DCA for the Holidays - Trip Report Part 2

Hi, Everyone!

While your pie is in the oven, let's continue looking at what the Disneyland Resort has to offer this holiday season.

The Festival of Holidays is a big review in itself, and frankly, I will probably have more to cover if we wait until next week, so we're going to stick to decor and hold off on specific reviews of the Festival until then.

Disney is featuring the Festival of Holidays prominently. And for good reason (check back for a full review!)

One thing I love about Buena Vista Street, is like Main Street, it adheres to time period in the holiday decor.  While Main Street has a Victorian Christmas, BVS moves into what is accidentally more of a Hollywood Christmas.

Where is Maureen O'Hara when you need her?

And, Yes, I know Miracle on 34th Street is set in New York.....

And the in-period products in the windows....IMAGINEERING for the WIN!

Another great addition is the Elias & Co. decorations portraying the Disney short "Santa's Workshop" from 1932. Again, keeps in period while adding a Disney touch.  But these gorgeous sort of pop-up book decorations inside the shop really set it off for me.

And just for fun...

This update is going to be kind of tree heavy, but DCA has such great variations on the Christmas tree in the park, I kind of couldn't help myself.

And, the park tree! Picture perfect! And I love how it's off in a corner, unlike Disneyland's tree. The little differences between the two parks are kind of nice.

These character decorations under the tree....DISNEY! SELL THESE!!!
(Sometimes I really don't know what merchandising is thinking....just do it!)

LIKE THIS! DISNEY, Gimmie these!

Again, I'll cover the Festival in depth later, but the decor set up is really lovely.

Carsland, however, is kind of the stand out champion of Christmas in DCA. The attention to detail, while still managing to be (for lack of a better term) LADEN with decor takes an already wonderful section of the park and turns it up to 11.

Even the sign gets a change for the holidays.

This tree of Filmore's might be my favorite. Sell these, too, Disney! Sheesh!

Mater's sloppy but heartfelt tree.

Here's my question, is this the ONLY way Sarge could get a star on this tree? I mean....there had to be another option, here...

The Cozy Cone makes good use of their namesake object.

See this, too! How cute! Just a small one!
Amongst my personal Christmas decorations, I have a mini forest of tabletop trees. They don't really match and I like them that way. If I could get this in that size, I'd be happy.

Luigi has made his own leaning tower of tree.

Ramone's (exterior and interior).

Over at Pacific Wharf, I found the buoy adorably decorated.

Ariel's Undersea Adventure.

When I got over to Viva Navidad!, I had just missed the mini parade, but again, I'll cover it in depth later.

While walking towards Screamin', I saw this little stage and wondered what kind of performances were going on. Well, many. I happened to run into the lovely Diwali celebration with Blue13 Dance Company.  Also, while taste-testing, I happened onto a performance by Mostly Kosher. It's really nice to see Disney celebrating all the different holidays together. Again, next post.

These presents were scattered throughout the Paradise Park area. SO cute!

And, for now, that's it. Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving. See you next week!

Frolics with Fred: Thanksgiving Preparation

Dear Readers....

BREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I'm just so excited for Thanksgiving, I'm about to burst my bow!

It's about more than carrots for me, y'know....

Happy Early Thanksgiving!

Love, Fred

Christmastime is Here....Trip Report, Part 1

Hey there, Hi there, Ho there!

I spent a productive day in the parks trying to get as much of a Christmas decorations and overlays as possible.  And...I might have been too successful.  So, this update will be a two part EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!!!!!!!

Disneyland today, DCA in a few days....and a third piece exclusively on the Festival of Holidays.

But let me start really quick with parking and security.  Last week, it was reported that Disney will move security check in stations to include Downtown Disney, so people going from the shopping center to the parks won't have to be checked closer to the parks, and guests arriving from the trams will be checked AT the Mickey and Friends parking structure.

As of Tuesday, that hasn't happened yet.  Shame, I was looking forward to it, which sounds weird, but change is good.

