Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere

I think that the magic of a Disney vacation exists in three wonderful parts: the dreaming of planning, the pixie dust moments during trip itself and the memories you take with you for years to come. Since I can't live in the Cinderella Castle Suite or even on property year round, pictures help bring a bit of the fairytale back into my everyday life. In my enthusiastic pursuit of remembering the Magic, I take hundreds of my own pictures every vacation and hope to share a bit of my experience with you. Much like the classic Disney shorts of the forties, sometimes black and white is a good thing. Basically, in these pictures the idea is to use the contrast to bring out details that are lost in the original color photo. The Classic Ships look very old fashioned in black and white. I think I'll print this for over my desk. After uploading to Flicker, I use Aviary to edit the photos into a black and white view. I love how her dress reflection really pops out...

#SilentSunday

Welcome Blog Hoppers to The Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere "Shorts Saturday" Blog Hop for the week of DATE HERE. Every week, we host this link up blog hop to share a short and sweet version of our Disney love as we answer Disney related questions. I'd love for you to grab the button and link up your post! We all love comments, so half the fun is visiting each other's blogs and commenting on their thoughts. Our short and sweets  prompt this week is My Favorite Things in fifty words or less. Well let me see,. Nice things... Gingerbread. Blue Oceans. Skies full of fireworks and dreams. Rain on rooftops and eyelashes on children, Saturday mornings and time to write blogs in, long Sunday walks with my kids in the spring, these are a few of my favorite things.  Children who sleep in... Now it's your turn! Link up and comment away. Thank you for joining in my blog hop!!!         get the InLinkz code

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time... 1.) I get into conversations sharing the Disney Cruise Line pixie dust almost every day. So far I have helped perfect strangers in Barnes and Noble, good friends online and relatives over Facebook this week. One Day I will get around to relating the story of the muffin. I promise. Yesterday's pixie dust encounter involved concerns about seasickness, first time cruise jitters and character dining on the classic ships. I wish her a happy first cruise and hope she finds it magical! 2.) I took my first trip to a Disney Park without either my mother or my father. In the early 90's my grandmother decided to take full advantage of my family's recent move to California; the first time she visited from Missouri s...

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you, again,  Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop. If you've spent some time poking around in the Disney Cruise Line forums, you've probably noticed the term FE getting flung around. What is an FE?  Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start), FE or "Fish Extender" stems from the on deck mail delivery system. Fish Mail Clip above room number. Each evening your personal navigator is left on a decorative clip outside your stateroom. On the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, it is a pewter fish. Onboard the Dream class ships, the clip is shaped like a fish only on the starboard side of the ship, the port side features seahorse in an effort to make navigating hallways easier (if in doubt the clips face the front of the ship). The Dream and Fantasy concierge get yet a different clip in a starfish shape. All fish, seahorses and starfish function the same way for the purposes o...

Welcome Wordless Wednesday Blog Hoppers   Bashful   Apprehensive Zany Happy Thank you to Focused on the Magic for hosting!         UPDATE:  To answer all the questions about where we enjoyed the Mad Tea Party. The Disney Magic has offered "Tea With Alice" on itineraries seven nights and longer. Tickets are complimentary, but in limited supply. Ask at guest services on boarding the ship. I blogged about our experience here .

Welcome Tiggerific Tuesday Trivia blog hoppers. Thanks again to Jodi from  +Magical Mouse Schoolhouse , Heidi from  +Heidi's Head , and  +Mike Ellis  for co-hosting! Did You Know... The same forced perspective that Disney Imagineers use to make Cinderella Castle appear larger is used on the Disney Cruise Line Ships? Forced perspective is the use of optical illusions to make items appear larger or smaller than they actually are by use of visual relation to other objects, foreshortening and angles. Most commonly forced perspective is used in photography, movies and architecture. In Walt Disney World Main Street USA uses two well known, but very effective architectural effects. The foreshortening of the second and third third story of the buildings to create the illusion of vertical distance and height. Second, the narrowing of the street and buildings as you move gently uphill toward the castle. What is the combined effect of these two effects? Th...

#SilentSunday

Welcome Blog Hoppers to The Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere "Shorts Saturday" Blog Hop for the week of December 7th. Each week, I host this link up blog hop to share a short and sweet version of our Disney love as we answer Disney related questions. I'd love for you to grab the button and link up your post! We all love comments, so half the fun is visiting each other's blogs and commenting on their thoughts. Our short and sweets  prompt this week is "I'm Dreaming Of..." 100 words or less. A slumber party in the Cinderella Castle Suite, a visit to Japan in cherry blossom season (and of course Tokyo Disneyland), an ABD tour of Southern California, a DCL cruise through the Tracy Arm Bay,   a “just us” vacation with my husband at Aulani, a Princess Half Marathon and a seat on the Disney Parks Moms Panel as DCL mom all figure prominently in my own Disney Dreams. But what I dream of most of all   is the day when both of my children sleep in. “A...

