August 23, 2010
We'll never run out of Disneyland trip reports (heck, any Disney trip reports), but how often do you read one by a girl named Eeva from Finland for whom English is a second language and yet who writes in it better than, well, you get the drift.
Eeva wrote about her recent Disneyland trip today on her blog, LifeIsLikeChocolat, and it's the sort of trip report you shouldn't expect to finish in a few minutes.
The report recounts, ride-by-ride, show-by-show, Eeva's day in the park, but it's her dry comments that make it entertaining to read: such as the poor fellow who spun so vigorously in the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups, perhaps to impress Eeva and her two friends spinning in another cup, that he fell upon his knees when the ride ended, not to propose to one of the girls but to, well, you get the drift.
Eeva also mentions a few oddities that I've never seen before, such as a French-speaking C3P0 and a fortunate encounter with a cast member friend running Autopia who let Eeva and her friends skip to the front of the line. Actually, I have seen that before. I usually see it from the rear as the people walk past me.
That's why it pays to follow the Disney Dispatch. Where else do you get Finnish trip reports?
MORE: Life Is Like Chocolat (Eeva)
Randy Savage (what a nice nexus of pro wrestling with Disney!) presents in his blog Ideal Buildout a map of an alternate universe Disneyland in which he is in charge of the park - and the squared circle.
Randy re-arranges current rides and attractions, includes new ones, and generally employs his extensive Disneyland knowledge to create an arguably better designed park.
The new Disneyland has 13 lands. Rather bold of Randy to chance losing the superstition crowd, but they'll be busy ogling his replacement of the Matterhorn with a ride through The Hobbit's Lonely Mountain, including an encounter with Smaug the Dragon. (He moved the Matterhorn to Epcot.)
In fact, Randy's park is heavy on 'grown-up' fantasy, relegating children's fairy tales to the current Fantasyland and creating a new land, Dragondale, with dragons, dark woods, and perilous quests.
Fascinating, isn't it? Randy has a beautifully rendered map of his Disneyland and lots more explanation of what he added, what he took away, and why.
P.S. The gentleman's real name is not Randy Savage, which would have been quite a scoop, but rather S.W. Wilson, who I don't believe has ever held the World Heavyweight Championship title.
MORE: Ideal Buildout (S.W. Wilson)
1:06 PM
Disney Everywhere
People spend their lives seeking certainty but not finding it. When I want to be certain of an in-depth Disney article, often from left field but always packed with humor, I click up the boys at Parkeology.
Today one of the boys, Shane Lindsay, posts a long, picture-laden piece about the Top 10 name changes (well, changes 10-6; the final five were saved for Part 2 of the series) at Disney that changed ... nothing.
In 2001, for example, Disney dispensed with the wonderfully evocative Dixie Landings as the name for one of its moderate resorts and began calling it Port Orleans Riverside, instead. What else changed? Nothing. The Deep South is still there, and so is the map of antebellum plantations near the entrance to the food court. Ol' Man Island is also still there even though it makes most people think of "Ol' Man River", the politically incorrect song first performed in a 1920s version of Showboat. I guess the focus group rejected Diversity Island.
Nearly 20 years earlier, Disney made a similar change to another resort, swapping Polynesian Village Resort to simply Polynesian Resort because Polynesian islanders don't like the term 'village'.
That change, at least, resulted in a better name for the resort, but you'll never sell me on the merits of 'Riverside' over 'Dixie Landings'.
I've just scratched the surface. (Can I write that here?) For more stories and great pictures, including a curiously appropriate shot of a drunken man on a horse, head over to Parkeology and tell 'em Dixie Bob sent ya.
Parkeology has gotten hullabaloo here before, most recently in the August 13 edition for Disney's Handwich: One Hand, Lots of Meat.
MORE: Parkeology (Shane Lindsay)
The Walt Disney World Moms Panel is a group of people (both male and female, children optional) hand-picked by Disney for an official on-line panel to answer questions from the general public.
Panel members are 'refreshed' annually. This year's refreshment will begin on September 13 (and conclude on September 17 - pressure!), according to Suzannah DiMarzio of ZannaLand (a principality within the land of Xanadu, I think) and current member of the 2010 Moms Panel. If you'd like to apply, beware: the selection process is rigorous.
Suzannah posts some helpful hints, by way of Disney employee Laura Spencer, for the hopeful: don't mispelt werds in your essay, call things by their proper names (the monorail ain't no train), and keep your cool. Disney doesn't expect you to know everything about Disney, though you stand little chance if you don't at least have a grasp of the basics.
If you get through the preliminaries, the final hurdle is a phone interview. Most people, according to Suzannah, who've had this interview hang up thinking they bombed. That's normal, given the stress, but keep in mind that Disney likely values helpfulness, friendliness, and enthusiasm every bit as much as it does knowledge (you can look always look up what you don't know). Of course, if you're troublesome, combative, and phlegmatic, then yes, you probably have bombed.
