August 12, 2010
Wearing the ultimate in fashion, a hardhat and a Hawaiian shirt, Disney imagineer Joe Rohde conducts a small group of hand-picked visitors on a tour of Aulani, Disney's new resort and spa scheduled to open August 30, 2011, in Hawai'i.
Joe's detailed account includes only a few pictures but you'll find plenty more at the official Aulani site where you can also book your Aulani vacation and check out some pictures of the rooms and suites, including the ultra-luxurious 'Ahu 'Ula Suite.
The picture to your left is Disney concept art of the Aulani lobby. It looks fantastic. One of my few complaints about the Polynesian is that its interior is rather dark. Aulani reminds me of the Polynesian except that it seems flooded with light.
MORE: Disney (Joe Rohde)
4:26 PM
Disney Everywhere
John Canemaker's new book, Two Guys Named Joe, is available from Amazon (and elsewhere) in hardcover. It's currently discounted on Amazon to $26.40 from its cover price of $40.00.
Canemaker, himself a well-known animator and animation historian, not to mention an Oscar-winner in 2005 for Best Animated Short (his own The Moon and the Sun: An Imagined Conversation), tells the story of animators Joe Grant and Joe Ranft whose collective work for Disney spanned decades and included such classics as Snow White, Pinocchio, and The Little Mermaid.
It's interesting how the two animators worked in completely different eras (Grant during the Golden Age, Ranft during the Digital Age) and then came together after Grant returned to work following a forty-year hiatus.
The book compels both as history and as a personal narrative of two gifted Disney artists. I put it on my Christmas list - though if anyone wants to buy it for me like, right now, I promise not to read it until the holiday. I'll just look at the pictures.
MORE: Canemaker (John Canemaker)
It's not often you can say something is the 'best'. This is one of those times: the Disney Food Blog is the best source for news, reviews, and everything else related to Disney food. AJ Wolfe's image-laden reviews are a dieter's worst nightmare.
This article isn't a review but rather a short summary of some changes in the operating hours and capacity of several Magic Kingdom restaurants during the Fall 2010 free dining promotion. The new (though temporary) Tomorrowland Terrace buffet on Sunday evenings is an especially welcome addition for tired but hungry park guests.
MORE: Disney Food Blog (AJ)
Who are the Topolinos? Mickey Mouse, in Italian, is Topolino, and he and the signora were present for the recent ribbon cutting ceremony outside Via Napoli, Epcot's newest restaurant.
Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider not only has the pictures to prove it but he makes the excellent point that Disney's obsessive devotion to detail extends even so far as to dress the Topolinos in traditional Italian garb for the event.
The executives in the picture spoil the effect somewhat: they're dressed in typical corporate attire, though I give them credit for wielding those giant golden scissors.
(Check out Mickey's hat in the picture to your left: note how it's specially bent to accommodate his ears. Detail, folks.)
MORE: Theme Park Insider (Robert Niles)
According to Thomas Smith, Social Media Director for Disney Parks, the habanero pepper is downright chill compared to the Bhut Jolokia pepper, grown natively in India but also cultivated alongside the habanero at Epcot's Living with the Land. The Bhut Jolokia is more than twice as hot as the habanero (which is itself hot enough to make my head explode).
A short video accompanies Thomas' blog post with sweaty images of the Bhut Jolokia.
This pepper, by the way, is sometimes called the 'ghost chili' for unknown reasons but possibly because it's what you'll give up if you eat one.
MORE: Disney Parks Blog (Thomas Smith)
Melinda Gregory, writing for DisZine, previews Best Friends Pet Resort, Disney's new home-away-from-home for pets, scheduled to open August 27 across from Port Orleans. Best Friends is dog-centric, though it does have accommodations for cats and other small mammals, including pot-bellied pigs. Lizards, unfortunately, must look elsewhere: the resort has a strict no-snake, no-scale policy.
For the truly pampered pooch, VIP luxury suites are available for $76 per night and include 'dog friendly' movies on flat-screen TV and personal concierge service (in case Rover wants a bone but is too doggone lazy to go get one himself). They'll even give your mutt a 'Go Home Fresh Bath' with a minimum 3-day stay. No word yet on a dining plan.
MORE: DisZine (Melinda Gregory)
You don't read much about the Ambassador Hotel, one of the deluxe resorts at Disney Tokyo. You read even less about the exclusive set of pins that commemorate various milestones in the Ambassador's short history.
Cody Smith of Global Disney Pinvestigation provides both: a summary of the resort, including descriptions of its restaurants and lounges, and luscious pictures of the pins themselves.
For those interested in visiting Disney Tokyo, the official site has details, pictures, and an initial shock: it's in Japanese! Click the barely visible button labeled 'English' in the upper-right of the screen. The site is quite different from the sites for Disneyland and Disney World - it's sort of a throwback to an earlier era of Web design (not that I'm any expert on Web design as I'm sure you can see for yourself).
