We're Going on a Mouse Hunt...

We're going on a Mouse hunt...

We're gonna catch a cute one!

I'm not afraid

Are you?

Not me!

Okay.. major flashback to being a Girl Scouts Brownie there! :) Except, of course, in the original song we would be hunting bears and catching big ones... But that just isn't as fun, is it?

Ready to be jealous? This particular Mouse-addict is headed to the Mouse's House in exactly 24 days (but who's counting?!). Everything is planned, scheduled and set up - hooray!
It may seem strange for someone so addicted (dare I say, obsessed) with Disney and Mickey to feel this way, but I'm actually worried about ODing on Disney during this trip. It's only been a year since my last visit, and I've never been in consecutive years before. We're also staying for a whopping EIGHT days, whereas last year's 5 day trip was the longest I've ever spent in the World.

So, to help nip boredom in the bud, I've come up with a few silly things to keep us busy on our trip. Keep in mind, we're two adults (albeit kids at heart) with no kiddos to keep track of or entertain. Just two big kids looking for ways to be even sillier than normal on vacation.

1) Flat Pidge. 
Everyone knows about Flat Stanley and his travels through Kindergarten classes all over. But we're going to print off/draw a picture of our kitty, Pidge and take pictures of him is silly places in Disney! Maybe surrounded by Mickey Mouse stuffed toys, or riding on Dumbo.
We pretty much have the coolest cat in the world (I'm not even kidding) so it seems fit he should get to "see" Disney as well.

2) Scavenger Hunt.
What better way to explore more of the hidden gems in the parks than to go hunting for them! We'll have a book with all different items to find and take photos with/of. I'm really excited about this one... here's a few ideas so far:
-Find a cast member from Chicago
-Find "x" number of Hidden Mickeys
-Be the only passengers on a Bus
-Dance with a princess/character
-Photo with "x" celebrity's hand prints @ Hollywood Studios
-Take a photo in every country in Epcot's World Showcase with a silly hat or item
Want to plan your own Scavenger Hunt? Check out this topic on the DisBoards!

Its just a start - but we're both excited about it. Yes, even Mr. I-don't-get-excited perked up when I told him these ideas.
Plus, we already have about half a million photos of us in front of all the various landmarks and such. It'll be way more fun to share these off the wall photos - not to mention how much more exciting it will be for folks LOOKING at the pictures!

Yay! I will surely post pictures of the scavenger hunt cards/book once they're created. If you have any suggestions, please share them in the comments below - I'll be sure to include them in the book, AND I will post the resulting photo after the trip for you to see. :)

Have a Magical day, today!
°o°

Shopaholics & Mouseaholics - Etsy.com

Welcome to the first Disney Shopping entry on this blog!
The goal is to make this a regular installment to showcase some fun, different Disney items that are for sale around the internet. Be sure to check some of these items out, and maybe add them to your wish lists for any upcoming holidays, birthdays or just-because! :)

Today's focus is on Etsy.com - Etsy is a community and a marketplace for all things handmade (as well as supplies for making all the wonderful items for sale on the site). There are literally MILLIONS of items for sale on Etsy, and sometimes you feel like you're fishing for a needle in a haystack - totally overwhelming. Here's a few items I've found that I absolutely love:

Minnie Mouse Lampwork Bookmark - 

Gorgeous Lampwork Glass Sterling Silver

JKSDesigns has beautiful lampwork glass pieces in her shop, and occasionally will throw a Mickey or Minnie Mouse item up for sale! In fact, the other author of this blog (who hasn't yet made her debut) received one of JKSDesigns' keychains for Christmas from yours truly - It was beautiful work.
JKSDesigns is based out of Sydney, Australia

Alice in Wonderland Large, 

Swarovski Crystal Flower Headband

Glamour Puss Couture's jewelry and accessories is sure to put a smile on your face. Seriously, if you're having a bad day, just go look at her shop! She uses trinkets and toys and turns them into beautiful pieces of statement jewelry - fun for kids and adults. These headbands are stunningly beautiful - I only wish to be trendy or bold enough to pull one off. I've gotten to know Miss Glamour over the past several months and she appears to be just as fun as the pieces she sells!
Glamour Puss Couture is based out of North Port, Florida

