Month: May 2014

Mickey Mouse on Broadway

Steamboat-willie-title2
This image was taken from Wikipedia.

Did you know that Mickey Mouse got his start on Broadway?

Today, Disney Theatrical Group is known for its fantastic Broadway productions.  From Beauty and the Beast, to The Lion King, to Mary Poppins, and The Little Mermaid, Disney on Broadway is hugely successful by retelling popular Disney story-lines developed for this special form of live art.  Opening this past March, the latest Disney production to take Broadway by storm is Aladdin.   The new Disney musical can be found at The New Amsterdam Theatre, a theatre leased by The Walt Disney Company and considered to be the flagship location for Disney Theatrical Productions.  I guess it’s logical to say that Disney is at home on Broadway.

Disney's Aladdin on broadwayDid you know that our favorite little mouse, Mickey, found his way to stardom by starting his career in a Broadway theatre?

Those first nervous little squeaks were made at the Colony Theater in New York City.  The Colony Theater, located on 1681 Broadway between West 52nd and 53rd Streets, opened as a movie palace on Christmas Day in 1924.  Just a few short years later, Steamboat Willie premiered at the Colony Theater on November 18, 1928 and Mickey Mouse was born.

iphone 2014 192

The Colony Theater’s name was changed in 1930 to the Broadway Theatre, as the theater moved away from showing films and began staging plays.  In 1940 Walt Disney returned to this rather large Broadway Theatre (seating 1,761 people) to premiere his labor of love, “Fantasia”.  In addition, Disney’s “Dumbo” premiered at the Broadway Theatre in 1941.

Broadway Theatre

Today the Broadway Theatre is still operating on Broadway!  The current production to call the Broadway Theatre home is Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella.  Although this isn’t produced by the Disney Theatrical Group I think it’s quite fitting for this important historical building.

Walt Disney’s dreams did come true.  One might say it all started with a Mouse on Broadway…

I’m so excited to be a part of the Fastpass To History Blog Hop hosted by Frontier Station ! Each week this blog hop provides access to a variety of Disney history facts, photographs, and more – giving us all a Fastpass to history!  If you love Disney history, you’ll love Frontier Station!  It’s filled with many wonderful Disney history posts!  Here’s the link to take you straight to their home page.  

http://www.frontierlandstation.com/

It’s Crazy What Some Disney Moms Do…

NYC 2014 003Can you see the Disney Store in this photo?  To the far left on the photo, you’ll find the Times Square Disney Store.  See the line of people?  Yes, that’s stationary people taking up the sidewalk in NYC.

NYC Disney Store

See the food cart on the sidewalk by the Sunglass Hut?  That’s where my husband and I stood Saturday, while waiting to get an “Opportunity Ticket” to purchase an Elsa costume from the Disney Store.

Before I continue, I’ll start by saying that I have a VERY understanding husband.  Gary and I went to New York City this past Friday and Saturday to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.  Of course, being the Disney Mom that I am, one of the first things we did Friday was visit the Disney Store in Times Square.  We strolled right in and enjoyed the store.

NYC 2014 045

 Here’s a Tour!

NYC 2014 042

Greeting guests upon entering the store is the one and only Spiderman. He and his entire Spiderman section of merchandise are celebrating the release of Spiderman 2 in theatres.

NYC 2014 049

Continuing through the store, I found Tinkerbell merchandise inspired by “The Pirate Fairy” film, a huge selection of character plush, and a “Muppets Most Wanted” merchandise wall bay filled with plush, t-shirts and more.

NYC 2014 052

The Times Square Disney Store has two floors.  The entire right side of the first floor is dedicated to Princesses.  Toys, swim wear and Princess clothing fill the wall bays and floor fixtures.

NYC 2014 041

Let’s head upstairs!

NYC 2014 031

 A magical Pixie Dust road leads guests throughout the different departments.

NYC 2014 032

An adorable infants department

NYC 2014 020The boys departments included Disney brands- Marvel, Star Wars, Planes and Cars.

iphone 2014 182

iphone 2014 184

Not pictured here, the second floor also includes a small adult department and a Princess sleepwear department.

