Sad to See You Go Sid Cahuenga

I read the news today and could not believe it.  Sid Cahuenga's Antiques and Curios has closed and the contents of the store are being moved to the AFI Shop at the end of the Back-Lot Tour. 
Sid's was a very cool place to stop and check out.  It was right before the turnstiles as you exited the park on your right.  Sid's had a lot of great autographed pictures and other objects.  Some of the names that were on display were very impress, as were the prices.
The other reason we stopped at Sid's was the Trivia board that was on the porch.  If you could answer all of the questions, you were awarded a WDW Certificate.  We've only gotten one of those. 

 

 

From what I read, Sid's location will be a new MyMagic+ service center.  Goodbye Sid, see you around town...or not.  To hear more about the history of Sid Cahuenga's check out Lou Mongello's show # 297.

 

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The Maz Endless Summer Vacation Part 1(WGTWDW Podcast #35)

Here is some more commentary and pics from Show # 35.  You can listen here or read.  Thanks again for stopping by.  Feel free to leave comments or questions

Show # 35

I want to start off by saying that we are really thankful we've been so lucky to travel as much this summer as we've done.  We've had slim years and it's great to take advantage of this time now.  Quinn will be starting college in a couple of years, so we decided to take advantage of the summer time to travel.
The Mazzilli Endless Summer officially started the weekend after the 4th of July.  Lesley's company has a great company picnic at Hershey Park that weekend.  We've been doing this for at least 10 years.  We go with friends from college and make it a reunion weekend also.  This year was the extra bonus for the Girls, One Direction was playing at Hershey stadium and they all had tickets.
We drove out on Friday and went to Hershey park that night.  That's our ride night.  We've conceded long ago that the rides on Saturday are not worth the lines about 1/2 hour after the park opens.  We usually pick two of the rides we could not get on the night before.  For me it's Fahrenheit and StormRunner. We spend most of Saturday at the water park part of Hershey.  A nice feature of the lunch is that you can go at 12:00 thru 6:00 as many times as you want.  Great deal!

  We had a great couple days at the parks.  The Girls all saw 1D and said the concert was great.  The guys stayed at the park and then did the required tour through the chocolate factory before heading back to the hotel and then to home on Sunday.  The plan is to get packed and then back on the road to Florida on Monday morning.  We re-packed the van and got everything ready and set out the next morning at 4:00 am.  One of the rules about driving down without my wife Lesley is that I cannot drive straight through.  We need to stop, which we did in Brunswick Ga.  The next morning we slept all the way to 7am to make up for the day before and got back on the road.

The plan for today was to stop in St. Augustine at the Disney Character outlet and then on to DTD.  We would then get in the room until 4:00pm.  The Outlet store was good but we made no big purchases this year.  We did get a new Antenna Topper,  Luigi's Tires. The key-chain remote for the car was not working so no beeps to guide us back to the car in the parking lots.   The antenna topper was key a couple times in finding the van. We always try to stop here or at the outlet store neat WDW each trip.  We usually find a really great deal.  They usually have the previous holidays stuff along with any movies that might have been big maybe a year earlier.

 We got back on the road and our next stop was Downtown Disney.  We did the regular walk-around the Marketplace and then took a walk to the West Side, something we have not done in a long time. It is so sad to walk through Pleasure Island and think of what it was at one time.  I tried to explain to the kids how it was and how fun it was to celebrate New Years Eve every night.  We walked all the way down to the new bowling alley, Splittsville.  the place is incredible.  We had plans to meet the BOGP guys later that week. 

On the walk back to the Marketplace we stopped at the D Street store.  This is a great place with a lot of cool things to buy.  On top of that were the really cool decorations in there.  I am convinced they inherited a lot of stuff from the since closed Adventurers Club (AC).  And speaking of the AC we passed it twice and even though they've done their best to hide it, it is still there and very much missed.  Before leaving DTD we stopped at Earl of Sandwich.  This is still the best/cheapest sandwich on property, but alas, the restaurant has lost a little of it's sparkle.  On the ride up from Palm Beach towards the end of our trip, we saw that they have Earls on the Fla Turnpike.

