30 Day Disney Challenge: Days 28 - 30

It's time to wrap up this 30 Day Disney Challenge, put together by Your Highway in the Sky! It's been a fun journey and you can catch up with day 1 here, days 2 - 4 here, days 5 - 8 here, days 9 - 13 here, days 14 - 19 here, and days 20 - 27 here!

Day 28: A picture of your favorite place to hide from the crowds


This would be the same place I talked about in day 21. The little rose garden or whatnot just down the path a little from a Photopass area. There is usually no one there and it's a great place to let Ashlyn nap rest.

Day 29: A picture of something you dream about happening to you at a Disney park

image from A Magical Day

I'm already very happily married so I guess saying "being proposed to" doesn't work anymore, huh? ;) I do dream of being stopped by a Cast Member and told "you've been chosen to spend the night in Cinderella's Castle Suite!" *faint* (Oh, or the Disneyland Dream Suite... that'd be awesome, too.) Honestly, the more I think about it, if I could choose either I'd probably choose the Disneyland Dream Suite. Soooo much history there, with it having been meant for Walt's apartment before becoming the Disney Gallery before becoming the Dream Suite. Hubby and darling daughter would definitely prefer the castle, though. ;) Oh, another thing I dream about is being stopped at Disneyland with a Cast Member saying "you've been chosen to eat at Club 33 tonight!" Oooohhhhh my goodness, that would be a dream come true! They don't do that, as far as I know, though, so.... on my bucket list it stays. :)

Day 30: A picture that always makes you think of Disney


There are a ton of pictures that always remind me of Disney, but I wanted to pick one that didn't necessarily have the castle or a character or something in it. This picture was taken during the Dream Along with Mickey stage show. The moment Mickey came on stage, Ashlyn's face just lit up! The show was unfortunately stopped after just a few minutes because it started to drizzle (it did stop drizzling right away, but it was enough for them to stop the show just in case) but she loved every single second! We did get to see the show later on, though. :) But I just love how my husband captured this moment and it always reminds me of the magic of Disney.

I had a blast doing this Disney Photo Challenge. If you decide to do it, too, please let me know and leave a link! I'd love to see what you have to say!

30 Day Disney Challenge: Days 20 - 27

Oops! I wanted to do the latest Disney Challenge post on Tuesday but it completely slipped my mind. There is so much else on my mind with the move coming up and getting things ready for that that and whatnot. But I have a post planned for my Disney collections, a movie night, and I now have a chance to catch up on the Disney Challenge (brought to you by Your Highway in the Sky!). You can see day 1 here, days 2 - 4 here, days 5 - 8 here, days 9 - 13 here, and days 14 - 19 here.

Day 20: A picture of the best way to beat the heat at Disney

image from Disney O Rama

There are a lot of great ways to beat the heat at Disney, but probably my favorite (and actually something I haven't done in years... for some reason we have yet to take advantage of baby swap) is Splash Mountain! I have already told Aaron that I really want to ride this on our next trip, so I can't wait!

Day 21: The best place to take a picture at Disney


I honestly don't know what to call this place, but I guess it's a little rose garden by the castle at Walt Disney World. There is a PhotoPass area and a little farther down is a covered seating area where we go to rest around Ashlyn's nap time. It's quiet and beautiful!

Day 22: A picture from your favorite Disney movie

image from FilmoFilia

I have a lot of favorite Disney movies and each for lots of different reasons. My absolute favorite changes depending on the day or my mood. Right now, though, I am absolutely in love with Tangled, as many people are. The characters are fun and loveable and Pascal is one of my favorite (if not my #1) sidekick. The Little Mermaid and Winnie the Pooh are also near the top of my list.

Day 23: A picture of the character you dislike most

image from Disney Villains

I think my daughter dislikes Maleficient most considering she is the only character Ashlyn is actually scared of (though Sleeping Beauty is one of her absolute favorite movies). Aaron had a hard time picking someone he disliked, as did I. I think he eventually settled for the prince in Snow White. He says it annoys him that he doesn't have a name besides Snow Prince. :P After I thought about it for awhile, I have to say maybe I don't necessarily dislike any Disney characters (so far... there are still lots of Disney movies I need to see! Hmmm... maybe I need to make a list of all those along with my Disney Bucket List in my tabs up at the top of this blog...). But one of my least favorite has to be the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (don't think we don't like the movie, considering both Aaron's and my least favorites are in it... I LOVE this movie!). Again, I don't dislike her but I can't think of anyone else. She's a good villain but I "love to hate" other villains a lot more. I do absolutely LOVE the queen peaking out of the window above the Snow White's Scary Adventure ride in Disneyland, though. TOO COOL and something not everyone slows down to see. I wish they had that at Walt Disney World, but they're changing everything in Fantasyland anyway. Oops, I'm rambling again, aren't I? Sorry. :) Scar is probably my favorite villain, but that has nothing to do with this challenge. Just a little tidbit about me. ;)

