Live-Action Toy Story!

This is something special.  From their Facebook page: “‘TS Project’ started production in late June 2010 by Jonason Pauley, (then 17), and Jesse Perrotta (18).”  Uploaded just 5 days ago, this 2.5-year-long project was finally uploaded to YouTube and has already garnered 5.5M views!

I am 23 minutes in and just astonished with what these kids pulled off.  The Buzz flying scene was quite the feat!  While not the prettiest thing, I can’t imagine the techniques they picked up on while making this — coverage, stop motion, reveals, etc.  Incredible story-telling school in the span of 2 and a half years — and some crazy dedication.

I’d love to sit down with these guys and hear how they pulled some of this off, their inspirations, and some technical specs!  The full feature is embedded below — enjoy!

New Disneyland Stuff at the Magic Castle!

Last night was the 50th Anniversary of my favorite spot in Los Angeles: The Magic Castle.  January 3rd, 1963m Milt and Bill Larsen opened the private magic club in the Rollin B. Lane mansion at Franklin and Orange in the heart of Hollywood, CA.  In fact, I would say that The Magic Castle is as close to what The Hollywood Tower Hotel is being touted as in the Tower of Terror library scene – a beacon for the showbiz elite!  Richard and Robert Sherman of the Sherman Brothers (It’s A Small World, Mary Poppins, Carousel of Progress, etc.) is one of the very first members of the castle (Richard was in attendance last night!) Carey Grant was on the Board of Directors at one time, establishing the “Carey Grant” rule which still applies today — NO PHOTOGRAPHY INSIDE THE CASTLE!  Let’s just say I happened upon these photos from “someone’s” recent trip to the castle.

Imagineer Yale Gracey was a friend of the castle.  Yale created many incredible effects at Disneyland including, but not limited to, the Pepper’s Ghost effect – which he had not even read about at the time of its discovery.  Meaning he had invented something that, although had been an ancient parlor trick, was an incredible achievement in the world of optical illusion and trickery.  It was so impressive that he showed a model to Walt Disney himself demonstrating the effect and thus The Haunted Mansion was born!

That model now lives at the Magic Castle in the wine cellar below the main bar.  It has changed positions over its tenure but where it landed was in a hallway of strange and similar parlor tricks.  None, however, worked as well as the Pepper’s Ghost model.

Well, last night we ventured down to take a look around and lo and behold, we saw some familiar and new faces to the castle!

IMG_3224
The Hatbox Ghost!
IMG_3228
The Bride!

The Hatbox Ghost and the Bride from The Haunted Mansion!  It seems they have transformed this hallway into a sort-of haunted hall.  The Hatbox ghost, in case it’s not clear, is guarding an endless hallway of wine bottles (also recently relocated to this hallway).  The Bride is where an old Banjo used to sit.  There is a big red button to the right that I thought would make the banjo play but it never did in my time there.  However, the button remains with this new Bride display and knowing President Neil Patrick Harris*, he may have plans in store for this effect in the future!

These statues stand about 18 – 24 inches tall and look very authentic.  If you have any information as to whether they were sold in the parks or from where they came, let us know!

Also notable there was some new signage to go with the haunted-hallway theme.

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If you ever get the chance to visit the Magic Castle, be sure to check out the Haunted Wine Cellar.  It’s sure to excite even the most casual Disney fan!

* –  Yes, THAT Neil Patrick Harris.  He is the current president of the Academy of Magical Arts which calls the Magic Castle its home!

Merry Christmas!

LOVE Christmas!  While work has left this holiday season feeling rather short, I was not to be deterred!  It really hit me this past week, I watched all of my favorite holiday movies (some twice), and visited the parks with family and friends.

One great treat which I have yet to see in person was the following video shot by a cast member and friend of the blog — Candy Cane construction!  Looks to be quite the treat to see these hand-crafted creations come to life.  Hopefully some day I’ll be fortunate enough to catch it in person.

Making Candy Canes from Denise Cross on Vimeo.

Have you gotten to witness this magic in person?  What did you think?  Thanks Denise!

Hidden Mickeys

We love Hidden Mickeys!  So much so, that our friends at Well.io suggested we use their new list app to catalog them.  But we’d love your help!  Feel free to suggest some to us.  Via the app, you can post pictures in the comments of your suggestions and we just might feature it!  It’s a cool fun way to have an archive of them! You can find this list in the future in the Fun & Games Sub-Menu in our Articles section above!

Here’s the list we started for Disneyland!  I’ll be at the parks tomorrow to add photos to the ones I added so far.

Walt Disney World: Part III – Hollywood Studios and More!

