Pin of the Fortnight

Although it's been a little (okay, a lot!) longer than a fortnight since I last wrote about a pin from my collection, I've improved my organisation with regards to writing these, so they'll be posted once a fortnight as usual from now on. Stay tuned for a special announcement regarding this and the Blog's Schedule at the end of this article!

As with my Splash Mountain Pin, today's pin, which represents Disney's Blizzard Beach Waterpark, is beautifully detailed, and also features kinetics as one of its most noteworthy features. The image it depicts is of the park's mascot, Ice Gator, who is shown on a snowboard with the words 'Blizzard Beach' on the bottom, together forming the pin's moving part. This can be rotated on a fixed point in the center of the pin, against a stunningly detailed background showing the park's iconic Mount Gushmore alongside its signature attraction, Summit Plummet, perched atop the mountain. It does a great job of epitomising the spirit of the park, which recently celebrated its 18th Birthday
I bought this wonderful pin in Beach Haus, Blizzard Beach's largest store. As far as I'm aware, it's still available to purchase, and is to my knowledge the most popular Blizzard Beach themed pin. One thing I have always noticed about the stores at the two Walt Disney World Waterparks is that, with regards to pins, they tend to have one of the best selections anywhere on property. When considering that it's also true that they stock many unique items alongside their impressive range of pins, it makes the stores at Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon some of the most well rounded in WDW. In fact, I'll write an article sometime this week or next elaborating on why I think this!

Here is this lovely pin in all its glory:

PICTURE CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

It truly is a splendidly designed pin, and has always been one of my favourites in my collection.
As I'm sure you're aware, this post was scheduled to be published on Sunday, but was delayed. Up until now it's been published every second Sunday, and not on the weeks in between, but that's about to change. Whilst I won't be publishing a weekly Pin article, and the existing 'Pin of the Fortnight' will remain scheduled for the same day, I am pleased to announced that I will be bringing a new set of articles to the blog, which will appear on every Sunday that doesn't see a Pin of the Fortnight. The new posts will be named simply 'My Top Seven...', with, of course, that fortnight's subject as part of the title. Launching this Sunday, these articles will consist of me picking any topic related to Walt Disney World, and describing my top seven favourite examples of this topic. This idea was born when I decided that I wanted to bring to this blog the popular concept of articles which list the best thing about something. Ubiquitous in the Disney Community, these articles are some of the most popular on the sites they feature on, and I hope this will be the case for the World of Dreams Blog. I always really enjoy reading these articles, and thought it would be fun to write some of my own too. I, however, decided to think a little outside the box. Most of these such articles feature a list of only five, or even six things, but instead, I've elected to detail seven. This is not only to make my articles as unique as possible, but also because there are so many great things at Walt Disney World that I'm gonna struggle to narrow it down to seven, let alone five or six! Look out for these posts premiering this Sunday!

Please also check out the amazing We're Going To Walt Disney World Podcast!
Thanks for reading, and have a magical day! Photo of the Week will be published tomorrow!

Thank you for reading; and have a magical day!
www.wdw-wod.blogspot.com

Thank you for reading; and have a magical day!

www.wdw-wod.blogspot.com

World of Dreams Pin of the Fortnight

Happy Easter everyone! In the spirit of the season, I have selected a pin today which is *loosely* related to Easter. Ok, maybe the connection is a little long winded, but you can't blame me for trying!

The pin in question is for Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, the awesome flume ride which rules the roost of attractions over in the Frontierland area of the park. Naturally, this excellent ride has a couple of equally egg-cellent pins to match (Easter-themed pun intended), with this one being my favourite. Just to clarify, my sole reasoning for this pin being Easter- related was that Splash's main character is Brer Rabbit, and rabbits are animals commonly associated with Easter. Although Brer Rabbit himself doesn't appear on the pin, he's the attraction's figurehead, and therefore forms the Easter connection. Not much of a connection, I know... I guess I'll have to blame it on all the Easter eggs I've eaten!

Anyway, back to the pin. It really is an exquisite little pin, and was a pretty good price too. Whilst I can't remember exactly how much it was, I do recall being pleasantly surprised the price it was, I thought it would be a few dollars more. It's not like it's a bad pin either- I'm the one who'll never get a job pricing merchandise at Disney... I always over or underestimate prices! It is in fact one of the sturdiest and most detailed pins I own, and shows Mickey, Pluto, Donald and Goofy aboard a Splash Mountain log which is plunging down the attraction's 50 foot drop, creating a big splash of course!

