Disney Wordless Wednesday - Love Is In The Air

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Happy Chanukah Night 7

Tonight we spent the night with my husband's family.  My daughter was very excited to get to spend some time with aunts, uncles and cousins.  As a special treat, my brother in law was in from Vermont.  We had a great Chanukah party!

Tonight's song is "The Hanukkah Song" from Special Agent Oso.  Disney Junior is big in my house, and I am always happy when they show something for Chanukah too.  This song came from an episode where Oso helped children get ready for Chanukah, Christmas and Kwanza.  I'm not sure how long Disney Junior will keep their Magical Holidays on their site, but be sure to check it out.  Oso has an activity than encompasses the three holidays from the show.

Disney Wordless Wednesday - Thanks for the Memories

Mr. Toad in the Haunted Mansion Cemetery

I apologize for the fence post.

Disney Trip - Raglan Road

Again, I apologize that there are no pictures.  I think I was too busy keeping Sprout and Squeaker entertained (no naps) to take pictures.

I was looking forward to trying Raglan Road.  I had asked Jolly Green Daddy to try a few times, and he was reluctant.  On this trip, he agreed.  I think it was the best meal we had the entire week.

We loved the atmosphere.  The step dancers were a great way to enhance the environment.  They were great.  We also had a fabulous waiter.  When I asked if the soups he mentioned were vegetarian, he said that he thought so, but would double check, and then told me the dishes on the menu that I could eat.  This was very helpful, as I normally have to ask if menu items have any meat in them.

Before we ordered the waiter brought us their Irish Soda Bread.  I have had Irish Soda Bread before (I think I even made it for a project in school), and have never been a fan.  Raglan Road's bread was great.  It was also a great filler for Sprout as I fed Squeaker and we tried to decide what to eat.  If you would like to see our options, you can see the menu, at AllEars.com.

I started with a Butternut Squash Bisque.  JGD (who doesn't like Butternut Squash) thought it was great.  Sprout loved it too.  I thought it was a good soup, but was disappointed as a Butternut Squash soup, as it didn't taste like squash.  However, I had no problem in finishing it all.  I then shared the Raglan Risotto with Sprout.  It was a basic risotto with shitake mushrooms and peas.  This was a real treat for me as most restaurants use chicken broth in their risotto.

Jolly Green Daddy took advantage of the fact that we were at an Irish pub and had a Guiness.  He started with a Caesar Salad, which he really enjoyed.  And then had the Lambo.  This was a lamb shank that was braised to the point where the meat was falling off the bone.  JGD loved this!

We then finished our meal with the Strawberry & Apple Crumble.  This was enjoyed by all of us.

We would go back to Raglan Road in a heartbeat.  I reiterate that I believe it was the best meal we had all week.

Wordless Wednesday - M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party 2009

Disney Trip - The Hotel

This time we stayed at Port Orleans - Riverside.  I apologizer that I don't have any pictures of the room or the resort.  I really have no excuse...  The above Mickey greeted us on our first trip to Port Orleans in May 2009.

They have since redone the rooms.  We stayed in the Mansions both times.  To see pictures of the resort and the newly refurbished rooms in the Acadian House visit AllEars.com.

This is our favorite Moderate Resort at Disney World.  We find that setting to be very calming and makes us feel worlds away from the hustle and bustle of the parks.  (Though I will say that we feel that way at many of the resorts.)  We also love that we can a take a boat ride down the Sassagoula River to Downtown Disney.  It is so nice to feel so far away from everything, but be so close.

It is a good size resort, but if you request one of the rooms in a closer building the walk to the Riverside Mill Food Court (I will do a review of this in a day or 2) is not that bad.  There are several bus stops around the resort, so you don't have to walk to the main building to go to the parks.  We drove to the parks (it's easier with the double stroller), so I can't really talk about bus times to the parks.  Though I will say in general, this is the one frustration JGD and I have no matter which hotel we're in.  But it always seems like the bus we want is the one that is running off schedule or left just before we got there.

There are also several smaller pools in addition to the main one on Ol' Man River Island.  Sprout loved the big pool, the kiddie pool and the playground in this area.  She wanted to go down the slide into the pool, but JGD and I were not sure how Sprout would handle the splash at the end.  We would like her swimming to be a little stronger.  There were several parents with kids a little older than Sprout who were either catching their kids as they came down the slide or had them in life jackets.  Honestly, I had to laugh at the kids in the life jackets as the skidded across the surface of the water at the base of the slide.