Day 24: A picture of your favorite Disney-related possession or souvenir


I have a lot of wonderful Disney possessions/souvenirs but my favorite one is probably something that actually belongs to my daughter. I'm not sure if you can tell by reading my blog, but I tend to be pretty sentimental. And I have a lot of feelings and memories that Disney is the background for. My hubby, daughter, and I flew to California to see my dad just this past April. My dad gave my daughter a Tinkerbell necklace that belonged to my mom. I am looking forward to one day, when she's old enough to understand, explaining to her what makes the necklace so very special.

Day 25: A picture of your favorite childhood Disney memory

image from last.fm

I don't have a lot of pictures from my early visits to Disneyland. :( I'm hoping to get some from my dad one day. But I remember once a month my parents would take me out of school (for the few years we lived in Southern California) so we could go to Disneyland for the day with minimal crowds. I know, you'll get conflicting feelings on doing that, but I turned out just fine and had all A's and B's. And I will always remember the wonderful memories of sitting in the back seat, belting out songs from the oldies station or Radio Disney with my mom (my dad's not really into singing), and anticipating a magical day. ♥

Day 26: A picture of the way you keep Disney alive when you're not at the park


One of the main ways we keep Disney alive at home is through our movie nights. After we're settled in our new home I hope to get back to having them twice a month. We decorate, have a themed meal, usually have a craft or two, and watch the movie. We all end up having so much fun!

Day 27: A picture of the person you most love sharing Disney with


I love sharing Disney with Aaron and my dad, but I just have to say I most enjoy sharing Disney with Ashlyn. I will always remember how her face lights up when she sees Mickey and Aurora and all her favorite characters. She is in absolute love with the castle and all things princess. I will always cherish the memories of watching her at Disney. ♥

30 Day Disney Challenge: Day 14 - 19

30 Day Disney Challenge time! This challenge comes from Your Highway in the Sky! You can see my first day here, days 2 - 4 here, days 5 - 8 here, and days 9 - 13 here.

Day 14: A picture of your favorite night time activity (existing or past) on Disney property


I would have to say so far it is Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. The show, parade, fireworks, and just all the special extras were so cool! I really hope we get to do it again this year or the next!!

Day 15: A picture of what you do when it rains in the park


SHOP! Well, if it was just me, I would usually either shop or get a poncho and keep going! That's what my parents did, too, at least when I was older. But last time I was at Disney when it rained Ashlyn was a year and a half old, I believe. It was later in the afternoon so we just went back to the hotel to relax. Now that she's a little older I think we'd run to a shop and browse until the rain subsided. It would all just depend on everyone's mood, I suppose. :)

Day 16: A picture of your favorite place to shop


This is really difficult. Can I say Downtown Disney? I love the World of Disney store because you can find pretty much everything! But I also love the "specialty" shops like Days of Christmas, Pin Traders, Mickey's Pantry, etc. So much fun! There are a lot of awesome shops in the parks that I have yet to look through, though, so this may change to an actual particular shop. ;)

Day 17: A picture of your favorite Disney character

image from Such Moving Pictures

This is a hard one, too! It changes all the time, just depending on my mood. Right now it would be Pascal from Tangled. He is so cute and fun and always makes me laugh. Usually, however, it is Eeyore. I tend to root for the underdog and he's just so lovably down in the dumps. I just want to give him a big hug! I'm a big fan of Stitch, too. But I could go on and on. :)

Day 18: A picture of your favorite guilty Disney pleasure


I'd say acting like a kid and getting excited about the characters! I love to give my favorite characters a big ol' hug! Sometimes I feel silly, but I know I shouldn't.

Day 19: A picture of something in the park that deserves more attention

I asked my husband this and he said "you while you're there." Now before you go awwwwww I'm pretty sure he said it to get back into my good graces after a joke from earlier. ;) I don't mean to cop out on this one, too, but I seriously don't know. A lot of things are getting updated and changed (whether good or not, depending on your views) and I'm excited about all of them. I know no one and no place is absolutely perfect and maybe I just focus on the good, magical things, but nothing really has jumped out at me at the parks yet that I feel has just been sitting on the back burner for a while being ignored. This may change as I get the chance to go to the parks more often, but as of right now, there's my answer!

