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2013: Florida Spring Break Trip 2013: Magic Kingdom
2013: Florida Spring Break Trip 2013: Magic Kingdom
Our third day in Florida was spent at Walt Disney World. If you haven’t figured out from my blog yet, when I am on vacation I don’t like to sleep in and sit by the pool – for me it is all about experiencing new things! So we were at the park from when it opened until when it closed on this day!
Disney Tip: Free Maps – The envelope that I set on the right page is actually a free set of very classy maps that you can order from Disney before your trip. I never take them on the trip because I don’t want for them to get destroyed. I ordered and received these ahead of time and actually gave them to my son at Christmas time as a gift as my way of revealing to him that we were going to go. You can order your own maps at http://customizedmaps.disney.go.com/
I wish that I could say that the Disney Title on the left hand page was something that I created, but I bought it on Ebay. I usually try and search Ebay for items like this even before I take a trip so that I know what my options are (and prices), so that I can compare to items that I might be able to purchase in the location.
Other Ephemera on the page include the 3 day ticket card, and a pair of 3D glasses from one of the shows.
2013: Florida Spring Break Trip 2013: Magic Kingdom – Night Time
As I mentioned earlier we stayed until the Park closed, so we had a great opportunity to see the electric light parade and the closing firework display. If you haven’t had opportunity to see what the closing shows entails, it is definitely worth staying for to intake all of the special effects.
Disney Tip: Electric Parade and Fireworks Show: About an hour ahead of time we sat on the edge of the road on the castle side of the circle drive. We had great seats for the electric light parade, and then we just swiveled around and waited another hour and a half in the same spot for the fireworks and castle display. While we did a lot of sitting, we had great seats and had closeup views of both events.
Disney Vacation 2008 – Ephemera
Disney Vacation 2008 – Funny Story and Ephemera
So our adventure at Disney World was almost over – but we had one last funny story from the last few minutes we were on the property. If you click on the picture above you should get a bigger version of it and you can zoom in to read what happened. But this Mickey was part of the outcome of the story. Our bags were so full that we had to carry him on to the plane for the trip home!
This set of pages highlights all of the ephemera that we collected on the trip that didn’t make it onto the other pages. I don’t normally do something like this – but my son was so excited about everything that we collected that he didn’t want any of it to be thrown away. The letters in the right hand page above were cut with my Cricut machine and I used the shadow feature to cut a black “shadow” for each of the letters. This very small shadow really helps the letters to stand out on the page.
Disney Vacation 2008 – Ephemera
The left hand page of this spread contains all kinds of things including stickers that we picked up along the way, a Disney stamp on a letter we received, our Disney Photopass, origami from the China Showcase at EPCOT and one of our favorites – a red feather from the Enchanted Tiki Room. Don’t worry we didn’t pull it off of a bird! – during the show some feathers fall from the ceiling and this one fell right into our lap! The right hand page includes digital copies of all of the pictures that we took on the trip as this is a nice way to organize your digital pictures and have backups in case your computer dies. It also includes some fast passes that we never used and the folio with our bill at the end of the vacation.
Disney Vacation 2008 – Ephemera – Park Maps
This is the last page in the album and it is simply extra maps that I picked up from each of the parks. They have no crease marks and are not attached to the paper in anyway. They float freely behind the plastic and are there if we ever want to pull them out and look at them.
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Disney Vacation 2008 – Liberty Tree Tavern
Disney Vacation 2008 – Liberty Tree Tavern
We had supper in the Magic Kingdom at the Liberty Tree Tavern right after the parade was over. My son asked me how all of the characters from the parade got to the restaurant so fast. He told me that he thought that they must be following us around the parks. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that there are multiple Mickey Mouses. 😦
The Liberty Tree Tavern serves traditional Colonial American food in a fun atmosphere for both kids and adults.
Disney Tip: Some Specialty Restaurants include character visits – which means you can kill two birds with one stone – you get a great meal and your kids get to meet the characters (without standing in long lines) and get their autographs. Make sure that you make reservations way in advance – it may be impossible to make a reservation on the day that you are there.
My son was so excited that we got to see all the Disney characters as you can see from the smiles in the pictures. I chose a light green print for the background paper as it reminded me of old wall paper and then used a slightly lighter paper for the photograph frames. I also created frames for the autograph and used the same corner cutter for all.
