New Examiner article up (with artsy pictures of Starbucks Disney Parks coffee cups - you know you want to look ;) ).
Starbucks finally coming to Main Street; Disneyana to merge with Disney Gallery
All I can say is...finally! Maybe now I won't get food poisoning from coffee on Disneyland property (sad, but true). Sure, the other coffee will still be available but you can bet that I will not be ordering it again! Tazo Tea, however...yesssss.
Oh, and don't worry - the same theming and props will remain at Market House, so purists can sleep soundly.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Get Your Greek On & 'A Whole New World' at Sephora
As part of Disney Parks' Limited Time Magic, Disneyland Resort will be hosting their very own Greek festival at the "it's a small world" Mall and Paradise Gardens. You can read more about it here.
What's this girl most excited for? Hercules and wine tasting, baby! No judging. Hercules was quite pleasing to the eye and you know it. Too bad Meg won't be joining him. Oh well, at least we also get a Greek sampling of the Food and Wine Festival. I wish they would bring that back. Maybe next year? Testing the waters?
Oh yeah, and remember how I told you that the Sephora Cinderella Collection was only to be the first in a long line of Disney Princess collections? Well, Jasmine now has her own wares out in stores. I snapped a few shots of the new makeup at Downtown Disney in Anaheim.
No actual jasmine in the notes? That's surprising. Anyhow, the perfume is appropriately titled 'A Whole New World.' As for new additions, we now also have a set of eyeliners and perfumed body shimmer.
What do you think of Limited Time Magic so far? Will you be going Greek Memorial Day weekend? And does the new Jasmine Collection look appealing to you? Talk about it here!
What's this girl most excited for? Hercules and wine tasting, baby! No judging. Hercules was quite pleasing to the eye and you know it. Too bad Meg won't be joining him. Oh well, at least we also get a Greek sampling of the Food and Wine Festival. I wish they would bring that back. Maybe next year? Testing the waters?
Oh yeah, and remember how I told you that the Sephora Cinderella Collection was only to be the first in a long line of Disney Princess collections? Well, Jasmine now has her own wares out in stores. I snapped a few shots of the new makeup at Downtown Disney in Anaheim.
If you're missing the Cinderella makeup, Anaheim actually still has a display up of those items...guess they're not sold out after all :)
The Jasmine Collection is in the same format as its predecessor, but the colors and fashion in which they are delivered are more on the exotic side. The colors are very vibrant and beautiful! As for the perfume, it is just as appealing. From the Sephora website:
Enchanting as magic itself, this alluring blend of exotic flowers and rich, warm woods is fit for a diamond in the rough. Empowering and seductive, this tempting fragrance will allow you to be the master of your own destiny. So go ahead, make your own magic.
Notes:
Carnation, Orange Blossom, Mandarin, Gardenia, Mimosa, Musky Accord, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Amber, Benzoin.
Style:
Enticing. Mystical. Sensuous.
No actual jasmine in the notes? That's surprising. Anyhow, the perfume is appropriately titled 'A Whole New World.' As for new additions, we now also have a set of eyeliners and perfumed body shimmer.
What do you think of Limited Time Magic so far? Will you be going Greek Memorial Day weekend? And does the new Jasmine Collection look appealing to you? Talk about it here!
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Disneyland's Fantasy Faire Simply Magical!
The new princess meet and greet for Disneyland, entitled 'Fantasy Faire' opened Tuesday, having gone through different sets of previews last week. I decided to enjoy it like the average visitor instead and had quite a lovely time on opening day, and wrote a review for it here.
As this is a princess blog, it shouldn't be that big of a surprise that I love the new offerings. But I am a die-hard Disneyland fan, so I'm also from a group of fans that tend to get a little picky about things like theming, paint and whether or not that audio-animatronic is working properly. When a figure from its a small world goes missing since before the holiday overlay last year, I notice (I'm looking at you, yodelers).
That said, we fans debate on these issues extensively and do not always agree. I've noticed a significant amount of griping coming from MiceChat over this new area, and I have to say that on this issue, I have to disagree with them. I hear complaints ranging from the new Royal Theatre tent's colors being too bright that it intrudes on Sleeping Beauty Castle drawing your eye to criticizing the area for aiming specifically towards girls, to which I say the California sun will tarnish that tent's colors rather quickly and that as we are a patriarchal society, we constantly devalue anything that is inherently geared towards the female gender while ignoring the fact that most things we do have are aimed at a white male audience (Carsland, anyone?) and receive very little criticism for it.