Today was the day I was to finally ride the original Tower of Terror.  I was SUPER excited!

At last!

Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a smaller park that’s more focused on shows and entertainment than attractions but the few attractions they do have really pack a punch and the shows are among the best I have seen at a Disney park.  Orlando seems to be a haven for film and stage hopefuls with plenty of roles to go around.  Really top notch stuff coming out of these parks!

So we entered through some familiar looking gates — the new Disney California Adventure Park gates, while modeled after the Pan Pacific park theatre are actually modeled after Disney’s own Hollywood Studios park.  I had no idea until DCA’s walls were about to come down in front of the new gates and a buddy of mine showed me a picture of the Hollywood Studios gate.  I was surprised and thought that DCA’s walls had come down early.  It’s striking how similar these parks look from the front!

And that’s not all.  There’s even a Carthay Circle Theatre (which is a shop rather than a restaurant) and a lot of the same building replicas DCA has in it’s Hollywood Blvd. area.  Even the gas station looks a lot like Oswald’s at DCA.  I went to high school in Hollywood and lived there for about 5 years and they really nailed a lot of the tiny details.  Their Crossroads of the World replica (information station at the park) is uncanny and their Max Factor building (a shopping plaza) is spot on.

Hollywood Studios’ Carthay Circle Theatre
Looking back toward the main gate.

After taking in the main drag Hollywood Blvd., we took a right and headed down Sunset Boulevard toward the Hollywood Tower Hotel known as Tower of Terror.

A beacon for the show business elite!

We took tons of photos of this attraction which seems to house more homages to the show than our DCA counterpart.  Traveling through the 5th dimension caused me to laugh out loud in glee the first time the doors opened and we moved forward.  It’s really neat and almost too stimulating upon the first ride.  There’s just no way to sell how incredibly detailed and awesome this ride is.  The day we came home we went to DLR and rode Tower and while it’s still a great ride and superior in a few areas, as a whole, I would have to say that Hollywood Studios’ version of the ride is in a completely different league.

Awesome!
A hidden Mickey!

Next it was onto Rockin’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith.  We had done this at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Paris and I remembered really enjoying it.  The queue in Paris seemed a little more detailed but the facade was much better at Walt Disney World.

Huge guitar here!

This ride has some great holograms for the pre-show and a nice story and great theming.  We are granted backstage passes to a concert that’s happening in 10 minutes and Aerosmith has demanded that their manager sense a limo our way to get us there.  Unfortunately there’s traffic but our “driver” seems to know some back-alley shortcuts.  We take off into the dark night past some hollywood landmarks along with some rockin’ tunes.  It’s a whirlwind thrill and if I had to compare it to something, it would be a mix of Space Mountain and California Screamin’ at DCA.

We grabbed a quick bite at the farmer’s market area.  What was nice was the even though this was standard theme park fare, it’s pretty regional so BBQ baked beans and cole slaw are common hot dog toppings.  I loved it!  They also had bacon macaroni and cheese toppings.  A great treat I have yet to discover at our 3rd and Fairfax farmer’s market.

This walking magician puts on a great show!
More magic at Hollywood Studios!

Our first new-to-us attraction at this park was The Great Movie Ride.  While it’s a great ride, it seems to be a lot like Jungle Cruise in the way that your “skipper” can make or break the ride, and you have multiple ones so landing multiple good hosts can be difficult.  We had two pretty bad ones but there are some great things to look at.  I liked how large the ride vehicles were.  They really move a lot of people in there!

The Magic Castle on the mural?
Singin’ in the Rain!

The Voyage of the Little Mermaid was a fun show with some cool laser effects and some great puppetry.  However, there’s a whole scene where Ariel is live on stage singing a song and animated Ariel is singing and swimming on a projection right next to her.  Seemed like a mixed message.  It’s also a very truncated version of the film’s story.  You should go into this having already seen the film.

The Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Great Ursula!

Star Tours!  While exactly the same as ours in almost every way including the queue (minus a few things), the exterior of this one is superior to Disneyland’s.  There’s an AT-AT out front walking through the Endor Moon terrain.  Super fun to look at and walk through!

The Endor Moon!

Walking straight into the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, we had no idea what to expect.  We walked into a very large set so we figured there’d be a lot of col stuff to see while the actors made their way from section to section in what may be a 15 minute show, or so.  However, after the entire set gets used in the first scene, I was worried there wasn’t going to be much more to see.  Then, the set change happened.  This has to be some of the most incredible set design I have seen at any Disney park!  The scenes are HUGE and the stunts are great.  I highly recommend this show!

So awesome!

