Disney's Celebrate the Magic

Disney's newest night time wonderment is on Cinderella's Castle

it's called Celebrate the Magic

I was like a little girl watching this with my children, my teenagers were watching with such joy just as I was, this is one of many many reasons I keep bringing my family back to Walt Disney World.

The Celebrate the Magic projection show is just that a projection show up on Cinderella's Castle. 

The show is painted on by a brush in sections one at a time taking guest through the Magic of Disney.

There is everything from, Mickey Mouse, Frozen Captian Jack Sparrow the Chesire Cat Lion King all of the Princess's Wreck it Ralf and everything in between. It ends with Walt Disney himself reminding us that it was all started with a mouse.

Be sure to look at the listings every day in the Magic Kingdom to find out when Celebrate the Magic will be shown, times will vary due to park closing times.

Coming off of our Disney HIGH!

Well we are back from our Amazing 2014 Disney Vacation. This trip was truly the most memorable trip to Disney to date.  I was able to finish the Disney's Princess 5k and for me this is a HUGE accomplishment since I am a Cancer survivor myself and use a cart if I have to walk for long distances. My daughters ran in the 10k and the weather was over cast but I always say a rainy day in Disney is always better than a regular day at home!

For those of you who are runners if you have ever considered running in one of the Disney Marathon's, I truly recommend it. The entire weekend went off without a hitch. The first event which was the Runners expo was extremely crowed with over 50,000 runners coming and going over the three day event.  Beginning with receiving our running bibs, T-shirts, and gift bags the process was long at times but very easy.
My daughters and I stayed on property at the Port Orleans Riverside, Disney provided transportation to the Expo and each race. The races start very early, however the buses were on time for the 5:30 and the 6:15 races we were in our corrals in plenty of time to enjoy the pre-race music, party before the races.

Walking/Running through Epcot Theme Park as the sun was coming up is an experience that will stay with my daughters and myself for years to come. We are looking into another RunDisney Marathon Weekend for the near future. Disney offers Marathon Weekends throughout the year. The Princess 1/2 Marathon Weekend was more than just a weekend of fun and bliss in the parks and running through Epcot before the parks open, my daughters and I raised over $6,200 for St. Jude in memory of Darby Jones. This only added to the meaning of our weekend. Darby was 13 years old when she lost her fight to Leukemia on October 28, 2013. RunDisney and St. Jude gave us a way to Honor the memory of an amazing young girl who never once lost the joy of Life.

Hidden Mickeys

Hidden Mickey's 

Info for guest who do not know what Hidden Mickey's are

Hidden Mickey's started as inside jokes between Disney Imagineers. They are Mickey shapes placed all throughout the Disney parks.  The HM classic style is the Three Circles, Cast Members are well known for placing Hidden Mickey's in rides, from time to time, there are also spontaneous Hidden Mickey's that happen from time to time.

For our family a wonderful online source for Hidden Mickey's is

http://findingmickey.squarespace.com/  

It is easy to navigate with photo's to click onto and see and a good deal of information.

I will be updating this post once I return from our trip with photo's of our latest hunt!~

Imagineers nor Cast Members have ever set out to count or measure all of the Hidden Mickeys, 

Our family makes finding HM into a game with the winner getting a different prize which is determined on the drive down to WDW.  Prizes vary from cupcakes, to specialty candies, or whatever we all agree on ahead of time. 

Hollywood Studio's Meet-N-Greet

Info on Hollywood Studio's Meet-N-Greets
Characters come in irregular intervals, if you are looking to meet with a specific one be sure to check with Guest Relations when you enter the park to have a better chance to meet your favorite Character that day.

There are several places for Character Greets my favorites are 
* Magic of Animation 
      Mickey the Sorcerer, The Incrdedibles, Wreck It Ralph, Frozen, Disney Jr. 
*Pixar Place
      Woody, Buzz Light Year, Army Men
*Sorcerer's Hat
       Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, Chip and Dale

**Echo Lake~Charaterpalooza
  This is not advertised on the Character Schedule
        At this location guest will find a vast variety of Characters including rarely seen ones.
   What determines the times and location of this is theFantasmic Shows for that night
 *If there is no Fantasmic show for that night then there is no Charaterpalooza
 *If there is 1 Fantasmic show the Meet-N-Greet is at 4:30 at the
   Echo Lake
 *If there are 2 Fantasmic shows the Meet-N-Greet is at 6:00 on the Streets of America.

