Over The Top Mommy

Walt Disney World

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Set to Open March 4, 2020 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. 

I’m more excited than ever about Spring Break 2020 because we’re headed to Walt Disney World and now Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is set to open right before we get there! Yep, the Disney Parks Blog released more details today about this brand new attraction opening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the official opening date is and is opening March 4, 2020!

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will be the first Disney ride-through attraction featuring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, that will draw guests inside a Mickey cartoon for a fun-filled adventure where “Mouse rules apply” and anything can happen! I can’t wait to experience it! Have you already made travel plans to visit there, too? If so, when are you going on your next trip to Walt Disney World?

Image property of Disney Parks and used with permission. 

The 2019 Epcot® International Festival of the Arts Begins January 18

This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

The Epcot®International Festival of the Arts at Walt Disney World Resort, a celebration of the visual, culinary and performing arts and is set to begin its annual run on Jan. 18, 2019 for the 3rd year in a row. The highly anticipated event has become very popular with Disney fans over the past couple of years and will continue for 39 days this year, through Feb. 25, 2019.  This year’s festival will feature more live music than ever before, along with fresh tastes to savor and new artwork to admire and bring home. This year, the festival will be held 7 days a week and is included with the cost of Park admission to Epcot. Guests at Epcot International Festival of the Arts have the opportunity to experience visual, culinary and performing arts at the festival. According to the Disney Parks Blog, the International Festival of the Arts is a “feast for the senses. The event offers visual arts experiences, interactive workshops and seminars. There are also opportunities to learn artistic techniques from professionals skilled in floral design, ink and paint, photography, and more. Seminars typically run 30 minutes and are included with park admission. Please note: Seminars can be reserved on the “day-of” at the Odyssey Festival Showplace. The 2019 Festival of the Arts will provide fun for the whole family every day, including mesmerizing performance art, complimentary seminars, hands-on activities and much more:

  • Everyone’s invited to grab a paintbrush and help create a wall mural along World Showcase Plaza.
  • Guests of all ages will have the opportunity to literally step inside works of art and take fun photos, such as the “Washington Crossing the Delaware” Artful Photo Opportunity.
  • The Paint with a Disney Artist program invites guests to learn under the tutelage of a professional (offered select Fridays and Sundays, including continental breakfast, for an additional fee).
  • Complimentary 30-minute seminars will give guests helpful instruction for producing their own artwork at home.
  • More than 50 visiting artists participating in the festival will be available to meet with guests and share insights on their work.
  • Gravity-defying feats of strength, acrobatics and many performing artists are scheduled throughout the festival.
  • International musical and variety acts will share their talents with guests, including the return of Bodh’aktan to the Canada stage and Delta Q, a new group performing in Germany.
  • Guests can join in the fun of Figment’s Brush with the Masters Scavenger Hunt by purchasing a map at select merchandise locations.

2019 Workshops 
A variety of workshops led by professionals will teach different artistic techniques, such as floral design, ink and paint, mixed-media art and more (offered Friday-Monday for an additional fee). As a memento of what they learned, guests will take their creations home with them. For more information on workshop and seminar offerings, please visit ArtfulEpcot.com.
Workshops are hands-on, interactive experiences that allow you an opportunity to create your own work of art to take home. Workshops run 75 minutes and are offered Friday-Monday for an additional fee. Also returning this year is the fan-favorite “Paint with a Disney Artist” experience. Offered select Fridays and Sundays, a talented Disney Artist will guide you in creating your own masterpiece! The event is perfect for seasoned painters and those just learning this beautiful art form. Bonus – continental breakfast is also included! For more information on workshop and seminar offerings, and to book your painting adventure, please visit ArtfulEpcot.com or call (407) WDW-TOUR.
Let’s Talk about the Festival Food
The Epcot International Festival of the Arts will feature 13 Food Studios, plus additional creative food and beverage offerings around Epcot with an expanded selection of delicious new tastes to savor including such delicacies as:

  • beef wellington with mushroom bordelaise, fennel cream and roasted baby vegetables (The Artist’s Table)
  • Smoked salmon and cream gâteau with egg yolk cream, paddlefish caviar and micro-herbs is sure to be a new favorite (The Painter’s Palate)
  • almond frangipane cake with raspberry and chocolate (Pop Eats!)
  • Red wine-braised short rib with parsnip purée, broccolini, baby tomatoes and aged balsamic (Cuisine Classique)

