WIP Wednesday, Quarantine Edition 2

I can't believe it's Wednesday again!  I'd say time is flying by, but it isn't, especially given the fact that we now have a stay at home order in Maryland and can't really leave the house.  I have to run to the grocery store later, so that will be my big adventure for the day (yay!).  Rather than talk about my cross stitch project, I want to talk about the other large project I'm working on, my Disney World scrapbook.  This is quite a huge endeavor, it's about 150 pages spread across three albums.  I've been working on it for about a month now (probably closer to three and a half weeks if we want to be specific), and I've completed 36 pages, including one double page spread.  I have a preview below of all the pages I've done so far.  There's no talking or narration during the video.

As you can tell from the video, it's incredibly important for my album to be an explosion of color.  This was important to me because Disney as a place is an explosion of color.  Everywhere you look, there are exciting things to look at and excitement all over the place.  The only way I could properly convey that in an album was by making it as colorful as humanly possible.  Of course, some pages are a bit more subdued, but they're still colorful and gorgeous, and they give your eyes a break from all the color.

I want to take some time to talk about specific pages in my album that I'm particularly proud of and really embody what I want conveyed in my album in terms of theme and message.

I first want to talk about this incredibly pink Minnie Mouse page.  This page was so out of my comfort zone because I really don't like the color pink.  I use it in my scrapbooking and everything, but not to this extent, it's usually just sprinkled throughout a page.  With this page however, seeing Minnie's outfit and her little scene around her, it seemed like the logical thing to do.  I also don't do a lot of monochromatic pages like this.  There's no real reason behind that other than the fact that I can't figure out how to make them work and when to use them and when to not use them.  I may do one or two others in my album to make sure this page doesn't look out of place, but I'm not entirely sure which pages.  I have an idea or two in my head, we'll just have to wait and see how this plays out.  I do have to say, even though it's outside my comfort zone, doing a monochromatic page is a little easier than a regular page since you're only grabbing embellishments that are one color.  If you enjoy scrapbooking, I definitely encourage you to try out a monochromatic page at least once, what do you have to lose?

Another page I want to talk about is my Goofy page.  I love this page so much, I feel like it completely embodies everything I want in my album when it comes to explosion of color.  I wanted the striped paper on the bottom to be the entire background, but I only had a piece of it, so I had to improvise with the green on the top to finish off the page.  The purple was something I added after the fact to cover the seam and add a little bit more color.  I used a method from my favorite scrapbooker, Shimelle Laine, and that's a paper stack.  It's quite simple, you start stacking up papers behind the photo to create a wild, colorful background.  Usually you start with larger papers of varying sizes that you put behind the photo that's supposed to look like a haphazard stack of papers on your desk, then you add smaller papers as embellishment.  I, on the other hand, did it a little different.  While there are some larger papers, I mostly focused on smaller papers from my small scraps pile (I have two scrap piles, one full of smaller papers and one full of bigger papers).  This is the perfectly opportunity to get rid of some smaller scraps that are just sitting around.  Once done with building the paper stack, I added in all the embellishments, which, like the papers I picked, were meant to be all different colors.  The final product is one of my favorite pages that I've created so far with all the color and movement on the page.

While it might not look like it, this page really took me out of my comfort zone.  I don't do a lot of grid pages, but, once again, I was inspired by Shimelle Laine.  I had to modify her design a little, as she used squares that were over 3x3 inches, but I was using a 6x6 inch paper pad, so I couldn't make the squares bigger without using more paper.  I wanted to use this paper, as it's perfect for Toy Story, so I'm definitely going to use more of it in future Toy Story layouts.  I also used some less than conventional embellishments for this page, but I absolutely love how it came out.  First is the word "Howdy".  Those are actual Scrabble tiles I bought on Amazon for craft projects.  I haven't really used them for anything, but I've been meaning to.  I think they look great, and I want to include them on future Toy Story pages to draw them together.  I also used a bit of string, which I also bought for other craft projects.  Given the rope Woody's holding in the picture, I figured it would be the perfect addition to the embellishment group.  This is probably one of my favorite pages that I've made so far, everything just came together perfectly.