At the end of the Pixie Dust road is a beautiful Princess castle.

NYC 2014 028

Within this pretty castle is Disney Princess dresses, crowns and shoes for just about every Disney princess you can think of!  Except one…

It’s pretty obvious that there was a Disney brand that was missing.  There wasn’t a single Frozen product available in the store on Friday.  If you’ve read some of my previous blog posts, you know that my daughter is a bit obsessed with the movie.  I didn’t expect to find anything, but one could hope, right?  Well, lucky me, Saturday morning the Disney Store offers an “Opportunity Drawing” to purchase Queen Elsa’s costume dress.  AND cast members told me that there would be additional “Frozen” themed product for sale that morning!   How could a mom, who’s stayed away from her kids overnight for the first time, miss this opportunity?  Fast forward to Saturday…

NYC 2014 011Well, honestly, after seeing this line at store opening, I thought this Disney Mom was going to miss the opportunity.  My husband said, “There is NO WAY I’m standing in that line.”  I couldn’t be upset but I was a bit disappointed.  Then for some reason, he said, “I’ll wait, but we better make it in the store before that drawing.” Luckily we made it in just in time!

This is how the Disney Store is handling the Frozen “crisis”.  At store openings on Saturdays, guests are allowed to enter the store, ten at a time.  To enter the “Opportunity Drawing” to purchase an Elsa dress, guests are asked to go to the second floor where they are allowed to wait in another line to fill out one ticket with their name, phone number and dress size that they would like to purchase.  At 11:15 am, a cast member announces the ticket numbers that have won the chance to purchase a dress.  At that time, you enter another line to purchase the dress.  Not all the guests stay for the raffle.  A Disney cast member will call your cell phone number after the raffle and you have until 1 am to pick up the dress.

iphone 2014 206 Here’s a photo of the crazy moms and dads waiting to hear their number called.  You better believe there was cheering when numbers were called!

While some guests were waiting to hear their number called on the second floor, on the first floor was a line from the back of the store to the front.  This line was to purchase whatever Frozen merchandise the store received in their shipment.  Guests were allowed to purchase two of each item, but you don’t know what items are left to purchase until you reach the register.

iphone 2014 205

By the time it was my turn to purchase, the guest in front of me had purchased the last Olaf Plush and the other plush characters were gone too.  But I was able to purchase a singing Anna doll and an Elsa crown.

The Disney Store in Times Square received 600 Elsa costumes that morning.  Lucky for us almost half of those dresses were size 5/6!

Elsa Dress

The next morning, this crazy Disney Mom couldn’t have asked for a better Mother’s Day smile!  I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day too!

 

 

 

 

 

Winner of the Delicious Disney Just for Kids Giveaway

Disney Cooking And the winner is…..Ron Humphrey!

Thank you to everyone that entered the Delicious Disney Just for Kids Cookbook Giveaway!  As a reminder, if you didn’t win this giveaway there is still an opportunity to win a $15 Disney Gift Card and Mickey Mouse Wind Chime.  Today is the last day for this “Music to my Mouse Ears Giveaway”.  If you’d like to enter, follow the link below.

“Delicious Disney Just for Kids” Cookbook Review and Giveaway

Thank you again for entering!

“Delicious Disney Just for Kids” Cookbook Review and Giveaway

Disney Cooking with Kids

 Macaroni & Cheese

Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?

This yummy looking dish was prepared by my seven-year old son, Gavin.  Seriously, aside from me straining the water from the pasta, he did it all by himself and it was delicious! Gavin received the “Delicious Disney Just for Kids” cookbook from his grandmother a few weeks ago for his birthday.  After watching Ratatouille this past Saturday night, he turned into my “Little Chef” and the two of us were inspired to crack the cookbook open to see what recipes we’d find.

Disney CookingThe cookbook, written by The Disney Chefs and Pam Brandon, is made up of 20 recipes supplied by different chefs at Disney’s parks, resorts and even the Disney Cruise Line.  The recipe Gavin followed for the Macaroni & Cheese came straight from the chef at Jiko- The Cooking Place restaurant, located within Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge at Walt Disney World.

