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28
Oct, 2011
Disney Interactive Media Halloween Bash!
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| My mini-MJ busting some sweet moves |
Last week, Aubrey and I went to the Disney Interactive Media Group’s Halloween Bash at the Disney Studios in Burbank. This group puts on the BEST parties and this one was no exception!
Guests were treated to samplings of the newest Disney console and online video games and web site offerings on DisneyFamily.com and FamilyFun.com and there was even an artist on hand giving lessons on how to sketch the penguins from Club Penguin!
Of course there were amazing treats and activities too! Aubrey loved decorating her own Tinkerbell cookie so much, she made two.
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| Mmmm…Tinkerbell cookies! |
If you’re into family video games, there are some really fun ones that just came out including Disney Universe, Cars 2 and LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean but Aubrey’s favorite was the Phineas and Ferb: Across The Second Dimension.
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| Aubrey and her bestie, Isabella, playing Phineas and Ferb |
Her other favorite of the night was Club Penguin. I’d heard about the Club Penguin craze and now it has become a reality for us. I may need to put a lock and chain on my laptop. What am I talking about? Aubrey has a job. She can buy her own compter! Geez.
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| Aubrey held this poor woman prisoner for a large part of the evening |
Little ones can also check out Pixie Hollow online and the new mobile apps: Where’s My Water and Puffle Launch for iPhone, iPad, iPod and Android devices.
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| A well-deserved Jack Skellington cupcake! |
We had an AWESOME time that night and the perfect end to the evening was that Aubrey won the kids’ costume contest with her Michael Jackson get up. She even busted a couple moves to Thriller when they queued up the music to call out her name. She was, literally, thrilled!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! Have a safe and super fun holiday!
xo Amy & Aubrey
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Tags: Amy Anderson • Aubrey Anderson-Emmons • Disney • Disney Interactive • Disney Interactive Media Group • Halloween • video games
04
Oct, 2010
Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland!
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| Aubrey’s First Time to Disneyland December 2008 Pretty exciting. |
I’d like to start by saying: AHHH!!! So much fun! I’ve only been to Disneyland a few times. Once as a very young child in the 70s. Another time in 2001 when I first moved to Los Angeles. It was only a couple weeks after 9/11 and the park was like a ghost town so I got to ride EVERYTHING! Then I went again a couple years ago when my daughter was a toddler. I got to ride NOTHING, but Aubrey had a fun time sitting in a circle cut out on a wall by the rest rooms (see above) and eating a hot dog in Toon Town. I won’t go into the story of how my family (6 people in a rental car) tried to drive to Disneyland from Arizona, circa 1976 and when we got there, it was closed. You think I’m kidding? When the movie National Lampoon’s Vacation came out in 1983, we were thinking of suing for stealing our family story.
Needless to say, now that my daughter is three, we need a little more Magic Kingdom in our lives. From the time I was in 4th grade through college, I had a pen pal from Glendale, CA. His name was David Driskill and I’m still trying to find that guy. Anyway, we sent letters back and forth from Excelsior, MN to Glendale, CA for approximately 10 years and he used to tell me how he and his sister would go to Disneyland on the weekends! Like it was going to McDonald’s or something. I grew up thinking Southern California must be some kind of magical kid paradise to live in where you can just go to Disneyland whenever you feel like it. Now that I live here, I can confirm that in many ways, it is! Phooey on “high standard of living” in the midwest! We are fortunate enough to live only 50 miles away from the Mouse, himself so I’m making a point to Disney indulge as much as I can and Aubrey and I are just beginning to explore and discover Disneyland together.
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| Disneyland at Halloween!! |
This past Friday, I was lucky enough to attend a special event at Disneyland with Aubrey – Mickey’s Halloween Party. While getting into the park was a bit of a hassle with long lines and crowded waiting areas, we knew we were in for something great.
We started our evening on Main Street taking photos with Disney characters dressed up in Halloween costumes. Here’s Aubrey with Minnie Mouse. In case you were wondering, Aubrey is dressed as a chef. She just didn’t want to wear her matching hat. We also saw Pluto and Donald Duck!
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| Pretty darn cute, huh? |
Then on to the rides and the Halloween decorations in New Orleans Square! We LOVED the Haunted Mansion (my three year old sat that one out with our nanny) and Pirates of the Caribbean which we stupidly took the three year old on, having forgotten how scary it was. Oops. I get to hear my daughter talk about pirates and skeletons for the next several months. Live and learn… but the grown ups still had fun.
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| Aubrey pretending not to be terrified. She’s such a trooper. |
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| Ahhh… The Teacups!!! |
After accidentally horrifying my poor child, we hit the Mad Tea Party teacups and Dumbo the Flying Elephant rides for Aubrey and she still can’t decide which one she liked best. I think the teacups! After a bite to eat at the Hungry Bear it was time to head to one of the highlights of Mickey’s Halloween Party – the Halloween Screams Fireworks Spectacular. It really was one of the best fireworks displays I’ve ever seen even though it also scared my child. I’ll spare you the photo on this one. Once again, the grown ups still had fun.