30 Day Disney Challenge: Day 9 - 13

Time to catch up on the 30 Day Disney Challenge! Today we'll check out days 9-13. You can read day 1 here, days 2-4 here, and days 5-8 here.
Day 9: A picture of your favorite Disney restaurant


There are many, many restaurants we have yet to go to at Walt Disney World. I am looking forward to trying them all! So far my favorite (and I think my husband and daughter would agree) is Cinderella's Royal Table. We've liked the food and the atmosphere and character interaction is wonderful! I LOVE eating inside the castle, the fan fair when each princess comes out, and the Wishing Star ceremony always makes me cry. :) We haven't gone since Ashlyn started really enjoying the characters so I am really looking forward to going back soon!

Day 10: A picture of your favorite ride or attraction


I know a lot of people say this, but Pirates of the Caribbean has to be my favorite ride. The whole family enjoys it, it's a wonderful, classic ride and I have wonderful memories of this ride. Technically I have more memories of the one in Disneyland (I can still hear the banjo music and see the fireflies), but that's neither here nor there. I just love the ride!

Day 11: A picture of the thing you wish you could change about the parks

image from here

I honestly am stumped with this one. I had to ask my husband to try and get an idea. His first response was "I would change how much my wife bugs me about going to them." :/ Lots of help, honey. ;) He had to think hard about this, too, but neither of us came up with anything. I know nothing is perfect so I'm sure there is something I would change, but I just can't come up with it right now. Maybe as we take more frequent trips I'll come up with something. Maye for now I'll say I'd change the construction in Fantasyland because I want it to hurry up! lol I can't wait to check out all the new additions!

Day 12: A picture of your favorite Disney food item

image from the disney food blog

Now, this is another one that everyone says is their favorite. Dole Whips. There are a lot of foods at Disney that I've heard rave reviews about and that I can't wait to try one day, but Dole Whips will always be at least near the top of my list. Why? Well, yes, they are yummy and a wonderful treat on a hot day, but they were also my mom's absolute favorite Disney snack. I like to try and get one each time we go in her memory.

Day 13: A picture of your favorite "home" resort


We've only ever stayed at Pop Century and Port Orleans French Quarter. We love both resorts but if given the chance we'll choose POFQ every time. It's just so beautiful and peaceful. ♥

30 Day Disney Challenge: Day 5 - 8

It's time to catch up on days 5 - 8 of the 30 Day Disney Challenge presented by Your Highway in the Sky! You can find day 1 here and days 2 - 4 here.

Day 5: A picture of your least favorite ride or attraction.

image from InsideFlorida.com

I haven't been on every ride at Walt Disney World yet so I can only go by what I have ridden there or at Disneyland. Now, I think the tea cups are cute and I love the area but I cannot STAND spinning! No offense to the Mad Tea Party, I just get dizzy/sick very, very easily by spinning so I will not go on any spinning rides at any park.

Day 6: A picture of something you've never ridden/seen in the parks.

image from flickr

This is actually a really long list that I plan to make shorter and shorter with each trip. But instead of picking a ride or attraction, I'll actually pick a whole park. I have never been to Disney's Hollywood Studios! I am hoping to go this August or sometime shortly after. I am excited to check it out!

Day 7: A picture of your favorite in-park character.


So far (since I haven't met all the in-park characters... yet) my favorite in-park character has been Prince Naveen. He was so much fun! I had printed up autograph cards for my daughter (more on that in a different post... man, this challenge has gotten me making a long list of posts I want to write!) and they had a scene from the movie the character is in as the background. He was saying things like "Oh, this is when I first met you when you were wishing on the star and I saw those beautiful eyes" and stuff like that. He just really kept in character and was super fun! It was during our first Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and it just made it extra magical. :)

Day 8: A picture of the ride you miss the most.

image from The Orange County Register

Let's see... can I cheat a little? I have to say I miss Indiana Jones Adventure the most. I know, it's still around, but it's in Disneyland and I haven't been there since the early 2000's. 2002, maybe? I love this ride! I hope maybe one day I'll get back over there to show my husband and daughter my original home park. :)

30 Day Disney Challenge: Day 2 - 4

It's time to catch up on days 2 - 4 of the 30 Day Disney Challenge presented by Your Highway in the Sky! You can find day 1 here. I know I was going to post on Sundays, but that would be one really long post, so I'll post a couple of times a week. :)

Day 2: A picture of the character you're most like.

