At first, I thought it was just one of those April Fool’s-esque jokes, like when everyone was putting out articles that Cinderella’s castle would be changed to the Frozen castle.   But as I read it from multiple sources, I realized that it was true. And my initial, knee-jerk reaction when I heard of this iconic Disney attraction changing was “No!”.   But the more I thought about it, the more I excited I became for the re-theme.   I kind of low-key hate Splash Mountain. Not the drop. The drop is the best part. I hate the show rooms. I already have a slight fear of animatronics, but the ones on Splash are terrifying. The animatronics look very old and move rigidly. Despite the fact that it is refurbished every winter, the “show” never really works right. There are constant animatronic failure and ride breakdown reports. Whether that’s due to the wear and tear of the ride or just the presence of social media, we’ll never know. But we’ve been hearing horror stories of anima...

This is a continuation of the series where I examine each of the Disney Princesses as role models. Disney Princesses have received much backlash and debate over their worthiness of being feminist role models for young girls. I set out to examine the admirable qualities in each and clear up any distortions of their characters.  Belle is a beloved Princess, often regarded as the "strongest", "smartest" or "most feminist".  Yet some  people like to simplify the character down to “read = smart”. But of course, it goes deeper than  that.  Based on the way the town citizens react to her reading (“and her nose stuck in a book/ what a  puzzle to the rest of us is Belle”) you can tell that not many people in the village are educated enough to  read, or even interested enough in becoming educated to read, let alone the women of the village.  Maybe they do not think education is important. Education is so important. I could rant forever a...

Here are several items from Disney Parks merchandise lines that I want.  Rainbow Minnie Ears I've had my eye on these for a couple of years now, and I might actually by them this June.  Rose Gold Spirit Jersey This one is not being made currently, I believe. But the first round of spirit jerseys are far superior than the sweater ones they're putting out now.  Be Our Guest Wine Glasses Another item from the past. I should've bought these when I could've.  Dooney & Bourke Disney Sketch Satchel Every time a new D&B Disney design is released, I get a little excited. But I think the good ol' Disney icon design is my favorite.  Sleeping Beauty Storybook Replica This is a notebook, but I'd really love just to display it somewhere in my house. 

Disney’s relationship with the LGBT is sort of a complicated one. From Disneyland’s early days, homosexual dancing was banned ( except for one couple ). In the 1980s, Disney’s best known openly gay creator – Howard Ashman – revolutionized the animation industry. In 1991 Gay Days at Walt Disney World was established. Gay Days was originally organized independent of the company – but Disney always welcomed celebrators into the parks each June. Just last year Disneyland Paris officially held a Pride celebration. In recent years Disney has started selling Pride rainbow merchandise, and more is added to shelves every June. In 2013, rumors started swirling the internet that Frozen featured Disney’s first gay character . This was debunked by the company, of course. In 2016, viewers headcannoned Judy’s neighbors to be a gay couple .  Then in 2017, Disney announced that they would have their first gay character . The...

Marceline Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. But he did not consider Chicago his hometown. That title went to Marceline, Missouri where he spent his early childhood. Marceline had a great impact on Walt’s life, as he used the small town as inspiration for Main Street, USA in his parks and the setting of The Lady and The Tramp .  Disney Goes Hollywood In 1911, the Disney’s moved to Kansas City. They moved again in 1917 back to Chicago. Walt took art classes wherever he could.  Walt dropped out of school to serve his country in World War I. He became an ambulance driver for the Red Cross. When he returned to Kansas City in 1919, he opened his own cartoon studio, Laugh-O-Gram. Unfortunately, the business had little success. So, Walt decided to move to Hollywood to with his brother, Roy, to join the growing film industry. There, they established another studio – Walt Disney Studios. Walt hired an ink artist named Lillian and the two l...