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Disney Vacation 2008 – Magic Kingdom – Disney Parade
Disney Vacation 2008: Disney Parade – 1
Disney Tip: Parades – when you first get to the park look at the park schedule and maps to see when the parades are, and what the parade routes are. The pick a place on the route and be there early. You will see Disney cast members starting to prepare the area, and when you do take a seat on the ground right up front – it is the best way to experience it and to get great pictures.
I created a series of 4 spreads (8 pages in total) from the parade in the Magic Kingdom. Parades are a great way to see all of the characters and I took way too many pictures. Ir order to bring them together for the scrapbook I used one picture of each character and paired it with a 3D sticker from the collection I purchased from eBay.
Above we see a young Walt Disney, Mickey Mouse, Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio. Notice that I used the same corner cutter on all of the photo borders to tie the two pages together.
Disney Vacation 2008: Disney Parade – 2
Above are Aladdin, the Seven Dwarfs, the Evil Queen and Ursula. I again used the same corner cutter on the frames of these photos as for the previous page. A method of tying the pages together.
Disney Vacation 2008: Disney Parade – 3
Above we meet Baloo, Rafiki, Peter Pan, Cinderella and Prince Charming. You will see that I changed the way that I added frames to these pictures. Instead of formal borders I used Disney papers and off set the photographs on them. While the frame paper is similar I matched the colors to that of the photographs.
Disney Vacation 2008: Disney Parade – 4
If you look carefully at the right hand page on this last spread you will notice round silver dots. These are actually some of my favorite ephemera from the trip – they were shooting out of the top of the towers on this float. After the parade was over my son eagerly collected them from the ground as he felt that they had to go in the scrapbook. On this page we see Belle and the Beast, Ariel, Donald Duck and the Chipmunks, Chip and Dale. I used the same corner cutter on the frames of these photographs to tie the two pages together.
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Disney Vacation 2008: Magic Kingdom – Cinderella’s Royal Table
Disney Vacation 2008: Magic Kingdom – Cinderella’s Royal Table – 1
Disney Tip: Pay Attention to the Event Descriptions when making a booking – When I was booking the character meals I didn’t pay close enough attention to detail – I thought I was booking a pirate and princess luncheon – which Disney does have by the way – but, by mistake, I booked us for Cinderella’s Royal Table :). This was really an event for moms and daughters – not dads and sons – but Disney was graceful about it and had some male activities during the time.
So – this page isn’t very masculine either – I had to make the best of a very pink and feminine event! If you look to the spread above you will notice that there is a large folder on the left hand page. It is actually a picture folder, and if you look below you can see what it looks like open. On the right hand page, bottom left, you will notice an invitation from Cinderella. This was actually on the back of the picture folder and I carefully removed the photograph, cut it out, and then put the photograph back in place so that you can’t tell this was done. I also included the autograph that my son got from Cinderella while at the meal.
Disney Vacation 2008: Magic Kingdom – Cinderella’s Royal Table – 2
In this view you can see what the folder looks like open. I carefully cut a slit in the plastic page protector for the folder to slide through so that the picture of us with Cinderella is still under plastic. I did this by:
- Placing the background paper inside the plastic protector
- Placing the picture folder on top of the plastic protector where I wanted it to be
- Sliding the picture folder to the right about 1/4 of an inch, so that the fold of the picture folder would overlap the plastic a little on the left side. This keeps the plastic protector from tearing when people are viewing the page.
- Using an Exacto knife to carefully score the plastic.
- Using a pair of sharp pointed scissors to carefully cut along the scored line.
- Putting sticky tabs on the back of the picture folder and sliding it through the cut in the plastic and then pushing down on the plastic and picture folder to secure it in place.
Disney Vacation 2008: Magic Kingdom – Cinderella’s Royal Table – 3
Above are pages commemorating the meal and the event. Since we were men, my son was given a sword rather than a fairy wand for use during the themed meal. If you have a young son you will understand why the sword was broken before the end of the day! However this worked out great for the page since I was able to use the sword blade on the page (secured with a ton of glue!)
Disney Vacation 2008: Magic Kingdom – Cinderella’s Royal Table – Princesses
Disney Tip: Event Meal always include character visits – which means you can kill two birds with one stone – you get a great meal and your kids get to meet the characters (without standing in long lines) and get their autographs. I thought that my son would hate this part, but as you can see from the expressions on his face I think he really enjoyed all the attention from these beautiful ladies 🙂 . When we got home I carefully cut all of the signatures out of the Disney autograph book and placed them along with the appropriate pictures and stickers on this page. Notice the detailed corner punch that I used for the borders.
