But not just a camera – a whole bunch of fabulous prizes from Rayovac – the official battery of Disney Parks! Just check out the contest below –

Snap, Share & Win! Rayovac Summer Photo Contest:

The Snap, Share & Win! Rayovac Summer Photo Contest will begin August 2, 2010 and will conclude on August 29, 2010.  Each week will feature a different photo theme.  Eligible contestants will be able to complete the entry form on Rayovac’s facebook page, upload a photo and specify the theme.  Contestants may upload 1 photo each week for a maximum of 3 photos.  Once photos are posted, viewers can vote for 1 photo a day and add an unlimited number of comments.  Contestants and viewers can share the contest with their friends (eighteen years old or older) utilizing the “Invite Friends” button or by sending an email.  The photos receiving the most votes for each theme will win prizes.  Rayovac Powers Fun, have fun and be creative with your photo entries! All levels of photography welcome!

PRIZES
For each of the three themes there will be:
Grand Prize - a Digital Camera Package, complete with a Photo Printer and Rayovac Rechargeables and a Digital Photo Frame for three of the Grand Prize Winner’s friends.
Second Place Prize - Photo Printer
Runner Up Prize - Digital Photo Frame Keychain.

Phase One: Submit photo entry August 2, 2010- August 22, 2010.
(Week 1: Fun with Water Photo. Week 2: Fun Pet Photo. Week 3: Summer Fun Photo)
Phase Two: Public Vote August 2, 2010- August 29, 2010.
Phase Three: Winners Announced September 8, 2010.

Be sure to check out and “like” Rayovac on Facebook too! http://www.facebook.com/Rayovac

Good luck!

I just wanted to quickly announce the 5 winners of the anniversary giveaway from a few weeks back. Thank you again for all the support and love you’ve given me and the blog in the last year and for all the participation in the giveaway. Here are the winners as chosen from random.org:

Complete Guide to Disney iPhone/iPod Touch app: #45,  Rikki Niblett

Complete Guide to Disney iPhone/iPod Touch app: #21, Miss M

Set of 3 Audio Guides from Lou Mongello: #9, Lynne from Texas

Celebration magazines: #25,  Brian Hubbard

Walt Disney World Trivia Guide: #2, DVC Mom

Please contact me at zanna@zannaland.com with your mailing information! (For those that won the apps, I only need your email address.) Thanks so much to everyone that participated – I promise it isn’t the last giveaway. Thank you for reading!

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Oh, and speaking of reading, I wanted to share a site I found recently, thanks to the fabulous DisMarks. You are checking out DisMarks, right?? If not, you should, it has some of the best Disney articles all in one spot. Anyway, I saw an entry from http://www.parkeology.com and clicked over to read it. I laughed, I cried, and I didn’t even have to kiss 3 bucks goodbye (someone tell me they remember that tag line?).

Parkeology has been around since December of last year but they are not short on great topics, even better pictures and videos, and a hilarious commentary on some really unique aspects of Disney Parks. Shane and TeevTee have some amazing facts and history to share. Seriously, I almost didn’t want to tell anyone about it because I wanted to keep their awesomeness to myself, but that would’ve been very evil of me. So please check them out and be sure to comment and let them know how you like their stuff. It’s my mission to go back and read all the blogs I missed from them and I can’t wait.

Have I mentioned I love celebrations? I really do. It’s part of why I love December so much, it has my birthday AND Christmas 2 weeks after that. I’d celebrate something every day if it meant balloons and decorations and lots of pixie dust too of course. (I did briefly consider becoming a wedding planner just for the joy excitement of planning amazing parties…then I watched Bridezillas. )

Anyway, my friend and fellow Walt Disney World Moms Panelist Doug Ingersoll has been generous enough to donate not one but TWO codes to download his all new Walt Disney World Complete Travel Guide app for the iPhone or iPod Touch!

