This season, bring home the warmth of Disney’s magical fireplace! Discover hidden Mickeys, see spectacular fireworks, and enjoy lots more surprises…all set to holiday music…including songs sung by your favorite characters!
I have never seen this DVD myslef, but one review I read stated that you can listen to a selection of traditional holiday songs OR enjoy the glow and sounds of a virtual fireplace. I imagine that children would really enjoy the songs! However, I think if I were to order it for myself, I would need the option of shutting the singing off and just hearing the fire. The “special surprises” include the shadows of the characters walking through the flames.
To learn more about the Magical Fireplace DVD, check out the OFFICIAL ad from Disney, and get ordering information click here.
Disney says there are a limited number of videos and they are having a sale on them right now. I would love to hear from someone who actually owns this DVD! If you have one will you share your thoughts?
October 1, 2012 we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the opening day at Epcot! It was HOT, humid, and somewhat crowded but I am chalking it up to one of my favorite Disney days in history.
The IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show at Epcot at Walt Disney World. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Please enjoy this video that my wonderful, tall husband took of the special Epcot 30 Illuminations “tag”. Illuminations is always awesome but the tag really added something amazing, and to me, the show was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I almost cried about 5 times while watching it.
Feel free to play it over and over just to enjoy the sounds while you work. That’s what I have been doing.
One other thing…there was soot literally raining down after the show from the multiple pyrotechnics! INCREDIBLE!
Are you ready to be whisked away to Disney for about two hours – at least in your imagination? Today I want to share with my YouTube playlist of some of my all time favorite Disney songs and videos. You can play the list any time you need a Disney “fix” to hold you over between visits to the happiest place on earth!
I am so thankful for the people who filmed these videos and posted them to YouTube! I do not own – or have rights to any of these videos, but I enjoy watching and listening to them – and I hope you do too!
Once you click the link, put your headphones on or turn up your speakers. From there you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy as each video automatically follows the next.
I hope for you is that this can be a magical distraction from the every days of real life – just like it is for me – at least for a little while.
I recently started doing a mile a day on a treadmill in my living room. I guess I am still in the honeymoon stage because I look forward to my evening “walk” and have not missed a day since my friend Amy gave me the thing, and my son put it together for me. Something I did not count on is how much fun I have had actually taking time to listen to some of my old favorite songs, almost completely without distraction. It is amazing how easily you can forget about the little things in life when you are busy – even the little things that you really used to enjoy! In case you were wondering, yes I still remember all the words to every Olivia Newton John song in history. I do have some Justin Timberlake and Usher thrown in as well, just so I can tell myself I am still young and cool.
Even when my teenage sons have friends over – I am not ashamed to belt out the songs (from Olivia or any other artist) as I walk. It is now just a price you pay for being a guest in my home. I figure since I make them dinner, and I give them fair warning, they will just deal with it. So far – it’s worked out for us…my children haven’t lost any of their good friends…and I haven’t heard a whole lot of complaining.
Much to my delight – today I found a link on the internet to a whole bunch of Disney podcasts! These podcasts are usually hosted by Disney rats like myself and the content includes everything from the sounds of the parks, audio from the rides, Disney food reviews, Disney wedding tips, and even Disney celebrity interviews. Today I listened to about an hour of the guy who does the voice in the Tower of Terror, just talking about some of the other cool Disney voice-over gigs he has had, and how he got started in the business. Quite possibly the most boring thing ever to some people, but fascinating to me. I just wanted to share the link with you today, in case you need a Disney distraction from work, while sitting in traffic, or- if like me – you are just doing housework and would rather be at Disney World! I am a new listener to the podcast scene so if you have any shows you particularly enjoy – please let me know what they are. I think the podcasts are fun and I can’t wait to listen to more. I hope you feel the same – and have a magical day!!
I have wanted to go to Hawaii for pretty much as long as I can remember. I’m a BIG Elvis fan and the movie Blue Hawaii probably influenced this in some way. A tan, handsome, young Elvis gyrating among the beautiful scenery of a Polynesian background? What’s not to like?!I guess since I love the thought of Hawaii, I love the thought of a luau, even if it’s just right here in my home town of Orlando Florida.
My mother first came up with the idea a few months before. She wanted to get the family all together for something really special and fun. I promise I did not suggest or influence her in any way to pick the Disney luau, she came up with it all on her own. It took about a month to get our entire group to agree on a date but it finally happened. We picked Friday April 27, 2012. This also happened to be my cousin’s birthday. Matt is a quiet guy who doesn’t like a lot of hoopla or attention on his birthday but he agreed this might be ok as long as we didn’t buy gifts or go to crazy.
