Tag Archives: Disneyphiles

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Carrying On

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Hello Dear Readers,

I hope this post finds you healthy and at peace.

In just 5 days I will call Disney and schedule our next trip to Walt Disney World. We hope to go on October 20 of next year. Because we are Disney Vacation Club members, we can call and book our home resort, Old Key West, 11 months in advance. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, we will have 8 nights and 9 days at Disney: Mike, Emi, James, Ida, Jake, Eliza, Baby Jarvi and me.

This time it won’t be so much about time in the parks, although we will have tickets for 5 days. This time it will be all about the babies. Ida will be 2 & 1/2 and Baby Jarvi will be 8 months old. Dumbo, Prince Charming Carousel, Meeting Mickey, It’s a Small World and splashing in the water fountains will be the focus of our days. Probably just a few hours in the parks and then time at Old Key West.

I take none of this for granted. I know that if we are all there it will truly be a gift from God. I am doing my part to be there. As of this morning, I am 54.4 pounds down since May. I am learning how to eat as a diabetic. Now I just need to start moving more. Please pray that I can and do move more.

May God bless and keep you, dear Readers. Meet you at the Kingdom.

Donna

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Top 10 Things I Am Excited To Do at Walt Disney World

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Day 386 in my excitement on my way to meeting up with Mickey

Here are the 10 things I am the most excited about for our trip to Walt Disney World in October:

#10 Riding it’s a small world.  It is my favorite ride!!

#9 Celebrating one year’s-worth of birthdays with “the dip” (see below) and birthday cupcakes.  We have been saving up to celebrate our birthdays together in Florida.  Woo hoo!  Happy birthday to us!

#8 Exploring EPCOT’s Food and Wine Festival.  Looking forward to tempting tidbits of tasty treats.

#7 Experiencing Wishes Fireworks Dessert Party for the first time ever.  See comment from number 8.

#6 Spending the better part of a day at Disney Springs exploring and shopping.

#5 Eating at Olivia’s Café at Disney’s Old Key West Resort. This is by far my favorite restaurant at Walt Disney World.

#4 Experiencing Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween for the first time ever.  I have my costume now.  I ordered it from the Disney Store.  I will wear a Mickey Mouse Skeleton Tee and a Minnie Mouse Ears Headband.  🙂

#3 Spending plenty of resort time and pool time at Disney’s Old Key West Resort.  It is, seriously, my Happy Place.  When I’m chilling at Old Key West I can actually feel all stress leaving my body.  It is the ultimate in relaxation for me.

#2 Meeting and greeting Mickey at Magic Kingdom. This has been the driving force behind this blog.  I am anxious to shake Mickey‘s big, white-gloved hand and get a picture.

And the #1 thing that I am excited about…Looking at the faces of my husband and children and their spouses and spending some quality time together in this beautiful place.  This will be a family reunion extraordinaire!

Meet you at the Kingdom!

*The dip: In a pie plate spread 8 oz. of cream cheese.  Next sprinkle 6 to 8 cut-up green onions on top.  Then spread a can of No Bean chili on top.  (We usually make a second dip with Vegetarian chili with lots of beans.)  Finally sprinkle 8 oz. of grated cheddar cheese on top.  (We prefer sharp cheddar.  The shaper the better.)  Microwave for five minutes and serve with your favorite chips.  (We usually heat it in the oven t 350 degrees for 30 minutes instead, because it seem to hold it’s heat longer.)

 

 

 

 

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FastPass+ or Slow, Frustrating Pass?

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Day 369 in my planning my way to meeting my pal Mickey

Today’s plan was put into motion at 11:01 pm Central Standard Time last night.  That’s when my Walt Disney World vacation became only 60 days away.  Disneyphiles will know that because I am staying at Disney’s Old Key West, a Walt Disney World resort,  I at that moment became eligible to schedule our FastPass+ picks.  (For those not in the know: FastPass+ is a system that lets you basically preregister for attractions and shows.  it allows you re sign up for three a day.)

