Disney Pins From the Disney Wonder, Circa 2012

By Nick

Back in 2012, we took a cruise to Alaska on the Disney Wonder
We bought a few pins.
There was one representing each port, dated 2012, and I was tempted to buy them all, but at $12.95 each, I resisted the urge, and stuck to characters that my wife and I collect.

For example Pluto, who represented Juneau, mushing along with Mickey in the sled.

 

Here’s Minnie, getting a picture of Mickey in front of the Seattle skyline.

 

Here’s a picture of my wife Barbie with the Seattle skyline in the background, as the ship departed the Port of Seattle.

Here we have Stitch representing Victoria. While we stopped in Victoria, we didn’t get off the Wonder, as there was only a couple of hours in port.

Finally, there’s this pin of Minnie, not representing a port, but the entire Summer 2012 Alaskan Cruise Season.

 These pins are a Limited Edition of 1000.

The only other item I bought was this t-shirt, which lists the ports we were in.

 
For more about our pin collection, please check out this article by Barbie.
And to see the Mickey Mouse watch she bought on the cruise, please see this article.

Disney Pin Collection

by Gaylin

One of the things I do buy, collect and trade from Walt Disney World are the pins. I love pins! I wear one often and every now and then I go wild and wear 2 pins!!!

On a trip in 2009, at two different parks, I saw men wearing their collections! As big of a fan of the pins as I am, I would not do this. First off, these vests would be very hot to wear! Second, you couldn't sit down and lean back comfortably and I am all about being comfortable on vacation.

Yes, I did ask permission to take the photos and talked to them about their collections. The older gentleman with the red/black vest said it weighed 12 pounds! Now that is dedication. Also his wife made these vests and while you can't see from the photos, the black squares have a Mickey head embossed in them.

Anyone else noticed people wearing their collections? Would you?

Trip Report: October 11th-October 17th 2014 - Part 5

by Nick

Wednesday, October 15th

I woke up with a sore throat and felt run down, but was otherwise fine. But I know, when I get that twinge in the back of my throat, a cold or worse isn't far behind.

This was our at sea day and we had nothing planned. We decided to have breakfast at the Royal Palace, which started at 8am.
While we waited for it to open, we took a walk around the Dream taking photos of Halloween decorations as well as the beautiful morning, which would turn gray and rainy later in the day.

One of the reasons I'd wanted to have breakfast at the Royal Palace was I wanted to take photos, which I hadn't done on our previous visit the evening before.

There are many nice touches, honoring the Disney Princesses.

Even the backs of the chairs featured icons paying homage to the princesses.

Breakfast was standard fair. I had the Disney Cruise Line Breakfast trio which consisted of a Waffle, Pancake, and piece of French Toast as well as bacon. I also asked for a side of sausage. Barbie had the Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancake, and a hashbrown. Savory and Sweet for both of us.

We then returned to our stateroom to pack. We both agree, in the future, a 4 day cruise is not long enough. It felt like we had just gotten settled in, and it was time to pack and get off the ship.

We decided to check out the Animation, Creating a Character program at D Lounge. It was a lot of fun. A Cast Member showed clips of Disney Animated movies, as well as Walt Disney.

In between clips, we were shown how to draw Stitch...

...and Olaf.

After this class, we grabbed a snack in Cabanas. Barbie headed back to the stateroom to nap, while I signed up for a Mixology course located in the Skyline Lounge, in the adults only section of the Dream, known as The District.
It was really a great bit of fun, and, as another participant pointed out, at $15, the cheapest way to get drunk enjoy alcoholic beverages on the cruise.
We made 5 different mixed drinks, and I'll write a full review of this highly recommended experience, as well as the Skyline in a future post.

 

I returned to our stateroom and showered. This was Formal evening, and we both decided, as we had packed already, that we would skip dinner at Animator's Palate, as we had breakfast scheduled there the next morning.

We went to the 6:15 show of Disney's Believe in the Walt Disney Theater. This was by far the best show we'd seen on this or our previous Disney Cruise.
The story of a daughter who believes in magic, and her skeptical scientifically minded father, who is helped to see the error of his ways by the Genie and many beloved Disney characters, it has many a touching and memorable moments, and this is the only show we've seen that I honestly would say is not to be missed.

Right after the show was pin trading with members of the crew, and we got a few great pins from different Disney cruises around the world.

Immediately following this we watched The Pumpkin Tree come alive in the Lobby Atrium, the culmination of the Halloween on the High Seas events. Please stop back Friday for a more in depth look at the Halloween on the High Seas events that we attended.

When we returned to our stateroom for the evening, I called guest services to find out what time we should board Magical Express in the morning. I was told no later than 8:50am.
Our second seating breakfast at Animators Palate was at 8am. As I didn't really think it was actually feasible to eat, disembark, and find our luggage in 50 minutes, I asked if we could please change to the earlier 6:45 seating. I was told no. So, we decided we'd skip that meal as well, and just have breakfast in Cabanas, which we were told would only be a continental breakfast, which, I admit, made me a little perturbed. So we never did get to Animators Palate this trip.

Not the best ending to a cruise, but at least I would be happier about the selection at Cabanas the next morning, as it was more extensive than I'd thought it would be.

Other parts of the trip report:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three 
Part Four

Epcot's 2014 Food and Wine Festival Merchandise

By Nick

There are several locations around Epcot selling a wide assortment of Epcot's 2014 International Food and Wine Festival merchandise.
Let's take a look at a few items offered for sale in the Festival Center, located inside the old Wonders of Life pavilion in Future World.

You can find some nice merchandise exclusive to this years festival. There is a green Annual Pass version of the tee pictured directly below, but unfortunately there were only large, medium and small sizes left, and I'm an XL. The white tee is $29.95.

The tee shirt below is $27.95.

This print comes unframed for $24.95, or framed for $219.95.

There is also a wide range of merchandise featuring favorite Disney characters as well as items that can be found at other locations on property.

There is also an assortment of items from the Rose and Crown Pub, located in the United Kingdom pavilion in World Showcase.

 I bought 2 things. The tee-shirt pictured up in the first photo up at the top, for $27.95.

I also bought this Limited Release pin for my wife. This was $14.95.

There were a couple of Annual Pass pins, but they have already sold out!

Disneyland's 50th Anniversary Pin Map

By: Nick

In April of 2005, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Disneyland, the Disney Catalog reprinted a 1956 Disneyland map, and produced pins of certain attractions and other elements into six pins representing the original Disneyland lands, limited to 1500 sets. A certificate of authenticity is on the back, but it doesn’t give a specific number.



Main Street USA: The Main Street Station and Train.





Tomorrowland: The Moonliner Rocket.



Fantasyland: Sleeping Beauty Castle.



Frontierland: Sternwheeler Mark Twain.



Adventureland: Jungle Cruise Boat.

 

Happy 59th Anniversary Disneyland!