Bringing The Park Magic Home

Welcome to those of you joining me from "Pursuing The Magic". I am the final stop on our Magical Blogorail.

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For many people, trips into The Parks are just not something that happens on a regular basis, but rather something that comes once in a while bringing with it much anticipation and excitement. Your trip dawns, you go and before you know it, your trip is over and you're own your way home. Kind of depressing, right? I know it used to make me sad before I was an Annual Passholder at Disneyland. So what's a person to do to diminish the letdown as much as they can? Find some way to bring the magic home, of course! There are many different ways in which people choose to bring the Disney Magic home with them, based on personality and preference. Today I'm going to share just a few of the ways in which I bring the magic home with me, because let's be honest, even as an Annual Passholder, I'm always interested in making each day as magical as I can. Your mileage may vary, but hopefully you'll see something that will spark your interest and help you bring the magic into your home.

#1 - Music: 
I've talked about it before, but music from The Parks is a huge and very important way in which I bring The Park Magic home with me. Literally. I listen to Park music on the way to The Park, I listen to Park music on the way home from The Park, and lately if I've listened to music on my living room stereo or in iTunes on my PC, it's been Park music. Occasionally I will branch out and listen to soundtracks and music from Disney movies, but lately it's been almost solely music from The Parks whether it be from an attraction, show, or anything I can get my hands on. And let's not forget the beauty of a little invention called podcasting. What better way to bring some of that Magic into your home than by listening to other like-minded people with a love for The Parks talk about them? We love them so much we even started our own recently, although we don't really listen to ourselves after; but we were inspired! I know that they're not technically music, but they kind of fall into the same category in my mind. Definitely worth checking out some if you're not already.

#2 - Movies: 
This one is probably too easy, but so what? It deserves including! One of the best ways I know of to keep the Magic alive at home is the way that I was introduced to the Magic in the first place, through the medium of Disney films. I grew up inhaling Disney movies, and now that I have three little boys all of my own, I'm definitely pushing them to do the same. And we don't watch just the new stuff, either. Our collection runs the gammut from the very first Disney film all the way to the must current, animated or live-action, DVD or Blu Ray; it doesn't matter. There's nothing more magical to me than grabbing a soda, popping some corn, and sitting on the living room floor with my family for a movie.

#3 - Video Games:
I'm a gamer. I play loads of video games. All manner, all types, from games rated E (for Everyone) to M (for Mature) so it was only natural that I gravitate to something that I love, Disney gaming. And there are some amazing ones out there. One of my favorite things in the world to do is sit down and play games with my boys. They are just like their daddy in their love of games, and it's some kind of magical for sure to be sitting on the floor with the little ones playing games that make me think about Disney. Amazing subject matter, fantastic story-telling, safe for the kiddies; what more could you ask for?

#4 - Collecting:
One of my all time favorite pasttimes is collecting things. I have an obsessive type personality anyways, so if I see something I like I tend to buy the thing up in droves. It seems only natural then that one of the ways I enjoy bringing The Magic home is by doing it literally and bringing things home The Parks. Lately, and if you read our blog regularly you will know this, Vinylmation has been big in my home. But it's not just that. We buy stuffed toys from The Parks for the boys, t-shirts, hoodies, purses, candy, books; you name it. Some of the things we buy might seem like a necessity, but really it's just one more piece in what is a very large collection of Disney paraphernalia we have, fun or necessary. And we don't just collect the things that cost money, either. Parking stubs from Mickey and Friends and the Toy Story Lot, Park maps, pamphlets and handouts about special events, napkins (like the one I have from Club 33), et al are all things that we like to collect that remind us of some great memory we had in The Parks. They don't just sit idly on a shelf, either. Many times I will catch the boys sneaking into my room to look at these things, and sometimes I even sneak in with them and sit and look at it all and talk about when, where, why or how we got it. The memories just keep on going aided with a little help from our magical friends.

#5 - Writing:
Sort of like my "Movies" one, this might seem a bit too easy or like a bit of a cop-out. But it's the honest truth, one of the ways I bring home the Disney Magic is to write about, most of the time on a daily basis. The entire reason my friend Mark and I started this blog and have kept it up this long (believe me, six months is a long time for us) is because we love The Parks so much, and we wanted to have some way to keep the magic alive when we weren't wandering around there in the most literal sense. Hence, Days In The Park was born. I'm not saying that you should go out and start your own blog necessarily, although if you want to "there's always room for one more", but you might honestly consider writing about it. As a writer, words are something that I very much believe in and I'm a big proponent of everyone writing their thoughts down, even if it's in a journal or diary or whatever. Love Disney? Want to keep it alive but you're not quite at the point where you want everyone to read it? That's okay! Why not take some time just to jot down some thoughts and share it with your family or friends? Heck, keep it for yourself if you'd like and read it periodically and see if it brings a smile to your face. You'd be amazed at just how magical it can be to go back and read about things you've done in your own words. There's nothing quite like it.

