Celebrating the 4th of July at Walt Disney World

 Walt Disney World will be holding 4th of July celebrations at 3 of it's 4 parks this year:

• Epcot will host a special 4th of July version of Illuminations will show at 10:00 pm
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios, will have a  “Special July 4th Fireworks Presentation” at 9.45pm
• The Magic Kingdom, will have “Celebrate America! — A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky”  show at 9:00 pm.

Magic Kingdom 

July 3rd, 2012
 9:00 pm - "Celebrate America - A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky" Fireworks (4th of July fireworks at the Magic Kingdom include an enhanced presentation featuring patriotic music themed to spectacular pyrotechnics)
10:00 pm - Main Street Electrical Parade
12:00 am - Main Street Electrical Parade

July 4th, 2012
9:00 pm - "Celebrate America - A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky" Fireworks
10:00 pm - Main Street Electrical Parade
12:00 am - Main Street Electrical Parade

EPCOT

 

July 4th, 2012

11:30 am - 6:30 pm, Betsy Ross, Ben Franklin and Disney characters in the patriotic costumes will appear on the promenade near The American Adventure.
12:30 - Voices of Liberty 4th of July Concert  on the America Gardens Theatre stage
5:15, 6:30, 7:45, 9:00 pm - Slippery When Wet performs at the Sounds Like Summer concert series

10:00 pm - IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth will feature The Heartbeat of Freedom, a 5-minute patriotic fireworks finale.

 

DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

July 4th, 2012
6:00pm - Rockin' 4th of July Celebration!  Be at the Sorcerer Hat at 6:00 as a DJ gets the party started!  At 8:30 and 9:30 pm, Mulch, Sweat & Shears will rock the stage!
9:00 pm - Fantasmic!
9:45 pm - Fireworks with a rock n' roll soundtrack

10:30 pm - Fantasmic!

If you'd like to celebrate Independence Day at Walt Disney World next year, I can help you plan the perfect patriotic trip! Contact me for more information.
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Memorial Day

 

Thank you to the men and women who have served to protect us, especially to those who gave their lives to protect our freedom.  Please, take a moment to remember what today is really about.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Tickets On Sale Now!

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is a special event that takes place on select nights at Magic Kingdom Park throughout the holiday season.

Don’t miss Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade, a very special holiday fireworks display, live entertainment with your favorite characters, snow on Main Street, U.S.A., free hot cocoa and cookies, and so much more! Purchase of an additional event admission ticket is required to attend.

Parties will take place:

• November 9, 12, 15, 16, 25, 27, 29 and 30
• December 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 21

TIP: Purchasing tickets ahead of event dates may get you a discount of $10 per ticket!

Contact me for more information: Kerri@MickeysDreamVacations.com

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party Tickets On Sale Now!

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party dates have been released and tickets are available by phone. 
They are not available on-line just yet.
 

Sept 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, 28 Advanced Purchase Price is $50.95 for children and $55.95 for adults (plus tax)
 
Sept 30th, Oct. 4, 8, 11, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23, 25, 28, 30, Nov 2nd are each $53.95 for children and $58.95 for adults (plus tax)
 
Oct 5, 12, 26 do not have reduced advanced purchase pricing these are Friday nights and are at a premium..$59.95 for children and $64.95 for adults (plus tax)
 
October 31st, Halloween Night is $67.05 for children and $69.95 for adults.
 
The Party runs each night from 7pm-midnight. There has been no official announcement yet on whether party goers may enter at 4pm but this was the case last year and other than 2010 it was allowed in previous years, as well. 

Also, several tours and experiences have been holding out for the official MNSSHP to release their tickets. Pirates and Pals Fireworks for these dates, for instance have not been released for purchase as of this morning.

Several of the party dates fall within Disney World's FREE DINING promotion dates as well as the newest "Room Only" late summer promotion. You can stay in a standard room at Disney's All-Star Sports Resort starting at just $70 per night, plus tax, for most Sunday through Thursday nights Aug. 15 – Sept. 27, 2012. That's a savings of 20%! Late Summer/Fall is my favorite time of year to visit Disney World, it's not too hot, the crowds are fairly low, and of course there is Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival.

For more information on visiting Walt Disney World during this magical time, please contact me for a FREE no obligation quote. TravelKerri@gmail.com

Happy April Fool's Day!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I wish I was celebrating at Raglan Road or Cookes of Dublin today but since I'm stuck in bed in New York with a bronchial infection this is as close as I'm going to get.

Check out all the cool 2012 St. Patrick's Day merchandise! Isn't Irish Duffy just the cutest little bear?! I'm loving the Saint Patrick's Day Disney Pins/lanyard and I would totally rock those ears!

