Why I Oughta...

One of the things that I'm always struck by during our visits to the Disneyland Resort is the Disney horticulture .  I guess that I always look at a 'place's' horticulture, but when I'm at Disneyland, I always come away thinking how great of a job they do - AND - how foreign it is to me being a Zone 5b Northern climate gardener.   I've posted a bunch of photos over the years from our trips here on the blog including some photos of the Disneyland Roses , some crazy cubed shrubs near Small World  and a few times about some Belgian Fence espaliers that they have in the parks.  I first posted a photo of this Belgian Fence in January of 2019 .  Then, I posted about Disneyland's Belgian Fences later that same year.    Below, you'll see a new photo of what I think is the 'matching pair' to the espalier that I've posted about before.  This one is on the City Hall side of the train station - just as you go under the sign that reads:  "Here you l

Earlier this Spring, we came home with a Standing Micky Mouse metal wire topiary frame from the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival and I went ahead figuring out how to acquire the material, stuff the thing, wire it up and plant it with a creeping Fig Vine.  Here's that post from April that shows the steps I took to get it set up initially.   Mickey Mouse topiary spent the first few months of its life on our counter top in the kitchen sitting in a bowl.  I tried to keep it pretty wet and the vine grew just a little bit.  Then, I had a setback with some dieback on the tips of the vine.  I think I let it dry out too much.  Around the beginning of June, I decided to try to move it outside on our back stoop and patio.  After a few days of trying to harden the vine off (I put it out in the shade for a few hours, then brought it back in.  Repeat that process over the course of a week or so, each day adding a little bit of time.), I decided to give it a little bit of assistance in terms of

A couple of months ago, I posted some new coasters for the collection that were from Oga's Cantina in Black Spire Outpost in Disney's Hollywood Studios .  Those were the 37th coasters and 13th Disney-specific coasters.  I mentioned that the rise of parks ephemera in the form of drink coasters is a really nice trend. Today's post is featuring a new Disney coaster from their new (at least to us) resort called Disney's Riviera Resort.  On the ground floor, near the pool, there's a great lounge called Bar Riva .  It is like eating indoors outdoors.  Or, eating outdoors indoors.  The food was good, the place looks great.  And...they have custom coasters that are oval and include this RR-logo that you can find in various places around the resort . This makes 14 Disney coaster sets (thanks, Lamplight Lounge and Oga's Cantina for having to say 'sets') that I've documented on the blog for the collection. The full Disney list includes: 1. The standard one yo

One of the trends that I'm really enjoying in Disney Parks is the additional of some restaurant-specific Disney Parks ephemera in the shape of custom coasters.  I've documented a few of these over the years here on the blog as part of the Coaster Collection .   The last Disney one that I posted was back in 2019 when I shared one from Aulani .   This post is about some coasters from Oga's Cantina in the Black Spire Outpost on the Out Rim planet of Batuu.  Or, you could say it is located in the Star Wars Land inside of Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida.  Either way, you'd be right.  And, if you're interested, check out the full story on the place here on the Wookiepedia .   As for the rest of the Disney-related coasters in the collection, here's the rundown of the (now) 13 kinds 1 . The full Disney list includes: 1. The standard one you see in your rooms @ Walt Disney World resort hotels . 2. This black and white one from the original Disneyland Resort Ho

Back in March, the folks at Disney announced they were closing some of their stores as their business continues to transition to e-commerce.  That has only surely accelerated due to the pandemic.  One of those stores that was on the list of closures was near us - up in Rosemont.  Turns out, it is an outlet store.  And, I didn't know this, but Nat did (because she's been there a few times), they carry quite a bit of Disney Parks merchandise.  In particular, they carry Disneyland Park merchandise that has cycled through the park and ends up here - at the outlet with discounted prices.  Kinda neat.   With outlet prices coupled with the store closing, Nat went up there and picked up a bunch of clothes for the kids.  And, she came home with two things for me.  2020 Disneyland Park pins.  Disneyland was closed for nine of the twelve months of 2020, so it is no surprise that 2020 merchandise ended up at the outlet, right? The pins were marked $3.99 and - as you can see below - one ha

