Walk Disney World: Magic Kingdom Spotify Playlist

In honor of my first post on The Magical Adventurers blog which details an at-home walking plan to virtually stroll the streets of the Magic Kingdom at home, I've compiled a playlist to get your fins flipping and your legs jumping and dancing!  

The songs, played in this order, will take you on a 45-50 minute walk starting at the Magic Kingdom Boat Launch, down Main Street USA, and into New Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Liberty Square, Frontierland, Adventureland, back to Liberty Square, and through Fantasyland back down to Cinderella Castle and Main Street U.S.A. to the Boat Launch. Add my playlist on Spotify and head over to The Magical Adventurers for directions on your virtual walk! 

Spotify Playlist - Walk Disney World: Magic Kingdom

Notes:

There is no better way to start your walk than hearing "All Aboard!" from Main Street Station! Be an honorary Mouseketeer as you march down Main Street U.S.A. as you head toward Ariel's Grotto. 

• Songs: "All Aboard! - From Main Street Station," "Mickey Mouse March," 'Under the Sea."

Breeze past Seven Dwarfs Mine Train into to Tomorrowland to Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. 

• Songs: "Heigh-Ho," "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow"

Make your way toward Liberty Square through the Castle Hub as Queen Elsa herself inspires your journey!

• Songs: "Into the Unknown"

Head out West to Frontierland to one of my favorite attractions, Country Bear Jamboree, and to Princess Tiana's future home. You're Almost There - half-way through your walk!

• Songs: "The Bear Band Serenade," "Almost There"

It's all adventure for this next musical trek through Adventureland!

• Songs:"The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room," "I Just Can't Wait to Be King," "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me"

Only one song needed as spooks arrive for the midnight spree and you head to my all-time favorite attraction, The Haunted Mansion:

• Songs: "Grim Grinning Ghosts"

It's back into Fantasyland with the greatest opening number to any Disney movie and everyone's favorite inspiring ballad from the Princess of Motunui:

• Songs: "Belle," "How Far I'll Go"

Finish off your walk with a triumphant stroll past the Castle and this empowering song from the 2015 live-action Cinderella...because you are strong!

• Songs: "Strong"

Pinnie Mouse Plans! Disney Inspired Planner Layout | Week of July 5, 2020

After years and years of being a part of the planner community, I decided to share my passion for paper craft in my first Plan with Me video. 

For those not familiar with this particular hobby, planning, in this sense, can be described as the intersection of paper media scheduling books/agendas/day journals (a “planner”) and scrapbooking. Styles can range from strictly functional planning with little to no decor all the way to “no white space planning” in which nearly every spot on the page is covered with stickers. Planner enthusiasts often use a mix of decorative and functional stickers, washi tape, ink stamps, pens and simply their own humble handwriting or crafted hand lettering to note, record, remind and remember the day-to-day. Great examples can be found on Instagram by planner masters such as @kellofaplan, @planwithlaken, @athomewithquita, @ajmcgarvey, @neatlyplanned, @nowhitespacestickers.

As for me, my style always includes a bit of Disney magic! Most of the Disney inspired stickers that I use I find on Etsy and other small shop websites. I’ll be highlighting them here and linking to their shops. 

While I’ve used a few different planners over the years I have used consistently and favored The Happy Planner. There are hundreds of styles and layouts (arrangements) offered. Currently I am using the Happy Planner mini vertical Planner Babe for personal planning (which I will highlight here) and the Amy Tangerine classic vertical Happy Planner for work.

Last week I used a weekly kit (pack of stickers designed to be used on a given calendar week which includes a combination of decorative and functional stickers) I had in my stash for months from The Stickery Co. on Etsy. I really enjoyed playing with this fun and vibrant kit and was really pleased with the quality as well the variety included. Will definitely be buying from her again!

Here’s my video! A “plan with me” is exactly like it sounds - I speak very briefly at the beginning and end of the video but most of it is just watching me lay out the stickers on my weekly spread. There are tons of these kinds of videos on YouTube and you can find them by simply searching “plan with me.” The Instagrammers I listed above are a great place to start if you’re curious! 

