Back From a Much Needed Break

Hello Friends!  I'm sorry that it's been so long since I last wrote an entry on here.  It's been about three weeks since my last actual post, even if my blog is eventually filled in since then so it doesn't look like it.  The last I told you, Eliot and I were making final preparations for our trip to Walt Disney World.

Flash forward about three weeks, and now Eliot and I just got home after our epic two plus week vacation.  In the final hours leading up to our trip, it became increasingly apparent that I desperately needed a break.  In fact, I don't think I've ever been in more need of a break from absolutely everything.  And I definitely took advantage of it.

I didn't post much on social media- for either Happily Ever Hatter or Magically Melissa.

I didn't answer messages regarding our businesses unless I absolutely had to.

I didn't even re-open Snowblade Creations until last week.

I also didn't post more than twice on my personal Facebook page... which is pretty unusual for me since I'm known to post pictures from our trips throughout our time at Disney.  (It was so abnormal that my cousin Kaitlin even called to check in on me.)  I posted at the beginning of our trip, and then again at the very end... and that was it.

Our vacation was so wonderful and just what I needed in my life right now.  So much has happened over the past few weeks.  I have so many blog posts that I planned to go back and finish.  Some of them will get written, some of them will get pushed off to later this year, and some of them will probably just fade into the sunset.  Over the next week or two, I'll go back in and write what I can.  Some of it is going to be painful for me to write, but there are things that I want to get written down.

Today, I mostly wanted to let you know that Eliot and I are home and that I will be going back to fill in my 2023 goals, 2022 year in review, 2022 goals recap, and all of those things when I have time to.  I also still need to write about our trip to San Jose, my birthday, Thanksgiving Weekend, and a few other things.  November, December and January will be filled with a bunch of backdated posts, but that's ok.  I'll get to them.

For now, I'm just trying to get settled in at home and adjust back to the real world.  °o°

Magical Merchandise: Scentsy Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary

Well, Eliot and I were supposed to be home yesterday around noon.  But after pushing back our flight, flying into Providence, RI instead of Portland, ME, renting a rental car, getting caught in a snowstorm, and staying in a hotel in Woburn, MA... we finally got home and settled in this evening about an hour ago at 7:00 pm.  (It's still storming, we had to drive the rental car home to Maine, unpack our luggage, and then return the rental car to the Portland airport.)  Needless to say, it's been an interesting 36 hours!

I had planned this post though, so I'm going to go through with it.  Now that Eliot and I have (finally!) returned home from our epic two week trip during Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary celebration, I'm looking to keep a little bit of that magic alive.

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Thankfully, as you know, Scentsy created a special collection for Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary, and Eliot and I have our warmer sitting at home waiting to be put on display.  These have been in the works for months, so you probably have already seen them.  I think we ordered ours back in March when I first told you about the castle. 

If you need a refresher, the main piece in the Scentsy collection is the Cinderella Castle warmer.  The castle is decorated in banners and a 50 medallion, just like the real thing.  It also has the same colors as the castle post makeover.  The iridescent wax dish is nothing short of stunning.  The entire pieces takes my breath away.

We also knew that they were coming out with a special scent of their wax melt Scentsy bricks.  It is called "EARaridescent" to go along with the 50th Anniversary theme.  It has a sweet smell, with notes of cedarwood, citrus, peony and apple blossom.  (Eliot's Mom got us the combo pack with the castle, so we got one of the giant bricks!)

What I wasn't expecting was anything else in the collection.  However, I was pleasantly surprised when they added these Mickey and Minnie Plush Scentsy Buddies back in October to coincide with the ship date of the castle warmers!  They are so cute!

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Mickey has his classic shorts in a purple and blue pattern with gold buttons and a gold bowtie.  His face is white and overall body is a shade of purple instead of black.

Minnie also has a purple and blue polka dotted dress with a gold belt and a giant golden bow atop her head.  She's also made in the same purple/white color way as Mickey.  I absolutely love her dress and wish they made one in my size!

One of my favorite parts of both plush, is that they have the Walt Disney World 50th logo embroidered on the back of their outfits in a metallic gold thread. 

I love these guys so much that I might have to get a set to put in my office.  Their colors match the jewel tones I have in there, and they would look great on my shelf!

The Scentsy Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Collection certainly adds a little bit of magic to your house.  I think it's the perfect way to keep the magic alive back home... and it will last well after the 50th celebration ends at the end of March!  °o°

Last Day at Walt Disney World

Boo-hiss.  It's Eliot's and my last day at Walt Disney World and I'm not sure that I'm ready to leave.  It's been a magical two weeks... and I really needed this break.

