Disney Memories on Splash Mountain: The Thrill, The Joy, and the Terror!

May 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

What a wild ride! This photo captures it all.

Splash Mountain is probably our favorite attraction at the Magic Kingdom – it’s a fabulous ride with just enough thrill to make us nervous but not too many giant drops  to make my 4 or 6 year old “freak out” totally. Plus getting wet is a bit of an adventure and everyone feels like they’ve “survived” after the ride ends which provides all kinds of fun memories forever after.

We are still talking about our ride on Splash Mountain 4 weeks after we stepped off the log flume…… Truly a magical memory – even with that look of terror on Kenzie’s face!

Browsing through our Disney photos today, I found this crazy photo of the 4 of us.

Kyle, age 4, rode Splash Mountain for the 1st time and loved it. He was hysterically laughing about the drop while Kenzie is totally full of terror. She loved it but definitely has to battle her nerves during the entire ride as we tour Br’er Rabbit’s adventure prior to the gigantic plunge into the Briar Patch.

Filed Under: Disney, Kids Tagged With:

How Merida got such great hair from Disney’s Brave

May 16, 2012 By 1 Comment

Brave hits theaters in 3D on June 22, 2012 and it can’t come soon enough! Here’s some more scoop from my visit to the press junket for Brave.

One thing you can’t deny about Merida from Disney’s movie Brave: she’s got killer hair. I mean, seriously, I’m a bit jealous of all you red heads out there after watching this movie. Her curly hair hypnotizes you during the movie. You can’t stop looking at it now, can you?

So after becoming envious of an animated characters sweet style, I was especially anxious to meet Claudia at Pixar who was one of the stylists for Merida. Did you know she has an entire team of stylists and designers? Just wait, it gets better. There’s an actual grooming team at Pixar who does “anything fur and hair” for the movie. There’s even a person assigned just to Merida’s eyebrows as her full-time job!

Now if you think about it, you’ve probably never seen hair this unique in other movies. In fact, I’m sure you haven’t because the stylist for Merida’s hair wanted it to be so life-like that she had a curling iron created in the computer to literally curl her hair just how she envisioned! Forget the simple drawing of hair like the old days. Nope, Merida has to spend hours in front of the mirror just like any other girl if she wants soft, voluminous curls that will drive the boys wild.

 

Other hairy facts:

1. Merida’s hair is 4 feet long when it’s straight.

2. Even though Merida has iconic hair, her horse Angus has the most difficult hair to create in the movie.

3. The scene that you see when Merida pulls off her hood took 2 months to finish.

4. Merida’s eyebrows have more hairs than a real human’s eyebrows.

 

Disclosure: Thanks to Disney for paying for my travel expenses to visit Pixar Animation Studios for the Brave press junket. Brave hits theaters in 3D on June 22, 2012. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Disney, Movies Tagged With: , , ,

Happy Mother’s Day from Disney Baby and a Winnie the Pooh Bouncer #Giveaway

May 13, 2012 By 74 Comments

Love this adorably sweet video from Disney Baby wishing all us Mama’s a very Happy Mother’s Day – with lots of our favorite characters included too!

To celebrate expectant Moms and new Moms, Disney Baby and ClassyMommy.com are giving away a Winnie the Pooh Bouncer to one lucky winner. ARV $49.99. I love bouncers – they are lifesaving for Mom and Baby during those early months. This Disney Baby Winnie the Pooh Bouncer is available for purchase at Babies R Us.

Here’s cute photo of the Winnie the Pooh bouncer from Disney Baby that we are giving away on ClassyMommy.com.


Enter to win:

1. Please leave a comment below by May 27th, 2012.

2. Like ClassyMommy on Facebook here and leave a comment telling me you liked our page

3. Daily comments allowed. 


Disclosure: Thanks to Disney Baby for supplying a Bouncer prize for 1 ClassyMommy.com winner.

Filed Under: Disney, Giveaways Tagged With: ,

Animal Kingdom after dark!

May 7, 2012 By 1 Comment

Reliving the fun! Better late than never, I figured I’d share some of our fave memories from Disney’s Social Media Moms’s event where we partied at Animal Kingdom for a Dino-Riffic event after the park closed.

We snapped this Family photo walking into the park which captures that glorious tree of life in the backdrop.

The last week has been a whirlwind returning home after 10 days of travel and than battling a nasty sinus infection. The good news about posting a week later is that I get to relive all the memories again sooner rather than later.

I love this photo with Chip n Dale. They are ADORABLE in person.

And yes, no matter how many times you visit Disney, the magic never fades. There are always more nooks to discover, characters to meet, rides to test out, and memories to make!