Look, we're not all going to enjoy the same things. It is impossible to please everyone at the same time. Walt was very noble in attempting to create a place where families can enjoy something together as a family, and even though not all of you will appreciate the new Fantasy Faire, there will be many more that do, and Disneyland is still a place where families can go and enjoy the day together. I'm sorry that the Carnation stage is underneath everything and swing dancing has been moved to Downtown Disney, but really, is it honestly the end of the world when a prime piece of Disneyland real estate remains dead for most of the day and suddenly gets some new life into it that we all know will be enjoyed by a significant percentage of visitors? There are plenty of places to swing dance. Honestly, you could swing dance anywhere if you really wanted to. My boyfriend has chosen to be cute on many occasions by randomly dancing with me in places like the mall parking lot. But you can't meet Belle from Beauty and the Beast just anywhere, and it's cruel to expect families to wait in 45 minute lines out in the Anaheim heat with no protection or relief from the elements while Aurora is dying in her velvety heavy long-sleeved gown.
Swing dancing may still come back to the area - Disney hasn't made any sort of official announcement yet. This is a new area that they are displaying to guests and they need time to access the area for any tweaking or additions they wish to make before complicating things with dancing on the floor every night. Then add to the fact that the new Tangled Tower has a very beautiful effect at night that you can only really appreciate if it's quiet and not too bright out there. Let the new area stretch it's legs a bit before crying foul play.
In short, I'm sorry you're upset if you feel a piece of Disneyland history has been taken away from you, or that a tradition that you've celebrated in that area is no more, or at least on hiatus for the time being. But Disneyland is not just for you, it's for everyone, and Disney has to play to it's major audiences. Far more critical to the Disneyland experience is meeting your favorite characters, and for a great deal of people they are the princesses. This gives the heroines a royal set-up for families to enjoy, and it has been themed very well. The stage is now also actively being used and is doing what a theatre should do - bringing the magic of live performance to an audience. The new shows are actually very well done, and you should come out to see them, no matter what age or demographic you are.
Disneyland will continue to change. It cannot stay the same forever if Disney wants to continue to entertain guests. That doesn't mean that change should happen for change's sake. In this case, the change was logical and has proven to be a successful one. Now if you really want to gripe, just take a look at Tomorrowland and look at the remnants of 1998... ;)
Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Be sure to subscribe to me here and at my new site (you'll find the link through the link at the top of the article)! See you at Fantasy Faire!
As this is a princess blog, it shouldn't be that big of a surprise that I love the new offerings. But I am a die-hard Disneyland fan, so I'm also from a group of fans that tend to get a little picky about things like theming, paint and whether or not that audio-animatronic is working properly. When a figure from its a small world goes missing since before the holiday overlay last year, I notice (I'm looking at you, yodelers).
That said, we fans debate on these issues extensively and do not always agree. I've noticed a significant amount of griping coming from MiceChat over this new area, and I have to say that on this issue, I have to disagree with them. I hear complaints ranging from the new Royal Theatre tent's colors being too bright that it intrudes on Sleeping Beauty Castle drawing your eye to criticizing the area for aiming specifically towards girls, to which I say the California sun will tarnish that tent's colors rather quickly and that as we are a patriarchal society, we constantly devalue anything that is inherently geared towards the female gender while ignoring the fact that most things we do have are aimed at a white male audience (Carsland, anyone?) and receive very little criticism for it.
Look, we're not all going to enjoy the same things. It is impossible to please everyone at the same time. Walt was very noble in attempting to create a place where families can enjoy something together as a family, and even though not all of you will appreciate the new Fantasy Faire, there will be many more that do, and Disneyland is still a place where families can go and enjoy the day together. I'm sorry that the Carnation stage is underneath everything and swing dancing has been moved to Downtown Disney, but really, is it honestly the end of the world when a prime piece of Disneyland real estate remains dead for most of the day and suddenly gets some new life into it that we all know will be enjoyed by a significant percentage of visitors? There are plenty of places to swing dance. Honestly, you could swing dance anywhere if you really wanted to. My boyfriend has chosen to be cute on many occasions by randomly dancing with me in places like the mall parking lot. But you can't meet Belle from Beauty and the Beast just anywhere, and it's cruel to expect families to wait in 45 minute lines out in the Anaheim heat with no protection or relief from the elements while Aurora is dying in her velvety heavy long-sleeved gown.
