The Maz Disney Blog

The "WGTWDW" Podcast Show # 13

2012-01-24T22:50:00.002-05:00

On this weeks show we spin the Wheel of Attractions, we talk about our upcoming trip to Walt Disney World and we check in with the Disney Net Check.

In the show this week we talk about the Year of a Million Dreams and how we were the Family of the Hour at Test Track, here were some of the bad pictures I managed to get after getting over the shock of going behind the house at Test Track. And just because I said Scat a couple times, here is the CM that was telling us all about it. You can also see Quinn wearing the YOAMD Fast Pass we had just gotten.
The two great sites we talked about on this show were PortOrleans org and The Disney Food Blog. Please check both of these sites out. They are both worth your time

Pull up a Chair to The Disney Food Blog

2012-01-17T22:58:00.000-05:00

As we plan for our next trip to WDW we always like to eat somewhere different. In the process of reading about different food offerings at Epcot, I came across The Disney Food Blog. I had heard of this blog in the past on various podcasts and on the Disboards, but never actually went to their site. Well I'm glad I did. This is now one of my favorite Disney Blogs and I will be going back to this site over and over.
In their words, "The Disney Food Blog offers in-depth news about food and restaurants in Disney’s parks and resorts, along with reviews and photographs of and about anything food-related in Disney parks, resorts, movies, and events."
Their expert staff of eight consists of all various forms of Disney food enthusiasts. Included among them are two former Disney Mom's Panel members. I'm still reading backwards through their blog and the words that are coming to mind about their reviews are, "Complete", "Fun", "Varied", "Open-Minded". I'm still getting a feel for each of the writers as I'm going through each of the posts. They cover everything that comes in contact with food. Restaurants and room descriptions are a big part of their reviews also. Did I mention drinks? I've got a pad next to me on my desk to write down all the various places we need to stop at next time into the parks. Their review of the Sake Bar in Japan has me itching to get over there and try a little warm sake before illuminations.
One of their series of posts is the Best Of series. Just as it says, these are posts about the Best Of restaurants on Disney Property. Best Restaurants to watch fireworks from, Best for Romance, Best for Burgers, Best without a reservation and so on. They have an online E-book: Guide to Walt Disney World Dining and you can also sign up for their newsletter and keep up-to-date on all the Food-Goings-on on the Disney Properties.

So if your into planning trips to WDW and what to get a feel of some of the restaurants you've not been to, check out The Disney Food Blog.

The "We're Going to Walt Disney World" Podcast Show #12

2012-01-09T09:49:00.000-05:00

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Hello and welcome. On this weeks show we get back into our normal show routine. We spin the Attraction Wheel and luck out and get Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We share some of our family Disney Memories from over the Holidays and we talk about the TTC on our Family Tip of the week.
We have a great conversation about BTMR. We all really love this ride. We share some of the things we like best about BTMR and when we like to ride it. There was a mention about a video I took a couple of years ago on BTMR with Quinn. Here it is.

Note the screaming from begining 'till end. This was a great moment in that it was all we could do to get him on it the first time. This was his second ride after finding out he did not die horribly the first time. Like I said on the show, Quinn owned this ride and his screaming is of pure joy.
We then share a couple memories from some of our realatives we saw over the Holiday. Billy, Uncle Chris, Emerson, Aunt Liz and Nana all had a great memeory to share with us. I'd like to get Liz and Chris and their family on one of our up-coming shows. They went down for their first trip last spring.
We finish up with a little about the Ticket and Tranportation Center and what it can do for you. Thanks for listening!

One Man's Dream: The Scripts

2012-01-01T16:41:00.002-05:00

If you’ve read my posts before you know that I’m really crazy about the amount of details that the Walt Disney Imagineers throw into their attractions. Well, with that in mind, the One Man’s Dream attraction is a veritable gold mine of small details that are just waiting to be found. The one part of that attraction I really like is the view of Walt’s Office. There are plenty of little things in here that point back to Walt’s life and work. Earlier in this blog, I discussed the seemingly innocent pictures on the bottom of the Map on the wall and look what we found. One Man's Dream Jet Plane

With everything in this office scene, there must be something else we can take away from it. There are a number of statues on the desk and the table behind it. There are a number of pictures and magazines and paperwork on his desk. Over on the table to the right and behind his desk there are a number of scripts. I have often wondered what those scripts are, if there even of real projects. Our last trip down I was able to get some pictures which I was able to enlarge and here’s what I found out.

First off, they are real scripts. I was happy to see that I could read the titles of three out of the four scripts on the table. They are Westward Ho!, Monkey’s Go Home, and The Happiest Millionaire.

Westward Ho's full title is Westward Ho the Wagons Ambush at Wagon Gap! Which was shortened to Westward Ho the Wagons! which was released in 1956. The lead in this live action movie was Fess Parker playing Doc Grayson, a settler with medical know-how. Other names of note in this movie were George Reeves as the Wagon Master. George is better known as the Man of Steel as he played Superman on TV. Another name that stuck out was Cubby Obrien of the Mickey Mouse Club.

Monkey's Go Home! was released in 1967. This live action movie had Dean Jones as an american, running an olive farm in souther France. And to pick the olives? You guessed it, a group of ex-air force astronaut monkeys. At first glance you hve to wonder how this one got approved. Seems a little far-fetched as to the location. But I guess Monkeys were in and Europe needed a film also.

The Happiest Millionaire stars Fred McMurray a long time actor with the Disney Studios. It also stars Tommy Steele. And not to be left out, Lesley Ann Warren in her first movie role. This movie was released in 1967 and was about an ecentric millionaire and his daughter's search for her freedom. This is a musical that was written by the Sherman brothers and it was actually up for an Oscar for Costume and a Golden Globe for Best New Actor in Tommy Steele.

Each of these movies have a couple things in common that might point out as to why they are displayed on the table. Again, i'm going with the premise that with Disney Imagineers, nothing is left to chance. There is a reason that these four movie scripts are displayed. The first they all had in common was Walt was a un-credited co-producer on each of them. Not Westward Ho!, but the other two where the last movies Walt worked on. The Happiest Millionaire was released after Walt's death, but shooting had finished before Walt passed away. I'll check in once I find out what the fourth script is and if I find any more information.

Toy Story Mania - 200 Minutes?

2011-12-30T12:23:00.003-05:00

I've been sorting through pictures and found one from June 2010 that proves a story I've been telling since that trip. Most people talk about Stand-by line times and what their cut-off is. For me it's 20-30 minutes. Anything more than that I'll move on and not waste the time. In June 2010 I was in DHS. It was not a busy day by any means, but here is the wait time for Toy Story Mania. Granted the times for this attraction have always been large, but 200 minutes? I tried putting that into perspective which seemed odd. It's just that I don't use terms like 200 minutes too often. I would just say 3 hours and 20 minutes. HOLY S*#T! How can someone take a look at that wait time and get on line? Well, people were. I'm sure those that are there for the first and maybe only time? It just seems like you could cover a lot of other things in that 3 and a half hours. W.E.

Disney's John Carter Newest Trailer

2011-12-27T21:30:00.000-05:00

I just saw the new commercial for Disney's John Carter of Mars. I did notice that the title is now officially just Disney's John Carter. I've been looking forward to this release for a little while now. 2008-Post-a 2008 Post-b and 2009 Post on John Carter.

This looks like an epic movie and I can't wait to see the movie about writer Edgar Rice Burroughs Uncle John.

Was the deal for Avatarland signed too soon? Time will tell with the way this turns out.

Here is the latest trailer introduced by John Stanton:

Goodbye Dear Friend!

2011-12-12T15:30:00.000-05:00

Goodbye old friend. I bought this hat on our honeymoon in 1993. That makes it 18 years old, wow! It’s been getting ready for the old heave ho the last couple of months, but the metal clasp in the back broke and now is the time to throw it out. You have served me well old friend and have survived 100’s of rides without coming off, many storms and hours upon hours of play and work. Thanks and goodbye.

Happy Birthday Walt

2011-12-05T09:09:00.001-05:00

Today is Walt Disney's Birthday. He was born on Dec. 5, 1901 which would have made him 110. On his birthday I like to take a look at what he has created and what it has become. Not just the material things as in the movies/tv and the parks, but for the spiritual. I truly believe that Walt was one in ten billion. Through his early determination and inspiration in animation and his can-do attitude led to the building of an empire that had one over-all goal, besides feeding the family, and that was to create entertainment that can be enjoyed, understood and then loved by all ages, races, creeds and religions.

"I am interested in entertaining people, in bringing pleasure, particularly laughter, to others, rather than being concerned with 'expressing' myself with obscure creative impressions."

"We are not trying to entertain the critics. I'll take my chances with the public."

"You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality."

"Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language."

There were many industrialists and business leaders that it can be argued changed the world. Walt truly did just that, he changed the world and even made it a bit smaller to all of our benefits.

Happy Birthday Walt!

The "WGTWDW" Podcast Show # 10

2011-12-01T11:27:00.001-05:00

This week we celebrate our 10th show with a long(for us) conversation about the Disney Cruise we took this past June. We actually talk so much we needed to cut this show into two parts. This week we talk about the pre-cruise activities with Magnets and Fish Extenders. We then get on the boat and talk about the room, shows, the restaurants and more. We're saving Castaway Cay, Nassau and anything we missed for our next show.

Here are a couple picturs of the magnets and the Fish Extender. It's hanging on the right side of the door. We were having so much fun on this cruise, we never actaully took a picture of the door we spent so much time creating. A friend on the BOGP Forums who was on the trip took this for us. We ate at the Animators Palate the first night and it was a fun meal with Crush. We saw all of the shows the cruise had to offer and had such a great time. Hear all about it and maybe pick up some tips on this weeks show.
Thanks for Listening!

The "WGTWDW" Podcast Show # 9

2011-11-21T23:12:00.001-05:00

On this weeks show we switch it up a little due to the heavy schedule that the kids had this week. From Basketball to Swim Team and School and CCD and a Boy Scout Camping trip had us all very busy this week. In the show we post some audio clips from the last couple of times we've been down in WDW. Here are some of the video links for those to give you the added visual along with the audio on the show. The first clip was the Voices of Liberty over at the American Experience at Epcot. A must see group. The next clip we have is from the Adventures Club's Live Radio show. This was a really great night and a little sad as it was the last time I was there before it closed. Next we had the Jamminators from Epcot. These are the most common looking guys. You might even walk past them without noticing, until they start playing. They were really good. After that we visit the Magic Kingdom at Rope Drop. This is one of our favorite times of the day. Getting to the park early and watching this show is a great start to a fun day. We then finish up with the Main Street Philharmonic. You should have heard how many times I kept saying the Main Street Philharmagic. We love these guyus and will almost always stop and watch. They are one happy bunch of guys.

Thanks for listening to the show this week. We promise to be back next week with a fully staffed show to talk all about our Disney Cruise from this past June

The "We're Going to Walt Disney World" Podcast Show # 8

2011-11-20T19:35:00.001-05:00

On this weeks show we spin the Wheel of Attractions and landed on Dino Sue. We sounded a little unsure during the show, but I was right. Dino Sue is the T-Rex loacted along the pathway leading to the Dinosaur attraction. Here she is, Dino Sue. You never know where the wheel will stop. We then talk about Disney Character interactions at WDW. From Character Meals to getting autographs from the characters themselves. It might not have come across clear in the show, but the autograph books we made for the kids are in my eyes, incredible. Not for the look of it, they are pretty simple, but for putting the picture with the autograph. Here are a couple of samples. The quailty is a little off, but you can get the idea. The middle picture was Quinn at Chef Mickey's and the first picture in the book. Minnie is signing the book in the picture. He was 4 1/2 years old and that was 2002. I just realized that we have had these books for almost a decade. The right picture was from Crystal Palace.

And in the Disney-Net-Check I talk about our different locations on the internet. Of course this blog and our Podbean account. We also have a channel on Youtube with almost 50 videos of our WDW trips. And you can follow me on Twitter @EdMaz. Our email address is WGTWDW@gmail.com. Thanks for listening and see you next week.

Star Wars Weekend Poster Art over the Years

2011-11-11T22:44:00.001-05:00

My two great interests in life other than the family are Disney and Star Wars and what better way to join these two things together than in Star Wars Weekends held each year at the Disney Hollywood Studios in Orlando. S.W. weekends are held on 4 weekends in the May-June time of the year. These weekends have special Star Wars events such as autograph signings, special Star Wars/Disney merchandise and various entertainment events. These events are things such as a Star Wars themed parade, a lip sync/dance off staring SW characters, and other great meet and greets with never seen start wars characters. I, alas have never been to a weekend, but in following the information that comes out of the event, I kept track of these really cool advertisement posters. They were posted at the Orlando Airport the first year and have since found their way to various locations. As I was going through pictures on the box, I came across these posters and threw them into a Windows Live Video. I think these are all great. My two favorites are the Tie Fighter moored up at the end of the ramp and Vader in line with his boots off sharing all of our pain.

Enjoy!

The "We're Going to Walt Disney World" Podcast Show # 7

2011-11-07T10:08:00.000-05:00

On this weeks show we spin the Wheel of Attractions one more time. This week the wheel landed on Peter Pan’s Flight. We all agreed that this is a great attraction and we talk about some of the things we like about the ride, some of the things we think they can add, and some tips about the line.

We next try out a new segment called “Beyond the Rides”. In this segment we discuss things we like to do at the WDW resort…that are not rides. We thought we’d switch it up between the Family Tip segment and this new one. This week we talk about the Behind the Seeds tour at Epcot’s the Land pavilion. We really liked this tour and the price and time needed were just right to do with the family. You can listen as we actually slip and give up a great family tip with this tour.

Our Disney-Net-Check this week is the Disney History Blog run by an internet friend of mine, Didier Ghez. This site is a source of incredible insights, interviews and articles about Walt and the Walt Disney Studios. He also has a great line of books of which volume 10 has just been released. Walt’s People are a set of books that let you read interviews of many of the people that worked with Walt and the Studios.

We also announce the winner of our first ever contest. I think I said first annual on the show. We’ll do this more often than annual. So Tune in for a really great show!

The "We're Going to Walt Disney World" Podcast Show #6

2011-10-31T22:08:00.000-05:00

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From now on I thought I would set-up a much moredetailed version of the Show Notes, here in my blog. Podbean has a lot to be desired about their posting software.

On this weeks show of the “We’re Going to Walt Disney World”podcast we once again spin the Wheel of Attractions. The kids have a lot to say about Aladdin’sMagic Carpet Ride. I don’t get it, thespinning and all, but the kids seem to really like it.

We then talk about pressed pennies in the Family Tipsegment. Pressed penny machines can befound through-out all of WDW. We talkabout this fun activity that we have been doing for years. One of the great finds I came up with aboutpressed pennies was finding the www.Presscoins.com web site. Right now, we’ve got three full books ofpressed WDW pennies and are beginning another. Hope mentioned the book with the Mickey head shaped penny. Here it is and here is the inside of it. This book has the Epcot Country series ofpennies we discussed on the show. Some trips, it's like we'll press pennies if we see a machine. Other trips, it's a mission. We talk about more on the show.

For the Disney Net-Check, our 60 second look at really goodDisney themed web sites, I talk about Steve Soares’ Walt Disney WorldEntertainment web site. This is a reallynice site that is updated every week with every live event at the WDW resort. We always hit this site the week before atrip. You can get times for everythingfrom Streetmosphere to the Dapper Dan’s to when is the Mad Hatter signingautographs. A very good informationsite. Enjoy.

To finish show number 6, we announce our FIRSTCONTEST!. Simple rules, email us at WGTWDW@Gmail.com with any two of theattractions we have discussed in the Wheel of Attractions segment we havedone. Once we hit the cut-off on Sat.,Nov. 5^th at 5:00 pm WDW time we will throw all contestants into ahat and pick two winners. The firstwinner pulled will get a great Splash Mountain pin and apressed penny chosen by the kids. Thesecond winner pulled will get a Sleepy Dwarf in a Box, Cast Member pin. So send in your emails.

You can find the "We're Going to Walt Disney World" Podcast on Itunes and on Podbean.

Bring Back Spectromagic…Please?

2011-10-24T16:16:00.000-05:00

Ever since WDW brought back the Main Street Electrical Parade (MSEP) to the Magic Kingdom there has been some debate as to which is the better parade. Spectromagic was the parade that had recently been at the Magic Kingdom since 1991. There was a two year break where MSEP did come to the Magic Kingdom, but other than that, it’s been Spectro. In June 2010 they switched over to the newer version of the MSEP and that has been the parade ever since.

When it was announced that the MSEP was coming back, my first thought was, “wow, that’d be great!” Up to now I had seen some video and had heard the music and was looking forward to the change. I was down in the parks that June solo and had my first chance to see this parade. Again, not something I would normally do alone, but with all the hype I made it a point. And, sad to say, I was not impressed. Let me explain.

First, a small tangent thought. I went to see the film ‘Waking Sleeping Beauty’ when it came around a couple of years ago. Producer Don Hahn gave a great talk and answered questions about the movie and his times at the WDW Studios. One of the things that he said has always stuck with me. Sound is about 75% of your movie experience. He then went on to explain this statement by saying, “When you have a chance, throw in a favorite movie and first watch a couple minutes of it with no sound. Next, watch a couple minutes with sound but don’t watch the screen.” I’ve tried this and had some other people do the same and it’s always the same, you can listen to the movie as long as you want while watching with no sound gets real boring real quick. That logic might apply here, kind of. As I watched MSEP for the first time, about ¾ of the way through the parade I was like, is that it? The song seems to be on a loop as it plays its way through the parade. As I was thinking that, it actually began to gnaw at me a little more and became one of the main impressions that I came away from the parade with. The music began to get repetative.

Don’t get me wrong, the floats were great and the interactions with Alice and Pete (Pete’s Magic Dragon) and the crowd were very cool. I liked how they were mic’ed up and you can hear what they say. The Dwarf train was fun and colorful and the swish of electric stars that was on each float that lit up like a wave from the front of the parade to the back boasted technology and looked great. And the closing float with the patriotic dancers was a great touch also and totally fitting where we are with the country. Even so, I still came away humming that same refrain over and over and thought it was just over done.