Hitting a park after dark during special events is always extra exciting for kids and for parents. No lines for rides, yummy food, and endless entertainment. We rode the Triceratops spin no less than 5 times.  The kids danced with Donald Duck and Daisy and we all enjoyed free carnival games – Whac a Mole and the Shooting Gallery were a big hit!


More fun posing!

Disclosure: Thanks to Disney for including my family in the Disney Social Media Moms celebration and giving us special media access, discounts, and many other extras as part of our experience. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own

Filed Under: Disney, Kids Tagged With: ,

The Walt Disney Family Museum: Add it to your Must See list

April 27, 2012 By 1 Comment

I must admit that I didn’t have The Walt Disney Museum on my list of places to go this summer. In fact, I’ll be totally honest and tell you that I never even knew this place existed until I went on this trip a few weeks ago. But as soon as I stepped out of the van for the tour, I felt like I was 6 years old again! The tour guide we had was amazing and turned the entire experience into one big fairy tale. Did you know Mickey was originally named Mortimer? Or that the “Big Bad Wolf” is the first original Disney song? Each room throughout the museum was filled with interactive games for the kids and interesting audio/visual displays that the entire family will enjoy.

One of my favorite pieces from the museum was the only Oscar that has ever been awarded with a unique design. I’ll let you guess what movie won this award….

A large model of Disneyland is on display that was sparked from Walt’s imagination. So cool to see some of my favorite rides on this smaller scale.

Some of the earliest drawings of Mickey Mouse can also be found at the museum, and even a non-artist like myself can’t help but appreciate the amazing creativity of Walt Disney from the very beginning.

I got to enjoy a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the museum. It was a picture perfect opportunity!

 

Here’s a repeat of fun facts I learned while at the museum – I tweeted these while on the trip, but in case you missed it they are worth sharing again. Plus you’ll see which movie won that special Oscar if you didn’t guess correctly already!

  • Donald Duck holds the record for most cartoons made of him. More than Mickey!
  • Mickey Mouse was originally named Mortimer. Would’ve been fun to be part of the Mortimer Mouse Club as a kid!
  • So cool! Only Academy Award that was made special was for Disney’s Snow White.

Disclosure: Thanks to Disney for paying for my travel expenses to visit The Walt Disney Museum. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Disney, Travel Tagged With: , ,

Pirates Night!

April 27, 2012 By 1 Comment

Last night the kids got into the Pirate vibe at the Swashbuckler’s Soiree to kick off the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.

20120427-094037.jpg

We all kicked off our shoes, went barefoot in the sand, and enjoyed a casual Pirate Party BBQ with great music, yummy food, and excellent company of bloggy Moms from across the country at the Beach & Yacht club.

20120427-094128.jpg

Topped off in pirate style bandanas the kids enjoyed dancing with Jake from the Neverland Pirates and meeting Captain Hook.

20120427-094138.jpg

And yes the ice cream was a hit too!

20120427-094155.jpg

20120427-094211.jpg

Disclosure: Thanks to Disney for including my family in the Disney Social Media Moms celebration and giving us special media access, discounts, and many other extras as part of our experience. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Filed Under: Disney, Kids Tagged With: ,

A Magic Morning

April 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Picture perfect weather at the Magic Kingdom made for another great set of memories. We hit lots of rides – many of which we’ve missed on our last few trips. Today’s favorites were the Teacups and the Haunted Mansion. Kyle also rode Dumbo for the 1st time ever! Lots more to come as the Disney Social Media Moms conference kicks off tonight.

20120426-022733.jpg

20120426-022753.jpg

20120426-022803.jpg

20120426-022809.jpg

20120426-022816.jpg

20120426-022826.jpg

20120426-022847.jpg

20120426-022859.jpg

20120426-022955.jpg

Filed Under: Disney, Kids Tagged With:

You won’t believe it until you see it: Disneynature’s CHIMPANZEE

April 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

On April 20th, meet Oscar as Disneynature’s CHIMPANZEE will hit theaters everywhere.

Disneynature has captured another wildlife story that will amaze you with the new movie CHIMPANZEE. Originally, this movie was supposed to be a story about the special bond between a mother chimp and her adorable baby Oscar.

But Oscar’s mother is injured and disappears after another pack of chimpanzees attack their camp. Oscar can’t find any other chimps to adopt him , so he begins to lose weight and slowly starve to death.

The video crew shooting the movie thought that they had lost their story and were ready to pack up, call it quits,  and head home.

Before the crew could leave, the most extraordinary thing happened that has never been captured on film before.

