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Walt Disney World

New Wilderness Explorers Activity to Debut Soon at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

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I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a child of the 80’s, where I was a master sticker collector (I still have my album full of my favorite stickers, safely preserved), or because I am a collector at heart, but I LOVE challenges where you get stamps, badges, stickers, little passports, etc. I am all about collecting badges (oddly, I never made it beyond Brownies in the Girl Scout realm). So, I was excited to hear about this new adventure challenge at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, with a Wilderness Explorer (from the Disney-Pixar movie UP) theme. First announced back in January, Wilderness Explorers is now almost ready to debut in the next few weeks here at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Wilderness Explorers
Wilderness Explorers map of Animal Kingdom – challenges are spread throughout the park.

 

I was able to speak to Alex Wright, Senior Creative Designer from Imagineering, who was the Art Director on the project, at the Disney Parks Monstrous Summer event this past week. Alex described the challenges as not focusing solely on the animals found throughout the park, but also cultural aspects of certain areas represented, as well as Animal Kingdom’s theme of nature and conservation. So it’s not just a scavenger hunt to find animals, it’s an rich learning experience for all ages. He also mentioned that there are enough spots to visit and check off on your list, that it can be a multi-day adventure, and not something that has to or necessarily should be completed in one day.

Guests will take the Wilderness Explorer pledge and then earn sticker badges in their field guides along the way (yay, stickers!). The challenges are aimed at ages 7-10 but will appeal to all members of the family. The Wilderness Explorer activity is included in park admission and is a great way to deepen the element of discovery which is already so present at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I can’t wait to play. Once it is available to the public, I’ll be sure to write up a full review, so check back here and on twitter and facebook for further updates.

Adventure is out there!

Wilderness Explorers badge

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New Disney Dooney & Bourke Design to Debut This Summer

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I was honored to be able to attend Disney’s Monstrous Summer event last week, which revealed all sorts of fun news, including upcoming events and merchandise. Of course the first thing I had to share was the new Disney Dooney & Bourke design which so many have been patiently waiting for.

It looks as though right now there are three styles for this new design, which will be released this summer, hopefully soon! Pricing and the name of the design are yet to be revealed by keep checking back as I’ll update this post as I get more official info from Disney. Until then, enjoy the photos of the new Mickey and Minnie text design, with Mickey and Minnie heads in the familiar bright colors used on the black background styles :

Disney Dooney and Bourke

 

Disney Dooney and Bourke

Disney Dooney and Bourke

Disney Dooney and Bourke

And yes, those are the Disney Vera Bradley designs to the right, which will be out this September! To the bottom you can take a peek at the new Disney Ray-Ban sunglasses featuring a black and white Mickey Mouse print. We’ll have more info on the Ray-Bans as it’s available! Stay tuned to Zannaland for more exciting news and info about Disney Parks Monstrous Summer!

Monstrous Summer

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Disney Spring and Easter Merchandise!

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Disney Easter Merchandise
Eggs, Flowers and Bunnies Galore

With the weather getting warmer and the crowds in the parks getting larger you can clearly tell that spring and Easter has arrived here at Walt Disney World! With the season comes a lot of fun and bright spring and Easter merchandise. Egg, flower and bunny merchandise can be spotted almost in every store on property right now! You can even find some Easter goodies like cupcakes and cookies! And for all of you who come here to celebrate your Spring Break there is now a t-shirt for you to take home as a souvenir!

 

So how yummy doesn’t those Easter goodies look? The Easter Bunny Caramel apple is my favorite! 

 

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Disney Parks Weekly Merchandise Report

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In this weeks Disney Merchandise Report we will take a look at some new Disney princess music boxes, the new Haunted Mansion line and a some pink Minnie Mouse home decor just to name a few.

First we will take a look at a new series of snow globes and some vintage-looking magnets that have popped up in the stores in almost every park!

Disney Princess merchandise has always been really popular in the parks and I think these items will become a hit with both younger and older fans! The music boxes all feature the Disney princesses in there newest reimagined look, which I really like!

These princess tote bags are in the same design as some cute tops that were released last year, so perfect if you want to have a matching bag!

Here we first have a new Minnie Mouse pink polka dot home decor collection featuring cute stuff like a jewelry hanger and a frame set. Then if pink is not your thing we have the new Haunted Mansion collection which also features some really nice home decor/collectibles.