In August, my whole crew went down. I wanted to see the parade again to see if it had been a fluke and the three times in Jan. was just my imaginataion. I also wanted to get the kids reactions to the parade. Well after we watched the parade from the curb on Main Street, their thoughts were basically the same. I was hoping that I would have a change of mind also, but again as the parade went on, the thought again came into my head about, “Is the music stuck in a loop?” The kids, were not thrilled enough to even want to see it again while we were there. Let’s just say we used the Parade Diversion-Short Line Ride method for the other days we were in MK and the Parade was running.

Things I liked about Spectro:

I liked how the music had basically the same theme, but had it's own sounds or specific song for each unit or float.
I liked the magical flourish of music that would trigger the change of all the colors in that section of the parade to go to black and white and how all the characters reacted the same way.
I liked having the kids try to find the animated Tinkerbelle that flew between various floats.
I liked how colorful it was even compared to the MSEP. It seemed to just have more.
I liked being in the right place at the right time to see Chernabog open up.
I liked Chip and Dale playing it up at the Piano.
And as sentimental as it is, I liked how it felt to see my kids see their first night-time parade when they were so young and it was Spectromagic.

My last point is the key, I think, it's most people's likes and dislikes. What happened during a specific event helps a lot in how you remember it. I don't begrudge the MSEP fans at all. They deserve to like what they like as much as I do. To really put it to a test though I posted a poll on the Disboards. The question was simple, MSEP or Spectro. I got a great response. Thanks for participating guys. 126 for Spectro and 54 for MSEP, but out of 45 posts that people left, it was closer. 25 Spectro and 20 MSEP.
So, bring back Spectromagic...Please?

The "We're Going to Walt Disney World" Podcast Show # 5

2011-10-24T13:29:00.000-05:00

This week we celebrate Halloween with couple of audio clips from the Magic Kingdom. What says Trick or Treat better than Stich in Stiches Great Escape. The second clip is our own Ghost Hunter investigation. The rumour goes that if you stay in the stretching room after most have left you might hear some strange voices. I think we did. Listen along and hear what you can hear with our recording from the Haunted Mansions Stretching room.

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Happy Halloween

It's all in the Details; Muppets 3D Store Signage

2011-10-16T02:00:00.000-05:00

As promised another post about Muppets 3D. Here are some of the signs I saw in the retail store our last trip down. I had time to let my eyes wander while I was waiting for the kids to get done looking around the store. It must be great to have a job coming up with this stuff.

It's all in the Details; Muppets 3D World Headquarters

2011-10-15T13:11:00.003-05:00

The Muppets 3D attraction in Disney’s Hollywood Studios is one of my favorites each and every time we go to the parks. It is the one attraction in WDW that I can truly say has a queue and pre-show that are as interesting as or even more so than the show itself. I was going though pictures from a previous trip and came across one from Muppets 3D. As you walk into the attraction you pass a couple of boards listing the Muppet 3D World Headquarters directory. It’s amazing how many times you can walk past something and never really see it. I’m sure I have noticed this before, I even took a picture of it, but I was really surprised at all of the gags that can be found.

Behind the Seeds Tour at Epcot

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

Walt Disney World offers a number of behind the scenes tours. Each park offers different types of tours. One of the tours that we took last summer was the Behind the Seeds tour. This tour was help in the Land at Epcot. It is a tour of the greenhouses in the “This is the Land” attraction. We had looked at doing this the last couple of trips and finally did it. Of all the tours this is the least expensive. I think we paid $14 each and were able to get a 10% discount using our Disney Visa card.
We paid for the tour and waited for our Tour Guide downstairs on the Land at the Soarin Information Desk. We got our name tags and waited about 5 minutes as other guests strolled up. The Tour Guide came out and off we went. We went out the doors right their near the bathrooms and walked to a set of doors that lead to the laboratory areas of the pavilion. In here we heard about the science involved in creating new plants by such processes like grafting. After that we saw a quick video about the good insects that they use to help the plants. This would come into play later. From here we were off into the greenhouses. As you see the kids go through those doors, it is over pressured in that there was a big blast of air as we entered.
One of the biggest warnings we got was to not walk on any of the sand that the plants were growing in. The threat of plant killing microbes coming in on our shoes was a big threat. As you go through on the ride you’ll see some cast members wearing white booties on their shoes. Pictures were allowed on this tour and we asked a lot of questions. Hope released some ladybugs to fight the bad bugs and all the kids on the tour were allowed to feed the Tilapia. We walked through every section that you see on the ride and were offered samples of the harvest to try out. Cucumbers. The tour itself is about 1 ½ hours and was very informative. Just seeing the people going by in the tour boats was pretty cool. We were in many pictures that day. Some people would wave at you if you looked at them. Very fun. We finished where we started. I’d like to try this again in a couple of years to see what’s changed. I give this tour…wait for it…two GREEN thumbs up!

WDW Radio 40 Hour live show from Walt Disney World

2011-10-02T23:14:00.007-05:00

THEY DID IT! This weekend the WDWRadio Podcast, hosted by Lou Mongello, performed 40 hours worth of charity work. Those 40 hours were consecutive and tough, but it was for the best of causes..."For the Children". Lou and his friend Beci Mahnken of MEI and Mousefan Travel brought us a live 40 hour show from Walt Disney World. Lou came up with this idea months ago as a Tribute to the 40th Anniversary of the opening of WDW's Magic Kingdom. Lou and company started at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning and went through to Sunday night at midnight. While this marathon of Park Touring was going on, his site hosted an auction of 40 items. People could bid on any of the items and that money would donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America through Lou's Dream Team Project.

These past 40 hours saw Lou, Beci and their band of followers move from the Magic Kingdom, to Epcot and the Boardwalk and Food & Wine, DHS and an nice look at the All-Star Vacation home. This was also a special occasion in that we saw technology allow this event to be watched globally. Through Ustream Lou was able to broadcast live for virtually all of those 40 hours. Granted, there were some issues with bandwidth in the parks and battery life. (Heh, Picked up two new charging spots in Epcot, American Adventure and Lotus Blossom)

There is another group of people to be thanked for this event however and they did not even leave their homes. The Box People who bid on the auction items and watched and talked to Lou and his friends over the last 40 hours are to be thanked in a large way for this event. The Box People came about when Lou first began using his laptop to stream live video from some of the events he gets to go to. The birth of the Box People officially happened at the first ever D23 convention two years ago. Follow this link to a previous Blog post of mine about the birth of the Box People. Ever since then we have been attending all of Lou's events.

This time Lou and the Box People out-did themselves. At the end of the night, Lou announced that they had raised $17, 231 for the Make a Wish Foundation. I would expect that number to exceed $20,000 due to donations outside the auction.

Lou and Beci had plenty of help to stay awake. A number of faces and voices we've heard from the show. Scott, Glenn, Tony, Mike, Vicki, and plenty more.

GREAT JOB GUYS!!! Now how about that 2012 announcement?

The "We're Going to Walt Disney World" Podcast

2011-09-30T11:57:00.003-05:00

I’ve got a really big announcement for this Blog Post. We have decided to start a Disney themed podcast. The “We’re Going to Walt Disney World” Podcast is now available on Itunes. We will explore all things Disney…With a Family Twist. All members of the Mazzilli family are included in this podcast with views and opinions for all talking members of the family. We’ll try to find a way to include the dog down the road. Our plan for now is a 15 minute show comprised of two segments. We’re learning as we go so bear with us. We’re going to talk about all things Disney, not just the parks. We can be found here and on Itunes.

It's all in the Details; "Bert's Boats" on Castaway Cay

2011-07-23T19:12:00.008-05:00

We have just returned from our first Disney cruise and WOW, it was a blast. I hope to write some more posts as soon as I can. I was going through pictures and was stopped at one I took on Castaway Cay. We were lucky enough to spend two days on Castaway Cay and on the second day we all went for a bike ride. It’s a great place for a ride considering the tallest hills are the speed bumps. We had a nice ride and on the road I passed this nice little display. “Bert’s Boats” I have a friend named Bert so I took a picture for him and then rode on. When I saw the picture again, I was thinking how the Disney Imagineers hardly ever add a specific detail with out a reason. Well, with a little research, I found the connection and it was pretty obvious once I did. "Bert" Swets is the Vice President of Marine & Technical Operations. Bam! There it is. These are the details that make a Disney trips at the parks or even on their Caribbean island so much more fulfilling.

Adventurer's Club Member Sighting

2011-01-29T21:00:00.009-05:00

One of the things outside the park we would do on every trip as an adult, was to go to Disney's Pleasure Island and specifically end up at the Adventurer's Club. We would have such a fun time trying to catch different shows each time we've gone. I was lucky enough to be down in WDW a couple weeks before it closed for good. We saw all the shows that night. In the picture to the right and this link to one of my Youtube videos of the Club shows Otis T.Wren. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUlHhjgiSC8

On a recent trip to Animal Kingdom I had a Adventurer's Club Alumni sighting. It was none other than Professor Otis T. Wren from that last night who was moonlighting as the Tour Guide Leader at the Flights of Wonder in AK. This was one of those great chance encounters that are always around the corner. I was going to skip Flights of Wonder this time anyway. But, the CM with the Owl out front of the attraction got me and in I went. When it got to the point where the noisy, ornithopiac (afraid of birds), tour guide leader enters on stage waving his classic red flag. It was Otis. He was great. It was a really nice treat to see this actor continuing to work with Disney. He played his part way above and beyond and was really a good 'straight man' for the birds. Always fun to see old friends. I saw that there were sightings over at the Chef's de France rest. at Epcot of two other former members of the Adventure. Keep your eyes open for other Club alumni moving on.

Happy New Year 2011!

2011-01-02T15:26:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year to all of My Great Friends out there in the world. 2010 was a a good year I hope 2011 surpasses it for you.

"Walt Disney Elementary's"; They Are All Around

2010-11-03T09:14:00.010-05:00

I ran across something today that kind of surprised me, although it probably shouldn’t have. I was tooling around the internet and came across an elementary school named for Walt Disney. I guess it should not have surprised me that a School District would name one of their schools after Walt, there have been worse names used in the past. A couple that come to mind;

W.H. Keister Elementary

Pansy Kidd Middle School

EPIC Elementary

So, in my searches, I came up with 14 different schools named after the famed Walt Disney. Interesting that some of the schools are official Walt Disney while some are just Disney. Below is the list I had come up with.

Walt Disney Elementary of Levittown, Pa.

Disney Elementary of Clinton Twsp., Mi.

Walt Disney Elementary of Rochester, NY

Walt Disney Elementary of Mishawaka, In.

Walt Disney Elementary of Marceline, Mi.

Disney Elementary of Springfield, Mo.

Walt Disney Elementary of Omaha, Ne.

Walt Disney Elementary of San Ramon, Ca.

Walt Disney Magnet School of Chicago, Ill.

Walt Disney II Magnet School of Chicago, Ill.

Walt Disney Elementary of Burbank, Ca.

P.S. 160 Walt Disney of Bronx, NY

Walt Disney School of Anaheim, Ca.

Disney Elementary of Tulsa, Ok.

The list is in no order, except for the first one in Levittown, Pa. That town is only 40 minutes away from me, and I never knew the school was there. This, as far as I can tell, was the first school to be named for Walt and the only one to actually have him there at the dedication. Below is an article I have found and coincidently it was posted on the Bucks Local News website just the other day. In case the link goes bad I have the contents of the article below:

By Jack Lebo, Correspondent
We just happen to reside just down the street from an elementary school named for one of my heroes, Walt Disney. Just recently, I discovered that Mr. Disney, himself came to Levittown, PA, to dedicate the opening of the school. Unfortunately, I was serving overseas with the U.S. Air Force at the time, thus, I was unable to witness this wonderful occasion.It was Saturday, September 24, 1955, and Walt Disney had come to town to dedicate the then brand-new elementary school that had been named in his honor. The school, in the lakeside section of Levittown, PA, had been built to replace the aging two-room Tullytown schoolhouse that had served the community for generations.In the spring of 1954, with the new school still in the planning stages, the Tullytown school board had asked students to select the person for whom they would name it. Generally, elementary schools are named after famous American historical figures, usually deceased. But these children had someone different in mind. To everyone’s surprise and delight, they chose Walt Disney.For a child, this was a simple choice. The name Walt Disney was known to even the youngest of them. The bulk of their entertainment was provided by Disney. The market was flooded with Disney books, Disney magazines and Disney toys. Movie theatres were filled with Disney productions. “The Mickey Mouse Club” and the Disney TV shows led the TV ratings, and the Disneyland theme Park had just opened. It was no contest. Disney was contacted, and was pleasantly surprised that a school would bear his name. AS famous as he had been for so many years, no other school had ever given him this honor. Not only did he promise to come to the dedication, but he would send artists to decorate the school’s interior. Since Gov. George Leader had proclaimed Sept. 24 “Walt Disney Day” throughout the Commonwealth, national state, and local dignitaries waited there to greet Disney. But it was the children who got most of the attention. They shunted the officials aside and surged forward almost onto the railroad tracks. They shouted and waved, and clutched at Disney as he climbed down from the train.The door to each room would be emblazoned with the name of a Disney character rather than a number. There would be the “Mickey” room, the “Donald” room, the “Pinocchio” room and the “Snow White” room. The principal’s office door would read “Captain Hook”; “the cafeteria, “The Castle of Dreams;” the girls’ lavatory, “Mermaid Lagoon;” and the boys’ lavatory, “Pirates Cove.” The nurse’s office was “Pegleg Point” and the telephone booth was “Tinker Bell.” The door to the boiler room, beyond which no student should ever pass, would read, “Never-never Land.” On Saturday, Sept. 24, shortly after 3 p.m., a Pennsylvania Railroad train approached the Levittown station. Leaning out of the window of the diesel locomotive, wearing a railroad engineer’s cap, and smiling and waving to the crowd that overflowed the platform, was Walt Disney. Beside him, was Colin Cho, a sixth grader and the school’s official greeter. After being driven in a motorcade to the old Tullytown schoolhouse, and then given a short tour of Levittown, Disney was brought to the new school. There, he laid the cornerstone to the accompaniment of songs from his many films played by the children’s school band. Once inside the building, Disney was joined by six children who alternately held his hand and led him on a grand tour of the school. He walked the halls with them and visited every classroom. Special Saturday classes were in session for the occasion, and the master story teller delighted students by telling stories and imitating some of his characters.In the Bambi room, he told them parts of the Bambi story. In the Donald Duck room, he imitated Donald. In the Mickey Mouse room, he was the voice of Mickey. In the Pluto room, he stood at a piano and plunked out, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” He posed for photos and joked with parents and teachers. Those who were there that day still remember that Disney seemed to enjoy himself as much as the children. Later, the children entertained him in their auditorium with their own special Disneyland show.Disney reportedly liked what he saw of Levittown. He commented on the way the community was laid out, “with plenty of room for gardening.” When asked if he would ever come back, he indicated that he had no immediate plans to return, but someday he probably would. Unfortunately, he never did. Seven years later he was gone, succumbing to cancer at age 66.In contrast to children in 1955, who saw Disney each week on his television show, few of today’s youngsters even recognize him. Echoing comments of other recent principals, current principal Fay Manicke commented, “It’s sad that many of the children who today attend the school look up at the large framed photograph of Disney in the school lobby and ask, “Who’s that?”

I took a quick look at each of the above schools history, if they had any. Each and every one that told about how their school was named were extremley proud of the fact that it was the students that came up with Walt's name.

So, I am going to classify this post as, "I Learned Something While Surfing the Net the Other Day."

Disney Movie Rewards Pay-Off

2010-10-02T13:06:00.008-05:00

I have been a member of the Disney Movie Rewards(DMR)club for the last couple of years. For those that don't know, this is a way to get free Disney stuff by buying Disney Brand DVD's. Every DVD that qualifies for the program has a card inside that has a code. When you enter the code online at DMR it adds points to your account. Each DVD is worth from 50 to 150 points. You then use the points to browse through the DMR prizes and use your points to cash in. I had used some point last year for a nice Walt Disney Studios hat but have been saving points for something really good. Well, based on a couple rumours that the club is on it's way out, I did some recent shopping. I was able to beef up my DVD collection by two and they just go here. The first 'Reward' was Frank and Ollie; Their Friendship changed the Face of Animation. This is a great movie about the two of the fomous nine old men who worked a long time with Walt and on many of the successful Disney Projects.

The second purchase was Walt Disney Treasure's: Your Host Walt Disney. TV memories 1956-1965. This is another great DVD pick-up and I can't wait to start watching. I hope you'll stop back because I am sure I will have reviews for both of these movies very soon.

Tree of Life Walk-Around

2010-09-26T14:15:00.008-05:00

The Tree of Life, the centerpiece to Disney's Animal Kingdom, is a really wonderous man-made creation. Here are some great facts. The Tree of Life is 145 feet tall, and the trunk is 50 feet wide. There are over 320 animals carved onto the Tree of Life, with over 103,000 leaves on approx 8,000 branches. The tree is made of concrete, over a modified oil rig. Ten artists and three Imagineers worked full-time for 18 months to create the 325 animal carvings on The Tree of Life. Sculptors had between six and 10 hours to create the finished image before the plaster hardened. The Tree of Life is topped with more than 103,000 transparent, five-shades-of-green leaves that actually blow in the wind.

Other than the entrance to It's Tough to be a Bug, there are a couple of great pathways that take you very close to the tree's trunk. Check out some of my pictures and try to keep count of the animals as they go by.

I counted 65, by the way.

