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The butterfly house is one of our favorite parts of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival! Thanks to my husband for capturing this amazing shot!

The Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival opens today! It’s one of our family’s favorite events of the year and we usually visit several times throughout the festival. The butterfly enclosure is just one of the many amazing experiences to enjoy.

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!

Well, we knew this was coming, Disney and designer Ian Ray of Dooney & Bourke have come out with more amazing new Disney Dooney & Bourke designs! According to the official Disney Parks Blog, there will be a Dooney & Bourke special event at Tren-D to welcome the new handbags. If you are in the Downtown Disney area on February 26 from 4:30-6:30, be sure to stop by Tren-D to meet Dooney & Bourke designer Ian Ray and even get a special gift from Mr. Ray with a $150 or more Disney Dooney & Bourke purchase.

Sign for the Tren-D Disney Dooney & Bourke special event.

The Dooney & Bourke cosmetic bag in either the white style or black Mickey style was the gift with purchase at the event.

Now on to what everyone wants – more pictures! Read the rest of this entry

My family has been Tables in Wonderland (formerly the Disney Dining Experience) members since its inception – when it started out as an option only for Florida residents. The program is now open to Florida residents, Annual Passholders and cast members too. Tables in Wonderland offers 20% off food and alcohol for up to 10 guests in your dining party, at select locations. The card has paid for itself in a matter of visits with the amount of table service restaurants we enjoy.

In addition to the card benefits, Tables in Wonderland also offers exquisite gourmet dining experiences throughout the year. Experiences such as dining inside The Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and other unique offerings limited to a small number of lucky diners. When I heard about the following dinner, I immediately thought how much my mom would enjoy it, and wanted to try and secure a spot as a thank you to her for all she’s done for us. I was lucky enough to get those spots, thanks to Nicole at the Tables in Wonderland team (I just emailed our info like anyone else who was interested in attending). My mom is so excited and I cannot wait to experience this with her next week!

Since I can’t wait, I thought I’d share the menu with you all so you can drool get excited too. I’m especially interested in this dinner because it features all local Florida area ingredients and specialties. In fact, we live a few towns over from one of the farms which is featuring items on the menu. Rest assured I will be taking pictures right and left and will report back after the event!

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Chef Robert Irvine pausing for a photo with Disney Moms Panelist Kathie and me in the middle of his Dinner Impossible challenge!

{Not-so-Wordless…} One of the unexpected highlights of the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration was happening upon acclaimed celebrity chef Robert Irvine. We had no idea until that moment that he was there shooting a Dinner Impossible challenge. He was meeting with his team and happened to see Kathie and I walking by with our families. {I think the pink jackets must’ve caught his eye } He waved then walked right over to talk to Gio, who was hanging out in his stroller with his bottle. Kathie asked him if he was cooking us dinner tonight and he said he had no idea, he was just told he needed to cook dinner for 400!

Kathie mentioned she was a vegetarian and was he going to make something for her? He joked that she wasn’t allowed to eat and pretended to walk off, then came back, asked if she ate fish (Nope!) and pretended to storm off again. Then, he came back, asked her name, “Is that with a C or a K?” and wrote it in his little notebook along with the fact that she was a vegetarian. He was getting called away by his team at that point but we managed to snap this picture of us. He was so wonderful to come over and talk with us when he didn’t really have to {and kind of had a LOT to do!}. And Kathie did enjoy the vegetarian lo mein dish served later that night!

I can’t wait to see the airing of this episode of Dinner Impossible, which J. managed to find out should be the 9th show of the new season, airing in June or July. I’m sure I’ll post a reminder for it!

Followers on twitter, facebook, or even readers here of my posts on Solo-parenting tips and First-timer tips have probably heard of the upcoming Social Media Moms Celebration at Walt Disney World. Having dipped its toes into the ocean of social media and mom bloggers for a while now with Magical Mom Blogger trips and cruises, Disney has now decided to venture into the world of social media conferences.

Walt Disney World knows how to CELEBRATE!

