Magical Blogorail: Most Magical Disney Memories

Welcome to those of you joining me from A World View and those of you just hopping aboard. I am the Final stop on our Magical Blogorail.

Our blog is all about our magical Disney memories.   I've shared lots of stories about the big things...my Disney wedding, marathon, and so on.  Today I'd like to look at a few of the smaller moments that are wonderful memories.

While these were pretty much the biggest deals in my life, announcing to my parents that I was expecting each of my children were private moments at Disney World.  For Tink, I seized the chance to  weasel my way into a last minute trip my parents were taking.  It took me all day to find the right time to spill the beans but I'm glad I waited, as IllumiNations will forever be connected to Tink since I told them right before the show started.  For Minnie, we had a trip already planned so I got Tink a big sister shirt and arranged for us to have dinner at Olivia's on the first evening.  My brother was in on the surprise so he had his camera ready.  I stopped at the restroom on the way to the table and changed Tink's shirt.  It took my parents a few moments to realize A. that she had changed and B. just what her shirt said.  Since I have set this precedent, my parents hoped we had more news when I've agreed to other last minute trips over the last year and a half but I'm happy to be done with baby announcements.

When I was in college program, my parents and grandparents came down for a visit.  My Granny and I had so much fun shopping with my Christmas discount.

 

 

When on Tink's first visit, we took her to the free character photo session for Disney Visa cardmembers at Innoventions.  Pluto saw my one-year-old and immediately got down on all fours to play with her.

  

And speaking of a first birthday, here's Tink enjoying her smash cake in an Old Key West Grand Villa.  This kid has no idea how good she has it.

 

Minnie's first character meet and greet was Pluto and Goofy in Dinoland at Animal Kingdom.  Watching her totally light up for Pluto was priceless.  (Must be something special about Pluto.)

On our trip in January 2013, Tink was sick enough that I had to take her to the emergency room.  Thankfully my children are normally very healthy and it was tough to see her feel so awful.  She was well enough for one really good day on that trip and seeing her face when Cinderella approached us at Akershus was fabulous.

 

We've enjoyed being a part of the fun...my husband played the bucket for Mulch, Sweat and Shears and had to sing "I'm a Little Teapot" at the 50's Diner, DisneyDad has been "that guy" in the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor, Mom likes to interact with the Streetmosphere Cast at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Tink was the featherduster in Enchanted Tales with Belle, Ridge played along with the tiny glass of tea and bathroom FastPass at Whispering Canyon and I've been pulled up to sing about women's sufferage on Main Street, U.S.A.

  

I'll stop now as I could go on and on about the little moments but I think those are what really makes Walt Disney World special.  It's usually not the big plans we make that end up being sweet memories.  It's those moments where we get caught up in the magic that really bring us back time and again.  

Thank you for joining Magical Blogorail Red this month. We will be back on November 15th with an all new theme. Keep checking in with our blogs in between loops to keep up to date with our Disney news, photos and stories. If you are looking for more Disney magic, you can make your way over to The Magical Blogorail website to see all our members and their blogs, as well as all our previous loops.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

1st Stop ~ My Dreams of Disney
2nd Stop ~ Disney Donna Kay
3rd Stop ~ Colorado Mountain Mom
4th Stop ~ A World View
Final Stop ~ Growing Up Disney

Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings: Photos You Just Can't Take Anywhere Else

Today Andy and I are celebrating our eighth wedding anniversary.  Our Disney Fairy Tale Wedding was truly a magical experience.  One of the things I loved as a Disney kid was all of the wedding photos that you just can't take anywhere else.  Let's take a look at a few of those special images.   ~Amy

If you are going to be photobombed, the monorail is pretty high on the fun scale.

LOVE THIS! They told us the monorail was required to stop if they saw a wedding couple.  And purple is my favorite color! 

How "Grand" is this?!? (And we went with a limo over Cinderella's Coach $$$.  I ran the marathon the day before our wedding planning session and decided the coach just didn't go far enough for me.)

Cinderella Castle.  Need I say more?

Another great view of Cinderella Castle.  The wedding pavilion is perfectly positioned for beautiful backdrops.

Majordomo = Amazing  Be sure to check out the full post on him and the awesome prank pulled on our brothers.

Our Disney wedding cake was beautiful and delicious.  Don't miss the entire story.

Cinderella slipper dessert. Wow.

"Best Of" Week: Mickey's Birthday Blog Hop--Cake!

Joining us from Pinterest? Welcome!  Please check out our other posts on Minnie Mouse Birthday Party Ideas, Minnie Mouse Party Attire, and Winnie the Pooh Baby Shower Ideas.


Welcome to our Mickey Mouse Birthday Party Blog Hop! This year Mickey Mouse will be turning 83 and we thought it would be fun to all celebrate with our little ones. I’ll be sharing about cake for the party. You can find links to the other party ideas at the end of this post.