Hope your days are filled with magic and you have a great big beautiful tomorrow! 

Plan the Magic 2019 Day Planner Review

In January 2019 I was lucky enough to snag a Plan the Magic day planner. A wildly successful new venture by Disney Instagram influencer, Miranda Lee @themagicalmiranda, it sold out immediately in its inaugural printing and I was able to get one in the second wave in mid-January. This fun and functional planner is an unpretentious breath of fresh air among new weekly planner systems.

Any Disney-loving planner girl will gush over Plan the Magic. There are just enough Disney details included to make it magical, yet its simple vertical weekly layout in cheery yellows, greens, pinks, purples, and blues lends itself to the option for creative expression and organization. 

I really love the Disney celebrations and anniversaries noted on the monthly spread - useful information for bloggers, Instagrammers, and Resort guests alike. The back pages feature all original content from Miranda, including packing lists and worksheets for your Disney must-dos and Disney dream experiences. A super useful tool on the last page of each month is a rundown of what to look for at Walt Disney World and Disneyland that month as well as average temperatures and weather for Orlando and Anaheim that time of year. Even when not planning a trip, I’ve loved flipping over to the next month and being inspired by what’s to come, such as Flower & Garden in March.

The construction itself is extremely sturdy. A heavy hardcover measures 7” x 9 3/4” and the 6 9/16” x 8 1/2” smooth matte paper is a good classic size. The paper is a great weight (no issues with bleed through) and the coated tabs give this planner a durable feel. The columns for each day in the weekly layout measure approximately 6 1/2” x 1 1/2” which works well with most mainstream planner sticker kits.

All-in-all, this thoughtfully designed planner could only come out of the mind of a true Disney fanatic. Miranda’s system is sure to inspire you to get organized and get creative.

Check out themagicalmiranda.com or @planthemagic on Instagram for more information on next year’s release.

Mickey Mouse Baby Room / Nursery

It's been over two years since I updated this blog and the reason for that coincides with the topic of this post! Things have been hectic since the birth of my son a year and a half ago but I was inspired to start blogging again when one of my favorite YouTubers recently shared a look at her son's nursery nearly a year after he was born... so this post has been in the works for a long time!

While my son's bedroom is a bit more crowded (i.e. messy) with toys these days, the decor has remained the same. One of the things I love about the way his room turned out is that the design can absolutely grow with him. My focus was on a color palate of red, yellow and black (which worked nicely with some of the existing wood furniture in a natural tone) and with the addition of a few decor elements intended for a child's room. Also, concentrating on colors instead of specifically nursery decor made this project affordable and fun to piece together. 

Most of this room was put together from Amazon, Ikea, and Shop Disney. Links are below. Where some items are no longer available I tried to put something similar:

Melissa & Doug Disney Mickey Mouse and Friends Wooden Stacking Train (14 pcs)

Melissa & Doug Mickey Mouse & Friends Wooden Shape Sorting Cube Baby Toy

Mouseketeer Ear Hat for Adults - The Mickey Mouse Club - Walt Disney World - Personalizable

Ours purchased at The Chapeau on Main Street USA, Walt Disney World

 In This House We Do Disney Wood Sign

The one pictured was given to us as a gift from an unknown shop. 

 Mickey sketch sent by the Walt Disney World Resort as a thank you from our 2015 visit. Sketch was specially created by Senior Character Artist Don “Ducky” Williams. Frame from Ikea. 

 

POÄNG Rocking chair, birch veneer - Cushion design & color slightly different from pictured

BOSNÄS Ottoman with storage, Ransta yellow

Disney Parks Icons Pillow

KALLAX Shelf unit

Style pictured is EXPEDIT in birch veneer from 10 years ago.

Linked is the similar updated version. 

