As we all know, Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth. But during the winter time it also becomes the merriest place on Earth! Disney has been known to add holiday elements throughout the original theme park, like all the Christmas decor, holiday themed rides, and winter treats. But not much transforms in the second theme park in Southern California, Disney's California Adventure. But this year, the holiday cheer has spread across Disney Way and into California Adventure. Not only is the park all decked out in holiday decor, like every year, there are some new additions this year. Some rides in Cars Land have a holiday makeover. Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters became Luigi's Joy to the Whirl, and Mater's Junkyard Jamboree became Mater's Jingle Jamboree. Basically those two rides now have a holiday soundtrack rather than their usual songs. Regardless it's still really cute and festive.

Other parts of the park have also been given some holiday cheer. Grizzly Peak has some festive outdoor decorations. In the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, you can actually meet Santa Claus himself up until Christmas Eve. Even A Bug's Land has a holiday revamp, this area is dedicated to Pixar's new movie Coco. If you haven't seen the movie yet, you can actually go to the Bug's Life Theater and watch a little sneak peak of the movie. Also for the spirit of Navidad, California Adventure has the ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party at the end of Paradise Pier. It features Donald Duck and the Three Caballeros plus some amazing live performers. In this area you can indulge in some holiday hispanic cuisine and even meet Disney's new Latina princess Elena of Avalor. Let's not forget that World of Color Season of Light has returned as well! But the big draw to California Adventure this year is the Festival of Holidays.

The Festival of Holidays is a huge celebration for not only Christmas but all holidays during this time of the year! Along the walkway from Pacific Wharf to Paradise Pier you'll find little pop up shops and boutiques that sell holiday items for each holiday, craft stations for each holiday like Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Diwali, and Navidad. Also during the day time, in the main viewing area for World of Color, you'll find live music, dance and holiday-inspired performances.

The main draw of the Festival of Holidays is the Festive Foods Marketplace. Alongside the boutiques and pop up shops, you'll find kiosks serving holiday food from all around the world. There's a total of twelve different kiosks with different festive foods and even some specialty drinks and cocktails. For more information about each stand, and to check out the menu, click here. My personal favorite stand was Making Spirits Bright, here you'll find wine and different flavored mimosas, you can actually get a sampler for a reasonable price! If you are a Disneyland Annual Passholder, you can purchase the Sip and Savor Pass at the AP Corner at Sonoma Terrace. For $45 you get a 2017 Festival of Holidays lanyard with eight coupons that are redeemable for non-alcoholic beverage and food items at the Festive Foods Marketplace kiosks! So if you want to try something at all the stands it's not a bad deal.

The Festival of Holidays along with the holiday decorations and attractions will be up and running until January 7. So there is still plenty of time to absorb the holiday magic even after the holidays. Also this year, Disney's California Adventure will celebrate Three Kings Day and El Día de los Reyes Magos, those celebrations will begin January 4.

If you plan on going to any of the Disney resorts during this holiday season, make sure all your social media posts include the hashtag #ShareYourEars. For every post using the hashtag, Disney will donate $5 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. If you're not planning on going to the park, you can still use the hashtag! Post some of your favorite photos with the hashtag, it's all for a good cause. You have up until Christmas Day to help Disney spread some holiday cheer!

That's all that's going on at the happiest place on Earth this holiday season. I can't wait until I'll be able to head back to enjoy some of that Disney Magic. Until then, I'll be at home prepping for the holidays. For all you who are going to be at the parks during the rest of the year, enjoy it!

Until tomorrow.

Photo Credit
On July 31, Disney Channel premiered their summer Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), Descendants. Now if you've been watching Disney Channel for the past couple months, like myself, (don't judge, almost all of my shows are on hiatus and it makes good background noise) you would have noticed the commercial for it, since it played during every commercial break. Every. Commercial. Break. But anyways, their plan worked on me because I ended up watching it.

Now what is this Descendants movie you ask? Well it is the story of the children of the infamous villains: Jafar (Maz Jobrani), Cruella de Vil (Wendy Raquel Robinson), Evil Queen (Kathy Najimy) and Maleficent (Kristin Chenoweth). What a genius idea for a movie! Seeing the success of ABC's TV show, Once Upon A Time, it's no wonder they made a kid friendly/musical version of it. Now I didn't expect this movie to be a musical but I guess I should have realized that it would be since Kenny Ortega (High School Musical) was the director.

