A trip off of the Dirt Road ~ Disney’s Art of Animation Review

Recently I was selected to attend an on site Agent Education Program at Walt Disney World. This program was 5 full days of learning – with a little fun added in 😉 One of the scheduled items was to visit different resorts and have a chance to look them over and learn about them. Today I will be reviewing Disney’s Art of Animation. 🙂

The Art of Animation resort is the newest of Disney’s Value Resorts. This resort has not only regular rooms, but also 1,120 family suites! It is a larger than life themed resort that makes you feel like you are actually in some of your favorite movies. Cars, Lion King, Finding Nemo and the Little Mermaid are the different sections.

When you first walk up to the resort you notice the color and fun.

A cheerful Simba greets you as you enter the resort.

You can see original sketches in the lobby.

Artwork from conception to final draft line the entryway.

A large light with original artwork in the entryway.

The Art of Animation is divided into 3 areas. The Lion King, Finding Nemo and Cars which all have Family Suites. And the Little Mermaid area that has the regular resort rooms.

Map of the Art of Animation Resort

One of the most impressive things about Disney is their storytelling and ability to immerse the guest into the story. Art of Animation is a perfect example. When you are going into the Little Mermaid area the vegetation changes to make you feel as if you were a little fish swimming in the Ocean. King Triton greets you and the path wanders along with tall bushes as if they were seaweed.

Around the corner you will find Ursula towering over you looking fierce!

Further along you will see a pipe that Ariel might have collected. Again the vegetation changes to look like the bottom of the ocean floor!

Under the Sea Theming

And of course, you must watch out for those greedy seagulls. Just looking for a little fish! (Can’t you almost hear them saying “Mine! Mine! Mine!)

Seagulls from finding Nemo watch you along the pathway.

The regular rooms are located in this area of the resort. Some families might be concerned that the Little Mermaid area is going to be too girly. Too much Ariel and that boys wouldn’t like it. Not to worry! There is a clam shell bed with Sebastian the Crab them.

Ariel Room Double Bed

The inside of the shower is filled with sunken treasure.

Prince Eric is on the wall happily sailing.

Prince Eric Artwork in the Little Mermaid Room.

And Ariel is found on the shower curtain. Just the right mix for boys or girls. 🙂

The next section we viewed was Lion King. Rafiki welcomes you to this area.

Rafiki wants to meet you.

And further along you see Timon, Pumba and Simba walking along. Just living the Hakuna Matata life!

Hakuna Matata

One of the most innovative aspects of the Family Suites is the new Inovabeds. Basically this is a really cool Murphy bed that turns into a table by day! In the photo below, the bed is put away for the day and a table folds down. Making it a great place for the family to have some meals!

At night the chairs are put away and the bed folds down! It might be a tight fit for 2 large adults, but 2 kids will easily fit in the coolest beds in town. 😉

Innovative Table Bed ready for sleeping

The main bedroom has a regular bed.

And the living room has a couch that also turns into a bed at night. So a family of 6 can comfortably sleep in these family suits.

Convertible Couch

There is a kitchenette and a starter amount of paper plates, bowls and plastic ware is supplied. There is a little sink, a mini fridge and a microwave. Perfect for making breakfast before heading out for the day.

A small kitchenette with mini fridge, microwave, sink and paper goods.

There is a closet area for hanging clothes as well as dresser for clothing and a TV.

A dresser and television.

Another cute touch is the little foot rests that come in the room. One has the words to the song “Just Can’t Wait to be King” and this one has Hakuna Matata. 🙂

There are 2 full bathrooms in this family suite, one of which has a tub. And the theming continues here!

Lion King Themed Shower.

We were not able to see the Cars or Finding Nemo rooms, but they have exactly the same layout. Just different themes.

There are 3 heated pools in this resort along with a water feature for the little ones. I even heard that if you listen underwater, you might get to hear something cool!!

The main pool at the Art of Animation.

Magic Bands or resort keys are required to gain entry into the resort pools. Assuring that only the on site guests will be able to enjoy the pools.

