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Wednesday with Walt: And the Oscar Goes To…
Seventy-two years ago today, Walt Disney received a special Academy Award for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. On February 23, 1939, a precious little girl named Shirley Temple presented Walt with the award consisting of one full-size Oscar and seven smaller Oscars on a specially-built wooden pedestal. The Academy recognized Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment.
This weekend, I watched that endearing film in 3D on my new 3D television. I was thinking to myself that, although he obviously didn’t create the film in 3D, he did use Technicolor for the first time to create a full-length color, talking animated movie. I am always in awe of the creative genius of Walt Disney. He could see things so clearly – things that were not even there yet.
Walt had a vision of what he wanted to create and there was no stopping him. He was so sure of his idea that he even paid to send all of his animators back to art school so they could learn to draw the life-like characters. Against everyone’s advice, including his brother, Roy, and his wife, Lillian, Walt bet everything on his dream of this full-length feature film. He even had to mortgage his home in order to get more financing. Production ended up costing 1.5 million dollars, and that was back in the 1930s. After the December, 1937 premier of Snow White, all the “Hollywood brass” stood up and gave the film a standing ovation. It was then released to the general public on February 4, 1938 and, as we all know, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the most successful film of 1938!
Walt Disney has received more Oscar nominations than anyone else; receiving a total of 64 nominations during his career, the last of which he won in 1969 (3 years after his death). He still holds the record for Most Oscar Nominations in the Guinness Book of World Records.
After Shirley Temple presented the award, she said, “Isn’t it bright and shiny? Aren’t you proud of it Mr. Disney?” Walt replied, “I’m so proud I think I’ll bust.” We are all very proud of his accomplishments and we are also thankful to him for all the joy he has brought to us and to our families. Congratulations once again, Mr. Disney!
Related articles
- Guide to WDW: Snow White’s Scary Adventures (chipandco.com)
Monorail Mania Meal
In one of my previous blogs, I talked about how we must adjust our Walt Disney World touring plans as our kids get older. I believe that the things they love about WDW change in direct proportion to the increases in their heights. Each year, I try to incorporate new activities into our trips to replace the special things we did when they were younger.
One of the family favorites I began doing a few years ago is the “Monorail Mania Meal.” Being from an Italian family, much of our quality time has been shared around the kitchen table, so I guess it is no stretch of the imagination that I began this tradition in the same way. We have incorporated our Monorail Mania Meals into our “budget” trips but have not done it for the past couple of visits due to the free dining promotion as using all of our credits for the day at one long meal would not be the best use of them. Since we have been very blessed to be able to take advantage of free dining for two years in a row, I will assume that our upcoming trip in December will not include this offer. So, I am looking forward to doing our MMM again this year.
When I developed our Monorail Mania Meal, I decided to start with drinks at the Grand Floridian then monorail over to the Polynesian Resort for dinner and then to the Contemporary Resort for dessert. We liked it just that way the first time, so we continued it that way for future trips. We do this during the evening and into late night, but a family with young children could easily do it at any time of the day. This could even serve as a great rainy day activity.
Here is the way we do it:
We take the bus from whichever park we are enjoying to the Grand Floridian. No, you do not have to be a guest of the resort to take the bus from the park. Once at the GF, we head to the Beach Pool Bar. My husband and I usually get the Orange Creamsicle blended drink and the kids usually have either the Sour Apple Freeze or the Lava Smoothie (non-alcoholic specialties). They also have sodas, beer, wine and bottled water. Then we head over to the lounge chairs on the beach, veg out and enjoy the view. We talk about what has been best about the trip so far and what we are most looking forward to during the rest of the trip. When our drinks are gone, we head back to the monorail to go to the Polynesian Resort. You can also walk along the beach to the Polynesian. We like riding the monorail because it has to travel all the way around to get back to the Poly so we enjoy the ride and the view.
Once we arrive at the Polynesian, we proceed to Captain Cook’s (as I said this is during our budget trip so we try to keep the cost down somewhat). We usually order a combination of Caesar Salads, pizzas and burgers. We get our food and drinks and then head outside to sit at a table overlooking the lagoon and pool area. If you can’t tell yet, we love being outside and since we visit in the Fall it is usually comfortable outside. We enjoy our dinner and then take a stroll around the grounds, as they are so beautiful, before heading back to the monorail station on our way to the Contemporary Resort.