But wait, there’s more! (Sorry, no steak knives) The incomparable Lou Mongello of WDW Radio and Celebrations magazine fame (as if he needs an introduction?) has graciously given me a prize pack featuring some of his amazing theme park Audio Guides, issues of Celebrations Magazine AND his Walt Disney World Trivia Book. How cool is THAT??

How do you get a chance to win these fabulous prizes you ask?

Quite simply, just comment below and you’re entered to win!

Additional entries may be earned by:

• RT’ing about the contest on twitter (be sure to use @zannaland in your tweet so I can see it)
  
• Sharing on facebook or anywhere else – message boards, email groups, the possibilities are endless! Just link me to it here
  
• “Liking” the  ZannaLand facebook group
  
• Joining Networked Blogs on facebook
  
• Joining Google Friend Connect (join in the box to the bottom right of the main site)
  
• Subscribing to our RSS feed or via email (box on the right of the main site)
  

If you’re already a member or subscriber, just let me know in a comment and I’ll count that too.

I only ask that you leave a separate comment for each entry, because that’s really the only way I can track entries and give you credit for each item. I apologize to my Canadian and International readers but this giveaway is only open to US mailing addresses.

I will be giving away 2 codes for the Walt Disney World Complete Travel Guide app, 1 set of all 3 Lou Mongello Audio Guides, 1 set of two Celebrations magazines, and 1 Walt Disney World Trivia Guide, for a total of FIVE prizes to win.

Giveaway ends July 9, 2010 at 11:59pm.

Thank you again for all your support and readership this past year, and special thanks to Doug and Lou for providing the prizes you are hoping to win!

First things first, I must announce the winner of the “Great Family Food” by Chef  Kevin Dundon giveaway. After inputting the number of entries into random.org, #14 was chosen – Jennifer P. Congratulations, Jennifer! I’ll be emailing you for your info to send the book your way. I wish you many happy hours of delicious cooking with it! Thank you so much to everyone that entered, tweeted, re-tweeted and spread the word about the giveaway and ZannaLand.

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Some other news – I am now an official contributing author at TampaBay.com’s Whoa, Momma! blog. I know I mentioned I was writing articles for them before, but now I’m all permanent-like and my name’s on the header and my author bio’s on the side. Yee haw! Pretty darn cool and I am extremely grateful and honored that the fine ladies over at Whoa, Momma! for taking a chance on me. You can read my latest post on Activities Off the Beaten Path at Disney there now, with more to come in the coming weeks. Some pieces may even be picked up by the St. Petersburg Times and in turn their news wire and show up in your local paper.

I’ve mentioned on twitter but I know not everyone is there – I have also written a couple of guest posts for Mr. Hidden Mickey Guy himself, Steven Barrett. Again, the honor was mine and if you told me a year ago I’d be doing either of these things, I’d have laughed and said “yeah, right!” I’m so very grateful. You can read my post on Disney After Dark and Staying Cool in the Summer at Disney over on his site.

And of course, you can find me over at DisneyWorldMoms.com where I’ll be answering questions for a few more weeks. I’d love to get a question from a reader to answer on the panel! Just click on the “ask Suzannah a question” link on my WDW Moms Panel bio page.

If you are looking for other ways to stay connected, you can find me on twitter @zannaland, or the facebook page for the site: facebook.com/zannaland (close to 500 members now!) over there you can post comments or questions on the wall, interact with other Disney fans, add pictures to the group photo album and keep up with all the blog entries as well. I’d love to see more of you!

Thank you so much for reading!

Those of you regular readers here at ZannaLand know that I’m not exactly the pinnacle of proper journalistic procedure and format. I did not come to this blog by way of a former career in the media, any official training, or degrees to back me up (unless you want to count writing for the high school newspaper and those two semesters of public relations in college). This is, I’m sure, more than evident in the casual way that I share my thoughts and views here with you. I do this to connect with readers and hopefully speak to them on the same level. So it is in that same vein that I share the following pre-amble to the amazing interview I’m about to post –

If you’ve met me in real life, you also know that shy and socially awkward are probably the first two impressions that come to mind. There’s a reason I write! However, after several meetings or perhaps an adult beverage, I do mellow out and relax. That said, hanging around my fellow bloggers and media mavens, I finally get that concept of:  “What’s the worse they can say? No? Then you move on!“

So it was channeling one of those very bloggers that gave me the confidence to approach Chef Dundon after meeting him at the Raglan Road Signature Dinner and ask for an interview. As soon as I had the thought, the confidence was there and I knew I could do it. Even if he blew me off and said he was too busy, or was polite and said yes but later blew me off, I was going to DO it. So I did. And guess what? (not hard to guess reading the title of this post!) He said “That would be wonderful!” I spent the rest of the night on cloud 9, if for no other reason than I had made that next step in my new life as a purveyor of fine social media. (Like that title? I just made it up.)

Anyway, now you know the story behind the story and it is with great pleasure and honor that I present the following interview to you, my readers, and hope you enjoy it. Here’s a little more about Kevin Dundon’s background:

Kevin Dundon is the Chef/Proprietor of Dunbrody Country House Hotel & Restaurant, located in Ireland’s sunny South East. Dunbrody was established in 1997 by Kevin and his wife Catherine and has very quickly become a must-see for all foodies. It is now considered to be one of Ireland’s Premier Hotels & Restaurant. Kevin’s runs a cookery school at the hotel as well which already recognised as one of the most respected in the country. (source: KevinDundon.com)

In addition Kevin is the Chef/Patron of Raglan Road which has two locations, Downtown Disney in Orlando and Kansas City, MO. Given that Chef Dundon has cooked for none other than Her Majesty, The Queen and Bono, I think it goes without saying that Raglan Road will not disappoint. He is also author of two cookbooks: Full on Irish: Creative Contemporary Cooking and Great Family Food. Is there another in the works? Read on…

Read the rest of this entry

ZannaLand first brought you a sneak peak at this Disney Rayovac commercial back in December but now this same commercial can help you win a sweepstakes!

Unlock your imagination and celebrate the chance to win a celebration vacation for four to Disney World® or Disneyland® by entering the Magic Wand Sweepstakes.  In addition to the Grand Prize, there’s also the chance to win a lifetime supply of Rayovac batteries or a Disney Gift Card from Rayovac.  Enter the sweepstakes from now until 11:59 p.m. (CT) on July 31, 2010 at www.rayovac.com/disneyvacation (eligibility to enter the sweepstakes subject to the official rules found on the website).

Also, be sure to take part in the #Rayovac Powers Your Vacation Twitter Event

Join Rayovac and MomSelect for a Twitter Event to support the exciting Rayovac Powers Your Vacation-Magic Wand Sweepstakes.  The evening will feature more than 20 fun giveaways from Rayovac ranging from a summer supply of Rayovac Batteries to Disney Gift Cards.

Rayovac Powers Your Vacation Sweepstakes
Date:         Wednesday, May 19th 
Time:        7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. CST
Location: #rayovac (follow that hashtag on twitter)
Follow:     @Rayovac_Battery, @MomTalkRadio, @CirclePRMary

See you there – and hopefully in the parks too!

Though I may not be able to rattle off names, dates and facts as succinctly as some Disneyphiles, my love of all things historical within the Walt Disney Company is no less great. So I was quite excited when I was given a copy of Chad Denver Emerson‘s new book entitled Project Future, The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Walt Disney World, Ayefour Publishing, 2010, which details the events, meetings and plans that led to the creation of Walt Disney World – known at its start as simply Project Future.

Read the rest of this entry

Those of you on my personal facebook page may have noticed my update about the milestone my little corner of the internet is about to reach. When I posted it, I thought I’d just say it there, and move on, not making a big deal about it. The more I thought about it all day, the more I realized I should be celebrating this achievement. After all, this site is devoted to Disney, and who does celebrations better than Disney, right? Also, the whole reason this milestone is happening is because of you, the readers, so I figured I should definitely be giving back to the very people that brought me here to begin with. So are you ready to celebrate??

