Pixie Hollow Games

Disney has an all-new Fairy adventure set to air on the Disney Channel this fall. Pixie Hollow Games will feature your favorite fairies in a three-day Olympic style competition. According to Disney, the games will be "an incredible edge-of-your-seat sports spectacle filled with pixie pageantry, fantastic fairy events and humorous surprises." The story is centered around Rosetta, a new arrival Chloe, and other garden fairies as they attempt to break the garden fairies' losing streak. The reigning champions are storm fairies Rumble and Glimmer, who decide to boost up the challenge and make the games the most fantastic competition ever. The website for the show features games and challenges for kids to compete in, as well as training videos from your favorite fairies. Disney is also hosting an art contest for kids to create their own comic strip of fairies training for the games. The grand prize winner will receive a flat screen tv, blu-ray player, Fairies blu-ray collection, Hallmark fairy party supplies, and 5 one-month Pixie Hollow Membership Cards for the winner and her friends. Ten first prize winners will also receive a one-month Pixie Hollow Membership Card and the Fairies blu-ray collection.

Tinker Bell: The Secret of the Wings

Disney

After several delays and a name change, the next Tinker Bell movie is finally set to be released October 23, 2012. The Secret of the Wings is the final seasonal story in the Fairies collection. Tink and her fairy friends journey to the forbidden Winter Woods and discover a secret that will change them forever. Along the way, they meet Periwinkle, a new winter fairy.

Disney

The Bluray/DVD set will feature tons of new bonus features, taking you deeper into the world of the fairies. To celebrate this new film, Disney has debuted a new Facebook page where parents can find the latest Fairy news and activities for the whole family. Become a Disney Fairies fan now to stay up to date on everyone's favorite fairy. To view clips of the film and for more information, stop by Disney's site The Secret of the Wings.

Tinker Bell and the Legend of the Neverbeast

Are you ready for the new Tinker Bell movie, which comes to Bluray and DVD tomorrow? I had a chance to see Tinker Bell and the Legend of the Neverbeast this weekend and I loved it! It was at times happy, then sad, with an amazing story and an important overall message: never judge a book by its cover. Below is my review of the film. Caution: Spoilers Ahead.

The story is centered around Fawn, and begins with another of her misadventures while trying to help an animal deemed too dangerous by other Animal Talent Fairies. This time, she is trying to return a young hawk named Hannah to the wild now that her injured wing has healed. Unfortunately, hawks eat fairies, and when Hannah becomes frightened, she calls other hawks to her aid. As most of the fairies and animals hide, Nyx and the Scout Fairies appear to drive away the hawks and save the day. After the dust settles, Queen Clarion advises Fawn to look at animals not just with her heart, but with her head.

That night, a green comet passes through the sky from the fourth star to the right. This comet only appears once every thousand years. According to fairy lore, the comet will awaken a great monster, the Neverbeast. Not surprisingly, Fawn stumbles upon this giant creature with glowing green eyes, roaring with pain caused by a thorn in his paw. Being Fawn, she immediately tries to help the wounded beast, and then to learn everything about the Neverbeast, whom she names Gruff. Although it is slow going, Fawn and Gruff eventually become friends, while she helps him build strange towers of rock. After getting to know Gruff, and deciding that he's not dangerous, she decides to introduce him to her friends, who are less sure he won't harm them.

At the same time, Nyx is searching for the Neverbeast, convinced that he will destroy all of Pixie Hollow unless she can find him and stop him. Fawn is unconvinced that Gruff means any harm, even when presented with drawings from an ancient book of lore. She and her friends decide they must protect Gruff from the Scout Fairies, and especially Nyx.

I won't tell you how it all comes to an end, but I will tell you to have a few tissues handy. I shed a few tears during several of the final scenes, although it ends well, as most Disney movies do. In my opinion, this is the best of the Tinker Bell stories, and it may be the last. Unlike previous Tinker Bell movies, there was no preview for a new film on this disc, but if this was the final story, it was a wonderful way to end the series.

