Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Best Tribute I Can Give to SWSA

Today's the day.

The last day.

For a heroine.

Picture from the Disney Wiki.

To receive a poison apple.

Picture from the Disney Wiki.

But then to receive a True Love's kiss.


I have forgotten the source of this picture, but I'm pretty sure it
was once the Disney Wiki.  It seems to have now been
removed.

And wake up.

In Fantasyland, Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida, USA.

Snow White's Scary Adventures has its last day today, and then it will be torn down to make way for new parts of the Park.

Farewell to Snow White's Scary AdventuresI enjoyed my first and only ride back in 2008, and that ride turned SWSA into one of my favorite rides at Walt Disney World.

And here's my reaction to the fact that it's being removed:

I stubbornly refused to believe it at first, but it's true.
Snow White's Scary Adventures is leaving Walt Disney World.
Guess I'll have to catch a ride at Disneyland or Tokyo...
but it won't be the same.
Picture from a tumblr blog I follow and can't find now....

I wish I was there, riding one last time.  Maybe in spirit, I am.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Cutting Class: New Brave Clip

If only all classes were like this, I'd always look forward to school!



This video is fairly new - it was posted on YouTube by ThePixarPost on Sunday.  As always, every Brave trailer aims to please, and at least in for me, always hits that mark!

I love how Queen Elinor (who is slowly becoming one of my favorite characters) always thinks her husband is on her side only to find out, well, Merida is a lot like her father and putting them together doesn't work out the way Elinor would like.

The one thing I'd really like to see, speaking of Queen Elinor, is how she and Fergus got together.  She's so diplomatic while he's just a guy who wants to have fun.  And it seems the kids take on after him.

There's a video on the King and Queen, but it really doesn't discuss much, except that they couldn't be any more different from each other.

By the way, sorry about the weird sound issue in this video in the middle of it.  And I'm also sorry that I've been unable to do a post on every new Brave trailer that comes out - there are just too many of them!  Some of them I haven't even seen yet, but I try to share my favorite ones here on the blog.

See ya all real soon!

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Sunday, May 27, 2012

And the Winner Is...

Good afternoon, all!  Greetings from northern Minnesota, where I sit in an armchair at my grandma's.  Yes, that same grandma that I've mentioned at least three times thus far on this blog.  The other day, I suddenly realized she's been getting some mention and will continue to get some, but this member of My Disney Family doesn't have a name yet!  I'll get to that soon.

But I'm not posting about that.  That was a short side trail from my main train of thought.

Instead, I'm posting a sort of late update on that contest Design by Me!

We have a winner, my friends.

And the winner's shirt happened to be one of my favorites (the three I shared and couldn't pick from).

The chosen shirt is the one of Mickey's famous face which is made up of several Disney characters. 

From the Disney Store website, I found this statement from the winner Christy W.

"'I have long admired the tradition, creativity, and imagination that symbolizes the Disney company...I am humbled to be a small part of that tradition...It was truly "all started by a mouse" - all the characters that each and every Disney fan knows and loves....I am thrilled that so many Disney fans share that ideology along with me and are so excited to wear this new design.'"
(Source: The Disney Store, Design by Me winning t-shirt page)

Christy did a fantastic job of using this phrase in her winning design: "all started with a mouse."  Mickey Mouse is the main character on the shirt, but since he started everything Disney, the characters make up him.

Congratulations, Christy, and splendid job!  For the rest of you, order your shirt now!

Speaking of Mickey Mouse shirts, did you wear your Mickey today?

See ya all real soon!

(Like The Disney Freak's Blog on Facebook for even more Disney updates and daily doses of Disney magic.  Thanks!!)

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Introducing....

Pardon me for taking forever to post this.  Seriously.  What I'm gonna tell you is kind of old information now.

Like I said, it ain't mandatory to post anymore.  Which makes it a bit hard to keep on track.

Cross your fingers for me.

Anywho.

Several weeks ago, MMM and I headed to Target to do some shopping.  I had tagged along because we were looking for a new caculator for me as my previous one stopped, er, working and I had a math final the next day!  And even though I told MMM my calculator is like the most common calculator EVER and OF COURSE Target will have it on stock, she thought I should come along to see if it wasn't on stock.

Who was right?

Guess.

After finding the needed, matching calculator in less than a minute, I decided to head over to the Toys section while MMM browsed adult stuff.  Kitchen stuff, etc.  Where you (the child) stand there watching the ceiling and wondering when you'll go home.