Entry to the main pool requires a magic band or key card.

We were also able to eat at the food court here, and I have to say it is one of my favorites! They had a large selection of food. Different ethnic foods along with the standard built your own burger.

Build your own burger in the food court.

One of the biggest benefits of staying on site at a Disney resort is their attention to detail regarding food sensitivities. As someone who needs to be aware of avoiding gluten I was able to successfully eat everywhere. Disney has just rolled out Allergy Friendly Menus. If you don’t see one handy, just ask any cast member and they will get one for you. I was able to choose a meal based on my needs and have is specially prepared. For gluten they asked me if it was and allergy or a sensitivity.  Something really important to know if you are concerned about cross contamination!

An example of the Allergy Friendly Menu

All in all I think this is my new favorite Value Resort. The rooms are great, the pool is fantastic. I love the themes and storytelling. It can be hard to find space for families of 6 and this is a great option. 🙂

The only downside to this resort is that it often is not included in the promotional discounts as it is very popular. And I wouldn’t let that deter me at all! It is definitely worth it! Until next time! Have a Magical Day!

Scar is keeping an eye on me!

These Disney tips and tricks have worked well for me; your mileage may vary.

Making Magical Memories

Interested in booking a Disney Vacation? Find me at: BornForTravel.com

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Today I Was Traumatized by Nature. :(

Our House in the Country

So you know I live on a dirt road. Out in the country. Where the birdies fly around in our yard building nest for their babies. The turkeys cross in the morning looking for food. Baby bunnies hop all around with all their cuteness. Where we can sit on our front porch in the morning and hear…nothing. Just the wind through our trees. Ahhh. Sounds wonderful doesn’t it? 🙂

99% of the time it is.

Today…not so much. I have been traumatized by nature. 😦

I was left in a cold sweat. Shaking and feeling very queasy. If I was a drinker I would have need a stiff drink to settle me down! Seriously!

What could possibly be so awful you ask? What could make that nature loving, suburb now in the country girl so weak in the knees? Was it a mighty ferocious animal? A horrible skunk? A badger loose in her house?

Sigh. No. Nothing that dramatic.

It was a tick.

A big, fat, huge, ginormous, super gross…did I say BIG…tick on the neck of my cute little doggie.

Mojo

I went to change Mojo’s collar and felt a knot of fur. He is due for a haircut in 2 weeks so I was just going to cut that little knot out. I bent over to see the knot only to find out I was TOUCHING A HUGE, FAT, DISGUSTING TICK. Oh…My…Gosh.

No, I did not take a photo of the huge, fat, disgusting, horrible member of the arachnid family. Just google engorged dog ticks and you will have more images than you ever could imagine. A warning though, it might give you nightmares! I might have let out a girly squeal and promptly wished I was not the Mommy and could get some other adult type figure to do it. Alas, I am the Mommy, and no other adult was home. Sigh.

I googled how to remove huge, fat, disgusting ticks. (I love Google.) I placed on my hands very long rubber gloves. Put my pup in the tub and proceeded to remove the stupid, gross, why-did-God-need-to-create-this-creature, tick.

There was ick. There was some blood. There was me trying not to pass out or puke. And my sweet little doggie just looking at me with those big eyes. Such a good puppy.

Not childbirth. Not poopie diapers. Not dog vomit. Not cat hairballs. Nothing is creepier or more disgusting to me than a fat tick. Really. I just Hate Them. I never knew that until today. I never saw a live one until today. Ugh.

We do keep our dog on flea meds. However, it was just ending the 4 week recommended time period. And he went wandering in the woods and unused goat pen last week. I bet that was where the stinker picked up the hijacker.

Sigh.

Apparently Google says I should save the tick. Put it in a baggie in my fridge. Keep it in alcohol. NOPE. I put tick medicine on him to kill him dead and flushed him down the toilet.

Mojo had a nice bath. Lots of soap. A thorough inspection and a little first aid on his boo boo. And a cookie. It was traumatic for him too!

