Showing posts with label Bestie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bestie. Show all posts

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Happy 20th Birthday, Bestie!

Today is the birthday of someone very dear to my heart. It’s my Bestie’s 20th birthday!

She and I have known each other since we were toddlers and lived across the street from each other. Man, the stories we have together! She doesn’t live across the street anymore, but she’s still walking distance. And even though college has put us on other sides of the country, it’s nice to know she’s just a phone call away.

One of my favorite recent photos of Bestie and I.
We need to get a photo together with my short hair!

In honor of the special occasion, I have collected my favorite Disney friendship songs, as well as a very touching Walt Disney quote at the end.















Here’s to many more, Bestie!

Image from a Google search.

Love you a bunches of bananas, Summer. See you soon.

Friday, June 20, 2014

My WDW Trip Update: Content Coming Soon!

We went to Walt Disney World on Tuesday-Thursday, with Wednesday being our all-day Magic Kingdom day.

I took lots of videos, Bestie and her mom took lots of photos, and I did my best to keep my Instagram and Twitter filled.

Of course, it will take me a little bit to go through all the content, but I'm planning on having lots of posts and YouTube videos for you all!  In fact, I've decided to start a Flickr account for all the photos we took.

Give me a few days and then I'll blow up your feeds!

Thanks!

Molly the Disney Freak

Sunday, June 15, 2014

I'm in Florida!

We landed in Orlando around 1 pm (EST) on Friday.



We'll be in Walt Disney World Tuesday night and all day Wednesday.  Until then, we're enjoying the beach right outside Bestie's family's condo.

Keep up with our adventures by following the hashtag #MollyInFlorida or #MollyTheDisneyFreak on either Twitter or Instagram.

ttfn!

Sunday, April 27, 2014

I’m Going to Disney World!

Yep, you read that right.

Reaction: can't hold it in anymore!
Source missing.

Video from YouTube. The Disney Freak’s Blog original video.

I cannot express how thrilled I am to return to Walt Disney World for my second trip!  Last time I went (2008), I was not a…fully-fledged Disney Freak, but now that I am, this visit is going to be extra magical!

Reaction: worth celebrating!
Source missing.

Since the recording of that vlog, we have decided to go to Walt Disney World on the Tuesday and Wednesday of our trip: June 17th.and 18th.  As mentioned, the focus of our visit is New Fantasyland, so expect plenty of content!

Bestie, her mom, and I are in the process of planning out our itinerary, which I will vlog about as soon as we finalize everything.  Bestie did personalize our MagicBands recently, so that will also become a vlog soon.  We also have some exciting…clothing news.

So, stay tuned!

www.MyVacationCountdown.com Ticker


ttfn!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Monsters University: A Review

Boo!

Did I scare you? No?  Darn!  Well, I guess I better ask my pals Sulley and Mike for some tips…

Yes, I did go to Disney-Pixar’s Monsters University Friday night.  Originally, it was just going to be Bestie and I, but her parents decided to come along too, which was fine by me!

Surprisingly, they were playing the movie in a smaller theater room, and it was very crowded when we got there (so get there early!).  The only place with five seats exactly (her older brother came along too) was right in the second row, basically six feet from the screen.  So yeah, not exactly the most comfortable I’ve been to see a movie…

Just want to quickly mention about the Frozen trailer that played before the movie: I had mentioned the teaser earlier, and indeed the one before Monsters University was the exact same teaser from the previous post.  A bit of a disappointment: I’d at least like to see some footage from the film!  And there was also a trailer for Planes, Disney’s next feature this summer, but I got the feeling (have had the feeling) that Planes is going to be very much like Cars, just in the air.

Before I begin my review, I want to state that I am not very familiar with the first movie, Monsters, Inc.  The mechanical child scared me when I was younger, and still kind of does, for reasons I do not want to discuss.  But I do enjoy the story of the first movie, and I think I know enough about it to be able to make comparisons between it and its new sequel.  However, this is just me saying that I may make a wrong assumption about Monsters, Inc., but now you’ll know why.

Now, grab that popcorn, settle back in your seat, and enjoy the show….

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Bestie’s Birthday – Face Reveal!

Friday, December 14th, 2012Bestie’s birthday.

And it would be her “adult” birthday.