On one hand, I'm ready to go home.  I miss my own bed.  I'm ready to stop living out of a suitcase.  It's really cold down here... more cold to the bone then Maine even.  And I'm inspired to get home and get to work on new creations.  

But at the same time... it's been such a glorious two weeks... ugh.  I don't want to leave all of the magic and wonder.  Eliot and I have got a very busy day planned though, so that will keep us busy until the last possible second.

First, we're heading back over to Epcot for our second day at the 2023 Festival of the Arts.  Yesterday, we got a good lay of the land and took pictures of a lot of artwork that interested us.  Today, our plan is to go back and buy the prints and postcards we want to bring home with us!  And there's one canvas we're getting too!  We also need to get my Festival of the Arts Spirit Jersey and our Figment popcorn buckets!

Next, we'll be dropping everything off at the hotel before we take a quick detour over to Hollywood Studios.  For some reason, we completely spaced on getting our 50th statue photos over there, so we've gotta swing by to do that before we head home!

We've got to make another quick pit stop to pick up the rest of our 50th Anniversary medallion coins since we never got over to the Polynesian or Contemporary Resorts.

Finally, we're heading over to the Magic Kingdom to end our trip... just like we usually do.  We'll catch the fireworks one last time.  Then, we're also planning to ride a few of our favorite rides after the fireworks so we can wrap the trip up on a high note.  There are also a few last things we need to purchase that we'll be sending home.

And before we know it, it will be back to our hotel and time to pack.  Eliot and I have had such a wonderful time.  I'm not ready for it to end, but you can bet that we're going to soak in every single ounce of magic that we can before it's time to head home!!!  °o°

Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Bucket List

It's been an entire week since Eliot and I finally returned "home" to the Magic Kingdom after almost three years of being away.  It's been a magical trip, and one that my soul really needed.  Of course, we have also finally been able to experience the 50th Anniversary of our favorite magical place!  I've been dreaming of this for years... 

As you probably recall, Eliot and I had originally planned to be at the Magic Kingdom on October 1, 2021 when Walt Disney World officially turned 50.  However, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, we decided to postpone our trip.  Then, we also had to postpone our 10th Wedding Anniversary Trip.  So this visit has been a long time coming!

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Naturally, I had a bunch of things that I wanted to do for the 50th, and it all was on my bucket list.  I want to note that the final list isn't as long as it originally was, mostly because I kept whittling it down realizing that many of the things I wanted to do weren't available.  (Like getting photos with all of the characters in their 50th outfits...)

Still, it ended up being a pretty good sized list.  So let's check it out!

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Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Bucket List

CHARACTERS

Photos of all of the 50th Characters

Photos of all the 50th Statues

Photo w/Mickey and Minnie in 50th Outfits

DECOR

Enjoy All of the Decorations/Banners

Take Some Castle Photos of Decor

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SHOWS/PARADES

See HarmoniUS for the 1st Time

See Disney Enchantment for the 1st Time

Watch Mickey’s Celebration Calvacade

COLLECTIBLES

Collect 50th Medallion Coins

FOOD

Try A Special 50th Drink

Try Special 50th Food/Snack

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VIDEOS

Spaceship Earth at Night

Tree of Life at Night

PHOTOS

Photos of Cinderella Castle

Photos with Cinderella Castle

Cinderella Castle at Night

Spaceship Earth at Night

Tree of Life at Night

Tower of Terror at Night

Donkeys Dressed Up in Santa Hats

Melissa and Eliot Dressed Up in 50th Outfits

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This ended up being a pretty decent list.  It's not too crazy, but still a lot to see and experience.  Of course, Eliot and I would also like to pick up some souvenirs for the 50th.  I have a loose list of things that we'll be adding to our collection like a Spirit Jersey, ornament and artwork!  I'd also love to find something that's really nice to display with our Disneyland 60th items too... like maybe a Cinderella Castle figure!

I'll be sure to check back after our trip to let you know how we did!  °o°

January 2023 WDW Trip Planning

The magic is calling, calling, calling us... and we are finally going to answer it!  It has been about a year since Walt Disney World officially started it's giant 50th Anniversary Celebration, and just over three months from now (95 days, but who's counting?), Eliot and I are finally going to be there to experience it!  I seriously can't wait!!!

Now that we're home from our big California, D23 Expo, Disneyland trip, I'm finally able to shift my focus onto the next big adventure... our colossal January 2023 WDW trip.

This past week, Eliot and I have jumped back into planning mode.  We're juggling a lot of moving parts.  He's been looking up hotel prices for our split stay.  I've been trying to get all of our plans and reservation numbers organized into another trusty note.  We're currently debating canceling our car rental since we aren't really sure that we'll actually need it.  We also just pushed our flight home back by a day.

