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  Magical Blogorail Fridays

Friday, December 30, 2011

Welcome to Magical Blogorail Fridays! 

Magical Mouse Schoolhouse boards the Magical Blogorail Yellow Loop on the first Friday of each month. On the Fridays in between, we're bringing you a sampling of our fellow Blogorailers' sites.


This week we're spotlighting Melissa from Disney on Wheels! Melissa is "a Disney enthusiast, geek in general," who also happens to experience life from a wheelchair. You are likely familiar with Melissa from her Guest post, Animal Kingdom on Wheels. She can also be found aboard Magical Blogorail Orange, at Chip & Co. and at The Disney Moms.

Check out this excerpt from Melissa's recent blog entry, "Year in Review: The Magic of Disney Customer Service," written by her husband Drew:

When I visit Walt Disney World its as if I am watching a master execute in the same as you might watch an elite athlete or musician. The magic of Disney is the dedication of the cast members and the willingness of Disney to continue to invest in them. Treating a customer like its your first is the hardest thing for a service professional to do, yet Disney finds a way to not lose that eagerness.



Read on to explore more of Disney on Wheels!

The next Magical Blogorail Yellow Loop will run Friday, January 6. Check back then to find out where we'll be stopping!


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  Year-end Wrap-up & New Year Sneak Peek

Thursday, December 29, 2011

As 2011 draws to a close, let's glance back over the year before we wave a final farewell to a year of Disney dreams...
January: Disney Resort Hotels, The Disney DREAM Christening and new adventures
February: Our 1st birthday, Disney Cruise Line and Castaway Cay
March: Disneyland Resort, a Haiku contest and Tiggerific Tuesday!
April: Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach and a lot of water fun
May: Disneyland Resort Paris, Beauty and the Beast and Lemonade Mouth
June: Cars 2, World Showcase Pavilions and a hop aboard Magical Blogorail Orange
July: More World Showcase Pavilions, IllumiNations and a kids' creative writing contest
August: Magical Blogorail Teen Edition, Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea and Guest posts from our wonderful assistant, Tiffany
September: Magical Blogorail Kids' Edition, 40 Days to 40 Years and I'M AT WALT DISNEY WORLD!
October: Citizens of Hollywood, Jedi Training Academy and a Virtual Food & Wine Carnival
November: Animal Kingdom on Wheels, Wildlife Express Train and a children's art contest


December brought us holiday spectacles and celebrations. We wished for the perfect Disney gift aboard Magical Blogorail Yellow, then focused our attention on the Disney Parks at Christmas time.

Our very special Guest Amanda of Mouze Kateerz kicked off the holiday season with a look at Downtown Disney festivities.

Decorations may be lower scale at Animal Kingdom out of consideration for the Park's inhabitants, but holiday magic is evident!

Special Guest Mike of My Dreams of Disney helped us explore Epcot at Christmas.


Disney's Hollywood Studios made the season bright.

The Castle Dreamlights glowed in special Guest Amanda's Magic Kingdom feature.

We had the Happiest Christmas on Earth at Disneyland Park! We also got California Adventure-some.

And though the holiday has concluded, we continued to DREAM of Christmas aboard Disney Cruise Line.

Of course, our regular Tiggerific Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday and GIVEAWAY Wednesday features ran as usual, but Earn Your E.A.R.S. took the month off.

Today's Takeaway:
If you missed any posts over the past year, take some time to read through a few. We'd love to know what you love about us and even what you'd like to see improved, so please be sure to leave a comment below or email jodi (at) magicalmouseschoolhouse (dot) com.

Your only other assignment is to jump into 2012 with us! We'd love to mark you present on the roll. Please follow us on Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs, Twitter or Facebook. You can also subscribe to our feed or by email subscription.

What will you see in the new year? Well...January will take us across the Pacific to Disneyland Hong Kong and Tokyo Disney Resort. We'll sail back to the States aboard Disney Cruise Line throughout February, then hop over to Disneyland Resort Paris during March, leading up to its 20th Anniversary. We'll be sure to spotlight the maiden voyage of DCL's newest fleet member, the Disney FANTASY, on March 31stThen, we'll hit Epcot a little earlier that we usually do and take a look at the International Flower and Garden Festival in April. Gonna keep you in suspense for the rest!

We're so glad you've joined us, and we hope you're having a great time learning while you play where Disney IS school!


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  Final 2011 GIVEAWAY Wednesday

Wednesday, December 28, 2011


It's the final 2011 GIVEAWAY Wednesday!

For your chance to win a Magical Mouse Schoolhouse T-shirt AND Disney Princess paper doll fashion design set (alternate prize for boy), by midnight tonight, email jodi (at) magicalmouseschoolhouse (dot) com the correct answer to the following question:

How many gargoyles are on outside of Cinderella Castle?