If I hadn’t gone to the gathering to show love and support for a friend yesterday, I wouldn’t have realized that this was the case.  I would have gotten up at 6:00 am CST this morning and gone online to schedule FastPass+.   But a church friend who was there is going to The Happiest Place on Earth at the end of September and she made me aware of this particular fact: the system updates at midnight Eastern Standard Time which is 11:00 pm where I live,  (Thank you, Ann!)  So I started my scheduling at 11:01 pm and I finished at about 1:35 this morning.  zzzzzzzzz

Here’s my one gripe: even getting on it as early as I did, I could not get FastPass+ for Seven Dwarves Mine Train nor Toy Story Mania.  Argh!  Something is seriously flawed with the system…SERIOUSLY!  That is so-o-o-o-o frustrating!!

But even at that, I am very pleased with the selections we have.  Here they are:

FastPass+ for the Jarvi/Carmichael Clan

Wednesday, October 14, 2015 – Magic Kingdom® Park

  1. Peter Pan’s Flight®—9:15 AM – 10:15 AM
  2. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad®—10:15 AM – 11:15 AM
  3. Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid—11:35 AM – 12:35 PM
  4. I’M VERY DISAPPOINTED THAT WE COULDN’T GET SEVEN DWARVES MINE TRAIN.

Thursday, October 15, 2015 – Disney’s Hollywood Studios®

  1. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster® Starring Aerosmith—11:35 AM – 12:35 PM
  2. Voyage of The Little Mermaid—12:35 PM – 12:50 PM
  3. Muppet*Vision 3D—1:45 PM – 2:45 PM
  4. WE REALLY WANTED TOY STORY MANIA.

Saturday, October 17, 2015 – Epcot®

  1. The Seas with Nemo & Friends®—9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
  2. Test Track® Presented by Chevrolet®—10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
  3. Spaceship Earth—11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
  4. SERIOUSLY, WE CAN’T PICK TEST TRACK AND SOARIN’???

Sunday, October 18, 2015 – Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park

  1. Kilimanjaro Safaris®—11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
  2. Festival of the Lion King—12:30 PM – 12:50 PM
  3. Finding Nemo – The Musical—3:30 PM – 3:50 PM
  4. I COULDN’T GET DINOSAUR IN A TIME THAT WORKED FOR US.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015 – Disney’s Hollywood Studios®

  1. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™—10:05 AM – 11:05 AM
  2. Star Tours® – The Adventures Continue—11:50 AM – 12:50 PM
  3. Beauty and the Beast-Live on Stage—1:30 PM – 1:50 PM
  4. ONCE AGAIN…WE REALLY WANTED TOY STORY MANIA.

I think we’ll get the chance to ride Seven Dwarves Mine Train at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.  At least I hope so.

So that’s how it all shakes out, Dear Readers.  I am so excited; we are 1 month and 29 days away from out trip.  Woop, woop!

Meet you at the Kingdom!

 

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…And Four More Restaurants

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Day 273 in eating my way around the world and meeting up with Mickey

My plan for today was to continue my research on healthy choices at the restaurants we will frequent at Walt Disney World in October.  My go-to site for this is AllEars.Net.  Seriously, you have to check out this site!  It is simply a Disneyphiles dream.

Here we go again:

  1. Artist’s Point at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge  for dinner: Healthiest Appetizer: Signature Field Greens Salad  Thing I may order: The salad aforementioned or Artisnal Cheese Selection  Entree: Healthiest entree–Grilled Filet Mignon OR Cornish Hen  What I will order: Cedar Plank-Roasted King Salmon  (I’ve had this each time we’ve been there.  It is amazing!) Dessert: Healthiest option:Artisnal Cheese Selection  What I will order-Vairhona Dark Chocolate Creme Brulee AND 6 spoons!  I really want to try this, even just one spoonful.  🙂
  2. Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant at Pleasure Island (or whatever it’s called nowadays-it’ll always be Pleasure Island to me!) for dinner:  This will be just Mike and I, so we will probably leave a lot of food behind.  We get a date night out of the parks; I’m so excited! The healthiest appetizer on the menu is Heritage Tomato Salad.  What I will probably order: (Well, I need to ask about the mysterious Soul Soup!) But I’m thinking the Luscious Tart.  Entree: The healthiest things are probably Braised Be. Beef OR Mammy’s Roast Chicken  But I will probably order Bangers and Booz (one of my all time favorite meals in England or Ireland). And I know Mike will want the Fish and Chips, and we’ll split a side of roasted root vegetables.  Dessert: the healthiest choice-Moore Street Market   But I will try Trifle Sinful OR Dunbrody Kiss (which is described as “chocolate, add chocolate and add some more.”  Oh, yeah!
  3. 50’s Prime Time Cafe at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for lunch:  Appetizers: Healthiest choice: Cousin Amy’s Lettuce Wedge What we will share-Fried Herb and Garlic Cheese.  Entree: The healthiest things on the menu are probably 50’s Prime Time Blue Plate Special “a healthy seasonal special” OR the Salmon or Chicken Caesar Salad  I will order one of those three    Dessert: Healthiest choice: No Sugar Added Cheesecake  What I will order 50’s Boston Cream Parfait AND S’mores AND 6 forks and spoons.
  4. San Angel Inn Restaurante at EPCOT for lunch-Appetizers: probably the 2 healthiest things to choose from are Ensalade Cesar (Caesar Salad) OR  Coctel de Camaron (shrimp cocktail) I would try either.  Entree: Healthiest choices-

    “Loma de Puerco en Pipian – Pork tenderloin served over roasted vegetables and “pipian” – pumpkin, chiles and almond sauce” OR “Pescado a la Veracruzana – Catch of the day prepared with capers, olives, bell peppers, Spanish onions, and tomatoes, seasoned with white wine and spices, served over poblano rice.”   Either way, Mike and I will share.  Dessert: Healthiest option: “Crema Bavaria – creamy Bavarian mousse served with mixed berries, cinnamon and orange liqueur and vanilla sauce”  I will either order that or “Mousse de Chocolate – Chocolate mousse and almond brittle candy.”  Say it with me now, “And 6 Spoons!”

  5. That’s about it.  However, The EPCOT Food and Wine Festival is happening while we’re there, so I know we’ll sample some goodies there, too.  More about that later.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

 

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My New Mantra

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207 in striving to be a healthier me when I meet up with Mickey (7 months and 10 days to go)

Today I have adopted a new mantra:

Eat like you love yourself.

Move like you love yourself.

Speak like you love yourself.

Act like you love yourself.

My nephew Kirk posted in on Facebook, but it’s from Pinterest.  (from hplyrikz.com)

Up until now I have not lived my life this way.  But now I am convinced that I have to learn to love myself, so I can better love those around me.  If I eat, move, speak and act like I love myself, then perhaps I’ll can put my self-destructive ways behind me for good.

  1. Eat like you love yourself–Healthy, nutritious foods that fuel my body.  Bye-bye sugar and salty treats.  Hello veggies, lean proteins and other complex carbs.
  2. Move like you love yourself–Move my body through space everyday.  And get involved in strength training of some sort.  Bye-bye couch potato.  Hello walking, Tai Chi and weights.
  3. Speak like you love yourself–This one will take some time.  Bye-bye all negative self talk.  (I’ve been so good at this.)  Hello positive self talk.  No more I can’t.  I am an Ameri-CAN!
  4. Act like you love yourself–this one moves into other areas of my life: spiritual, mental, financial.  I will move toward loving myself in all these areas of my life.  This will take much contemplation and planning.

