Walt Disney World: It's Not Just for Kids » non-parks Disney stuff

WDW Not Just for Kids Review: Fantasia Gardens

Hedy — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:36:32 +0000

One thing that some people might not know is that Disney World has not one-but two mini golf courses: Fantasia Gardens, by Epcot, and Winterland Summerland, by Blizzard Beach. Personally, I’ve not seen the point in spending extra money on a WDW vacation on something that a) is not included in what I have already spent, and b) I can do at home. However, owing to the fact that the WDW Bus gods did not want us to proceed with our planned Disney Quest trip, my nephews* and I ended up hopping a bus to Epcot to go to Fantasia Gardens. First big negative of this place-it is a pain in the neck to get to from the beginning. As it is located near the Swan, we got there by taking an Epcot bus, cutting through Epcot (with a pit stop at Club Station Cool), hoofing it through the Boardwalk area, and then going through the Swan. Without cutting through Epcot, it would have meant heading to a hub, then hopping a bus to the Swan.

Compared to tickets to DisneyQuest, a round at Fantasia Gardens is a reasonable $12.52 for adults, and there are discounts for DVC and AP holders. Fantasia Gardens is the easier side of the Fantasia Miniature Golf, there is also Fantasia Fairways, which is more difficult. Now, I have to admit something: I’m competitive, and I like to win. Angry Birds was on my iPad less then one week before I decided it was a stupid game as I wasn’t winning. I’m no good at mini golf (or any other sport). I found the course too be harder than the one at my local mini golf course. As such, when I dropped the scorecard, I decided that if my nephews wanted to keep score, they could get another scorecard. They didn’t.

The course is, as the name implies, themed around Fantasia . The theming is amazing. I have to admit that I had a giggle over the fact that they have a hole dedicated to the god of wine escaped my lips.

Despite being difficult to get to, I recommend Fantasia Gardens. It’s inexpensive yet magical, and a good option if you want to not spend a day on your ticket.

Have you tried Fantasia Gardens (or Winterland Summerland)? What did you think? Let me know in a comment, Twitter or Facebook.

*As they have the misfortune of being related to me already (I kid, I kid), parts discussing them will be as vague as possible. Mordie is 15, and Ferdie is 12 (actually, he turned 12 on this trip).

This is part of the 31st Dismarks blog carnival

WDW Not Just For Kids Review: London Disney Store

Hedy — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 04:29:38 +0000

Oxford St Disney Store, London UK. June 2011

This post is part of the 25th Dismarks Carnival.

Before I begin this review, I should make it quite clear that I loved London. UK readers, I love your country with its two Cadbury flake bars for 80p. I loved the history. I loved the fizzy lemonade. I love that your country can make a decent pot of tea. However, the London Disney Store is even worse for adults than the US version.

Aesthetically, the store is a carbon copy of the Times Square Disney Store. Screens and trees-check! Princess mirror-check! Build a car-check! There is a selection of London merchandise, including pins, t-shirts (some in adult sizes), and Vinylmations. The Vinylmations are UK exclusive. However, the only other “adult” merch they had was their Imagination fragrance. And mugs.

It’s probably obvious, but you can’t use your Disney Visa rewards there. If you’re interested in hearing about Brits visiting WDW (which, weirdly enough, helped me prepare for my London trip), check out Britmick.

Wordless Wednesday: June 29, 2011

Hedy — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:40:49 +0000

It’s a Pirate’s Life for OPI!

Hedy — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:59:24 +0000

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean (POTC) trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, is coming out tomorrow, May 20. I’m a pirates fan, but not an OMG Captain Jack Sparrow swoon type of girl. As such, I do not know if I will see it in theatres or Redbox it (I would kind of like to see it before I go to WDW in August). I do have to admit that because I have the sense of humor of a twelve-year-old I giggle at the “What were you doing in a Spanish brother/I mistook it for a convent-easy mistake” exchange from the trailer. (Also, I think that Angelica was added to this POTC installment, and the parks, for those who have significant others who are swooning over Jack).

However, I was surprised to learn that OPI released a Pirates of the Caribbean nail polish set. For those of you who are not make up people, OPI is a professional nail polish company which specializes in sassy names and pop culture collections. The colors are Skull & Glossbones, a light gray, Stranger Tides, a sage, Mermaid Tears, a pale green, Steady as She Rose, a pink, Sparrow Me the Drama, also pink, and Planks A Lot, a purple. Of the whole set, Planks a Lot is the only one I’d consider getting (I’m not a huge OPI fan, I prefer China Glaze). However, I’m really excited about the OPI “Silver Shatter”. The Black Shatter from the Katy Perry collection has been waiting-list hard to get, so I’m hoping the silver shatter will be easier to find.

Wordless Wednesday: April 20, 2011

Hedy — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:33:00 +0000

See all Wordless Wednesdays!

