Disney videos

Disney Interactive Delivers “Best of Disney” to Fans’ Homes with New App for Xbox 360

27 June 2013 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

Recently Disney Interactive launched the new Disney app for Xbox 360, delivering new and original digital video to homes in the U.S. Featuring original web series, classic animated shorts, clips from Disney shows and the latest Disney movie trailers, the new app lets users access the best Disney content from across the web. The Disney app for Xbox 360 furthers Disney Interactive’s goal to bring quality Disney videos and experiences across all platforms and devices.

With Disney on Xbox 360, fans can look forward to:
· Episodes of the popular web series, Disney Where’s My Water? Presents Swampy’s Underground Adventures

· Classic shorts starring Mickey Mouse and friends

· Music videos, clips and trailers from Disney Channel, Disney XD and The Walt Disney Studios

· Future series and programming from Disney Interactive’s upcoming slate of original video

Disney for Xbox 360 is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Delivers Holiday Magic

29 November 2012 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

One of the most common questions I was asked while on the Walt Disney World Moms Panel, and still get asked today, has always been, “Is Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party worth the ticket price?” My answer has always been a resounding, “YES!” This season, my response is the same, it’s so worth it.

There are quite a few beacons which light the way to the holiday season: Starbucks serving their holiday flavors (pro tip: peppermint is actually available year round – shhh!), the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, showcasing the Radio City Rockettes and the famous Santa finale, and of course, the Magic Kingdom’s annual Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, where it snows on Main Street, U.S.A., hot cocoa and cookies are free throughout the park, and holiday magic swirls around you at every turn. Disney does magic better than anyone around, and during the holidays, the pixie dust is increased and the spirit of the season is everywhere.

This year, all the things that make the Christmas Party so great are back again:

Complimentary cookies and hot cocoa
Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade
Holiday Wishes Fireworks Spectacular and
Shows and dance parties at the Castle forecourt, Tomorrowland, and Frontierland
Special character meet and greets

My favorites the marching wooden soldiers in the parade, and the beautiful Holiday Wishes fireworks, which always bring a tear to my eye.

This visit, as locals who attend the party yearly, I decided to do something a little different and just roam around and check out the holiday extras around the park. As a result, we stumbled upon the group Rusty Cutlass performing outside of Pirates of the Caribbean. This jaunty band of pirate lads (and lass) were fantastic to experience. My four year-old absolutely loved watching and getting to participate by taking the pirate’s oath and dancing around to the music. They played a mix of holiday classics melded with a Caribbean twist and were just great fun. Be sure to keep an eye out for them on your next visit, and if you love acts like this, which really make Walt Disney World special, be sure to stop by City Hall or Guest Relations and let them know how much you appreciated the performances!

You can watch videos of the parade and party highlights from past years’ posts too. Here are some photos from this year’s party – click any photo to view as a slideshow:

Castle Dream Lights — Merry Christmas from the Place Where Dreams Come True!

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party — Cinderella Castle Dream Lights

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party tickets may be purchased online for select nights through December 21, 2012.

Disclosure: I was provided complimentary tickets to the party for the purposes of this post. My thoughts and opinions and love of Christmas are my own.

Photo Tour of Disney’s Beach Club Presidential Suite

4 January 2012 by Suzannah Otis 7 Comments

One of my dearest Moms Panel family members is Kay, who is like a mom to us all and keeps us all full of magic and pixie dust year round. Kay was kind enough to let us visit her suite at the Beach Club last month, when a flock of ‘old’ moms came down to visit and welcome the ‘new’ moms for the 2012 class. With Kay’s permission, I took some photos of this amazing suite, since I know I’ll probably never step foot in it again! I thought I’d share them here with my readers to see all the lovely details and amenities Disney provides.

Enjoy the tour and big thanks again to Kay for sharing her suite with us!

Many people have asked for the music used in the video above, it’s from Poppin’ Guitars: A Tuneful of Sherman, which is a great CD! Check it out below:

VIDEO: Ho Ho Highlights From Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

28 November 2011 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

Peppermint Castle — It's a Candy Cane Castle!

It’s no secret that I love Christmastime. It’s the perfect time of year for me – everything is sparkly and festive (it’s so much easier to get away with sparkles everywhere now!), you can walk around singing songs and no one thinks you’re crazy…and you can be EXTRA cheerful (hopefully people will be extra cheerful back!). I’ve said before that Walt Disney World during the holidays is just magic times ten. The spirit of the season is amped up and you find little details and cheer around every corner.

That is part of why I love Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. I’ve shared more reasons why on TampaBay.com’s mom blog, Whoa, Momma! It’s an annual tradition for my family and the holidays officially start when you see the castle glittering in Dream Lights and see the Once Upon A Christmastime Parade. In addition to reading about it, my friend and video correspondent Nicole Siscaretti has captured some of our favorite moments from our most recent Very Merry Party to share here:

If you can make it down to Walt Disney World during the holidays, I highly recommend this magical special event. If you can’t, just keep watching the video while you have some hot chocolate and cookies! 😉

VIDEO: Magical Disneyland Memories (and a little D23 Expo too)

29 August 2011 by Suzannah Otis 8 Comments

I mentioned before as a preface to my D23 Expo Primer guest post by Carrie Hayward that I was visiting Disneyland for the first time during our journey out west to see the Expo. Not only was it my first time visiting California and the Disneyland Resort, it was my first time flying since 1997! So, I was a bit nervous, but I survived and actually liked it!

