The Great Indoors

The following is from an on-line Disney discussion site in response to a question regarding Disney's Wilderness Lodge:

We have never stayed at WL, but we love to visit. The lobby is the best of any Disney Resort at WDW. The theming of course is of Wilderness and the resort is made to look like it is of Wood, though I suspect it is not.

This just tickles me.
The author is correct though; the Wilderness Lodge does have the best lobby of all the Disney resorts. And it's even better at Xmas.

The Lodge theming is that of an early-1900s Northwest National Park lodge, and is patterned after the one in Yellowstone NP.

The fireplace in the lobby is a recreation of the 2-billion year-old strata of the Grand Canyon with over 100 colors in hues of green, magenta, buff, red, black and brown, as well as fossilized remains of prehistoric plant and animal life.

There is also a HM in the fireplace!

H/T: WDW Info

And no, the lodge is not made of wood. It is constructed of molded, colored and hand-painted concrete.

The huge stone blocks which appear to form the lodge's foundation are also concrete, as are the 'stone' steps.

These rocks, and the ones that surround the geyser, are hand painted to look natural, right down to the lichens, mold and algae stains (some are now the real thing).

H/T: Eric & Jennifer

Disney's Wilderness Lodge: Official site
Trip Advisor: Reviews

The Bay Lake Monster

The Bay Lake Monster is one of Disney's latest creations.
It's officially known as the Bay Lake Tower and is the newest DVC resort.

By itself it probably would have been very striking.

But.

Disney is building it right next to the Contemporary Resort.

Photo: Disney/artist concept

There had been a rumor that the new DVC resort would be built to resemble the Contemporary, only slightly smaller. Now that would have worked very well, IMHO.

Building the very large, and architecturally different, Bay Lake Tower so close to the Contemporary Tower, makes for an overall unpleasant visual. It diminishes both, especially the Contemporary.

A Disney icon is lost to 'progress'.

MVMCP

I attended my first
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
this year.

The parade was fun; the hot chocolate was hot and plentiful; snow fell on Main Street; the dance parties were great fun to watch; the fireworks were spectacular (Tink flew right over our heads); and the castle was absolutely stunning.

And I loved the special Cast Member Mickey Mitts (red instead of white)!

We (sis & I) missed seeing 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, tho, because after the 1st show (which was so packed, there was not even standing room in the back), one of the performers became ill and the next show was canceled. Then we got busy with the rest of the festivities and didn't to check if the show was back on.

Maybe next year!

Photo: Deb Wills / Allears.net

Oh La La, La Nouba!

La Nouba ... "Live it up" ... "Where two worlds collide" ... is Cirque du Soleil's resident company at Disney World.

You can't miss the big white building at the very end of DownTown Disney's West Side.

After a couple of years saying 'we really gotta see it', we experienced La Nouba for the 1st time yesterday evening.

Yes, experienced, because that's what it is. An experience. It's more than a show. Much more.

Hubby's favorite character was the 'Green Bird' who appears throughout, mostly in the background (and who is not green).

My favorite character was 'Le Titan' (aka the Muscle Man) who also appears throughout and does his thing in the last act.

My favorite act was the Diabolos.
The Diabolo is a musical wooden spool on a string.

Little Chinese girls spun, twirled, and tossed them.
Then they spun, twirled and tumbled while spinning, twirling and tossing the diabolos.

And there was more. So much more.

Here's the Disney World website.

Here's the offical La Nouba website.

Confession # 8: I Wanna Be a Chipmunk!

I'd love to be a "Head" character at Disney World.

Not THE Head character tho.
I used to think Meg Crofton's
job would be the ultimate Cast Member role.

But that's way too much responsibility and
I would much rather have fun!

So, the "Head" character I wanna be is a chipmunk!
Chip, Dale, either one.

Yes, I DO know the difference.
(Nose, teeth, eyes)

The Three Broomsticks

The Three Broomsticks is coming to Universal Orlando's Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

This will be a table service restaurant featuring regional Scottish and British-inspired cuisine.

Will there be butterbeer?

Steve Jayson, Universal Orlando's executive chef, who oversees all the resort's food operations:

"Pumpkin juice, butterbeer. All those great beverages, we are working on a lot of different things."

NOTE: In case you're not a Harry Potter fan, the Three Broomsticks, located in the wizards' village of Hogsmeade, is the favorite hangout of Hogwarts students.

If you don't know what Hogwarts and Hogsmeade are, Google will return 8,940,000 results for Hogwarts, and 1,010,000 results for Hogsmeade.

H/T: Theme Park Insider

Rip, Ride, Rockit

This is Universal's new interactive Outdoor roller coaster debuting in 2009.

It will be located near Jimmy Neutron and travel out and over the City Walk lagoon at a top speed of 65 mph.

Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit touts six near-miss moments and first-ever thrills including a record-breaking loop. Ride vehicles feature the brightest and most innovative color changing LEDs in the world. High-energy visual displays fill the queue line. With up to four ride vehicles on the tracks at any given time, and with concert lighting and special effects mixed in, 'Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit' will be a true high-intensity, multi-sensory experience that is unmatched.

Riders get to choose the song they will listen to while Riding the Rockit.

I took part in a Universal survey to determine which songs might be on the lists, and since I'm an old fogey and have no knowledge of _nor interest in_ what passes for Top 40 music these days, my list was rather lop-sided with Bryan Adams and Huey Lewis. So, HAH.

Let 'er Rip!

Rumor Alert: The Beastly Kingdom

The rumor about Disney's Beastly Kingdom (or Kingdomme) has been going around for quite a while, since as far back as 1998, and resurfaces from time to time.

Like now.

It goes something like this:

The Beastly Kingdom would be the 5th "land' at Disney's Animal Kingdom, joining Africa, Asia, Dinoland, and Camp Minnie-Mickey.

Or maybe Camp Minnie-Mickey would be absorbed since it was originally supposed to have been 'temporary'.

Dragons and unicorns would be a big feature.

Rumored rides/attractions were "The Dragon Tower", "Quest of the Unicorn" maze, "Fantasia Gardens" (boat ride). Another rumor has it that WDI is thinking up totally new things.

The entrance would be through the Camp Minnie-Mickey area. Since the Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends attraction closed in September, the rumor about new construction has picked up some steam.

And.

Disney-watchers like to point out that the AK logo does indeed have a dragon smack-dab in the middle.

And don't forget the Unicorn parking area.

The rock dragon fountain (looks more like a stegosaurus to me), a remnant from the early planning, is still there, although the dragon fire cave is not. Or at least not 'fired up'.

So it must be gonna happen, someday.

Oh, and another rumor, perhaps the most interesting, has it that Disney laid off the Imagineers who were planning the Beastly Kingdom and these guys were then hired by the place down the road to create "Dueling Dragons" and the "Flying Unicorn".

If it's not true, it does make a great rumor.

Confession # 7: I Bought a Dollywood Pin

As a collector and trader of Disney pins, I made an interesting discovery: Dollywood has some pretty neat pins, too.

No, I haven't made it to Dollywood, yet. That trip is still in the plotting stage.

But I did find some Dollywood pins for sale on eBay and I figured to get some to use as traders on our (future) visit.

But a couple of them won't make it to the trading lanyard.
I'll be keeping these:

Confession # 6: Things I've Seen

that aren't listed in any Orlando guide book ...

... Like the crowd gathered around the Lion King topiary at Epcot during the Flower and Garden Festival ... watching a squirrel! The furface, sitting on Rafiki's head, was as still as, er, a statue, and the (otherwise normal) people were confused as to its origins - was it real (biological) or Disney (botanical) ? Even when it scampered down the topiary figure and into the bushes (animatronic ?), some folks were unsure.
Too funny!

... Like the lady in an EVC (electric cart) loading onto a Disney watercraft. She revved that thing up and leaped the ramp. And was actually briefly airborne. We thought she just might keep going off the other side.
Too exciting!

... Like the 3 Japanese girls singing "It's a Small World" in Japanese while waiting for the boat at Port Orleans.
Too sweet!

... Like Fireman Mickey at the Oogie Boogie dance party at Mickey's-Not-So-Scary-Halloween Party. He was a little fellow of about 2 dressed up as a fireman, complete with a Mickey-eared helmet. He was dancing so earnestly, and his costume must've been very warm, so he barfs on himself, mom cleans him up, and he's back to dancing.
Too Oogie Boogie!

... Like the Disney Cast Member at the Whispering Canyon Cafe having the kids swear an oath: "I promise ... to stay up really late and get up really early ... and to ask for EVERYTHING I see ... and to NEVER, no matter what mom says, go to Universal Studios".
Too hilarious!

... Like the Scooby-Doo at Universal Studios whose costume was so tight that it was obvious it was a boy dog.
Too XXX!

... Like the little girl sitting behind us for lunch at the Crystal Palace trying to get the characters' attention. Instead of whistling (which I can't do either), she would go, "Wheee-uuu-whittt, Pooh Bear / Tigger / Piglet / Eeyore!!
Too funny and sweet!