Friday Favorites: The Kingdom Keepers Series

Hedy — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 04:07:07 +0000

From Jedigal on Deviantart, http://jedigal.deviantart.com

I read the first The Kingdom Keepers book back in 2006. I liked it, but I kind of filed it in the back of my mind. The books are about teens who are holographic hosts at Disney parks, and they battle Disney villains. Then in 2009, following Lou’s interview of Ridley Pearson, I got my DSIL the first and the second one. I finally got around to reading it over the summer. I was kind of meh on it-I’m not madly in love with Animal Kingdom, and I found the idea of the parks having wifi unbelievable*. However, I wanted to read the third one, Kingdom Keepers III: Disney in Shadow. When Cynthia tweeted that the books are now available for Kindle, I decided to buy it. I read it this past weekend, and loved it. This book takes place in Epcot, and as a plot point they go into the Wonders of Life pavilion. As these books are targeted as tees and tweens, the kids did not know what the pavilion was; however, they go into the part of it that Zanna was in last year, which I found really exciting. This book really held my attention, to the point that I’ve already pre-ordered the next one, Kingdom Keepers IV, which comes out on April 5.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?

*Apparently I’m able to suspend reality enough to buy into there being holographic theme parks hosts, but not the parks having wifi. Yes, I’m weird.

Hiding your Disney Life?

Hedy — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:03:50 +0000

My apologies for falling off the face of my blog. My non-Disney life was eating up my free time. I now have a new job, so hopefully thing should get back to normal around here. However, job hunting brought up a good topic-how much do you reveal (or hide) about your Disney life?

Like many of my readers, I have a myriad of Disney accouterments around. My car was once referred to as “the Mickey mobile,” and between the fuzzy Mickey dice, antenna topper and Tink magnet, it’s not far from the truth. So anyone who saw me drive up would see the However, while job hunting, I found myself literally and figuratively covering up my Disney life. Because I plan my meals six months ahead of time but prepare for job interviews the night before, the only padfolio I could find was the DVC one from the Vacation as You Wish tour. However , as it has a big honking Mickey on the front, I turned it upside down to hide it. Yepp, for all my talk I literally hide my Disney side during job interviews.

Figuratively, there’s the answer to the question “What do you do in your spare time?” Not to sound full of myself, but I maintain a site with a good Google PR, excellent social media integration, and a decent readership. In other words: I have written communication skills, social media skills and ingenuity. Would I be more likely to reveal my Disney life if I were a Lou or an AJ? Would I be more likely to reveal my blogging life if my blog were about grad school or being a mom?

Photo from Angela Archer

WDW Not Just for Kids Review: Tangled

Hedy — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 02:20:23 +0000

While on my cruise, I had a chance to see Tangled. I’d first heard of Tangled way back when it was Rapunzel Unbraided. I heard it described as a “Shrek” like story. Now, I like Shrek, but I didn’t really see the point in Disney doing a “Shrek” esque story.

I then heard about the name change to Tangled. Now, maybe I’m a weirdo because I liked The Princess and the Frog , but I find the whole “we must make sure boys are interested too” thing stupid.

Now, Rapunzel is pretty darn low on my list of favorite fairytales. Radishes, long hair, blindness. Woo flippin’ hoo. But beng the Disney fan I am, I was willing to give it a shot (heck, they made The Little Mermaid not turn out all broken glassy). From the opening scenes of Rapunzel in her tower, I was hooked. The story moved along well, and was clever. Rikki hit on a good point when she commented that it was funny without there being fart jokes (see Shrek comment above). I’m not sure the 3-D would be worth it, but I’d see it in theaters.

Rapunzel and Flynn were both characters you cared about. (I liked Prince Naveen because he wasn’t all “Oh, hai, I am handsome prince,” and Flynn was very much the same way. The music was reminiscent of the Disney Decade music. “Something that I want” has been blaring from my speakers lately.

Spoiler time. I was amused that Rapunzel ended up with the 2003 Mandy Moore haircut, but I thought it was kind of cool.

The Minnie Muse Collection for Forever 21 has arrived…

Hedy — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 20:46:20 +0000

And it looks pretty cool. I have to admit that I did go into Forever 21 at the mall yesterday to check it out. The items are cute, not as un-Minnie-like as some expected. I do think this was a good way to get the Disney brand in teen’s faces-the things in this collection look more like something I could see my teenage (and Forever21 fan) niece sporting than many other Disney offerings. I was very tempted to get the Minnie Mouse and heart scarf. However, I am currently close enough to my trip that I am at the point where I would rather save my money to buy Disney stuff in Disney.

What are your thoughts on the Minnie Muse collection? Let me know in a comment, on Twitter or Facebook.

And Disney Store continues to fail…

Hedy — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 22:12:39 +0000

I have discussed my issues with the Disney Store before here. However, given that DisneyStore.com seems to have gotten a clue, I was hopeful that the Disney Store outlet in Riverhead, NY would have something. Their outlet was a fail-one thing of t-shirts, one rack of pajama pants, and some discounted Pook-A-looz merchandise. Oh, and the pajama pants had a helpful sign letting me know they were $16.50, compare at $16.50.

Site of New World of Disney Store in NYC-April 2010 in Times Square. It's due to open in the fall, and there a MAC Cosemetics store next door!

Let me tell you, the cool new Imagination Park Disney Stores cannot come soon enough. I have been waiting with baited breath for the one in Times Square to open, and I hope it has more adult merchandise.