Disney Halloween TV Specials

Guys, it is NOT Halloween until I have seen this TV special.  My mom recorded it back in 1987 when the Disney Channel was providing a free preview.  We have watched it on the VHS tape ever since.  In 2014, this Youtube version is almost as good but I do miss the 1980s Halloween commercials from the VHS!

It's amazing and you should absolutely watch it.

This is an older one from 1982 with a different host!

Favorite Food Friday Halloween Treats!

Welcome to another Favorite Food Friday hosted by the disastrous Disney Day by Day!

You know I love a good cupcake.  These don't look like they have filling in them but they are Halloween-appropriate!  

Now hop on to the next stops!

And don' t forget to link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop: French ice cream martinis!

Welcome to this week's Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop hosted by the finicky Focused on the Magic!  I'm continuing my recap of my trip from September 2013.  You can find the earlier posts 

here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here!

The new L'Artisans des Glaces in the France Pavilion at Epcot was DEFINITELY on my to do list.  Ice cream AND alcohol?  SOLD.

Profiterole ice cream with whipped cream vodka

Caramel fleur de sel ice cream with rum

The ice cream martinis were quite strong because the ice cream didn't melt quickly enough (in Florida, I know) into the alcohol.  Or maybe I just ate the ice cream too fast.  It was more like scoops of ice cream chased with a shot.  I'd give it another whirl though.

Aurora was greeting guests nearby.  I LOVE moments like this.

Now hop on to the next stop!

Kill, Marry, Refurb Blog Hop: Food and Wine booths!

I'm joining the masterful Mouse on the Mind and heroic This Happy Place Blog for the Kill/Refurb/Marry blog hop!  This week's theme is Food and Wine booths.  

Kill:  Craft Beer and Fife and Drum.  Beer is disgusting.  Also the "snacks" available at Craft Beer look like airplane food.  First class airplane food, sure, but airplane food nonetheless.  Also, you can get a Ghiradelli sundae at Downtown Disney.  Not to mention that the "sundae" at the booth is vanilla soft serve with a bit of chocolate sauce.  I am unimpressed.  (Hops and Barley is getting a pass for now due to cheese and carrot cake.) 

Mercy Kill: Eat to the Beat.  I am so over the has-been bands that no one cares about playing that one song that everyone knows.  Call me when they get some good hip hop acts.  What is Coolio doing these days?

Refurb: Desserts.  Ahhhh the beautiful country of Desserts.  It is one of my favorite vacation spots.  Unfortunately, I am not interested in prepackaged chocolates I can buy at CVS.  The trio is equally uninspired (my primary dessert rule is "if it involves fruit it may be delicious but it is NOT DESSERT").  Could we maybe get something good instead?  Disney does some great sweets. (hi schoolbread.  hi cakecups.)  Why is the Dessert booth so dull?

Marry:  Greece.  For the griddled cheese alone.  Never leave me, Greece.  

If you're smart, you will hop on to all the next stops. 

Favorite Food Friday: La Cava Avocado Margarita

Welcome to another Favorite Food Friday hosted by Disney Day by Day!

I'm continuing my recap of my trip from September 2013.  You can find the earlier posts here and here and here and here and here and here and here!

While I was in Epcot waiting for my room to be ready, I got a little thirsty so I headed over to La Cava in the Mexico pavilion to try my very first avocado margarita.  I LOVE avocado and this was like a creamy, mildly-sweet alcoholic milkshake.  It was delicious!

Now hop on to the next stops!

And don' t forget to link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Favorite Food Friday: Norwegian pastries

Welcome to another Favorite Food Friday hosted by Disney Day by Day!

I'm continuing my recap of my trip from September 2013.  You can find the earlier posts here and here and here and here and here and here!

I had a whole list of treats I wanted to try on this trip and I made a pretty good dent in the list when I went to Kringla.   The Veiled Maiden wasn't available and I haven't seen it on the menu since so I think I might have missed my chance to try it!

Above we have the Troll Horn (Cloudberry Jam with Whipped Cream in a Crispy Pastry Sugar-coated Shell) which I liked very much, as well as the Verdens Best (Rum Cake with Custard and Almond Meringue topping), which was harder to eat.  I liked the rum cake part but the cake plus the custard plus the hard meringue was tough to get all into one bite.  

Of course I had to try the Lefse! This is Potato Flatbread rolled with a Sweet Cinnamon Butter.   I think I would have liked more butter or some other filling.  It was a bit dense/dry.

