Click the picture above to go right to Disney's page, showing you where to meet Mickey. 

"Who's the leader of the club
That's made for you and me?
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E"

On our last day at Magic Kingdom, we always stop by to say "See ya real soon" to Mickey. The Magic Kingdom Mickey is very special, not just because he's a magician, but because he is more interactive than most...Mickey uses his magic to talk to you.

Sadly, those days have come to an end, and Mickey no longer can talk to the guests visiting him. Perhaps budget cuts or he's run out of magic in his wand, but we are sure going to miss him. There was something really special knowing that when Mickey was saying, "Hiya Pal!" he was saying it to YOU.

The reasons we've heard for the change was it was too confusing then when other characters didn't talk, or during other times Mickey couldn't talk, like when he visited Animal Kingdom. We always just assumed that Magician Mickey used his wand to speak, and without it, he was silent and never thought twice about when he couldn't talk. I guess that Disney Magic wasn't something others wanted to believe in! 

Perhaps one day, Mickey will be able to talk with others again, but for now, he's gone back to being a wonderfully interactive, but silent, friend at Disney. That makes me a little sad, and I'm not sure our next visit with him will be nearly so fun. 

"Now it's time to say goodbye
to all our company...
M-I-C (...you real soon!)
K-E-Y (Why? because we like you!)
M-O-U-S-E..."

So long Mickey! We're going to miss your awesome voice and the incredible interaction it gave. 

I don't have too many details, but I was told that TOMORROW, Target will be having a special "Disney Celebration" and pull out all kinds of wonderful Disney merchandise, only while supplies lasts. 

I was allowed a sneak peek, but no pictures, of amazing melamine Disney trays, serving bowls and other fun kitchen items, located near the summertime display. There were even Disney aprons, corn on the cob holders and lots more DISNEY DISNEY DISNEY! None of it allowed to be stocked or sold until May 13th! The person who gave me the sneak peek said there will be lots of other Disney merchandise throughout the store, (which will vary by location) 

See you at Target? I don't know about you other moms, but I think that's the BEST Mother's Day gift of all! I'm sure I'll be posting my haul up on Facebook!

If I were to say you can't take something into Disney, you might immediately think I was talking about weapons. And nope, those aren't allowed, but did you know there was a whole other list? Those items aren't listed to inconvenience you, but rather to keep ALL guests safe. 

Unfortunately, some guests still take chances on bringing these items into the Parks, and risk getting them confiscated, or being asked to leave. 

You can go here, to read the list on Disney's site, but I've got a screenshot of it here for you too. 

From Disney's FAQ: 

​Plan ahead and safe yourself frustration, and time, by checking Disney's list of restricted items before you go! 

​Peter Pan is flying in to visit us all from Neverland (or rather, the Disney Vault) on June 5th! 

It looks like the cover has had a makeover, almost a little CGI looking, which make same wonder if the movie was touched up any. 

There's a slew of little bonuses, to tempt you, if you already own a previous copy like we do, or to delight you if you've never had a copy before. Check out some of the different versions Disney is offering!

I heard that they may be doing Peter Pan as a Disney Live Action film. Are you curious about that too? 

I'm going to start off by saying I  love my kids. Like so many other kids though, they (and okay, I do too!) suffer from Dory's short term rembery loss. In fact, I'm pretty sure she's my Spirit Animal. When we go to check e cheese, well...that bucket of coins, or the new card that holds the credits will get left somewhere... (hence my unfair rule of mom keeps them now!) or we often hear, as we stroll through Walmart, "Mom, where's my hat?!"  and then there's the frantic dash through the store trying to find where the hat, or the stuffed animal, or a drink or anything else got put no one can remember where. 

There are challenges when my boys want to be grown up enough to go and do things for themselves like have an entire year's savings on a gift card but have Dory tendances. (Sorry kids, that was all my genes!)

In thinking about our next Disney Trip, I wanted to be prepared, and proactive, so I came up with a plan. I WAS going to let them be in charge of their own spending money, via gift cards, but in a way that would be grown up for them, and reassuring for me! 

​Some thinking, a happenstance glance at the keys station at Home Depot and a 10 second solution was born to make both adults and kids happy! All for around $1!

There are two ways to make this, as a lanyard style, or as a bracelet style. The great part about this, is different colored bracelets, and different lanyards mean easily telling who has what giftcard. 

Supplies needed: 

Gift card
​Hole punch (and strong person to punch the hole!) 
coil keychains (I bought a dozen on Amazon for $3
lanyards (use what you have, or buy one. Lots of place have $1 ones) 
badge protectors ($1.50 at Walmart for 12)

​Assemble your products! 

Now this is important! You can't just punch willy nilly. Flip over the card, and DON'T punch the magnetic strip or any of the numbers. The upper left corner is usually a safe place.  If you want to do the lanyard style, you can skip the hole punching. 
​

Slide on the keychain! Or, slip the card into a badge holder, attach lanyard. 10 seconds, around $1 and the perfect way to give kid's independence, not mix up anyone's spending money, AND a worry free way to make sure the gift card won't get lost on the way to the register! 

Since there are so many different colors and styles the keychains and lanyards come in, it's possible for a large group of people to each have their own totally unique to them way to keep track of their money! I love the idea that I can toss these in the backpack, and take 5 seconds to pull out the blue one and know it belongs to one kid, instead of squinting at fading marker where I'd written a name to identify the owner, dropping it back in because it wasn't the one I wanted. Time saver, and sanity saver! 

What do you think? Would this work for you, or your family?