I love Disneyland. My love for Disney reaches far beyond the park. I love anything that is connected to the name Disney. One can’t help but think happy thoughts when you hear the name Walt Disney. When there is anything Disney related I really try to check it out. Recently we decided to take a trek out to the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA. The Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives exhibit were there for a limited time and I had to see it before it was gone.
When one thinks of visiting Disneyland, it instantly brings up the thought of family. A day in the park with family includes strollers, meeting characters, juice boxes and tired kids holding a plush and dozing off while heading back to the bus that takes you to your hotel. You have thoughts of planning your trip like a well oiled camping adventure. You can’t forget the extra shoes, or the bib or heaven forbid the container of Goldfish crackers! Rarely do adults even dare to dream about what it could be like going to Disneyland WITHOUT children. It’s like the unspoken rule that has been ingrained into our brains, Disneyland without children is absolutely not allowed. What if……..just what if you jumped out of the box and grabbed your sweetie and headed the the Happiest Place on Earth sans children? What would that date be like?
Millions of families from all across the globe travel to Disney World each year for fun and entertainment. Whether you plan to board theme park rides, watch shows, or visit some of the local attractions you’re sure to have a great time. But for parents visiting the park with babies and infants, keeping everyone happy can be a challenge. Your baby might not be ready to enjoy the main attractions but Disney World offers some great facilities that should make your trip a lot of fun, even with a baby in tow.
The Bag
Sure, you could just use any bag that’s lying around the house. However, it’ll be a lot more fun if you purchase the kids Mickey Mouse backpacks to hold their tools. If that’s not in the budget right now, have them make their own bags. They could make small ones with paper bags, or they could use fabric markers to decorate their own bookcase.
I receive many questions as to what my deal is with Disney and Disneyworld (especially now that I am writing for this site): why spend all the money on those trips each year, and, last but not least, are you serious? After I share this little story concerning the first day of school maybe it will help some to understand.
One of my son’s sixth grade teachers gave her class a “Get to Know You” survey, and she gave it to them to take home for a parent signature to ensure no unwanted information became teacher knowledge. One of my son’s answers I will share at the end of this post but the two primary answers I’d like to share are his responses to 1) What is your favorite place? 2) What is your favorite memory?
Source: The Walt Disney Family Museum
Many people say Walt Disney epitomizes the American Dream because he was born into a family of modest means, found a calling in life that he passionately pursued, and created an empire the revolutionized an industry.
There’s no denying the fact that he enjoyed a tremendous amount of success in his life, but do you feel as if he was a “self-made” success?
The other day while I was watching the news I saw a story highlighting a new trend that truly saddens me. I am referring to the trend of tween girls posting videos of themselves online asking if they are pretty or ugly. I went online, watched some of the videos, and read several of the comments posted under them. One nasty comment said “Yikes….. just had to stifle my vomit…” That was how I felt as I read the majority of the comments and watched some of the videos. I heard these girls saying things that I thought when I was younger, almost verbatim, about people calling them ugly and their insecure thoughts of themselves. Many of the comments were profane, mean, and downright hateful. One said that one of the girls was “a hideous grotesque demonic looking monstrosity.” However, some were even more disgusting; inappropriate to say to anyone of any age, but pedophilic due to the age of the girls. I found one comment that encouraged a girl to “just go ahead and end your life.” The more I watched the videos and read the comments, the more I knew that I needed to speak up.
Photo courtesy of: NDT23
I have a confession: I begun a new journey in my life. It’s not ending world hunger or saving the polar bears. It’s not even figuring out how to stop autocorrect from being so annoying! No, this journey is much smaller, but it’s still important to me. It has one thousand steps. All of them are tiny, but I have spent about five hours working on my journey and have probably gone a little more than one hundred steps.
With a website address that contains TheEnemyIsGood, a lot of people ask Connie M. which enemy is that? Connie laughs and points out how her blog started with a typo, she meant to nab “The Enemy is Food.” But with her new blog formally titled “Life is a Journey” in place, Connie was ready to blog, and embrace what she loved.
“The blog originally was started as a way for me to make a food diary but I gave up that idea when I realized that I am a sensory person and loved the sight, smell and taste of food. So…instead of trying to lose weight by dieting, I embraced my love of food but developed a new respect for it,” Connie said. “Slowly, I began to write less and less about food and now only occasionally include a photo of something I am enjoying on one of my little exploratory trips around Southern California. Or Disneyland!”
With a passion for Disney, what pursuits does Craig Duncan squeeze in between a full time job and family? How about working on ‘They Disney Brit’, the UKs largest and longest running Disney podcast, the ‘Destination Disney’ radio show and the ‘Eye on Orlando’ radio show both of which are aired live on Florida radio shows. Then there is ‘Mousemeets’ which is UKs Disney annual fan convention and ‘Mousemag’ a free bi-monthly magazine all about Disney written by the Disney Community for the Community. “We have also done something different with our associated web sites. We have made DisneyBrit.com one of the best sources for Disney related news anywhere in the world. EyeonOrlando.com is a pure Orlando holiday portal.”