DRÖNA Box, black  and DRÖNA Box, red

KALLAX Insert with door, yellow

DaVinci Kalani 4-in-1 Convertible Crib

Style pictured is DaVinci Emily - no longer available

Disney Mickey Mouse Crib Sheet Set

Disney Mickey Wall Art, 2 Count and Disney Mickey Shaped Wall Art

Limelights Stick Brushed Steel Lamp with Charging Outlet and Fabric Shade in Red

Mickey Mouse Plush - Medium - 17''

Duffy the Disney Bear

available for purchase at the Disney Studio Store in Hollywood Studios Animation Courtyard

Minnie Mouse Plush 

Vintage from my own childhood - made by Hasbro Softies - link to one on eBay

Please let me know if you have any questions! I'm so happy to share this project with you! 

(And yes, my son LOVES Mickey Mouse!)

Shop Disney Parks App Review

I've been meaning to post this review for a long time but now that I've used the app for about 9 months, I feel that I can give a more thorough analysis of what it does and how well it works!


Released in summer 2015, I first learned about this app before my December 2015 trip to Walt Disney World. Being the kind of shopper that prefers to do research ahead of time (I love store websites that allow you to check the stock of an item in nearby stores. That way I can be in and out - try on or scope out the potential purchase and then head for the register), I had an idea of some of the kinds of items I was looking for at WDW. For example, I'd wanted to pick up some Duffy merchandise, but knowing that Duffy ended his meet-and-greet run at Epcot just 2 months before my trip, I wanted some insider info on what stores were my best bet for things Duffy. So I headed over to the best place for a specific Disney insider info - Disboards.com - and asked this very question. Someone there let me know about the existence of this fabulous app and the rest is history!

This app is useful in 3 main ways and I have utilized it extensively with 2 of them:

Low Stock and In Stock icons

Locating items on property - as described in my introduction, this app proved to be a huge time-saver while shopping at WDW, both in locating potential purchases as well confirming the in-stock status of an item at a given store. Here's an example of a real success story: on my visit last December, I really wanted a pair of the green sequin Minnie ears headband with the red bow for MVMCP. This proved to be a more challenging task than I assumed and I would have went home empty handed if it wasn't for this app. (There were plenty of the black Minnie ears headbands with the light bulb design but I really wanted this other specific style.) After searching to no avail in nearly every store in Epcot, I was ready to give up. However, with some exploration of the Shop Disney Parks app, I searched for the item on the app, I clicked "locate" and found the places these particular ears were carried on property - from Main Street Emporium to even the shops in the resorts. Something I quickly learned is that the yellow "Low Stock" triangle symbol actually means "Out of Stock," and while these ears showed yellow triangles all over the map, there was ONE store on property that still had a green "In Stock" circle for these Holly Ears. It was the Magic Kingdom Newsstand - a store I never even noticed and is probably overlooked by most MK guests. Situated on the left side of the entrance, it's located right past bag check but before the "tunnels" that take you on to Main Street USA. Most people, I would imagine, are eager to get into the park and don't usually stop to shop in this tiny little outpost they encounter in the first 30 seconds they are admitted in, especially with the huge Emporium only steps away. Well, true to the app, I could spot a stack of them at 20 paces. God bless my sweet husband, who, despite this being a silly quest (truly), bounded ahead of me and beelined right to them for me! I think he was as happy to snatch them up for me as I was excited to own them :) Without this app, I never would have looked in this store and I wouldn't have gotten them!

An additional benefit (which I learned after the fact) is that you can see if an item is in stock at a more convenient location on property. Even though the WDW gift shopping mantra is "if you see it, buy it now!" since nothing is guaranteed to be in-stock elsewhere, I found that there were some items that I'd purchased in Mouse Gear that I later found were plentifully in stock in the Wilderness Lodge Mercantile which I could have picked up on my way back to my room. Even though Disney makes shopping in the parks easy with package pick-up and resort delivery, knowing that the mug I had to have could be located an elevator ride away from my room would have made it even more convenient. 

Above: Search results for a common item. In stock in the parks AND my resort!

Above: Want to browse all products in a specific category? Not only can you see all the results but you can pinpoint the location of the harder-to-find items (like those unique to a park/resort/theme).

