Author Archives: Sarah Dingman

About Sarah Dingman

Sarah grew up in rural Kansas, dreaming of one day realizing her creative talent as a clown mail woman. Wait, what was that I said? Oh yes, what big dreams she had. Entertain the world one piece of mail and a beep of the nose at a time. This still holds true, but in a much different way. Sarah is still using her talents but has decided they would be better used popping out some creative writing for this cool blog as well as developing her love of photography. Some of her work is featured also on this said blog! She (along with her BF, Mark) hopes you enjoy these snippets of their unique story!

Ten Things I Need to Try in Walt Disney World

While planning our upcoming trip, we’ve realized there are lots of tasty treats that either or both of us haven’t tried! We’ve made it a goal to seek out and mark these things off our list in upcoming trips.

1. Dole Whip: One of the most popular and most talked about snacks in WDW is something I’m very much looking forward to devouring for the first time! This is a lovely, cool, creamy concoction of vanilla or pineapple soft serve ice cream that can be served as a float as well. Looks and sounds delicious!

2. Breakfast Buffet at Chef Mickey’s: We’re braving this very well-known Disney breakfast option for the first time this year. Located in the beautifully modern Contemporary resort, bustling Chef Mickey’s hosts favorite Disney celebrities; Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto! As if that’s not enough of a draw, the food is known to be pretty fantastic as well!

3. Kitchen Sink Sundae: This giant sundae is the featured creation at Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club resort. It includes everything you could ever think a sundae could have including the kitchen sink! It’s supposed to serve 12 so maybe someday I will take this delicious concoction on with the help of others!

4. Moroccan Baklava: A spot I’ve read a lot about but never taken time to stop is the Tangierine Café located in the Morocco pavilion in Epcot which has amazing food including the gorgeous baklava. Crispy flaky pastry layered with a honey-soaked walnut mixture-YUM!

5. Pecos Bill Burger: The Angus burger at Pecos Bill’s Tall Tale Inn and Café in Magic Kingdom is kind of legendary for a quick lunch and what makes it unique is its “fixins bar” which allows you to customize exactly the way you want it so every burger is your own!

6. Turkey Leg: This ridiculously large smoked poultry snack is very popular and looks and smells heavenly, however, it’s reported to hold about 1000 calories and 50 grams of fat! Can you believe it?! Thus, exactly why I’ve never been tempted, but someday I will be.

7. Ramune: I recently learned about this Japanese soda available in the Japan pavilion in Epcot which has two unique features. One, that it comes with a marble that you pop into the bottle before enjoying the drink. A marble! And somehow people are not choking and dying! Second, it comes in 35 flavors, some of which I have no idea what they’d taste like and one I know I would have a hard time trying-octopus!

8. Popcorn: Apparently this salty snack from the iconic kiosks is like no other. I’m excited to try this while also enjoying a frosty drink as I’ll surely need one!

9. Kona Coffee: Available only at the Polynesian Resort, this coveted full-bodied coffee is brought straight from the Hawaiian Islands and brewed fresh daily. Sounds like a great way to start a busy Disney day!

10. Starring Rolls Cupcakes: This popular bakery and café in Hollywood Studios stars some of the most deadly, size-of-a-meal, cupcakes I’ve ever seen! Just one look at the Chocolate Butterfinger cupcake or the Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcake is enough of a sell!

Braced For Adventure

I’m experiencing my first real New England snow storm today and frankly, being snowed in watching the snow fall and collect with Mark and my kitty cozily by my side is not half bad. There was a time (okay, maybe a few weeks ago) that I thought a Nor’easter had something to do with colored eggs and bunnies; now I know differently!

This Midwestern girl is becoming a local and it’s kind of freaking me out! I now say “wicked” by accident when I should have said “really” or “totally!” When I go home in a few weeks to visit my family I hope they don’t notice an absence of the letter “R” in my vocabulary, that would be truly embarrassing.

Speaking of which, Mark and I are in full swing planning our first joint trip as a couple! We leave in less than a month and are pumped! We fly to Kansas for a few days where Mark will meet all the family he hasn’t (only like 40 people, no pressure) and spend some good quality time with them. Then, the bus doesn’t stop there, but goes south to Orlando where we visit our favorite Mouse and friends! We have our Excel sheet day layout, our Touring Plans for the parks, and all our dining reservations and still keep doing research every day. We have some great plans and the food experiences alone should be amazing! If you want to be sickened by picture overload, check back late next month; I’m sure I will satisfy that need.

In similar news, we have been featured on the Walt Disney World website as a Disney Memory! Read our story here and “Like” it! Getting noticed by Disney is a big deal and that’s our goal-help us! Thanks a bunch and much love.

Coming to New England


Most people would not consider driving 25 hours straight with an unhappy cat, a car load and U-haul of belongings a good time. But when you’re with your best friend and beginning your life together, those are some of the best hours of your life. That’s how I felt in May when we packed up and moved me half way across the country to beautiful New Hampshire.

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific. ~Jane Wagner, The Search For Intelligent Life In The Universe, performed by Lily Tomlin

Life since that long drive has been wonderful. Our summer and fall was filled with concerts (Daughtry and Maroon 5), live professional wrestling, baseball games (including Red Sox and Mark’s own men’s league!), live theater (Chicago), hockey games, water parks, festivals, and enjoying the crystal clear lakes. Mark has enjoyed showing me New England and exploring, as much as we can, our shared love of Boston as a city of culture, history, and excitement.

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Two is better Than One

“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you” ~Anonymous Child

This makes me giggle, but this “Anonymous Child” is onto something! I felt exactly this way last weekend when Mark came to visit. We were only able to spend a few days together but every time we become stronger and closer and I miss him so much more every time we part. Sorry to be so sappy, but this is how I feel. And…on to our perfect weekend and our sweet Valentine’s Day! Continue reading

It all started with a tweet

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”  ~Walt Disney~

And so begins our love for Disney and following our dreams, which ironically, in our case, go hand in hand.  And isn’t it funny that our story begins with one of the biggest Disney community personalities out there?  Yes, Lou Mongello played a role in our beginning; he doesn’t know it, but he did.  Mark responded with his Disney expertise to a question Lou posted on Twitter, I took notice and started following him.  It definitely wasn’t “tweet at first sight” but more on that later.  It’s just pretty crazy that we found a valuable use for social networking for once besides finding out what “food” you are or what celebrity you should marry.  While both are important things to know about yourself, these don’t appear to be of lifelong merit.  And as to whether or not I’ve taken those quizzes, I’m not saying I have and I’m not saying I haven’t.

So, now we’re stretching our online connection to include this awesome blog!  We’re combining some of our talents and interests with our infatuation for Disney and traveling in general.  I’ve been told for many years that fairy tales don’t exist but I’m finding them piece by piece with Mark and I hope we can express the fun and fervor we find every time we embark on a new adventure.  We want your thoughts and for you to share your experiences as well so feel free to comment as much as you’d like!  Make us laugh and you might get a gold star!! Give us a nugget of info we didn’t know before and you might get two gold stars!  Like all great things in life, it’s a win-win.