I sent out the first email and everyone seemed excited about the big day! I made a list of all the names and counted it 4 times. Could we really be a group of 16??? Yes we could – and in fact — we ended up adding one more a couple weeks later for a grand total of 17. Wow! We lost my Dad about a year ago and I just couldn’t stop thinking about how much he would have loved this. I missed him through the whole process (and again on the big night) but I feel like he was watching the whole time. I think he would’ve loved to make it a party of 18.
My Mom decided on category 2 seating. When I called to make the reservation – all that was left was category 1. There was no changing the date now — so we went with it. I read and researched all I could about the luau just so I could make sure it was something everyone would like AND to try and help things to go as smoothly as I possibly could. The main thing that bugged me was why we had to be there an hour early. Disney policy states this for the luau and they even read you that policy again when you book the reservation. There was very little I could find on the internet about why this policy was in place.
My Mom and I headed to the Polynesian a couple of days early to pick up what I thought were going to be “tickets” to the luau, which are normally at the concierge desk. It was that magic time of around 7:30pm however. I knew there would be cast members at the luau podium this time of night so we made a beeline for the podium first with my list of questions in hand.
Sure enough, the crowds were filing in for the 8pm show and there were cast members waiting to greet us. I told them we were early for the Friday night show (this was Wednesday) and I had some questions. They were happy to assist. My first question was about parking. When my Mom and I pulled up that night we got one of the last spaces available. I was fearful with our big group that there might not be enough spaces for all of us! The cast member didn’t really know what to say. Just then I really lucked out and a manager approached us! The cast member repeated the question for him and just like that – that manager was MINE. The poor guy had no idea what he was getting in to. He politely calmed my fears by stating that parking has never been a problem for luau guests– and we could always pay to valet if we really needed to. He was surprised to hear the lot was so full on this particular evening. OK, so I was satisfied with that answer. I smiled sweetly and asked, “Do you have a few more minutes to answer my other questions?”
“Sure!” he replied in all his typical Disney helpfulness. So off we went…
“We have a group of 17. Do we really need to be here an hour early?” His response: “There is no reason for you to get here that early IF you have already picked up your ticket.”
“Ticket?” I asked, “I thought there would be 17 tickets.”
“Nope,” he replied, “ What you actually get is a slip of paper that has your confirmation number on it and says party of 17. That acts as your admission to the luau.”
WOW! One little slip?
I was shocked. This was a wonderful thing because I had no idea how I would see everyone beforehand to give them a ticket and what if they lost it? It’s just one little slip so I didn’t have to give anyone anything. Awesome.
Next I asked him about being tardy. My nephew Jason would be working that night and not able to get to the luau until probably 9pm or later. The manager said that wasn’t a problem and if my nephew was REALLY late we could ask for a refund on his ticket.
Finally, I asked him about seating. All he could promise me was that we’d be in Category 1 because that’s what was paid for. Oh well, I tried.
Friday night finally came and we all met at my Mom’s to carpool.
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We got through all the gates and parking without incident. Everyone was in a great mood when we arrived. I was SO glad I had talked to the manager because even though we weren’t super early, we still ended up standing around outside with no where to sit for 20 minutes or so, even after the formal pictures were taken.
When we finally got in however, things went great. The food was fantastic, the show and costumes were awesome. I couldn’t help but bob my head and wiggle a little in my chair to that music. It was a wonderful night. One of the highlights of the night was that they just happened to pick my nephew, pull him up on stage, and have his shake his booty like a rock-star. He was a great sport!
Here’s a few photos from our big night.
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This is not video that I took but it’s a great 4 minute clip of what the show is like.
All in all, we had a blast. Go see this thing if you get a chance! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
He’s the talk of the Disney blogs! He doesn’t sing or speak, his thoughts just go up in an orange puff of smoke over his head! Is he your ideal husband? No! He’s the Little Orange Bird!
Here is his full story if you are interested:
Now if I can just get the song out of my head! 🙂 It’s just so cheesy and wonderful.
Monday I was at Diseny’s Animal Kingdom and we stopped in to catch the Lion King show. I’ve probably seen it a hundred times. It never fails however…the lights dim, the music starts…and I’m covered in goose bumps. My eyes well up with tears and the next thing I know I’m looking around, embarrassed, and casually trying to wipe my tears away hoping that nobody sees me.
I think there are two reasons for my visceral reaction to this show. The music touches my soul, AND the movie came out right about the same time I had my first child in July of 1994. My baby was a surprise – but he was also the most beautiful and wonderful thing that ever happened to me. I think when I hear the music and see images of the Lion King it just brings all those feelings back.
Tonight, thanks to my family, I get to go see the Lion King Broadway version at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center. I doubt they even know how much it means to me. I will bring my tissues and practice wiping my tears inconspicuously…LOL
Disneyways 