Disney's Magic of Animation~ Draw your own Disney Character Free

Disney's Animation Academy

Located in Disney's Magic of Animation 

Let me just say this up front because it is the best part.... There is NO CHARGE for this. 
This could possibly be one of the most over looked attractions in WDW.  Many guests do not even know this unique opportunity exists. I traveled to WDW many times before I knew about it and even on our last visit we missed it due to time restraints. My parents however have done this on several visits and each time have loved every experience.  


The Animation Academy is located inside the Disney Magic of Animation Attraction at the Hollywood Studio's Park.  Once guest have watched the short movie continue on  past  the Character Meet area.  There guest will find the Animation Academy,  classes usually start  around 10:30 every day and run every 3 0 minutes.  The Academy gives guest an opportunity to see what it's like to be a Disney Animator. 

The Character drawings are always changing, and there will be several different ones throughout the day.  Guests of ALL ages are able to participate in the Animation Academy, the classes start around 10:30 every day and run every 30 minutes. 

For those of you who have never drawn one stroke before do not let that keep you from this experience. Coming from someone who doesn't have a drop of artistic skill in my body. This will be an experience I am looking forward to and dreading on this upcoming trip due to the fact I have two extremely talented artist in my family my mother and one of my daughters. Seems the artistic talent skipped a generation. 


One final note about the Animation Academy it can be crowded at times,  when it is peak season.  Do not be intimidated and my mother and father were given boards and they sat long the wall to draw, they said it was still a wonderful experience. I will give more details on this when I return one I have more details and I will pass them all along to you. If you are going down in the next week or two like I am happy drawing.. 

Secrets of Haunted Mansion

These are some of my favorite things to look for at WDW's Haunted Mansion.
*There is an unseen horse "ghost horse" with a hearse" Named Elmer If you listen close you can hear a Ghostly "whinny"

*The tomb stones are in honor of great people who did things for WDW like  
  Grand Pa Mac- Who created Jungle Cruise & Pirates of Caribbean.
  Wathel Bender- Imaginer 
  Francis Xavier- Wrote Yo Ho Pirates Life
*Uncle Blaine has been said to be one of the best Imaginer Sculpture's  
*There are newer tombstones that are to honor Imaginer's who contributed to the Haunted Mansion in the interactive area. 
*Just as you coming up to the mansion if it is night time and there is "Full Moon"
look for the ring of stones in the ground in front of the entrance, just beyond the wishing well. Stand in the circle and call Leota 3x's and she will come to upper floor window with a candle.
*As you exit the mansion trampled by the unseen horse into the ground is the brides ring, tossed from the attic window.

*There is a hidden Mickey in the iron gate facing Liberty Square
*3 More in the Ballroom scene alone (and many more through out the ride, but I will leave them for you to find on your own)
*Look for a bat head as you enter the cue to the doom buggies, one has been rubbed completely smooth from all of the handling over all the years.
*Inside the ride their is a piece of broken glass with an image of Tinker Bell. 
*As you exit there is a pet cemetery look for a tomb stone for Mr. Toad from Mr. Toad's wild ride.
*Do you know what the true name of the Haunted Mansion is? There is a marker for is in  Frontier land near Pecos Bills ans Splash Mountain.  It is made of wood with the name on it and crossed out with Haunted written over it. Have great time looking!

Disney Trip~Offsite Scooter/PowerChair Rental

Disney Resorts ~Off Site Sooter/EVC Rentals

My family be embarking for out stay at the Port Orleans in a Garden view room of the Riverside Resort. This is my families first time staying in this resort. The excitement is growing every day, for all of you who have an upcoming trip we all know what that feels like!

I will be needing assistance to get around the parks during my trip,  I've needed it for every trip to Disney.  There is always the option of using the WDW wheelchairs, and their EVC's, however in past trips, several issues have come up. Asking a family member to push my wheelchair all day every day is isn't part of the ideal vacation.  Using the WDW EVC's can be a great alternative, the conditions are they must be turn in at each park entrance and the guest may pick up another one at the next park you are attending. This is great in theory, in reality  upon arriving at the next park there may not be an EVC available.  If you are like me and truly need assistance all day long during your vacation, looking outside the parks for your EVC maybe the right choice for you and your family.  

On my last trip we used Best Price Mobility the scooter I chose was at my resort before they said it would be and all I had to do was drop it off in the same place at the end of my vacation.  I had used another company once before they were 2 hours late, now I  realize things happen and this could have been a fluke, nonetheless the other company was more expensive then and now.  When the planning for this trip began I  looked into all the companies which are approved by WDW once Best Price Mobility is the overall best company.  Finally Best Price doesn't charge you the insurance per day!!  Their motto is that little bit of money would not cover our cost to replace the unit and we have our insurance for bumps and scratches. Now if you run it into the pool or something like that of course you are going to be responsible for that.  But most other companies are charging for insurance just to add to to the bill.  

