Six Flags Great Adventure Announces

Six New Fright Fest Attractions for 2017Calling all Fright Fest fans! This year is looking beyond awesome! We will be checking it out firsthand very soon and can’t wait to tell you all about it! Six Flags Great Adventure is set to unleash the biggest and scariest Fright Fest in history this fall. The Northeast’s Largest Halloween party, which runs weekends and select days September 16 through October 31, features more than 25 Halloween-themed shows and attractions. Families can enjoy Thrills By Day with all of their favorite rides and family-friendly entertainment, and experience Fright By Night with terrifying mazes, scare zones, spooktacular shows and thrilling rides after dark.

In 2017, Six Flags unveils two newly-themed haunted mazes, three new shows and a new scare zone so every step is filled with fright.

New this season:

• Lady of the Lake Cemetery – Great Adventure’s folklore inspired the newest scare zone, which will surely bring a chill to every guest. Guinevere, a drowned bride cursed by the Jersey Devil, has haunted Jackson’s Great Lake for more than a hundred years. Guests can try to spot her spirit in the flowing, white dress as they walk through the mist and monster-filled graveyard. 
• Aftermath – A post-apocalyptic world becomes a reality as guests try to survive this twisting haunted maze crawling with barbaric, mutant scavengers. This raw experience of a global catastrophe makes nightmares come true. Extra fee required to participate.
• Wicked Woods – Fables and folklore from the dark and haunted forests aren’t just for story time anymore. Evil creatures come to life under the creaky and gnarled branches as guests try to escape the night shadows. Extra fee required to participate.
• Unleashed – Guests will be spellbound by this new theatrical production featuring incredible acrobatics, dance, music and feats of magic premiering in Showcase Theatre.
• Corvyx – Alternative electronic pop artist Corvyx is taking YouTube by storm through a combination of haunting covers, visually stunning videos and original music. Armed with a wicked style and powerhouse voice, Corvyx will rock Fright Fest during his residency near the new Wicked Brew bar on Friday and Saturday nights.
• Ignite – A hypnotizing and dazzling display of fire spinning and illusion will have guests glued to the pavement watching every heart-stopping trick. This performance, located next to the Bumper Cars in Adventure Alley, will really see if guests can take the heat.

In addition to the new frights, classic family favorites return by popular demand:

• Trick-or-Treat Trail
• The Skeletones
• Professor Slithers’ Creepy Critters
• Spooky Kooky Magic Show

After 6 pm when the park takes a very dark turn, guests can expect their Halloween favorites like:

• The Arrival ghoul parade
• The Awakening
• Dead Man’s Party
• Cell Block 6
• Demon District

In all, 11 monstertainment shows, seven free scares, Halloween-themed shopping and dining experiences plus a world-class thrill ride collection are included with park admission, Season Pass or active Membership. Seven haunted mazes require an additional fee. Fright By Night is not recommended for children under 12 and those who scare easily.

For more information, visit www.sixflags.com/greatadventure

Disclosure: Diane Sullivan/3decades3kids is a Six Flags Great Adventure partner blog. All opinions are that of Diane and do not represent the views of the parent company represented. Contact me at Diane@3decades3kids.net or @3decades3kids across all social media platforms. 

Celebrate National Breakfast Month This September With Krusteaz and Prize Pack Giveaway!

Ready or not, September is here! In my house it’s back to school time and that means back to breakfast making for this mom. The lazy days of summer and grabbing a muffin  or bagel are over and I am looking for something with more holding power going into the day. I was beyond thrilled to find out that one of our favorite brands, Krusteaz just launched a new Buttermilk Protein Pancake mix! I don’t know about your house but with our family, pancakes are the number one request at breakfast time!

Krusteaz Protein Pancakes have 13g of added protein. What a perfect way to keep the family full and energized going into the long school day. In keeping with Krusteaz’s commitment to simplified and wholesome ingredients, the new protein pancake mix is free of partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, artificial corlors, flavors and preservatives.

One of my family’s favorite pancake request is the strawberry roll up pictured above. I make it with and without whipped cream. It’s such a simple pancake and now I can totally sneak in both fruit and protein thanks to Krusteaz. In addition I love to pre-make Mickey waffles and freeze them for easy to microwave mornings where there is no time to make the real deal.  

 

Crunchy leaves, school buses and pancakes, Who’s ready for Fall!? As for me. I am a fan of cinnamon banana. They are my absolute favorite fall pancake to make for myself or for the family. Although I love summer, Fall is also a time that just makes me want to cook, eat and serve pancakes! And yes, as a child I used to dream about me as a mom, cooking pancakes and seeing my family all around the table just smiling and yumming it up. That is definitely a dream that did come true!

