Every now and then when my kids are watching television I scream out “pause the TV”! It’s usually because I happen to catch a commercial for a great contest. Today while they were watching Suite Life on Deck I heard “win a Disney Cruise.” If there were ever a moment to pause, this was one of them.

Here are the details:

One Grand Prize: A 7 night Disney Cruise Line vacation for winner and 3 guests leaving from Los Angeles, CA and taken aboard the Disney Wonder to Disney’s Mexican Riviera itinerary. Includes air fare if you live more than 200 miles from LA. Plus a Toy Story 3: The Video Game for the Wii™ console system.

75 First Prizes of a Toy Story 3: The Video Game for the Wii™ console system. (ARV: $50).

Contest ends August 15, 2010. Click here to get more details and enter.

If you have kids under the age of 10, chances are pretty good that there is talk in your house about the new Toy Story 3 coming out this month. Personally, I loved the Toy Story movies, so I am excited about this one, too. The premise is that Andy is going off to college and the toys are being donated to a day care. Disney has been getting creative with their advertising, even making fake commercials for some of the new characters in the movie. But this new video that features the Toy Story toys using Google is really cute. It’s one of Google’s “Search Stories,” essentially a commercial that tells a story through the use of various Google searches.

Watch the video a few times to catch some of the more nuanced things like the fact that Andy needs extra long twin sheets for his college bed (I remember those days!). The voices are familiar and the video definitely appeals more to adults than kids. I love the end where they toys not-so-subtly encourage Andy by typing “bring your toys to college” into Google! What did you catch in the video that others may not? Does it make you more likely to want to see Toy Story 3?

Disney is giving away music for 50 days starting on May 3 and running through June 21, 2010.The songs will be available via download and will include everything from Bambi to Wizards of Waverly Place to High School Musical. Each day will be a different song, so you need to check back every day.

Visit Walt Disney Records’ Facebook page for today’s music: http://www.facebook.com/disneymusic

Day One: “Squirrels in my Pants” from Phineas & Ferb

Kristin at Couponing to Disney loves her readers. To show her appreciation for all the joy they bring to her life, she is going to have a day full of giveaways. Starting at 9 am and running until 9 pm, she will launch a giveaway every hour! She’ll have everything from coupons for free yogurt to a Disney gift card (donated by us!). So be sure to stop by and hang out. There will be tons of chances to win!

Here’s a little information about Kristin’s blog:

Can the average person afford a trip to Disney? Well Kristin at Couponing to Disney proves that they can. She started her blog to showcase how she is using money she has saved by being a smart shopper, by using rebates, by saving found money and by earning extra cash online to pay for her yearly trip to Disney World. Since June 1st, 2009, she has saved over $2600 and not one dime has come out of their paychecks! And she shows that anyone can save for anything they previously thought was out of their budget. She has readers couponing to Germany, couponing to cheerleading camp and couponing to a new television! It doesn’t matter what you want to save for, she shows you how to do it!

Click here to enter- Win a $100 Disney Gift Card from Sunshine Rewards and Couponing to Disney

The Weather Channel is giving away a Disney Cruise in its Choose and Cruise Sweepstakes. The Grand Prize is a  Disney Cruise Line vacation for 4 people to winner’s choice of the following: 10- or 11-night Mediterranean Cruise, 12-night Northern European Capitals Cruise, 7-night Eastern Caribbean Cruise, or 7-night Western Caribbean Cruise. Grand Prize also includes transportation to the departure port, a stateroom for 4, and $4,500.

Three instant win game prizes will also be given away and include a 4-night DCL Bahamian vacation for 4 people.  You can enter the Sweepstakes and play the Instant Win game twice a day. You can also get extra entries for sharing the contest with your friends. The sweepstakes ends April 2, 2010.

It seems like every other month we are finding a really great Disney contest. The newest contest sponsored by Disney is the “Celebrate You Sweepstakes.” You can enter from now through January 31 but must be a United States resident.