One winner will be selected from correct entries via random.org. International Guests are welcome. Good luck, thanks for playing along, and have a wonderful holiday!


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  Wordless Wednesday



Focused on the Magic



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  Tiggerific Tuesday! Blog Hop...or Bounce!

Monday, December 26, 2011

Welcome to Tiggerific Tuesday! Blog Hop...or Bounce!
Link up, meet new friends, network with other bloggers, and have fun!




Our Requests:
1. On GFC, Networked Blogs, Twitter or Facebook, please follow both Hosts

Magical Mouse Schoolhouse

and

Return to Disney

2. Follow who you like and be sure to let them know that you are from "Tiggerific Tuesday! Blog Hop...or Bounce."

3. You are not required to, but we'd greatly appreciate it if you could grab our button and write a post about this hop and/or display the button on your sidebar. 

4. Every week we will pick someone to Guest Host the hop with us. If you would like to be considered for the Guest Host position, leave a comment under this post to let me know you're interested and  follow us on GFC.



get the InLinkz code


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  Christmas on Disney Cruise Line

We at Magical Mouse Schoolhouse hope you and your families have enjoyed the holidays and were able to create many lasting memories. Today we’re wrapping up the season aboard Disney Cruise Line.

Visions of sugarplums are no longer dancing in my head, but I am still DREAMing of Christmas. I have often WONDERed what MAGIC abounds on a holiday journey with Disney Cruise Line. From the look of things, it’s pretty nautical and nice!


From Thanksgiving through the new year, all three ships are decked with winter wonderlandery. The Disney Dream alone is adorned with more than 300 custom designed pieces for its very first holiday season, including
1,016 feet of garland, longer than three football fields and nearly enough to stretch from bow to stern—the entire length of the ship
    66 holiday sprays of 15 inches to six feet in length
    29 wreaths from 24 inches to five feet in diameter
    41 Christmas trees ranging from two feet to 20 feet tall
    One 20-foot-tall tree in the atrium lobby weighing more than one ton, complete with 300 branches and more than 20,000 white LED lights

Special holiday events begin during each of the Thanksgiving cruises and continue into the new year. Some include
   King Triton’s Tree Lighting nightly in the atrium lobby; a young Guest helps Disney Characters light the three-deck-tall tree
 Family crafts such as decorating stockings, building gingerbread houses, making holiday cards and creating animation cells
    Holiday storytellers sharing tales of Christmas and Hanukkah, plus a story about the magical feeling of spending the holidays on a DCL ship.
    Traditional holiday feasts in the themed dining rooms
   Special holiday editions of DCL’s farewell on the final night of each cruise, featuring Disney characters and the ship’s crew in an engaging musical finale led by Mickey Mouse
   NFL football games are broadcast live on the ships’ outdoor, jumbo LED screens
   Cruises stopping at Disney’s Castaway Cay experience “snow flurries,” island Christmas trees, Christmas-attired Character meet-and-greets, carolers and holiday-themed activities for children


Those fortunate travelers spending Christmas Day aboard DCL met Santa Claus and his elves Christmas morning at the atrium lobby tree, where Santa handed out surprises for all the kids and shared his milk and cookies. Christmas services were held on Christmas Day with a midnight mass on Christmas Eve, and Hanukkah services are held each day, December 20-28.

To launch 2012, the Disney Magic departs on December 30 for an eight-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary, the Disney Wonder departs December 26 for seven nights in the Mexican Riviera, and the Disney Dream sails a five-night Bahamian cruise that departs on December 29. All three voyages include a New Year’s Eve party with music, sparkling wine in commemorative flutes and a midnight countdown.

*Facts and info via Disney Cruise News.

Today's Takeaway:
You may have noticed a few puns in the above article. Yes, they were intended! A pun is a play on words, or according to dictionary.com, “the humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications, or the use of words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but different meaning.”

Here are a few funny ones I found online. You may need to explain a several to your younger kids…or have them explain some to you.
1) The roundest knight at King Arthur’s Round Table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
2) I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
3) A rubber band pistol was confiscated in an algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.
4) No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.
5) A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
6) Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
7) Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, “You stay here, I’ll go on a head.”
8) I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
9) The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
10) To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
11) A rule of grammar: double negatives are a no-no.
12) Math teachers have lots of problems.
13) Studying fungus is a way to mold young minds.
14) Decimals have a point.
15) Skipping school to bungee jump will get you suspended.

I feel like we need a ba-dum-ching of the cymbals!

