Tag Archives: Disney at Home

Disney World Attraction Vehicles – Which Would You Own?

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Disney's Test Track CarA while back, one of my favorite Disney podcasts, Mighty Men of Mouse, had a debate over the merits of owning a Disney World ride vehicle as transportation.  Which one would it be?  Why would one pick that particular vehicle for the daily commute to and from work?  I liked that idea!  It got me to thinking….  Lots of times, I tweet what I’m pondering and this time was no exception.  Last night while I was mentally tallying the pros and cons of Clammobiles, service elevators, hang gliders, flying elephants, magic carpets, mine trains and the like – imagining the merits of each for going to work, tooling about town, leisurely exploring country roads, off road riding through fields and turn-rows (we DO live in the country, after all) – I threw out the query to the fun Disney community I hang out with on Dinoland's Primeval Whirl Twitter…

The answers were GREAT!  But….they were as all over the place as my thoughts on this topic.  If I were going to own a Disney ride vehicle as a mode of transportation….which would I choose?

Before I announce the winning vehicle, let’s see who weighed in with a vote:

DisneyPrincess83 (@OzGoofyPrincess) instantly jumped right in! (I can always count on her to play along with my “what-if” questions!)  Her initial thought was the Friendship Boats because she’s from Australia “so they might come in handy.”  I’d hear back from the SevenDwarfsLoadingPrincess later in the debate…

Jason @JasonLiving was decisive with his choice of Doom Buggy (Haunted Mansion).  Now, since I know Jason in person (and have since he was about 6), I can say there’s no better or more suitable choice for him.  Doom Buggies are a bit creepy yet edgy and fun at the same time.  Jason likes stuff like that.

@CaptainAlabama just wanted to know if the cars at SciFi Dine-In would count as an option.  I’m guessing the Cap thinks the colorful retro convertibles (with fins!) would be a standout on the roads where he lives.  They would be eye-catching just about anywhere!

Rob @singleriderline also favored the Doom Buggy, but also thought perhaps the Kilimanjaro Safari truck would make good transportation.  I suggested Rob would be happy with BOTH sinceSailing on WDW Jungle Cruise Doom Buggies would be perfect for solo or duo travel while the safari trucks would allow you to take a whole bunch of friends out on the town….or on safari.

Safari Mike (@JamboEveryone) piped up with a vote for the WEDWay PeopleMover (a.k.a. the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover).  Cars propelled by linear induction (moving along by magnetic force) produce no pollution and are environmentally safe – Mike is all about conservation (Radio Harambe podcast), so this transportation choice makes perfect sense.

At this point, I heard from Dutch Lombrowski (@DutchLombrowski) which was GREAT since he happens to be one of the hosts of Mighty Men of Mouse – the podcast that inspired this discussion!  Dutch, like Mike, also favored the TTA.

Then the Princess (@OzGoofyPrincess) threw out another option – One that, I’m sorry to say,Animal Kingdom's Dinosaur Ride never occurred to me – the “Dinosaur Buggy” (as she called it).  I know many people don’t care for Dinosaur (the ride in Animal Kingdom) but the ride vehicles (exactly the same as used for Disneyland’s Indiana Jones ride) are brilliant.  They’re a technological marvel of highly programmable maneuverability that would, during home use, offer the owner a virtually unstoppable mode of transportation.  The Princess thought they’d be perfect for battling Sydney traffic.  Heck, they’d be perfect for just about anything!

So, while I’d been thinking about the blue Caddies from Rock’n’ Roller Coaster and the swinging cars from the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as possible options, I must agree with the Princess’s second vote – especially once she mentioned not only the 100% all terrain maneuverability of the vehicle, but the possible advantage of time travel capabilities.  Mind blown, I salute the Princess and her imagination!

And the winner is….

The Dinosaur Cars!!!

Thanks to everyone who played along!

Your turn – which vehicle would you choose?

 

Disney Resolutions – Mid-Year Checkup

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1900 Park Fare - Meeting Pring CharmingAs hard as it is to accept (time really does fly when you’re having fun!), 2014 is half-over. Can you believe it?  Mid-way through the year is an excellent time to look back at those New Year’s resolutions and give a status report.  Maybe you resolved to eat cleaner, lose weight, or exercise more – Me?  I resolved to complete a list of Disney-related activities – this way, I’m guaranteed to have fun, eat delicious food, and be greatly amused all while feeling good about actually sticking to my resolutions!  See how that works?  No dieting or exercise required and I feel happy and productive!

So – Let’s look at the old January 1st list and see what’s been accomplished thus far….

