Day 749: Disney Haul

I think I come home with more stuff every Disney trip I take, much to the dismay of my parents. But I rather like to think of it as "thinking ahead," since a lot of the stuff I buy is actually for my dorm room or apartment in the future. Because of course I'll need potholders in the future when I have a kitchen and of course they'd be better if they looked like Mickey Mouse's gloves.

But that's not all I got, so I figured I would stop and take a moment to share some of my favorite items I picked up on this last trip:

As always, here's the picture of everything I got, which actually looks like a lot of stuff now that I put it all in one spot, but I think it's probably because of how large the things are, rather than how much stuff there really is. As you can see, I've got some new attraction posters, which you can get in a set of 12 for like $20 at the moment. They're not like super high quality posters, but I'm definitely excited to have them. 

Then we have this little guy. Megan and I admired the Disney Pillow Pets for pretty much the entire trip and at some point decided that one needed to come home with each of us. I settled, eventually, on Stitch, and I am in love with him. I do not, whatsoever, regret buying a pillow pet. And to make it a Disney one yet too! Ha! Match made in heaven! And of course, I'm very excited about my Monsters University hat, which I'm seriously considering wearing for our first day of classes. But we'll see. 

I collect mugs. You know that, I know that, and when someone posted a picture of a resort mug exactly like this a couple of weeks ago, I knew that there was a significant possibility of me coming home with one. So I found the Contemporary mug and bought it on the spot, much to the dismay of my father. Also here you can see the soap I got from Downtown Disney. CaptainSwan much?

While at the World of Disney store, Megan was looking at a couple of different smaller stuffed characters and I remember picking Oswald up, putting him down, and repeating that about three times before finally putting him in my basket. I love Oswald, and since my parents generally collected the different characters over the years, it felt right for him to join the gang. I'm especially excited to meet Oswald at Disneyland. Like you have no idea. 

And finally, no trip would be complete without a new addition to my Spaceship Earth collection. This is another of those things I saw on Instagram a few weeks back and wanted and figured I wouldn't be able to find it. We walked in the Christmas Store at Magic Kingdom on like day two, Mom saw it and it was decided. I picked it up later in the week and now it hangs on my wall next to the rest of the collection. No Spaceship Earth ornament of mine goes into a box for the majority of the year! 

As you can see in that first picture, there's plenty more that I came home with, and I'm sure there will be more in the future. Just wait until Disneyland. I'm pretty sure I'll buy half the store. Thankfully I'm already saving money for that trip (and the D23 Expo! Pins here I come)! It's always so difficult to choose what to get and what to leave because, lets be honest, we pretty much want to buy all of it, right? 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on January 24 due to a busy schedule).

Day 497: Shopping Spree!

Day 16 of the Disney Photo Challenge: A picture of your favorite place to shop. 

Blast from the Past: 

Ahh, another difficult one. I knew it was coming. 

While I have a special place in my heart for the Briar Patch, the gift shop near the end of Splash Mountain, I have to admit...Mouse Gear at Epcot is probably my favorite. You see, at Disney, the shops are just sa themed as the rest of the park...making it hard to choose. 

I love Mouse Gear because it incorporates so many pieces of Disney...and it has just about everything. From Board Games to charms to stuffed characters to princess dresses and more. Plus, it's in Epcot...and it's giant, so when it's warm out...just come up with an excuse to look in Mouse Gear and enjoy the air conditioning. 

Other notable shops I love include pretty much everything at Animal Kingdom...I love the decor there! And you can't go to Downtown Disney without a stop at the "World of Disney" store, or the "Art of Disney" store either (or the other one at Epcot!). Of course, I love the Art of Disney store because once and a while an amazing piece of art shows up there...like SOLO! I love that painting. So if you want to give me a $500 present, find a copy of "Solo." I'll love you forever. 

Now, actually, that I thought about it...there's one other store that I hold dear to my heart. My dad loves antiques, and we can never make a trip complete without a stop in the antique store at the Hollywood Studios. It's got signed pictures and more from many of the most famous actors, singers and other artists in the world. Someday...SOMEDAY I TELL YOU...I will find my Harrison Ford signed Han Solo picture. Or at least an Indiana Jones one. So there..if you want to get me a little less expensive, $200 present, get me one of those Harrison Ford signed things...and I will love you forever...maybe more than the person who got me "Solo." 

Back to the Future: 

Good Lord. This is a hard question. STILL is a hard question, even two years later.

Sadly, the Antique shop has closed and been changed into a Fastpass+ Kiosk. It makes me incredibly sad, because I honestly think that was my favorite store. I loved going in and searching through all the autographs. I heard they have some in a different store at Hollywood Studios, but I haven't had a chance to check it out yet. January, for sure.

So now I'm left with a new issue. If my favorite store closed, what's my new favorite store?

