performance right in the store! We saw them again later on and it didn't take long for them to recognize us (and the camera). We hit up their show later in the day and loved every second of it!

So overall? Yeah we had a pretty darn good day at Valleyfair...although I may have had to bring along a bit of home to make myself feel like less of a cheater!

By the end of the day, we were all pretty tired out, and I have to tell you...the bed felt like a cloud where I had some pretty sweet dreams of the Acafellas singing once more.

If I ever find myself out in Minnesota again, I'll seriously debate returning to Valleyfair, although I'll still take Disney any day. If you've ever been to Valleyfair, let me know in the comments below!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 24 due to travel).

Day 813: That's Just Brilliant

One of the great things about being a blogger is that some times you just need to sit down and do some research, and sometimes that research means sitting down and doing any number of things. It could mean listening to a CD, reading a book, eating food or, in my case today, watching YouTube videos. Now, as you may already know, I'm not just a blogger, as I also make vlogs that correspond with my Disney trips for YouTube. While yes, the rate at which those vlogs actually appear on YouTube is very slow, you can bet that the previous trip's vlogs are done before I go and film new stuff (which means I have roughly two and a half months left to finish the ones from January...right?) To be honest, being a part of the YouTube community is great, and there are so many wonderful videos out there for you to discover, if you only spend a few minutes searching for them. After all, I've had several blog posts here on Everyday Disney that explore some of my favorite YouTube videos, and who knows what else there is out there that I haven't found yet.

Today, while sitting in one of my classes, for some reason I felt the real urge to just sit and watch some old time, vintage Disney things, and while that's not at all what I ended up watching, it is a common hobby for me. Instead, I simply searched YouTube for Disney World and came up with a few things, including some commercials put out by the official Disney Parks YouTube. Here's my personal favorite:

Now I know our Disneyland friends haven't had their share of MyMagic+ yet, but let me tell you...you think you'll hate it and then suddenly you wonder what in the world you did without it. MagicBands are like...I don't even have words to describe them. They do so much and make your entire trip a million times more convenient. I have no clue what I'm going to do without one when I head to Disneyland come August! 

The problem is that, as you can see in the video, when you get home you kind of fall into this weird place where you start to wonder why you can't just charge everything to the magical colored wristband on your arm. Suddenly you need a key to open doors (and I swear that colleges should invest in this because it would be a million times easier than an ID card all the time), and no...you can't just skip in lines because guess what..Fastpass+ doesn't exist in the rest of the world. 

There are several other ads similar to this one out there, and I highly suggest watching them all if you're a Walt Disney World fan and want a laugh. There's another one that talks about the MyDisneyExperience App and the mom has post-it notes just everywhere and that is 100% how I feel about my life right now. Regardless, give them all a watch! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on March 27 due to a wonderful cold...)

Day 614: So Many Colors

We still have several months before my next Disney trip, but that doesn't mean there aren't decisions to be made, right? I mean, the reservations are made for the resort and for the dining (although those seem to keep changing - the dining, not the resort), and pretty soon we'll be discussing what kind of fastpasses we want. But let's be honest, there's a much more important decision to be made, and it's one we came across earlier this week.

What color Magic Band do we want?

I personally already have three magic bands at home: a yellow, a blue and a red. But here's the thing with Magic Bands. There seems to be these unspoken rules, at least right now since the bands are still so new. 

1. You need a get a different color every time you go.

This is probably silly for some since many people will probably only have one Magic Band, not four like I'll have in January. But there are so many colors that you just have to have them all, and then it doesn't really matter anymore because you have them all in the first place and by the time you collect them all they'll probably come out with a new design and you'll have to start all over anyway. 

2. You can't get the same color as someone else.

I feel like you can, depending on how many people are in your family, pick the same color as another family member, but my brother and I never allow the other to have the same color. I mean, if we bring old ones along and use them for a day or something, that's different, but when it comes to ordering new ones, you stick to a color different from everyone else. Surprisingly enough, we managed to do this pretty well between my little group of four. Go us. 

In the end, Magic Bands are super important. Megan can go on and on about how awesome they are, and she hasn't even technically had one yet. But my brother and I had Magic Bands in June while everyone else had regular tickets and I'm pretty sure it drove my friends crazy, meaning they're more than excited to have their own "wristbands of the future." 

Have a magical day!

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

Day 484: I'm There!

Day 4 of the Disney Photo Challenge: A picture of the way you know you're at a Disney Park. 

Blast from the Past: 

I don't really have a picture for this, because it's more of an atmosphere, but here's a picture of said atmosphere. As I'll explain in a later picture, my family has a tradition of heading to Epcot for our first and last park each trip, but I won't go into anything more now because I do explain it fully later, but anyways...it's there. 

