Top 6 Christmas Decorations at Disney World

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE EVERYBODY!

To celebrate the holiday season this year, I have my top six favorite places to go to enjoy the Christmas decorations at Walt Disney World.  Many of them may look familiar as I'm sure they've appeared on the blog in the past - you can click here for more details about holiday decor all over Disney World.

But if you just want the cream of the crop, you're in the right place!  Without further adieu...

POLYNESIAN VILLAGE

These picks are not in any order, because as I come to each of them it feels like that one is my favorite.  So we're going to start with my favorite - the Polynesian Village!

The swags are hung from oars overhead, which in turn are suspended from the ceiling on ropes of tropical flowers.  SERIOUSLY GUYS.

Icing on the Polynesian Christmas cake?  The wreaths around the tiki torches in BouTiki.  LOVE.

Christmas Tree Farm OOTD | Winter Style

I'm taking you all Christmas tree shopping today...

...and we're doing it in the loveliest way - up in the mountains as the December day is fading and the sky is turning purple - on a tree farm where you can run through rows and rows of firs until you find just the right one.  It also just happens to be the perfect backdrop for photos, so why not share some winter style with a Christmas Tree Farm OOTD? :) 

Currently 12.20.2015

Happy December, friends!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season...Christmas is right around the corner. :)  Here are some fun links for your weekend:

currently awakening the Force...

...HAVE YOU SEEN IT YET??  I was so nervous about Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, but I LOVED IT.  We went opening night which was so much fun.  Rey and Poe and BB-8...ahhhh fantastic!

...also how cute is this A Capella Star Wars Medley that the cast of The Force Awakens sang on Jimmy Fallon?

currently listening to...Hide Away by Daya. I hear ya, girl. ;)

currently reading...Pioneer Girl by Laura Ingalls Wilder. So cool to get another perspective on the Little House on the Prairie series! There are more books in my December TBR!

currently Christmas shopping...on Rifle Paper Co.'s website because they have the prettiest stationery stuff.

currently Holiday outfit planning...excited to wear some of the things I got from ModCloth earlier this month!  Watch the cat-filled haul here.

currently can't wait...for the Victorian-era Sherlock Special, The Abominable Bride this January.  It looks AH-mazing!

currently worried about...costumes at Disney World. Have you heard the news?  Disney security found a gun in a man's bag at the park entrance last week, and Disney had been upping security measures, installing metal detectors, etc.  Security is absolutely important, and it's great that Disney is increasing its vigilance.

But as part of the increased security, Disney has also announced a ban on all adult costumes - and the ban (at the moment) will even apply to special events like Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, Star Wars Weekends, Dapper Day, and 24-Hr Day.  Technically the Disney Parks have always had a policy that adults can't dress up on ordinary occasions - only for special events like MNSSHP and 24 Hour Day. But in recent years they've been very lax about the policy, and they've seemed to encourage the adult costumes and used them as a selling point for events like Dapper Day and Star Wars Weekends.

There's a thread on the DIS with lots more discussion about this.  The costumes for everyone added a lot of magic to the special events, and I hope Disney will change the policy back and allow them at least for the Halloween Party.  We were thinking about going to 24-Hour Day again this year - I would love to wear my Mary Poppins costume again - but I doubt we'll go if we can't dress up.

Looking for more pixie dust?  Here's the latest:

the blogs...

Epcot Food & Wine Festival Favorite Eats

A Walk on the High Line in NYC

The Rose Petal: iPhone 6s Review

American Adventure Holiday Decorations

...and the vlogs...

Style Vlog: My Scarf Collection

What I've Been Reading | November

Animal Kingdom Adventures

Festival of the Lion King

Polynesian Village Room Tour

The New Great Ceremonial House

Epcot Holiday Decor | American Adventure

There are at least a dozen posts about holiday decorations at Walt Disney World in the archives of A Pinch of Pixie Dust (let's be honest...there are considerably more than a dozen); but looking through my old photos I found, surprisingly, some that I never got around to posting.  So get yourself a cup of hot cocoa (with whipped cream, of course) and cozy up for some Disney holiday cheer...

...it will be brought to you today by the American Adventure pavilion in EPCOT's World Showcase!

Meet the Rose Petal | New iPhone 6s

I would like to introduce a new face to the Pixie Dust milieu today.

You all know the strawberry, my iPod touch 5, which has accompanied me faithfully for the past nearly three years on many trips to Disney World and around the world.  Alas, the strawberry's home button gave up the ghost about a month ago, and I decided it was time...