1.  See These Movies:

  • Million Dollar Arm Ticket StubMuppets Most Wanted (3/21/14) – Been a huge fan my whole life – this is a can’t-be-missed movie for me!  The unresolved romance between Kermit and Piggy keeps me coming back for more. Complete!  Read the movie review here.
  • Captain America:  The Winter Soldier (4/4/14) – I’m diggin’ all the Marvel movies and I think the Cap’s aces.  Enjoyed it!  Read about it here.
  • Million Dollar Arm (5/16/14) – I am just a girl who cannot resist a good baseball movie.  Unexpectedly delightful and the review is here.
  • Maleficent (5/30/14) – Looks darkly intriguing – I think we will love to hate her!  Oh, Yeah!  I was entertained by this new twist on an old favorite and shared my thoughts here.
  • Into the Woods (12/25/14) – Have heard so much about this show – can’t wait to see it! Still on the to-see list!Disney's Maleficent Movie Poster

2.  Book a Cruise – I’ve got a place-holder (aka “dummy”) cruise burning a hole in my pocket.  Since August when we re-booked onboard (while sailing on the Magic in the Mediterranean) – We are anxiously waiting to Disney Cruise Line's Wondersee what the rest of 2015’s sailings look like before making a final decision.  Wishing for Baltic (tie in to Frozen).  As of right now, we are set to sail the Fjords of Norway on the Disney Magic next summer.

3.  Attend Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party – I have wanted to do this forever.  2014 is the year!  Tickets purchased, we will knock this off the list in 108 days.Trying Different Disney EarHats

4.  Buy a Fancy New Earhat – sounds easy enough, but I have the most difficult time deciding on one – I always walk away with a Disney baseball cap instead.  Not this year.  No, sir.  After much trial and error, the winning (dare I say PERFECT) hat was located and purchased just a few weeks back.

5.  Eat This Food – I’m up for passing up old favorites and trying out some new places in 2014.  I’m thinking about these:

  • Be Our Guest – I know, right?  Everyone’s Disney's Flying Fish Cafe Exteriorclamoring to get in there – I’ll be lucky to score a visit, but I’ve heard so much great stuff about it.  I’m at least resolving to try my best to get in!  Scored dinner ADRs for October.
  • Flying Fish – I’ve never eaten here.  Chime in if you think I should ditch this plan in favor of something else.  Can’t believe it took so long to discover the incredible food and service!  Yum!  Read all about it here.
  • 1900 Park Fare – For a character meal it has always been Chef Mickey’s but now that we have “adult” children, I thought Lady Tremaine and the Steps might be a bunch of fun.  And fun it was!  We were not disappointed by the food or the company – see what happened here.
  • Hollywood Brown Derby – We have never eaten here and have always heard great things.  IMG_2382Even if we just sit in the new outdoor patio lounge – I’d like to give it a go.  We went and now we know – it’s got great atmosphere, good food, and abysmal service.  Sigh.

6.  Find and Trade a Pin to Complete This Set!  I love pin trading and in 2014 I’m gonna be in-it-to-win-it!  Yeah, Baby!  Watch out flying Orange Bird – you are mine!  A bird in the hand…makes me happy!!!  My collection’s complete.Disney Pin - Flying Orange Bird

7.  Ride the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train – Ugh.  Feels like the Fantasyland expansion has been going on forever!  I am riding this ride, dadgummit – get out of my way.  It was cute, it was fun, and it was discussed completely right here, YouTube video here.

8.  Try These Recipes:  (You may have seen my other posts on cooking Disney food here and here and here)  I like to cook – why not make it Disney food?  Thanks to AllEars.Net for the recipes.

9.  Try a Dole Whip:  They say confession is good for the soul – so now you know my darkest Disney Secret (one of them anyway)…I hid it way down here at #9 so maybe no one will notice.  I have never eaten a single bite of Dole Whip in my life.  Don’t judge me.  I did it!  I tried a Dole Whip and…..watch the video here.

10.  Take Better Disney Pictures!  To my shame, my Disney pictures are mediocre at best.  The great computer crash of 2009 cost me dearly and I just need to learn to be a better Pineapple Dole Whipphotographer overall.  I buy really small cameras because they’re easy to carry.  I’m not sure if I’ll actually dish out more cash on yet another camera, but I’ll do what I can to make the most of what I’ve got.  Promise.  Three cameras, my iPhone, and a new GoPro video rig allowed me to capture all the magic in a big way in May and I cannot WAIT to go crazy with the pics again in October.

So, there you have it – the mid-year status report!  Did you have any Disney resolutions on your list?  How’s it going for YOU?  

Wishing you a Happy, Healthy and Pixie-Dusted Rest-of-the-Year….Lisa

Disney’s Maleficent – Mostly Spoiler-free Review

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Maleficent Movie PosterIt’s a fairytale, people!  Please keep that in mind when/if you see this movie.  I avoided reviews and comments about Maleficent prior to seeing it (promptly upon my return from Walt Disney World).  Then, afterwards, I let myself check out the widely varying opinions of others – and there are gobs of them that range from “loved it” to “it was complete trash” (or worse).

