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Nicole

Oct 18, 2022

MAGIC OF LIGHTS® ILLUMINATES THE COACHELLA VALLEY’S EMPIRE POLO CLUB THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

By: Sponsored Event Content

Empire Polo Club To Host Coachella Valley Debut Of Drive-Through Holiday Lights Spectacular

November 18, 2022 Through January 1, 2023

Affordable for All Holiday Pricing – Limited Time “One Carload, One Price” Access Starting at $15

Tickets On Sale Tuesday, October 18 at 10am PT at MagicOfLights.com/CoachellaValley

COACHELLA VALLEY, CA. - October 17, 2022 –This holiday season will be even brighter, merrier and more colorful as Magic of Lights transforms the Empire Polo Club into a vibrant drive-through holiday-themed light display. The festive event kicks off Friday, November 18 and runs through Sunday, January 1.

Produced by Family Entertainment Holdings, LLC, “Magic of Lights” will make its Coachella Valley debut at the sprawling Empire Polo Club, featuring dozens of displays, illuminated canopies, and digital animation, all constructed with millions of individual LED lights to create a memorable holiday experience for the whole family.

"We are excited to bring Magic of Lights to the Coachella Valley community for the first time ever and believe it will become an annual holiday tradition," says Ken Hudgens, CEO of Family Entertainment Holdings, LLC. “Our innovative creative team has designed a drive-through holiday wonderland light experience that promises to dazzle and delight guests of all ages.”

“Our entire team is excited to bring a fun and festive nightly event to the Empire Polo Club and the entire Coachella Valley region this holiday season. We appreciate Magic of Lights’ commitment to hosting an affordable, one price per carload family-friendly event, and we believe the installation will become an annual tradition for years to come,” says Mark Girton, VP of Operations and Special Events at Empire Polo Club/Empire Grand Oasis.

Inside the comfort of their own vehicle, guests will enjoy Magic of Lights’ classic holiday favorites including Winter Wonderland, the 12 Days of Christmas, Toyland, festive Elves and Reindeer Road. In addition to the 200 foot long Enchanting Tunnel of Lights, there will also be three other brand new tunnels to delight and amaze – the Blizzard Light Tunnel, the Snowflake Tunnel and the Candy Cane Light Tunnel.

Other brand-new displays include the 32-foot-tall animated Mattel’s Waving Christmas Barbie®, Prehistoric Christmas featuring life sized dinosaurs celebrating the season and BIGFOOT® Monster Trucks. Created with over two million sparkling lights, Magic of Lights is a nostalgic and festive event everyone will enjoy.

QUICK FACTS - MAGIC OF LIGHTS

· 2+ million lights per Magic of Lights event

· 12.6 miles of light cord per Magic of Lights event

· 3,750 staff hours to set up each Magic of Lights event

· The steel displays are designed, bent, cut and welded into about 800 frames that are combined in different configurations to create each show's giant winter holiday scenes. Each frame of each scene is designed using the latest CAD technology and hand built in-house from 15 pages of design specifications each.

· Each Magic of Lights show uses about 10 miles of steel to build the displays and 10 miles of LED lighting installed inside the displays, there are 10 different colors of LED bulbs used in the shows.

· Scenes, such as the animated Mattel’s Waving Christmas Barbie, are as high as 32 ft. tall and as long as several hundred feet.

Magic of Lights shines daily from 6pm until 10pm beginning Friday, November 18 through

Sunday, January 1. Tickets for this colorful seasonal event go on sale Tuesday, October 18 at 10am PT and can be purchased starting at just $15 for Weekdays and $20 for Any Day per vehicle.

For a complete schedule and to purchase tickets, visit MagicOfLights.com/CoachellaValley

About Empire Polo Club

Empire Polo Club is a world-class event facility located in Indio, CA in the greater Palm Springs area, just 2 hours by car from Los Angeles and San Diego. With nearly 1,000 acres of lush gardens and pristine fields, Empire Polo Club is an unexpected desert oasis offering four unique venues: The Rose Garden, Hacienda Del Toro, Medjhool Lake and The Forum. The venue's services range from corporate meetings and private parties, to festivals, concerts and sports-related events.

