January 2014 Characters

See all the characters that I met in January.

Using FP+ as an annual passholder

Now that all the Walt Disney World parks have done away with paper fastpasses, fastpass+ is your only option. As a local passholder, I can not get a magic band to make my selections ahead of time. So that means that I must get to the park, go to a FP+ kiosk, and make my three selections for the day.

I went to the FP+ kiosk in Liberty Square and I was the only person there. A CM outside handed me a paper with the list of all the FP+ attractions on them. Then inside, a CM with an iPad was there to make my selections. He asked for my first selection and I told him the Rapunzel meet and greet. He scrolled through the list on his iPad and informed me that there was not one Rapunzel FP+ available. I then asked for a Cinderella FP+ and that was available. I then chose one for Journey of the Little Mermaid and one for Space Ranger Spin. The times that were chosen for me worked except for the one for Space Ranger Spin, so I had the CM change it for a little later. Once all my selections were made, I took a picture of the iPad so I'd know the times for my FP+'s. I was a bit confused by the fact that the CM told me to take a picture of the iPad so I'd know the times. You'd think that they'd have a better way of handling that, like maybe printing out your times for you. They don't even need a full sheet of paper, it could be the size of a paper fastpass.

I had no problems using FP+ (except that I couldn't get one for Rapunzel) but that doesn't mean that I liked it. I didn't like having to make all my selections for the day at once. I didn't like being limited to only three for the entire day. I also think it's very unfair that if you're a local annual passholder you can't make your FP+ selections in advance because they haven't given us access to that yet.

If you need to make your FP+ selections the day of, just look for a FP+ sign, pick your attractions, and remember to write down or take a picture of your times so you don't forget.

Snow White's New Look

Snow White has been recently given a new look. I wasn't too sure about her new look at first glance but after seeing some more pictures and then seeing it in person, I love it. Her dress is my favorite of all the new princess dresses. It's the dress that is the most movie accurate and it's beautiful.

A Farewell to Camp Minnie-Mickey

Camp Minnie-Mickey closed yesterday. It's going to be demolished so an Avatar themed land can be built. I have always really enjoyed Camp Minnie-Mickey. It was one of my favorite places at Animal Kingdom. I loved watching Festival of the Lion King, meeting characters, and just relaxing there for a while.



Here are some of the characters that I loved meeting at Camp Minnie-Mickey.

The end of the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade

The Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade at Magic Kingdom ended yesterday after nearly a five year run. It debuted on January 23, 2009 and I was there for the first one too. There will be no afternoon parade at Magic Kingdom until the spring when the new Festival Of Fantasy Parade debuts. Yesterday, the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade ran twice; at 12:30 and 3:30. I watched both of them. I watched the 12:30 one outside The Hall of Presidents. I started to get emotional when I saw Bert and he thanked me for coming. He then got Mary's attention, they posed for me, and Mary made the hand gesture for "I love you." It was so sweet. Then Drizella spotted me and waved. She came over to me, gave me a big hug, and told me that "This is it" since her family wasn't invited to be in the new parade. I will miss Drizella so much. She was always so much fun to photograph. She was full of life and her expressions were the greatest.

I thought about watching the second parade near the end of the route but it was over an hour until the parade started and the area was pretty full. I then decided to watch the last parade in my usual spot in Town Square across from the Confectionery. A few little touches were added to the last parade. The ribbon dancer was back in the beginning of the parade and I was very surprised to see her. Also, Jiminy Cricket had an umbrella, the Queen of Hearts had a flamingo, and Jafar had his staff.

I got emotional during the last parade too. It again started when I saw Bert. He and Mary waved and posed for me again. Mary also made the "I love you" hand gesture to me. They are two incredibly sweet people and I really appreciated it. Drizella came through and waved to me a bunch of times. Ariel was sweet, as always, and waved to me.

While I am very happy to see a new parade, it was sad to see this one go. It wasn't an amazing parade but for me, it was about who was in the parade. I have seen some of them for years and I am going to miss seeing their faces so much. I can only hope that many of them will be in the new parade.

New Blog Name

I've been thinking about changing the name of this blog for a while now but I just couldn't come up with something that felt right. The other night the name "Capturing the Magic" popped into my head. I thought about it for a couple days and it felt like the right name. Capturing the magic is what I do when I'm at Walt Disney World. It's my favorite thing to do; to capture all the magical moments at Walt Disney World.

I hope to update more often and to share more pictures. I'd also like to go back to doing more day reports. I am so far behind on them though. I'm still on 2012! They are just so time consuming but I'm going to try and figure out a way to get them done.

Keep an eye out for more character pictures, day reports, and pictures of all the magical happenings at Walt Disney World.