Four New MagicBand Designs Released This Month!

You can already customize your MagicBand with various accessories to show off your Disney Side, but what about buying a MagicBand that isn’t just a plain ole solid color? How about buying one with your favorite character as the design?

This month, Disney is releasing four new designs for retail MagicBands, including one today!

Image from Disney Parks Blog.

The Stitch design is available starting now, while Sorcerer Mickey and Minnie Mouse dots were released December 12 and 14, respectively. The Princesses design will be released on the 22nd.

These MagicBands make great presents with the new Link-it Later option.

So, who wants to buy me Sorcerer Mickey?

See you all real soon!

Pocket Princesses Celebrates 100th Comic Strip!

My absolute favorite Disney fan artist is Amy Mebberson, the creative mind behind the adorable Pocket Princesses.  The weekly one-panel comic strip features all the official Disney Princesses in candid moments (as Mebberon sees fit), with cameos from others such as Kida, Stitch, and the princes.

The strip is posted on Facebook (almost) every Friday, and yesterday's was the 100th post!

 I love all the excitement and hidden jokes in this one!
Did you find Snow White?
Image from the Pocket Princesses Facebook page.
Copyright belongs to Amy Mebberson.

Congrats to Pocket Princesses!  I highly encourage you to like the page on Facebook -- you won't be disappointed!  Every single strip is cute and hilarious.  Mebberson's take on the characters are true to the original and yet uniquely hers at the same time.

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Halloween: Disney Style!

(So I apologize that this is late since Halloween was like 2 weeks ago – jeez, that makes me feel bad.)

Do you dress up for Halloween?

Or even better: do you dress up Disney-style for Halloween?

Joslyn is Violet Parr.
Don't you love how she even made sure
to have her hair cover one eye?
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Allison is hipster Ariel.
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And of course, my gals and I dressed up too:

Hipster Disney Princesses!
L-R: Thing 1 Kaihtlyn as Rapunzel, Michelle as Jasmine,
Thing 2 Mary as Belle, and me as Cinderella.
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Hope you had a happy, not-too-spooky Halloween!

See you all soon!

Annie Leibovitz’s Tiana

Two days ago, Disney Parks Blog revealed the newest addition to the Disney Dream Portrait series.  This time, Jennifer Hudson is magically captured as Tiana by Annie Leibovitz.

Image from the Disney Parks Blog post.
All credit goes to Disney and Annie Leibovitz.

This scene looks to be Anne's inspiration.
Image from mouseinfo.com after Google search.

Disney Parks Blog also released this behind-the-scenes look at the photo shoot both on the blog and on their YouTube account.  It’s pretty cool that Jennifer is connected to Disney in so many ways, and that now she gets to portray a Disney Princess!

Video from YouTube.

I’d really like to see how Annie takes the photos and makes them look so magical.  Also, I love the Naveen frog prop!

On a side note, I’m leaving tomorrow for another year of college...  As soon as I feel comfortable with my new schedule, I’ll be up and blogging again.  So expect a short (about a week-long) break here at the Blog!

Until next time, ttfn!

You Are the Glow!

I raved in a previous post how much I love the song “The Glow” that the beautiful and talented Shannon Saunders sings.  For those of you who don’t recognize or remember the song, here it is below.

Both videos are from YouTube. This is the music video version.

And this is the alternative music video with some behind the scenes footage of Shannon recording and performing the song!

During this past school year, I discovered that when the volume is set quietly, this is actually a really great song to listen to on repeat as I study.  So one day after listening to it over and over, I was so excited about the song that I wrote the chorus lyrics on the whiteboard outside my dorm room.

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Just so everyone would know that they “are the glow”!

Reaction: awww....thanks
Source

See you all real soon!

Magic Mirror on the Wall…

There’s a new Magic Mirror at Walt Disney World!

You can find it at Downtown Disney, in the marketplace.  With the mirror’s magical abilities, little girls can see themselves wearing the dresses (complete with accessories such as wands) of their favorite Disney Princesses!

And it also doesn’t speak with a slightly creepy male voice.

Check out the magic for yourself, in the video below:

Video from YouTube.

Adorable!  You think it’ll work for a teenager/young adult like me?  I’d love to see what I look like in Aurora’s dress.

