Disney dangled the visual weinee & Mickeystoontown gobbled it up! 10/26

[Clarf]

I'm glad you got behind on your TR, because so did I so I didn't have as much catching up to do!

John's shirt. LOL! I love that you sent a pic to Lacey and Jesse.

That hidden Mickey you found is a great one! Is that outside Mine Train? We'll have to look for it.

I love your photo tour. Love. You know how much I love CBR. We are actually staying at POR in August, and I feel like we are cheating on CBR.

I've never seen those wooden paths. Next time we stay there, we'll have to take the long way around the lake and see all the villages a little more closely.

Hope your life gets less wonky soon!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Looking forward to another update! We were looking at Old Key West for a place to stay, so maybe on one of our future trips!! As always, loving your resort pictures of your walkabout!!!

 

[Chicago Mo]

YAY!!!! i cannot wait for the party!!! Yes disney is always watching just like ros!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm glad you got behind on your TR, because so did I so I didn't have as much catching up to do!

John's shirt. LOL! I love that you sent a pic to Lacey and Jesse.

That hidden Mickey you found is a great one! Is that outside Mine Train? We'll have to look for it.

I love your photo tour. Love. You know how much I love CBR. We are actually staying at POR in August, and I feel like we are cheating on CBR.

I've never seen those wooden paths. Next time we stay there, we'll have to take the long way around the lake and see all the villages a little more closely.

Hope your life gets less wonky soon!

The Hidden Mickey is near the exit of Under the Sea with Ariel. It's a bit hard to find because it's not your standard hidden Mickey.

Looking forward to another update! We were looking at Old Key West for a place to stay, so maybe on one of our future trips!! As always, loving your resort pictures of your walkabout!!!

I am sooooooooo ready to go back to Disney! I'd stay under a rock if I had to.

YAY!!!! i cannot wait for the party!!! Yes disney is always watching just like ros!

I am working on the Disney Side Party post now! Lots of pictures and fun to share!

 

[krr126]

I am working on the Disney Side Party post now! Lots of pictures and fun to share!

Can't wait!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

While ya'll wait on the DisneySide Party post (which I am working on now) here are a few pictures for you to enjoy. The newest addition to our family, the one, the only.....Copper (as in Copper from the Fox and the Hound):





Ya'll, I'm not telling a lie when I tell ya'll this. We were on our way to John's Mama and Daddy's house the day after Christmas to visit. Lacey and Jesse were with us and we were all talking about our dogs. I said "When Oddball dies, we aren't getting another dog." (Oddball being our eight year old pound puppy that we all love and adore.) Thirty minutes later, we are pulling into John's parent's house. Hugs were passed around and I went outside to see the Mama dog and her puppy that somebody had dropped off on their old country road. Five minutes later and I was hooked. Hooked I tell ya! Screw what I said earlier. We were adopting this puppy that John's Mama was almost forcefully ordering me to take home with us. John's daddy wouldn't let her keep it in the house because it pee'd and pooped everywhere. She literally begged me to take it home and take it home I did. Now, he is a spoiled little humdinger that we all love.

Those of you who live up North are probably gonna laugh at these next pictures. They are snow pictures. Every once in a blue moon, we get snow. What we usually get is lots of freezing rain and sleet which is dangerous. This time, we got it all. Now, I know that this isn't a lot of snow for most of ya'll but it's a lot for us. These were taken earlier in the day and we received more snow after these were taken.






I would post a picture of our snowman but I'd have to crop out the bottom half. Let's just say that boys will be boys and you'll have to remember that John's a PK. I have videos of the puppies playing in the snow but I can't figure out how to post 'em right now and I wanna move on to the Disney party.

Oh I do want to share some of my latest sewing projects. These are examples of what I am now selling in order to fun my raging adiction to Disney LOL! Dish towels, towels and aprons. I still sell the backsacks too!













Anyway, let me get back to work on my DisneySide Party article! I'm so excited to share it with ya'll!

 

[KatMark]

Great pictures of Copper and your ummmmm...snow.

I like all your stuff, but I really like the white towel with the Minnie border. Remind me to talk to you about ordering some.

