Friday, April 30, 2010

if i lived in central florida i'd...

...strike out for Disney's Hollywood Studios and stop by The Writer's Stop. There I'd order a Carrot Cake Cookie and a hot Americano. I'd then pull a choice book from the shelf, find a nice chair, and spend a relaxing few hours in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the Studios.

How about you?

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Back in Time

Let's take a quick trip back in time to 02.15.10. You may recall that I posted a photograph originally posted on 01.31.10. Here it is.

After all this time, we have a correct answer. Congratulations to Eugene Hinderer who correctly identified this window as being in the German Pavilion.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Where In The World

On April 12th I posted a photograph found in Disney's Hollywood Studios and on April 17th our good friend Ryan Wilson of the Main Street Gazette wrote that it was of "large screen after the first turn in the queue for Star Tours." Ladies and gentlemen, he is exactly right. Congrats Ryan. If you haven't done so, stop by the Gazette. You'll be glad you did.

Now, onto other matters at hand. Where would you find this?
Before the week is out (and when I have a bit more time), I'll update you on a particular window that was featured a few months back.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

A Sign It's Saturday

I love the PhilharMagic! I especially like it when I have my grandchildren with me. It is great fun watching them react to the 3D magic by reaching out for the desserts in the Beauty and the Beast sequence and the thingamabobs in Little Mermaid.

Okay, I have been known to reach out every now and then.

Friday, April 23, 2010

...if i lived in central florida i'd...

...wander around the World Showcase and sample all the teas that I can find.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Disney World After Dark: Yacht Club

One of my favorite restaurants in all of Walt Disney World lies just across the water there. It is the Yachtsman Steakhouse. I celebrated my 50th birthday there in 2007. Following perhaps what was one of the best New York Strips that I ever tasted, my family and I walked out to the dock and just next to the lighthouse there, was a boat. They gave me an IllumiNations fireworks cruise as one of my birthday gifts. Not only that, but friends who couldn't be in Walt Disney World to help celebrate helped with the surprise.
Tomorrow, I'll turn 53. I am not going to be in the World to celebrate. But I will be in a very nice place nonetheless; with my family and whatever friends would like to journey to Nashville to celebrate with me. I may be getting physically older, but I am trying ever so much harder to not grow up.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

A Sign It's Saturday

I must have been the last hold-out on riding The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I just could not justify waiting in what is usually a very long line. But, in October of 2007 that all changed thanks to Cast Member named Bryce over at Peter Pan's Flight. After my first ride through Pan I happened to mention to him that it was my favorite ride. He worked a little magic by giving my five more FastPasses. I proceeded to use these; one after another. Near the end of my passes, he saw me coming off the attraction and gave me a FastPass for any attraction I wanted. I thought, you've just rode Pan six times, why not try something else. So I walk across Fantasyland, and rode Pooh.

Now, it is in my early morning ride sequence whenever I am in the Magic Kingdom. There is something about hearing The Rain, Rain, Rain, Came Down, Down, Down and Hempfalumps and Woozles.

Friday, April 16, 2010

if i lived in central florida i'd...

...head over to the Liberty Inn in Epcot's World Showcase and have a hot dog with chili and cheese; maybe with a freshly brewed iced tea. Afterwards, I would take in the American Adventure. I always tend to get a little emotional during the show.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

An Appreciation of Trees

One, of the many things, I enjoy about Epcot are the festivals. In the fall there is the International Food and Wine Festival and going on right now is the International Flower and Garden Festival. Sadly, this is my second year in a row of having to miss the festival.


There are two things I specifically like about this festival. The first is that there is usually a whimsical garden design here or there that I find inspirational. This may be an old wooden ladder that is covered in various colors of dipped paint and holding paint pans as planters. You may find an old iron bed that has been transformed into a planting bed. And the creativity goes on and on.


The second thing that always, always draws my attention is the bonsai exhibits. These can be found in China and Japan. I have been a fan of bonsai long before I discovered the festival exhibits. In fact, it almost became a regular occasion of any visit to stop in the Mitsukoshi Department Store and purchase a bonsai starter kit to take home. After helplessly watching three or four of these become kindling, I decided that my money could be better spent. Yet, my inability to cultivate a bonsai did not diminish my admiration of them.


Bonsai is an art form and a form that requires years of practice and patience. It also has a history stretching back to 4000 BC. The Chinese called it penzai during the Jin Dynasty. Other oriental cultures took up the form and Japanese began developing their own versions of the form during the Heian period between 794 and 1185 AD. They used the term “bowl” or “bon” trees. One of the oldest known living bonsai has its beginning in 1610 and is now considered a national treasure of Japan.


To celebrate the festival and the magicians who cultivate these masterpieces I want to share a few bonsai photographs from the 2007 International Flower and Garden Festival. The first two are the miniature landscapes of the Chinese penzai tradition and the remaining three are some of the magnificent displays found near Japan’s Torii Gate.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Where In The World

Wow! Joseph L correctly identified the 03.29.10 photograph as being from the queue at the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith. In fact, it took every bit 1 hour 52 minutes into the hunt for the answer to appear. I suppose I should have used a picture I took while we were backstage during a "101" moment for the attraction. But then, not everyone sees that area and it really wouldn't be fair would it? Anyway, congrats Joseph L.

