I promise I'll get back to this. Really. Stuff, issues, ugh.
Wednesday
Everest at Night - twice. Number 17. Looking out over the side at Epcot, but in the dark so it wasn't as terrifying.
The mini Everest as depicted in the sculpture that lines up perfectly with the mountain.
Dinosaur: needs the pterodactyl and the meteor to be functional.
Polynesian Bar - Ginger Lemonade
Thursday
Filming for Christmas Parade took over Main Street.
Crystal Palace Breakfast plus assorted issues.
Fantasyland: Peter Pan, Pooh, PhilharMagic (Bonus FastPass), beignet cutter (still need to make those)
Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Dole Whip
There was a break around here for some reason.. Not sure where or why
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party: Splash Mountain (I stayed dry, Kristen and Kev did not), Big Thunder Mountain with a Diet Coke (the only way to ride this), cocoa, parade, Wishes (Kevin made that even more fun by squeeing all over the place)
More to come...
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Saturday, October 30, 2010
I haven't stopped at two entries. I just got hit with sinus and upper respiratory infections. This is cutting into my writeup time. I'll be covering the Villains Victory Party, ElecTRONica, finding some lost WDW photos, and my thoughts on some of the park changes that are in progress.
BTW, I found that essay I wrote about WDW back in 11th grade. Ewww, that's a stinker. How I got an A on it is beyond me.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The First Glimmers and the Awakening
April or so of 2010.
Kevbot had indicated that he'd be flying out to Disneyland from Boston. Now, Kev was a friend of mine at the time, but he didn't know it. No, it's true. I'd been reading his LiveJournal and following his various adventures for a year or so. Two of my friends had him listed on their friends lists. I can only guess he made a comment on one of their posts and I link hopped to his journal - I can't remember how I actually came across his writings...
Kev managed to make a comment that he had a packed schedule (him being an incredibly social creature), but that Sunday would be a great time to meet up with anyone who just wanted to hang out. One of my friends had said he'd be flying down to hang out with Kev at Disneyland, so I jumped in (essentially a complete stranger) and said I'd be there too. There was no response. Umm, yeah.
Well, Steve and I went anyway. I hadn't been since a trip in October 2004. The theory being that if things weren't working out, Steve and I could just make it our own day at the park.
I'm going to condense a lot here - but it was essentially the best day I'd had in years. I've had several major moves over the last few years: Atlanta - Spokane, WA - Seattle, WA - Los Angeles - San Diego. For whatever reasons, I hit a major clinical depression slump while in LA and that lasted well into the move to San Diego. One thing that never seemed to recover was my interest in social activities; I've essentially been a social hermit for the past seven years. But the time at the Anaheim parks was really awesome: Kev was great, as was Josh, John, JOhn (not a typo), Michael, Vince, and anyone else I'm forgetting. I don't know how they felt, but I was so very happy.
Then Monday came. It felt like I had just a great dream and was back to normal. The ebb of happiness had a physical effect on me and I retreated once again. All of those people were visitors; none were local. I had been gifted with one day and that was over. I didn't fall into depression - just back to my comfortable hermitage. [Yes, though it may not look like it, I am condensing.]
I had flashes of Disney interaction with people since then, but nothing that made me *want* to go. Corey and Shawna always have passports and go to Disneyland every couple of weeks. I found out that several co-workers do the same thing. Disney had started bubbling through into the periphery of my life.
Flash forward to October 2. Kev and my friend Joe are once again in WDW and posting pics to Facebook. One in particular was a great shot of the Tower of Terror. I expressed my envy that they were at the parks. Surprisingly, they both said they were going back in December and that I should come along!
o.O Well, there's a thought.
I went through some calculations (hotel, tickets, airfare) and it turned out that there really was no way that Steve and I could go. Just getting someone to look after my dog would be rather involved. I had to tell the guys that it just couldn't happen. It was Steve who pointed out that we were overlooking the obvious answer: I could just go by myself.
Things happened, stuff was said, and it was decided that this could work. From the moment on October 7th that I actually made plane reservations, I noticed a change. I started to get excited. Really excited.
Blogs and podcasts on the various parks became the prime use of Google. A D23 membership is now a reality. After doing the math it become obvious that a Premiere Passport for both parks was the best bet. Plus, hitting Disneyland with no blackout dates was definitely worth it. I bugged the crap out of Kevin and Joe through Facebook and Gmail and I started following tons of people on Twitter so I could keep up to date with any Park chatter. One evening I called Joe to ask a few passport questions and instead started rambling about the December trip and Disney in general. I've been downright bubbly. One might say Giddy (I did. Several times).
Even though I was going to go to Disneyland a week later for my birthday, I threw together an impulse trip this past Sunday. And it turned out ElecTRONica had just started that weekend. Everything just seems to breaking out of a decade long stasis and I'm still excited.
Kevbot had indicated that he'd be flying out to Disneyland from Boston. Now, Kev was a friend of mine at the time, but he didn't know it. No, it's true. I'd been reading his LiveJournal and following his various adventures for a year or so. Two of my friends had him listed on their friends lists. I can only guess he made a comment on one of their posts and I link hopped to his journal - I can't remember how I actually came across his writings...
Kev managed to make a comment that he had a packed schedule (him being an incredibly social creature), but that Sunday would be a great time to meet up with anyone who just wanted to hang out. One of my friends had said he'd be flying down to hang out with Kev at Disneyland, so I jumped in (essentially a complete stranger) and said I'd be there too. There was no response. Umm, yeah.
Well, Steve and I went anyway. I hadn't been since a trip in October 2004. The theory being that if things weren't working out, Steve and I could just make it our own day at the park.
I'm going to condense a lot here - but it was essentially the best day I'd had in years. I've had several major moves over the last few years: Atlanta - Spokane, WA - Seattle, WA - Los Angeles - San Diego. For whatever reasons, I hit a major clinical depression slump while in LA and that lasted well into the move to San Diego. One thing that never seemed to recover was my interest in social activities; I've essentially been a social hermit for the past seven years. But the time at the Anaheim parks was really awesome: Kev was great, as was Josh, John, JOhn (not a typo), Michael, Vince, and anyone else I'm forgetting. I don't know how they felt, but I was so very happy.
Then Monday came. It felt like I had just a great dream and was back to normal. The ebb of happiness had a physical effect on me and I retreated once again. All of those people were visitors; none were local. I had been gifted with one day and that was over. I didn't fall into depression - just back to my comfortable hermitage. [Yes, though it may not look like it, I am condensing.]
I had flashes of Disney interaction with people since then, but nothing that made me *want* to go. Corey and Shawna always have passports and go to Disneyland every couple of weeks. I found out that several co-workers do the same thing. Disney had started bubbling through into the periphery of my life.
Flash forward to October 2. Kev and my friend Joe are once again in WDW and posting pics to Facebook. One in particular was a great shot of the Tower of Terror. I expressed my envy that they were at the parks. Surprisingly, they both said they were going back in December and that I should come along!
o.O Well, there's a thought.
I went through some calculations (hotel, tickets, airfare) and it turned out that there really was no way that Steve and I could go. Just getting someone to look after my dog would be rather involved. I had to tell the guys that it just couldn't happen. It was Steve who pointed out that we were overlooking the obvious answer: I could just go by myself.
Things happened, stuff was said, and it was decided that this could work. From the moment on October 7th that I actually made plane reservations, I noticed a change. I started to get excited. Really excited.
Blogs and podcasts on the various parks became the prime use of Google. A D23 membership is now a reality. After doing the math it become obvious that a Premiere Passport for both parks was the best bet. Plus, hitting Disneyland with no blackout dates was definitely worth it. I bugged the crap out of Kevin and Joe through Facebook and Gmail and I started following tons of people on Twitter so I could keep up to date with any Park chatter. One evening I called Joe to ask a few passport questions and instead started rambling about the December trip and Disney in general. I've been downright bubbly. One might say Giddy (I did. Several times).
Even though I was going to go to Disneyland a week later for my birthday, I threw together an impulse trip this past Sunday. And it turned out ElecTRONica had just started that weekend. Everything just seems to breaking out of a decade long stasis and I'm still excited.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Here's My Story
Back in the summer of '70, my family left Miami for a vacation with my mom's high school friend in central Florida. I was five and have a clear memory of seeing signs of Walt Disney World while it was being built. That's the first memory of Disney sparking my imagination. What would a giant Disney park be like? I'd heard about Disneyland, but California was on the moon or something.
As a family, we made a day trip one Saturday in the summer of '72 and returned every summer after that with cub scouts. I think it was '76 that I got to spend 4 days at WDW with my friend Scott and his family. We stayed at the Contemporary Resort North Garden Tower and I have recollections of playing on the beach.
Two years later, for some reason that I cannot recall, I was spending three weeks with my dad's parents touring Florida. My grandparents were very proper people and to my eyes at the time, very old. Three weeks: just them and I. A huge difference in energy levels, attention span, and attitudes.
