Disney World PF Gathering and Tips for Disney Mania!

[ZapperZ]

Wow!

Last time I checked, this is still August, but this Friday, they're already starting to release Halloween pins at Disneyland. This is one of them.

http://eventservices.disney.go.com/files/10876006.jpg

Zz.

 

[Moonbear]

Aww...but you're right, it feels way too early for Halloween. Do they really dangle like it looks?

 

[Moonbear]

There were people writing to Roger Ebert's website pointing this out when the movie first came out. So ordinary people like you and me (well, as "ordinary" as *I* can get) are noticing that too... and they would certainly notice that in the farmlands of America, if not the world. So one will wonder what the movie animators were thinking of! Did they think most of us either would not know, or that we won't care?

Gary Larson certainly would never be that biologically incorrect, because he prides himself in being accurate.

Zz.

Maybe as that critic put it, it really was to avoid having large, "swaying bull parts" there. But then, why not just leave the bulls with the neutered look? Could the animators really have been that clueless about cattle? All of them? I don't know about Pixar, but that would have never happened with Disney animation studios...they spent a lot of time studying the animals they were going to draw to really capture their characteristic behaviors and features.

 

[ZapperZ]

Aww...but you're right, it feels way too early for Halloween. Do they really dangle like it looks?

Yeah, Chip and Dale are dangles, while the balance is hinged. So it sounds like a rather elaborate pin.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Just ahead of my upcomming trip to WDW, there are the latest pictures from around that theme park.

http://www.laughingplace.com/Lotion-View-262.asp

Notice that the new ticket turnstiles are already being used, where instead of scanning two fingers, you now give the Mouse just one finger. :)

Ah oh, they're already starting to put up the lights for the Osborne spectacle of lights! I, unfortunately, won't be seeing it this year. <sob>

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

OK, I was almost too ashamed to reveal that I found this ... almost!

I don't know what to make of this. It is either sick and demented, or silly, funny, and hilarious. Whatever it is, judge it for yourself. :)

http://mytrip.ytmnd.com/

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Oops!

The Disney pin website messed up again (that's twice already this month. How unusual!). This description is for a Lilo and Stitch pin that is part of the Disney Signature collection, but the picture is showing a Chip 'N Dale pin.

http://eventservices.disney.go.com/pintrading/pin?id=18453

I'm more interested in the Chip 'N Dale pin that is shown, but I cannot find any info on it.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

About a year before Disney began its celebration for Disneyland's 50th anniversary last year, they sent out letters and e-mail to their "loyal" guests, past and present, to send them pictures of them that they took at Disneyland. These pictures were going to be assembled into a collage and displayed during the celebration.

Unfortunately, since I've never been to Disneyland till this past June, I had no pictures to send to them (WDW pictures just won't do). It was the one thing I regret, because after being at Disneyland and seeing what they did with the pictures, I wish I could have sent them one. To say that these were just collages is an understatement. What they did was to assemble these pictures and someone and miraculously, produced astounding images!

I took several pictures of these collages. If you look very closely at each one of them, you'll see that they are all made up of pictures that were submitted. These collages, scattered all over Disneyland, were one of the most astounding part of my first visit to Disneyland.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

OK, I'm not making this up. There is a site called "EverybodyNeeds2DrawMickeyOnce.com". You can already guess what that is all about. People submit their hand-drawn Mickey, and people vote on which ones they like best each week! Honest! :)

Humm... now that kinda gave me an idea for one of our PF Photo contest! :)

http://www.everybodyneeds2drawmickeyonce.com/

The most hilarious was this one:

http://www.everybodyneeds2drawmickeyonce.com/start.php?page=check&showDetail=yes&picID=19

I didn't realize Mickey had that many teeth!

Maybe I'll submit the picture of Mickey that I drew while at a Disney studio class during my last trip.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Just remember, kids. A Disney kiss involves no tongue. If you do, you will be CGI'ed out!