Finally, let's talk about a double page spread.  I very rarely do double pages, but I have a few planned out for this album.  I took a ton of pictures during the Festival of Fantasy parade, and I knew a double page was necessary, so I printed enough pictures from Amazon for a double page, but I never did anything with them.  Then I saw a video in Shimelle's Start with a Sketch class, and everything fell into place.  She used 3x4 inch photos across a double page in a grid layout, and I knew that's what I wanted to do.  It also gave me the opportunity to finally use my Instax printer (it's like an Instax polaroid camera but you print from your phone), which I've been dying to use for scrapbooking but haven't been able to figure out how.  Like I said, it all fell into place, and it was perfect.  My philosophy with this layout was "more is more".  It's a little hard to see, but I definitely went crazy with this layout.  Most photos have an embellishment with them, usually related to the Disney character in the photo  I also added little areas of embellishment scattered across both pages.  When it comes to actual embellishments, I used a little bit of everything: pearl hearts, enamel stars, rhinestones, puffy stickers, regular stickers, cut aparts, ephemera, washi tape.  Like I said, it was a little bit of everything.  I actually had to stop myself because I kept adding to the pages.  This isn't even the finished product; I added a bit more gold washi tape underneath the dragon (there's a little above the unicorn), to tie both pages together.  It was a lot, and I would add more if necessary, but I think it's good.  This is another one of my favorite layouts, I think everything came together perfectly.

My Disney album has been coming together wonderfully.  You may have noticed some blank spaces on cards on some pages.  That's where the journaling will go.  I have what I want to write planned out, I just haven't written them on the pages yet.  I may wait and do that all in the end.  We'll have to wait and see.

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Why We Got Memory Maker

We're coming close to the end of our pre-Disney World Walt Disney Wednesdays, but I have a few ideas for some post-Disney World posts as well, but I'll reveal those after our trip.  Today, we're going to talk about Memory Maker (some people refer to it as PhotoPass, but it's the same thing).  This was something I insisted we add to our trip, and I even offered to pay for all of it, but Bryan said it was fine (we split the trip down the middle at my insistence).

You might have been able to figure out from the other name, PhotoPass, that Memory Maker is the photo package for Disney World.  I've never gotten a photo package at a theme park before, I usually just take my own photos, and I call it a day.  Memory Maker, however, offers so much more than just random photos of you throughout the park.  Plus, I love to scrapbook (see my previous post about preparing for a Disney scrapbook if you haven't read it already), and I love having photos of Bryan and I, so this seemed like a no brainer.

It's important to note that Memory Maker definitely isn't cheap.  If you order it ahead of time, it costs $169, but if you order it when you get to the park, it costs $199.  We ordered it ahead of time and saved $30.  It's still quite a bit of money, but it's important to break down what exactly you get in the Memory Maker package.

Before I go any further, I want to give a huge shoutout to my cousin, Sam, who kindly sent me some of his Memory Maker photos to use for this post, as I don't have any yet.  He said I can use any of the ones he sent me, so you're going to see some amazing pictures of him and his friends.

First, one of the biggest ways you're going to use Memory Maker is with character experiences.  You simply tap your Magicband against the sensor or use the card they give you if you don't have a Magicband, and it will automatically sync up the photos to your account for you to download later.  Instead of just having the posed character pictures, however, they start taking photos right away, which results is some wonderful candid shots that may be better than the posed photos.  You can see that in the photo of Sam with Woody and Bo-Peep, it's just them joking around and talking.  If you have kids, this is the perfect way to capture their reaction to meeting their favorite character for the first time.  Even if you don't have kids, it's a great way to capture some magical moments.

Memory Maker also includes something called "magic shots".  In these photos, Disney adds in little animated characters or features to your photo.  It might seem strange reacting to something that's not there, but once you see the completed product, it's so worth it.  You can see that in the photo with Sam and his friends reacting to Lumiere appearing to hang out with them.  There's a wide range of characters who they can add to your photos, depending on where you are in the park.  Magic shots also include adding different features to the photos, not just characters.  In Pandora, you can have banshees fly above your head.  They can also add Mickey Mouse shaped balloons on Main Street, USA in Magic Kingdom.  Sam had snow added in his picture of him in front of Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom.  These magic shots really only work if you react to whatever is being added into the photo; if you don't, it just looks strange and out of place.

