October 2015 - Page 5 of 5 - Living a Disney LifeLiving a Disney Life

It’s always fun to discovery yet another Disney treasure in Nick and Barbie’s Disneyana collection and this particular piece is one of my absolute favorites. Maybe because it’s about my age or maybe because it’s crazy adorable and full of beloved Disney characters…maybe I love it so much because it’s wonderful in spite of being a bit worn. I did I little research on the interwebs and found one of these for sale on ebay. As I type this, I’m looking it over with serious consideration towards buying it for myself. While a wide variety of Disney characters are featured, most states feature either Mickey, Minnie, or Donald doing something associated with that particular state. Minnie reaching down to pet a pig in Nebraska is hilarious!

Walt Disney United States Character Map

By: Nick

My wife and I collect globes and maps. I bought this puzzle map of the United States off of eBay a few years ago.
It was already assembled, and glued on a piece of cardboard, and my wife framed it for me.

Made by Jaymar for Walt Disney Productions.

I’m not sure what year it is from, but as Hawaii is included as a state, it was made during or after 1959.

Also, Disneyland is very prominently displayed in California, and there is no indication of Walt Disney World in Florida, so it was very likely before 1971.

So we’ll just say that it’s from the 1960s.

While not in the best of shape, with pieces peeling, some seemingly missing bits, and pencil marks, I still love it for the graphics of our favorite characters.

Follow Nick, his wife Barbie, and friends for more Disney adventures (and to see all their Disney collectibles!): Disney Musings Blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, On Instagram, On Pinterest.

Please listen to Nick, our friend Dave, and me on The Disney Exchange Podcast where we discuss our love of all things Disney and offer travel tips, restaurant and resort reviews, planning advice, and other Disney-related nonsense…while we argue and laugh a LOT. Follow the Disney Exchange on Facebook and weigh in on our many opinion-solicitations.

For those of us who cannot resist our love for all things Disney, planning what we’ll do next (Disney-wise) tends to absorb much of our free time…or maybe it’s just me. It might be crafts, Disney holiday decorations, upcoming Disney movies on our to-watch list, whipping up a Disney recipe at home, anxiously awaiting the newest episode of The Muppets or our favorite Disney podcast, booking ADRs (Advance Dining Reservations) or FastPass+ attractions for our next Walt Disney World vacation…no matter, we just love the anticipation and the planning! I’m not going to lie…the planning, for me, is almost half the fun.

So what about our family (a.k.a. The Fam)? What are we cooking up, planning for, and looking forward to in our Disney lives? I’ll tell you!

These Disney Fans – What’s Next?

Now that Megan and Grant (our daughter and son-in-law) are happily married and back from their Disney honeymoon, we can return to our regularly scheduled Disney planning. Personally, I’ve got a lot on my mind. It’s October – one of my most favorite months of the year. I’m working on our Halloween decorations and Junior’s costume (yes, my friends, in the absence of children at home, I still buy Disney Halloween costumes…for our dog.). My countdown calendar for our next Disney vacation is dutifully ticking off the days and as the weather gets (slightly) cooler, I’m daydreaming about my Disney future.

Our annual Thanksgiving Day Disney movie will be postponed this year. Raymond, Megan, Joseph and I have gone to see a Disney movie on Thanksgiving Day for as long as Megan and Joseph have been alive. This year, embracing our empty-nest status, Raymond and I will be celebrating Thanksgiving at my sister’s house in Tennessee with my family…without our kids. Everyone’s okay with this, but the movie thing is bothering me more than eating turkey and dressing apart from my offspring. Luckily, we’ll make arrangements to see The Good Dinosaur (Pixar; premiers on November 25th) the next weekend. Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiers on December 18th – that one we’ll see right before Christmas. I, for one, am very excited!
Last Call for Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. Again with the parental independence, we’re leaving the kids behind on December 26th. Raymond and I are taking a few days at Walt Disney World to relax, take in those awesome Disney holiday decorations, and bid farewell to the Osborne Lights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Will they appear somewhere else in the future? Nobody seems to know. Better safe than sorry, we’ll at least get to see them in their current location one last time.
Disney Food! We may be weird (okay, I’m pretty sure we ARE weird), but we plan our Disney vacations mostly around our dining reservations. Does anyone else do this? I mean, we always book Disney dining reservations at the earliest possible time (180 days in advance) then mostly plan our park days so our restaurant choices won’t be a major inconvenience transportation-wise. Planning meals so far in advance gives us lots of time to look forward to the deliciousness. Our December plans include Jiko (Animal Kingdom Lodge), 50’s Prime Time Café (Disney’s Hollywood Studios), Todd English’s bluezoo (WDW Dolphin Hotel), Shula’s Steak House (also the Dolphin), Biergarten (World Showcase in Epcot), Flying Fish Café (Disney’s Boardwalk), Whispering Canyon Café (Wilderness Lodge), and Narcoossee’s (Grand Floridian). Don’t ask me what we were thinking booking all of that for a 5-day stay, but we’re going to give it our best shot. Especially since quite a few of those will be new to us and a couple will be repeats from a LONG time ago. Check back for reviews – I love doing restaurant reviews!
Disney Springs – I realize that a bunch of Disney fans are sad about the Downtown Disney transformation. We’re not those folks. Our favorite things are still there and a number of new shops and restaurants have been added since our last visit (February, 2015). I’ll be so stoked to see the final form of this corner of the World since it’s been under construction forever!
The Disney Exchange meet-up and Princess Half-Marathon Weekend, 2016 – Sure, I’ve got to run a bunch of miles between now and then to get ready for the Glass Slipper Challenge, but it’ll totally be worth it! Nick, Dave and I will spend three days ~~bickering~~ discussing our love for Disney in person! We’ll be having Disney Exchange meet-ups, posting to Facebook, Tweeting live, sharing Periscope and Blab broadcasts, and creating general mayhem as we do what we always do – argue, debate, give each other a hard time, and laugh hysterically. I cannot WAIT!