If you're still craving a taste of Irish cooking, check out this post from the Disney Parks blog. They'll teach you how to make an official Raglan Road appetizer!

Disneyland Celebreates: Three Kings Day

For the very first time Disneyland is extending their holiday celebrations this year to include Three Kings Day, also known as Dia de Reyes. While also celebrated by other cultures, Disneyland will be focusing on the Latin American traditions which remember the night that the Three Wise Men delivered their gifts to the baby Jesus. 


From the Disney Parks Website:

Special food carts will appear in Zocalo Park, serving special Three Kings Day treats, and the seasonal menu at Rancho del Zocalo restaurant will include tamales and Mexican hot chocolate.
Here’s a look at what will be offered during the celebration:

• Rosca de Reyes, the “Mexican Kings Bread” with a hidden whole almond nut or “almendra”
• Sweet corn tamale with pineapple and cajeta (caramel sauce) dessert
• Savory blue corn tamale with Monterey Jack cheese and a green chili tomatillo sauce, with a corn chili relish
• Strawberry-filled churros

The Three Kings Day celebration at Disneyland park will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Zocalo Park (which is Spanish for “Town Square”) in Frontierland. Walt Disney envisioned Frontierland as a showcase for America’s Western and Mexican heritage, and this celebration will continue that vision.
Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse will appear in their Fiesta costumes and other characters will join them, including the Three Caballeros: Donald Duck, Jose Carioca and Panchito! Entertainment highlights will include folklorico dance along with musical performances by the Grammy-winning Mariachi Divas. Children will have the opportunity to participate in face painting, coloring, crown decorating and other activities.


I wish I was going to be there!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Disney's FREE Halloween Gift To You

The Disney blog posted an awesome project and included the free downloadable templates for it as well.
You can make your very own Hitchhiking Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion.

Watch as their eyes seem to follow you as you move from left to right!

Disney Inspired Pumpkins and Jack-o-lanterns

In honor of Halloween, I am dedicating this post to Disney pumpkins! Lord Hill and I LOVE to carve pumpkins and always have some awesome design but we have never done a Disney themed pumpkin. While searching for some inspiration I came across some amazing pumpkins and asked the carvers and painters if I could share their creations with my lovely readers.

So, without further ado, I present to you Disney Inspired Halloween Pumpkins!

I came across an amazing pumpkin carver on twitter. Geoffrey carves all sorts of fabulous designs into artificial pumpkins and has even started selling them in stores. For more information you can follow Geoffrey on twitter. These are a few of his Disney inspired creations:

How amazing are the Castle and Haunted Mansion???

The next two pumpkins are also from twitter. The Jack Skellington pumpkin is by @hellodisney and the Mickey Mouse is by @DisneyBrit .

 Aren't they adorable?!

I'm hoping to do a Disney themed pumpkin this year and will definitely post the results after Halloween.

For those of you who'd like to make your own Disney Halloween pumpkin you should check out these awesome kits I found at Target, they were on sale last time I checked.

Have you carved Disney pumpkins? I'd love to see your designs!

Disney Blog Hop - Shared Experiences

This week's theme over at the Disney Blog Hop is shared experiences.





I didn't even have to think about what I wanted to write about. Since I had already written about my experience with my mother on the Characters in Flight balloon, I decided to write about my "first" visit to Disney World.
Now, by all means this was not really my first visit to the World. I have been going to Disney since I was an "itty bitty" girl. This was however, my first visit to Disney World as 1. - a married woman and 2.- with my husband who had never been to Disney, heck, he'd never been further south than New Jersey!

The full tale of this trip is too long to share in one post, but as a brief summary this is how it went...

This trip was a surprise. Hubby had no idea we were going. On Christmas morning he opened the gift and asked when we were going. I said "On New Year's Eve! For your birthday!" YAY!!!

And off we went.These are a few of my favorite photos from that trip and some of my favorite memories in general.
Clockwise from left to right...
Our first trip to the Magic Kingdom -Midnight on New Year's Eve behind Cinderella's castle.
Our first trip to Down Town Disney.
Our first ride on The Seas with Nemo and Friends.
Our first trip to EPCOT.

This trip is what started it all... I am so happy I was able to share my husband's first Disney World experience with him and that he wound up loving Disney just as much as I do.


Do you remember your first trip to Disney World? I'd love to hear about it!

Happy Father's Day

In light of recent events, it has been hard for me to find time to write. My mother isn't doing as well as I'd like, and in fact she is spending the night in the ICU. I wanted to write a post for my dad for father's day but I keep getting too choked up to get anything good out. So instead, I'm going to direct you to my other blog where I have a  father's day post from 2009.