Scattered throughout the park is the opportunity to simply have wonderful, beautiful pictures taken.  This includes in front of famous locations (such as Spaceship Earth, Cinderella's Castle, the Tree of Life, etc) or just random places throughout the park.  This is a great opportunity to simply capture the magic of your trip to Disney World.  Simply look for a Disney cast member with a camera.

Now, if you're like me, you want to get the most out of your Memory Maker package.  Thankfully, Disney is one step ahead, and you can scope out where all the Memory Maker locations are in each park and even get walking directions to one you're interested in visiting simply by using the Disney World app.

When you open up the app, you'll get a screen that looks like this (at least this is what it looks like as of right now, I'm imagining once they get rid of boarding groups for Rise of the Resistance, the homescreen for the app will change.  You're going to want to click on the closeup of the map of Magic Kingdom.  This will bring you to the map of all the parks in Disney World.  The default is the wait times for the rides at Magic Kingdom, but you can easily switch it around.  If you can't figure out how, don't worry, I'm going to show you how to switch it up to different parks, including Disney Springs.

Once you see the map of Magic Kingdom, you're going to click on the top of the screen where it says "Wait Times", along with a little arrow pointing down.  This is a drop down menu with all sorts of options for you to pick.  There are plenty of types of maps for you to refer to in the app.  It's going to be your best friend on your trip, trust me.

Like I said before, the default for the maps is the wait times, but you can also see where various characters will be (along with what times), where restaurants are located (and if they utilize mobile ordering), various entertainers (not just shows, but also street performers), bathrooms, guest services, etc.  For today, we're going to select "PhotoPass", which is the same as Memory Maker.

You'll immediately see a screen like the one pictured to the right.  Each of the little geotags coordinates with a Memory Maker location in the park.  When you select a geotag, it will tell you what the Memory Maker will be, (ie: which character or what it is so you know if it's one you want to do).  If it says "Character Experience", that means it's a character who is regularly scheduled to be there.  Please note, some characters simply wander around, so you might not know they're going to be there because there's not schedule for them.  So, always keep your eyes open!  If the description says "attraction photos", then that is an in-ride photo, which I'm going to get into momentarily.

Now, just like the app defaults to wait times for rides and attractions, it also defaults to showing you all of the parks at once, with Magic Kingdom being the center point.  Instead of trying to zoom out and move the map all over the place to find another park, there's a way that the app will only show you one park at a time.

If you go back to the top of the map, next to where you can select the content of the map, there's a small button that says "Filter".  This is what you want to select.

Now, you're going to have all sorts of options.  In addition to the four parks in Disney World, you can also select Disney Springs, Galaxy's Edge (although those attractions also show up when you select Hollywood Studios), and even the Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon (although they don't appear with every type of map).  Simply select the park or location you want to focus on, and the map will appear.  It updates fairly often, so you'll have fairly accurate information, although it's not entirely full proof.

One aspect of Memory Maker I'm super excited to take advantage of are the ride photos.  I've always loved looking at photos of me on rides, but the photos are always so expensive, so we never get them.  With Memory Maker, they're already included.  The best part is that you don't need to stop anywhere to get them added to your account, there's a small RFID chip in your Magicband, so it will sense you on the ride and add the photos.  Now, if you know you took some photos, and they don't show up in your account, that's no problem.  Simply contact Memory Maker, tell them where the shot was taken, about what time and what you were wearing.  They'll find the photos and add them to your account.  You also might end up with some random peoples' photos on your account every once in a while.  It's not a perfect system...yet.

Anyway, back to the ride photos.  This is something I'm definitely looking forward to the most.  I did a little research, and to help you out, I've compiled a list of the various rides throughout Disney World that have in-ride photos, and I've even researched where the cameras are if you want to know and make sure you're looking in that general direction (if you don't want to know and want more of a candid shot, that's fine too).

