I can remember watching the Disney Christmas Parade when I was really little.  After the rush of excitement from opening presents and dressing up for church, my mom and grandma and I would curl up in the family room and watch our VCR recorded parade.  The Christmas parade was amazing… Disneyland and Walt Disney World were literally sparkling with thousands of Christmas decorations and the characters were so festive in their Holiday costumes.  It was during those special parade viewings that I determined I HAD to get to Disney to experience these wonders for myself.  So… some 20 years later… I’m headed to Disneyland this December to see all of its Holiday splendor!

My mom and I had been tossing around the idea for months, but with our D23 Expo trip, we knew we wouldn’t be able to make another California trip this year.  But, it seems a little pixie flew our way and sprinkled some of that shimmering dust on us because some really great things fell into place and the second weekend in December we will find ourselves checking into the Paradise Pier Hotel.

I can’t wait.  Seriously, I can hardly sit still with excitement!  While we knew family obligations would prohibit us from being at Disneyland on Christmas Day, or even the week of, we are more than thrilled to make it any time when snow will fall on Main Street and those infamous Small World dolls will turn in their “catchy” tune for some Christmas Carols.

We’ve had so many blessings in planning this trip… amazing airfare that we never thought possible, hotel deals that are allowing us to stay on property instead of at a Good Neighbor Hotel… every piece is magically falling into place.  This year Christmas will have more than its normal share of joy and wonder.  This is going to be the kind of Disney Magic I’ve been dreaming of my entire life.

So, what are your tips and tricks, must-sees, and skip-its for visiting the park during the Holiday season?  Other than preparing for crowds is there anything I need to know about maximizing four days of Christmas splendor?  Leave a comment and let me know!

Okay… technically it’s about 50 minutes late, but better late than never… it’s a Fantasmic Five Friday update fit for a Saturday.

1. It seems the post-Disney blues are flittering away, but only because some special plans are coming down the pike… watch for an update later this weekend…
2. It’s been sick day central for me, which is definitely no fun, but between sleeping and trying to stay up on work that I can do from home, I’ve had the chance to dive into the new novel, Hidden Mickey. I learned about this little gem on Twitter and it definitely hasn’t let me down.  I’ll be sure to post a review when I’m done!
3. I celebrated my birthday last week and I’m very happy to report that I am now the proud owner of a Wii… complete with Toy Story Mania!  Yes, it’s true, I’ve been a gaming junkie from an early age but haven’t had a new system in a LONG time (I still play my original NES system), so this is a real treat.
4. My little doggie has made huge strides this week in recovering from her summer surgery.  All of a sudden she is running, jumping, climbing… she’s almost more than I can keep up with!  She is definitely a fiery little pixie like her namesake… Tinker Bell 🙂
5. I have to admit, I’m still in awe from the amazing D23 Expo… I keep reminiscing about seeing Johnny Depp, Nicholas Cage, and, and, and… yeah, I’m still a little overwhelmed.

Well, I suppose that will do it for today’s Fantasmic Five Friday… Friday has officially become Saturday, and all the little germies in me need some rest, but be sure to stay tuned to Rays of Disneyland for some fun new announcements in the coming days!

There are certain marks that you know make you a true Disney freak fan… hopefully some of you are with me on this one.

I cry when I drive away from the resort at the end of my vacation… back to the airport, back to reality.  I start planning my next Disney vacation the day after I get back from my Disney vacation.  And I am plagued by the post-Disney blues.  Oh goodness, do I ever have the post-Disney blues.

So, in order to beat the blues and hopefully move on to the Disney vacation planning joy… I’m sharing my trip with all of you.  This might be a long one, so sit back and pretend you’re watching the summer vacation slide show with your relatives, but it will be more fun than that, I promise!

One of my favorite traditions on any Disneyland trip is our first stop at the Carnation Cafe for breakfast or lunch.  This trip was no exception and our first meal was wonderful.  There is something very special about the Carnation… I have memories of going there when I was little and watching the parade pass down Main Street from the little wrought iron tables.  The Carnation is one of those things about Disney that is fully immersive.  I know nothing of reality when I am tucked away under a little red and white umbrella, sipping hot cocoa and eating a Mickey Mouse waffle.

I haven’t been to Disneyland since they opened the new Pixie Hollow and I absolutely couldn’t wait for this new experience.  I couldn’t believe that I was going to be able to meet Tinker Bell… honestly this was something on my “Bucket List” of things to do before I die.  Pixie Hollow was amazing.  On our second day in the park, we explored this little piece of Fantasyland at night, after the fairies had gone to sleep.  The special Disney details here were amazing… little fairy homes on the banks of the ponds, homes for all of the main characters in the Tinker Bell Movie, and brilliant twinkling lights sprinkled through the trees like pixie dust.