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

Copper is absolutely adorable! So precious! Love your snow. I lived in Georgia for 12 years so I know how exciting it is to get snow when you don't normally get it. Of course, I lived in Alaska for 10 years before that, so I got pretty darn sick of snow. And now I'm living somewhere else that gets snow and I'm sick of it. Can't wait until we can move somewhere warm and sunny with wonderful beaches and closer to Disney...

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I have videos of the puppies playing in the snow but I can't figure out how to post 'em right now

If you have them hosted somewhere like youtube you can just click the link and add it with the thing that looks like tow filmstrips.

 

[Pluto0809]

Awwww, Copper is just too cute!

I think you may have gotten more snow than we did here in GA! There was one week last month where I only worked one full day. The rest of the days we were either delayed starting or cancelled all together. After having been raised in PA, it's still kind of funny to me that they call off of work for 2 inches of snow.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Showing Our Disney Side at a Storybook Circus Party!

When was the last time you showed your Disney Side? Was it when your family entered the gates at Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort? Or maybe the last time you sang your favorite Disney tunes, or reminisced about your favorite Disney Parks attraction? Most everyone has a Disney Side – it’s that fun-loving, adventurous side that comes out to play when you’re feeling the Disney spirit!

Now you have the opportunity to join the Disney Side fun by hosting your own Disney Side @ Home Celebration for family and friends with an exclusive kit filled with party planning tools and Disney magic. (Excerpt from http://www.disneysidecelebrations.com/)

When I heard that applications were being accepted to host Disney Side @ Home Celebration parties, I knew that this was something that would be right up my Disney loving alley. Several years ago, I had been selected to host a Disney “red box” party and the guests and myself had a wonderful time. I wanted to experience that magical Disney party hosting excitement again.

The application process was simple but I was a tad discouraged when I saw the questions regarding how many Twitter followers I had, was I active on Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, did I wrote my own blog, etc. I’ve written trip reports here Disboards for years and have pretty good numbers and I post on Facebook all of the time. But, I don’t tweet or post pictures on Instagram much. Google+? Not at all. Not one to let anything get in the way of my dreams, I submitted my application and waited along with the thousands of other applicants.

On January 5, 2015, I was doing the usual checking of emails and noticed that I had an email from Disney Parks & Moms Select. I always get excited when I see an email that relates to anything Disney. My fingers moved like greased lightning over the keys and when I opened the email, I read the following words:

Congratulations! You’ve been selected to be a host of a Disney Side @home Celebration! You were selected from thousands of applicants and we’re so excited for you to participate and bring your love of Disney Parks to life. It’s almost time to let your Disney Side shine!

Oh my stars for the love of Liza! My application had been selected! They chose me! Little ol’ Lisa from small town, Louisiana! Some how, some way, my love for Disney had shone through the application process. Orrrrr, Disney could have done a little checking to see that, despite the fact that I’m not on all of the social media sites they had referred to, I more than make up for it with my constant Disney related posts such as “I wish that I were in Disney” or “I just updated my Disney trip report” or they could have possibly seen all of the pictures of us at Walt Disney World. They probably got my Disney drift.

Almost immediately after I found out about being chosen, I took to the internet to shout it from the Facebook and Disboard rooftops. I even remembered how to send out a tweet on Twitter. After being chosen, I joined the DisneySide@homecelebrations Facebook page and became friends with several other hosts. It was neat to share the excitement with the others while waited receipt of our boxes.

I wrote about my excitement (most of the above is an excerpt from the article but there's a lot more) on the Magical DIStractions site: I'm Flipping Out! I was chosen to host a DisneySide@HomeCelebration party!

I'm a Hobby Lobby junkie and shop there at least three times a month. My draw to Hobby Lobby is almost as strong as my draw to Disney. Notice I said "almost". I wandered up and down the Hobby Lobby aisles several times and thought that I had settled on a theme for the party. It was going to be a carnival! I bought all sorts of cute things and the creative juices were flowing. I even started making decorations for the party.

