Over The Top Mommy

Disney

Sleeping Beauty is Out of the Disney Vault! Grab This Diamond Edition While You Can! Fun Activities and a Giveaway for Your Own Copy Too!

 

emi auroraIt’s no surprise that we are BIG Disney lovers in our home! Emi has always loved Sleeping Beauty and used to dress up like her a lot, even when we’d visit Disneyland. She even had one of the reversible blue/pink dresses that came from Disneyland Paris. For Emi’s 3rd birthday, we even hired “Sleeping Beauty” to come to Emi’s party to entertain the kids. I swear she was the real one, too! (She came from Dream Come True Entertainment)

aurora 2We just love “Sleeping Beauty” and we love this classic Disney movie!

SleepingBeautyDiamondEdBlurayCombo

Today is such an extra happy day! It’s the day that Sleeping Beauty is finally releasing from the Disney Vault! Disney’s ultimate princess fairytale classic “Sleeping Beauty” will be available for the first time on Diamond Edition Blu-ray, Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere! Creating the ultimate at-home viewing experience, Disney’s 2-Disc Diamond Edition Blu-ray Superset (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) contains digitally restored picture and sound, a digital copy of the film, and a variety of magical new bonus features!Additional all-new bonus features include never-before-seen deleted scenes “The Fair” (with Deleted Character The Vulture,) “The Curse is Fulfilled” and “Arrival Of Maleficent,” plus the Beauty-Oke sing-along to “Once Upon A Dream.” The Blu-ray Superset also includes classic DVD bonus features and more!

In honor of this grand occasion of “Sleeping Beauty’ being released from the Disney Vault, I’m also attaching a link to download some fun printables and activities that go along with the movie. They’re perfect for both boys and girls. I think we might even have a movie party at our house with our new DVD! Check them out just by clicking on the image!

Screen Shot 2014-09-29 at 5.00.03 PM

Finally, I’m giving away one copy of “Sleeping Beauty: Diamond Edition” to one of my readers. Just enter below in the Rafflecopter. How exciting is that? Good luck everyone!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

We’re Doing CHOC Walk at The Disneyland Resort!

CHOC Walk I’m excited to share with everyone that Emi and I will be doing the CHOC Walk in the Park on October 12th this year for our first time. We’ll be participating as part of the Blogging While Walking Team!

blogging while walking The 23rd Annual CHOC Walk will be held at The Disneyland Resort, and will go through both parks and Downtown Disney. This is a wonderful opportunity for people (like us) to help raise money which goes towards health care programs and medical research for CHOC.

together Emi and I would LOVE it if you would consider sponsoring us for the CHOC Walk so we can reach our goal. No donation is too small and every little bit helps. To donate to our team, just click here! We thank you in advance. We’re so excited to be participating in something that benefits such a great cause.

To read more about the 23rd Annual CHOC Walk in the Park, click here.

“You’re Free Now, Genie!” RIP Robin Williams

The world lost an incredible man yesterday, Mr. Robin Williams. I’m still in shock today and my heart hurts for the loss of this amazing actor, but it mostly hurts for his family. I cannot imagine what they’re going through. He truly must’ve been in so much pain and so tired to do something like that.

Mrs Doubtfire “She” rocked our world! (photo credit: @pj_campbell)

I grew up watching Robin Williams and truly admired his talents as an actor. He could take on pretty much about any role. Since I’m a huge Disney lover, his death infiltrates into my Disney Side as well, as he was Peter Pan and Genie. Recently, Emi somehow watched “Mrs. Doubtfire” for the first time and was just enamored by her (him). Although the storyline of the movie is pretty harsh and sad, I think a majority of that goes over her head. She’s just in awe over Mrs. Doubtfire and so I’ve recently found myself watching this old classic quite a bit because it’s on our DVR! We were JUST at Target the other day, looking for movies for our road trip, when Emi pointed at the Jumanji cover and said, “Look it’s Mrs. Doubtfire!” We didn’t buy Jumanji on that shopping trip but now I wish we had. I am so happy that Emi knows who he is and appreciates Mr. Williams as an actor as much as I do.

dining in disneyHe starred in so many great kids’ movies. I can’t wait to watch more of them with Emi! (photo credit: @diningindisney)

This loss hits so close to home for me. I, too, lost a very close friend to suicide. It’s been 2 1/2 years now and I think about her all the time. I don’t talk about her loss as much as I think about it because people start to think there’s something wrong with me and that I “need help”.  Her death left a hole in my heart and it’s something that never really gets better for me. It feels like a wound that gets reopened every time I hear about another suicide.  I cried for her last night as I cried for Robin Williams.

