I have rewritten this multiple times, because I think my now, many people know I am a bit of a cynic when it comes to the "help the eco system" plans popping up and the happy by product of profit increase. Disney recently announced a plan, by mid 2019 to reduce and eliminate plastic straws, stirrers, polystyrene cups, reduce the small toiletry bottles and plastic bags from it's properties (Parks, resorts, stores)  and cruise ships. 

Disney HAS always cared about the environment, and HAVE been leaders in the industry for quite a while on that, so it is a natural step for them. While it's too early to tell yet what the alternatives will be for straws and if all plastic bags will be eliminated, I am hoping that paper straws will be available, not just straws that you have to buy and keep up with on your trip. 

You can go here, or click on the picture below to read the original Disney Blog Post. I agree with many of their efforts, but I feel like the plastic straws take up so little of the waste (0.2% of waste according to this article) that even though small changes are a start, I hope an alternative, that doesn't cost the consumer more, is put into place. 

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My biggest concern (because I am totally fine to bring my own straws, we have need of them!) is the reusable bags in the parks. That's going to make it a little tougher when someone needs to carry those around with them, or else, have to buy new ones each visit. That doesn't seem very ecological, or thrifty, especially for the person with one small item and no way to carry it. Paper bags would be a great alternative, I think. I am also concerned because Park to Resort package delivery isn't the most gentile on bags. There are staples, scuffs, rips, and all that on a bag you just bought and hoped to reuse? That alone seems wasteful. 

A few suggestions were made in their original blog post, one I loved was water bottle filling stations, instead of buying endless bottles of water, or asking for cups that get thrown out. I think that's a great idea, I wonder if it will be an option later down the road! 

I do know that Disney's customer service is second to none, so I have faith that all of these questions will be answered, and they will genuinely do their best to make sure every quest has a good experience. It will be interesting to watch the changes, and then the changes made upon those new changes.  Perhaps with enough Pixie Dust, a solution will be found to accommodate everyone. 

How do you feel about this change? Love it? Hate it? On the fence? 

I like shopping at Hollar for Disney surprises! They have a lot of GREAT Disney merchandise! Last summer, I even got Disney PARKS Buzz Lightyear Blasters for only $5 each. When they came in, and I saw the Disney Parks price sticker on the back of $22.95 each, I was even more thrilled! 

Like a lot of places, selection comes and goes, but here are some of their current offerings! They sell a LOT more than just Disney, but this is a Disney blog, so that's kind of what you want to see, right? If you click the picture, it will take you to the item if it's still in stock, or, you can just go to the website, and search Disney. Or cupcakes, or books or whatever else you want! 

If you've never shopped Hollar before, try it out! When you sign up, using one of these links, you'll get a $2 credit, and shipping is FREE on orders of $25 or more. New members often get a promo of $10 or more, free shipping. They are always sending out ways to get more credits, or discounts, so it's a great way to stretch your Disney dollar! ​

I like to keep a stash of great gifts that I've bought cheap to have for a last minute birthday, a sick child, or building up my stash for Christmas gifts. It saves a bundle, that lets me Disney Dollar go a lot further! 

A while back, I turned our downstairs hallway into a little Disney are area. We don't have the best of lighting in this area, but it looks awesome in person, and we all love to walk past and remember some of our favorite rides. The best part, is it looks so expensive, and difficult to do, but it hardly took any time at all! 

In addition to only a little time, I'm not lying when I tell you it was only around $20 to make this! Here's how YOU can make something like this for yourself or give as a gift later! 

Your supplies are simple if you want to make something like mine!  You can change it up with sizes and shapes easily, but this is what I used: 

12 x 12 blank canvas
(4) 8 x 8 blank canvas
Modge podge
paint brush
(4) 8x8 Word Arts
12 x 12 collage

The above items I got at a craft store, with sales or those 40% off coupons or already had on hand (like the paint brush and mod podge).

​The prints were made on Shutterfly. I used a coupon (you know they always have great ones) and got it mostly for free, just had to pay shipping. If you are impatient to wait for a free code, they often do 40-50% any one item. There are loads of shapes you can choose, and I'm really thinking of going back and making ones for previous trips. 

​The Word Clouds are from Tagul. You make them, any way that you want, and then you get to save your images. This is all FREE! If you want a higher quality, you can pay for a download of a higher quality, but I found the lower quality did just fine for the 8 x 8 prints. I honestly don't think we could have gone much bigger, or they might have been grainy.

A side note here, you can make these for ANY occasion! As a matter of fact, for last year's Christmas, I even did family gifts of these Word Clouds, typing in everyone's name, along with words like love, family and etc. I think everyone liked them! I printed those out just as 4x6 and 5x7 and mounted them on painted wooden cutouts I found at the craft store, that were fancy, and painted to match whatever word color I used. 

Back to the DIY! 
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You can go here, to WordArt.com to get started. It's very simple, and fun to play around with. In just minutes, you too will have all kinds of creativeness going, and make some amazing art for your walls, or to give others! 

These are what I made, you can copy to use them for yourself, or make your own! I don't have all of the attractions listed, I just wanted to do our favorites, or ones we want to experience or have a particular memory of.

Once you have your canvas, and your prints, you're going to brush mod podge on the canvas, all over, AND mod podge on the back of the print. Quickly lay the print on the canvas, glue to glue, and let it dry. I actually turned mine face down so that the edges wouldn't curl. 

Afterwards, they were hung on the wall with command hooks. Amazingly, they have only been knocked off once, (hence that bent corner on Hollywood Studios and the collage) but I have boys who love to run down that hall, so it's a miracle that it's not worse! They were also so easy to make, and inexpensive, it's not too big of a deal. 

I plan to fill in those gaps between my prints next summer with 5 x 7 canvas with character autographs! 

So there you have it, easy, inexpensive, and AWESOME!! It only LOOKS hard to do! Now go make some for yourself, or others and enjoy their delighted faces!

Even though Toy Story Land has hardly been open at Disney World, there's already been menu changes! The Monte Cristo sandwich has been removed, Orlando Park News reports. Pretty sad, seeing as that looked like the best of the sandwiches on there!

Pictures that have been popping up from guests all over, and the sandwiches really seem pretty small, and the kids menu's only have half sandwiches! Mr. Disney Magic and I were both looking forward to this sandwich, so it's a little sad that it's no longer there. While supposedly, it's because guest demand was low, Mr. Disney Magic had the theory that it took too long to prepare to keep the line moving quick enough. Either way, it's farewell to a sandwich that didn't really get a very long trial period! 

Did you have any favorite quotes from Walt Disney? Comment below, or visit our Facebook and share there! If you want to read more great Walt Disney quotes, these were taken from the book The Quotable Walt Disney. ​