In the meantime, my party box arrived and it was filled with all kinds of goodies: Twinings Tea, Palace Pets, fingernail polish, All detergent, a Wilton Mickey shaped cake pan, a Duff Goldman Tie Dye cake mix, sprinkles and a plethora of other things to get the party started! Just look at everything that was in the box! Soooooo many things to make my DisneySide party perfecto! The party pack that I received was a "multi-generational" pack meaning that it catered to people of all ages which was great since the guests that were coming ranged in age from elementary school age to eighty-one.



Emails and phone calls were made to friends and family in an effort to coordinate everybody's schedules. We all know that's not an easy task when you have so many that you want to invite. With a big list, it was inevitable that someone wouldn't be able to attend. But, there was one date that was best for most....Saturday, February 28th! I had over a month to plan every single detail, a month to design the decorations, a month to get more and more excited!

One day, John and I popped into Hobby Lobby to look for some drawer pulls and "bam" an idea hit me. Why not have a Pirates of the Caribbean party? We weren't restricted to just Mickey and Minnie type themes.....all we were told to do was "Show Your Disney Side". Before I knew it, I had a shopping cart full of pirate party items....eye patches, pirate hats, gold dubloons, tattoos and, well, a bunch of pirate stuff. My mind started whirling with things that I could do for the pirate party but, once I got home, I looked at the red, white and yellow carnival things that I had already purchased and immediately went back to my original idea but with a twist. We were going to have a Storybook Circus party! Storybook Circus just like at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom! (You know the Storybook Circus that took over my namesake..Mickey's Toontown? )

I think that most of ya'll know that we live in a log home and I like the "rustic" style of decorating so I knew that the Storybook Circus would be an ole time circus. I am also big on recycling decorations and repurposing wood. Thanks to having a cabinet building man for a husband and owning a cabinet shop, repurposing things is a bit easier for me. Back in the Fall, John and I made a wooden boat for use at our nephew's second birthday party. His mother used the boat as a decoration and then gave it back to us afterwards so that another niece could use it. The boat before it was stained for use at my nephew's party.





While trying to figure out what I could use to make a circus tent, the boat came to mind. Could I? Would it work? Hum? Yep, it would work! Mr. Birthday Party Boat was now Mr. Storybook Circus Tent (It'll look better later on as this was before I did my tidy work on it.



See the banner that's above the "tent"? I made that too! I cut the flags out of burlap, used a Mickey stamp and a star stamp, glued them on some jute string and whallllllah! We had a banner! Here are two pictures of the banner but you'll see more of the banner a little later on too. And don't peek at the table behind you.....I haven't talked about those decorations yet but I'm about to. Aaaack! Don't look!






Speaking of banners, I made two other banners. One that draped on the front of the dining table and the other was strung over one of my windows. On each "flag" there was a letter and when read, it said Disney Side.




I have boo-koodles of serving dishes but I wanted to use something different. Something that looked like you'd see food served out of if you were to go to a carnival or a circus. At Hobby Lobby (told you that I'm crazy about that place), I bought rectangular shaped cardboard trays that were perfect for putting the food items in and I found paper hot dog wraps/trays too. Now, I wanted a unique setting for the serving trays. Whatever I chose to make or use, it needed to be pretty tall since the boat, I mean, circus tent was tall and it needed to fit with the theme. So, out to the cabinet shop we went and we came out with cute little "ticket booth" type tables:



Ooh that picture is not that great. Looks like it was overexposed. It's okay though as this is the table while still "in the rough". I hadn't trimmed any of the fabric fringes or anything yet. I'll post a better picture later. By the way, I made the draping for the tent and the toppings for the tables from fabric scraps. The weathered boards that we used were from an old fence that we took down several years ago. Many projects have been made from that repurposed fence. One of those projects was a fence that our Christmas stockings were hung on. Before hanging our stockings, we drew hearts and wrote our initials in chalk. While making the food tables, an idea popped into my head. Why not bring the fence into the Storybook Circus mix? The fence was placed in front of the window and underneath the DisneySide banner. The Disney characters would show their love and their DisneySide at my party too! Take a good look at the writing on the fence....there's even a nod to the Magic Kingdom's Tom Sawyer Island there too.



