Category Archives: Walt Disney World

Disney Mickey Bars – How We Love You!

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IMG_1237I read lots of Disney blogs.  Disney snacks are a hot topic!  Disney bloggers and their readers are very opinionated about their favorite, must-have Disney vacation snack.  You know, that one food item that calls to you and when you bite into it, you know you’re at Disney?  Having no shortage of my own opinions, I’m wading into the fray.

I know there are big-time Disney churro lovers, and soft Mickey pretzel fans, folks that dig those frozen lemonades, and those who consider the chocolate croissant or a Mickey shaped ice cream sandwich a must.

As for me, even born without a sweet tooth, it’s the Mickey ice cream bar – all the way!  I must have one at some point on my Disney vacation.  IMG_5182Personally, I think they taste the best when eaten under a blue, sunny Florida sky while walking in Future World at Epcot.  While I wait in line to make my purchase, I can just imagine how the chocolate will feel when I take the first bite – the muffled crunch it will make as that smooth delicious exterior gives way.  Then I’ve got to eat pretty quickly or wear drips of ice cream on my shirt for the rest of the day!  I know – it’s just a plain old chocolate covered vanilla ice cream bar.  But this one’s special.  It’s sweet, cold, just the right size and shaped like Mickey’s head!  How could any vacation food be better than that?

IMG_2370Last time I went to Disney World, I brought a Mickey Bar home with me.  I saw a package of souvenir Disney snack magnets and couldn’t wait to buy them.  Reminded gently by Raymond that we have a stainless steel refrigerator – where would those magnets go?  Not to worry!  I turned them into Christmas ornaments!!!

So, what about you?  Dole whip, turkey leg, school bread, citrus swirl, a funnel cake perhaps?  Which snack makes your Disney visits special?DSCN2572

This Disney World Souvenir – Something to Treasure

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IMG_2328It’s maybe a bit old fashioned and I haven’t heard any of my Disney friends talk about it in a while, but one of the most special treasures you can bring home as a memento of your Disney vacation is also one of the least expensive…a hand-cut silhouette of your child.

Think about it – lots of souvenirs are pretty generic.  Toys get broken or worn out, children’s clothing gets outgrown.  Disney pins are great souvenirs, but are pretty small.  Pictures are excellent, too – but what about something different and unique?  For about $8 (unframed) and roughly double that framed in a black plastic oval, you can capture your child’s (or your own) profile – preserved by an extremely talented, scissor-wielding artist – in just a few minute’s time.

If you find yourself in Magic Kingdom with a some time on your hands and you’re child is able sit still for just a little while (or is asleep in their stroller), I encourage you to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.  On Main Street (halfway down on the right) and in Liberty Square (near the Hall of Presidents) you’ll find silhouette artists waiting.  There are also silhouette carts in the France pavilion in Epcot and in Downtown Disney, but I find the Magic Kingdom locations easy to visit while moving from one land to another and the wait is very short (or nonexistent).  Disney Ear Hats and other costume pieces can make your silhouette more Disneyfied if you like.

IMG_2324You should know:  The artists are outside vendors and cannot charge your new masterpiece to your room – be prepared with cash or a credit card.  Also – the silhouettes cannot be sent to your resort, you’ll have to carry them with you or pick them up on your way out.

And if you want to, you can trade some pins commemorating Disney silhouettes too.

 

Tweet Disney Wisdom

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IMG_5229“Do all you can to take in all the subtle details and anticipate unexpected surprises on your Walt Disney World trips.” –  Tweeted by Curtis Stone @GeekinOnWDW,  12/11/13

No truer words were ever tweeted!  Right after I re-tweeted and favorited Curtis’s sentiment, I thought about the number of times I have been awed, surprised, amazed, astounded (get the idea?) by the very special and sometimes extremely tiny (yet no less amazing) details that one can find literally everywhere at Disney World!

As an illustration, I’ll list just ten incredible Disney details here (in no particular order) – Go to Disney World and find some of your own! – there are thousands of breathtaking, magical pixie-dusted surprises waiting for you.

1.  Hidden Mickeys – you’ve heard me mention them before, but you will find them in the mostIMG_3022 unexpected places – woven into the design in carpets, on bedspreads, in bathrooms – seek and you shall find!

2.  Look at the windows on Main Street – look UP!  The names etched on those windows are tributes to some of the most amazing and creative people that have ever lived – imagineers responsible for all the amazing details Curtis was tweeting about.