I think the winner was the cake part of Verdens Beste but frankly, I will take a cupcake over these guys any day!

Now hop on to the next stops!

And don' t forget to link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Disney Princesses and Villians Spring/Summer 2015 *Updated 1/28/15

Spring 2015 Fashion Weeks have been rolling by in New York, London, Milan, and Paris.  I've picked out some of my favorite gowns for some of my favorite princesses and villainesses.  (Check out my Spring/Summer 2014 selections here and my Fall/Winter 2014 selections here!) Let me know what you think!  I'll be updating them as the photos come out!

PRINCESSES/GOOD FEMALE CHARACTERS

Elsa (1)

Elsa (2)

Elsa (3)

Snow White (1)

Snow White (2)

Snow White (3)

Cinderella (1)

Cinderella (2)

Cinderella (3)

Flora, Fauna and Meriweather

the Fairy Godmother

Aurora (1)

Aurora (2)

Aurora (3)

Alice (1)

Alice (2)

Ariel (1)

Ariel (2)

Belle (1) 

Belle (2)

Belle (3)

Pocahontas

Jasmine (1)

Jasmine (2)

Mulan (1)

Mulan (2)

Nahla (if she were human) (1)

Nahla (2)

Tiana (1)

Tiana (2)

Rapunzel (1)

Rapunzel (2)

Merida (1)

Merida (2)

Merida (3)

VILLAINESSES

The Evil Queen (1)

The Evil Queen (2)

The Wicked Witch (1)

The Wicked Witch (2)

The Wicked Witch (3)

Lady Tremaine (1)

Lady Tremaine (2)

Step Sister Anastasia

Step Sister Drizella (1)

Step Sister Drizella (2)

Maleficent (1)

Maleficent (2)

The Cheshire Cat (1)

Cruella de Vil (1)

Cruella de Vil (2)

The Queen of Hearts (1)

The Queen of Hearts (2)

The Queen of Hearts (3)

Ursula (1)

Ursula (2)

Izma (1)

Izma (2)

Mother Gothel (1)

Mother Gothel (2)

Kill/Marry/Refurb Blog Hop - Disney Transportation!

I'm joining the magnificent Mouse on the Mind and hilarious This Happy Place Blog for the Kill/Refurb/Marry blog hop!  This week's theme is Disney transportation.  

Kill:  Disney buses.  There is nothing magical or special or fun about a bus no matter how many cute announcements they play.  Plus waiting for the buses also sucks.  "But V, if there are no buses, how will we get to DAK and DHS?"  AH!  See "Refurb" below.

Refurb: The Monorail.  1) They keep breaking. Fix that.  2) I know it's gauche because they were involved in fatal accidents but bring back the pink and purple monorails because those were my favorite colors.  Monorail color matters.  3) Extend the monorails to the other parks.  Boom.  Slam.  Lawyered.

Marry:  The Motor Launches.  I mean they are adorable looking for one.  They are special to the 7SL and Bae Lake (ahem) deluxe resorts for another.  The views from the launches are great and they are small so they feel extra special and exclusive. 

If you're smart, you will hop on to all the next stops. 


Don't forget to join the hop and link up here!!

Favorite Food Friday: CHOCOLATTEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to another Favorite Food Friday hosted by the debilitating Disney Day by Day!

"I got you all the candy."  Have sweeter words ever been uttered?  I submit that they have not.  "I got you all the candy."  The poetry.  The cadence.  It's the perfect phrase.  It puts "cellar door" to shame.  "I got you all the candy."

So my sister tells me she's taking a day trip to Disneyland and I ask her to buy and send me these special Disney chocolates if she happens to have the time.  These chocolates seem to be available in the parks on both coasts but I don't have plans to get to WDW for a while.  The next day, the most beautiful email ever sent arrived in my inbox.  She had gotten me ALL of the candy.

We'll start off with the mint flavored ones because mint is disgusting and you always want to end on a high note.  Mint ruins chocolate and none of your "but what about"s will change that.  Just accept it.  That being said, the mint here was not horribly oppressive.  It was more Thin Mint than Junior Mint.

As you can see, there is a soft outer chocolate shell and a softer, creamier chocolate-mint flavored filling.

Next up we have the raspberry/milk chocolate roses.  Fruit also ruins chocolate.  The only thing that ruins chocolate worse than fruit is mint.  So.  

However, the rose shapes are so pretty.  This is the only one that comes in a shape different than the Mickey squares seen above with the mint ones.  