A Great new Experience at Disney Hollywood Studios; The Animation Academy

2010-09-18T21:32:00.005-05:00

On this last trip to WDW we had one of the most fun, educational experiences and received one of the best souvenirs that I have taken away from WDW. We went to the Animation Academy. The Animation Academy can be found in the Magic of Animation attraction in the Disney Hollywood Studios. Once you watch Mushu tell you about about character creation, you exit out to a room that has really evolved from what it was originally. There is art work from the new Tangled movie, computer stations to color, add sounds or see what character you are most like. On top of that , there many meet and greet areas for the most current and some older characters. In among this multitude of animation experiences is, as mentioned above, one of the best half hours we have ever had at WDW. The Animation Academy. This is a side area in the room mentioned above that is right near the exit into the Disney Animation store. Here you queue up for a 15-20 minute lesson on how to draw a Disney Character. When the doors open up you walk into what can best be described as an Animation Classroom. At the front of the room is an artist desk with and large video screen hanging on the wall above it. An overhead projector shows you what the artist is doing. The Artist is a WDW Cast Member who was great. I believe his name was Rick. As we find a seat and sit, Rick tells us about the partnership of Disney and animation and how we were going to draw Mickey Mouse in this session. We were really excited to start. We all were sitting on the most ingenious swivel mounted stools and our desk was a well lit Mickey shaped drawing area with a piece of drawing paper. At the top of the lit part of the desk were a couple of raised pins. The paper had holes at top that fit over the pins as you draw. As you reach for the pencil you notice that there is no eraser. Uh-oh. But Rick assures us it will not be necessary. And we began to draw. Step by step we followed his instructions punctuated by historic facts about drawing Mickey over the years mixed with some humour. Our drawings progressed line by line and we all came out with pretty good Mickey Mouse portraits. This was so fun. This has just squeezed into my must-do's at DHS right after the top three; Toy Story Mania, Tower and RockNRoller Coaster. FYI, you can go through the store and past the Oscars exhibit and skip the Mushu show if you want.

This was great!!!

Our last visit on the Old Star Tours, New Discovery!

2010-09-10T19:11:00.005-05:00

One of our must-do's on this last trip was to make sure we got on Star Tours at least once if not more. Well we did and on our last ride, we noticed something we had never seen before. As you are getting ready to be split up into the different sides near the end of the line is this guy. We were in line and it had stopped moving. With all of the Starport and Droid repair noise going on I could of sworn I heard birds chirping. I shared that with the kids and we were looking around trying to find the sound. We all seemed to zone in on them all at once. I say them, because what we found was a nest of Space Ravens or something similar.

These guys were right above the doorway as you enter the area were the cast memeber moves you to your Star Tours Loading gate. We always like finding something new. And since this might not be there after the big Re-furb planned for this attraction it makes it all the more special.

Finding something new on the Carousel of Progress

2010-09-01T20:22:00.009-05:00

I'm back and wow did I have a Great summer. Not one but two trips to WDW. Three interviews that I have worked and still working on the third for 'Walt's People' and a I feel I have learned so much. We did two more WDW tours and took a lot of pictures. I look forward to bringing a lot of my experiences here to share on the Blog.

One of the new to me things was a really cool find in the Carousel of Progress. We always see this show without exception each trip always enjoying the Walt type of atmosphere it always has. Also, because we've seen it so often I always get a kick out of finding something new and on this last trip I really did. In the second scene of the show, in the 20's, you can see that the family is now living on a more City like street outside the kitchen window. The Kohn's Chinese Rest. is really noticeable and right next to it is a small grey sign. I could see it said Attorney at Law, but could not see the name. I was hoping it might be something good. I had never really looked close at this before. Well I was not disappointed. The sign said 'Herb Ryman Attorney at Law'. Wow, very cool! If your reading this blog you probably know who he is, but just in case. Herb was working on films in Hollywood before coming to the Disney Studio in the early 1940's. He worked on a lot of the classic films along with being the illustrator of Walt's Dream of Disneyland. He retired working with the W.E.D. organization. It's a fitting tribute to find Herb Ryman in this attraction. I love finding stuff like this and putting a meaning to it.

Ironman 2 has a Walt Disney Connection?

2010-05-24T12:17:00.004-05:00

I just saw Ironman 2 the other night and thought it was pretty good. I’ll need to think about it a couple of days and maybe even need to see it again down the road to confirm that. The one thing that did stand out was a scene that was used in the movie that actually has a, what I think, Disney connection. I don’t think this is a spoiler, but at a couple points in Ironman2 you see an old video of Tony Stark’s father Howard. Howard is dressed in the standard grey suit of the 50’s with the white shirt, tie and handkerchief. With the slicked hair and thin build and thin mustache, Howard Stark could have been Walt’s brother. That however was not what had me thinking Walt Disney as I watched these scenes. Howard Stark was talking about something and referring to a large table top model of the City of Tomorrow. It was the Design for the Stark Expo, but it could not have looked more like what we see every time on the TTA and in a handful of Walt Disney TV appearances towards the end of his life. E.P.C.O.T. As I was thinking this thru it crossed my mind that now Disney owns Marvel, could this reference have been intentional. As I was researching this thought I came across one of my favorite Disney beat writers, Jim Hill. And, Jim had already thought of and answered that question, and I agree with Jim’s assessment. The story for Ironman2 was written and filmed much earlier than the company takeover. And as Jim points out, Howard Stark is a great match to the Industrialist and movie maker Howard Hughes.
If you see Ironman2 in the theatres or at home, tell me if when you see these scenes you say, “Haven’t I seen that before somewhere?”

The 5 Minute Magic Podcast Review

2010-04-25T21:03:00.009-05:00

I came across another really good podcast in the oddest of places, at another Disney Podcast's message boards. I saw a post by ScottFMM over on the BeOurGuestPodcast boards. He was asking us to take a listen to his and his partners, Emily and Melissa's, podcast about Walt Disney World. Their podcast is "5 Minute Magic" and as I am always looking for a new Disney themed podcast to listen to I olbiged Scott and gave a listen. I will now continue the review in the the style of their show.

Today I'll be rating The 5 Minute Magic show on a scale of 1-10. If you see a DING! then their rating number goes up by 1 and if you see a THPPPT!, then their score goes down by one. So set the timer for 5 minutes and we'll start them off with a rating of 5.

Here we go.

Okay, we'll start off with a DING! +1 right away and bring their rating up to 6. After listening to all 37 shows Scott, Melissa and Emily sound like three very nice and knowledgeable Disney fans who are pretty much accurate in their observations. DING! Up to 7 now with finding their Niche in the World of Disney podcasts. One of the things I look for is if the show has a niche that let's them stand out. Theirs is the up and down rating discussion of an attraction. Starting off at 5 and taking turns either raising of lowering the score while providing their reasons why. Then at the 5 minute mark stopping and where-ever the rating is, there you go. THPPPT!, -1, down to 6 because they did seem to pick a topic that will run out at some point down the road. Not that I'm complaining and there are so many different attractions and resorts, this might not happen, but... And, as quick as that, DING!, back up to 7. The last ten or so shows they have begun to expand their topics to other topics such as favorite smells or favorite narration. DING!, up to 8. They are reliable. Even as I am writing this, show number 38 just hit Itunes. THPPPT!, down to 7. They no longer have a buzzer at the end of 5 minutes. Not sure if I missed an explanation, but that was a great way to find out the time was up. Although, in the first couple shows I was wondering if they would start rushing as they became accustomed to how long 5 minutes was. DING!, back up to 8. Their shows, although not 5 minutes, are rarely over 10 minutes which makes them a great listen.

RingRingRingRingRingRingRingRingRing.

Well look at that, a rating of 8! That's the highest rating that I have ever given. Well, that is the first rating I have ever given. I don't like to give show ratings in that not all things, especially something as fluid as a podccast show, can be nailed down with a number. But with the format that the 5 Minute Magic show has, I could not resist.

This is a really good show with three people with different opinions sharing their likes and dislikes about The Walt Disney World parks and resorts. So, Scott, Emily and Melissa keep producing these great shows. Their compact size of show and their novel format makes the 5 Minute Magic well worth the download. I can't wait for the live shows from the attractions themselves that I'm sure can only be on the horizon.

Microsoft Tags to Tell the Whole Story at Walt Disney World?

2010-04-05T23:09:00.012-05:00

I was over at the DisneyShawn blog the other day and had a chain of thoughts leading up to what I think is a good idea to better enjoy the Disney Parks. I was reading his latest update about the Outpost in the Magic Kingdom and saw a comment from Brian about how great it is that everything on the Disney property seems to have a story behind it. After reading Shawn’s blog for a while, I say that after every post. Which caused the first thought, DING “How would I ever know any of these stories if I was not such a Disney Geek and knew how to use a computer?” I guess I wouldn't, unless I talked to a cast member or bought one of the Imagineering books. But even the handbooks don’t really go into as much detail as Shawn. DING, thought number two in the thought-chain, “Why don’t they have signs at each attraction giving us the back story to the building, attraction, ride or whatever?” This was not the first time I had, had this thought. Early on after discovering Shawn’s blog I asked him about that and his response made a lot of sense. The Imagineers did not want people coming down on vacation to be forced or even to be given the option to read any more than they need to. It is an amusement park after all. DING, and then the third thought of the chain fell into place. I have been following the progress of a new type of barcode developed by Microsoft known as the Tag. These tags are colorful to begin with and can be customized to a picture or logo. In a nutshell, if your smart phone has a camera and internet access, you could download a free Tag Reader App from Microsoft. Their reader uses your camera to scan the Tag and connect you to a website. The technology for the tag can be found here. By using this technology, the Disney Imagineers could now provide a Tag at each noteworthy place in the parks. A small one liner in the park maps to explain the small signs that seem to be located at different parts of the park. (DING, thought # 4 just hit while I was writing this. Can too many of these signs clutter up the park? Maybe make them 1 inch by 1 inch? I’ll leave that issue for later.) I think they can be placed strategically at each location so as not to be an eyesore, but easy to find to scan. I'll use Pecos Bill as a sample because he has such a great picture. There would be a 2 inch square logo that you would read with your Tag Reader. This is a quick customizing job. You can get very creative in that you won't see the dots, but I'll save that for when Disney calls to ask for my help in designing the real ones. If you download the Tag Reader and scan this tag, it'll take you to Shawns post on Pecos Bill's, but that could just as easily be a Disney link.
So now those of us that want the full story can find out more right on their phones, right there. Heck, if I was Disney I would provide the phones at Guest Services, charge $20 and just call this a Self-Guided Imagineering tour. It’s not like we haven’t seen groups of people huddling around one phone listening and watching for information before…can you say Kim Possible Adventures?
I do think there is a plausibility factor here, but what do you think? Too much of a gimmick? People still not tech savy enough yet? Not that it matters. Isn’t Disney’s policy to not take ideas from outside the company? Meg? Meg Crofton? Are you reading this?

Thanks to Shawn Slater over at the DisneyShawn Blog for this, at this point, great idea.

Join the Search for Kevin Flynn!

2010-04-03T20:50:00.016-05:00

I have been following a new web site and having a blast doing so for the last couple of weeks. FlynnLives.com is a website put out by the people marketing Tron Legacy the sequel to the Walt Disney Studio film Tron. I've always been a big Tron fan and can't wait for the next one. The first time I heard anything hinting about the search for Kevin Flynn was during this years Comic-Con. Here is a link to that event. You'll see it was quite the scavenger hunt. If you followed all of the directions and codes, you found a real Flynn's Arcade. In the arcade there was a secret door that took you into a secret room where there was Tron Legacy art and a full sized light cycle. There was some hint about this event that it was something more than just a promo. Flash to a week or so ago and we came across the FlynnLives website. The updates started in February and are getting more and more intense. Early on there were some games and ideas about what FlynnLives is about. On March 25 they posted a video interview with Alan Bradley. That is Alan1 aka Bruce Boxleitner from Tron. This really made me look at this sight with excitement and greater interest. The interview was incredible to watch in that it was an interview of the character Alan Bradley talking about new things coming to the Encom gaming company. The interview IGN and very realistic up until the end, where the guy asked a question about Flynn. The interview gets icy after that and Alan(Bruce) finishes up by making a reference to check the Encom website for an announcement to take place April 2. After a couple more posts which included a link for getting your Group 7 Clearance badge mailed to you and breaking into the Encom headquarters network and getting access to the executives email accounts after using a site supplied cracker/decoder program. One last post to FlynnLives members before the news conference on April 2nd from OperationTron. The plan is to infiltrate the Encom news conference and demand Encom open there investigationn into what happened to Kevin Flynn 20 or so years ago. The news conference begins and Alan Bradley(Bruce B.) is onstage making the announcement that Space Paranoids will be re-released on the internet. That's when the FlynnLives people put their plan into action. As they are speaking you hear a helicopter getting closer and as they camera pans up you see it's the Encom Black with red trim helicopter and someone parachutes from it. If you have seen the newest trailer for Tron Legacy you get the hint that Flynn's son is a BASE jumper. That's right, the guy was Sam Flynn who was disrupting the event to parachute in. The next post on the site had a video from Sam's point of view and it's Garret Hedlund playing Sam from Tron Legacy. This is such a great tie in into the movie it's amazing. The entire site is well done and has me waiting to see what will happen next. If I have to guess I am thinking that Encom will somehow increase their security but we'll see.

So, Join the Search for Kevin Flynn, or not, but if your a Tron fan looking for some more insight on Tron Legacy, this is the site for you.

Waking Sleeping Beauty comes to Philly

2010-03-31T22:13:00.019-05:00

I've just returned from a screening of Waking Sleeping Beauty that was held in Philly tonight. I had really been looking forward to this and it did not disappoint. The movie was briefly introduced by Peter Schneider, the producer of the documentary and many other past Disney films. He then stayed around until the end for a Q&A. This was being held at the Prince Music Theatre in Philadelphia. Nice theatre, think older and film festivals.

This was a very good movie. Documentary really. And just as advertised, it was based on the period at the Disney Studio from 1984-1994. The main theme and hearing Peter say it with pride was for him and Don Hahn to create a documentary that had no talking heads. That would be the old people you usually see looking back at a time being discussed in a documentary. None of the video used was made after 1994. There were some new audio talking about that time of course, but the meat of this was all vintage. I'm not going to repeat what's been said, so if you have not yet, please check out the trailer from the movie. Waking Sleeping Beauty Go ahead, click the link, I'll wait. But come back.

The movie actually starts earlier than 1984 in that it talks about the executive moves made at the time. With the hiring of Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg Disney was on their way. What the trailer does not speak about and what I thought really tied this entire movie together was the involvement, business sense and what turned out to be dampening effect that Frank Wells provided. There were three very intense personalities at work at this time. I mentioned Eisner and Katzenberg and add Roy E. also. Each with their ideas of what was in the best interest of the company. Frank seeemed to be there to keep everyone in check. It was truly a big loss when he died. There is a lot of information about this upper branch of management and then there was the video and stories of the animators. Peter mentioned that they got their video from any number of sources. There are some great, funny clips. Up to and including Jeffrey Katzenberg getting mauled by a Lion on stage in Vegas provided by Don Hahn's mom. We go through the history of animation at the time starting with the Black Cauldron and Basil from Baker Street, I mean the Great Mouse Detective. The collaboration of talent for Who Framed Roger Rabbit really started the flow and it did not stop for the next ten years.

This story showed how a group of about 200 people went from working 12 hours a day worrying about being fired and animation dying at the Disney Studio. And then 10 years later a group of about 5000 people working now 16 hours a day trying to keep the fame they had found. Still the trip getting there was anything but dull.

As I mentioned above the movie was followed by a Q&A with Peter Schneider. This was very rewarding because he touched on a number of topics. How Disney might have taken advantage of Tim Burton earlier on better? What did Peter think about Pixar? Could the Princess and the Frog be considered Disney's next Renaissance in animation? Some of the ideas that were discovered using the Gong Show method. And so much more. I had one small issue, though. I would have liked to hear more about the animators than we did. There was a lot of Eisner/Katzenberg/Disney and rightly so, but I can ask , can't I? There were some great clips. I am a big Jerry Orbach fan and they had a clip of Angela Landsbury and him recording for Beauty and the Beast with Howard Ashman. The animators goofing off and discussing ideas were fun to watch also.

Peter did mention that for the cities that did not get a release of this movie, that there is a DVD in the works that would probably be a compilation of this movie along with El Groupo and the Sweatbox and one other Walt Disney Company Documentary. This was truly a great opportunity to learn a little bit more about the company and how it got to where it is today. If you have the chance, see this movie. Click below for Q&A audio.

Peter_S_Waking_Sle...

Discovering Julie Svendsen; Artist and Imagineer

2010-03-27T21:44:00.005-05:00

I found this great web site the other night while looking for, I can't remember what. But this was quite a find. I found the site of Julie Svendsen and it really gave me another peice of the large puzzle of Disney History I always refer to. Julie Svendsen is an Imagineer and has quite a collection of work as seen on her site. I had sadly never heard of her before now. She is an artist and designer and her work can be seen around the world. You can catch a sliver of the back of her head in the Walt Disney Imagineering book on page 44 while discussing how to present Figment at Epcot. Her work with the the Disney company was for the parks and it's marketing side with some great toy renderings. One, a cool looking Dug plush from the recent movie Up. Anyway, as I was looking into Julie's career I saw that her parents were both connected to the studios. Julie is daughter of famous Disney artist Julius Svendsen and Disney employee Carol Svendsen. There is quite a story here and I plan to explore this thoroughly. I wanted to pass on Julie's site for now. Her Disney work is incredible and her non-Disney equally so. I am very excited to have found this site and looking foward to learning more. Enjoy her site and check back for what I find.