Shopping in the parks - I have not actually made a purchase through the app while on property but I did use the bar code scanner frequently in store and ended up purchasing some of the items when I got home (see below). One of the things I loved about this is that you could just walk around and zap items with the app that recorded the sku number, a picture, and all necessary data all in only place (instead of jotting down information from a tag or snapping a photo of them item for future reference). Otherwise, this allows you to shop while waiting in attraction queues and with the benefit of merchandise pickup and delivery https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/package-pickup-and-delivery/ Easy peasy!




Shopping from home - for those of us who don't feel fulfilled by DisneyStore.com (though I shop there regularly, it's more of a toy store to me), this app is everything to those who want to have the virtual experience of shopping essentially every item in WDW from home. The inventory on the app is incredibly extensive. This works like any other shopping app - you can search for items, add them to your cart and check out. It also keeps the items in your cart long term and allows you to save items in your cart for later. There is no extra charge for this service - the items arrive with the original price tag which matches the price you pay. Each time I have shopped through here, the items have arrived via UPS in about a week. The app frequently offers discounts and free shipping, especially around the holidays. (I even shopped through here for Christmas and their "guaranteed by Christmas free shipping" was true!)

I will admit however that there are a few parts of the app that could use improvement. As I mentioned, "low stock" actually means "out of stock" (but I understand why it would work this way for the sake of inventory upkeep) so knowing that distinction is helpful. The only other area I found that could use some fine tuning is the search feature. Generally, it works fine, but in some cases, you really need to know what you're looking for to find it. For example, though this key chain is clearly Minnie holding Duffy, this item won't come up in the results when you search "Duffy." You kind of have to know that it's called "Park Fun Keychain" to find it. Similarly, with my aforementioned search for the "green sequin Minnie ears headband with the red bow," if I searched "Christmas ears" nothing came up. When I searched generically for "Minnie ears," I scrolled through all the options and found these are called "Holly ears." If I search "Christmas," I'd hope to see all the holiday related items. However, I really cannot imagine the kind of programming it takes to create and maintain this extensive shopping app, so I am sure these features will improve with future updates.

Overall I am extremely pleased with this app and will continue to use it as my primary Disney shopping source. I give it 5 out of 5 Dole Whips!

Free Souvenir + Cheap DIY: Walt Disney World Coaster

One of the reasons so many love staying at the Walt Disney World Resorts is the attention to detail. Certainly we love the theming, the environment, and the dedicated Cast Members, but it's also the special little touches that are uniquely Disney.

I try to bring little subtle touches of Disney into my home and there are none better than those right from your Walt Disney World Resort stay. Everyone thinks to take the little soaps and shampoos and lotions from your resort room, but on my last stay, I grabbed two of the thin paper coasters under the drinking glasses on top of the refrigerator near the ice bucket  I looked up on Pinterest a number of techniques to DIY coasters (using photos, for example). Well, with the cost of supplies and effort involved, I could have just purchased a set of Disney World coasters! Also, I love the idea of using an item at home that you can only get visiting WDW.

So all I did was take the two coasters to be laminated. I went to Staples but you can go to any store with laminating services. I asked for the thickest laminating they had available, 7mm or 10mm. The cost is by sheet (the two easily fit on one sheet). I cut them out myself at home with just a regular scissor, being careful to leave at least an 1/8 inch boarder. My total cost was around $3.00. If you have your own laminating machine, you could do it at home; however, mine only takes flimsy laminating sheets and I wanted something much thicker, almost rigid, that I knew would hold up and last.

I keep them on my nightstand and they add just a little magic to my bedtime routine. What other free/cheap and creative souvenirs have you taken home and used from Disney World?

Candle that smells like Disney World

I, too, I have Googled those exact words.

In the ongoing effort to make my home more magical with little accents that remind me of Walt Disney World, I'd been looking for a candle that reminds me of any of the unique scents of the Disney parks. I was very surprised that no Disney branded or partnered line exists! Seriously, Disney Parks people, get on this!