Welcome Foodie Friday Blog Hoppers! Dark Side Gingerbread Cookies Location: My Kitchen, Texas, y'all Cost: Time, love and a couple Imperial Credits In honor of National Cookie Day, we spent an afternoon earlier this week making some gingerbread cookies. As I tweeted on Wednesday, #ThanksToStarWars my children prefer their gingerbread a little bit on the dark side. Thankfully, I've adapted a lovely gingerbread man recipe that is both Gluten Free and vegan, since that's how the Sith roll these days. Dark Side Gingerbread Cookies - GF, Vegan, Dairy, Nut, Egg Free Ingredients 3/4 cup vegan margarine, softened (we use Earth Balance) 1 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup black-strap molasses 1 Tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer and 1/4 cup warm water 2 3/4 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix (we like Bob's Red Mill) 2 teaspoons baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or a smidge more if you like spice.) Extra flour ...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time... 1.) I love DCL...even when I leave my children at home. My first Disney Cruise ever, I left both my children in the loving care of their grandparents and took off for a second honeymoon with my dear husband. I fell in love with cruising and looked forward to when we could bring the kids. Three years later we did it again. From our first cruise. Yes, the kids knew where we were going. Thankfully, they understand dad and mom need time to themselves and they need time with grandma. I would do it again in a heartbeat. DCL is awesome, with or without children. 2.) I love running. I've run several 5Ks (including two at Castaway Cay), a five mile Thanksgiving run and even several half marathons. Fancy! I like the shirts they ha...

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop! Disney's animated classic Peter Pan was adapted from the stage play by J.M. Barrie Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up . As cute as the movie's introduction of Peter Pan ended up, original story ideas included presenting Peter Pan as a darker more devious character intent on kidnapping Wendy to serve as a mother to the Lost Boys. Peter Pan, Kidnapper? Eventually they decided to stay closer to the original play, including the story of Peter Pan listening to Wendy's stories and losing his shadow rather than this darker route. Interestingly enough,  Peter Pan follows that alternate background in his role during the current television series Once Upon a Time on ABC. Do you watch Once Upon a Time ? Which way do you prefer Peter Pan?

Welcome Wordless Wednesday Blog Hoppers Thank you to Focused on the Magic for hosting! #WordlessWednesday    

Welcome Tiggerific Tuesday Trivia blog hoppers! Thanks again to Jodi from  +Magical Mouse Schoolhouse , Heidi from  +Heidi's Head , and  +Mike Ellis  for co-hosting! Did You Know... All of the food for the entire length of a Disney Cruise is loaded during it's time in it's home port (usually Port Canaveral.) Basically all the groceries for each of the  2,700-passenger on the Disney Magic must be brought on board during an eight hour window once a week. That window is at the same time as every stateroom checks out, all linens, quarters and common areas become picture perfect and all the next guests for the next cruise check in and are welcomed aboard. How much food is it anyway? The Disney Magic serves up 3,125 gallons of complimentary soda, 10,000 pounds of chicken, and 71,500 eggs for an average seven night voyage.  And that's before we get to fruit and vegetables. And ice cream. Yummy. This loading is a process th...

I think that the magic of a Disney vacation exists in three wonderful parts: the dreaming of planning, the pixie dust moments during trip itself and the memories you take with you for years to come. Since I can't live in the Cinderella Castle Suite or even on property year round, pictures help bring a bit of the fairytale back into my everyday life. In my enthusiastic pursuit of remembering the Magic, I take hundreds of my own pictures every vacation and hope to share a bit of my experience with you. One of the difficult things about capturing vacation magic is the overall grandeur and scale. Walking down main street toward the hub, Cinderella Castle is larger than life, as is Rapunzel's Tower, Spaceship Earth, the Tree of Life, Mickey's Sorceror's Hat and the Disney Ships themselves. The problem with many of the photos of these landmarks is they fail to offer any sense of the scale afforded by the people and surroundings.. Rapunzel's tower is huge! O...

#SilentSunday #practicemakesprogress

Welcome Blog Hoppers to The Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere "Shorts Saturday" Blog Hop for the week of November 30, 2013. Every week, we host this link up blog hop to share a short and sweet version of our Disney love as we answer Disney related questions. I'd love for you to grab the button and link up your post! We all love comments, so half the fun is visiting each other's blogs and commenting on their thoughts. Our short and sweet prompt this week is "How to Pack for Disney <50 Words" Make a list; check it twice. Break everything in before vacation! Stash outfit parts in Ziploc bags then use the bags to wrap souvenirs. Pack suitcases by day rather than person. If bags get lost, everyone has clothing! Disney is full of shopping locations, so don’t stress or over pack!   The Organizing Phase Now it's your turn! Link up and comment away. Thank you for joining in my blog hop!!!         get the InLinkz ...