Mickey Mouse Handmade Disney Party 

Cupcake Toppers, Set of 12

It's been brought to my attention that a cupcake is no longer complete without a festive Cupcake Topper stuck in it! And Pinky Crafts is the place to get them. This paperworking artist can help you with all of your party planning needs - Cupcake Toppers, Wine Glass Tags, and even Scrapbook Pages to remember the event! Miss Pinky is another one of the wonderful gals I've been lucky enough to get to know over the past few months, and I'm glad to be able to say that!
Pinky Crafts is based out of Portland, Oregon

Disney Characters Pony O 

Hair Streamer

Little Princess Pea makes adorable and affordable bows, clips and pony-o's. But that's not all - she's also talented enough to make beautiful cards, as well! This Pony-O would be perfect for your little princess to wear during a hot Florida day while exploring Disney World. She also has some great Chicago Blackhawks bows, which the hockey fan in me is partial to!
Little Princess Pea is based out of Naperville, IL

We hope you enjoyed this installment of Shopaholics & Mouseaholics! Please feel free to post your favorite Disney themed items you've found on Etsy.com in the comments below.
Happy Shopping!!
°o°

Update on Beast's Castle...

In my last post about the new Fantasyland expansion, I mentioned that I was unsure of what would be taking place within Beast's new castle in Magic Kingdom.
Thanks to the Disney Parks Blog, I've got an answer now...

NOTHING! 

That's right, the new castle uses forced perspective (a common theme in Disney parks to help make structures seem larger than they are, or to direct your eye to certain details) to appear massive, while its really a miniature castle!
The castle will be sitting atop the Be Our Guest Restaurant, which will keep guests separated from the castle just enough to not realize how miniature it really is. Check out these photos, courtesy of Disney Parks Blog, to see the true size and scale of the new castle:

Let the Disney Magic do its work here, and take in the view of a large Beast's Castle

And now for the reality - either this Imagineer is a giant...
or this castle uses forced perspective in an impressive way!

Imagineer plays King Kong??

In case you aren't aware of it, forced perspective is used ALL over Disney World, but its most evident in the Magic Kingdom. Forced Perspective is a trick used on tv and movie sets to give the appearance of larger buildings. The easiest place to see this in action is on Main Street USA:

You may have noticed, this photo is actually from Disneyland in California...
They use the same forced perspective and it was a great photo showcasing the storefronts

Sure, this looks like a normal street of buildings, but there is Disney Magic at work here! Only the first story of the buildings are regular size, each story going up gets progressively smaller! This allowed the imagineers to help give the illusion of taller buildings, without having to actually BUILD three story buildings along the whole street.
This trick is also used on Cinderella Castle, which only stands 189 feet tall. Part of this height is because at 200 feet, structures are required to have Aircraft warning lights (the blinking white/red lights on buildings and powerlines) and the Imagineers felt the flashing strobe would ruin the effect of Cinderella Castle!

We'll leave you with a big of fun trivia today...
How many bricks were used in the construction of Cinderella Castle in Walt Disney World?
(leave your answers in the comments below - no Googling!!)

Have a Magical Day, today!
°o°

The Mickey Watch...

I stole my boyfriend's Mickey watch since he never wears it. You should have seen how sad it looked sitting on his desk, just begging to be worn...
Can't believe how many compliments I've been getting on it... Who knew wearing a men's watch was so great?!
Plus, there's the added bonus of seeing my favorite mouse every time I check the time!
So, what is your favorite Disney or Mickey accessory?
Have a Magical day, today!
°o°

Fantasyland Expansion - April 2011

By now, anyone who has any sort of interest in Disney World knows about the new Fantasyland Expansion that is currently going on. Just in case you've been living under a rock, or completely cut off from the whole world of Disney, here's a quick rundown for you...

In 2010 it was announced that Fantasyland would be expanded and doubled in size. To make room for the expansion, there would need to be some eliminations - the biggest of which being the complete removal/shut down of Mickey's ToonTown Faire.
This will be the largest expansion to the Magic Kingdom to date. It is slated to open in phases beginning late 2012.
The new Fantasyland area will include permanent homes for many of the Princesses, as well as restaurants, shops and a few new ride attractions.