On our way back to Tower (I know, I know…), we stopped into the Beauty and the Beast show.  Yet again, if you’re an out of work actor, make your way to Orlando because these shows are just top notch!  Absolutely terrific performances all around and this show is a little longer than The Little Mermaid show although there’s still some plot holes if you have not seen the film.

Tale as old as time…
We were in the area!

Next was more of a showcase of all things Walt.  Put together by D23, One Man’s Dream is a huge love letter to Walt with props from his boyhood desk with his name etched into the wood to his Glendale, CA office as it would have been seen on the lot.  It’s a wonderful museum of Walt Disney treasures with an amazing film at the end that’s sure to bring tears to your eyes.  Well done!

Bring a tissue or 5!
Walt’s Office

After this, we wandered the park awaiting Fantasmic! at 7pm.  We planned on grabbing good seats at the amphitheater so a 5:30 arrival was key.  We walked thru the Pixar area where their Toy Story Midway Mania was.  We skipped it as the lines were just outlandish and we aren’t huge fans of the DCA version so we figured we weren’t missing anything.  We saw Pizza Planet (having my birthday there next year for SURE! (I kid…)), a huge Muppet store (we skipped MuppetVision 3D), the backlot area (the backlot tour was down for the duration of our trip there), and skipped the Lights! Motor! Action! stunt show as we had seen it in Paris.  After some sightseeing, it was time to go see the East Coast version of the Disneyland classic.

It sure is different!

I took a little nap while waiting for the show but we certainly had GREAT seats!  While it’s different, it was cool to see some added scenes with rarely seen characters like Pocahontas.  Their dragon is like our old dragon and they have a smaller and sort of dinky version of the Mark Twain for the finale.  All in all, it’s still a magical show but in the amphitheater setting, it seems a little too far away.  I was still able to grab some awesome pictures.  See if you can spot the Mickey with the weird eyes. What’s THAT about?

NO!
Mickey encounters the snake!
Dragon
Slaying the dragon

Tons more Fantasmic! pictures below!  After leaving Hollywood Studios for the night, we headed over to The Magic Kingdom to take advantage of the extra magic hours.  We headed over to the Tiki Room but they closed early so we went to Tomorrowland to check out Space Mountain which wasn’t bad.  It’s very different and more like the pre-1998 DLR version.  I really liked the star effect inside the queue — it was very convincing.  Unfortunately we were not able to play with the interactive queue.  Has anyone done it?  Is it any good?

En Route to the Magic Kingdom
The Mountain!
Great end-queue visuals

Before we left for the night, we went on TTA’s Peoplemover. It moved a lot faster than I expected and was visually different from our old Disneyland version but it was still a great ride with some incredible park views!

TTA: Peoplemover

Another perfect day at WDW in the books!  Nice touch upon exiting the Magic Kingdom for the night and retiring to our hotel room once again.

Nicely done!

Walt Disney World: Day Two – Magic Kingdom and More!

Our first full day at the parks was a no-brainer — The Magic Kingdom!  And Halloween Time was in full swing at the parks.The first thing I noticed was just how large their Main Street Town Square was and with that space, how well they decorated for the season!  I took pictures another day of all of the scarecrows and pumpkins around but even their gas lamp decor was a step above Disneyland’s. This park reminded me a lot of Disneyland Park Paris in terms of scale and decor around Main Street.

Disneyland Paris Main Street Town Square (2008)
Magic Kingdom Main Street Town Square (2012 Halloween Time)

We had to see it all: The Chamber of Commerce, City Hall (and whether or not they had any nod to our park’s ever-burning lamp — they do not), the Car Barn (where they keep the horses, trollys, etc in plain view in a well themed barn), the Barber Shop (at which I almost got a haircut but decided against it for more time in the park), and many of the smaller shops.  We were really taking this park in.

The Car Barn
The Barber Shop
From inside the Barber Shop

We decided to do the park the right way and hit as many attractions as we possibly could.  This lead us into Adventureland and into the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.  This theme on the treehouse used to also reside at Disneyland Park but was re-themed in 1999 to Tarzan’s Treehouse.  I really liked all of the details of the family living as primitively as could be.  The treehouse also provided incredible views of Cinderella’s Castle and Space Mountain.  Actually, the treehouse is not needed for an incredible view of the castle — it can be seen from miles around – towering over space and the Main Street Depot Train Station!

What a view!

Already, Adventureland was very different for us.  No Indy, a Magic Carpet ride with Aladdin smack-dab in the center, and a separated Dole Whip outlet.  Next to the Tiki Room is Sunshine Terrace at which we looked but did not partake.  Upon exiting the treehouse, we made a left and went straight onto the Jungle Cruise.