When I first got home for Christmas Break, I was hoping to spend the day with her in honor of her big day.  However, being in ballet, she had a show and class to do, with community college finals early in the day.  I got to see her at 2:15 for a coffee break with her mom, but then she was headed to ballet.  I did get to hang out with her mother for the rest of the day until Bestie got back in time for presents and cake with her family (including me, an honorary family member).

Before Bestie got back, her aunt and I went to pick up dinner.  On the way, she and I decided to “roam Apple Valley” which really meant get a present for Bestie.  With my help, she found basically the perfect gift.

And of course, there was my gift to her – which was unfortunately not Disney-themed.

Let me show you in pictures.

Warning: there are a lot of them.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Sing What? Revisited

So as you read in “Sing What?”, my drawing Disney buddy has her own version to the Swahili chanting in “Circle of Life.”

Now as I shared with you, last weekend was fall break, so I went home.  Saturday night, I was able to spend the evening with Bestie and her family – which was super fun!

However, one slightly creepy thing happened.

Bestie’s mom went upstairs to change into more comfy clothes and came down in….

Pink pajamas with penguins! (Not quite on the bottom.)

I had to get a picture.


022
Photo taken by THE Disney Freak.
Do not remove watermark.

And yes, that’s Bestie’s foot.  And her mother chose the pose.

See ya all real soon!

For added Disney fun and entertainment, check me out on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, and Pinterest!  Thanks very much.

Monday, October 15, 2012

New Fantasyland Dress Rehearsal!

Nick Maglio over at Disleelandia (one of my favorite Disney blogs) just went to the “dress rehearsal” of New Fantasyland!  He took lots of great pictures, and there are a few jokes only a Disney fan would know.

His trip—literally, just pack up and go—makes me kind of jealous because it was actually fall break here at Benedictine this past weekend, so I went home.  If only I had a bit more money, I would’ve gone to Walt Disney World instead perhaps!

(Well, maybe not. I did miss Riley and Bestie an awful lot…and my family of course.  A hard choice.)

See ya all real soon!

(PS: I am now using Windows Live Writer to write my posts and send them—avoiding any Internet problems!)
 
***UPDATE***
 
I will be using Windows Live Writer to solely write the posts and put in links, then use Blogger here to make sure the formatting is right and to do pictures and videos.  Have a nice day, everyone!

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 2, 2012

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.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Princesses of Silly

Please do not judge me by that title.  Read on to understand.

Last year, my bestie and her family took me to Cedar Point, apparently the roller coaster central of the United States.  After the trip (lemme just say I now love roller coasters), my bestie and I had a Disney "fest."  We colored in her Disney Princesses coloring books.  We watched Tangled and The Princess and the Frog.  And she also gave me a little surprise gift: some Silly Bandz!

Now, I'm sure you've heard of those.  So I'll spare you the explanation.  (If not, I direct you to this link.)

Different Silly Bandz.  I'm sure you get the
idea of the different forms, colors, and shapes
they can come in!
Picture from Wikipedia.

Guess what the Silly Bandz she gave me were of.

The Disney Princesses!

Okay, only four of them.

Tiana, the spirited Princess from The Princess and the Frog, is in a flashy red, in what I suppose is one of her signature poses.

(At last, a good quality photo from my camera!)
This is Tiana.  I couldn't find a clipart/picture
for reference.  It's a side shot of her.
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

While this isn't a Disney Silly Bandz, I also have a frog prince from a different set...could it be Naveen?

A frog prince...all he needs is one kiss...
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

My next Princess is the sassy Princess Jasmine, from Aladdin.  She's in a pretty blue (which happens to be my favorite color) that makes me think of sparkles.  Do you?  Maybe that's just me.

And here is Jasmine.  I love the color.
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

No, that's not her hand.  It's her hair.  Use this picture as reference.

Reference for the Silly Bandz above.
Picture from the Disney Wiki.

The third little Princess I have is sweet and innocent Snow White, titular star of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney's first full-length animated movie.  She's in a bright purple.


Snow White!  She's sort of bendy
so that's why there's a shadow (aka she
doesn't lie flat).  To get an idea of
this pose, see the below picture.
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.
Imagine this image flipped...and it's pretty close!
Picture from the Disney Wiki.

And finally, my favorite of the four I have is Ariel, the awesome but naive star of The Little Mermaid!  She's in a bright yellow, and when my bestie handed her to me, I nearly fell out of my seat I was so happy.  Ariel is also the favorite Princess of The Disney Mermaid, my sister.