I’m not hard to please.  I like my fairytale movies to have plausible (yet completely impossible) elements – based on whichever reality in which the story takes place, characters with lots of flaws, valuable life lessons, good versus evil (and the blurry spaces in between) – all tied up with a nice neat happy ending.  If you fall in a similar entertainment-viewing category, you will like Maleficent just fine.  Oddly enough, the entire story reminded me of a gigantic episode of ABC’s Once Upon a Time – which was a plus since I’m just wild about that show!

I saw it in 3D and contrary to some other viewers’ opinions (really raging, angry opinions, to boot), I was not at all bothered by any of the CGI effects.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  I didn’t scrutinize them at all, but rather accepted the CGI characters and scenery in the spirit in which Maleficent Theater Posterthey were generated – to create a wonderful fantasy land in which our characters could carry on their story.

The casting was just fine overall.  Angelina Jolie was stunningly beautiful as Maleficent – breathtaking!  She owned that role completely from her gorgeous red lips to her perfect tone of voice – delivering each line precisely with the perfect amount of emotion – I could have closed my eyes and imagined exactly how she was feeling at any given time, but to look away from that face during the movie would have been impossible.  Maleficent-the-being grabs you from the first and pulls you in completely – to understand her, to know her, to love her.  Elle Fanning as Aurora was well done and I completely disagree with ridiculous reviewers who didn’t think her beautiful enough – she was.  Inside and out…the character was supposed to be a beautiful soul as opposed to simply a visual stunner.  Elle Fanning captured that perfectly.Maleficent Ticket

There were a bunch of reviews that groused about the plot – perhaps they searched too hard for pro-feminist politics or a deeper meaning for “true love’s kiss”.  I liked the story – I “got” the plot and felt it was neither too deep nor too shallow.  I found (this is me and my opinion) the movie to be visually stunning and thought provoking to just the right extent.

If you are looking for a deeply moving social commentary on women’s roles or unresolved childhood issues – please pass on Maleficent.  If you’re looking for a stunningly presented fairytale with all the right elements, interesting characters, and the perfect ending – dish out the $$ and see Maleficent on the big screen – in 3D if you can.

Have you seen Maleficent?  What’s your impression of the movie?

 

Disney’s Million Dollar Arm – Spoiler-Free Review

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Million Dollar Arm Ticket StubI’m a baseball fan.  Always have been.  The St. Louis Cardinals is my team – my big brother, Mike, bought me my first Cardinals tee-shirt (Lou Brock!) in the ’70’s and Oh, the crush I had on Keith Hernandez when I was in high school…sigh.  I married a lifelong Cards fan and we’ve lived in blissful baseball harmony all these 25 years (this September 9th).  Consequently, Raymond and I both love baseball movies.  We will often kick off baseball season in the spring by re-watching a few of our favorites.  Field of Dreams, a perennial favorite, is just outstanding no matter how many times we watch it.  I was once burned, though, by another Kevin Costner movie – For Love of the Game (1999) – a chick-flick disguised as a baseball movie.  That cruel deception has made me wary of baseball movies – I walked into the theater expecting another epic baseball film and walked out royally pissed off really angry.  As usual, I digress.  Okay – back to today.

I didn’t want to read anything before seeing Million Dollar Arm, in spite of my fear of baseballMillion Dollar Arm Movie Poster movie deception, but I found a spoiler-free review in my twitter feed and trusted it enough to follow the link – so the great review here (by George Gensler) at Adventures by Daddy told me enough to know I could expect Million Dollar Arm to be a real baseball flick (with a dash of romance thrown in).  The movie’s based on a true story and if you go see it, stick around through the credits to see some wonderful actual photos and videos of the real people behind the story.

Why this is a fantastic baseball film:

Million Dollar Arm Movie PosterMillion Dollar Arm is about baseball.  And business.  And relationships, personalities, taking chances, and redemption.  I was drawn into the story right away – then experienced a huge variety of emotions.  Many scenes are funny, but I also felt sorrow, anger, joy, surprise, and frustration.  To be cliché, I laughed, I cried – and everything in between.  John Hamm does an exceptional job playing J. B. Bernstein – the sports agent main character.  His ability to manipulate viewers’ emotions is a huge part of what makes this movie work.  I have never been to India, but the parts of the film that take place in India were superbly filmed and edited – I saw India in a way I never have before.

The script, acting, and directing – along with an amazing musical soundtrack – combine to make you feel something for each character.  Those feelings may not always be positive, but that’s also what makes Million Dollar Arm good entertainment – and a GREAT baseball movie.  In fact, I haven’t enjoyed any movie as much as I did this one in quite a while.

On the fence?  Go on – there’s a great story there…even if you’re not into baseball – but if that’s the case, don’t tell me, okay?  I don’t trust people who don’t love baseball.

Have you seen Million Dollar Arm?  What did you think?