On this trip, something changed. While at the Magic Kingdom ('cause back in my day, that's all we had and we were happy for it!), I would go off on my own for bits of time. I remember spending a lot of time at the Walt Disney Story, looking at every exhibit closely. Specifically I had a long talk with the cast member in the lobby. I asked her tons of questions about working at Disney: what it was like, what they did, where could I get a nametag, why only some nametags had gold Mickey's on them, and a gazillion other questions. Only in retrospect can I see that this is quite common for a geek just starting an obsession.
I didn't stop with her. I started talking with every cast member I'd run into. Some were quite tolerant, while others seemed to sense my earnestness. For a thirteen-year-old, I was quite serious about some matters.
I became enamored with the concept of Imagineering. The placement of the Crystal Palace as a transition from Main Street to Adventureland was a epiphany of design to me! I could actually see how and why it was done.
In the years since, I can honestly pinpoint this trip as the single event that opened my brain to design, layout, and the concept of storytelling (as opposed to just telling a story).
At this point I became obsessed about WDW. I kept at least one of each ticket (A-E), and studied them - finding ways to duplicate the process out of colored pencils and typing paper. My treasured possession became a copy of "The Art of Walt Disney: From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms." Over and over I pored through the WDW section in search of any nugget of new information, something I may have missed the last ten times I read that chapter.
While I lived in Florida, I went at least once a year. We managed a trip to EPCOT in mid October '82 for my birthday and a return the following year once I'd graduated high school. Speaking of, I made sure I was at Grad Night '83 with Night Ranger and the Dazz Band ;)
But that's when my dad was transferred to Atlanta and I hit my twenties. I think I only made one more trip to WDW in the mid-eighties. The last time I made it to the parks was in June of 2001 and due to some travel issues, it just wasn't the best memory. (This was the year of the False Awakening: I managed to hit Disneyland in January, WDW in June, and Disneyland Paris in October.)
But in 2002, I moved to Southern California. Disneyland, while cool, just never sparked the same intense passion that the World did. In the 8 years I've lived here, I've been maybe five times.
But all that changed this past April. The actual Awakening from my Disney Coma will be covered next time.
As a family, we made a day trip one Saturday in the summer of '72 and returned every summer after that with cub scouts. I think it was '76 that I got to spend 4 days at WDW with my friend Scott and his family. We stayed at the Contemporary Resort North Garden Tower and I have recollections of playing on the beach.
Two years later, for some reason that I cannot recall, I was spending three weeks with my dad's parents touring Florida. My grandparents were very proper people and to my eyes at the time, very old. Three weeks: just them and I. A huge difference in energy levels, attention span, and attitudes.
On this trip, something changed. While at the Magic Kingdom ('cause back in my day, that's all we had and we were happy for it!), I would go off on my own for bits of time. I remember spending a lot of time at the Walt Disney Story, looking at every exhibit closely. Specifically I had a long talk with the cast member in the lobby. I asked her tons of questions about working at Disney: what it was like, what they did, where could I get a nametag, why only some nametags had gold Mickey's on them, and a gazillion other questions. Only in retrospect can I see that this is quite common for a geek just starting an obsession.
I didn't stop with her. I started talking with every cast member I'd run into. Some were quite tolerant, while others seemed to sense my earnestness. For a thirteen-year-old, I was quite serious about some matters.
I became enamored with the concept of Imagineering. The placement of the Crystal Palace as a transition from Main Street to Adventureland was a epiphany of design to me! I could actually see how and why it was done.
In the years since, I can honestly pinpoint this trip as the single event that opened my brain to design, layout, and the concept of storytelling (as opposed to just telling a story).
At this point I became obsessed about WDW. I kept at least one of each ticket (A-E), and studied them - finding ways to duplicate the process out of colored pencils and typing paper. My treasured possession became a copy of "The Art of Walt Disney: From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms." Over and over I pored through the WDW section in search of any nugget of new information, something I may have missed the last ten times I read that chapter.
While I lived in Florida, I went at least once a year. We managed a trip to EPCOT in mid October '82 for my birthday and a return the following year once I'd graduated high school. Speaking of, I made sure I was at Grad Night '83 with Night Ranger and the Dazz Band ;)
But that's when my dad was transferred to Atlanta and I hit my twenties. I think I only made one more trip to WDW in the mid-eighties. The last time I made it to the parks was in June of 2001 and due to some travel issues, it just wasn't the best memory. (This was the year of the False Awakening: I managed to hit Disneyland in January, WDW in June, and Disneyland Paris in October.)
But in 2002, I moved to Southern California. Disneyland, while cool, just never sparked the same intense passion that the World did. In the 8 years I've lived here, I've been maybe five times.
But all that changed this past April. The actual Awakening from my Disney Coma will be covered next time.
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