Castle Couture in Magic Kingdom now has some more princess dress up options for your kids to choose from like Merida and Pocahontas. It’s really nice to see that Disney is giving some attention to some of the more rarer princesses!

Lastly, we have two new antenna toppers, some new water bottles and a new girly version of the popular mouse ear ornaments!

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PHOTO TOUR: Tangled Area With Charging Stations Opens in Magic Kingdom

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The much-rumored “Rapunzel Restrooms” finally opened to guests last Friday, and boy was it worth the wait. The area is so much more than “just bathrooms,” offering beautiful new vistas, seating areas, a fun scavenger hunt, and perhaps best of all – charging stations for cell phones! There are no signs at this time noting the charging stations hidden within tree trunks, but while I was there, several cast members came over to ensure we knew there were charging spots there.

On opening day, I decided to embark on my first-ever Ustream broadcast, and gave a little live tour of the the area in the daytime, returning for another live stream at night, which included Wishes nighttime fireworks show, as seen from that area of the park. I was really impressed with the amount of theming and detail provided to this area. It is officially my new favorite place to hang out in the park, which sounds weird because it is basically restrooms, but it’s more than that. It actually reminded me a bit of Disneyland, in that you could just sit and unwind while the world rushes by. There area lovely full-grown trees, a waterfall and a babbling brook, relaxing music, and lots of pretty things to look at. At dusk, the area takes on an enchanting glow as the lanterns are switched on and just gets more magical as the night goes on.

Here are the two broadcasts, if you’d like to take a tour of the area: Tangled area daytime tour and Tangled area nighttime tour. Please forgive the random chatter in the beginning as I was figuring out Ustream – I promise future broadcasts will not be quite so embarrassing (at least I’ll try to ensure that!).

In addition, here is a photo gallery highlighting all the details of the new Tangled area:

 

 

And here are the interior shots of the actual restrooms:

 

One of my favorite parts to this new section of New-ish Fantasyland, is a fun scavenger hunt where you find little Pascal the chameleon’s friends as they are hiding in the area. There are 10 in total and some of them are really good at camouflaging themselves! If you would like to be surprised and find them all on your own without seeing the photos first, scroll by this section!!

 

 

I was not able to find any hidden Mickeys, so if you’ve found any, I’d love to hear about them, or your thoughts on this new area, in the comments below!

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Nightime Magic at Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival

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The 20th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival has really outdone itself this year with the addition of dining and drinking options at 12 booths around the World Showcase. In addition, there are some special nighttime effects for many of the topiaries, making the Festival a must-visit, day and night. I was so enchanted by a few of these displays, I had to create a special post to share the photos I took at night. I hope you enjoy the gallery of nighttime magic at the Flower and Garden Festival!

Fab 5 topiaries at night

 

Click to enter a slideshow of the images below:

 

Oz garden poppies
Hand-blown glass poppies in the Oz garden are beautiful at night!

 

Which display is your favorite at night? Mine is definitely Tinker Bell and Periwinkle – the fairy music playing in the background is the perfect touch!

Make sure you see our other posts on the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival!

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Epcot’s 20th Flower & Garden Festival in Full, Delicious Bloom!

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Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival This year marks the 20th annual Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival, held in both Future World and World Showcase around Epcot, and known for its larger-than-life topiaries of our favorite Disney characters and scenes. This year is a little different, however, because the creators of the festival have added a big bonus this year, in the form of 12 booths featuring Spring-inspired culinary dishes and fruit-infused beers, wines and other adult beverages, as well as some non-alcoholic options. As a fan of the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, I think this is a wonderful addition. With 12 booths, it’s not overwhelming to World Showcase, and the offerings are completely unique and new to the Flower & Garden Festival. This addition of food and wine was 5 years in the making, and I think worth every minute of planning. The items offered are focused on fresh, light flavors, or those reminiscent of the coming summer – as found in the Smokehouse area of the American pavilion. I haven’t had a chance to try all the options yet, but so far my favorite was the “Frushi” or fruit sushi – fresh fruit rolled inside coconut rice. It’s not too sweet, it’s just perfect!

