February 7th- let the countdown begin

I'm a sucker for countdowns, I love methodically checking off boxes until the much hoped for day is here.  I had a wedding countdown clock, I swear by advent calendars, I even have a "days until our commitment to the Navy is up" clock (775 more days for anyone interested), but my favorite countdown of all is to a Disney vacation.  I spent the day of the 6th preparing our latest calender, but the morning of the 7th I got to take down the very first number and officially kick off our countdown.  Only 95 more days until Disney!

February 6th- On Stranger Tides

My daily Disney devotion for February 6th was the best part of the Superbowl.  I'm of course taking about the extended trailer for the new Pirates Movie, On Stranger Tides.  I was really excited to see this spot, in fact it was the main reason I watched the Superbowl at all, and it did not disappoint.  I'm really excited for the new Pirates movie, I'm glad the story is moving in a new direction, and I really hope that it is better than the last one.  I'm afraid that if this Pirate's movie is a flop, that will be the end of the franchise, and I'm hoping for at least a few more great Jack Sparrow adventures.

February 5th- Fantasia

Since I wasn't able to do feature film Friday on Friday (I instead got to go on an actual date with my husband- yay babysitting co-op), so I did it on Saturday.  For my daily Disney devotion on February 5th I watched the Disney classic Fantasia.  I had to watch it upstairs on the non-blu ray player, so I wasn't able to do any of the fun commentary, but it was enjoyable none the less.  Fantasia was the very first movie I ever saw in a movie theater, and it has always had a prominent place in my heart.

February 4th- Photopass

photo courtesy of stitchkingdom.com

I'm getting more and more excited about my upcoming Disney trip in May, even though I feel like I've dropped the ball when it comes to obsessive Disney planning.  I've worked out a skeleton itinerary and made my ADRs, but there is lots still to check off on my Disney "to do" list.

For my daily Disney devotion on February 4th, I got around to checking off one of those boxes, and I signed myself up for a photopass share on Facebook.  I have never done this before, but I think its going to work out great.  Basically you join a group of people who are all going to WDW around the same time, one person pre-orders the CD and makes a group account, and then everyone who is part of the share uploads their photopass pictures to the same account.  Disney makes a CD with all the pictures and mails them to the group leader, who then makes copies and mails them out to the others in the share. 

By using a photopass share you can get the benefits of the photopass CD, and have access to all of your photos, without having to spend $99.  Considering I spent almost $50 on three photos from my last trip, this will really end up being a bargin!

February 3- trip reports

A great way to prolong the magic of a Disney trip is to write up a trip report, and share the wonderful memories and magic with other Disney fans.  Reading trip reports is also a great way to get a little dose of Disney between trips.  I love reading trip reports, and now that I have a little one of my own, I especially love reports that feature young children.  I have learned so many wonderful tricks and tips reading these reports, and spread some Disney magic.  For my Daily Disney devotion on Feb 3rd, I started reading a brand new trip report, written by a Disney veteran, who travels to the parks frequently with her daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters.  I have read their reports in the past, and they just recently started a new one from their Oct. trip.  Since we were also down in Oct, we had very similar experiences, and it is almost like reliving my trip once again. 

Here is the link to the trip report, its a good one! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2611094

February 2- Cherry Blossoms

photo courtesy of Orlandothemeparknews.com

My daily Disney devotion on February 2nd is a musically memory, that brought be back to the glory days of Old EPCOT.  I was making Everett dinner and listening to NPR (I do a lot of listening to NPR, that and Disney podcasts!), a segment on China and capitalism.  I truthfully was not paying too much attention to the bulk of the report, I was mostly focused on getting Everett to eat his vegetables, as opposed to throwing them on the ground, when I heard a piece of music that literally caused me to stop in my tracks.  It was the Chinese folk song Sakura, Sakura (which is the Chinese word for cherry blossom).  This music struck an immediate chord, and I recognized instantly where I had heard it before.  It had been part of the original (and in my opinion the best!) Illuminations which premiered in  1988.  The original Illuminations featured all of the World Showcase Pavilions (except for Morocco and Norway), with traditional music from each country and lights on the pavilion.   Sakura, Sakura was the song that played for China, and hearing it took me right back to my childhood, standing pressed up against the railing around the WS lagoon, watching a fireworks spectacular.

Mo'Rockin

Photo courtesy of Disney.com

I was paging through Real Simple magazine the other day, when an advertisement caught my eye.  It said "Morockin' Chicken, that's what it tastes like".  I don't think I need to explain the reference to most Disney fans, but just in case, Mo'Rockin is a musical act that plays in Morocco in Epcot.  Mo'Rockin is one of my favs along the World Showcase (along with Off Kilter), so I had to try the dish.  It was a fairly simple recipe, from the Campbells Kitchen (it was a soup advertisement), but it seemed perfect for a quick weeknight meal.  While certainly not as good as the food you get at Restaurant Marrakesh, or even the Tangerine Cafe, it wasn't bad and the name alone was enough to transport me back to one of my favorite places in Epcot.

For those that might be interested here is a link to the recipe  http://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipedetail.aspx?recipeID=60558&fbid=GhjAY6MD3j0  I made mine with chicken breasts, since that is what I had on hand, and skipped the almonds, but it still was yummy.