Travel Back In Time...To 2012!

Remember WAY Back in 2012?

Well, if you know me, you know I LOVE gadgets! All kinds - computers, phones, iPads, and...APPS! I love those cool little applications that can just make your life so much fun, and of course, can make you look up at the clock and say "HOLY...what the? What happened to the time?" Yep, I get hooked on apps. 

Last year, I found this app called "Video Time Machine" distributed by Original Victories. This is one cool application, truly. It gives you access to over 10,000 videos, from 1860 to 2012, all organized into categories like MOVIES, MUSIC, TV, ADS, etc. Simply select a year, then a category (or "all") and you'll find all kinds of fun and interesting videos. And yes, I did say 1860...as in the YEAR 1860! They actually have film clips/shorts from WAY back when!! Once you find a video you really like, you can share it to Twitter or FaceBook. Pretty cool.

So, in honor of the Earth not being wiped out and all (you know, the whole Mayan thing), Original Victories and Shout! Factory has created a brand new app - 2012 Time Machine. Very similar to the original Time Machine, the 2012 Time Machine focuses on all the awesome events from the past year, including a few brand new categories like Style, Tabloid, and my all time favorite - Viral Videos! 

First off, the interface is really smooth. With very easy to understand controls, you can't get lost. As before, simply select a category (I recommend starting with Viral Videos!), then either use the left/right arrow buttons to advance to the next video, or go back to the previous video. If you're feeling especially lucky, roll the dice for random videos. Also as before, if you find that cute dog viral video you love, you can share it with your friends via Twitter or FaceBook. The videos really do play very smoothly. I received the app to review today and played with it for about an hour and a half, and watched, well, WAY too many videos and only experienced one that seemed to glitch a little bit, but nothing tragic. 

Space Jump

I personally love these Video Time Machine apps. For me, they're a great way to remember our history. For example, I went to high school in the 80's (the 1980's thank you very much!) and the original Video Time Machine has a great many videos from that era that I completely forgot about, but really get a kick out of seeing again. The 2012 Time Machine will be that same source of nostalgia for many people in the years to come I'm sure, and for now, it's fun to look back and realize just how many awesome (and NOT so awesome) things happened in 2012. It's pretty cool to relive some of these highlights, or even catch a few that you completely missed!

What? We Elected A New President? 

Currently these apps are only available in the Apple App Store, and you can purchase the original Video Time Machine for $2.99, and the brand new 2012 Time Machine for only $.99, which is a great deal. It's certainly a fun and nostalgic way to spend many, many, many, many hours! I give this app 4 out of 5 App Nods! 

If you interested in learning more about the 2012 Time Machine, click the image below, or watch the totally cool trailer video below (destined to be on the 2012 Time Machine app I'm sure!). Have fun!  --Al 

2012 Time Machine

Tales From The Mouse House...Episode 62

Welcome to episode 62 of Tales From The Mouse House Disneyland Podcast! Our 2012 Christmas fun-type-cool-episode! On this episode, we discuss some of the challenges we've had recently during the Holiday Season, like the Christmas yard decorations...man, what a challenge THAT'S been! And, of course, Joyce's challenges getting our annual Christmas tradition ornaments. That was certainly a trial of patience and well, keeping our Holiday Spirit! But, with the aid of a terrific, Magical Cast Member named Chad, well, you'll need to tune in for that outcome!

Disneyland Resort for the Holidays!

In our Attraction Review, Joyce discusses one of the cutest new additions to Disney California Adventure on Buena Vista Street that doubles as a roving musical, and in or Food Review, Al reviews the Trolley Treats on Buena Vista Street for a great place to get your sugar rush on! Plus, we had the awesome honor of interviewing someone how really has little extra time to chat this time of year. We'd tell you his name, but we can't. You'll need to listen for that gem, but we CAN tell you, he's VERY popular this time of year! Oh, and he loves to wear red, has a HUGE white beard and rides around in an unconventional mode of transportation! 

