A Very Disney Christmas

I didn't go to Disney for Christmas this year (I never have, though it is a goal of mine!) but I did get a lot of Disney magic in the form of presents!  First of all, my brother and brother-in-law picked out the cutest Disney jewelry for me:

Mickey and Minnie earrings (too cute!!):

Mickey rhinestone and glass necklace filled with tiny gems, on a long gold chain:

They also got me other cute things, but this is strictly Disney today :)  My friend Jenny got me this adoooorable Mickey tea-for-one teapot!  She ordered it from JAPAN!  They don't have cute stuff like this over here, and I absolutely adore Tokyo Disney.  Sigh.  I'll be back some day!

She also got me these awesome Elsa socks!  Haha so cute:

Santa left a Winnie the Pooh Tsum-Tsum in my stocking, along with Frozen Band-Aids!

My parents got me this beautiful Alex+Ani bracelet that I saw on my last Disney trip and hadn't picked up for myself.  I checked online after returning from my trip and it wasn't available!  It was a park exclusive.  Well, since then it has become available on the website and my parents snagged it for me :)

They also got me this Chip mug since I became obsessed with Mrs. Potts after making those cookies of her a couple posts ago!

I got Silly Symphony and Toy Story Vinylmations:

And I gasped when I opened this one!  I had told my parents there was this really cute frame I liked in Hollywood Studios on my last visit, and I thought, "you don't need this."  Just like the Alex+Ani bracelet, I looked it up online but to no avail.  My dad found it on some Mouse Ears website and ordered it for me!  I have the perfect picture from that park to frame.  I'm so excited, and I was so touched!

And lastly, I got my dad tickets for us to go see The Little Mermaid at the White Plains Performing Arts Center!  It was last night, and it was wonderful!  I saw the Broadway production 5 years ago and this one was just as amazing!  Of course it was a smaller scale, but they did some great staging and production work.  The orchestra was wonderful, and the props and costumes were so colorful and fun! And of course all the performers had Broadway-quality voices!!  It is running till January 4 so if you live in or near Westchester, NY then I definitely recommend attending one of their last performances!!

Halloween Cupcakes and Nails

Disney was holding a "Haunt Your Disney Side" contest this October to win a midnight party at the Haunted Mansion in Disney World, and a one-night stay in Cinderella Castle!  The categories for entry were costumes, decorations, desserts and pumpkin carvings.  My entry didn't win, but I had fun making it!  I chose Mickey and Minnie Halloween Cupcakes, and this is how it went!

I started with some cute Halloween cupcake wrappers from Michaels:

Of course they weren't the foil kind so the oil bled through and the designs weren't very clear anymore. At least they were fun for me to look at while I baked!

I bought all the candy for decorating at Fuzziwig's--Jellybeans, sour candy tape, mini M&Ms, candy bones, and much more that I tried for ears, noses and eyes… but the candy I listed is all I ended up using!  Oh, and this TINY CONE with marshmallow that was just TOO CUTE not to buy… and I used it as a witch hat, as you'll see below :)  (Do you like my Frankenstein nails?  I have more Disney-ish nails at the end of this post!)

Now, if this were my cupcake blog, I'd go through many more steps with pictures, but it's more about the finished product here on my Disney blog, so here's Mickey (pre-vampire):

Oreo ears, mini M&Ms glued with frosting to vanilla jellybeans, a black licorice jellybean for his nose, sour candy tape cut into a tongue shape, and frosting.  There is no frosting around his face because the chocolate cupcake itself was the perfect color!

And here's Minnie, much the same except for her chocolate-sprinkles eyelashes (and pre-witch)!

Here is a side-view of Minnie (with her witch hat on) just to show you how funny it looked when it wasn't at just the right angle!

It was meticulous work making their faces--I used an offset spatula and vanilla frosting dyed to just the right color (some yellow, a teensy bit of red), and spread it on in the face shape.  As you can see, each "mouse" was actually 3 cupcakes.  So I didn't make more than the two I needed for my photo submission!  I made some fun Halloween-y "background" cupcakes with what frosting and sprinkles I had left:

So here it is, my submission for the "Haunt Your Disney Side" contest!  Like I said, I didn't win, but it was fun making this, and now I can put it in my scrapbook :)  Mickey has 2 little white-frosting fangs, a candy bone as his vampire bow tie, and sour candy tape as his vampire-cape collar!  Minnie has a frosted and sprinkled cone as her witch hat, with sour candy tape as the ribbon! 