Ariel! When my bestie handed me
this Silly Bandz, I literally freaked out...
I was so excited!
Picture taken and copyright THE Disney Freak.

And again, this one's not a Disney Silly Bandz, but it's another mermaid...so Ariel's got some company.
One of Ariel's fellow mermaid
Silly Bandz...
She's lounging on her side.
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

Do you have any Disney Silly Bandz?

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Merida's Brave Story

Disney released yet another trailer for Brave (which is a good thing!).  This trailer highlights the back story of Merida, which is helpful.


Why is it helpful?

Let me explain.

Sunday (yes, Easter Sunday) I headed over to my Bestie's house for an egg hunt.  And as the parents made abundantly clear, it's not your typical little-kids-look-there's-the-Easter-Bunny-hey-what's-that-over-there-wink-wink egg hunt.

No, this was a teenage egg hunt.

Think money.  And woods.

You're pretty dang close.

We had some extra time until the adults were done hiding the eggs, so she flipped open her Mac.  She showed me a few funny talking animal videos, and then I showed her the Pixar short "George and AJ."

And one of the videos on the side of the screen (you know how YouTube pops up similar videos alongside the one you're watching) was the first trailer for Brave.

And she didn't know anything about it!

So when I tried to explain it, all I could really get out was "Really great Pixar movie coming out."

Not exactly what she was looking for (but she did watch the trailer).

Now with this new trailer, I can give a little more info.  So thank you Disney!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

I Knew It!

When you were a kid, did you ever go to McDonald's?  And did you beg and beg and beg and beg (need I go on?) your parent/legal guardian (make plural if needed) to get you a Happy Meal that came with one of those amazing (but in reality, cheap) toys displayed in the shining plastic...thing?

Raise your hand - I know you did.

So did I.

One time, who knows what age I was, we went to good ol' McDonald's and there showcased in the plastic...thing were several toy animals.

Yeah, animals.

I'm a sucker for animals (not including most insects).

I just had to have one.

So after begging and begging and begging and begging (need I go on?), my mom sighed and agreed.

[Well, I know she agreed.  I really don't remember the scene very well.]

Thus I waited, fidgeting, in line behind her for the food to come on the plastic tray...because with my hamburger would be a toy animal.

I most likely spent my time staring into the plastic...thing and guessing which one I'd get.

Then the food came, my mom took the tray, and we went into the playroom (but I didn't care at the moment about the play place as I did about the toy waiting for me in the Happy Meal bag!).

And what did I find inside my bag once I was able to grab it and hastily open it?

A plastic alligator.

The alligator.
Photo taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

Yeah.

I fell in love with her.

[Yes, I gave my toy animals genders and names!  In fact, still do.]

From that day on, I fed...I think her name was Allie?  Momentarily forgetting.

Anyway, I fed her scraps of junk of the floor since she had a top jaw that moved, revealing her pink throat inside.  Sparkles, fuzz balls, scraps of paper, beads, you name it.

Down her throat it goes!
Picture taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

In fact, I even shoved a glittery star into her stomach.  Once it had disappeared down her throat, I regretted it.  But I never found the right sized screwdriver so as to open her stomach.

Sometimes, my bestie would babysit her for me!  Granted, this was years ago, when we were like around six years old.  I felt like a true pet owner as I solemnly instructed her on Allie's feeding time, what to feed her, bathing time, and where to keep her.  I believe my bestie babysat (I'd say "petsat," but the spelling check hates that) Allie for a few days...but I don't remember how many times.

Now, hopefully, you laughed at some of the fun descriptions and narrator interjections, but I'm quite sure you're wondering, "Why the heck am I reading all this?  Amusing Monday?  Where's the Disney connection?"

Read on.

Several days ago, I was checking out the blogs I followed and noticed Dan Alexander Dizmentia (great blog, by the way!) had a post on some McDonald's Avatar toys (which apparently do not exist; Dan simply took some McDonald's Tarzan toys and re imagined them as Avatar-themed).

And at the bottom of the post, he linked to an earlier post on some Animal Kingdom toys available at McDonald's.  Good thing I clicked.

Because there, in the picture of the toys featured at McDonald's, was my own Allie!

The Animal Kingdom McDonald's Happy Meal toys.
Image from Dan Alexander Dizmentia and used with permission.
Allie is number 11, in the middle on the bottom row.

For awhile, I'd known Allie was a Disney toy.  Why?  It says so on her stomach!  (I'm still looking for that screwdriver...)

