Spring Break 2015: DISNEY WORLD (Day 4 part 2)

Friday, 25 March 2016Tuesday, 29 March 2016 StarrLeave a comment

Last time on Spring Break, I was traipsing around Disney World with my friends, having the time of my life dressed as Ariel, belly full from lunch at Be Our Guest, and ready for a jam-packed evening.

WARNING: This post can only be longer than the last post. If you skipped the last post to come straight here… that’s understandable. This post is both text-heavy and photo-heavy, you have been severely warned. If you think it’s painful to read then consider how much I delayed it because of how painful it was to write. You’re welcome. And also, I am terribly sorry. Looooooong post ahead!

Fresh off the high of finally being able to see the Festival of Fantasy parade, we skipped off to ride through a classic, Pirates of the Caribbean. I love the movies that drew inspiration from this ride and love thinking about how creatively the writers took a simple story ride and gave us the PotC movie franchise. (Sad that “We want the redhead!” doesn’t make it to the movies, though.)

After hearing about how Annie had 7 the last time she went to Disney World, we went to Aloha Isle for the famous Dole Whip! It was pretty hot that day, so the pineapple soft serve really hit the spot. Dole Whip used to only be sold at Disney properties (Disneyland, Disney World, Disney’s Polynesian) and at Dole’s Hawaii pineapple plant, but there are a handful of other spots you can snag this pineapple-y treat. Even if you don’t love pineapple, it’s definitely worth trying because it doesn’t have the super sharp acidity makes folks like me uncomfortable after more than a few small pieces.

There was no line and it’s kind of nostalgic, so we also took a quick tour of the Swiss Family Treehouse, which is based on the old movie Swiss Family Robinson. I never saw this movie but my parents did, so I remember them taking me through it and explaining the rooms and the cool engineering. It’s a swanky treehouse, folks. If I was stranded on an island and had to live in this treehouse, I’d be pretty ecstatic. I worry that one day, this treehouse will be gone or rebranded for a newer Disney franchise (like it was at Disneyland), so I try to enjoy it while I can. Of course, we also checked out Haunted Mansion, which is a fun and spoopy ride and an okay movie-based-on-a-ride. The creepy factor is definitely turned up for this classic Disney ride, so keep that in mind if you are bringing along smaller children.

We really wanted to take it easy in the afternoon, because we had dinner reservations at 11PM. Yeah, we had a long day ahead of us. A lot of people don’t like what I call the story rides, where you sit in a moving vehicle (arms and legs inside at all times!) and experience the story of the movie by passing through. The old Snow White ride was a story ride before it was decommissioned and replaced with the Mine Train. (Replaced as in Mine Train is the park’s Snow White ride now.) We did Under the Sea in the morning (because LITTLE MERMAID DUH) and did The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh before heading to the classic (ultimate classic) It’s a Small World and all its Mary Blair-style splendor. Confession: I used to get quite scared on this ride because there are so many animatronic dolls staring at you…

One of the highlights of the evening wound up being Enchanted Tales with Belle. The wait was one of the shorter ones by this point in the afternoon and there was an opportunity to meet a character so I mean. Maurice’s cottage is adorable and filled with a lot of cute details. There is even a portrait of Belle with her mother, which is a real treat because her mother is not shown or really mentioned in any of the movies. But what made our excursion to Belle’s library afterwards (“Take me to the moment Belle and Beast fell in love!”) was the interactive part of telling that story. Belle came out to greet all of us and chose audience members to help reenact her love story.

Guess what happened when she laid eyes on the Gaston in our group?

Spring Break 2015: DISNEY WORLD (Day 4 part 1)

Tuesday, 22 March 2016Sunday, 20 March 2016 Starr2 Comments

Last time on Spring Break, our crew drove left the island town of Key West and made way for the mainland, stopping to see gators and a friend in Sarasota before arriving in Orlando for the main event of our trip (for me, anyway) – a full day at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.

WARNING: Long post ahead. Looooooong. You have been warned. We were at Disney World from open to close and I had a lot of feelings throughout the whole day. I was, needless to say, really psyched about it. Long post. Looooooooooong. End of warning.