As far as the drink options, the biggest buzz is for the Dole Whip with a shot of Siesta Key spiced rum. I gave this a try – for research purposes of course – and it was a very unique experience. Unless you are a huge fan of rum by itself, I recommend mixing it all up so it’s like a frozen drink vs. trying to drink the rum alone. My favorite adult offering of the festival is the sparkling brut with elderflower syrup, found in the German booth. It was so yummy! I’ll let you discover your own favorites as you stroll around the World Showcase promenade – but don’t forget to visit the Festival Center where the Intermissions Cafe has its own set of drinks and snacks to try.

Dole Whip with Rum

With the addition of the food and wine selections, the Flower & Garden Festival also borrows the passport which is so popular during the Food & Wine Festival. Guests can pick up a Garden Passport at the Festival Center (make sure to get your first stamp there!) and then get a stamp at each garden location and food booth around the festival. It’s a fun activity for adults and kids alike!

Speaking of kids, my 4 year-old tested out all of the kids play areas and gave his thumbs up for the Radiator Springs garden and the Oz garden, both featuring some really fun playground equipment to climb, jump, and explore, as well as comfy seating for parents to supervise. The Tinker Bell and Friends Butterfly House is a perfect theme for the butterfly gardens, and a great learning opportunity with chrysalis collections and new butterflies emerging daily.

Radiator Springs garden

Also be sure to check out the Festival Center over in the former Wonders of Life pavilion, for some great hands-on demonstrations and seminars from the festival sponsor, HGTV. I got to see a sneak peek of some of the seminars from HGTV stars, and guests were learning about some great planting tips and even getting to plant their own little garden starter. The Festival Center also features the fun new Epcot Flower and Garden merchandise for the 2013 – including the Vera Bradley and Disney handbag preview.

Later today I’ll be featuring some of the amazing nighttime gardens, which are another plus this year at the festival and gives some areas an entirely different look than in the day. Until then, because of the sheer number of topiaries, food, play areas, and more at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival, I made a flickr set to share all the photos I took. I didn’t include photos of everything…you’ll need to get over to Epcot and check out all the delicious fun in person! Right now there over 200 photos in the see. Enjoy!

 

Monsters University topiary
Here’s a sneak peek at the topiaries at night!

And don’t forget the Flower Power concert series, featuring some classic acts which are the perfect accompaniment to the flowers and food found around Epcot. I got a chance to meet Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, and he was thrilled to be a part of the concert series, and hopes to return each year. I hope to see you around the World Showcase lagoon and all of Epcot, enjoying all there is to see at the 20th International Flower and Garden Festival!

Epcot Flower & Garden Festival

 

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NEW Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival Merchandise!

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Flower and Garden Festival

This Wednesday was the first day of Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival 2013 and I was, of course, very excited to check out the new merchandise! Every year the festival features some newly designed merchandise while also bringing back old favorites. Even though our weather here in Orlando has been on the cooler side lately the festival merchandise really gives you that spring feeling!

 

 

 

 

The Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival will be held from March 6 – May 19. The place with the best selection of Flower & Garden merchandise is the Festival Center, but you can also find some merchandise around World Showcase and inside Mouse Gear. We’ll be featuring an upcoming post in the next few days covering all the beautiful topiaries and the new food and drink booths added this year, so stay tuned!

So which Flower and Garden merchandise are you most excited to purchase? I will definitely be picking up a pair of LadyBug Minnie Mouse Ears!

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Vera Bradley Partners With Disney for New Handbags and Accessories

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That’s right, Disney has done it again, partnering with an extremely popular fashion brand to make a winning combination of style and whimsy. With the incredible success of the Disney Dooney & Bourke collaboration, it’s no surprise that Vera Bradley was next in line for a Disney twist. I know as I walked through the parks, Vera Bradley is what I see most aside from the Disney Dooneys. Now, I think the parks will be a colorful, floral explosion of Disney fun!

For those unfamiliar with Vera Bradley, the designs are known for floral and bold, colorful prints in a soft fabric style. Each bag usually has as much function as it does form, with pockets for cell phones, strap options, and, best of all – they are machine washable! I know that is a big concern with accessories you take on a vacation, especially to Disney Parks where bags can take a beating getting put in and out of attractions. I think the Vera Bradley and Disney partnership will be a long and successful one!