For a full list of food you’ll find at the Festival, please go HERETake home a piece of the Festival
Guests can bring a piece of the festival home. Art collectors and Disney enthusiasts will be delighted to browse different pieces throughout the park, at the Art of Disney store and in the Festival Markets, which will be available for purchase. Special festival merchandise will be available at Mouse Gear and other Epcot locations featuring the festival’s logo adorning shirts, mugs, totes and other charming items.New for The 2019 Festival of the Arts
New this year, the Disney on Broadway Concert Series expands to seven days a week during the festival, providing more opportunities than ever before to bask in live Disney magic. Each week, different pairs of Disney on Broadway stars will take the America Gardens Theatre stage to sing favorite songs from award-winning Disney on Broadway productions. The lineup will rotate regularly, featuring music from shows such as “The Lion King,” “Frozen” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Some performers this year include:

  • Kerry Butler (“Beauty and the Beast”) and Kevin Massey (“Tarzan”)
  • Meredith Inglesby (“The Little Mermaid”) and Steve Blanchard (“Beauty and the Beast”)
  • Arielle Jacobs and Adam Jacobs (“Aladdin”)
  • Heidi Blickenstaff (“Freaky Friday”) and Gavin Lee (“Mary Poppins”)
  • Ashley Brown (“Mary Poppins”) and Josh Strickland (“Tarzan”)
  • Kissy Simmons and Alton Fitzgerald White (“The Lion King”)

The concert series is included with park admission; showtimes are 5:30, 6:45 and 8 p.m. nightly. Disney on Broadway Concert Series Dining Packages are also available at participating Epcot restaurants. For a full schedule of shows and to reserve your show seating package, please visit Disneyworld.com. Reservations can also be made by calling (407) WDW-DINE.

Some images are property of Walt Disney World and used with permission. 

 

{Giveaway} Rubba Ducks® Have Arrived at The Boathouse in Disney Springs! Enter to Win One of Your Own!

quack

You may have heard some major QUACKING goin’ on at The Boathouse Restaurant in Disney Springs and it’s not Donald Duck! They’re actually Rubba Ducks® and you’re going to fall in love with them! (We have already!) Rubba Ducks are the premiere rubber duck toys with personality. Each one is super cute! They’re lots of fun to collect and give as gifts. They’re also the only non-Disney toy sold in The Boathouse gift shop.

available-at-the-boathouseRubba Ducks® was founded in 1997 and was the first company to bring character rubber ducks to life. What’s special about these ducks is that they are uniquely designed to communicate their individual personality and characters. While there are the traditional-themed ducks dressed as police, firemen, sports and animals, these ducks go a step further in incorporating specialized hobbies and interests like a train con’duck’tor, a marathon runner duck, a ‘groovee’ duck, and even a duck who loves a good cappuccino!

grooveeEach of the Rubba Ducks® is adorned with a tattoo on its tail feathers reflecting its unique personality and has its own hatch date with an engaging bio found on its trading card.

duckuccinoIt’s all in the details. These ducks are chock full of elements, from vibrant colors to ornate sculpturing to decorative costumes and designs. Here are 2 fun facts about Rubba Ducks that parents are going to especially love:

  • They float upright at all times. Rubba Ducks are designed with weights at the bottom so they will always float upright whether it’s in your own sink, bathtub or pool!
  • Most rubber ducks have a hole in the bottom which, when used in the bathtub, can retain mold. Rubba Ducks do not, which means Rubba Ducks don’t get moldy from being played with in the water! 

enter-to-win-a-rubba-duck

You can enter to win a Rubba Duck of your very own, too! All you have to do is comment on this blog post, telling me who you want to win one for? (It’s ok if you say it’s for yourself). Giveaway ends on August 31st at 11:59 p.m.  and I will choose one winner randomly on September 1st. Thanks for reading and entering! Good luck!

Swim on over and connect with Rubba Ducks on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest!

My Advice For Anyone Who Has the Dream of Being Invited to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration! #DisneySMMC

itll-happen-for-you-too

I was so honored to receive my first invitation this year to the 2015 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration! Since I’m a first-timer, I have no idea of what exactly to expect, I just know that it’s going to be magical and I fully intend to take in everything about this once in a lifetime experience!

