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Thank you Disney Social Media Moms – Live Blogging links from CutestKidEver

Posted on February 13, 2010 12:05 pm by TheAngelForever

As I sit here in my room at the Polynesian Resort, it is hard to believe that the week at Disney World is over. My family and I had a wonderful vacation and we had a magical experience at the Disney Social Media Celebration. I learned a lot at the event and met so many amazing people. My only regreat was I was not able to connect with more of the people that I have been chatting with online over the years. Hopefully I will see all of you at BlogHer in August.

Since this was my first conference, I was not ambitious enough to try live blogging. Luckily my fabulous friend Christina Gleason (@CutestKidEver) did. Here are the posts that she wrote about the events as they were unfolding in front of us:

Thank you again Christina. You did another outstanding job at live blogging for those of us there and others that want to follow along.

Once we get back home and settle in I will be writing more about our experience at this event. There is so much to share about the amazing speakers and family events that were held each evening. A big thank you to all of the Disney Cast Memebers and others that helped to make this magical event happen. I hope that this becomes a yearly tradition and we are invited back again. As big Disney fans, it made this conference even more special since it was for the entire family.

On that note I am off to finish packing up and check my sick little guy. My two year old son is not doing well and I hope he will be well enough for the flight.

Categories:
bloggy friends Disney looking back

Old style Disney Characters with Moi

Posted on February 10, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Categories:
Disney family looking back me moments photos vacation Wordless Wednesday

The great Figment ride bribe of 1983

Posted on February 8, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

While at Disney World in May, NHL was willing to go on pretty much every thrill ride that he was tall enough to go on. At 46" tall in May, he was able to go on Expedition Everest and did not flinch when it was time for Tower of Terror (can not say the same for poor TechyDad). Had he been tall enough I think he would have even gone on The Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster starring Aerosmith. Unfortunately, that ride had a 48" height requirement.

Now, almost nine months later, NHL has grown 2 very crucial inches. He is 48" tall and can go on any ride in all of Walt Disney World! We are all quite excited about this. He claims he still wants to go on Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster, but we shall see. He has never been on a coaster that goes upside down. Of all that I have been on, it is by far the most amazing and so smooth. With any luck, he will take the adventure along with me.

Another must ride is Space Mountain. When we were there in May, it was closed for refurbishment. I think NHL will love this ride. When I was a little younger than NHL, I was not as easily convinced. You can read more about A Figment of my Childhood Imagination to understand the background. The basic story is that my father promised me, then in kindergarten, anything I wanted if I went on Space Mountain with him. I tried to back out several times, even claiming I had to pee when we got into the rockets. When we got off, I told my father what I wanted. Since EPCOT had just opened, I was in love with Figment. Here I am back in 1983:

We eventually went back to EPCOT and I wanted a Figment that was the perfect size to hug. My father tried to get me to take the smaller one. Mom stepped in and reminded Dad that he told me anything I wanted. He was lucky, there was a much larger Figment that would have been more interesting to get back on the airplane. Below is a photo of my brother and me with the stuffed animals that we bought during that Disney World trip. As you will see, I have Figment in my arms.

With any luck, NHL will head onto Space Mountain with me. Thanks to my father, I already know to set limits on anything that I use as a ride bribe!

Categories:
Disney family looking back me moments nhl photos vacation

Disney character meals through the years

Posted on February 7, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Although my taste in dining at Walt Disney World has changed over the years, there is still one constant. No matter how old I get, I love Disney Character Meals. There is just something fun about seeing the characters up close, watching them interact with you and others, and seeing the crazy antics around food. Even on our honeymoon, almost nine years ago, we went to several character meals. Here I am at Cape May Cafe with Goofy

When we planned out our first trip with the boys last May, we knew we wanted to take them to Chef Mickey and The Crystal Palace. We had hoped to go to Chef Mickey for JSL’s actual second birthday, but that did not work out. Instead, we made this our starting meal the evening we arrived. The food was very good, and the atmosphere was fun, but the experience different than we expected. As I have shown before, both of the boys started the trip scared of the costumed Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck. By the time we moved on to The Crystal Palace for JSL’s birthday, NHL had warmed up to the costumes, and JSL would tolerate them from a distance. JSL is now asking to see Pooh Bear, Eeyore, Tigger and Piglet, so perhaps things will be different this visit to Disney.

By the time we made our reservations for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, there was no real availability for dinners with characters. We opted to change things up a bit. We are going to do breakfast with Donald Duck before Animal Kingdom opens up one morning, and go back to visit Goofy and friends at Cape May Cafe. With any luck, both of the boys will enjoy themselves and we can capture some memories of the meals.

Speaking of memories, here are some old school Disney Character Dining photos from 1983. I believe this was at the original Chef Mickey when it was located in what would eventually become Downtown Disney.

Ah, love the memories and hope to make some more amazing ones with our boys as we explore more magical moments at Disney World.

Categories:
Disney fun looking back me moments photos vacation

Fear of costume characters

Posted on February 6, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL & JSL,

I know we are all excited about going to Disney World. The two of you have been really great chatting up about all of the Disney characters that you are going to see. Of course, Daddy and I wonder if we will have a repeat of our trip in May. Flashbacks of JSL choking Daddy at Chef Mickey and NHL hiding far away are still in my memory banks.

By the end of our last visit, at least one of you was happy to see the characters. NHL, you were eager to get autographs and hug them.

This continued over the summer at Six Flags. NHL would go for a photo, while JSL would run to get away from Wags the Dog, Bugs Bunny and all of the other costumed characters there.

Both of you have said that you want to get photos and autographs. I guess we will know how it turns out soon enough. Either way, we will have lots of wonderful memories of our magical trip to Disney World.

Love,

Mommy

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