Tech Tweets Mickey at the BetaMouse Podcast

2010-03-22T23:04:00.002-05:00

I don't usually review a podcast so soon after it starts, but I needed to make an exception with this one. The BetaMouse Podcast uploaded its first show on Feb. 3, 2010 so it is still young. But, I always like to point out, that for a podcast to succeed it must find it’s niche. With Disney podcasts it can take a number of shows before the host(s) are comfortable enough and have decided what their focus will be. Not true with the BetaMouse Podcast. Simple and to the core from show #1, their niche is how all of the new Tech. being released can and will relate to the World of the Mouse. In their words, “Born of a friendfeed discussion, the betamouse podcast covers disney/tech stuff with a crack team of disney geeks. We produce weekly episodes.” Even in their About us statement they mention another great tool out there for online chat, Friendfeed. And here are the Disney Geeks:
The Betamouse Podcast is headed up by Henry. Henry is the Web Developer at TouringPlans.com, the official site of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (ding!). He is also the developer of the Smart Phone app, Lines. This App is amazing because it not only estimates the line wait times for you for all of the WDW parks, it also lets you keep track of live updates of wait times to boot. Not to mention the key information from Touringplans.com‘s Crowd Calendar. It’s a pretty nice tool. The price at this point is just right also…Free. Although I am a member of Touringplans.com, so charge away. In all seriousness, there are two or three trip planning resources that I use and Touringplans.com is one of them. And I can vouch for their crowd calendar. Along with Henry are Jeff, a life-long Disney World visitor and tech. geek. Nate, a former cast member and co-host of the WEDway Radio podcast is also a life-long WDW visitor with plenty of info to share. Scott is the fourth member of the team. He’s a web developer and will be debuting a web site soon at Dizcollect.com. The last but not least member of the team is Katie. Katie has the DVCLife Blog and shares duties with WDW Today’s Matt at the Disney in My Life photo blog.

The BetaMouse team is without a doubt qualified for the topics that are discussed on this show. Their first seven shows covered topics such as location apps in the parks, going to Disney with your laptop, Camera Gear, and a great Smartphone Survival Guide. In this guide, they point out places in the parks where you can recharge your phone. You'll need to listen for those tid-bits. But I'll tell you now, there is a prime one in the Magic Kingdom that I would never have thought of. It's great having this new resource to appreciate and learn from. I've got an Iphone and plan to load it for bear for a couple of up-coming trips to the world. Mainly sound-recording and Tweets, but we'll see what I hear about next. That Foursquare and Gowalla sounded interesting on show #7. Maybe I'll check them out.

If you have any kind of electronics that you take down to the world, or even not as these are a great group to listen to, check out the BetaMouse Podcast.

PS: Cool logo and very aproppriate opening theme song.

The Maz Disney Blog Turns Three this Month!

2010-03-19T23:38:00.000-05:00

Happy Blog-day to me. Happy Blog-day to me.

Happy Blog-day you Disney Geek.

Happy blog day tooooooo meeeeeeee.

I had a random thought this afternoon, checked it out and confirmed it. The Maz Disney Blog was started three years ago this month. Woo Hoo! I was really pumped to see that it’s been three years and almost 20,000 hits. I write to this blog mainly for myself. I don't want to torture my family with my non-stop Disney discussions. So as an outlet for that interest I use this space. And follow about 20 or so Blogs. And listen to the same amount of podcasts. And subscribe to a bunch of message boards…Did I mention Disney Geek?

Well I was curious to see what I posted as my first post so long ago and after the requisite intro post the second post was about seeing a caricature of Walt Disney sitting in the audience of the Circus in Dumbo. I had heard about that on the defunct Mousepod podcast and was so excited to see for myself…and there he was. Walt watching Dumbo. It was fun watching the movie again and then making the video capture and then finding a picture from a similar time. Then putting it all together to share. I really like the process. I am a closet historian and what better topic to explore.
Another thought I had was that after three years I should probably have checked my About Me comments and updated them as to where the blog is today. I was very pleased to find that after a read through that I had NO changes to make. I had actually stayed true to my original idea three years ago. “Welcome to the Maz Disney Blog. I am a fan of all things Disney. With this Disney Themed Blog I will pass on any information that I think is interesting. I listen to many podcasts and look for and return to some of the best Disney Blogs on the internet. Along with my own thoughts and experiences, I will also provide links to articles of interest where ever I may find them. So, Have your Ticket ready…Keep your hands and eyes inside the Blog and enjoy your stay.” And yes, I still get a chuckle out of my last line there. Geek.

Where do I see the blog in three more years? I can only answer this by relating how I think I just recently put a handle on the why. Why such interests in something like the Parks or a Company or a Man? Well let’s not forget that, “..it was all started by a Mouse…” that was created by a man. And that man, Walt Disney, is quite possibly one of the most intriguing men of the last century. After reading a number of biographies, stories and interviews, I come away with a man who truly changed the world. He did this by instilling such a work ethic mixed with accomplishment that brought out the best in all who worked with and for him and their final products. True it was not always pleasant, but I get that there was such a feeling of accomplishment and teamwork that I can only hope to experience that at some point in my career. And there is always something new I did not know.
So here is to first three and to one more year of being another drop in that bottle of animation ink that is made up of all Disney enthusiasts! Yeah, yeah, maybe a little corny, but the sentiment is right.
Thanks for checking out the Maz Disney Blog!

So Dear To My Heart: Disney Studio's First Live-Action Movie

2010-03-05T23:41:00.010-05:00

In one of my last posts I mentioned a movie that was released in 1949 by the Disney Studio titled So Dear to My Heart. I mentioned it because of a quote from Walt Disney, “So Dear to My Heart was especially close to me. Why, that’s the life my brother and I grew up with as kids out in Missouri.” Based on that quote I put this, never before heard of movie, at the top of my must see list. And as luck would have it, a couple weeks ago I was at the library and took a chance, looked and was happy to see that they had it. During the last snow storm I had a chance to watch it and, you know, it was really good. Right from the beginning credits you are put into the relaxed atmosphere of a simpler life with backgrounds of good ole country, Grandma quality, quilts and the turning pages of a very full Scrapbook. This scrapbook becomes an important storytelling tool as we travel through this movie. Jeremiah (Jerry) Kinkaid, played by Bobby Driscoll, is a young boy living in a turn of the century, small town that could have been anywhere in the US at that time. Jerry lives with his Grandma on a farm alone. They are occasionally helped by Uncle Hiram, the towns blacksmith played by Burl Ives. Burl is best know to this generation as the voice of the Snow Man from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. After seeing a prized race horse one day Jerry sets his heart on the un-realistic goal of somehow getting a colt to raise as his very own prized Race horse. His plans change after the birth of a certain black wooled little lamb. His thoughts and his scrapbook go from prized horse to prized sheep. The story revolves around Jerry raising that lamb and his goal of winning a blue ribbon at the County Fair. There is fun and adventure along with some real fearful moments. Jerry’s scrapbook is used to convey lessons as it transforms into animation through-out the film to teach Jerry the important things in life. One of the better of the scenes is based aroundthe song "It's Whatcha do With Whatcha Got". We follow Jerry and his Grandma played by Beulah Bondi, through the summer and then to the County Fair and suffice it to say a classic Disney ending. As I did some research on this film I un-covered a number of unknown, to me, facts that I think are really interesting. This was the first live action movie out of the studios. I had always though it was one of the Richard Todd movies but it was this movie in 1949. After some initial testing with the movie it was found that an all live-action film from the Disney Studio might not be taken seriously, so it was decided to add the animated scenes. Here is a quote from the actual NY Times review of this movie; “Walt Disney's latter-day practice of intruding ‘live action’ into his films, thus displacing in increasing measure his familiar animated images, has worked out something like the donkey which meekly stuck its head in the door. ‘Live action’ has now taken over his latest feature, ‘So Dear to My Heart.’ Except for brief passages in cartoon, which altogether run for twelve minutes, at most, the bulk of this children's fable, now at the Palace, is in straight ‘live action’ style.” Think about how you felt when Disney released The Darryl Hannah/Tom Hanks movie Splash. At the time it was un-heard of for the Disney studios to release a movie with a PG rating. Back then I remember people talking about how Disney had lost it’s values and worse. But they do it all the time now.

One part of the movie stood out to me in that it showed me what it was like in 1903 and how small towns relied on the train for all kinds of things that we take for granted today. There was so much excitement that the train was stopping at an off schedule time. It was as if the circus had come to town. It was close though, that train was carrying Dan Patch a real prize winning horse of that day. But to see the entire town come out for train makes me see a little better the importance and reverence that Walt had always shown for this form of transportation. Another point that stuck out is the un-settling Disney theme throughout a lot of their pictures, no parents. We never find out what happened to Jerry’s parents to have him being raised by his Grandma. Besides that, this is a very fun, touching and down home type of movie. There is a good story, some great action and even a tear or too. The one scene where Jerry goes looking for his lost sheep, he finally takes to heart a lot of what Grandma has been preaching about. Please find time to see this movie. It was based on a novel by Sterling North. I read on the Daveland Blog that the train station set went to Ward Kimball for his backyard scale train set-up. On a sadder note I followed through on Bobby Driscoll's career after this and later Peter Pan and his un-fortunate end. After the recent Corey Haim death it is sad to see that Hollywood does not learn from it's mistakes. Another, funnier note of the time, the NY Times wanted to make sure all of the Loyal Disney Studio animation fans would be ready for the next feature with the final line of their review: “We are happy to say, as a footnote, that Mr. Disney will fully animate his next long film.” The public is slow to change...

The Magic Kingdom's SpectroMagic

2010-02-26T13:08:00.002-05:00

New Post on Youtube for me. Spectro is great!

An Unexpected Walt Disney Biography Book Review

2010-02-18T22:13:00.006-05:00

I usually leave the the book reviews to the experts like George over at Imaginerding or Didier at the Disney History Blog, but I came across a book today that I wanted to share. What makes it so great a find is the point that I almost did not even pick it up. My daughter is 9 and working on a biography report for school. She chose to write about Walt Disney bless her heart. Her school library did not have any Walt biographies so I borrowed a couple from my school library. The first was a 20 page or so book and the other was a book of pictures. As I said I had really dismissed these books. After all, I have read a number of 300-400 page biographies about Walt Disney, what could these elementary books offer. Well once again I am proven big time wrong. The picture book was "Walt Disney His Life in Pictures" edited by Russell Schroeder with an Intro by Diane Disney Miller. This book, with the help of the Disney Company archives, has over 170 pictures chronicling Walt Disney's life sprinkled with many of his life lesson quotes in chapters broken up through the decades of Walt's life. Granted, a lot of the pictures here I have seen before but there are a number that are totally new to me. I really like the sweatbox series of pictures of Walt acting out scenes in Snow White and Pinocchio and there is a really great picture of Walt, Ub Iwerks and Les Clark taken late in Walt's life. All three men are laughing and are said to be reminiscing over a short they had all worked together on in 1929. There are some other pictures which I had not seen before. The quotes also are not the common "It was all started by a Mouse" type quotes, but more specific about different items as he moved through life. One that caught my eye was about a live action movie he made called So Dear to My Heart. This is about a young boy growing up on the farm. Next to another picture I had not seen before of Walt lounging on the bed of the old farm house of Granny Kincaid was this quote, "So Dear was especially close to me. Why, that's the life my brother and I grew up with as kids out in Missouri. The great racehorse, Dan Patch, was a hero to us. We had Dan Patch's grandson on my father's farm." I had known about Walt's life on the farm but not his feeling in regards to his upbringing and this movie. I will be adding that to my must watch list of movies now. This was a nice little book that unexpectedly added a little bit to what I know of the history and story that is Walt Disney. And, you can get yours right now on Amazon for .48 cents each.

Give-A-Day-Get-A-Day Step 3: I'm Going To Walt Disney World

2010-02-07T20:32:00.004-05:00

I got my voucher notice the other day...and here it is. I am planning a trip in June. We decided that we will volunteer again with the kids if I can find something appropriate.

The idea is to take this voucher with ID to the Park and get a one day ticket. I will look into exchanging it for a 10 day ticket once I get down there. All in all this was a very positive opportunity. I had a great time helping out with the seniors. I am sure that they liked getting their questions and needs look at and resolved. I will be helping out with a program at our school that will bring seniors into the school's lab and then train them on how to use the computers and the Internet. I have been following other peoples stories about Give-A-Day-Get-A-Day and for the most part it has been positive.

If you have not looked into doing this yet, you should. It is not that much time, and the reward is what any Disney fan can ask for, another chance to go to the parks. I'll re-visit this thread of posts once I get to the parks and turn in the voucher.

Give-A-Day-Get-A-Day Step 2 Completed

2010-01-27T21:09:00.006-05:00

This past Monday night I had completed Step 2 in Disney's Give-A-Day-Get-A-Day promotion. In the last post I went over finding the volunteering opportunity. In this one I discuss the actual experience. I was signed up with three other people to visit a Senior Center in Philadelphia to help answer and troubleshoot computer questions. Not the first thing that comes to mind when you see Kermit and Miss Piggy building that house in the commercials. My coverage time was 6-8. I got there around 5:30 and after signing in I found the library/computer center. As I was waiting for the event coordinator to arrive I took some time to take a look at the four pc's they had on site. I had time to check that all were pretty much up to date with software and anti-virus. Before the session started the coordinator asked us to fill out a short form that would be submitted to the HandsOn people to be relayed to Disney. The first person I helped was a nice woman named Alice. We went over things such as email, using mapquest, getting a value on her 1985 toyota and some other things. There were a couple more people I helped in the pretty much the same way. The time went pretty fast and I'm pretty sure I was helpful. When we finished up we were thanked and it broke up. I left my email for the people I had helped in case there are any future questions I can help with. The next day I got an email from HandsOn people and they wanted to thank me and let me know that they would soon contact Disney and I should get an email from Disney in up to two weeks telling me how to claim the park ticket. Stay tuned for Step 3

Be Our Guest Trip Planning Podcast:"Ready to Take a Trip to the World?"

2010-01-23T09:55:00.009-05:00

“Ready to Take a Trip to the World?” I always am, aren’t you? That line is the phrase that opens up every Be Our Guest Podcast. And every time I hear that line I find myself nodding my head YES! ” This is the show where you are the star! Each week, we will talk with a new "guest" who has just recently returned from their vacation to Walt Disney World. We will discuss planning, resort stays, restaurant reviews, park experiences, and much more!” The Be Our Guest Trip Planning Podcast (BOGP) has been recording since March of 2008. They are coming up on their two year mark this March and they have just released their 196th show.
The BOGP show is run by Mike with his co-hosts Riki, Deb and Pam. This podcast team has a lot of talent. Pam and Mike are both professional trip planners. The entire crew is back and forth to WDW a lot and Deb even lives down in Florida. The format of the show is really easy to listen to and the show length averages from 30 to 45 minutes. Mike releases two shows a week, one on Monday and one on Friday. The Monday show is an interview with almost anyone. The catch is the Disney tie in. From people like you and I with trip reports or someone with a new angle on the parks each of these interviews are always interesting and informative. The Friday show is reserved for the panel type discussions about almost anything Disney. This is a Podcast put on by people that are true Disney Fans first and Disney Podcast fans second and then Disney Trip planners last. Their shows are varied with topics from dining to hotels to the parks. The have a ton of experience but never hesitate to admit not knowing an item. As a fan of many Disney Podcasts, I never hear the other podcasters talk a lot about other shows. Not true about Mike and his crew. They are fans of Lou and Len, Matt & the Mikes and a lot of the other Disney Podcasts. Just recently Mike and the BOGP crew took a trip down to WDW for Marathon Weekend. Between their Tweets and Mikes audio updates, it was a little taste of what being there that weekend was like, snow and all. A big CONGRATS goes out to Mike and all the runners this year at WDW. That snow looked pretty hairy. I do agree with Mike, from his last show, about how this will be race you'll be telling your grand-kids about. BOGP has a nice website with a great set of message boards. The big story right now are people getting there reservations all set for the BOGP Cruise which will be in June 2011 on the new Disney Dream. The family and I are booked for this cruise and can’t wait. Mike's latest venture is Magical Mouse Radio. This is one of the few all Disney online radio broadcasts that can be picked-up through Live 365. Mike has a great mix of Disney themed music and tracks 24 hours a day 7 days a week. He has just started adding shows such as the "Resort Loop" and "Kiss Goodnight" that features specific music from different parts of the World.
The Be Our Guest Trip Planning Podcast is available on ITunes and at their site for downloads. Please check them out, you will not be disappointed.

Hidden Details:Minnie's Busy Life and More

2010-01-20T23:07:00.015-05:00

I love finding details in the pictures that I take at Walt Disney World. I can be assured of looking over the last trips pictures and find some nod toward Disney History or a hidden joke.

It seems Minnie has a pretty busy calendar. On a trip through Toontown, we stopped in and visited Minnie's very Pink little cottage. There is so much to see in here that it can be over-whelming in the detail. The kitchen has some pretty good gags and the artwork and pictures everywhere are great. On the way into the kitchen there is a small little alcove that has a bulletin board with a whole bunch of posts. I can remember taking the picture and seeing a couple pictures and names stick out, but not until recently did I take a closer look and really see the Hidden Details in this little alcove in a little house in a corner of the Magic Kingdom. As I was looking over everything Minnie had pinned up the first thing that grabbed my eye was the picture of Jiminy Cricket and his Safety seminar "I'm No Fool". Can you live with your conscience if you miss it? As soon as I read those lines, I flashed to the song I'm no Fool and flipped over to Youtube for a quick search and there they were. Jiminy Cricket did a series of shorts in the 50's that were safety orientated. Topics such as bicycle, fire and pedestrian saftey and more were filmed. Here is a link for the first one I remember as a kid in school, the one on Bicycle Safety. The next item on the board that caught my eye was a Wedding Invite for a Miss Prunella Pullet and a Mr. Hick Rooster. I had an idea where this reference was going. A couple of quick searches found the 1935 Silly Symphony short, 'Cock of the Walk'. This is the classic lose the girlfriend then win her back, hick versus city rooster type of thing. Still classic and an unexpected nod from inside Minnie's house. Although, I guess they all live together in ToonTown. The next item I looked at was a small hand drawn note from someone named Penny thanking Minnie for teaching her how to publish a magazine. Hmmm, that sounds odd. I did some searches and did find a childhood friend of Minnie named Penny. At one brief moment, there was a Minnie Mouse for Mickey, a Daisy Duck for Donald, and a Penny Dog for Goofy. Disney HooZoo says, "...she seems to have played a major roll in Minnie's early life, forming the third in a trio of compadres akin to that of the Mickey, Donald and Goofy trio. Second, because she may be the mysterious mate of Goofy and mother of Max..." Read more at Disney HooZoo . (Love that name) I could not find a reference on the magazine though. A couple other references that I am not sure of is for Dr. Drillum, the local Toontown dentist. He even has a house in Toontown, Disneyland. The one add that Minnie had posted that did not make much sense was about Hewie, Dewie and Lewie and was very light on information. It seems that Duckburg's very best food prep service is now available in Toontown. That's right, the Three Nephew Catering Co. "Three Nephews From Duckburg will help you if your Stuck-burg" The best theory I have as to this one is that everyone needed a job and in the crap-shoot of jobs available the boys got the food business. They even have a window on Main Street in Disneyland Paris. Based on Disney's insistance to story there must be one. The final picture was too good to pass up but I could not find anything except for Roo's new friend Lumpy. But the Elephant's only been around a couple of years so I don't think it is it. But the add was pretty nice so I added it here. The other big item was a list of things to do , nothing special.

