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Disney Fun From Around the World: Week of December 6, 2010

Nancy Disney Fun From Around the "World" , , , 2 Comments

Greeting Disney Friends! Today’s tour of the Disney blog-world finds several winter and Holiday related posts, some new ways to make your Disney vacation more affordable, and some articles that are just plain fun! I had a blast reading all of these this week and I hope you will too! So get a great big glass of eggnog (spike it if you wish 🙂 ) and sit back and enjoy your weekly round-up of Disney fun!

Starting with our friends at Chip and Company, Brenda (yes “our Brenda”) had two awesome articles about how she keeps the Disney spirit alive at home: My Disney Dream Office and A Very Merry Disney Christmas…at Home!

And Ken had another installment in his series Oldies But Goodies – Keeping The Vacation Affordable (thanks for the shout-out Ken!)

Disney Dispatch offered some great park-touring Tips from the Disney Diva: My Favorite Things, Episode 03

Have you seen how cold it has been in Walt Disney World this week? Fortunately, if you are going and you forget a hat, the Disney Parks Blog has a few ways for you to stay warm: Winter Hats at the Parks: Do You Have a Favorite?

Kelly over at the Disney Guru had some interesting things to share this week. You can find out just how “Disney” you are in Tuesday’s top ten signs you are a Disney geek (and evidently, I am a pretty major Disney geek…. 🙂 )and in Keeping Up With The Magic she had some great ideas on how to keep your Disney vacations fresh (and I learned a few new things too!)

Disney Food Blog gave me some inspiration for our trip in a few weeks. I think my husband is going to enjoy the Holiday Brewer’s Collection Booths in Epcot and this post just added to my already lengthy “must eat” food list: Things I Learned at the Funnel Cake Stand

Growing Up Disney also had multiple helpful articles this week. Team Post: What’s the Best Age for a Child’s First WDW Visit? provided some great guidelines. And if you have ever wondered what would happen if you or someone in your group became sick or injured while at Disney World, then you will want to read Wow, am I glad you’re here!

Shannon at Meltdown Free Disney has an extremely timely post for how to handle things when your kids ask the “big questions”. In Getting Real About Pretending she shows how to handle the situation with gentleness and understanding.

You may be walking a lot at Disney World, but many want to keep to an actual exercise schedule. Pop Century Fan Site has some suggestions if you are staying there: Exercise at Pop Century Resort

In the spirit of the season, Traveling Mamas has some great ideas for Affordable Travel Gifts

Looking for some Holiday fun to share with your family? WDW Daily News tells us how Disney Online Puts Fun and Ease into Holiday Planning with the New ‘All Things Merry: A Guide to the Holidays’

Finally, we were pleased to be part of the latest Disney Blog Carnival #14 where you can find even MORE great Disney bloggers, blogs, and blog posts.

Happy reading and happy weekend! 🙂

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Thrifty Thursday and Delectable Disney Snacks: Take My Advice, Share!

Brenda Saving Money on Food, Thrifty Thursday , , , , , , 1 Comment

Sorry to all the guys out there but I have to confess here and now that I love watching what I call “foo foo” movies, like Legally Blonde, Confessions of a Shopaholic and the like. They are familiar and fun so I can pop them in the DVD player, turn it on and go about doing other things because I know what favorite parts to watch.

There is a line in one of them that always makes me chuckle. In The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, the world’s worst and snootiest boss (played by Meryl Streep), sends her assistant on an impossible errand – to get a copy of an unpublished Harry Potter manuscript for her twins to read on the train to Grandma’s. Her assistant, Andy, pulls some strings to get it, then comes into Miranda’s office, puts the copy down on her desk and when Miranda sees it, she says “One copy. What are my twins gonna do with that? Share?” That line always makes me laugh.

Sadly, that is exactly how my family feels about dessert. My mother baked beautiful desserts when I was growing up and she passed that love of baking onto me. I live in a family of sweet tooths and I am embarrassed to admit that I am head molar!