These people were just standing around. We just about walked onto the ride.

We had no clue what to expect but what we got was an amazing tour with the best skipper I have ever seen.  He kept to the classics but added very subtle twists to them that made the “veterans” to the monologue chuckle.  This version of the attraction also features an incredible cavern sequence that’s best seen at night, but was still awesome for our first trip!  This is not to be missed and the queue has a little friend to keep you entertained while waiting.

Want to know if he bites? Get close!

Continuing on through Adventureland, we skipped Tiki Room for time and daylight (I prefer to do it at night) and made a B-Line for Pirates of the Caribbean!

Yo ho!

Let’s say that this attraction really makes up for it’s much shorter and condensed ride-thru with it’s very detailed and illustrious queue.  We walked onto the ride this day, but near the end of our trip, we really got into the nooks and crannies and took some amazing shots with my new lens!  Can’t wait to share those but you’ll just have to wait a while.  As I said before, this version of the ride, while better than Disneyland Paris and very similar to Disneyland’s, is very short and missing some key scenes. One thing that made no sense to me was almost immediately, you are taken under the Jones/ Blackbeard waterfall and then into a Mermaid scene (which is GREAT by the way) and then around the shores of pirate bones.

I loved this part of the beach scene!

I have always interpreted the passage thru the waterfall to be the threshold through which the pirates then become full-fleged animatronics.  In this incarnation of the ride, it’s more like the tiny “drop” is the catalyst and that doesn’t really work for me.  As the Mermaids and waterfall are more recent additions to the ride, I think it probably made more sense originally, but I found that slightly jarring.  Also, after the town fire and going under the pirate with the dirty foot (or hairy leg), the ride is over and you see Jack Sparrow about 25 ft. away (he can jump 30 ft. so he’ll just go right over us — I kid) inside this castle-like scene.  It’s all so abrupt with numerous scenes missing and the Sparrow animatronic is so far away it’s almost a waste.  Still a must and a classic, but that’s my two cents.

Walking through the rest of Adventureland, past the shops and restaurants, we found ourselves entering Frontierland, presumably through the back entrance.  The first attraction we came to:

Splash Mountain!

While not an attraction we frequent at Disneyland and no a particularly warm day (or trip, actually), we had to see what was different.  However, since we are not familiar with the nitty-gritty details of the Disneyland version, I can say it was a great ride and nothing felt a-miss.  Things felt different and new, for sure, but we didn’t get off thinking something was drastic or inherently wrong.  Must have done something right!

Had to grab this sign. Close enough!

Right next to Splash was a seemingly misplaced while at the same time appropriate Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Talk about a mountain range!

The wildest ride in the wilderness!

This version of the ride may be better than Disneyland’s in terms of thrill.  It has all the close calls you have come to love at DLR with some additional “features” that I really liked a lot.  There’s a section of the track that makes it seem as if the rails below you are collapsing and you really move through that section.  I can only describe it as being similar to the collapsing mine scene (which they also have) but imagine rolling through that at 35 MPH!  That part also happens through their mining town on the backside of the mountain.  The front near the queue has a great snow-capped looking range and the dinosaur bone “tunnel.”  The queue is setup differently, as well.  Imagine our mining “station” but about 10x larger.  Nearly the entire queue goes through the station and you board below it as if you’re already inside the cavern.  It’s a tough description, for sure, but it’s a very effective method.

Now it was time for a slight break.  We wanted to take in the sights, analyze the differences, and really take in what we were experiencing.  Luckily, right after exiting Big Thunder, there’s a boardwalk from Frontierland all the way around the Rivers of America to Liberty Square.  I would say Frontierland is sort of where Disneyland’s New Orleans Square and Critter Country are and Liberty Square is more where Disneyland’s Frontierland is.  It is a slight change in configuration but it all flows together so well.  On our way down the boardwalk, we saw a lot of the native birds that seem to love the Rivers of America and Frontierland.

In my memory, a first for me!

En route to Liberty Square we stopped at Country Bear.  I don’t remember ever doing this as a child and I love seeing the three left-over busts from Disneyland’s version hidden away inside Winnie the Pooh in Critter Country.  I had a ball!  It’s a well maintained attraction that I wish we still had.  Pooh is great though!

Jammin’.

Passing the Diamond Horseshoe (they just HAD to out-do our Golden Horseshoe!) we came upon Liberty Square.  I loved this land the most.  The look and feel, the detail and the sights — I was in awe.  I loved the costumes the cast wore, I loved the liberty bell, the liberty tree, the Christmas Store, and most of all:

The Hall of Presidents!

Maybe not most of all because The Haunted Mansion technically falls within Liberty Square but this attraction is absolutely stunning.  WDI really outdid themselves when coming up with this attraction and the cast member inside introducing the show really knew his stuff!  I could sit there all day and listen to him.  It has a little of our Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and a LOT of animatronic presidents!  Truly a marvel topped off with a short speech by our sitting president Barack Obama.

Awe inspiring.

We then took a trip around the Rivers of America by steamboat, naturally, aboard the Liberty Belle.

While not nearly as grand as her west coast cousin, she certainly packs in the sights.  I wish the narration were louder as I struggled throughout most of the trek to find a spot where I could clearly hear it.  Unfortunately I was unsuccessful.  Getting older, maybe?  Their Tom Sawyers island looked absolutely incredible (and it was!  We went later in the trip).  Their Native American village had some nice detail and their fort is still operational and kids can still shoot guns from the windows!

How!
Bang bang!

 

Next up was just about the main-attraction for me:

Boy did this ride deliver!  It had an interactive queue, a terrific sound system, extra scenes, and some stunning effects!

Interactive Queue

As you may already know, the line divides into two sections — one which goes through the graveyard next to the mansion, and one that leads you straight to the front door. The cemetery offers some fun entertainment as you play music, dodge water, and solve riddles with some grim grinning ghosts.  A lot of fun and something WDW has really mastered.  More and more rides at Magic Kingdom are being outfitted with these play areas to keep guests entertained while in line.

Leota’s tombstone. Keep a close eye on her!

Inside there’s a breezeway and the foyer with a terrific portrait of Master Gracey himself. This is where the attraction begins.

The master.

You are then brought into the stretching portrait gallery.  The sound system, while a little overdone and erratic at times, is really well designed here.  They even added some reverb effects to the ghost host that really give him an eerie aura.  Be sure not to be too quick to exit the room as there’s some outstanding sound design you may miss urging you and your party to stick together.  The scenes here are condensed slightly as you almost immediately board the doom buggies here.  What’s neat, however, is you then ride through three scenes we do not have: a staircase scene a la M.C. Escher, a library scene where you may recognize a stalking bust or two, and a phantom pianist scene.  This all skillfully blends into some blinking eyes which become the wallpaper and you are lead down the changing portrait hallway.  It’s really an interesting journey through a new yet familiar territory.  Plenty of pictures from inside in future posts.

Exiting the mansion, you can hang a left into Fantasyland.

An Interior Small World

We rode this classic which is similar yet different.  No Pixar characters in this one and it’s on a much smaller scale at the Magic Kingdom.  I enjoyed the differences and again, nothing felt a-miss.

Michey’s Philharmagic

Philharmagic was a great show and I don’t tend to like the 3D shows.  2 minutes in, I forgot all about what I liked and didn’t and just sat back and enjoyed Donald’s antics.  Very charming!

Now, it was getting late and we were hungry.  We were victims to the horrendously handled New Fantasyland debacle on the WDW website and were unsure whether or not we were going to be allowed into the land.  We had heard they were doing dress rehearsals but were not sure when or how we would get in.  Fortunately, we lucked out and never once had an issue getting into the New Fantasyland — but not without some due diligence.

We approached the entrance to a sign turning people away.  However, after talking to a cast member denying us entry, he all of a sudden added “…unless you want to eat at the Beast’s castle?  If so, then it’s all open to you!” Well in we went!  Not knowing protocol and it being completely empty, we wandered toward what we thought was the Beast’s castle but found ourselves in the queue for Enchanted Tales with Belle.  Do yourself a favor – DO THIS!  It’s a technological marvel at every turn!

I’ll have to post video soon but you walk THRU a mirror, into a room with an INCREDIBLE animatronic Wardrobe, and then into the library where the most incredible puppetry I have ever seen was performed (or was it an animatronic?)  I had to do this three times during our trip because I had to know how the mirror and Lumiere were done!  Also, participate as much as you can!  They take PLENTY of photos and give everyone that participated a photopass at the end.

The Wardrobe!
Just wow.

Before dinner, we wandered through the rest of New Fantasyland’s Phase 2.  Since there was a Halloween Party in a couple hours, we wanted to make sure we weren’t going to miss anything because we spent too long in the restaurant.  Boy was I glad we did.  The first thing we came upon was Gaston greeting women and children around the fountain. I had to be not only the only guy there but probably the most excited person there to meet him!

~ 1 Barge.

This face-character really had Gaston down!  A pure delight.  We then wandered into Gaston’s tavern just to look around.  Now, I have not been keeping up to date on things posted to the Disneyland Parks Blog as of late because of work, but I was glad to have stumbled upon LeFou Brew!

