Tag Archives: Disney at Home

What’s Happening with Your Favorite Facebook Pages?

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FB Save 3A public service announcement from your friends at Living a Disney Life:

What is happening to your favorite (“LIKED”) pages on Facebook?  I’ll tell you why you may not be seeing much of them these days.  If you have “Liked” pages on Facebook, but you haven’t pressed the like button (or commented) on specific posts for those pages, Facebook is going to stop sharing your favorite pages’ updates with you.

So, unless you’ve recently interacted with this very page, you’re probably not even seeing this post!  Luckily, there’s a way to make sure you don’t miss any updates from your favorite pages.  Simply go to the pages you LIKE, hover over the LIKE button – when a drop-down menu appears, check “receive notifications”…just that easy.  You can see in my illustration that I’ve completed the steps for one of my personal favorite Disney pages – Tips From the Disney Divas and Devos.  If you haven’t visited them yet, be sure to check them out either on Facebook or at the website:  Tipsfromthedisneydiva.com.

Thank you for listening.

Shorts Saturday: What Made Me Smile Today

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http://magicalfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/p/shorts.htmlThis week’s Shorts Saturday, a blog hop hosted by Adventure in the Great Wide Somewhere , is going to be quite a challenge.  The subject:  What made me smile today – is pretty easy since I smiled a lot.  The hard part is describing it in 50 words or less.  FIFTY!  Yikes.  I’ll do my best….here goes:

It’s cold and dreary out.  Winter’s still going strong, but I can always count on my husband to know just what we need.  We’re starting our evening off with a glass of wine and online shopping for Disney travel posters.  Perfect reminder of summer and our last Disney cruise.  DSCN2986

100 Days of Living a Disney Life

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1MinDisneyDreamLiving a Disney Life.com has reached a small milestone today – The blog is 100 days old.  During that time, I have written about every Disney topic from Disney cruise ports, theme parks and restaurant reviews to DIY Disney Christmas ornaments, Disney vintage vinyl, Disney Pin trading, and Disney recipes to cook at home – I guess I’ve had a thing or two to say about my love for Disney!

Let’s take a sec to ponder how this happened.  It all began with a tweet I noticed on September 4th.  It was from @WDWDisneyDiva and it said, “So you think you know Disney?  Recruiting Disney Writers!”  I thought – “I know Disney” and followed the link to find out more.  I submitted an article for consideration called The Importance of Planning, But Not Too Much – I sent it in on a whim – because we are huge Disney fans at my house, because I thought writing that one article would be fun, because I like a challenge and trying new things, but mostly because my youngest child had just left home and I was finding out first hand that “empty nest syndrome”, something I used to make jokes about, was an actual thing.  Along with my article, I submitted a silly top ten list of reasons the selection committee at Tips From the Disney Divas & Devos should choose me as an article writer.  It was for fun, but guess what?  I got the job!

It was like setting a match to very dry tinder.

My brain kicked into overdrive.  I made lists of articles I could write and I became consumed IMG_2398with thoughts of Disney – how our family had always loved Disney and how huge a role Disney had played in our lives, how our happiest memories involve Disney vacations, how we have so many Disney collectibles, Disney books, Disney pins, Disney clothes.  I started waking up in the middle of the night thinking of more and more Disney things to talk about.  There was NO way I was going to get this under control submitting two articles a month – I needed to start my own Disney blog so I could get some sleep!

I did consider carefully what I’d be getting into.  You can’t embark on something like this then abandon ship – well, I guess you CAN, but that’s not my style.  I have pretty good sticking power and have never been afraid of commitment (I did say yes when Raymond proposed to me just 6 weeks after we met!).  For about the price of a new purse (that was my justification, anyway) I bought my own website URL for three years.  So, honestly, Kristin the Disney Diva and fellow Diva, Amy get the credit (or the blame, I suppose) for Living a Disney Life.com’s existence.

IMG_2100I knew absolutely nothing about blogging other than knowing I like to read a few.  Google was my classroom and I crammed as if studying for final exams – blog hosting sites, Word Press basics, themes, widgets, pages, links, SEO, categories, tags, spam blocking, how to set up a Facebook page for a website.  Exciting stuff!  I published my first Living a Disney Life post on October 26th and this is my 102nd post in 100 days!  I still have a LOT to learn but at least the raging firestorm of Disney thoughts has now been contained to manageable flames – with an occasional flare up.

It’s like discovering buried treasure in my own backyard!  I had a twitter account purely for the purpose of spying seeing what my children and their friends had to say…today I have over 500 followers.  The number of fans that make up the Disney Community is amazing and those that I’ve met through this experience have been kind and funny and, most of all, welcoming and supportive.  Living a Disney Life on Facebook  has over 250 “likes” and I’ve been building small audiences on Pinterest and Instagram as well.  I even have a Klout score and I know what it is!  One of the most exciting things to happen so far, though, involves my love of Disney Podcasts.