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Disney Vacation 2008: Fantasyland
Disney Vacation 2008: Fantasyland
We got up super early on this day to take advantage of the Disney guest early open hours. But when we walked outside it was raining! I was disappointed but decided to go anyway, and it really paid off! Since it was raining we were able to ride most of the rides in Fantasyland fairly quickly. If you have been there before you know that many rides in Fantasyland can have the longest lines in the park!
Disney Tip: Fantasyland – Ride the rides in Fantasyland at night – by then most kids are tired and tired parents have taken them back to the hotels.
I was trying to figure out how to showcase six different rides from this part of the park all on the same spread when I can up with the idea of using just single pictures from each event. I was fortunate enough to be able to find 3-D stickers for each of the rides to use, and I found “Its a small world” paper to tie the rides together. You will notice that I placed the stickers right over the photographs. Be careful if you do this as you will not have opportunity to reposition them if you make a mistake. This is usually true with most stickers, but when putting them on top of photographs it is doubly true.
Did you notice my son’s score on the Buzz Light year ride? He maxed out the scoreboard – I didn’t even know that was possible and thought it was just broken. But – when we got home I found out that it is possible to do this. Disney Tip: How to get the High Score on Buzz Light Year – can be found by clicking here.
Disney Tip: Sword in the Stone – Make sure your kids try to pull out the sword. There is a cast member nearby who using a remote control allows some guests to actually move the sword. For others it wont move at all. I have noticed that if the dads try first, then young children miraculously can do it after their big strong dads can’t!
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Disney Vacation 2008: Magic Kingdom – Tomorrowland
Disney Vacation 2008: Magic Kingdom
We got up super early to enjoy the Disney hotel early access at the Magic Kingdom and it was cold and rainy. I thought that it was going to ruin the day – but no one else was there so we almost had the park to ourselves! Above is opening spread introducing the reader to the Magic Kingdom. I used the Magic Kingdom map from the scrapbook kit and the coin from the collection that I bought at the hotel gift shop. The Title was cut using my Cricut machine. I think if I were to do this page over I would put a solid border behind the lettering to help it stand out better – probably in a light blue.
Disney Tip: When it is raining, still go to the parks – everyone else won’t want to venture out and you will have the rides and shows all to yourself. There are many indoor things to do at all of the parks, and you can do them before the crowds arrive when the weather gets better. We went to the Laugh Floor and they ran the show with only 6 people there – of course that meant that there weren’t that many people there to be “that guy”, so I was “that guy”. P.s. – if you don’t understand what this means it means that you haven’t been to the Laugh Floor in Tomorrowland yet – it is a must do funny show.
Disney Vacation 2008: Magic Kingdom – Tomorrowland
I wanted to highlight the left hand page, not necessarily for its unique design, but rather to point out that if something goes wrong on your adventure – take pictures anyway and scrap about how it went wrong! My son and I still laugh when we see this page because we got all wet, and we remember how we had the park all to ourselves.
The right hand side does have a neat design element to it. My son rode the Rockets 5 times in a row. I got sick after the first ride because I was trying to take pictures and video while spinning around and I got off! You can see that I took pictures from above him and below him while on the ride, and then a below picture when I was not riding the ride. Putting all of these different pictures together gives the page a feeling of motion and movement.
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Disney Vacation 2008: Animal Kingdom – Character Autographs
Disney Vacation 2008: Animal Kingdom – autographs
Disney Tip: Character Autographs – if you have small children a wonderful way to expand your experience, collect ephemera, and get some rest – is to purchase a character autograph book and stop at all of the character locations. I found that my 9 year old son was just as excited about standing in line to collect an autograph as he was to stand in line for a ride. It gave me a chance to slow down, and when we returned home I realized that I had some wonderful ephemera.
I used an Exacto knife to carefully cut the pages at the seam of the autograph book and then trimmed them using a paper cutter. Notice on this page that I framed the autographs with the same frame I used for the pictures, cut with a specialized corner cutter.
In the top left hand corner is a photograph of a sign that I hand cut with sharp point scissors to create the title block for this page. You will also notice in the right bottom corner of the left page a copper coin that says “Animal Kingdom” – this was from the souvenir store at the Disney Hotel and was part of a set of all of the park. You will see more of these on future pages.
The background papers are from the Disney Scrapbook paper pack that I bought at the hotel souvenier store – I have not been able to find these anywhere else – so buy them while you are in the park.
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