I’ve gone to the Disney parks a lot. And when I say “a lot” I mean “over 20 times.” I’ve hit the parks on both coasts, and hope to someday visit the parks outside the US. When comes to least pleasant aspects, I have some examples that I think are worth noting.

First off, there is definitely a drop-off in quality if you stay at one of the value (i.e. cheap) resorts at Walt Disney World. One of the last trips my family took we stayed at a value resort, and the quality of service and the cleanliness of the room left a LOT to be desired. Walking barefoot on the floor of my hotel room left my feet pitch black after a few steps. The staff at the value resorts also tend to not provide as much “disney magic” (i.e. friendly, positive service) as what you get from staff at the moderate and deluxe results. While Disney would like you to think that all their resorts are superb… well, there is a class system at work, and if you pay more you get better service – period.

(Yes, I know that many of you reading this will have had great experiences staying in value resorts, and that’s fine… I have too. I’ve just noticed the difference between the “little-s” service you get at the value resorts and the “capital-s” Service you get at the pricey Deluxe resorts. It is what it is.)

Second, Disney has structured their tickets and vacation packages in a way that is absolutely ingenious… ingenious in getting Disney as much of your money as possible. After their three day tickets, the price of adding extra days are neglegible… less than $10 a day per ticket. This is brilliant, in that it leads many people to extend their vacations and locks them into Disney… why spend $100+ dollars on tickets to Universal Studios or Sea World, when you can go to another Disney park for less than $10? A day that you will be spending money on food, toys, drinks… money that all goes to Disney.

Disney’s Magical Express, which (for free) picks you up from the airport and takes you straight to your resort, is another part of that same strategy. It’s something that you can view as an absolute positive… until you realize that you’re “trapped” on Disney property your entire vacation (unless you call a taxi or buy a rental car).

Third, if you go in summer… be prepared to sweat, especially at Walt Disney World in Orlando. That, and the huge crowds, make a “pleasant” experience nearly impossible. As big as the Disney park is, you are going to have uncomfortable experiences and situations happen if you go to the park at “peak season.” You’ll also pay more for the privilege.

Fourth, if you want to get the most out of a vacation at a Disney Park, you MUST PLAN your days. You need to make your dining resverations months in advance (seriously – the most popular restaraunts book up over 60 days ahead of time) and you need to try and hit all the most popular rides at “rope drop”, otherwise you will probably not get to ride them because of high demand. Many people want a vacation to be… well, a vacation. Disney ain’t like that. To get the most out of a Disney vacation, you need to structure your days and your nights and schedule things out. I’ve gone with family members who had NO IDEA how hard it was to get last-minute dining reservations and to get onto their favorite rides, and because of that they spent a lot of time in lines and eating extremely average counter service meals (that still cost a pretty penny).

Finally, in every resort and throughout their parks Disney promotes the Disney Vacation Club, which is a VERY expensive timeshare that makes Disney a lot of money, with (in my opion) very little value provided to the buyer of said timeshare. Try not to get trapped into a conversation with a DVC salesperson… you’ll end up potentially losing hours away from your vacation trapped in a sales pitch.

See question on Quora

The streak is over.

Cars 2 isn’t a bad film by any measure. It’s visually dazzling, it has some fine action set pieces, and it has a breakneck pace that is far from boring. It also features a witty spy plot which is right up my alley. It’s just not as good as we expect it to be, and that is absolutely unavoidable: Pixar has created masterpiece after masterpiece, and have made films that are beautiful works of art and also incredibly moving and entertaining at the same time. They have done it so consistently, and with an ease and grace that makes it look effortless. Until now.

Half-way through Cars 2 I noticed something – my sons were disinterested. They are disinterested a lot – they are boys, after all – but this was the first time they had ever been disengaged with a Pixar film. Ever. My youngest son even fell asleep two-thirds of the way through… in an afternoon matinee.

Why? I think I figured it out. Cars 2 is a stunning and beautiful technical achievement, but it’s like the confections you buy at the snack stand before the movie starts. It’s all sugar, no substance. Empty calories. It’s exactly what some critics said that the (under-appreciated) Speed Racer movie from a couple of years ago was – pyrotechnics with no heart.