3.  If I had a nickel for every special moment we’ve experienced with a Disney character, I could retire early!  Not just after waiting in line, either – my story about Donald is one example, IMG_4880but there have been so many times – even during parades when a character singles you out for one special moment of interaction – magical, surprising, SO precious – what Disney is all about!

4. The license plates on the limos in Rock’n’ Roller Coaster – a tiny detail we would never miss if those plates weren’t there, but WOW!  Cool, clever, and funny!  Check them out when you go.

5. Sound effects!  I’ll give one example – the outdoor sounds on the grounds at the Port Orleans Riverside resort.  You hear crickets and frogs while you walk among the landscaping between the resort’s buildings – those are sound effects!

6.  The smell on Main Street (baking cookies!) and other smells manufactured for your IMG_2069enjoyment – want to know more?  Go here.

7.  DON’T PULL THE ROPE!  Look for it near the Indiana Jones area in Disney’s Hollywood Studios – then PULL THE ROPE!  See what happens – fantastic!

8.  The Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom.  Just LOOK at it.  Artificial 145 foot-tall tree – looks amazingly real from a distance – then upon closer inspection, the details of every single artistic image depicted on the tree’s trunk and roots will amaze you.  I could look at its 325 carved figures all day.  Oh, and Disney’s ability to add magical touches to photographs is a nice bit of magic too.

9.  Look Down!  Details on the ground are everywhere.  One example is the imprints in the cement walkways in the Storybook Circus area of IMG_0874Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom (circus animal footprints and peanut shells) but there are lots of surprises like this all over Disney World – great fun for little ones to find!

10.  This one you might not be able to duplicate, but I experienced this bit of Disney magic once upon a time as I entered the queue for the Tower of Terror.  The solemn, gray-uniformed bellhop welcoming me, called me “Miss” and as if that wasn’t magical enough, I commented on how nobody had called me “miss” in many a year – he held out his hand to me and, on that oh-so-hot-and-humid summer day in Florida, when I placed my hand in his – his grip was ICE COLD!

What Disney details and surprises make your vacation magical?  

Follow Curtis on Twitter:  @GeekinOnWDW, follow his blog here.

You can find me on Twitter @life_of_green.

 

Loving Disney Pin Trading!

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A page from our pin collection

Oh, Boy, can Disney devise devious ways to separate you from your money!  One of their most successful efforts has got to be Disney pin trading.  How can you not get swept away?  Even if you don’t actively trade them, those pin kiosks are everywhere and the pins make great souvenirs.  Princess pins, Disney Pixar character pins, park pins, vinylmation pins, Muppet pins, ear hat pins, pins to commemorate holidays and special occasions, pins for every year,  pins for everybody!

 

We started pin trading when we took Megan and Joe on their second visit to Disney World.  We bought lanyards, lanyard “charms”, and starter pin sets.  At first it was hard to part with freshly purchased pins, but once we got rolling…we were like sharks in a feeding frenzy.  We traded like crazy with Cast Members, bus drivers, other guests – at the parks, on boats, General Dis Pics 11.13 092trains and buses, at the hotel front desk, at pin trading events and then we even traded pins on Disney cruise ships.  This may be hard to believe, but we are not hard-core collectors who try to find rare or valuable pins or complete sets (with one exception).  I think if we took it to that level, it wouldn’t be as much fun for us.  We trade for pins we like or that have special meaning to us in particular.  On a couple of trips we didn’t do any pin trading at all (but still bought a few to add to our collection).  Last year our pin-trading love was rekindled simply by taking along a couple of friends who were just getting their Disney pin collections started.

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Meg and Ashli! Lanyards on, Pins ready!

 

Megan’s friend Ashli and Joseph’s friend Jason were able to join us on our trip to Disney World last May.  Ashli was celebrating her recent graduation from nursing school and Joseph and Jason were both celebrating finishing their junior year of high school – excited about becoming seniors in the fall.  Ashli and Jason got swept up in pin mania just like we had in the past- starting slow at first and then gaining momentum – finally trading with gusto!  Their enthusiasm was contagious!  I wanted to collect the Orange Bird pin set and that was my main focus.  Jason jumped right on in and started collecting his own Orange Birds  – we all worked together to help each other find the pins we wanted.  It added another layer of fun to an already great vacation!

Pin collecting and trading is fun!  Over the next few weeks I’ll post tips and advice forGeneral Dis Pics 11.13 095 making the most of this great Disney opportunity to part with your hard-earned money, while having a heck of a good time doing it.  If you have any questions or particular aspects of pin trading/collecting you’d like to know more about, please let me know.