I think I'm going to have to go with The Art of Disney. As much as I still DO love all the other stores on my list, I think I end up in the Art of Disney store at both Epcot and Downtown Disney at least three or four times on a normal trip. It's a little bit of an issue, especially since I literally can't afford like anything in them. But I can dream, right?

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on August 20).

Day 251: Shopping

One of my initial concepts for this blog, and something I'm sure I've talked about before, was to talk about things that are, physically Disney, that popped up in my life. This means that it's not a reference to something, or something at Walt Disney World. No pictures on Instagram or anything like that. Nope, the idea was that it has to be something that says Disney on it. The idea was that it has to be something that is, or says Disney on it.

Well, yesterday was one of those days where that original idea came into play. After picking up a couple of my friends from college and going out for Froyo, I returned them to college and, instead of going back home as I intended, I headed towards Green Bay. Why? Well, it all started with a comment from one of my friends. I had been at home earlier in the morning, obviously, and didn't exactly have the right pair of socks to wear the shoes I had brought home, so instead I just threw on my boots. I also had like a black tank top on, and apparently when you put it all together I was almost dressed as Emma Swan.

Now, this goes even further back to over a year ago, when I was shopping with my best friend and I found a red leather jacket that seriously did remind me of Emma, and I didn't buy it. I sure regret that. So since I was in Green Bay, I started a search for a leather jacket, as well as for a pair of brown boots, but that's not what I came out with. In fact, I found neither, but I did find a few other things!

First, I found a Hakuna Matata shirt that I just pretty much had to buy. It's adorable, and I got it at target. I tried to find a picture of one so I could show it on here, but I didn't find one sadly. The same goes for the Mickey Mouse Club shirt I got at Old Navy. I looked for a picture but didn't find one. Of course, I'm too lazy to take a picture of my shirts and put it on here, but that's mostly because it's already dark in my dorm room and I don't feel like turning all the lights on for a picture.

But that's not all I got that was Disney! Today was my church's Rally Sunday, and I always work for it, for the past number of years by running the Duck Pond, a game where the kids pay a quarter and pick a duck and get a prize. It's adorable to watch the kids pick which duck they want and get one of the different prizes. And you know what one of the prizes were this year? Little Disney activity coloring books! Once everyone was finished I picked a duck of my own (ok, so maybe I had them memorized) and picked out my Disney coloring book, which I intend to color here at college when I need a break. Sounds like fun to me!

And so, those are the little bits of Disney that I found in the past couple of days. Granted, it has largely been on my mind, for obvious reasons. Only 287 days you know!




Today's #Frumpstagram post today is "Character Moment," so of course I had to choose my favorite guy, Donald, as my character for today! He is #1, after all. I mean, he told us so himself. He is pretty awesome though, and that's why he's one of my favorites. He's on my phone case too!






Here's today's Disney History: 1998: It's official...the Walt Disney World attraction Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is permanently closed. On this day work beings on Mr. Toad's home as it will become The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. One of the park's opening day attractions, it was modeled after the Disneyland attraction. Despite the ride's popularity and any protests, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride entertained guests for the very last time yesterday.

Have a magical day!

Day 75: Shopping Trip

Every once in a very great while I have a chance to go shopping. I don't go very often since I am pretty busy generally, but when I do go, my best friend and I plan it for weeks. We know what we're looking for and where we will be going and exactly when we will be leaving home long before the day actually arrives. Luckily though, today was that day.

I had a few things I was really looking for on this trip. First off I needed to find a new pencil skirt for my upcoming state FBLA competition. Second I wanted to find a pair of yellow converse. Third, I wanted to get some clothes that make it easier to Disneybound. Up until today I've been pretty limited with who I can Disneybound as, since my closet is filled with pretty much the same two or three colors...black, blue and more black. It's partly because my favorite color is blue and most of the shirts from our high school are black, but still. It makes it pretty difficult.

So  headed out and I ended up finding quite a few things that I can Disneybound with for very little. Ok, not very little, but the only thing I bought full price was my converse, and if you ask me that's pretty good!

You'll see more of what I bought in the coming days as I start to wear it, but I'd like to mention that I also found these and thought they were cute. Hey, this blog is about how Disney appears in my everyday life, right? There's a great example!

Here's today's Disney History: 1923: Animator, designer, Imagineer and Disney Legend Joyce Carlson is born in Racine, Wisconsin. Her 56 years at Disney include creating the original "It's a Small World" for the New York World's Fair of 1964. Carlson first worked as an ink artist on films such as Cinderella  Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty and later as the lead ink artist for the 1955 Disney Classic Lady and the Tramp. Carlson moved to Central Florida in 1982 to work at Disney World as a senior show production designer. She retired from her full-time position at WDW in 2000, but remained working for Disney through 2007. Carlson's Disney World window, which is on the second floor of a structure along Main Street U.S.A, reading "Dolls by Miss Joyce, Dollmaker for the World."

Have a magical day!