Then I found Strawberry Buttercream by Yankee Candle. This is the closest you can get to inhaling the divine aroma of Main Street USA at home. The Strawberry Buttercream candle definitely evokes the Main Street Confectionery Smellitizers...aka heaven.

The candle has a sweet light scent without being cloying. It has a medium throw... Not in-your-face like its being pumped into your living room, but you get whiffs every now and then of powdered sugar, berries, cookies, vanilla, and cotton candy all at once.  

Now I cannot take credit for this find. This candle I.D. was made over at Sparkly Ever After, one of the best Disney and lifestyle blogs around. Check out that original post here: http://sparklyeverafter.com/at-home-disney-favorites/ 

Have you found any other candle scents that remind you of Disney? Comment below!

Blogger / Vlogger Obsession: Pretty Neat Living

A couple of months ago, I stumbled on to a blogger known at the time as OrganizedJen. Jennifer Ross, queen of all things organizational, maintains a regularity updated lifestyle blog and a YouTube channel with over 120,000 subscribers. (Which is crazy to me since I get excited when my blog view count for the day skyrockets to 8.)

Just click on one of her videos and you can see why she's so addicting to watch. As if I didn't love her content enough (she's inspired me to do a home purge and upped my cosmetics game by about a thousand), she's also an avid Disney fan. She and her husband are regular vacationers at Walt Disney World and she has quite a number of Disney-related vlogs - everything from booking a Disney trip to what she packs for visiting WDW. They are definitely worth a watch. Here are some of my favorites:

She just relaunched her brand as Pretty Neat Living which represents well the content she's been putting out there for five years now. Far more than just organizing, Jen invites you into her delightful little slice of the world in which suitcases are always big enough and no task is insurmountable with help from The Container Store. Go check out Pretty Neat Living!

Garden Grocer Rave Review

Today I want to share my review of Garden Grocer, an online grocery delivery service based out of Orlando that specializes in deliveries to the Walt Disney World Resorts. 

Before our second trip to Disney World last summer, I’d done a lot more research on sites like MouseSavers and DISboards than our first go around…Disney is really just one of those things you need to experience to understand how it all works. Don’t get me wrong, first-timers will have an incredible trip without reading all the guidebooks, but for subsequent trips, you definitely know what you need to prepare, pack, not pack, and plan ahead. For my family, one of those things was strategizing a way to cut down breakfast time to be able to get in a little more sleep and a little more magic. Additionally, we found that, for us, that the meals at WDW are so filling, it’s unnecessary to have a full breakfast every day.

Now, while I’m not usually looking for more than a big mug of coffee and a piece of toast, my husband is a “breakfast person;” but even he insisted that a bowl of cereal and piece of fruit was more than sufficient, especially considering all the fabulous Advanced Dining Reservations at Signature restaurants we had planned for dinner throughout our stay. My research led me to the wonders of shipping items to your resort to arrive ahead of your stay. Enter Garden Grocer. 

Every aspect of ordering from Garden Grocer was perfect start to finish. The website is easy to navigate and the prices are reasonable (an absolute bargain compared to New York City prices, and certainly WDW food costs). Before even signing up for an account, you can browse the online shelves a bit to get an idea of what they have (answer: everything). When you create an account, you can even favorite items so that you can mull over your list before putting them in your shopping cart. What really sold me on this particular service was the communication. The follow-up phone call order confirmation gave me confidence in dealing with this company for the first time and the text message I received letting me know my groceries were waiting for me at the Wilderness Lodge while I was en route on Disney’s Magical Express from MCO gave me great peace of mind. Furthermore, the accuracy of my order and the freshness of the products I received were of the best quality (– fresh fruit salad and milk were part of my order). 

The products I ordered were there as promised. I simply mentioned it at the check in desk and I was sent just a few feet away to the bell hop counter. Less than 10 minutes after I got to my room, the bellhop was there with our groceries! And as promised, all of the refrigerables (not a word but I’m making it a word!) were kept cold by my resort until I was ready for them. 