The moment I see Spaceship Earth (the big golf ball), there's a nagging at the back of my mind..."You're there...you're finally home..." but I don't fully realize that I'm there until I walk through the front gates. There's just something about the sight, and the sound and the smell of Epcot...yes, I said the smell...that makes me realize that I'm home. If you are around me a lot, you may have heard me mention how something smells like Disney...and I'm not kidding. Disney has a distinct "smell." It's another of those things that you just have to be there, and I'm sure this sounds, once again, really cheesy, but it's there...and it's amazing. If you want to know another of my favorite smells...ask me about BBQ sauce sometime. 

But in all reality, it's the moment I walk through the front gates of Epcot that I realize I have returned...I'm in a Disney Park...I'm home. There are other times too, like when my brother and I scheme against our parents (it's too long to elaborate here), or when I get the high score on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, or when I watch Illuminations at Epcot, but I never fully realize that I'm there until that moment just past the front gates. 

Back to the Future: 

I can't help but agree with my past self, Spaceship Earth is most certainly one of the most important pieces of my realization that I am at Disney, that I'm home. But lately we haven't always been able to stick to the tradition of going to Epcot first, so I've sort of had to find other ways to have that realization too.

I mean, there are really small things, like the sound my suitcase makes on the tile floor in the airport, or the recording on the monorail on the way to Magic Kingdom or Epcot. And in the most recent trips, I think a huge factor is putting on the Magic Band itself. Then there's the music, which, especially at Epcot, brings a lot to the experience.

But in the end, the number one thing is still Spaceship Earth. I try my best to make it one of the first things I see and keep it in my line of sight until the trees cover it completely.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on August 19).

Day 414: Excitement

I'm currently wondering if someone should take my phone away from me.

Like, seriously, today has been very interesting.

It started off with me waking up in my usual Tuesday fashion: an hour later than normal to Charley's Girl o my phone...just a great way to start the day. I'm sick, so I debated if I was well enough to go to my one class of the day...and decided I was. So I got dressed, filled my mug with Orange Juice to go and headed out.

Then, at lunch, I decided that I may have an ear infection, so I called my mom and she made a doctor's appointment...which I went to an hour later. I also worked on my SECRET PROJECT in there..and it's out of my hands now. We have nothing to do but wait. Sigh.

Anyways, I DO have a minor ear and sinus infection (meaning I must take my medication for the next ten days...but if it will make my ear stop hurting I'm all cool with it). And then I returned to the music building and waited for wind ensemble. But today was the press release of the Midseason premiere of Once Upon A Time...meaning TWITTER IS NOW FILLED WITH WONDERFUL (and not so wonderful) THINGS!

Oh yes...there are promotional pictures EVERYWHERE, and I am excited about some of the stuff happening and very UNEXCITED about some of the stuff that is happening. That is all I can say...other than I am VERY excited to see, basically, Hook versus the world. It's gonna be hilarious.

Either way, in the meantime, my mom also sent me this picture:

LET THIS BE A REMINDER THAT EXACTLY ONE MONTH FROM NOW I'LL BE AT WALT DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Am I excited enough?) 

March is gonna be SPECTACULAR.

Have a magical day!

Day 370: Magic Bands - Step 1

Honestly I'm not really sure how this whole Magic Band thing works yet...hence the fact that I'm going to Disney in March to prepare for when I go in June and have a band after me to help with all of this stuff. That's ok though, I'm excited to work with the stuff and learn how Fastpass+ and the new system works.

And today (or really a few days ago when I'm writing this I guess), we got one of the first things that go along with this new experience. Actually, my mom got it, but I was like "DISNEY MAIL!" and proceeded to be like "CAN I OPEN IT!?! CAN I!?! PLEASE!?!" and then I did. I had no idea what it was, but I opened it anyways, and this is what I found:

Yes, looks like the first part of our Magic Band experience has arrived. And that means that we're actually getting close to our trip! But what I didn't know about all this stuff is just how personalized everything is. You can see at the top of the brochure that it says, specifically, "The Tesch Family's Incredible Vacation." That's our name! How awesome is that!?! 

And then it has a page devoted specifically to where we're staying: Old Key West. I suppose it changes for everyone, but that must take a lot of planning to accomplish with how many people visit Walt Disney World each year. I just find it really amazing that they can do that, as it's personalization on a whole new level that I'm excited to see in the Disney Parks. 

Finally, at the end of the book, they had this little Magnet with all the important dates coming up on it that you might need to know for stuff such as Fastpass+. Ours is still in our book, mostly because we don't really need it since we already have those dates on our calendars long beforehand, but I still think it's a great idea. It makes it really easy for people to get everything they need to do finished before they set out on their own Disney Adventure. 

Don't worry, I'll have a whole post on the magic bands when they come soon. I can't wait to get that in the mail though. SUPER excited about it. =)

Have a magical day!