At the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, I had many "a ha" moments.  Two in particular stood out, however.  First, was Peter Shankman.  Among his points was a slide about obstacles in your way.

(Let’s ignore for a second that I have no mascara to run if I cry.   )

Too many times, we hit a brick wall in life and just sit beside it complaining about how awful life is to put up such obstacles.  Complaining doesn’t move the wall, however.  It might feel good temporarily (believe me, I know), but it doesn’t solve the overall problem.  Instead, you need to figure out a path around the wall.

Later, Lisa Druxman spoke.  She mentioned about how gremlins will sit on your shoulder and tell you "You can’t do that."  I instantly realized that my gremlin is "High School Me."  Back in high school, I wasn’t exactly a social butterfly.  I was more like a social potted plant in the corner of the room.  Whether it was due to all of the bullying I endured, or just the awkwardness of being a teenager, I didn’t do well in social situations.  I’d stand quietly as close to the wall as possible.  Though I longed to be in the spotlight, I also lived in mortal fear of it.

High School Me sits on my shoulder, I realized, telling me that I can’t ride certain rides, can’t attend social functions, and can’t do a dozen other things.  It’s not that I actually can’t do these things, mind you.  Though I may face some difficulties (for example, remembering people’s faces and names), I can get past these and survive.

In an effort to knock the gremlin off my shoulder for good, I hope to ride four Disney World rides that scare me: Space Mountain, Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, and Expedition Everest.  Each of these rides raises huge red flags with me and makes me not want to proceed.  Luckily, each of these rides also offers photos of you riding the attraction.  I plan on stitching the photos together, along with some phrase either from the conference or inspired by it.  Then, when I feel that shoulder gremlin telling me to just give up over the brick wall in my path, I’ll tell it to look at my montage and then beat it.

Do you have a shoulder gremlin? If so, what does it look like?

Disclaimer: We paid for our own trip to Disney World to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.  Though we were given an incredible deal from Disney, they never asked us to blog about this event. All opinions expressed above are my own.

My boys love all things pirates.  This is partially (ok, mostly) fueled by Jake and the Never Land Pirates on Disney Junior.  So we were very excited when we found out that there would be a Swashbuckler Soiree at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.

Since I’m writing this post in advance (from my couch at home, not from Disney), I don’t have any photos of the pirate party.  Instead, here are some pirate-ified photos of my boys and I courtesy of the free Android app Make Me A Pirate:

My Aloha Friday question for today is: Do you and your kids like pirates?

P.S. If you haven’t already, try out my Twitter applications: FollowerHQ and Rout.

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #136

As you read this, I’m soaring above the clouds on my way to Disney World.  See?

Ok, that’s not actually a photo from right now.  That’s a photo from last year.  I’ll take a photo from the air to post later on.

We’re headed to Disney for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.  Unlike past years, when B attended and I took the kids around Disney World, both B and I were invited this time.  So while we experience some Disney social media magic, B’s parents will be taking the kids to have some fun in the Disney parks.

I’ll take plenty of photos – especially when I go on the Wild Africa Safari with Tammi (aka MyChaos), Becca (aka @BeccasCrazyBoys), and Maricris (aka @MaricrisG).  I’ll try to post some of these on the fly, but will post many more when I return.

For now, though: Hi ho! Hi ho! It’s off to Disney World, I go!

With the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration approaching, I’m going to soon face one of my biggest fears.  No, I don’t mean the Wild Africa Trek’s rickety bridge over the crocodiles (though that’s sure to trigger a big fear too).  This is the fear of socializing.

You see, I might seem like quite the extrovert online, but put me in a room full of people, especially people that I haven’t known face-to-face for awhile, and I become a huge introvert.  The idea of approaching someone I don’t know and talking to them terrifies me.  The possibility that I’ll "introduce" myself only to find out that we’ve met in person before fills me with paralyzing panic.

I’m much more comfortable in the online arena where I can more easily remember if I’ve conversed with a certain user before and take my time to craft my response for maximum wittiness.  In many ways, my "online persona" is closer to the real me than my "in-person persona."

I suspect that I’m more extroverted in public than I give myself credit for.  While I’ll often feel like the socially stunted high school kid I used to be when dropped into a social situation, I try to keep reminding myself that I’ve grown so much since then.  I’ve attended two Disney Social Media Moms Celebrations already (albeit as B’s guest), I attended BlogHer in 2010, and I’ve been in many social situations at work where I spoke with people I didn’t know well.  I tell myself that my fears are unfounded, but they still dog me.

However, I’m a big advocate of facing down your fears.  I might have a fear of falling, but I’m not going to let that stop me from walking across the bridge on the Wild Africa Trek.  Neither will I let my fear of social situations stop me from talking to people at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.

Just do me a favor and be patient with me if I introduce myself and we met before, ok?

My Aloha Friday questions for today are: Are you an introvert or extrovert in person?  How do you face down your fears?