Nailed it

This drink was super tasty!  Highly recommended.  I hear that Cars Land at DCA has the same drink.  Just must be marketed better at WDW.  Seems to fit better with the theme.  If this is, in fact, the same drink then get yourself over to the Cozy Cone and have one because WOW!  It’s basically a frosted apple juice with a hint of toasted marshmallow topped with a passion fruit-mango foam. YUM!

Then came Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid.

While identical to the DCA Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, the queue is to die for.  Great details with interactive elements and animatronics.  So much to see if there are longer lines.  We would have taken more photos but there just wasn’t much time before we wanted to eat dinner.

So much to see!
The projections seemed more vibrant here.

And just like that, we were on to dinner!  We put our names in and took in the sights to be seen.  The construction of the new Snow White mine ride opening in 2014 right across the trail (future noise pollution issue?), the Beast’s castle high atop the hill, the gargoyles guarding the bridge and doors of the castle — everything just pristine and ready to go!  We were truly lucky to be able to eat here because I’m sure these tables will be really tough to get after the December 6th opening!

Beast’s Castle
These guys have names, you know!
Don’t mind if I do!

This higher priced restaurant offers amazing food and the decor to match.  There are three dining rooms as far as we could tell.  There’s the Ballroom which seems to be the main dining hall, the West Wing, and the Rose Gallery. There were some other places curtained off but they looked like buffet stations and register areas.

The Ballroom
The West Wing
The Rose Gallery

Dinner and dessert were great and the waitress was a delight.  She truly knew how to make us feel special!

Chocolate Cupcake for Dessert!

The Magic Kingdom was now closed to the public for Mickey’s Not-so-Scary Halloween Party.  We had tickets for Nov. 2nd so we were escorted out of the park by a ghost (held and lit by a cast member). That, however, didn’t stop us!  It was off to EPCOT via the Monorail!  I would say this was the biggest transportation “miss” for WDW.  I always assumed we could take a monorail from park to park.  You can only take a monorail to EPCOT and the Magic Kingdom.  Also, those two monorail lines are not connected.  The best you can do is take an express monorail (no resort stops) or the ferry to the Transportation and Ticketing center across the Seven Seas Lagoon in front of the Magic Kingdom to then board an adjacent monorail to EPCOT.  I found this a bother because you’re made to walk more than necessary.  I should have looked for an EPCOT bus — that would have almost been quicker, in my opinion.

Anyhow, we were off to EPCOT and I was very excited to ride Spaceship Earth!  When I was a kid and saw it on TV, I always thought it was just a cool thing at the park.  Learning that it housed a ride made it SUPER enticing!  And that anticipation paid off in a very neat trip through time and how we as the human race evolved into the knowledge banks we are today!  A little bit of education via a fun journey clearly laid the theme of the park out for me.

Below the “large golfball” is the entrance to the “ship”
This guy was sleeping on the job!

It was then off to the Seas with Nemo and Friends.  It’s similar to our submarine version but less effective and impressive as ours.  It’s an omni-mover system so the waits are undoubtedly shorter than our turtle of an attraction.  The coolest parts of the ride are at the end when your sea-shell buggy rides through a real aquarium with the Nemo characters projected into the tank a la the Pepper’s ghost effect.  Very cool to see Nemo with other real fish and it’s very clean and believable!

The Seas!
There’s also dolphins, manatees, and sharks upon your exit!

Along with full access to the aquarium, there’s a play area featuring Bruce the shark and a Turtle Talk with Crush theatre.  This is one of the few attractions we did not visit during our trip.  Onto The Land!

The Land

The Land features Living with the Land, a boat cruise through some incredible greenhouses and farm environments, Soarin’ which we did not ride as it’s the same as Soarin’ Over California at DCA however I hear their interactive queue is not to be missed, and The Circle of Life movie featuring Timon, Pumba, and Simba of The Lion King.  I think Living with the Land was the best attraction and unfortunately the Circle of Life film was being projected onto the curtain so it took me out of it a little but I laughed and enjoyed the message.  For Halloween, they had some great pumpkins out on display:

Pumpkins!

While we briefly visited Journey into the Imagination featuring the lovable purple dragon Figment and the Captain EO theatre, I did not take any pictures of that facility worth posting.  The exterior is pretty cool, though.  It was then to Mission Space!

Mission Space!

