Tag Archives: Disney at Home

Top Five Things About Being a 50 Year Old Disney Fan

Posted on by

Med Cruise 2013 Camera 003It’s good to be me.  Born in 1964, I share a birthday with some of Walt Disney’s best productions.  It’s a Small World and Carousel of Progress ring a bell? We are the same age.  Old?  Heck no, we’re classics!  So, here we are in 2014…on November 16th, it’ll be official – I’ll have reached the half-century mark.  Clearly I’m comfortable with that (I’m freely admitting it right here for you to read) and it’s true what they say, you know, you’re only as old as you feel.  I feel great.  Gravity’s effects excluded, the original parts are holding up pretty well and I’m pretty low maintenance.  I exercise regularly and try to eat right.  In the marriage arena, I’m a winner!  We will reach a marital milestone this year, too – 25th anniversary’s coming up on September 9th.

So, those of you who are in your twenties or thirties who are reading this and thinking – She’sDisney Fans at 50 and 60 clearly delusional – that chick is OLD!  Go right ahead, you young whippersnappers – Believe what you will.  Sure, I have a few gray hairs and a couple of crows’ feet, but I’ve earned them!  I don’t mind being “old” – I’m seasoned, well informed, wise even.  I KNOW things now in a way I could only dream about way back when.  We’ve raised our kids (who we love more than they’ll ever know) and we did a great job with that!  They’re delightful, happy productive members of society and they love all things Disney!  What more could we ask for?

For those of you who haven’t yet reached this incredibly special and rewarding phase of life and may be concerned about what it will be like, I give you…

The Top 5 Things About Being a 50-Year-Old Disney Fan:

The Day My Disney Life Began

1. Back to Pre-Kid Status, but Smarter! We’re DINKs again (Dual Income No Kids), but now we can spend money on Disney vacations in a more sensible, guilt-free way.  The first time around we were in the super lean years – we did much more dreaming than doing (wouldn’t change a thing about that) and enjoyed Disney mostly in the form of movies, videos, toys and games.  Visits to Walt Disney World were such a treat – and difficult to manage.  Now we’ve earned our “money management” badges and make better choices day to day – resulting in better Disney vacations year to year.

2. The Many Forms of Disney Vacations!  We’ve learned to appreciate all kinds of Disney trips.  We love Disney Cruise Line and have enjoyed many different cruises of various lengths.  We’ve experienced Walt Disney World at Value, Moderate, and Deluxe- resorts, and as DVC Members.  We enjoyed every nanosecond of every Disney Walt Disney World, 1996vacation – I’ll be honest, at one time, we were seriously broke!  Staying on-property at all was a BIG DEAL!  A special, hard earned luxury.  I guess that’s why we still feel that way.  Now, though, we can slow down more and appreciate those little Disney details…incredible.

3. ‘Ohana Means Family – Having “adult” (I still picture them as little) children means we can occasionally vacation without them and they’ll house-sit and dog-sit (our beloved dog, Junior, doesn’t fare well at a kennel).  We LOVE taking The Fam with us on trips, but now that we no longer have our vacations dictated by school schedules, Raymond and I can get away for some alone time.  We deserve it.

Family at Walt Disney World, 20124. The Standby Lines are GREAT!  When you remove the potential for childhood melt-downs, diaper changes, and whining – and you enjoy time alone with your family away from the stresses of everyday life, the standby lines are FUN!  We enjoy each other’s company – time stands still and we can talk…really TALK…reminisce about past happy times at Walt Disney World, contemplate the meaning of specific aspects of various Disney Imagineering marvels, have some serious Hidden-Mickey-spotting competitions – you name it.  If you love the company you’re keeping, the standby lines go by much faster and actually become happy memories in and of themselves.

5. SO Much to Look Forward To!  Okay, I’d be lying if I said I don’t miss the fun Disney things you can do with little kids.  Character meals, princess meet and greets, parades, hanging out by the pool – we DO look forward to the future when we may be fortunate enough to be blessed with grandchildren (some day…not too soon, though).  Thinking about the potential of having a child to love as your own but being able to spoil them rotten…well, that would just be about the very best thing imaginable.  Especially at Walt Disney World!!!

So, I’ll tell you again…it’s good to be me!  I’m about to be 50 and I’m proud to say it.  If you’ve been worried about being old like me, put those fears aside – I can’t find a downside here.  I’m a Disney fan who grew up with ALL the best Disney things and I still have plenty of time to experience the next 50 years of… Living a Disney Life.

Leave a comment – what will you do when YOU are a 50 year old Disney fan?

 

 

Disney at Home – Mary Poppins Art

Posted on by

Mary Poppins ArtBack in the fall, when Christmas was looming large, I started trying to help Joseph pick out a gift for Raymond.  Joseph is…well, he’s….picky.  And opinionated.  Huhn…wonder where he gets that from?  Best to get started early, ’cause at the last minute the two of us would be locked in an epic battle of wills over finding the perfect gift.  We take holidays very seriously here at Living a Disney Life.

I started looking around at some of my favorite online shopping sites and throwing out ideas via text message or during the occasional phone call.  Have you tried recently to communicate by phone with an 18 year old male away at school?  If not, let me tell you there’s a lot of silence and monosyllabic answers.

