Our Disney Wedding DVD

Hello again!  I’m sorry that I’ve been MIA the past few weeks.  I had an unexpected back injury and I’ve spent a good amount of time on our couch or in bed.  Instead of spending countless hours on my computer I allowed myself to get completely sucked into a certain book trilogy where hungry teens fight to the death in an arena for entertainment.  And then I re-read the series a second time, you know, for good measure?  Anyways…

We finally watched our Disney Wedding DVD last night to celebrate our 8-month anniversary.  I’ve been dying to watch it since it came in the mail, but I wanted to really enjoy it.  The stabbing backaches I’d been having didn’t really make me want to suffer through it in misery.

I’ll admit, I was also a little nervous to see the final product!  Our wedding photos came out so good that I had a lot of expectations for the video.  I’m not a huge fan of seeing myself on video and I was afraid that I’d laugh through our entire wedding video at my own ridiculousness.  And who likes the sound of their voice on a video?  I sound so weird!

Before Disney did the final edits, we had to send in information for the DVD style, music and the credits.  I had spent a few weeks stressing over the music for the video.  And even once I picked a few songs that I knew I’d like, I was still terrified of it being awful.  So with our 8-month anniversary as the perfect excuse to watch finally it, we took the leap.

I have to admit that it was even better than I expected it to be!  I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect.  I knew that they’d have a 10-12 minute montage of wedding images and that we’d have complete footage from our Ceremony.  I knew that we had video at our Reception and our IllumiNations VIP Dessert Party but I didn’t know how they’d include it!

We got a very professional DVD in great packaging.  When the DVD starts it says Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings and goes to a “room” where a book on a table opens with “Once Upon a Time…”  Then we selected to watch our wedding and were pleasantly surprised with the mash up between our post-wedding interview and images from our wedding day.  Both Eliot and I had forgotten that we even took a lot of the interview shots.  So it was kind of fun to see those again. 

After that, we had our full ceremony coverage and then footage from our reception.  This was probably my favorite.  It was great to see the introductions, our first dance, the toasts, our father/daughter and mother/son dances, our cake cutting and then everyone partying on the dance floor with Mickey and Minnie!  I was fine until we got to our dance with Mickey and Minnie to “Remember When” by LeAnn Rimes.  Then the tears started falling down my cheeks.  Finally, we ended the wedding portion of the video with the full IllumiNations show.  They cut to us as well as a few of our guests watching the show.  And the video quality is awesome!  I’m so excited just to have a professional quality video of IllumiNations!

After that, we skipped Chapter Selection assuming that was how we could jump around the previous “wedding” section.  We selected our Through the Years Montage and it was a simple slideshow of the photos I emailed Disney set to the music that I selected.  We probably didn’t need the Through the Years Montage on our actual Wedding DVD, but that’s ok.

It was fun to re-live our wedding memories!  I’m so glad that we decided to spend the money on the video.  We’re also planning to have a viewing party with our friends sometime, so stay tuned!

RunDisney and Registrations and Wedding DVDs, Oh My!

Well, it’s officially official.  My husband and I are registered for the 2014 Walt Disney World Half Marathon!  We’ve been talking about doing it for months now, but we decided to wait until we “had” to register.  Tonight, my husband saw that the race was 90% full and he decided that it was time. 

I am super excited and a little nervous, but according to the runDisney website, I have 247 days to prepare myself for the race.  We’ve already started with walking 3-4 times a week to slowly work my knee back into shape.  I had a knee injury playing volleyball in college and I tore my cartilage.  My surgeon was not able to fix it, so I have limited padding in my right knee. Over the summer, we’ll work up to more jogging, intervals, and longer distances.  Thank goodness we have a nice walking trail nearby!

I’m determined to finish the race.  I’m not doing it for the time this race.  In fact, as long as I can keep a 14-15 minute overall pace, I don’t care about the clock at all.  I’ll have gone 13.1 whole miles from Epcot, through the Magic Kingdom and back to Epcot.  I’m doing it so I can proudly say that I did it.  I finished it.  And the finishers medal is pretty good motivation too.  Who wouldn’t want to rock one of those around the theme parks after the race?

  

On another note, our Disney Wedding DVD came in the mail today!!!  I’m SO excited to finally see it, but it’s going to have to wait until this weekend when the hubs and I are both awake enough to enjoy it!  I’ll let you know how it turned out!  J

Melissa

10 Facts About Me

Now that you know it all started with a Little Mermaid, I think that I should share some more about myself so you all know me a little better.  Here are some facts about me:

10 Random Facts About Me

1.)  From a young age, I’ve enjoyed making jewelry, greeting cards and home decor.  I also paint, scrapbook, and make accessories.

2.)  I’ve dreamed about getting married at Walt Disney World since my first trip when I was 5 years old.

3.)  I collect plush Tiggers.  I have since I was in middle school.

4.)  I’ve always dreamed about being a Disney Imagineer. 

5.)  I attended Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston to earn my degree in interior design.

6.)  I was a semi-finalist in the 2008 Disney ImagiNations Competition.

7.)  I married my Prince Charming at the Walt Disney World Resort on September 20, 2012.  (Dreams do come true!)  :-)

8.)  My new dream is to someday run my own business creating jewelry, accessories, wedding items and more.

9.)  I’m planning to run my first half marathon at the Walt Disney World Half Marathon in January of 2014.

10.)  I have a Disney Bucket List.  And it only seems to keep getting longer… 

So why does all of this matter?  These are all facts of about my life.  Come along for my adventure trying to achieve my dreams, my Disney bucket list goals, and seeing how my past has shaped my Disney future!

Welcome aboard!

Melissa

It All Started with a Mouse

It all started with a mouse.

Well, I guess for me, it all started with a Little Mermaid.  But without the mouse, there would have been no mermaid.  Let me explain…

Hi!  I’m Melissa and I’m a self proclaimed Disney geek.  I have been for as long as I remember.  Most of my life has involved Disney in some way or another.   I grew up going to Walt Disney World on family vacations and have been 13 times.  I’ve also been to Disneyland once.  I’ve always loved the design of the theme parks and I love looking at all of the small details that most guests miss.  I know all sorts of random facts about the parks.  I usually cry when I arrive on property, and I always cry when I leave.  Disney is pure magic and it always will be.

My first Disney memory was when my parents took me to see The Little Mermaid in theaters.  It was 1989 and I had just turned 5 years old.  I grew up in a small coastal town in Maine so driving an hour to the movie theater was a really big deal.  I remember going to Sears at the mall before the movie and I was really excited that my cousin and I were going to see a movie!  Little did my 5-year-old self know that this was the beginning of something much bigger than me. 

I absolutely loved it.  The bright colors of the mermaids and fish were enchanting.  The music was catchy and I would sing the songs over and over.  I loved the story of how Ariel became a human so she could marry her prince.  It was magic to me.

Me in our garden with my Little Mermaid sweatshirt.

So, for me it all started with a Little Mermaid.  This blog is about my journey, my memories, my experiences and My Disney Life.

To all who come to this happy place, welcome.

Melissa