Wednesday, March 12, 2014

I was so excited to be chosen to host a "Show your Disney Side Celebration"!!  Thank you Maria Bailey for the opportunity!  It's no secret that we are a Disney household through and through!! Our paint colors in some of our rooms are Disney colors, our dishes, our clothes, our towels, and our decor all show our Disney side so I was excited to be able to share it with others!!                                                                              
This is the American Tourister that all the
goodies came packed in for the party!! It's on
our balcony in February at the Yacht Club!!
Some of the many goodies that were
inside the American Tourister!!
                   

I went through many scenarios in my mind when trying to decide what to do for our Show Your Disney Side Celebration. I thought about one for "tweens" since my boys are 11 & 13. Then I thought about just a Mom's night or one themed just for the younger kids. I thought the tweens might be harder to keep them entertained so I was leaning toward a younger age group but  when my kids found out, they were upset!! They wanted me to have some of their friends over so they could be a part of it.  I put them to work helping me think up ideas that would keep everyone entertained for the full two hours!!

Table decor & Disney Trivia
Disney Infinity Ready to go

We are in the middle of a deep freeze winter here in Central NY and hosting a party with all the kids that I wanted to invite was not going to be possible. I had to limit it to 10 because of my space limitations and my husband's sanity - I would've had 30 of them if this were a summertime party!!

Some of our guests!!
Now they're just being silly!!
         
Our plans for the day included lots of sugary Disney themed treats as well as a photo booth, Disney Trivia, Disney Infinity, Art of Animation, and Guess Which Disney Character you are.  I taped a notecard on their backs with a character on it and they were supposed to be treated as if they were that character, but the kids didn't quite understand how to play - they still had fun and I ended up assigning more than one character to some of them because they guessed so fast and they wanted to keep playing..

 
 



 



Food included hoemade chocolate covered Pretzel Rods sprinkled with mini M&M's or Mickey head sprinkles., Mickey head Rice Crispie treats (I dipped the ears in chocolate), Mike and Sulley cakes in a jar that I found on pinterest, Hidden Mickey Cupcakes, again found on pinterest, and to have something that wasn't full of sugar, Mickey head tortilla chips and salsa! I was planning to also make "The Grey Stuff" but figured there were plenty of sugary options so I am saving that for another day!! For drinks, we had Stitch Juice (like they serve at O'hana), water, and milk. Had ingredients for Sci-Fi's Oreo Milkshakes but decided to not have more sugar once again. I didn't mention, we held this party right after school from 3-5 so they all had to go home and eat dinner!




My husband drove to the middle school and with the help of one of the other moms, drove all the kids here so we could get the party in before evening activities and practices wouldn't prevent anyone from being able to attend.  Disney Infinity was the biggest hit. My kids have every character (they sold their skylanders on ebay and did very well!!) plus we just got home from Disney so their Magic Bands have unlocked some really cool dragon, I guess.. I just wish it wasn't a 2 player game but they were all great and took turns without arguing!  While 2 were playing, others were teaming up to play our Disney Trivia game - although it was my older son's game and the kids had no idea who Darkwing Duck, Peanut Butter and Jelly Otter, and other great characters from the 90's were..  This got them reminiscing about all the great shows they miss so much on the Disney Channel though and it was great to listen to them. They started looking up Kim Possible and Stitch videos on You Tube as well as American Dragon, Little Mermaid, Buzz Lightyear, Lilo & Stitch, and others...




It was so cool to watch the kids just be kids - they ate, they drew, they sang, they danced, they wore crazy hats, and were just themselves - exactly what a Disney Vacation is to our family!!  No pressures and everyone is able to just be a kid again without any cares in the world!!


Our very own Ariel!! She just had the lead in her school play and she
totally stole the show!! I thought I was listening to the soundtrack of
the actual movie!!!  She is amazing and we love her for her sweet spirit!!




Thank you again Maria for giving me this opportunity!!!  Thank you to all the DisneySide sponsors - American Tourister, Ocean Spray, runDisney and HP for all their great products that were included in my Disney Side Home Celebration kit.  The kids all loved their goodie bags that they got to take home.



Disclaimer: I was given a kit of products from companies to host a Disney Side home party. In no way was any of the opinions here influenced by anyone. All content is based on my own opinions and experiences. Thank you! 

Please enjoy a few more pictures of our party and decor - we just came back from Disney and since we were in EPCOT all 8 days, we collected several of the Kid-cot Perry and Duffys for the kids (that's when I thought I was having the party for the younger kids)..  And one of our favorite Disney moments - when our son Andy goes to visit Buzz and Woody at Hollywood Studios - they always make a huge deal of Andy being there with them!!




You can check out more parties and ideas at www.Spoonful.com, www.DisneySide.com, and www.disneysidecelebrations.com.  Everyone should think about getting friends together just for fun and to #showyourdisneyside!!!