The Pirate Fairy - Extended Sneak Peak

Disney

Disney has released a special extended sneak peak of The Pirate Fairy, the latest installment in the Disney Fairies series of films. It looks like Zarina is quite the troublesome fairy!

Bean is very excited to see this new fairy film, especially the new fairy Zarina. I can't wait to see how Zarina interacts with a young Hook, voiced by Tom Hiddleston (that's Loki for all you Avengers fans). And I believe we may even get a quick glimpse of the Tick-Tock-Croc as a baby. Too funny! The Pirate Fairy arrives on Blu-ray on April 1, 2014.

New to me Disney fun

Oooooohhhhh, the Claw!

I don't know about you, but I love to go to garage sales and used stores like Goodwill looking for fun Disney treasures. The prices are always affordable and I've found some really fun items. I wanted to share some of the goodies I've found in recent weeks.

I am unfortunately addicted to the Little Green Men from the Toy Story movies. I just adore the little critters. When I found a Big Bucket O' Little Green Men at the shop across from Toy Story Mania in Hollywood Studios, I really wanted one, but just couldn't spend $20 on a bucket of Little Green Men. What would I do with 25 anyway, right? Well, I guess I'll have to do something with them because I just bought an unopened set at a garage sale for $3.

I take so many photos at Disney World that I figure you can never have too many frames. I found the cutest Fantasia frame at Goodwill for 50 cents. The only trouble was that Mickey's nose was missing, but I figure I can fix that easily enough. 

I also picked up this cute Mickey pirate for $1. I love pirates and Mickey, so I couldn't pass it up. And I found a kids cup with Mickey and Friends dressed as Pirates of the Caribbean for 50 cents that I plan to use as a vase.

One of my favorite finds is a set of three McDonald's glasses from 2000. I have Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and EPCOT and only paid $3 for the set. I have looked everywhere for a MGM Studios one, but they seem to be fairly scarce and far too expensive. Regardless, I love these glasses and use them every day.

Bean was happy when we found two of the color your own pillowcases, one with Fairies and one with Cinderella. They were brand new, still in the package, for $2 each. Bean has recently discovered that she loves to color iron-ons, so this was perfect.

And now you know why I can never pass up a garage sale or Goodwill: I never know what Disney goodies I will encounter!

The Pirate Fairy

We picked up the Pirate Fairy this week and I'm surprised to say: I loved it! Bean was very excited to watch this latest Pixie Hollow adventure as she's a huge Fairies fan.

The story of this latest Fairy adventure was quite good. Zarina is a pixie dust fairy, and I love that she is the dust keeper version of Tinker Bell. When our fairy friends discover that Zarina has taken the entire supply of blue pixie dust, they chase after her, with rather disastrous results. Lets just say that they learned to walk a mile in each others shoes. As with all Fairies films, it all works out in the end and everyone learns a valuable lesson. (Except perhaps for a young James Hook, voiced by Tom Hiddleston.)

There are several different options to purchase the Pirate Fairy. Target has a blu-ray special edition with a read along book and cd. Walmart is offering a blu-ray with a bonus DVD of the Pixie Hollow Bake Off and 10 mini shorts. Best Buy has a blu-ray with bonus wall decals.

And don't forget, if you do buy this film, be sure to enter your Magic Code at Disney Movie Rewards. Not only will you receive 150 points for the blu-ray, but you'll also unlock two fantastic offers. One is specific to the Pirate Fairy: a Blue Pixie Dust Brush. The other requires the purchase of both the Pirate Fairy and Frozen: a set of four lithographs, two from each movie. Yes, you do have to pay shipping and handling, but it's only about $3 for each offer, so not a bad deal.

Photo Credit: Disney

New Disney Princess Legos

Have you seen the latest Disney Princess Legos? Bean and I absolutely love Legos of any sort, but she's especially fond of the Princess ones. The latest sets feature Jasmine, Aurora, Ariel and one of her sisters, along with Anna, Elsa,and Olaf.

Jasmine's Exotic Palace includes Princess Jasmine and Rajah, a magic carpet, a small section of the Sultan's Palace, a market stall, and fountain. Oh, and I can't leave out the most adorable little Genie's lamp.