Once we arrive at the Contemporary Resort, we usually have about 45 minutes to spare before the Electrical Water Pageant begins. We head to the Contempo Café and order our choice of dessert, and there are many choices whether you are a chocoholic like me or not; then we grab a coffee, milk, juice, etc. and either eat there before the EWP begins or head on out to the marina to enjoy our dessert outdoors and await the pageantry. The EWP doesn’t usually begin at the Contemporary until around 10:10 pm so this has been a great thing to do with older kids. After the EWP, we usually walk to our resort bus at the Magic Kingdom, or grab a bus to the park open latest and then board the one for our resort.
If you have young children and prefer trying this idea earlier in the day, there are other things to enjoy during that time, such as poolside games in early afternoon and evening outdoor movies at around 7:30 pm. You do not have to be a guest of the resort to enjoy these activities; they are open to all Walt Disney World Resort guests.
There are so many fun activities you can tailor around your family; this is just one idea. There are even numerous versions one could come up with for the Monorail Mania Meal, being that each of these resorts has several location choices for drinks, meals and desserts. Tailor it to fit your needs. Practically any idea can be personalized for your family – it just takes a little planning. Have fun with it!
Related articles
- Tuesday Disney Tips: Monorail Mania Meal (theaffordablemouse.com)
- Oldies But Goodies…More Than Buses Part 1 (chipandco.com)
Wednesday with Walt: Spreading the Magic
Walt Disney once said,
“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world.
But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”
It has been said that Walt Disney would continually tell his cast members, “The customer is king” and “every cast member is responsible for the impression we make.” He also encouraged them to “take five minutes a day to make a magical memory for one of our guests.” Former cast members have stated that Walt would walk around Disneyland with a roll of $5.00 bills in his pocket to tip any cast member who worked extra hard to plus the experience for a guest. Friends of Walt Disney have said that if you understand the plus factor, then you have the key to Walt’s heart.
When I read the quote above, I tend to think that Walt was talking about all of us collectively; from extraordinary cast members to the guests in the parks. In my studies of Walt, I have read that he envisioned people coming to Disneyland (and I am sure Walt Disney World), finding happiness there, then going out and widening the circle of happiness around the world. That is why my family tries to do our part to “spread the magic” when we travel to Florida each year.
Through the years, there have been many things we have tried to do to help people feel the magic of Disney. I am not only talking about visitors with a “First Timer” button on their shirt, but all kinds of people – children, adults, cast members, everyone really. As a tribute to one of the most wonderful human beings in the world ( in my opinion), I wanted to share a few nice ways we can all help spread the magic while at Walt Disney World.
Playing Photographer
My husband is constantly walking up to strangers and offering to take pictures of them whenever he notices someone being left out of the photo because they are taking the picture. He has been our primary photographer so he knows exactly what it is like to have many pictures of the rest of the family but only a few that include him. He has never met a stranger, so he will walk right up to someone and ask if they would like him to take their picture.
Thanking the Cast Members
We hand out cast member thank you cards when we happen to interact with one of those extraordinary cast members. This year we gave one of them to a very sweet young man named Scott who was working at the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. He was so surprised and appreciative, he looked like I had handed him a million dollars. To tell you the truth, if I had been carrying a million I would have given it to him. If you would like to have some thank yous to take on your trip, you can download them free here.
Paying the toll
Whether at home or on vacation, it’s a nice gesture to pay for someone’s toll. When passing through the Florida Turnpike we just tell the person in the booth that we also want to pay for the car behind us. We say, get the magic started before they have even hit the park.
Giving up your spot
We usually take the Disney transportation to the parks but we have driven before when we knew we were going to be leaving during a very crowded time that would cause a long line at the bus stop. When we drive, we will usually give up a closer parking spot if we see a family with small children trying to park near the entrance, as my kids are all grownup now. We still remember what it was like having tired children to lug to the car when leaving the park and this is our small way of encouraging their plight, even though they never know why we did it.
Standing up
Thankfully, my family is healthy and generally about ten times happier whenever we are at Walt Disney World. Most of the time, we are happy to stand up and give our seats to someone who clearly needs one on the bus – pregnant woman, grandmother, grandfather, small child, etc. I have to admit, though, that there are nights when we have started very early and stayed very late and we are wiped – those nights we might not give up the seat. But, we are happy to when we can bear it.
Wearing and sharing special greetings
We wore “Happy Thanksgiving” shirts this year in order to wish others a Happy Thanksgiving, but we received so many kind wishes that we were clearly the ones that received the blessing. Sometimes trying to do something nice pays you back two-, three, and four-fold.
Sharing your credits
Both years we have had the free dining plan, we have ended up with snack credits at the end of our trip. A very nice older woman working in the gift shop really helped me to find a nice gift for my loved one back home, so I used one snack credit to buy a sweet treat for her and took it back to the gift shop. I told her it was a sweet for a sweet.
Smiling
It is so funny how everyone faces everyone else on the busses. You end up with people looking right at you, where else can they look when they are sitting right in front of you. Even when you are in line, you make eye contact with people all day long. We share our smiles generously. We are so happy to be at Walt Disney World we can’t contain it anyway, so why not share it and brighten someone else’s day?
Thanking the bus driver
I do not like driving at all. My husband jokes that I keep him around for chauffer duties and lawn maintenance. Truth is I keep him around for the entertainment value – just kidding 
I must say that I cannot imagine driving a bus at Walt Disney World with crowds of people standing behind me, kids screaming, babies crying, I could never do it; I would be a nervous wreck. That is not to mention all the traffic on Disney property and people not obeying the street lights. I am so thankful for the kind, calm individual getting me safely to my destination; I always thank the bus drivers at WDW and tell them to have a great day. They are not allowed to take gifts, but I do give them cast member thank you cards.
Surprising someone with a fast pass
If we have fast passes left when we decide to leave the park, we always find someone to give them to, especially since we have 5 or more people in our party every year. We have been blessed a few times to actually hear a parent say they just don’t have an hour to wait on the ride while their child is begging to be able to go on it. We love to be able to offer up our fast passes for this. If we had time, we would offer them even if we had planned on using them and just wait out the line ourselves.
We feel very blessed to be able to enjoy our annual trips to Walt Disney World. Someday, we might not have this chance but while we can we will take advantage of every opportunity. It is our pleasure entirely to try to make someone’s day a little more magical – whether it is a guest or an employee. It’s amazing how much trying to “plus” someone else’s experience completely lends exponentially to the amount of magic we received from our trips. These are some of the things we have done to help honor Walt’s dream. I would love to hear about your experiences with kindness – given or received – while at Disney parks. I think Walt would be happy to know we got the message!
Related articles
- What Makes Walt Disney World YOUR Place Of Choice? (chipandco.com)
- Oldies But Goodies – Six Important Reasons For Seniors To Stay Onsite (chipandco.com)
Help with Disney Dining Questions
I love talking about Walt Disney World with anyone who will listen, especially those who have never visited before. Nothing brightens my day more than having someone who has never been contact me for help with their first ever trip. I get so excited for them and I really appreciate having the pleasure of helping them to plan such an important family trip.
I am not a travel agent, nor do I have the skills of a travel agent. All I can offer is my advice from my own personal experiences and the first-hand knowledge gained from my travels to WDW this past many years. My children are always telling me I should go back to school and become a Disney travel agent but, as I tell them, I am looking forward to actually being able to stop working one day not start a whole new career from scratch. I am looking forward to spending my retirement years at Walt Disney World, after all. Still, if I had known 20 years ago what I know now, that is exactly the path I would have taken.
I was recently contacted by a very sweet lady who had some questions regarding her upcoming first-time Disney trip. Her questions revolved mostly around the free dining plan she was lucky enough to secure for herself and her family. Specifically, she asked questions about Cinderella’s Royal Table and her other choices for table service meals. She also asked for advice on maximizing her free dining benefits while incorporating some additional meals.