My dad is my hero, my rock. No man will ever be able to fill his shoes, but my husband has all of my dad's best qualities. It saddens me that my father is spending the night alone, while the love of his life lays in a hospital bed, and there is nothing I can do to make things right. All I can do is tell you how amazing he is and send a prayer up to heaven to hopefully help him get the sleep that I cannot seem to find.

Please CLICK HERE to read about my amazing dad.

I'd also like to give a shout out to some of my favorite Disney dads...
KingTritan
Maurice
Mufasa
Geppetto
The Sultan
Marlin
and of course Pongo.

Happy Father's Day!

Who is your favorite Disney dad? I only covered the animated movies I love, I'd really like to hear who your favorites are from all Disney films, and why!

Disney Filled Mother's Day

I just realized that I never posted about my fabulous mother's day!
All of my children have paws, except for McDuff who has wings.
Let me introduce you to my children...

This is Petey (black cat) and Bella (orange tabby) They rock at guitar hero.

This is Princess Jasmine aka Jazzy. She is my baby.

You already met the twins, Alice(long hair) and Dinah (short hair)

This is McDuff aka Duffy (pre-Disney Duffy lol)

So, now that you have met my babies... let me know you what they gave me for Mother's Day!

They spoiled their mommy rotten.


Do your furbabies celebrate Mother's Day?

Speaking of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party...

I thought I would share photos of the costumes hubby and I wore for the 2009 and 2010 parties.
My husband is a bit obsessed with the Ghostbusters and has put quite a bit of effort into his costume so he wore it both years. I am trying to convince him to go with something else this September but I'm not sure he'll go for it.

In 2009 we went with my cousin and her husband. We ate dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe before the party which was a GREAT idea b/c we were so close to the party we didn't have to worry about getting there on time or waiting for buses or anything.

I'm Snow White.


In 2010 it was just hubby and myself. Cousin and her DH were sorely missed and I really hope that we can make the party together again sometime in the near future. They have had an adorable baby since then, and I think it would be a lot of fun to see his reaction to the party.

This past year it rained THE WHOLE DAY of the party. I was devastated. I was IN LOVE with our costumes for this party and was really quite excited to show it off and I was not happy at all that we would have to be wearing ponchos the whole night.

We tried our best to make the most of it though...

Imagine our surprise and delight when Mickey Mouse worked his magic and Tink's pixie dust to turn off the rain as soon as we got off the monorail at the Magic Kingdom!!! It was seriously magical, and I almost cried. It went from the craziest thunderstorm I have ever seen (and that says a lot, trust me) to a beautiful night. The ponchos came off and we had a BLAST. It seemed like a LOT of people decided not to come b/c of the weather and the lines were much shorter than they were the year before.

Can you guess what my costume was?? A few people told us that it was their favorite combination of the night. Cast members were especially fond of and excited about it. A few people guessed incorrectly, and were then very happy/amused when I clued them in.

I'd love to hear your guesses so I will confirm my costume choice in my next post!

Have you seen any great costume combinations at MNSSHP? What was your favorite?

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party tickets go on sale May 1st!

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party tickets go on sale May 1st!

Event Dates:
November 8, 9 ,11, 13, 15, 18, 27, 29, 30
December 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18

Ticket Prices:
Advance Purchase Select Dates
$60.66 for adults (10 and up) including tax
$55.33 for children (3-9) including tax

Regular Price
$67.05 for adults (10 and up) including tax
$61.72 for children (3-9) including tax

No advance purchase for Friday and Saturday.

I have never been to the Christmas Party but I have seen the Osborne Lights and some of the decorations when we were there for New Years Eve a few years ago. I am hoping to go for my 30th birthday next year.

have you ever attended the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party? What was your favorite part?

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party- Tickets On Sale May 1st!

Tickets for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party go on sale May 1st!

Dates of the event:
September 13, 16, 20, 23, 27 and 30
October 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 27, 28, 30, 31
November 1

Pricing:
Advance Purchase Select Dates
$60.66 for adults (10 and up) including tax
$55.33 for children (3-9) including tax

Regular Purchse Price
$67.05 for adults (10 and up) including tax
$61.72 for children (3-9) including tax

No advance purchase for Fridays and Oct 13, Oct 30 and Oct 31.

Hubby and I have gone the past 2 years and plan on going either Sept. 16th or 20th. That only gives me less than 6 months to plan our costumes!

 
Are you going to MNSSHP? What will you be wearing?