Disney Castle Inspiration

Ok so if you haven't known this about me, I should probably tell you quick. I LOVE Disney. Don't know why, but I'm obsessed. And of course on my bucket list are a lot of Disney inspired check points. One is to see a bunch of the sites that inspired iconic scenes from Disney movies. I know there has to be other Disney nerds out there who want to visit all of them too. So I complied a list and decided I wanted to share it with you all. While most of the scenes are purely inspirational (which proves how creative and imaginative Disney is), I have done a LOT of research and figured out where the physical locations are! I don't have them all listed here, but I do have a lot. I tried to get most of the Disney Princesses in there at least:

Sleeping Beauty Castle

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Cinderella Castle

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Same castle as above! I can knock two birds with one stone!

Beauty and the Beast (Beast's Castle)

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Beast's Castle is based off of Chateau de Chambord in Chambord, Loir-et-cher, France. It is recognizable for its very distinctive French Renaissance Architecture.

Snow White

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The little dwarf house in Snow White is based on a suburb in L.A. Everyone thinks its the other way around!

The Princess and the Frog

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The La Bouff Mansion is based off of the many gorgeous mansions in the Garden District of New Orleans. Thankfully, I'm from the South so I've covered this one!

Tangled

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The kingdom in Tangled is based off of Mont Saint-Michel Normandy, France.

Frozen

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The inspiration for Elsa's Ice Palace actually came from the Ice Hotel (Hotel de Glace) in Canada.

Aladdin

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The Sultan's Palace is based off of the Taj Mahal, India. Gorgeous right?

Brave

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The kingdom Merida and her family rule over is based off of Dunnottar Castle, located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Technically not castles, but are still worth mentioning:

Mulan

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The movie Mulan has so many historical sites. However, I choose the Great Wall of China, which (according to the movie) is why the Mongols attach China! They also used the Imperial City as inspiration for the Imperial City in the movie as well!

Enchanted

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Sweet Giselle finds herself tossed down a well and ends up in New York City Times Square. Checked this of the list!

Atlantis: The Lost Empire

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This hidden city is loosely based off of Angkor Wat in Siem Rep, Cambodia.

The Emperor's New Groove

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Cusco's kingdom and territories are based off of Machu Picchu in Cusco, Peru.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Source: One of my own personal pictures!

Known as Disney's darkest movie (and if you watch it, you will see why). It is based off the book which uses this real site! (Check!)

Hercules

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There is a scene in the movie where you see a Greek Theatre. This was based on the Ruins of Ancient Greek Proscenium.


Up

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The amazing falls Carl and Ellie plan to go to their entire lives are based on Angels Falls in Venezuela.

The Lion King

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Mara Conservancy

The Lion King isn't based off a rock they saw on the savannah. It is actually based on many locations in Africe including the Mara Conservancy in Kenya.

Do you have anything to add to the list? If I discover some more, I'll make sure to update it!

Crazy Love: April 17, 2015

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This is going to be a busy week for me so I'll keep this post short. 

Are you ready for The next Avengers movie? I so am. Did you manage to see them play Family Feud on Jimmy Kimmel? If not, look here!

I saw this post and immediately had a flashback to AP Calculus. This is what our kids need to be challenged with. Or at least maybe I should have been challenged more with things like this.

And just because everyone needs to laugh a little bit. BBC took a bunch of wild animal videos and added their own dialogue. See it here.

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Bus Tours of Ireland

For St. Patrick's Day, I went to Dublin, Ireland, which you can read about in this post. Then, I went again at the end of the March (post to come later). However, on both trips I took a bus tour to discover the famous places outside of Dublin. I took a couple notes and wanted to give you guys my two cents on the topic.

First, here are a couple of bus tour services I noted while traveling. I chose Paddywagon Tours for my experiences. It is on the cheaper side of the service but I liked it. I think these might be more expensive than Paddywagon, but I honestly haven't researched them. Here you go:

Galway Bay Executive Travel

Irish day tours

Cie tours 

White tours

Second, I have laid out the Pros and Cons of using a Bus Tour in Ireland.

Pros of Bus Tours

You can sleep on it in between sites

You get random facts from the tour guide that you wouldn't have known just driving around by yourself

You can drink at every stop

Most bus services include tickets to the different sites

Cons of Bus Tours

Let's be real, there are idiotic people on the tours and they do get annoying

There is little leg room because they cram so many people into each bus

You don't get to control how long you stay at each stop

Pros of Driving Your Own Car

You can pick and choose where to go

You get the experience of driving on the left side of the road

You can stop the car whenever and for however long you like

Disney Sing-a-longs all day long and no one to judge you 

You get the experience of driving on the left side of the road

Cons of Driving Your Own Car

You get the experience of driving on the left side of the road

Very dangerous roads (I'm not kidding. Most of these only have enough room for one car on a road, but they allow cars from both directions on them!)

Won't know what you are looking at without a little research

Well, there are my opinions. If you guys have any other questions, please feel free to ask! Have a great day!