One of Walt's favorite sayings was that he wanted to educate but never at the expense of entertainment. The added details in these very entertaining attractions does educate, but in a way Walt never imagined. They educate in the History of himself and the company he created, which to anyone probably reading this far, would truly consider education. So, keep your eyes open for the Hidden Details of Walt Disney's World and enjoy every detail the Imagineers can dish up.

Give-A-Day-Get-A-Day Muppet Media

2010-01-15T20:04:00.002-05:00

Disney has some great gadgets set up to advertise their Give-A-Day-Get-A-Day campaign using the Muppets in full force. Just ask Fozzie and Kermit below.

YouTube Disney Gold: Epcot Center 1983

2010-01-14T12:22:00.004-05:00

I want to first want to thank George from Imaginerding.com and his tweet this morning about this. I also want to thank the Progress City, USA site and their post, “Cancel your plans for Tonight and Watch This”. And I really will. This is another shot of YouTube Disney Gold but from the park side. Recently, Lord Phoenix on the allmightypuff channel has posted at least 11 videos of 1983 Epcot Center on Youtube. The quality for the day is great and this is a very detailed kind of guy. I’ve only seen the first couple of videos, but as the Progress City, USA post says, I’ll be watching all of them tonight. We were down in 1985 and we were not a video savy family so these videos are awesome to see. Please check them out and enjoy. I'll post more nfo once I see them all.

Disney's Give-A-Day-Get-A-Day Campaign: I'm In

2010-01-12T23:40:00.007-05:00

Hello and Happy belated New Year from the Maz Disney Blog. I wanted to start the year off right and begin working on all of the New Years resolutions that I made. As it happens, Disney is right there to lend a helping hand with my resolution # 4, helping out the community more. (I had 7 resolutions in all in case you were wondering) The Disney Give-A-Day Get-A-Day campaign had begun as of Jan 1 but has been talked about since September. By volunteering a day of your time, Disney would give you a free day at the park. Wow, one free day at the park. That’s great. (I read back over the last two lines a couple of times and could not say them without them sounding sarcastic, but I’m not. Really) You do deal with some of the issues that the free park ticket for your birthday showed us. Like you don’t go for just one day so odds are that free ticket would be one day of 5 and would only be worth $10 or $15 by that point. You actually need to get to a park and for those that need to fly down, that’ll cost you. And I guess you would need to sleep so hotel is a couple more bucks. These are the facts and not negatives.
With Disney’s new campaign they are doing something that I kept thinking Bill Gates or the Virgin Airlines guy or one of those filthy rich guys was going to do or even our new president; start some kind of volunteering movement to get more people active in helping out those less fortunate. I don’t volunteer all the time, but with two pre-teens in two different schools and the church and community groups I do my share. The problem is I see the same dozen or so parents volunteering at each event. I’m hoping that by Disney doing this that they are going to get some of those other people to jump in and try helping others for the free ticket. Maybe they’ll find out giving a couple hours each week is not that hard and it is very rewarding.
I Googled the campaign over New Years weekend and found none of the early slow problems that I had read about and started at the Disney Give-A-Day-Get-A-Day web site. The Overview says, “We want to inspire one million people to volunteer a day of service to a participating organization in their communities. So we're celebrating these volunteers' good works by giving each of them a 1-day, 1-theme park ticket to the Disneyland® Resort or Walt Disney World® Resort, free. There's no better time to make a dream come true for others and let us make a few come true for you.”
Step 1 is the Search and Sign-up part of the process. The Find an Activity button takes you to a search page where you can enter your zip code and/or a specific type of volunteering opportunity. Disney’s partner on the volunteering side is the Hands on Network. I hit the search button and a number of pages of opportunities to volunteer came up. Each of the listings look like this (and yes, West Conshohocken is a real town and it is pronounced just like it is spelled)

Opportunity: Collect New Socks and Underwear
Organization Served: Cradles to Crayons
Verifying Organization: Cradles to Crayons
Interest: Children & Youth, Community, Hunger & Homelessness
Location: West Conshohocken, PA 19428
Distance: 4.7 miles
Minimum age: 16
Date Time Notes
February 26 9:30 am to 4:30 pm (26 volunteers still needed as of 50 minutes ago)
Show details

When you select the Show Details link you get, of course, more details and a button to register if you would like to volunteer for that job. The registration page is run by Disney and looks to be as secure as the rest of their site. The information they ask is expected. There is a place to enter the names of any family members that will be helping you. There is also a place where they ask you about when and where you plan on using the free ticket.
So, as of now, I have done all of Step 1. The opportunity I volunteered for is a place in Philly that needs help educating their seniors to use the internet to keep in touch with their family. I have heard back from the group that I am helping and am all set. The date is Jan 25.

Step 2 is actually doing what you said you would and Step 3 is redeeming the ticket. I’ll make this a series of posts and will continue to update how the process goes.

The Princess and the Frog; A Disney Legend Cameo

2009-12-13T20:08:00.010-05:00

We just got back from seeing The Princess and the Frog. It was as great as it was advertised. The animation, backgrounds and story were first rate Disney. Throw that together with a great sound track and I am already looking forward for DVD. I was happy to note that Disney's tradition of head nodding toward history in their movies is alive and well. I don't think it would give anything away to mention this. It'll even make your watching this movie a little more magical. In the finale of the movie, there is a bad playing. On the base drum I read that the bands name was "The Firefly 5 Plus Lou". For those that have followed Disney History, this is a clear nod toward the Firehouse Five Plus Two and Louis the trumpet playing Aligator in the movie. The FFPT was a loose band of Disney artists back in the early 1940's that would get together to just play. They became more popular and in their hey-day, they actually released a couple of albums.

Well, after reading that on the base drum I took a closer look at the band and wouldn't you know it, there was Frank Thomas playing his heart out on Piano. It was a quick look, but it was pretty obvious it was Frank. These are the "Hidden Mickey's" of movies that just let us know that this is never just a 9-5 job for the artists that draw these great animated movies.

Go out and see The Princess and the Frog it was great. I can't wait to see it again.

One Man's Dream Jet Pictures

2009-11-22T18:31:00.016-05:00

I had just uploaded some pictures of Walt's Office from One Man's Dream for a friend on The Walt Disney Boards. He's going to design an office around it, but I digress. While looking through the pictures I was going to give him I did a small double take at the picture to the left. On the bottom of the board there are a couple pictures, four to be precise. I had never looked closley at them due to the overwhelmingness of the entire room. But since I was taking a look again I used the zoom control and really took a look. I was expecting pictures of the WDW project or maybe some attraction shots form Disneyland. What I found was pictures of the interior of what must have been Walt's private Jet. The one that is on the Backlot Tour and that Walt took back and forth from California to Florida when he was working the WDW deal. The plane now resides on the BackLot tour with it's easy to recognize Mickey on the tail and the Plane ID known by Air Traffic Controlers at the time; N234MM. That would be N-2-3-4-Mickey-Mouse. The interior looks very luxurious for the time. A lot of wood and what seems like a lot of space.

I would throw this into the category of it's all in the details. And the moral of this story? Take a lot of pictures and make sure you look at them later. you never know what you'll find.

The DisneyShawn Blog, "The Story Behind the Story"

2009-10-26T17:15:00.005-05:00

This is one of my favorite things to do with this blog. Being able to share information with readers and fellow Disney Gee..., I mean Disney Ner…, uh, that is Disney Enthusiasts is paramount to my goals here. I was listening to the WDW Today guys and heard a show that will change the way I view the parks from here on out. The name of this episode was ‘The Story Behind the Story’. The guys had a guest on this show and his name is Shawn Slater and his blog can be found here;

DisneyShawn .

Here is a description of Shawn from his site, “Shawn Slater has had a long and varied career with The Walt Disney Company, including stints as a writer for Walt Disney Entertainment and Walt Disney Imagineering. His love for the Disney Parks manifests itself in a passion for their history, heritage, and seemingly infinite levels of detail.”

As Shawn says in his bio, he was a writer for Walt Disney Entertainment and Imagineering. From being on numerous projects he has some great insight into the who’s, why’s and what’s of a lot of various items. The show on WDW Today was about Shawn’s involvement in the creation of Ye Olde Christmas shop in the Liberty Square section of the Magic Kingdom. Shawn goes thru the process he went thru in writing the storyline behind the Christmas shop and into some of the facts behind the story of Liberty Square itself. There is a great story here and it’s only for a retail shop. Not an attraction or ride or parade, but a store that sells Christmas items year round. True to the Pledge of the Disney Company, everything needs and has a story. And Shawn’s blog has plenty. At one point in the podcast Mike Scopa asks Shawn if they should take the story written for Le Olde Christmas store and post it outside the store so everyone can read about the story. Shawn’s answer was that basically Disney didn’t want people to come all the way to the parks just to read. The guest should be part of the story as opposed to reading the story. After listening to Shawn's stories and reading his blog, my first thought was tour book. Perhaps an extended version of the Imagineers Handbook series.

Shawn has a lot of great stories on his Blog and I can’t wait to go thru all of them. This is another of those sites that just adds so much to upcoming trips. Both in keeping myself in the Disney Attitude when I am months away from another trip and as a reference to enhance my trips to the parks. So please check out Shawn's Blog

Contempo Cafe Review - Aug 09

2009-10-23T22:53:00.012-05:00

On our most recent trip to Walt Disney World this past August we ate at a new restaurant located at the Contemporary Hotel. The Contempo Café is the newest restaurant to open at the Contemporary and it was a pretty good find. It is a Counter Service(CS) Rest. And we had not even known it had opened until we heard about it on one of the various Disney Podcasts

we listen to. On this trip, our first day was split as we were coming into Orlando around 1:00 pm. So instead of fighting our way to the hotel and then into a park, we decided to make a nice and easy afternoon/evening for the first day. So part of our first day activities was to take a ride on the monorail around the lake and then switch monorails and on around Epcot. Well the Contempo Café fit right in with those

plans. We arrived for dinner around 6:30 and it was not that crowded. This restaurant is located in the Canyon of the Contemporary where the monorails run. The ordering computers are right beneath the

big, beautiful, and colorful Mary Blair mural. And the entrance to the restaurant is right next to the entrance to Chef Mickey’s. We even had a mini character meet as we got to say hello to Donald and Goofy who were hanging out at the Chef Mickey entrance. The Café eating area is as open as the rest of the Canyon at the

Contemporary is. Since the entire canyon area is open, you only have 4 foot walls denoting where you walked into the restaurant. As you walk in, there is a menu posted directly in front of you with all the restaurants offerings. This CS serves breakfast lunch and dinner from 8:00am thru 12:00am. I direct you to the menu at Allears.net as theirs is very complete and accurate. There are many offerings from sandwiches to flatbreads. Burgers and salads and even the requisite kid’s meals, Pizza/Burger/Nuggets. We ordered off of the computerized kiosks and received a receipt with a number on it to pick up at the window when the order was completed. The computers were the only bad part of the experience. We had some issues navigating and getting it to recognize finger touches. I mentioned

this to a Cast Member as I am a computer guy and hate to see a good thing such as a computerized menu ordering system not work to potential. He said they were getting ready to re-load software to these machines to fix some bugs. Not the term to use in a restaurant perhaps, but maybe by time you go the kinks, a much more restaurant friendly term, would be out of the system. The kids had Chicken Nugget and Cheeseburger kid’s meals and I had the

Honey Lime Chicken sandwich served with Green Bean Salad. It was early in the trip and chicken was not a bad word at dinner yet. The entire meal was prepared and out in 5 minutes.

The food was all very good. Moist chicken and a great sauce was all it took for me. The kids had no complaints either. I was about to say we had a very peaceful meal, but in that location it was really anything but peaceful.

As we watched the monorails race by and people running to get to their ressies at Chef Mickey’s our world, at that moment, after a day of traveling, was relaxing. In a nutshell this could be considered just another resort Counter Service restaurant, but with the added attraction of the location, this place was a Thumbs Up experience for us. Next time you might be staying at the Magic Kingdom hotels or taking a break from the parks, the Contempo Café is a great stop to recharge your mind and body.

Thanks to WDWMagic.com, Waltsbasement.yuku.com and Hotels.about.com for help with pics.

Happy Birthday Walt Disney World!!!

2009-10-01T19:31:00.008-05:00

To celebrate the Birthday of the Happiest Place on Earth I present a link to a video made by the Disney Parks Blog. I am still exploring this site after hearing about it on the Walt Disney Boards forum. This is a day in the life of the Magic Kingdom presented in a whole other way. They use a process called Tilt-Shift Video that makes everything and everbody look like toy models. By taking, I would guess, thousands of pictures and putting them together they have created a very beautiful look at a day at the Magic Kingdom. There are a couple really nice shots of all of the Disney Transportation and really inspiring video of the Spectromagic parade. WOW!

A Model Day at the Magic Kingdom

Enjoy the video and let others know that it's that good.

Walt Disney, the Great Educator

2009-09-15T21:53:00.009-05:00

I have the privilege to digitize interviews of Disney Studio employees and their relationships with Walt. This effort is part of the Walt's People series of books put together by Didier Ghez. By doing this I come across the greatest information. The latest interview was one of Carl Nater. Carl was a production coordinator during the World War II days at the studios. Later on he was President of the Disney Studio 16mm division that made mostly educational films for private companies such as GE and General Motors. He gave a very specific and clear narration of his years working with Walt Disney in this interview. He worked closely with Walt when the studio was spending 90% of it's time making training and public service films for the armed forces. Mr. Nater had many stories about Walt and the beginnings of the Studio's interest in educational films.

In the interviews I transcribe and digitize, there is always a part of my brain listening to the stories I read and trying to see how they fit into the life and achievements of Walt Disney. It's like a jigsaw puzzle that gets more and more complete as you add each piece. Carl's stories were very amusing and more like memories as he was speaking into a tape recorder. This interview was given in 1972. Over all, there was this constant theme of Walt's push to educate as well as entertain. In Nater's words about Walt, "I'm convinced he would have been very, very pleased if he had gone down in history, if he had been known as one of the great educators as well as being one of the great entertainers."

Reading Carl's stories and thinking of Walt and education made me reflect on a famous Walt Disney quote, "I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained." At first look, this quote seems to say that Walt had decided that it was better to entertain than educate. But a story that Carl told says different. In the early days of World War II right after Pearl Harbor, the armed forces were desperate to get good quality training films created to help train the American fighting man making his way from civilian life to a fighting soldier or sailor. The Studio's first project was to work on the subject of aircraft identification. The Storymen working on this project were at the mercy of the military as to how to make these kind of films. After-all, Disney Studio never made a Military training film before. All through the process the Disney guys had attempted to add hints of humor to make this dry information easier to watch and learn from. The military always squashed these efforts relying on the philosophy that since this information would save the men's lives, they would pay close attention even if it was dull. At one production meeting after Walt had reviewed the work on Air Identification, he made an observation. Walt said, "I'm just convinced it will put people to sleep, maybe you could lighten this thing up a little bit by putting Donald Duck into the story". From Carl's description you would have thought the Army/Navy officers were having heart attacks and strokes. Walt deferred to them with the thinking that after all, these military men were the experts on training there own troops. Well the movie was finished and delivered and was a very boring snoozefest. As the war went on the Studio and the military got better at these kind of movies. By 1943 as the war was beginning to turn towards the favor of the allies, the BigWigs in Washington invited the filmmakers that had been working on the war effort to a big dinner banquet to thank them for their help. As the night went on, awards were given out and they had gotten to the time of the night where they showed a reel of the worst movies...as a joke. Well, Carl watched the clip from the Aircraft Identification film they had made and he agreed, it was a bomb. Then one of the two high ranking navy officers that were sitting next to him leans over to him and says, "You guys really should have added a little humor to that. Maybe have Donald Duck or one of the Disney Characters liven it up a bit." Go figure. But it does give some credence to Walt's famous quote. By adding a little humor, or a little action via Donald or Mickey the audience would be sure to watch and most of all, pay attention.

Another item I picked out of this interview was about a term I have heard and I'm sure you have heard over and over but not as much in today's world. Did you ever hear Mickey Mouse used as an adjective? A phrase like, "What kind of Mickey Mouse business is this?" or maybe something that was complicated was this, "Mickey Mouse kind of thing." Carl tells another amusing story that perhaps shows the birthplace of this phrase. In the early 1940's as the studio was working with the military, they would often have crazed officers needing to make films to train a certain skill as quickly as possible. There were times the Writers and Story people would begin working before there was even a contract. Getting that contract was tough and getting paid usually tougher. And even when they did there were issues. Carl goes on to explain how that Disney did their books a little differently and would add expenses on that had nothing to do with that particular project, but costs to keep the company working. You would see a general cost for the administrators in Anaheim and the distributors in NY and the Sales people in South America and so on. It did make sense... Well it didn't take too long before the government auditors were coming in and digging through this odd type of billing system. After a long day Carl was again explaining to the lead auditor, a fellow named Ballinger, how their system worked. After listening and trying to understand, the auditor turns to Carl and says, "That system you've got over here, that's the darndest system of Mickey Mouse bookkeeping I ever heard of in my life. That's really Mickey Mouse bookkeeping." After the meeting that story burned through the studios to big laughs. Everyone was telling that story and adding their own Mickey Mouse ideas. Carl had a pretty good feeling that it just spread to the rest of the world from there.