What is the prize? Hold onto your hats. A 5 day/4 night trip for the winner and 3 guests to the Walt Disney World Resort, including hotel accommodations for 3 nights in a standard room, a 1 night stay at the Cinderella Castle Suite, 5-Day Magic Your Way Park Hopper Tickets, services of a VIP Tour Guide for 6 hours, services of a personal itinerary planner to help with planning, a PhotoPass PhotoBook and PhotoCD, a $250 Disney Gift Card for the winner, and airfare for 4 if you live more than 250 miles away.

Just winning a trip to Disney would be amazing. But imagine being one of the few people who gets to spend a night in the Cinderella Castle Suite! It would be an opportunity like no other in your life.

Click here to enter once a day. You can also get more information there about how to enter via text message.

Right on the tail of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 being released in 3D (as well as the new Toy Story Mania Game for Wii), the Toy Story 3 Trailer has popped up. It shows Andy getting older and going to college, which would make sense given the age of the first movie. Andy has to decide what to do with his toy friends when he leaves, and they end up being dropped off at a day care. The normal goofiness ensues, but always with the theme of friendship and teamwork.

Favorite characters are back including Buzz, Woody, Jessie, Mr. Potato Head, Barbie, Hamm, and more. Toy Story 3 is due to hit theaters on June 18, 2010. Will you be among the first in line?

Big news on Good Morning America today! Disney is giving away theme park tickets for people who volunteer. The new program is called “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day.” When you volunteer one day for a participating organization, you will get your choice of a ticket for Disney World or Disneyland. If you cannot use your ticket yourself, you can even donate it to a Disney charity.

Although Disney is obviously getting a lot of publicity out of this and it isn’t costing them much (they’ll likely get more people to visit just because of the promotion), I still think that it is great to see a corporation encouraging people to give back to the community. In particular, this is a good reason to get parents to engage their entire family in a volunteer activity.

In addition to the Give a Day promotion, you can enter to win a free trip to Disney in the “Cheers to Volunteers” Sweepstakes. The grand prize is a 5 day, 4 night vacation for 4 to Walt Disney World or Disneyland. You get bonus entries for Tweeting the contest each day. (ends March 31, 2010)

The program will officially begin January 1, 2010. You must be at least 6 years of age and pre-register for your volunteer service. Of course, there are quite a few details that you will need to check out at disneyparks.com in January, but it looks like a terrific opportunity! You may also want to follow the Disney Parks twitter account to get up to the minute information.

Are you a Disney-loving mom who has visited in the last year and loves to give opinions and feedback about the park? Then you might be perfect for the Walt Disney World Moms Panel! Entries will be taken starting September 10, 2009. You must be able to travel to WDW from December 4-8 for their special training program. After that, you will be responsible for at least 15 written responses per week (regarding WDW travel). More specific information can be found on their site.

Here is the link to bookmark so that you can mark your calendar and apply!

Edited: They are now taking applications! This is always really popular because of the free Disney trip. Applications will be taken through September 20 or whenever they get 20,000–whichever comes first.

Last spring my husband and I just happened to be at Disneyland for a day when they were testing the new Toy Story Mania ride. We absolutely loved it!! (even after standing in line for almost two hours) Unfortunately, we haven’t had a chance to take the kids to Disney Studios in WDW yet to try it out.

The good news is that Toy Story Mania for the Wii will be released on September 15. It features games modeled after the Toy Story movies as well as the Toy Story Mania ride. If you haven’t been on the ride yet, it’s kind of like a carnival game where you pull a string to shoot objects like balls and pies at targets.

According to Amazon, the game is for all player levels and will even have some 3D bonus features. You can play together or against each other. My kids both love the Carnival Games for the Wii, so I know that this will be a big hit.

You can pre-order Toy Story Mania for Wii from Amazon right now and save $5 plus get free shipping. We’ll get up a review as soon as we get the game in hand and try it out.

Added! You can also pre-order Toy Story Mania from Buy.com and not only save $5 but also get free shipping and two pair of 3D glasses!