...meet the Strawberry 2.0 or, as I think I'm going to call it, the Rose Petal!

(And I'm not even going to apologize for naming my inanimate objects because at this point of blog reading you should really know me better than that. ;P )

It's an iPhone 6s in rose gold pink, which I was pretty excited about. :)

If you're subscribed to my YouTube channel (which you should be!), then you might have already spotted the video in which I chat about all my favorite features...I'm really loving the 3D touch!

  

One thing I forgot to mention in the video was the camera on the new device.  The new iPhone 6s has some amazing specs on both its normal outward-facing and its selfie/inward-facing cameras, and I've been loving it for photos & videos so far.

I'm looking forward to taking the Rose Petal along on all sorts of new adventures...and of course using it to share with all of you!

The High Line | NYC Trip Report

When you think of New York City, you probably think of traversing busy streets with buildings stretching up above you...

...and this is, in fact, one of the novelties and fun parts about visiting NYC.

I especially like the buildings that look like they've been randomly picked out of Paris and plopped in the middle of Manhattan, but that's just me...

In today's New York City trip report post, however, we are seeking the pastoral rather than the urban. One of the items on our itinerary during my cousin Becky's & my trip was one of New York's hippest green spaces: the High Line.

"The High Line is a New York City park maintained and supported by Friends of the High Line."  There are a variety of places you can access it - I believe this entrance was at 30th street.  We walked South along it to eventually end up at Chelsea Marketplace.

The High Line is built along an abandoned elevated railway track, now filled with plants and promenades.

Shall we go for a stroll?

Epcot Food & Wine Festival Favorites 2015

The 2015 Food & Wine Festival at Epcot is wrapping up this weekend, so I thought we'd take a look at some of the tastiest eats from around the world...

...I hope you're hungry!

Especially for desserts, because you know there are going to be plenty of those. ;)

Currently Links: 11.06.2015

It's a rainy November night at my house, and I'm listening to the gusts against my window.  Go get yourself a cup of tea and let's chat about some lovely links and things!  It's been far too long since I last did a currently post...

currently reading...rather a lot of things! I finished Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers earlier this month (for obvious reasons). Also enjoyed The Life of Pi by Yann Martel and The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis.  Be on the lookout for a new bookish video on my YouTube channel very soon!

currently listening to...Better When I'm Dancin' by Meghan Trainor.

currently watching...the new Barbie ad is the most boss thing I've seen all week.

currently binge watching...just discovered this C.S. Lewis Doodle youtube channel and I'm addicted.  They narrate C.S. Lewis's classic works and accompany it with live illustrations. Love.

currently wishing I could visit the British Natural History Museum...because who knows, I might run into Kate and George.

currently munching...Reeses Pumpkins. For days. Soon it'll be time for Reeses Christmas trees!

currently contemplating...the various pitfalls, strengths, and weaknesses of social media. Apparently a model with a big Instagram account posted a video this week about why she was "quitting" social media and how fake she feels it all is.  Social media is what you make of it, and while I'm not sure how real the model's motives truly are, it is a good reminder not to get caught up in how many followers you have or how many comments you get.

I heard about the video through my favorite vlogger Tobuscus, and I love his point that numbers aren't numbers on social media - they're people (yeah there are robots and spam accounts out there too, but you get me here).  The best purpose of social media is not to make yourself feel validated or to garner applause - it's to connect with other people, to share stories, knowledge, talents - to hopefully make someone else feel a little more validated and confident and make their day a little better through the content that you create.

Ok.  Steppin' off the soapbox now. ;)

Catch up on the recent pixie dust...

The New Great Ceremonial House

Empire State Building Touring Pro Tips

Legoland Florida Hotel Review

Animal Kingdom Lodge Room Review

Halloween Disney Style

A Jolly Holiday at MNSSHP

...and videos...

The New The Force Awakens Trailer

Hidden Chameleons at the Magic Kingdom

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party Vlog

Disney Halloween Haul

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Oh, It's a Jolly Holiday with Mary...

I hope everybody had a Halloween that was just supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!  I did already post some of my favorite selfies from our Disney Halloween trip this year, but I've been going through the pics and thought I'd share a few more...

Come on, then, let's get going to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party - spit spot!

Casting Spells on Main Street | Halloween Disney Style

Get out your witch hat - today we're going to cast some spells on Main Street...

October in the kingdom - the Magic Kingdom - is one of my favorite things!