I've been thinking about topiary for a number of years.  I've talked about backyard topiaries - including (recently) the idea of a Block I one and as far back as 2017, I bought a topiary wire (angel) at an Estate Sale and never did anything with it .   It is something that I've included on my to-do lists over the years ( 2019 and 2020 ), but never was able to tackle the project.  I've also set it as #24 on this year's list (topiary), but I've taken a little veer off course. Instead of moving on an outdoor topiary, I've somehow started with a tropical topiary on a stuffed frame. This, too, has been like five years in the making.   Over those five-or-so-years, we've been down to the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival a number of times and EACH TIME we're there, I always pause and pick up a Mickey Mouse-shaped topiary and THINK about buying it.  But, each time, I've put it down.  Either logistics, or impulse control or something.   But this year...

Earlier this month, the fine folks at Disney Imagineering shared even more details of the newly refreshed entrance to Epcot that includes the original fountain, some cool ribbon lighting and a series of flagpoles that are flying flags featuring the original symbols of Epcot .  Seems like it is a lot of "back to the beginnings" for Epcot in terms of the entrance and I'm here for it.    In our pin trading, we've collected a series of the Epcot pavilion symbol pins, but there's one that we just came across that was new to us.  It is what you see below:  Now, we can certainly have a conversation about *if* this is scrapper (and it might be), but that's not what I'm here to post about.  It is about the fact that, based on THIS pin, I just learned that the World Showcase had/has a symbol that was in harmony with all the other ones that I was familiar with over the years.  What is interesting is that this story on D23 (the official fan club for Disney) doesn'

Over the weekend, I posted a vintage photo of my family 1 at Walt Disney World back in the early 1980's and talked about how I wasn't sure EXACTLY where the photo was taken nor was I sure why my sister and I were wearing these white tags on our clothes.  Here, again, is the photo in question below showing three of us wearing Mickey Ears and my mom looking very chic in the Florida heat. See those tags on me and my Sister next to me that seem to be pinned or tied to our shirts?  Earlier this week, I posted about the details and solved *that* part of the mystery:  those are "Lost Parent" Tags with Mickey and Minnie Mouse on them .    But, I still didn't know the location.  Of course, we're in a hat shop.  And, the cast member is wearing some sort of lederhosen-like outfit.  But, was it in Epcot @ the Germany pavillion?  Was it at The Chapeau in Magic Kingdom?  I wasn't sure.   But, I knew that someone WOULD know the location.  And, the first place I turned

 A few days ago, I posted a retro photo from a family trip to the Vacation Kingdom back in the early 1980's and wondered both where (inside the park(s)) it was taken and also, what these little tags on our clothes were for during our visit to the parks.   I was maybe four or five years old.  And that would make my middle sisters age 6 and age 12 or so.    It didn't take long to turn up this listing on eBay that shows a "Lost Parent" paper tag that they say is from Disneyland. Source via Ebay listing.  This is NOT my listing, not my tag.  Original here . Now, if I zoom waaaaaaaay in on our original photo, it sure seems to be Mickey and Minnie in this pose on the tag.  Have a look here: So, we're wearing "Lost Parent" tags.  The back of those ( via that *same* eBay listing ) looks like this: Source via this eBay listing.  Not my tag, not my photo.   Pretty interesting to think how much they de-prioritized the telephone number on the form isn't it? 

My sister Vic sent me this photo of us at Walt Disney World from when we were very young.  It is my Mom (very stylish, right?), my second oldest sister Sharon, my sister Vic and - of course - myself.  I'm assuming my oldest sister is the one taking the photo, right?  We're all wearing Mickey Ears and my mom is holding a fourth pair in the photo.  But, where are we?  It seems like we are (obviously) in a hat shop, but looking at the cast member's uniform, I wonder if there's a way to figure out the location.  Is this inside The Chapeau in the Magic Kingdom - the big hat shop?  Or, are those lederhosen that the Cast Member is wearing?  Could this be inside the Germany Pavillion at Epcot?   I can't confirm this, but my parents tell me that they went to Walt Disney World during the opening year of Magic Kingdom - so sometime between October 1971 and September of 1972.  And, if that is, indeed, true, might my Mom have booked another trip down during the opening year of E

Here's a matched set of Disney Parks pins that were in that little stash that we came across last weekend - but these are a matched set of a matched set.  Of holiday character themed-mittens.   With the whole Bernie Sanders inauguration mittens meme,  I'm so *on* trend right with this post now, amiright?  The first one below is from 2015 Christmas at the Polynesian Resort (note: not yet the Polynesian Village Resort) featuring Stitch.  And the other one on the left is from the same 2015 Christmas/holiday celebration at Disney's Contemporary Resort featuring...for some reason...Tinkerbell in a Santa hat and outfit.  Both of these are on cute cards that carry the whole mittens-theme forward and are both marked "Limited Edition".  This is the most recent of the discovered 'stash' pins from Disney Parks on the blog.  ALL of my posts about various Disney Parks trading pins can be found here .  I also have created this running log of everything I've posted

Another day, another pin for the archives here on the blog.  These are all from the little stash that I found last week that had a bunch of unopened (and not put on the pin board) pins from a couple of trips in 2015 and 2016.  First was this 2015 Christmas pin with Captain Hook and Mr. Smee , then yesterday I posted a pin from Hollywood Studios that showed off the final year of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights in 2015 .  Today is the third new pin, but this one is from 2016.  It is from the 2016 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival and features Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in what I think is kind of an homage to their topiaries.  I've posted about the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival/show before here on the blog - including this Tow Mater topiary from 2015 .  I also posted some photos of some plants from the 2016 festival  and we were there in 2018 to pick up this Passholder Magnet from the Festival .  I don't know how many years we've been to the

Here comes the second newly discovered Disney Parks trading pin from this stash that I turned up when cleaning out a closet .   All of the pins seem to be from 2015/2016 and a series of them appear to be special-event or limited edition in nature.  Two days ago, I posted a photo of a Captain Hook and Mr. Smee Holiday pin from the 2015 Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party pin .  Today, is ANOTHER Christmas pin, but from a different park.  It features The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights from Disney's Hollywood Studios and has Santa Mickey Mouse and Santa Minnie Mouse along with a photo card that features all the little lights. We saw these lights in what appears to be the final year at the park - 2015 - and we were blown away by them.  Here's a few photos of our visit that I'm not sure I ever posted about here on the blog: Disney Parks, Entertainment and Products Group - DPEP - donated these lights to Give Kids the World Village and they had a little show this

One of the pins in the stash that I posted about yesterday from what seems to be a couple of Disney Parks trip in 2015 and 2016 is this Christmas pin you see below.  It is marked "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party 2015" as well as "Limited Edition".  It features Captain Hook and his guy Smee and has a ribbon bow affixed to the front of the trading pin: Looking through the archives, it seems that I documented a few of these back in the day - including these two companion pins from the very same 2015 Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom  and these Haunted Mansion one from the same series , too. 

 I recently came across a little stash of unopened, undocumented (at least here on the blog) of Disney Parks trading pins from 2015 and 2016 that are mostly still on the cards they came with when we bought them. Here's a look at the little Perry the Platypus lunchpail that I stored them in: I'm going to pick through these and see how many of them that I haven't documented and will push some of them here on the blog.

 Just two days ago, I posted my latest progress photo of this 750 piece Disney Parks collectible pin jigsaw puzzle that I had - to that point - been working on for two weeks.  Today, I can say that I've completed my third Winter COVID puzzle.  See below for the full reveal: First was a 300 piece Christmas puzzle.   I didn't take any photos of it, unfortunately. Second was a 1000 piece Harry Potter book cover puzzle that I did over break. And third, is this Disney Parks pin puzzle.   This one is pretty disorienting.  It was hard to train my eyes to review the back of the box for the actual image because with so much going on, it was VERY natural for my eyes to just kind of wander around.   Up next is the Kodak one that you see at the top of the photo.  Yeah...Kodak.  Weird, right?  They went from cameras and film to, umm, puzzles?  Must be a licensing deal.  Well, that was a gift and is of backyard birds at a feeder, so it will be quite appropriate for putting together on the

 A few weeks back, I posted a photo to mark the beginning of my second Winter Break COVID puzzle - this 750 piece puzzle featuring Disney pins that you can trade in/around the parks.  Well, I hit it hard out of the gate - while I was still had some time away from work.  But, then, reality hit and my days were filled with Microsoft Teams calls.  As with my previous COVID puzzles (a smaller, 300-piece Christmas one and a 1000-piece Harry Potter-themed one ) that I successfully completed, I set this Disney Pins puzzle up in the screened porch where there is a lot of light and plenty of company.  After starting strong, this puzzle seemed to just kind of sit idle.  Couple work stuff with the kids using my puzzle table to do their Christmas Lego sets and this one got shelved for a bit.   But, this past weekend, I picked up where I left off, reset a few of the pieces that had come up and got busy.  Here's where I ended the weekend:  Pretty close to being done.  I think one or two more s

 Back in November of 2020, McDonalds had a Happy Meal promotion with Walt Disney World that featured ride vehicle toys from the parks included in each Happy Meal.  The promotion started (I think) right before Thanksgiving , but by the end of the month they stopped selling the toys due to an error of some sort with the QR code that came in the package .   Of course, when they released these, we ran out to get a Happy Meal for the kids.  They gave us two of the same toy (Goofy) and one Mission Space toy (Mickey). The ones we have are marked "Walt Disney World" and the Goofy one is from the newly opened (at least...new to us, since we haven't been to the Parks since the pandemic hit) Runaway Railway ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  The Mission Space one is from the ride in Epcot below. You can see all ten of them here from WDWNT .  Wonder if they'll ever bring the toys back?   They kind of remind me of these Disney Matchbox cars that I have from when I was a kid

I was thumbing through a book that Nat bought for her Dad for Christmas about the early years of Disneyland and came across this caption for one of the photos.  Talks about how Walt Disney and his early Imagineers (which, I'm not so sure were actually called that at the time) had a favorite restaurant:  the Tam O'Shanter.  The caption reads:  "Opened in 1922 and designed by Hollywood art director Harry Oliver, the Scottish-themed Tam O'Shanter in Los Feliz was one of Walt's and his Imagineers' favorite restaurants.  His regular table was number 31, and the eatery still has autographed sketches by studio artists hanging in its lobby.  Oliver's fantasy architecture, which was popular during the 1920's and plentiful in the area, would influence the designs of buildings in Disneyland." The DisneyFoodBlog has a proper review up about the place and includes some photos of Disney art, including a piece that was drawn by the man, himself .  Neat.

 What happens when you do a couple of puzzles and your family notices?  And it is right before Christmas?  Well...that means you get MORE PUZZLES.  MOARPUZZLES.  This one, though, (as the kids say...) slaps .  <insert how do you do fellow kids meme> But...seriously....I am going to REALLY insert it here below. Why? Because, I read somewhere that if you start saying things that your kids have started to say, they'll start to think it is very UNCOOL.  So, I'm getting ahead of things with my kids and the phrase 'this one slaps'.   Well...back to the puzzle.  This scratches me right where I itch:  it is a Disney Parks pins puzzle.  Imagine laying down hundreds of Disney Parks pins and taking a photo of them.  That's EXACTLY what this 750 piece puzzle is.  See below for my photo of the box: You can find it on Amazon (non-affiliate link here, people), but go to your local toy store and ask them.  It is 18" tall.  By 24" wide.   I'm going to get this o