My Favorite Disney Architectural Find

Welcome to those of your joining me from Disney in Our Blood and those of your just hopping aboard. I am the final stop on our Magical Blogorail.

This month the Magical Blogorail Peach has been discussing our favorite architechural find at Disney. When I saw the topic, my mind went straight to Spaceship Earth, but I felt that was too easy for me. I mean, this was supposed to be a "find"... how hard is it to find a giant geodesic dome in the middle of Florida?  (No offense if any of my friends on the loop chose Spaceship Earth!)  My sister suggested something from the Disney Cruise Line, so we put our heads together and brainstormed. That's when I remembered the bathroom on the Disney Dream.

In the District area of the Disney Dream (and the Disney Fantasy), there are bathrooms that are a true architectural find. They are so cool, in fact, that my parents went in them and immediately came back out telling me I needed to go look in them!  Folks, everything in these bathrooms are round! The stalls are cylinders! The curves made for a gorgeous public restroom that left me only one option: thank God no one was in the restroom, pray no one walked in, and start taking photos in a restroom (something I swore I'd try to never do).  So without further ado, I give you the bathroom.

Selfies outside the restroom - who knew what awesomeness I was missing!

There's a mirror on the ceiling of the stalls. It took me a minute to
figure out how to capture the full stall.

There it is! See! Total cylinder! 

How can you not want to take this photo? 

Outside of the stalls - the doors are curved, the sinks are curved.
Oh, and the tiles on the wall are shimmery! 

I'll be taking more photos in this restroom on the Disney Fantasy when I get to take a cruise on it.  For now I'll leave you with some Spaceship Earth goodness though because it really is my favorite Disney architectural wonder!

Thank you for joining Magical Blogorail Peach this month. We will be back in June with an all new theme. If you are looking for more Disney magic, you can make your way over to The Magical Blogorail website to see all of our members and their blogs.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

1st Stop ~ Can Do It Mom AKA Mouse Fan Diane

2nd Stop ~ 400 Miles to Disneyland

3rd Stop ~ Disney in Our Blood

Final Stop ~ Joanna and her Amazing Technicolor Interwebs

Dressing for Disney World

Welcome to those of you joining me from Disney in Our Blood and those of you just hopping aboard.  I am the 3rd stop on our Magical Blogorail.

A few weeks ago I was packing for a trip to Walt Disney World, and I mentioned my packing spreadsheet.  A friend laughed and asked about it.  I patiently explained that packing for Disney isn't like packing for any other trip. If anything, it's like packing for a marathon! You have to be ready for anything. Most importantly, though, you have to be comfortable BUT photo-ready in the parks.

So, yes, I have a spreadsheet to help make sure I get all of my electronics chargers, possibly needed medications, and clothing options to Orlando with me, BUT it's very specific.  For instance, I always pack some shirts I've made just for the trip:

All time favorite shirt I've made

This was the family shirt for the trip that year. 

3 years later, and I still wear this sweatshirt. Photoshop image created
by me, and I hand-blinged it. Total labor of love. :)

The customized t-shirts definitely make the trip more special, and they look really neat in photos.  Which brings me around to being photogenic.  I will NOT leave my resort room in the morning without full hair and makeup done. I do more makeup at WDW than I do most mornings for work.  I know that the second I walk out the door I'm likely to start taking photos of my family, dragging someone to do a PhotoPass picture with me, or taking selfies in front of the Castle.  Either way, I want how I look to match how I feel which is AMAZING!  Oh, and I always have a pair of fabulous sunglasses.  Can't stay in the Florida sunshine without those!  I'm not saying you have to wear makeup, but the photo-ops are numerous when you're in the parks.  I'll leave it at that.