One of the features of having placed an order (and therefore having an online account) with Garden Grocer, is that you can view past orders to remember what you purchased last time. Based on 4 adults for a 6 day stay, I ordered:

1 package of bakery fresh blueberry muffins
12 cereal single cups, assorted cereals
2 packages of Nutri-Grain Cereal Bars
1 box of Quaker Instant Oatmeal Variety Pack
1 half-gallon of milk
6 pack of yogurt, assorted flavors
1 container Tropicana orange juice
1 bowl of fresh mixed fruit
2 cases of bottled water, 32 count each

Including the $14.00 delivery fee, sales tax and gratuity, the bill came to $100 on the nose. This was more than enough food for all of us for breakfast (I wanted to have a variety for my husband and brothers-in-law to choose from) and came out to $5 per person, per day, including ALL of the bottled water we used on the trip! (At $2.50 a bottle in the parks, we paid $.25 a bottle using Garden Grocer.) Everything fit well in our little refrigerators, split between our two rooms and we restocked the water in the fridge nightly. For just one of the mornings we made an ADR for Kona Cafe which was a great experience and a nice break from the small and quick in-room breakfast. Needless to say, lunch was skipped that morning! (Tonga Toast = HEAVEN)

The only thing I would add for next time is either purchasing some disposable bowls, plates, and cutlery or bringing some light plastic reusable ones from home. We ended up having to take what we needed every morning from the quick service cafeteria when we went to go fill our Resort Mugs with coffee. 

It was a real luxury to eat breakfast in our rooms and to not have to pay extra or use a Quick Service credit on such a small meal. I highly recommend using Garden Grocer for anyone staying at a Walt Disney World resort. I won't hesitate to use them on all of my next stays at WDW!

This post is neither endorsed nor sponsored by Garden Grocer or gardengrocer.com. My opinions are based on my own research and experience. I did not receive any compensation, discount, or incentive for using this service.  

Disney Savings Jar D.I.Y.

Hello all! Long time, no post! Sorry about that...I work at a university and April and May are months we tell ourselves to "just keep swimming!"

My husband and I already did a bit of traveling this year, so there will be no summer trip to Disney World for us, as we've done for the past two Augusts. My next Disney goal is to visit WDW during the various holidays that Disney does up so famously. So I am shooting for a trip this December for the Christmas season.

In order to do that, I've got to start saving up. I've received a bit of cash as gifts over the last few months which I'd stuck in an envelope, considering it as the start of a savings plan for this trip. Since I'm a big visual learner, I wanted to have a special piggy bank I could display to encourage me to save. 

I first checked Etsy and found some adorable options for less than $10... which are completely worth it if you're not a crafty person...but I was discouraged by the idea of spending money in the effort to save up money, so I decided to try my hand at making something with [mostly] stuff I had around the house. 

I started with an empty plastic jar (this one had jelly beans in it). I chose this particular one because it's plastic, it has a flat side (for ease of writing on it), and it has a black cap which I thought went with the color scheme. 

I used this great trick for stenciling on a jar. Type out on the computer (in Word or similar) whatever you want to write on the jar and/or any images you want to use. I used the Disney font "Waltograph" (here for free at dafont.com) and some Mickey heads (found here on family.disney.com). I found all sorts of cute ideas for wording on Pinterest: "Mickey Money," "Disney Stache" (adding a little mustache to a Mickey silhouette!), or simply "Our Disney Trip," but I went with "Disney Dollars." 

Play around with the font size and print. Then, cut out your design and tape it steady on the inside of the jar, facing out. Now all you have to do is trace! I used a plain old black fine-point Sharpee marker that I had, but a paint pen would have worked very well, too. (Actually, if you're using a glass jar, you'll want to go with the paint pen. You could use a paint brush but I found a pen to be much easier to control.)