They were wrong about Speed Racer – that movie has plenty of heart – but the same reviews could be used today for Cars 2 and be a lot more accurate. There’s no heart. Cars 2 is the anti-”Up,” the opposite of everything that made Pixar movies great – a commitment to characters and a compelling story. Cars 2… well, it’s not bad. It’s just not very good, either. It comes off as a movie made to sell a lot of toys, and that’s the only reason it exists, really. I’m sorry, but Pixar… you’re better than that.

At least, I thought you were.

One of the frustrations in my life right now is that I am away from home for prolonged periods. My career is in the midst of a big transition and I’ve been given an opportunity to really make an impact on a very major project overseas. But that also means separation from my family and some weeks that kills me.

This week was really bad.

Our cat Rascal, who we have had almost as long as we have been married, has had health problems for some time. Well this week it accelerated rapidly and my wife made the decision to end his misery. Not being there, not being able to hug and hold my wife and sons as they dealt with this… Well, it’s not the end of the world by any measure, but it was pretty brutal.

Often life involves letting go and dealing with loss… it’s something that we all have to deal with at some point. Things change. People change jobs. People move apart.

Your cat dies.

You have to accept these things, you have to move on. You have to keep moving forward, in the path you have set. And sometimes it’s hard.

So, to say the themes of Toy Story 3 resonated for me… is an understatement.

I joked on Twitter that Pixar has scientists who have formalized the perfect formula to elicit whatever emotional response from an audience it wants at a moment’s notice. Laughter? Run through shot sequence 28b, add Don Rickles VO, execute. Wistfulness? Access Randy Newman subroutine 12. Sadness and tears? Reference UP! montage and GO. But, of course, it’s more than that.

Pixar is True.

It’s as simple as that. All of the films they continually amaze us with, they never vary from what is True and absolutely Real. No matter what situation, the story and the characters are just… Well, they are us. The real secret formula they have mastered is the power of empathy and efficiency. There is no fat in any Pixar movie, and when I look at some of the other films I have seen so far this summer… Well, Toy Story 3 just pwned them all.

The point of the film is as I noted above… Loss and letting go and moving on. After this week and what is going on in my life, both around the past few days and the near future… Well, it wrecked me. Absolutely emotional devastation. Yes, a movie about toys who are secretly alive. And I’m just wiped out.

The last 20 minutes… Well, I won’t spoil it but… Ya know that montage at the beginning of UP last year? Yeah, the one the people who sell Kleenex noted in their earnings report was the major reason they were profitable in 2009? Well, the ending was like that for me. Only worse.

I see characters walking away from each other in a way that was completely organic and true and joyful and heart-rending. And I see my sons growing up before my eyes and I realize…

I’m Woody.

Andy’s father was never shown in any of the Toy Story movies. Did he die? Did he divorce Andy’s mom? It doesn’t matter, because in the end Woody represented Andy’s father in all the ways that mattered. He was always there for Andy, and he was always going to be…

So, when Andy has to go to college and he only takes Woody… There was a reason for that. And then, at the end… Well, Andy had to grow up someday. He had to go away. And he gave Woody away…

I have three sons… Three Andy’s, in a way. I’ve been away from them a lot lately, and eventually… They’ll be following that same path that we saw Andy take… They’ll be gone someday, too.

So, yeah. Absolutely. Wrecked. Me.

Needless to say, I highly recommend Toy Story 3. It may be the best of the three to me, and not just because of the potent subtext that I referred to here. It’s just a fantastic piece of entertainment, note-perfect.

And I’m gonna see it again.

With my sons, this time.

Warning: This post contains extreme geekery and wish-fulfillment and should not be considered as anything more than my blue-sky fantasy on my part. I think it is a good idea, and hope that someone somewhere with the ability to “make it so” is reading…

One of the many things that Star Trek doesn’t have that its rival space epic Star Wars has is a tourist attraction. Star Trek used to have the great Star Trek Experience attraction in Las Vegas, but that has been gone for over 18 months now. Star Wars has the long running (and soon to be revamped) Star Tours ride at Disneyland and Disney World, and Disney also offers the Star Wars weekends special events every year in Orlando.