Day Three was the big day… I met Tinker Bell 🙂  She was just as fabulous as I had hoped… full of spunk, but sweet, and willing to put up with a late-20’s fan who wanted a hug 🙂  I also met Iridessa, who was so beautiful and really sweet as well.  Pixie Hollow was truly a magical place.  Disney has the meet and greet set up really well so that each group has individual time with the fairies and PhotoPass Photographers are on hand to capture the memories as well as character handlers who are happy to take photos with your personal camera as well.  I came out from meeting Tink with a huge smile and such a wonderful happy feeling… the kind that only Disney can create.

We stayed at the Paradise Pier Hotel for the first time on this trip and I was very pleased… I will have a larger review of the hotel in another post.  We also went to the Lilo and Stitch Character Breakfast at the hotel’s PCH Grill for the first time and it was really great.  These characters were really amazing!  Stitch spent the better portion of our breakfast time at our table, begging for a sip of my coffee and promising that it wouldn’t make him wild.  He was a really great character and even brought Lilo in on the fun, trying to tell her that he could be trusted to drink my coffee.  It is truly amazing to me how much emotion the characters can portray without ever saying a word.  I had a great time with Stitch and he made the experience really special for me.  I was a little nervous about the breakfast to be honest… my little puppy that I lost last year, was affectionately nicknamed Stitch because she was such a terror.  Thankfully this Stitch made me forget about being sad at all.

The rest of my trip was a combination of the D23 Expo and spending a little time in the parks.  I will definitely post updates about the expo later, but it was a truly amazing experience.  These were just a few of the highlights from my trip… there is so much more to tell.  It was so wonderful, it’s no wonder that I have such a case of the post-Disney blues.

My first day in the park was – of course – amazing 🙂 I’m writing in my room before I get ready for the day so here’s a quick update…

• Favorite part of the day: Lunch at the Carnation Cafe… It’s a tradition for as long as I can remember that the first meal of the trip is at the Carnation and I love it 🙂
• Weirdest line of the day: 15 minutes to buy giant cupcakes at Marcelines in DTD… But it was worth it 🙂
• Best ride of the day: Um… All of them?! Haha that is true but I really enjoyed the new characters in Small World and seeing the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through for the first time 🙂
• New smell to add to the list… The rather chlorinated water in Pirates of the Carribbean… Sounds strange but it definitely means you are there! 🙂
• Since it is now night on Day 2 I think I will post this… Follow me on Twitter at Twitter.com/Copy_Pixie for pics and more updates!

Update: Usually I wouldn’t go back and spruce up a blog post… but I had no idea what the formatting would look like when I posted from my WordPress app on my iPhone! 🙂

We were having a discussion at work this week about what fun would smell like.  It was actually quite the debate… even to the point of the philosophical question, “If you didn’t know if fun would smell like cotton candy or a locker room, would you still want fun to have a specified smell?”  Oh goodness… this is way too much thought people!  Of course fun has a smell… it’s Disneyland!

The more I thought about it, the smells of Disneyland came rushing into my memory.  Not only does fun have a smell but happiness and child-like fantasy are all wrapped up in there too.  Now, if this was a Smell-o-Blog this would be a lot easier… but since it’s not, you’re going to have to work a little harder to bring up all of those amazing smells.

Fun is the smell (pumped through vents or not) of decadent sweets when you walk past the ice cream store and the candy store.  It’s that swirling smell of churros wafting through the Hub.  It’s popcorn being “popped” by a little Yeti at a popcorn stand with the Matterhorn looming above.  It’s a pine fresh, orange, sea breeze while Soarin’ Over California. It’s freshly squeezed juice when walking bleary-eyed through Downton Disney, past the Jamba Juice, when the dew is still fresh in the morning.

Mmmmm… yes Disneyland is the smell of fun and happiness… what are your favorite Disney smells?

Well, it’s not Friday anymore, but it’s still a Fantasmic time to celebrate everything I’m so excited to see at the D23 Expo.  So many events have been announced in the past week, I don’t even know how I’ll fit it all in… but I’m so excited to try!  So, without further ado, here are the top five events I’m looking forward to seeing at D23.

1. The book seminar featuring Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry is definitely number one on my list.  Discussing their upcoming Disney books in the Kingdom Keepers series and Peter and the Starcatchers series, this is one seminar I won’t miss.  The Kingdom Keepers books have proven to be some of my favorite novels, whether they were written for young adults or not!  I can’t wait to get a sneak peek of these books and see the authors talk about their works themselves.
2. I can’t believe I get to see a special screening of the new Tinker Bell movie before the DVD is even released in October!  On the last day of the Expo they are presenting Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure a month before the rest of world gets to buy the DVD.  I can’t wait. 🙂
3. Meeting Wall-E! Disney Parks announced that D23 Expo guests will have the opportunity to meet both the Wall-E animatronic and the Lucky the Dinosaur animatronic.  I didn’t think I would ever have the opportunity to see the Wall-E “robot” as he parks debut was postponed indefinitely so I am really excited for this chance.
4. The Disney Archives exhibit sounds absolutely amazing!  Annette’s Mickey Mouse Club sweater, Captain Nemo’s Nautilus… I don’t even know what I will do when I get to see these amazing items in person.
5. The D23 Expo Dream Store… wow.  I can hardly wait.  I while undoubtedly spend entirely too much money and still not come home with everything I want! But, this is like the Disney Store on steroids and I can’t wait to check it out 🙂

For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you probably know about my recent health issues and frequent trips to the doctor for vitamin B12 injections.  Ironically, one of the symptoms that led me to give in to going to the doctor was that I can’t sleep at night but I can’t stay awake during the day.  As such, I started coming up with creative ways to relax at night… trying to get my body to de-stress and possibly fall asleep.

My favorite of these relaxation techniques is a playlist on my iPod that plays about an hour of Disney Theme Park Attraction music and ride-thrus.  Over at VisionsFantastic.com, they’ve complied an awesome audio gallery with tons of attraction audio.  I was so excited when I found the audio from the Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years movie.  When I went to Disneyland for their 50th anniversary, this fun movie was one of the first attractions I visited… and I fell in love with it.  I love Steve Martin and this movie was dripping with nostalgia, just the kind of Disney storytelling that is right up my alley.

So, when the clock seems to endlessly tick through the night and sleep never comes, I turn on my “Sleep Mix” and let memories of Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary lull me – at least to relaxation if not sleep.  That’s why the big news of the anniversary movie going away to make room for the long-awaited return of Mr. Lincoln makes me sad.  I love American History, and Lincoln’s story is compelling and well-executed, but Steve Martin, in a tux, slapsticking with Donald Duck is irreplaceable.  From now on this show will live only in my sleepless nights, but at least I will have these memories and the special treat of listening to that audio when I’m stressed and frustrated and begging sleep to come my way.

It’s Fantasmic Five Friday and it’s a countdown to Disneyland!

1. We made our dining reservations this week… that always seems to make things more real 🙂 Sure, it’s not qute the ritual that obtaining ADRs from Disney World seems to be, but it’s still a lot of fun!
2. As I am typing this, there are only 29 days left until I board the United jet and sail off to the mecca 😉
3. 29 days means it’s time to start the PACKING LIST… and yes, it is as monumental as it seems.  Is there anything better than the feeling of checking things off the list as they find a home in your suitcase?!?
4. I’m starting to plan out my days… minute-by-minute it seems… and they are getting full already!  A person should be able to do everything at Disneyland (twice) in 9 days! I seem to be having trouble balancing my time spent at the resort and my time spent at the D23 Expo.
5. Speaking of the Expo, I absolutely, 100%, never in the world could be more excited!  Disney keeps growing the list of activities offered every day, and I am so excited!  Will you be at the Expo?  Leave me a note so we can try to find each other!

I was looking through some old papers this weekend and found a report card from the 8th grade… Hey I said they were old 🙂 I got a C+ in math… My blood pressure went up, a lot.  Okay, so before you start thinking that I was one of those kids in school… Well I was one of those kids!  I mean, come on, a C+!!  I didn’t get Cs!  I’m pretty sure this was around the time I started thinking that I might not be cut out for my dream of being an architect… a few high school geometry courses confirmed this fact.

But, during my childhood, when I spent summer days inside with graph paper and modeling kits… designing outlandishly wonderful and bizarre homes… I developed a deep love for all things Frank Lloyd Wright.  Years later the Arts and Crafts style of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel deepened this love.  So, when I realized I would have approximately 6 hours from the time my plane hit the Tarmac in Chicago until BlogHer activities began, I bought three tickets to the Frank Lloyd Wright House and Studio in Oak Park and let my travel companions know they would be joining me… I was afterall marking something off my “bucket list” and needed a crowd for the occasion.

So, after an hour drive behind a slow, smelly bus, a Chicago style monsoon, and a small, but painful, tumble in a puddle, I took my first step into the home of Frank Lloyd Wright.  I was instantly in love with everything I saw.  While I couldn’t take photos inside the house, I will never forget the the little nook by the fireplace that drew me deeper into the house.  This was more than a museum tour… it was a little trip back in time, into the home, and maybe even the mind, of one of the people that helped shape my childhood and even the person I have become.  It’s a little bit like walking through those turnstiles at Disneyland and walking in the footsteps of Walt.