Category: Thinking Disney Thursday

Just a Princess playing tag – Thinking Disney Thursday – July 3, 2014

Today’s pic comes from our last family trip to Disney World in Feb 2014. We stayed at the Beach Club resort on that trip and one day my wife Heather was busy doing some quick shopping at the hotel and I wanted to get the kids out and burn off some energy before we headed into a park.

So thinking about this…Disney wants you to shop and spend all the money but they understand kids well enough to know that sometimes they just have to run. With that in mind all the resorts and to some extent even Downtown Disney have some kind of place where kids can run around while shopping can still happen.

At the Beach Club the lawns on the Boardwalk / International Gateway are part of the ambiance of the area but people are more than welcome to go on them.

On this day I let the kids run themselves crazy while we waited and they enjoyed themselves immensely – I took a major number of pictures that day of them on the grass, on the beach and just generally having fun. It was nice to not be on an agenda or be rushing to get to one ride or the other, they were just able to run and loved it.

That is one of the great things about staying on site at a Disney hotel – you can put aside time for this kind of thing without feeling like you are missing precious park time. In my mind it is also one of the big draws for the hotels in the Boardwalk area – by being able to just walk into Epcot or Hollywood Studios you get that family fun time built into getting to the parks instead of spending a half hour in the vehicle driving, parking and then walking to the entrance of parks. Now there are definitely benefits to being offsite but to me recovering that driving time for family time makes the Boardwalk area more than worth the money.

A Princess playing tag at the Beach Club
A Princess playing tag at the Beach Club

Thinking Disney Thursday – Tomorrow Land People Mover – Dec 26th, 2013

For this post I am going to our last family trip to Disney World in January / February 2013.  Now it may seem a bit strange but the People Mover (Tomorrow Land Transit Authority) in Tomorrow Land in the Magic Kingdom is actually one of my favorite rides at Disney World.

I am a bit of a people watcher and I like to get out of the crowds now and then and just sit and watch.  The People Mover affords a pretty unique opportunity to sit, relax, get out of the crowds and watch the world go by.

You would think the kids would find this exceptionally boring but they enjoy the ride too as it lets them rest their legs and sometimes I get a glimpse of them watching too.  This pic is of our daughter in here Aurora dress watching the world go by.  How often does that happen?  How often do you get a 4 year old girl in a princess dress only a little way from Disney Princesses sitting and just watching and thinking to herself?

It is just another way Disney seems to find a way to cater to all kinds of personalities and personal idiosyncrasies.  It also gives a parent a way to see a different side of their kids that they maybe normally don’t get to see.

I look at this picture and I see more depth in her expression than I normally get to see as she is busy destroying her brother and the family room.  It gives me hope that she will grow out of her destructive phase…maybe even before she completely destroys the house, although probably not her brother – but it’s ok, he’s resilient.

K on the People Mover in Tomorrow Land
K on the People Mover in Tomorrow Land

Thinking Disney Thursday – Why can’t you wear a Minnie Mouse dress on a Star Wars Speeder Bike? Don’t put limits on imagination – December 12th, 2013

Thinking Disney Thursday today comes from our family trip to Disney World in January/February 2012.  We stayed at the Beach Club Resort and really enjoyed being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios from the hotel.  Today’s pic was taken at Hollywood Studios just outside Star Tours.

Our daughter spent a fair bit of time that trip in her Minnie Mouse dress which created some interesting pictures that you wouldn’t get anywhere else – such as someone sitting on a Star Wars speeder bike while wearing a Minnie Mouse dress?

Now, granted this picture was taken before Disney purchased Lucas Film and the rights to Star Wars so you will probably start to see more things like this as time goes on but before that you really wouldn’t see places where franchises mixed.  Hollywood Studios is a special place where you can see Disney, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Muppets, etc – most places you see one franchise.  The mixing of franchises is pretty cool and allows for some cool mashups and images.

Basically – Why can’t you wear a Minnie Mouse dress on a speeder bike?  Frankly from a child’s perspective it makes perfect sense and they will mix and match franchises all the time when they are playing – it is only as adults that we feel the need to keep them compartmentalized and that limits our imagination.