Suzannah's article is long and detailed. If you plan to apply for membership on the 2011 Moms Panel, you must read it. Suzannah documented virtually every step of the 2010 process, from application to abdication, and obviously she aced it. Take her coverage as a primer to your own ascendancy.
When you're done wishing you were Suzannah, head over to the official Moms Panel recruiting page and bookmark it. Then return on September 13 to download the application and take your best shot.
MORE: Zanna Land (Suzannah DiMarzio)
Other than new discounts, the biggest Disney event is new construction.
Writing for his blog in the Los Angeles Times, Brady MacDonald previews the newest construction at Disneyland's California Adventure: a dual dark ride and drag race called Radiator Springs Racers scheduled to open in 2012. (Calendars marked, everybody?)
Most folks by now have heard of Radiator Springs, but Brady reveals some fantastic concept art. If you view each image, start to finish, you'll know what it'll be like to ride through Radiator Springs.
The drag race concept is sure to be popular as complete strangers hurl insults while their competing cars rev up for a rapid hurtle through a desert-themed raceway that will include buttes, geysers, and an ominous cavern bristling with stalactites and stalagmites.
I'm dizzy already! And hurling insults like a maniac.
MORE: Los Angeles Times (Brady MacDonald)
My friend Bruce at UnknownMagicWithinWaltDisney (say that three times fast, I dare ya!) posted an article yesterday evening about the brothers Disney - Walt and Roy.
It's Walt who gets the headlines, but as Bruce argues, it's Roy who deserves an equal share.
The brothers made a perfect team: Walt handled the dreams, Roy the dollars. It's interesting how so often in history great things are done not by individuals but by teams: Abbott and Costello, Lennon and McCartney, Kernighan and Ritchie. When one team member leaves, the collective genius evaporates.
At least in the public eye, the Disney team was not based on equality. Roy worked in the shadows, coming to the helm only after Walt's death. Nowadays, most people have heard of Roy Disney, though when they think of 'Roy Disney' they likely think of his son, who died in 2009, not the original, who died in 1971.
Like Walt, the original Roy has his name painted on two Main Street shop windows: the first as Roy Disney, the second as Roy Davis, a pseudonym he used when negotiating the purchase of the Disney World site.
Few people are aware that I once had my name on a Main Street shop window at Disney World. I was a child, it was a chilly day, the window was fogged, and I thought why not trace 'Bob' with my finger. It's been downhill from there, folks...
Bruce has more about the original Roy Disney in his short article. Recommended!
UnknownMagic has gotten hullabaloo here before, most recently in the August 19 edition for Disney Background Music: Hey, Did You Just Hear Something?.
MORE: Unknown Magic Within Walt Disney World (Bruce)
7:37 AM
Disney Everywhere
Zelda Queen's Realm of Literacy isn't really a Disney blog, but yesterday it featured a Top 5 countdown of miscast Disney villains with interesting commentary that references Faust, and Victor Hugo, and modern psychology.
What does she mean by 'miscast'? A miscast villain is one whom Disney surgically removed from its body of literature and then added or removed character traits as the script required.
Miscast or not, few of the villains get off easy in Zelda's piece: Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts is diagnosed as bi-polar and Hercules' Hades is dissed as not being an accurate representation of the 'real' Hades from Greek mythology.
According to Zelda, the mythical Hades was a cool guy who didn't bother anyone (we'll forget about that whole abduction of Persephone thing) and lived in fear of Zeus inserting a thunderbolt into his actual nether-regions. Disney's Hades, by contrast, was a snark. With blue hair.
You'll never guess Zelda's pick for #1 miscast Disney villain. In fact, you've probably never heard of him, unless you're a die-hard fan of the one movie (or the one novel) in which he appeared. If you've got a hunch, head over to Zelda's site and see if you're correct. (That was your clue, by the way.)
MORE: Realm of Literacy (Zelda Queen)
Site News: Disney Dispatch Has Some New Features
I've pruned the FAQ and created a Links page to recognize those sites nice or nuts enough to have linked to me.
The biggest new feature, however, is the Disney Dispatch Digest, a single daily email with a list of that day's headlines and a link back here. I know it's old-fashioned to send digest emails in this age of RSS, Twitter, and other social media, but if you're anything like me, you get lost in the flood of tweets and other strident digital shouts. Email is less rude and more persistent. If you want to give it a try, the sign-up form is at the bottom of every page.
It looks as if my next Disney site will launch within the next week. It's nothing at all like Disney Dispatch - though it does have nearly the same alliteration!
Fingers crossed. Now on with the hullabalooo...
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