One last thought I took away from this interview was Walt's true love for Education. As one that had limited formal education, he realized the value of it and felt none should be left out. The problem was there was no money in educational films. In order to make a good film there were certain minimal costs before even adding effects or advertising. Educational films would never make back that initial minimal cost so they were not made as much as they should have been. Walt, due to low budgets could not make them they way he thought they should be made. Some times there are ways around the money though. Walt would try sneaking an educational movie in as a short once in a while. Carl remembers, "A good example of what I'm talking about is 'Donald in Mathmagic Land', which he made. He professed that he was making it for theatres, and he did make it, and it was running in theatres, and it bombed out in theatres. It didn't do very well in the theatres, but it became a classic film in the field of education."

Carl Nater might not be a big name in the history of the studios, but he does have stories to tell. I have not even scratched the surface here. You can read more stories from Carl in an upcoming volume of Didier Ghez's Walt's People.

Thanks to Didier for use of the interview as a source and to Thelostdisney on Youtube for the Donald Link.

Update: Some of you might know that I am working as a Technology Teacher in a K-4 school now. How is this for a coincidence, I was asked to help out with getting a VCR to work. There is a Sub teacher in today and she needs to show...this is great...she needed to show Donald in Mathmagic Land. And I just posted this last night. Holy Crap that's just a little bit of a spooky coincidence.

I went to the D23 expo this Weekend and Never Left my House

2009-09-13T15:25:00.007-05:00

Over the past couple weeks excitement has been rising of the D23 expo that is being help in Anaheim this year. I was impressed with the long list of presentations and promised vendors. The only bummer is that I was not going. A trip to California was not in the budget. As I came to grips with this I heard a great one-liner from Lou Mongello on his show, the WDWRadio Podcast. He was going to the D23 expo and he was going to try to broadcast live from the expo. I figured that this would be a couple of minutes here or a couple of minutes there, but from the first test on Wednesday, Lou has been broadcasting live from the Expo floor non-stop from opening to closing each day. I have watched a couple hours of each day and I am watching Day 4 right now and cannot believe how addicting and fun this has been. Yesterday was unbelievable when the Tweets were coming out of the Parks Update Conference and the announcement of Star Tours 2.0 and The Fantasyland makeover. We've been seeing that blueprint that "leaked out" a couple of months ago. Today was the Pixar announcements of Cars 2 and Rapunzel and we are waiting to hear about any Muppets announcements. Right now we are taking a walk to the Lego exhibit. Lou has had a lot of help with Becci M. from MouseFanTravel. Justin Muchoney has been going to presentations and reporting back. This whole WDWRadioLive.com event could not have been better if it was planned. And right now we asked our legs, Marc, to take us to see Push the Talking Trash Can on display and he did. At one point there were 1,800 people all watching at once. This was very addictive and almost like being there. I can only hope, and I will suggest that this become an ongoing broadcast idea for various events. At one point Marc passed Ricky Brigante from the great Inside the Magic Podcast and Attractions magazine. I can also see Ricky doing this next year or at one point soon. Boy did he and his friends look tired at the end of this event. Could we get away doing something like this in the park? A live walk-around with back and forth comments? Must look into and report back.

The online chatters watching Lou's live feed gave themselves, me included, the name Box People. We the Box People are planning more events. There was even a Face Book Group out there for the Box People. GO BOXERS! This was and will be great for the rest of the night. The Imagineers and Pixar in the Parks Presentation is still in the works. I am still watching as I am writing this as I scan and crop the pictures above of Becci and Lou. The first picture is Lou, the second Beci and the third, Big Momma...don't ask. A great Thanks goes out to the Twitter Folks I had followed at the D23 Expo; Inside the Magic(Ricky), Touring Plans.com(Not sure who was there), Otisney(Scott Otis a reoccurring visitor and Of course Lou Mongello. Thank you for a truly great experience.

A Hidden Mickey Goes Away

2009-08-30T19:36:00.011-05:00

I have mentioned in the past the fun of looking for Hidden Mickey's is an extra boost to a visit to Walt Disney World. Just in case you don't know, a hidden mickey is a mickey head shape hidden in some part of the parks or resort. Here is something for you to try. It is, I believe, the biggest hidden mickey and it can be seen from Google Earth or some similar satellite picture site. Find the Magic Kingdom and zoom down only a little south of the parking lot. You can't miss it, right inside the racetrack. I think it is a cool connection you can get knowing that the Imagineers have added these items for you to find. We just discovered that even though hidden mickey's are always added, they can also be removed. One of our first hidden mickeys we had found before we even knew what hidden mickey's were is while you are descending the Swiss Family Tree House stairs, you can look over the edge and look down at the families dining table and see the most perfect hidden mickey. If you notice there is a pineapple between the ears. We actually called this a Hidden Minnie. Either way, it's gone. We were there in Mid Aug. and as we were walking down we could not believe our eyes...all gone. No Hidden Minnie or even mickey, just another table setting. So now we need to find where they hid that Hidden Mickey. We can only hope they moved it to somewhere else in the tree-house. So in your next trip to Walt Disney World, keep your eyes open for those hidden mickeys that are there or were there. Thanks to Steve and the Hidden Mickey's Guide for the before picture. I could not find ours.

Walt's People, Volume 8 has been Released

2009-08-09T21:47:00.007-05:00

A friend of mine, Didier Ghez of the Disney History Blog, just released the 8th volume in his series of books called Walt's People. Didier collects the best interviews of the men and women that worked with Walt Disney in the studios with animation and in the parks with imagineering. I have transcribed and read many of these interviews and it's as if you are there with them as they tell their wonderful and not-so wonderful stories of working with Walt. Either way their stories and tales are an incredible window into the world of the Disney Studios from early into the years after Walt's death. Check out this series of books, you will not be disappointed. You can purchase volume 8 at the Xlibris web site.

YouTube Disney Gold:HISTA Pre-Show from the Past

2009-07-12T20:47:00.006-05:00

Honey I Shrunk the Audience is an attraction located in the Imagination Pavilion at Epcot. One of my fondest memories of this attraction has always been it's pre-show video by Kodak. Up until around 2003 that is. That is when they changed it. The Epcot Imagineers are 0-2 in my mind with their changes to this pre-show and the changes to Figment. I was lucky enough to find a audio version of the soundtrack, "True Colors" from the pre-show a couple of years ago. We played it a lot. It is not Cyndi Lauper but some studio artists doing a great job. I just came across the video on Youtube just the other day. It was great to see the syncing up of the song to the video. I was also reminded of the most inspiring part of the the video, the 'text messages' that are shown through-out the pre-show:

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR IMAGINATION
Use it
Ask questions
Take risks
Take a picture
Take a vacation
Take a vacation without leaving your house
Be curious
Expect...the unexpected
Invent your own language
Think
Backwards Think
Doodle
Build a model…without the instructions
Look at the world…from a different angle
EXERCISES FOR YOUR IMAGINATION
Stretch your mind
Play “What if?”
Pick up a camera…and see what develops
Stay up all night
Write with your opposite hand
Take a blank piece of paper…then do something with it
Make believe
Remember: Things aren’t always what they seem
HOW TO JUMP-START YOUR IMAGINATION
Think about something else
Talk to yourself
Talk to the animals
Look at the BIG picture
Look at Nature for inspiration
Play
Be playful
Look at the world through the eyes of a child
HOW TO COME UP WITH AN IDEA
Brainstorm
Don’t procrastinate
Turn your thinking inside out
Notice the little things
Get in touch with your inner child
Loosen up
Stay focused
Daydream
Paint something
Use all the colors of your imagination
Imagination comes in many colors
The first rule of imagination: There are no rules
If you can imagine it, you can do it.
Believe in yourself
Never say never
Imagine the possibilities…are endless
True colors are beautiful like a rainbow

I would always try to take some part of that message away with me each time we would visit this attraction. Note the obvious Kodak plugs above in purple.

Take some time and watch the video and really see if you won't really like this flashback.

Madame Leota's Beautiful Eyes

2009-06-29T22:52:00.006-05:00

The Haunted Mansion in Walt Disney World is one of my favorite attractions. I've always loved haunted houses growing up and the Disney Imagineers version of one is the best bar none. There are many cool things to look for in the Haunted Mansion and I always like finding something new. One of the best items is before you even get in the front door. As you walk up the line you see various tombstones from most of the family with the occasional Imagineer listed. The last tombstone you see is that of the poor departed Madame Leota. Her's is the most detailed and as you just missed getting in the attraction you have a couple minutes to really look at the tombstone. Wait...did it just...look there it is again...IT IS ALIVE! Or looks to be. As I watched this video I also saw something I really did not catch at the time of filming, her head moves alsoThe picture on the right is a new hooby of mine. Paper models. In the video, wait for it. Sorry for the quality. Another quick note, as you watch the video you'll hear the wolf howl in the background. To let you know how far sound travels down there, we were sitting at the Grand Floridian near the Marina and could still hear that wolf.

John Carter of Mars is Official and On It's Way

2009-06-13T21:25:00.004-05:00

Last March I had posted an article about a book that was rumoured to be coming to Pixar, John Carter of Mars. Here's the link to the post : http://themazdisneyblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/pixars-turn-at-john-carter-from-mars.html

The rumour is more than true in that Sci-Fi Wire just announced that Taylor Kitsch, who played Gambit in the Wolverine movie will be playing John Carter. Here is a pic from IMDB.com

Andrew Stanton is still on as director and this thing looks ready to go. The writing is done and the latest rumour is that they'll be filming in Utah. I can't wait for this to happen and will be keeping up to date with new events. Hit some of the links from the first post. The websites are up-dating with new info also.

Tip of the Hat to WDW and their Charity Work

2009-05-24T21:27:00.006-05:00

WDW definitely gets my Tip of the Hat award for this month. I came across this article and was so impressed I felt it should be shared. The title of the article was "Central Florida Charities 'Shine On' thanks to $700,000 in Disney Grants." That title caught my eye, $700K in grants is incredibly generous. The part that really makes this announcement special is the fact that these grants have been given out in just the last two weeks. Starting on May 11th, the WDW company began giving these generous grants to deserving charities and schools in the central Florida area. Here is a video that shows one of the 'Shine On' prize patrols. Disney always does things in such a grand manner. Here is a link to the web site: http://shineontoday.com/ Stop by and check out how Disney contributes to it's central Florida community.

Here is a listing of the organizations that will be using this out-pouring of cash from WDW to better their services:

Adult Literacy League, Inc. ($17,000) · Best Buddies Florida ($12,000) · Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Florida ($50,000) · Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida, Inc. ($40,000) · Boys & Girls Clubs of Lake & Sumter, Inc. ($10,000) · Bridges of Light Foundation, Inc. ($48,000) · Camp Fire USA Sunshine Council ($18,600) · Center for Independent Living in Central Florida, Inc. ($17,400) · Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida ($60,000) · Community Trust Foundation ($15,000) · Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County ($15,000) · Explorations V Children’s Museum ($15,000) · Florida Children’s Repertory Theatre ($10,000) · Florida Citrus Sports Foundation ($25,000) · Foster Grandparent Program of Central Florida ($30,000) · Foundation for Orange County Public Schools, Inc. ($10,000) · Golden Rule Foundation, Inc. ($14,000) · Habitat for Humanity in Seminole County, Inc. ($10,000) · Harbor House of Central Florida, Inc. ($39,000) · Hispanic Resource Link, Inc. ($15,000) · Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida, Inc. ($20,000) · Hope CommUnity Center ($35,000) · Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando, Inc. ($20,000) · Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando, Inc. ($15,000) · Justice and Peace Office, Inc. – Apopka Family Learning Center ($25,000) · New Hope for Kids ($25,700) · Orlando Day Nursery Association, Inc. ($10,000) · Orlando Museum of Art ($9,500) · Orlando Repertory Theatre ($10,800) · Orlando Science Center, Inc. ($20,000) · Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Inc. ($10,000) · Osceola County Council on Aging ($15,000) · Restore Orlando, Inc. ($10,000) · Winter Park Day Nursery ($3,000)

MDP's Disney Themed Spring Concert

2009-05-17T20:24:00.007-05:00

This past week my daughter's school, Mother of Divine Providence, held their Spring Concert. This was a great event. The best part about it, other than my girl was it's theme...Disney. This is a annual event where the kids sing various songs that follow a theme. One year it was 60's and 70's sit-coms. Another year it was cartoon themesongs. The eighth grade then does something to enhance the show such as sing solos or act out songs. Here they are in the 100 Acre Woods. This was a really fun night and
I think the kids really out did themselves this year.

Epcot Announces India

2009-05-06T22:02:00.011-05:00

Walt Disney World Welcomes India...

There have been many discussions about the countries that did not make it into the World Showcase of Epcot. I have heard many podcasts and read many great articles about what countries the Imagineers had planned to use to upgrade World Showcase. Argentina, Australia, South Africa and many more. What would it be like if WDW management had decided they liked India? India is a big part of our world. We don’t know a lot about their country and there seems to be a big draw for Indian food since there tends to be a couple Indian restaurants in every town. Let’s find out with this announcement from Meg Crofton:

"Walt Disney World would like to welcome our newest country to the Crown of Jewels that is our World Showcase area of Epcot. With Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, America, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and Canada, we are happy and proud to introduce our newest World Showcase Country: India. India calls to mind the wonderful people and culture of its land, the exotic jungles and mountains of its landscape and its mysterious and beautiful animals.
As you walk through this newest of Epcot's pavilions you will experience the wonder and beauty of India all around you. As you explore you will find a new state of the art 3Dx3D attraction, two incredible new Indian themed restaurants and shopping opportunities from all parts of India.
The WDW Imagineers have out-done themselves with the first ever use of 3Dx3D. Adventures of India will have you travel to middle India on a photographic Tiger Hunt. Try to get the best picture as you explore through the thick grasslands experiencing the wildlife of India thru audio, video and 3Dx3D technology. Mid-way thru your journey a couple of old friends from Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book make sure your see the very best of India and its wildlife.
After building up an appetite on the Adventures of India ride, come and join us in the Bukhara Mahal our new 5 star Table Service restaurant offering the finest cuisine of all regions of India. Its wonderful indoor/outdoor dining areas are complimented by beautiful tile work and fountains with exceptional service. If you’re in the mind for a lighter snack, then stop and eat at Louie’s Grill, our newest counter service restaurant serving a smaller menu full of quality.
And before leaving India, you must stop at one of the two gift stores where you are promised to find many treasures from India. We are very proud of the job we have done on this new Pavilion, we know you will enjoy it to. Thank you."
Stay tuned to this media outlet for more details about our new Indian pavilion and it’s offerings.

The Disney Stoveworks

2009-04-30T21:52:00.008-05:00

I have a matter of a little mystery on my hands and I was hoping for some help. I recently read an interview of Richard Todd talking about Walt Disney curtousey of Didier Ghez of the Walt's People books fame. Richard was Robin Hood in the Disney live action movie, The Story of Robin Hood. Based on the interview he had a close relationship with Walt Disney. He tells many funny and moving stories. One of the most touching was how Walt would send his kids gifts each Christmas and how Richard had to explain to the kids why they stopped getting them after Walt's passing. Another comment of note in the interview is the way Todd talks about the Disney studio process of using story boards. Also, how unlike studios like MGM, Paramount and 20th Century Fox, the Disney studios were run by one man...Walt.

There are other stories in the interview, but the one that really caught my attention had to do with Walt's more private side. Richard talks about knowing Walt very well and going to his house in the Holmby Hills often and about the 'big barn shed' that Walt had in the backyard for working on his trains. He mentions that Walt had another hobby, creating miniatures "...and he started a thing he called the Disney Stoveworks." I have seen the exhibit at the Disney Hollywood Studios, One Man's Dream, with the house scene that Walt had built in scale form. I also remember hearing mention of a traveling exhibit of Walt miniatures so this comment made sense. But then Richard went on, "...now one of the things that he'd always rememberd from his boyhood was pot-bellied stove. So he start making pot-bellied stoves himself on his lathe, and they were all hand painted and they were like little Dresden pieces. I've still got my pot-bellied stove. They were about four to five inches high and everything worked; the little riddle worked and the laid worked and they were beautifully painted, such pretty little things, as I say, like little pieces of Dresden china from the Walt Disney Stoveworks."

I thought that was such a cool little item that I had not heard about Walt. The idea of him taking the time to create something so small but fully functional and then giving it to close friends was a really nice way to envision Walt. Where would he have gotten the time to do this and why have I not heard of or seen one of these stoves? I needed to find out more information about this and did the regular searches as follows:

I went out and googled the Disney Stoveworks and got nothing except the usual commercial adds for New Disney company items to buy.
The next thought was let me try going with a search on the Workshop. There was a lot of information about the shed and the trains and the move to the new location by the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society, but again nothing about the Disney Stoveworks or the pot-bellied stoves.
I reached out to various Disney boards and Blogs with no luck.

My next thought is to start hitting the Disney Biographies. There are so many of such varying quality. Please comment here or send me and email at maz24681@yahoo.com if you might have an idea as to where I should look next for more information on the 'Disney Stoveworks'.

SpectroMagic from Around the Magic Kingdom

2009-04-21T12:56:00.013-05:00

Our favorite parade in Walt Disney World is Spectromagic. We've seen it from many places in the park and are totaly enthralled by it.

Here is the official Disney description:
"SpectroMagic" Parade is a dazzling nighttime procession filled with brilliantly lit Disney Characters and floats at Magic Kingdom theme park. Your heart will glow along with the brilliant lights and joyous music of this gleaming parade that celebrates scenes from Disney films. Disney Characters are magically transformed into living ornaments of light in this magical, glittering spectacle.
Half a million lights and miles of fiber optics cables light up the night during the "SpectroMagic" Parade to create miles of smiles for Guests of all ages.