Swing dancing may still come back to the area - Disney hasn't made any sort of official announcement yet. This is a new area that they are displaying to guests and they need time to access the area for any tweaking or additions they wish to make before complicating things with dancing on the floor every night. Then add to the fact that the new Tangled Tower has a very beautiful effect at night that you can only really appreciate if it's quiet and not too bright out there. Let the new area stretch it's legs a bit before crying foul play.
In short, I'm sorry you're upset if you feel a piece of Disneyland history has been taken away from you, or that a tradition that you've celebrated in that area is no more, or at least on hiatus for the time being. But Disneyland is not just for you, it's for everyone, and Disney has to play to it's major audiences. Far more critical to the Disneyland experience is meeting your favorite characters, and for a great deal of people they are the princesses. This gives the heroines a royal set-up for families to enjoy, and it has been themed very well. The stage is now also actively being used and is doing what a theatre should do - bringing the magic of live performance to an audience. The new shows are actually very well done, and you should come out to see them, no matter what age or demographic you are.
Disneyland will continue to change. It cannot stay the same forever if Disney wants to continue to entertain guests. That doesn't mean that change should happen for change's sake. In this case, the change was logical and has proven to be a successful one. Now if you really want to gripe, just take a look at Tomorrowland and look at the remnants of 1998... ;)
Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Be sure to subscribe to me here and at my new site (you'll find the link through the link at the top of the article)! See you at Fantasy Faire!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
A Tale of Two Sites
Hey guys!
For those few of you that follow this blog, I really appreciate it. It's nice to know that there are people out there that find the things I write about as interesting. If the internet has taught me anything, it's that it can always connect you to at least one human out there that thinks about the same things as you do, even when you felt completely alone, stranded out in the ocean in a little lifeboat with a tiger (little post-Oscar humor for you).
Part of me always hoped that I could make some sort of livelihood on my writing, or on my Disneyland obsession. Well, the opportunity has finally presented itself - I am now a freelance writer for Examiner.com as their Anaheim Disney Travel Examiner! This is all very exciting, and I hope that everything works out.
What does this mean for this blog here? Honestly, there will not be a ton of changes. I still intend on keeping up this blog, writing about all things Disney and princess that I want to write about. But when it comes to Disney Anaheim Travel (meaning Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Disney Anaheim hotels, Downtown Disney, and yes, the upcoming D23 Expo) I will be creating articles at Examiner instead of here. However, so no one stays out of the loop, I will be linking to my articles there here. Shameless self-promotion? Maybe. Completely necessary? Absolutely.
My writing style there will be a little different. The articles will not be as long as they often get over here. They'll be as lean and mean as possible, but still interesting and informative, and hopefully, entertaining.
So, I sincerely hope that you will subscribe to me at Examiner.com and check out my articles there. I have written two so far, and am including their links below.
Thanks for your continued support, and hope to see you both here and there!
'True Love Week' at the Disneyland Resort
Speed through Disneyland Resort with the Single Rider Service
For those few of you that follow this blog, I really appreciate it. It's nice to know that there are people out there that find the things I write about as interesting. If the internet has taught me anything, it's that it can always connect you to at least one human out there that thinks about the same things as you do, even when you felt completely alone, stranded out in the ocean in a little lifeboat with a tiger (little post-Oscar humor for you).
Part of me always hoped that I could make some sort of livelihood on my writing, or on my Disneyland obsession. Well, the opportunity has finally presented itself - I am now a freelance writer for Examiner.com as their Anaheim Disney Travel Examiner! This is all very exciting, and I hope that everything works out.
What does this mean for this blog here? Honestly, there will not be a ton of changes. I still intend on keeping up this blog, writing about all things Disney and princess that I want to write about. But when it comes to Disney Anaheim Travel (meaning Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Disney Anaheim hotels, Downtown Disney, and yes, the upcoming D23 Expo) I will be creating articles at Examiner instead of here. However, so no one stays out of the loop, I will be linking to my articles there here. Shameless self-promotion? Maybe. Completely necessary? Absolutely.
My writing style there will be a little different. The articles will not be as long as they often get over here. They'll be as lean and mean as possible, but still interesting and informative, and hopefully, entertaining.
So, I sincerely hope that you will subscribe to me at Examiner.com and check out my articles there. I have written two so far, and am including their links below.
Thanks for your continued support, and hope to see you both here and there!
'True Love Week' at the Disneyland Resort
Speed through Disneyland Resort with the Single Rider Service
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