UPDATE: The Art of Animation Resort

In the previous post, I told you that Disney’s newest value resort, The Art of Animation Resort, is now taking reservations.  Well, I have found out some more details.

You can book a family suite for travel dates beginning on or after September 1, 2012 in a Finding Nemo or Cars suite.  Rates start at $279 per night.

You can book a family suite for travel dates beginning on or after October 1, 2012 in a Finding Nemo, Cars or Lion King suite.  Rates start at $265 per night.

These suites sleep up to six people and feature a master bedroom, two bathrooms, and three separate sleeping areas.  This is so exciting because this is another fantastic option for larger families or for families and friends planning a Magical Gathering!  Head over to Disney’s website to start planning your magical vacation and please let me know about your stay!!

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort news – Disney’s Art of Animation Resort now open for reservations beginning June 2012

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Disney’s Art of Animation Resort news – Disney’s Art of Animation Resort now open for reservations beginning June 2012

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Make your Disney Dreams Come True!

57 days until applications open…

Okay, so I have found this really cool website that lists all the current contests that will get you to WDW, Disneyland, on a Disney Cruise and even to Disney’s newest resort in Hawaii!  For those of you who want to make your Disney dreams come true, here is your chance!  Much luck and Pixie Dust!

http://winatriptodisney.com/contest-entry-software/

OMG!!! Enter to win a night’s stay in the Cinderella Castle Suite!

 light colored star animationOMG!!!!!!!!!   Here is your chance to make an ultimate Disney dream come true!  Delta vacations is giving away a trip for four to WDW for three nights, of which one night is in the Cinderella Castle Suite in the Magic Kingdom!!

This amazing prize also includes:

2 nights at a DELUXE Disney hotel (that’s like the Beach Club or the Boardwalk!!)

Round trip airfare with Magical Express transfers

Park Hopper Tickets

If you are dreaming of an ultimate Disney vacation, here’s your chance!!  GOOD LUCK and much Pixie Dust!

Go to the following link to enter the contest:

http://winatriptodisney.com/delta-vacations-stay-in-cinderellas-castle-sweepstakes/ 

 

“A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, When You’re Fast Asleep…”

58 Days Until Applications open………….

So last night I had a dream that I was accepted to the Walt Disney World Mom’s Panel! It was one of those dreams that was so vivid that I woke up and really thought I was going to WDW for training!  When I realized that it was just a dream, I was disappointed (to say the least).  Then I remembered the last time I had a Disney dream that I wished and hoped and vividly dreamed would come true…access to the elusive and very special Cinderella Castle Suite in the Magic Kingdom.  (I always knew that there was an apartment in the castle that was intended for Walt Disney’s family, but was never used, and I became obsessed with this.)  So, when I first heard about this suite during the Year of a Million Dreams, I knew that I had to go to WDW to try to get into that suite.  At the time, the only way to get in was to be randomly selected at one of the WDW parks; basically you had to be in the right place at the right time, since Cast Members didn’t even know who was going to be selected until a computer told them where to go and who to pick (ie: the second family of four who is sitting in the third ship on the Peter Pan ride).  The Disney-ite in me researched this Year of a Million Dreams in-depth, so I knew what to expect when I got to the parks.  Needless to say, I did not get picked to stay overnight in the Cinderella Castle Suite, however when I was walking through the castle that evening, I saw the family who did get chosen go through that very special door into the vestibule to take them up to the suite.  To my husband’s great embarrassment, I stopped the lucky winner and asked him if he was going up to the suite; when he said, “Yes,” with a radiant smile on his face, I literally burst into tears (to my husband’s greater embarrassment).  I knew that I had to get into that suite; it was a very important chapter in my Disney journey.  I went home and thought and wished and dreamed about being in that suite; one dream was so vivid, much like the dream I had last night, that I woke up feeling as if I had been there.  So I decided to write a letter to WDW Guest Relations, because if there is any place in the world that is committed to making a person’s dream come true, it had to be Disney.  My faith and trust and of course, some Pixie Dust, made this dream come true!  Somehow my letter got to the Vice President of Guest Relations, Debbie B., my fairy godmother, who was so touched by my Disney story, that she arranged for me and my family to have a private tour of the Cinderella Castle Suite!  MY DREAM HAD COME TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!  The Cinderella Castle Suite was as luxurious and magical as I had imagined.  For those thirty minutes, I truly felt like a princess! (The guide was even impressed with my knowledge of the suite; I asked him about the Hidden Mickey’s that are two of the most hidden in all of the WDW Resort.) 