We'd also like to take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a VERY Happy, Blessed, Prosperous and Safe New Year to each and every one of you. We truly appreciate you listening to us rant about our favorite place in the entire world - Disneyland! It's because of you that we continue to do this show, because we LOVE sharing our LOVE for Disney with all of you. And to say thank you, we've done up a neat, fun little rendition of The 12 Days Of Christmas...Disneyland style! Joyce wrote the lyrics and Al sang the song - ALL 12 PARTS! Talk about CRAZY!! 

The "Royal" Disneyland Couple

We plan on bringing you much more in 2013. As with Disneyland, Tales From The Mouse House Disneyland Podcast is ever evolving, so we'd LOVE to hear your suggestions. And be sure to keep an eye out on our blog site for more reviews. We'll be reviewing Disney/Pixar films like Frankenweenie, Finding Nemo and many more. Plus, from time to time, we'll have giveaway copies, so be on the look out for Tales Trivia contests! Thanks again for your support and trust in us! 

Oh Christmas Tree, OH Christmas Tree!

As always, If you’d like to send in comments for the show, you can send us an email to talespodcast@cox.net, leave us voicemail on the Hotline at 304-TALES23, leave us feedback in iTunes or leave comments for us on our Twitter account @talespodcast. Heck, you can even find us on FaceBook, just search for Tales From The House House - Disneyland podcast! If you'd like to listen to the show, you can find it on iTunes, on our podcast site at talescast.com, the direct episode link: Episode 62, or on Stitcher Radio now! Just visit www.stitcher.com and search for Tales From The Mouse House - Disneyland Podcast!


Thanks for making us part of your Disney experience and remember…
"Make It A Disney Christmas Day!" ~~ Al & Joyce

For a little Holiday fun, check out the awesome Tinker Bell and the Secret Of The Wings Winter Woods Snow Flakes print and play activity below! And don't forget to pick up YOUR copy of Disney's Secret Of The Wings today!

http://www.wdistudio.com/SOTW/SOTW_snowflakes.pdf

Tales From The Mouse House...Episode 61

Welcome to episode 61 of Tales From The Mouse House Disneyland Podcast! As many of you know, each year from mid-November to early January, the Disneyland Resort is transformed into a Winter Holiday Wonderland, complete with lights, Holiday music and believe it or not...SNOW! Well, among these wonderful treats, another annual Christmas tradition at the Resort is the Candlelight Processional Ceremony. A tradition beginning in 1958, each year, the Disneyland Resort hosts a celebration of the Season with beautiful orchestral and choir music, a wonderful Candlelight narration of the Biblical Christmas Story, presented by many of entertainments biggest names (like John Wayne, Gregory Peck, James Stewart, James Earl Jones, Carry Grant and many more!). This year was no different, in fact, Disney expanded this Holiday treat to 20 nights!    

2012 Disneyland Candlelight Processional

Unfortunately we were not able to attend this prestigious event, but our great friend Mr. Daps and his crew not only attended many of the nights, but they filmed them as well! And being the AWESOME guy Mr. Daps is, he has graciously agreed to allow us to share the audio from one of the most highly anticipated of the 2012 Processionals - narrated by Mr. Dick Van Dyke! Mr. Van Dyke is a Legend in the Disney community...in fact, he IS a Disney Legend! His presentation of the Christmas Story, despite some wetter than desired conditions (it rained!), is masterfully delivered. We're honored to bring you this special Holiday treat! We hope you enjoy the show. 

 If you’d like to view this or any of the 2012 Candlelight Processional videos by Mr. Daps, check out his website at www.dapsmagic.com or his YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/mrdaps.

Be sure to join us next week for our special Christmas Greetings episode! We'll share some of our favorite Holiday stories, some fun Holiday Attractions and Shows at the Disneyland Resort that we enjoy, (hopefully) some of YOUR Holiday stories and...a special interview with a man we're sure you ALL will know! Ok, a little hint: he has a great white beard, awesome dimples and when he laughs, he tummy jiggles like a bowl full of jelly! So, be sure to send in your Holiday stories, or if you'd just like to say Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas to us or someone you know, we'd LOVE to share them!!

As always, If you’d like to send in comments for the show, you can send us an email to talespodcast@cox.net, leave us voicemail on the Hotline at 304-TALES23, leave us feedback in iTunes or leave comments for us on our Twitter account @talespodcast. Heck, you can even find us on FaceBook, just search for Tales From The House House - Disneyland podcast! If you'd like to listen to the show, you can find it on iTunes, on our podcast site at talescast.com, the direct episode link: Episode 61, or on Stitcher Radio now! Just visit www.stitcher.com and search for Tales From The Mouse House - Disneyland Podcast!

Thanks for making us part of your Disney experience and remember…
"Make It A Minnie Mouse Day!" ~~ Al & Joyce

The Chronicles of Duffy...Love

On February 14, 2011, my mail order groom arrived on our doorstop.  I thought to myself that I could be happy with friends and was not interested in a mate. Boy was I wrong!  Val turned out to be my soul mate! Who would have thought that this arranged marriage could have such a happy ending.

Val and I were both adopted from the Disneyland Resort.  I was adopted from DCA’s Paradise Pier and Val from Company D. My adopted parents knew me better than I knew myself and today Val and I are like two peas in a pod. Last September we adopted lil’ Chip and like is so magical.

Because we were born at the Disneyland resort we know the most romantic places in the Parks! Get ready to fall in love for the first time or all over again by visiting some of our favorite locations:

• Watch fireworks cascading over Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland Park.
• Take a romantic boat ride through the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction
• Snuggle up with your prince or princess in a seashell and go on an undersea adventure with Ariel and Eric.
• Make a wish at the wishing well, and listen to songs of Snow White at this tranquil, storybook setting in Disneyland
• Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular in the Hyperion Theater at Disney California Adventure Park

The Happy Family 

Pixie Tales - “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”- The Fox and the Hound

Disneyland has always been a family friendly place and created so many lifelong memories.  There are a few chapters in my life where I did not visit the Happiest Place on Earth but my love for Disney was always apparent.

Since 2007, when visits to the Park became a regular part of my life, Al and I have met so many awesome people who share the love and understand the Disney magic and as a result, our friendships have grown. Some of these friends started out as “virtual” friends and are now some of our closest friends. Not only do they share our love for Disney but never forget Walt’s vision and walk in his footsteps just as we do.

As we start a new year, it is natural to reminisce about the previous one.  Wow what an awesome time we had at Disneyland in 2011.  We attended the D23 Expo and finally met our good friend, Lisa from Babes in Disneyland in person, met Mr. Daps, and reconnected with old friends and formed new friendship.  One of the most magical memories was our October 2011 trip.  We were celebrating our 15^th wedding anniversary and planned in advance to join the Sunday Sweeper Crew on their traditional final train ride of the night.  This was one of the most awesome experiences and was above my expectations.  I could write an entire blog on this experience so will keep you in suspense for now.  :) 

2012 is going to be an awesome year; In about 5 weeks, I am going to be a grandma for the first time and can’t wait to take baby Isaiah to Disneyland.  I hope I get to take him for his first visit and we will let his daddy and mommy, Eric and Ali tag along, too.  It is leap year so I am creating a leap list of things to do in 2012:  I want to attend one D23 event like maybe the Studio tour, and my all time goal is to participate in one of the Disney Adventures and tour Walt’s apartment.  Anyone out there want to donate to my Leap List fund, let me know.  Just kidding….

Disney is creating lots of memories for their guests this year and I think it is so awesome that they are staying open for 24 hours straight not to mention the daily giveaways. 

Stay tuned for my next Pixie Tales: “Turn right to go left! Guess what? I tried it, and you know what? This crazy thing happened - I went right!”  

The Happiest Blog On Earth - Welcome 2012

Well, what can I say? The 2011 Holiday Season has come and gone, and 2012 is now here. Wow. I’m sure this is being said well over a million times today…I just can’t believe it’s 2012! Still, it’s true. I can’t believe it. Seems like just 365 days ago I was saying the same thing about 2011. Sorry, my attempt at a little New Year’s humor.

