Tag: Disney

The Betrothed and Ice Princess

Sorry if you haven’t been a huge fan of all the TV and movie content lately. Currently, it’s what’s working but I promise that I have something different coming next week. The Betrothed is actually a book title, not a TV show title, so that’s a little different I guess. But this week, I wanted to share one of my new favorite Disney movies, Ice Princess, and a new book, The Betrothed by my favorite author, Kiera Cass.

Ice Princess, in opinion, is a Disney hidden gem. I think it was made around the time I was a young girl, so it would’ve been a movie I really enjoyed growing up, but since I grew up with satellite TV and very little exposure to Disney Channel, I didn’t know it existed until now! And oh my goodness and I absolutely LOVE this movie. It’s about a teenage girl, Casey that’s a physics whiz and it’s basically all set for her to attend Harvard and live out her mom’s dreams. Casey has the opportunity to complete a summer physics project and win a huge scholarship for the physics program at Harvard, and so she decides to analyze the physics of figure skating. Through her project, Casey becomes so involved in figure skating it turns out, she has incredible natural talent within the sport. She eventually begins competing as a figure skater and gives up attending Harvard to pursue figure skating.

Not only did I adore this movie for the beautiful costumes that Casey wore on the ice, but I really enjoyed the character of the girls in the movie. Instead of being jealous as Casey made leaps and bounds in figure skating, the other competitive skaters supported her and truly helped her out. They made her feel at home which was totally shocking for a movie like this. In most movies, you would except the main character to face some evil, horribly-mean posse of girls, but that wasn’t the case. It was so wonderful to see girls supporting girls in the right way in a movie like this. I loved it. 🙂

I also never realized how much I loved Hayden Panettiere until this movie! Yes, she was much younger in Ice Princess, but she was so pretty and still a very talented actress then. After seeing this movie, I’m much more interested in shows and movies with her.

Overall, I totally recommend Ice Princess. It’s such a good movie that motivates you and just makes you feel so good.

Now we’re gonna flip gears and talk about one of my favorite authors and her newest release, The Betrothed. I would first just like to say that my sister and I ordered a signed copy of the book. THAT’S how much we enjoy her work. Secondly, this book was not exactly what I expected and I’m not totally sure how I feel about it. If you are interested in reading, maybe skip this last part, as it will contain spoilers. 🙂

The Betrothed follows the story of Hollis, a beautiful, strong, young lady coming from a noble family who eventually finds herself betrothed to the king, Jameson. In my opinion, Hollis and the king are a PERFECT match. Anyway, a strange family comes to seek refuge from a neighboring kingdom, and asks the king to take them in and make them members of Coroan society. Hollis is tasked with the decision since the king puts her to little tests, seeing how she may do as queen one day. Hollis allows the family to stay in Coroa and they live in the castle for some time, sort of on a “probation” to see if they truly have good intent in Coroa. During this “probation” period, Hollis has several small interactions with one of the sons of this family, who is extremely talented in sword making. Somehow, she begins to doubt her relationship with the king and falls madly in love with Silas.

The king gives Hollis the queen’s apartments, beautiful tiaras and dresses, and all of his love and support, but Hollis eventually turns all of that down, just before Jameson plans to propose to her and runs away to be with Silas. I wasn’t too happy with this part, especially because the love Hollis claimed to feel for Silas, just didn’t seem fully supported if you know what I mean. Hollis and Silas had maybe interacted like three or four times and had kissed once, and suddenly Hollis wanted to give up BECOMING QUEEN OF A NATION, to run away with some suspicious, mysterious, and beautiful boy from a neighboring nation.

Hollis and Silas end up married and Jameson is devastated but moves on to be with Hollis’s best friend and former lady-in-waiting (which was REALLY weird and uncalled for, in my opinion). You might think, the book ends here, right? Wrong!