This is just another reason why I believe in the power of dreams and the power of faith in what one’s true heart’s desire is.  If I didn’t dream and wish to complete that chapter of my Disney journey, I never would have gotten there.  If I didn’t dream and wish and hope for a child to start a Disney journey of his or her own, I never would have had my beautiful twins!  They had the most magical introduction to their Disney journies, the Cinderella Castle Suite (too bad they may not remember it, as they were only six months old).   I will continue to dream and have faith and trust in my dreams, but more importantly I am teaching my children to have faith and hope and to trust in their dreams.  Imagine, Walt Disney’s dream has turned into the most magical place on Earth; he truly understood the power of dreams.  I hope that I can continue my Disney journey with the opportunity to help others achieve their Disney dreams, no matter how big or small.  Being on the WDW Mom’s Panel is not only my dream, but a dream of infusing a little more magic into the world and making the world a better place, a place in which people can continue to believe in the power of their dreams.  So tonight I will go to bed with Cinderella’s words in my mind and heart, “A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you’re fast asleep…Have faith in your dreams and one day, your rainbow will come shining through…No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dreams that you dream will come true.”

Share your magical memories…

I would love to hear about your magical Disney memories!!  Share them here!

Is Pixie Dust just fluff?

Unfortunately many people believe that Mickey Mouse and Pixie Dust are child’s play; that Disney just a place to take your kids once, waste a lot of money on overpriced food, souvenier Mickey Mouse ears and wait on endless lines for a 60 second ride.  Well, I feel very sorry for those people.  What they are missing is what Mickey Mouse and WDW symbolize: dreams.  How many people lose faith in their dreams and believe that dreams are only things of one’s imagination that can never come true?  How many young girls dream of their Prince Charming coming to take them away to a magical kingdom?  How many of these girls then say to themselves, “That is just a fairytale and could never happen”?  How may people grow up and grow out of dreaming?  Not me!

I was lucky enough to find a man who shares my love and passion for all things Disney, who believes in the magic behind the mouse.  In November of 2000, my Prince Charming proposed marriage to me in the Rose Garden in the Magic Kingdom.  I was on my annual visit to WDW with my family, and upon check-in at our hotel, I received an invitation to a party at the Rose Garden in the Magic Kingdom.  Thinking that I was going to be on a float in the parade (another one of my Disney dreams), I eagerly awaited my private tea party in front of Cinderella’s castle.  When I got to the Rose Garden, my then boyfriend surprised me with a marriage proposal complete with a diamond ring in a glass slipper.  Of course I said yes to my Prince Charming, and we did live happily ever after.  We continued our Disney fairytale with a magical honeymoon on the Disney Magic cruise ship in which we decided to “own” part of the magic by purchasing our timeshare with the Disney Vacation Club, with the hope of passing on our love for Disney to our children and to continue to make many more Disney memories, which we have.

However, there was a time in my life when everything seemed to being going wrong; it seemed as if fate were against my husband and I.  There were days when things were so bad that I didn’t know what to do or where to go.  It was often at this point that I would go to my sanctuary in my mind, Walt Disney World.  It was during this time that I continued to remind myself of the words that my mother sang to me since I was a little girl, “A dream is a wish your heart makes.”  I clung to these words and put my faith and trust into my dreams for a family and a happy future.  At one point, I was actually in the Magic Kingdom  and wished for a child, a child that I did not think I would ever be able to have.  When those fireworks went off behind Cinderella’s castle, I decided to “Wish upon a star,” and I put my faith and trust in my dream to be a mother and to one day return to the Magic Kingdom with a child in my arms.  Little did I know that I would return a year late with my twins!  I truly believe that wishing on that little bit of pixie dust and having “faith in my dreams” would make that rainbow “shine through.” 

So maybe it may seem childish or silly to some people that I love anything Disney so very much.  Maybe it seems obsessive or weird.  But is it wrong to have faith and dreams?  I don’t think so.  I think there is magic in th world and that Disney is just an example of that special kind of magic that if you hold it in your heart, will help you through the darkest of days and make celebrations even more special.

Welcome Me!

Okay, so I have never done something like this before; I have never written anything to publish online because I figured who cares about what I did today.  But now I am on summer vacation (I’m a teacher) and am home all day with my two-year old twins and have no one to talk to.  I am also starting to prepare for achieving one of my lifelong dreams of actually being an integral part of the Walt Disney Company.  On September 12, 2011, at 9:00 AM, the Walt Disney Mom’s Panel will be accepting applications for the 2012 Mom’s Panel!  I am going to win one of those coveted spots…faith, trust and Pixie Dust go a long way!!  So I would like to chronicle my journey and along the way share with you my magical Mickey moments both before and after becoming a mom.  (I am proud to say that my kids have inherited the Disney genes, but more on that later.)  I will also give you my Walt Disney World hints and tips as well as answer any questions you might have about an upcoming WDW vacation or Disney Cruise.  So Disney Mom’s Panel, HERE I COME!!  61 days until applications open…