:)

http://www.presstelegram.com/entertainment/ci_4208767

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Call me a wimp. Call me a wuss. But I continue to be sucker for stories like these:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=18502357&blogID=159097311

.. and report like this just simply made me cry.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showpost.php?p=1769709&postcount=14

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

The Seven Dwarfs react to Pluto's demotion.

http://www.laughingplace.com/Latest.asp?I1=ID&I2=1337

Also reported here:

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,19852,00.html?fdnews

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Oh no. Here we go again.

Hurricane Ernesto is the first official hurricane of the season (which has been relatively quiet so far). It is predicted to pass by Walt Disney World some time on Thursday.

At this stage, I hope it continues with its current speed (or even faster). I'm flying in on Saturday! It was 2 years ago that we had to delay our trip because some hurricane just won't leave central Florida for days.

<crossing fingers and toes>

Zz.

 

[Astronuc]

Call me a wimp. Call me a wuss. But I continue to be sucker for stories like these:

That is so sweet.

.. and report like this just simply made me cry.

Me too!

Hey Zz, Ernesto looks like it'll slide right along the west coast of Florida. Take an umbrella and slicker suit. Hope your trip is not disrupted, but it will be a close call. Five day predictions have Ernesto in N. Florida near the border with Georgia. It might disrupt air travel through Atlanta and Charlotte.

Hey, but Disneyland (and hopefully Disney World) is 'Storm Ready'
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/images/disneyland-stormready-group-07-2006.jpg

 

[ZapperZ]

Hey Zz, Ernesto looks like it'll slide right along the west coast of Florida. Take an umbrella and slicker suit. Hope your trip is not disrupted, but it will be a close call. Five day predictions have Ernesto in N. Florida near the border with Georgia. It might disrupt air travel through Atlanta and Charlotte.

Hey, but Disneyland (and hopefully Disney World) is 'Storm Ready'
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/images/disneyland-stormready-group-07-2006.jpg

It looks like Ernesto has been downgraded to a tropical storm while it is currently over Cuba. It might go back to being a hurricane as it makes its way into the gulf. They have predicted that it will be even further north by the time I'm flying in. I hope they're right.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT05/refresh/AL0506W5_sm2+gif/204623W_sm.gif

In any case, hurricane or not, if I can fly in, I'll be there, rain or shine.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Compare to these people (especially the Yeti man), I'm just a lousy amateur Disney nut. :)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/15369462.htm

Zz.

 

[Astronuc]

From Zz's link -

''I was a beach bum,'' he [James McGowan, aka Yeti Man] says. Thirteen years ago he spotted her in a club and asked her to dance. Talk about heart leaping left side to right side. When the dance ended James told Simone, ''You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. You're going to have my son.'' Simone answered, ''I know I am.''

Now that's a pickup line - and it worked.

 

[Cyrus]

Look what I ran into looking at pictures of Andy Warhol...

 

[ZapperZ]

Look what I ran into looking at pictures of Andy Warhol...

One can actually buy this print. It costs between $150 to $350, depending on the quality of the frame. Don't ask me how I would know such a thing.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Oh no...

They are now cutting out all "smoking" references in cartoons, at least in the UK.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08/21/odd.tomandjerry.reut/index.html

I know, and can appreciate, parents wanting to shield their children from certain influences. However, because of this, the rest of us usually are deprived of getting the complete, orginal versions of cartoons that we love. For the longest time, Warner Brothers would not re-release old footage of Merry Mellodies that had rather politically-incorrect references. It is only in the last 4 years or so with the start of the release of Volume 1 of Golden Collection series are these long-unseen classics finally being released on DVD.

This probably is the same reason why Disney still refuses to re-release Song of the South, even after several pleas. Rhett Wickham of the Laughing Place wrote an excellent article a while back on why Disney is making a big mistake by not addressing this part of their past.

http://www.laughingplace.com/News-ID510300.asp

There are ways to address this, but it should not be done by pretending it doesn't exist.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

I've always liked, and try to collect, pins that have the Fab 5 in them. However, maybe it's the print, or the image shown on the web doesn't do it justice, but this Mission Space pin of the Fab 5 astronauts looks UGLY! Awful colors, and pretty boring for such a major attraction.