Shortly after the wedding, Silas and a majority of the people at the wedding, including Hollis’s parents are brutally murdered, leaving Hollis devastated. Silas’s mother and younger sister survive the attack but then decide to return to their former country, in hopes that their king may be merciful that they will not be found and killed there. Hollis initially plans to go back to Jameson for comfort, just to live as a member of the palace, but then decides to chase after Silas’s mother, and follow them back to their former kingdom, to meet with a friend she had made in the palace during a royal visit, and to possibly uncover if the king (not Jameson) had been behind the attack on her family.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the book because I always enjoy the work of Kiera Cass, but I was a little disappointed. I live for the glamour that comes with every Kiera Cass novel. The dresses she describes and the lifestyle of a palace is just so appealing and her imagery is just so vivid, that I imagine myself with America from The Selection, or Eadlyn from The Heir, and even Hollis from The Betrothed. With that said, so much happened in this book, but at the same time, it feels like nothing happened. I personally would have really enjoyed if Kiera Cass gave us the life of Hollis Brite, becoming the queen of Coroa and one of the women that she had seen immortalized by Coroa for their excellent leadership and character but she didn’t take that route. That’s perfectly fine but I would have enjoyed a slightly different story. Hopefully the next one will be better. I guess we’ll just have to see when it comes out! Maybe read along with me and we can see what happens next together! 🙂

Have a good week everyone and stay healthy and safe!

July 19, 2020
Frozen 2: Currently My Favorite Movie

The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Animation Studios

I actually went and saw Frozen 2 the day it came out, but I decided now was a good time to post. It would be an easy blog to write and I need an easy blog right now because finals are coming uppppp. Part of the reason I decided to write about Frozen 2 now is also because I wanted to write this after a lot of the reviews had gone out and hopefully more of you have seen it by now. This post will be spoiler free (for the most part) for those of you that haven’t seen it, so with that said, I’m gonna talk about my favorite movie right now. 🙂

The plot with Frozen 2 was incredible. I loved the maturity of the film and I really feel like I grew up with Frozen so to see to characters be six years older too was a really cool connection. I think I was in 8th grade when the first one came out and I was obsessed with it then, so here I am now as a sophomore in college and not much has changed in regards to my love for Frozen or Disney. Haha.

The end was not at all what I expected it to be but it was also better than anything I would’ve ever fantasized the ending to be. Just incredible and oh so cute. I really appreciated what Disney did with Elsa. She hasn’t needed a love story and I’m truly happy that they decided to stick with her story as a strong, independent queen who doesn’t need a man to feel good about herself. The story of her discovering the origin of her powers was extremely powerful and her continuing journey of self-discovery was so fun to follow. Her transformation toward the end and her outfit with her hair down is my favorite of all time. Anna’s dress in the end is also very pretty. Disney crushed it with the design of the characters and the animation for this movie in general. Wow, just wow.

The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Animation Studios

I really enjoyed the message too. Or at least, there were certain things that I took from the movie, that I really appreciated. Elsa was so dedicated to figure out where powers came from and her dedication and determination to what she wants. Her courage to venture into the unknown and discover herself is something that I hope to have. That kind of drive is something that I hope to have in life. I strive to be a courageous and kind person and I see that through Elsa. I hope that little girls who’ve loved Elsa, as well as Anna, see that in her too and want to be same way. And with Anna, she was persistent in her goals throughout the movie and even when she thought she lost her sister, she wanted to do what was right, even if it was tough. She put herself at risk to free the enchanted forest, even if that meant she may lose her home. And with Anna and Elsa, their bond and their relationship as sisters is something that I hope all girls out there with sisters see and strive to have. Elsa and Anna are so good to each other (for the most part) and they’re so protective, supporting, and loving toward each other. It reminds me a lot of my relationships with my sister. 🙂 Love you Allyson!

The music of Frozen 2 is also incredible. I liked the music in the first movie, but this music was also just more mature and more in touch with what I like. Currently, I’m listening to the soundtrack too! Haha. My favorites are “Into the Unknown” (which is now nominated for a Golden Globe!) and “Show Yourself”. Both are beautiful songs. I also really like Anna’s song, “The Next Right Thing”. Kristen Bell CRUSHED it.

The new characters in Frozen 2 were a good fit and I feel like there wasn’t anything truly unnecessary that was added. Often times, I see that sequels are worse than their predecessors because they add a bunch of poorly-developed, weak characters in an effort to just take advantage of the market for the movie. Frozen 2 didn’t have any “bad” characters in my opinion. I really liked Bruni, Elsa’s cute little salamander, that was introduced in this movie. SUPER CUTE.

On an unrelated note from the movie, I really hope that Disney cuts it off at Frozen 2. In the end, Elsa herself says something about being all done, so I hope that that was Disney’s way of saying goodbye to making anymore Frozen movies. If there are more shorts, I wouldn’t mind those but I feel like the ending of Frozen 2 was the perfect ending. Nothing more is needed.