Sleeping Beauty's Royal Bedroom includes Princess Auroras and a bunny, her bed, dressing table, a window, and of course, a spinning wheel complete with spindle. Her bed opens up to hide secret treasures, such as one of the fairies' wands.

Ariel's Undersea Palace is a large set, which includes Princess Ariel and her sister Princess Alana, Sebastian, Flounder, and a dolphin, and King Triton's Palace complete with bedroom, dining room, music room, and a slide. There's also a chest filled with Ariel's human treasures, such as a treasure map and spyglass.

Elsa's Sparkling Ice Castle is the last new set. It includes Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, and Olaf, a three story castle dripping with ice, a sleigh and ice hill to slide down, and Olaf's summer picnic. The ice hill opens to hide Olaf's sandwich and cookies, and the castle stairs close up to keep out unwanted visitors.

I love all these new Legos, but my favorite has to be Elsa's Sparkling Ice Castle: Kristoff's sleigh and Olaf's picnic just crack me up. These new sets range in price from $12.99 for the Aurora set, to $54.99 for the Ariel one, but they are well worth the price for the hours of creative fun they bring. Which Disney Princess Lego set is your favorite?

Photo Credit: Lego

Autographs - An Adventure in Collecting, Part 2 - Magic Kingdom

When collecting autographs at Disney World, there are several ways to go about it. The first time I went to Disney World, I got the autograph of every character that had a fairly short line. That worked fairly well, but the next time I went, I wanted to try for different autographs. I would like to eventually collect one from every character, but that takes a bit of planning and a lot of time spent waiting in line.

When starting your autograph collection, it's a good idea to hit some of the spots where characters are always available. At the Magic Kingdom, I would recommend Mickey in the Judges Tent in Toontown and the Princesses in the Toontown Hall of Fame. The Fairies are also in the Toontown Hall of Fame, but often have a wait of up to 1 hour. However, with Toontown closing sometime this year to make way for the new Fantasyland expansion, these locations will probably change.

As you walk around the park, you will probably see lines for characters at what seem to be random locations. Many of the characters are available at the front of the park, just after walking under the railroad station. Sometimes, you will be able to meet unexpected characters here, such as mice from Cinderella, Pinocchio & Gepetto, Mary Poppins & Penguins, and others.

With a little planning, kids should be able to narrow down a list of which characters they absolutely have to see. I would suggest only visiting characters at Magic Kingdom which can't be found at other parks. If you plan to visit all four parks during your stay, there's no reason to try to meet all of the characters at the Magic Kingdom as the lines for characters are usually shorter at the other parks. For the Magic Kingdom, I would recommend the Princesses, Buzz Lightyear, Stitch (although he can also be found at Animal Kingdom), and Mickey. If you can catch them, try to see Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee, the Mad Hatter, and Alice near the Teacups.

At certain times of the year, additional characters can be spotted at the Magic Kingdom. During Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, in addition to Mickey and the gang sporting Halloween costumes, you can meet the Queen of Hearts, White Rabbit, Playing Cards, and more from Alice in Wonderland. Sometimes, you can even meet all 7 Dwarfs at the same time, a real rarity. At Christmas, Scrooge McDuck can often be found near his nephew Donald's Tree Lot and Mickey and the gang often sport winter garb, which is fun to photograph.

Characters that can be seen at the Magic Kingdom on normal days:
Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Donald & Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pluto
Chip & Dale
Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, Darby* (from the new Tigger & Pooh Super Sleuths)
Lilo & Stitch
Buzz Lightyear, Jessie*, Woody
Cinderella, the Mice Suzy & Perla, the Fairy Godmother*, Lady Tremaine*, Drisella*, Anastasia*
Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)
Tinker Bell*, Iridessa*, Rosetta*, Fawn*, Silver Mist*
Captain Hook and Mr. Smee
Ariel*
Aladdin, Jasmine
Baloo, King Louie
Peter Pan* & Wendy*
Tiana* & Prince Naveen*