MORE: GDPInvestigation (Cody Smith)
To get a job at Disney, most people would submit their resume. Not Jeff Kober. In the second part of a series on MousePlanet, Jeff explains in fascinating detail how he created (on paper) a theme park called the American Workplace and submitted it to Disney as the world's most ambitious resume.
Hold on, you say: a theme park about work? How dull! Like you, I imagined such monstrosities as a slow ride down an assembly line past disgruntled animatronic workers. Or perhaps a skill-based game called 'Punch the Clock' (the winner gets an extra smoke break).
Jeff had other ideas. The picture to your left illustrates one of them: two characters, Bear and Bull, starring in a musical about the stock market.
Did Jeff get the job? No spoilers here. See for yourself.
MORE: Mouse Planet (Jeff Kober)
Jack Spence is one of the best Disney writers in the world. His blog and feature articles on AllEars top my short list of Disney content that must be read right away.
Jack's latest, a photo essay of Epcot's Living with the Land, is no exception. The photos chronicle the ride, start to finish, and Jack's informed commentary is a 'sustainable' mix of trivia and personal experience. For those who like to watch, not read, Jack includes a 13 minute video of the ride (with some funky country music to set the mood).
Living with the Land is not a flashy ride and I sometimes have the bad luck to board it with rowdy teenagers who could give a squash about hydroponics. But it's one of my favorites, especially when it floats past the old Midwestern farmhouse. I could retire there.
MORE: AllEars (Jack Spence)
Bryan Young, writing for the Huffington Post, eulogizes Disneyland's Star Tours, a ride he rode often from its opening days in 1987 through its final flight on July 26, 2010.
Though personal and bittersweet, Bryan's short piece uncorks the essence of Disney for many of us 'mature' fans: nostalgia. For Bryan, Star Tours was a 'magical experience' of his childhood, and its closure an emotional event.
My 'magical experiences' were different; yours probably were, too. I'm not misty-eyed over Star Tours. But don't get me going about 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Or the old magic shop on Disney World's Main Street. I still hold a grudge over that one.
MORE: Huffington Post (Bryan Young)
It's hard to take a bad photograph of the Grand Floridian. Among bad photographers, I'm known as Shaky but even I can get great shots of that resort. Or so I thought until I saw Dave Wilson's stunning photo of the Floridian at sunset.
You can download it - perhaps to use as desktop wallpaper - but it'll cost $3.00 to do so. A free watermarked version is available from Flickr.
(Do I need to mention that my thumbnail does not do justice to the original?)
MORE: Dave Wilson Photography (Dave Wilson)
In 2001, the California legistature passed a law requiring toy guns to be brightly colored on the assumption that a green plastic blunderbuss wouldn't fool anyone. Disney chose to sell no guns rather than compromise their authenticity.
Now the guns are back. And they're green! Well, orange and green. And plastic, not wooden. Ah, the good 'ol days of wooden guns, chocolate cigarettes, and asbestos pajamas...
The Orange County Register ran this story after it was first reported last month by David Koenig of MousePlanet. It's a hot-button issue that has triggered dozens of reader comments, and a poll shows a clear majority in favor of Disneyland selling toy guns, even if they look real.
I remember over the years buying my son an arsenal of wooden guns at the shop attached to Disney World's Pirates of the Caribbean. Had Disney sold only green plastic guns back then, I could have saved myself a lot of money.
MORE: Around Disney - Orange County Register (Sarah Tully)
The Imagineering Field Guides are a set of slim volumes that each trace the evolution of a Disney theme park from the imagineers' perspective with lots of pictures and fascinating trivia.
Jim Hill reviews the latest in the series: Disney's Hollywood Studios. His entertaining review is chocked with gorgeous concept art from the book showing some of the many ideas for Hollywood Studios that never came to fruition. For example: putting the iconic Sorceror's Hat outside the park entrance inside of its current dominant position inside the park.
Jim says this Field Guide is a 'must-own'; I say his review is a must-read.
MORE: Jim Hill Media (Jim Hill)
If you've ever stayed at Pop Century, you've seen - or more likely scarfed - the Twinkie Tiramisu. The recipe, unfortunately, requires some uncommon ingredients such as espresso, Italian brandy, and mascarpone cheese. I'll wait while you check the fridge and the cabinets. Come up with any of it? Me, neither.
Tiffany King of EatAtHomeCooks didn't let that stop her. Her tweaked Twinkies substitute plain coffee for the espresso and Cool Whip for the mascarpone. (I'm not sure what happened to the Italian brandy, but it's the least essential of the three 'special' ingredients.)
The result isn't quite as good as the original but it's simpler and cheaper to make.
MORE: Eat At Home Cooks (Tiffany King)