And, as I promised, here is a picture of the nails I did for Halloween: poison apple nails!  All using nail polish and a dotting tool!  Hope you had a happily haunting Halloween!

Tony's Town Square is Perfect for Lady & The Tramp Lovers

Since this was Jim's first Disney trip, I wanted to fit in some extra special things.  He and I love Lady and the Tramp and watched the movie again before our trip.  We planned a dinner at Tony's Town Square at Magic Kingdom for our third night in Disney.

I'd never been there before, and I didn't quite know where it was!  Turns out I'd never even noticed it on all my trips to the Magic Kingdom!  It's right next to the bake shop (I probably never noticed because I'd always rushed there!), before all the little shops on Main Street, to the right as you enter.  (To the left of that building where you can meet Tinkerbell & Mickey.)  

The theme was absolutely everywhere.  Their reservation desk was adorable:

Their menus had Tony on them:

Even the bathrooms were adorable…

And we sat right next to the fountain!

The food was fantastic!!  I had the shrimp scampi (one of my favorite dishes anywhere we go) and Jim had the seasonal ravioli (this season was chicken marsala).  I also had Ariel's Punch (pink lemonade with Sprite, I think) which came in a cute plastic, lidded cup with a green, glowing Ariel clipped to the straw!  I kept it, obviously, and use it now as a flashlight for the interior of my purse :)

They brought us delicious focaccia bread and olive oil.  When our food arrived, all we did was shake our heads and smile after our first forkfuls.  It was beyond words.  

The only thing that made this not a perfect experience was the "celebration" aspect.  I had called over a month prior to our visit to add an anniversary celebration to our dinner.  I asked if they did anything special, and the woman on the phone said yes but she wasn't sure exactly what.  When we sat down, there was a ticket at our table that had "CELEBRATION" in all caps printed on the bottom.  I hadn't told Jim about my plans, and when our check arrived without any special recognition, I was sorely disappointed.  When Jim excused himself to use the men's room, I flagged down our waiter and asked him about it, saying it was supposed to be a surprise, and he said "We don't really do anything special for anniversaries.  A birthday, yes, we would sing and bring you ice cream.  I wished you a happy anniversary when I seated you.  But other than that…  You have to let them know beforehand."  I told him that I did let them know beforehand, and he said, "You need to remind them when you check in.  Maybe next year we can set the table for you with a tablecloth and wine."

Yeah.  Maybe next year.

So I guess if you are planning a celebration, let them know when you arrive.

Other than that, it is a great place to stop in for a delicious meal and great theming!  We didn't get any dessert (we were saving room for a Dole Whip anyway), but I did take a picture of this adorable plate one of the desserts came on (they were on display at the entrance--I wasn't hovering over someone else's table!):

And before we left, we made sure to look for Lady and the Tramp on a date in the back of the restaurant:

More Disney Nails

I love doing my nails.  I've never had them done at a nail salon, mostly because I have too much fun trying out new styles and techniques and am often indecisive.  If I don't like what I've done, I can just take it off without feeling guilty about spending too much!  Anyway, in anticipation for this past Disney trip, I did my nails in quite a few Disney themes.  This first one was inspired by Aladdin on Broadway, which Jim took me to as a Christmas present (we saw it this past March).  They are Princess Jasmine-inspired (with my little Vinylmation Abu keychain)!

I tried some Up nails!  I'd seen this idea on many instragram accounts and finally attempted it myself, although I was out of white nail polish so I had to use White-Out, which didn't come out that well!  I've seen these done more recently with tons of balloons all over the top 4 nails, and the house a lot more detailed with pastels, but I didn't have any tools at the time besides dotters!  (Now I have a detail brush but I haven't quite figured out the best way to use it yet!)

I'm not a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland but I do love the art!  I have a lot of pinks so I decided to make Cheshire Cat nails.  This was my first time using gold striping tape (it is difficult to work with!!) and I had a thin brush for the painted stripes.  It reminds me of the Pop Vinyl collectibles, since I gave the cat 2 small round eyes!