Alrighty, first for today, go back and pick out all the puns I wrote in “Christmas on Disney Cruise Line.” Then come up with some of your own. I’m always up for a good Snicker (pun again!), so please humor me and leave your witty comments below.

SCHOOL SUBJECT: Language Arts
SKILL LEVEL: Middle Grades


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  Magical Blogorail Fridays

Friday, December 23, 2011

Welcome to Magical Blogorail Fridays! 

Magical Mouse Schoolhouse boards the Magical Blogorail Yellow Loop on the first Friday of each month. On the Fridays in between, we're bringing you a sampling of our fellow Blogorailers' sites.

Photobucket
This week we're spotlighting Disney Donna Kay! Donna Kay is "a sometimes sarcastic, always helpful, mostly entertaining Disney Fanatic" who lives in the heart of Dixie on a 200-acre farm in Alabama. You'll find her aboard Magical Blogorail Red and at WDW FanZone.

Donna Kay's most recent post wishes readers a "Magically Merry Christmas," and offers a sweet rendition of "Jingle Bells," sung by Minnie, Mickey, Pluto and friends. (Merry Christmas to you and your family too, Donna Kay!)

Donna Kay also recently posted a super sweet picture of her beautiful little granddaughter. Isn't this little cutie adorable? 


Read on to explore more of the Disney Donna Kay website, and be sure to check out her Mentoring Mondays for some excellent blogging advice!

The next Magical Blogorail Yellow Loop will run Friday, January 6. Check back then to find out where we'll be stopping!


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  Disney California Adventure-some Christmas

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort is a sight to behold this Christmas season. Festooned with holiday cheer at its gates and throughout the Park, this is one place no Scrooge-hearted Guest will be found.

Nearly 700 beautifully trimmed trees are on display across the Resort, in Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure, the Resort’s three hotels and the Downtown Disney District. In fact, the largest ornaments can be seen at Flik’s Fun Fair at Disney California Adventure (DCA) and the smallest in Storybook Land at Disneyland Park. The Paradise Bay boardwalk lampposts are decorated with seasonal wreaths, and carolers don traditional Victorian holiday garb to spread glad tidings at each of the three Resort hotels.


Disney California Adventure Christmas SantaThroughout the season, the very popular World of Color nighttime water spectacular at DCA treats Guests to a special sequence spotlighting Lanny and Wayne, Santa’s techno-savvy elves from the Prep & Landing holiday specials. Other special activities include a merry twist to Phineas and Ferb’s Rockin’ Rollin’ Dance Party street show with holiday décor and songs performed several times a day at Paradise Pier. Also added this year are decorations around the new attraction, The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, and its nearby dining locations. And of course, Santa Claus greets Guests in a specially decorated gazebo on the boardwalk near Ariel’s Grotto.

Today’s Takeaway:
Give the old “Elf on the Shelf” a Disney twist! These two characters from Prep & Landing are poised to scope out the scene and make sure your house is ready for Santa’s soon arrival.

You will need to download the Prep & Landing elves template and gather the following supplies: scissors, straight pins, felt (green, tan, black and red), pipe cleaners or chenille sticks (red, white and green), cool-temp hot glue gun, brown yarn, cotton ribbon or strip of felt, faux gems, red pompom, scraps of green fleece or felt, green ribbon and cardboard tissue tube. Then, simply follow the instructions found at DisneyFamily.com.

SCHOOL SUBJECT: Arts
SKILL LEVEL: Elementary

We’d like to wish each and every one of you a magical Christmas and a new year that’s sprinkled with pixie dust and wishes come true!


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About the Schoolhouse

Our goal here at the Magical Mouse Schoolhouse is to reveal the educational opportunities available from Walt Disney entertainment and to encourage you to stretch the boundaries of your home classroom. We hope you will embrace the teachable moments that take the guise of Disney movies, Disney theme parks, Disney story books, Disney art, and more!

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We are Disney-devoted veteran homeschoolers dedicated to informing the homeschooling community of the educational value of Walt Disney entertainment.

Jodi Whisenhunt, feature writer and owner of Magical Mouse Schoolhouse, is an award-winning freelance writer and editor with a passion for perfecting the written word. She and her husband, Richard, have participated in The Ultimate Field Trip four times, with an extra trip thrown into the mix, and have been homeschooling their children since 2000. Jodi, along with Carol Beth Scott, also sailed aboard the Disney Dream Christening Cruise in January of 2011.

Carol Beth Scott, owner of 3D Travel Company, an Earmarked Agency, and founder of The Ultimate Field Trip, is the inspiration behind this venture and the underwriter for Magical Mouse Schoolhouse. She has provided several of the creative takeaways. Carol Beth and her husband, David, have been homeschooling their children since 2004.
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