However, the Pinocchio parking lot is under a MASSIVE amount of construction. I haven't checked Micechat this week, but are they planning to expand it to accommodate more cars? If so, not a bad idea.  At the time, it didn't seem to be impeding the process of tram boarding, but TouringPlans.com listed yesterday as a 3 out of 10 (Touring Plans do not advertise with the blog, but I'd let them.  A GREAT app!)

The pumpkins are down, and the snowflakes are up!
No, NOT Elsa's crown! Whoever said that needs a time out!

Even the beautiful Main Street horses are in the holiday spirit!

In the Market House, home of Starbucks, there are still a few 60th Anniversary cups left.  Which makes me feel stupid since on July 17th, 2015, I was dispatched to buy...I think four of the hot mugs.

The tree in the Market House is a lovely example of Disney's ability to decorate for the holidays within the world of the land.  Near my house is a Victorian home built by the founder of our town.  They have a Victorian Christmas annually, and these kind of decorations are very dear to me.

As a habit, I at least listen to a couple minutes of the party line, but unfortunately, the phones weren't working.  Who do I call to get on this?!

I saw these trees in the windows of the camera shop. I want them! Where can I find these!
Again, the attention to detail is astonishing. I should have tried to find the Menorah in one of the windows....Next time!

I adore these small (fir?) trees in the planters around the hub. Horticulture is an often under appreciated branch of the Disney theme parks divisions. I mean...they planted mini trees! MINI TREES!

The diamonds of the 60th have frozen, apparently....
No Frozen jokes....don't you dare!

Back in Fantasyland, the parade lighting (and I'd assume it's also used for the projections on Small World....too far away?) was disguised with these interesting Mary Blair-esque coverings. Not 100% sure how I feel about it, perhaps they should have stayed in the white color scheme.  But I applaud the effort. I wonder if some kind of changes are on the way after the holidays to gets these lights into the lighting posts....right next to the temporary post.....

OK, this is the definition of hell. RIGHT. HERE.
Really, everyone? HALF the space next to Small World in front of the entrance to ToonTown was littered with stroller parking.  It appears they moved it away from in front of Small World, but...Dear me, WHY?!

ToonTown's sign is being refurbished.

I don't get back to ToonTown often, but I'm glad I did to see their decorations.  It's worth an early morning power walk to the back of the park, while it's kind of quiet.

This fire station often reminds me of the many firefighters in my family, so if any of you read the blog, this is for you! xo

Alright, back to Small World.  There was a little stage in front of it, but the Christmas Parade has already been shot for Christmas Day so..what gives?

I don't know about the rest of you, readers, but 2016 hasn't been...great.
To paraphrase the television show M*A*S*H, "2017, May she be a damn sight better than last year."

Last year (or the year before) Disney switched up the strings of lights with the nice faux ironwork in the Latin America section, and it's just fantastic.

Anyone ever hear the great story from Imagineer Alice Davis about the can can girls? Their knees kept wearing out too quickly due to movement.  At the time of the World's Fair, they didn't have time to really find a solution, so she just made their bloomers longer to cover their knees.  In New York, Walt Disney was showing the attraction to the UNICEF and PepsiCo people, and noticed the longer bloomers.  Alice was nearby, wearily waiting to hear about the bloomers.  Walt called over to her, "Hey, Alice, why are their bloomers so long?".  Without skipping a beat, she replied, "Well, you said you wanted a family show!", escaping before Walt could ask a follow-up question.

God Bless Alice Davis, she has many great stories like this.

Apparently, I ran into nap time near the castle. Aren't they cute?!
Sorry, my mother often makes fun of how I brake to take pictures of animals.

In Frontierland, they had these nice Native American influenced decorations. Neat!

Now, I won't lie, it was hard as heck to get a picture of this new tree in front...uh, on top of, the Jungle Cruise. But it was CRAZY! Fish bones and bananas. It further extends the story, though it looked more like something in a Tim Burton movie...

Not a lot of changes to the Jingle Cruise this year.  They really stepped it up from the first year, where I think they were a little nervous about it, but then decided to just go all out, and it's PERFECT! And Brandon was a great skipper, if you get him. The Pirranukah joke will always be funny!

One last detail I'd like to point out...ordinarily there is a lamp in Walt's apartment, to signify that his spirit is always in the park. I love the change to a Christmas tree. I'm not even sure why. So his spirit won't feel left out of the festivities? Maybe it's the illusion that life still exists in that apartment. Or that Walt's interest in detail lives on...

Disneyland is always beautiful, but Christmas brings on both an additional shine as well as a comfort.  I think Walt would be proud of Main Street at Christmas.  The music loop, the tree, everything in period.  It's just a tonic in troubling times. I wish Disney wouldn't push so many people to come to the parks in this state. When you can just sit with a gingerbread latte and enjoy the ambiance, it's a little that means a lot.

So, that's part one of the Disneyland Resort at Christmas photo essay SPECTACULAR!!!!!!!!

In the meantime...

Any questions? Requests? Comments? Go ahead and respond down below! Share the post! Have a great week!

Life's Like a Movie - Floyd Norman: An Animated Life

Sorry for my absence, hopefully, I'll be back on track!

Last night, I had the pleasure (Thanks to the website TheWrap) to go to a screening of Floyd Norman: An Animated Life, a new documentary following the life of Disney Legend, animator, story man, and all around creative Floyd Norman.

For those who don't know (but not to spoil much), Mr. Norman worked for Disney starting with Sleeping Beauty.  In his long career, he's worked in different division with the company, Pixar, with Bill Cosby, and Hanna-Barbera, as well as independently. A self-described troublemaker, his career is essentially a history of animation itself.

It's hard to really sum up the movie without spoiling it, but Norman was, kind of accidentally, the first African American artist at the Disney Company.  His history with the company is varied and unbiased, even to the present day.

I found it similar to the documentary on Big Bird performer Carroll Spinney (I Am Big Bird), in various ways.  Both films chronicle the life of an artist whose legacy is tied to a larger figure/company, both express their creative in more ways than the medium they're known for, and both films augment the wonderful stories told with animation.  In Norman's case, this is achieved with gags he wrote himself, and much of his delightful, subversive artwork is displayed in the film.

I can't say enough good things about this film. Again, it doesn't put the rose-colored glasses on the Disney Company, and just allows Floyd to tell the story of his life. Race is almost a non-issue in the film, Norman himself admitting it in the first few minutes.  The film does pose questions The Disney Company left unanswered, which I will allow you all to decide for yourselves once you see it.

Viewers unaware of Norman's reach in the animation industry will be astonished to find his hand in many of their childhood favorites, and I think that's one of the highest goals of a documentary like this, allowing the adult to discover the hands and hearts behind the works we loved as a child.

I'm so utterly loathe to give away any more information, I just want people to see this movie.  Really, you NEED to. It's interesting, funny, informative, and heartwarming, but not a puff piece at all.

A couple of years ago, I had the distinct honor of meeting Floyd at the Disney Studios, after a D23 screening of Mary Poppins.  He was responsible for all the pearls on the Pearly Band in the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious segment of the movie.  Just sit back and think about that a little....ALL those pearls. Imagineer Rolly Crump's first job at Disney was doing the spots on the Dalmatians in 101 Dalmatians....he didn't last long in Animation....so that Norman's career lasted beyond that bear of a job makes him a gosh darn HERO in my eyes!

After the screening, filmmakers Michael Fiore, Erik Sharkey, and composer Ryan Shore. They were gracious enough to track the decision to make a movie about Floyd, which was understandably very quick. I was sorry to hear how Disney, as a company, supported, or rather didn't support the production, because the filmmakers would like to do a series of these films on Disney Legends.  A fantastic idea.

So, in this entry, I'm including links to the website and to Floyd's wonderful blog filled with interesting stories from his vast career. He's got stories about Walt, Michael Jackson and so many more in between, along with his lovely sketches and gags.

http://floydnormancom.squarespace.com

And here is the link to the documentary's website: http://floydnormanmovie.com

And, finally, here is the trailer. PLEASE go see this movie! Get it on iTunes, it's on Netflix...go. Run, don't walk.

P.S. Mr. Norman, should you happen to read this...my mother and I saw you at the last D23 Expo, eating your lunch.  We didn't want to bother you, but if you saw two women staring, that was us.  Hi!

Have a good week, everybody!