I was the first person to wake up in our room, spring awake with my cell phone alarm because I. WAS. SO. READY. It took a little while to get everyone else to my energy level at 6 AM but come on, gang, Disney World!!! Specifically, Magic Kingdom, aka the most magical part of Disney World.

Of course, I was super stoked to put on my Ariel Disneybound for the day. The only thing better than having a really great Disneybound was that my whole group dressed for the occasion. It was maybe on of the greatest moments of my life? Having people share a common interest with me and who are willing to display it in public with me shouldn’t be so difficult for me, but it is, so it meant a lot to me that my friends would Disneybound with me.

Prince Eric, Ariel, Gaston, and Snow White (aka Ben, me, Tim, and Annie) (also, it was *not* Tim and Annie’s first visit shhhh)

We got on the shuttle nice and early, with a whole bunch of kids and their parents. We weren’t the only folks dressed as characters, but the only other person our age was wearing one of Hot Topic’s options. Otherwise, it was mostly girls aged 3-9 wearing their Disney princess best.

Most of them stared at me shamelessly on the shuttle ride to the park. In fact, throughout the whole day, I was stared at a lot. I didn’t feel too self-conscious about it most of the day, as I was mostly glad that people were noticing how much work I put into the look, but sometimes I got weirded out and quickly scuttled out of view. (The wide-eyed stares of children are easy to get used to. The slack-jawed gawking of teens and parents… not so much.)

But one of the most fun things about Disneybounding is that it’s become a real community. A few guests stopped me to tell me they loved my Ariel Disneybound, and a lot of cast members (aka Disney employees) said the same as well. I also loved letting other people know that I liked their Disneybounds and seeing how glad they were to get the acknowledgement from a fellow Disnerd. Thanks, Leslie, for helping us achieve that moment.

Anyhow! We had a few scheduled activities for the days: lunch, dinner, fireworks shows and parades we wanted to see, and FastPass slots. FastPass is Disney’s system where you can select time slots and get in an express line for popular rides. It’s a great way for you to plan your day around certain must-see rides while really reducing how much time you spend waiting in line for those rides. (TL;DR If you visit a Disney park, definitely reserve your FastPass slots.)

ALSO I enjoyed using the new(ish) Magic Bands! These got rolled out a few years ago and their primary use for guests is that it’s their guest pass, as in it allows them into the park and onto the rides. (Otherwise, you use a card.) But, these do a lot more than serve as a wearable pass, and you can learn more about that at your own leisure, I won’t bore you here about it. BUT BASICALLY Mickey wristbands meant less fumbling with pockets for me and Annie!

Zootopia (2016)

Tuesday, 15 March 2016Monday, 14 March 2016 Starr3 Comments

I’m a big Disney fan, but I never find trailers for new Disney animated films particularly appealing. Maybe it’s because the trailers are more marketed towards kids and I’m still mentally stuck in a place where I’m trying to be highbrow enough to understand crazy “art” films like Knight of Cups. (Probably won’t happen…) I still remember the first trailer I ever saw for Wall-E, one of my favorite Pixar films of all time, and being pretty bored and turned off by it, because it was a one-minute clip of Wall-E collecting trash. And that was the whole trailer.

So, when a Disney animated feature film comes out, I usually don’t get particularly excited until afterwards, when the adults get hyped. In the case of Zootopia, I didn’t know much about it before the movie came out except that it was about a rabbit cop voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin and a fox voiced by Jason Bateman. Basically, everything I knew about Zootopia came from that first teaser about anthropomorphic mammals and that DMV sloth scene.

BUT, when Disneybound founder Leslie came back from an early screening raving about the amazing message behind the movie, I was really curious. All Disney movies have a good message behind them, but people don’t usually come away from watching them thinking, “Man. What a GOOD message.” However, that seemed to be the consensus after watching Zootopia, so I took Ben to see it when we had a free evening last week.

Off to Spring Break!