A great perk of the resort is Bob Jackson, also known as the Piano Man.  He plays at the River Roost Wednesday through Sunday nights.  His show is a great one if you can catch it.  It's kept very family friendly, so have no fear about bringing kids to the bar to watch.  He sings plenty of classics (including some for the kids in all of us) and has a great time interacting with the crowd.  This was a great way to end the night and wind down.  You can see some of his performance here.

We definitely recommend this resort.

I will post more about our trip including restaurant reviews and thoughts about our days in the parks.

Wordless Wednesday - Disney

Flower and Garden 2010

Fast Passing Our Way Through Disneyworld

Well, in reality we only Fast-passed our way through Epcot and Hollywood studios.  Seeing as how we only went to those 2 parks.  In two days of parks, we didn't ride anything without using a Fast Pass.

How did we do this???

We did Disney's Give a Day, Get a Disney Day Program.

Now Nana and Uncle J used their vouchers the "normal" way.  They took their free day and upgraded it to a 2-Day ticket, which was a fair amount of savings!

JGD and I are gluttons for punishment and have Annual Passes.  (I can't even begin to tell you how dangerous these things are!)  So we got a Special Exchange Fast Pass card (I believe they also gave these out for Birthdays last year too).

This card meant that we could get a Fast Pass to use immediately for a variety of rides.  In the parks, they split their fast pass rides into two groups.  In each group you could get 3 of these fast passes.

For example:  

Hollywood Studios

Group A 

• Tower of Terror
• Rock n Roller Coaster
• Toy Story mania

Group B

• Star Tours
• Lights, Motors, Action
• Voyage of the Little Mermaid

So we did a Fast Pass for every ride in Group A (and Star Tours).  We skipped the shows.  

This was great and it shortened our wait times considerably.  We didn't use the Baby Swap option because we already had the Fast Pass that we would have gotten for the Baby Swap.  

It was also great with Toy Story Midway Mania because we got the immediate Fast Pass and also got one for later that day.  This meant we got to do the ride twice that day, and didn't have to wait in the line that had a minimum wait of 40 minutes.

This was a great way to do the parks and I'm a bit sad that we won't be able to do it again this year.  Who knows what next year holds???

Tot School - The Disney Version

Sprout is 21 months old

Okay, okay.  So we've been slacking a bit recently.  Sorry about that.  This week Nana and Uncle J came to visit.  Which made Sprout very happy!  We don't get to see my family that often as they live in New England.  At some point we decided that we would go to Disney to see the Flower and Garden Show while they were visiting.  This became a 2 night, 2 day trip.  We did try to do a little this week, but didn't really accomplish much.  I will take any real Tot School and use it next week, when we actually do our Butterfly (insect) theme.

While they were visiting, we went to visit Bubbie and Great-Grandpa.  We had a great time at lunch and hanging out at there house for a bit.  I'm sorry I don't have any pictures.  I tend to let my mom take most of the pics when she's around.  When I get some from her, I will add them in.

We went to Disneyworld Tuesday night and stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter.

Our first day, we went to EPCOT for the Flower and Garden Show.  Sprout had a great time checking out the topiary creations, going on the rides, playing on the playground, and going to the Butterfly Garden.  She even got to see a butterfly up close when one landed on our carrier.  (Again, my mom took more pics than I, including one of the butterfly that landed on me.)  This was a great way to start our butterfly theme.  I'm hoping to take Sprout to another butterfly garden this week.

This is the only picture I was able to get while wearing Sprout.

Sprout is checking out all the fish in the Finding Nemo attraction.

Then we went to Hollywood Studios.  This was Uncle J's pick, since he was subjected to flowers and picture taking the day before.

This was fun for all of us.  We went on the Behind the Scenes Tour (which we all said was much better when the park was MGM).  

Sprout is ready to get on with the tour.  (Notice where Nana and I are sitting in relation to JGD, the camera.)

Nana and I sat on the opposite side of the tram from Catastrophe Canyon, and JGD was the closest to the canyon.  However, Nana was the wettest of all of us in the end.  Who knew the water would travel over the roof of the tram and land on us?