Yes, Star Trek has a traveling exhibition, which is cool, but it’s not like the Experience was – a must-see destination for Trekkers like me. They are still trying to get the Experience revived but the economy – especially in the troubled Las Vegas region – is not helping matters. So, I thought to myself as I was daydreaming the other day, how do you do a permanent Star Trek destination on the cheap?

The answer came in a flash. Retheming.

Retheming is the term used when a theme park attraction is, in affect, “re-skinned”; When a new tie-in or story is applied to an old attraction, to leverage the legacy hardware and building. And no one does it better than Disney.

Disney has rethemed buildings at their parks numerous times, a fairly recent example being when they changed a mostly-empty stage building to the American Idol Experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s cheap (compared to building a new attraction), it’s relatively quick to implement, and can draw people in who would not have gone to the “old” attraction before.
I have three retheming ideas Disney can use if they cut a deal to license Star Trek (which would not be unprecedented – Universal licenses Star Trek form Paramount for an attraction in the 1980s).

Option 1: Stitch’s Great Escape. Instead of having Stitch in the center of the auditorium, have a Borg be the specimen that has been captured. Enhance the ride with two or three cast members in Borg outfits browsing through the audience.. and give the audience Phasers attached to their seats that can let them defend themselves. Leave in the dark, scary moments and re-theme the entryway and signage to be Starfleet. It’s already been rethemed once before, why not again?

Option 2: Innoventions. Add Star Trek theming to Innoventions, and surround the new inventions to a Star Trek scenario. Have the cast members don the red, blue and gold tunics and divide the areas into science, engineering and command. Sell Star Trek merchandise in the carts in front of both entrances.

Option 3: Mission Space. This is one of my favorite rides at Epcot, and features a great spaceflight simulator that (unfortunately) not a lot of people ride nowadays. The thing is, the ride uses a fictional space agency and a futuristic space ship you pilot…. So how hard would it be to replace the agency with Star Trek and the space ship with a long-range shuttle in the ride film? Not very, I think. Rebrand the whole thing “Starfleet Academy”, put the cast members in Trek uniforms, and then rebrand the Advanced Training Lab play area and gift shop. Heck, you can even add on to the building and create a quick-service area/bar like Quarks (from the Star Trek Experience) or you can use the nearby (and mostly abandoned) Odyssey Center for the new Quarks Bar and Restaurant… Or a Star Trek museum.

It’s this last option – rebranding Mission Space – is the most ambitious and the one that I think would resonate with the most folks (it would also take away from the stigma the ride had after two people died on it the past few years). Of course, all this would cost money, and Disney is already tying up a lot of cash with a refresh of Fantasyland…

But I can’t help that it would work. As we saw with last year’s Star Trek reboot, a lot of people still love the property and a lot of new fans were created from the film. It would be expensive but not THAT expensive. And it could live up to the promise of Epcot, the city of the future. What’s more futuristic than Star Trek?

Anyway, it’ll probably never happen. But a man can dream…

The rumors two months ago were true – Disney just announced that they will be doubling Fantasyland by 2013. They will also be revising Star Tours by 2011, integrating prequel trilogy aspects such as the Episode I pod race. More deets at the DisneyParks twitter page here.

Comic geeks across the globe felt a tremor in the force this morning when it was announced that Disney is acquiring Marvel Entertainment for 4 (Doctor Evil voice) BILLION dollars. Disney hopes to capitalize on Marvel’s 5000 characters (a long list, with 90% of them characters you have probably never heard of, like Hydro-Man and Ka-Zar).

The first reaction of many many fanboys on the ‘net was a dramatic NOOOO! Many are afraid Marvels’ more cutting-edge adult comics will be quickly killed under the new Mickey-masters. I don’t know, and quite frankly, don’t care – I stopped reading comics regularly a long time ago (and, quite frankly, Disney bought Marvel for the merchandising potential of the characters Marvel has and the movie studio, not the comics).