These are just a few of the ways that I choose to keep the Disney Magic alive in my own home. There are few others, but these are the ones that are nearest and dearest to me. What about you? Do you have any suggestions you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you; we're always looking for new and fresh ways to keep the Magic alive!

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Thank you for joining us this month. We will be back May 13th with an all new theme, though keep checking in with our blogs in between loops to keep up to date with our Disney info, photos and stories.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

1st Stop ~ The CanaDisney Blog

2nd Stop ~ Disney Babies Blog

3rd Stop ~ Cooking with Mickey

4th Stop ~ Meet the Magic

5th Stop ~ Pursuing the Magic

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The Sound of (Park) Music

Let the music begin

Have you ever entered the Park and just stood in awe at how detailed it is? From the Cast Members' costumes to the buildings surrounding you, everything is planned to fit together.  Even the background music fits in perfectly.  Just one of the many surprises that the Park has in store for you.

Almost every time we head over to the Park, we listen to Disneyland Resort Discography.  It hit me the other day that some of the songs on the CD I wasn't readily familiar with, and there were plenty of songs playing in the Park that weren't on our CDs.  So where did they come from?  Well, we found the solution (it wasn't hard to find, but it still made us feel good about ourselves) while making our way through the famous entrance tunnels into Main Street, U.S.A.  We heard some very familiar sounds from the CD, and it hit us, there's always more to the Park than meets the eye (quite literally sometimes).

We love hearing the song "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" from Hello, Dolly! (and Wall-E, of course) playing in the background throughout Main Street.  Making our way down to the castle and into Fantasyland, the tone of the music changes entirely.  King Arthur Carousel might as well be one giant calliope boom box.  You can hear famous Disney Princess music played, such as "Once Upon A Dream" from Sleeping Beauty (and many others) as it goes around and around.  Even heading towards the Matterhorn you can hear music coming from the Mad Tea Party; Alice In Wonderland tinged, of course.

Since we're heading towards the Matterhorn, let's keep going into Tomorrowland, where the sounds of space and science fiction movies can be heard.  They love music so much here they even have a stage for it where bands can be seen and heard on any given weekend.  While we're here, let's grab a Rocket Rod (couldn't resist) and shoot on over to the other side of the Park.

Where John Williams and Rock-a-billy collide

"How Do Ya Do?" can be heard over at Critter Country, evoking images of Brer Rabbit and his laughing place (and giving us an insane desire to climb on that blasted Splash Mountain just one more time), along with the many tunes of Winnie the Pooh ("Heffalumps and Woozles," anyone?) coming in every once in a while.  As you make your way down to New Orleans Square, you'll notice some of that 'good ole Jazz' music being played to set the mood while you stroll through the shops; it just makes you want to snap your fingers!

What about one of the wildest portions of the Park, Adventureland?  Music from the infamous Tarzan's Treehouse (infamous to us; let's not get into that tree too much, our legs hurt just thinking about it), Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, and the "Garden Show" from The Enchanted Tiki Room all vie for space inside your eardrums.

My name is Rongo...

Let's take a detour and say, "Howdy!" to Frontierland.  Classic western music is, of course, the theme here, and every once in a while you may get a real treat and hear the theme song from Blazing Saddles, as well as music from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and from The Golden Horseshoe Revue.  Had enough?  Head on around the "wildest ride in the wilderness" and you'll find yourself on your way back to Fantasyland; we've already been here so just keep going until you hit Mickey's Toontown, where the many whacky and zany sounds of Disney cartoons like Steamboat Willie and Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin can be heard all around.

"This here's the wildest ride in the wilderness!"

We've said before (this week in fact!) that's it all in the little details, but we love our Park music and sounds.  We can't help but smile when our cell phones go off in the Park (featuring Park ringtones, of course) and we see people looking around to see where the sound is coming from.  We're so infatuated with the sounds of the Park even our phones play Park tunes! 

Sometimes we get so caught up in the visual magic of the Park that we let the audible kind pass us by.  So, the next time you're visiting, take a minute to close your eyes and give a listen.  We didn't list every 'Sound Hot Spot' because we want you to find some of the Park magic for yourself. You never know what you might discover.

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