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Crazy Love Post: April 10, 2015

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This past week has been a blur. Last weekend, I traveled to South Germany (also known as Bovaria). I got to play in the snow and I rode a ski lift into the Alps. I have heard the views are breathtaking from up there. However, when we arrived, we arrived so high in the clouds that we couldn't see anything. I'll post something about that later on. Here are some links that I enjoyed from this week:

I think I might try to do the Rory Gilmore challenge. Looks pretty interesting to read all 339 books mentioned in Gilmore Girls.

Have you seen this video of a "Mime through Time"? These girls take a lot of great classics and dance and lip sync to them. Its awesome!

I have no idea why, but this gif makes my day every. single. time.

Don't judge but I found a website that hosts all of the Barbie movies. Call me a softie but I simply love a good Barbie movie.

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Top Apps and Websites for European Travel

I've been living here in Belgium for a good while, and so I think its time to give everyone my two cents on what apps and websites are best for planning trips in Europe. These are strictly my own opinions, and I am sure there are more things out there that I haven't tried. If I have found something useful but haven't tried it yet, I listed it at the bottom of the post.

Trip Advisor

My go-to research place for traveling. Once I know where I'm going I'll look for forums, planned trips, tours, etc. on what to do in the city/area. Since this has been around for a while, there are plenty of followers for it so there is a lot of advice. If there is something you specifically need to know that isn't listed, you can create a forum or ask a question. Someone always gets back to you within a couple of days or so. Just remember to be detailed in your question. If you are vague, you will get a vague answer.

Skyscanner

Skyscanner is awesome. It is basically the Kayak of Europe and I have used it so many times when searching for cheap flights. It covers a lot of the low and high budget airlines. You can adjust it on price, departure, arrival, etc.  I use this all of the time and highly recommend it.

Google Maps

I recently discovered that Google Maps can do so much more than take you from Point A to Point B. I discovered you can save maps of cities so that when you aren't connected to the internet, you can still find your way. I also found out you can create your own map! You can save landmarks, restaurants, hotels, etc. I wrote a post about it here.

GuidePal 

This is actually, pretty informative for a couple of places. It looks like a newer, cooler TripAdvisor. It's very detailed and gives you every thing you need, such as directions, websites, and sites. It even does some useful tips like "Avoiding the Tourist Traps" and "How to Get Along with the Locals". However, it doesn't have that many trips in there yet. It only has the big names like Paris, New York City, London, etc. I tried researching Croatia on there, and it wasn't even listed.

RailPlanner

This is a pretty nice app actually. I haven't used the train that much but this looks pretty detailed. Since I'm leaving from the same country every time, I just use Belgium's rail website. BUT since most of you are not in my boat, I would recommend trying this app out. It allows you to look up train information no matter where you are, even when you aren't connected to wifi.

AirBNB

I have really wanted to try this out, but its so new and different, it makes me nervous. Here is the concept: I'm a home owner who has an extra room and I need some money. You are a traveler who wants to stay in a place that reminds you of home (aka not a hotel or a hostel). I will allow you to stay in my apartment for a couple of nights and you can pay a little bit less than a hotel. It does kind of sound sketchy, but the thing is, its all legal. It is a business arrangement and you and the owner are both rated on the website. You can also get deals where you can rent out the entire place, stay in the guest house, or stay in a adjoined room like I mentioned above. If hotels seem too expensive, try checking this website out!

Cheap Airlines

Europe has sooo many cheap airlines. There are a couple of catches but they are completely worth it. Did you know my flight to Rome, Italy was a total of €50, there and back? Thats around sixty dollars! I used the website Skyscanner above to make sure I'm getting the best deal on these guys. There are actually a ton out there, here are just a couple of them:

Apps I haven't tried but I think are cool:

Untappd - If you are a beer connoisseur, this is the app for you. I don't drink a lot of beer, and if I do, I stick with the same kinds I like.  However, a lot of my co-workers use this app, and are obsessed. I would recommend trying it out!
Delectable - Basically the wine version of Untappd. I have looked into a bunch of wine apps like this, but they were all full of bugs. I did one quick rating, and this was really simple. It recognizes any wine from a photo and does it pretty accurately! The label in my picture was only showing 3/4 of the way but it knew what the bottle was. Then, when you find a wine you love, they will ship it to you! I can't wait to experiment with this more!
HostelWorld - Is a website that helps you search for hostels all over the world. The hostels have been rated so you know whether it is good or not. I plan on using this buddy for my Florence trip since I will probably be by myself.

Apps that aren't up to snuff:

Visit Europe- only covers 5 countries and you have to pay for the tours

TripLingo- Kind of like Google Translate. It features speaking into the phone's microphone to translate a phrase. The thing that I find cool is that you can set the level of formality on your phrase. However, it requires wifi and to get full access, you have to pay. Full access includes the formality setting it seems. I would just stick with Google Translate. 

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