P.S. If you haven’t already, try out my Twitter applications: FollowerHQ and Rout.

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #135

Last week, I mentioned where we prefer to stay while at Disney World.  Therefore, for this week’s Disney Blog Hop, I’d like to talk about two resorts that I’d love to stay in.

The first of these resorts is the Animal Kingdom lodge.  We love going on the Kilimanjaro Safari in Animal Kingdom and so I’d love to wake up in the morning, look out of my window, and see some giraffes and other animals milling about.  It would be a giant dose of Disney magic before we even left the room.  As a bonus, we’d be right near the fabulous Boma restaurant.

The other place we’d like to visit would be the Contemporary resort.  The nice thing about this resort is that we would be able to walk to the Magic Kingdom or hop on a Monorail and go to Epcot.  The central location would be a nice change of pace from the value resort we normally stay in where getting anywhere requires waiting for a bus.  Besides, then we’d have Chef Mickey right near us.

If you could choose any Disney World resort, where would you stay?

When we go to Disney, we usually opt for the value resorts, specifically Pop Century.  Sure, the rooms are smaller and they aren’t as nice as the moderate or deluxe resorts, but let’s be honest: How much time do you stay in your room?  If you’re like us, your Disney World room is a place to leave early in the morning and a place to crash in at night.

Given that, we like that we can save some money on the hotel.  That money can be spent on meals or some souvenirs.  Besides, Pop Century is the only place that we can get this:

Yes, that’s multi-color cheesecake atop red velvet cake.  It’s insanely delicious.  I even replicated it a couple of times.

My Aloha Friday question for today is: Do you usually opt for a less expensive room to save money or do you prefer the move lavish rooms when you vacation?

P.S. If you haven’t already, try out my Twitter applications: FollowerHQ and Rout.

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #130

There are so many Disney characters, that it can be hard to choose one favorite.  In fact, I have two.

My first favorite is Goofy.  He’s clumsy, odd, and seemingly a bit of a geek.  Still, Goofy is a true friend and will never gives up despite the fact that he will likely find himself propelled through the air while he lets out his trademark scream.

My other favorite is actually a duo.  These geeks don’t let anything stop their quest to make the most of each day.  Not even the laws of physics or simple economics can prevent their complex builds from being completed by a small group of children in a few hours’ time.  Of course, I’m talking about Phineas and Ferb.  You’ve got to love a pair of step brothers who decide that the perfect family pet is a platypus.  Speaking of which… Where’s Perry?

Who is your favorite Disney character?

Having gone to Disney World a few times, I’ve come up with quite a few rides that I must go on each trip.  I could ride these multiple times in a row and still come back for more.

First, in the Magic Kingdom, is Splash Mountain.  I’m not a big rollercoaster/big drop sort of guy.  (In fact, I’ll discuss later on just how much and why I hate these.)  Still, Splash Mountain’s big drop is only part of the ride.  The rest involves a story about Br’er Rabbit looking for his "laughing place" and trying to escape from Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear.  The animatronics turn the ride from just another log drop ride into a classic Disney attraction for me.

Just in case you are wondering: Yes, the photo on the left was taken on the ride itself.  I was feeling a bit crazy and took my DSLR on board the ride (shielding it during splash drops) and took photos of the ride itself.

In Epcot, I’ve got one "official" favorite and one "unofficial" one.  My official favorite is Soarin’.  The story behind this is that you are boarding a special aircraft and flying over California.  (How you get there from Florida isn’t explained.)  You sit in a special seat with your legs dangling and are lifted in the air.  Then, on a giant screen that fills your entire field of vision, you "fly" over water, golf courses, orange groves, and more.  It is a wild ride (even though you barely move).

My "unofficial" favorite is Epcot’s World Showcase.  I love just wandering through each country to see the architecture and sample the cuisine.  To increase the authenticity, Disney hires people from those countries to work there.  So when you meet a cast member there, you are honestly meeting someone from another country. 

Is it as good as actually traveling to those countries?  Of course not.  Still, outside of Disney World’s World Showcase, you’ll never be able to travel from Mexico to Norway to China to Germany to Italy to United States to Japan to Morocco to France to United Kingdom to Canada in a matter of hours.

Going to the Animal Kingdom, my main favorite attraction is Kilimanjaro Safari.  Disney went above and beyond with this attraction.  It really seems like you have traveled to the African savannah.  Animals wander around seemingly without any fences penning them in.  (The fences are there, just very well hidden.)  Most times, the animals (despite the looks) can’t approach your vehicle, but in some areas they can.  We’ve come within a few feet of giraffes and ostriches at one point.  As a bonus, every time you ride this attraction, it is slightly different.

