Category Archives: In General

Mini Spoiler-Free THOR Review

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Thor:  The Dark World

So, Raymond and I contributed to the $86 million Thor took in over its opening weekend by going on a movie date.  My two cents:

Much better than the first Thor movie (and not just because Thor is sporting longer, better-looking hair – but it works for him, just sayin’).  I’ve enjoyed all the Marvel movies, but the first Thor was actually my least favorite.  I’m pretty sure it was all the jumping around between different story lines that made it less than fantastic to me – and I find the Asgardian accents a bit strange and inconsistent – but all that changed in Thor 2. 

This movie really brought out so much more depth in each character.  ReneGeneral Dis Pics 11.13 036 Russo’s Frigga has a much larger role, the onion that is Loki has a few more layers peeled back – can I just add that Tom Hiddleston is incredible in this movie – best villain ever.  Even the all-seeing Heimdall (Idris Elba) opens up a bit.  Since this is a spoiler-free review, I’ll be careful, but if you saw the trailers for Thor, you know that Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) goes with Thor to Asgard – I thought this would be totally weird, but it was fine and helped bring everything together nicely for the story.

Bottom line – if you weren’t a huge fan of Thor after the first movie, give him another chance.  Thor:  The Dark World has edge-of-your-seat action, emotion, super special effects and some hysterically funny parts you will absolutely love.  Important:  Stay in your seat until the last credits roll – there are two post movie scenes you don’t want to miss.

Did you see Thor this weekend?  What did you think?

Magical Memory Monday – Loving Donald

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IMG_5202I must confess…while growing up, I was never a Donald Duck fan.  Watching Disney cartoons on TV, I thought he was always kind of crabby and pretty grumpy in general.  Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Daisy were so happy, Donald just suffered by comparison.  Based on those childhood feelings, It surprises me how much of a Donald fan I am now…He is, without a doubt, my favorite Disney character!

What happened to make me fall in love with Donald Duck?  Disney magic, that’s what!!!

It was during a spring break trip to Disney World in 2005.  We were staying at the Contemporary and were on our way out to the parks for the day when Megan realized she’d forgotten her key-to-the-world card.  Joseph and I waited on the monorail platform while Raymond and Megan ran back to the room to get it.  Joseph was occupying himself in the way 10-year-old boys tend to do as I looked down over the railing at the goings-on at Chef Mickey’s.  Donald was out in front of the restaurant posing with a family for pictures.  After the pictures were taken and the family went on inside, one of those magical Disney moments took place that changed my feelings about Donald Duck forever….

Donald glanced up at me as I stood there by myself looking over that wall on the monorail platform.  And when he saw me, he threw his arms wide and stepped back in surprise…one hand flew to his heart while he pointed right at me with the other…perfectly miming, “It’s YOU!”  Then he began madly blowing kisses to me with both hands.

At first I was so shocked I just sort of waved back a little, but Donald’s enthusiasm (at seeing me!) and those kisses he just kept flinging at me, quickly snapped me into the magic of the moment and before I knew it…..I was wildly blowing kisses back at Donald with, I’m sure, a ridiculously huge, dopey IMG_5201smile on my face!  Yeah…..so that was just about the time I heard, “Mommmmm?  What are you doing?”  And I answered the only way I could….”Oh, Joseph!  Donald and I are having a moment!”  Then, Raymond and Megan got back so Donald and I both went on about our day…but, in that one brief moment, grumpy, crabby Donald became special, magical Donald and had won my heart forever.

WARNING! Brand New Disney Blog! Read at your own risk….

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Hi there!  My name’s Lisa and this is the inaugural post of “Living a Disney Life”.  If you cruise on over to the (coincidentally, also brand new) About page, you can find out why I’m here.

 

The plan…I intend to post often – at least three times a week.  As you may have surmised, I will be posting about Disney-related topics.  I’d like to share things with you like trending Disney news and what I think about it (hopefully you’ll share you thoughts with me, too), Magical Memories from my family’s Disney vacations, things I’ve learned about raising and traveling with Disney children (at every age) that you might find helpful, and the many things I do at home to keep the Disney magic alive between Disney vacations.

I’ve always been crazy about Disney.  From my earliest memories of Sunday evenings spent watching The Wonderful World of Disney to singing along to all the songs from Mary Poppins while my mom played the piano.  I grew up with Disney movies, toys, games, and finally my first trip to Walt Disney World.  Disney’s always been part of my life and when I had children, I wanted to share my love for Disney with them too.

I’m just your average everyday Disney fan.  My husband and I live normal, average lives; going to work everyday to make enough money to pay the bills and hopefully still have enough left over to make sure we’re not just living, but Living a Disney Life.

Celebrating 25 years of marriage at Walt Disney World