GIVEAWAY: One lucky 3decades3kids reader will be the winner of this amazing Krusteaz Protein Pancake Prize Pack.

To enter please do any or all of the following. Winner will be chosen on September 18, 2017 at 10pm and contacted via email provided in the comments below.

1. Comment and tell me about your favorite pancakes!

2. Go to our https://www.facebook.com/3decades3kids/ page. Like our page and comment about pancakes!

3. Go to our https://www.instagram.com/3decades3kids/ page. Like us and comment about the pancakes in the pic!

4. Got to our https://twitter.com/3decades3kids page. Follow us on Twitter @3decades3kids.

5. Follow https://twitter.com/Krusteaz on Twitter. 

  Disclosure: Diane Sullivan/3decades3kids is a Krusteaz Partner blog. All opinions are that of Diane and do not represent the views of the parent company represented. Complimentary supplies and gift card provided in order to facilitate this review. Contact me at Diane@3decades3kids.net and @3decades3kids across all social media platforms. 

September 9th Is Care Bears #ShareYourCare Day! How Will You Show You Care? #CareBearsAmbassador

There is nothing more important than being able to show you care, is there? You don’t need to have a lot of money or a lot of items. You need need a big heart and a happy mind. Caring about someone helps the world to see inside of your heart and your love will shine through. For nearly 35 years, Care Bears have taught children of all ages about sharing their feelings and caring for others. The Care Bears toy line was originally introduced in 1983 to caring fans everywhere and they’ve never been out of the heart and minds of fans since. Recently, the huggable Cousins have been reintroduced for digital natives on Netflix in the Netflix Original Series: Care Bears & Cousins.

Care Bears have heart and are all about love, caring and sharing with others. Care Bears also support charities around the world that help families in need, including We Care Bears, ZachKapCares, Fathom/en-ABLE, United Way, Operation Smile and many more.

You can be part of the celebrating by just doing something kind on September 9th! The #ShareYourCare movement is all about acts of kindness, big and small. Care Bears encourage you to do something nice for someone today, such as treating a friend to lunch, sharing a toy with your sibling, taking out the trash for your mom, helping an older neighbor across the street. Or inspire others with bigger acts of philanthropy like planting a tree, buying coffee or lunch for a homeless person or spending a day volunteering for a charity. Care Bears hope to embolden you to be kind, think of others and #ShareYourCare every day

Keep up with the latest on Care Bears: www.CareBears.com

Care Bears Get Social: 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CareBears
Twitter: www.twitter.com/CareBears
Instagram: www.instagram.com/CareBears
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/CareBears
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/CareBearsAGP

Disclosure: Diane Sullivan/3decades3kids is a Care Bears #ShareYourCare Ambassador Blog. All opinions are that of Diane Sullivan and do not reflect the opinions of the parent company represented. Contact me at Diane@3decades3kids.net or @3decades3kids across all social media platforms. 

Disney Floral and Gifts- Mickey’s Magical Welcome- In Room Celebration

Have you ever dreamed of being surprised? As adults most of the time it’s pretty tough to actually surprise each other. My hubby did pull off the surprise of a lifetime last year when he orchstrated a surprise re-engagement for our 25th Anniversary during the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. It was honestly the biggest surprise of my life and quite frankly a moment I will never forget. My eyes could not stop streaming tears as hubby knelt before me on one knee popping the big question, again, 25 years later. After our smoochy smoochy I was presented with the most breathtaking floral bouquet I have ever seen. It was mix of roses and assorted flowers adorned with a creamy silky ribbon and a trio of pearls that formed a Mickey. The scent was divine. I needed to know where those flowers came from and so began my love for Disney Floral and Gifts……

Little did I know about what this hidden gem of Disney had to offer to its guests. Of all the places I have visited in the world I may have to say that going to Walt Disney World in Florida is up there in my top choices. There is something so very magical that happens when you visit the “Happiest Place On Earth”. Recently our family visited Disney World for our family vacation. It’s always great as the kids get older to be able to still celebrate as a family all together. Our children were all born into a Disney Family and proud of it. During out trip we celebrated Adam’s recent high school graduation and birthday, but most of the time we just cherished being together away from it all and having fun! Our days were filled with Mickey, Minnie, Princesses, rides, Mickey Pops and pools! Our nights were taken over by quieter times, fireworks and a million memories in the making. 