So will I go see Frozen 2 in theaters again? If anyone wants to go with me, I’d love to. 🙂 Will I be getting Frozen 2 on DVD when it comes out? Absolutely. Frozen has always been something very special to me because the bond between Elsa and Anna reminds me of the bond that I have with my sister. It’s kind of freaky how similar Allyson and I are to the royal sisters of Arendelle. I love it though. I hope you all have a chance to see Frozen 2 at some point. It’s a fantastic movie with a great message and incredibly talented people. Have a great week everyone.

December 8, 2019
I Loved My Childhood

Childhood. Oh wow were those the years. My sister and I had a wonderful childhood and looking back on it, I wish that the kids of today had the chance to experience what my sister and I had the chance to live through. From playing outside to movies to toys and also games, I really enjoyed my childhood. Family, of course, made life great too. We spent a lot of time in Farmington, New Mexico with my grandparents and aunt and uncle on my dad’s side. Several of my favorite memories from Farmington include hunting for grasshoppers in my grandparents’ backyard, writing letters to Santa with my aunt, and having tea parties with my grandma. My sister and I grew up without cable TV and so any time we went to our grandparents’ house, we loaded up on our Disney Channel shows, Spongebob, and Animal Planet shows.

When Allyson and I had the chance to watch cable TV, like at our grandparents’ house, we caught up on shows like Phineas and Ferb, Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Wizards of Waverly Place, That’s So Raven, Kim Possible, Sonny With a Chance, Shake it Up, Good Luck Charlie, Spongebob (duh), The Replacements, The Powerpuff Girls, Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers, Totally Spies, Fairly Odd Parents, Codename: Kids Next Door, and The Magic School Bus. There’s a lot of shows and that’s probably still not all of them! Off of our good old satellite TV at home, Allyson and I had access to PBS which gave us great shows like Dragon Tales, Clifford, Martha Speaks, Word Girl, Fetch with Ruff Ruffman, Cyberchase, and Arthur. It’s kind of disappointing to see where Disney Channel has gone. The shows just aren’t as good as they used to be! I feel like once Sonny With a Chance (starring Demi Lovato) ended, Disney Channel took a turn for the worst. I also really liked it when the actors would draw out the Disney logo with their magic glowing wands. That was something I always wanted to do as a kid!

As far as movies go, I remember going to theaters to see the first Incredibles movie and also Finding Nemo. When Cars came out, my aunt and uncle took me and that was a really fun movie too. Honestly, going to see most Disney movies in theaters is fun. I truly feel honored to have been a kid at the time of the Wizards of Waverly Place movie, Princess Protection Program, Lemonade Mouth, Camp Rock and its second movie, The Hannah Montana Movie, the High School Musical movies, The Cheetah Girls (Dorinda was my favorite), Princess Diaries, and so many more. I also enjoyed all of the Disney princesses and their movies, Mary Poppins, Robin Hood, The Fox and the Hound, The Aristocats, Tarzan, Lilo and Stitch, Treasure Island, Fantasia, and Peter Pan. Aside from Disney, I also loved several movies including: Thumbelina, Anastasia (after all that is my name!), the Bratz movies, and all of the Barbie movies. Yes, I absolutely LOVED Barbie. From The Princess and the Pauper to Swan Lake to Magic of the Pegasus and Barbie and the Diamond Castle I was all in. One year for Halloween, Allyson and I dressed up as Anneliese and Erika and that was pretty great. Kind of like Disney, it’s been sad to see the path the Barbie movies have gone. The animation is very different and the movies are all too flashy and artificial to me. It is what it is though, and I’m glad I got to see the movies I did.

Anneliese and Erika from Princess and the Pauper. This was definitely my favorite Barbie movie as a child. 🙂

Moving on from that block of a paragraph, I also remember having a blast with a variety of toys like Polly Pockets, Bratz, Zhu Zhu pets, Barbies, Webkinz, Littlest Pet Shop, Liv dolls, and frogs. Yes, frogs. You might ask, “What do you mean by that?” No worries, I got this. There’s a way you can fold index cards to make origami frogs. My sister and I made an actual village of these frogs. They all had names and some had kids and we had a very particular way of naming them and getting them married. We were weird about our frogs. Oh boy. Liv Dolls were a brand of dolls that you could take the hair off and give them new hair and they were really pretty but very short lived. I think there were five of them named Sophia, Alexis, Katie, Daniela, and Hayden. They all had really pretty eyes and were really flexible dolls. It was disappointing when they stopped producing stuff for them.