There are 2 days left in March, including today – ZannaLand.com is really really close to getting 10,000 page views for the month of March. I’m so amazed by this – I remember when I started I was excited that the site had 10 views a day. Certainly a LOT has happened both on the site and in my life since that time, and I am so grateful for the exciting changes that have taken place.

These are just some of the Vinylmation figures out there - you could win a brand new one!

I would not be here without the wonderful community of readers about which I’m always raving, and although I may not have the budget of Disney, what I’d do in real life is take you out for a coffee and thank you. Since for most readers, I can’t do that without involving airlines and lots of miles, I thought I’d give away 3 gift cards {of various mystery amounts}  for a coffee on me {or tea or whatever else you might like to drink at Starbucks}.

In addition, I’m giving  away a couple of fun surprises – 2 unopened Vinylmation figures! So that’s 5 separate chances to win.  However,  we have to reach that goal first – which means I need your help getting the word out about this giveaway!

To enter the giveaway:

• Comment on this entry.

If you want some extra entries you can also:

• Tweet about this giveaway and comment here with the url of that tweet.
• Post on facebook or anywhere else you’d like to spread the word and let me know here!

I will then add all the entries into random.org and pick the winners there. I can’t wait to see who wins!

Disclosure: I am providing these prizes out-of-pocket and am not being sponsored by Starbucks, Walt Disney World or anyone else for this giveaway. Each comment meeting the above guidelines will be entered to win one of five prizes. Contest ends at midnight PST on March 31st and winners will be announced on April 1st. Good luck!

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UPDATE: If you did not read on twitter, we surpassed 10,000 views after midnight on March 30th, so we definitely hit our goal and then some by the 31st! Thanks so much!! The winners have been picked at random.org:

$5 Starbucks gift card goes to – Jacqueline Hudson!

$10 Starbucks gift card goes to - icitea!

$15 Starbucks gift card goes to - Stephanie (VertigoDawn)!

1st Vinylmation goes to -Vader’s Mom!!

2nd Vinylmation goes to - Jon (disneylovndad)!!

Congratulations! I will get your prizes mailed out as soon as possible!

Thank you ALL for the amazing participation, for reading, and for spreading the word about ZannaLand. I promise this will not be the last fun giveaway!!

Remember Rainbow Brite? If you grew up around the 80′s I’m sure you remember Rainbow and her colorful friends. She’s back with a whole new look and thanks to Hallmark and MomSelect (who provided me with CD’s to review and share) I have 10 interactive CD’s to giveaway to readers of ZannaLand!

The Rainbow Brite Adventure Pack CD includes:

• Rainbow Brite animated short
• Games and Puzzles
• Rainbow Brite theme song
• Meet Rainbow Brite and Friends
• Coloring pages, printables and more!

To enter the giveaway {mandatory}-

Comment here and tell me what other toys from the 80′s you wish would come back again!

Additional entries {optional}-

• Subscribe to ZannaLand’s feed
• Add ZannaLand to your Google Friend Connect (scroll down to bottom right and click “Join This Site” on Google Friend Connect)
• Follow ZannaLand on Facebook or Networked Blogs
• Follow ZannaLand on twitter

Please comment separately with each additional entry so I can properly pick a winner through random.org. Giveaway ends on March 20th 21st, winner will be announced March 21st 22nd. Thanks and good luck!

Last night was spent in food and wine wonderland as my mom and I enjoyed the Discovery Dinner featuring local Floridian specialties at The Wave restaurant. I’m working on editing pictures and writing up a full report, but until then I thought I’d leave you with a couple of pictures to whet your appetite.

Our first wine tasting, in The Wave lounge

Our table in The Wave's private dining room

As promised, I entered all the comments for the Stonyfield Farms YoBaby 3-in-1 Meals giveaway into random.org. The winning comment was #10 – Lorna Marion. Congratulations! I’ll be contacting you for your info to receive your prize pack!

#10 was chosen!