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Merida’s New Look

NOTE: I promised this post a week ago.  Before I start, please be aware that a lot has happened in those seven short days concerning this controversy, so I will try to sum it up as best I can.

Hopefully, you are aware of our newest Disney Princess Royal Court member – Merida.  If not, I direct you to this previous post.

Along with including Merida in the Royal Court, Disney also is including her in Disney Princess merchandise. To do so, they had to convert her from 3D to a 2D figure.  As they did with Tangled’s Rapunzel.

You’d think this would be simple.

It wasn’t.

Welcome…Princess Merida!

It’s official – Merida, Scottish star of Disney-Pixar’s features Brave, is now an official Disney Princess.

Not just a princess in the Disney franchise.  No, she’s now the 11th member of the Disney Royal Court aka the official lineup for the Disney Princess franchise.

Take a look with me at the royal festivities!

I Am Merida…And I Am a Princess!

This morning at 9:30, the ceremonies began at Disney World. 

Video from YouTube. Leave it to InsidetheMagic.net to always create an amazing video!

In a pretty epic coronation ceremony, all the members of the Royal Court showed up in front of Cinderella Castle to welcome the newest member, who came in riding on Angus (that was sweet!) with banners and Scottish dancers.  Let me just say at this point that I love how “Merida” stayed in perfect character during the entire ceremony – just wonderful!



All images, unless specified, are from InsidetheMagic.net.

Joining the Royal Court on the stage, Merida told everyone how excited she was to be here and then the proclamation was read.  Her mother Queen Elinor (yeah, that’s right!  Her first Park appearance!) came out and crowned Merida, making her the 11th member.



I love Queen Elinor so much!
The speech she gave to Merida was so cute!



Image from Stitchkingdom.com

Then there was a really really cute hug between mother and daughter.



I can't tell you how much I am in love with this!

And then the best part: Merida happily stood before the audience in her new crown and proclaimed, “I am strong. I am brave.  I am Merida…and I am a princess!”

I just can't.



Love love love!

Cue fan girl screams now.  Man, Disney sure knows how to do it right.

After Queen Elinor gave Merida her bow, Merida joined the rest of the Royal Court for a final photo opportunity – a once-in-a-lifetime one until Princesses numbers 12 and 13 come in 2014.



Wishing so hard that I had been there!

Welcome Princess Merida to the Disney Royal Court!



What a smile!

Reaction: *sigh*...just magical
Source

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***UPDATE***

Here’s the video of the coronation from Disney Parks Blog, showing different angles/views of the event!  Enjoy!

***UPDATE***

Mary Connor at the blog Capturing Magical Memories got an up-close spot at the coronation, and her pictures of the ceremony really make you feel as if Merida and the others are standing right in front of you!

Royal This, Royal That: New Fantasy Faire

Just today, InsidetheMagic and DisneyParks posted several new videos showcasing the new Fantasy Faire at Disneyland, which officially opens March 12 this year (also TDM’s birthday!).

Video from YouTube.

It seems I am not able to put the InsidetheMagic videos here in my blog, so I will just include a link to those.

The most important part about this new area at Disneyland is the Royal Hall, where you can meet some of your favorite Disney Princesses, as shown in this video.

Another fun attraction is the Royal Theatre, with two fun shows!  One tells the story of Rapunzel and Flynn/Eugene from Tangled.  The other tells the story of Belle from Beauty and the Beast. The cool thing about both shows is it incorporates what you could call “simple theatre,” with really just two actors/narrators doing the parts, with Flynn and Rapunzel or Belle playing themselves.

This video gives you an idea of the two shows:

Video from YouTube. The Mother Gothel and Rapunzel part was really well done!

This first link is for the full Tangled show.  And this second link is for a video of the entire Beauty and the Beast show.  Enjoy!

I’m upset that someone commented that the Belle show is better than the Enchanted Tales attraction.  From what I’ve seen and heard, the Enchanted Tales attraction is very amusing and fun, and I can’t wait to experience it in person someday!

Personally, I’m thinking the Fantasy Faire is going to be a pretty fun addition to Disneyland.  All the designs, styles, and costumes remind me of Renaissance Festivals, such as the one here in Minnesota, which I enjoy immensely because the Renaissance era and fantasy stories are my favorite things!

A sleepy Figaro and the bird who seems to be disturbing his nap!
Video screencapture by THE Disney Freak from the first included video.