That is my Thinking Disney Thursday thought for today – don’t place limits on imagination.

K on speeder bike at Hollywood Studios wearing Minnie Mouse dress

Thinking Disney Thursday – Beach Club Resort Lobby – November 21, 2013

So another Thinking Disney Thursday post about the Beach Club Resort at Disney World.  Obviously this is one of our favourite resorts at Disney World and one of the reasons for this is the wonderful lobby.

We had just done the character breakfast at the Cape May restaurant in the lobby and we were walking through the lobby and I jumped a bit further ahead and turned and took this shot quickly and took everyone by surprise.  So it was a relatively candid shot and the camera grabbed an interesting focus.

I like this picture and how it make me feel to see it.  Lovely colours, nice light and a great feeling overall.  Just a feeling of comfort and peace.

Nice.

Heather, T and K in the Beach Club Lobby
Heather, T and K in the Beach Club Lobby

Thinking Disney Thursday – November 14th, 2013 – Stormalong Bay

So we just recently booked a family trip to Disney World for February 2014 – spending a week at the Beach Club Resort.  We love this hotel and when I think of it I always get a feeling of peace.

On our last family trip to Disney World we stayed there too – it was a rough trip down what with driving to Minneapolis through a rough winter storm and then the flight down, etc.  We were a bit stressed but then we got in the pool and all the stress went away – instant vacation mode.

We are obviously looking forward to the next trip – so that we can have moments like these again.

Stormalong Bay at night
Stormalong Bay at night

Thinking Disney Thursday – Which Disney ride is most special to you? – November 7th, 2013

Which Disney ride is most special to you?  I think most Disney fans have a ride that holds a special place in their hearts.  The reason why a particular ride is a person’s favorite is probably a lot different for each person.  But that is kind of one of the special things about Disney, the parks, the rides, the hotels, the atmosphere – even though many thousands of people go through the parks every day, people are still able to find a personal connection somehow that will keep bringing them back or at least give them a good warm and fuzzy when they think about it.

So which ride for us?  Spaceship Earth in Epcot at Disney World.

Our connection goes back to our first trip to Disney World as a family in 2008 – My wife and I were down with our son (who was 17 months at the time and our daughter wasn’t born yet) for Disney World Marathon Weekend and we went to Epcot later one evening and took our son on Spaceship Earth.  I had never been on it and my wife had many years previously so we didn’t know what to expect from our son – would he enjoy it?  would he sit quietly and not disturb the other riders?  The kinds of questions that all parents probably ask themselves.

Our son was fascinated, entranced even.  He watched everything in awe.  It was great to see.  As the cars turned around at the top of the ride to slide backward down the slope he watched the stars and once he couldn’t see them anymore he started to cry.  He cried and repeated “bye, bye stars”.  He was only 17 months and didn’t have a huge number of words yet but he found a way to express how he was feeling.  The ride had a major impact on him – while we were sad he was upset, we were happy that he had made that connection.  The ride is a must do for us for any of our trips now.

Spaceship Earth in Epcot
Spaceship Earth in Epcot

Thinking Disney Thursday – Perseverance and Passion – Oct 31, 2013

Perseverance and Passion – our son T showed quite a bit of it the day this picture was taken.  It was during our first family trip to Disney World – it was before our daughter was born and T was just 17 months old at the time.  It was his first trip and mine too.  We were there for the Disney World Marathon weekend (the wife did the half and I did the full).  We stayed at the Pop Century that trip (coming full circle as my wife and I will be staying there for the 2014 Goofy Challenge – no kids for the weekend!).

One of the mornings we took T to play on the play structure / play area before we headed off to a park.  He decided that morning he was going to climb the slide of the structure and he must have spent 15-20 minutes trying.  To be perfectly honest I can’t remember if he made it to the top or not but what I do remember is his attitude while he was trying.

