What She Said...Pulling My Disney Comfort Closer

I'm publishing this article which Lisa just posted yesterday on her Living a Disney Life Blog because she has summed up how I feel about this past week pretty well. - Nick  

By Lisa Green 

This is the first post I’ve written all week – I still love you guys and I still have a lot to say about Disney and my love for all the joy and magic I find in it.  This week I’ve been distracted by a few things, not the least of which has been the hate-filled rants and incredibly vicious attacks I’ve seen all over social media related to our American democracy and the process of electing the people who govern our country.

Pulling My Disney Comfort Closer

I treasure my own freedom of speech and believe we are entitled to speak our minds.  I love a good debate between open-minded adults who can argue a point without making personal attacks on those with opposing views.  If you’ve ever met me in person, you know I possess no shortage of opinions on a wide variety of topics and am never afraid to express my feelings.  I speak my mind…sometimes too quickly, sometimes too passionately, but not with the purpose of tearing down another human being intentionally.  On social media?  I choose to post family events and happenings, the occasional humorous meme, and lots of pictures of my dog, Junior. 

  

I also post a LOT about my love for Disney.  It’s not that I don’t have strong feelings about religion or politics, I’m simply choosy about when and where I express those particular opinions and with whom I’d like to debate them.  I believe one should never email, text, or post on social media anything one would not say face-to-face – hiding behind an online identity to be hateful is the sign of a coward.

 I didn’t unfriend or unfollow a single person, but I was shocked and dismayed by what I read on Wednesday morning.  I’m not a person with delicate sensibilities, but the vitriol!  The utter disdain for fellow citizens and their right to their own beliefs and decisions was shocking to me!  Complete strangers hurling horrific insults at one another, spewing poison with no respect, no compassion, and no reason!  And what purpose did it serve?  Why would anyone want to show the world the very worst version of themselves they have to offer?  Is that who they really are?  If so, then we do indeed need to fear for the future of America – her citizens have chosen anger and hate over respect, tolerance, and love.

Then I figured out why I was so surprised.  Remember this post about the Disney fan community?  I follow (and am followed by) thousands of fellow Disney fans on social media.  Overwhelmingly nice people in general who are brought together by their passion for Disney vacations, movies, characters, collectibles, and more.  Some are fellow bloggers and podcasters, all are very geeky about Disney.  The ugliness on social media was not coming from these people.  They were, like me, disgusted enough to politely ask, “Why can’t we all get along?” before taking a break from Facebook and Twitter to ride out the election aftermath watching movies or planning a vacation.  Once again, I am reminded how special my Disney friends are and how much I appreciate being part of such a loving group of humans.

I’ll be back next week with more Disney topics to share – in the meantime, thanks for reading and have a great weekend.

Lisa can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LivingaDisLife and on Twitter at @life_of_green

Please be sure to check out Lisa along with me and David Hodges on The Disney Exchange Podcast! Our 100th Episode comes out tomorrow!

Walt Disney Character Map of the United States

By: Nick

My wife and I collect globes and maps. I bought this puzzle map of the United States off of eBay a few years ago.
It was already assembled, and glued on a piece of cardboard, and my wife framed it for me.

Made by Jaymar for Walt Disney Productions.

I'm not sure what year it is from, but as Hawaii is included as a state, it was made during or after 1959.

Also, Disneyland is very prominently displayed in California, and there is no indication of Walt Disney World in Florida, so it was very likely before 1971.

So we'll just say that it's from the 1960s.

While not in the best of shape, with pieces peeling, some seemingly missing bits, and pencil marks, I still love it for the graphics of our favorite characters.

A Salute to All Nations, But Mostly America! (Originally Posted 5/27/13)

By Barbie

A Happy Memorial Day to all of you, and a heartfelt thanks to all the veterans out there who have helped fight for the freedoms our wonderful country holds so dear. Your sacrifices and those of your families do not go unnoticed! Truly they don't.

Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I the United States found itself engaged in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars.

For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees; the change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.