Shortly after that, we caught the end of the Character Cavalcade which was also scary for Aubrey… starting to sense a pattern here? Seriously though – it’s just my kid – no one else’s three year old seemed to be screaming and crying and it you ask my mother, there is a famous Anderson family story of a young girl named Amy who screamed her head off all the way through It’s A Small World, so maybe it’s genetic.
A ride on King Arthur’s Carousel pepped her right back up and overall, the night was truly magical for us all.
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| She stayed awake until park close at midnight! The walk to the car was the end of an exciting night. |
Some of the other highlights of Mickey’s Halloween Party that DIDN’T make my daughter cry were the trick-or-treating throughout the park (both with candy AND healthy treats) and the dance parties (Aubrey LOVES dancing and jammed with some really groovy space ladies in Tomorrowland while we took turns going on Space Mountain.
Mickey’s Halloween Party is a separate ticketed event with prices ranging from $49-$59 and children under age two are free. The party is happening every Tuesday and Friday night and Halloween night from now through October 31st and everyone is encouraged to dress up in a costume! Just remember, even though the scare factor is Disney-Mild, there are a few things that may be a little intense for preschool aged children.
Just do as I say and not as I do and check before you go. There is a lot to do at Disneyland and you can’t cover it all in one night. I think it’s a great idea to research online and make a game plan for what you want to tackle in the amount of time you’ll be there and what is age appropriate for your crew. You’ll have a blast and make memories to last a lifetime!
To buy tickets now and print them at home CLICK HERE or call: (714) 781-4400
Happy Halloween everyone and I hope you can make it to Disneyland soon! And if anyone knows my old pen pal, David Driskill formerly of Isabel Ln in Glendale, CA, a white guy with wavy hair and in his mid 30s, let him know I’m looking for him.
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Tags: Disneyland • Dumbo the Flying Elephant • Halloween • Haunted Mansion • King Arthur’s Carousel • Mickey’s Halloween Party • Pirates of the Caribbean • SoCal family activities • Space Mountain
02
Nov, 2009
We GOT CHOCOLATE MILK and More!
Monkey and Mommy safe from the rain in the Got Chocolate Milk tent!
Hey All! I have been SO consumed with my daughter’s new found neurosis (post coming soon) that I have been super procrastinating on some posts about events I have gone to recently. So, here goes…
On October 13, little Aubrey and I had the great pleasure of attending the Got CHOCOLATE Milk Halloween Party to announce Angie Harmon as the newest Got Milk campaign spokesperson at the Los Angeles Paramount Studios. Got Milk is the campaign of the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) and they did a real knock out job throwing a killer Halloween party (pardon the cheesy pun).
October 13, 2009 was one of the rare Los Angeles days where it was monsoon raining so I had to run my 24 pound monkey (my 2 yr old was actually dressed like a monkey – I don’t actually have a monkey) the equivalent of a couple city blocks to the safety of the tented party area, but the soak was worth it.
There was trick-or-treating on the brownstone NYC street set (we missed it because of my daughter’s late nap time), chocolate milk, LOTS of yummy milk based treats like chocolate pudding in cute Halloween mugs, brownie bites dipped in milk chocolate, cookies and more. It was a sweet tooth’s dream come true.
I will admit that I was a little taken aback by all the sweets at the party since it was geared towards families with young children, but I did learn that an 8 oz serving of chocolate milk has 300 mg of calcium which is a third of the recommended daily allowance. Also, studies show that children who drink chocolate or other flavored milks have a higher calcium intake than children who don’t drink milk and they also tend to avoid sodas and other higher sugar/chemical based beverages. So, it’s not all bad and I think I’ll be a little more likely to allow chocolate milk as a special treat now. I would LOVE for her to dislike soda pop, PLEASE!
On that note, yes, that is my monkey child gnawing down on a white milk chocolate covered ghost decorated brownie bite above. I rarely let her have sweets, but this was a special day – her first Halloween party! AND proud mama is happy to report she only ate one bite. I think it was too sweet for her. She also only wanted to eat the pretzel stick in the pudding cup. What a little freak, huh? I LOVE it!
In addition to the edible treats, there was also a photo booth that took chocolate milk mustache pics (bummed we missed that too), a magician and a face painter (Aubrey still talks about the banana she got painted on her cheek), games and the swag bags were awesome with matching adult and kid “got chocolate milk” t-shirts and Ultra Flip Video cameras – an item I’ve always wanted but was too cheap to buy. Thanks CA Milk Processor Board! We LOVE it!
I am really REALLY wet & happy
The decorations were to die for (more cheesy puns), the staff was friendly and it really was an awesome Halloween bash. The rain was the only downer (more stupid puns – I swear I’m not trying) but this lactose intolerant mama says it was all worth it. We had a blast and milk is already my daughter’s favorite beverage – this may be only because she’s half caucasian and hasn’t tried a Bahama Mama yet – but 2% is great for now.
Tags: Amy Anderson • Aubrey • California Milk Processor Board • chocolate milk • Got Milk • Halloween • Los Angeles • Paramount Studios