That’s enough to chew on today.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Magic Band and Fastpass+

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Day 157 in my researching my way to meeting up with Mickey

Today I am going to research Magic Band usage and the Fastpass+ system.  It all seems so complicated to me.  I will scrutinize the internet for articles on the Magic Band, and I found a wonderful article in WDW Magazine titled “The Perils of FastPass+”, and I plan to read it this evening. Then I want to figure out how to link our Magic Bands to our reservation.  I would like to get that done!  Then I want to find where I put our Fastpass+ choices and map out a strategy for scheduling them.  I know it’s not so important to do them in order.  It’s more important to do the busiest ones first.  I’ll have to try for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Toy Story Mania, and Kilimanjaro Safari as soon as I possibly can, because they go so quickly.

So that’s on the docket for today.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Resources for Disney Research

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Day 45 in my travels toward all things Theme Park, but especially Mickey

Today’s plan was to do some more research.  There was a really interesting post on Facebook today by TouringPlans, called “A Guide to Walt Disney World Attraction Vehicles and Seating: Magic Kingdom.”  It describes all the seating at all the attractions in the Magic Kingdom Park.  It makes it easier to decide which attractions to try and which to pass.

I highly recommend TouringPlans.  It costs to subscribe, however, you can check on historical attendance dates.  So say I want to go to EPCOT on the 5th of October.  It will show how busy EPCOT has been on October 5th for several years back.  And it shows the same info for the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  And there is a lot more information there, too.

Also, Disneyphiles, I super-highly recommend WDW Magazine which is available as an app.  Again there is a subscription fee, but it is amazing!  I just watched the entire train ride for Hogwarts Express at Universal Studios, and the Mickey’s-Not-So-Scary Halloween Party Parade.  Just the best!

That’s is for today.  But I am still off sugar, moving more and making the best, healthiest food choices that I can.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Payday One

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Day 33 in my journey to rendezvous with Mickey at the Magic Kingdom

Well this is it, the first in a series of paydays.  One month ago today I weighed myself and vowed to wait a month to do so again.  Today was W-Day (weigh day).  My plan for today was to step on the scale and to see what, if anything is happening.  Don-don-don-da….  I got myself naked this morning and boldly stepped on the scale.  13.4 pounds down in one month.  Not a bad outcome from making better food choices and moving more, hey?

Now, as my brother Gene would say, “That’s like losing a lifeboat off of the Titanic.”  True, but that’s one less lifeboat that I have to drag around everyday.  Right?

So I’m finding myself in a celebratory mood today.  It’s good to be good.  Ummm… Confession time: the night before last I said to Mike, “I want something that is bad for me, and I want it right now!”  His reply, “Hmmm, I can’t think of anything in the house that would be bad for you that doesn’t have sugar in it.”   Oh yeah, people, he’s got my back.  An hour and a half later right before I went upstairs to bed, I said contritely, “Hon, I don’t really want something that’s bad for me.”  He laughed.  🙂

Thanks for hanging in there with me, dear readers.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Nothing new or fancy

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Day 18 on my way to rendezvous with Mickey.  🙂

Well, folks, the title says it all.  Here’s the plan: nothing new or fancy today.  I will eat healthy today.  I will avoid sugar today.  I will move more at work today.

You know, moving this much weight through space is no small task.  (Please, excuse the pun.)  My former work partner once told me, “They say you should do some sort of weight bearing exercise each day.  Well, moving this body through space is weight bearing exercise.”  I laughed out loud.  But it makes you think.  I know I have to move more to get the energy to move more to get the energy to move more.  Wait…what?  It’s an odd thing really.  When we move more, we draw oxygen deeper into our bodies/systems, and it gives us more energy, more oomph.  I WANT more oomph.

I want enough oomph to stroll the trails at Old Key West, to walk at Disney’s Animal Kingdom without being immediately exhausted, to walk all the way from the bus, to and through, Cinderella’s Castle at the Magic Kingdom.  Maybe even straight to It’s a Small World.  Do not pass go; do not collect $200.  I love this big Disney dreaming.  I’m willing to work as hard as I have to, to make these dreams/visions come true.

Thank you, Mouse-fans, Disneyphiles and Donna supporters, for reading.  Meet you at the Kingdom!