My reaction was different, and a product of a particular interest of mine: What the heck is gonna happen in Orlando?

Orlando, of course, is where Disney and Orlando goes head-to-head in the theme park business, and the ride that many say is the best one in Orlando is The Amazing Spider-man ride… and Universal’s Islands of Adventure. It’s the centerpiece of the “Marvel Super Hero Island” which features a whole lot of Marvel characters and themed rides – the Hulk Rollercoaster, Doctor Doom’s Fearfall, etc… And very soon, Disney will own Marvel.

Hmm.

Today, a spokesperson for Universal said that they had the rights to the characters and that the attractions will not chage because of the acquisition. My response: of course you’re going to say that. Licensing deals are not perpetual contracts – they come up for renewal, and they will come up for review in a few years. And then…

Disney will either A) ask for a boat-load of licensing money or B) pull the rights to the characters from Universal. Personally, I’m guessing B – no way is Disney gonna let Universal make money off the characters they now own. So, if that day happens… what happens?

Retheming, that’s what. It happens a lot, and has been done quite a bit already in Orlando (remember the Earthquake ride at Universal? it’s now “Catastrophe!”) So what do they DO with the space that these rides and shops now fill?

I have an idea.

(Please be aware that the following is total fanboy blue-sky fantasy and I have no inside information. If these were actual rumors, you would be advised where to tun in the event of an emergency. Please stand by)

What is missing at both of the Universal parks? Sci-Fi. With the exception of Men in Black Alien Attack at Universal, they have no rides or areas with a SF theme… as opposed to the Magic Kingdom which has Tomorrowland, SF with all the fixins. So, what SF properties does Universal already own? Two properties they can use without having to pay a rival studio? One they had ALREADY used for many year prior? Two big ones:

Back to the Future and Battlestar Galactica.

With some work Spider-man can be rethemed to a new Back to the Future ride, and the Hulk coaster can be painted Cylon silver and renamed the “Galactica Space Launch” or something like that. Doctor Doom Free-fall can be painted gray and themed to be “space mission training” (and tied to Apollo 13, too). The rest? Paint everything silver and sell SF DVDs and toys in the shops. Make some of the empty space a mini-version of the SF Experience Museum based out of Seattle, and you’re good.

Heck, if you want to do something REALY cool, license Star Trek from Paramount again, as you did in the 1990s, and fill an available space with a Klingon photo-op.

Done.

Now, as I mentioned, total fan-boy stuff but if it DOES come to pass? Universal, give me a call – I got tons of other ideas, and my consulting fee is very reasonable.

UPDATE: The great Nikke Kinke is on the story and has this great report/analysis.

Look’s like it’s “Disney weekend” at josephdickerson.com, as I have to note the huge amount of attention being paid to a leaked blueprint that shows (supposedly) an expanded Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida. Gone is Mickey’s Toon Town, moved is the Goofy ride (and also doubled in capacity), added is a Little Mermaid ride, as well as a “Pixie Hollow”, new Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast areas and a new Beauty and the Beast restaurant.

Will these plans prove to be true, and is this a reaction to the upcoming Harry Potter land at rival Universal’s park? Lots of speculation online, and many think that this is real (and was originally intended to be announced at the D23 Expo in September). At any rate, here’s a great article that covers the whole situation.

I for one would love to see this happen, if only to provide me an excuse to go back to Walt Disney World…

UPDATED: Disney at the D23 Expo just confirmed all of the above: the expansion will be completed by 2013. Click here for the Twitter feed with some details.

Just got back from the Magic Kingdom park at Walt Disney World in Orlando… a great trip, highly enjoyable. When I was there I saw this:

That’s the brand new stage recently constructed in Tomorrowland to house a new show called Stitch’s Super Sonic Celebration. The show started in May and… is now gone. Yes, less than six weeks after it started they pulled the plug on a new attraction that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce.

Many people are wondering why they stopped it (many say because…well, it stunk), but I started thinking about it from a different angle – why did they decide to do it in the first place?

I started thinking about crowds, and crowd management.