Mostly, I went to check out Target's Breyer selection (gotta keep an eye on my stores' selections, and apparently this particular Target no longer sells Breyers).

On the way to that search, a very obvious display practically shouted for my attention.

(Target exclusive) Brave merchandise.

Ooh.

Of course I checked it out.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Drum Roll Please....

Thank you.

Consider all of you very special because I'm going to share a very big secret with you.  Well, it's not really a secret, but it's a very big milestone!

I've graduated from high school!

Joining the ranks of Troy and Gabriella.
Picture from a Google search: justjared.com

I tried to get a picture of the cap/tiara toss from The Princess
Diaries but couldn't find one.  So this graduation
post is High School Musical 3 themed.
Picture from a Google search: sheknows.com
Caps off to me, please.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Wait...Who's Who?

The Disney Mermaid and I.

Once TDM came downstairs, I had MMM take a picture.  And since my parents
do not want me to show pictures with my sibling's faces, I had to go with the
picture of really just our shirts.
One of my new favorite pictures.  Hope you love it as much as I do!!
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

Later she changed out of the shirt into something nicer (though I think this is nice!) for an outing with some relatives to see Princess Di's dresses.  It was cute and fun while it lasted.  We'll have to do it again.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Kohls Finds!

Kohls.

Expect great things.

That I did.

And found last night.


This was just too cute, but I didn't get it since it was a bit expensive, even
on clearance, and I don't like making MMM buy me expensive
stuff.  We all inherit her thrifty genes.
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.
This one was too cute and cheap to pass up!
The Disney Mermaid and I ended up buying matching
ones in different sizes.
I'm wearing mine now, and I think she's changing into hers...
That makes my fourth Disney shirt, but my first
non-Mickey one!
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Today in Disney History...

Goofy made his film debut.

That's right.  According to the Disney Parks Blog, Goofy appeared in the 1932 animated short "Mickey's Revue" (interestingly, there's also a Parks "ride" with a similar name).

Goofy (or Dippy Dawg as he was back
then) in "Mickey's Revue."
Picture from the Disney Parks Blog.

However, Goofy was originally named Dippy Dawg.  It wasn't until 1939 when he became known as Goofy.

Here's to the dog that brings a goofy smile on Disney fans' faces.

I thought this was the best picture from
the gallery at the Disney Parks Blog.
So cute!
And a great post "ender!"
Picture from the Disney Parks Blog

Thursday, May 10, 2012

National Pet Week: Cat

I've shared with you that I own a dog.  (Smiley) Riley (Wiley) is his name.  But to be very very honest, I am a huge dog person, not just evident in that I own a dog, but because I love every breed (except for Pekingese.  I just...don't like them).

I am not a cat person.

Not really.

I mean, I do like Bestie's cats.  And I did have a tabby cat with the planned name of Toby waiting for me at Pet Ranch before it closed.

Overall, though, I don't really like cats.

They think they're all that.  Stop petting me: I'll nip you.  Dogs usually don't do that.  So I prefer dogs.

However, some Disney characters think otherwise.  And that leads us into our cat spotlight for National Pet Week!

Since I "chose" the dog "spotlighter" (is that a word?  Spell-check doesn't like it), I asked The Disney Mermaid the first Disney character when I said a word.  "Cat."

"The cat from Alice in Wonderland."

Great.  I haven't seen that movie since I was like really really little (MMM says we weren't allowed to watch it since the Cheshire Cat creeped us out).  So I wasn't sure what to share with you.

Luckily, the second character she had thought of were the cats from The Aristocats.  So....

You chose to do her instead of me?
Meow?
Picture from the Disney Wiki.

Now we'll do our spotlight.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The End of the Beginning, the Beginning of the End

So today marks the last day of my Journalism course, for which I created this blog.  The blog assignment is to be graded sometime after today, and I am supposed to make sure to do my last blog post by midnight tonight for all the points (which I will get, don't worry: I posted more than once a week).

It's the end of the beginning.

I no longer will post for points.

Does this mean I will never post again?

Of course not!

Not when I have all you lovely followers waiting to see what I post next. 

And not when I enjoy posting so much!

So now it's the beginning of the end.

Let's hope it's long.

Without further ado, see ya all real soon!

National Pet Week: Dog

Happy National Pet Week!

That's right: this week is when we celebrate all those little and sometimes big guys who put smiles on our faces, make us feel loved, and know all our secrets.  (Because, admit it, you talk to your pets.)