When we'd officially booked our trip, I celebrated by giving myself the Minnie Manicure they seem to offer at the Saratoga Springs spa.  I thought Disney would offer crazy-awesome themed manicures, but this was the only one I could find!  I used french manicure nail strips which I still need practice with!  I'm holding my Minnie Mouse phone handset here :)

My friend Katherine and I love Winnie the Pooh so I made a classic Pooh on my thumb holding onto that big red balloon!  I used nail beads for the bees that surround him.  I was very happy with this!  My summer campers were thoroughly impressed!  (The beads fell off overnight because I was reluctant to use a topcoat.  Whenever I use a topcoat it makes my nail art smudge in the direction of the brush.  Any tips?)

My piece de resistance, Lady and the Tramp nails!  I am most proud of these!!  I think they are the best nails I've done yet!  Jim & I love this movie, and I challenged myself by attempting an homage.  Lady is wearing a yellow rhinestone as her ID tag (which also fell off by morning haha!  But I had a gold paint dot underneath anyway).  

The "cement" on my thumbnail was really fun (in the movie they add their paw prints to an already-drawn heart in the cement)!  I coated it thickly with gray (essie's "chinchilly"), then drew on it with a dotting tool.  You could see the blue underneath so when it dried a little, I blotted on more gray.  It came out better than I had hoped!  Here's a little step-by-step I put on my instagram (you can follow me at @elysebuckley):

And finally I bought a set of mini nail polishes at Sir Mickey's in Fantasyland while we were at Magic Kingdom.  They are villain-themed (aaah!!) but I bought them anyway!  I painted these last night (large circles are really hard to do!!  I used the brush from the bottle, but there has to be a better way.  Anyone have ideas?  I wonder if there is a tiny sponge they make for that..).  The gold is nice and opaque, and the silver pops on dark colors.  I had to use about 4 coats of the blue to make it this dark--it's not as clean as the other colors.  I didn't try the purple yet, and the black was my own.

Do you love Disney nail art?  Send me a link to your blog or instagram account in the message area below!

Short Tips For Your Upcoming Disney Visit!! (with plenty more posts to come)

It's been forever since my last real Disney World post, and that's because I hadn't been there since 2012 (as a kid I was used to going with my family every 4 years, so it shouldn't feel like it was too long ago, but it does) and it's hard to post about Disney without visiting!

First, I have to say how wonderful it was to have Memory Maker.  We purchased it before our trip so that knocked $50 off the usual price.  It costs $14.95 to download ONE PHOTO if you don't have Memory Maker.  At $149.99 (if you purchase it during your visit it's the full price at $199.99) you can download all of the pictures you take with PhotoPass photographers throughout the parks (there are even photographers at the water parks), and photos from rides that take your picture are automatically linked to your account!  We took over 140 picture so it was definitely a bargain!

If you are DisneyBounding (dressed up as a character from Disney) and happen to meet that character, they give you LOTS of attention (at least that was my experience with Sulley, and I've seen other pictures posted from other DisneyBounding fans).  Cast Members may also recognize your outfit!

FastPasses (or FastPass +'s) are a must for the big-ticket rides!  The one we wanted the most, Toy Story Midway Mania in Hollywood Studios, had an 80-minute stand-by wait, and we cruised right through with our FastPasses.  If you want a guaranteed FastPass, make sure you have a MagicBand.  That way you can reserve your FastPass+ selections months before your trip!  I tried to reserve another FP+ for Toy Story Midway Mania two days prior to our next Hollywood visit and it was completely booked.  We ended up waiting 65 minutes stand-by (yes, the ride is that good).

If you are celebrating something (anniversary, birthday, first visit, whatever), definitely tell the people checking you in at your hotel.  You get a huge pin that you wear around the parks and everyone working there wishes you a happy celebration!    

If you are making dining reservations, be sure to "add a celebration" too.  Not all restaurants will acknowledge it, but if you have it added to all your reservations, you may get a little something (our Character Breakfast at the Crystal Palace had Mickey confetti on our table as we arrived and gave us a cupcake with a lit candle for us to make a wish and blow out together.  And it was delicious)!

