Showing posts with label Disney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disney. Show all posts

Thursday, August 5, 2021

Random Ramblings about Theme Park Experience


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Bijou Bugle

Welcome to the Bijou Bugle Newsletter!

So glad you've subscribed.

July was quite the month, and not in the good way. Glad it's behind us, though August isn't a great month for us either, so...

But it's back to my books for me.  I'm so behind where I had wanted to be, and while I'm satisfied with my Summer/Winter giveaway at Smashwords, I'd like to have another book out there.  Here's hoping I get into a groove and soon. I'd LIKE (cross fingers) Book 3 to be done before Nov NaNo so I can do a new project, but we'll see. I never push myself.

Did you grab one of my books during the Smashwords sale?  If so, THANK YOU so much.  I hope you'll enjoy it!

If you read any of my books, I would be grateful for some reviews as they have stalled out a bit for me. Reviews are everything for an author, even if it's simply a star rating.

 
Reading - 
  • The Block by Ben Oliver
Recently completed -
  • The Loop by Ben Oliver (re-read)
Watching - 
  • Washington Nationals baseball
  • Arrowverse (S6 Flash, S5 Supergirl, S5 Legends, S1 Batwoman)
  • American Ninja Warrior
  • Olympics (Anything in the water plus some others)
Playing -
  • Warzone - all Warzone all the time
  • Fortnite "Save the World" Campaign
Knowledge behind parts of my series.

In my Bijou Basin series, two themes weave throughout all the books - Photography, and Theme Parks. I thought I'd take the time to talk about these themes and my personal experience with both.

While many writers research much of what they write, many more "write what you know". The later one is true of me - I've written what I know and have experience in both photography and theme parks. See my previous newsletter - - for my experience with Photography.

Theme Parks (specifically in Central Florida)

I wasn't born in FL, but moved there in my early teens. From the first year there, we had Annual Passholder Tickets to Disney.

It's hard to explain, to anyone not around the theme park industry, what the life is like. It's not typical. When I was in my pre-teens and lived elsewhere, it was a big deal to go to the mall to hang out with friends. Like a big big deal - the mall was an hour away. It was a treat.

Then I moved to FL, and WDW was my backyard.

With annual tickets, we could go daily, and while we didn't always do that, we went, a LOT. Have you ever gone to a WDW park and they had the greeters in the front, ask how many times you've visited?  By the time the 2000s rolled around, I just told them to put 999 - the highest number they could.  I never counted, of course, but I had annual passes, and/or worked there / had a spouse working there for 16+ years.  It was only in the last few years we lived there, that we didn't have the funds to go to Disney anymore, and while we're no longer in FL, the theme parks are the only thing about the state that we miss.

In addition to annual passes, I also often got to visit Sea World and Universal Orlando.  I briefly worked for all three companies as well, in attractions, which I loved. Each of the parks were different as an employee/cast member and I could share loads of stories, but I'll spare you the details.

I love and miss the parks, but I'm able to reexperience them within my books.  If you haven't read them, in Book 1, Natural Exposure, Kenzie and Jarrett take Ripley to Hollywood Studios. For Book 2, Negative Exposure, Kenzie takes Ripley to the Magic Kingdom. In the upcoming Book 3, Elemental Exposure, Kenzie, Jarrett, and Ripley visit Universal for a very special event.  Where would you want to see them head in Book 4, if the choices were Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Sea World, or Islands of Adventure?
 
Pink Zebra products through my good friend Kim
Need scents for your home? Help out my friend Kim's new endevor and try out Pink Zebra today!
I'm looking for Beta readers who would like to be the first to read Book 3 of my Bijou Basin series - Elemental Exposure. If you haven't read them, I'd send you the first two books free of charge then get the first half of EleEx to you whenever you'd like. 

If you'd like to review my books (on Amazon and/or Goodreads, along with any other retailer or book site) then please contact me at KorianaBrackson@gmail.com with the subject title "Review" for a free copy of my first book, Natural Exposure.
My books are now sold at most major retailers!

Natural Exposure 
 
A Discovery of BDSM 

Negative Exposure
 
An Exploration of BDSM
A Discovery of BDSM by Koriana Brackson
An Exploration of BDSM by Koriana Brackson
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My Books



Natural Exposure on Amazon
Natural Exposure on Smashwords
Natural Exposure on Goodreads

Negative Exposure on Amazon
Negative Exposure on Smashwords
Negative Exposure on Goodreads

A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon
A Discovery of BDSM on Smashwords
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads

An Exploration of BDSM on Amazon
An Exploration of BDSM on Smashwords
An Exploration of BDSM on Goodreads


A Bijou Basin on StoryOrigin - FREE for StoryOrigins members (signup is free)

The Erotic Writer's Planner

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Disney Tips, Tidbits & Trivia #5: Park Tips



Disney!