Magic Kingdom
There are six rides in Magic Kingdom that include in-ride photos: Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin (pictured above), Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion.

Space Mountain
The camera for Space Mountain is near the beginning of the ride.  At the end of the blast-off part/end of the star tunnel before you really start the ride, there is a camera.  The side that the camera on depends, however, as there are two different lines to get on the ride in the first place.

Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
This camera is near the end of the ride.  You'll probably be so focused on scoring as many points as possible that you won't notice the camera.  In the room with the giant Zurg, you'll notice a flash come from Zurg; that's the camera.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
The Memory Maker experience on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a little different from other rides in Disney World.  First, there are two cameras.  On the left of the track right before you go down the big hill, that's where you'll find the first camera.  At the bottom of the hill, you'll see another camera.  In addition to the photos, you also get a video of you enjoying the ride, which should be amusing.  Verbolten in Busch Gardens Williamsburg has a similar video experience.

Splash Mountain
Unfortunately, Splash Mountain will be closed for its annual maintenance when we're in Disney World.  The photos from Splash Mountain, however, are some of the most famous.  People are known for bringing in all sorts of props and really having a blast with this one.  Simply Google "Splash Mountain photos" to see all sorts of them.  You won't be disappointed, I promise.  Predictably, the photos are taken on the big drop, about a third of the way down.  The drop is so quick, however, it's best to be prepared and ready for the entire duration of the drop.

Pirates of the Caribbean
This ride photo is fairly new, as it was added in 2017.  This camera is located at the beginning of the ride.  As you ride, you'll see a skeleton steering a ship.  The camera is located in the talking skull on the side of the boat, just to the left of your ride vehicle.

Haunted Mansion
This is another fairly new ride photo.  And when I say fairly new, I mean it was added in April of 2019, so it's not even a year old.  This photo is taken near the beginning of the ride.  After boarding your doombuggy, you'll enter a room plagued with lightning and with paintings on one side.  The last two photos are of a horseman and Medusa, and these are where the camera is.  The flash is hidden by the lightning, so you won't even realize it's taking your picture.

Epcot
Unfortunately, Epcot only offers two ride photos (but there are tons of other Memory Maker spots throughout Future World and the pavillions).  The first is Test Track, which will, unfortunately, be closed when we're there (I'm really upset about this).  The second is Frozen Ever After.

Test Track
After designing and testing your car, your car will go on a test drive.  Once you get outside, you'll go down a little hill.  Immediately after the hill, the camera is to the right of the track.

Frozen Ever After
When they replaced Maelstrom with Frozen Ever After in the Norway Pavilion, they didn't change a whole lot in terms of the track.  Your boat will go down a small drop, and that's where the camera is located (think of it like a super small Splash Mountain, just without the splash...or the racist undertones).

Hollywood Studios
In Hollywood Studios, there are three rides that have in ride photos: Tower of Terror, Rock'n'Roller Coaster and Slinky Dog Dash.  I'm curious to see if they'll add one to either Smuggler's Run or Rise of the Resistance; one can dream.

Tower of Terror
Bryan and I have decided not to ride Tower of Terror (why ride it when we live it every time we get into the super sketchy elevator in his apartment building?)  When you get to the top of the elevator shaft, the doors open, giving you a wonderful view of the park.  Moments later, you're dropping at a rate faster than gravity (that's right, the cables pull your car down at a rate faster than you would if you were free falling).  So, make sure you smile, or at least try to conceal your nerves to the best of your ability.

Rock'n'Roller Coaster
Honestly, I think Rock'n'Roller Coaster gives you the best chance for a candid ride photo.  Immediately after your limo is launched (that's right, it's a launch roller coaster), you get your photo taken.  You're so wrapped up in the launch and the blaring music, you don't really have time to react.  This leads to incredibly amusing photos.  Last time we went to Disney World, we almost bought the photo for this ride, since my dad's face was hilarious.  Needless to say, he didn't enjoy the ride very much, and his face gave that away.  I wish we had that photo.