Now, for this weeks installment.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Something On A Sunday

Virago - Nashville - 11.22.07

Editor's Note: also my favorite place to each sushi and home of the Doc's Family Thanksgiving Buffet.


Saturday, April 10, 2010

A Sign It's Saturday

After eating at the Nook, you may need something to wash it all down. Perhaps a Root Beer Float at...

Friday, April 9, 2010

if i lived in central florida i'd...

...i'd go to Typhoon Lagoon and find a tube on Castaway Creek and float round and round until I resembled a prune.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Light

Years ago my wife made a suggestion that basically said this, "If you're going to collect Disney, why not spend some money and get some really good items?" What she was referring to was penchant for collecting coffee mugs, plastic character figures, and a myriad of other rather inexpensive things. Sure, there was the occasional collectible thrown in, like Grolier figurines or a signed and numbered plate. I felt that if I concentrated on inexpensive items, my money would go further and I would enlarge my collection quickly.

But my wife's words kept coming back to me, and she was right. "If you're going to collect...money...really good items." Words of wisdom, don't you think? Words I have taken to heart.

Now granted, I am not one of those who can walk into a store, point to just any item, say I want it, and then get it. True, I can say I want it all day, but the actual getting it can be problematic. Depending on the item.

For example, take Robert Olszewski. I have made several trips to Walt Disney World over the past few years and each time I will walk into an Art of Disney store and look longingly at the Cinderella Castle miniature. Yes, I could put down the money for the item. It would mean foregoing a table service or two perhaps. But the issue comes from not actually purchasing the Castle; it comes from the felt need that will arise that I must purchase all the other items that make up the miniature collection and then the next thing you know, I am taking out a second mortgage, adding onto my house, and I just can't be bothered with that.

Remember, I have a few dreams I am working on.

But, I have found some things that I can look at, consider, and then actually purchase to add to my "little bit of Disney" at home. They are the Gallery of Light creations by Olszewski. These are illuminated shadowboxes of Disney scenes or characters and I am becoming a huge fan.
The Pinnocchio Workshop of Wonder was the first item to find its way home. This was followed by Peter Pan's Pixie Laughter and A Starlit Bella Notte from Lady and the Tramp.
This past February I had Alice in Wonderland's Mad Tea Party added to the collection.

My last few trips have also found me searching for Peter Pan and the Darling Family Over London and Mary Poppins Over London. This may be something that I'll have to secure from the Olszewski Studios directly, as I have yet to find them in The Art of Disney.

I appreciate the detail and artistic merit of each of these works. So much so that they are part of the LBODIER project here. That would be the Little Bit Of Disney In Every Room project. Yes, the home office carries most of the memoribilia load, but some things find their way out and about, and the Olszewski Gallery of Light collection are some of those things.

I know I have promised a lot of other topics in the future. But let's go ahead and add a bit about the Gallery of Light items in the future shall we. Not about what has been added, but more about how they are made. I am sure there is something out there about that.

Until then, more to follow...

Monday, April 5, 2010

Disney World After Dark: A Carrousel

And not just any carrousel. No, this is a Golden Carrousel. Cinderella's Golden Carrousel was an opening day attraction in the Magic Kingdom. Originally built in 1917 by the Philidelphia Toboggan Company, the carrousel began operation at the Detroit Palace Garden Park. Disney found it in 1967 located at the Maplewood Olympic Park and lovingly restored the classic ride for its October 1, 1971 debut in Central Florida.

The carrousel carries 90 horses on its 2 minute journey. If you're lucky, you can ride Cinderella's horse. It is found in the second rank with a golden bow on its tail.
Looking at the carrousel, I can not help but think how important they are to the design of the Magic Kingdom, first in Disneyland and then the subsequent parks. To me they are symbolic of Disney, the man.

"The idea of Disneyland came about when my daughters were very young and Saturday was always Daddy's day with the two daughters. So we'd start out and try to go someplace, you know, different things, and I'd take them to the merry-go-round and I took them different places and as I'd sit while they rode the merry-go-round and did all these things - sit on a bench, you know, eating peanuts - I felt that there should be something built where the parents and the children could have fun together. So that's how Disneyland started. Well, it took many years...it was a period of maybe fifteen years developing. I started with many ideas, threw them away, started all over again. And eventually it evolved into what you see today at Disneyland. But it all started from a daddy with two daughters wondering where he could take them where he could have a little fun with them, too."

So, when I look at the carrousel, the merry-go-round, I think of Walt and can almost imagine him holding on to a young Sharon and Diane Disney as they went round and round.

Italized quote from The Quotable Walt Disney, compiled by Dave Smith, pg. 51

Saturday, April 3, 2010

A Sign It's Saturday

Meeting all of your hot dog and french fry needs while in Fantasyland, the Friar's Nook.
The Carrot Cake is also satisfying.

Friday, April 2, 2010

if i lived in central florida i'd...

...stop by Epcot, find a park bench near Mouse Gear, and watch a complete cycle of the Fountain of Nations water shows. Might just turn on the video camera too.