I know nothing about Disney’s user experience/imagineering team and how they work, but I do know, from previous work regarding traffic patterns and crowd control, that they have people whose sole job is to monitor, analyze the crowd levels at all their parks. Disney is one of the most detail-oriented corporations in the world when it comes to theme park numbers – attendance, parks, ride volume, capacity, etc. They have people doing deep analysis on their numbers every day.

So, how does this point apply to the Stitch attraction? I’d wager that part of the motivation in building this stage area where it is – the heart of Tomorrowland – was to help “smooth out” crowd volume in the parks.

While we may look at Disney as the most “magical place on earth,” we also need to remember that it is also one of the most structured and planned environments that has ever been created. Right now, two of the major attractions in Tomorrowland section of the park – Space Mountain and the Tomorrowland Transportation Authority – are closed for refurbishment. Even before this refurbishment began, I’d bet that the number-crunchers at Disney were seeing an uneven mix of crowds in the various “lands” that are in the Magic Kingdom… which is not good for the bottom line.

Crowds spread out “unevenly” in the different lands means longer wait times –
which means park visitors have less opportunities to pass through the “hub” at the heart of every park. When the park visitors are in line for a ride, guess what they can’t do? THE CAN’T BUY ANYTHING. That’s bad for business. It also impacts their attitude and satisfaction with Disney – if too many customers leave complaining that all they did was “stand in line” it affects Disney’s reputation and “word of mouth” (I think that the FastPass system they instituted a few years back was intended to minimize this as well).

So, why did they do the Stitch stage show? As stated above, I think that it was to draw more people into Tomorrowland, to help spread out the crowds more. When the numbers came back that it wasn’t attracting as many people as they had hoped, they killed the attraction dead (heck, it may have negatively impacted traffic patterns).

While I was there I also noticed a new “dance party” show they had added to the many different parades they have during the day. I watched and enjoyed it, but keep traffic patterns in mind when I ask: why do they do these parades? I think it’s not purely for the show or “magic” of them”¦ it’s to get people out of the ride lines and towards the “hub” on a regular basis, so they can buy drinks, snacks and spend more money.

Sound cynical? Absolutely”¦ but I still love Disney. Just because I’m aware of how they control their environment and try and influence behavior doesn’t make me love them any less. It is, as I mentioned before, one of the most controlled user experiences in the world, and I marvel at how thought-through everything they do is.

And finally, that Stitch stage”¦ what will they do with it now? Well, I still think that a new show will arrive someday, and my guess is we will be seeing a robotic (and more profitable) Wall-E taking questions from the audience within a year at that location.

Just a hunch.

Well, since I spent a couple of hundred words writing about Mega Shark versus Giant Octopus the other day, I owe UP at least as much “ink”… so here it goes.

My initial reaction was simple: the movie’s a masterpiece. I don’t retract that statement – in fact, the more I reflect upon it I realize that it is not only that, it may be my favorite Pixar film, ever… knocking The Incredibles out of the top slot. It resonates with me on so many levels, I think I will be returning to this movie for many years to come.

After additional viewings, it may even become a member of my Pantheon, movies that are in a group above all others. The Godfather, for example, is in the Pantheon. As is Jaws. It’s THAT GOOD.

(And no, I am not wearing my hyperbole hat when I state all this. The movie is being universally praised by critics, and justifiably so.)

I won’t throw many spoilers out in this review, because the less you know about this film the better. I will say this though: bring your hankies, cause if you aren’t sobbing after the first 10 minutes of the movie is over, you have no soul. If the lights had went up after that sequence and the ushers had shouted “that’s it, show’s over” I would have walked away happy. Thankfully, the rest of the movie lives up to that initial sequence.

There are so many things I want to praise in this film. The writing is fantastic, and the minor plot contrivance required to create a villian in the movie is the only real flaw that the script has. It’s all character-driven, and the plot is completely organic, flowing from who these people are and what they want. And, when you see Carl, the lead wonderfully voiced by Edward Asner (who should be nominated for a best actor Oscar), literally drag his past with him, unable to let it go… it’s makes some decisions and moments in the film incredibly moving and awe-inspiring.