Now I just have to get the image out of my mind. I need to take a long hot shower so I can stop feeling the heebie jeebies. I need chocolate.

I have said it before. I love nature. But I love my nature OUTSIDE. And not on my pets. 😦

Now where is that secret stash of chocolate…..

Mr. Mojo getting some reading done.

 

 

Quilting Along

Looking back it has been quite awhile since I posted about quilting. I am still loving it, but find I go in spurts. I finally finished Kid 1 Graduation quilt.

Kid 1 Graduation Quilt

I used a wool batting. It drapes so nicely and will hopefully keep her warm at college. 🙂 I did wash and dry it until just barely damp. I was a little worried about doing that with wool, but it seems to be fine.

I also have a new nephew who needed a quilt of his own. His Daddy used to love Richard Scary books. So I found this great fabric. I made a split 9 patch pattern, which I love. It is so easy to make but looks hard. I think baby likes it. 🙂

Baby on his quilt

Richard Scary Quilt

Split 9 Patch quilts are really easy. I have several people ask how I made it.

I used large 6.5 in blocks, but any size can be used. I like using a focus print and then 2 other coordinating fabric.

Step 1 Make a 9 patch.

After you make your 9 patch, you cut it in half horizontally and vertically.

2 equal cuts

Then by rotating the individual blocks you can get new patterns.

 

Easy peasy! I love simple patterns. 🙂

I am also enamored with scrap quilts. I was lucky enough to have 2 ladies from my quilt guild pass along their scraps to me. I have decided to make a baby quilt. Here is the first part. All of these little 4 patches and triangles were already sewn together. I just assembled.

Scrap quilt

I love that line down the middle. 🙂 I scrounged around and found some blue to make the borders. I then sewed together the other little 4 patches and such. I think it is ready for quilting and then I will add a navy blue border. What do you think?

Baby sized scrap quilt

I am currently making another Richard Scary quilt as another baby is due soon. I am also working on Bonnie Hunter’s Mystery Quilt. I am only on step 2, but I have plenty of time. 🙂

I have a long trip coming up in a couple of weeks. I will be bringing my hexies along for the ride. Hopefully soon it will be warm enough to have the windows open while I quilt. I am quite done with the cold!

Until next time… 🙂

Yellowstone National Park

Here is a link to my newest travel post on my other website BornForTravel.com . Let me know what you think!

Planning my Yellowstone National Park visit. 

Looking for moose in Alaska

 

Growing Up & New Adventures

I have real job. One in an office that is very fulfilling. One which I make a living with and have been doing a very long time. It is a good job.

I have another real job of being a Mom/Wife/Homeschooling Parent/etc. Also very fulfilling. And I LOVE doing it.

Today, I started another job. One that I can hardly believe I am fortunate enough to do. A job that I have been telling everyone who knows me for years that I was going to do “When I grow up …”A job that fills me with excitement, and joy, and maybe a little bit of giddiness too. Today I opened up “shop” with my new adventure called Born For Travel, llc. 😀

Mickey

I LOOOOOOVE all thing Disney. When we go to Disney World I get so worked up about researching every minute detail that I annoy my family to no end. I make laminated, color coded sheets of paper that detail what ride we will do when. Where we will have lunch. When we will rest. Seriously. Some people think I have a problem, but I am just having FUN. I love to plan.

Through a series of events it came about that I was offered a job to become an independent contractor with a travel agency. Within a week of accepting the offer I had completed training to become an Authorized Disney Travel Planner. Two more weeks I had obtained a domain name, created an LLC, and built a website. I am a little excited.

So today I think I have grown up. Today I can say I am a Disney Travel agent. 😀

So I would like to ask you…people far an near…to help me spread the word. Let your family and friends know that you know this really cool Disney person who can help them get their wonderful Disney vacation.

Go to my Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/BornForTravel, and “like” it. Share it with your friends.

Check out my website www.BornForTravel.com. See why you would want to trust me with your vacation. Follow my blog to get Magical Mouse Tips for creating Magical Memories.

