Magical Moments Monday: Teaming Up To Change Lives #GiveKidsTheWorld #TagYoureIt

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Today we are giving you a chance to make magical memories possible for a child who could really use a little pixie dust in their lives. Interested? Yea, I thought you might be.
We've joined the Disney Writers United Ice Bucket Challenge Give Kids The World. Many of my dear blogging friends like Gayle of The DisneyGals, Kuleen from The Disney Kids and Didi from DisTherapy have already taken the icy plunge. 

Now it’s up to you! #TagYou'reIt! You can stage your own Ice Bucket Challenge, find one of the many other creative ways to come together, or take a moment to visit our fundraising page at Give Kids The World Disney Writers United.

Date Night at Disney

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My favorite resorts for date nights are The Yacht & Beach Club Resort, The Grand Floridian Resort and Spa and The Wilderness Lodge with The Yacht & Beach Club resort having the best atmosphere. I love strolling along Disney's BoardWalk and stopping in at Jelly Rolls for a dueling piano sing-a-long.

At the very top of my favorites though is Palo on the Disney Magic and Wonder cruise ships. Palo is the adult only restaurant serving northern Italian cuisine. Every dish we've ever tried there has been delicious and served beautifully. Palo is located at the top of both ships with a panoramic view of the top deck and sea beyond. Seatings start at 6pm and is the perfect spot to watch the sunset. This has been a must do on each of our 4 cruises.

While on the Wonder we enjoy heading to Route 66 for drinks at the Cadillac Lounge and dancing at Wavebands. On the Magic the Beat Street section and the Rockin-D Bar offers up grown-up music and fun...and we have fun. On our last cruise my husband sang karaoke while dressed in a pirate outfit, complete with parrot and eye patch. That was a memorable date night!  

Do you have a favorite date night spot at Disney? 

__________ 

Related articles

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• Almost Wordless Wednesday ~ Riding Up Front on the Epcot Monorail
• Almost Wordless Wednesday ~ Disney Social Media Magical Memories
• Magical Blogorail ~ Deluxe Resorts ~ Disney's BoardWalk Resort
• Magical Blogorail ~ Favorite Disney Bakery

Magical Memories Monday ~ 20 Days to 20 Years

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Welcome to Magical Memories Monday where we share experiences we've had in the Disney Parks. Today I'm not sharing one of my experiences per se but sending you on an adventure to experience one for yourself. Before you get all Disney excited, I'm not sending you to a real Disney Park (wish I could) for a real adventure. 
I'm sending you to a special celebration series

Hostess ~ Didi Marie (@DISTherapy) of :DISTherapy 

Co-Host ~ Beth (@disneymom2jhe of Pursuing the Magic 

Co-Host ~ Manda (@mandadisneyblog) of Mandas Disney Blog! 

I'll be posting Wednesday on 1994 :D CLICK HERE 
Related articles

• Mentoring Mondays With Donna Kay  (focusedonthemagic.com)
• Magical Memories ~ Resort TV 2001 (focusedonthemagic.com)
• Magical Memories with Miyuki (focusedonthemagic.com)

Happy Halloween Wishes to You!

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Welcome, foolish mortals! Happy Halloween! 

It's time for tricks and treats and crazy costumes. We've had some tricky weather here in the NE over the weekend in what we're calling, Snowtober. I've had power outages but thankfully I'm baaack! 
The kids were in for a treat with school closings in the area due to snow, downed power lines and toppled trees. Trick or treating will be a challenge for the little ones though as they'll be running through slick streets filled with tree branches in cold temps. 

More treats in Halloween links from around the blah-haha-ghostphere:

If you are overwhelmed by the thought of doing Halloween makeup check out these makeup tips from the experts on Halloween cosmetology! 

Have you carved your pumpkin yet? Ours are all homegrown and soft so we'll be carving or smashing later today. Here you'll find the mother load of Disney pumpkin carving templates! 

The Disneyland Paris Halloween Festival from the Disney Parks Blog 

You may also enjoy our post~ Halloween Decorations around the Magic Kingdom in Disney World and our Halloween themed Wordless Wednesday~ Fall and Wordless Wednesday ~ Villains

Which brings me to the classic Halloween in the NE question all parents have dealt with.....Do they wear their costumes over or under the coat... or even worse the dreaded snowsuit!?

 

Enjoy! 

Most Magical Disney Moment

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Today we're sharing one of my most magical experience at a Disney park. When I first read this topic, a flood of magical moments came to mind. I post often about our magical moments in the parks as we seem to experience quite a few. 
I wondered how I could pick just one for this week's topic. So, I went directly to my DH and magic moments partner for a consult. He reminded me of the time we rode Journey into Imagination on it's last night before it closed. We were in one of the last cars of the ride on the very last night. CM's applauded as we pulled into the loading dock. What a magical moment it was..but not the most magical.

