The Wonderful World of Color

This show gets its own special post because I think it is that amazing! I had heard this show was something to see and made sure it was on my "Must Do" list for my trip to California. I was certainly not disappointed, this show blew me away with its technical aspects, the clarity of the pictures, the gorgeous soundtrack and the overall presence of the show.  It is just mind-blowing and while the videos of it on Youtube are great, nothing can compare to seeing it in person.  And I Mean Nothing!!! Tears came to my eyes on a few occasions, so be warned!

I was lucky enough to see this show from 2 angles; from a basic front row seat and from the balcony of a Grand Villa in Disney's Grand Californian.  Below are the two videos for you to enjoy! Please let me know which you enjoy more!

My new coping strategy

I don't know if this is just Delaware of if is the whole country, but teachers have this weekly team meeting called a PLC to go to.  We talk about standards and what we are teaching and curriculum and lots of other teachery things, I won't bore the non-teachers with the details. Anyway, during these meetings, at the beginning, we try to come up with a Celebration from the past week. This is something that happened, no matter how small or big, that was a good. I realized that I haven't really had much to say at these because I'm so focused on what has to be done and what is required of us and what I have to do as a first year teacher and how I am going to get the support I need for this kid and that kid......the list goes on....

So, in order to keep me from burning out in my first 3 months of teaching, I have decided to make quality time for myself, even if it is 5 minutes, and think about a Celebration each day.  Something that happened that was good that day.  I am hoping this will keep me focused on the good side of this job and help me through the rough patches.

And, for myself and my Disney friends who read this, I will do some reading related to Disney every day and have something I've learned about Disney along with my Celebration. Hey, maybe my fact can be from Celebrations Magazine!! (yea, I know, shameless plug, what can I say)

So, today's Celebration: I have 3 of my 4 IEPs in the next 2 months scheduled! And, they will all be done before I go to WDW on Dec 9! (more info on that coming soon)

My Disney fact of the day comes from the newest Celebrations actually, just worked out that way...Captain Jack Sparrow sailed on 15 ships as either the captain or the crew, and this does include the little dingy that he sailed off in at the end of "At World's End".

Mouse Meals: Ariel's Grotto

This week on Mouse Meals, I gave my review of Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure.  My experience was very pleasant and I highly recommend this restaurant! To hear my full review, tune into Mouse Meals on Magic 24.7 at 12pm Pacific (3pm Eastern) at VacationSuperstation.com 

Here are some pictures from my trip:

The awesome bread with the ranch, butter and pesto sauce for dipping

How cool is this design?!

Our Menu...I think our whole group tried everything on this menu!

The Epic Dessert Plate!!

LOVED this White Chocolate Film Strip

My World of Color Fastpass

World of Color was going on during our Dessert and while we were leaving the restaurant...soo cool looking!

Here is my video of World of Color from our fastpass viewing! You can distinctly hear the couple times we get wet...I am protective of my camera!

This Week's It Came from Disney!

This week on the Disney Dispatch, I wrote about a necklace that was given to me by two great guys that I met at the D23 Expo! The name: PoMo. Ya know you wanna check it out! Read my review here and check out the site at pomogalaxy.com today!

Today's Mouse Meals

On Today's Mouse Meals, I will be talking about my first Disney recipe, William Penn Pasta. Here's the recipe, from AllEars.net:

Recipe
William Penn Pasta
Liberty Tree Tavern
Magic Kingdom

12 oz. rigatoni pasta
32 oz. Pink Sauce (recipe below)
2 oz fresh spinach
4 oz. smoked bacon (diced)
4 to 6 oz. chicken breast

Render bacon in saute pan. Add pasta, pink sauce and spinach to pan. Toss and place in pasta bowl. Grill chicken and place on top of the pasta.

William Penn Chicken Marinade
4 to 6 oz. Chicken Breast
1 ounce Basil
1/2 ounce Thyme
1/2 cup Canola oil
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Mix together until the chicken is evenly coated with herbs and oil.

Pink Sauce
1 qt. Tomato Sauce
2 qt. Heavy Cream
3 oz. Fresh Garlic (chopped)
To Taste Kosher Salt & Pepper

Put tomato sauce in pot. Add garlic and heat up. When marinara sauce comes to a boil add heavy cream, salt and pepper.


For more Disney recipes, visit the WDW Recipe page on AllEars.net.

AVATAR Watch Postponed to 10/8

Due to the NLDS Game 5 Phillies vs Cardinals (GO PHILLIES), the AVATAR watch has been postponed to Saturday at 8pm. I hope everyone is still interested and able to attend! Remember, set up the movie on your TV, come into the Friend Feed room at friendfeed.com/the-true-disney-fan and we will hit play together so we can watch and chat about the movie together!  Hope to see you there!

Avatar Group Watch: Friday Oct 7 @ 8pm

So, as promised, I am planning an online group watch for Avatar for those of us who haven't seen it yet and/or just want to watch it together and discuss the possibilities for the new "Avatar Land" in Animal Kingdom. The plan is for this Friday at 8:00 pm Eastern. I have created a Friend Feed at Friendfeed.com/the-true-disney-fan and at 8 on Friday, just meet in there with your movies ready to play and once we are all settled, we hit play at the same time and begin to discuss. I will post reminders on Twitter and Facebook as well as have a Plancast event for those interested.

I know that Ryan Kilpatrick, owner of Disney Film Project, is planning on doing a watch for this as well at some point, though it has not been announced yet on his website.  I am doing this now just to further my understanding of Disney's choice to add this film to the park, but I strongly encourage you to join Ryan for his as well when it happens as he will give trivia and great information regarding the film as you watch. I will post the date for his official Tweetwatch when he has posted it on his site.

I hope you will join me to watch the film, I am excited to watch and discuss this movie with all of you!