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Sophie with her Nana, my Grandma! |
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My wonderful Grandpa! I miss you! |
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Sophie and her Meemaw in Minnie’s Country House |
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Sophie loving the Mad Hatter Tea Cups! |
At this point I want to share with you some pictures that my reader Gaylin shared with me! I’ll let her do the talking, this is what she put in the email she sent:
My name is Gaylin and when I went on a solo trip to WDW in May of 2008, I realized that if I wanted any photos with me actually in them, I would have to ask other people to take them. I got to chat with a lot of other visitors and met some real ‘characters’. The first is with my friends Mike and Sully at Hollywood Studios, the second is with Chip ‘N Dale at the International Gate at Epcot.
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Gaylin with Mike & Sully! |
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Gaylin with Chip & Dale! |
All the classic Disney characters were a part of my childhood. I think “Peter Pan” was the first movie I ever went to. I’m almost 63 now, so seeing the characters at the Disney parks holds very special memories for me. I’ll never forget the first time that I saw Mickey live and in person: I cried with joy. Fast forward a few decades and meet Duffy Bear! It was love at first hug. I used Disney Movie Reward Points to get my first Duffy! Well…when I went to Epcot this past December I made sure that I was first in line to see Duffy. I was so excited to get quality ‘walking time’ with him up the path to the meet-and-greet. Here’s the photo that a cast member snapped with my camera. This will for sure be on my Disney Christmas ornament this year!
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Denny & Duffy |
When it comes to living the Disney dream, one of my readers, Jennifer, was so glad that she went with her own advice! Listen to what she had to say regarding her picture:
This is a picture of our first family trip to Walt Disney World when my son was 17 months old. This is at the Garden Grill and we are all wearing our personalized Pluto Polo shirts.
My son is now 5 yrs. old and has been 3 times. It was such a magical time taking him. I read so many people saying it’s a waste of time to take them at that age. But I said, well…I’m going to take him, who cares if he remembers it or not? Disney has the parent switch. We had so much fun as a new family, I am so glad we did not listen to the nay-sayers!
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Jennifer, her husband, baby, and Pluto! I love the expression on all their faces! |
My friend Hiromi, who is also a writer from Mouze Kateerz and Tips from the Disney Diva, sent me this picture of her daughter with Buzz and Woody. Listen to what she had to say:
We absolutely loved meeting the Walt Disney World Characters. Meeting them was more than we could have ever dreamed.
They were so playful, full of life and well… Character!!
Here is one of our favorite photos, taken from the Toy Story Meet and Greet at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Woody and Buzz were joking around with my daughter and she was having so much fun as you can see by her reaction. If you look closely, you will also notice their cool autographs in her book!! This was what made Disney World Magical for us. These wonderful, happy moments.
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Hiromi’s daughter with Buzz and Woody! |
These pictures were taken at the Caribbean Beach Resort. They are special because we got to for the first time stay in a Pirate room at the resort. We love this resort because it is so tropical and relaxing, I think these photos prove that. By the main pool area is a private island called Caribbean Cay with lots of relaxing hammocks and I took advantage of them. My kids and hubby loved it too with the playgrounds, forts and sand to enjoy.
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Diane’s kids at Caribbean Cay |
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Caribbean Cay |
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It’s tough being on vacation, isn’t it? :) |
Last up for today’s post is my good friend Amanda, the creator of the website Mouze Kateerz. In her email, Amanda told me yet another reason why she and I get along so well! She is an incredible fan of Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse! Listen to what she had to say:
From about the age of seven, my “Disney Fantasy” has been to spend the night in the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. I loved the idea of having a tree house as a kid, and my brothers and I walked those Robinson steps seemingly forever as children. There was no wait, the water wheel was just neat, and everything was so intricately detailed. I could imagine myself living there, eating my meals at the kitchen table, waking up high in a tree. Much to my chagrin, my own children hated Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, just because it wasn’t a ride. I practically forced them (4th, 6th, and 8th grades by now) to walk through with me last summer, late one night, and they loved it. We went back through a second time. We stood at each room and discussed the Zen of tree houses. I lingered too long by the bunk beds, mentally picking out my spot at the top, fantasizing I would be awake when they turned off the lights to Cinderella Castle, dreading the inevitable morning light. You can have Walt’s Cinderella Castle Suite for your fantasy- I’ll take the Robinson tree house. Everybody knows the top bunk is best.
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Amanda likes the top bunk at the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse! |
Thank you everyone for sending in your photos to share this week! I have had an incredible time looking at all of them, in each of them, the Disney dream through your lens has been quite evident, and I’ve seen some things that I had never experience before, particularly Caribbean Beach Resort, since we’ve never stayed there before. Thank you all for sharing! I’m going to close with a flurry of photos of things that really illustrate the way that we live the Disney dream! Enjoy!
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Pirate Sophie at Downtown Disney (June, 2010) |
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Sophie’s Birthday at Mickey’s Backyard BBQ, June 19, 2010 |
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Anna Jane on the teacups, June, 2011 |
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Sophie and Anna Jane, June, 2011 |
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The view from the 11th floor of Bay Lake Tower! |
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Anna Jane and Sophie with two of the Dapper Dans, June, 2011 |
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Cindy’s favorite character, Daisy Duck, June 18, 2008 |
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Stephanie, Sophie and Snow White at Germany Pavilion during the 40th Anniversary weekend trip |
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Meeting Brenda at Norway! |
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Meeting my friends from Pixie Vacations! |
What a great round-up of pictures, Mike! I especially loved those precious ones with your grandparents. :)
Thanks Heidi! I had a lot of people contributing this week, it was fun to put all of this together to share how we all live the Disney dream!
Awesome Pictures Mike. That is a great group of Disney Friends and I love fun each picture shows in it.. Thanks for including me..
I love these! It's great that you had so many contributions. I think my favorite is the one of your grandfather rockin' the Mickey hat. :)