The ironic thing is while I sound like I'm coming of as a pretty, pretty princess here, but my last "what I wear" item is Crocs. I'm recently 30, and I know the biggest fashion crime in my peers' eyes is Crocs (especially with socks), but I can't help it!  They're so darn comfortable, and when I'm strolling 10 miles or more a day around the parks, I need my feet to feel good.  So yes, I do wear Crocs with socks.  Before I show a scandalous pic from WDW, I will say that I don't wear my full on Crocs out in public ever (or at least much) while at home.  I wear the slip ons that people don't realize are Crocs, the ones that are ballet flats, on a regular basis.  I've worn these at the parks recently and like them for touring.  I've started wearing my cute sneakers around the parks as well.  The key is no matter what you wear on your feet, you should over-pack shoes on your Disney trip. You need a pair that you know is comfortable, and then (depending on the length of your trip) you also need one or two backups for when your dependable shoes start making a blister or rubbing funny.  Rotating shoes over the course of the days can be the difference in wanting to hop over to Epcot or wanting to call it a night at 7 pm.

That's right! I admit it! I've worn socks with Crocs! Interested in
dating me? There's the ugly truth! ;-) Good news is
I'm so pale that the white socks blend right in...

So what's in your suitcase when you go to Walt Disney World?

Thank you for joining me today.  Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail Peach Loop is Can Do It Mom AKA Mouse Fan Diane.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail Peach should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

1st Stop: 400 Miles to Disneyland

2nd Stop: Disney in Our Blood

3rd Stop: Joanna & Her Amazing Technicolor Interwebs

4th Stop: Can Do It Mom AKA Mouse Fan Diane

The Character I Love to Find in the Parks

 
 Welcome to those of you joining me from Disney in Our Blood and those of your just hopping aboard. I am the 2nd stop on our Magical Blogorail.

This month I was asked which character I seek out in the parks, and I immediately thought, "oh no! I'm going to have to find someone to write for me because I don't seek out characters!" Then I realized that was kind of a lie... I prefer to happen upon characters, but sometimes being with whoever I'm with causes me to go look for characters, or I'm in a face my fear kind of mood that day.

What? Face your fears?!  Yes, non-face characters (ones that don't talk and have a headpiece) scare me a little.  I just turned 30, and I still have a tendency to wave at characters, take guest-less photos of them, and head the opposite directions.  Over the years, though, I have learned to fight this fear, so let me share some of my favorite characters to find.

 January 2009 I discovered my fear when we went to Chef Mickey's the first night of the trip, and I realized my heart was pounding out of my chest every time the characters came near. In fact, I kept praying they wouldn't come too close!  When I was a little girl, though, we went to Walt Disney World, and the one character I REALLY wanted to meet was Minnie Mouse, and despite having a meal with the characters and Mickey Mouse playing with my curly hair through the meal, Minnie never came to our table.  As an adult, I was determined to get a photo with her:

January & May 2009 Trips

On that trip I also met Stitch (horrible photo not shown - better one there is my redo May 2009) and Tinker Bell who quickly became my favorite character to meet because you never know what she'll say!  Meeting her with other fairies present is one of the best experiences because they banter with each other and guests the entire time!  They're awesome!

 Between our 2009 and 2010 trips, I read a blog post about getting good photos with the characters and how if you ask them to pose with you, as long as it's in their character's nature to do that pose, they will.  I went on our family trip in 2010 determined to face my fear and get a really good pic of me and Stitch surfing together.  I also have one somewhere of the Red Queen and myself, but I can't find it right now.  Having a plan to meet the characters made me shake much less!

November 2010

When I visited Disney World with my friend, Kyle, I couldn't resist grabbing a photo with Minnie Mouse again, but I don't have a good pose to do with her, and Kyle sort of shared my fear of characters with giant heads...

June 2011

On my cruise this last November I had no intentions of meeting the characters, but Tink had a tiny line after dinner one night, and I so love meeting her, so my mom joined me in grabbing a quick photo. 

Disney Dream - November 2012

I think the secret to the best experiences with characters is to interact with them.  Talk to them if they talk, pretend you're a princess or a fairy too, go with the flow.  If your child is like me and scared of meeting characters, talk to them before your trip about ideas for poses with the characters.  "You love Belle - how about pretending to read a book with her?"  Having an idea to focus on helps take the focus off of the fear.