Mickey's ToonTown Faire closed forever in February of 2011, and Mickey and Minnie's Country Homes were demolished. Don't fret, though! They weren't evicted to live on the streets - their "real" homes are still safely located in Disneyland in California. Phew!
Goofy's Barnstormer Roller Coaster will be the only part of ToonTown that remains, although it will be reworked to fit a new circus theme.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant will move from its current, central location to the old ToonTown area with massive improvements! There will now be TWO Dumbo rides running at all times, to help alleviate those long lines. There will also be a grand circus themed interactive queue area to help kids (and their parents!) enjoy the wait to see the flying elephant.

The new Fantasyland is to include themed areas for the following movies/characters:
Beauty and the Beast:
-Be Our Guest Restaurant - Counter Service meals for lunch and Table Service for dinner
-Gaston's Pub - Likely to be snacks and Non-alcoholic beverages (there is NO alcohol served in the Magic Kingdom)
-Beast's Castle - Future meet & greet home for Beauty and the Beast characters? Not sure. Disney has reassured guests/fans that this new castle will not take away from Cinderella Castle in any way.
The Little Mermaid:
-Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid - new dark (indoor) attraction
Snow White:
-The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - BRAND new state-of-the-art coaster! Will be a combination of indoor/outdoor coaster, and each car will rock independently of others in the train - much like mine cars would.
(Snow White's Scary Adventures will be removed, so there will still only be one Snow White attraction)

There will be new meet and greet locations for the Princesses and their friends, as well! Mickey's meet and greet was moved to the brand new Town Square Theater just a few weeks ago, which will be his new home in the Magic Kingdom. At this time, the princesses are hosting their meet and greets in the new Theater as well.

Here are some photos of the expansion - very exciting and fun!

artwork for the new Fantasyland expansion - set to begin opening late 2012

Beast's Castle was just constructed this past week!

Artwork for new Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction

Aerial view of the construction going on - top spires of Cinderella Castle at the bottom, Tents from old ToonTown Meet and Greet areas are still standing in upper right corner. Large building in the center will be the home for new Little Mermaid dark ride attraction

Photo Credits:
All artwork photos and Beast Castle photo are from Disney Parks Blog
Aerial photo from Attractions Magazine - check them out as they have tons more photos, and even video of the expansion going on!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a Magical Day today °o°

The Mouse is Everywhere!

As everything gets situated here, I'd like to share some of my favorite Disney related websites to tide any fellow Mouse-Addicts over... :)

Dis Boards 
A HUGE community of like-minded Disney Freaks :) There are message boards and discussions on any topic related to Disney that you can imagine - from the movies to the parks. There's even a live chat every night, podcasts, helpful planning information and TONS more. Basically your one-stop-shop for all things Disney.

Disney Parks Blog
The Official Disney Parks Blog - the most reliable source to Disney news and updates. Fun posts throughout the days/weeks with photos, sneak peeks and more.
(Plus, you're just one click away from planning your next vacation since you're already on the Disney site!)

MouseWorld Radio
Continuously streams music from Disney World - background music, queue music, ride/show tracks. Better yet, its a FREE service (there's a few ads, of course)

Unofficial Guide to Disney World
Companion website to the Unofficial Guide books - access to Disney World and Disneyland information. This site also provides crowd level predictions based on hotel occupancy and historical data. Great for planning which parks to visit on which days.
My biggest beef with them is that they ALWAYS suggest you avoid a park on Extra Magic Hours days, but I always take advantage of the bonus time in the parks!

D-Cot
Imagine Facebook only for Disney lovers and you have D-Cot. Relatively new on the scene, so there isn't a lot of traffic to the site just yet, but it is building. You can post photos, share thoughts, join groups with discussion pages and link up with your friends.
They also offer FREE Disney World music - their collection is a little limited, but you can choose which song is played.

Have a Magical Day, today!
°o°

Hey There, Hi There, Ho There!!

Photo Credit: Disney Parks Blog

Magic Kingdom, April 2010 - Entrance Gate

 There are so few moments that completely take someone's breath away - but merely setting foot on Walt Disney World property has the ability to do so repeatedly...

At least for the Disney addicts of the world!

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Welcome to our corner of cyberspace dedicated to the most Magical Place on Earth! Please stop in frequently for quick Disney fixes, as well as exciting news and information about the parks, resorts, Walt and the company as a whole.

"Adults are only kids grown up, anyway."

-Walt Disney