Why I Oughta...

Another day and another post on something we picked up at a Disney Park.  This continues the last few posts about items at Disneyland Resort.  Above is a Mickey Mouse "Honorary Aviator" sticker that they give out in the Soarin' line at Disney's California Adventure.  It is bigger than the normal "Mickey Stickers" that they hand out all over and is the size of the celebration buttons. This is a little different than the 'job role' stickers like the other WDW-related ones we've picked up including a  Honorary Custodian  or  WDW Monorail Pilot .  It is ride-related and includes Mickey, so not sure where exactly to put it. But, that doesn't matter.  Get it next time you ride Soarin' in DCA. Full list of items that are free from Disney Parks: This "Honorary Aviator" Mickey the Mouse sticker (that's the size of a button) from the Soarin' queue.   A cute set of  Lightning McQueen and Stanley Disney California Advent

Everyone always talks about how much Disney park visits cost.  And they do, indeed, cost quite a bit.  But, there's value all around if you look for it.  Most of the time, that value comes from spending quality time with your family.  Some other times, that value comes from the little things that you can pick up/get/do around the parks. I've written about these various 'freebies' around the parks here on the blog.  Full list is below.  Today, is the second day in a row posting about one of these things and they're both transportation-related.  These in the photo at the top are from Disney's California Adventure and are available at Radiator Springs Racers in Carsland.  If you ask the cast member, you can choose between Lightning McQueen and Stanley.  With three kids, we were able to get both! The kids wore these (the boy on his hat, the girls on their lanyards) all day.  Disneyland Resort does NOT do pin trading like they do at Walt Disney World (it is ha

I've written about 'freebies at Walt Disney World' over the years on the blog.  There's the business card that we got from the Mayor of Main Street USA .  He's dead now , so I don't think they're doing this any longer.  There's also an official 'guest skipper' license from the Jungle Cruise Skippers .  And a card from Soarin' that is labeled "Born to Soar" that allows little ones to 'fly' the ride as soon as they hit the height.   There are also plenty of character stickers from various cast members and DVC kiosks like Minnie Mouse  and Mickey Mouse.  And you can get a Celebration Pin everyday or special pins on other days like Mickey Mouse's birthday  or a special pin if you participate in the Star Wars Jedi Training .  If you look hard enough, you can also find 'job role' stickers like Honorary Custodian  or  WDW Monorail Pilot .  And there's, of course, transportation cards. Another one those is the

I've posted a bunch of Walt Disney quotes that have appeared on Disney World construction signs (sponsored by Stanley!) over the past year or so.  This one is another one that we spotted on the walk from the Boardwalk to Disney's Hollywood Studios - right outside the Disney Skyway station construction zone. "I've wanted to do things; I wanted to build things, to get something going." -Walt Disney 

We stopped by the entrance to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge on a recent trip and the Babe was - understandably - excited about the new land.  Can't wait until 2019 when we'll have to make a trip back to take it all in as a family.

I've posted about Walt Disney World Transportation Cards in the past here on the blog.  They're cards that are given out by Transportation cast members (boat captains, bus drivers, monorail pilots and what-have-yous) to guests at seemingly random intervals.  In December of 2016, I posted about how we scored a pile of them from a boat captain on our way back to the Wilderness Lodge .  And in August of last year, I posted a Friendship Boat card that one of the kids was given on a ride to the Hollywood Studios .  And most recently, on January 1st of this year, I posted a photo of the coolest (at least to me!) Transportation Card:  the Electrical Water Pageant . Today, I'm sharing another card in the series:  the Motor Cruiser.  This is the boat that takes people to/from the Magic Kingdom and what I think might be my favorite Disney Resort Hotel - The Wilderness Lodge.   And this might be my favorite boat?  It has these big windows that they usually have wide open and ther

Starting the year out the right way:  celebrating vintage Walt Disney World with this Electrical Water Pageant Transportation Collector Card. I've posted about these in the past.  Here's one from the Friendship Boat that we received leaving the Yacht Club dock as we headed towards Hollywood Studios.  And here's a post from December of 2016 (can't say "last year" any more?!?!) showing a set we received from a captain on our way to the Wilderness Lodge . This one is kinda odd, isn't it?  I mean...it isn't exactly transportation, right?  You can't ride on it?  I guess it does move, but if that was the only requirement, they'd offer cards for things like horses that you can't ride or some of the other maintenance vehicles?  Maybe they do?!?!