Now usually, I am a photo-holic and take pictures of any and everything when I visit a place for the first time. However in this instance, I was so completely overwhelmed by the experience, that I found myself without photos of a lot of what we saw when I returned home. (I still have quite a few, and I’ll be posting them over the next few weeks.)

Nicole and Zanna on Small World — Nicole and I on "it's a small world" Where else but Disney could we get away with those hats?? (photo by Becky Staudt)

That said, I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’ve seen tons of photos of Disneyland, even ride videos, but nothing compares to walking down Main Street, U.S.A. that first time and seeing it all before you in living, breathing color. So while I’m still sharing our memories here with you, my real purpose in writing this post is to implore, even beg any Disney fan that has not yet made the pilgrimage to the “motherland” to do so. If you’re anything like my friends and me, it will change your life.

Now first, a little backstory. I decided to make this journey westward thanks to an amazing friend of mine, Nicole Siscaretti. She is not only a wonderful, caring person, but she’s also going to be a star some day, so you can watch these videos and say later, “ahh, I knew her when…” Nicole was part of our team for the D23 WDW Scavenger Hunt we did a few months back and it was then that I really got to know what a special person she was. After spending the last few months hanging out and “planning” our conquest of Disneyland (I say that in quotes because this was probably the least planned trip either of us had ever taken), she is like a little sister to me. In addition, she loves making fun videos on her iPhone andlooks WAY better on camera than me, so I’m pleased to be able to share a highlight reel of our Disneyland adventures thanks to her.

Before sharing her Disneyland video, I must explain one other thing. Nicole actually embarked on a quest that most people don’t even dream of – visiting all 6 Disney Parks in the US in one day. Nicole had asked me to join her and I was all set to do so before a last minute meeting had to happen at 9 on the morning we left for California. So I got to take the easy way out and only went to the 2 west coast parks. Nicole persevered and accomplished her goal. You can see her Six Parks One Day adventure on YouTube!

And now, without further ado, here are just a handful of our amazing Disneyland memories, shared with local Florida friends, west coast friends and new friends from all over! Disney fans may recognize the famous Scott Otis (@otisney on twitter) and the equally famous Michael Crawford from ProgressCityUSA.com (@ProgressCityUSA on twitter), two great friends from whom we were lucky enough to get amazing Disneyland history and backstory as we toured the lands!

I hope you enjoyed our video and if you’ve never been, do make plans to get to Disneyland some day soon, it is simply incredible!

VIDEO: Epcot in Under 10 Minutes and over 5000 Photos

8 August 2011 by Suzannah Otis 2 Comments

One of my fabulous friends shared this link with me and I was mesmerized for the entire video. It’s simply brilliant! Click play and enjoy. I would love to have the patience and skill to do something like this, what about you? Be sure to visit its creator at DiscoverEpcot.com.

VIDEO: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party-Once Upon a Christmastime Parade

30 November 2010 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

It is difficult to surpass the wonder that is the Boo to You Parade during Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party – but if anything can, it’s Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. I was saying just the other day that I think I’m related to Buddy the Elf, because of my intense love for all things Christmas-related. Disney knows better than anyone how to amp up the holiday magic for the season.

Just walking into the Magic Kingdom or any of the parks with holiday decorations up and you’ll be in the spirit. However to really create some magical memories, you simply must head over to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. This separate ticketed event runs on select nights in November and December and believe me, it is worth the price of admission.

VIDEO: Disney’s Beach Club Life Sized Gingerbread Carousel Tour

21 November 2010 by Suzannah Otis 3 Comments

Last night while visiting Epcot with friends, I took some video of Disney’s Beach Club Resort’s fabulous life sized Gingerbread Carousel. This year the resort also features a little shop that sells the gingerbread houses and other treats. I’m definitely no Samantha Brown or Lou Mongello, but I hope you enjoy my first attempt at actually taking and narrating video! At the very least, I know you’ll enjoy the AMAZING creations from Walt Disney World’s pastry chefs. Stay tuned for more holiday videos from Walt Disney World soon!

My Favorite TRON:Legacy Clip So Far – “Long Time” and NEW TRON Trailer

8 November 2010 by Suzannah Otis 2 Comments

I will admit that just a few months ago I’d never even seen the original TRON film. My husband had always loved it and I had bought him little collectible figures over the years, but never really knew what the fuss was. I finally watched the movie and while it is of course dated, I could definitely see the cult appeal and the amazing technology it used at the time. It is pretty cool and has stood the test of time in that regard. Now with 2010 advancements in film and special effects, TRON: Legacy promises to pick up where TRON left off, but in a bigger, better (stronger, faster?) way.

However, not to be lost in the world of computerized technology, TRON: Legacy is at its roots the story of a father and son, which is perhaps why this next clip appealed to me so much. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still stoked to be surrounded by cool glowing costumes and light cycles set to an original Daft Punk score, but without a story, there is nothing. Press play to watch this clip below and see if you agree: