A HUGE update...Designer Disney Princess dolls and Beauty & the Beast

I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated! I got a bit lost in my own personal Disney fantasy once Beauty and the Beast opened. It has since finished its season, and I can truly say that doing the show was the most incredible thing I've done in a long time. I can't even begin to tell you how exciting it was to be part of such a beautiful show, and playing my favourite Disney character! It was so easy to lose myself in the character of Belle, and in the end scene of each show I found myself crying real tears, just because I was so overwhelmed with the experience.

One thing that was so special was that at the end of each show, I would have at least 5 little girls come up to me, wanting to meet 'Belle'. So I would stand around in my yellow ballgown and take pictures, sign autographs, and talk to my little fans! The most exciting moment was when two little girls in Disney costumes (one Belle, one Snow White) came up to have a photo taken with me! The lucky women who get to be face characters in the Disney parks must have the best job in the world - I could easily do that all day!

It's all quite bittersweet now that the show is finished; it was a purely happy experience for everyone involved, and we're all quite sad to see it go. I'll always be able to look back on it though and be thankful that it happened. 

Plus, I've had something to keep me occupied since then...namely those little things called Designer Princess Dolls! It's been crazy watching the hype since the dolls were first released, I think everyone was surprised at how demand for them skyrocketed. I will forever kick myself, because I remember when Cinderella was first released and hardly anyone knew about it...I was this close to buying her, but wasn't prepared to pay $50 postage and handling (I live in Australia) for a $59 doll! So I decided to give it a miss - after all, it was only a doll, right? From there, they only got more and more popular, and when I was seeing Cinderella and the subsequent dolls selling for upwards of $200 on eBay, $109 didn't seem so expensive after all! 

Ariel I wasn't too sold on, despite the fact that she seems to be the most sought-after. Belle I was at first disappointed with also; her design sketch was absolutely gorgeous, but I found it got lost in translation when it made the journey to doll form - her hair was too tightly coiled, almost like a beehive, and her dress suffered the same fate. However, she is starting to grow on me, and I will try to buy her one day. 

Mulan I wasn't sold on at first, so I gave her a miss. Snow White I adored from the beginning, but she was the start of what some people are calling 'Dollmageddeon' - there was so much demand for her on the Disney store website that it crashed. So, no Snow White for me. 

So, after the dolls' popularity rose with each weekly release, Disney decided to release the remaining 5 dolls (Jasmine, Aurora, Tiana, Pocahontas and Rapunzel) at one time - bad idea. If Snow White, one doll, crashed the entire website, how did they expect to handle customers wanting to purchase five?! But, I decided to brave the final sale as I adore the Jasmine doll. I would have also happily gone after Aurora, Tiana and Rapunzel, but I knew the odds were against me even purchasing one. 

So, I set my alarm for 1:45am (8:45am in America) so that I could be there when the website opened at 2am my time - now that's dedication! Even from the beginning, I could tell that it would be a pretty painful experience. I must have refreshed the page hundreds and hundreds of times, mostly getting error messages. At last I got through to the doll page, and managed to put a Jasmine and Aurora in my basket. From there though, I was kicked out of the site for around 45 minutes. I nearly gave up several times (in the meantime Aurora had sold out), but finally made it to my checkout cart...got a little further and entered my payment information...clicked the 'finalize payment' button....and....got kicked off again. Just when I was finally about to log off my computer, through some miracle I was able to put my order through! I nearly jumped for joy when I received my receipt for Jasmine! And crazily, no more than 2 minutes after my purchase went through, the Disney Store tweeted that Jasmine was completely sold out. I kept expecting the dreaded email to say that I hadn't secured the doll after all, but it's been nearly 5 days now and my status on the website still says 'active'. Of course, I won't really breathe a sigh of relief until it is shipped, but my last Disney Store purchase took a week to ship.  

In the meantime, I've been checking the eBay listings every day, and am pleased to see that prices are already starting to drop considerably. And today, I won my first eBay auction! I found Mulan for quite a reasonable price (ended up paying $148 including postage), and now she's all bought and paid for. I know I wasn't quite sold on her at the beginning, but she really did grow on me. Also, I've decided that I'd like to collect all 10 one day, so having 2 is a good start! Last week, I didn't expect to even have any!

So, that has been my Designer Princess adventure so far. I really need to restrain myself a bit and not buy too many dolls, because we're going to Disneyland/Walt Disney World in less than 2 months...which is exciting in itself!

- Belle

Rehearsing Beauty and the Beast...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am currently rehearsing the role of Belle in a production of Beauty and the Beast. We're 10 days away from opening night, and for me, the excitement is really starting to kick in. It's been an incredibly rewarding experience for me, and I've learnt a lot. I thought I might share with you some of my favourite aspects of the rehearsal process so far.

• Obviously, I was excited about playing Belle from the very beginning, but the first time I really had to pinch myself was when we first rehearsed the opening song 'Belle'. Finally, I was able to sing those lines that I had always dreamed of singing ('Little town, it's a quiet village...'); it's a moment I won't forget. 
• I am extremely lucky to be in the particular cast I'm in. The enchanted objects were cast very well; Mrs. Potts is, in real life, incredibly warm and motherly...Lumiere is slender and does a fantastic French accent, etc! Additionally, they are wonderful people and we have formed a friendship that carries over to our interaction on stage. I always enjoy going to rehearsal for this reason.
• I have learnt to ballroom dance! Even if it's only for 32 bars, it's something that I've always said I'd try, but never got around to. I absolutely love performing 'the' dance and feel like a princess.
• I'll never forget seeing and trying on my gold ballgown for the first time! I can't believe how perfect it is; it's actually quite true to the movie gown, with some embellishments. I was almost equally as excited the day that we first saw the enchanted objects' costumes. They are incredibly ornate and detailed; Madame La Grande Bouche's cupboard doors even open to reveal working drawers! 
• You would think that listening to the songs of Beauty and the Beast over and over again would make me tire of them, but the opposite has happened; I've developed a new and deeper love for the music of this show. I've always got one song or another stuck in my head, and generally I'm humming some little line. 
• I am pleasantly surprised by how I have learnt to understand and embody Belle's emotions. We rehearsed the Beast's death scene the other night, and as I was singing the reprise of 'Home', I got completely choked up and teary! All of a sudden it was all very overwhelming. I now understand why people love acting so much; the experience of becoming someone else for an hour or two is fascinating. 

And of course, the cast has been particularly enjoying this little gem:

It's become a bit of a running joke...definitely makes rehearsing the scene a hilarious experience! 

I'll be sure to update once the show opens! 

- Belle

About me: My favourite Disney Prince

I had to think for a little while about this one, because for me it's a very close call between Prince Naveen (The Princess and the Frog) and Flynn Rider, a.k.a. [Prince] Eugene Fitzherbert (Tangled).

Naveen is fantastic, definitely one of the strongest prince characters in my opinion. It's lovely to watch him grow from a spoilt, arrogant person with little sense of responsibility, to a man (well, frog!) who would sacrifice his own wishes to grant someone else's. Though he falls in love with Tiana, he loves her enough to decide to marry the rich Charlotte, so he can afford to buy Tiana her dream restaurant. But of course true love prevails, etc etc, so that Naveen and Tiana end up having their cake and eating it too...figuratively and literally. The accent definitely helps with Naveen's appeal. I only wish he spent more time as a human and less as a frog!

I think the gold medal has to go to Flynn Rider on this one, though. Maybe it's my twisted view on men but I love a guy who has a good grip on sarcasm and dark humour. For the first half of the movie, you see the self-loving, sarcastic, and ambitious Rider who would betray his allies in a blink if it meant getting away with the treasure. He does that, and winds up hiding out in a tall hidden tower, where he is discovered by Rapunzel...a Disney princess with more than her share of attitude herself.

I just love watching their initial adventures together, and seeing him try to trick her into backing out of their agreement. As the two get to know each other better, you can start to see this subtle bond start to form between them. Flynn Rider admits that his real name is Eugene Fitzherbert, and from then on, the layers start to strip away to reveal the person that he truly is; we start to see the sincerity behind the character he's invented for himself.

The dance between Eugene and Rapunzel in the town square is a really sweet moment for me, and I've shed more than my share of tears in the lantern scene; I'm sure I'm not alone in this. In that moment when Rapunzel turns around to see him holding a lantern for the both of them, my only thought is 'Ok so where is my Eugene!!'.

The climactic scene at the end of the movie truly shows what Eugene is made of - he would rather sacrifice himself than see Rapunzel trapped for life with her impostor of a mother. Once again, however, true love and all that stuff ensures that both end up safe and sound, eventually married and made royalty. You know, the kind of thing that happens every day.

So, my vote goes to Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert. Of course it doesn't hurt that he's probably the most physically appealing of the princes...to women in my age group anyway. There's just something about that smoulder...

- Belle

56 things I love about Disneyland

It's the 18th of July today, exactly 56 years since Disneyland in Anaheim was opened to the public. I've been to this wonderful place 4 times now, and about to visit for the 5th time in December - not a bad effort, considering I live in Australia! So, as a tribute to my favourite place, I'd like to share 56 things I love about Disneyland.

1. Walking up the Esplanade on the morning of the first day you visit Disneyland, and getting goosebumps from the atmospheric music!
2. The chime when you enter through the turnstile.
3. The sign as you go under the bridge and into the park: "Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy".
4. Main Street USA atmospheric music - all of the old-style tunes immediately take you back in time.
5. Creating pressed pennies and seeing how many designs you can collect.
6. Having a quick browse through the Emporium at the start of the day and already finding amazing souvenirs to buy.
7. Always taking a photo in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle as soon as you reach it for the first time.
8. My family's first-ride tradition: always either Snow White's Scary Adventures or Pinocchio's Daring Journey.
9. The ending of the Snow White Ride (my sister and I always laugh at this) - straight from the Witch's death scream to the 'And they lived happily ever after' end mural.
10. Seeing little girls running around Fantasyland dolled up as their favourite princess.
11. Peter Pan's Flight - still the most magical ride in the park.
12. Going on the teacup ride and trying to spin as fast as humanly possible.
13. Pinocchio Village Haus restaurant - we always ate here when I was young!
14. Going on It's A Small World for airconditioning in the heat, and for warmth in the cold.
15. Laughing at Australia's pitiful representation in It's A Small World.
16. Listening to the Jazz Bands in New Orleans Square.
17. Being 21 years old and still getting a little bit nervous about going on the Haunted Mansion.
18. The smell of the water in Pirates of the Caribbean! Weird but so true!
19. The transition from daytime to very believable nighttime as you ride POTC.
20. Riding Splash Mountain and laughing uncontrollably for no reason through the entire ride.
21. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in general!
22. The smell of popcorn before a parade.
23. Sitting on a bench in Main Street in the morning and just watching everyone go past. The excitement in the air is palpable!
24. The sometimes uncontrollable urge to dance down Main Street in time to the background music.
25. The show that the It's A Small World clock puts on.
26. The snake in Indiana Jones Adventure which still manages to give me a fright.
27. Hugging complete strangers...and it's ok because they're in Disney character suits.
28. Watching the parade and always wondering which float will come around the corner next.
29. Seeing children watch the parade, like it's the best thing they've seen in their lives.
30. The cheesy songs that are always written for Disney Parades...I secretly want to sing one of them one day!
31. Riding the Disneyland Railroad for no other reason than to enjoy a round trip of the park.
32. Being totally creeped out by Roger Rabbit's Car-toon Spin as a child, and still a little creeped out now...
33. Riding Space Mountain with your hands in the air and hoping like mad that you don't hit the track around you.
34. Riding Autopia, and finding it still fun even though you have a driver's license.
35. Choosing which land you'd like to have dinner in.
36. Seeing the Evil Queen appear from behind the curtains above Snow White's Scary Adventures.
37. The Queen's transformation in the Snow White Ride...'Mirror, Mirror, on the wall...with this disguise I'll fool them all!'.
38. The stretching portraits in the Haunted Mansion; such a great effect.
39. The outdoors portion of the Alice in Wonderland ride.
40. The Fantasmic theme; again, one of those slightly cheesy songs that I just love.
41. The finale to Fantasmic, where all the characters appear on the Mark Twain.
42. The inevitable teariness that occurs during fireworks.
43. "Come on everybody, here we go! Off to Neverland!"
44. Getting that must-have picture with Mickey Mouse...always a bonus if you see him wandering out and about!
45. The stands where you can purchase your name written in Disney character artwork - I have a Sleeping Beauty one. Such a unique souvenir!
46. The fact that each land has its own themed garbage bins.
47. The smell of the Main Street Bakery.
48. The fact that you are 100% blissfully unaware of the outside world when in the Park.
49. Hitting 'Light Speed' in Star Tours.
50. Seeing a 5 minute wait time for a ride.
51. "Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion. I am your host - your 'ghost host'."
52. The fact that the park is always impeccably clean.
53. Finding the door to Club 33 and desperately wishing you could afford membership.
54. Floating past the Blue Bayou restaurant in Pirates of the Caribbean.
55. The named cars in Snow White's Scary Adventures and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.
56. Being able to believe that magic does exist, if only for a second.


Happy birthday Disneyland; thanks for the memories, and here's to another 56 years!

- Belle

About me: My favourite Disney Character

My Favourite Character:

This one is probably a no-brainer, because her name and picture is already splashed around this site - Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I know she's a very popular choice but I suppose that's for a reason. One of the things I love about Belle is that she is beautiful - the town beauty, in fact - but she seems completely unaware of it. Outer beauty is definitely not a concern for Belle, and I find this to be a wonderful character trait. She is pursued by the outwardly-handsome but shallow Gaston, but he holds absolutely no appeal for her. Instead, she falls in love with the Beast, because she is able to disregard his appearance and see through to the kindness within him. It probably sounds a bit preachy, but what a fantastic message this promotes in a society that is overruled by physical appearance.

There are so many beautiful moments in the film that involve Belle. The part in the opening song when she sits on the fountain and sings about her new book never fails to give me goosebumps, as well as the reprise of 'Belle'. And who isn't even slightly affected when she appears on the staircase in 'that' dress! I think my personal favourite scene, however, would have to be when the Beast gives her the library - absolutely magic.

As a child, I immediately attached to Belle. Maybe it was because her movie was the first film I saw at the cinemas, maybe it was because I saw a bit of her in my own brown hair and hazel eyes. I also loved the fact that she loved reading, being a bit of a bookworm myself. Even today, I consider her to be 'my' Disney princess. Earlier in the year, I auditioned for a production of the musical Beauty and the Beast, and to my absolute delight and surprise, I got the role of Belle. We've been rehearsing for a few months now, and it really is a bit of a dream come true to be playing the character that I admired so much as a child. Also, it is an incredible role to sing!

- Belle

I am one of those people who couldn't imagine their childhood without Disney. When I was 2 years old, I saw my first movie, Beauty and the Beast; my first overseas trip, at 9, was to Disneyland in California. The first role I ever played in a musical was Mary Poppins at the age of 10! These memories, especially the Disneyland trips with my family that have been taken over the years, are very dear to me and have inspired quite an obsession.

So, I have decided to put this obsession to good use, and start a blog about all things Disney! I'd love to share with you my favourite movies, moments, characters and songs, as well as my thoughts on the Disney parks.

So without further ado, and because you probably don't want to hear my semi-awkward first-post ramblings any more, I present my blog!

- Belle