Came across another one of these construction signs that includes a quote from Walt Disney on the walls of a job site inside of WDW.  I've posted two of these before including this one about deadlines and this one about curiosity .   This one was on the backside of Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom in an area that I think was where the crane was located as they installed Christmas lights. Unlike those other ones that were outside of Epcot, this one is definitely Fantasyland-themed and is appropriate for the place it is hung. This one, too, is sponsored by Stanley, which I continue to think is a nice sponsorship integration for both parties.

Another in the series of Walt Disney World construction signs that feature a quote from Walt Disney himself.  This one was on the walls outside of Disney's Hollywood Studios in the area where they are building the skyway near the walkway to the Boardwalk. This is the third of these signs I've featured here.  First one here .  Second one here . This one, too, is sponsored by Stanley.  You can find out the details of the sponsorship (which I find pretty clever!) in this post .

I almost got to half a million.  Pretty sure that's the most points I've ever scored on the ride.  That puts me at Level 5: Ranger First Class .  But that's not the best part.  The Bird broke 10K for the first time.  She's getting better aiming and scoring points on Space Ranger Spin.   To infinity...and beyond!

You can't roll a stroller into a Disney World hotel and not have someone hand you a Mickey the Mouse sticker.  But a Minnie sticker?  Hmmm....think this was the first and only time one of the kids scored these.  She's the same size as the normal Mickey ones, but has a yellow background instead of the standard white.  You can add this to the list of 'free' things that you can score at Walt Disney World.  The most recent one that I posted about was this Honorary Custodian sticker that one of the kids received for picking up some garbage. These things aren't HUGE (or Yuuuuge...if you'd prefer), but they do make for nice little moments for families that don't cost any money down at Disney.  Here's my list that I've chronicled on the blog. This "honorary custodian" sticker from the Cast member who takes out the trash A Friendship Boat Transportation card The Babe was an Honorary Jungle Cruise Skipper and got a badge, but I don't

I've written a few times about Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party down at the Magic Kingdom in the past.  In 2015, I posted a few photos of Halloween pins and a video of the Sanderson Sisters .  I also posted a photo of a Christmas ornament - yes Christmas - that was a Mickey-shaped pumpkin .  And, finally, that same year, we picked up a few 'limited edition' pins from the party and I shared a photo of those .    This year, I'll place this year's map here in my diary to remember what things looked like and where the trick-or-treat locations were located.  You can see those below. This isn't the first Parks map that I've posted.  You can see more from Disneyland/Sea Tokyo here .  And the full archive of maps-specific posts here . Boo to you!

Here's another fun little thing that the King of the Ball Tossers (KotBT) picked up when we were down last time at Walt Disney World.  Earlier this week, I posted a photo of a new Transportation Card we picked up on the Friendship IV .  We were in one of the parks and stopped somewhere eating popcorn out of one of those buckets that they sell you for $10 and give you $1.50 refills (best deal at WDW, amirite?!?!) and we must have dropped something like a paper cup.  The boy got out of the stroller and went over and picked it up and carried it to the garbage can and put it right in.  A Disney Cast Member in custodial must have been watching him and after he came back to the stroller, she came over and said "Hey!  Thanks for the help Little Buddy!"  And peeled off this sticker and handed it out.  The KotBT smiled big at her and took the sticker.  He shyly - as he usually does - buried his head into the side of the stroller.  I thanked her and we moved on.  A minute later,

Thanks to the out-going nature of one of the Friendship boat skippers, we're now the proud owners of a Friendship Boat-specific Transportation card.  This one is #15 of 27 total cards and we got it on the boat going from the Yacht Club to Disney's Hollywood Studios.   I posted other Transportation cards here on the blog before.   Here's a post showing a few other ones including the Monorail and Motor Launch versions .   Below is the back of the Friendship Boat card that features Merida.   This goes in the file with a few other of our Disney World 'free things' that we've amassed over the years.   This Friendship Boat Transportation card Star Wars Trials of the Temple Training Badge Official Tomorrowland Speedway Drivers License Happy Birthday Mickey pin from Mickey the Mouse's birthday The above-mentioned WDW Transportation Cards  including the Monorail and Motor Launch The Mayor of Mainstreet USA's business card

Back at the end of July, I posted a photo of a Walt Disney quote that they've hung on some construction walls at WDW in Orlando .  Here's another one that caught my eye.  Again, kudos to Stanley for the sponsorship that seems apt for the place/time/space in terms of sponsoring some of the construction work going on and to the imagineers for turning what would normally be an eyesore into something worth taking a minute to take in while walking towards the International Gateway behind Epcot. As for the quote itself, I'm drawn to it because of that word 'curious'.  Something that when I hear someone say, I always perk up and tune in to what they're talking about.  I've done hundreds of interviews for hiring folks (doing some these days to hire people for our team) and when describing themselves, if I hear 'curious' as part of the description, that always makes me sit up in my chair.

As seen on a construction wall at the International Gateway , where they are putting in the new Skyway station .  Pretty clever sponsorship from the folks at Stanley Tools.  From t he Stanley sponsorship page  - that may need to be updated based on Lights, Motors, Action going away : Official Tool Provider of the Walt Disney World Resort, with over 200 branded signs in 40 Disney properties. This 10-year alliance includes branding, business-to-business and special program elements. STANLEY is one of a select group of alliance partners. The partnership includes construction wall signage throughout Walt Disney World Resort. STANLEY, DEWALT and MAC logos are featured at the Walt Disney World Speedway, and STANLEY, MAC, Proto and Vidmar products outfit the Lights, Motors, Action garage and the test track queue line and ride.

I came home with a bunch of stuff for the kids from my visit to both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea including pins and easter stuff , but above you see both park maps.  I'm writing this post to go along with the deposit I'm making in my 'stash box'. Having gone to these two parks was on my Disney Bucket list and having gone to them both, I can now check them off.  Into the stash box they go, with this reminder of why they're there. It isn't used for the 'stash' you're probably thinking of, but rather is just a collection of my personal effects and items that I've come across and accumulated over the years.  Everything from race medals to cufflinks that were given to me as a gift to a bunch of lapel pins (fraternity, secret service cleared, etc).  There's a few paper items in there as well.  And now, it will include these maps.  Speaking of my stash box, I think it might be time to upgrade it in size.  Having a small one has been

I stayed at Tokyo Disneyland until late in the evening and long enough to see their main nighttime parade called " Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights ".  We've seen the the "Main Street Electrical Parade" at WDW and we've seen "Paint the Night" parade at DLR and this is kind of a combination of both of those things.  And because of that, it is awesome.  You get all the lights and action from "Paint the Night", but you get Baroque Hoedown blasting over the speakers .  (go ahead...click that link and listen to the song.  It transports you, like it does me???) Above you see the Casey Jr. train float with Mickey, Minnie and Goof on it.  (You'll also note the 2 dudes snapping vertical video/photos.  C'mon man.  Landscape mode, dudes.  Landscape mode!) And below you see the photo, the first float is lead by the Blue Fairy from Pinnochio.  And then is followed by the locomotive and big drum you see above.  Those are fl

As I posted yesterday, Easter is a (surprising, at least to me) big deal at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea .  Lots of displays around the parks, but the stores are loaded with Easter-related items.  It wouldn't be a trip to a Disney Park without buying stuff you don't really need, right?  And holiday-related items for my kids?  Couldn't pass some of this stuff up. Here's a look at some of the displays in the stores including "Grand Emporium" at Tokyo Disneyland (which is the big store on their version of MainStreet USA) and the Emporio - the version at DisneySea. They have a big display of towels in different sizes featuring Mickey and Minnie in their Easter best. Pay attention to those outfits.  More on that down below. They also have these pretty awesome eggs in a package.  Inside of each of those are little candies.  You can see the display in the bottom left of the photo. There's a bunch of pins and post-it notes that are all egg-

One of the things that I was surprised by was how prominent the Easter holiday was present at the Disney Parks in Tokyo.   Based on this story from 2015, the idea of celebrating Easter is fairly new to Japan  and brands were just starting to package their products with special Easter packaging.  Fast forward two years and you'll see that they've totally embraced Easter at the Disney Parks! From J apanInfo.com from 2015 : With Japan easily getting interested in foreign holidays, and celebrating them in their own unique way, it is surprising to notice, that Easter has so far not being targeted by brands and companies as one would suggest it might do. DisneySea went all-in on Easter.  And they did a really spectacular job! Most of the Easter-related displays were in the part of the park called American Waterfront, so perhaps having most of this stuff displayed there was purposeful?  They also had this big display at the entrance to the park, for all to see. He