However, the coolest feature of this pin by far is it being a slider pin, having a moving part. In this case, the log and the words 'Splash Mountain' slide up and down the pin, thus creating the effect of the log plummeting down the drop. Here it is at the top...





And at the bottom...




Cool, right? I love pins with aesthetics, they're so much more interesting to look at than regular pins, albeit so much more expensive to buy!

My one criticism of this generally wonderful pin is that it's really too small to be able to truly appreciate the awe-inspiring detail which the incredibly talented designer has put into it. It's quite difficult to make out some parts of the pin clearly without a decent magnifying glass, and this problem would be eliminated completely if the pin was 4-6 millimetres larger. This would also allow for a greater amount of detail! Another minor weakness is that no characters from the attraction itself are featured, but that depends on your perspective and doesn't really bother me at all.

I purchased the pin in the little store at the exit to Splash Mountain, and the story of when I bought it remains one of my favourite Disney memories to this day! It's such a dear story to me that I have decided to write an entire blog post about it, which shall be appearing tomorrow! The pin is also available at other major stores throughout the Magic Kingdom, and can also be found in several stores at Downtown Disney. It's certainly not hard to find! Generally, if the store sells pins and is at the Magic Kingdom or Downtown Disney, they should have this pin in stock! I would really recommend it over the other Splash Mountain pins- its detail and kinetics make it a great addition to any collection!

If you have any questions or comments about today's pin, please don't hesitate to write a comment below, post on the Blog's Facebook Page, or you can email me at worldofdreamsblog @gmail.com

Thanks for reading, and happy Easter!

World of Dreams Pin of the Fortnight

Hello everyone! I hope your week is going great so far, and thank you for reading the World of Dreams Blog this Monday! Today, the pin I'm focusing on carries on the theme of Disney Characters from the last Pin of the Fortnight, except this character is slightly more contemporary than Mickey and Minnie! He is everyone's favourite semi aquatic egg laying mammal- Perry the Platypus! One of the stars of the popular Phineas and Ferb Disney Channel show, Perry instantly shot to stardom, and has inspired countless Disney Parks products, which can be found across Walt Disney World.

Of course, the Perry merchandise wouldn't be complete without a couple of pins depicting him, alongside all the other awesome Perry related items Disney have made available to their guests. The Perry Pin I own shows him wearing his Secret Agent's Hat, and adopting a pose ready to spring into action, no doubt to thwart another one of his evil nemesis Dr Doofenshmirtz's plans. It really is a beautifully detailed pin, and has two backs, meaning that it will always stay upright on your lanyard!

It's also pretty cheap, at least for Disney Pins. I can't remember the exact price, but it was definitely under $9. I bought the pin at the Muppet Stuff Store, opposite the exit to Muppet Vision 3D at Disney's Hollywood Studios, but it is also available at most WDW stores which offer pins.

What are your thoughts on this pin? Do you own one, and if so, what do you think of it? Please share your opinions on Facebook or in the comments- I love hearing what you think! Apologies again for the lateness of this post, I chose to delay it in order to give yesterday's Attraction Review enough time at the top of the Blog.

Thanks for reading, and have a magical day!

World of Dreams Pin of the Fortnight!

Hello and welcome to the first World of Dreams Pin of the Fortnight! This article, published every second Sunday, puts the spotlight on a different Disney Pin in my collection, providing descriptions and details of availability for each pin as well as the story of when I bought it.

Before I kick off this awesome new feature of the World of Dreams Blog, I would like to start by quickly telling the story of how I came to be the avid collector of Disney Pins I am today...
I first discovered Disney Pins back in 2005, when I was on my first ever Disney Trip, to the stunning Disneyland Paris. I vividly remember beginning to walk down Main Street from the Central Plaza with my family, on our way to leave the park for the day. Much like the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Disneyland Park in Paris has little kiosks at each end of Main Street selling awesome Disney merchandise. Just as we were entering Main Street, I spotted one adorned with the colourful pins, which are ubiquitous at Disney Parks around the world.

Intrigued, I asked my parents if we could go take a look, and they agreed. I remember being fascinated by the beauty and detail of every pin, and made up my mind immediately that I was going to buy one. But which one? There were so many! However, as I got out my wallet, I realised that I had spent all my money on buying a Mickey Mouse notebook and pen the previous evening at our resort. Just as I was about to walk away, my Dad kindly offered to buy me a pin of my choice, as something for me to remember the trip by- a truly magical moment. Excited, I carefully selected a beautiful pin depicting Mickey and Minnie Mouse walking together, which is one of my favourite pins to this day.

And the rest is history! On our first trip to Walt Disney World, in 2011, I specifically saved money to be able to buy more pins. I bought a pin for each park, amongst others, and also purchased my first lanyard. On our trip last year I bought several more pins and pin accessories- it would be fair to say that I have become somewhat obsessed with Disney Pins- but in a good way, of course!

However, no matter how much my collection grows, the first pin I bought will always have a special place in my heart, simply for being my first pin, the one that started my collection. Not only that, it also brings back the memories of the very first time I visited a Disney Park- something I will never forget as long as I live. And for these reasons, that pin is the one I am focusing on in this post. Whilst it's not from Walt Disney World, it's incredibly significant, and is the only pin I can imagine starting this series of articles with.

Like I mentioned, the pin features Mickey and Minnie Mouse walking along together. I can't remember exactly why I chose it, only that I loved it the moment I set my eyes on it, and still do today. It's a perfect example of how the 'Disney Difference' is even evident in the merchandise, with the detail it boasts being unrivalled by the offerings of any other company. I apologise, but I have no idea whatsoever if this pin is still available to purchase. My advice to anyone wishing to buy one for themselves is to check out eBay. If it helps, I bought it at the Pin Kiosk on the right at the end of Main Street nearest the Castle, when facing towards the Castle. I have no idea if this is still there either!

That's it for the first World of Dreams Pin of the Fortnight! I hope that you enjoyed reading about my pin collecting story, and the first pin in my collection. Don't miss the next Pin of the Fortnight, when I will be looking at a pin from Walt Disney World, and don't forget to check out my latest Attraction Review, where I looked at Downhill Double Dipper at Blizzard Beach!
I would love to hear your take on Disney Pins! If you have a pin collecting story like me, have a special pin, or anything else for that matter, please share in the comments below or on the Blog's Facebook Page- I love hearing from my readers!


Apologies for the lateness of this post- we've had a power cut, which was only just fixed!
I hope you have had a magical weekend, and I wish you a successful week! Thanks for reading!

'World of Dreams Pin of the Fortnight' Starting Next Sunday!

I am pleased to announce that the World of Dreams Pin of the Fortnight article, which I promised last month, with be debuting next Sunday! I have changed the name from the original 'Pin Focus', but will be writing the same thing as previously promised. I know that there are many blogs which focus on the amazing Disney Pins, and I in no way intend to copy them, merely share my love of the awesome Disney Pins, my favourite merchandise at Walt Disney World, with the readers of the World of Dreams Blog!

I hope you have had a magical weekend, and thank you for reading the World of Dreams Blog!

New Year, New Features For The World Of Dreams Blog!

Hello everyone, I hope that you're enjoying 2013 so far! I apologise for the recent lack of activity on the blog, I have been away from home, but I have returned and am ready to kick start 2013 with some exciting new additions to the blog!
Firstly, every Wednesday, starting next week, I will be posting a 'World of Dreams Photo of the Week' to the blog. I will be featuring photos which I have taken on my travels to Walt Disney World, alongside a short explanation what the photo's all about, and when I took it.
Secondly, each Friday I will be reviewing a different Walt Disney World Attraction which I have experienced, giving my own opinion on the attraction, as well as scoring it out of ten in several different categories. I will feature an attraction from a different park each week, and will rotate the parks (Magic Kingdom, then Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon and lastly DisneyQuest). I can't wait to write these!
Lastly, every second Sunday, I will be doing a 'Pin Focus'. I am an avid collector of Disney Pins, and each Pin Focus will put the spotlight on a different pin in my collection, as well as detailing where I bought it, and if it's likely to still be available in the parks.
I also have loads of great ideas for original posts, and I can't wait to share them all with you this year!

Have a magical day!