Feel free to contact me at Carol@BornForTravel.com if you have any questions (or even if you have suggestions on how to improve my site!)

When I grow up I want to be a Disney Travel Agent…Wait! I must have grown up today. 🙂

PS I do book Universal Studios and cruises as well. 😉

Getting some Piglet love

Summertime Quilting

With the busy summer we have had I still managed to get some quilting in! In a post in March I showed a picture of a disappearing 9 patch that I was working on. I managed to finish it up this summer. Strangely I didn’t manage to get a full shot of it done. 😦 Here it is before it was quilted.

Pieced Disappearing 9 Patch

Here is a close up of the quilting, And the back.

Quilting on the Disappearing 9 patch.

Back of Disappearing 9 patch

Close up of the back fabric. I just love it.

This sweet little quilt was made for my 4-year-old niece. I am happy to say she LOVED it. She cuddled with it for about an hour after she received it. Very gratifying. 🙂

Little Miss K’s Quilt

Then I was lucky enough to get a NEW quilting sewing machine as a gift for managing to graduate Kid 1 from homeschool high school. She is a Janome 4120 QDC. And I LOVE her. She is just so easy to use. I love the automatic threader, automatic cutting. Lock stitch, fancy lettering! Just wonderful.

Janome 4120 QDC

With a new toy I needed a new project. 🙂 So for my nephew I made a Disappearing 9 Patch with 10 inch blocks.

10 in Disappearing 9 Patch. Please excuse the squinty face. 😉

I did a pieced back of flannel.

Back of 10 in Disappearing 9 Patch

This one was for my nephew Z. I am not sure if little boys are enamored with quilts, but hopefully it will keep him warm this winter when he is playing is video games. He was kind enough to let Auntie C have a photo. 😀

Z’s “Let’s Play” Quilt

With those two projects done I managed to work on Kid 1 quilt. It was supposed to be for high school graduation….but… well how does Freshman Thanksgiving sound. 😉

Laying out of Kid 1 quilt.

It is all pieced and I have wool batting and a beautiful yellow back to go with it. Now I just need to make myself sandwich it. My least favorite part. 😦

And, you know, it wouldn’t be fair to be so far behind on Kid 1’s quilt and then be on time for my Mom’s birthday gift, right? (Sorry Mom!) So her birthday is in July. I just finished her mug rug and will mail it out tomorrow. (promise!) It is my first completed machine applique. I love it. Except I am right-handed and the handle should be on the other side. But I forgot to flip the pattern. 😦 Oh well.

Tea Pot Mug Rug

Country Whimsy Chick Label

I have several other projects I am working on with varying degrees of doneness. (Is that a word?) I think I will keep those for another post!

I am looking forward to winter so I can sit by the fire, watch some football and quilt, quilt, quilt!!

 

Mid Life Crisis or Growing Up? I can’t decide.

I have decided to let my grey hair grow out.

I had my first grey hair at 21. I was shocked. At least 10 years ago I started coloring it. For the last couple of years I have toyed with the idea of growing it out. Last Tuesday I committed. I told my wonderful hair stylist what I wanted to do and she is totally on board.

Why am I doing this you ask? Good question with not a very clear answer.

