Friday, March 24, 2017

Would You Rather

As part of some research I've been recently doing for some recordings I've been asked to do with our friends over at the Mousecapades Podcast, I came across a website that had a fun game of Disney Would You Rather. 

We've all played this game right? You're asked to choose between two things. Usually, these things are not very pleasant so you're choosing between a bad thing or a worse thing. In this Disney version, one of the questions was you can only choose one for the rest of your life, so would you rather only ever be able to eat Mickey's Premium Ice Cream Bars or a Pineapple Dole Whips?


Mickey's Premium Ice Cream/ Pineapple Dole Whip

What a hard question to answer! I hate the thought that I would have to choose but there is a clear winner for me. This question, however, got me thinking about all the other Would You Rather questions that could be asked about Disney. I'm not going to go into them in this blog because I'm saving them for an upcoming episode of the Mousecapades Podcast but I would like to pose a question to everyone. What would Disney be like without some of these things?

It wouldn't be the same, that's for sure. So many of them are iconic and although I may not like riding Spaceship Earth, I can't imagine Epcot without it. The park wouldn't be the same.

Back in February, on the last night of my trip down to Disney World, I had planned to head back to the Magic Kingdom. I always try to end my trips at the Magic Kingdom so I planned all my fastpasses for that evening: Peter Pan's Flight, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Splash Mountain.

I was staying at the All-Star Sports Resort this trip and after a long morning at Hollywood Studios that, I headed back to the resort to avoid the rain and to take a nap. I woke up around four and honestly, I didn't feel like doing anything. I was just going to stay at the resort, have dinner, and pack my bags to head home in the morning.

Just before six, I decided that I did want to go back out so I jumped into the shower, got ready, and quickly made my way to the buses. My last fastpass was for Splash Mountain from six to seven so I had about thirty minutes to make it. I rushed off the bus, into the park, down Main Street, and with just a couple minutes to spare, I was able to get on the ride.

After Splash Mountain, I didn't feel like staying in the park any longer. There weren't any other rides that I felt like standing in line for so, I decided to head back to the resort but there was one thing I wanted to do before I left the park and headed home.

I wanted one final Pineapple Dole Whip Float. So yeah, I made a single trip to the Magic Kingdom for Splash Mountain and a Dole Whip. For me, Disney World wouldn't be the same without the Dole Whip.


Pineapple Dole Whip Float

Thanks for reading.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Feeling Grateful

The past few weeks have been tough for me. I've had some trials and tribulations come into my life that have knocked me back but my faith, my family, and my friends have kept me moving forward. I had to have some surgery and the toll it took on me was far greater then I expected.

I have a lot to be grateful for: My amazing wife, beautiful kids, fantastic job, supportive friends and just a week ago, my wife and I welcomed into this world our fifth child and fourth son aptly named Walter Phillip. If you think you can figure out the two people for which he's named, send me an email and I'll send you some swag.

I want to apologize to all of my loyal readers during this time away. It wasn't intentional but sometimes, life gets in the way and there isn't much we can do about it. I hope it never happens again.

During my downtime, there's been a lot of things happening in the world of Disney. Lots of exciting changes are underway and exciting lands are about to open. Yes, I'm finally coming around on the world of Pandora and am actually looking forward to seeing it when I'm there in June.

I last visited the magical world of Disney back in February for the International Festival of the Arts and I do have some stories to tell from that trip so look for some of them in the next couple of weeks. It was a great solo trip and I finally had a chance to stay at the All-Star Sports resort.

I also want to announce some major changes that are in the works for The Magical Mouse. I can't really discuss any of the details just yet but I can say that I will be launching a new website soon which will help transition this blog into more of a Disney informational and planning site and not just a blog. Don't worry though, I will continue the blog on the new site.

These are exciting times and I'm so grateful that I can share them all with you guys.

Thank you all for the support, love, kind words, and as always, thanks for reading.

Tim