To close this post (but not the day – look for an Oz post tonight!), here’s a fun video of the Figaro animatronic you got an introduction to in the first video.  I agree with the commenters on the InsidetheMagic video that the animatronic (*ahem, ahem*) looks a bit unfinished or something, but since it’s up, it must be done.

Video from YouTube. I love the Tangled music playing in the background! Very fitting.

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Bestie’s Birthday – Face Reveal!

Friday, December 14th, 2012.  Bestie’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.

Fairy Tale Christmas Gift!

At the start of December, Fairy Grandmother asked me what I wanted for Christmas.  Not sure, I put off replying (and I was also pretty busy with finals and work).  Then she emailed me again to say that I would get coal if I didn’t let “Santa'” know what I wanted.  Chuckling, I told her that well I didn’t really have a Christmas list this year but thinking quickly I said that I was listening to lots of music lately.  So how about some Christmas albums or anything Disney?

December 23rd.  (The world didn’t end!)  More importantly, gift exchange at my aunt and uncle’s house.  At first, I was confused because I hadn’t gotten a present from Fairy Grandmother yet, just one from my cousin (NiCE’s younger sister).  Fairy Grandmother finally found the one from her to me, and I got to work.

Not surprised, I opened first two Christmas CDs – Elvis and Jackie Evancho.  There was one more gift (well two more but only one was a CD I could tell).  Unwrapping it, I grinned in delight.
She’d gotten me the Disney Princess: Fairy Tale Songs CD.

Picture taken by My Minnie Mom;
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The songs on the CD are, in order:

1. “When Will My Life Begin?” (From Tangled Soundtrack)
2. “Almost There” (From The Princess and the Frog Soundtrack)
3. “Part of Your World” (From The Little Mermaid Soundtrack)
4. “Something There” (From Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack)
5. “Reflection” (From Mulan Soundtrack)
6. “I See the Light” (From Tangled Soundtrack)
7. “Everyday Princess” (From Bayou Boogie Album)
8. “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” (From Cinderella Soundtrack)
9. “Where Do I Go From Here” (From Pocahontas 2 Soundtrack)
10. “Down in New Orleans” (From The Princess and the Frog Soundtrack)
11. “Beauty and the Beast” (From Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack)
12. “I’m Wishing/One Song” (From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Soundtrack)
13. “I Wonder” (From Sleeping Beauty Soundtrack)
14. (Bonus Song) “The Glow” (World Premiere Song)

My only question is, where’s Jasmine?

Overall I absolutely love this CD, especially the very last song.  It’s simply sweet, and Shannon has such an angelic voice!

That other present I mentioned was a cute photo frame, Disney-themed, that I will share in an upcoming post (I don’t have a picture yet).

See ya all real soon!  What Disney gifts did you get?  I got lots more, which I’ll share as soon as I get pictures!

The 11th Disney Princess: Verified

Thanksgiving day, YDF, MDF, and I worked on some of their Disney Princess puzzles.

Picture taken by THE Disney Freak;
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Picture taken by THE Disney Freak;
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The next day, I was glancing through all the toy catalogs from various retailers.  In the Target one, I found an interesting Disney Princess doll set.

Picture taken by THE Disney Freak.

Picture taken by THE Disney Freak.

Why am I highlighting this?  Maybe it was pretty obvious that this would happen, but Merida is included in an (*ahem*) official Disney Princess doll set. 

So is Merida going to be an official Disney Princess?  Or is she just being included with official Disney Princesses as a non-official princess?  Will that change (aka question A)?  Several questions arose at the sight of this set, obviously.

Immediately, I called over TDSO (our previous Brave hypothesizer) for her take on this all.  She said that she didn’t think Merida would be an official Disney Princess but because she is a Disney princess, she would be included in a few sets.  Just like when Kida or Nala sometimes appear in Disney Princess merchandise.

However, seems things have changed – or been verified.

Because in July 2013, Merida will indeed join the official lineup as the 11th Disney Princess.

What are your thoughts?  The Disney Mermaid is personally upset because Ariel won’t be the only ginger anymore (and for some other reasons).