Vera Bradley Disney Prints
Photo ©Disney

Here is some more information from Steven Miller’s Disney Parks Blog post today:

Disney Theme Park Merchandise worked closely with Vera Bradley to develop two new patterns that will appear on items this fall. I spoke with Cathy Dawson, merchandiser for accessories at Disney Parks, about these colorful additions. “We are thrilled to introduce Vera Bradley to our accessories assortment,” exclaimed Cathy.

“In recent years, we’ve seen several guests in our parks and resorts sporting fun, colorful bags by Vera Bradley. Even our Disney Cruise Line team recently added some items by Vera Bradley to the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. We thought it would be wonderful to add a splash of Disney to these popular and colorful accessory items.”

The new Disney-inspired patterns have names, which is something Vera Bradley does for all of their patterns. Cathy said the black pattern is called “Midnight with Mickey,” while the pink pattern is named “Just Mousing Around.” These patterns will be seen on duffel bags, totes, cosmetic bags and more.

Vera Bradley Disney Prints
“Mousing Around” and “Midnight with Mickey” patterns – photo ©Disney

When released this fall, guests will find these items at select locations in Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts. They will also be sold via the Disney Parks online store at a future date.

What do you think of the new collaboration? Are you a current Vera Bradley fan or will this make you a convert?

 

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Video: Beautifully Disney Cosmetics Line Debuts at Downtown Disney

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Beautifully Disney
Beautifully Disney collection at World of Disney

For those following along on Instagram, twitter or Facebook, I’ve been teasing the Beautifully Disney line of makeup as it launched unofficially Friday night, and officially Saturday morning. Some local bloggers were treated to a mini-makeover demonstration of the eye shadows and lip glosses from the first collection to be released – Wickedly Beautiful. Two other collections will be released in the coming months, and from what we are told, these will be limited release, so if you see something you like, stock up now!

Wickedly Beautiful features a dual personality – princesses and villains, taking you into a world of good versus evil, where soft and deep lacquer crèmes shimmer with glitter, richly unite to create modern interpretations of Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Aurora, Evil Queen, Lady Tremaine, Ursula, and Maleficent. For every princess-themed shade, there is a complementary villains color to go with it. The collection offers 2 eyeshadow palettes with 4 shadows each, 8 lip glosses and 8 nail polishes, each with a little bit of sparkle and fun that works for everyone. The eyeshadow palettes are Enchanted Kiss – the princess shades, and Midnight Hour, the villains shades.

Beautifully Disney

What we learned this morning is that both the shadows and glosses are build-able, meaning you can use a lighter color for daytime/office wear and then build upon that with a darker shade or an additional pop of color for something more dramatic. I will say this – when I saw the lip glosses last night, I wasn’t convinced they would be worth investing in. But seeing them first hand, as well as the shadows, I was truly impressed and excited to add them to my makeup collection. Little tricks like adding the pop of shimmery silver or gold to the center of your lips on top of the colored gloss, makes a huge difference and looks really lovely in person!

Beautifully Disney
Eye shadow palettes

Another treat for our little preview this morning was a visit from Isabella – the fashion diva who you may remember from the Disney Dooney & Bourke trunk show from last summer. I interviewed Isabella to get a little more insight into the new makeup line. She had a lot of fun things to share about her favorites:

 


Big thanks to Nicole from SparklyEverAfter.com for taking and editing this video! #Smoketural!

Beautifully Disney
Isabella admiring her visage in the mirror inside the travel case

 

Here’s a gallery of photos from the today’s event at Tren-D launching the Wickedly Beautiful collection:

 

Beautifully Disney

The upcoming lines are Unlock the Spell, releasing in Spring/Summer 2013 and Fiery Spirit, releasing in Fall/Winter 2013. Unlock the Spell looks like it has a Belle theme, while Fiery Spirit seems to have Pocahontas as its theme.

Wickedly Beautiful is on sale now at Tren-D and World of Disney in Walt Disney World’s Downtown Disney, and Vault 28 at Disneyland’s Downtown Disney District. For a limited time, with any $40 purchase of Beautifully Disney, you can purchase the compact mirror for only $10. Current pricing on available Wickedly Beautiful products are as follows:

  • Lacquer Crème Nail Polish $8.95
  • Lip Gloss – $14.95
  • Mirrored Logo Compact – $16.95
  •  Eye Shadow Palettes – $27.95
  • Cosmetic bags vary from $16.95 and up

Beautifully Disney

 

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