Our next stop was to check-in to our hotel.  We stayed at the Ramada Gateway and got such a great deal.  We got a tower room with 2 queen beds, a kitchen area with fridge, microwave and sink separate from the bathroom.   The tower rooms are about 5 years old and look great still.  We were on the second floor.  These were inside hallway hotel rooms while the other half of the hotel was the outside two floor motel type rooms.  I've stayed in both types.  I only recommend the tower rooms.  We paid $63 total a night.  We had a really great stay.  Parked right outside from the elevators, very close each night. Hotel had two pools, a Barbecue themed restaurant and a Ice Cream Counter outside the pool table and Ping Pong covered courtyard.

They had a lot of Disney decorations around property.  This place is 5 minutes, from the parking lot at DHS, no exaggeration. It is the first set of buildings you hit after getting off of World Drive going west.  Plenty of fast-food places and other types of stores.  CVS has everything and the fast-food is a change from the park food.  I think we did KFC for one dinner. 

                                          Hope and I went to DHS that night.  With Quinn coming back to the parks after the cruise and Palm Beach, he would be outside his 14 day ticket window if he went with us that night.  So Hope got her time with Dad. 

Our main goal was the American Idol Finale show.  That's where all of the days winners compete for an over-all winner.  We were lucky to catch a great one.  There were 5 people in the show, but we decided it was between two, and they were sisters.  How about that.  After a great show that was a lot more of a party than the day time shows, it came down to the two sisters.  The younger one won.  I really hope she takes advantage of that super audition pass that gets her to the front of the line the next time American Idol the TV show comes around.  Getting to DHS late we kind of just bummed around.  Fastpass for Tower and we went to the last show of Indiana Jones for the day.  One of our new finds was the addition of the Walter crate and mirror to the pre-show of Muppets.  Very cool seeing stuff like that.  Now get rid of that 3D guy and put Walter on the stage.

We also spent some time in the Animation Courtyard.  Inside the area where you can line up for autographs there are a lot of computer station that let you play with color, audio and other aspects of animation.  Hope and I spent some time on the console that once you answer some questions, determines what Disney character you are most like.  For Hope it was Ariel.  We looked back in pictures and I was Tarzan. We spent some more time walking around and shopping, but that was it for the night.  The next morning we got up early and headed out to DHS again to get on the big rides we missed the night before...and we had Quinn with us.  Quick note on Tickets.  I had an AP card with RFID and the kids had paper tickets we had gotten from Undercover Tourist which were the old type.  We needed to go to two different lines to get in the park.  We took care of this at

Guest Services and got them the newer cards.  If your staying on property this can be done at your hotel.  Our main DHS goal of the day was the Extreme stunt show.  We feel that if you have at least one major goal, you don't tend to wander around as much.  The oddest thing of the day was the line we saw early on.  We did the dash to Toy Story Mania fastpass and then had time to ride it.  This was about 8:45.  

 Our next stop would then be Rock n Roller coaster before the crowd gets heavy.  There was a big line down Sunset that split at the two rides.  The park was not officially open and this was the  line waiting for 9:00.  We did a quick 180 and headed to the GMR. We had a nice relaxing day at DHS.  Went on everything we wanted to.  Ate at the ABC Commissary.  A big treat was a preview of, at the time, the new Lone Ranger movie.  It was at the Sounds Dangerous theater and was about 15 minutes of clips from the movie.  It played a big part in me wasting a couple hours to see it on the cruise.  Very fun and we also got a souvenir button/pin.  We stayed until closing and due to not going to Fantasmic, we were able to get on Muppets and Star Tours a couple of times.  Back to the hotel for a swim and late dinner.
The next day was our Magic Kingdom day.  The goal of today was two-fold.  First, we had BOG Rest. dinner ressies.  Second, the kids wanted to try the new pirate game in Adventureland.    We  

 started the day and met a very special person on the way down Main Street.  The M.S. Fire Chief.  Quinn had taken off with our tickets for fastpasses, but Hope took a picture with him.  This was our first time in the MK with the new fantasyland open.  So after we met up with Quinn, we rode Space Mtn. and ran over to Fantasyland.  It was great.  We went right over to the Little Mermaid ride and rode it twice.  The queue activity was awesome in it's simpleness fueled by high tech. 