Craft Beer at Walt Disney World

By: Nick

Today is National Beer Day in the United States, so I thought we'd take a look at the emerging craft beer selections at Walt Disney World.

On our last 2 trips, in October of 2013, and this past January, I discovered several locations offering a fairly decent beer menu.

Let's start with what I found in October.

Barbie and I stayed at the Art of Animation Resort. The food court, Landscape of Flavors, has a fairly decent beer selection, including offerings from local Orlando Brewing. But I was really excited to find a couple of beers from the highly rated Cigar City Brewing out of Tampa Florida, as well as a couple other excellent choices from Bell's and Breckenridge Brewing over at Pop Century's Everything Pop food court.

I took a couple back over to Art of Animation to enjoy at the pool.

One of the best times for beer at WDW is during Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival. There are dozens of choices, with just about every food booth offering at least one beer. A couple of my favorites were found at the Florida Local stand.

Me enjoying a Cigar City Florida Cracker Belgian-style White Ale

 

In addition, there are booths dedicated exclusively to beer!

Menu from the Craft Beer stand.

 

It was on this trip that I also discovered one of Disney's best kept secrets located inside the Mitsukoshi Department Store in Epcot's Japan Pavilion. The Garden House Sake Bar serves Ginga Kogen, a wheat beer. It is awesome.

There is also a new permanent structure serving craft beer located outside of the United States Pavilion at Epcot called Block & Hans, which was a souvenir stand at one time. There were only a few beers to choose from, but they are quality choices. The cast member I spoke to said they would be expanding their selection in the future, which they have indeed done, as we'll see when we look at January's offerings!

One more stop from October can be found at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The Gardens is a gluten free stand which has some gluten free beers!

I confess, I didn't try any, but it's good to know these choices are available.

In January we stayed the The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort, and I was very happy with the beer selection at the pools and restaurants.

Both Beaches Pool Bar & Grill and Courtyard Pool Bar have a good selection.

The menus even break down beer by categories to help you decide!

Further assisting your choices is a description of the beers!

While not quite as extensive as the pool menus, the beer choices at Narcoosee's located on the shores of the Seven Seas Seas Lagoon has a pretty good list.

Citricos, located inside the Grand Floridian also has a few nice choices.

Let's shoot over to Epcot. In the France Pavilion at Le Vins des Chefs de France you'll find one of my favorite beers, 1664 Blanc, as well as Kronenbourg 1664.

Over in the Mexico Pavilion, La Cava del Tequila is now offering beer from Dia de los Muertos. I did not try them because when in Rome, er, Mexico, I drink Tequila, but I intend to try these out if I ever see them at a local beer store.

Last but not least, we'll return to Block & Hans, where, as promised, the beer selection has become slightly more robust.

They are also carrying Mickey-shaped and Jalapeno Pretzels, which are excellent with a Hopageddon Imperial IPA from Napa Smith, maybe one of the best India Pale Ales I've ever had!

There is a great site to visit for a more comprehensive overview of beer in Walt Disney World called Beers and Ears, in fact I reviewed their app a few months back. However, things constantly change at Disney World, and clearly this topic requires much further investigation, and I will endeavor to do as much research as needed in the future.

It's the least I can do for you loyal readers!

The Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom

by: Nick

Today, in the United States, we are celebrating President's Day in honor of George Washington's birthday, so I thought we'd take a look at the Hall of Presidents at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

Hall of Presidents opened with the Magic Kingdom on October 1st, 1971.

The entry gallery features paintings of Presidents along with actual and reproduced artifacts.

The show itself never fails to make my patriotic heart proud.

We open with a film narrated by Morgan Freeman, which gives a brief history of the Presidency, focusing on highlights and historical significance from various administrations.

During the segment featuring Abraham Lincoln, the screen rises and an audio animatronic Lincoln recites The Gettysburg Adress.

The film then commences, and at it's conclusion the screen once again rises, and all 44 Presidents are represented by audio animtronic figures for a role call, with a speech from Barack Obama.

This is "edutainment" at its finest, and everyone should see it at least once.

If you're interested, here's a link of the Presidential role call from my YouTube channel.