When we were at the Animal Kingdom recently, we decided to use our snack credits for the day at the Kusafari bakery. Aside from the fact that Kusafari is one of the very few places that serves real coffee (not Nescafe), we had been looking forward to savoring their wonderful treats for months in anticipation of our trip. When we got to the counter, four of us ordered the Zebra cupcakes and one ordered the White Chocolate Elephant cupcake (pictured below). We were reeling with anticipation for a bite of one of these delectable delights and we were really hungry by that time, having had a large breakfast but no lunch.

A quick description will give you a general idea about the sweet goodness of these tantalizing treasures. The Zebra Cupcake is moist yellow cake topped with mounds of super rich and creamy buttercream icing. It has homemade white and dark chocolate shavings all over the top and is delightful. The White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake is rich chocolate cake filled with chocolate cream and then topped with a light buttercream frosting and toasted coconut.

After I took these pictures, we all took bites of our treasures and commented on how yummy, moist and rich they all tasted. We were almost singing with enjoyment. After our third bite, we were giving each other that “how-am-I-ever-going-to-finish-this look.” We ate all we could, as we did not want to waste any of it and, once we threw away the rest, we all agreed that we indeed should have shared.

Trust me, if you get one of these scrumptious creations, plan to cut it into fourths. Taking my advice will do three good things for you: it will save you from sugar shock, give you some snack credits to use on other great treats, and save you from the guilt of throwing away a portion of such a wonderful treat.

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Disney Holiday Gift-Giving: Luggage and Bags Disney Style

Nancy Disney Gift Giving , , , , , , , 5 Comments

Essential for any Disney vacation are those items you will need to “keep stuff in”, that is luggage, backpacks, tote bags, and diaper bags. The thing is, while these things are necessities, why not add a little “Disney” to something that is basically functional….and make it fun? The benefit of this is, of course, bringing the Disney love along with you PLUS having that happy Disney reminder day in and day out after you get home!

With that in mind then, here are some of my favorite Disney travel accessories (a few of which may end up on my Christmas wish list for our upcoming Disney World trip):

Disney Princess Luggage: On our first trip to Walt Disney World, one of the things that our daughter (then age 7) was most excited about was having her “own suitcase”. She would have loved the princesses on the outside. I would have loved the hard case and wheels that make it easy for little ones to take care of their own bag.

Disney Rolling Light-Up Buzz Lightyear Luggage: The solution for little boys, this case will help future Space Rangers to easily travel to Disney World, or Infinity and Beyond, whichever they prefer.

Blue 3-Piece Rolling Disney Luggage Set: For the grown-up on your list (or maybe you?? 🙂  ) I personally really like this 3 piece set for the sizes available and especially like that the duffle is wheeled. Plus, I love the blue color too. Yeah…this one’s going on my Christmas wish list.

Black 3-Piece Disney Rolling Mickey Mouse Luggage Set: This one’s for the person who really wants to have their Mickey on when traveling. One of the things I really like about this set is that you can EASILY pick out your luggage at baggage claim at the airport. 🙂

Tinkerbell Diaper Bag Backpack – Adjustable Shoulder Bag: Know someone who will be traveling to Disney World with a little one? A Disney diaper bag is a great gift idea. I love all the pockets on this one as well as the fact that it can be either a shoulder bag or back pack.

Disney Mickey Mouse Tote Bag: Having a tote bag of some sort is essential at the parks. At 15” x 17” this bag is roomy and it has a nice interior zippered compartment which I really like. Plus it’s just plain fun…..and also going on my Christmas list!

Disney Dooney & Bourke Black Tassle Tote: I will readily admit that this does NOT qualify as affordable….but it is gorgeous, and one can hope, right? Disney’s Dooney and Bourke collection is extremely popular and there are many different designs, patterns, and sizes that are available. And while this bag may or may not be in Santa’s budget this year, there are some smaller items like wallets, wristlets and such that can help you be stylishly Disney. But if we’re going to dream….then this is the one I’m dreaming of…..

Hope you found some great Disney Holiday gift items for your favorite Disney traveler…or for your own wishlist! Happy shopping!

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Disney Fun From Around the World: Week of November 29, 2010

Nancy Disney Fun From Around the "World" , , , , 3 Comments

Happy December Disney friends and Happy Hanukkah to those who are celebrating this week. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday last weekend and that you are ready for a good long blog round-up today! The Disney blog world has emerged from the post-holiday tryptophan coma and has provided us with some welcome Disney distraction from all the holiday rushing around. So grab a latte, sit back and relax in the World of Disney for a few moments. Here are some of my favorites:

To start, The Disney Blog offered a great way to celebrate the Festival of Lights: Voices of Liberty – Hanukkah Medley

Wow, wow, wow AJ at the Disney Food Blog has been busy! This week she provided a Guest Review: New Menus and Menu Items at Le Cellier Steakhouse and a delicious post that caught my eye: “I Can’t Believe I Hadn’t Tried This!” Disney Desserts Edition In addition, if you have Disney World food favorites, be sure to head on over and vote: DFB Choice Awards Voting Now Open

Tons of things going on at Chip and Co this week. Lisa shared the Top Ten Disney Tips I Learned This Year, Allie discussed Keeping things fresh at Walt Disney World and Chris shared some Kid Stuff I Secretly Want for Christmas (and I think I personally want a few as well… 🙂 )

Not able to visit Disney World over the Christmas holidays? Or maybe you want a “fix” until you do go? Amanda over at Disney Every Day provided just the thing: 3 videos of some of the most special holiday happenings at Walt Disney World this month: Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas Time Parade Video and Video of the Christmas Holiday Wishes Fireworks in the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Osborne Family Lights Daytime Details Video

Kelly at the Disney Guru offered another informative Money Saver Monday!! What Season Saves You the Most Money??

Our friend James “The Mouse Planner” wrote a fascinating piece for the Disney Driven Life where he discussed using time well at Disney World…and then back at home too: GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TIME

Studios Central offered some great suggestions for Bargain Shopping at Walt Disney World

Ellie at The Relocated Tourist shared the favorite things she really wants to do at Disney World in My Disney Bucket List (and a few of these are on my list as well….)

Lastly, the Resourceful Mommy had some fantastic ideas for Surviving the Disney Souvenir Gimmes with your children. If you have little ones, this is a must-read.

OK, there you have it. Hope you enjoyed reading! Now, get back to shopping, cooking, baking, decorating…… 🙂 Have a magical weekend!

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Thrifty Thursday: Treasured Photos in All the Best Locations

Brenda Thrifty Thursday , , , , , 1 Comment

I am sure you have noticed that the PhotoPass photographers are set up in all the very best locations throughout the parks. Whether it is right in front of Cinderella’s Castle, at the entrance to Epcot next to the monorail, in front of the Sorcerer’s hat or Expedition Everest, or countless other great locations in the parks they are positioned in all of the prime locations. If you did not receive a PhotoPass card in your travel package, they will gladly give you one free of charge to carry with you in order to take advantage of all the best photo opps with your family.

I love having all of our memories captured on film. I have photo albums full of Disney memories and I treasure each one of the pictures with my family. Professional photographs can be expensive, though, and that is why I think the very best thing about the PhotoPass photographers is that they are happy to take a picture using your personal camera as well. All you have to do is hand them your PhotoPass card as well as your personal camera and they will take all the pictures for you. This is especially welcome to the person in your family who is usually responsible for taking photographs and never actually appears to be on the trip.

Personally, I appreciate the fact that Disney offers this service to their guests, rather than making families feel that they must purchase photos they really cannot afford. It is just another free little extra they have decided to throw in to make everyone’s trip more memorable.

I usually do purchase some of the PhotoPass pictures, especially for special photo gifts, but I like knowing I don’t have to. Take advantage of this free service the next time you are in the parks and keep smiling!

Brenda is a native Texan born and raised on the Gulf Coast. She visited Disney World twice as a teenager and always dreamed of growing her family Disney. She took her first-timer husband and their three children to Disney World in 2000 and they now spend every Thanksgiving there. Brenda writes with a comedic twist on various Disney topics. She will be sharing tips she has learned during her travels and also hopes to enlighten people on little-known freebies that Disney has to offer. She wishes she could have met Walt Disney and considers herself to be a student of Walt. In parallel to his dream it is her wish that everyone would take at least one trip to Disney World in order to share in its magic with their families.

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