Unfortunately Ellen’s Energy Adventure was closed for the evening and Test Track was down for refurbishment (bummer!) but Mission Space made up for that 10-fold!  This is unlike any ride you have ever experienced!  In fact, it was developed along with NASA!  There is an extreme version (natural choice) or a less extreme version.  My eyes were watering and my face was stretched and I loved every minute of it.  While not for the faint of heart, we also went on the less extreme version and it was still pretty awesome.  So awesome I would have been happy if that were as crazy as the ride got but I REALLY loved the extreme version and am glad they offer it!

You sit in a pod with three other people and you are all assigned tasks to complete your mission to Mars.  You are then closed in with a joystick and viewer screen inches from you.  Your trip is a take off and landing on Mars, but the technology involved in making that strikingly believable is astounding!  You’re in a huge room spinning on a huge axis and your pod (1 of 5 spinning in this one huge room) tils up and down and side to side all while spinning around a single point.  It’s a tough explanation but an incredible thrill!  I can’t speak highly enough about this ride!

We then walked through the World Showcase and took full advantage of the Extra Magic Hours for the evening.  First was the Three Caballeros in Mexico:

Mexico
It’s like It’s a Small World with Donald, José, and Panchito. Super fun!

The only thing I think this attraction lacked was at the end, there’s a concert that the Three Caballeros play on a huge stage but they make no use of the stage and rather project them playing on a screen.  Why not take advantage and make some great animatronics?!  A miss but still a fun ride!

It was then off to Norway to ride Maelstrom and while I did not take pictures, it was probably out of sheer and utter confusion and amazement.  There were trolls, backward-moving boats, oil rigs, and an empty movie theatre.  We watched the film later and it’s very good but this ride is a trip — I can’t put it any other way.

The night wound down and the wife and I grabbed some drinks at the Rose & Crown pub in the UK.  I had a guinness and she had a Strongbow (a new favorite cider, BTW) and before taking our first drink, I noticed this little detail.

Well done, EPCOT. Well done, indeed.

Now to rest up for tomorrow’s Hollywood Studios journey!  Enjoy the full gallery of photos from day 2 below:

My First Post-Walt Disney World Trip Report

Wow.  I had expectations going into my first trip to the Orlando resort.  The resort was large, the parks were differing and varied, things like that.  Many of these were substantiated and many were exaggerated but one thing is for sure — it’s a different world on the East Coast!

The Magical Express

This bus takes you from the Airport to the resort at which you are staying. This is included in your trip planning if you are in fact staying at a WDW resort hotel. They also take your checked bags on a separate trip to your room so upon arrival and checkin, you can head straight to the parks!  We arrived at about 3:00 pm EST, checked into the brand new Art of Animation resort (The Little Mermaid wing), and headed to EPCOT where Robert, a veteran pro at the WDW resort, recommended we head as it’s his favorite WDW park.

AoA Resort
The Lion King section of the AoA Resort
Never did get any great pictures of our wing as we walked thru the Lion King wing to get to the busses every day.
Our first WDW park experience: EPCOT!

Epcot’s Food & Wine festival was in full swing upon our arrival. We actually planned our trip when we did for several factors including this which also included Halloween Time at WDW as well as the start of Christmas Time.  On top of that, from multiple sources and WDW aficionados, the week after Halloween is consistently among the lightest in the parks.  This couldn’t have been more true and the weather was unseasonably cold but welcome due to Super-storm Sandy.  Unfortunate for them, for sure, yet beneficial for the Floridians.

Our first task upon landing was to eat!  It being Food & Wine, we headed straight through Future World at Epcot to World Showcase where we were met with dozens of quick-service gourmet meals from countries around the world.  The first stop was the Hawaiian booth which featured a crowd favorite: Kalua Pork Sliders and they were incredible!

Kalua Pork Sliders!

This small but DELICIOUS bite satiated us to the point where we had a very important question to answer.  In just what country did we want to eat?  Virtually every country in the World Showcase at EPCOT features a restaurant with authentic cultural food.  We decided upon Japan for a couple reasons: it would be a lighter meal and it was deep enough into World Showcase that we could see the sights on the way of this new (to us) park!

Photography nerds: this is a 30 second exposure with my new 30mm 1.4 prime. I had a lot of fun with it on this trip!

We ate at the Teppan restaurant in Japan and were treated not only to a world-class meal and show, but some personalized food art representing our belated first anniversary (the trip was also considered my wife and my gift for each other) as well as our first WDW trip!

Who says you can’t play with your food? These people do it for a living!
After we decided we were too full for desert, they brought us this ginger chocolate cake anyway for our anniversary!

After dinner, we walked out to the 5 minute warning for the World Showcase lagoon show Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.  We had been told that this show was absolutely incredible and not to be missed.  While like World of Color it’s a technological marvel, we weren’t sure the show’s message was clear enough. That said, it’s still a fun show to watch and we caught some amazing photos!

The famed Earth screen surrounded by fireworks for Illuminations

As our first night came to a close, we realized just how tired we were and the park was closing.  We knew we wanted to get up early for our first full day at WDW so we headed back to the hotel to rest up!

Good night EPCOT!

First impressions of WDW: the transportation system is surprisingly simple and well organized.  We were worried that it would be confusing and were slightly intimidated by it but well placed and clear signage is abundant in the parks and at the exits.  We had also heard how crowded the bus depots can get and while the queues were prepared for large crowds, we never waited for a second bus because of crowds and the busses ran much more frequently than the posted 20 min. approximation between departures.

This was truly the beginning of a great trip!

Here is the full gallery of photos for the first day:

Frankenweenie (1984)

I know I am behind the times but I only just watched the original live-action black and white Tim Burton production of Frankenweenie from 1984 and I absolutely LOVED it!  It’s available on your “Nightmare Before Christmas” DVD, if you own it.

If not, check it out below!  It is seriously one of his best films and really shows his love of monster movies of the 30s and 40s as well as his potential as a blossoming director.  Unfortunately, he was fired from Disney soon after this film in an almost Ed-Wood-ian fashion for wasting the studio’s time and resources.  For a long time, it had only been screened in the UK before “The Neverending Story” as both films starred Barret Oliver.  It was later released in a re-edited and censored form to try to recoup some money most likely.  Then, after being shelved for a long time and Tim Burton’s enormous success, it was released in its original uncensored form with the “Nightmare…” DVD.

After seeing the extended preview now playing at DCA, I can say that the new film seems to stay pretty true to the original down to the tiniest details!  So, if you have not seen this original masterpiece and want to be surprised by the 2012 feature-length remake, I would suggest steering clear.  I cannot confirm that the ending is in any way similar in the 2012 version but I want to give fair warning that this version has an ending that I was very happy with and would be excited to see in a stop-motion remake.

And now, sit back, grab some cocoa and enjoy Frankenweenie (1984):

What did you think of the film?!  Leave your impressions below or, obviously, in the YouTube comments page!  I would have to say that this film has shot up into my top 5 of Burton’s films.

The Art of Frankenweenie Exhibit

It looks as though Tim Burton has written a love letter to his fans.  Considered by many to bo one of the greatest living film makers today, “Frankenweenie” seems as if he has returned to a form we haven’t seen in many years.  His signature style shines bright in the film and Disney park guests are treated to a peek at the film’s stop-motion characters and props.

Tim Burton’s Introduction

When touring the Art of Animation gallery, which is currently outfitted with an Art of Frankenweenie exhibit, one can’t help but realize that Burton is a man with a very clear and signature vision.  The story, as well as the art direction, has the signature Burton / German impressionistic qualities.  Noticeable throughout the gallery (and sneak preview at the Muppet Vision 3D theatre) are nods to past works which made looking at every little detail so much more exciting!

The workbench

The painstakingly difficult task of animating a feature-length stop-motion animated film is chronicled well in pictures and production diary videos which play throughout the gallery in sporadic intervals.  There are three distinct and very detailed sets complete with props, characters, and lighting of which guests are encouraged to peruse and snap photos.  Each kiosk is equipped with a video which plays with information about the depicted scenes.  We were unable to hear any of the audio from the videos as the exhibit seems very popular among guests but the screens seem equipped with speakers.  Perhaps heading over first thing in the morning to catch these shorts is the way to go.

Classmates
A boy and his dog
The breakfast club

The attic scene where the re-animation takes place is also interactive.  Kids and families seemed to really enjoy re-lighting the scene with the series of switches below the display case.  It is truly an amazing feat of lighting, art direction, and set design, that scene.  Every detail is perfectly executed and ready to be scrutinized by any and all that wish to delve into the darkest corners of the room to try to catch a piece of wasted space or thematic vacuum.  Not the case in my experience.  Parts of the scene with no light still had an old newspaper complete with headlines, articles, dust, etc.  It’s really an inspiring to see these scenes in person.

The Family

This exhibit is a true treat.  Really take a moment to take in each and every scene, workstation, video, and article there is to see because there’s so much detail and it’s really fun to play cinematographer and take up-close pictures of these masterful creations.  Take a look below at some of the photos we were able to take while viewing the exhibit. And then, if you haven’t already, head down to Disney California Adventure park to experience it for yourself and to shoot the scenes with your artistic eye.  I can only imagine this exhibit taking up most of your afternoon while you escape those remaining hot summer days!  And be sure to catch the 4D preview across Hollywood Blvd. as the experience is thrilling and touching all at the same time.