So, anyway, I described a wide variety of gift options and put them to the test:  “Well? what Mary Poppins Artabout that one?” – every question was met with a grunt (or no reply at all by text).  I took that as a no and kept looking.  Purely by coincidence I stumbled upon some interesting art.  Disney art – well, technically, art based on Disney, but one picture in particular caught my eye – a Mary Poppins movie-themed print that was appealing in its simplicity.  Hmmm – could I have found THE gift?  After so much rejection I was about to tell Mr. Picky-pants to go it alone and shop solo for his Dad’s present.

Mary Poppins on the WallScreen shot included in the next text – I waited for yet another rejection…what?  Could it be?  He loved it!  So, knowing better than to hesitate during such a moment, I placed the order.  Joseph was home for semester break when the package arrived and we carefully opened the box and slid out the contents – even better in person than it was in the picture.  The colors are muted, but match our décor perfectly.  We both just stood there staring at it for a moment – then I noticed Joseph was smiling and realized he was imagining how happy his dad would be with this gift.  And Raymond loves the picture every bit as much as we’d hoped he would.  The Mary Poppins picture now hangs prominently in our foyer.

What do you buy the hard-to-shop-for Disney fan? What’s one of your favorite Disney gifts?

Disney at Home – ‘Ohana Cheesy Potatoes

Posted on by

'Ohana Cheesy Potatoes DoneGone, but not forgotten…Once upon a time, in addition to the delicious Brazilian Barbeque-style fare you can enjoy at ‘Ohana (Walt Disney World’s Polynesian), there were these potatoes.  Oh, man – you want to talk about tasty!  These potatoes were, y’know, unbelievable.  I looked forward to those babies every time we went to Walt Disney World.  When ‘Ohana dropped them from the menu, my heart broke.  Oh, I’ll still eat at ‘Ohana – the food, the atmosphere, the service are all fantastic, but the loss of those potatoes still hurts every time.

If you’ve been reading along here at Living a Disney Life, you may recall the top-10-list of Disney New Year’s Resolutions I put together back in January.  #8 on the list was to try three specific Disney recipes at home.  The first of the three was Maui Scalloped Potatoes – recipe courtesy of allears.net. The perfect mix of cheddar and onion made these creamy potatoes a perfect match with the parade of skewered meats served at ‘Ohana – the centerpiece of the dining experience.

These are no average scalloped potatoes.  These are spectacular!  And very easy to make.  Yes, there’s cheese and heavy cream – let’s not play the “I’ll doctor this recipe up and make it low fat and healthier” – sometimes, a splurge is in order.  I followed the recipe exactly (except I doubled it) and, in the absence of an enormous open fire pit on which to prepare giant skewers of assorted meats, I opted to serve the potatoes with some baked tilapia and sautéed green beans.  Perfection.

Recipe Maui Scalloped Potatoes ‘Ohana Polynesian   'Ohana Cheesy Potatoes in Process 2             

Ingredients

1 pound Russet potatoes (washed and sliced)

1   cup heavy cream

1/4   cup cheddar cheese

2   tbsp parmesan cheese

1/4 cup thinly sliced sweet onions

1   tsp kosher salt

1/4   tsp black pepper

'Ohana Cheesy Potatoes in Process 4Combine all ingredients in a greased baking pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.   Let stand five minutes before serving.

Doubled, this recipe worked perfectly in a 9″ X 13″ baking dish.  The potatoes are a guaranteed crowd pleaser – really, what’s not to love!

Do you remember these ‘Ohana potatoes?  What former menu items from your favorite Walt Disney World restaurants do you wish you could enjoy again?

 

Captain America The Winter Soldier Review

Posted on by

Captain America The Winter Soldier 1While I’ve seen all the Marvel movies released by Disney, I’ve been a bit variable about how much I’ve liked each one.  First Thor and third Iron Man – didn’t like those so much.  Second Thor?  I liked that movie a bunch.  I also thought The Avengers was just fantastic.  The previews didn’t give much away about the newest Marvel installment released on April 4th.  Personally, I tried to stay away from reviews and spoilers before I went to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier, so I would be a blank slate, so to speak – with no pre-conceived notions about whether the movie would be good or not.  Raymond, who’d read quite a bit about the movie before we saw it Sunday afternoon, was very careful not to give anything away.

Before I get to the mini-review, let me say that I did like Captain America (the original) very much.  It had an Indiana Jones vibe to it and, honestly, since Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my most favorite movies of all time (released when I was in high school) the connection gave Captain America an advantage to me.

It’s hard for a sequel to be better than the original, but with Marvel movies, it seems almost common.  Such was the case with The Winter Soldier.  I don’t want to give anything away, so no spoilers here, but this was a great movie!  Saw it in 3D (which we don’t usually choose) because that was the time we wanted – the 3D effects were good.

If you’ve been on the fence, here are a few reasons to see the new Captain America:

  • Robust plot chock full of surprises, twists and turns.Captain America The Winter Soldier 2
  • Plenty of action without sacrificing the flow of the storyline.
  • Excellent villains.
  • Beloved characters from previous Marvel movies remain true to themselves (this is important to my enjoyment of any sequel).
  • Introduction of new characters that work very well in developing the story and join seamlessly with the existing cast – this was a particular plus for The Winter Soldier with me.

There were thrills, laughs, shocks, and edge-of-your-seat excitement – everything you’d hope for in a Marvel movie plus just a little bit more.  I adored Captain America: The Winter Soldier and I think you will too.  As always, stay ’til the very last credit has rolled.

Have you seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier yet?  What did you think?