I can’t agree more. My heart glows every time I even hear the music, let alone attend in person. We have seen this parade many times from many different places. I’d like to go over some of those places in the hopes that you’ll try somewhere new next time you have a chance for viewing Spectromagic. I also have a couple tips and facts about the parade.
I don’t want to be-labor the history and creation of the parade or even the photos. When your done here you can go over to LaughingPlace.com. They have a great article on Spectromagic and a bunch of pictures of the entire parade.

Just as an FYI, the parade starts on the circle on Main Street near the Fire Station and ends at the junction of AdventureLand and FrontierLand right underneath Splash Mountain.
The first four or five times we have seen this parade we have watched it from various places on Main Street. We did not know any better yet. Usually the place was dictated by the crowds and when we got there to wait for the parade to start. Main Street seems to have more activities run by the cast members as you wait for the parade. My son's first pin trading was done waiting for the parade. We’ve watched from in front of City Hall, in front of the Candy Store, half-way down Main, in Front of the Plaza Ice Cream place and on the Tomorrowland side of the hub. Without a doubt the best experience was sitting half-way down Main Street. We found our spots and camped out maybe 30 minutes until the parade started. The kids and wife played games on the street as I guarded our seats. The Parade was great as always. You get close to the Parade on Main Street but there is some pushing. A new spot we discovered had a back-drop that we did not fully appreciate until
we had gotten home and watched the videos. Cinderella's Castle in the background changing colors added just a little more magic. You can see the bridge to the right. This was a small pathway that takes you from the Crystal Palace right to Liberty Square. You can see how close we were and there was not much of a crowd. The next place that we found to be a very good place to sit is in Frontierland, right across the pathway from Pecos Bills. There is not a lot of room for depth which keeps it pretty free of crowds.

This is about 100 yards from where the parade goes off stage and was a great viewing spot. It also let us get onto Splash Mountain pretty quick and we were able to see parts of the Wishes fireworks show as we went in and out of the mountain and then down the big hill, very cool.

Tips:

If you want to sit on Main Street get there 45-60 minutes before the parade. I would also bring a blanket or towel to put down on your spot on the curb. People setting up for Main Street can get brutal. We usually plan to do our shopping in the Main Street stores as we wait. We take turns reminding people that we were there first and getting our food for the parade and fireworks.
Check the times when you check in to your hotel, they can change.
If you have a choice always see the second parade if offered that night. Ride attractions while the first parade is going on.
If you want your kids (or yourself) to feel part of the parade, bring glow sticks and necklaces with you for the parade.

One last item. Last year I went on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. It was a great tour and I was amazed at what we were shown and where we were taken. One stop was the SpectroMagic storage warehouses where the parade floats are stored and repaired during the day. Very cool seeing where a lot of the 'cockpits' were for most of the floats. One final bit of info. The parade was originally led by handlers around the parade route who manually kept track of where the parade is and when to start music and such. They had switched to a computer run system that used sensors buried in the parade route. You can see the brass colored circles about 2-3 inches across still today. I say still today, because they are back to the human handlers directing the parade. The sensors, it seems, could not keep up.

If you have not seen SpectroMagic, it is a must. If you have but have not left Main Street, try to watch it from somewhere else next time, you will not be disappointed.

Walt Disney Companies' D23 is Released

2009-03-17T11:03:00.006-05:00

As most of us that are in the Disney online Community have heard, Disney has started a new Disney sponsored Fan site called D23. To say site only would under-sell what Disney is offering in this new endvour. There is a new D23 magazine that is for the fan with stories about all apspects of the Disney company minus the advertisements. The other major item is that there is to be a Mousfest type event in Anaheim this September, put on by the Disney people. The cost of membership is $74 and change. Click on Mickey above to get the full details from Disney. I wanted to throw this post out there to point out the outstanding interview that Eric and the gang at Mouseguest had this week with Non-other than Disney Legend and Founder/Chief Archivist of the Walt Disney Archives Dave Smith, Manager of the Walt Disney Archives, Becky Cline and head of D23 and overseer of the Archives and Photo Library, Steven Clark. The trio discuss the Archives, the D23 club and membership, "Disney twenty-three" magazine, the D23 Expo, and they also address some concerns the Disney online community has voiced about D23. This is the only Podcast so far this month that has such an exculsive and detailed interview. Please check it out by clicking the MouseGuest logo. My plan is to get a copy of the magazine and hold off on the membership for now. Have fun checking out D23!

Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure, Norway:Completed

2009-02-19T19:17:00.016-05:00

On our trip down to WDW this past January we had the chance to try out the new Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. This was fantastic. A truly interactive, I can’t wait to see what happens next, kind of activity. It is a great way to give kids, big and small, a new experience in the World Showcase at EPCOT. I am going to go through the experience in detail, so there might be spoilers(Pssst, pssst, there will be spoilers...and pictures...and video). But, since this is only for Norway and since there is suppose to be 6-7 more adventures, you could read this one and plan on doing all the other Adventures first. I’ll also not tell the exact story so that will be kinda new when you do this. This was really fun.
I had heard about this from the various podcasts I listen to, but had really forgotten about it until we saw the Kim Possible sign recruiting to ‘Save the World’ directing us into Inoventions West. Right inside the door to the left is a Kim Possible (KP) Wall with various stations with a monitor at each. They are touch sensitive and you read through a number of screens asking about your party and telling you the beginnings of a story about Kim and Ron not being available and could you help out. Next to the machine is a slot that spit out a Fastpass looking card that had a country name (Norway) and a time that our Adventure would begin. I think we started at 12:45. We had some time so we hit Club Cool. Got the 8 year old with Beverly, but that’s another story, and strolled through Mexico. The KP stand was easy to spot as were the Cast Members. Nice Ron stoppable looking Purple shirts. We handed over our pass and were given a cell phone looking device. We were told how to use them and then we were directed to get about 100 feet away from the cart. Even though there were specific times to start the adventure, you did not have to be there at the time that was on your ticket, so there was a little bit of sound over-lap between our team and others. We listened to Wade describe a World Class disaster in the making and we need follow clues through Norway to solve the mission. I have never been in the Stave Church in all my times down to Epcot and that’s the first place the game took us. Wade directs you to a place and then asks a question that can be answered by reading or looking around where you are sent. Here is one example. In the Stave Church there is a replica of a famous Norwegian boat, can’t remember the name. Wade’s question, that will help us catch the villain, was how long was the boat. The question has four possible answers and you pick the right one to continue the adventure. SPOILERS: The interactivity was great. At one point Wade had us look at Japan and smile. A picture of us from a hidden camera was then sent to our phone/device. Again, the interactivty with the Norway pavailion was great. We caused smoke to rise out of one of the chimmneys near the Maelstrom. We lit lanterns for signals and had flags raised

over a Dragon as an answer to a vital question and even talked to a famous norwegian marathon runner's statue. There was a great finale which you'll need to see and then you dumpedthe device into a trunk near the entrance to the Maelstrom. This was great. I saw parts of Norway I have never seen before. The Stave Church and Perrin's Roost and just the general details of Norway. It took about 40 minutes and I can see us doing this at least once or twice on our next trip. I can't wait to do China or Japan next. Let me know if you've done any other countries.

New Hidden Mickeys...at least new to us.

2009-02-15T20:17:00.007-05:00

The Walt Disney Park Imagineers are men and women who have created rides and attractions both big and small. However, one of their best creations is something that started small but has become a fun obsession for the family and I. Hidden Mickeys. For those that don't know, "...a hidden Mickey is a partial or complete impression of Mickey Mouse placed by the Imagineers and artists to blend into the designs of Disney attractions, hotels, restaurants, and other areas. " That quote came from the number one expert on Hidden Mickeys(HM), Steve Barrett and his Hidden Mickey Guide and website. You can even buy his book in the parks. Steve has a couple of Disney travel books, but the HM's are the most fun.

We are always looking for more. This past trip in Jan. we spotted three new HM's. At least they were new to us, when we got home and checked Steve's site, they were all already reported. It was still fun spotting them though. The first two were at Epcot. First in the Living Seas with Nemo. As we walked down to the aquarium section of the pavilion, we saw this very obvious HM on the seabed. Next on Spaceship Earth. We always screw our heads around trying to find a new one in here. Well, we thought we had done it, found a new one. In the scene with the Jewish Library, as you see the one guy sleeping, behind him on the shelf, there are three scrolls that are next to each other. Here is a LINK to Steve's site and a picture of this one. My pictures in Spaceship Earth never look good. The last one for this trip was found while we were on line for the Jungle Cruise. We were in the Fastpass line on the left side of the dock as you face the water. We were moving in line to the right and saw this jar with what looked like walnuts in it or ping pong balls. But there it was, the classic hidden mickey shape. When I was down in September I had a really novel HM pointed out to me. Novel in that it was always there in front of us. Too bad my picture was not that great. But it You can get the general idea of what it looks like. These plates are on the table in the Dancing room. So next time you head out to a Disney park, Hotel or Restaurant, keep your eyes open for those hidden extras the imagineers have left for you to find.

The Disney Songs and Academy Awards

2008-12-20T18:40:00.003-05:00

I was working on a project the other day looking for movie songs that have won Oscars. My daughters school is having an Oscar themed event and I was asked to supply a soundtrack. As I was looking at the The Academy Awards for Best Original Songs(BOS) listed I was pleasantly shocked to find that there were 10 songs that had won Oscars for the Disney Company over the years. The Oscar for this category began in 1934. Disney’s impressive run began in 1940 with ‘When you Wish upon a Star’ from Pinocchio. There were two other Oscars for BOS from what I call the Classic Era movies of Disney. In 1947, with an Oscar for ‘Zip a Dee Doo Dah’ in Song of the South and in 1964 for Chim Chim Cher-ee. From 1964 to 1988 there was a substantial lack of Disney Oscars for BOS. But that ended in 1989 with ‘Under the Sea’ from the Little Mermaid. For the next 12 years Disney would dominate in this category at the Academy Awards. From 1989 to 2001 Disney was nominated 19 times and won 7 Oscars. When you do the math that might not make sense. Then consider that in 1991 and 1994 they had three nominated songs for the BOS in each year. The along with 'Under the Sea', the New Era Disney Oscar winners were ‘Beauty and the Beast’(1991-Beauty and the Beast), ‘A Whole New World’(1992-Aladdin), ‘Can you Feel the Love Tonight?’(1994-LionKing), ‘Colors of the Wind’(1995-Pocahontas), ‘You’ll be in my Heart’(1999-Tarzan) and ‘If I Didn’t Have You’(2001-Monster Inc.).
In addition to the Oscar winners there have been a number of songs that were nominated for the BOS Oscar and did not win for the Disney Company. With the eventual Oscar winners included, Disney has had 29 songs nominated for Best Original Song. Some of the nominees: ‘Baby Mine’(1941-Dumbo), ‘Love is a Song’(1942-Bambi), ‘Saludos Amigos’(1943-Saludos Amigos), ‘Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo’(1950-Cinderella), ‘Bare Necessities’(1967-Jungle Book), ‘Candle on the Water’(1977-Pete’s Dragon), ‘Someone’s Waiting for You’(1977-The Rescuers), ‘Kiss the Girl’(1989-Little Mermaid), ‘Be Our Guest’ and ‘Belle’(1991-Beauty and the Beast), ‘ A Friend Like Me’(1992-Aladdin), ‘Hakuna Matata’ and ‘Circle of Life’(1994-Lion King), ‘You’ve got a Friend in Me’(1995-Toy Story), ‘Go the Distance’(1997-Hercules), ‘When She Loved Me’(1999-Toy Story 2), ‘My Funny Friend and Me’(2000-Emperours New Groove), ‘Our Town’(2006-Cars) and ‘So Close’(2007-Enchanted). A lot of my favorite songs.
Disney has surely shown that they are cyclic masters of the movie song. All of the above songs are available on ITunes and my source for this article was the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences web site archives. It was great listening to a lot of these songs again while writing this post.

YouTube Disney Gold: Voices behind the Characters

2008-11-18T22:01:00.005-05:00

I've come across some more of that YouTube Disney Gold. This from the Disney Family Album that must have been taped off the Disney Channel years ago. This one is the "Voices behind the Characters" and is really good. The guy that posted it is Darthkoon and he put it up in 4 parts. Part 1 starts out with Hal Smith giving his Goofy as Jacob Marley in a Christmas Carol voice. Then we get to see the transition of the voice of Mickey from Walt down to Jimmy McDonald. It was also very cool to see Alan Young as the voice of Donald's uncle, Scrooge McDuck.
Part 2 has Kathryn Beaumont talking about her work in both Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. Part 3 Has a great insight into the casting of Phil Harris as one of my favorite Disney Character, Baloo. He shaped that roll into his own choosing which worked to the benefit of all. In Part 4, John Byner and John Hurt talk about the Black Cauldron. john Byner was a great comic and voice actor from the 70's and 80's and John Hurt of Alien busting out of his chest at lunch fame did some great work on an overlooked Disney cartoon.

It's all in the Details; Epcot

2008-10-11T21:12:00.006-05:00

Have you ever seen this scene before as you walk from England to France in Epcot's World Showcase? I have past this and taken pictures and have always loved it. This past trip I learned something that a lot of people probalbly know already, but it was a wonderful surprise to me. As I got closer I got another picture close up. With Disney, it's all in the details. After I took the close up picture I looked up and right across the river saw the scene in the painting. Without the boat, true, but the detail is really incredible. It makes sense that the artist would have been painting the scene in front of him, but to really see it for the first time was very cool. Hat's off to the Imagineers!

Happy Halloween Disney Style

2008-10-07T18:46:00.005-05:00

Whenever you talk about the Disney Parks you can't help but talk about the way Disney plays up the details. They always go the extra yard to make your expereience that much better. It appears that is the case whether you notice it or not. Let me explain. If you have seen my Disney Legend posts, I like to show the legends window if they have one and if I can find the picture on the internet. So on this last trip to WDW I took advantage of some extra time a took a lot of pictures of the Windows on Main Street. What I did not notice was that most of the windows had a pumpkin near it for Halloween. I'm sure I noticed them but they did not stick out until I looked through the pictures after the trip. Here are some of the cropped pictures of those pumpkins. Leave it too Disney to do this. The question is, is this the Art department that decorates the park or is it Cast Members that do this for them.

And now, Back to the Blog!

2008-10-06T19:25:00.012-05:00

Hello all! Sorry I have been away so long. It's amazing how much time getting laid off and then going to WDW for a week takes away from the blog. Well I am back and if you know anyone in the Philly area looking for an IT professional, send them my way. Nuff-said about that. The trip to WDW was great and I'm sure will fuel many posts. This is the first. Did you ever take a picture and knew you had seen it somewhere before. Here is a pic of the Snow Speeder over at the Star Tours exhibit, bottom left. Now with the 'So you wanna be a Jedi' stage over there, the final resting place of the Snow Speeder is on the Backlot Tour. It could be worse, it could be out of sight all together back stage somewhere. I went on this for the first time in a while and except for the Canyon itself, bleh. The other bright spot of the tour is the Wardrobe building. It seems to be the only true production part of the studio still working. If only for uniforms. Keep your camera handy there is a Wall-E in there on the left. That's where he's been hiding at the Studios. What a shame. Another redeeming quality is the AFI Villains exhibit at the end of the ride. Star Wars, Pirates and Narnia villains. There was also a Board of the top 50 movie villains which I'm sure I'll talk about later. They also had the AFI award winners board. Very cool stuff.

Floyd Norman's 'mr fun' Blog

2008-09-09T12:19:00.006-05:00

I have been following Floyd Norman's Blog for about a year now. For those that might not know, Floyd has been a Disney animator and storyman for about the last 50 years working in both the Disney and Pixar studios. Floyd was made a Disney Legend in Oct. 2007. He was convinced to start a blog and it has been a treasure trove of great stories and cartoons. Today Floyd posted a story about the ins and outs of the design for Winnie the Pooh and Walt's reaction to the process. Very funny and enlightening. So check it out. The name of the Blog is Mr. Fun.

We Need to Stand Together

2008-08-31T14:00:00.007-05:00

As we get closer to the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks I thought this was an appropriate post. This button is part of a set that were made right after the attacks in 2001 for the Epcot cast members and to be given out to guests. It was the reaction that a lot of us were going through early after that disaster. A feeling of let’s stand together against whoever had caused such destruction and loss of life. However, it was decided that it might not be sensitive enough so it was not released. My friends and I had a friend who worked and died on one of the top floors of Tower #2. There is not a day that goes by that we don’t think about or talk about Larry and how he’s missed. I look at this button, maybe a mistake at the time it was made, and only feel a sense of unity. And in a way, I miss the way we all stood together after the attacks. As we go through the election process I hope that all involved from the voters to the politicians remember that it is the UNITED States of America not the ‘Half That Think Their Right, More’ States of America.
We actually were on a trip to WDW in Nov. of 2001. We decided to keep the trip we had set-up pre 9/11. It was a very empty kind of 'forget the real world' kind of trip. Maybe that was the reason not to release the buttons. Keep the Maigc alive by keeping the real world just out of reach for those visiting the parks. (Once you got through the bag checks)
This button is not as rare as you might think. We got this one at MagicMeets this year. There are a couple of listings on Ebay right now. Have a great Labor Day and Remember those lost on 9/11.

Laughing Place has some Great Videos

2008-08-26T11:25:00.005-05:00

For those that are in-between trips to the Disney parks, here is a link that'll help you get through it. Laughing Place.com is an all around Disney Web site. There is a lot of great information here. What really stood out was the amount of Videos they have posted on their site. There are all types of videos from rides, to Disney events, with red carpets and fireworks and parades.

Enjoy the Vids!