Last month, I told you how we were changing our anniversary trip plans to add extra days onto our Walt Disney World Marathon weekend trip.  We were supposed to be going down December 30th to January 14th.  But a little bit after Eliot and I booked our flights... it suddenly dawned on me that the Festival of the Arts usually starts sometime in mid-January.  I was so focused on going to Disney for New Year's Eve, Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary, celebrating our 10th Anniversary and race weekend... that I completely spaced about the Festival of the Arts.

While nothing has been announced yet... the festival usually starts the Friday of Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, which would put it on January 13th of this year (if all goes as planned).  Thus, Eliot and I talked about it, and since flights back on Sunday were only a teensy bit more than our Saturday night flight, we decided to change it.  This will give us an entire extra day at Disney since before our flight left at 5:00 pm and we wouldn't have gone to the parks that day.  Plus, it actually gives us an entire extra day period.

At this point, we're planning to go into the parks 11 days during our two week stay.  We had been already been planning to purchase a ten day WDW ticket.  Because of the rule that you have 14 days to use the tickets, we actually have to purchase one single day ticket as well.  But, it worked out.  We have our single day planned for New Years Eve, and then our 10 day ticket will be from January 1st to January 14th!  

Now that things are officially shaping up, I am getting so excited.  After the disaster that was our actual 10th Anniversary and Eliot getting sick, this is certainly looking up.  We will be there for so many amazing things: New Years Eve, New Years Day, Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary, celebrating our 10th Wedding Anniversary, race weekend, hopefully the Festival of the Arts and... if all of that isn't spectacular enough... I also came to the realization that the Christmas decorations will hopefully still be up for the first few days of our trip!!!  It's going to be amazingly epic!!!

I have a lot to look forward to as the days slowly tick down to our next grand Disney adventure.  I better get started on that bucket list now as well.  Between race weekend, the 50th, our wedding anniversary, and potentially the Festival of the Arts, I've got a lot of goals I need to nail down.  And I better also get started on our mouse ear list.  Thank goodness we're flying Southwest because we're gonna need those extra bags... °o°

Magical Merchandise: New WDW 50th Spring Collections

The Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary is six months in and the merchandise is still coming in waves!  Last Friday marked the 1/3 mark in the 18 month long celebration and the Disney Parks Blog released information about some upcoming merchandise a few days prior to that.  It looks like we'll be getting three new spring collections!

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EARidescent Shimmer Collection

The EARidescent Shimmer Collection is the latest color story at Walt Disney World.  It features the same blue and gold tones that we've seen throughout the anniversary celebration.  (They mimic the colors of Cinderella Castle.)  This new collection will have mouse ears, a Loungefly mini backpack, Spirit Jersey, baseball hat, and more!

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Disney Vault Balloon Collection

The Disney Vault Balloon Collection reminds me of my childhood.  The design features the Mickey Mouse balloon print in that was once used to decorate the shopping bags at retail locations.  I am totally pumped about the bright, bold colors they used!  This collection is probably my favorite of the new ones and there will be a variety of new products including a Spirit Jersey, a bucket hat and a Loungefly mini backpack.

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Disney Vault Orange Bird Collection 

The Disney Vault Orange Bird Collection is a flashback to the 1970's.  These new apparel pieces definitely give off a retro vibe!  I'm so excited that they're releasing an entire collection of Orange Bird merchandise because he never gets enough love.  I'm especially excited to see what the new Dress Shop dress looks like!  There will also be a men's button down shirt, a ladies smocked top, ladies shorts, a denim jacket, and a character crossbody bag!  (My wallet is saying, "I'm in trouble!")

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Celebration Collection

Finally, there will also be some new products joining the Celebration Collection that debuted last October.  This collection showcases Mickey and his friends with lots of blues, purples and golds, and Cinderella Castle.  There will be another Dress Shop dress, more Dooney and Burke handbags and more apparel.  I was also very excited to see that they're finally getting 50th anniversary plushes of Goofy, Donald and Daisy in their celebration outfits.  Now, I can get Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale and actually complete the character collection of WDW 50th plushes!

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I don't know about you, but I'm really excited to see that Disney is still releasing new designs and collections six months into the celebration!  It makes me think that there's still a lot more to come over the next 12 months!  All of these new products will be making their way to the parks this spring.  Eliot and I will also be keeping an eye on Shop Disney to see which of these new products will be released there as well!  °o°

Magical Merchandise: New WDW 50th Items

The Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary celebration is already well underway, but new merchandise keeps popping up!  The past few weeks, I've seen a few new collections and items appear.  I thought it was time to pop in with another update!

