Monthly Archives: November 2013

Tips for Meeting Disney Characters

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Almost five-year-old Megan gets autographs from her favorite characters

When you have a Disney vacation planned, one of the things you immediately imagine is how your children (or you) will be when you see those famous Disney characters for the first time! If you have very small children, you may worry about whether or not your little sweeties will be scared or how to properly make that initial introduction.  I have a little experience with this and here’s my best advice:

Babies and Toddlers:  They won’t remember it, so it’s YOU who will be most disappointed if the character meeting doesn’t go well.  

  • Everyone wants pictures, so my best advice is easy does it.  Small doses work best.  Let your toddler look at the characters from far away first before getting them up close and personal.  It helps if there’s an older sibling to lead the way, but if that’s not the case – let them see other children having fun with the characters so they know it’s a good thing. 

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    Not crying (yet) a cautious Joseph meets Genie for the first time.

  • Worse case – take pictures of your little one with the character in the background if face-to-face is a no-go. 
  • Unless there are older siblings to consider, don’t waste your money on a character meal just yet.  It’s worth every penny, though, when the time is right. 

Which brings me to…. Children between four and ten: 

  • Now’s the time to dish out some dough.  Character meals, character meet-and-greets, autograph books, and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.  I promise – you’ll spend less money when they’re tweens and teens at Disney World than you will during this stage.  Why spend the money (and the time waiting in line)?  They’re only this age for a very little while – the age where they still believe in magic, still get a kick out of playing dress-up, and still think those characters are royal-celebrity-rock-stars!
  • Character Dining – you have several choices at all four theme parks and many different resorts.  Our favorite has always been Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort because of the classic characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy).  There is character dining available with a wide variety of characters in every park and many resorts.  For more details and information on selecting the right dining experience for you (or your child), check out this article at The Disney Food Blog.

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    Mickey autographs a tee shirt

  • Character Meet and Greets + Autograph Collecting:  ALL character interaction opportunities are covered here by a great source of Disney World info, Intercot.com.  Sudden opportunities do present themselves and should be taken advantage of whenever possible (saves time).  Bring along an autograph book, a tee shirt, a wide picture mat, or pillowcase for the characters to sign – these make great souvenirs!  Bring large markers in different colors that are easy for the characters to grip and hand them open and ready to write to each character when the time comes.
  • Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique – Warning:  You may experience sticker shock!  This magical salon turns your little princess into her favorite Disney princess (or character).  Why you should do it:  After their transformation is complete, just take them to see an afternoon parade in the Magic Kingdom.  The parade characters salute, bow, blow kisses, bestow royal waves – you name it- especially for the Disney princesses among the parades’ spectators.  I must confess – I purposely find a place near one of these princesses in the crowd so I can watch her reaction (and her parents’) as the parade goes by and all those very priceless interactions take place – makes me misty-eyed every time.

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    Donald!

  • If your child is shy:  Our own Megan was very timid as a little girl and didn’t want to speak to strangers – even Disney characters.  We found that the silent, happy (no villains), non-speaking characters were her favorites since there was no chance they would ask her a question or require her to speak to them at any time.

Tweens, Teens, and Adults:

 

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Jason and Joseph returning from Castaway Cay

  • Best to look for those sudden moments that pop up when the characters are available and the line is short or non-existent.  These are some of my most favorite vacation pictures EVER!  Mostly because running into the characters was a surprise (in an out-of-the way place) and the characters are more inclined to be playful or tease in unexpected ways.  Villains are perfect for older children and adults.  
  • Character meals can still be fun.  Breakfast at Chef Mickey’s is still one of our favorite things to do.  Also, 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian offers a character dinner that features Cinderella and Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine and the Stepsisters, Drizella and Anastasia…they are perfect for character interaction with teens and adults as they are extremely funny (and the sisters may be a bit much for little ones).
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    Minnie at Chef Mickey’s

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    Surprise meeting with Lelo and Stitch

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    Goofy has some smooth moves at sea

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Disney Cruise Line – Characters abound on the high seas!  With older children especially, watch for those unexpected opportunities.  In port, there are usually characters waiting on the pier to welcome you back to the ship – depending on the time of day, the line for pictures is usually very short (or nonexistent).

Hopefully, some of these tips will come in handy on your next (or first) Disney vacation.  If you have character pictures you’d like to share, I’d love to see them.

DIY Disney – Mickey Christmas Ornaments Part 1

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Christmas 2012

 

I love Christmas time.  Even in an empty nest – Christmas is exciting.  I start gearing up for the big day pretty early.  I have a nine-foot-tall artificial tree that takes some wrangling to assemble and then all those darn branches need to be fluffed…really makes me miss my free labor darling children.  I’ve got to work in stages and although time consuming, it’s totally worth the effort.  What do I love best about my big brute of a tree?  It’s a Disney Tree!

Raymond and I started collecting Disney ornaments when we first got married.  Then, children tend to choose Disney ornaments (if you’re raising them right) when ornament buying opportunities present themselves.  I guess I should have known our tree would end up 100% Disney on a visit to Disney World a few years back….

Beginning Flashback Sequence…..

We took the bus to Downtown Disney.  As I leaped from the bus and started skipping along to my most favorite store of all…okay, there may have not been actual leaping and skipping, but that’s what I was doing in my mind…I felt a hand on my arm.  Turning to Raymond with a questioning look in my eye (that’s how married people communicate after a while), he looked at me very seriously and said, “Just have them ship it all home, okay?”  What? – Needed a sec to digest the implication – OKAY!  Yes, Dear, I will certainly do that.  You can count on me!  And off I skipped to Disney’s Days of Christmas.

