Celebrate Dapper Day at Home

The Dapper Day spring outings were cancelled, but Dapper Day is now hosting a virtual event. Dapper Day at Home is today, April 19. You can post your look on Instagram with #DapperDayAtHome and tag @DapperDay.

Dapper Day will be streaming live on Instagram later today. The sessions include:

At 3 pm EST/12 noon PST, Dapper Day founder Justin J. and producer Doris Mayday will launch new Spring 2020 designs.

At 6 pm EST/3 pm PST, Justin J. will chat with Dita Von Teese, author of Your Beauty Mark: The Ultimate Guide to Eccentric Glamour, and Marcellas Reynolds, author of SUPREME MODELS: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion.

At 8 pm EST/5 pm PST, Justin J. will talk menswear with I Am Dandy author Natty Adams.

At 10pm EST/7 pm PST, Doris Mayday and Mo Herms (Dapper Day Expo entertainment director) will discuss women-owned booze businesses. Bobbi De Carlo, owner of Immorally Yours, will give a cosmetics demonstration.

For more information on Dapper Day at Home, visit http://dapperday.com/april-19-dapper-day-at-home.

Happy Easter 2020!

Happy Easter! The Disney Parks may be closed, but there are still ways to bring Disney magic to the Easter holiday.

Earlier today, the Disney Parks Blog posted some photos of Walt Disney World Easter Egg displays. You can see the article here: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2020/04/disneymagicmoments-photo-tour-of-our-favorite-walt-disney-world-resort-easter-egg-displays-from-years-past/

Two limited edition Easter pins are now available on shopdisney.com. One features Cinderella Castle from Walt Disney World, and the other has Sleeping Beauty Castle from Disneyland.

You can watch a video of the Easter Parade at Magic Kingdom from last year here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xHHViBrjJ78

EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival 2020

The EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival is running until June 1, 2020. Flower and Garden includes character topiaries, festival food booths, a butterfly garden, concerts, and more.

Don’t forget to pick up a festival passport when you visit.

Annual passholders can get two free magnets during the festival. This year’s characters are Donald Duck and Orange Bird.

There is a lot of festival merchandise available at Mouse Gear. Some of these items are exclusive for passholders.

The butterfly garden is located next to the Land Pavilion this year.

The beautiful flowers along the edge of the water are back for another year.

There are plenty of character topiaries around Future World.

Almost every country in World Showcase has a topiary as well. The Remy topiary in France and the dragon topiary in Japan are new for 2020.

The Orange Bird sipper cup is being sold at the Citrus Blossom booth while supplies last.

I tried the Impossible meatball from the Trowel and Trellis booth. It came on pita bread and is plant-based.

I also tried the potato pancakes with applesauce in the Germany Pavilion. I thought it tasted great, and I’m excited to try more food from the festival!

Don’t forget to follow A Castle and a Wish on Twitter for more Disney updates: https://twitter.com/acastleandawish

A Day at Universal Studios – March 2020

Yesterday, I went to Universal Orlando with my friend to hang out and go on rides before she left for a vacation. We arrived at Islands of Adventure at 10:23 am.

First, we went on the Spider-Man ride. The wait was posted at 20 minutes, but we only waited around 10 minutes.

We stopped by the Toon Extra gift shop to pick up my passholder button of the month. This month features the moving walkway with a rainbow that says, “watch your step.”

At 11 am, I went on the Jurassic Park ride and managed to stay dry using my rain jacket. After that, we ate lunch at Three Broomsticks.

Hagrid’s wait time was posted for 75 minutes. We only waited about an hour. We went on The Incredible Hulk using single rider and waited about 5 minutes.

At 1:21 pm, we got in line for the Hogwarts Express over to Universal Studios. We used the single rider line for Escape from Gringott’s and only waited 10 minutes.

We used single rider for Men in Black, and it was a walk-on. Next, we waited about 5 minutes for the ET ride.

We waited in the regular line for Transformers. It was posted at 20 minutes and actually took about 15 minutes. At 3:10 pm, we got in line for The Mummy. We used the single rider line, and waited about 40 minutes.

At 3:55 pm, we walked over to the Mardi Gras food booths. I bought a king cake and I liked it a lot! It was very sweet and sugary. We decided to leave before the Mardi Gras parade and concert. We left around 4:22 pm.

Disney Springs Window Shopping – March 2020

Good morning from Disney Springs!

Onward is now playing in theaters. You can find a variety of the film’s merchandise, including t shirts and plushies, at World of Disney.

At Disney Style, there are cute Mickey denim jackets.

At Sprinkles, I got a Bailey’s Irish Coffee cupcake.

UNIQLO has some cute new items that you can mix and match.

Next, let’s look inside World of Disney. These new mugs feature Disney-themed initials.

This towel featuring the seagulls of Finding Nemo made me smile.

This Winnie the Pooh set for women looks very comfortable

The birds of Disney have their own t shirt and leggings.

The Minnie Mouse: The Main Attraction collection still has some February plushies available. The next attraction is Mad Tea Party, which will be released on March 21st.

A lot of items from the Ink & Paint collection are available now.

These Easter bunny Mickey socks and flower headbands are nice additions for spring.

At Disney Pin Traders, there are Onward pins and a MagicBand.

There are plenty of Ink & Paint collection pins available.

Here are the specialty pin releases at Walt Disney World for the month of March.

Don’t forget to follow A Castle and a Wish on Twitter for more Disney updates: https://twitter.com/acastleandawish

A Day at Animal Kingdom – February 2020

Last week, I went to Animal Kingdom with my parents and my boyfriend Jarod. We got to the park at 9 am.

My dad, Jarod, and I went on Flight of Passage. We waited in line for about two and a half hours.

For lunch, we had reservations at Yak and Yeti. It was my first time eating there. I ordered the Beyond Burger. I liked the Asian pickles that were on the side. It was a great meal, and our server was really nice.

After lunch, Jarod left the park. My parents and I went on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. The Komodo dragon wasn’t out, but we saw the rest of the animals.

Next we took the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. We went in the petting zoo and pet some sheep. Then we went to the Animation Experience. We drew Bruce the shark from Finding Nemo. I think my drawing turned out pretty well.

We went to the 4pm show of Festival of the Lion King. The show is divided into four seating sections, and we sat in the Lion section.

We walked along the Gorilla Falls trail. We saw one gorilla chase another gorilla away from its area.

On the way over to Dinoland USA, we walked along the Tree of Life pathways.

We had a fast pass for Dinosaur. The regular wait time was 50 minutes. We only had to wait about 5 minutes. We decided to skip the Rivers of Light show because it was chilly outside. We went home around 6:45 pm.

An Afternoon at Hollywood Studios – February 2020

Two days ago, I went to Hollywood Studios after work. There were several things I wanted to accomplish, and I did them all in about one hour! I arrived at the park around 12:55 pm.

First, I had FastPass for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. I booked it a while ago when FastPasses first became available for it. It was lucky that I happened to finish work just in time to head over and use my FastPass.

The regular wait time was posted at 125 minutes. The line wrapped around the outside of the replica Millennium Falcon. Chewbacca walked by to say hello to people waiting in line. I waited about 10 minutes to get on the ride. I was given the engineer position.

Outside of Galaxy’s Edge, I popped into the Muppets gift shop. These new Loungefly backpacks of Miss Piggy and Kermit are so cute!

Next, I walked past the front of the Chinese Theatre to see the new sign for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. I think it fits nicely, and I can’t wait to see it lit up at night!

I decided to watch the stage show Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away one more time, at 1:30 pm. The show is closing today, February 22. The stage show was a great chance to see a variety of Star Wars characters. It had a good run, and I’m going to miss it.

After standing in the sun for 12 minutes, I decided to sit in the air conditioning and watch a sneak peek of Onward. The film comes out on March 6, 2020.

On my way out of the park, in a gift shop on Hollywood Boulevard, I saw Ink and Paint collection merchandise. I really like the animation sketch sweatshirt and the set of 4 plates.

While I was sitting on the tram waiting to go to the parking lot, a cast member handed me this Pluto sticker. That rounds out what I did at Hollywood Studios in one hour. Despite the park being busy, I had a lot of fun.

Festival of the Arts 2020 at Epcot

On Thursday, my boyfriend and I went to Epcot to check out the Festival of the Arts.

The festival passports are available at the front of the park.

First, we headed to Mouse Gear to get my free passholder Mickey magnet.

The magnet is super cute and I’ve already put it on my refrigerator!

At Mouse Gear, there was a lot of great merchandise. I got the Ink & Paint ear headband.

On the way to World Showcase, you can find Festival of the Arts photo ops.

These signs feature Figment, who has a whole merchandise line for the festival.

Next we looked at chalk artwork. They featured a variety of Disney characters and other iconic subjects.

The Figment topiary is sitting right at the entrance to World Showcase.

There are lots of artwork tents set up around World Showcase. Jarod bought two postcards with artwork by Jerrod Maruyama.

Around World Showcase, there are characters hidden on different surfaces. I took the photos above of some of my favorites.

The first food stand we visited was The Artist’s Table in the American Adventure. Jarod got the beef wellington. I ate the roasted vegetables around it.

Next, we went to Goshiki in Japan. Jarod ordered the taiyaki. He didn’t like the taste, so I ate it. I thought it was good, and next time I want to try the vegetable gyoza.

Our last food stand was in France. Jarod and I each had a bread bowl and molten chocolate cake. We ate these at the festival last year and loved them. We were going to watch the new Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along, but it was closed.

Next, we visited a paint-by-number mural. I got number 4, which was the blue of the sky. Jarod got 13, which was orange. We got a postcard of the artwork when we were done.

Near Mouse Gear, on our way out, we saw two living statues. They copied the poses of guests taking photos with them, and it was really funny.

That’s all I have for this trip to the Festival of the Arts at Epcot. I will have to come back later to see Broadway performers and more artwork.

Mardi Gras 2020 at Universal Orlando

On Sunday, my roommate and I went to Universal Studios for their Mardi Gras event. First, we went to the Universal Orlando Passholder Lounge. I got a free magnet and button of the month.

Around 3 pm, we went to the Mardi Gras Tribute Store. This is a new addition to Mardi Gras this year.

There were a few rooms inside with very cool sets and props, similar to the Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store.

These are the regular Mardi Gras t-shirts. The passholder shirts are purple.

The Mardi Gras Freestyle tumbler is $18 plus tax.

There is also a Mardi Gras pin available.

There are several Mardi Gras food tents open after 4 pm.

I bought some delicious beignets and they had plenty of powdered sugar. At $6 before discount, it’s a reasonable price.

The New York courtyard is decorated in a similar way as last year. The props and jester hats give the area some extra flair.

Tasting lanyards are available for purchase again this year.

Before the parade started, a band was playing Mardi Gras music.

The parade has a lot of dancers and stilt walkers in between floats.

There are 12 Mardi Gras floats. Some of the floats have fog, fire, or confetti. My roommate and I caught a lot of beads. I had a lot of fun, and I plan on going back on a night with a concert.