Slinky Dog Dash
It's kind of hard to describe where the camera is for Slinky Dog Dash.  After the second launch, you go over four mini hills, followed by a u-turn to the left, then a turn to the right.  When Slinky gets ready to turn right, get ready, because that's where your picture will be taken!

Animal Kingdom
Just like Epcot, there are only two rides in Animal Kingdom that have in ride photos: Expedition Everest and Dinosaur.

Expedition Everest
Part of Expedition Everest includes going backwards after you discover that the yeti has ripped up part of the track (oh no!).  Right after you start going forward again, you go down a big drop.  This is where the camera is located, just to the right of the track.

Dinosaur

I still can't believe Bryan is dragging me on this awful ride.  I keep telling him that the only consolation for me is the fact that he'll get a nice picture of my death for a keepsake.  The facial expressions on this ride are hilarious.  Just like Rock'n'Roller Coaster, it's the perfect opportunity for some wonderful (and terrifying) candid shots.  When the dinosaur charges at you from the right (why am I going on this ride again?), the camera is located up and to the right to get your reaction to the terrifying dinosaur.  I mean, look at it!  I'm thoroughly convinced that this ride will in fact be the death of me.

So, that's it; an overview of Memory Maker, along with a crash course on how to use the app.  I can't believe we only have two more pre-trip Walt Disney Wednesdays left, but, like I said, I have a few ideas for post-trip Walt Disney Wednesdays, so these will be around for a little while longer.  Next week, I'm going to talk about all the Disney movies Bryan and I have watched to prepare for this trip.  I don't think we'll be 100% done with all of them yet, but we're getting pretty close (yay!).  Until next week!

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How to Prepare Yourself for a Disney World Scrapbook

I'm going to be honest, I wasn't entirely sure where to put this post; I almost did a "Work in Progress Wednesday" instead (it would have been my last one until after my Disney World trip in February).  I decided to do this post now so the rest of my Disney posts can be related to the parks.  That doesn't mean this will be my only Disney World scrapbooking post, but it'll probably be my only one for quite some time.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Christina, your trip isn't for three months, why are you getting scrapbooking materials ready now?"  Well, the answer is quite simple: why not?  In my mind, it's better to start sooner rather than later, especially when you know you're going to have a huge monstrosity of a project to tackle.  It has also given me the opportunity to start collecting supplies at a slightly cheaper rate as I see them appear (but more about that later).

Right now, I'm in the pre-planning stage of my scrapbook, because I have no photos to actual scrapbook from my trip.  I'm simply collecting ideas and some supplies (okay, a lot of supplies) based on the rides and activities I know Bryan and I are going to do at Disney World (which is definitely something I'll be talking a lot about later).

One thing that's important to know about me is my unhealthy addiction to Pinterest.  I seriously love it and can't get enough of it.  It's actually a bit of a problem because I don't see it as social media (even though it technically is), so I'm on it all the time without realizing just how much time I've wasted.  With that being said, of course I created a Pinterest board.  At first, everything was dumped together as I jumped from board to board that other people created, pinning every single idea or cute clipart that I came across.  Within two days, I had over a thousand pins to my board, and there was no rhyme or reason to how they were pinned.  I needed a better system.  Thankfully, Pinterest realized this a while back and created sections, which is a part of the platform I've come to love and use extensively.  I set aside a huge chunk of time and created sections for every little thing I pinned.  I created sections for characters, parks, rides, movies, locations and even one for our hotel.  It didn't take long for me to have over 90 sections on my Scrapbooking Disney board.

A quick glimpse at just a small portion of my Scrapbooking Disney Pinterest board.

What's in each section varies based on the section.  As you can see from the picture of my board above, there's only one lonely pin in my 101 Dalmatians section, which is because those characters (ie: Cruella de Vil) really only comes out for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, but I saw that journaling card, thought it was cute and pinned it, just in case.  There's nothing wrong with pinning something; it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

The Lilo and Stitch section of my Scrapbooking Disney Pinterest board.