Only, I couldn't remember why she was a Disney toy.  She doesn't look like Tick-Tock from Peter Pan or Brutus or Nero from The Rescuers.  She just looks like a real alligator.

Thanks Dan for letting me know why she's a Disney toy!

So according to Dan's post, these toys were released at McDonald's in 1998...so I would have been around four years old.  Man, that seems young.

And she's a crocodile?  I was wrong all these years?

Guess she needs a new name - one that starts with the letter C.

But the most important thing?

I need to find that screwdriver.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Goodbye to the Scary, Hello to the Characters (Part 1)

Snow White takes the apple in the WDW's version. Photo from the Disney Wiki.
Sometime this spring, one of my favorite rides at Walt Disney World will be closing.  The fair-skinned heroine of the ride will not get her True Love's kiss and awaken, and the old hag has appeared to win.  That's right.  Snow White's Scary Adventures in Walt Disney World is closing this year, to be replaced by a meet-and-greet pavilion.

In honor of the ride, I'm going to do a two part blog post on the ride's history and the new construction that will take the ride with it. 

So "Part One: The History of the Scary."

Of course, Snow White started as the "fairest of them all" princess of the starring role in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney's first animated feature film, released in 1937.  It was the movie that started them all; the little princess who opened the gates to Walt's imagination for the public.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was always relatively scary: the hag's transformation is still one of the creepiest scenes ever animated, and the evil Queen is considered on of the greatest villains of all time, having won 10th place in the AFI's list of greatest villains (she is considered the same with the hag).  The Disney Wiki's article on the movie says this: "Certain scenes in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, particularly those featuring the Witch, are regarded as some of Disney's most frightening moments; British censors considered the film frightening enough for young viewers to have to be accompanied by an adult."

However, the ride would be even scarier.

Poster for Disneyland's version.
Photo from the Disney Wiki.
Snow White's Scary Adventures started as Snow White and her Adventures in Fantasyland, Disneyland (which is in California).  It is one of the few oldest rides, still operational after having opened in 1955 on Disneyland's opening day.  In this original version, the guests riding in the cars were Snow White; the ride was set up so that guests felt as if they were the main character.  Most guests didn't understand why the ride was set up this way or why Snow White didn't make an appearance.  So during the 1983 renovation of Fantasyland's rides, Snow White was added.  She now appears once in the ride currently.

All versions of the ride are a dark rides, meaning that is takes place in an enclosed space with special lighting, darkness being used to hide mechanicisms and to create effect (Wikipedia).

The ride didn't appear at Walt Disney World's own Fantasyland part of the Magic Kingdom until 1971.  This ride was much more intense and "arguably scarier" than the Disneyland version, and keep in mind that the changes to the Disneyland version didn't come until 12 years after Walt Disney World's version opened (The Disney Wiki).  Like in the Disneyland version, the guests took up the role of the main character, in this case, pretty little Snow White.

Once more, the Queen/Hag became the center stage character: Snow White didn't appear at all, and the Dwarfs appeared briefly once.  In contrast, the Queen appeared as the Hag seven times.

However, the two rides were very different other than their names and namesake.  The order of each ride's scenes were different than the other, and the endings were totally unalike: at Disneyland, the riders saw a book with the (typical) words "And they lived happily ever after" while at the end of the Disney World version, the riders entered a room of "flashing lights" after the Hag tried to push a giant jewel onto them (The Disney Wiki).
Figures receiving touch-ups for the WDW version. 
Photo from the Disney Wiki

In 1994, Snow White's Scary Adventures at Disney World was redesigned to be more like the one at Disneyland.  The scenes were changed and reordered, with a few new ones, and one of the Hag models was removed or something because the Hag's appearance went down to only six times.  Snow White also made an appearance now: in the courtyard cleaning and also in the Cottage.

"Fool them all!"
Photo from the Disney Wiki.
In 2008, this Disney Freak went to Walt Disney World with her best friend and was lucky enough to take a trip through Snow White's Scary Adventures.  Personally, my favorite part was probably the very beginning when the Queen stands in front of the Magic Mirror, speaking to it.  Then suddenly she spins around to face us and has transformed into the terrible old Hag!  She cackles with glee about how she'll "fool them all!"  My friend and I were definately not expecting that: funny, we didn't take the scary part of Snow White's Scary Adventures seriously.

And sadly, no, we did not see the Queen peering down at us from her window while we were boarding.  Next time I go...will there be a next time to ride?

The ride's last day of operation, according to a Disney Parks Blog post today, will be May 31 of this year.

Here's a video of the ride at Disney World taken as if you are seated in one of the ride seats.  Enjoy!

For a more in-depth look at the history of this ride, check out Kenneth's Sandburg's site: the whole entire section on Snow White's Scary Adventures is eleven parts long!

Part 2 of this two-part post will discuss the renovations coming to Fantasyland (WDW) this year (though I've already done one post on the upcoming changes next month), including what Snow White's Scary Adventures will become: a meet-and-greet pavilion.  Check back again soon for Part 2!

Comments: Please share anything you'd like, but I'd really enjoy it if people shared their memories of the ride.

And Snow White Sanctum, any comments?  I'm quite sure you are more of an expert on this!

**UPDATE**

I realize I said to keep an eye out of Part 2.  However, there is so much information out there about this new construction that it's a bit overwhelming for me to organize it all into a post.  Sorry about that.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Food Fit for Princesses!

Awhile back, my bestie had a Disney Princess party.  It was ridiculously fun!

Everyone had to dress up as a Princess.  Of course, I went as Aurora, my favorite Princess.  By the way, do you know how hard it is to find a dress that works to match a Disney Princess?  Mine was sleeveless, but hey, it was bright pink!  (I even wore my Disney pin.)

We did lots of fun Disney-themed games.  First we colored (and I'm currently working on a post about this) and even did a Disney trivia (which I won!). 

Throughout the party, we listened to different Disney songs, mostly Princesss ones, but I think we had a few others.  And the last thing we did was watch some Disney movies, late into the night, and I was the one who stayed up the latest just to catch the ending of the third and final movie we watched!

And of course, no Disney Princess party is complete without food and tea fit for Princesses!  Just check out all the yummy food my bestie and her mom got together for us, as well as all the lovely tea sets we had available (there were like six different kinds of tea and plenty of teacups to choose from).

The table where we had tea.  Isn't it gorgeous?
All photos were taken by my bestie's mom
and used with permission.

One of the yummy quaint deserts we had.  Lemon, yum!
Flowers always brighten up everything as
decorations!
Of course, tea parties aren't all about cakes and sweet stuff.
Good Princesses eat healthy food such as fruit as well!

More flowers.
Each Princess had a pot of flowers by her plate.
This was how each Princess' spot was set up.

I set these up.  And those blueberry scones
were delicious!
Another cake for dessert.  They were so tiny!
Of course, more healthy food: veggies.
And there are those scones again.  YUM!
I'm not sure what these are, but they sure
tasted good.
Candies and candle.
A pitcher full of pretty little flowers.
This was the centerpiece on the table.
Another view of the decorative table.
And now we get into all the pretty teacups we chose from.
One of my bestie's friends even chose Chip, the
teacup from Beauty and the Beast.
More teacups.  Which one to choose?
One of the lovely tea sets.  Sugar, anyone?
Would you like an herbal tea, a sweet tea, or another?


Yes, this party was definately something to remember, and the food made it all the more memorable!  Thanks bestie!

Friday, February 10, 2012

My First Disney Pin

In 2008, my bestie and I (along with her family) went to Walt Disney World, my first and only time (so far).  I'm not going to describe the entire trip.  Instead, I'm going to focus on one of the last things I did while in the most magical place on Earth.

After we ate dinner at a Character Dinner, while the others went to brave Space Mountain, my bestie's mother and I went to do some Character Meet-and-Greets.

It was the Princesses.

Aurora, Belle, and Cinderella.

All in one room.

Give me a moment to settle down.

Even though I was the oldest in the room (not counting all the mothers escorting their little princesses), I was a nervous wreck.  I mean, here I was, about to meet some of my childhood heroes.

I was literally freaking out.

Okay, not literally.  I controlled it pretty well.  And as I said in another post, I didn't fully understand my Disney obsession and love for it, so I didn't freak out as much as I would today.

After meeting all the Princesses and getting their autographs, my bestie's mom and I headed over to a Disney store. The rest of my bestie's family were still riding the roller coaster.

And there, my bestie's mom introduced me to Disney Pin Trading.  I thought it was a really cool idea.  If you don't know what it is...I'll post later on that.

My bestie's mom is an avid collector, apparently.  I'm not sure if she trades them.  But she told me about how she has hats which she keeps just to put the pins on.