Of course there was one particular night that was pretty much the best night of the trip. It was the night of the big surprise, bigger than we ever expected! Our family was delightfully surprised by [click here] Disney Floral and Gifts with an In-Room Celebration– Mickey’s Magical Welcome Family. From peeking on the Disney Floral and Gifts site I did have an idea about what an In- Room Celebration was like, but I had never seen one in person. I did receive an email early in the day asking if we would be out of our room for a two hour period in order for some magic to happen. I did not tell anyone in our family what was about to happen. I really did not even know much about it myself since Disney likes to operate on the magic of a surprise. All I knew was that something special would be left in our room for the family. What a surprise was about to unfold, what a magical magical  surprise. I’m getting teary eyed as I write this thinking about how much emotion went into that night, it was just amazing.

The day of the surprise we left our room at Disney’s Contemporary Resort like any other day of the trip, but in the back of my mind I kept wondering how the night would play out.  We spent the day at Magic Kingdom and ended our night with the newest fireworks show, “Happily Ever After”. It was a perfect night! Everyone was tired at this point and ready to head back to the room. I starting getting butterflies of excitement wondering about what was about to happen next. As the monorail came to stop on the grand concourse I thought, “This is it!”.

I remember the exact moment our family noticed the room door. My daughter and both sons gave out a little bit of a yell- WHAT??? No one, including myself, could believe it. There was a huge Mickey Window door banner on our door. The banner literally took up half of the door. Everyone stopped in their tracks, except my daughter who could not wait to use her Magic Band to open the door. The door was opening and we were about to let the adventure begin…

The room was darkened except for a dim light that let us see what looked like sparkling fireworks lighting up everywhere. It was absolutely beautiful to see the castle luminaries as they twinkled their ever changing colors. We flipped on the lights and to our surprise there were Mickey footprints on the floor! It looks like Mickey Mouse himself definitely had made a stop at our room. My daughter took the path of footprints (You can see the footprints in the video below. I was so excited I missed grabbing a pic!)  that led to a surprise note on the table. The family gathered around as Emily read the note left by none other than the Big Cheese! We all peeked inside the Mickey Mouse inspired bin overflowing with yummy deliciousness, all Mickey themed of course. The bin even had our name embroidered on a Mickey tag. Wow! Snack after snack seem to parade out of the bag which included a bouquet of chocolate dipped Mickey krispies pops, taffy, Mickey shaped pretzels, popcorn and more!

We were all so obsessed with the door and the footprints and the fireworks that we almost missed the fact that there were even more surprises. More surprises?!?! As Emily turned she let out a shriek! The living room area was filled with Disney happiness. Tears filled my eyes as I saw the reaction of my daughter and sons. What a magical moment. They were just overwhelmed. We all headed over to the living to check it out. There was an embroidered,  “Welcome Sullivan Family” sign which immediately caught everyone’s eye. The couch touted five Mickey and Minnie ears hats- one for each of us! As soon as I saw them I imagined us all arm in arm wearing the hats at Magic Kingdom. They were perfect! Beside them were Disney beach towels that we made use of at the pool the very next day.

But there was still more. Was it really even possible? They had us all at the Mickey door decoration! It seems like the gifts left were personalized to our individual likes. There were two Star Wars Pop figures, an Autograph book [already signed by MM] and pen, a Walt Disney mug and an amazing wooden collage picture frame to hold all of our memories that were made during the our stay.

Sitting on a beautiful silver serving platter adorned with Cinderella’s Castle was a Mickey lollipop-Minnie mug arrangement! My daughter fell in love with the snuggly sweet pillowcase featuring Baby Minnie asleep on the moon, surrounded by stars. The pillowcase also had Emily’s name embroidered onto it. There was no mistaking exactly who that was left in the room for! Did I mention there were five pair of Mickey vision glasses. When we put them on there were Mickeys all over!

So there we stood, the five of us, our family, in this surreal moment of happiness. In some ways it was a moment I wish had lasted forever. It was something we will never forget. You hear about Disney creating Magic, and we had the chance to experience that magic firsthand…and that night we went to sleep as the castle luminaries twinkled their fireworks throughout our room…….as the pillow says….”Dream, Wish and Believe”. Check out all things Disney Floral and Gifts here. They offer so many in room gifts. There is something for everyone from birthdays to princessing, to Star Wars, holidays and even romance! Check out our video of our In Room Celebration here. 

Disclsoure: Diane Sullivan/3decades3kids is a Disney Floral and Gifts Partner Blog. The above In Room Celebration was provided complimentary in order to facilitate this review. No compensation was given for this post. Contact me at Diane@3decades3kids.net or @3decades3kids across all social media platforms. Special thanks for your kindness and amazing experience, Disney Floral and Gifts! Visit Disney Floral and Gifts by clicking here!