Sunday, January 29, 2012

Vintage Disney Alert! - Flashback Friday

We've had this phone for AGES.  It normally sits in the attic but I think my mom is about to sell it so it was in my room when I went home for Christmas.  The nose is loose but I think it looks pretty good considering its age no?



Focused on the Magic

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Don't Tell Him Carlos! / Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!

Where in the LAND could this be?
Post in the comments!




Focused on the Magic

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Kirsten Dunst Goes to Disneyland!

Guys,

    Did you know I never read magazines on time?  I bet you didn't.  I hoard them and then read them on planes and such, so often I am reading US Weeklies that are months-old.  However, I managed to grab January's Lucky magazine in the actual month of January and happened to notice a little Disneyland reference! 
 
   On page 84 of Lucky's January issue, Kirsten spills out the contents of her bag to discuss them and she has a celebration button.  The picture shows the basic green "I'm Celebrating" button, but the article says she got the button for her birthday (her friend Molly took her).  Can't tell if that was Lucky's mistake for recreating the photo improperly or Molly's for not getting her the right button.  Either way, gave me a little Disney "fix" today. :)

~ insert Princess-like closing here ~
V

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Nearly Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!

Welcome to another Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!
Thanks to Focused on the Magic and the Info Mouse for hosting!
Before we continue, PLEASE read this blog post and let me know your thoughts. I would love some feedback!  And in case you haven't heard, I have some fun news.

I think this is the last DisneyLAND food pic I have - but it's a delicious one (and Pooh Bears are a kind of wildlife no?)!  A Peanut Butter "sandwich" from the same store as I got the Tigger Tail (right outside the Winnie the Pooh ride exit)


My one critique is that I wish it had a thinner graham cracker and more peanut butter.  That didn't stop me from finishing it though!

Now hop on to the next stops!






Focused on the Magic









Monday, January 23, 2012

Disneyland Trip Recap Part 13: The Disneyland Railroad



One of the things I was really excited to ride at Disneyland was Walt's railroad.  I had heard about Primeval World which sounds ridiculously random.  I HAD to see it for myself.  What follows are the photos I took from the train including a lot of Primeval World - they're a bit blurry because of course the train doesn't really stop here.  Enjoy!










Friday, January 20, 2012

Flashback Friday / Disneyland Trip Recap Part 12: DCA


Okay so I'm not flashing back TOO far, but I like to pretend that someone reads my posts that are not Wordless Wednesday posts once in a while, so here we go!  Welcome and flashback with me alll the day to November 2011!!


Phew!  I am tired of writing about my trip!  LOL  This post is going to be mostly photos - lucky you!  I've alread talked about my disappointment with Grizzly River Rapids, but let me show you some of the things I liked about DCA.

My TSM Score.  WHAT. UP.
I had ridden California Screamin' on my kind-of-first, half day trip and I did NOT like it.  The drops were too high.  This time, since I knew what was coming, it was a little better.  It's also my sister's favorite ride so it is unavoidable. 


I rode a lot of the rides I missed the first time - the Monsters, Inc. dark ride was high on my list since we had skipped that entire "land" last time.   I took a ZILLION pictures.  Sorry lol.


I even briefly ran through the sourdough bakery tour (the samples are not that great - standard cafeteria level sourdough pieces.)  It was nice to be able to easily hop back and forth between the parks - that is a MAJOR plus that WDW just cannot offer.



We ate dinner at Ariel's Grotto for the World of Color special "seating".  The food was meh.  Could have also been because I was still full from my fried food bonanza lunch at Cafe Orleans.  I still think it wasn't worth the price, BUT not having to stand outside to save my spot for World of Color was because WORLD OF COLOR WAS AWESOME!!



My sister and I were completely mesmerized by the show.  I mean, I'm not big into shows at Disney parks.  I live right outside Manhattan - I can go see actual Broadway shows whenever I want.  And this didn't even have a story - just colors and water?  SNORE.   But holy cow.  The show was AMAZING.  So gorgeous.  It felt like my eyes were gorging themselves on beauty. 

Can you guess where this is?

I feel like DCA is slowly improving and I can't wait to go back after Carsland opens!



Focused on the Magic

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Nearly Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!

Welcome to another Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!
Thanks to Focused on the Magic and the Info Mouse for hosting!


And in case you haven't heard, I have some fun news.
Now for another Hungry Bear treat.  The mini cherry pie! 
Now I have to say, I am not a pie person.  My theory is that if it has fruit it is not a dessert.  It is a snack. 


I didn't love the taste of this pie either - too much cherry, not enough crust.  But it just LOOKS adorable right?  If you're keeping score, Hungry Bear now has two good-looking desserts that I don't care to eat.


Now hop on to the next stops!






Focused on the Magic









Buckle Up, Buttercups!

Guys, I just got back from a two-part trip to the World.   I did LOTS of new stuff and I took A TON of photos.  Get ready because starting next month, we have a lot of new content to cover! :D

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Disneyland Trip Recap Part 11: Toon Town

I'm participating in the Babes in Disneyland Blog Hop this week! This week's theme is characters and since this is a post about a place where characters live at Disneyland, I think this post is the perfect one for the hop! Thanks for hopping along with me!



Before we continue, please read and comment on this blog post!  I need your thoughts and opinions!  Now returning to our regularly schedule blog post in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .

It's a pretty well-established fact that Disneyland's Toon Town is far superior to Disney World's dear departed Toon Town (R.I.P.) so I was very excited to get to explore it for the first time.  We had foolishly skipped it on my first half-day (half-assed) DL trip so this was the time to do it right.



Armed with our Hidden Mickeys of Disneyland tome, we checked out every secret and not so secret trick.  We rang the bell at the firehouse (the hidden mickey was obscured by a Christmas wreath, but we figured out what it was supposed to be), we pushed the buttons at the post office, we pulled the lids off boxes and my sister even got stuck in jail! 

We walked through some of the houses but we skipped Mickey's and most of Minnie's house since those guys were getting crowded.  I did have my heart set on riding Roger Rabbit's Car-Toon Spin though.



Now, this queue is TRICKY.  From the outside, it looked like a 5 minute wait, and Disneyland did not see fit to post a wait-time sign out front.  My sister and I almost NEVER wait in the regular line unless the wait is 10 minutes or less.  It seemed okay, so we hopped on line.  ROOKIE MISTAKE!

What we should have known from all of our Disney experience, was that the line was not as it appeared.  This queue is one of the most deceptive Disney queues I have seen.  It wraps around and around and around but you can never see where you are going so you have NO clue how much farther you have to shuffle. 

Audio Trick in the Queue

It doesn't help that the lights are really dim.  I was ever so slightly claustrophobic as a result, despite the pretty decent theming of the queue (you go through a theater complete with props, stage schedules and the back alleys of Toon Town with some audio tricks - I love me some audio tricks! - and a lab full of "dip"). 



After eons and eons, we reached the front of the line and hopped on the ride.  The ride is actually nothing special.  It's a dark ride/spinning teacups combo.  I am glad I went but it was NOT worth the wait.  If the wait was actually 5-10 minutes, maaaaybe even 15, it would have been worth it.  And I'm glad I checked out the queue but even that merits a 15 minute wait at most.  Ah well, live and learn!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Flashback Friday / Disneyland Trip Recap Part 10: Haunted Mansion Overlay


Okay so I'm not flashing back TOO far, but what the heck?  Welcome and flashback with me alll the day to November 2011!!

Although I was a bit disappointed that the Christmas decorations were already up, this did give me the opportunity to check out the Disneyland Haunted Mansion holiday overlay.  Fortunately (for me at least), the ride was stopped a couple times while I was on it (one time the lights even came on briefly) (no evac though - sad) so I took the opportunity to take some quick pictures. 


I will say that somehow, the holiday overlay makes the ride even creepier.  It kind of freaked me out! 
My one disappointment is that I wanted to hear the gargoyles in the stretching room whisper "get out!" as my podcasts have told me they do after the preshow.  When I asked the cast member if I could, he had no idea what I was talking about.  Then he told me that they probably don't do that now since the audio is changed for the holidays.  Fair enough.  I will have to try to catch it the next time I'm in WDW (which will be VERY soon hint hint!). 


Anyways, I really enjoyed experiencing the creepy-festive overlay!



Focused on the Magic

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Nearly Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!

Welcome to another Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!
Thanks to Focused on the Magic and the Info Mouse for hosting!
Before we continue, PLEASE read this blog post and let me know your thoughts. I would love some feedback!

 Tigger Tails from Disneyland!  I had high hopes but I'm not a fan - too much white chocolate, not enough caramel.  I am a sugarholic but even for me this was too sweet!

Now hop on to the next stops!


Focused on the Magic