Cooking with Kids 014

The recipe was so simple and quick to make that immediately after making dinner he wanted to make dessert too!  You can see in the background that our dinner was on the table cooling while he whipped up dessert.

Cooking with Kids 025

Gavin chose to make “No-Bake Granola Treats” as our after-dinner treat.  The recipe was courtesy of the Chef at Disney’s Contemporary Resort Bakery.  Since this recipe came from the Disney resort that we call home, the treats were a bit extra special for the kids.  We enjoyed talking about staying there as we made them and of course ate them.  It added a nice sprinkle of pixie dust to our evening!

Cooking with Kids 032

I have to tell you- the granola bars were the absolute best granola bars I have EVER tasted!  They had just the right amount of peanut butter, chocolate and granola!  YUM!

Gavin did such a great job and really enjoyed cooking.  It was wonderful to see how impressed he was with himself.  While devouring every single noodle, he proclaimed that his mac & cheese was delicious!  The next morning,  he proudly packed a granola bar for his snack at school and that evening he told me that he told his classmates about his night of cooking.  Talk about a nice thing for me to hear!

Do you like to cook dinner with your kids?

Honestly, I often find that it seems to take double the amount of time than if I just did it myself and usually the kids end up frustrated or bored.  This time was different.  Both recipes moved along quickly and easily.  We enjoyed our evening of cooking so much that I’d like to giveaway a copy of the cookbook to a Mouse Ears Mom fan.  I’ll pick the winner on Mothers Day!

The opinions in this review and giveaway are purely those of Mouse Ears Mom.  The giveaway is not sponsored by The Walt Disney Company.  It’s simply my hope that you’ll enjoy the book, as my family has enjoyed our copy.

Giveaway Details:

  • The giveaway will run from Wednesday, May 7, 2014 until May 11, 2014 at 12:00 am EST.
  • The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter after verification of entries and notified by email.
  • To officially accept the prize the winner must reply by email within 24 hours. Make sure that you provide an email address that you check regularly.
  • The giveaway is open to United States residents only, ages 18 yrs old and up.
  • The lucky winner will be announced on the Mouse Ears Mom blog and the Mouse Ears Mom Facebook page, after the winner has accepted their prize.

To Enter Click on the Rafflecopter Link Below.  Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Disney Giveaway That’s Music To Your Mickey Ears

Mickey wind chime giveawayDon’t you just love Spring?  In many parts of The United States, it’s finally time to start enjoying the outdoors without snow gear.  I joke that Elsa blanketed the ground with snow for  six months, but at times it truly felt like that!  Now that spring has finally arrived, I love to watch the blooms open on my Saucer Magnolia tree and enjoy seeing the brown grass turn to green.  It’s simply magic!  The only thing that I can think of that could make it any more magical is a Mickey Mouse Wind Chime bringing a touch of Disney pixie-dusted music to the air…and a $15 Disney Gift Card is a nice bonus too!

Sean, author of the Disney Day By Day blog, is hosting this great giveaway and is offering all Mouse Ears Mom Facebook fans an easy entry by using the Rafflecopter link below.

Here are the full details of the giveaway:

  • The giveaway will run from Saturday, May 3, 2014 until May 11, 2014 at 11:59 PM EST.
  • There is a daily entry for more chances to win.
  • The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter after verification of entries and notified by email.
  • To officially accept the prize the winner must reply by email within 24 hours. Make sure that you provide an email address that you check regularly.
  • The giveaway is open to United States residents only, ages 18 yrs old and up.
  • The lucky winner will be announced on the Disney Day By Day blog and also on the Mouse Ears Mom Facebook page, after the winner has accepted their prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you love The Walt Disney World Resort, you’ll love Sean’s blog, Disney Day by Day!  If you’d like to check it out, here’s the link to take you to the Disney Day by Day homepage.

 http://disneydaybyday.com/

Have a Magical Day!