Okay, let me start this section off by mentioning that I am one of those moms that lets her daughter watch TV.  I do monitor what she watches and I am always trying to lessen the amount of time we watch.  We are Playhouse Disney fans.  (This might explain why Sprout can name all of Mickey and his friends, the Little Einsteins and say "Toodles".) This meant that one of Sprout's favorite parts of our trip was meeting the Little Einstein's.  


Here she is meeting Leo and Annie.

She also loved meeting June and Quincy.

Sprout love the Playhouse Disney Live show.

JGD's favorite part of the show was watching the guy "backstage" set the settings up to change.

My favorite part was watching the kids (especially my own) watching the show.  And the Disney cast member working the show.  Notice the first cast member who was making sure we were all doing what we were told.

Notice the happy, smiling face on the cast member who was interested in getting everyone participating.

Here is the cast member who relieved him.

Hmmmm....

Sprout loved the show.  Here is saying "Toodles."

We all had a great time on the rides.  JGD and I went on Tower of Terror (which I did not enjoy at all.  Give me a roller coaster any day!)  When we got in line, we were given the "red card" that helps them to determine the wait time for the line.  Since they started using these, I've wanted to be the person who gets to carry it through the the line.  I don't know why... but I did. 

In case you wanted to know what the card says...

And the Spanish side!

Now it's time for us to go on Toy Story Mania (for the second time).  I think this was the ride that everyone loved!

Have a magical week!


To see what people who actually did Tot School this week did, go to 1+1+1=1.

Can I love Disney and Be Green?

This has been quite the debate in my mind for quite some time.  I lean toward green (obviously), but I also love one of the most commercial organizations there is, Disney.  And I've always been like this.  Recently, the dichotomy of my two loves has been getting to me.

On our last couple trips to Disney we haven't bought all that much, and for the Jolly Green Mommy it's been organic t-shirts and reusable bags that fold that small and can be attached to the diaper bag.  

But still...  I had problems finding common ground between my two loves.  So how have I made these two parts of me mesh.


1. You recycle at Disney whether you realize it or not.


Disney hotels now supply you with bags to recycle your newspapers and plastic bottles, but that's not what I'm talking about.  How do I know that everyone at Disney recycles?  A cast member told me!  Last December when we went to see the hotels for the holidays JGD got us on the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise.  (This was awesome!)  When we got off the boat, I asked one of the cast members if there was a recycling bin so I could recycle my water bottle.  I was told that Disney sorts the trash to separate the recyclables from the garbage.  

Now, I know that Disney still produces a large amount of trash, but they do what they can to lessen it by sorting through the trash to reduce the waste.


2. Disney Friends for Change: Project Green


How can I not love anything that encourages kids to get involved and help.  And help go green.  This is great for kids who do not live in a house where being green is important.  These kids need exposure from the outside to show them the importance of taking care of the world they live in.  This is a great thing for Disney to do.  And I give kudos to the Disney stars who decided that this was important enough for them to get involved too!


3. Disney's Planet Challenge

This is a competition for 4-6th grade classrooms.  They are looking for projects that give students the push to change things in their area for the better in an effort to improve the environment in "their own backyard."


Again, I love the fact that this get students and children involved.  They are the future, and it is up to them to makes these positive changes so that they can have a happy and healthy world to live in.


4. Oceans


Not only is Disney putting this movie out there for everyone to see, but they are going to establish a new protected area for everyone who sees the movie between April 22-28th.  


I also know that when you take part in Disney DiveQuest or Seas Aqua Tour, Disney takes part of your payment and donates it to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund.


This one I know because JGD had the opportunity to Dive in the Living Seas when he did DiveQuest.  Which could only be described as awesome!

5. Living with the Land


Now, as a child, I hated this ride.  I thought it was boring and would do anything I could to get out of riding it.  On our past couple trips, I have been looking forward to this ride to see what Disney is growing in their "living laboratories."  I love learning about the new techniques that are being used for agriculture around the world


6.  That's not all!


I know that this is only the starting point of what Disney does to help the environment.  To see more of what they do go to

• Disney Public Affairs - Conservation Intiatives
• What does Walt Disney World Resort do to help the environment?
• Merchandise Bags

I do want to mention that I realize that there is more that Disney can continue to change.  Their buses could run on electricity, natural gas, E85 or hybrid energy.  Hopefully, we'll see this change one day in the not too distant future.  Then again, there is more that I can in my home.  Including replacing our current cars with hybrids....  (one day!)