Every so often in the cave part of the queue, you pass all manners of ways at looking at a small crab on a pile of something specific.  Through a porthole in the wall, through a picture frame, in a big glass jug and more.  The game was simple, the animated crab would come out with an item.  If it matched the items around him I think you did nothing.  If he carries in something that does not belong, you'd wave your hand in front of the water and he'd take it off the screen.  I've got some
 
video I'll post after this.  We again had a great day at the park with a Crowd Calendar number of 9.  We used the fastpasses and and did a lot of non-ride things as we counted down to dinner.  The kids and I did the new Pirate's Adventure: Treasures of the Seven Seas.  This game is located in a little shack right past Pirates on the way to Frontierland.  You scan your RFID Band or card and begin the game.  There are five adventures and because the game keeps track of the ones you've done, you don't repeat them.  We were lucky enough to do all 5 maps and had a great time.  Perfect mix of Agent P at Epcot, the Sorcerer's game in MK and Pirates of course.  Good mix.  There were some very surprising effects, get ready to have a good time.rs
We were then ready for dinner and made our way over to the Be Our Guest rest.  We had such a good time here. 

I am looking above and seeing how much I am typing.  Listen to the show and I'll just post some more pictures here to cover the last two days of the Turf part of the trip.

 

 

Epcot and Animal kingdom to follow!

 

 

 





2013 Star Wars Weekend Poster Released

Every year I wait for the one event that combines two of my favorite Pop Culture icons, Star Wars and Disney, Star Wars Weekends.  This is an event that occurs 4 weekends in a row usually the end of May through the beginning of June.  This year it goes from May 17th, thru June 9th.  The event draws 1000's down to Disney Hollywood Studios for those four weekends.  The events include autograph sessions, exclusive merchandise, a special parade and a really funny dance session/contest known as the Hyperspace Hoopla to close each weekend down.  There are also various information sessions and interviews.  They just released the official logo for 2013.  And here it is.

Their celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of the Return of the Jedi.  Hence Mickey and Chip and Dale cruising through the forest of Endor. Each weekend it is traditional to have a host.  For this year the hosting duties will be split between Warwick Davis (former Ewok among other SW roles) and Ray Park, otherwise known as Darth Maul. 
If you are planning to make the trip to SWW here are a couple of things to keep in mind.  If you are going for Rope Drop, plan on going early.  Lines form as early as 6:00am.  The process for buying merchandise and getting autographs is run by tickets that you get as you come into the park.  To see what the parade and the Dance show looks like, let YouTube be your friend.  As far as the Hoopla goes, does anyone else think it's kind of weird/icky seeing Amidala and Lei dancing together?

Muppets, the Unkown Queue Around the Corner

     On our last trip to WDW, we had to do something that after how many years of going to the Disney Hollywood Studios, we have never done.  Wait on line outside at Muppetvision 3D.  That sounds kind of weird, but until this last August, I did not even know the line ran outside and we've been on this attraction countless times over the years. 
     As you approach Mv3D, there is that little alcove, off to the right, under a roof as you go into the building to the pre-show room.  I had always assumed that little alcove was for strollers or for those people traveling in wheel chairs.  Well it's not.  As you move to the right of the entrance-way, it opens up around the corner into a very Sesame Street like alley-way.  There was a pathway down around 50 yards and then back to go into the building at the entrance.  I'm not sure if I'm right, but at then end of the alley-way it opens up to the cross street in the Streets of America leading to the San Francisco hills.
     The reason why I spend so much time talking about this alley-way is once again, the Disney Imagineers have set-up and incredible waiting queue experience.  With the help of a lot of Muppet magic, this alley-way has been transformed into a time killing wonder.  With the help of a little parody and a chuckle/laugh for every three feet, this queue goes super fast.  The movie poster were all hanging on the building side and mos of the blueprints and things were on the board wall opposite.  The kids and I spent a couple of minutes walking down here and looking all around.  The Pig Security sign(great irony) was a little sign a door in the back.

     We always keep coming up with things as nice as this that we never knew existed.  It makes it worth going back again and again.  If you've seen something new, write us at WGTWDW@gmail.com and we'd love to hear about it and share on the show.

One Man's Dream: The Scripts

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.

Star Wars Weekend Poster Art over the Years

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!