Category Archives: Disney at Home

Disney Gifts For Dad

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RM-Maharajah-Jungle-StopGot a dad?  Is he a Disney fan?  GREAT!  You’ve come to the right place.  I’m married to an awesome Dad who happens to love all things Disney and I’ve had a few years-worth of gift buying practice.  Here are a few gift suggestions for the Disney dad in your life…

(Merchandise pictures are courtesy of the Disney Store.)

Disney Gifts For Dad

For his closet – The coolest new Disney clothing items are all part of the Twenty Eight & Main collection.  Retro, laid-back, and perfect for Dad!  These duds are for cool dudes.  One of my favorites is this Rocketeer tee ($32.95).    Rocketeer-TeeSeriously, this collection is wonderful.

For his office – This Disney Parks Attraction Poster calendar ($21.95) is the gift that keeps on giving – save the pictures and have them framed. Disney-Parks-Attraction-Poster-Calendar-2016 What dad would not love this rosewood pen ($21.00)  The Disney Parks Products, stationery and office selection is full of classy choices for everydad.Disney-World-Rosewood-Pen-Arribas

For his castle – Two things come to mind.  First, a little Mansion merch for his gadget drawer in the form of this awesome Haunted Mansion bottle stopper ($19.95).  Haunted-Mansion-Bottle-StopperI own one of these myself and am a huge fan!  Second, a new coffee mug – pick one that’s microwave and dishwasher safe like this Magic Kingdom map mug for $12.95.Magic-Kingdom-Map-Mug

For his next Disney vacation – If your favorite dad deserves a little extra TLC or some extra rest and relaxation, treat him to something extra special on your next trip to Walt Disney World.  RM-Grand-Floridian-Senses-SignThe Senses Spa at the Grand Floridian offers excellent massages sure to make dad feel pampered and relaxed.  If that’s not your Dad’s cup of tea, you can always treat him to a round of golf, a movie, bowling, a Segway tour or a Dessert Party.

For his love – Help Dad keep the magical memories close at hand.  Turn his favorite vacation photos into unique gifts.  Bundle up your favorite Disney vacation pics into a Disney photo book.  For $79.95, this gorgeous, personalized reminder of your family’s vacation memories is easy to make with your own pictures and/or your Disney PhotoPass pictures.  We made one a few years back and I cannot count the number of times we’ve paged through it and relived those precious moments.  Disney Photo Book Disney Photo Book2Also available are smart phone cases, magnets, mousepads, ornaments, and more.

Are you shopping for a Disney-loving Dad? What are your best gift ideas?

Are you a Disney Dad? What are your favorite kinds of Disney gifts?

New Disney Ornaments!

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Christmas-Disney-Ornaments-WrappedMaybe it’s been mentioned a time or two, but my favorite Disney collectibles have always been Christmas ornaments.  As souvenirs, I think they’re perfect, so I always make time to carefully select one or two (okay, sometimes more) on every Disney vacation.  This year presented two great opportunities – Walt Disney World in February and cruising on the Disney Magic in Norway in June.

New Disney Ornaments!

When we get home from a Disney trip, I have a tradition of sorts – I put my new ornaments in a drawer with our Disney pin collection so I’ll know right where to find them when it’s time to decorate our Christmas tree.  While the tree hasn’t yet gone up, I pulled my 2015 ornament stash out this evening to inspect our newest treasures and here’s what I found…Christmas-Ornament-Disney-2015

Clearly I didn’t have much time to shop in February!  I selected only three new additions to the collection from Disney’s Days of Christmas in Disney Springs.  The first was to commemorate the year – I love how Mickey’s wearing his sorcerer hat and holding up his Mickey ice cream bar.  I’m sure it was that Mickey bar that sold me on that ornament!  Christmas-Oswald-OrnamentThe second ornament was my favorite of the three – Oswald holding a wreath.  We’re big Oswald fans at our house.  Look at his little face…Isn’t he adorable?  Christmas-Hitchhiking-Ghosts-OrnamentFinally, to go with the Haunted Mansion singing bust ornament set I bought in 2014, I added the Hitchhiking Ghosts.  They’re awesome!