Walt Disney World will play host to over 100 mom (and dad) bloggers on February 10-12, 2010. Lucky attendees will be treated to what Disney does best – celebrate! Even the name reveals it is not just another blogging conference – celebration is right in the title. And as if simply being on Walt Disney World property for the event was not enough, Disney went the step further to host guests at one of its Deluxe properties, the Polynesian Resort, add in amazing social media speakers who are the top in their field, AND allow attendees to bring family members as part of the conference fee. The value for this event is just mind-boggling since staying at the Polynesian for even one night is close to the cost for the entire 3-night event (including up to 3 guests) with park tickets, some meals and who knows what other surprises Disney has in store. When I first saw the event invitation, I knew I would do whatever it took to be able to attend. This is simply a once-in-a-lifetime event (which I hope happens more than once as I’m sure this is only the beginning of Disney’s social media conference hosting!). I’ve come to the astute conclusion that this taking part in once-in-a-lifetime events thing is a good habit to have. That’s a good plan, right?

Click to continue reading Social Media at WDW

I’m sure I’m not the first to notice this unofficial Hidden Mickey (and really it doesn’t qualify because of the oval shape of the “Mickey” head), but I never really saw it until our last visit to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As you walk by, the sign and portholes make their own Hidden Mickey that disappears as you walk further on.

As you walk by, Min & Bill's Dockside Diner creates a Hidden Mickey.

Min and Bill’s Dockside Diner used to sell more substantial food items and I believe sundaes, but somewhere along the line they switched over to the current menu line up of pretzels and shakes. How many actually know who “Min and Bill” are? In keeping with the original “golden age of Hollywood” that Disney first portrayed in the Studios, Min and Bill are a direct nod to the 1931 movie of the same name. Min owns a dockside hotel and Bill, the captain of a fishing boat, lives there. Just a fun nod to movie buffs, which is why my Dad always loved that park the best – the old movies he grew up loving had a new home there. For more fun, check out the cargo boxes to the left of the Dockside Diner – especially to whom the boxes are addressed. Disney IS in the details after all…

After my first entry in my in preparation for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration about visiting Walt Disney World solo with kids, I thought it’d be fun to highlight my personal top 5 experiences for first timers. Since there are 4 theme parks at Walt Disney World, I could be here all day giving you a top 5 for all of them, so this list will just cover The Magic Kingdom park.

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PART TWO in the Disney Dooney & Bourke Handbag series:

If you have been following the mania that is Disney’s collaboration with Dooney and Bourke with its first foray into Disney park-themed designer handbags, you’ll know by now that there’s a new kid on the block – and his name is Mickey.

Dooney & Bourke has now come out with a new style and color for the winter – PVC-coated black cotton design with bright multi-colored Mickey Mouse silhouettes and black leather straps.

Take a look at the new designs -

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Alright, I’ve waited long enough for this update! The truth is, in addition to heading back to Disney World 2 days after returning from training, and then getting sick and having a sick baby to take care of, the thought of trying to put back into words all the the amazing sites, experiences and emotions I felt during the 5 days of training was just a tad overwhelming! But I’m finally here and figure if I break it down into days, I can tackle it. It’s just too good not to share, right?

On the day I was supposed to drive up, I got cold feet. I know, most people would have killed to be in my shoes, both being close enough to drive to Walt Disney World and being picked to be on this amazing panel…but I still got nervous. You see, there’s a reason why I write a blog and don’t host a pod cast or web cast or anything else involving face-to-face interaction. I am in fact, pretty shy. There, I said it. I wasn’t always this way, my 1st grade report card lists me as a “Social Butterfly” and as a result I was separated from my best friend for 2nd grade. It isn’t even because of all the moves my family made over the years, deeming me the eternal ‘new kid’ – I actually had no problem making friends and keep in touch with many of them from all the way back to grade school. This really started in college but is also a combination of being nervous about speaking in front of people. Let me digress a bit…

continue reading about WDW Moms Panel Training…