THE-emailMy love for Disney runs deep and I’m very active on social medias in the Disney community, but I wasn’t one of “the invited” last year. Although it was disappointing for me not to be invited last year, I knew that there probably just wasn’t enough pixie dust for everyone to be invited and thought perhaps it just wasn’t my time last year.

we-all-get-different-perks-frameI want to share a a little bit about my own experience for those are hoping to be invited to the event in the future. I’ve had several people actually ask me what they need to do or how to get invited. I’m only sharing from my own experience and I don’t have “the formula” or “the secret” for how to get invited, but if what I share can help someone else, then I hope it will. Some of the things I’m going to share are actually pretty basic.

chearingOne of the biggest, most important things to do is to support others online in a positive way. Be happy for them! Congratulate them! Comment on their photos, tweets, and Facebook statuses! I can’t tell you to be genuinely happy for others if you’re not, but this is something I do. Honestly, it’s not something you can fake. If you have it in your character than do it! Those are the kinds of people that Disney wants at their events anyway. I might also add that it is the way you conduct yourself when you DON’T get something you’re hoping for that will show your true character!

conduct-yourselfThey’re watching you right now. As much as those who are being pixie-dusted with invites are in the spotlight, so are those who are right there supporting them. Make a good impression online and they will remember it for the future. (By the way, I don’t know exactly who “they” are, I’m just referring to the people you want to notice you!)

pixie-dustI’ve learned  that pixie dust tends to fly in several different waves. What that means for you is that there is still a chance! I have seen initial rounds of invitations sent and then another wave of invitations go out later that night or the next morning. Then, I’ve seen even later rounds of invites go out. Remember, there will be people who will unable to attend, for whatever reason, and sadly will have to decline their invitation. Hold out hope. It can still happen for you. If it doesn’t this year, there’s always next year.

hold-out-hopeThere are a couple of things you can do to become more active, and hopefully noticed by the right people. Have you considered signing up with MomSelect? You can register as “a mom” or “a mom blogger” and there are often wonderful opportunities to do such things as throw a Disney Side at Home Celebration, which you may have seen happening online. There are also other fun opportunities too, but if you haven’t registered yourself yet, you’ll want to do so right now!

disney-side-at-home-celebrationsAnother suggestion would be to stay active on as many of the social media channels as possible! If you are only on Facebook, consider putting yourself out there more on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google +, etc. Personally, my most favorite social medias are Twitter and Instagram. There is also a great group to join on Facebook called Disney Social Media Moms: Alumni & Hopefuls. Request to join and get to know a bunch of the other Disney Moms (and Dads). I’ve made a ton of friends this way.

keep-calm-framedMy last suggestion is to do something I did last year. It’s the most fun thing, too! If you didn’t (or don’t) receive an invitation to this year’s Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, then you can actually register to be invited to one of this summer’s Disney Social Media Moms “On-the-Road” Celebrations! It’s a one-day conference where you get to connect with a ton of other Disney Moms, as well as the Disney Team! This is what I did last year and it was SO much fun! I’m actually hoping to go again this summer too.

?????As soon as the site opens up to register for the interest list, you’ll start seeing people post about it online. Then, you too can go register and then wait…and hopefully YOU’LL get an invite to join one of the locations! I attended the one in Phoenix, Arizona last year and it was a wonderful experience.  I even got to meet Grumpy Cat at the conference last year! It’s a very magical experience and something a Disney Social Media Mom (or Dad) should strive to attend.

dreams-framed

I hope my suggestions are helpful ones. I still can’t contain my excitement about attending the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration this year in Florida and can’t believe I’m going to Disney World! I hope you’ll follow along online! Look for the #DisneySMMC hashtag! ChEARs!

were-going-to-disney-world

 

 

I’m Going to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration! (We’ve Got a First-Timer Here!)

im-goingYesterday was the most “magical” Friday ever! I had absolutely no idea that invitations for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration were even going out yet.  I suppose if I hadn’t been at work, teaching 29 little busy bees all day and had been online, I may have seen the tweet that practically broke Twitter…in a good way, of course!

magical-fridayI’m kind of glad I didn’t see it though because I would’ve become an instant ball of nerves afterwards, checking my email obsessively! Instead, I finished up an exhausting day of teaching without knowing a thing, dismissed the students, and found THIS on my email front page!

omgoodnessI think my heart skipped a beat and I honestly stood there, wanting to take in the moment before daring to click it! Something from “Walt Disney World Special Events”? WHOA! So, that whole “moment” I was taking before clicking it lasted about as long as it took for me to snap this picture! I swear I heard a drumroll in my head as I clicked it and BAM!

THE-emailThere I was, jumping up and down in my classroom, all by myself! I didn’t want to post about it online until I could tell the rest of my family, but I also didn’t want any part of the Disney Team to think me ungrateful if I didn’t, especially since Twitter was going crazy with the new #DisneySMMC hashtag! However, my husband and daughter were unreachable at the moment…yep, they were on a trip with my daughter’s school and actually down in the mines, learning about The Gold Rush! What are the chances? I had to wait about 2 hours after reading my magical email to tell them! Talk about suspense! Everything worked out in the end but that sure seemed like the longest 2 hours of my life!

were-going-to-disney-worldI am so grateful for this opportunity and cannot wait to see what’s in store for us in May!