I honestly think I can say that I lived through the golden age of Webkinz. That was back in the days when there weren’t deluxe memberships and all the stupid, colorful, and flashy plushies. I was a big Webkinz fan and I think I had about 80 of them. They all had beautiful rooms and I was SO dedicated to my Webkinz. I’ll never forget that Christmas when I got my first Webkinz, a chocolate lab, named Choco. Yes, I know I spelled it wrong but that’s how I spelled it as a seven-year old. I’m pretty sure I still have most of them in my basement too… Haha. On the topic Webkinz, which had the virtual pet world, I was reminded of Club Penguin. Club Penguin was a magical virtual world where you were a penguin and you could chat with others in real time and enjoy life as a penguin. Several times, my parents bought me the membership and that was when Courtney98 (my penguin) lived her best life. She had the best igloo and puffles (those were her pets) and cutest clothes. She was also a secret agent and tour guide for the island. Not too long ago, Club Penguin shut down for good and being the dork I am, I actually went back to Club Penguin to say goodbye to Courtney98 and a big part of my childhood. On that day we finally tipped the iceberg and it was great. If you played Club Penguin, you’ll know what I mean about the iceberg. 🙂 Another website I loved spending time on was Pixie Hollow. You could make your own fairy and have her travel around the world of Tinker Bell and that was pretty great too. Thinking about computer games, my sister and I also played games like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Zoombinis, Bella Sara, Poptropica, and on the Build-A-Bear website. Once again Barbie had a great website with good games, Girls Go Games was pretty great, and also the American Girl Doll website was a lot of fun. There was also this fun but really weird math game we played that involved monkeys and this group of kids trying to stop Mathra and bring back the goo. Hopefully, some of you have played this and know what I’m talking about. Unfortunately, we never finished the game because the disk had issues.

In addition to all of this, my sister and I spent soooo much time outside. We played pretend with our friends in my backyard or in the cul-de-sac I live in and it was a great time. We spent hours on end outside and I wouldn’t trade any amount of social media followers or power-ups in some silly game for that. We also played a variety of board games that kept us occupied that were very, very fun. There was this one Disney princess game that helped you get ready for a ball that was really fun. I always loved playing that and really any game involving princesses. I honestly feel like many of today’s little kids are occupied by their iPads and virtual game worlds. They’re focused more on making their game character successful and happy than actually enjoying the real world. Some middle school kids, I feel, are even more worried about being cool and technology than spending time in the real world, enjoying Mother Nature. I’m getting a little off topic here, but I just feel like kids need to spend more time being kids nowadays. They need to put down the iPad, get away from the TV, and enjoy childhood, just like I did.

Back on topic now! Not only did we play outside a lot, but we enjoyed reading a lot. The summer reading program at my local library was one of my favorite things to do. I loved the Wishbone series, Junie B. Jones, the Boxcar Children, some Nancy Drew, Harry Potter, Magic Tree House, Emily Windsnap, The Lightning Thief series, and the Twilight saga. I know I read many more books than what I’ve listed here and I think my love for reading then is what has allowed me to be the bookworm I am today. Books are great. 🙂

Finally, I’d like to talk about the music I listened to. As a kid, it was all about the Jonas brothers, the good version of Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, the Cheetah Girls, Jesse McCartney, David Archuleta, and several other amazing artists and singers. Radio Disney was where the good music was at. I remember being in the car with my parents and any time 1690 AM wasn’t on, I would ask for it to be. Taylor Swift was really good at that time too. Some of her music today is alright, but it’s just not what it used to be, in my opinion. I loved her work as a country artist and even in her early pop years, but now, no thanks. Vanessa Hudgens also came out with some really good music and there were several other people and groups that my sister and I really liked, like Ashley Tisdale, the Black Eyed Peas, Katy, Cher Lloyd, Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and Shakira. I really loved Shakira when I was younger, and I still do! According to my mom, I did a really good Shakira impression!

Well after all that writing, I hope you’re still reading! This was a fun trip down memory lane. I hope you all enjoyed it and for some of you, I hope this was a trip down memory lane as well! I’m really glad that I grew up in a world without as much technology as some of today’s young children. They’re missing out on all the fun! I remember when iPods came out for the first time. That was pretty cool. And now see where we are today! It’s crazy what technology has done for us and allowed for humankind to do. I hope you all have a good week! Thanks for reading! 🙂

July 22, 2018
Get to Know Me

Happy Father’s Day, everyone! I hope that you all have a great day hanging out with your dads. They deserve the day off. 🙂 I just realized that in my three years of blogging, I’ve never really told you all too much about me and my personal life, my likes and dislikes, and some of my favorites. Well, I guess that’s kind of what this blog is dedicated to, but still. Here’s some facts about me and now you get to know me!