What is Disney Tips, Trivia & Tidbits? Whatever I, and you, want it to be. What have YOU always wanted to know about Disney? I'm most familiar with WDW, but I have been to Disneyland and California Adventures, although it's been many years. We visited 4 or 5 times.

So, my Disney days will just be any bit of information that pops into my head, and if any of you want to hit me up on Twitter, email, or leave a comment here, I'll be glad to answer questions.

Previous Disney Tips, Tidbits & Trivia:
Disney Tidbits #1 - Haunted Mansion
Disney Tidbits #2 - Harnessing the Lightning
Disney Tidbits #3 - Fantasmic
Disney Tidbits #4 - Changes to the Attractions


Disney Trivia #5

Visiting the parks is CRAZY (well, when they are open of course). Here's a few basic tips to best utilize your time when visiting.

1 - Plan your trip during slow times. Yes, this would mean missed school or whatever, but that's preferable when you're looking at 20 minute lines, or less, versus 2+ hour lines. The slow times are - 2 weeks after New Years until about Mid-March, right before Spring Breaks start and 2 weeks after Labor Day until mid-October when Halloween events really start ramping up.

2 - If you're staying on-property (a Disney hotel), take advantage of your early openings BUT then leave that park when it's opened up to the rest of the guests, and go to a park that didn't have early opening. Early Opening parks are always the busiest, so you wanna take advantage of it, then move on.

3 - If you're staying off-property, watch where you are staying - look it up on a map. Many Kissimmee hotels will claim to be right outside the gates - and it's definitely not true. Depending on where you end up, and time of year, it could take you nearly an hour to get to the parks. If you're looking at 192 (Irlo Bronson Memorial) you want to stay WEST of I-4. If you're out east - you're way too far and it could take ages to get there. If you are looking at Hwy 27, you've got some good options going so back ways, so you are good at about a 3-5 mile radius north and south of 192.

Are these tips helpful? What else would you like to know about Disney?




My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads

A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads

A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads


Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Disney Tips, Trivia & Tidbits



Disney!

Like you, I'm a fan. Unlike many of you, I grew up with WDW in my back yard.

Living near the theme parks is something only understood by other people who live in touristy towns. People in Vegas don't live life the same way as someone say in backasswards mountains of NC, and I can use that as an example, since that's where I live now. Likewise, people outside the parks just don't grasp what it means to be there, ALL THE TIME.

Most people save a LOOONG time for one or two ever trips to the parks. It's a magical time, one some have waited lifetimes for.

I didn't realize until I was older how lucky I was.

I moved to Central Florida just a month after my 13th birthday and while we didn't have much, we always had Disney annual passes. Back then, the prices aren't what they are today. After the initial cost, it was cheap for my childhood - run through a drive-thru, go to the parks for a few hours, and head home. It took gas money, and being about 25 miles away, it wasn't much.

At the front of the parks there are/were the ones who'd stop you and ask questions about your visit. I always bypassed them but when I couldn't they'd ask 'how many times have you visited the park' and my answer was always the same, just like Haunted Mansion - 999. The reason? That was the highest number they could enter.

I've since moved out of the state and the only THING I miss about FL are the parks. I had annual passes from 1990 - 2006, worked there around 1998, and was married to a cast member for 7 years. I was ALWAYS there.

We would have had them a couple years after that but prices got high, and hard times happened. I sadly, don't remember when the last time I was at Disney was, though the last time we were in Universal was fall 2011. We moved to NC May 2012.

Enough rambling already. Geesh!

What is Disney Tips, Trivia & Tidbits? Whatever I, and you, want it to be. What have YOU always wanted to know about Disney? I'm most familiar with WDW, but I have been to Disneyland and California Adventures, although it's been many years. We visited 4 or 5 times.

So, my Disney days will just be any bit of information that pops into my head, and if any of you want to hit me up on TWitter, email, or leave a comment here, I'll be glad to answer questions.


Disney Trivia #1

Since I already mentioned Haunted Mansion, did you know the Hitchhiking Ghosts have names? They are Ezra, Gus, and Phineas. The Portrait Gallery is one of my favorite places in the attraction and when I went to Disneyland the first time, I was delighted to finally experience their elevator. At Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, you actually go down, where as in Magic Kingdom, you don't move, the walls rise up.


Too mundane of trivia for you? What do you want to know next?

Did you notice the "Hidden Mickey" in the banner above?


A Discovery of BDSM released TODAY 4/22/20!!
Live now on Amazon and free on KU!






My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads

A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads

A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads