Don't Ever Grow Up

Showing my baby sister the plan for the day..I was around four at the time.

Oh man tonight's hard. I don't even know why. I have my Disneyland audio on shuffle, and more of the older audio has been coming on, and I'm sitting here thinking about life, and all of these memories are flooding back to me. Disney's been a large part of my childhood just like many other children. But as I started to grow, I took that part of my childhood and started to apply to wanting to make the magic happen that I once fell in love with for others. No, I don't work for the mouse, but it doesn't stop me from dreaming and thinking about what I could someday do. 

But that's off topic. Tonight's hard for me because I'm sitting here listening to my childhood, and thinking about the trips my family's taken over the years. How I can hear this: 

And instantly go back to one of the most vivid memories ever for me. 

You see, it was Valentine's Day. Fourth Grade. My school planned a visit to the San Fernando Mission that day, and my mama was a chaperon on our trip. We explored the mission and learned a lot, but my mom had something else planned that I didn't know about. She signed me out early, and 'kidnapped' me for a mama/son date at Disneyland for Valentine's Day. Thanks to traffic, it took us three hours from San Fernando to reach Disneyland, but that didn't stop us! I got to pick dinner, so we made our way to one of my favorite restaurants, the Plaza Inn at the corner of Main Street. Dining on a chicken leg, biscuits and lemonade, we watched the parade go by, and then once we were done, made our way to Pirates of the Caribbean. I can still remember how surprisingly busy it was, but we walked around and I got to pick every ride to go on. From Pirates, to Matterhorn, to Autopia, and the train, we rode only four rides that night before heading home, but not before we stopped at the lego store to get any lego I wanted under $10. 

And that's just one of the memories I have...

It's not just a day like that with my mom that's getting me. It's the fact I can still imagine as a younger child how huge Disneyland seemed. How amazing it was to just walk from a jungle, right into the frontier west, and believe that it was actually a real world, and not the world we live in. How I could fight alongside pirates, and then float around with ghosts in that old Mansion by the river. Everything was so beyond real, that I never could see the literal mechanisms that power those Pirates or Ghosts. It was always reality to me that they existed, and that's what makes me fall in love with Disney all over: the fact that there's so many hidden things that unless you know what to look for, you miss it, and missing the literal nature of the rides often times makes things so much better. 

This brings me to my closing. Disneyland was made for the "ideals, dreams and hard facts that created America, with the hopes that would be a source of joy, and inspiration to all the world" (Walt Disney's opening day speech). It's the one place in the world specifically designed with the intent to leave your troubles at the door, and just embrace the wonders of pure imagination and magic. Tonight, it's hard because I'm listening to the past audio of yesterland, and thinking about how innocent, how wonderful it was to just not know about what MADE things what they were, and just embrace the fact that it was there. It was magic of Mickey's sorcerer wand that brought things to life. It was the pixie dust that made things fly. Now that I'm 15 days away from turning 20, it's a hard pill to swallow when people are so cynical, and so negative about the world. They have to find something, anything, about everything to nitpick at. They can't just take things without questioning if it's something legitimate or not. That actually really brings me down, because there's so much that people miss out on when they lose sight of how being purely innocent and practically naive, can actually make things better for you. Having friends talk about who they're hooking up with, or what party they're going to makes me want to crawl back down the rabbit hole even more, because we're still young! We're only 18, 19, 20..there's still 60 or 70 years in our lives, why start with all those 'experiences' now, when we're still able to just stay youthful, and focus on the innocence of the world, or what's left of it? As long as I live, I am going to fight to maintain as much of that innocent magic as I can. If not for myself, then for the future generations that start to fall in love with Disney like I did. 

Agumented Fantasy(land)

There was a catchy article over at Blue Sky Disney on the future of Disney and how they're going to handle the transistion to digital streaming ala Netflix-style. There's talk of their own app for all things Disney past and current, but really that's kept under close watch inside the walls of the Mouses' tech HQ.

What got me thinking though, was this relatively new technology that has some really amazing potential. Augmented Reality takes any smart phone and can turn it into a new world on your phone. What "A.R." is, is utilizing your camera on your smart phone, mixed with GPS locationing on your phone, and giving you a chance to post on a 'wall' or suspend a photo in the middle of digital air. For example...

 This idea stemmed from one of the few games I play on my iPhone/iPad, Simpson's Tapped Out. The style is very akin to the old VMK game, with high camera frame, and building your own world. It's definitely a fun way to pass time waiting for meetings.

What I think has the potential here though, is combining augmented reality tech with a virtual magic kingdom. Unfortunately, I can see Walt Disney World getting this before Disneyland, simply because of the Kim Possible/Agent P mission games they have had in EPCOT. I'd love to see this in the original park first though.

Utilizing A.R. tech with VMK game play, iPhone/android users would be able to log into an app that would give them quest missions inside the theme park to gain prizes and points for their characters back on the computer at home. Imagine walking through Sleeping Beauty's Castle Walkthrough attraction, gaining coins along the walkway on your phone, allowing you to gain money to buy more things than you normally would on the game at home. Or walking past Tom Sawyer's island, and seeing Maleficent, and through your phone you yourself have to battle against her to save the island, ala Fantasmic! finale.

This wouldn't just be coins and battles though. Taking it a step higher with that rumored KeyChest, adding smaller animatronics throughout the park to interact with the game's coding to give you clues to hidden missions and hidden items to find in the park.

With the right designing, this is something that I think could make guests' visits that much more exciting when they're in line for pirates, and these paintings come to life through their phone to tell them to look out for Blackbeard or Davy Jones..

Golden Horseshoe Dinner Revue Concept

Math homework. Whoever loves it, can you come save me, and do it for me while I think more about my blue sky ideas?


I just had thought about this idea, while listening to some old show audio from around Disneyland. What if they created a dinner Revue for Golden Horseshoe in Frontierland? It appears that right now the shows inside there are bouncing around locations. It's a popular place to dine with guests, so what if they created a dinner show and turned it into a reservation based location, and brought in a re-worked Golden Horseshoe Revue?

It could be close to the original, with some remixed characters and even guest interaction. Obviously I haven't thought much about it, since I'm typing this as I first came up with it, but it could be something that might work well with the land, and make for a very popular show. Something to think about..

The Wonderful World of Walt

I try not to post my own personal blue sky ideas much, mainly for personal reasons, but this one I want to see what people think of.

What would happen if, for Disney California Adventure's 20th Anniversary, and Walt's 120th birthday year (2021), Disney makes a show honoring the man who created the Mouse, and the park, and even after, inspired everything we have today?

It's not a great photoshop job, but I'm still working on how to really make things look more and more professional. However, this gets the point across, I hope. This is a rough draft idea, and can definitely use tweaks here and there to polish it, but I think it's an idea that could be really grand.

Photo links: Walt and World of Color

The show starts with the soft pier background music. Everyone's all standing along the waterfront, chatting with a coffee or a beer from the Garden across the way, and suddenly the lights lower. The music quiets.

As people hush their conversations, and start to cheer, you hear a train slowly chugging into the station, with small white fountains bobbing in a line as the train nears the stop along the station. As the quiet dapper music plays, you see a young walt step out of a passenger car, looks to Mickey and say "Well Mickey, you ready for your big break?" As he says this, the music picks up into a song about following your dreams, with a very classic, but upbeat style, with white fountains dancing. Relatively close to the program style used in the entrance of the current show. Dancers rotating in circles, with a few line of chasers towards the back. 

As the intro ends, the clips begin. 

the entire show brings in popular clips from the dawn of Walt and Mickey. With a newly configured spirit (yes, at this point Little Squirt would come back, but with Walt Narrative)

Starting still in "black" and white fountains, Walt's voice and spirit come around on the platform, talking about how we need to make a new dream with Mickey. He's basically talking to Mickey as a director, telling Mickey what to do, and mentoring him.  

Walt

"What we need, Mickey, is you saving Minnie. You captain the Steamboat, and save the girl, ok?" 

Mickey

"aha, you got it, boss!" 

We then venture through Steamboat Willie. As the boat sails across screen, water gags hit the cues with the film on screen, very akin to how The Just Add Water concerts are now with Maestro Goofy. 

"well boss, how'd that take go?" 

Walt

"Great job! Now let's make you a friend. How about a duck?"

As he says this, donald is drawn on screen. 

Mickey

"ha, boss, I sure could use a pal!" 

Walt

Alright, now, lets take a stand, and play with the band. 

The Band concert's then kicks up. This is when color starts to appear in the show. Up until now, it's all in white fountains. 

Donald's hijinks are displayed through the fountains as blue, Mickey's in red, and they battle back and forth. 

