Category Archives: Disney World Disney Parks
When your friends have you figured out …
Recently my friend Suzanne sent me a present I wasn’t expecting. I was thrilled when I opened the gift and discovered a necklace featuring my favorite character in Disney’s Haunted Mansion’s Stretching Portraits—a young girl suspended on a rope over a hungry alligator.
According to themeparktourist.com, this pretty girl in a precarious situation has a name: Daisy de la Cruz (you can read about everyone in the mansion here—this article is about Disneyland’s version, but in the Stretching Room, the WDW portraits are identical): https://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20120507/6634/characters-disneylands-haunted-mansion
So, why is she my favorite? I’ve always identified with her: like me, she was always optimistic, always hopeful, always waiting for something to go her way—without really understanding that she can hope all she wants, but fate has other plans for her, and mostly scary ones.
Suzanne got this at the Etsy store League of Shadows. Everything is handmade, and so their stock rotates and changes frequently. As I write this, they don’t have these necklaces, but they have lots of other cool stuff. If you’re looking for something unique for yourself or another, it’s worth putting them on your list of places to check out. They’re located here: https://www.leagueofshadows.org/
What the hell is Disney Bounding and can it be practical?

Me and Melissa at the Farewell Brunch at The Attic at Disney’s Boardwalk. I’m in my Alice in Wonderland Disney Bound. She made her dress herself!
Let’s face it—we Disney fanatics love to play dress up. Disney Bounding—the art of dressing to suggest your favorite character without copying it directly—hit my radar shortly after, a few years ago, the Disney Parks didn’t want adults going to the parks in costumes that were too close to the “real thing,” which might confuse guests (truth be told, it was probably around way before that, but that’s when I became aware of it).
I’d been to the parks a few times and seen some pretty amazing and creative outfits, but they were mostly pieces that Read the rest of this entry
THIS WRITING LIFE EPISODE 8: TOTAL BRAIN ERASURE
So…writers are thinking. All the time. How do we turn that off? Here’s one way to do it on Episode 8: Total Brain Erasure! You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/68NnQlQahm0
Keep in mind that just about any location you love that gets you to relax and focus on other activities besides writing will work. While I’ll say the vacation was incredibly effective in turning off my brain–as most Disney vacations are for me–I will say that cutting down the several hours of video I had while trying to tell an effective story in under five minutes was more than just a little challenging! Have fun!