A lot of my sections have a wide range of different types of pins.  I found some websites that sell adorable Disney scrapbooking materials (mostly paper), so I pinned different paper pads or open stock paper to see if I want them later on down the line when we get back from our trip.  You can see that in the above screenshot from my Lilo and Stitch section of my Pinterest board (the first two pins).  I also pinned any layouts that I like relating to that section.  Now, this doesn't mean I'm going to use every single layout that I've pinned; I just like having options.  I might take bits and pieces from different pinned layouts, or I might create something entirely different.  I have no idea, it will depend on what I want represented on that particular page.

The Minnie Mouse section of my Scrapbooking Disney Pinterest board.

You'll notice on my pages that there are a lot of blank notecards.  I very rarely used to journal on my scrapbooking pages; I often just put the pictures and some embellishments down and called it a day.  Now, however, I've gotten more into journaling to capture the emotions, information and memories associated with the particular photos.  Obviously I won't use all of the journaling cards I've pinned (the Minnie Mouse one alone has four different journaling cards).  Like I said before, I just want options.  Once I have my Minnie Mouse pictures and know the colors I'm going to use for that layout, I'll be able to better select a journaling card that will work with the page.

Feel free to check out my Scrapbooking Disney Pinterest board in all its glory by clicking here.

Pinterest isn't the only way I've started preparing for my Disney scrapbook.  I've started buying some supplies.  Almost all of my supplies have come from a secondhand scrapbooking group I'm a part of on Facebook.  It's a great group and a wonderful place to get embellishments and supplies for amazing discounts.  Of course, it doesn't work if you just want to buy one or two things, since you also have to pay for shipping, but if you want to buy a lot and build up your stash, it's a great place to start.

Some of my generic Disney World scrapbook embellishments.

Some of the embellishments I've bought so far are fairly generic, like the ones above (how cute are those little Mickey Mouse buttons!?).  I know quite a few people stay away from licensed and event-specific things such as these, but my mentality is: I'm only going to make one Disney World scrapbook, I might as well make it the most Disney-est thing I've ever created.

Some of my Disney Princess scrapbook embellishments.

Now, there are some risks with buying things for a vacation that's three months away.  The most obvious is the fact that I don't know exactly what I'll need.  For example, I won't know if we're going to see Aurora, Cinderella or Snow White, but I still have stickers for all three of these princesses.  It's a dangerous game to play, but they were also incredibly cheap (much cheaper than if I had bought them in the store), so to me it was well worth the risk.

Paper I've started putting aside for my Disney scrapbook.

Now, the paper is a significantly smaller risk.  Some of the paper I already owned.  Take the purple with the blurred lights on it.  I bought that ages ago because I thought it was gorgeous, but I didn't know what I would use it for.  While flipping through my stash looking for something else, I saw that paper and realized it would be perfect for the Tangled lanterns at Magic Kingdom (more about that in a later post), so I pulled that paper out and put it to the side.  The paper with the hotel keys came from a paper pad and seemed great for our hotel, so I put that to the side too.  I'm not going to pretend that I didn't buy some paper too.  How could I pass up the paper with the little frogs on it?  It's so perfect for Tiana, I simply had to have it!  This is all the paper I have right now, which is fine with me.  I don't need to have everything set aside, this is simply paper that I have an idea for for when I get back from my trip.  I know that I'm going to need so much more, but I'll worry about that later.

In addition to collecting supplies, I've also been watching the "A Most Magical Scrapbook" class by Shimelle Laine.  It is something you have to pay for it ($25), but it's over 40 videos, and you have complete access to them, which means you can watch them as many times as you want.  If paying for scrapbooking videos isn't something you want to do, which I totally get, Shimelle also has a YouTube channel that includes a Disney scrapbooking playlist.  It's only a few videos, and it doesn't include any of the videos in her "A Most Magical Scrapbook" class, but they're just as wonderful and informative.  She breaks down how to select pictures, paper and embellishments and make a large scrapbook flow together.

Even though my trip is three months away, I've already started the tentative planning for my scrapbook.  I know this scrapbook is going to be a huge undertaking, so there will be plenty of posts about it in the weeks after my trip.

Tune in next week to learn about the decision making process Bryan and I went through while picking our hotel and the bumps we had along the way.

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