The ideas in the movie are so exceptionally absurd that you just go with them, and there is a couple of dog-related jokes that are sprinkled throughout that, in the hands of less qualified filmmakers, would have come off as cloying “Air Bud” humor. They don’t, and are wonderfully funny they way they are presented and handled (the “dogfight” is my particular favorite).

The visuals are amazing, especially in 3D (which is definitely how you should see it). The score, by Michael Giacchino, is fantastic, and after his great music for Star Trek, he’s now batting .1000 this year. I’m such a fan that after I read he was also doing the music for Land of the Lost, opening next week, I now want to see it for that reason alone.

I have read several comments online complaining about the film’s dark themes and violence (”There’s blood shown on screen! GASP!”) and to those people I say: get over it. Yes, this movie has some unsettling moments. So did Bambi. And Snow White. And Star Wars. If we become so hyper-sensitive to what our children are exposed to, then I fear for our future.

Man, what a summer we have had. Star Trek, which all the pundits had predicted would have a tough job finding an audience, is now the number one movie of the year. Terminator, Wolverine and Angels and Demons have stunk up the joint and under-delivered… and Pixar has, again, produced a piece of near-perfect entertainment with UP that will persevere for years to come. Bravo.

Here’s some photos from a recent trip to Disneyland…

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Seen in this Digg link here.

MAN, I love this movie.

And I sometimes think I’m the only one who does.

Backstory: I saw the film on opening day, 1991. And was entranced. The ’30s sets, costumes, and dialogue. The wonderful acting by then-Bind Timothy Dalton and Billy Campbell. The fantastic and super-hot Jennifer Connelly (pre-Requiem for a Dream). The action. The effects. The fantastic score from James Horner. Paul Sorvino. Terry O’Quinn as Howard Hughes, for pete’s sake.

And a guy with a working rocket pack. Just, damn.

But, as a lot of movie fans know, I was in the minority. The movie bombed. Not as bad a bomb as Disney’s previous pulp big budget attempt Dick Tracy, but it still underperformed expectations.

Well, I rewatched The Rocketeer just now, with my sons watching along with me, and I am still confused. The movie still holds up (all sons liked it), and, if anything, has aged well, compared with the recent summer movies that are both brain-dead and disposable (Pirates, I’m talkin’ about you).

I think, in a very simple theory, it works for me in a direct way. The movie displays the emotion of wide-eyed wonder better than almost any movie I’ve ever seen. WOW, a guy can strap on a rocket-pack and fly! GEE, that is super-cool! HEY, there’s Howard Hughes!

The only recent movie that can compare, honestly, is Sky Captain and The World of Tommorrow. And I now there are rabid fans out there who adore the film, much like I love The Rocketeer (hi Jeff!).

It’s sad, in a way, that certain films get the gold treatment, with constant hype and rerelease, and hidden gems like this one get ignored or neglected. Lots of fabulous work from many many artists are never going to be exposed to this generation (heck, amazing catalog titles from the 70s are being shelved with little focus or fanfare).

I guess it’s just the circle of life, Simba. Anyway, if you are inclined, check out The Rocketeer. I hope you like it as much as I.

CLIPS:

Man, I wish I liked this movie.

I’m a Pixar whore – I dig every flick they do, even A Bug’s Life – and this one just left me cold.

I think something’s wrong with me.

Come on, his movie has everything – fantastic animation, great VO work by Patton Oswald, PETER O’TOOLE! and others, and a wonderfully original story… And yet…

I only FELT it once. The empathy, the associative feeling I get with the Pixar creatures and characters before now – it wasn’t there.

Something didn’t work for me. Maybe it was the main character being a rat, after I had the misfortune years back of encountering a nasty variety of such a creature in a rental home. Maybe it was the inconsistencies of tone, going from one direction to another with little predictability… I don’t know, but it was just not working for me.

And I’m convinced it’s me. No fault to the filmmakers. It’s me.

However, I recommend that you see it. I will probably end up seeing it again, when the inevitable DVD release arrives. Maybe I’ll be able to enjoy it then. Maybe the mental block I have will go away.

I hope so. Because I’d genuinely like to enjoy it. And I haven’t. Not yet.

OK, that was a long time between Part 2 and now.  I blame James Lileks ““ he has been blogging so heavily he has caused an imbalance in the blogosphere that has sapped my ability to complete any posting I start.

Also, I’ve been burning a lot of mental energy trying to figure out the last episode of the Sopranos. I think that when Tony looked up and after the shock-cut to black Steve Perry came in the diner and demanded a royalty check. Tony and he disagreed, and Perry got whacked as Tony hummed “Open Arms.”

But that’s just my take on it.

Ah, yes, the trip report. Well, after the talk show with the Star Wars celebs (who I would hope are well-compensated for dealing with both rabid fans and the Summer heat simultaneously) we attended the Stars and Cars parade, which had a couple of Star Wars-themed elements – “Luke” and “Leia” ride in a Sandspeeder-type car, followed by Darth Vader, on foot. Why Vader has to walk, I don’t know – “can’t a Dark Lord of the Sith get any respect around here?” Then again, the one scene in the movies where we see him sitting down, he looks kind of goofy – His legs were folded “Indian-style, “ I recall. Not very menacing, but it is the perfect position if you are sitting down to eat S’mores near the campfire.

The mix of Disney characters was old and new – Mary Poppins preceded Buzz Lightyear – and I was surprised to see so many kids recognized the Dick Van Dyke character at Mary’s side. The wonders of home video. BTW, apparently the cast members who play Dick Van Dyke are given explicit directions – Mug with your chin, bend your knees and kick the air, and avoid any ottomans.

By this point the rest of the family had melted into a pile of protomatter that barely resembled a cohesive whole (did I mention it was hot? Yeah I know, Florida hot in June what a shock). We ran into Star Tours, sitting in the back row (which is the best place ““ all the g forces are centered there). It was our youngest son Mike’s first real “thrill ride” ““ Dumbo doesn’t count ““ and we were happy. Finally, our son had been introduced to the brave new world of motion sickness!

Fighting our way out of the Star Tours gift shop/exit (it was moments like this that made me sad that lightsabers weren’t real) we tried to see the Indiana Jones stunt show but, for the first time EVER, they ran out of seats (OK, maybe not the first time ever, but the first time we’ve seen it over numerous Disney trips). We ate a late lunch and then went back to our hotel.

The family stayed and I went back to watch the Hyperspace Hoopla (I’ll write about that more later) and the Fantasmic laser show.

A fun trip was had by all, though the crowds were MUCH larger than last years and, due to ongoing construction for a new Toy Story ride, the facilities dedicated to Star Wars activities were significantly reduced. As reflected in my earlier postings, this made movement sometimes – well, impossible. So, if you are planning to go to any of the remaining weekends, be prepared to wait – we certainly did.

Look! Photos!

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Kay, I’m sitting at the Legends of The Force talks show, and Jay-Captain-Typho interviewed the woman who played young Aunt Beru. She has a lovely singing voice, by the way – watch this:

For more info on Bonnie go here.

Then they bring out Kenny Baker, who played R2… 

Well, they wheeled him out, actually, in a wheelchair.

He was not well.

Sadly, Baker has pneumonia, and asthma, and you could barely understand what he said most of the time. They ended up playing a clip from an interview that is on the making of Star Wars DVD to fill his segment, in order to fill his time. His rasping voice was similar to one I had heard yers before – the voice of my grandmother, as she was gasping for her last breaths in her fight with cancer.

I wish Kenny well. Please keep him in your prayers.

More later…

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! For one day only, the Dickerson family faced the terrible crowds and humidity at Disney MGM Studios! See people wearing inappropriate Star Wars themed garments ill-suited for the weather! Gasp, as hundreds of people try and get Kenny Baker’s autograph! SUNDAY!

OK, sorry about the hyperbole, but it matched my expectations. I just finished up a day on vacation in Orlando. It was the final portion on my Star Wars 30th Anniversary party. Last weekend, in order to celebrate the official anniversary I watched all six films… hell, I even bought Episode One on DVD for the first time.

