August 15, 2010
8:18 PM
Disney Everywhere
Disney Chick wrote this article several months ago. I missed it then but came across it now and think it definitely deserves a headline.
Next to thunderstorms and rattlesnakes, the least pleasant experience at Disney is the line. The longer the line, the worse the experience. And depending upon who is in line with you, even short lines can be irksome. Disney Chick (and a few of her readers) identify several broad categories of 'line loser': the folks whom you wish were in someone else's line.
I'm embarrassed to admit that I fall into one of those categories. I'm an incher. I don't like standing still, and if I can possibly improve my position on the battlefield, I mean the line, then I'll take as many baby steps as necessary to do it.
Other categories of line loser include complainers, space cadets, and my personal favorite, the middler: that's the person who sits smack-dab in the middle of a row no matter how many times the helpful announcer tells him to keep on movin' to the far end.
Now I can spend my time in line not inching but ... profiling. Thanks, Disney Chick!
MORE: The Disney Chick (Amanda)
Disney's Heather Hust Rivera posted on Friday two stunning bits of concept art for Disneyland's planned Rapunzel meet-and-greet location in Fantasyland.
Rapunzel will be ready to meet-and-greet in time for the Thanksgiving release of her animated movie, Tangled.
I saw the trailer for Tangled last month when I took my daughter to Toy Story 3. I can usually judge the potential appeal of any new movie by observing whether my daughter stops shoveling popcorn in her mouth while watching its trailer. Not one kernel passed from fingers to face during the Tangled trailer. It's guaranteed, folks: Tangled will be a smash.
DisneyParksBlog has gotten hullabaloo here before, most recently in the August 14 edition for Windows on Main Street: The Stories Behind the Names.
MORE: Disney Park Blogs (Heather Hust Rivera)
Scott of FiveMinuteMagic makes an interesting comparison between Disney's Kali River Rapids and Universal's Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges, two raft rides that you board dry, exit wet.
Scott likes the story of Kali River but enjoys the soaking from Bilge-Rat much more. Did Disney forget to put in the fun, he asks? And then he answers: yes, the Imagineers cared more about telling a conservation story than they did about building a ride with the single-minded purpose of soaking the riders.
I enjoy the Kali River story and the ride - in fact, I'd prefer less soaking - so I'm not with Scott on this one.
By the way, Scott's website, FiveMinuteMagic, which he runs with his family, is based on the very cool concept of a five-minute podcast during which the gang debate a Disney topic, typically a ride or a show, and then concur on a rating at the end.
MORE: Five Minute Magic (Scott)
Disney recently chose a small segment of guests from its vast database and sent them a survey with pictures of two new themed rooms it may offer in the near future: a Royal room and a Haunted Mansion room. I'm not privy to the survey results, but how could you not vote in favor of themed guest rooms when they're spun like this:
Come spend the night with a few of the happy haunts who play in an enchanted bedroom inspired by the Haunted Mansion. Rest atop the floating Doom Buggy beds with a couple of friendly spooks and watch glow-in-the-dark, cartoon-like footsteps mysteriously appear as the evening sets in. A sliding bookcase creates a hidden passage to the bathroom and is the perfect hiding place for a hitch-hiking ghost. Oversized furnishings with curvy lines and bright colors add to the whimsy in the room. Guests will delight in finding the hidden special effects that play up the merry, rather than scary, room ambiance.
The quote above is from the actual Disney survey, but I picked up the story from WDWNewsToday, one of the many, many terrific Disney sites I'm discovering as I shake, rattle, and roll the Web for Disney Dispatch headlines. The site is part of a network of Disney sites run by Tom Carless who also hosts a late night Disney talk show at WDWNTunes.
Disney has had great success with the Pirate rooms introduced last year at Caribbean Beach. I think this trend has just begun.
MORE: WDW News Today (Tom Carless)
Disney Dispatch Survives Pixelectomy
My faithful readers (both of them) will notice the new site design, whipped up Sunday morning because it was too rainy to mow the lawn. The old design was showing its age after three days of light use. The new design is cleaner and has ... pictures! (The pixelectomy is also my excuse for today's fewer than usual headlines.) Hope ya both like it.
