Tag Archives: happiness

Disney Magic Kingdoms Happiness Changes for the Better

Posted on by

When I started playing Disney Magic Kingdoms for the second time, it still had the old “happiness” model. A child would get a thought balloon over their head. The balloon featured a character or the attraction icon. The player would click on the thought balloon and allow the child to go to the attraction or find out what action the child wanted to see a character do. If the character was free, the player could assign the character to fulfill the child’s wish. When the character was done with the action, the child’s though balloon would become a smiley face icon representing happiness. For attractions, the child had to merely board the attraction to receive the happiness icon.

The player would have to click on the happiness icon, which would disappear into the happiness meter. This meter was used to show how happy the park was overall. It granted more visitors (which has no value in the game as of yet), and it made tokens drop at a higher rate.

The fact that the child’s happiness was siphoned off, sometimes, even before an attraction had started, seemed like an unintended commentary on the parks in real life. The happiness they generate is fleeting. Players were using the happiness to increase their parks wealth; this left the children unhappy, or at least without happiness. What kind of person would take a child’s happiness for their own gain? And this wasn’t like laughter in “Monsters, Inc.” Laughter is contagious, it generates energy, and it continues beyond the life of the joke told or the energy taken from it. This happiness degraded overtime; it did not generate more happiness.

I always felt a little bad about it, but it’s only a game, so I clicked away the Disney Magic Kingdoms Happiness with the best of them.

New Disney Magic Kingdoms Happiness

A 2022 update to Disney Magic Kingdoms Happiness has the players colect9ing the happiness from the children as before. Only now, the game counts the happiness in a total that does not dissipate. The wish fulfilled goes on a scoreboard and somehow feels less predatory. It’s not like the players are taking the happiness away. It’s more like they are counting the number of wishes fulfilled. Of course, fulfilling wishes generates more kingdom token wealth, but it doesn’t increase the chances of getting something.

In terms of actual game play, this form of happiness makes it easier to understand the tangible benefits of fulfilling wishes. Instead of some vague promise that token drops are 10 percent better when players siphoned away happiness, players now know exactly what they are getting for their happiness numbers.

What is Disney Magic Kingdoms?

Disney Magic Kingdoms is a time-based, park building simulator with a story line. Players can build attractions from the parks and newly imagineered for game play. They can also collect over 300 classic Disney and Star Wars characters. Currently, the only Marvel characters in the game are from Big Hero 6. Read my first post on Disney Magic Kingdoms.

Support and Disclaimers

We use affiliate links. When a link takes you to Amazon and you buy a product, we get a finder’s fee. It doesn’t cost you anything, and it helps us write more great articles.

If you’d like more articles about Disneyland and the Disney Company, check out www.penguinate.weebly.com. I have also written books available at Amazon and on this website.

If you’d like to support us directly, my wife and I have a Patreon page. Thanks.

Advertisement

What Is the Happiness and Wealth Connection?

Posted on by

In Mary Holm’s “Rich Enough? A Laid-back Guide for Every Kiwi (affiliate link),” Holm starts off by questioning why people want to get rich. More specifically, she directs the question to the reader: Why would you like more money? The answer may seem like it’s a no-brainer. People want more money, so they can live better and be happier. If that’s true of you, then Holm’s points out that “having more [money] doesn’t necessarily make us happier.” There’s a point, past which more money may even lead to less happiness.

While more money may not lead to more happiness, the opposite seems to be true. More happiness leads to more money. In fact, Nick Powdthavee, author of “The Happiness Equation (affiliate link),” found that happy people were more productive, more creative, healthier, and more likely to become financially successful.

Holm quotes Albert Schweitzer to bolster her point: “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you’re doing, you will be more successful.” Holm doesn’t deny that grumpy people may do well financially, but the money won’t change their disposition. At the end of the day, they will still be grumpy.

Mary Holm is described as “New Zealand’s most trusted money expert.” She has worked as a financial journalist in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.

So, why do you want more money? Is it to acquire more things, more prestige, more power, or is it for another reason? Leave a comment to let us know.

The ABCs of Creativity: Uplifting

Posted on by

Your creativity is a powerful tool that you can harness for better or worse. You can use it to unleash your fears and doubts or to capture them and put them on canvas or paper. You can use it to bring yourself greater joy and to reach for self-actualization. You can use your creativity to harm people or you can use it to uplift them. Conspiracy theorists are as creative at telling stories as novelists are. Bank robbers solve the problems associate with their chosen profession with creativity. Creativity is only a tool and you choose what to do with it.

It’s hard to always choose to use creativity to be uplifting. It can be difficult in the face of abject poverty and bald-faced lies to summon the courage to bring creative solutions to the problem to bear. Oftentimes, we get dragged down by the news and reality of a society that values profits over people. As creatives, we need to turn our efforts to making a better world for everyone.

Of course, that better world starts with us. By reaching out our hands and offering to lift people up, we will make our own situations better and more bearable. Give your creativity over to what it was meant to do – help you make life better for you as an individual and for human race. Be uplifting, create uplifting works of art, and create something that makes you, and those around you, happy.

For more on creativity, get “Disneyland Is Creativity.” Order “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity.” Purchase “Penguinate! Essays and Short Stories” for positive creativity.

Episode 6: ‘The Twilight Zone’ Escape Clause

Posted on by

When the Devil comes calling, regardless of the name he’s using and what he looks like, turn him down flat. Unless your name’s Johnny, you can’t beat the Devil. In ‘Escape Clause,’ the Devil offers hypochondriac and professional worrier Walter Bedecker immortality, invincibility and the retention of his current physical attributes, more or less, in exchange for Bedecker’s soul. Bedecker tries to find the Devil’s loophole. After all, if he Bedecker lives forever, he doesn’t need a soul. Finding none, the Faustian bargain is struck.

The problem is that immortality and invincibility make life dull. Bedecker does everything to find a thrill to get the sense of living again. Drinking poison, getting hit by a bus and a subway, and everything else fails. Without the possibility of death or harm, life becomes unlivable and boring.

Mortality is what gives humanity its edge. The adrenaline rush that shows we’re still alive accompanied with the compassion knowing that others are just as likely to die as we are help us create a world where people are able to live up to their potential if they choose to. Sickness contrasts with health. Happiness contrast with sadness. These contradictions are what allow a person to have a full life.

Enjoy the good times, and bless the hard times. Each of them together are the stuff that life is made from.

Have You Ever Seen a Sad Person with a Stuffed Penguin?

Posted on by

Our penguins make us happy. Every time I walk into the living room and see it full with my wife’s new creations, my smile gets brighter, and I’m filled with a sense of love. While we can’t promise that you’ll be happy for the rest of your life because of one of our penguins, but we can say that your penguin friend will be ready to listen to you and help you face the most difficult situations.

Our penguins can provide you comfort and a non-judgmental ear to hear your concerns and worries. They can also provide you with a playmate for those days when you just want to enjoy life. All you need is to connect with your inner child, bring your imagination and open yourself to the experiences you treasured as a young person. Let our penguins revive your childlike qualities that help make like more joyful, creative and fun.

Order a handmade penguin today to improve your mood. If you have a specific clothing style in mind, we’ll do our best to accommodate your request.

Our penguins are made from faux fur and felt. They’re filled with holofiber. If you’re still not sure, read these 25 reasons you need a stuffed penguin.

Waving stuffed penguins
Waving penguins