**Continued in next post: Lots more to come so please do not post yet!

 

[mickeystoontown]

It was time to start setting up the table that would serve as the centerpiece of the party. That would be my dining table that is made from an old barn that I played in as a child. The boat/tent was the main focus with the two ticket booth tables sitting on each side. On the front of the table is the banner that I made very early on in the planning process:



Off to the side of the table was a large sign post that we made and which directed guests to the food table and various activities (okay, so they didn’t actually point in the correct directions but it’s the thought that counts):



After being chosen as a DisneySide@homecelebration hostess, I reached out to several companies asking if they would be willing to sponsor/donate items to the party. Lucky for my guests, three companies were more than happy to send goodies to give away or serve at the party.


One of those companies was Brothers All Natural. They sent me two boxes of the Disney Fruit Crisps which was enough to serve to the guests immediately and send home with them too! Not only did they send the fruit crisps but they also provided a discount code to give to my guests. If you haven’t tried the Brothers All Natural Disney Fruit Crisps, you should! They are absolutely delicious! There’s nothing artificial, no added sugars or preservatives-just the best fruit around! I had the fruit crisps in an old crate and they were sitting right in front of the tent.




Another company that sent something was Crunch Pak. They were extremely generous as well and sent ten coupons that entitled the holder to an entirely free product! I used two of those coupons to pick up some (can’t say purchase as they were free with the coupon) sliced apples to serve at the party and the others were given out in party bags to the guests. I had the apples served in the Mickey shaped pan by Wilton that was provided in the party box. Unfortunately, the picture that I took of the snack table didn’t turn out well but you will see a snippet of the pan and apple slices in a couple of pictures that I’ll be posting. The Crunch Pak apple slices were fresh and delicious and had a nice crunch to them.



As most people who have been to Downtown Disney know, it’s a fantastic place to shop and dine. I reached out to fit2run who has a store at Downtown Disney and at the Florida Mall (I didn’t know that at the time but found out as I was chatting with the fit2run rep.). The fit2run representative was more than happy to donate/sponsor the party as well. As one of the giveaways at the party, one of my guests would be awarded a fit2run gift card! More details on that giveaway are coming up later on.



I wanted to make sure that the companies were given credit for their generosity so I made cards to give to each guest.







As we were eating and during the party, I made sure that the guests knew which items were provided in the DisneySide party box and what items were given by the three companies. I also purchased quite a few Disney related items to use as game prizes as I didn’t want any guest to walk way empty-handed.

**Continued in next post: Lots more to follow so please do not post yet.

 

[rteetz]

Your party looks great! All the handmade decor looks great. I love your storybook theme as well. It is also cool that those companies donated to your party can't wait to hear more!

 

[mickeystoontown]

As I said, the party was held on Saturday, February 28th and it was at 1:00 p.m. so I knew that I wanted to serve something other than just finger foods. Given that the theme was Storybook Circus, I served items that you would find at a carnival: hot dogs, Frito pies, hot ham sandwiches, Crunch Pak apples slices with various dips, Disney Fruit Crisps, pretzel balls, giant dill pickles, fresh popped popcorn, animal crackers, circus peanut candies, cookies and cupcakes!







Guests filled their plates with the goodies and visited a bit. I am sorry that the next two pictures are blurry but you can see, though, the Crunch Pak apples slices on the bar and my mother enjoying the Disney Fruit Crisps in the picture:





We all settled into our living room to watch the Disney Vacation Planning DVD that was in the DisneySide party box. Many of the people who attended the party had never been to Walt Disney World and they all said that they wanted to start planning a trip. Others had been before but not since the newest additions to Fantasyland. Our last trip to Walt Disney World was in May of 2014, but I still found myself ooh’ing and aah’ing while watching. As I was reminded by watching the vacation planning DVD, Walt Disney World really does have something for people of all ages and for every budget.



After watching the dvd, it was time to play some of the games that were provided in the DisneySide party box! First up was the Disney Bingo game. The guests had bingo sheets with various squares. The sections were Parks, Attractions, Show Your Disney Side, Characters and Resorts. We had so much fun playing the game that we played it not once, not twice, not three times but many more times! Each time we played, we were on pins and needles to see who would shout out BINGO! first.