Like the mint ones, there is a chocolate shell (not hard) and a chocolate creamy center.  Where the center had a hint of mint before, here there is a hint of raspberry.  

Finally the good stuff.  Caramel!  Caramel is an acceptable partner for chocolate.   

PS how cute is the packaging?

The outer chocolate was thicker on this one than with the others.  I assume that is because the caramel is the runny kind (you either get the runny kind or the thick kind in caramel filled chocolates.  Godiva also uses the runny kind in it's caramel-filled squares.  It is messy.).  

I don't approve of the messiness of the runny caramel and the flavor was mostly chocolate.  But you know, it's candy.  Chocolate.  No fruit.  No mint.  So acceptable.

Peanut butter!!!!  Perhaps the IDEAL partner for chocolate.  Chocolate's soulmate, if I may.  However, points deducted for the grossly heteronormative statement on this otherwise adorable packaging.  

The peanut butter was creamy and light.  We're not talking the grainy Reeses peanut butter here.  But the flavor stood up against the chocolate better than the caramel did. 

Okay fine, there is no more perfect partner for chocolate than more chocolate.  

However, I think I liked the peanut butter the best.  This was good, but it was just chocolate on chocolate.  No real contrast.  If these guys had been solid the whole way through I'm not sure I would have noticed a difference in the flavor profile.  Nevertheless: unadulterated chocolate.  So: success.

My sister is the greatest.

Now hop on to the next stops!

And don' t forget to link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Favorite Food Friday: Eat Every Sandwich Earl of Sandwich Challenge: Philly Cheesesteak

Welcome to another Favorite Food Friday hosted by the deviant Disney Day by Day!

I am the worst you guys.  I haven't updated this blog in so long.  HOWEVER, I managed to take a vacation day on Wednesday which meant I got to stop by the Earl of Sandwich in NYC (only open during the work day and nowhere near my office).  

You may remember my first Earl of Sandwich review of the Full Montagu and the Original 1762 (and the Coronet Cakes): here.  Well when Sarah of the Eating WDW blog started participating in the Eat Each Sandwich challenge, I knew I had to join in as well!  For links to the rest of my reviews, scroll down!

This time I tried the (newish?) Philly Cheesesteak on white.  As you can see it had a TON of onions and green peppers, which I wish had been cooked down a little more.

The saltiness of the cheese definitely came through and I got texture from the meat but that was about it flavorwise.  It's possible that my recent sriracha phase has ruined my tastebuds a little but I kept wishing for more of a kick.  Maybe I should had added mustard.  

I also got a brownie with caramel drizzled on it - that was better than my previous attempt.  This new brownie was slightly undercooked and therefore delicious.  I was so hungry I didn't take a picture of it.  Glutton that I am (hey I was about to dance for 6 hours straight) I ALSO got this cookie and it was  as delicious as one might expect.  

\

I also saw these chocolatey burrito thingies but I was too shy to ask about them given that I had just ordered enough food for 3 adults.   Maybe next time I will try it!

Previous Reviews:

the Chicken Chipotle Avocado Sandwich (and their chocolate chip cookie)
the All American Sandwich (plus oatmeal mini cookies)
the Earl Club Sandwich (plus chocolate and vanilla cupcakes)
the Holiday Turkey Sandwich 
the Hawaiian BBQ Sandwich
the Italian
the Caribbean Jerk
the Pastrami Reuben
the plain brownie

Now hop on to the next stops!

And don' t forget to link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Ariana Grande loves Hooter

I'm sorry, is that a Captain Eo homage at minute 3:12 or WHAT?!

New York is great :)

Once in a while, if you live in New York, you may get a free, up close and personal jam from the cast of the Lion King on Broadway. :)

Ariel is the WORST

I love it when other people agree with me!!

Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop: Test Track Evac Part 4

Welcome to this week's Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop hosted by the fictional Focused on the Magic!  I'm continuing my recap of my trip from September 2013.  You can find the earlier posts here and here and here and here and here and here!

My last few shots during my Test Track evac.  It was so cool to see everything with the lights on.

Eventually, once we got down the curvy hills, our cast member rescuers lead us to a door kind of in the middle of the building (before the curvy hills, after the antilock brake test part) and we took stairs all the way down to an exit leading outside.  Of course we got a fastpass for our troubles!  I was disappointed that my very first ride in the parks led to an evac but also super excited to be able to get so much of a ride from a new point of view!

Now hop on to the next stop!