I’m left-handed despite both of my parents being right-handed.

I live in Colorado and absolutely love it.

I picked up a tennis racket for the first time when I was six months old.

I used to tap dance competitively. I was also training for pointe in ballet until I hurt my foot. 🙁

My sister, who is a year-and-a-half younger than me, is my best friend. I don’t know what I would do without her. XOXO

I love hanging out with my family.

I hate oatmeal. The texture is disgusting.

Polar bears are my favorite animal.

My favorite color is like a pastel or icy blue.

Winter is my favorite season. I’m weird.

I love soft pretzels.

When I was four, I told my parents I wanted to be a pirate.

I hate spiders and any bug that moves really fast.

Weiner dogs are the best kinds of dogs to own, in my opinion.

I competed in a pageant called National American Miss for two years.

I love student council and community service projects. Volunteering is also a lot of fun.

People tell me I’m mature for my age.

I want to either become an orthopedic surgeon or orthodontist.

I can do a decent impression of Stitch from Lilo and Stitch and also Kristen Chenoweth. I’m gonna cram two facts in one here and also say that I love Disney movies and really all things Disney.

When I was seven, I really wanted to change my name from Ana to Sheridan. I really liked the name after watching a Bratz movie.

I finished my last semester of junior year with a 4.4 GPA. I should’ve finished with a 4.5, by I just couldn’t hold onto my A in calc…

My poetry is mostly published. Yay! 🙂

I find crocheting challenging.

My favorite flavor of ice cream is mint chocolate chip made by Tillamook. (That’s a brand.) 😉

I have a keychain collection and one of my goals in life is to visit all fifty states in the U.S. and collect one from each state. So far I’ve visited Colorado (duh), New Mexico, Florida, California, Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. I haven’t been to Nevada or Ohio but I have keychains from there too. 😉 It’s not the greatest list but I’ll also be adding New York and Nebraska pretty soon. I love travelling and I hope that’s something I get to do a lot of in my life.

I hope you all have a great week and an awesome Father’s Day today. I hope you also enjoyed getting to learn some stuff about me. See you next week. 🙂

June 18, 2017
Reviewing the New Beauty and the Beast

The new Beauty and the Beast came out recently and boy, do I have a lot to say about it! Just a warning, there may be some spoilers in here so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, you may learn some things you may not want to yet. Here we go.

Emma Watson was a beautiful Belle. For many others my age, we grew up with her as Hermoine from Harry Potter. When I first discovered that she would be playing one of my favorite Disney princesses, I worried that I would only see Hermoine, but that wasn’t the case. Emma Watson fit the role of Belle perfectly and had an amazing singing voice. In addition to Watson, the rest of the cast was fantastic. Dan Stevens played the Beast and Luke Evans played Gaston and they absolutely killed it! I actually loved Luke Evans so much that I almost felt bad for Gaston when he died. Stevens and Evans both fit their roles so nicely and also did a great job singing and acting in the movie.

The music was wonderful throughout the movie. I loved that Disney incorporated the music from the original cartoon but I thought it really made the movie different and even better from the cartoon by adding a couple of new songs in. They really fit into the movie.

In addition to adding a few new songs, there were a couple of new additions to the plot to fill plot holes not covered in the cartoon movie. In the cartoon, everyone in the town seemed totally oblivious to the fact that there was a castle and a beast lived in it. I thought that was somewhat confusing. In the live action movie, we learned that when the Beast was cursed, the enchantress that cursed him also cursed the town and erased any memory they had of the prince and his castle. On top of that, from the cartoon, it didn’t make any sense that the Beast had been cursed for many years and characters like Chip didn’t age. In the live action movie, I think the enchantress trapped the town in a time-loop and left them unable to age. That would explain why Mrs. Potts and Mr. Potts where still the same age when they were rejoined in the end and Chip, their son didn’t age as well. If this seems confusing in my writing, there are several other writers who share similar beliefs and ideas with the live action plot. I would suggest reading more about it.