Descendants' interpretation of what happens after the classic Disney characters happy endings is quite interesting. Belle marries the Beast, and Beast unites all the kingdoms and become the United States of Auradon. So wouldn't that make Beast the President rather than King? Or has democracy not reached the fairytale lands yet? Anyways, all the villains were imprisoned on an island called Isle of the Lost which is surrounded by a magical barrier. Belle and Beast's son, Ben, is about to become king, which doesn't make sense seeing that his father is perfectly healthy and still on the young side. But anyways, his first royal proclamation is to give a chance to children of four villains to live in Auradon so they can find their inner goodness.

So Jay (Booboo Stewart), Carlos (Cameron Boyce), Evie (Sofia Carson) and Mal (Dove Cameron) find themsleves out of their homeland and now in the land of magic and happiness. But here's the catch Maleficent wants her daughter, Mal to steal the Fairy God Mother's magical wand, cause you know evil and taking over the world, blah blah blah, basic villain stuff.

When the kids get to Auradon they have their mind solely set on stealing the wand, making their parents proud and getting back home. Because who would want to deal with the children of the princes, princesses and other lovable classic characters? Some of those children turn out not to be as nice as their parents. But the love story between star crossed lovers Mal and Prince Ben certainly changes the dynamic of the movie.

Overall the story was great and it was enjoyable to watch. It gives a great perspective on good vs evil and setting the idea that just because you're supposed to be something because it is in your blood doesn't mean you have to be. You decide your own fate. The movie was adorable and those outfits were just to die for and they really capture each character's personality and traits. While the characters evolve so do their clothes.

The only thing that wasn't mind-blowing or fantastic was the music, which is disappointing because Kenny Ortega films normally have great music. Rotten to the Core was the opening number and introduced the viewers to the Isle of the Lost and it was by far the catchiest tune. However as expected, Kristin Chenoweth's phenomenal Broadway voice and talent was showcased and even Dove Cameron proved that she could keep up and displayed lots of talent musically and theatrically. But other than that the music was disappointing and not necessary. Most of the time the music was just a distraction, boring and painful to watch.

Disney fans will appreciate the references to the classic films in the movie. The children from heroes like Mulan, Cinderella, Aurora, Fairy God Mother and even Dopey have kids that attend the school as well. There are artifacts from several Disney films, like: the magic wand, the magic mirror, the spinning wheel, and etc, appear as well. For all we know there's probably a hidden Mickey or two in the film somewhere.

Is Descendants the next High School Musical or Camp Rock? There's a 50/50 chance. Based on Dove Cameron's performance, she has what it takes to rise to Teen Idol status. And based on the little twist at the end of the movie there should be a sequel in the works.

What did you think of Descendants?

On July 17, 1955, the Disneyland resort in Anaheim, California was opened by Walt Disney himself. Today, Disneyland celebrates its 60th birthday. The park has gone all out to prepare for the Diamond Celebration. For the big birthday, there have been some changes made to the park and they will be around all year long. Banners with diamonds hang along Main Street, classic characters from Mickey to Pluto all received dazzling new outfits fit for a extravagant celebration and even Sleeping Beauty's castle got an upgrade. Would you expect anything less from this million dollar resort? Of course not.

Disneyland started prepping for this magical birthday back in May, diamonds emerged all around the park. There were also new shows added, like the new Paint the Night parade and the Disneyland Forever firework show. Now I've only see parts of both of these shows (I'll get a better look at them in September when my pass lets me go again) and from what I've seen both of these shows look amazing. There is also a brand new World of Color show in California Adventure, I haven't seen that yet either but I look forward to seeing it!

If you attended the park today, you received a complimentary cupcake and pin confirming that you indeed were there today. Also if you were lucky and important enough, you could hear a replay of Walt Disney's Disneyland opening day speech in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

When Disneyland first opened 60 years ago, it was only 160 acres and cost $17 million to build, and it only cost $1 for adults and 50 cents for a child. Oh how the times have changed. Today, there are two parks that cover way more than 160 acres and it costs an adult $99 to visit one park one day, and $155 to visit both parks on a one day ticket. If you are a child (under the age of 10) it costs $93 for one park and $149 to visit both parks on a one day ticket.

But thankfully, they do have annual passes. I'm fortunate enough to have one, so I can experience the magic year round. Disneyland means a lot to me. Growing up, I remember going to the parks all the time with my family and as I grew up I got to experience it with other people who mean a lot to me. Disneyland will always hold a special place in my heart and I'll alway love it (even though pretty soon I won't be able to afford to love it anymore). I cherish every visit and I'll continue to make memories there for the rest of my life.

Happy Birthday Disneyland and to many more magical years. I know you'll continue to amaze and dazzle all of us. As Walt Disney once said:

"Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world."

One of my favorite activities and stress relievers is crafting and doing little DIY projects. Now last year I made these Disney letters for my sorority's recruitment, and they were a big hit. I like to think they turned out pretty well, so I thought I would share how to do these for all you fellow Disney loving crafters out there! I got all my supplies at Michael's craft store but every local craft store should have your basic supplies and the items you'll need.

So let's start with Minnie! You'll need black, white and red paint, red ribbon, a hot glue gun and tape. If you're like me and you can't draw or paint a circle to save your life, you'll also need paper, a hole puncher, and mod podge. So what I did first was place tape in the middle of my D where I wanted it to remain white. You obviously then paint the top side of your letter black and bottom side of your letter red. Once it dries, take the red ribbon, tie a little bow and then use the hot glue gun to stick the bow where ever you please, I chose the top left corner on my D. Next what I did was the little polka dots, if you're confident with your circle and dot painting skills by all means go for it and paint them on with the white paint. However, if you have no confidence in your circle and dot painting skills, like myself, then take a white piece of paper and use the hole puncher to make however many dots you think you'll need. Honestly, I think I made way too many and put way too many on my Minnie, but do whatever you think looks best! If you want more dots, go for it, if you want less, do less! Now if you're scared to use mod podge, don't worry, it's just fancy glue. You take one circle, put some mod podge on the back of it and then stick it down on the letter! Now, do that for however many circles you want and then once they've dried for 10-15 minutes take a paint brush and brush over all of the circles on the letter. And voila, it gives it a glossy effect! Now take off the tape slowly and carefully, you don't want to get paint anywhere on the white. But if have my luck, it will happen no matter how careful you are. So that's why I like to go over the white part with the white paint to make sure I can correct any of my mistakes.

Next we have Mickey's pal and loyal companion, Pluto. You'll need dark yellow and green paint, a printout or a drawing of a dog bone, tape and a hot glue gun. So what I did first was similar to the Minnie, I put the tape in the middle of my P that way I wouldn't get any yellow paint where I wanted to paint it green. So obviously, you'll paint your letter dark yellow and let it dry. Then take the tape off so then you can paint the center line green, like Pluto's collar. I decided to add tape to the two sides where there was yellow so it would be easier to paint the green line and not have it look so messy. So after that was dry, I took the dog bone printout that I found, by googling dog bone printout, and I cut it out and hot glued it to the bottom left corner of my P.

Then we have good old Donald Duck! What you'll need is bright blue and white paint, red ribbon, a hot glue gun, tape and a printout or a drawing of Donald Duck's hat. As done previously, use tape to mark a divider for the top to be blue and the bottom to be white. Once done painting let it dry and take the red ribbon and make a bow and hot glue it on the middle of the letter. Lastly you'll take the print out or drawing of Donald's hat and hot glue it on the top of your letter.

Next we have Goofy, what you'll need is orange and bright blue paint, tape, a hot glue gun and a print out or drawing of Goofy's hat. As you've done with all the other letters, place the tape as a divider so the top can be orange and the bottom can be bright blue. After you let it dry, take the print out or drawing of the hat and hot glue it to the top of your letter. Personally, I think Goofy took me the least amount of time because it is so simple to do and there aren't that many steps to it, also the fact that I used the letter I for it made it that much easier. Last but not least, we have the king of all the classic Disney characters, Mickey Mouse. What you'll need to make Mickey is red, black and white paint, tape, hot glue gun and two white buttons. And like all the other letters take the tape and place it on the letter where you'd want it to remain white. Then you'll paint the top black and the bottom red and once that is dry and you remove the tape you can add white to the unpainted section. After it all dries you'll take the hot glue gun and glue the two buttons on the top part of the red side of the letter.

And there you go, a quick little guide on how to make some of these classic Disney characters wooden letters. With the letters I got from Michael's they had a hook in the back to hang them up with a nail, so hanging them on my bedroom wall was extremely easy! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Good luck crafting and until next time!