Early on, I confided in Raymond a secret wish I’d been keeping – maybe someday, after a while, if my blog became successful, maybe I might get lucky enough to be invited as a guest on one of the Disney podcasts I love so much.  I couldn’t believe when, after day 69’s post – Disney Podcasts – Are you a Podperson?  brought so much attention – My wish came true!  The fabulous, gracious Disney Dream Girls asked me to be a guest on their show to talk about my Disney New Year’s Resolutions.  I’m still amazed that this happened to me!  The episode aired on January 9th – if you haven’t had the chance, please give the Dream Girls a listen.

So today I just wanted to look back a mere three months and reflect on all the fantastic thingsMed Cruise 2013 Camera 003 that have happened during that time (with The Fam’s unwavering support – I love you!).  Tomorrow’s post will be back to normal with another random Disney topic from my Disney life.

Please accept my very heartfelt thanks for taking the time to visit and read this and other posts, thank you for following me on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.  Thank you for liking the blog’s Facebook page and for every comment you’ve left me there and here.  Yes, I would probably still tweet, pin, and post even if you weren’t here – but you are what has made this experience unbelievably magical instead of ordinary and for that, I am sincerely grateful.

 

 

Disney’s Haunted Mansion – Bringing a Little Bit Home

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DWR2009 078Haunted Mansion!  That most perfect example of Disney magic at its best.  Back in October, I highlighted all we love about the Haunted Mansion for a Halloween post.  For Christmas, we brought a little Haunted Mansion to our own humble abode.  No, a ghost didn’t follow us home, but almost just as good!

Megan and I had certainly been thinking alike back in December (although we wouldn’t find that out until Christmas morning)!  Last fall, the Disney Store had some great Haunted Mansion items in their home-goods section – oddly enough, I didn’t see what Megan bought for me when I was shopping and she didn’t see what I bought her.  You might recall (if you saw my Disney Christmas gifts post) that I received a nifty Haunted Mansion wine bottle stopper – perfect for me since my love for both wine and the Haunted Mansion are well-known to The Fam.IMG_2439

I bought Megan a set of coasters for her apartment.  Sounds boring, doesn’t it?  These are no ordinary coasters though – they’re tombstones from the Haunted Mansion’s graveyard!  They even come in an adorable coffin-shaped box that says “Tomb Sweet Tomb” on the top!  Go ahead, admit it….right now you’re wishing your mom had given you an awesome gift like that, too.

Sadly, my original purchase arrived broken.  This was strange to me – I ordered a mug for Raymond, three ornaments (Sally, Steampunk Earhat, and Mulan) and the coasters – the box arrived with virtually no packing material in it – all the items were just rattling around in there.  There was also no receipt or order confirmation document of any kind.  The ornaments and mug were wrapped securely, but the coasters were just in their unprotected box and each one was shattered (they’re ceramic or some such). 

Tomb Sweet TombOn December 20th I emailed the Disney Store per the website’s “contact us” instructions and explained my plight – then promptly got swept up in the holiday madness and forgot all about it.  Christmas morning arrived – and this is, again, strange.  Megan gave me a Disney cookie jar…turns out it was the second one she’d ordered because the first one came in broken.  Note:  She wanted that cookie jar in time for Christmas, so when the broken one arrived she immediately called the Disney Store and they shipped a replacement one right out.  That’s when I remembered the coasters and told her that while I hadn’t heard back yet, I was sure my email was being processed and replacements would be on their way soon.

Fast forward to last Monday.  Megan came over to do some laundry and watch a couple movies with me (yes, Disney movies) and said, “I guess I’m never getting those coasters, amCoasters I.”  Yikes!  I’d forgotten all about them.  I called the Disney Store and explained the situation – that I had emailed and received no reply (I offered to forward a copy of the email if necessary) – The lady on the phone – who’s every sentence was liberally sprinkled with terms like “magical” and “pixie dust” and even a reference to “Fairy Godmother” (I kid you not) – said she would send replacement coasters out posthaste with no further action on my part necessary.  Sure enough, three days later I had a box from the Disney Store on my doorstep.  New coasters safe and sound.  Aren’t they CUTE?

Moral of the story – do NOT email the Disney Store if there’s a problem with your order – give them a call.  They’ll be magically helpful and certain to offer whatever pixie-dusted assistance is necessary (even enlisting Fairy Godmother’s aid, if required) to ensure your happily-ever-after satisfaction.

New ShoesSo, last Saturday Raymond and I went to a big shoe sale at our local running store.  I was able to score a much-needed new pair of Nikes for 40% off!  Not my usual color-choice, these beauties are gray, purple, and neon green (hello?  ON SALE!) – They’re growing on me though – I’m calling them my Haunted Mansion shoes.