So, now that it’s a brand new year, I’m sure many of you have some lofty ambitions and resolutions, huh? Lose weight; spend more time with family; get organized; visit Disneyland more; be nicer to people; stop sending angry signals to the aliens living on the dark side of the moon (ok, just checking to see if you’re paying attention!). Making New Years Resolutions is fine and I certainly don’t want to disparage anyone from setting some goals for themselves, but I personally don’t partake in this annual tradition. Why? Thanks for asking…because the way I look at it, making a resolution in the heat of the moment, and let’s face it, making a resolution to do something in direct response to reflecting on the past year and looking ahead to the new year, is really the heat of the moment, is just a bad idea. I feel it’s just setting some unrealistic expectations that I know will fade away within a few months at best. And yes, I’ve seen this not only in myself but many, many, many of my family and friends as well. We always set these resolutions (perhaps at times under the influence of some Holiday beverage?) and have the best of intentions, but once the newness of the new year (and that Holiday beverage) wears off, well, so does the drive to complete your daunting task. Did you know that according to statistics, that the odds we will stay faithful to our resolutions are pretty slim:

·         75% make it through the first week

·         17% make it to the six month mark

·         8% actually successfully complete resolution by year end

Interesting numbers, but please don’t get me wrong. Making a New Years Resolution is actually a good thing, even if the odds are stacked against you. It’s a start. Puts you in the right frame of mind and actually helps you set more realistic goals. I for one like to just make changes, and not because it’s a new year, but because they NEED to be made. How about you? What’s YOUR take on the whole New Years Resolution thingy? If you’d like you can send a comment to us at talespodcast@cox.net. And yes, we’d LOVE to hear from you and share it on our podcast.

So, that aside, Joyce, Kate (the pup) and I had a pretty nice Holiday Season. Christmas was awesome – just the three of us – and New Years was awesome as well – again, just the three of us. Christmas dinner was our traditional honey baked by Al ham and homemade macaroni salad, Hawaiian rolls, veggie and for dessert, cherry pie! Then we watched Elf, or as Joyce calls it…Buddy The Elf. Great Holiday movie. Then topped off Christmas Day by turning out all the lights and just watching the Christmas Tree glow. Awesome!

We took some time off work and just relaxed around the old Mouse House, but one day we decided to find some snow. Now, many of you may remember that we live in the Phoenix, Arizona area, so snow is sort of scarce. We piled up in the car and drove about two and a half hours north, to Flagstaff. And snow we found! It was awesome. We decided to go to this place called, cleverly enough, the Snow Play Area, and pay $12 per car load to, well, play in the snow! It was worth it. Kate had a blast, which kind of shocked us. The last time she saw just a little snow she hated it, but not this time. She romped, hopped, jumped, and generally had a great time. So did Joyce and I. By the end of the day, we were all three pooped out, but grinning ear to ear.

Now, we’re back to work and digging in to a new year. We’ve got a lot of plans for our website and podcasts in 2012, so we’re busy planning those out, but rest assured, they’re going to be EPIC. If you enjoyed Tales From The Mouse House – Disneyland Podcast in 2011, you’re going to LOVE it in 2012! And if you haven’t heard the show yet, now’s a great time to give it a try. If you like Disneyland, you’ll love our podcast.

Well, a blog that looks back (sort of) on the previous year wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention some names of those who played special parts in our lives in 2011. These folks epitomize to us what it means to be true friends and family, folks who’ve helped us, prayed for us, showed us that Disney Magic IS real and CAN be given away. So, in closing, I’d like to say thanks and send lots of love and stuff to the following awesome people:

·         Joyce – my beautiful wife of course!

·         Rick and Amy Moyer – awesome friends I consider family.

·         Lisa Robertson – a TRUE Disney spirit if there ever was one

·         Mr. Daps – ANOTHER absolute True Disney spirit

·         Kenny Mittleider – my adopted little brother, fellow geek and now Disneyland buddy

·         Simon “Hawkeyemeds” Meddings – my UK brother and awesome creative talent

·         Steve Jobs – For creating the many cool and useful toys that I use everyday!