It's time to celebrate Mickey's birthday 

and I'm bringing the cake to the party.  

We've celebrated lots of birthdays in the Growing Up Disney family with Mickey Mouse cakes.  DisneyDad and Mom used to own a bakery, so we've always been spoiled with beautiful and delicious cakes. 

For Tink's first birthday, I made her two Winnie the Pooh cakes for the celebration with Andy's family.  But the big day occurred at Walt Disney World.  My parents made her a Mickey smash cake and a large one for the rest of us to enjoy.   (They managed to successfully transport the cakes from Birmingham to Orlando!)  These photos are from our Grand Villa at Old Key West.  (Man, this is one lucky little girl!)

The large cake.  I think Mickey would be proud.

Happy birthday to you!

Mmm, cake.

Tink had breakfast with Mickey on her first birthday.  She enjoyed the food but wasn't totally sure about the characters.

The birthday girl with Granddaddy about to board the Monorail.

We hadn't been to Chef Mickey's since it moved from the Marketplace a billion years ago but we all enjoyed our breakfast.

Chef Mickey's celebrates ALOT of birthdays.  So many that this cupcake was still warm when they gave it to us.

Tink with Daddy and the Big Cheese

For Tink's second birthday, it was just the three of us but I still wanted to do something fun and these Mickey cupcakes were perfect.  I made devil's food cupcakes in Mickey liners.  I took the easy route and bought some white icing.  Full size and snack size Oreos are just right for mouse ears.  I had read that you can roll out red gumdrops and cut out bows to make Minnie cupcakes, but at almost 8 months pregnant and having just moved halfway across the country, those didn't happen.  Thanks to modern technology, we FaceTimed with Uncle Chris on my iPad and Granny and Granddaddy on the iPhone so they were all able to join the party.  (Sounds like a scene from the end of the previous version of Spaceship Earth.)

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The Mickey liners don't look like much after being baked.  They'd probably work better with a light colored cake.

"Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you."

If the cake in the following pictures looks familiar, it's because it's the same pan as was used for Tink's smash cake.  My parents' pan had been loaned out and not returned but Uncle Chris found a matching one on eBay.  These are from my 2nd birthday.  Love the late seventies pants!

While I was showing this post to Tink, she was adamant that this picture is her and not me.  :)

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Thanks for joining us as we celebrate Mickey’s Birthday! Don’t forget to check out the other blogs for great ideas on a Mickey Mouse Birthday Party!


Mary at Capturing Magical Memories- Happy Birthday Mickey Sign

Jenn at Disney Babies Blog- Mickey Party Invitations

Amy at Growing up Disney- Mickey Cakes and Cupcakes

Beth D at Pursuing the Magic- Mickey Party Favors

Jackie at Delightfully Disney- Mickey Party Snacks
 
Tricia at Return to Disney- Mickey Party Crafts


Beth G at A Disney Mom’s Thoughts- Mickey Mouse Party Games

This article originally appeared on Growing Up Disney on November 18, 2011.

Minnie Moms: Disney Birthdays

Happy birthday Tink! My daughter (and the mascot here at Growing Up Disney) turned three on Saturday. The blog will be two years old this week too. So in the spirit of celebration, I asked our Minnie Moms to share a special Disney birthday memory with us. 

Amy: Tink was born a Disney kid, so her birthdays are no exception.  Her first birthday was celebrated at Walt Disney World.  The party for her second birthday was just after our big move last year so we stayed home, but the Mickey cupcakes were a big hit.  This year, Little Miss is three and we have moved on to Princesses.  It was a very regal weekend of celebration.  The photo below is one of my favorites.  I just asked her to stop so I could take her picture and this was the pose she came up with.  Ah, I love this girl.  (The new Snow White and Belle dresses and Princess shoe collection were gifts from my parents.)

Natalie: Birthdays are something extremely special to each person. For myself, I was greatly excited in 2009 to hear the “What Will You Celebrate?” Disney campaign offered guests free admission on their birthday! I had long been an annual passholder for Walt Disney World, so I decided I would seize the opportunity to get in free at Disneyland. I had only been to Disneyland once, for 4 hours during a business trip and only remembered riding it’s a small world! Planning for the vacation was wonderful!

On the day of my birthday, I arrived at the parks very early, wanting to allow myself plenty of time to take in all of the attractions. I was thrilled to finally have the opportunity to experience Disneyland at a more mature age (no comments please!) in hopes that I would remember the parks offerings a bit better than after my first visit! The day was magical, being spent with my mother, cousin and her son and my son. The highlight of the day was eating at Blue Bayou. The themeing of the restaurant was wonderful, the food was great, though the service terrible! The kids really enjoyed wearing their pirate hats/menus and waving to the guests as they floated by the restaurant on the Pirates of the Caribbean boats.