Thank you for joining me today.  Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail Peach Loop is Can Do It Mom AKA Mouse Fan Diane.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

1st Stop ~ Disney In Our Blood

2nd Stop ~ Joanna & Her Amazing Technicolor Interwebs

3rd Stop ~ Can Do It Mom AKA Mouse Fan Diane

Final Stop ~ 400 Miles to Disneyland

Thanksgiving at Disney: A Trip Report - Day 2 - Dining in the Royal Palace

Sorry for the brief hiatus I took from my trip report! I took a week or two off while I celebrated turning 30! In fact, my sister and I will be at Walt Disney World next week to celebrate together! If you're not already following me on Twitter, I encourage you to click on the link to the right to do so. I'll be posting photos and updates throughout the trip.

Now let's get back aboard the Disney Dream, shall we?  When last we "spoke" my parents and I had gone to explore the Pink Lounge and were headed towards the Royal Palace for dinner.  Along the hallway, we saw some of my favorite art on board. It's simple sketches of various characters. I love this style!

Jasmine and Abu

My awesome mother asked me to take her photo next to her likeness. ^_^

If you arrive early to dinner, you wait in the hallway outside until the doors open.  There were two entrances to the Royal Palace.

Dining Hall being reset

Mom & Dad waiting in one of the giant "portholes" 

Waiting on our beds were Pirate Night bandanas (is that what pirates
call them??). Dad wore his for a bit. The kids had adorable costumes
you'll see in a bit. I decided my giant brown & gold belt on my black
dress was sufficiently pirate wench enough, so I refrained from
the headgear. ;-)

I adore good use of appropriate fonts. 

Dinner this evening was good but not my favorite, but I loved the chandeliers (like always).

Without further ado, I'll get to the food photos and descriptions.

My mother's appetizer was a soufflé. It looked different than I expected.

Because I'm a carbaholic, the bread basket appealed to me, but I
also loved the design of it! Just a little more magic for the table!
Dad bought a couple of light up cups which they filled with
ice and left on to illuminate our table. I'm sure Katelyn and
Josh will love using them when they visit GA this summer!

Most of us got the Lobster and Shrimp appetizer. It was one of
my favorites of the entire trip. Every simple but delicious.  I loved
how they put the cocktail sauce on my plate as a Mickey head.
Yes, I eat cocktail sauce on lobster... and shrimp...
and really any fish when I can get it...

I'm a big fan of the idea that you're on a cruise, so try whatever you
want which can mean appetizer and soup. This was Belle's
French Onion soup. I'm not a huge french onion fan, but
what grossed me out here was that the crouton or bread
or whatever was on top of the soup was totally soggy and
like a wet rag on top of the soup. Ew.

Mom had a different soup... ok ok ok I'll write down the menus next
trip! I promise! I totally stink at food reporting this trip! LOL!

This night my dad traded steaks with me. I prefer mine pretty rare, but
this came out medium-well despite what I ordered.  Because I
didn't want to speak up, he kindly traded. It was good but nothing
like the steak from the Enchanted Garden the night before.

Out server, Niks, was always good about making suggestions and helping us decide what to order. The night before he told us the lamb here was his favorite. My brother-in-law ordered it and mentioned that he wasn't a big fan of lamb, but he was willing to try it if Niks said it was so good.  Niks steered him away from it saying he'd be happier with another choice.  I appreciated that honesty.

During dessert time, Randy took the kids out to start meeting some of the characters that were out in the atrium. While there are lines to see nightly and daily characters, they're nothing like at Walt Disney World, AND the characters were in their pirate finery!  I don't have photos of dessert because Randy took the camera. In my mind though, the character photos were 20x better than the dessert this night. I couldn't decide, so I took the Disney Food Blog's advice and ordered two. This seemed to confuse Niks a bit... but he brought both.  Haha!  No idea why he was so confused.

Here are the kids in their pirate finery (something happened with
Josh not wanting to wear his...) with Captain Mickey. 

LaRae, Mom, and I waiting below for Randy and the kiddos 

They spotted Pirate Stitch and took a pic for me since I love Stitch!

I always try to quickly grab pics of characters when they're between
"visitors". I prefer pics of them alone when I can get a good one
over me with them... especially when they're
characters that don't speak.

My exception to the above rule is Tinker Bell. She is
always fun to visit because she says the
darnedest things! Adore her!