Characters that are sometimes available:
Alice, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, the Mad Hatter*, the White Rabbit*, the Queen of Hearts
Brer Bear, Brer Rabbit
Mary Poppins & the Penguins
Merlin*
Marie (from Aristocats)
Max
Meeko
Prince John, the Sheriff of Nottingham
Terk
Rafiki, Timon

Characters that can be seen only during Halloween or Christmas:
Scrooge McDuck*
Snow White, Dopey, Doc*, Sleepy*, Sneezy*, Grumpy*, Happy*, Bashful*
Bullseye*
Villains: Cruella DeVille, Frollo, Jafar, Maleficent, the Evil Queen from Snow White
Tarzan*, Jane*
Prince Charming*
John Smith*

* = only available at this park

The list is ever-changing, but this is a good starting point to help you plan out your autograph hunting. Tomorrow, Disney's Hollywood Studios.


**UPDATE**
There are two new characters to see at the Magic Kingdom: Tiana and Prince Naveen from the Princess and the Frog. They can be found behind the Christmas shop on Liberty Square. For now, they can be difficult to catch, we had to try three times before we could finally meet them. However, they may be moving to a more permanent location in a few months.

Disneyland Trip - Day 2, Disneyland

Alright, so I've shared a bit of the fun we had at California Adventure.  On our second day, we went to the Disneyland park. I have to say I was both looking forward to it and dreading it. The last time I was in Disneyland (in 2007), the crowds were horrendous.  It was fairly crowded this trip as well, but wasn't nearly as bad.

The first ride that we just had to ride was the Indiana Jones Adventure.  Both my Mom and Bean had really been looking forward to it because they had never ridden before. They both loved it! Next, we walked over to New Orleans Square and rode Pirates of the Caribbean.  Bean especially enjoyed comparing the Disneyland version to the one in Disney World. After the ride, we wandered past a bit of construction to the Mint Julep Bar. It's kind of hidden around the back corner of the French Market Restaurant.  We got a bag of 6 Mickey beignets, which were absolutely delicious, just like the ones I make at home. (I use a recipe I got from Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. Don't worry, I'll share it soon.)

Next, we headed back to Indiana Jones to use our fast passes.  Then, we wandered over to the Haunted Mansion. At this point, the lines were starting to get a bit longer and the sunburn I'd acquired the day before was starting to hurt, so we decided to stop for lunch. We couldn't find any place that suited all of us, so Mom and I decided to try the skewers at Bengal Barbecue. The chicken skewers and veggie skewers were fantastic and very affordable. Bean decided on pizza for lunch, so we headed for Fantasyland and the Village Haus Restaurant. I don't know if it was just too busy or if they just lost my order, but the service was terrible and I had to wait over 20 minutes for my food. I was very disappointed, but at least the pizza was good. Next up was the first of several trips through "it's a small world". This was the first time I'd ridden since they added the additional Disney characters like Ariel, Woody, and Peter Pan.  They were so cute! I just loved them.

Next, we went to Mickey's Toontown, where we played in Chip and Dale's Treehouse and Donald's Boat. Bean really enjoyed all of the little interactive touches in Toontown. (I remembered several of them from a visit with my cousin in 1998. She used to work at the Gag Factory, so she pointed out all the good stuff!) We grabbed fast passes for Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, but it broke down just as we were heading in and was closed for at least an hour, so we ended up skipping it.

At this point, I remembered that I wanted to go to Innoventions before it closed, so we grabbed some Mickey Ice Cream Bars and made our way to Tomorrowland. Innoventions was actually very uncrowded,  which was great, and very air conditioned as well, which was a wonderful break from the heat.  I had three goals in Innoventions and we managed to meet all three. First, we got the chance to check out all of the Iron Man Tech in the Stark Industries exhibition. Bean especially liked the armor with battle damage. Then we viewed the Treasures of Asgard before being transported via the Bifrost to meet Thor in Odin's throne room. Thor was fantastic, and very good with kids (and grown up kids, too. Every woman in the group in front of us had to have an autograph and photo. It was hilarious!) Finally, we waited about 20 minutes to meet Captain America: The Living Legend and Symbol of Courage. He was absolutely amazing. The family in front of us had three little boys who all wanted separate photos.  He was very accommodating and even suggested a different pose for each kid. He was great with Bean and even told her to be sure to come back and tell him if she noticed any trouble in the park. She talked about meeting superheroes the rest of the day! While in Tomorrowland, we got fast passes for Star Tours, then headed back across the hub to Adventureland again.