[PLAIN]http://eventservices.disney.go.com/files/10905027.jpg

Zz.

 

[Astronuc]

I've always liked, and try to collect, pins that have the Fab 5 in them. However, maybe it's the print, or the image shown on the web doesn't do it justice, but this Mission Space pin of the Fab 5 astronauts looks UGLY! Awful colors, and pretty boring for such a major attraction.

Yeah, I agree, they should have put more thought into it. It is an unattractive pin. But then some people will buy it regardless.

 

[ZapperZ]

For those of us who do not have the opportunity (yet!) to visit Disneyland Paris, we can only live vicariously through the trip reports of others. This is one such trip report, with outstanding pictures and commentaries.

http://www.laughingplace.com/News-ID510670.asp

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

The secret Walt Disney commercials.

http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=2986

What the House of Mouse had to do during their early, struggling years.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

So, take a guess on what was the most watched TV show in the US last Friday night? Go on, take a guess.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=televisionNews&storyID=2006-08-29T043649Z_01_N28378093_RTRIDST_0_TELEVISION-DISNEY-DC.XML

The "Cheetah Girls 2" blew everyone away, and it continues to draw large audience even during its multiple showings since then.

As much as I like Disney, I just don't think I can get into this one, and the "High School Musical" stuff. Sitting just 5 minutes through The Cheetah Girls 2 was worse than pulling teeth! That was as much as I could take before I had to go find another episode of Trading Spaces or Project Runway.

:)

Zz.

 

[Astronuc]

. . . , we can only live vicariously through the trip reports of others.

Or in the case of PFers, this thread.

 

[ZapperZ]

Or in the case of PFers, this thread.

I sure hope so! :)

Speaking of living vicariously, it looks like Ernesto will not be affecting my travel at all.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT05/refresh/AL0506W_sm2+gif/150953W_sm.gif

While the Orlando area is still expecting a lot of rain and wind by tonight, it isn't going to be as intense as expected, and so far, all news reports out of Disney seems to indicate that, except for the water parks and a few theme parks closing a bit earlier than usual, things are business as usual. Considering that they have had to withstand Category 4 hurricanes before, this Ernesto here would be a breeze! <pun intended>

Unfortunately, 2 people in our party are supposed to fly out to Orlando some time this evening. So that had to be rescheduled to tomorrow afternoon. I'm glad that I didn't plan on flying out till Saturday.

Zz.

 

[Astronuc]

It llooks like Ernesto was a short-lived Hurricane, and will stay a tropical storm then change to depression as long as it remains over land. Flooding may be a problem in many areas.

Avoid Charlotte on Friday and probably Philadelphia too.

Our summer is ending cooler and wetter than usual.

This thread is turning into the combined Disney & Weather Channel

 

[ZapperZ]

Yeah, I agree, they should have put more thought into it. It is an unattractive pin. But then some people will buy it regardless.

Hey, I think I found an antidote for that ugly pin! Not only that, I think Moonbie may have kittens after she sees this!

I just got wind of this set today. It calls itself the "Disney Signature Collection - Chip 'N Dale". So I'm guessing that there will be more of such collection, and this is the first one. It's a 4-pin box set, and it contains the cutest collection of Chip 'N Dale pins! It will be released on Sept. 6th. at WDW.

http://eventservices.disney.go.com/files/109050773.jpg

http://eventservices.disney.go.com/files/109050772.jpg

http://eventservices.disney.go.com/files/109050774.jpg

http://eventservices.disney.go.com/files/109050771.jpg

Adorable!

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Whoa!

I've never read this before, so it was a total surprise. The late Stephan J. Gould, a prominent biologist, once wrote an homage to none other than Mickey Mouse!

http://www.towson.edu/~sallen/COURSES/311/ESSAYS/MM.html

Zz.