Cars Land

Based on the famous 2006 film, Cars, Cars Land was welcomed to Disney California Adventure on June 15, 2012. The film centers around Lightning McQueen, an up and coming race car, who's trying to win the prestigious Piston Cup. McQueen finishes the championship race in a three way tie, the only way to break up the tie is a race in California. On his way to the race, McQueen finds himself stuck inside Radiator Springs, a small, old town. Radiator Springs was once booming, and now finds itself dead. The film centers around McQueen trying to leave the town, and getting it back on the map.
Cars Land, at Disney's California Adventure Park, makes you feel like you're really in Radiator Springs. Guests are able to experience new attractions, dining experiences, character meet and greets, and more!

Attractions:
Luigi's Flying Tires- Guests are able to float on a cushion of air on a larger-than-life tire.
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree- Mater hosts a a square-dancing jamboree, including music sung by Mater! The attraction is in the style of a whip ride. Guests board a trailer pulled by a little tractor and enjoy the experience!
Radiator Springs Racers- Much like Test Track at Epcot, Radiator Springs Racers is a slot car ride. Guests board slot cars and speed through Ornament Valley and Radiator Springs. At the end, they find themselves racing against another car. Radiator Springs Racers is the must see attraction in Cars Land.

Dining: Visitors are able to eat at Flo's V8 Cafe (a iconic diner in the film) for full meals, Fillmore's Taste-In for a quick bite, and the Cozy Cone Motel, with a menu full of puns.

Entertainment: 
 Red the Firetruck brings water fun right outside the court house!
DJ plays bass-bumpin' music that's pumpin' through sweet speakers throughout Cars Land.
Don't forget to stop by once the sun sets to see the transformation of Radiator Springs, when the street lights shimmer and shine!!

So You're Going to Disney World: Part 1.

I'll be the first to admit that going to Disney World can be a very stressful experience. There's so many different activities to experience, that it can be a little overwhelming. I'm here to share what I learned about making the most of your Disney Vacation. There's so many tips, that one blog post isn't enough!
Walt Disney World in Florida has four theme parks. Magic Kingdom, the most iconic, Animal Kingdom, for your inner zoo keeper, Epcot, a place to learn, and Hollywood Studios, full of thrill. When visiting Disney for an extended period of time, the best kind of passes to get to the parks is the Hopper Pass which enables you to visit as many parks as you want in one day. Although I'm not sure about the logistics behind these passes, but I fully approve.
Utilize Fastpasses. Fastpasses are a magical thing in themselves. You go to a kiosk right outside the ride you want to ride (not all rides have fastpasses), insert your park ticket, and it gives you a ticket with a time on it. All you need to do now is come back between the one hour window on your ticket, and your wait is nearly cut in half. When I visited last month, we used FastPasses in Disney's Soarin' on Epcot. We were in and out in a half hour's time. The wait time for without a Fastpass was about an hour.
Realize that there will usually always be a long wait. Disney Parks are always busy. An average wait time is about 25-30 minutes, and can be as long as 135 minutes. To pass the time, you can download different Disney Trivia Apps from the app store. My personal Favorites are "Mouse Trivia: Tangled Edition" and "Mouse Trivia: Disney Edition"
Download the My Disney Experience App. It's a saving grace. It gives you wait times, Fastpass return times, as well as gives you directions from where you are to where you want to be. It was the best thing that's ever happened to me.

A day in the life of Rapunzel.

Anyone who knows me knows about my slight obsession with all things Tangled. I often find myself having songs such as "I can see the light" "Mother Knows Best" and of course "When will my life begin?"
I can't imagine what a day in the life of Rapunzel would be like. I know it would probably include: chores, sweeping until the floors are clean, polishing, wax, do laundry, mop, shine up and sweep again. Then I would read books, do some painting, play guitar, knit, and cook. Then I'll have some lunch. After my meal, I'll do puzzles, darts, and baking, paper-mâché, ballet and chess. Some pottery, ventriloquy, candle making. I might stretch, possibly sketch, climb or sew a dress. The possibilities are endless, but I know I will wonder When will my life begin?
But what happens if Flynn Rider decides to pay me a visit as I'm stuck in my tower? I know I wouldn't react exactly like Rapunzel did. I probably not hit ANYONE with a frying pan. Regardless, Rapunzel will always be my favorite Princess.

New Fantasyland

Magic Kingdom is a perfect blend. It's the home to different parks inside the park. Sections such as Tomorrowland (a personal favorite), Fantasyland, Liberty Square, and Adventureland. The newest addition to Magic Kingdom is the New Fantasyland, an expansion of Fantasyland. New Fantasyland is full of more magical, and prince and princess-esque attractions. Most notably, additions of two new Castles. Welcome Belle and her castle, and Ariel and her castle. Inside Belle's castle, guests are able to eat at the Be Our Guest restaurant and explore Beast's Castle. The castle is only open to restaurant goers, and a reservation is required, so be sure to plan ahead. Continuing on the Beauty and the Beast trend, visitors are welcome to pay a visit to "Enchanted Tales with Belle." Visitors are welcomed into a room with Belle, as she relives the "Tale as Old as Time," with your help! You're invited to be a part of the magical story, acting out different characters like Mrs. Potts and Chip.Ending the Beauty experience by stopping by Gaston's Tavern for a cold drink.
For The Little Mermaid fans, there is no shortage of "Under the Sea" Magic. In "Under the Sea- Journey of the Little Mermaid" you can enter Prince Eric's castle, ride a clam shell, and relive the classic film. After stopping by the Castle, be sure to take a trip to Ariel's Grotto, where you can meet Ariel herself. Unlike other Character meet and greets, guests are able to get a one on one experience with the Mermaid. This gives guests the ability to learn about Ariel and Eric.
New Fantasyland has no shortage of their princesses now. It's a great addition to the already magical park that allows little princesses to feel even more royal.

Merry Christmas, Mickey Mouse!

Everyone knows that Disney likes to sprinkle magic onto anything in sight, and it's no secret that Disney out does themselves day in and day out. But what most people won't realize, is that Disney loves do celebrate any holiday with you.
Disney World's best celebration is right about the Christmas/Holiday season. Spanning from November until the New Year, Disney is decked-out in Holiday Cheer. Events include Mickey's Jingle Jungle parade in Animal Kingdom, The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios, and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom. You can also find special Holiday Dining within the Disney World Resort.
Everyone is in the Christmas Spirit! From Mickey to Minnie, and Donald and Daisy, everyone celebrates. Cinderella even put special Christmas lights on her castle for everyone to see. All in all, going to Walt Disney World around the Holidays should be on every Disney Fan's Bucket List.

Running

I've never ran a marathon, but after today I sure know what it feels like.
What started at 3 am was the beginning of a four day trip to Disney World. A trip that includes a day at each if the four Disney parks, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot.
Most of the day, at Animal Kingdom, we had spent on the Y.E.S. program, standing for Youth Education Series. During the "class" we learned about many different zoological jobs, and Disney jobs in general. We rode Expedition Everest, a fast pace thrill roller coaster that takes us through a journey through the Himalayan mountains, as we learned about how many jobs it takes for one ride. Then, we rode Kilimanjaro Safaris, which we were given a list of animals at had to mark down if the animal was visible or not. Visible as in, not only seeing their butt. After our safari we were taken behind the scenes to learn more. We learned about veterinarians and their role in care for the animals.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around the park. Actually wandering. One of the highlights of the day was watching "The Festival of the Lion King"
After eating food from Asia for dinner and wandering around some more, we were beat. We had counted the total number of hours we had been awake, every hour. The day was a big blur. As the park closed at 7pm, the group decided to spend some time in Downtown Disney, a shopping and entertainment plaza. We stopped at the "World of Disney" store and got lost three times in the giant store. The best part of the entire day was walking into the Ghirardelli Store and receiving free chocolate, and then getting free Mickey Mouse stickers moments later.
After a long, 20 hour day, it's finally time to sleep and get ready for the rest of the weekend.
I hope I dream of Mickey Waffles.

If Princesses Had Twitter...

Imagine if any of the Disney Princesses has a Twitter.

@Cinderella: I lost my slipper! #crap #help
@CrazyHairGirl: I want to see the lights #whenwillmylifebegin
@Merida: Guess who just turned her mom into a bear...

Today, us humans are glued to our phones, or our computers, or our tablets. We want to stay connected in any way possible. How do we stay connected? Social Media. The numbers are scary.

92% of all social media users use Facebook. 52% of all users are active Facebook users. There are 955 million monthly active users. Because of all of the users, If Facebook was a country, it would be the 3rd largest in the world.
Twitter was created in 2006, as a way for people to "Follow" you and see exactly what you're doing. In 2007 there was a total of 5,000 tweets sent. 2011 had over 200,000,000. There are over 140 million active Twitter users. About 36% of these users tweet at least once a day. On average, there are 750 tweets sent each second. That means by the time it takes you to read this, there will be at least 135,000 tweets sent.

But why is our current generation so obsessed with social media?

The first social media site was created in the 1960s. Pandora Radio was created in 2000, and is still used to this day. There are so many social media sites that go unrecognized. When was the last time you've heard someone say "I saw that on Reddit"? Probably never. But why? We want something that can keep us connected to other people. We want something that will allow us to find out more about a person. We want to know what's happening in their lives, and we want to know it as soon as we can.

But why is our generation so obsessed with social media?
the answer is simple. It's because we've grown up with social media. The very first social media site that we used was Myspace, which was created in 2002. In 2002, our generation wasn't even ten years old. When we were in middle school, Myspace was the thing to have. Once Facebook came into the picture, it was goodbye MySpace. As Twitter and Instagram became a thing, Facebook was soon knocked down a few levels, but it wasn't completely an outcast. The older generation didn't grow up with such reliable social media as we did. Our parents and Grandparents can live without Social Media, while we cannot. So why are we obsessed? We grew up with it. Times are changing, and they will continue to change forever.

So what if Disney Princesses had Twitter? What if Any Disney Film included Social media?
Maybe Prince Charming would see Cinderella tweet about her missing slipper, and would find her right away, leaving out part of the story we know and love.
Rapunzel spends her free time during the day sweeping, cleaning, reading, painting, and exercising. How does our generation spend it? on Social Media sites.
What if Andy from Toy Story used Social Media instead of playing with Woody, Buzz and the rest of the Toy Story gang? Simply put, there wouldn't even be a Toy Story to tell.

What would our lives be without Social Media?