He never once got upset or gave up.  He would get half way up and then slide back down, then he would get back up and try again.  I must have dozens of photos of him on his morning climb and whenever I look at them I am always impressed with the look on his face.  He is focused and shows no frustration whatsoever.   He looks happy in the challenge.

That is a Disney thing too – happy in the challenge.  Think about what the Imagineers do – creating something new – mixing engineering and artistry.  Or Walt himself – the things accomplished by that man don’t happen without perseverance and passion.

It is also a running thing – perseverance and passion.  You can’t do a marathon without a bit of both.

My son (and Disney) continues to teach me things.

T and his mountain at Pop Century
T and his mountain at Pop Century

Thinking Disney Thursday – Sometimes you just have to run on the beach like a maniac – October 24th, 2013

Like the title says – sometimes you just have to run on the beach like a maniac.  There is so much to do at Disney World and it is all so easily accessible if you are staying that the Beach Club Resort like we were on this trip.  But even with Epcot being 5 minutes walk away and Hollywood Studios less that 20 minutes sometimes you just have to ignore that and go with the simple pleasures.

Like running up and down a beach, yelling at the top of your lungs and trying to catch seagulls – ahh to be 5 again like my son is in this picture.

That is one of the beautiful things about Disney World – there are these opportunities to get away from the crowds and do your own thing and just be a kid.  Awesome.

T on the Beach Club / Yacht Club beach
T on the Beach Club / Yacht Club beach

Thinking Disney Thursday – with a little help you can take on anything – October 17, 2013

This one comes from our last family trip to Disney World – Hollywood Studios specifically.  The Jedi Training Academy – once our son heard about it we knew we were going to have to do it.  Over the course of the 9 day trip we tried twice and on the second go we got him in and while we were at it we signed up our daughter who had just turned 4 a couple months previously.

She was excited at first and then got scared once she realized she was going to have to fight Darth Vader and started saying she didn’t want to do it.  We knew she would be disappointed if she didn’t do it in the end so we cajoled her (and think a bribe was involved too) to follow through with it.

She definitely had fun doing it (as did our son of course) even though she was maybe a bit young and had a few issues doing exactly what she was told – she tried but got a little overwhelmed.  The Disney Cast Member who was teaching the Padawans that day was very good and when it came to be her turn he really helped her out and kept chuckling through the whole thing.  In the end I think her total was 1 hit on the Jedi Master and 2 on Darth (she was swinging pretty wild) but everyone had a good time.

But I guess the big thing I took out of this was that she was a bit scared and intimidated by Darth but with the help of someone who genuinely wanted to be there and help out she was able to fight past being scared and enjoy herself.  With a little help – you can take on anything.

The pic was near the end of the encounter – she has already gotten Darth a couple times at this point and if you look closely I think you can see that Darth looks a bit frightened.

K versus Darth Vader - Hollywood Studios - Jedi Training Academy
K versus Darth Vader – Hollywood Studios – Jedi Training Academy

Thinking Disney Thursday – stop and smell the flowers – October 10, 2013

Going to try something new here – in addition to the Magic Memory Monday posts I have been trying on this BigGoofyRunner.com subsite I am going to add Thinking Disney Thursdays – these will be picture posts too but while Magic Memory Monday posts will be more about specific memories or feelings the Thinking Disney Thursdays will be more about certain ideas or thoughts about life that you get from trips to Disney World / Walt Disney World.

This picture comes from our last family trip to Disney World in Jan/Feb 2013 – on our first day going to park this trip we wandered the 5 minutes from the Beach Club to Epcot.  It was still early in the day and the World Showcase Portion of the park was not open yet so there weren’t many people around.  This allowed us to capture this pic of our daughter stopping to smell the flowers in a big flower garden.  There were rides we wanted to get to and things we were excited to get done our first real day at Disney and she decided that could all wait.  There were flowers to be smelled and that is what she was going to do!

Awesome message really – the flowers are great and they add to the overall atmosphere there but it is so easy to just let them slip into the background – this picture reminds how important the details can be sometimes and how much enjoyment you can get from the little things.

Epcot flower gardens - stop and smell the flowers
Epcot flower gardens – stop and smell the flowers