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.
The scene is poignant. An older man, a hard worker, in a room lit by candlelight, gently snuggled with a small cat, kneels down and looks toward heaven. He desires something created, something that embodies love, something real. The Blue Fairy, in all her wisdom, flies down and proclaims that his own wooden puppet would become a real boy once he embraced certain valuable human characteristics: to be a good boy. She also mentions truth.
Copyright: Disney
I’ve never been a fan of Bambi. There I said it. Despite the artistry involved, the wonderful character designs, and all the effort that went into the film, I don’t think it turned out particularly well. It’s a beauty to look at, but not all that fun to watch. With the release of the new Blu-Ray, I decided to take another look at it.
Photo Credit: Jeff Christiansen
Chances are, you’ve watched many Disney movies and have found countless lines that you not only relate to but also apply to your role as a parent. Other lines become a mantra which you may envision as an ideal way in which to live your life. “Hakuna Matata” comes to mind. Disney movies are known for these pearls of wisdom… little gems that, if applied, can become “Family Values.” That’s precisely what this column will become: a place where we’ll share lines that have touched our hearts in one way or another. My hope is that we can show how Disney weaves fantastic life lessons into their movies and how we, as parents, strive to raise our children to live and learn by these lessons.
Every day thousands of people end their day in the Magic Kingdom with one of my favorite things – Wishes! This fireworks show started back in October of 2003 and has been melting the hearts of young kids and adults ever since. Sure, fireworks are always amazing, but when Disney puts their touch on it, with music from numerous classic movies, you know it’s going to be a show stopper. Disney once again enlisted the help of composer Gregory Smith to bring this nighttime spectacular to life. Smith has a long history with Disney, with such shows as Illuminations 25 in Epcot, Remember Dreams Come True in Disneyland, and Disney’s Electrical Parade at California Adventure, to name a few.
Many times people start something to only stop and think that they failed. This way of thinking can hurt your potential for doing something great in the future. When living a healthy and active life, one must live in the present and reach for the future. It does not benefit anyone to live in the past.
In the movie “The Lion King” Pumba tells us that we need to “put our behind in our past” which Timon translates to “Put your past behind you”. You cannot let past failures determine your future successes. Just because “XYZ” diet did not work for you in the past does not set you to fail in a new attempt. You have to learn why it did not work and avoid those pitfalls in moving forward. This will allow you succeed in your new effort. One cannot dwell on what did not work, instead we must focus on what does work and surround ourselves with those things. Are your friends the boys on Pleasure Island from Pinocchio who sabotage your efforts, or are your friends a positive influence like Pumba and Timon who will help you on your path to become the “King” your are destined to be? If you are new to losing weight or making a change, find someone who will help you stay accountable. Maybe it is joining Weight Watchers. Find some friends within the Neurotic Disney Community who want the same thing. Maybe you can find some friends on Twitter or Facebook to keep you accountable. Try out the Zero2Hero plan on the Disney Driven Life. The point is if you are going to make changes, you need people in the front row who are going to cheer you on, the people that are going jeer you and work against you need to be at the back of your auditorium.
I have spent the last few weeks doing two things. The first thing I’ve done is consistently run into dead ends. No matter how I turn it, DH informs me that the small amount of money we’ve put aside will not cover the accommodations we need. The second thing I have done is compulsively view every last item in our extensive, free Disney Vacation Planning DVD library. I know that I must keep fighting the good fight, and the DVDs—which do an incredible job of creating WDW lust—provide me with the motivation I need to press on.