I was very happy with the finished product and it would have been cute as-is but I wanted to add a little color. The cap of my jar was a 1/2" thick, so I used a combo of 3/8" ribbon (red) and 1/8" ribbon (yellow) to glue around the cap using tacky glue. Now I didn't have the size ribbon in the colors I wanted around the house, so I went to my local craft store and bought just a yard of each for under $1 total. I measured how much I would need to wrap the cap, I lined the cap with tacky glue and affixed the red ribbon, and then beaded a bit of glue over the red to attach the yellow. Voila! 

You can search around Pinterest for some magical additions... gluing a tiny Mickey figurine on the top of the lid, tying a red polka-dot bow around the neck of the jar, or using vinyl lettering instead of a marker...but for me, these would have cost extra money, and personally, I'd rather throw it in the jar than use it to decorate the jar. (The $100 dollar bills, by the way, were gifts I received for various occasions....I found that if I received a gift in twenties, I'd spend it immediately but the three $100 bills stuck around on my desk waiting for deposit for a while.... so I think when I save up another hundred dollars, I'll go to the bank and ask for a single bill so I won't waste it on Starbucks!)

Whatever you come up with and whatever trick you use, it's a fun way to stash away some Disney cash for you and your family. I know there are lots of great sites out there with advice, like mousesavers.com... What are some of your ways to save for Disney?

Catholic Commentary on Cinderella

Since I'm still inflicted with Cinderella fever, I wanted to share this vlog from one of my favorites: Fr. Robert Barron comments on the Christian symbolism he finds in the movie. Naturally, I loved it because finding a way to combine my love of Disney with my love of my Catholic faith pretty much makes my head explode with joy. So if you're interested, check out the 8 minute video below. Enjoy! And happy Holy Week!

10 Things that Cinderella 2015 Teaches Us about Cinderella 1950

I just saw Cinderella in the theater this weekend and I loved it! Afterwards, my husband remarked about me to my brothers-in-law (who were invited along) "Look how happy this little girl is!" - and it's true. I was beaming. All I needed was a tiara and some glitter and I would have been in heaven!

Since the 1950 Cinderella is my favorite Disney movie, I was thrilled with the direction this 2015 version took. I saw it as more of an embellishment than a whole new story, meaning today's version fleshes out some of the plots and backstories of the original. I adored the results! So here is my list of 10 new things we learn about the original from the new film:

Warning: The following contains spoilers!


10. Parental back story: the original animated feature starts with the narration:

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a tiny kingdom; peaceful, prosperous, and rich in romance and tradition. Here in a stately chateau, there lived a widowed gentleman, and his little daughter, Cinderella. Although he was a kind and devoted father, and gave his beloved child every luxury and comfort, still he felt she needed a mother's care. And so he married again, choosing for his second wife, a woman of good family, with two daughters just Cinderella's age, by name, Anastasia and Drizella. It was upon the untimely death of this good man, however, that the stepmother's true nature was revealed: cold, cruel, and bitterly jealous of Cinderella's charm and beauty, she was grimly determined to forward the interests of her own two awkward daughters. Thus, as time went by, the chateau fell into disrepair, for the family fortunes were squandered upon the vain and selfish stepsisters while Cinderella was abused, humiliated, and finally forced to become a servant in her own house. And yet, through it all, Cinderella remained ever gentle and kind, for with each dawn she found new hope that someday her dreams of happiness would come true.

The live action film shows us firsthand her two loving parents and the life she lived before her stepfamily moved in. Now we know where Cinderelly gets her good nature and kindness from.

9. Why she stayed as long as she did: Meeting her parents also explains why she stayed at the chateau for so many years: keeping it and staying there was how she kept her parents with her since it was special to the three of them and where all of Cinderella's happy memories took place. Everything she loved most in the world was gone, except for the home that reminded her so much of her parents. (Other than the fact that centuries ago, a girl couldn't exactly just move out and get an apartment in the city.)

8. Her name: though the introduction of the animated movie identifies her as Cinderella, it would make sense that this is not her birth name. Ella, as she is introduced in the 2015 version, is not nobility by birth but a princess in the eyes of her parents.