I absolutely loved the idea.

So I browsed the huge assortment of pins.  I'm not kidding.  There were tons.

I finally settled on one which showed all the Princesses I'd met that day.

My first Disney Pin!
Sorry for the terrible and blurry quality--I had to use my
cellphone since my camera refused to work!
Photo taken and copyrighted by THE Disney Freak.
(I'm trying to find information about the pin, but I can't find a site or other source.  So like my post about the "Bambi" and "Faline" figurines, let me know if you recognize this pin and can tell me anything about it.  I bought it in 2008.)

Thursday, February 9, 2012

John Carter Super Bowl Ad

For those of you who aren't big football fanatics, the Super Bowl was last Sunday, Feb. 5.  Who won isn't important right now, I'm not going to discuss that in this post.  Instead, I'm going to focus on one of the commercials.

Apparently, Super Bowl commercials are considered one of the most important aspects of the "game."

One of them was for the upcoming Disney movie John Carter.


What did you think?

For me, I'm not exactly looking forward to it.  It looks a bit over dramatic.  For example: "You're John Carter of Earth?" "Yes."  Right then was when I was turned off.  Especially with that music too.

But Andrew Stanton, director of WALL-E, is directing this film, so there may be a chance it'll be worth seeing.

Avatar or John Carter?

While I was watching the Super Bowl with my bestie and her family and after the ad played, one of her brothers mentioned John Carter looks a lot like James Cameron's Avatar. 

I looked into this, and Wikipedia explained it:

Disney's John Carter is strictly based on the book A Princess of Mars (the protagonist of the book is John Carter, the movie's name is just different.  In fact, the movie is based on the whole series, of which A Princess of Mars is only the first book.  On the other hand, Avatar's creator James Cameron was inspired by the book.

So that's why the two movies look so similar.

And while I was looking at the Wikipedia article for the movie, I found this: "Had A Princess of Mars [in the form of a 1930s MGM film] been released, it may have beaten Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to become the first American feature-length animated film (Wikipedia)."

Interesting.

To get back to the movie, John Carter will hit theaters on March 9 this year, if you didn't catch that from the ad.

If you're interested, I also included the extended version of the ad below.  The movie looks a little better in this version...so maybe I will go see it.  How about you?

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

It's All About Character!

When you go to any Disney Parks, what's the main thing you should do?

Yes, enjoy the incredible world of imagination and dreams.

But aside from that.

Meet the characters!

To be honest, I've only been to a Disney Park once, and it was Walt Disney World.  That was back in 2008, back when I didn't fully understand my obsession and freaking love for Disney.  More on that whole back history later.

Anyway, it was the TIME of my LIFE!  I enjoyed every minute of it!

And I did really enjoy meeting the characters, though I should be honest and say that I'm not big on atmosphere characters: I'm kinda afraid of the idea.  I don't know how to explain it; it's been like that for years, ever since I can remember.  But I hope to get over it someday.

It may be due to my very strong imagination.

Again, another rabbit trail.  I'm sorry.

Anyway (again), while the majority of the time was spent doing rides (the family I went with had been several times before, and so since it was my first, they made sure that I did all the best rides).  But we managed to squeeze in some character meetings, even a character dinner...which turned out to be little kid-themed with just Pooh and Friends.

But I really enjoyed it.

My favorite meeting so far was with the Princesses.  I met three of them: Cinderella, Belle, and Aurora, and they were all simply gorgeous!  Aurora is my favorite Princess, so meeting her was the coolest, but Cinderella was also pretty neat because my friend's mother commented that she's never seen Cinderella at meet-and-greets, only parades.  So it felt extra special.

In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I bought a Disney Pin with all three gals on it!

I've compiled a list of the characters I've met.  Hopefully it will grow through the years!

Cinderella
Belle
Aurora
Winnie the Pooh
Tigger
Piglet
Eeyore
Darby
The Fairy Godmother

Here are the character's I haven't met, but friends were able to get autographs for me!

Mickey Mouse
Minnie Mouse
Goofy
Captain Hook
Mr. Smee
Geppetto
Pinocchio

Comments: Share your experiences meeting characters!  Do you have a favorite experience, character?

And here's where I got the inspiration for this post.

Now to go and brave meeting Mickey Mouse...

***UPDATE***

Eventually, I will have an updated version of this post.  Until then, ttfn!