Some shops will hold purchases you'd like to make but don't want to carry around the park!  You don't pay for them but they put them aside.  If you return before the store closes, you can buy them whenever you're ready to leave.  We tried this with a shop in Epcot France (wine glasses, a bottle of wine, and a heavy box of chocolates), but didn't have the time or energy to walk halfway across the "world" to retrieve them.  Good thing they don't charge you first!  You may also have them delivered to your room, but they warned me that there is an extra charge (I didn't find out how much it was).  We did end up buying those souvenirs when we returned a couple days later!

Drink a lot of water and, if possible, take the bus back to your hotel in the middle of the day.  If you don't have Park Hopper (we did not), you can return to the park you were visiting that same day.  If you don't have time to go back to your hotel, find an indoor or cool, shady spot to sit down and have a meal so you can recharge and rehydrate!  Your feet will be aching, and if you don't eat, your spirits may be low!  It's very easy to not relax because there's so much to see.  Sometimes you just have to push yourself out of the park, knowing you will still have time when you return!

Hollywood Studios' 25th Anniversary Cupcake From Scratch

A couple months ago (May 1), Disney's Hollywood Studios celebrated their 25th anniversary.  If you were there, you may have bought this delicious, chocolate-hazelnut cupcake.  If not, you are in luck!  Disney's official blog site has shared it with us, and (a couple months late) I tried it out.  You can read all about it on my cupcake blog!  Here's how ours came out:

Flight, Memory Maker, and Dining Reservations!

I have a ton of planning questions now that our Disney trip is getting closer (next month!! Aaaahh!!), and you might, too!  It does require some work to get all your answers, so hopefully you had some of the same questions as me and you just have to read this to get yours answered.

Flight Changes: My boyfriend and I thought we should change our flight to later on our last day (our current one is 7:30AM--yikes!--but it was the cheapest option) so we could spend a little more time in the magic (mini golfing, one last character breakfast, a trip to Downtown perhaps) before heading home.  Well I called the questions line: (407) 939-5277 and asked if it was possible and what prices I'd be looking at.  I was transferred to a Disney Flight person who made sure to tell me first that there is a $200-per-person charge for changing a flight.  Yeah.  So I decided to keep the flight we have, but out of curiosity, I asked him what the price difference would be for a later price.  There was a 5pm flight that would cost $300-something (I don't know if that was per person--I was too shocked to ask), so that would be AT LEAST $700 just to change our flights.  Which is like the cost of one more week in Disney, so, no, thank you.  So when you book your flight (we used the Magic Your Way package), make sure it's one you can live with!!


Memory Maker: First of all, the Disney Chat people are just THE. BEST.  I highly recommend using them whenever you find trouble on the website or have questions about planning.

Usually when you are looking around on their website, a little side-bar "Chat" word bubble will pop up just waiting to be clicked! Their support hours are between 7AM and 11PM (as I said in my earlier post).  I was about to pre-purchase the Memory Maker (normally $199 but $50 gets knocked off if you purchase before your visit, down to $149, and there is no tax or shipping unless you want it Express-mailed to you) when I saw "Delivery Options."  I thought this was an option that would be linked to our Magic Bands, so I was curious about what exactly was being shipped.  I asked the Chat folks and was told that you get a physical card.  I asked about the Magic Band and she said that since not everyone comes in with a Magic Band, everyone gets a card, and if you do have a Magic Band, you can link your card to it!  So you can do Will Call (pick it up at one of the theme parks), Domestic Shipping (free but you have to wait about 2 weeks), or Express (which is about $15).  I like getting exciting things in the mail, so I chose Domestic, and can't wait to get that magical envelope in my mailbox!

I also asked how you get the photos on your card from photographers and from rides that take your photo, and what exactly you get.  It is similar to the Photo Pass (which I used on my last visit) where you have the photographer scan your card, and your photo is linked.  On rides, you have to get your photo linked as well, which I guess means going up to the photo kiosk and telling them you'd like it on your account.  (This is wonderful because I love those candid ride photos!)  The price you're paying for the Memory Maker is what lets you download all of those photos to your computer.  Then you can do whatever you want with them, I imagine.  It is a hefty price, but compared to other services (I dare you to look at Spa prices), and considering what a convenient and personal gift this is, I think it's totally worth a splurge.  (I'll definitely let you know how it works out at the end of August when we get back from our vacation!)