Friday, 17 April 2015 StarrLeave a comment

Surprise! This is the first year I’m doing a more conventional spring break in that I’m going to a warm location. Yelp is having their annual spring break in Fort Lauderdale this year, and while I was originally not that interested in going, that changed when my friends dangled Disney World in front of me.

WALT. DISNEY. WORLD.

I am leaving tonight and, as a result, will not have posts for BEDA while I am away. (Unless I prepared some in advance…?) BUT you will have some spring break recap posts to look forward to. ~~(They’ll come before those Europe posts that I keep putting off…)~~

Even though it feels like an odd time to take a break like this, I think I need it. Like I said in an earlier post, it’s important to give myself things to work for. Also, something something fitness motivation something swimsuit body? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll exercise more before I have to hit the beach and maybe I won’t or maybe I won’t go the beach at all.

I haven’t been to Disney World since 2009 and my Disney obsession has since bloomed into something that makes me worry I will spend my day there just crying because feelz.

Let me know what is new or what are the must-see attractions at Disney, Fort Lauderdale, and Key West! I definitely want to know what are some must-eat treats while I’m down there!

March DisneyBound Challenge 2015

Tuesday, 31 March 2015Tuesday, 31 March 2015 Starr4 Comments

Another March, another March DisneyBound Challenge!

DisneyBounding is when you create outfits that are inspired by Disney. It contrasts with cosplaying because you’re not wearing an actual costume. It’s the difference between wearing a tail and wearing green leggings to portray Ariel from The Little Mermaid. It’s a really fun way to get creative and also represent your favorite Disney characters/attractions/whatever. It has become especially popular to do in the Disney parks, as adults are not allowed to wear costumes to the parks. (It would confuse the children, who might mistake them for the character actors.)

As per usual, I am not creative/ambitious enough to do 31 days of Disney-inspired outfits. Last year I squeezed out a few and this year I pushed out even fewer. But I am broadening my DisneyBound horizons, as you’ll see, and thinking outside of the box that I typically use for these outfits.

Bored Prince Charming at the ball — Prince Charming (*Cinderella*)

I kicked the month off with a Prince Charming look I wore to an early screening of Disney’s live-action Cinderella. I actually wear that blazer + pant combo often because the blazer color poises a bit of a challenge for me to match with other items. I didn’t realize this combination worked for Prince Charming until I was trying to think of a good Cinderella DisneyBound. I mostly do female characters, so Prince Charming is actually the first man I’ve DisneyBounded as. (I’ve done male characters before, but they weren’t human ones.)

Roquefort from The Aristocats was my first “obscure” DisneyBound. I typically did characters from more “mainstream” Disney films, and the more primary characters from those films, as those are easier and have more recognizable looks. But I have been wanting to do Roquefort for a while and here was my chance. I don’t have his dandy hat, but I think my red beret is a nice nod to this little mouse who lives in Paris.

Can I confess something? I’ve actually never seen Kiki’s Delivery Service before. (Disney is the distribution partner for Studio Ghibli in the US.) But I’ve known that I can do a Kiki look for some time. I nearly did a similar Kiki look for Halloween a few years ago! At this point in the game, I was starting to feel at a loss for what to do with my face and body. You may recognize this pose/expression from last year’s challenge.) This is my first Studio Ghibli DB and I guess I need to go watch these movies if I want to glean more inspiration for future Miyazaki looks!

For my last look of the month (I only did 4? oops) I have my first non-character DB. As a girl named Starr, you best believe I have tons of things with galaxy print and stars and moons. TONS. I don’t usually wear them all together, but to honor Space Mountain, I thought it was appropriate.

I’m currently brainstorming some DisneyBounds for an upcoming trip I am taking and I will be sure to share them with you. I’m also trying to work up the courage to DisneyBound in actual every day life and not just on the weekends or for Halloween. The problem with me doing that is that some of my items become forever associated with a Disney look. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I can no longer wear my yellow skirt without people calling it my Snow White skirt.

Do you have any suggestions for future DisneyBounds for me to do?
What DisneyBounds have you done/would you like to do?