This progress from the band concert to the next cartoon, with Fantasia and the darker part of the show

Walt

"Well Mickey, people love you. Want to try your luck with my magic?" 

Mickey

"you trust me? Golly, that'd sure be swell, boss!"

As the says this, Fantasia's Sorcerer's Apprentice appears, with orange dancing fountains as broomsticks, and as more fountains add water,  waves of water with blue lasers rising up fill the area, and Walt cuts it short. 

"whoa, whoa, whoa there little buddy. Gotta practice more! Lets try this. You take a break, and we're going to make some new characters appear. Someday, you're going to direct all of this."

From here, the show starts a montage of characters. Alice In Wonderland, Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, etc. As it gets around to the films made in the 60's, Walt calls in Mickey. 

"Mickey, I can't do this much longer. I'm passing all of this on to you."

Mickey

"But, but...boss! I can't do this, I need you! They need you!"

Walt

"Mickey, you're going to do wonderful things, my friend. Go, and keep the magic....alive"

"B...b-boss? Mr. Walt?"

You hear a quiet, raspy sigh, and with that, Mickey stands up, walks across the water screens and picks up the paint brush Walt uses to create the characters on screen. 

"Alright guys, let's make magic!"

now Mickey conducts the show, and from here he helps create his friends. From Jungle book to Pete's Dragon, to Little Mermaid, Lion King,  Toy Story, Hunchback of Notre Dame, etc. This is when the show "blows up" with Mickey coming up with the characters we've grown up with, only to end the show with the final song, And Mickey saying "well boss, We've made it. Look at what you've done for all of us. Lets make some more magic!" and it ends. 

This is the first time I'm thinking this through, and it can easily be rewritten, and rewritten, and again, rewritten to work. But I think the basic concept here, with a show about Walt and Mickey coming together to make what we've grown up with can be very powerful, and done very well. Something I hope could become a great story to show someday. 

What do you think? 

Insane in the (Mouse) Ears

It's sad when something so fun and innocent has to be bruised and battered down by those so self proclaiming to be the biggest fans. Yes, I'm talking to you, MiceChat, VisionsFantastic, MouseWait, and so many more.

Look, I get it that you love the parks. I love them too. I grew up with Disneyland just like any other kid in SoCal. But there's a line that I realized needs to be drawn to loving it and being obsessed about it. Many have crossed this line and are hopelessly lost in their pie-eyed dreams of what they think the park needs to be, and get mad when theres too much "princess" or Marvel's "invading", or Walt-Forbid, the paint on Main Street isn't historically right to the time period (my personal favorite).

I've grown up loving Disney. Goodness, the first movie I watched was Aladdin, and I can still remember the Electrical Parade on Main Street. But as I grew up from just Disney movies and park visits, I started to look deeper into what the parks were, are, and will be. Yes, I searched the internet, and stumbled down the proverbial rabbit hole of fandom.

First it was Theme Park Review, then it was MiceChat. TPR was cool, but over time I got tired of the language and crude jokes. It's still a good site, and Mr. Alvey has done a GREAT job at maintaining it and building it to what it is today, but overall it's just not my style to be with. With MiceChat though, I thought I'd hit a jackpot with the cool fan community of Disney. Originally I thought it was great, because at the time people were nice and willing to chat nicely about what the parks were, discuss history and future rumors. But over time it fell to pieces. I started to make friends with people off the site, and some were cool. Others I questioned their motives, and later understood why I questioned it to begin with, but as time drew on, it got hostile.

Fans slamming each other over an idea that was just an afternoon commute's day dream.
Ripping apart young teen's logic on why Disney was redesigning something.
Shredding old folks for reminiscing on the Days of Old.
It was messy, and I wanted out.

The entire site now is a twisted web of Vinylmation wielding and oversized logo'd shirt wearing, cliques, with only the 'best' being in them. If you disagree, you're outcasted and de-repped. The thing is, even the mods are in on it too, especially when you get sarcastic and witty with your comebacks to things, because they see it as an "attack". If you stay under the wings of mods, you're safe to jab out at others. If you're outside the reach of wings, look out for the attack if you speak your mind too loudly.

And it's not just MiceChat. It's in general. I only used MiceChat because that's the only example of site hostility I had. All in all, I really don't see how people cannot just enjoy what Disney makes for the parks and resorts. They're obviously doing something right to be buying out companies for $4 billion, or working hand in hand with others that have more money than the government does...but the fans don't see it as that. They see it as removing what they love for something new. It's "invasive". The "sight lines are wrong, and intrusive to other lands." It's all stupid and insane in the membrane that people think this.

This all over the past while has actually burned me out on knowing what Disney's up to. I don't even care to go to the parks for now because I need a break from all of this. I need to not only focus on my own life and other things going on with that, but I need to step away from being a big fan, and let this storm spin itself out before I try to step on the beach again. 

Tales from behind the desk.

I've been following this site for a bit, and I want to get the word out even more. Danielle is a ex-Disneyland Cast Member, and she has a blog about her experiences and stories from backstage Disney. It doesn't give out anything it shouldn't, but it's great stories of guest interaction she had experienced over her time of being a Cast Member. If you like hearing personal stories of Cast Members, then you should DEFINITELY check this site out. It's well worth a read, and even a subscription.

Tales Of a Disneyland Cast Member

FoamTard Truck Complaint

Apparently some people are upset about this video of Disneyland before opening showing a truck driving through Frontierland/New Orleans Square.



They're saying its 'bad show', and how 'Walt would have been enraged' etc. They really have no leg to stand on, considering a few things.
1) This is before park hours, and before any guests step into the park. Trucks, pressure washers, cherry pickers, and the like are going to be all over the place at any given time. This is all basically the 'stage preparation' for the guests.
2) Disney has deliberately filmed, and posted videos of in the park, before/after hours of how things work. I don't see how this is any different.
3) Editing a moving truck out of six seconds of film time? People, really? The Disney film dept. that does stuff like this isn't ILM. They're not gonna waste a day of cutting that out.
4) The members on "another site" are very hypocritical. One day they're complaining about a duck video having a truck in the background, but another praise the one that gives light to how the autopia cars are filled up, and how they rotate plants during the third shift (for those that don't know, third shift is commonly known as the after hours, or night crew that work to get the park looking good before guests arrive).
5) Did they forget that a while ago...Disney allowed a news team to come in, and interview third shift employees, and show some of the secrets of how tricks work on Indiana Jones Adventure?


They ate that video up and loved it. But not the one of a truck driving through the park. Go figure, right?

It's funny to me how people find the stupidest things to complain about. Sure, one could argue, much like this person mentioned on "another site" how Walt would have been enraged at the site of his guests seeing a truck inside the park like that. It IS SOMEWHAT understandable. However, with the high speed access to anything, and being able to take a quick video or photo on the spot, post it to the WORLD wide web, and have millions view it instantly, things are inevitably going to slip. Just look at the stuff thats been leaked before showtime. MiceChat actually gave us all hi-res photos of Star Tours before opening. Other times we've gotten mere pixelated images of items backstage. The thing is, Disney knew that the truck was in there while this film was in the editing bay. They chose to leave it in there to probably show people "yea, this is before hours. That is a GMC pickup driving where thousands of you walk daily." 





But who are we kidding? Foamers gonna foam, right?

Sunshine State Darkens With No Grad Nights

According to Screamscape, Walt Disney World is ending their grad nights after this year. I haven't heard a reason as to why exactly, but I hope it's a good one. It seems like Disney World has this automatic hype built up about it as the biggest and best, but with the transportation crashes, lack of grad nights, exclusive seasonal parties you have to fork tons of money over for, it doesn't seem like the best to me, and I've yet to go there.

With that said, I think Grad night is a great concept. Get recently graduated teens to the parks to celebrate their graduation with Disney style, all night long. But from the previous (and by previous, I mean YEARS ago) stories I've heard from my mom, her friends, and even my Grandma who graduated in the 60's, they had to actually DRESS UP for this event. Guys had to wear ties, girls had to wear dresses, etc. I wish they'd still do that. Make Disneyland like an extended Prom.

Another thing, what's with anyone can go? Last year I was down at the Resort for the premier of World of Color (June 11th), and as I waited in line to be the first to get tickets for the show, I was talking to teens my age who came all the way from Hawaii for Grad Night. Part of that is really cool. But honestly, I feel that it crowds up the park and loses its exclusivity to the locals. Why can't it be just for the Southern Cali kids, and the Orange County Florida kids (WDW)?

I may just be ignorant to Disney's real reasons for the way they run grad night, and I probably am. It just seems easier at times when things are kept simple.