After dinner and characters, there was a Pirate Night party on the pool deck and then fireworks at sea.  Mom and Dad took the kids, so LaRae, Randy, and I could have some adult time. I tried to hang back a bit and be their photographer.

Sometimes while walking through the Dream, I felt like I was
walking through a Disney Art Gallery. All of the artwork was
absolutely amazing! 

The Dream had its very own Gingerbread House. When we were disembarking
they were putting out TONS of poinsettias. You can tell by how tilted this
photo is that I or the boat one were listing a bit. Both of
us were guilty of this. Hehe.

The red sundress was fun but not practical. I was so cold that I refused
to take off the sweatshirt even for photos. I regret that a tiny bit. 

The elevators had such old-fashioned glamour!

Walking up to the decks to see the fireworks. I thought they were
sweet all dressed up and walking hand in hand down the corridor.

Waiting for the fireworks

The moon was large and beautiful slightly behind some clouds.

Next trip I shall bring a tripod, so I can do longer exposure on fireworks.

After the fireworks, we were all exhausted, so we went back to the room for bed.  Have I shown you this great little guy that we found on my bed?  I love when they snag thing like sunglasses to use on the towel animals.  All the towel animals were unbelievable!

I so wanted to bring him home with me!

Thursday come back to join my family and I on Disney's private island: Castaway Cay!

Thanksgiving at Disney - A Trip Report - Day 2 - Cruising Through Nassau

Sadly, I need to start this post with an apology: most of the events of this afternoon on the ship were in areas where I couldn't take photos either because I was in water or a movie.  The end of this post will have plenty of photos though, so hold on!  :)

After such a relaxing morning in the spa on the ship, my sister, mother, and I met up with the rest of the family to finally take a trip down the AquaDuck!  My mother is not a fan of swimming or roller coasters, but much to our surprise, she was excited to take a ride.  The first ride my sister, brother-in-law, and I took the kids while Mom watched out stuff.  The water was CHILLY, and when we were in the open air areas of the slide, I was definitely cold, but that's the price you pay for an awesome water-coaster!  The best part is that you circle the pool deck and have time to wave to your family on deck.  I wish I'd had the camera with me to take photos!

The one negative to this water slide is that people seemed to keep falling off their rafts (usually children riding alone).  When this happened, the water had to be turned off, and a CM had to walk through the slide to take the fallen rider by the hand and lead them out of the slide.  This happened numerous times when we were near the ride, and it stalled the queue for about 10-15 minutes while we were waiting.  Otherwise the queue moves fairly quickly.

After we rode, I was too cold to ride again, so Mom & LaRae took the kids once more.  Randy and I stayed behind and had some ice cream.  Near the pool there's yummy self-serve soft-serve ice cream!  I wish I'd taken advantage of this perk more.  I think every time Randy went somewhere to get something, he grabbed a banana ice cream cone though!

Cabanas is a buffet that's on the same deck as the pools and is very informal.  It's open for all meals, and it is tasty!  We opted to stay in our swimsuits and eat lunch there, and I didn't regret it.  The best part about buffets on the cruise was the variety of foods.  Yes, you can get cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, and fries, but you can also try a plethora of new, gourmet foods.  My plates for buffets were always filled with a little of this and a little of that.  I highly recommend trying out this place when you cruise.

One of the things I love about Disney vacations is that you always get the chance, either in the resorts or on the cruise ships, to watch Disney movies.  Wreck-It Ralph had just been released in theaters when we set sail, so we got to see it in the Walt Disney Theater on board.  It was a small audience for the 3D film, but there was something super neat about watching a newly-released movie on board a cruise ship!  This movie as well as a few others like Lincoln showed multiple times a day throughout the cruise.

LaRae and I had been to Nassau on separate cruises in high school, and there was so much to do on board the ship that we didn't really want to get off to look around in port.  Mom and Dad, however, wanted to see what the Bahamas had to offer.  They went to the Straw Market while we watched the movie, but they said they weren't really impressed.  Mom got a Nassau hoodie for $25 though, so that was a fun souvenir for her.  I remember loving the Straw Market as a teenager.  Maybe it's cooler when you're younger?