We were just starting to get hot and tired again, so we headed for the Enchanted Tiki  Room. I don't know why, but I love the Tiki Room. The Disneyland version has a great pre-show that introduces several of the tiki gods that was quite cool. I would have liked to get a Dole Whip, but the line was seriously long, so I had to skip it. After leaving the Tiki Room, we stopped in one of the shops in Frontierland.  It had the most hilarious shirts, including one that used mustaches to define emotional states. I loved it!

Then it was on to New Orleans Square in search of dinner. I wanted soup from the Royal Street Veranda. It took me a while to decide between the clam chowder (which I'd had before) and the steak gumbo, but I eventually chose the gumbo. It was good, but man was it spicy! Thank heavens the sourdough bread bowl toned it down. Bean had the pasta and marinara sauce from the French Market Restaurant, so we sat outside and listened to the Royal Street Bachelors, who were quite good.

After dinner, we headed over to Fantasyland to ride Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. It was finally time for our fast passes, so we walked back to Star Tours, which is always a favorite for Bean and I. Then we rode The Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Admittedly, I creamed Mom and Bean, but we all had fun. While waiting in line for the Astro Blasters, we noticed a tiny Periwinkle fairy behind us, so our next stop was Pixie Hollow. It was so sweet with all of the tiny fairies in their elements, and although Tink had gone for the evening, Bean loved having her photo taken in front of Tinker Bell's giant teapot house.

By now, it was getting dark, but we headed back to New Orleans Square to ride Pirates one more time. The second time we'd ridden, we'd gotten ridiculously wet, but Bean convinced us to give it another go.  So of course we got sopped again! We decided to avoid the crowds watching Fantasmic! and catch a few more rides before heading out for the night.  As we walked past the Haunted Mansion, we noticed there was no one there, so we decided to check it out. We walked straight in, boarded the elevator with just four other people, and each rode in our own Doombuggy. (I got number 13!) This was the first time Bean had ridden alone and she thought it was awesome! After the Mansion, we headed along the Rivers of America to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. It's obviously a little kid ride, but so cute to ride in the beehives. On our way out, we stopped to rid the Jungle Cruise, because it's one of my Mom's favorites. It was ridiculous, as usual, but a great way to end the day. That was our last ride at Disneyland.  Bean kept wanting to ride the Matterhorn, but every time we checked, the line was clear around the mountain, no joke. So, we didn't make it on, but that just gives us a reason to go back, right? After grabbing some popcorn and cocoa for the walk back, our trip to Disneyland was over.

We had a great time in California,  and I'm really glad we went. California Adventure was definitely my favorite park, but I love some of the rides that can only be found in Disneyland. Honestly, the strangest part for me was how compact Disneyland is. I'm so used to the Magic Kingdom in Florida that I had forgotten you can stand in line for Indiana Jones and listen to the Jungle Cruise on one side and Tarzan's Treehouse on the other. We crossed the entire park half a dozen times, but didn't feel like we'd walked that far because everything is so small. It was crazy, but fun nonetheless.

The Pirate Fairy Trailer

Disney

I don't know who is going to be more excited for this one: me or Bean! It's fairies and pirates! How could you go wrong?

Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy arrives on Blu-ray and DVD next spring.

Sleeping Beauty Tsum Tsums

The most adorable Tsum Tsum set arrives at the Disney Store today: the Sleeping Beauty collection. The collection features 9 Tsums: Aurora in both her blue and pink dresses, King Stefan, Prince Phillip and his horse Samson, Maleficent's Raven Diablo and a Goon, and the Rabbit and Owl that Briar Rose danced with Once Upon a Dream. Maleficent and her dragon form were released in a previous set.

A second Sleeping Beauty set is also being released today. It features Briar Rose and the three good Fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. I love the Rabbit and Owl wearing Prince Phillip's cloak, hat, and boot!