I don't know how they do it, but all things Disney seems to have a touch of magic. Peter Pan: Disney Classics is the third Disney e-book I've reviewed, and just like The Jungle Book and The Aristocats, they have really found a way to bring the story to life. Peter Pan is not just an e-book, it's an interactive app with more than a bit of pixie dust sprinkled throughout.
The most obvious thing you can do is read the story of Peter Pan, which in itself makes it worth the $3.99 price tag -- who wouldn't want a beautifully illustrated ebook for their kids to read on the iPad? ou can use one of three pre-set Reading Modes -- Read to Me (with narration), Read by myself, and Use my recording (the child or parent or grandparent can record themselves narrating the story. Kids turn the pages by flicking their finger over the touchscreen or tapping the forward and backward arrows. Touching characters on each page usually brings up their written names, and if they're in Read to Me mode, the narrator will say their names. As the story unfolds, moving pictures and background music make reading the book a bit like watching the abridged version of the movie, so even the youngest of children will be entertained.
There are also fun activities sprinkled throughout the book -- coloring pages, puzzles (with 3 levels of difficulty), a matching memory game (also with 3 levels of difficulty) and an interactive Pan flute. I love how the activities are set on a parchment paper background to give it a pirate-y look and feel! It's just one example of how Disney pays so much attention to detail so that kids can really immerse themselves in Never Never Land. All I can say is, I'm hooked!
Disclosure: I received a complimentary download of the app to review. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
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I recently attended a lunch hosted by Unreal and my friend Beth Blecherman of Techmama. Beth usually sticks to her niche of curating and reviewing family-friendly tech products (which she is awesome at), but she's still a mom who looks for natural foods for her kids, and Unreal foods got her excited enough to want to share the product with all her blogger friends. 
Their candy coated chocolates owe their beautifully muted colors (they remind me of Martha Stewart's Araucana chicken eggs!) to beetroot juice, turmeric root, and purple cabbage juice, not red dye #40 or yellow dye #5 (great news for kids suffering from ADHD and allergies!).
Their Chocolate Caramel Peanut Nougat Bar tastes just like a Snickers bar!
This ride reminds me of the Mad Hatter Teacups in Fantasyland, except it's the cow-like tractors who are spinning round and round. Visitors sit in trailers pulled by the tractors and spin around while Mater sings and square dance music plays. Little kids love this ride!
Like bumper cars, with a twist. Visitors sit in huge inflatable tires that hover a few inches off the ground, thanks to blasts of air that shoot from holes in the ground. You can make the tire move by leaning back, forth and sideways. To make things more fun, there are red, white and blue beach balls you can bump into, or throw around (if you can manage to pick one up -- they are huge!).
This is Cars Land's E-Ticket attraction, and it's so cool, it really deserves a post of its own. It's based on the Test Track ride at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center, but themed to Cars Land. Visitors board a racecar and take a leisurely drive through Ornament Valley, then enter a dark-ride portion where they see animatronic characters from the Cars movies. Then the cars split into 2 side-by-side tracks, and the last portion of the ride is a thrilling race to the finish, with lots of banks, bends and bumps. It's a definite must-do!
Sally's motel has transformed into a food court with cone-themed fast food such as Chili Cone Queso, Route Beer Floats, PopCone (pop corn!) and Churro Bites, all serve in a cone. I tried the Chili Cone Queso, and it is marvelous. You get red chili served in a cone-shaped tortilla, topped with shredded cheddar cheese and corn chips. There's also a chili verde version which is even better -- it's topped with Mexican Queso Fresco. 
This is Cars Land's sit-down diner, serving diner classics like meatloaf, mashed potatoes, pork loin, and more. Their single-serve fruit pies are sooooo good -- they're called ugly crust pies but they taste anything but ugly. Even if you don't want to eat there, it's worth a quick stop just to look at the decor. The front of the cafe looks like an old-fashioned gas station (where all the Cars characters pull up to refuel), the inside looks like a vintage diner, and the terrace opens up to lovely views of the Radiator Springs Racers ride.
Fillmore's Taste In is more of a snack bar, serving healthy snacks like fresh fruit (watermelon slices, cups with sliced apples, pineapple spears), water and juice. True to Fillmore's nature, the place looks like a 60's hippie hut, complete with tie-dyed canvas and wind chimes. Even the cast members who work here are wearing groovy tie-dyed aprons and flash peace signs!
This is the store run by Lizzie, the widow of Radiator Springs founder Stanley.
Fans of English Premier League soccer have had an awesome season! Alfie has been watching the EPL all his life, and he says this season was one of the most exciting ever. All year long, the Premier League table has shifted and turned on its head, and the EPL Championship wasn't decided until the very last game of the season -- actually, until the last few minutes of the game! That was when Sergio Aguerro scored a goal against Queen's Park Rangers to put Manchester City ahead, grab the title from Manchester United and make the Blue Side of Manchester the EPL Champions for the very first time! 
Yay! I finally found it!!!!
Nope, still wrong one. 
