Meet Disney's Frozen Princesses at a Meet and Greet Near You!

Ana and Elsa wait at the Frozen Royal Reception to greet their guests
courtesy of Disney

Over the past weekend, Disney's new animated feature Frozen moved into the number 1 slot in the American box office, moving solidly past The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and well it should! Disney's new film is full of fun, humor, sorrow, emotion, amazing vocals and music and is, in a word, gorgeously animated. Out of the numerous people I've talked to and enjoyed talking about the film with, I've not been able to find a single person who did not enjoy it, and in fact many of my friends have seen it multiple times at this point. With interest in Ana and Elsa (Frozen's protagonist Princesses) at an all time high, now is the perfect time to meet them at a Disney Park near you!
If you're interested in meeting Ana and Elsa for yourselves, you're in luck! Both sides of the country have their own special Frozen meet and greet for twice the opportunity! Well, if you live near a Disney Park that is... On the East Coast, you can meet the Princesses at Walt Disney World at EPCOT, and those of us on the West Coast who call Disneyland Park our home can meet the Princesses in Fantasyland, where the Tangled meet and greet has been up to this point. Be warned, though, right now due to the movie's popularity and the newness of the attraction, the 'Frozen Royal Reception' is often posting wait times of two hours or longer, so you may want to consider making this your first stop of the day or, if you have the luxury, going on an "off" day (if those even exist anymore) to avoid the crowds and the long lines and maybe have just a little more time with these amazing sisters.

While "Days" isn't a movie review site, I feel like I'd be remiss if I didn't say, again, just how amazing Frozen is. As I've noted before everything from the story of the two sisters, the music, and the animation were woven together just about as well as any other Disney feature I've ever seen and I highly recommend it. It was full of humor (genuinely laugh out loud moments) and emotion (genuinely tear-jerking moments), which to this humble writer, are two of the most important qualities in any film regardless of genre.

Again, this isn't a film-review site, but such as that is, at "Days" we've given Frozen a 9.5/10, as in:
Go see this film!

And if you can, go see these sisters! Hopefully sometime in the next week or two, I'll have the opportunity to myself and if I do, you can bet you'll be hearing about it here first!


Frozen is now available for pre-ordering!

Let's Pursue Some Magic! - Days in the ParkCast (ChatCast #1)

 Beth (left) and her crew at the Hoop-Dee-Doo, Walt Disney World

(photo courtesy of Pursing the Magic)

In this episode, we're introducing a whole new podcast segment!  Well, wholly new for our podcast anyway, as we invite a guest to sit down in the Days in the Park studios with us (all the way from New Hampshire, no less) to join in on the fun.  In this month's show, which we've dubbed our very first "ChatCast", we sit down with Beth Doda, the lady behind the great Disney blog and website, Pursuing the Magic and The Magical Blogorail, to talk all about her love for Disney, and how she got her start as a Disney blogger.  We had a great time just chatting her up about all manner of Disney blog, and Walt Disney World, related topics so pull up your chair, sit a spell, and join us for all of the fun!  We'll all be happy that you did!

You can listen to our show, the Days in the ParkCast, on our podcast website at http://www.daysintheparkcast.com, or in the iTunes store!

---

Originally recorded: 1/13/12
Final Edits and Release: 1/31/12
Hosted by: Chad Elliott & Mark Treiger with special guest, Beth Doda

Contact us about the Days in the ParkCast!
-Email us at parkcast@daysinthepark.com
-or call us on Voicemail at 520-DAYS-CST (329-7278)

Review our show for us in iTunes!

Where in the World (Showcase) is Chad?

Welcome to those of you joining me from "Pursuing the Magic" and those of you just hopping aboard. I am the 3rd stop on our Magical Blogorail.

---

On today's loop, we are talking about, and taking readers on, a virtual tour of our favorite World Showcase Pavilion from Epcot at Walt Disney World.  There's only one problem with this picture and hopefully it's glaringly obvious at this point; I'm a "Lander"!  Other than a general knowledge that such a place as the World Showcase Pavilion even exists, I don't really have a whole lot of personal knowledge about it myself.

And with that, we'll see you on the loop next time!

Just kidding.  What kind of blogger would I be if I didn't even try to assemble something in line with our hop today?  So, rather than trying to talk about something in detail that I know nothing about, and take you on a tour of a place I've never been, I'm going to come at it from the perspective of which World Showcase Pavilion I'd like to visit the most one day.

The irony in all of this is that I have in fact been to the World Showcase Pavilion before.  Have I blown your mind with my attempt at a paradox yet?  Once many moons ago, when I was but a wee lad of 17, my entire family spent a week at Walt Disney World.  I know I've been to the World Showcase Pavilion before because I've seen the pictures that prove that I have, and I have some vague recollection of something Chinese perhaps, but otherwise the entire thing is completely muddy to me.  But I do know where my interests lie, and although I can't remember what I saw and what I didn't nearly 20 years ago on my initial trip, I know what interests me now, and it makes choosing the Germany Pavilion at the World Showcase an extremely easy choice to make!

Photo courtesy of Beth at "Pursuing the Magic"

A huge part of the interest in the Germany Pavilion lies in the fact that I hold a Bachelor's of Science in History.  And although my focus was on American History in my degree, I remember taking an inordinate amount of European history classes as well, and seeing how Germany has fit into so much of the world's history over the past century or so, I carry a very intense desire to see the place for real one day.  But given the fact that a trip to Germany is probably way more expensive than a trip to the Germany Pavilion at Walt Disney World, for the time being, I'm willing to settle for the latter.

The Walt Disney World website calls the Germany Pavilion "a cultural area within Epcot theme park where Guests of all ages can experience the lively charm of a quaint German village."  Lively charm?  Quaint?  German village?  Guest of all ages?  Consider me there!

Unfortunately, since I have no personal experience, I'm kind of at the mercy of what I'm able to gather from other websites and blogs, which means I have no idea of knowing whether something might be outdated or not.  So if I say something that no longer exists in my ignorance, bitte vergib mir. Meine Lederhosen sind zu eng.

These are just some of the many things in the Pavilion (no doubt) that I would love to see and experience:

• So it's Oktoberfest all the time in the Germany Pavilion?  Truthfully, I may never leave based on that one fact alone
• From what I've read, the architecture in the Germany Pavilion is modeled after the Bavarian and Rhine regions of Germany which means they're old and absolutely beautiful.  I'd love to be able to see them and experience them for myself!  Although I can't confess to have an educated knowledge of architecture myself, it's nonetheless something that I very much enjoy just roaming and looking at, and by all counts the Germany Pavilion does an excellent job of representing its time period with its buildings and architectural theme
• That statue of St. George (the patron saint of soldiers) slaying the dragon in the center of the village square just looks absolutely amazing!
• I've seen Snow White at her wishing well at Disneyland, and I'm sure I'd love it just as much to see her at her wishing well at the Germany Pavilion.  In point of fact, based on pictures they look very similar and I'd love to check that out for myself for sure
• I may be a guy, but I love shopping!  Not actually buying, of course, but I love to look!  Steins, glassware, Hummel and Goebel collectibles, handmade sweets, cuckoo clocks, and German toys?  Sounds like so much great stuff to look at and would probably keep me busy and fascinated for hours
• Lastly, though I may not have any personal experience at the Germany Pavilion myself, I know a lot of people who are Walt Disney World afficionados, so I've heard loads and loads about Biergarten, which is the restaurant of the Germany Pavilion.  People had me at the words "German Oktoberfest Buffet".  Love the German sausage, sauerbraten and yes, even the red cabbage!  I love them even more when they come to me in a buffet form.  And there's mealtime entertainment with yodelers, dancers, musicians and more to boot?  This may just be a place that deserves multiple visits in one trip

And there you have it; just a few of the things that I look forward to seeing one day when I make it back to Orlando.  I have plans to go back east and visit hopefully in 2014, and you can bet your bottom dollar that one of the first things I will be doing is hitting up Epcot and heading straight for this one of kind Pavilion in the World Showcase.

Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail Loop is "The CanaDisney Blog".

---

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 ~ Meet the Magic
2nd Stop ~ Pursuing the Magic
3rd Stop ~ Days in the Park
4th Stop ~ The CanaDisney Blog
5th Stop ~ Disney Babies Blog
Final Stop ~ Cooking with Mickey

DitP (sort of) Visits Walt Disney World

One of us recently had the opportunity to go to Walt Disney World; well, sort of.  Chad's wife Stephanie went to Orlando for a conference that was held for two days at Disney's Contemporary Resort.  While she never actually made it into The World, we nonetheless put her to work taking pictures.  And let's be honest, as far as we're concerned, she was there.  Anytime you drive under the great gaudy sign spanning Interstate 4 there (which she did both days and parked on Disney property), we're going to count it.

Seeing the pictures just gets Chad amped up more and more for his trip in 2012.  We can't wait to see Days In The Park tackle The World, for real this time.

Enjoy!

---

Days In The Parks' Disney Wish #1

Unfortunately, the offices of Days In The Park have been invaded by the scourge of the earth today; this particular scourge has arrived taking on the form of the Laundry Monster.

But we wanted to give you guys something today, so here goes.

In 1940 (well, not really the 1940s seeing as how we weren't born yet, so we'll go with the early '80s), Jiminy Cricket taught us that when we wish upon a star, anything our hearts desire will come to us, and that no request is too extreme.

Believing absolutely everything that a cricket can teach us, we present to you, loyal readers, our first Days In The Park Disney Wish.

We want this:

© Disney

And no, we don't want the 2010 version.  That'd be just plain silly.  But maybe the 2011 version?  2012?  And again, no, we don't want a pamphlet, either.  As you can plainly see, we already have one of those.

Get to work, Mr. Cricket.  You're our only hope!