I thought that maybe others were having the same questions, so I thought I would share the advice I gave to her with all of you. This information will be of the same value to those who are paying for the dining plan. Just to be clear, the Disney Dining Plan affords you 1 table service meal, 1 quick service meal, and 1 snack per person per day.
Here is the advice I offered:
1. I believe it is a great idea to use a table service credit for a character breakfast on your first full day at Walt Disney World. Good choices are Chef Mickey’s, the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, and the Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom, just to name a few.
2. Using snack credits for breakfast items and having breakfast out by the pool, and then letting the kids have a lazy morning swimming and having some fun at the resort, is another great idea. Your kids will love you for it.
3. If you plan to head to Downtown Disney after a day in the park, but you are unsure about eating at Downtown, an alternate idea would be to take a bus from the park to any resort of your choosing and have a meal there. You should choose a resort you are really interested in seeing and have dinner, then check out the property. Afterwards, take that resort’s bus to Downtown Disney.
4. If you are interested in a signature dining experience, such as Cinderella’s Royal Table, but you cannot decide whether or not you want to use 2 table service credits per person for the meal, try paying for some less expensive meals and go ahead and use the credits. For example, breakfast dining is the least expensive meal, so you might choose to pay for a breakfast at Chef Mickey’s in order to save some TS credits.
Let’s look at this idea more closely. For this example, I have based the figures on a family of 4 with 2 adults and 2 children. The charge for breakfast at Chef Mickey’s is $26.62 for adults (2) and $13.99 for kids (2). So, that would be 81.22 to pay for Chef Mickey’s instead of using the 4 TS credits.
Another example would be breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. Here, the cost for adults is 24.99 (2) and 13.99 for kids (2). So, that would be 77.96. If you pay for this you will save 4 TS credits.
So, if you decided to pay for both breakfast meals, you would be paying a total of $159.18 which is still cheaper than paying for Cinderella’s Royal Table at $173.00. If you do not want to use them for a signature dining experience, you will be able to use TS credits you saved for more dinner-time meals, if you choose to use them that way.
There are many options to maximizing the meal credits based on your family’s wishes. If you have specific dining questions, feel free to call on the experts at Disney Dining at 407-WDW-DINE.
Whether you are lucky enough to get free dining or if you have to pay for it, these tips will still help in your planning. Either way, I hope you will have a magical vacation with your family.
Related articles
- Disney Dining Plan or Deluxe Disney Dining Plan… Which To Choose? (chipandco.com)
- Fun With The Disney Dining Plan (onlywdworld.com)
A DiVine Sight
For many years I have really enjoyed the live entertainment at the Disney parks. Whether it was an act that is no longer in the parks, such as the living statues in Italy at Epcot, or the current entertainment offerings, I have always found them to be so unique. My family and I experienced one of the best examples of this during our day at the Animal Kingdom this past November.
We were on our way to our favorite ride at the park, Expedition Everest, when all of a sudden my husband started scrambling for the camera. He said, “Oh my gosh, look at that!” I couldn’t believe it. It was DiVine and I hadn’t seen her at the park for the last couple of trips. This time we got lucky again. When we were there a few years ago, she was in the middle of the walkway but this year she was in great camouflage with her surroundings and she was moving ever so gently behind the fenced area toward Asia.
She is mesmerizing to watch. She moves in a strange but graceful way and I can’t seem to stop staring at this unique artistry. I did some research on DiVine for this blog and found out that she is a performance artist named Priscilla Blight who has travelled all around the globe and has now brought her expressive talents to the Animal Kingdom for an exclusive engagement. She now makes her home on the pathways between Africa and Asia.
You must look carefully or you will walk right past her, as I guess I have done for the past couple of years. This time, she was easier to spot and even if we had not seen her right away, she caused such a crowd that we certainly would have caught on. We all had our cameras out and we were all following her around like paparazzi. If you are lucky enough to spot her, take a moment to enjoy this unique 10-foot tall plant girl.
Related articles
- Thrifty Thursday: A DiVine Sight (theaffordablemouse.com)
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom: The one ride I MUST ride (chipandco.com)
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