Our parents met us all at the evening show, Villains Tonight.  I can't remember if both kids joined us.  I think Katelyn stayed in the kids' club since she's not a big villains fan... or maybe she joined us after all.  Perhaps my sister or brother-in-law can clear up that detail in the comments.  I enjoyed the show, but it wasn't The Golden Mickeys from the night before.  They added quite a few non-movie songs into the show, so we weren't able to sing along like the night before.  However, the show featured Yzma & Kronk in parts of it, and The Emperor's New Groove is one of my favorite Disney movies, so that made up for the new songs a bit.

After the show, we had a little while until dinner.  I wanted to explore the Dream some, so Mom and Dad joined me.  We looked around in the adult areas of the ship and visited the Pink lounge.  The art gallery on board was a great space to spend some time in since it's similar to my favorite in Park stores: the Art of Disney.

Some of these photos are blurry, but I liked them, so please forgive my amateur photography skills.

We took some photos near the main chandelier in the entry area.

Isn't it a gorgeous piece of art? This is my father & I.

Photos for everyone! I get to see my mom for my 30th birthday
which is tomorrow!  She'll be here tonight! Can't wait!

Hidden Mickey on the chandelier 

Messing around on the way to Pink

Our visit to Pink was fun!  My parents don't drink, so I did not get champagne while I was there, but I got some another night.  The lounge is set up to feel like you're inside a champagne bottle, so there are bubbles everywhere and dim champagne tinted lights.  I took quite a few photos with flash because I needed a tripod to get good flash-less photos.  However, don't get upset with me: there were no other patrons there with us, so I didn't disturb anyone.  :)  The bartender was a polite young woman from Europe, and my parents carried on a nice conversation with her while I was taking photos. They asked her lots of questions about working on the ship and where she lived.  She was happy to chat with them.

This is Disney's signature Tattinger Prestige Rose Champagne. It was
sweet but not too sweet (when I got a glass later).

Yay for pink bubble!

I read that this is supposed to give the impression of cascading
champagne.  I dig it. ;-) 

More of the lounge

I'm telling you, no matter where you were on the ship, the light
fixtures were all gorgeous! Love the details of the Dream!

A menu

My parents in one area of the lounge - I like how this area
is spherical in shape.

I could really go for a bottle of this right now!

After we left the lounge, my parents wanted to stop in the nearby restrooms.  I amused myself by attempting to take selfies with the DSLR.  Obviously it proved to be a bit more of a challenge than the oh so flattering iPhone selfies I usually take. ;-)

Blurry but look - I flat ironed my hair, and it needed documentation! :)

They both came out at different times, but they both said the exact same thing when they approached me, "Joanna! You've got to go in the bathrooms! You're going to love them!"  Side note: when I was a kid and we visited new places, I drove my mom crazy by always needing to go to the bathroom.  It wasn't that I had to potty, it was that I wanted to see the bathroom.  No idea why... but this proved to be the coolest one yet!  Thank goodness I was in there alone because for the first time EVER, I couldn't help but photograph the bathroom!

That's right, y'all! Everything in this bathroom was round!  It was
a thing of beauty! I think all bathrooms should be built like this!

I didn't need to "go", but I couldn't help but go in the stall and shut the door
which completed the cylindrical stall perfectly.  Then I looked
up and, y'all, the ceiling was a mirror!  I have about 6 shots like this
that I refuse to delete.  It was freaking cool!  

Another side note: this was the ONLY public bathroom I went in on the ship.  I didn't have anything against them, I just never needed one.  My brother-in-law later mentioned the signs in the bathrooms about not touching the door handle with bare hands due to the cruise ship virus thing that has been passing through ships like wildfire in some cases.  After hearing that, I was thankful I didn't need the restrooms... haha!

On the way to dinner in the Royal Palace, we went out on a random deck and found it deserted.  If it were warm, this would be a perfect place to relax.  As it was, it was very cold and windy because we had left Nassau and were really cruising along at this point!

We'll stop here, but come back on Monday to get a photo tour of our meal at the Royal Palace.  It was Pirate Night too, so you'll get to see fireworks at sea!