I really wasn't sure about this one. I thought maybe Belle because I love books. Or maybe Aurora or Pocahontas because I love animals and am very passionate about living harmoniously with nature. Since I wasn't sure I took a test! :) I took two, actually, because I found a Disney princess one and a general Disney character one.

Which Disney Princess Are You? from Disney.com told me I was most like Cinderella. "You share many admirable qualities with the beautiful Cinderella. Clever, loyal, and hard-working are just a few! Kindness is your number one priority even when others aren't so nice ... Plus you both possess an incredible love for animals." That's just a snippet of what it says. It was a fun little quiz. :)

Which Disney Character Are You? from YouThink.com told me I was most like Quasimodo. "You are kind and soft-hearted and do not focus on the fickle things in life. Your personality shines."

Day 3: A picture of your favorite Disney memory.

Wait. What? Like, just one? That's hard! There was our first (and only... so far... totally going back) Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. There was when my Dad met Ashlyn for the first time. There was seeing my Dad's face when he first saw Cinderella's Castle (he's a Disneyland boy). There was the time we got interviewed in front of the castle about the Let the Memories Begin promotion (before it started) and it was on the news that night. All of those, and more, are such wonderful memories and I will write separate posts for all of those. But I think for this I will go ahead with a wonderful Disney memory from our most current trip in January 2011.

The first four trips we have taken as a family, Ashlyn was either too young to care about the characters (aka her first trip at 2 months old) or she liked looking at them but was scared to get close. Our trip in January was a different story. From the very beginning of the day, when we were the second family in line to see the Fairies (we had never made the time to do it before), she LOVED them all and gave hugs and kisses. It was such an incredible feeling seeing her excited to meet all her favorite characters. Especially when it came to Mickey and Aurora. I cried a lot (happy tears) that trip. :) Her favorite was Aurora and they had like a 5 minute conversation. It was so sweet and after Ashlyn gave her a kiss on the cheek, Aurora gave her one back and even left a lipstick mark! Ashlyn was so happy! ♥

Day 4: A picture of the way you know you're at a Disney park.

image from wdwinfo.com

There are lots of things that make me feel like I'm really "home." Most people will post the Walt Disney World sign and Cinderella's Castle and I will agree with them! But another way that I know I'm really there is the transportation! Especially the first park day. Seeing our bus drive up to take us to whatever park we are going to that day just makes me bounce with excitement! Since we will soon be living closer and may be making day trips we won't be using Disney transportation all the time, though. I will always have the other ways I know I'm at Disney, though. :)

30 Day Disney Challenge: Day 1

I'm sure a lot of you who are on Facebook have seen random 30 Day Challenges going around. I found out about a Disney one by Your Highway in the Sky and really wanted to do it! Actually I've found two, but one thing at a time. ;) I decided to go ahead and do it on this blog instead of on Facebook, though. I'm going to post the week's worth each Sunday. I'm very excited!

Since today's Sunday, let's go ahead and start. :)

Day 1: A picture of you at Disney with 10 reasons you’re a Disney lover


10 Reasons I am a Disney Lover (in no particular order):
1. You get the chance to experience all kinds of magic with my family.
2. You can see the love and attention to detail put into everything.
3. It's easy to leave all your worries at the gate and enter your dreams.
4. You can see that if you work hard and put your all into your dreams, like Walt, they can come true!
5. Wherever you may live, there is a sense of family among other true Disney lovers.
6. If I'm having a rough day, all I have to do is listen to Disney music and/or look at pictures from a past trip and I'm transported back and can relive those happy memories.
7. No matter how many times you go to the parks, there is always something new to do or discover. Hidden mickeys, inside jokes, etc.
8. You can skip down Main Street wearing Mickey ears on your way to hug a giant mouse and no one thinks it's weird. ;) In other words, you can totally act like a kid!
9. The fact that my dad grew up with Disneyland (he went the third day it was open, I believe. He was 3.), I grew up with Disneyland (my first time was at 6 months old), and my daughter is growing up with Walt Disney World (her first trip was at 2 months old and she's been there 4 or 5 times... she's 2 1/2 and we live in a different country haha). It's like a family tradition. :)
10. My husband, daughter, and myself love the movies so much we randomly quote one movie or another at least once a day! It's like a game and we always end up smiling or laughing.

If you're doing or start the 30 Day Disney Challenge, please leave me a link to your list!