Disney/Pixar Animated Short Reviews: #57 Al Rojo Vivo 2015 9 out of 10

        Al Rojo Vivo   2015  8 out of 10

In the latest of the new Mickey Mouse Cartoons Mickey literally gets red with angry after facing a rude bully (Pete) while trying to watch the running of the bulls with Minnie.   Red is theme here as a bull focuses in on Mickey and sends him on an action packed chase through the streets of Spain.  Mickey is running for his life and while trying to shed everything red.  It works briefly until he and the bull chasing with get bombarded by tomatoes at the neighboring tomato throwing festival.  This twist sends both Mickey and the bull running from the other bulls in a spirited and run cartoon.  Mickey uses his smarts to eventually turn the tables on his bully in the end in a satisfying conclusion 

This cartoon brought back memories of an old Goofy cartoon that I will have to look up and watch again soon.

As usual these Cartoons can be found on Disney Online and the Disney Channel.




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Exploring World Showcase at Epcot: Part 1 Canada

As I get older (even though I remain a kid at heart) I've found myself loving World Showcase more and more with each visit.

On our recent trip we did 4 parks in 4 days I knew we were going to be rushed at Epcot and not get to explore it fully.  I could literally spend all day there just exploring the many unique countries in World Showcase.   I told my wife that ideally if we come back again that we should arrive a couple days ahead of the kids and spend a couple of days in this part of the park exploring World Showcase and soaking up everything (while sampling their foods and beverages).   In my few trips in the past I have always started on the Mexico side of World Showcase mainly because of the Norway ride.   Well the Norway ride is no more so this time I decided to take the family in their first trip the other way around so we could spend more time in Countries like England, France and Italy.  The first stop in this direction is Canada.

The Canada Pavilion features the attraction O 'Canada which is a great Circle-Vision 360 movie that takes you all over Canada with the comedy stylings of Martin Short.  We wife is not a big fan of Circle Vision so we skipped this on this trip --but I've seen it before and recommend it to anymore who wants to see some of the beauty of Canada  (and if we return I will force her to see it when we aren't as rushed. )  

Canada also features a restaurant called Le Cellier Steakhouse which has the ambiance of a Wine Cellar and features Steaks and Seafood and also features some Canadian Beers and Wines.  

Three of my four grandparents were Canadian so and I remember visiting  Western Canada as a small child and then again in 1986 when British Columbia hosted the World Expo (which World Showcase is basically a permanent version of.)   The Canadian pavilion really captures that part of the country.

The main store in Canada looks like a traditional Longhouse from the British Columbia area of Canada and carries an array of Canadian goods including Ice Wine.  I think Ice Wine is  something we will have to try next time we are in Epcot.

My Favorite part of the Canada Pavilion is the Totem Poles.

Being a huge Tiki fan the Totem Poles which are basically the Canadian Indian equivalent are fun to check out.  Here are a couple pictures of the Totems of Canada.

If all you know about Canada is Strange Brew, Beer and Hockey---you really should check this Pavilion out and learn a little more about this beautiful neighbor to the USA.  So check it out you hosers.

The Canadian Pavilion also features the Victoria Gardens which are patterned after Butchart Gardens which are in Victoria British Columbia.

Next Week we will make our second stop in England.

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Disney's Hollywood Studios: Picture of the Week : Pixar Studios

I absolutely loved the look of the Pixar area at Disney's Hollywood Studios.    This is the home of the really popular Toy Story Mania ride and and a Woody and Buzz Meet and greet.   We didn't go on the ride because we have that ride at DCA and the line was long, but I this area looked cool.

Loved the special touch with the Barrel of Monkeys hanging across the street

And I can't Wait for Pixar's next movie which looks great from the trailers ... Inside Out as seen on this poster in the area.

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Disney Vacation Tip #2 : When you Realize that you could have just skipped the park and stayed at the pool

The Disney Vacation Tip deals with the Pools:

That moment in the middle of the day when you are at the Theme Parks and you realize you could have saved a whole bunch of money and just stayed at the pool.   It was the first time my wife and her kids age 9 and 13 had ever been to Disneyworld.   We were there for my step daughter's cheerleading competition which was at the back end of our trip.   Since the last days of our trip including a cheer practice on Friday and competition  days on Saturday and Sunday we had to do the parks at the beginning of our trip.  4 parks in 4 days!!!   Oh Yeah!.....Okay so it wasn't the ideal way to do our trip- but I wanted them to see all 4 parks and that is just the way the trip worked out.  (I have several upcoming blogs that will talk about this topic).    

Well in the middle of day 2 the kids (who were having a great time at the parks) asked what time we were leaving ---because they wanted to go swimming in the pool.    The Pool I thought????   Are these kids crazy.  They want to leave the theme park early to go to the pool??  We had talked about Friday (which was cheer practice day) being a rest day where we would just hang out at the pool ---but they wanted to go to the pool now.   You mean I could have just saved $400 and hung out at the pool all day?  Maybe the next time we go on vacation we should just forget about the theme parks and just find a place with a cool pool?  (Yeah not really)

Okay so Saratoga Springs does have several cool pools so I can kind of understand why the kids wanted to go to the pool . If we could have planned our trip differently - we definitely wouldn't have tried to do 4 parks in 4 days.  Ideally 2 park days and a Resort day at the pool followed by 2 more parks and maybe another Resort day at the end would probably be ideal.

So the Disney Vacation trip Tip is to take a break from the parks and plan a pool day.  Especially if your resort has a cool pool like this one.  The kids went on this slide at least 30 times.  

Take a break from the parks and the "go - go -go" mentality and relax.

We even got lucky and had some pool time at Animal Kingdom Lodge at the end of our trip after Cheer (which is a whole different blog---which I will post soon)

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Animal Kingdom Picture of the week: Maharajah Jungle Trek Tiger painting

Here is my Animal Kingdom Picture of the Week from the Maharajah Jungle Trek.    

  This cool piece of artwork from the Tiger Section.

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Disney World Vacation Tip #1 : Refillable Mugs

If you are a big soda  or diet soda drinker and are staying at the resorts....Buy a refillable mug first thing upon arrival.  The mugs can be refilled at your resort and at the pool area and when you consider the price of drinks while on your Disney Vacation this will end up being a totally value.  Like park tickets it becomes a better deal the longer you stay at the resort.

When we went on our trip in March 2015 we picked up a couple at our resort.  The Prices at the time of our trip were as follows.
$8.99 for 1 Day   (Not a super value)
$11.99 for 2 Days  (Breaking even)
$14.99 for 3 Days  (Now we are talking)
$17.99 for the length of your Stay  (what a bargain)

The longer you stay the better value you get.  
Plus you already have an instant souvenir as well.

We used our cups every morning at breakfast time .... I would make the morning journey to the Artist's Palate while the rest of the family slept in to fill up our morning drinks.   We are soda in the morning people --so if you are a coffee person or not a big soda drinker it may not be as great of a deal for you.   For us it was a a great deal.  We would get our sodas in the morning and sometimes one at night and then the kids used them the day we hung out by the pool.




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Magic Kingdom Picture of the Week: Big Thunder Railroad

I'm still slowly working my way through all of our Disneyworld Pictures.

Here is my Magic Kingdom picture of the Week from I-Phone while waiting for Big Thunder

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