• I am tired of spending big money every 8 weeks to color my hair. Especially when I need it done every 4 weeks. It is costing a lot of money which I am not comfortable with.
• I have always loved silvery white hair. I think it comes from my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Vallow (who is now Mrs. Latin, who by the way I still exchange Christmas cards with. How cool is that!) She had lovely white hair. And I loved her. My maternal Grandpa had lovely white hair. And by the looks of it I will have silvery white hair too.
• I am 45. My children will be very happy that I know this. I really can’t be bothered to pay attention to my age unless it is divisible by 5. So when my age is finally divisible by 5 I don’t have to ask them how old I am! Of course I will now be 45 for 5 years until I can be bothered to pay attention again. Anyhow…I am not getting any younger.
• As I try to raise 2 girls in today’s world I start to ponder the image obsession we have. How all the magazines have photo shopped people. I wonder what the TV world would look like without people having stylists, and hair dressers, make up artists, hair color, porcelain veneers. I mean, really? What would we look like just being our beautiful selves? We don’t generally know what aging gracefully looks like. Everyone and their mother (and grandmothers too) seem to get their hair dyed. How am I setting a good example for them if I don’t accept my own body?
• I am curious. What would I look like? Some people rock white hair. Others look old and dowdy. Will I have cool white stripes on my temples? Will it be salt and pepper hair? Will I hate it and go back to dyeing it?
• All the chemicals…Ok that is a lie. I know it must not be good for me and I feel like ethically I should say that… but really.There are some things that you just do for beauty.  I am going to keep painting my toe nails until the day I die and if I thought I needed to color my hair I would still totally do it chemicals or not. Truth.
• It seems like a good time to do it. As far as I can tell I have just sprinkles of grey everywhere except my temples. Those are pretty grey. If I wait too many more years I will have to do the whole “skunk stripe” grow out thing. And I am not sure I am strong enough for that.

I bet you are asking yourself  “What is she talking about mid-life crisis? Isn’t that when you start doing all you can to look younger?” Well…maybe.

When I was 35 my Mom told me I was now middle age. I was very offended (sorry Mom). Since I am going to live in good health until I am 102 OBVIOUSLY I will not be middle age until I am 51. Right? Right.

But as I pondered this going grey I started looking at other changes that have been happening over the last year.

• I started paying more attention to my weight and eating healthy. I am 90% gluten-free because I feel so much better that way. I am on a path to a grain free Paleo type diet. Because when I eat that way I feel so much better!
• I started jogging this year and ran in my first race. I do not like to run. I hated running in school. I hate to get all sweaty and out of breath. But I wanted to be more active. I found a race I would enjoy and the motivation to actually go out and run! I want to be healthy at 102, so I better start getting my rear in gear!
• I have started to quilt. Something I have really wanted to do for a long time, but never took the time for myself to do it. And I love it! It brings me so much joy.
• I have started to really concentrate on my faith. To think that I am not really LIVING my faith. Just going to church isn’t enough anymore. I want to KNOW more. I want to BE more. I want to look for ways to experience my faith in ways I have not been able to do before. I want to read more and grow. I want to connect with other women who are going along the same faith journey I am and to share that journey.
• I want to be more honest in my relationships. It became very clear to me recently that I have not been very honest communicating my true feelings. Which then leads to hurt. And loss of trust. This is not how I want to live. I need to learn to be true and authentic.

And maybe that is the biggest thing of all. Being AUTHENTIC. Being true to who you are and who you want to become.

I certainly don’t think people who color their hair, only go to church once a week and don’t jog are wrong. Nor do I want to judge them in any way. I truly think you should do what makes you feel most like your self. Whatever that may be. I have already told my Mom I will introduce myself as her older sister anytime we are together. 😉 It is really only about me.

So am I having a mid-life crisis and changing up a bunch of stuff?

Or am I finally growing up? 😀

I guess time will tell.

Going Grey

Summer is almost over…

I can’t believe that summer is almost over and I haven’t posted since …April! Yeesh. So I guess this is “My Summer in Review”.

We started off with Kid 1 graduation from high school. Homeschool high school actually. Which means I was the main teacher. And I must say, I am pretty proud of Kid 1. She applied to nine good colleges. She got into eight. She wisely choose the one that she could do with minimal or no debt. Lucky for me it is only 40 min from home. Yippee!

Kid 1 Graduated!!

We were lucky enough to have some far away family come visit. Four generations right here!

We currently are in final count down until she moves to college. Gasp. Sniffle….Wail! No really, I will be ok. 🙂

This summer we went camping.

Camping with friends

Did a little reading.

Mr. Mojo getting some reading done.

Went to the 4-H fair and watched some Demo Derby.

Demolition Derby

A significant portion of our summer was spend in preparation for the play “Sound of Music”. Kid 2 was a nun among other things.

