I caved. Disney Moms Panel Application Complete

Screen grab of my Confirmation page

Alright, yes, I am weak. I hereby acknowledge that I am a weak person. After going on and on to myself and any of my followers who care to read my twitter feed yesterday, that I was not going to apply to the Disney Mom’s Panel, I gave in an quickly applied this morning. I know I have no hope of getting chosen. They allow you 100 characters to tell them how much you love the Disney theme parks. What can they get from 100 words for goodness sake? I am resigned to being a Disney Mom’s panelist for my friends and family and never one for The Mouse itself. So, why did I apply?

First, I followed a link from the disney themed blog Chip n Company on their facebook page, to the Mom’s panel application page. Disney opened the applications up yesterday, September 12th, and will be closing them on September 16th or when they reach 20,000 applicants, whichever comes first. I deliberately stayed away all of yesterday, on purpose and because I was extremely busy, so I figured that they’d have reached that 20,000 by now for sure.

Nope.

When I logged into my disney account, the mom’s panel application boxes came up and I was invited to apply. I guess that’s what made my decision. It wasn’t yet closed, so perhaps it was a sign that I should set aside my negative feelings and just fill in those little boxes.

Even if I am not chosen (which I won’t be), I love Walt Disney World. The hubby and I have taken our kids their every year of their lives (sometimes twice) and everything about the magic of WDW is a part of me. I love the pixie dust, the attention to detail, and the way that being there makes you want to be nice and kind and spread the magic yourself. If I never win anything Disney I will still be my local WDW expert and disney nerd. I will still go to the parks once a year, at least. I will still love hanging out and looking at all the tiny touches the imagineers have put into this or that attraction or land. All of this because the Disney magic speaks to me. I get it. I can’t help it.

I am weak? Maybe, I am just full of Pixie Dust.

RSM.

My favorite Map of all time: 1976 Walt Disneyworld Park Map

1976 Walt Disney World Park map

From time to time, I go back through the things in my closet that I keep meaning to frame and hang somewhere. I always stop at this map and stop. I want to hang this one. It’s so very special to me. But I do not want to take it to a frame shop and risk them losing it, or tearing it or somehow destroying it. It is irreplaceable.

This map was my family’s park guide map on the very first vacation to Walt Disney World. It is probably hard to see, but my Mom actually drew on the map. Over breakfast, she softly traced out the route we would take on our day. This was long before crowd calendars and touring plans. Long before the internet and advice from Disney Moms Panel (Which I should so totally be on by the way!). This was back when going to the park was a huge adventure and probably a family’s once in a lifetime trip.

As it turns out, my family would travel down to Walt Disneyworld two more times before I graduated high school. Since then, I’ve gone probably another 20 times either on my own, with my fiance then husband, and as a family with our kids. To say that I am a huge Disneyworld fan is to put it mildly. I love the place, and I always will.

Looking at this map immediately brings back the feelings of that first trip. I was 7 1/2, and it was 1976. There was a fourth of July 200th birthday parade and celebration going on all summer long. It was hot as only Florida can be in the summer. My brother and sister (only one, since the second of my sisters wouldn’t be born for another two years) were at times happy and crabby. I just remember enjoying every single minute of the fun and once we got home, I could not wait to go again.

I wish that they still made large fold out Maps like this one still in the parks. You get the small hand outs at the front gates, but the Disney merchandise folks have cut way down on the individualized park materials on either coast. Perhaps someone at WDW merchandise might see this post and think, hey that’s a great idea, let’s make them again.

Back in 1976, this map cost $2.25 (the price tag is still on the back of it). The picture doesn’t do it justice to the detail or the size, except to cut off the top and bottom, but it really is huge. It is easily 3 feet wide. I can only imagine what they’d charge for one today.

I was going to do some research to see if anyone else has put up photos of their own copies of this map on the internet somewhere. I have two more maps to post in the coming days. Both are fold outs, and both are almost as large as this one. First one ist the Walt Disney World resort area, Pre MGM studios. The other is of EPCOT.

With that, I am off to plan my upcoming Walt Disneyworld vacation. Our MEI Mousefan travel agent just put down our deposit today. We’re going to Disneyworld!

RSM

Dreaming of vacationing in Hawaii

We finally have some nice weather in my part of the world, and this feeling of spring has me longing to go on vacation. Yes, I am aware that I just got back from spending spring break in Florida, but after the week that followed my return and all of the furlough preparations that cluttered my mind and my days, I find I am in need of another vacation.

Taking a trip to Hawaii has always been the dream vacation of mine. Although Hawaii became a more interesting destination once Lost became my obsession on TV, I have wanted to go to Hawaii since I was a kid. My grandparents went to Hawaii on one of their anniversaries, and came back filled with love for the place. I still have a photo of them in their Hawaiian garb taken at a luau they raved about for years. Looking at that picture has always made me happy. For me, Hawaii has become this mythical wonderous place that I hope to see before my time on this planet has come to an end.

Now that Disney is building a vacation club resort in Hawaii (Called Aulani), my husband and I figured this was our chance to go. We are DVC members and absolutely love staying on Disney properties. So, combine the two, and it’s got to be the time. I had started to get my mind set on a Hawaii in 2012 vacation (end of the world and all) for us and the kids.

That all changed when we were in Disney World over spring break. The kids let me know that they are not, in fact, insterested in going to Hawaii next year. They just want to return to Disney World again next year (as we’ve done for every year since 2005) since that’s our family tradition. Mind you, they said all this through tear stained eyes so that it would have the most effect. No, the tears were real. My kids love going to Disney World as much as I do. The thought of not coming back for one year fills my heart with sadness. Apparently, it does the same for them.

I am a huge Disney World fan, and would go a couple times a year every year for the rest of my life is school schedules and money were no object. Odds are, even if next year does become the big Hawaii trip year, we will probably end up making time to head on down to Florida as well. I might not be able to go a year without visiting Mickey Mouse and friends.

Time will tell.

I still really want to see Hawaii someday.
RSM

Drawing a Day: RSM Day 21

It has been a while. We just got back from a lovely week’s vacation in Walt Disney World. I managed to take my iPhone out a couple of times (it rained, and rained, and rained on a couple of days) and did some quick drawings. This one is of the television in the room where we stayed, complete with all the bags of goodies we purchased in the various stores on property. Disney loves when we come to visit. I did about two other drawings. So, I’ve got two more drawings a day covered.

Enjoy
RSM

Disney Moms Panel – The emails are out

A while back, I wrote about applying for this year’s round of tryouts for the Walt Disney World Mom’s panel. I wasn’t going to try out for it, because I’d done so two years in a row and only ended up getting the disappointing “thanks but we found someone better” email for my troubles. Yes, I know a LOT of people apply but it still stings.

This year, I ended up applying to join all my twitter disney friends who were also throwing their hats in the virtual ring. Many of them didn’t make it to the second round. In fact, most of them didn’t. The emails came out Monday and Tuesday letting us all know whether we were moving to round two or were politely not invited into this exclusive disney club.

You can probably tell by the lack of “hooray! I made it” in this post that I did not, in fact, make it through the first round of the Disney Mom’s panel selection process. Instead, I received an email which started:

“On behalf of all of us at Disney Destinations, LLC, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to apply for the 2011 Walt Disney World® Moms Panel.”

Yup, that’s never a good way to start an email.

I actually didn’t think that I would make it past the first round. The application process was four (or was it five) questions with a ridiculously small amount of space in which to answer the questions. This year, the questions really weren’t anything that would allow candidates to do much in the way of shining. The first was “do you work for Disney or its companies” and “When was the last time you visited Walt Disneyworld.” The last two asked you to recount how to helped someone plan their disney trip and what resources of ideas you used in 100 words (or was it characters) or less. I was matter of fact with my answers and didn’t link to my twitter account, blog, or make mention of any online presence I might have. I didn’t see how that would fit into answering the questions without sounding self-congratuatory.

As I watched the twitter folks I follow who did apply, and learned of two that made it past round two, I got a sense that this online presence meant more than answering the questions. Two of the Mom’s who were chosen are fairly big online folks with blogs, etc. So, being able to answer questions about Disneyworld was less important than being semi-famous?

Don’t misunderstand, the ones I know who made it to round two are fantastic. They will make great Disney mom’s, but I feel a little like they already are unofficial Disney Mom’s with their blogs and followers.

Which brings me to my thought that the Disney Moms panel might have outlasted its time. It was originally a one year experiment and has hung on now for several years. Outsider looking in, I don’t actually go to the Disney Mom’s site to ask questions. I already have an established set of go to sites that can answer those things I can’t answer for myself. I find the Disney Moms site simplistic. It gives the simple answer, but not necessarily the data. Perhaps it’s just my engineers need for data and the ability to draw my own conclusions.

In the end, this could all just be sour grapes, and I am not Disney Moms panel material. I think this might be the last time I apply (she says in earnest but knows might not be true).

Best of luck to those who did make it to round two. Be sure to represent us, the rejected ones, well.

RSM.

My Vinylmations

I posted a link to the news that a new DVC Vinylmation is soon to be coming out. In fact, I think it’s being released this week (or next) at Disney World and Disneyland. I thought I’d follow that up with a quick picture of my own “collection” of Vinylmation figures. I only have three, but I love all three of them. My first was the Monorail green (on the right in the image below), and second was the Disney Cruise Line (DCL) figure shown in the middle. After getting those two in a row, my husband suggested that I stop then because that streak of good luck couldn’t possibly keep going. He was almost correct. My third figure was the black Tower of Terror one on the left in the photo. It’s my least favorite of the three, but still a really cool looking one and good representation of the ride.

So, without further adieu, here are my three figures. Hopefully later this year, I will have more photos of more figures (as long as the family doesn’t stop me!).

Enjoy!
RSM

So, that’s done – Disney Moms panel application

Well, every year for the past two, at about this time, I again jump headlong into the application process for the Walt Disney World Moms panel. Three years ago, I found out too late and missed applying for it in that first year by about two weeks. The subsequent two years, I applied but haven’t made it past the first round. I told myself this year that I wouldn’t bother. That I am too busy. That I don’t want to get my hopes up only to have them smashed to bits as I am not chosen past round one (again).

Then I just went and applied anyway.

Ok, perhaps that was a bit melodramatic, but I found myself really really sad as I watched other twitter disney fans making it to round two, then on to the third and final round, and then on to become Disney Moms! I love Disneyworld. We go every year. The hubby and I became DVC members after the birth of our first child. I live, breathe and eat Walt Disneyworld stuff.

Maybe it was the pressure on twitter. I follow a number of folks who share the passion for Walt Disneyworld in Florida as I do, and they are all tweeting about today being the opening of the applications for the 2011 Disney Moms Panel. I just couldn’t be left out.

It was with much nervousness that I went to the application site today and filled it out for my chance of one day becoming an official Disney Moms Panelist. They’ve changed the process a little bit this year, asking even less personal stuff than they did last year. I am not sure how I did, or if I can even convey my love for the parks and the magic and the other intangibles that say I should be on the panel in 100 words or less. But then, there are so many other great Moms and Dads out there, some I “know” some I don’t, that also should be on the panel. If I make it, then I will be honored, if I do not, then I know this is not my time and there are other things that are in store for me in the future.

Best of luck to everyone out there applying. I know I am in the best of company.

RSM.

An RSM Review: Disney Poetry – The Mouse of Zen

For a while now, one of the Disney peeps I follow on Twitter (@mouseofzen) has been entertaining us all with his haiku tweets. Little did I know, at first, that @mouseofzen was following his dream of writing disney inspired poems and then one day publishing them. With the help of the online self publishing house lulu.com, that is exactly what has come to pass. As of the time of this writing, The Mouse of Zen: Disney Inspired Mouse Sized Poetry by J. B. Conway is now available for order and download.

Mouse of Zen in packaging

It was with great pleasure that I was able to support one of my Disney twitter “friends” and bought his book from lulu about a week ago when it was available. It came in yesterday’s mail and I was able to read through a about half the poems before getting the kids to bed last night. I hope to read the rest tonight. With the arrival of this book, I thought I’d write my first ever review here on the RSM blog. Without further adieu, on to my impressions.

First impression: The quality of the book itself is very professional. Stepping aside from the review for a minute, self publishing is one of those dreams of mine. I have been drawing my whole life, and my Mom and I have been collaborating on children’s stories for the tons of grandchildren in our family. I’d love to publish some of them into actual real book form and buy copies for all of the extended family of grandkids as keepsakes. The physical book from lulu dot com is really nice. Cover has a thick paper clear plastic laminating like qualities. The paper inside if very nice and thick as well. It’s slightly yellow in color. As for this book in particular, I love the front cover. I don’t know if the author designed it himself or not but I am really impressed by it. It’s clearly Mickey Mouse ears, but they are stylized enough that it’s only inspired by, and not an exactly likeness of the Mouse. So, for me, the whole feel of the book was pleasing. There is an eBook version available for less than half the cost of the print book, but I am old school and just like to have an actual book in my hands when I read.

Second impression: The poems themselves. A haiku, according to wikipedia, is “a form of Japanese poetry, consisting of 17 moras (or on), in three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 moras respectively.” The term moras is roughly translated into english as a syllable. I remember writing haikus in high school. They are rather challenging but when done skillfully, can evoke almost dreamlike pictures and images. The haiku in The Mouse of Zen definitely fit this description. Some are so visual that I am finding myself inspired to illustrate them. Might be time to dust off that Brushes app on my iPad and get to work. The poems are numbered, not titled, so the reader is left to decide what each particular poem is about. So far, among my favorites are: one evoking an image of a child carrying, and losing a Mickey Ballon (#21), two about the Haunted Mansion (forgot to write down the numbers), the Boo to You Parade (#29) and Soarin (#53). I will have to ask the author if I may reproduce some of them here. If you’re in the mood for some poetry, I do suggest you follow @mouseofzen on twitter. He’s still writing and he posts a haiku about once a day, sometimes more as the inspiration hits him. From his twitter page, he is working on version two book of poems.

Final verdict: Recommended I love the creativity of my fellow friends in the disney fan community, and I am happy to see another one of them reach for their dreams. If you are looking for a gift for the disney fan who has everything, this book is a nice quiet time addition to anyone’s library. I only hope to get it autographed someday.

RSM.