Tag Archives: Disney Bloggers

March to the Beat of Your Own Disney Drum

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Let’s face it – the Disney fan community is made up of a unique and wonderful assortment of folks from all over the world, all walks of life, and all different Disney passions.  I love swapping stories, learning new tips and tricks about all manner of Disney topics, and reading (or listening to) reviews and recommendations from some of my favorite fellow Disney fans.  With few exceptions, the Disney fan community is extremely tolerant of all points of view and most debates are friendly and good-natured.  Okay – maybe not on certain forums, but that’s a different topic for a different day.Princess-Half-Mary-Poppins

You are welcome to be the Disney fan who will absolutely defend each and everything Disney does as perfectly perfect in every way.  You’re welcome to be the fan that clings to the past and laments the current state of everything from Disney parks to rides and attractions to movies and TV shows.  You can be a Disney travel guru, a Marvel or Star Wars franchise expert, or the Disney character fanatic or passionate pin trader or collector of Disneyana.  Be one, none, or all of these…if you love anything or everything Disney…

March to the Beat of Your Own Disney Drum

Allow me to elaborate.  I’ve spent the past (nearly) two years pouring my Disney love into this very blog while reading dozens of other blogs by other Disney fans.  Like many of you, I’ve spent hundreds of hours listening to my favorite Disney podcast hosts entertain me with their own brand of Disney love.  I’m a Disney parks and resorts fan, a Disney Cruise Line fan, a Disneyana and Disney pin collector, a Disney movie buff.  My Christmas tree is 100% Disney-themed.RM-Christmas-Tree-2014

Do I love every part that makes up the whole?  No, I do not.  I love Disney in my own way.  I don’t like Dole Whips and think Le Cellier is overrated (it’s TRUE and I’m not ashamed!), I didn’t like Inside Out, I thought Ant Man was great, and I adore The Muppets (in every glorious and horrible performance) and Indiana Jones – I love him so much, I named my dog Henry Jones, Junior!  Do I miss the excitement and novelty of Disney’s Hollywood Studios the way the park was just after it opened in 1989?  Absolutely!  Would I put it back today to its original form?  Nope, wouldn’t want to.  I don’t love every change to my favorite vacation destination, but nothing Disney’s done yet would keep me from coming back again…and again.Disney's-Hollywood-Studios

What I’m trying to say is this:  We don’t have to love everything Disney to be true blue Disney fans.  Being a Disney fan is about embracing the parts that make you happiest and passing on the parts that don’t.  If I go on a Disney vacation and something goes wrong, I will complain in hopes that Disney will fix the problem for future guests (including me).  When Disney asks me to complete a survey, I do and with complete honesty.  At the same time, I will also praise what I love most about Disney right here, on The Disney Exchange Podcast and all my social medias.  Not loving everything does not diminish my love for Disney as a whole.  I’ll be a Disney fan in my own way and hope you will too!

Your turn!  What kind of Disney fan are YOU?  What do you love most – the parks, the home décor, the movies, characters, collectibles, or something else altogether?  What makes you most passionate about Disney?  What would you change if you could?

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.