One of those winners was my cousin’s daughter, Hallie! Hallie won the fit2run gift card but graciously gave it to her big brother, Reid. At the time of the party, I didn’t know the value of the gift card that would be mailed directly to Reid. After communicating with the fit2run representative after the party (I provided her the mailing address), I found out that Reid will receive a $50 gift card in the mail!








Another game that came with the DisneySide party box was the Disney Character Word Search. A time limit was set for the guests to find as many Disney character names as they possibly could on the word search page. This was a little bit more challenging for the older guests so I extended the time in the hope that they would catch up to those that were a bit more "in-the-know". When the time was up, I had everyone count up the number of names that they found and I awarded prizes to those who had the highest numbers.









Next up was a rousing game of Disney Trivia! I’d read off the trivia question and someone would "buzz in" meaning shout out "I know!" or something similar. Some of the trivia questions were a bit tough like naming all Seven Dwarfs. Everyone kept leaving out Sleepy!


Watching the vacation planning dvd made the Disney Quote and Attraction Match-Up game a tad easier on the guests who had never been to Disney. Still, those who had been to a Disney park before beat out the others. We have been to Walt Disney World twenty times and on one Disney Cruise. Over those trips, I have learned so much about the Disney resort. So, while playing the different games, I took the opportunity to throw in a bit of my own knowledge/trivia.


Something else that was in the DisneySide box was a Tree of Life family tree that came with a large poster of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Tree of Life and leaves to write on and paste to the poster. Those were sent home with the guests so that they could complete them when they had more time to work on the project.


**Continued in next post: Lots more to come so please don't post yet.

 

[mickeystoontown]

When I decided to go with the carnival theme (prior to naming it Storybook Circus), I wanted to play a game that is associated with a carnival and immediately thought of a bean bag toss. John made the board and I painted it. Hallie, Hunter and my mother, Nennie, were the best of the best!













Every guest who attended the party, won a prize. Every single item that came in the DisneySide party box was either used during the party, was given away as a prize or in a bag that they could take home with them. Nobody can walk away from a DisneySide@homecelebration party without a prize!


I had everyone go into the dining room so that I could take pictures of their smiling faces and their prizes. You may notice a big Mickey head in some of the pictures. That was from the Pin the Smile on the Mickey game which we totally forgot to play. No worries though as my two year old nephew took it home with him for his playroom. He loves Mickey Mouse!


















**Continued in next post: More to come so please don't post yet

 

[mickeystoontown]

More pictures of the smiling faces:







Because I realized that I only had one picture of myself at the



Most of the decorations for the party were in the dining room area but I did have a few decorative pieces in the living room. The Up house that I made and placed on a table in the living room:



For years, we bought John these Mickey statutes at Hollywood Studios and I had one sitting on each of the three tables in the living room. If you are ever in Hollywood Studios and are looking for a unique gift, the statues are reasonably priced and there are several different plaques that you can choose from:



As the goodbye hugs were exchanged, I was told by everyone that they had a wonderful time and it was good to share our love for each other and for Disney! I thought that it turned out to be a fantastic party, if I do say so myself. As I said at the beginning of this article, this sort of thing is right up my Disney lovin’ alley and I had a blast planning, preparing and hosting the DisneySide@homecelebration party. It was such an honor to be chosen as a hostess!

Now, I will await the time when I can apply to host another Disney party! In the meantime, I’m counting down the days until we are back on Walt Disney World property in May/June, 2015! Look out Walt Disney World here we come!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Annnnnnd, that's a wrap on the Disney Side Party posts!

 

[KatMark]

Awesome, awesome job, Lisa. I love all the things you made and how you had it all set up. It truly looks like everyone had a great time and how nice that they all went home with a little something.

 

[krr126]

How fun!!! Great job, Lisa! I love your Mickey necklace in the one picture of you!!

Kathi

 

[Chicago Mo]

oh my love of all DISNEY i want to HAVE THIS PARTY!! but i would try to get all my dis friends together. maybe a hotel? I dunno.. Did you ever see the birthday party i did for my kids???
If you want to see: DISNEY PARTY <--it started there and keeps going!!

I adore ALL of your rustic decorations!!! I would KILL for some of your stuff!!! LOVE!!!
so glad it was such a great turn out!