If you are going to be on Disney property there is no charge to have the scooter delivered to your resort.  Convince is a wonderful thing. To get up the morning of your first day in the parks go to the front of the resort and there is your scooter or EVC and your on your way for the rest of the day, all the scooters, EVC's are able to ride the WDW transportation systems, the buses, monorail and boats. 

There definitely are other options out there, and this is only my personal opinion I am not being paid or getting any kickbacks from the company, I just feel if there is a company who is doing a good job and taking care of their customers, people should know about them. Here is their information, and have a magical vacation!

M-Sun 8am- 12am EST

Phone : 866-866-3434

Mobile: 407-0868

Walt Disney World's Pin Trading

Disney's Pin Trading

                                                                 

                                          

WDW Pin Trading is one of best ways to experience Disney's and connect with guests and Cast Members

            

                           Here are the rules which there are very few for pin trading

* Pins must be metal, undamaged and have the Disney Logo on the Back

*Pins must have their own back, but usually Cast Members will keep the back of the pin they have and you will keep yours as you trade.

*Guests cannot trade name pins, or plastic pins with Cast Members, or pins with clasp  style backs.  (I understand WDW is no longer trading pins that are older than the 80's I will be verifying this on my trip coming up and updating this post about this point)

*Guests may trade with each Cast Member (2)  times per day. However this rule does not apply between guest

* Guests who are ages 3-12 look for green lanyards and green hip lanyard. These are for   "Kids Only" and usually have the harder to find pins. 

** The regular lanyards are black.**

*Avoid touching a Cast Member's trading pins, politely request from the Cast Member or  Guest wearing the lanyard if he or she will bring it closer for a better view.  

* Be sure you offer the Cast Member or Guest a pin that they are not showing on their lanyard.

* No money or gifts can be exchanged for pins.

*Pins from other Disney, Disneyland Resorts, Walt Disney Resorts, are trade able.

*Host/Hostess Badges, Trainer Pins, Disney Service Award Pins, Spirit Disneyland, Partner Excellence, Cast Member Costume Pins (Name Tags, Etc.) are not trade able  

Disney Pins come in all shapes and sizes, with every Character you that can imagine. If you think of it you and search long enough you just might find it.  

When you see a pin turned around on a lanyard this is a "Blind Trade" this is when a Cast Member or guest has a pin turned around. This is where you will trade one of your pins for that pin without knowing what it is. This pin almost always is a GREAT pin. I have always encountered the greatest pins.  A fabulous place to find pins are in the resorts while you’re in the parks just ask around to when the "books" will be open the times vary from resort to resort. Each resort has its own book with different pins.  Jump right into your pin trading adventures. With a little time I am sure everyone will 

be experts in pin trading. Good Luck and have fun!

Disney's Resort One of a Kind Wake~Up Call

If your staying at any of the Walt Disney Resorts, be sure to experience this! Begin your day with a wake up call only the Disney Resorts can give.

           

Upon arriving at your specific Disney Resort be sure to enquire about receive your very own wake up call from a Disney Character. This is brand new information to me and I will be updating this post with  many more details upon my return from our vacation at the end of this month.  I am very curious to see which the Characters are available for your wake-up calls etc. Even though my children are teenagers, they are looking forward to these wake-up calls.  You are never too old for Disney!

Magic Kingdom's Good Morning Show

Disney's Magic Kingdom Good Morning Show is a great way to start your Magical experience.  What a wonderful way to start a magical day with the song,“Good morning, Good morning.....Good morning to you and you and you and you”.  If you get yourself to the entrance to the park 20 minutes before the dropping of the ropes,  this is the first thing you’ll experience… so you can “Let the Memories Begin”. 

There is a show is performed once a day, and begins around 10 minutes before the park opens. (just about every day be sure do double check)  The show is located inside the WDW park on the platform or the Train Station,just look above the Mickey Mouse created out of flowers.    The show starts about 10 minutes before official park opening.  If the Magic Kingdom is opening at 9 am, plan on the Welcome Show to begin around 8:50 am. Always Check Park hours, along with Extra Magic Hours, which are when the parks open early for resort guest who are allowed in the parks an hour earlier than the non-resort guest.  In this event the part opening will be 8 am and the Welcome Show will begin at 7:50. However, in order to enter into the parks at the earlier time you must have your room key, or your upgraded Magic Band, etc to verify you are staying on property. 
Be sure to add the Morning Show to your next Walt Disney Vacation. It is truly a fantastic way to start your day in the park.