Anytime you get to spend time in Disney with friends, family and ON your birthday, you are in for a memorable, amazing experience. And thanks so much to Disney for giving me the opportunity to have such a special birthday celebration.

Janine: Although we have not celebrated a birthday in WDW itself, you can bet your bottom dollar that there is a Disney theme to our special days, especially when it comes to Tink.

This year she turned 2 and was lucky enough to have 2 parties - a Mickey and Minnie themed one for her family and a Princess one for her friends.

I made a Mickey head shaped cake and cupcakes for the family party and had a wonderful Mickey head banner, along with table decorations.

The Princess theme for her friends tea-party was a lot of fun, centered around her main present, a Disney Princess singing kitchen. There were Princess cupcakes and cookies, Princess banners and table ware and beautiful party bags. Even her presents from her little play-mates were in keeping!

I can't wait to pick up a few bits in DLP ready for next year.

Corby: I am greatly looking forward to celebrating our daughter's 2-year-old birthday next month at Disney World. Obviously, she's young and probably won't have a clue or remember. Really, we're surprising our son on the last day of school. We'll be celebrating school being out for summer when we drive up to school with bags packed, ready to head to Orlando. Her birthday just happens to fall the day after we check out so I'm going to try to incorporate it in someway, which should be fun. Since we haven't enjoyed any Disney birthday celebrations yet, I will say my favorite Disney related birthday was last year when we decided to surprise our son with a Disney Cruise for his 7th birthday. As you can see from the picture, it went over quite well.

Beth: With three kids, who are all Disney fans, each and every one of our birthday parties has had a Disney theme. I actually think I would be crushed if they didn't choose a Disney theme! Other than a Winnie the Pooh party for Joey's first birthday, he has had a Cars party every year. Emily has always chosen princesses or Minnie Mouse. Hayley has always had princesses from Sleeping Beauty to Ariel and this year, she has chosen Jasmine. Since Hayley's birthday is in July, for her second birthday, we created an all out Little Mermaid Party. We bought an ocean mural that we hung up around the kitchen and our family room. Then out on our deck and yard, we decorated with shells, fish and Little Mermaid toys. It was the perfect theme for the hot summer day. We set up the Little Mermaid sprinkler and the kids were able to keep cool! My mother in law even brought Little Mermaid tattoos for all the kids, which was a big hit, especially with Hayley. The photo I am sharing is one of my favorites from her party. We had just served the cake to everyone, and Hayley and Daddy ate their cake together with Hayley giving him a big sugary kiss!

Thanks to Natalie, Janine, Beth and Corby for joining me today.  Please visit the Minnie Moms page for past articles and more information about these fabulous ladies. 
~~Amy

Wedding Anniversary: Food, Glorious Food

Today is our 7 year wedding anniversary.  Andy and I have lived in three states and had two amazing and gorgeous little girls during this time.  I am truly blessed to be married to him. 

The Eastman family at Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort
January 2012

I feel like I talk about our wedding often here, but it was the most amazing Disney event I will ever be a part of, well, unless I become a Disney mother-of-the-bride.  And other than the cake, I haven't shared the food from our reception on Growing Up Disney before.  A wedding is but a day; that is, unless it's a Disney Fairy Tale Wedding and you are a Disney blogger....then it goes on forever.

The cake.  Isn't it beautiful?!?

We had a sit-down dinner and a small group, so we all sat at one long table.  The flowers at the center had been on the altar during the ceremony.  

This was my brother's place card.   

Each guest received a copy of the menu.  I warned our guests to come hungry.  While the wedding party took pictures in the Wedding Pavilion after the ceremony, everyone else enjoyed pre-reception nibbles at Summerhouse.  It was a beautiful day and they all got to relax and look over the water.  Then they were guided to a ballroom in the Grand Floridian for the dinner.  There was a per person minimum that we had to spend on food and beverage.  And since we didn't have alcohol at the reception, there was a ton of (delicious) food.  I know it's crazy but I actually got to eat and visit with my guests at my wedding!

Our toasting glasses from Arribas Brothers  

Mickey and Minnie on the toasting glasses 

We were given his and hers Disney Fairy Tale Weddings watches 

Favors for the guests.  I brought the cake candles and the wedding team got the Mickey treats for us.  Andy just loves those so we had to include them.

Double cream brie cheese en croute
With poached pear compote and sliced baguettes

Cinderella's White Chocolate Slipper
Filled with fresh cream and raspberries on a castle silk screen plate
Accompanied by dark chocolate mousse 

Our fabulous surprise guests  

Thank you for joining me as I remember this wonderful day.  Its memory is made even sweeter as time goes by and I fall even more in love with my outstanding husband.  (Seriously, he's doing dishes right now so I can complete my blog post.  How awesome is that?!?)