So now we have a few Disney ornaments.  Enough to fill a 9-foot tree.  You think I’d be happy with that, but no, I still add ornaments every year.  This year I have two new ones I bought while cruising in the Mediterranean on the Disney Magic.  Enough?  Nope.  I like to make my own Disney ornaments too.  They’re easy and fun to make; plus you can save a bunch of money making them yourself – like maybe if  you have to replace some broken ones or something.

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I made this ornament last weekend.  I’ve made this type before, but used sold black ornaments that were not shatter-proof – they turned out GREAT but now there aren’t many left (I’m not blaming anyone or naming names).  This year I was going for a little more sparkle (must have been thinking of Megan) when I hit the “50% off all Christmas decorations” sale at my favorite craft store.  Please, promise me, if you make these ornaments you will not pay full price.  Wait for a sale or download a coupon – you can always find a discount if you try.

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  • Use shatter-proof ornaments if you can.  Buy two sizes in any color you like that will work well together for the right effect.  I loved the sparkly red and was super thrilled that they had strings for hanging (instead of built-in plastic hook holders) that could easily be removed.

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  • Cut off the string right down at the very bottom.
  •  Fire up the glue gun and find the seam that runs around the big ornament you’re using for Mickey’s head – you want to glue the ears onto that seam.
  • No need to measure, just eyeball the ears (Ha!  EYEball theIMG_2054 EARS!  Hahahhaha)…okay, I’m back.  Put the glue on in a donut shape right were the string used to be and glue those ears on, one at a time.  For best result, make the glue donut and wait 15 seconds (or so) for the glue to cool off a tiny bit before you stick the ears on.

That’s it.  Ta-Dah!  Easiest (and cutest) DIY Disney ornaments in the world.  Go.  Shop.  Make Some.

“…And call me when you get back, darling, I do enjoy our visits.”- Edna Mode, The Incredibles

 

Favorite Disney Birthday Gifts

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Perry demonstrates how I like to celebrate!

 

I still like birthdays.  Mine, I mean – even though I’ve had quite a few and many people my age (49 – yes, I admit it!) don’t want to celebrate them much anymore.  I still get excited for my big day!  I think it’s because at our house, birthdays are always treated as holidays.  You’re made to feel special, gifts are always carefully guarded secrets until the big reveal, and you get to choose how you want to celebrate the day. 

When I think back about the Disney gifts (and there have been many) that I’ve received on my birthday, two stand out as particularly special.  Maybe because they were from Raymond or maybe because I see/use them everyday (or both) – they’re great because they help keep the Disney magic alive and well in our home between vacations.

IMG_2084The Mickey plate stand.  I saw this in one of the Contemporary Resort’s gift shops and just fell in love with it.  It’s not too big, can be used to serve small treats or just as a decoration and is classic Disney.  There was really no way at the time I saw Mickey that I could justify buying him for myself.  So, typical of Raymond’s gift buying ways, when we got home from vacation he made it a quest to procure Mickey in time for my birthday.  It wasn’t easy.  He looked online at The Disney Store and – no luck.  So, he called the Contemporary and managed to find a helpful Cast Member in one gift shop that was willing to go to all the resort’s gift shops for Raymond, find Mickey and ship him to our house. 

More recently (last year) I received my other most favorite Disney gift.  Mickey dinnerware.IMG_2093  I admired these plates while we were at Disney World…several times, in fact, because we saw them in several different stores.  I liked the simplicity of them and how well they would go with our red kitchen.  Also, matching other dishes to them would be pretty easy.  This time, it was a little easier for Raymond since these were available online.  These plates are of excellent quality and are holding up very well after many cycles in the dishwasher and nukes in the microwave.  If you can think of any place I might find some red, red and white, or black bowls that would go with my Mickey plates, please let me know – I’m having trouble finding just the right ones.

What was YOUR favorite Disney birthday gift?

Meg’s Favorite Disney Ride – Mad Tea Party (Maybe)

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I knew when I polled The Fam about their favorite ride at Disney World, that question would be a challenge for Megan –

– She’d have the hardest time picking just one.  Megan is all about the classics and, after so many visits, family Disney traditions.  To Megan, visits to Disney World are not just vacations;  they’re like Christmas morning and her birthday all rolled up into one.  (Do I know how to raise Disney-fied children, or what!)  There’s no doubt Magic Kingdom is Megan’s favorite place, so I knew she would narrow her choices for favorite down to that park.

In Megan’s own words…

“Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion are two just-can’t-miss Disney rides. I wouldn’t feel complete if I went to Disney World and didn’t get to ride those two. Oh, and don’t forget Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It just wouldn’t be a Disney World vacation for me if I didn’t get to ride those. I suppose the list could just go on and on. I can’t pick just one ride because I have many, many favorites for a lot of different IMG_3300reasons.  Those rides are among my favorites not only because of how much fun they are, but also because to me they now all feel like part of the Disney tradition. I really feel that if for any reason any one of these rides:  Mad Tea Party, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, or Thunder Mountain were ever closed for good, my Disney heart would break. So, while I have some rides that I love because they are so thrilling you just want to get off and get right back in line, I have many rides that I love because they are Disney World to me. ”

IMG_3298“Now, that being said, I would have to say that the Mad Tea Party’s spinning tea cups are way up there on my list of favorites. I know there really isn’t much to them, but I really enjoy that ride because it is, to me, the essence of Disney theme parks. I mean, you just can’t see an advertisement for Disney World without a clip of those spinning tea cups. We may not ride them every time we go but it’s just one of those things. You can’t be a true blue Disney fan unless you have experienced the Mad Tea Party at least once or twice.”

In the end, Megan just couldn’t choose….”To pick one would be to betray all of those other ridesIMG_3297 that Disney World wouldn’t be Disney World without. It is a mixture of the rides that give you that thrill that makes Disney World the Happiest Place on Earth.”

What ride makes your Disney World visit complete?