Dining Reservations: I have made 2 dining reservations for this trip--one was online, and one was on the phone.  The online one--Character Breakfast at the Crystal Palace (with Winnie the Pooh and friends--SO EXCITED)--was a breeze.  I went into my Disney account, hovered over "Things to Do," and clicked on "Make Reservation" under "Dining."

I chose the Crystal Palace, put in the date and time I wanted, and clicked "Find a Table."  They showed me what times were available, and I chose from that.  Went through the payment process and it linked to my itinerary!  Just like that!  It is wonderful and efficient.

The phone was wonderful as well--they do all the legwork for you (or, I guess in this case, fingerwork).  I called, was transferred to Dining, and asked about the Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Tea Room in the Grand Floridian (I saw on the website it has temporarily relocated to Citrico's Lounge, also at the Grand Floridian, which is why I wanted to speak to someone about my reservation and make sure they are still offering the full tea service).  I asked if we would still have "tea" even though the website said the tea service was between 2pm and 5pm, and the only available reservation was at 1:10pm.  She said yes, the regular adult tea service would be available, not the children's one (which is fine for us!), and booked it for me very quickly, and linked it to My Disney Experience.  When we got off the phone it was sitting there in my itinerary without me lifting a finger!  

I am sure I'll be using the Chat and phone systems further down the line, and I'm not worried at all!  Disney really knows how to do customer service.

FastPass+ Planning, and That Elusive Be Our Guest FastPass!

It's so fun to plan a Disney vacation.  You get stuff like this:

It's a magnet, and it has all my personalized "important dates" to help me plan!  One of the dates was June 24.  On that date, I would be able to begin selecting my "FastPass+" experiences!  I spent some time talking to my boyfriend (who's never been!) asking what he wants to do while we're there, and together we selected a few "experiences" we'd like to book.  I received a second reminder a week before that date:

So I stayed up till midnight the night before to make my selections (since this is so new, I didn't know if they "ran out" or "got booked").  But when I signed into "My Disney Experience," they said I couldn't start booking my FastPass+ selections until August 23, the date of our arrival in Disney!!  I shot off a polite-but-honest-about-my-feelings e-mail (since their online chat services run from 7AM-11PM).  I tried again in the morning at 7 before leaving for work and was able to use it!  I wonder if everything on their site operates within those hours, too, 7-11?  (They did reply to my e-mail very politely and saying they could see I was able to book, yadda yadda, did I have any further questions.)

After snagging FP+s for everything I wanted (I didn't even plan all 5 days yet--I just wanted to make sure we had FP+s for Toy Story Mania!), I remembered hearing about Be Our Guest quick-service lunch FastPasses.  I googled it and found some weird, secretive-looking sign-in to a website that gives you the FP!  You need to enter your first & last names and an ID number.  Hmmmm.  I tried my booking confirmation number, but it had a mix of letters and numbers, and the letters just didn't show up!  

I read a Disney blog that said if you are staying at a Disney resort, you receive this FastPass to Be Our Guest, and they said that after you "check-in" you will get an e-mail invitation to it.  I checked in online (which you can do starting 60 days before your vacation begins) and waited.  No e-mail.  

I used the online chat service for probably the 3rd or 4th time since beginning planning this trip, and asked a very helpful cast member about it!  She said that we will indeed be receiving this FP, and that we will get it when we "finish" checking in, when we're physically at the hotel.  

So there you have it, folks, if you will be staying at a Disney resort hotel, you are given a FP to quick-service lunch at Be Our Guest Restaurant!!  You even get to pick your meal before you go!  How wonderful!  I was worried we wouldn't be able to see the restaurant (I want to take pictures even though I've pretty much seen them all on blogs already)--I didn't want to waste any time waiting in line especially since we already have a Character Breakfast booked at Magic Kingdom (Crystal Palace).  But now we're going, and I can't wait!!  Hope you can enjoy this perk, too!