As for me, I’m not quite sure what I think right now.  As the Disney Wiki pointed out, Merida will be the first Disney Princess without a love interest, which I’m not against, but all the other Princesses appear with their Princes in some merchandise and at events at the Parks.  Poor Merida will be the odd one (literally) out.  Like The Disney Mermaid, I’m disappointed that they would add in another ginger, and if they’re going to just add any new princess character they add, why not allow Kida to join?  How does Disney’s selection work (hey, that’s another post to work on!)?

See ya all real soon!

Christmas is quickly approaching!  Shopping done?

A Once Upon a Dream Find!

While working on another post for ya’ll, I was searching Christmas songs on YouTube and stumbled upon this little gem.  It features Christmas favorite Bing Crosby and Disney Princess voice star Mary Costa.  I guess finding it was like well, once upon a dream!

Video from YouTube.

Kind of cute that she wore pink, huh?

Have a wonderful December and a very merry Christmas!

See ya all real soon too!

Character Magic: A Surprise from Snow White

I’ve decided to start a new series where I’ll share with you a video I’ve found of Disney Parks characters staying believably in character, creating splendid magic for their visitors.  Videos of characters where the actors (ahem, ahem) are almost perfect examples of their movie characters will get special emphasis.

So to start us of right, why not look at an adorable encounter involving Walt’s leading lady?

I stumbled upon this video several years ago, I think, and fell in love with it.  Randomly and happily, I stumbled upon it again today.

In the video, two young children come across Snow White at Epcot.  The little girl is extremely happy – the video description says she had “been waiting all week for this moment” – and her brother is a bit shy.

Snow White has a surprise for him that puts a grin on his face though!

Video from YouTube.

Don’t you just love how bright Snow’s kiss mark is?  I do!



Video capture by THE Disney Freak.
Taken from included video.

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PS; Something I found a tad humorous watching this for the second time was how much Snow here sounded like my other best friend!  It’s not her though, if you’re wondering.

Didn't Know What to Make of That

So my new study partner (or "study buddy") from American Literature is also on the women's soccer team here at my college.  Wanting to support her and the team, I went to their game last Saturday.

Towards the end of the first half, two men and a young child come into my row and sit down one seat away from me.

The closest man was probably in his 30's and obviously the father of the child.  I didn't really get a glimpse of the other man, but I think he was older, maybe the grandfather.

Well, when they sat down, what struck me was that the little boy, around 3 or 4 years in age, held a Disney Princess umbrella.

Cute but at the same time, just a little weird...

He asked his dad (the man I assume to be his dad, as he was sitting in that man's lap the whole time) to untie the ribbon and open it, and the father replied, "Not now; later."

Maybe the little boy received the umbrella as a hand-me-down from possible older female siblings (that sounds very formal, doesn't it?).  It was just a little weird, but I'm cool with a little boy having one.  I'm not labeling Disney Princesses as girls only, but it was just a little weird.

I guess I took this as weird mainly because my unnamed brother, while he got into baby dolls like my sisters, never got into Disney Princesses like them.  He likes the movies, but he's not all about the toys and stuff.

What are your thoughts?  What would you make of a little boy with a Disney Princess umbrella?

They left during half-time, so they were only there for around ten minutes.

Got more great posts to share with you, so see ya all real soon!

A Very Important Question

So my Disney Partner in Crime, Sara over at The Disney Den, has started a great series about why people have favorite Disney Princesses.  She's asked her followers (such as yours truly) on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Blogspot to share their reasons for liking a certain princess the most.  Check out her first post on Belle.

What am I getting at?

Her posts reminded me of a question I've been planning to ask you myself.  At first, I was just going to ask out of pure curiosity, but I've decided to "steal" Sara's idea and make a post about...this important question!

So let me know your answer to the question below, and I'll write a post with your answer included!  Send me the answers via Tumblr (the ask box), Facebook (post on my page), or Blogspot (comment on this post).

And now, the BIG question.

Drum roll please....

Do you like Aurora in blue or pink?  Or maybe you don't like her in either?  Why?



I forget where this picture came from...
Obviously from a Tumblr blog photoset.
Oh yes, I remember. It's from petitetiaras.tumblr.com
Awesome Tumblr blog -- you all should check it out.

Lemme know!

Personally, I like her in blue because I don't actually like pink -- it's too "girly" for me.  But I understand why they put her in pink (mainly, not to clash with blond-as-well Cinderella in blue/silver).

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Oh, and if I didn't make it clear already, Summer Hiatus is over! Welcome back to the routine of blogging, THE Disney Freak, welcome back indeed.

And one more surprise: I'm now on Twitter!

I See the Light

A friend of mine also graduated this year.  And here in Minnesota, there are these things called "Open Houses."  Supposedly they're to celebrate the graduate's successful graduation without dying (high school is tough these days, you know!).  To be honest, it's more of a free food fest ("So how do you know the graduate?"  "What? Oh, we're just here for the food."--no that doesn't really happen).

Well, this particular friend of mine happens to be extremely cool and came up with a fantastic idea to end her Open House.

Floating lanterns.

(Does not come with matching Flynn and Rapunzel.)

The Beast and I, being introverts, discussed whether or not we wanted to stay to see the lanterns.  Good thing we did!

At the appointed time (9:30 I believe), everyone was called over to the side yard, where there was more room.  Various kids held unlit lanterns by the strings attached.

Yes, the lanterns weren't really going to float up into the sky as in Tangled.  The idea was to hold onto the (invisible) string, making the lantern like a kite.

(Or was that the idea?)

Real Life Princesses

Ever wondered what the Disney Princesses would look like in real life?

Well, Jirka Väätäinen has figured out for you.

Jirka (pronounced Yirka) is a Finnish student studying graphic design at the Arts University College at Bournemouth.  One of his projects (I'm not sure if it's for school or just for fun) has been to draw the Disney Princesses as they would appear in real life.

Actually, he calls it photo manipulation using Photoshop.

But he still does a fantastic job!

He was kind enough to let me share his artwork with you, as long as I credit him and link back to his site!

As I told him in a comment, I think he does a great job of keeping the original character but making her look more realistic, less "cartoony".  But you have to see below for yourself!

Personally, I enjoy Mulan and Rapunzel very much.  And I realize Ursula isn't a Disney Princess...but he included her, so of course I'm going to include her for you!

Which ones do you like?

Jane from Tarzan.
All credit and copyright goes to Jirka.
Used with permission.
Do not re-post or anything without Jirka's permission.
(Same with the rest of the portraits)

Alice from Alice in Wonderland.
Being that blue's my favorite color, I really like this
one too.  Her eyes are beautiful!

Can't tell you how much I absolutely love love love
this one!
Rapunzel from Tangled.

Cinderella from Cinderella.

Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Still the most beautiful one of all?

Tiana from the recent The Princess and the Frog.
Jirka says this is the only Princess that he
looked at her voice actress.
Otherwise, he doesn't.

Mulan from Mulan.
I love the pink background, and her hair tucked behind her ear just
makes her all the more pretty.  Sometimes I have to do a double-take
because the "gaps" in her teeth give the appearance
of braces to me from a distance.  Whoops!  My bad.

Pocahontas from Pocahontas.
Nice pose!

Jasmine from Aladdin.
This one is very close to being tied with my two
favorites!

Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Also another great pose!

Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.

Meg from Hercules.
He picked a great pose for her: really brings out her
spunk!

The beauty: Belle from Beauty and the Beast.
Quite an interesting face...

Ariel from The Little Mermaid.
I love the sand clinging to her tail and arms!
The only thing that makes me cock my head is her right arm:
is she double-jointed?

And the villainous Ursula brings up the end!
Ursula also from The Little Mermaid.
So Ariel gets her villain.

Rapunzel's Here!

Guess who's made her long awaited animated debut on the Disney Princess site?

Rapunzel!

Rapunzel just can't stop telling you how excited she
is to be on the Disney Princess site!
She's actually so cute, and Mandy Moore does her
voice as sweet and bubbly as ever!
Picture from Petite Tiaras.

Right after her official crowing last fall, Rapunzel was added to the site, but she wasn't animated yet, and one couldn't select her to play her games.

This morning though Petite Tiaras shared pictures of the Disney Princesses from their sites, and bubbly Rapunzel was among them.

And of course I had to check it out!

Like the other Princesses, her main game involves you choosing an outfit to wear.  Rapunzel has to get dressed soon for her (first ever!) tea party at...you guessed it, the Snuggly Duckling!  But she's promised to help Attila with baking and is late!

Sure you need help, Attila?  I think you've got it covered...
er, baked.
Picture from the Disney Wiki.

So will you help her pick out a dress?

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?