Finally, we travel to Hollywood Studios.  Here, my favorite attraction is Toy Story Mania.  With this ride, you are shrunken down to a toy’s size and join Woody, Buzz, and the whole crew in some games.  You get to shoot plates, toss rings around aliens, and pop balloons.  You get points for your actions and compete against the player sitting next to you.  The attraction is in 3D but some scenes (balloons blowing by) are accompanied by a rush of air.  Small touches like this enhance the realism and enjoyment of the ride.

Now for my least favorite ride: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.  I’ve only been on this ride once, but that was enough.  I wouldn’t have gone on it at all, but NHL, then 5, insisted on going on it with his grandfather and I couldn’t let him be braver than I was.

In fact, there’s a very good reason why I wouldn’t like Tower of Terror.  I have a fear of falling.  Not of heights, mind you, but falling.  I’m just fine behind the window of a 20th story building, but a second story balcony can terrify me.

Tower of Terror took us up 13 stories and then dropped us down.  That would have been scary enough, but then we shot back up and down and up and down and up and down.  There were a total of seven up-down movements.  Lest you think you’d get used to it, each time you shoot up (after the first ascent), you go up a random number of floors.  Maybe you’ll go up three stories next time.  Maybe ten.  Who knows?

So there you have it.  My favorite and least favorite Disney rides.

What are your favorite/least favorite Disney rides?

Leading up to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, I’ve been participating in the Countdown to Disney blog hop.  This week’s topic is: Your favorite theme park, or the one you’re looking forward to visiting the most if it’s your first time.  I have a problem with this, though.  I really don’t have a favorite theme park in Disney World.  I do, however, have favorite elements of each park.

The Magic Kingdom, of course, is the quintessential Disney park.  It’s the one that most people think of when they think "Disney World."  When I go to the Magic Kingdom, I can’t wait to get on Splash Mountain (where I was crazy enough to take my camera to take photos during the wet ride), the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (where NHL got a joke of his told once), or Small World (yes, the song can be annoying, but it’s a classic).

In Epcot, you have the World Showcase, with its amazing architecture and culinary treats.  Disney really goes all out in making it seem like you are visiting a mini-version of the foreign country.  Then, there’s Test Track, Soarin’, and Turtle Talk with Crush.  Of course, then there’s Spaceship Earth, which chronicles mankind’s communications breakthroughs over the past few thousand years.  (It’s also what people think of when they think "Epcot" and makes for wonderful photos.)

Over at Hollywood Studios, there’s the Muppet’s 3D movie, Star Tours, and, my personal favorite, Toy Story Mania.  Our Hollywood Studios routine is to get there before the park opens, hand our tickets to the fastest walker (they stop you from running) after passing through the gates, getting Fast Pass tickets immediately, and then getting on the normal line.  This way, we guarantee at least 2 quick trips through.

In addition, Hollywood Studios has the wonderful cupcakes at Starring Rolls.  At least, I’ve heard they were wonderful.  When we went there last time, we were too late and they had closed.  This is a mistake that *WILL* be rectified this year.

Finally, there’s Animal Kingdom.  Here you can find the Tree of Life, which contains tons of animals "carved" into a gigantic tree, Finding Nemo – The Musical, a Broadway-quality show that is not to be missed, and Kali River Rapids, which is fun but will leave you soaking wet for hours afterwards.  The highlight to me, though, is Kilimanjaro Safaris.  Disney went above and beyond to make an area that looks to all the world like an African habitat.  Fences that keep animals in their areas are cleverly hidden so it looks as though the lions could just decide to head on over to where you are driving by.  Plus, there are some areas where animals *CAN* come right up to you.  A few years ago, a giraffe came within 10 feet of us.

Asking me to choose my favorite park is just impossible to do.  There are so many great things at each park.  I really can’t decide which one I like more than the others.  Cop out answer?  Perhaps, but it is the truth.

Looking to the future, and going to Disney World for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, I’ve also been thinking back to what sparked my love of Disney.  I’ve always liked Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, and Toy Story.  I’ve also loved some of the short cartoons, especially Goofy.  Still, my enjoyment of Disney didn’t quite spark into full-blown Disney Love until B & I got married.  That’s when she convinced me to take our honeymoon in Walt Disney World.

For our honeymoon, we stayed in the Beach Club resort, a stone’s throw from Epcot and Hollywood Studios (then called Disney-MGM Studios).  We not only rode on classic rides like Small World, but we saw fireworks at Epcot, had incredible meals, took some behind the scenes tours, and even visited the water parks.   (Though the latter doesn’t exactly hold pleasant memories considering that we found out that B could sunburn in a half hour even *with* sunscreen on.)

The overall Disney World experience had me enthralled.  Nobody knows customer service like Walt Disney World.  They would repeatedly go out of their way to make us feel special.  They must see thousands of honeymooners every month, but they made us feel like our celebration was extra-special.  I was hooked.

Since then, we’ve brought little bits of Disney home with us.  When our kids were old enough, we brought them to Disney World and the pixie dust magic quickly hooked them as well.  Every trip back brings some familiar sights and yet is special in its own way.