Photo Credit: Molly B. Mickey and Friends banner supplied by Discount Party Supplies, 2012 Mickey banner hand made and supplied by Kush Event Planning
Besides actually being in Walt Disney World for New Years Eve, I’m not sure if I can think of any better way to ring in the New Year, then to do it Disney Driven Life style, and throw a Mickey Mouse themed party for the little ones, celebrating the birth of 2012! I truly envy those of you who were lucky enough to be within arms reach of my favorite castle on the eve of 2012, but I guarantee you that our little soiree was just a tad less crowded. Probably just as noisy though!
Photo Credit: www.EasyWDW.com
I love Christmas. I don’t know if it’s possible to express to you my deep love for this holiday. It has always been a special and important holiday to me, and not because of the presents. I love the feeling in the air. I have many treasured memories of Christmas, and many of them include Disney. In this post, I really wanted to talk about one of the most vital parts of Christmas for me: the Christmas tree.
Photo Courtesy : Katie Z
Now that Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza season is beginning I’ve noticed something interesting happening in my Disney Driven Marriage. My DH and I have been together now for more than six years, but have only been married for a year and two months. Even though we’ve been living together for a while, the holidays pre-wedding were always a little disjointed. There were holidays that we spent apart from each other, and holidays where we’d only spend part of the day together. We also didn’t seem to have our “own” tradition or way of doing the holidays. I remember the first year we lived together we were in a tiny apartment and had a sad looking Charlie Brown Christmas tree that looked thrown together with crazy tiny ornaments. We always felt out of sync with our traditions. It was almost like we didn’t know how to “do” the holidays as a couple… never mind a neurotic Disney couple!
Photo Credit: Disney Wedding Blog
On November 11th 2011 (11/11/11), Disney’s Fairytale Weddings Department had eleven couples married. When I heard this all I could think was… holy moly that’s alot of wedding for one day! I started thinking about all the different things my wedding planner did for me and how much attention to detail went into each and every party of our wedding. It seems unbelieveable that in one day the staff, lead by the Disney wedding planner, was able to pull of eleven weddings without a hitch!
Photo Credit: Molly B.
Everyone knows I love Disney, but something that everyone doesn’t know is that I LOVE fairies. Especially Tinkerbell. I happen to be on the smallish side, blond haired and blue eyed. So growing up, my dad gave me the nick name “Tink”. Also, fairies (especially Tinkerbell), only have room for one emotion at one time. So they are either VERY happy and pleasant, or VERY upset and not very pleasant to be around. I might be able to admit that this also describes myself. (Only a little! ….) My love for Tinkerbell has lasted since I first watched Peter Pan at the ripe old age of 5, right up to present day, and I now have the honor of raising my own tiny little blond haired, blue eyed Tink!
Photo Credit: Molly Beckley
Are your children the type that get the smallest little prick of a scratch and scream out “MOM! I need a Band-Aid!”? Mine are. Band-Aids are used like stickers in this house. I have to hide them so we actually have them when they are really and truly needed! And what could be better to a Neurotic Disney Kid who is Band-Aid happy then ones decorated with Mickey Mouse?! Ppsshh, not much.
October was National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This is very close to my heart and I wore at least one pink item for almost every day in October. I also decided not to wear my watch. While it is hot pink and a staple of my wardrobe, I wanted to omit it because you never know how much time you have left. This doesn’t just apply to cancer; few people wake up in the morning knowing that they won’t come home that day.
Courtesy of : Katie Z
Most Neurotic Disney People know someone they needed to convert to the “disney side” to keep them as a vital part of their every day lives. This person, for me, was my husband. I have almost gotten him completely converted, although I wouldn’t call him neurotic….yet. So far he loves resort hopping, the intricate detail that goes into the queues, the history behind every attraction, the land, and Food and Wine…. especially food and wine! All that being said there are a few things that I just can’t get him to do… He seems to find a problem with two grown adults with no children waiting in line to see a character or dancing along with the parades…???… Anyway I wanted to write about why I am my husbands biggest fan (and enabler) and how amazing he was on our first Disney cruise.
The other week I had a chance to do something I haven’t done since 1992. I went to Walt Disney World by myself. That’s right. No wife. No kids. No taking my mother. Just me. The trip was an eye-opener for me and I learned some important lessons.
Lesson #1: Butter up your spouse before you ask for permission.
How did I manage to convince my Reluctant Disney Wife to let me go? Ah! Therein lies my genius. Her younger sister (who lives on the other side of the country) graduated last May, and I made sure that my wife was able to visit her for a few days. Of course, my wife was ecstatic to get a few days away from me and the kids. While she was still smiling, I innocently asked if she thought it would be okay to go to Disney World for a few days for the 40th anniversary celebrations. She considered it for a few seconds and then declared, “Sure. Why not?” Within 4 hours I had my flight booked and sent an email to my Disney travel agent.