About Family Entertainment Holdings, LLC

Family Entertainment Holdings, LLC is a diversified, family-oriented entertainment holding company that seeks to develop successful live event formats and other entertainment intellectual property. The Company’s live event formats include Magic of Lights®, an outdoor holiday lights experience displayed at venues throughout North America and Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live™, a Hot Wheels-themed monster truck show presented both in North America and internationally. The Company is headquartered in Medina, Ohio.

For additional information, visit https://magicoflights.com or https://hotwheelsmonstertruckslive.com.

© Family Entertainment Holdings, LLC 2022

Nicole

Oct 1, 2022

Movie Review: Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile Will Sing His Way Into Your Heart

* Theatrical Release is October 7, 2022

By: Nicole, Sponsored Content

Screening of "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile" at Sony Animation Studios

[Los Angeles, CA] — This Sunday we were invited by Sony Animation Studios to a screening of their latest film, "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. "If a music loving, scarf wearing crocodile sounds familiar to you, you might just be remembering your childhood. "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile" is a beloved children's book written by Bernard Waber in 1965."Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile," stars Shawn Mendes as Lyle, Javier Bardem, Constance Wu, and Winslow Fengley. I was excited to hear that Shawn Mendes was portraying Lyle and that the songwriters of "The Greatest Showman" were part of this movie. I figured it was mostly going to be enjoyable for the kiddos, after all, it does have a singing crocodile, but I have to admit it did peak my interest. I was also hoping my daughter Livi wouldn't be too scared of it. Livi, gets scared easily with movies and most movies that are directed at kids, always seems to surprise me with their less than kid-friendly content, hey call me conservative! So, what did we think, is it kid friendly, was it any good?

Livi getting balloons and tattoos at the Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile Screening

(*A few tiny spoiler alerts ahead) The movie is set in New York and starts out following the washed-up showman, Hector P. Valenti (Javier Bardem), who is trying everything to become a great magician once again. He happens upon a baby crocodile, Lyle, who can sing. He decides that Lyle is just what he needs to revitalize his stage act. When Lyle is all grown up and fails to perform on stage, Hector leaves town, leaving Lyle in the attic of his family's home. After many, many years, a new family, the Primm family, moves into Hector's old family home. Kate Primm is an uptight, strict health nut, who has given up her once celebrity chef status to be a stepmom to Josh, a nervous, socially anxious boy. The Primm family soon discovers Lyle, and they start to realize what they need to find themselves again and to strengthen their family, all the while falling in love with Lyle. As a mother, I understand the sacrifices a mother makes and the weight of always trying to make everyone happy and doing everything right. I could really relate to Kate (Constance Wu) and her performance really hit home and felt so real. Livi was just enamored by Lyle and his singing. She also really connected to Josh. As kids we all have those insecure moments, and he was so relatable. Livi and her best friend Lily, rated the movie 10/10 and 100/10, respectively. Lyle (Shawn Mendes) definitely sung his way into our hearts.

I also loved that this movie was great for the whole family. Mom, dad, Livi, and Lily all enjoyed the movie. We were tapping our feet the whole time. There were a couple moments, with a dark room, scary music, and loud noise, meant to add to the suspense of the movie. Livi actually looked a little nervous but fared through it just fine as it is short lived, and she quickly realized that it was nothing scary at all. There was also some mild crude humor, like farting, pooping, etc., but nothing too over the top, mostly silliness. There was no terrible language, just a few choice words we would rather not use, like "stupid", "weirdo", and "oh my G-d." Definitely not over the top or frequent, but just something to be aware of. One of the most impactful scenes for Livi was when there was animal abandonment. I will try not to say more, but there were definitely some big crocodile tears running down her cheeks. I will say this though, it did end happily, and Livi is very sensitive to anything sad happening to people and animals. Overall, though, I think this movie did live up to its rating and would be appropriate for young children all the way up to grandparents. We all want to see it again!

Livi with her face painted at the "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile screening at Sony Animation Studios

We laughed, we cried, and we could not stop singing. We were reminded to live, love and let go. We were definitely on top of the world! The soundtrack is amazing, featuring some original hits like "Top of the World," "Heartbeat," and more, written by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (The Greatest Showman, Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land) and Shawn Mendes and performed by Mendes, Javier Bardem, Constance Wu, Winslow Fegley. There are also some classics like Elton John’s "Crocodile Rock," Pete Rodriguez’s "I Like It Like That" and more. The movie hits theatres October 7th and you don’t want to miss it!! Thank you so much @sonypictures for including us in this fun premiere event!! Be sure to check the movie out in theatres near you. We are still singing! Buy Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile Movie Tickets | Official Website | Sony Pictures (lylelylecrocodile.movie)

Check out these fun "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile" activity sheets for your kids to enjoy :

Check out a clip from the event here Love Coco & Bean (@lovecocoandbean) • Instagram photos and videos.