Looking back at the Animalympics

2008-08-17T14:57:00.011-05:00

As we watch the 2008 Summer Olympics I can't help but think of an animated tribute to the Olympics that came out in 1980 that I had watched as a kid and my kids have just discovered this year. It was called the Animalympics. This was a great tribute/spoof of the modern Olympic games presented as the animals of the earth would approach the games. Voices were done by Gilda Radnor, Billy Crystal and Harry Shearrer. The writing is well done with a lot of great subtle humor. You will recognize a lot of classic stereotypes of Olympic athletes and commentators from the summer and winter games. Not Disney related at first glance, the studio that produced this was Lisberger Studios. However, when you see the credits you begin to see some pretty recognizable names.

This movie seemed to be the testing ground back then for a number of successful people today. Since TR2N is in the news let's start with Steven Lisberger. He directed and co-wrote Animalympics. One of the Art Directors is Roger Allen. He went on to work on Lion King 1 1/2, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast to name a couple. He also went on to direct a minor picture named the Lion King. Another of the art directors was John Norton. He went on to work on Tron and the Goofy Movie and he wrote Brother Bear and The Emperors New Groove. Bill Kroyer is listed as the Animation Director. Along with a number of animation credits in movies like, Garfield, Scooby Doo and the Green Mile he is listed as the animation director for the Making of Me, the Martin Short movie in the closed down Wonders of Life Pavilion in Epcot. One other name that stood out in the list of animators for Animalympics was the name of Brad Bird. He went on to direct two of the best Pixar movies in The Incredibles and Ratatouille. One last note, the music is done by Graham Gouldman from the band 10CC. The theme song is permanetly stuck in my head which is not really that bad a thing. it's pretty good. Below is a link to part of the movie that highlights the song 'We Made it to the Top'.
Here is a link to a nice site to give more information on the movie. Enjoy the movie and the Olympics!

A Disney Legend: Marvin Davis

2008-08-11T13:14:00.011-05:00

As the Disney Legend's website says, the Disney Legend award was created "To acknowledge and honor the many individuals whose imagination, talents and dreams have created the Disney Magic" There have been 216 Disney Legends awarded since the inception of this award in 1987. Many of the names on this list are known to most Disney enthusiasts, but for every well known legend there are 10 that you might have never heard of. These are their stories.

When I was looking through the list of Disney Legends I came across Marvin Davis. At first I mis-read and thought it was Marc Davis, but no, there's Marc further up the list. When I first looked at Marvin Davis' Disney Legend write-up I was very intrigued. Mr. Davis appears to be a true example of the thin line at the Disney Studios between the Movies and the Amusement parks. Marvin Aubrey Davis was born in Covis, New Mexico in 1910. He attended UCLA and USC and graduated with a degree in Architecture. And then the next logical step? A job with 2oth Century Fox working on such movies as Gentlemen Prefer Blonde's and the Asphalt Jungle as an Art Director. After a couple of years in the motion picture industry, Dick Irvine, a friend of Marv's from Fox, hired him on at W.E.D. Enterprises. 'Marvin developed the first diagrammatic plan for Disneyland and remembered that on August 8, 1953, Walt dropped by his office and picked up a No. 1 carbon pencil and drew a triangle in the middle of the plan and said, "That's where I want the railroad to run." While Walt had the idea, it was up to Marvin to make it workable.With a degree in architecture, it was Marvin's job to translate Walt's ideas into workable site plans. Marvin was the one who scaled the park to match the acreage.'

Marvin did most of the layout that Herb Ryman used to create his concept art of what Disneyland was to look like. After the park opened up he showed his versatility by moving back to the camera side of the company in movies and TV. He worked for Disneys as Art Director on such movies as Follow Me Boys, Big Red and Moon Pilot. He worked on all of the Disney TV shows of the 50's and 60's; Zorro, The Mickey Mouse Club, Davy Crockett and Disneyland/Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. He won an Emmy in 1962 for Wonderful World of Color. Mr. Davis returned to WED in 1965 and was working on the Florida Project. "In addition to the master plan for the theme park, Marvin contributed to the design of such resort hotels as the Contemporary, the Polynesian and the Golf Resort. " Marv was responsible for the design of Main Street and the External views of the Haunted mansion. He also worked on early plans for Walt's dream community EPCOT. He was quoted, when discussing Walt and his ideas for the Florida Project, "...he(Walt) designed the whole traffic flow around EPCOT on a little napkin." After Walt's death, Marvin still felt it his responsibility as project lead to present the plans that had been completed for EPCOT to Roy Disney. 'When Marvin Davis presented his plans to Roy, they were met with a sad, simple, answer. "Marvin," Roy Disney spoke, "Walt's dead." So was the city known as EPCOT.' The entire EPCOT project reverted into the EPCOT Center that opened in 1982.

Mr. Davis retired from the company in 1976. He was inducted as a Disney Legend in 1994 and passed away in 1998. For all he has done for the Disney Company in so many ways, Marv was honored with a Window on the Main Streets of both Disneyland and WDW's Magic Kingdom.

He shares the window over the Bank in Disneyland with Dick Irvine and the one in Florida says; Walter E. Disney Graduate School of Design & Master Planning “We Specialize in Imagineering” Headmaster, Richard Irvine Dean of Design, John Hench Instructors Edward Brummitt Marvin Davis Fred Hope Vic Greene Bill Martin Chuck Myall .

The Walt Disney Family Museum has a great interview with Mr. Davis with video clips of many topics. Please check this out.

One interesting note, Marvin was married to Marjorie, daughter of Bill Cottrell, a Disney executive for over 40 years and niece to Lillian and Walt. Marjorie had actually co-starred in a couple of the early Alice series of live action/cartoon's Walt had directed.

Sources: Chronology of the Walt Disney Company, Disney Legends, Wednesdays with Wade: Disneyland's Forgotten Founding Fathers, Walt Disney Family Album, IMDB, JustDisney, Mouseplanet:Mark Goldhaber,

YouTube Gold: Disney Animation Special:The Illusion of Life

2008-08-03T18:47:00.007-05:00

I was very well rewarded on this trip onto Youtube. Have you ever heard of the book Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, written by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas? According to the Disney Books Web-site, "The Bible. Does not request any further comment. This is THE best book about Disney animation. Period. Found on every animator's desk (even non-Disney ones) and in every serious library about Disney." I was well aware of the book although not fortunate enough to have ever read it. I was more than surprised to find a 1981 TV special title: Disney Animation Special: The Illusion of Life. This was posted in 5 parts by Yensidtun over on Youtube. This special is hosted by Hayley Mills. The first part is an intro by her and then a storyboard and recording session withPearl Bailey as Big Momma from the Fox and the Hound. Part 2 has Ward Kimball discussing the early animation at the studio including all of those rubber hoses.
Frank and Ollie than step in and discuss showing a characters emotion and how important the right voice could be as we see with Snow White.
Part 3 has Ken Anderson talking about Walt's intro to the idea of SnowWhite to the animators. Frank and Ollie discuss various characters from features they had worked on.John Musker and Hayley Mills look at animated facial emotion. Eric Larson talks about personality in characters such as Figaro and how the Live Action session with Peggy Lee helpedhim with Peg from The Lady and the Tramp. Marc Davis then shows a little of how live action helps the animator with help of Cruella. '...somehow out of your own experience there is a way this character should behave. This is the way they should do something.' Live action provided that experience. Part 4 has Marc Davis talking about the child like manor of Fred Moore which came across all to well with Mickey Mouse. And the worldliness of Bill Tytla that comes out on his work of Night on Bald Mountain and his work in Pinocchio.Mill Kahl continues about Bill Tytlas methods. Milt goes on about his own challenging work. Ward returns and talks about personality characters and abstract animation. "I would fight Boredom with Innovation." Part 5 has Glenn Keane getting inspiration from the Morgue from Woolie Reitherman's Bear attack scene and Woolie talks about it.Hayley takes us through the Ink and Paint, Camera, and Dubbing depts. We see some of the camera design and background art and even some character design from the Black Cauldron. Hayley ends with a quote she remembers from Walt, "The only limit to imagination is animation. How else could you see an elephant fly." Please enjoy these looks back. I did. Don't forget Disney Fans Youtube is your Friend. See you next time.

Sources: Wikipedia, Disney Books,

Thank You Fred and MagicMeets Staff!!!

2008-07-24T20:35:00.011-05:00

This past weekend we attended MagicMeets in Harrisburg, Pa. My whole family went and we wanted to send a Big Thanks out to all involved in running this event. MagicMeets is a Walt Disney fan get together that was organized and run by Fred & Renee Block. Fred started this 5 years ago and it has grown since then. With Podcasters, Sponsors and even an Imagineer, we were entertained and had a blast. There were 550 attendees all looking to share Disney stories, talk to Disney experts in Travel and Imagineering, and most importantly to raise money for the Make a Wish Foundation. And raise money we did. Through Lou Mongello’s Dream Team Silent Auction, the contributions of various sponsors at the event including MEI Travel, Tim Devine, ALLEARS.net and All StarVacation Homes. With the help of the WDWToday guys broadcasting live and collecting money, we were able to raise $20,000 dollars. Can you say WOW?!?! With all the fun we had during the day the amount of cash raised was just icing on the cake. I had read that the previous year was just under $10,000. Needless to say, the calendar is set to make reservations for this event next year. A couple of not so random thoughts: Top 7 Stacey calling Mike Scopa live, Way to Go Giants!, Dave Anderson's insights into Walt, WDWToday Podcasting live, Lou was not as short as I was led to believe, Deb Wills Pirating the Cruise Line, standard WDW lines everywhere but meeting new people this way was great, food was good, Fred and the Segway coming through, Mousesurplus selling T-shirts like we were at a concert, many chances for raffles, we did not get anything in the Silent Auction...look out next year, and grown men crying on a stage for a great cause; Priceless.

Thanks again, all, for an event we'll remember for a while.

The Lost American Adventure Narrator?

2008-07-13T20:45:00.011-05:00

Didier over at the Disney History Blog posted a great article given to him by Jim Korkis. The article is titled 'DisneyLand is Good for You'. Written by Charlie Haas. This dates back to Dec. 1978. The article was great and explained a lot of how the architecture and colors are all there to put you at ease at the primal level. A very good article well worth the time to read it. One part of it jumped out at me though. John Hench was talking about a new attraction that they were going to put into Florida. Now this article was 1978, so I am assuming Epcot and based on what he says, it's the American Adventure. It seems that there were some changes made in the presentation of the show between it's Story-board phase and opening. John says,

"...though in Florida, we’re going to have a special pavilion about America and tell about America today, so we are taking on that problem. We have spokesmen for the past—Benjamin Franklin, Will Rogers and Mark Twain -but we don’t have anybody for the present the future yet. We’ll have animatronic figures of those three men, like Lincoln, and those figures speak to you. They have a living presence. As it were. Franklin will tell about what the American spirit really was how it came here and got started, then Mark Twain will take over for the great expansion, and Will Rogers will sum it up. Those last two guys were kind of iconoclasts, Mark Twain was certainly a balloon-buster if there ever was one, so it isn’t a Pollyannia kind of thing. But we’re backing it up with big images. ‘‘for the summing up and the future, that’s a problem. I don’t know who in today’s world sums it up as accurately as musicians, the young musicians. But who are they? They seem to be a collective bunch, they come and go like flowers. You never know—there’s no one guy. But they seem to distill an essence, the spirit of things today. Most of them are optimistic.”

My first thought was, I guess they could not come up with someone to be that last narrator. The show, as it is now, ends with a film montage that takes us through the decades from the 40's into the 80's and then Mark Twain and Ben Franklin return for a pep talk for the future. John Hench mentioned that he thought the remaining narrator would perhaps have been a musician of the day. The interview was published in 1978, so who would have been on the short list for this? John Lennon maybe or Billy Joel? One of the Beach Boys? That's a tough one. Or maybe an older musician like Frank Sinatra or Gene Kelly or maybe Lou Rawls? An interesting thought exercise. Outside of music I would have thought that perhaps JFK could have been a good narrator. The silver lining in this cloud is that in a future re-hab of this attraction, maybe we can see them pull out some of the old notes and add that last narrator.

Here are a couple of links with more of the standard information for the attraction and John Hench

WDW Official web site

ALLEARS

John Hench Wikipedia

John Hench, Disney Legend

Farewell Pleasure Island

2008-07-11T19:33:00.006-05:00

Everyone by now has heard the news of last Friday that Pleasure Island down at DownTown Disney will be closing in a couple of months. My first instinct was “Oh, no! They can’t do that. After listening to a number of Podcasts this week and giving it some more thought I actually think this can be a good thing. I was looking for the original story that the Imagineers had created for Pleasure Island and came across this article from Wade Sampson and his Way-Back Machine over at Mouseplanet. The first half of the article talks about how the Pleasure Island that they are closing is a far cry from the Pleasure Island that opened in 1986. The remainder of the article tells the story of Merriweather Adam Pleasure and his family and the settlement of Pleasure Island in the early 1900’s. A very cool story you should enjoy. Wade, as I wrote this, came out with another article addressing the closing. Again, another good read. And one more set of links of what the actual plaques that were placed around the park said. Part1 and Part2

There are only two places at Pleasure Island I will truly miss. The first has been gone for years, the Fireworks Factory. We loved this place for the food and the way it looked. The second, and I think most people’s, is the Adventure’s Club(AC). We would always go here. This link to AllEars has a great description of the AC and what you could find in there on any given night.
We will have a couple more months to watch the final countdown so here is a big Kungalush to all of the other Adventurers’ out there. The only thing left once it closes is to keep a watch on Disney Surplus and Ebay for stuff their going to sell.

A Disney Legend: Joyce Carlson

2008-07-04T16:39:00.007-05:00

As the Disney Legend's website says, the Disney Legend award was created "to acknowledge and honor the many individuals whose imagination, talents and dreams have created the Disney Magic" There have been 216 Disney Legends awarded since the inception of this award in 1987. Many of the names on this list are known to most Disney enthusiasts, but for every well known legend there are 10 that you might have never heard of. These are their stories.

Dolls by Miss Joyce, Dollmaker for the World. If you were walking down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom of WDW, as you pass the Toy Store next to the Arcade, take a look up at the windows and you’ll catch a glance of a very prettily decorated window with the above text written on it. From that one line you might be able to deduce that Joyce Carlson might have had something to do with the It’s a Small World attraction. Dolls and a World theme as the give away and you would be right. But there is so much more to Miss Joyce-y, as she was know to her close co-workers than It’s a Small World.
Joyce Carlson was born in Racine, Wisconsin on March 16, 1923. She and her family moved to Southern California when she was 15. After finishing High School in 1944, Joyce was in need of a job and was hired at the Disney Studios as a ‘traffic girl’. That is pretty much someone who delivers things through the company such as mail or office supplies to the animators through-out the studio. She earned herself the nickname ‘Hotshot’ after a character she resembled from a Comic Strip called Terry and the Pirates. It stuck with her for a while. After working with the company for over six months Joyce decided that she wanted to do something more and interviewed for an Ink and Paint job. She had been busy in her first months at Disney and had a very nice portfolio put together that ensured her the job. At that time the Ink and Paint Department had the non-pc name of the ‘Nunnery’ for it was staffed almost exclusively with female employees. Miss Carlson worked on a number of projects in Ink and Paint starting with a number of the Training Film shorts for the government during the war. Joyce then moved up to features including The Three Caballeros, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Sleeping Beauty. She was promoted to Lead Ink Artist for the production of Lady and the Tramp. With the 1960’s there was a big change in the animation process. With the Xerox machine Ink and Paint artist were not needed as much. Joyce was fortunate enough to get moved over to W.E.D. which would later become Walt Disney Imagineering. She was part of the team that created the models and designs for the It’s a Small World attraction for the 1964 Worlds Fair. Miss Joyce is credited with designing many of the singing and dancing dolls found in this attraction and she helped bring this attraction to many of the Disney Parks. Joyce has also worked on Carousel of Progress. She has worked with many Disney Legends including Mary Blair and John Hench. Through-out the 1980’s and 1990’s Joyce continued to work with Imagineering. Part of her job was ensuring the quality of any of the new attractions would be first-rate. Another part of Joyce’s job in her last years at Disney was in passing down to new Imagineers some of the tricks of the trade passed down from older animators/imagineers to her. Joyce was the first female Disney employee to have a 50 and 55th anniversary with the company. In an interview with Jim Korkis in 2000 Joyce says:
"I always wanted to be in the creative end and I got my dream. I've still got lots of ideas and boxes and drawers filled with things and tools. Around Christmas, I get ideas and I make things out of Styrofoam. I love working with Styrofoam. I still have one of my pens from my ink-and-paint days where I can get any kind of line you want from thin to thick. I still get out into the parks. I still ride Small World."

Joyce Carlson passed away in January of 2008 at the age of 84. The next time your in the Magic Kingdom walking down Main Street or riding through It’s a Small World. Give a thought to the Imagineering involved and give a big Thanks to Miss Joyce-y.

Sources: 2719 Hyperion, Mark Goldhaber at Mouseplanet, Wade Sampson at Mouseplanet, Disney Legends, and Wikipedia.

Andrew Stanton Wall-e Interview

2008-06-29T19:15:00.002-05:00

I was very lucky to come across a link over at Blue Sky Disney to an interview that Capone at the Ain't It Cool News Blog had with Andrew Stanton the writer and director of Wall-e. This is a great interview as he comes across as a regular guy who has a great love of the sci-fi shows and movies of the 70’s and 80’s. The interview is great and makes me want to get out and see Wall-E as soon as possible. Here’s a link to the interview. The other bit of interesting information to come out of this interview is verification that Pixar has indeed picked up the rights to John Carter on Mars and Stanton will be directing it. Here’s a quote from the interview:

I have been a fan of those books since I was 10, and I've watched vicariously from the sidelines as it has gone from studio to studio since I was in college in the '80s. And just as fan, wanting to see it be made, and praying to God it would be done right. I thought it was truly going to get done by Jon Favreau, and the minute it fell apart, I couldn't believe it. And the timing was just right with my schedule, and I said, "I don't know, this is crazy but I'm going to see if we can get it." And here we are. Believe me, if it doesn't fall apart for other reasons, I'm going to do it right, because I have been a huge fan of those books.

Here is a link to a previous post on John Carter of Mars