There are ornaments available for purchase aboard Disney cruise ships.  I know this because I’ve bought some in the past.  This cruise, though, I opted for souvenirs from Norway.  Bergen, Norway, to be precise.  When we took our walking tour of the city, our guide mentioned there was a Christmas store conveniently located between the end of the tour and our ship.  Easy, convenient, and irresistible!Christmas-shop-Bergen-Norway

Megan and I each decided Norwegian flag ornaments would be perfect mementos.  Christmas-Ornament-Norwegian-FlagI also found a tiny glass frog prince I couldn’t pass up.  Christmas-Frog-Prince-Ornament-from-NorwayFinally, we purchased a non-ornament.  We bought this funny little figurine.  Partial to pigs, this little pair was impossible to leave behind -so, while not Disney, they came home with us anyway.Christmas-Pig-Norway

Now, assembling the 9-foot tree, fluffing all the branches, making sure the lights are all on, and adding the many layers of decorations is going to be quite the project (as usual)!  I’m motivated, though, to get going, so our newest ornaments can find their place as part of our Disney Christmas collection.

Do you collect Disney Christmas ornaments?  Which are your favorites?  Please share pictures over on the Facebook page.

 

Christmas With a Hint of Disney

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I’m getting a late start with Christmas decorating this year.  I’m not complaining, just stating a fact.  Raymond and I spent our first Thanksgiving without our offspring in Franklin, Tennessee with my family.  I missed the kids, sure, but I made the most of the completely amazing shopping opportunities to be found in this fantastically historic town south of Nashville.  While I was buying Christmas presents, I had two other things on my mind – Disney (it’s always on my mind) and holiday decorating.Christmas-Framed-Picture-Project

At my house, not everything has to be officially Disney to be Disney-esque to me.  Sometimes I like just a sprinkle of pixie dust, the mere hint of Disney will do.  While I was shopping for the people on my Christmas list, I came upon a couple of treasures – I was just checking out when I spied these amazing tiny greeting cards, but the line was so long, I couldn’t give up my place to look closer at what caught my eye.  After checking out I realized the potential of these little gems, but had to leave without them due to time constraints.  I couldn’t stop thinking about them and ended up making time to go back to get them the next day.Christmas-Frog-Prince

Greeting cards, they were, but subtle, adorable, and very well-done – not your run of the mill cards.  Two of them had that Disney-ish charm.  They were prints of a frog prince and a fork.  The first reminding me of Tiana and her Prince Naveen in The Princess and the Frog.  The second reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast’s Be Our Guest song – “No one’s gloomy or complaining while the flatware’s entertaining!” I had big plans for these small pictures!Christmas-Flatware-Picture-Project

Today at lunchtime, I struck out for my favorite craft store – boy oh, boy, was that place crowded!  I headed straight for the framing section to pick up some mats to make the little cards look more like pieces of art.  Then I made my way to the picture frames where, JOY! Everything was half-off.  After spending more time in line than I did shopping, I was out the door.Christmas-Framed-Picture-Project-Mat

As soon as supper was over, I put together my little works of art and officially have my first Christmas decorations of the year on display!  Cute, no?Christmas-Frog-Prince-Framed Christmas-Flatware-Framed-Picture

The cards by TokyoMilk can be found online here.

Have you started decorating?  What kinds of things remind you of Disney?

Feeling Thankful Disney Style

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Castle-PictureThanksgiving is for counting blessings and I’m not sure I can count that high!  Of course I’m thankful for my family and friends, my work-family, and my home and health.  I’m also incredibly thankful for you.  Yes, YOU.  You regular visitors and those of you who stop by from time to time.  Most of you are fellow Disney fans, some are young parents, many are understanding empty-nesters (like me), others are co-mid-life-experiencing people who share in my confusion – how did we get here so quickly?  Where did the time go?

Why do I appreciate you?  That’s easy – Life’s full of ups and downs.  We don’t always know what’s going on with strangers we encounter, often we’re unaware of difficulties and challenges our own acquaintances and casual friends are dealing with.  I’m like you and my life is full of unexpected twists and turns.  Being able to share my little corner of the word and my love for all things Disney with you has been rewarding beyond measure.  Your comments, feedback, kind emails, good-natured debates, and constant support have kept me going during some stressful times over the past two years.  You get me in a way many people, who don’t share our Disney passion, can’t.  For that, and your friendship, I’m indescribably grateful.RM-Mickey-Heart-Ornament-Front

I appreciate the fellow Disney fan bloggers and podcasters who came to my rescue when I was saying goodbye to my mom in June – their support and guest post contributions kept me and this blog going – I’ve said it before and it’s absolutely the truth – the Disney fan community is a loving and caring place to be a part of.IMG_3869

I’m thankful for those of you who lend me your ears – The Disney Exchange Podcast as grown over the past year to encompass a humbling number of regular listeners, Twitter followers, and Facebook friends.  I’m so fortunate to have Nick and Dave to be my friends and co-host the show with me…we talk Disney and have a great time every single week.IMG_2293

Happy Thanksgiving, Disney Friends!  May your blessings be bountiful and your home be filled with love, laughter, and happily ever after…Lisa