The special effects and CGI for Beauty and the Beast were also executed well. The Beast was extremely realistic and looked very, very real especially when around Belle. The Beast’s castle was also super cool and reminded me a lot of the one in the cartoon movie.

Belle’s dress in the popular dance scene was also gorgeous and I’m really happy that the costume designers didn’t recreate the dress Belle wore in the cartoon movie. This one appealed to the more modern age but was still classical and beautiful on Emma Watson.

And one other thing, I thought that all of the characters were developed much better in the new Beauty and the Beast. We learned much more about Gaston and his sidekick, Le Fou, and also Belle’s father. We learned more about all of the characters in the castle too, and I think learning more about the characters also really helped build the movie’s background and setting overall.

If you haven’t seen the new Beauty and the Beast movie, I’m begging you to see it as soon as possible. I absolutely loved it and I’m so proud of Disney’s latest masterpiece. Bravo!

March 19, 2017
They’re Doing What to Club Penguin?!

Ok, this might be one of the weirder posts I’ve made, but I’m really passionate about this topic. Recently, I discovered that Disney will be discontinuing Club Penguin! WHAT?! Club Penguin was a huge part of my childhood and I’m sure many of you could say the same.

From my research, I learned that Disney intends to close down Club Penguin and open up Club Penguin Island which will only be accessible on mobile devices. According to the company, they think that more children are turning away from online computer games to mobile apps and games, and so to stay up-to-date with the kids, they have to become a strictly mobile app. 🙁 I’m really worried that this could be the end of the Club Penguin franchise overall. Based on the Club Penguin Island game trailer, it looks nothing like the online Club Penguin game and doesn’t appeal to many children looking for a fun, social game to play.

As mentioned earlier, my sister and I started on Club Penguin as it was still a young game. I’m not quite sure what year we started on it, but we were around when the Penguin Secret Agency (PSA) was around. Those missions were the absolute best! As a kid, they were easy enough to complete but still challenging enough to have to think through and were so enjoyable. And when the PSA was destroyed by Herbert’s popcorn explosion, my sister and I lost it. The PSA was over and the Elite Penguin Force (EPF) was launched. Oh man, those were the days. We were also around before the Dojo was a thing and when that came out, it was our mission to become black belts and beat Sensei. When the mermaid cove was introduced, we were there. When the University was introduced, we were there. When the puffle park was introduced, we were there. My sister and I were there for the big pool party after the glass cracked in the room below the plaza. We were there for a bunch of the music jams and dance parties and Frozen party and the Monsters’ University party and the medieval parties where Scorn the dragon was introduced and the superhero parties. The stage still existed when my sister and I played on Club Penguin. We went through so much and grew up with Club Penguin.

When I got my first CP membership, I was ecstatic. My first penguin was named Courtney98. She was the coolest penguin ever (in my opinion, haha). She had exactly twenty puffles which was the puffle limit when I got my membership and I remember her first one was a cute little blue puffle. She was a super rich penguin and definitely a big party penguin. My sister’s penguin, Seddny, was great friends with Courtney98 and went on so many great adventures together. We were mermaids, pookies (penguins that acted like babies and toddlers), superheroes, robbers, band members, explorers, surfers, fairies, and anything else we wanted them to be.

My sister and I even created a joined Club Penguin account. Her name was Lelani Fleur and she was definitely one spoiled penguin. She had almost 40 puffles which is the new limit, I believe. She was also a big party penguin and attended quite a few island wide parties herself. Allyson and I had a lot of fun sharing an account. We played together a lot on her account and would switch off who got to make music in the dance club and catching fish by the ski hill.

I truly hope that Club Penguin isn’t shut down, but if it is, that will be a surely bittersweet moment. That game was a wonderful part of my childhood and I hope to share my memories of that game for a long time. Maybe it will even be brought back! That would be a glorious day. For all of you Club Penguin lovers, don’t forget to say goodbye to your penguins before March 29th. I definitely will say goodbye to my penguins. Thanks for the memories Club Penguin. Waddle on!

February 19, 2017
Moana Knows the Way

Disney came out with it’s newest Disney Princess movie on November 23. Her name is Moana and I could definitely say that this was another amazing feat by Disney.

The movie Moana takes place in Ancient Polynesia on an island where Moana, the daughter of the island chief ventures out to save her island and restore the heart of Te Fiti. In order to do this she has to find Maui, a demigod who stole the heart many years ago, and take him with her. Together the two sail the sea, encounter many monsters and challenges, and grow as friends. As this happens, there’s a lot of singing and good action that Disney always does a fabulous job with. I’m trying so hard not to leave any spoilers!