Don't you wish you could buy one of the Mickey pumpkin wreaths for your house?  When fall arrives, everything on Main Street is dressed up in orange and autumnal glory with leaves, pumpkins, and bunting...

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Selfies

I present to you a jolly holiday with Mary Poppins at Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party 2015...told in selfies...

Mary Poppins gets ready at...where else?...the Grand Floridian!

Off on an October Disney Trip

We are off to Florida for a Halloween Disney World trip this week, guys!

I have my Minnie witch hat packed and ready to go. :)

There have been some new MNSSHP costumes in the works...

...to get a sneak peek at them (along with fabric shopping...one of my favorite parts of Halloween!), check out the newest vlog on my YouTube channel:

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram (@bookishprincess) and also Snapchat (my username there is emmapixiedust) for live updates!

10 Disney Room Details at the Animal Kingdom Lodge

The beauty and fun and magic of a Walt Disney World vacation lies - at least in the eyes of this Disney snob - in the details.

 

Today's blog post is taking us to Jambo House at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.  But instead of giving you a standard room tour or review (there are lots of those out there), I'm just going to break it down into my top ten room details.  The little things that really transport you and turn your hotel stay into an adventure.  Here we go...

Minnie Mouse | Festival of Fantasy Style

We're looking at the parade style of one Miss Minnie Mouse today...I'm talking gold polka dots and pink ribbons...

I LOVE Minnie's outfit in the Festival of Fantasy parade at the Magic Kingdom.  I was even considering this as a costume idea for MNSSHP (wouldn't that be adorable?).  The frock has Minnie's classic style, only dressed up to party!

 

How pretty are the pink stripes going down the skirt and the one pink sleeve?  I'm also totally in love with the princess cone hat...

Legoland Florida Hotel Review

I have a brand new hotel review for you all today!

Yes, it's in Florida.

No, it's not at Disney World.

Any guesses?

We're off to LEGOLAND Florida to check into the brand new Legoland Florida Hotel.

It looks like it's built out of Lego, and there's a giant dragon out front.

Plus there are life-size minifigures.  And not just any minifigs - that's Johnny Thunder...he's apparently a Lego celebrity from back in the day...

The Legoland Hotel opened this past May 2015 - we actually stayed there just a few days after the Grand Opening!

Empire State Building with Pro Tips | NYC Trip Report

I'll give you one guess where today's blog post is taking us...

We're off to see New York City from above!

Becky and I are taking you to the top of the Empire State Building.

When you read reviews online, you'll hear that it's very touristy and has extremely long lines and that there are other high rises in NYC where you can get a good view without the high price tag on the ticket.  But then again, this is the Empire State Building.  It's so iconic - my cousin and I were excited to experience it ourselves. :)

The New Great Ceremonial House | Disney's Polynesian Village

We've been looking at new places and spaces at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort on the blog lately...the redesigned Captain Cook's, the DVC buildings and bungalows...

...today we're going to take a look at the center of it all: the Great Ceremonial House!

Can I get an ALOOOOHA?

DVC at the Polynesian: First Impressions

Close your eyes and picture palm trees...

 

...we're taking a stroll around the Polynesian Village Resort today!

I was excited to check out the new Disney Vacation Club areas at the Poly on our trip.  The Tahiti and Rapa Nui longhouses have been renamed Moorea and Pago Pago and spruced up with new designs for the new DVC villas inside.  There are room tours out there of the inside of the villas; today we're focusing on the public DVC areas.

A new map of the Polynesian - the buildings are all in the same places, but those Bora Bora Bungalows stretching out into the Seven Seas Lagoon are all new!

Captain Cook's Decor | Disney's Polynesian Village

Tropical pixie dust is coming your way, my friends!

The Polynesian Village Resort at Walt Disney World is an old favorite of mine, and the hotel has been seeing a lot of design changes recently which I was excited to see on our recent trip.  This week we're going to be taking a look at some of the new stuff, and we're starting at Captain Cook's!

Disney World Style: Vacation Look Book

It's no secret that I love dressing up for Disney World.  Planning a stylish wardrobe for the parks and resorts is half the fun of anticipating the next trip!

The new Disney Look Book video on my YouTube channel is full of fashion scenes from our latest Disney vacation, and I've got more details on the outfits in today's blog post. :)

Chef Mickey's Breakfast Buffet | Disney's Contemporary Resort

We have a breakfast date at Chef Mickey's, my friends...

YES.  There will be Mickey waffles.

Get your napkins ready, 'cause we are going to PARTY (you say it: paaaaarty!).

 

Did I mention the Mickey waffles?? :)