I don’t think that people who don’t suffer from the kind of depression that can lead to suicide, can really understand how and why it happens. How could they? It irritates me when people say things like “Stop feeling sorry for yourself” or “You need to get over it.” to someone who’s suffering. I also believe that using words  like “selfish” or “cowardly” when talking about suicide, or to describe someone who committed suicide, also demonstrates a lack of understanding.

be kind

I feel so fortunate to be able to say that I don’t suffer from depression, because it seems like such a tough struggle that a person has to battle for their entire life. I know a TON of friends who do suffer from it though. Just because a person suffers from depression doesn’t necessarily mean they’re suicidal, but I feel that there are times that we, as human beings, could be more aware of when others might need help or are having a hard time. Perhaps giving someone words of encouragement, asking them if they want to talk or just being a good listener to another, would be something that we could all go out of our way to do. Most times, people who are suffering the most, will be the ones who are talking about it the least and that’s why we need to keep an eye out for each other. If you see someone is suffering, do something. Be proactive. Even turn to available resources where you can find help for someone. Do what you can to take care of others, even if it’s just something small.

suicide prevention hotline I can’t tell you HOW many times I’ve tried to go back to the time before my friend’s death to question what I could’ve done to help or how I could have helped her know that she, too, was worth something and loved by so many of us here, including her own family. I spoke at her service, I told her that she was beautiful, she was loved, she was GOOD ENOUGH! I just wish I could’ve told her that more often before it was too late.

genieRobin William’s death is so heartbreaking. I only hope he’s at peace now.

He will be truly missed by his fans. RIP Mr. Williams!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the quote I live by. I find that as I get older, I even try to do it more.

A Christmas Fantasy Parade at Disneyland

A Christmas Fantasy Parade is my favorite parade to watch at The Disneyland Resort. This year, Emi and I had the opportunity to be in the park on one of the days that ABC was filming for their Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade Show! It was so exciting to be able to see things that aren’t normally in the regular Christmas Fantasy Parade.

We loved seeing all of these characters from Toy Story, who normally appear in the Pixar Play Parade at DCA.
It was also fun to see a bit of Cars Land over on The Disneyland Side!

Although we weren’t able to sit in the area where all of the cameras were filming, we did secure a spot on the curb, right in front of Plaza Inn, which is where the floats and characters entered the filming area. This meant that almost all of them had time to look our way and wave prior to entering the main filming area on Main Street, U.S.A.! What a great spot to be seated!
This is one of my favorite pics. It’s just something you never see at Disneyland…Sulley next to The Matterhorn!
It was fun to see all of the little guest dancers that were invited to dance in the Monsters University part of the parade. You can tell how excited they were by their big smiles!

I always get excited for this part, which is the traditional opening of this parade. She’s my favorite dancer in the parade!

More of my fav characters…mainly Wendy! (for obvious reasons)

Look at the giant balloon! So cute! Emi loves these elves because she thinks they know her own elf on the shelf!

So many smiley faces, so many great characters!

The First Lady of the North Pole!
I adore watching this parade and notice something new each time that we do. I love the music, I love the costumes, I love the dancing and I love how much it reminds me of childhood.
What’s YOUR favorite part of a Christmas Fantasy Parade?

Our Adventures at the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade Filming

I never take for granted how close we live to The Disneyland Resort! Since it’s just a hop, skip & a jump to the parks, we are often able to attend special events, on short notice, like the taping of the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade filming. This year, we were able to attend the final day of filming, which included the parade portion and a performance by the cast of Teen Beach Movie!

Disneyland opened at 9 a.m. that day and we arrived at the Main Gate around 8:45 a.m. I didn’t realize that guests would be allowed to enter at 8 a.m., so we weren’t able to find a spot that was within the close filming area where the celebs were going to be dancing. We still found a seat on the curb down in front of Plaza Inn. This is where the parade floats, characters, dancers, and giant balloons all approached though, so we had the prime spot for taking pictures of it all. We were also filmed a couple of times in audience shots, so we still may end up on TV, right? I won’t post photos of the actual parade  until it actually airs because there were a few special parts added to this that aren’t normally included and I feel like it spoils some of the magic, but I will share a couple of fun pics that we took from the curb!

This is Pooh waiting patiently for the festivities to begin.
Here’s Emi trying to be patient as she sits on the curb, showing off her DisneySide!

Emi was taking her own pics and videos during the parade! 

After sitting there for about 3 hours, we were startving and went to get something to eat. After we returned, we saw that the woody from Teen Beach Movie was parked at the front of Main Street and we knew what this meant…..the cast would soon be entering the park!

I’m pretty sure I had to walk up and back Main Street about 6 times just to get this shot because the CMs were shooing everyone to keep on moving! 