The alpha male in the pack decides to adopt Oscar. He starts teaching him how to find food for himself and lets Oscar hop onto his back just like his mom used to do. Your entire family will be in awe as they cheer for Oscar trying to find his way in this big world and may even fight back a few tears as they watch the most unlikely story of love unfold before them.

Take a peek at the trailer here:

I was very impressed with the great editing in this movie. In one scene, the chimps attack a group of monkeys, but the scene is careful not to show the actual attack or the eating of the monkeys. These edited scenes helps to make this movie appropriate even for your younger children.

Your entire family will enjoy this movie. And if you have animal lovers in your family, you definitely won’t want to miss out!

Even better,  if you see CHIMPANZEE opening week, Disneynature will donate money to the Jane Goodall Institute to help protect chimpanzees.

“Like” CHIMPANZEE on Facebook: Facebook.com/Disneynature

CHIMPANZEE hits theaters everywhere on April 20th!

 Disclosure: Thanks to Disney for paying my travel expenses to San Francisco to attend an early screening of Chimpanzee. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

 

Look for a You won’t believe it until you see it: Disneynature’s CHIMPANZEE on eBay - maybe you'll get lucky and find a great bargain!
Filed Under: Disney, Movies, Reviews, Videos Tagged With: , ,

Angelina Jolie to Play Maleficent in Disney’s Upcoming Film

April 9, 2012 By

Walt Disney studios just announced a March 14th, 2014 release date for the upcoming movie “Maleficent”. Excited to see this one but 2 years sure sounds like a long time away right now doesn’t it? Angelina Jolie will star as the ultra evil villain. I am so excited to see this rendition of the story unravel on the big screen and I know my kids will be DYING to see it too. Sleeping Beauty is one of their favorite storybooks and as a toddler little Kyle was OBSESSED with Maleficent, her bird, and the scene where Aurora pricks her finger. Seeing a new interpretation and adaptation of this classic will be awesome. 2014 can’t come quick enough now!

Our inside scoop from the studio tells us that this movie will explore the origins of the evil fairy Maleficent and what led her to curse Princess Aurora in Disney’s animated classic Sleeping Beauty.

Academy Award®-winning production designer Robert Stromberg (Avatar, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and Oz The Great and Powerful) will direct with a script by Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Alice in Wonderland).Maleficent is produced by Joe Roth (Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and Oz The Great and Powerful).

Filed Under: Disney Tagged With: ,

Video Tour of our Disney Fantasy Stateroom

April 2, 2012 By

Step inside for a tour! What’s a cruise room really look like? How small is a stateroom cabin?

Surprisingly it’s a lot bigger than you’d think on the Disney Fantasy. I know before I cruised I found it hard to believe my family would comfortably fit into what I mistakenly thought would be cramped quarters. Somehow the space on a cruise ship is totally optimized – even in a 246 sq ft Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom - with a verandah to top it all off.

What I loved about the stateroom space on our Disney Fantasy Cabin:

  • Tons of hideaway cabinets
  • a bunk bed that drops from the ceiling and a couch that converts into a bed at night
  • an elevated queen bed so all luggage – even my gigantic suitcases fit comfortably underneath it and was able to be pulled out for easy access when needed
  • Split bathrooms: This really means we had 2 bathrooms in our cabin. One of the bathrooms had a toilet and sink while the other had a shower/tub combo with a sink.
  • A refrigerator – (we needed this as Kyle’s antibiotic for his ear infection HAD to be chilled or it would spoil)
  • Wireless internet (although this was very slow while at Sea compared to the speed we are all used to at home so it goes on any cruise line while you are trying to access the internet)
  • Free room service anytime you want it
  • A verandah with a gorgeous view and 2 chairs on the deck

Take a virtual tour with us here: This is our video tour of our stateroom cabin – Room 8106 on the Disney Fantasy cruise ship. Pardon the mess as this room was certainly well lived in by the time we took this video :)

These are the official specifications of the room according to the Disney Cruise website:

  • Sleeps: 3 or 4
  • Size: 246 sq. ft. including verandah
  • Room Configuration: Queen-size bed, single convertible sofa, upper berth pull-down bed if sleeping 4, split bath with tub and shower
  • View: Private verandah
Here’s a view from the Verandah – you can’t beat this. And when you leave the door open a crack you can hear the ocean. Love it

Disclosure: Thanks to Disney Cruise Line for paying my travel expenses to sail the Disney Fantasy media preview cruise. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own & that of my family. 

Filed Under: Disney, Disney Cruise, Travel Tagged With: , , , ,
« Older Posts