I really enjoyed the plot of this Disney movie as there were some twists that I honestly didn’t expect from Disney. They helped make the movie more emotional and intriguing.

The animation was amazing and Moana’s hair has honestly become my goals. Haha. The settings were well put together and the entire movie was professionally and masterfully put together. I would expect no less from Disney!

Moana, Maui, and the other characters who appeared more often in the movie were easy to relate to, had great stories behind them, and were so easy to get attached to. I absolutely loved Moana’s chicken, Hei Hei. Even though he couldn’t speak, his squawking and actions were hilarious and made him one of my favorite characters, easily.

The music for this movie was brilliant. After seeing the movie, I’ve listened to the soundtrack a little too much lately, but it’s honestly hard not to listen to it! The vocals and instrumentals were great and I really enjoyed listening to it. The music of Moana is different from any Disney movie, ever and I think that helps it stand out and really make it unique. My favorite songs from the movie are “Shiny” and “How Far I’ll Go”. They’re great.

Overall, I highly recommend Moana and hope that you all enjoy it or did enjoy it as much as I did. Moana is a beautiful princess and the message of the movie is very powerful and the different culture of Moana and her people is refreshing and interesting.

I can’t wait to see what else Disney comes up with!

December 4, 2016
An Adventure at Disney California Adventure

After a great day at Disneyland before, California Adventure was the next thing my family and I would tackle. Disney California Adventure was an amazing overall experience. There was so much to do and see and my family and I got through most of it.

My aunt, uncle, mom, sister, and I arrived at Disney California Adventure around 9:30 or 10 in the morning and decided to get to Cars Land first. Cars Land was so well created and made my family and I feel like we had just stepped into the movie. It was so cool! Of course we had to do the Radiator Springs Racers ride and so we walked that way first. The wait may be been about two hours but it was well worth the wait. The ride was so cute and it was fun to travel through Radiator Springs and then win the race in the end. It may have been rigged but that’s okay. After that thrilling ride, we got our picture taken with Mater at the Cozy Cone Motel and then made our way towards Paradise Pier.

Paradise Pier is home to many enjoyable boardwalk games, Ariel’s Grotto (a restaurant), several rides, and the World of Color show. We decided to walk around and see where we would be eating later tonight, which would be at Ariel’s Grotto. Allyson, my sister suggested that we ride on Ariel’s Undersea Adventure which was a ride in a seashell through Ariel’s journey. There was no wait which was great and the ride was also very cute.

Once we finished that, Allyson and I led everyone to Hollywood Land where we got to go to the Animation Academy, meet Anna and Elsa, and then attend the Animation Academy and draw Zero from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Frozen is my favorite Disney movie, so of course we had to meet the royalty of Frozen. Anna and Elsa were very sweet and Anna even gave my sister and I a hug! The Animation Academy drawing class was a lot of fun because we got to draw with an actual Disney artist and he complimented my sister on her drawing which was awesome.

Meeting Anna and Elsa!

After visiting the Animation Academy, we found a place to grab some really good hot dogs for lunch and then headed back to Disneyland to get on a few rides we missed yesterday. We ran into Cinderella on the way back to Disneyland and got to meet her and take pictures with her of course.

The next thing we did was walk over to Adventureland to get some Dole Whip and also take the Jungle Cruise. Before we got to California, I heard a lot about Dole Whip and how amazing it was. Everything I had heard about it was true. It was so refreshing, light, and delicious. My family and I were able to enjoy the beloved treat while waiting to get on the Jungle Cruise which was also an enjoyable and interesting ride. Our tour guide for the boat trip was hilarious and the animatronic jungle animals looked so realistic and were fun to watch move around.

Dole Whip… It can only be found in Hawaii or at Disneyland

Once that was over, we walked back to Fantasyland to walk through Pixie Hollow, rode the Monorail, and do the Alice in Wonderland ride. While the Monorail didn’t go around the whole park, it was cool to be in it and see as much of the park as we were able to. The Alice in Wonderland ride was very cute and fun.

This was one of the caterpillars to ride in for the Alice in Wonderland ride.

And of course, to finish out our time in Disneyland, my family and I had to do Splash Mountain. The line had been terribly long all day and we knew that the ride was popular so we decided to get Fastpasses earlier in the day so that we could come back later in the day and get in line, wait for a short amount of time, and then ride Splash Mountain. That ride was my favorite out of any ride we’d been on. It wasn’t jerky or ridiculously fast like the Matterhorn, but it had enough speed and drops to be thrilling, enjoyable, and worth everything. I got soaked on the ride, and that probably happened because I sat up front in the log.

Splash Mountain

On the way back to California Adventure, we did a quick walkthrough of Sleeping Beauty’s castle and then made our way back to California Adventure to get to our reservation at Ariel’s Grotto in time.

We made it to our reservation with plenty of time to spare and we were even able to get in like ten minutes earlier than our reservation because we checked in early. The food was wonderful. We were served a three-course meal, which started with a choice of soup or salad, then an entree, and it finished with dessert. The salad was a strawberry, pistachio, and feta cheese salad, I picked their fire-roasted corn cakes as my entree, and then for dessert there was a lemon frosted madeline, passion fruit creme brûlée which was to die for, and then a mocha chocolate pastry. I somehow managed to eat it all and I was satisfied with the food and the service. After dinner, my family and I were given our tickets to the preferred seating at the World of Color show. World of Color is a show at Paradise Pier that involves fountains and lots of water and pictures and clips are projected on water. We purchased the package deal of dinner at a specific restaurant, which for us was Ariel’s Grotto, at California Adventure and preferred seating access to World of Color. We got to stand right up near the water and see the show from a very good spot. Even though we got somewhat wet, the exciting light show, reflection of Disney movies and pictures on the water, lasers, and flames kept me happy and entertained throughout the entire show. It was a wonderful experience and that like no other and I would definitely do the package deal again to get such good seats for World of Color.

The best part of the meal. (I forgot to mention that we were celebrating my sister’s birthday as well as mine and the restaurant gave us cupcakes for it.)

That was a great way to end our last day at the Disneyland Resort and I know that will definitely be going back in the future. Disneyland really is the happiest place on earth and I’m so glad I had the chance to go.

Walt and Mickey on Buena Vista St. at Disney California Adventure

I’d also like to add, Happy Father’s Day to all dads out there. Thank you for everything you do for us all. 🙂

June 19, 2016
Top Ten Disney Songs

Before starting this blog, I’d just like to say happy birthday to my mom. It was her birthday yesterday, and I love her very much. Happy Birthday Mom!

Now on with this week’s post. Disney has a pretty good reputation with making good soundtracks for their movies. Each Disney song is unique, catchy, and wonderful in its own way. Here are the top ten Disney songs in my opinion. There’s no possible way I could rank these ten songs, so for this top ten list, these top ten Disney songs will be listed in no particular order.

Let it Go from Frozen: This song made another top ten list of mine, and it’s now making this one. This song has a powerful message and the instrumentals as well as Idina Menzel’s voice are spectacular.

When Will My Life Begin from Tangled: Tangled is one of my all-time favorite Disney movies and all of the songs are great to listen to. This one is really upbeat and makes me happy.

I See the Light from Tangled: Also from Tangled, this song is beautiful and an adorable love song. The first

You’ll Be in My Heart from Tarzan: This song is a very well known Disney piece. It’s a very special and beautiful song. Phil Collins did a wonderful job singing it.

Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas: Pretty instrumentals, pretty vocals. This is another classic Disney song, and it sounds good on the piano too!

Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid: I feel like this song has a lot of emotion and passion in it and that’s what helps it make my top ten list.

Bet On It from High School Musical 2: When I was younger, High School Musical was big, and so was this song. Sung by Zac Efron, this song was upbeat, memorable, and just great.My sister and I used to dance full out to this song. It was intense. 🙂

When You Wish Upon a Star from Pinocchio: This song is sweet, inspirational, and a part of every Disney movie in the opening credits. It’s won many awards and has been recognized multiple times for being one of the greatest pieces of music ever.

The Bells of Notre Dame from The Hunchback of Notre Dame: This movie is famous for its great music and actors. This song is a powerful song that opens up the movie in a good, dramatic way.

Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King: The Lion King is another movie by Disney with many awards and achievements for the music as well as the actual movie. This song, Can You Feel the Love Tonight is a well-known, beautiful love song. It’s a song that makes me really happy and relaxed at the same time.

And there you have it, the top ten Disney songs! All of the songs made through Disney are good songs, but these ten songs each have special meaning to me and are the best, in my opinion. Did any of your favorite Disney songs make the list?

Have a good week!

February 28, 2016