We finally made our way through the insane crowd to the top of Main Street, and there we waited and waited and waited…..until they FINALLY came out!
I LOVE Maia! She is so adorable!
 

Well all of them came out except for Ross Lynch. Thank goodness I had Emi there to let me know that Ross’ mommy, Stormy, was walking right in front of where we were standing, and that it looked like she was going backstage, so we knew he was coming out soon.

This is his mom going to get him and escort him out.
Ross Lynch! 
 

I cannot describe my daughter’s expression when he walked out! Not only her expression but the fact that she was flushed too! This is the 2nd time within 2 months that she’s seen Ross & Maia this close up. (our other opportunity was when Ross & Maia were in Downtown Disney)
After the Teen Beach Movie portion of the show began filming, which we couldn’t sit or stand and watch, we decided to head towards the Matterhorn. That was when Emi realized Rydel Lynch was walking in front of us! Yep, she’s Ross’ sister and a member of R5! She was hanging out with Ellington Lee Ratliff ,who’s also in R5. So, of course, we had to pace behind them for a couple of minutes until I got my big “Mommy Courage” up enough to ask them if they’d take a pic with Emi! They were very nice. I definitely see an R5 concert in our near future!

 Emi with Rydel Lynch and Ellington Lee Ratliff
It was an amazing day at Disneyland. I also learned what I’ll be doing differently for next year’s taping.
Here are some of my tips if you’re planning on attending the taping for the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade:
1. Arrive at Disneyland 1-11/2 hours before the park opening.
2. Dress festively in Christmas attire and holiday Disney gear so you can attract the cameras’ attention, but also layer because it gets HOT! If you have babies or small children, the cuter they are dressed, they more likely they’ll get on camera.
3. Bring water and snacks because you might not be able to get up and get food.
4. Wear sunblock and bring extra! It is almost ALWAYS hot at Disneyland! 
5. For the most camera time, sit on the sunny side of Main Street! It’ll be hot, but it’s worth it! 
6. Be prepared to smile and have fun!

 

It was an exciting day for us at Disneyland.
 It’s always an adventure with Emi and I can’t wait for our next trip to the parks!

 

Downtown Disney Meet and Greet With Ross Lynch and Maia Mitchell!

We watch quite a bit of Disney Channel in our home. For the longest time, all we saw were commercials for the upcoming release of the Disney movie, “Teen Beach Movie”! We set up our DVR to record it, because Emi can never get enough of Disney Channel movies! She LOVES Ross Lynch (aka Austin from “Austin & Ally”) and Maia Mitchell (she appeared on “Jessie” before and is now on “The Fosters“) I’m pretty sure that just during the first week that Teen Beach Movie was officially released, she’d probably watched it AT LEAST 20 times!
going down the escalator
Going down the Mickey & Friends escalator, all ready to meet Ross & Maia!
I wonder if she's excited?
Running to the tram. I wonder if she’s excited? 
We are fortunate enough to live near The Disneyland Resort, where they had a merchandise signing event for the movie. Ross and Maia would be making an appearance and signing Teen Beach Movie merchandise.
filming today
The part I didn’t realize was that we were supposed to camp out the night before, with all of the other teenagers or we wouldn’t get a “voucher” to meet them. I honestly thought if we got there a few hours ahead of time, that we’d be fine. Now I know for next time! (Will there be a Teen Beach Movie 2?)
The Backside of Ross Lynch
HOWEVER, when we arrived in Downtown Disney, we stopped to look around and see which way to go….and there he was! Ross was walking right in front of us…OMG Ross Lynch!!!! All I could think was, “Hey, that’s the guy on that show!” and I’ll admit I was a little stumped, but Emi was the one who EXTREMELY short on words and just had this giddy expression on her face!
Ladies and Gentleman, may I present to you...the backside of Ross Lynch!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you with…the backside of Ross Lynch!
(it’s a Jungle Cruise joke) 
So, while the people who had been waiting in the line for HOURS stood far away from, WE were right next to Ross and Maia AND got to be front row when they did some filming for a “Disney 365″segment! I don’t think Emi has ever been that close to one of her celeb crushes and although she was overwhelmed by the crowd, she had a giant smile from ear-to-ear!
Ross and Maia 1
Ross and Maia 2
Ross and Maia 3
Ross Lynch
I’m pretty sure he’s looking right at Emi in this pic! 🙂
Emi and Ross Lynch The look on her face is priceless! I think she was pretty happy, wouldn’t you agree?

The Radio Disney Crew was also there, playing with the kids and were passing out swag!

Radio Disney 1 Radio Disney 2The Radio Disney Crew is always fun at these events! It was great morning spent in Downtown Disney!

Do YOU have a favorite Teen Beach Movie character? If so, WHO is it?