The first new collection that I spotted was this clothing collection by Her Universe that's available on their website as well as Hot Topic.  (I'd also like to note that most of it is pretty picked over at this point, but a few pieces are still available!)

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The first thing that caught my eye was the Attraction Shortalls.  I love the images of the Mickey and his friends riding on our favorite Walt Disney World rides!

Another piece that I love was the Athletic Jersey.  The back image is really cool.  

The Hoodie also features many of our favorite attractions at Walt Disney World.

Finally, this little Passport Bag is perfect to keep your stuff organized!

A few weeks ago, Walt Disney World and Shop Disney released golden figures that resemble the full size statues featured at the parks.  They chose to make one statue per park, and chose one character to represent each of the four theme parks.  

The Woody statue represents Hollywood Studios. 

Simba represents Animal Kingdom.

The Tinker Bell figure represents the Magic Kingdom.

And Eliot's and my favorite statue, Figment, represents Epcot!  

As of right now, all of them are still available to order online except for Figment.  The first three statues were released a few days before Figment, so Eliot and I knew to keep an eye out for Figment.  As soon as he was released, we purchased two of them- one for each of our offices, and we're glad we didn't delay!  We totally adore him!

Finally, I've saved my absolute favorite new 50th item for last!  Scentsy has partnered with Disney to release this absolutely stunning Cinderella Castle wax tart warmer.  

The castle reflects it's new color palette from it's royal makeover, and it even has the 50th anniversary logo on the front!  I think the entire thing is gorgeous.  

It's available to pre-order, for delivery sometime in October or November.  It requires a $25 non-refundable deposit with the rest due when they arrive.  The Cinderella Castle wax warmer retails for $125 and the bundle with the warmer and wax tart is $151.

It's definitely pricier than other wax warmers, but this one has a lot of stunning details that make it extra special.  This one feels more like a decorative piece.  I love all of the details on this warmer... the castle even has it's banners on it!

The wax dish is iridescent beveled glass that has the 50th castle logo etched into it.

The castle windows even light up so that it glows softly in the dark!

I'm so excited to see another design from the parks!  Now that Scentsy is the official fragrance of Walt Disney World, I'm hoping they will make more park designs.  We've already seen a Haunted Mansion warmer... I'd love to see Spaceship Earth, Sleeping Beauty Castle, and more!  (And more park inspired scents would be great too!)

That's all the new Walt Disney World 50th merchandise that I've seen recently!  I've been keeping my eyes peeled though, so if I spot anything else, I'll let you know!  °o°

Magical Merchandise: WDW 50th Anniversary Funko Pops

The 50th anniversary celebration of Walt Disney World is well underway, but the merchandise just keeps coming.  Over the past few weeks, I've seen a lot of new 50th products... and some of it has been at retailers and stores other than the parks!

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One of Eliot's and my favorites have been the new Funko Pop vinyl figures.  We swore we wouldn't get into collecting these... but here we are.  Some of our favorites are the Disney Parks figures.  When Disneyland celebrated it's 65th anniversary in 2020, Funko released a bunch of different Funko Pop park designs.  We've had high hopes that they would release some for WDW's 50th, and we were not disappointed!

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So far, they've released two waves of designs.  The first wave consisted of Mickey and Cinderella Castle, Goofy riding Dumbo, the Queen of Hearts on Mad Tea Party, Mickey on Space Mountain and the Pirates of the Caribbean dog with the keys.  

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The second wave included Captain Hook riding Peter Pan's Flight, Conductor Mickey from Mickey's Philharmagic and four Peoplemover figures: Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Stitch!  They also had some exclusives in the second wave.  Amazon had a special version of Mickey standing outside of Space Mountain.  Hot Topic has a Diamond (sparkly) version of Philharmagic Mickey.  BoxLunch has a flocked (fuzzy) version of the Pirates to the Caribbean dog!  And Peoplemover Stitch is from Funko's website.

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My favorite of all of them so far is obviously Mickey and Cinderella Castle.  I'm a sucker for anything with the castle, and Mickey is in his special 50th outfit!

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I really love how they made the characters in the Peoplemover.  It looks like they hook together so that's a cute detail.  Plus, this leaves room for them to make more of them!

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I'm so glad they made a Pirates of the Caribbean dog!  I have Redd (the redhead) from a few years ago, so now she has a friend to display with her.

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I love these cute figures!  The only thing I haven't seen so far that I'm really hoping they release is more of the characters in their special 50th anniversary outfits.  I'd love to see Pop figures of Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale added to the collection!  Otherwise, Mickey just looks lonely all by himself!

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I can't wait to figure out where we're going to display all of our Walt Disney World and Disneyland Funko pop friends!  They definitely add more magic to our house!  °o°