I will join all you pet-owners in celebrating!

I have a dog named Riley.

My beautiful boy, Riley (Wiley)!
He's actually a reddish brown color.
His breed is Shiba Inu.
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

To start off National Pet Week (though I'm two three days late, forgive me), I thought I'd do a post on some of the dogs in the world of Disney.  This will be similar to my post "Year of the Disney Dragon."  Which, by the way, continues to be the most popular post of all time!

However, if you look at the page on the Disney Wikia on all these dogs, you'll find an overwhelming amount.  So after much debate, I've decided to focus on only one dog today, as well as just one cat tomorrow, one bird after that, and so forth.  I'll try to cover as many types of pets as I can!

And who did I decide to spotlight?

Bruno.

Monday, May 7, 2012

DisneyTales!

The other day, MINnIe Disney Freak got to pick out a movie to watch.  She chose VeggieTales.

The episode Very Silly Songs! in fact.

It's been awhile understandably since I've watched this movie, but the songs are like Disney songs: they stick with you for awhile!

Well, we got to the song "Dance of the Cucumber."  In this song, Larry the Cucumber is dancing around in a sombrero, singing in Spanish.  Bob the Tomato translates.


Eventually, Bob realizes Larry is making fun of him in Spanish:

Larry: "!Pobre tomate!"
Bob: "Poor tomato!"
Larry: "El deberia poder bailar"
Bob: "He wishes he could dance"
Larry: "Como el pepino"
Bob: "like the cucumber"
Larry: "libre y suavemente."
Bob: "free and smooth."
Larry: "Pero el no puede danzar."
Bob: "But he can't ... Okay! Stop the music! What do ya mean I can't
dance? I can dance! What about Uncle Louie's polka party? Didn't you see
me dancing at Uncle Louie's polka party?"

(Lyrics from ST Lyrics - great site!)

Right about here, after Larry refuses to listen to Bob ("No comprendo," he says), Junior Asparagus appears.  He asks that his dad get a picture of him and the dancing cucumber.

And also right about here, I paused, staring at Junior.

He's got Mickey Mouse ears on!

Disney reference!

Makes your day, doesn't it?

Well, anyway, that's really all I have to share with you.  Junior and his parents are dressed as Disney tourists, and the "Seven Dwarfs" make an appearance chasing after Junior's mom: "I think the dwarfs have your mother confused with someone else!"

The dwarfs run by very quickly, with only really their hats visible.  Impossible to tell which ones as only a few run by.

The Disney Mermaid turns to me after the reference finishes and says, "You've got to put that in your blog."

So here it is.

See ya all real soon!

(If you're wondering, the song first appeared in the episode Rack, Shack, and BennyWikipedia's article mentions this scene.)

Thursday, May 3, 2012

It Is! It Is!

(For your information, before I start the juicy part of this post, this post's title is in answer to that of the previous post.  Did you catch that?)

As questioned in the previous post, that is indeed Merida making her soft opening debut at Epcot at Walt Disney World.  Apparently, according to The Disney Blog, characters and their hosts make soft openings like the rides to get used to being in the Parks.  Merida seems to be getting along fine, as these videos show!



She's got a great smile.  And that voice!  Love it.  I've mentioned before that I love Scottish accents, haven't I?  Oh yes, in an earlier post...

I agree with John Frost, the author of The Disney Blog post, that this actress seems a bit old to play the part of spirited teen Merida, but I think we'll get used to it.  As Frost says in the post, "But I guess you have to meet certain realities when you’re in the park."

Overall, I think Merida did a great job making her brave new appearance.  What do you think?  That's what comments are for, my friends!!

See ya all real soon!

***UPDATE***

While I thought her accent was pretty good (other than she faltered a bit), I have to say I'm not expert on accents.  Many people are complaining.  Read the comments in the post at The Disney Blog or here is a different post discussing only her accent and its controversy.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Could...Could It Be?

The Disney Princess, a tumblr blog, has shared photos of what looks to be the new Merida at Disney Parks!
Merida?
Got bow?
All pictures from The Disney Princess.
Those eyes...gorgeous!
And that hair...is it too perfect to be real?
Disney announced they preferred someone
from Scotland with actual curly red
hair but had wigs if needed...
Your takes?
Full-length...
"Mum tries taming my wild mop of hair,
but I like it just as it is."
Another missing bow?

