A Sign It's Saturday

I wish I could either bring this store to where I live, or put my office in this store. I love being surrounded by toys.

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I Want To Be Like You

I grew up with The Jungle Book being one of my favorite films. I remember this as one that my father took me to see. I have several memories of this film but three in particular that I'll share here, now.

I love the song King Louie sings, I Wan'na Be Like You. Louis Prima gave a phenomenal performance. Even now, I'll be walking through the house and every now and then break out with a rousing "Ooh-ooh-ooh, I wan'na be like you-ooh-ooh."

I also like the line that Baloo speaks during the song, once he has gotten caught up in the beat, "I'm gone man, solid gone."

And finally, the vultures. "What you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" "Oh, now don't start that again."

While Devon and I were strolling through Disney's Animal Kingdom, walking from Asia to Africa, I spotted King Louie walking along a path to our right. I just couldn't help introducing my grandson to these old favoritesMore to follow...

Disney World After Dark: The Darkroom

I was once asked what was my least favorite park in Walt Disney World. Without having to give it much thought, I answered, Disney's Hollywood Studios. And truly, it isn't that I didn't like it the least, I simply liked the other parks more. Now having shared that I will add that DHS is growing on me.

It is growing on me but not for the rides or attractions; though any visit to the park is not complete without a spin on the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, a run through the arcade fun of Toy Story Midway Mania and a nostalgic journey through film in The Great Movie Ride. It is also not about the food; though a trip for me is certainly not complete without PB&J shake at the 50's Prime Time Cafe and Carrot Cake Cookie from The Writers Stop.

It is growing on me and it is for the architecture! The Studios are filled with spectacular examples of Art Deco architecture along Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards and these facades have become a magnet for me whenever I am in the park - especially at night. The Studios also offer up a few examples of "California Crazy" or Programmatic architecture. Programmactic architecture is also known as "mimetic" or "mimic" architecture in that its design mimics something not usually associated with buildings. One example of this greets you as you enter the park and begin to make your way down Hollywood Blvd. It is The Darkroom.

The facade of The Darkroom in DHS is fashioned after The Darkroom camera shop once located at 5370 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. The shop was built in 1938. To learn more about this architectural gem, visit PreserveLA.

In the weeks to come, Disney World After Dark will explore some my favorite nighttime shots inside Disney's Hollywood Studios.

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Something On A Sunday

Red Rocks Trading Post - 02.05.10

A Sign It's Saturday

Once upon a time you would ride through a room called the Art Room. It was like entering a dream filled with rainbows of color and a carousel of origami animals. It was magic and It was one of my favorite places to be in Epcot.


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The Women In My Life

When I was a child going the movie theater was a big deal. I was seven years old in 1964 and there was a new Disney film out. My dad stayed home with my baby sister and my mom took me to the movie. The movie was Mary Poppins.

I wouldn’t say that I developed a boyhood crush for Mary Poppins, or for Julie Andrews. No, that honor was reserved for Vera Ellen. But the character of Mary Poppins was magical. What child would not want a nanny, or a babysitter, who could take you on adventures through a chalk pavement drawing, or serve tea from a tea setting floating near the ceiling. With her charming, but firm disposition, her practically perfect ways and a spoon full of sugar, she managed to transform the Banks children, the Banks household and finally, Mr. Banks himself.

As for Dame Andrews, Mary Poppins was the first in a long line of film successes. Walt Disney was so taken by her performance as Guinervere in the Lerner and Lowe production of Camelot, that he waited until after the birth of her daughter to begin filming. Her performance earned her the 1964 Academy Award for Best Actress. This was only the second time in Academy history that an actress was awarded for their first motion picture role. It happened previously with Shirley Booth in Come Back Little Sheba. It has occurred since with Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl and Marlee Matlin in Children of a Lesser God.

Something else forever linked to the success of Mary Poppins, is the musical score. In the years since the film opened, two songs continue to hold a special place in my memory. Feed the Birds is quite simply one of the greatest songs ever written. The Sherman Brothers crafted a song with a simple, yet profound, message. With 146 words they expressed this truth: it doesn’t take much effort to be kind and to genuinely care for another person. Add to that the image of Jane Darwell sitting at the foot of the stairs of the majestic St. Paul’s Cathedral, spreading her love, mixed with a bit of seed, and you have a beautiful moment in film.

The other song is A Man Has Dreams. The opening two lines could very well serve as an anthem to every man who ever dared to dream.

“A man has dreams of walking with giants

To carve his niche in the edifice of time.”

What man hasn’t dreamt of becoming something more than they are. I have dreamed and continue to dream. But I do so with the understanding that it is matters not what I become, if along the way, I lose the one’s I care most about.

I aspired to greatness and found it. It is, for me, to be a good husband and son, a good father and grandfather, a good brother and uncle, a good man. I have had my whole life to understand that this is who I am and to become perfectly content in that understanding. But, looking back over all these years, I can look to a time when I was seven and an English nanny came into my life and taught me a few things about what it means to be good.

Thank you Mary Poppins.

Whatever You Call It

What do you say when you're closing in on the next trip to Walt Disney World? Some say they are doing the "Single Digit Dance". I like to refer to my walk through Orlando International as doing "The MCO Shuffle". And we may recall the commercial that has the little boy saying, "I'm too excited to sleep!" Whichever you choose (and there may be other expressions you use), it all says, "I'm going to Disney World!"

And I am! I am preparing for my fourth trip in the last 176 days.

It is difficult people who do not share or understand the passion that some of us hold for Walt Disney World to grasp why we take so many trips to The World, and then start planning the next one the minute we get home. And sometimes it is hard for us to express why.

On this occasion, my reason is simple. I am flying down to visit with a friend and his family. While I lived in England I played in band and became great friends with a guy named Dave Steer. I got to know his family and we would take the occasional road trip down to London together.

It has been a long time, too long in fact, since Dave and I have seen each other. So when I heard he was bringing the fam to the U.S. I jumped at the chance to visit. It could have been anywhere in the country and I would have made the effort. But as luck would have it, he felt it was a good idea to share Walt Disney World with his wife and sons. Frankly, I can't argue with the man's logic.

So, beginning today I am doing the "Single Digit Dance". On 02.25.10 I'll be laying awake in bed crying out "I'm too excitied to sleep!" Then at 8:35 p.m. on 02.26 I'll be doing "The MCO Shuffle" on my way to spend time wth Dave, Sue, Ben and Jake.

More to follow (I'm sure I'll Tweet a few updates)...