7. Timing of events: everything seems to happen in the same day in the 1950 classic but the live action film makes it clear that months pass in between the events. (For example, the search for the owner of the glass slipper doesn't happen until after a mourning period takes place following the death of the King.)

6. The King's illness: though His majesty lives to see the wedding between Cindy and P.C. in the animated version (recall the scene at the very end when our girl once again loses her shoe, and the blissfully bashful monarch places it back on her foot before the married couple boards the carriage), he passes away in the new film. This helps us understand why he was so pushy about his son getting married... It was as much about securing their kingdom's future as much as it was about wanting to see him settled down and happy.

5. How long the night of the ball lasted: We know the whole stroke of midnight thing, obviously, but how long did that fateful dance last? Well, we know that Ella leaves for the ball after her stepmother and stepsisters (cue Fairy Godmother to work her magic). I estimate that Ella had a good hour alone with Charming. Although the animated film makes it seem like all they had was one lousy dance before falling in love - in actuality, in think their singing of "So This is Love" to one another in the animated version was representative of a conversation that took place between 11pm and midnight in which they got to know each other... And I guess that when you know, you know. How did I arrive at this timeline? Simple - it took a while for Lady Tremaine and Anastasia and Drizella to be introduced at court and we know they arrive at the castle at 10pm, since in the live action film, Wishes is just starting as they pull up. While this is happening, Ella is back at the chateau getting a makeover. Accounting for travel and traffic, this would put her at the castle around 11 o'clock.

4. The Prince and Cinderella met before the night of the ball: Though not shown in the animated classic, the two meet before the famous waltz takes place. This is what prompts the invitation for the ball to go out to "every eligible maiden" at the prince's insisting. Otherwise, why wouldn't the King just have arranged a marriage?  It makes more sense that all of this backstory happened - which could have easily been the case in the 1950 version because all we are told is that the invitation goes out "by royal command."

3. The Prince is actually present when the whole glass slipper moment goes down: all we see in the animated movie is the Grand Duke slipping the shoe on her foot and then wedding bells are ringing. I like to believe that "Kit" was waiting outside on his horse for her, and Cindy got her moment to walk out with her beloved hand-in-hand, leaving the cruel Tremaines all alone.

2. Lady Tremaine has her own complex story: I'd like to believe that she was once a happy person who (maybe not as much as Ella's family) was content in life. She's made the way she is after Lord Tremaine's death. We get a glimpse of this in today's version.

1. Cinderella freed herself: Since Cinderella is my favorite Disney movie, I always hate to hear so much hullabaloo over her being a bad role model because she teaches girls that you need to marry someone you just met to be happy. This isn't the message we get from Cinderella, and the Lily James version makes that so much clearer. Cinderella, in either movie, is strong and courageous and kind. It wasn't her unmarried status that was holding her back. No, by agreeing to marry Prince Charming, Cinderella was making her own decision - a choice for love and someone who cared for her tremendously - who, by the way, falls for her not for her beauty but for her kindness and courage and unique view on life. (And once again, the time period should be explained to children... It's not like Cindy could have enrolled at the local community college...) As Cinderella is walking out the door of her parents' chateau, she knows that her final act of courage toward her wicked stepmother is more for her own benefit than for Tremaine's. In the end, Ella isn't made free by Kit's proposal, she's set free by speaking three simple words to Lady Tremaine: "I forgive you." Ella knows that there are prisons far worse than a dusty attic. There's the prisons we put ourselves in, made of thick bars of greed, jealousy, meanness, and cruelty. Cinderella remained at the chateau for as long as she did because she knew that as long as she had courage and treated others with kindness, she had a freedom that money couldn't buy - freedom that people like Tremaine will never know because her's is a prison of the heart. Cinderella's act of forgiveness set her own heart free from anger and resentment. And that's the message that both Cinderellas leave us with: "a great secret that will see you through all the trials life has to offer: have courage and be kind." This is what makes Cinderella a princess worthy of the title - a princess all little girls can be proud to emulate.