Or it could be the night we rode Buzz Lightyear in soft opening on the first E-night...No, that was fun but not the most magical.

Mentoring Mondays with Disney Donna Kay

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Today I’m the featured blogger in Disney Donna Kay’s Mentoring Monday’s Series. If you haven’t visited Disney Donna Kay’s blog lately, you really should. Each Monday she interviews a blogger from The Disney Online Community asking them insightful questions about their blogs. In my case the questions were primarily about photography.

Magical Memories ~ Resort TV 2001

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Today our Magical Memories take us back, way back to the 100 Years of Magic celebration in Walt Disney World, 2001 and the resort TV commercials. Do you remember The Yellow Shirt Guy and Park Hopper?  Together they brought guests all the latest park information to make it a Zip A Dee Do Da Day...




Part 1



Part 2



2001 Part 3 Downtown Disney



I really liked the toon look to these commercials and the excitement they created. I know we were always enjoyed watching them in our resort while unpacking or getting ready for the day. 
Do you remember the 100 Years of Magic Celebration?

Have a Zip A Dee Do Dah Day!

Magical Memories Monday with Miyuki, The Candy Lady

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Today we're exploring the magic in Epcot's Japanese pavilion with "The Candy Lady", Miyuki Sugimori. An amazing candy artist who learned the art from her grandfather an expert candy artist in Tokyo.

Crowds would always gather around to watch as Miyuki started with just a small warm ball of rice starch and corn syrup, food coloring and a few simple tools to create intricately detailed candy creatures. The process appeared to be similar to pulling taffy. 

You would see her squeezing, stretching and pulling to make the mixture pliable and to release any air bubbles that might form. 

~Magical Memories Monday~

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Often magical moments aren't part of a touring plan. Here a Cast Member created one such magical moment on Main Street, USA in the Magic Kingdom. Using only a few simple tools like a broom and a bucket of water he brought smiles to everyone around.

Some Guests kept walking without noticing the artwork below their feet. Others stumbled over it laughing. Sadly the water art evaporated in a matter of minutes in the FL heat but the magical memories that sidewalk artist created will always remain.

Have you seen the water artists in the parks? Did it make you smile?

Hope you are having a magical day!

Magical Memories Monday with the boys

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Welcome to Magical Memories Monday! A day that always warms my heart with happy memories and gets me craving my next trip to make even more memories. 
This week we asked our kids what their favorite Disney memory or activity is.

Getting a straight answer out of my guys is like getting me to ride EE twice in a row. 
I did my Disney best over the weekend. Being held captive on a long car ride with nothing but open road to stare at seemed to help us focus on the question at hand;) 
Peter's first response was the memory of the giant Genie bowling him over at the Contemporary. You can read all about it here. After further consideration and a few miles down the road. Peter decided the time he rode Rock n Roller Coaster with his cousins Ian and Laura on a trip in 2000.  

From the ride and not his cousins ;)

Then he remembered the time they got soaked taking a spin in the Breathless. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to tell the boat operator that my son drives race cars! We went faaaast after that! 

A View of Illuminations from The Rose & Crown

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This was my first time taking pics of Illuminations from a absolutely picture perfect location in a seated position, adult beverage at my side with an unobstructed view! Best of all, no one was jostling my tripod or shoving for a better view. 
Touring the World Showcase countries in the afternoon, having dinner in one of the countries then topping off the evening with Illuminations is my idea of a perfect plan. We may not touch all 11 countries every time but you can always find me watching Illuminations in Epcot at 9pm. There are several spots I enjoy viewing it from. On this particular night we had just finished a fabulous dinner on the The Rose & Crown upper balcony (review coming soon) when the fireworks started. Our dinner was timed perfectly as our server lifted the last plate the show started. There is exactly 30 minutes between the time the music starts and the show begins. It was a calm night without wind and in my opinion the best viewing area to see Illuminations. Our server explained that on a windy night the ashes will fly on the wind in the direction of the Rose & Crown and Canada. I was aware of it because it had happened to us in the past but I had no idea that there are metal roofs on a few of the buildings in the UK and Canada to protect them form ashes. It was a magical memorable night filled with pixie dust we'll always remember.

What's your favorite area to view Illuminations? 

Partners Statue

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The Partners bronze statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse is one of the most popular photo spots in the Magic Kingdom. I find it almost impossible to walk by day or night and not take a picture of it. It was expertly sculpted by Blaine Gibson who was also an animator on many classic Disney films. Next time you're in the Magic Kingdom stop and take a closer look at some of the details. That is after you've taken a few pics. Upon closer inspection of his tie clasp you'll notice the letters STR. The letters STR represent The Smoke Tree Ranch, a development in Palm Springs, California, where Walt Disney had a vacation home.