Nicole

Aug 9, 2022

From The Creator of Phineas & Ferb Comes An All New Disney Channel Series Hamster & Gretel

* Series premieres FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, at 9:35 p.m. EDT on Disney Channel and 10 pm EDT on Disney XD.

By: Nicole, Sponsored Content

Screening of Disney Channel's "Hamster and Gretel" at Disney Animation Studios

[Glendale, CA] — Livi started school yesterday, I know so early right?! She had a great first day and we had a special treat in the afternoon. We got to head to Disney Animation Studios, in Glendale, CA, for a sneak peek of Disney Channel's newest show, Hamster and Gretel. Inspired by Emmy-winning creator/executive producer Dan Povenmire’s relationship with his sister.

Disney Channel's "Hamster and Gretel" Screening

The series follows siblings Gretel Grant-Gomez and her overprotective older brother Kevin, and Gretel's pet hamster named Hamster. The series premieres with the episode, “Empower Failure." On their birthdays after Kevin gets his driver's license, the siblings are visited by space aliens whose UFO bestows them superpowers. However, Kevin's powers accidentally go into Hamster instead, and they form the duo of "Hamster & Gretel". Now Kevin must figure out how to work with both Gretel and Hamster to protect their city from mysterious dangers. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the new music-filled series, premieres FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022 on Disney Channel.

Livi with Dan Povenmire, Creator of "Hamster and Gretel"

At the event we got to meet Dan Povenmire and have a private drawing tutorial of Gretel, from Dan. Gerry, my husband, almost switched careers and became an animator for Disney, LOL!

We also got to meet Meli Povenmire, the coolest soon to be high schooler, who voices Gretel! The series also includes Michael Cimino ("Love, Victor") as Gretel's older brother, Kevin; Beck Bennett ("SNL") as Gretel's pet hamster, Hamster; Joey King ("Kissing Booth") as her tech-savvy cousin, Fred; Matt Jones ("Bob Hearts Abishola") as the siblings' easygoing father, Dave; and Carolina Ravassa ("Maya and the Three") as their charismatic mother, Carolina.

Recurring characters are Priah Ferguson ("Stranger Things") as Gretel’s best friend, Bailey; Liza Koshy ("Liza on Demand") as news reporter Veronica Hill; Alyson Stoner ("Phineas and Ferb") and Brock Powell ("Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe") as the evil sibling duo Lauren and Lyle ak.a The Destructress and FistPuncher, respectively; and viral rap sensation Akintoye as Kevin’s confident buddy, Anthony. Guest stars are Jenny Lorenzo ("Victor and Valentino") as Carolina’s mother, Abuelita; legendary Latin pop star Karina La Voz as the tear-jerking La Cebolla; YouTube star Thomas Sanders ("Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe") as frat guy horse-man Neighslayer; TikTok star Casey Hamilton (@MrHamilton) as Gretel’s mild-mannered substitute teacher, Mr. Chabner; and Adam Rose ("Merry Happy Whatever") as evil jingle writer The Earworm.

Dan Povenmire, Livi, and Meli Povenmire (Gretel)

After the screening we had a Q&A session led by media personality, Kristin Cruz. Livi even asked a question! She asked Dan and Meli who their favorite character was. Meli answered, "besides me?," because she plays Gretel! They were both so kind, down to earth, and friendly! Dan even told us that he found a songwriter for the show on Tik Tok. Check out Livi asking her question in the clip below!

We all had an amazing afternoon and loved the show! Gerry and I both thought this was one of the funniest cartoons we have seen in a long time, we cracked up along with our daughter, Livi, and genuinely enjoyed it. Hamster and Gretel was heart-warming, funny, and an all around a feel good show. It is always nice to have a show that the whole family can enjoy together!

Screening of "Hamster and Gretel" in Glendale, CA

The Series premieres FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, at 9:35 p.m. EDT on Disney Channel and 10 pm EDT on Disney XD.

We are so thankful for the opportunity to preview this show. You don't want to miss Hamster and Gretel on the Disney Channel! Be sure to tell us what you think after you check it out!