Kid 2 Nun

As you can tell, they had a blast. 

Kissy face nuns.

There was shopping for college dorms…

Happy shopping day

 

Training a new quilter…

Kid 2 making her 1st quilt!

And of course some quilting on my end…but that really is another post.

Katie’s Quilt

Oh yeah. One big event was I ran my first 5k!! I have never been a runner and truthfully I don’t like it much. I decided I needed to get into shape and chose running. My goal was to run in a “Glow Run”. Basically a lot of glow in the dark paint, foam pits, colored water and powder. All at night! I am very proud of myself! I ran the whole way and had a blast!

Kids helping me prepare

Getting my glow on ready to run

Final stage with glow powder

All in all a very busy and fulfilling summer. I am sad to see it end next week. 😦 School will be starting up. The weather is hot and muggy today, but already some of the trees are changing color. Life will be different here with just one kid at home. I am looking forward to our time together. Some new classes, maybe a bit more running, of course some quilting. 🙂

Yep it was a good summer. 

Life on a Dirt Road.

Polishing Silver

I love silver.

Silver jewelry. Silver candle holders. Silver flatware. LOVE!!
I am always searching Salvation Army, thrift stores, garage sales or freecycle for cheap silver pieces. I use my silver finds for everyday use. Sugar spoons and soap dish holders. It is so beautiful and life is too short to not use it.

What I don’t love is cleaning silver.

I don’t mind how silver looks tarnished up to a point. Suddenly I will look at my silver and decide it looks too dirty and I will need to clean it.

As much as I LOVE silver. I HATE polishing it.

Polishing silver is dirty boring work. 😦 and I am kind of lazy.

Awhile back I searched the internet for ways of cleaning silver. There are a lot of ways to clean silver. All of them require significant amounts of elbow grease. Yuck.

Then I happened on a recipe that seemed too good to be true. It is almost like magic I tell you!! With 3 ingredients and a couple of minutes my silver becomes sparkling and looks new. Wanna see?

The spoons and the little dish took about 2 minutes to clean. I put the pitcher half submerged for about 3 minutes before I took it out.

Amazing, right? I love it.

Shall I tell you the secret recipe?

Fill a big pot with water.
Put enough aluminum foil to cover the bottom.
Add a couple of tablespoons of baking soda.
Bring to a boil.
Once boiling, place silver in until sparkly.
Take items out with tongs and wash with soap and water.
TaDa! Sparkly shiny silver!! Yay.

Now before you try this yourself I want to warn you. I only have silver I have paid very little or nothing for. I have never tried this on Great Aunt Elenor’s heirloom pieces. If my stuff gets ruined I won’t be sad.

So before you try this on any important pieces talk to your jeweler and make sure it is safe.

If you like living on the edge and taking your silver into your own hands, then go for it and you are welcome. 🙂

Life on a Dirt Road … Crazy Mother Nature

It was a glorious day. Highs in the upper 60’s. Which is almost shorts weather after the Polar Votex winter we had.

My phone was showing a severe weather alert. Possibly a big thunderstorm. The weather channel suggested we go to the lowest level of our house to the inner most room.

Hubby asked if I wanted to do that.

I laughed and said no. He asked if I wanted to go on the porch and watch.

That’s more like it! Nothing like a good thunderstorm on the porch.

As we finished up dinner we heard the thunder far off.

We started to head to the porch when it hit.

Crazy wind. Then the rain. After that huge amounts of marble sizes hail! I have never seen so much hail.

Within 5 min the ground was covered!

Then the rain started. It created flash floods down our drive way and ice jams in our streams.

In half an hour it was all over. We went outside and checked out the damage. We were lucky. No large trees down. No damage to the house.

It was an awesome storm. Within a couple of hours all the hail was gone. Our driveway still bears the scars of the flash floods. The grass turned green overnight. All that is left of Mother Nature’s temper tantrum is some minor branches down and a memory of me standing in a inch of hail.
.

Crazy Mother Nature.