Could it be?

I can't wait to meet her!  I know I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm thinking Merida's going to turn out to be one pretty cool character.

***UPDATE***

Yes it is!  The Disney Blog just shared videos of Merida being spotted in Epcot for her soft opening.  I haven't watched the videos quite yet, but I will do soon and post them with my thoughts in a different post later today!

Garage Sale Finds!

After reading about all the different flea markets, garage sale, etc. Disney item finds on blogs such as Disleelandia, I start to dream about it one day happening to me.  One day I'll go to another antique store or something and find a Disney item.  And then I'll buy it!  I won't care what my family may think.

Well, it happened recently!

Last week, my unnamed sister and I headed to our guitar lessons (do not ask me to play please, I'm not that good).  Right down the street from our instructor's house was a garage sale.

Since my sister and I both have half-hour lessons and she was going first that day, I devised a plan and was able to convince my mom to go along with it.  MMM and I would head to the garage sale during my sister's lesson, return in enough time hopefully, and then MMM and my sister would head over to the garage sale, and I'd meet them at the car after my lesson.

MMM and I browsed the garage sale for a bit.  There weren't any Breyer horses (model horses I collect and always keep an eye out).  The only Disney items I found was a Disney Princess paddle thing (you know those paddles with a ball attached by a string?) and a Winnie-the-Pooh picture frame.

MMM refused to buy the frame for me (I planned to pay her back).  So I moved to the book section,  as I love to read.  Maybe a new book to find?

The first bin contained mostly kid books so I flipped through them quickly.

Suddenly a book cover that had a brightly colored photograph of Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto caught my eye!  Frantic, I pulled it out of the bin, hands shaking.

It was titled Tokyo Disneyland: A Pictorial Souvenir.

I freaked out!  With a gasp, I spun around and demanded MMM buy the book.  She asked what the price was, and I couldn't find it (later, I realized it was written in Sharpie on a piece of tape.  I was so excited I missed it!).  She finally gave in, seeing how excited I was.  I mean, it's a pretty cool book, circa 1980s based on the costumes and also the fact that Tokyo Disneyland opened in 1983.

Mickey and Minnie costume.
From the Disney Wiki: "The Mickey and Minnie costumes seen
from the 1970's up to 1992.
Mickey now has a yellow- bow tuxedo,
and Minnie now has red and white-spotted
attire and yellow shoes.
Their gloves are now four-fingered."
Similar costumes appear in the book.
Oh, did I forget to mention there's
a picture of Pooh with a
hunny pot on his head in the book?
Picture from the Disney Wiki.

One of the best parts is that it's written in Japanese, with English translation.  My sister plans to study Japanese sometime, so MMM thought she'd like to read the book and learn a bit.

For me, the neatest thing is just owning it and being able to "experience" Tokyo Disneyland without having ever going there.

I did some research to find more info on the book, as there isn't any information about the author or the print date.  One site I found had scans of the book pages, stating that the book is a 1985 souvenir book.  However, upon looking through the scans, I discovered that some of the pictures in that web page creator's copy are different than the picture in mine.  Such as the one of Goofy on the Westernland pages: his Goofy is dancing, while mine is standing with two kids.  In fact, I just realized the majority of the pictures in his copy are different than mine.  The cover is even different.

Does this mean there are different versions?  Or were they printed in different years?

Mine has a 4 in the half circle shape on the corner of the cover.  His has a 2.  Does this mean mine was produced in a year ending with 4; his, with 2?  Or does it have nothing at all to do with the year the book was produced?  Because the reviewer Shane does say it's a souvenir book from 1985 on his site...

If you know, please tell me.

I did a Ebay search to see if there was any information at Ebay, but the search produced 0 results.  Barnes and Noble also produced 0 results.  Amazon produced results, but none of them matched.

After finding this book, I found a young adult fantasy novel I'd read before and had been longing to add to my collection.  Added that to my pile.  Then as I moved towards the cash register table, my eye caught a glimpse of Bambi.

It was a coloring book.

Perfect.

Now my bestie won't be the only one.  More on that later.

Yes, it was just a simple coloring poster Disney book.

But hey, it's Disney.  So far I've colored in Lady and Tramp as well as started Peter Pan.  I'll share pictures later.

The last thing Disney item I considered getting was a Princess Aurora doll.  MMM looked at the price and firmly told me 4 dollars is too expensive for a doll.

Oh well.

Next time maybe.