I don’t want your pity.

This weekend, the Star Wars Weekends began at Disney World in Florida. For a month various actors from the films appear to sign autographs, special activities are put on, Star Wars characters inhabit whole sections of the park, and dozens of officially licensed exclusive Star Wars items are put on sale. Ah yes, Georgel Lucas, always giving back to the fans.
Arrived with family (three sons and wife alongside) at 8:15 Sunday, and immediately saw three REALLY BIG lines to the far right. What were they? The autograph lines, of course. What they have started this year is set up three park entrance lines and those people are allowed into the park “early” to get the fastpasses for the autographs. Well, from the looks of it anyone who arrived after 8:30 was out of luck – did I mention it was a HUGE line? These visitors got no extra perks save for that they were in the park before rope drop (and, of course. they got the autograph fast passes). Disney did this to prevent the mad hordes of the past who ran to Indiana Jones (and to help those pour souls who did not know how the autograph/fast pass system worked). No idea if it helped…

I won’t explain that last paragraph. If you know enough to interpret what I wrote, welcome to the tribe brother! Our secret Disney coven meets every other Sunday at Dennys. After a month you can learn the secret handshake…
Anyway, we were swept away by a crew member on entry – we would be the first people to ride Rock N Roller Coaster! Yeah! Except for the fact that only my wife and my middle son like Roller Coasters! Oh well, it was able to give us a unique look at the park near-empty which is cool. You are able to catch a glimpse the machines rolling away with all the amusement park robots that need repair from the previous days activities (they are still having problems with that Yul Brenner “gunslinger” model, I hear).

After half of us did NOT ride the roller coaster we split up, My youngest son and I dashed over to the Star Wars alley – or at least we tried to dash. We go lost – and yes, this was my fourth trip to MGM, and my second Star Wars Weekend… I think that Disney needs to improve their signage directing users to this main section… Or, I’m getting senile. Let’s go with the signage thing.

We got Darth’s autograph and picture (my five year old LOVES Darth Vader, which concerns me – look at the character’s actions in Episode 3; It’s like wanting to collect Hitler action figures) and then went shopping in Jabbas Hutt, which was half the side of last years “store” for exclusive merchandise. Not very crowded at 10:00… was able to spend way too much money in an incredibly efficient manner. Thanks Disney! Be sure to put a sign dedicating that new wing of the Contemporary hotel in memory of my donation! Ok, I’m exaggerating. A little.

After my wife roller her eyes at my purchases and I got several crew members to help me load them in the van (“But honey we can ship our dirty clothes home if we need the room! Or put Hunter on a bus!”) we… went to buy more stuff. But now it was 10:45 and Jabba’s Hutt was now… well, the best description I can think of is, you remember that episode of Spongebob Squarepants where Spongebob got really sick and expanded to fill his whole coconut house? It was like that. Only instead of sponge, it was geeks. Less absorbent.

So we went to the Star Wars parade, which was impressive. Most impressive. Two of my sons did not care for it and were already complaining about the humidity and the wetness and the tired and the cranky KLAVEN!Ahem.
After we beat our sons into submis… Err, I mean, comvinced them of how exciting and fun they were going to be, we realized that it was time to feed them and, to placate the crankiness, spend more moeny on plastic toys they would tire of witin an hour. So we went back to the backlot tour store and bought such items. After the food and the nonbiodegradable treats, they were right as rain! Well, OK, they weren’t trying to kill each other anymore…

We caught Star Tours, they rested as I went to the Legends live talk show, where Kenny Baker (who was the soul inside R2) and Bonnie Piesse (who played the young Aunt Beru) were interviewed by Jay-Captain-Typho (sadly, I can’t remember his last name for all the money in the world, but I remember his character’s name. Geek Card automatically renewed for another year).

The storm trooper banter at the beginning was probably the exact same as last year (didn’t catch it then) but whether it was recycled or renewed, it was still funny.

Then, the Legends of the Force talkshow started.

And I got kinda sad.

More later….

A repost from my old blog, but still appropriate and helpful, in my opinion…

Here’s some helpful hints that my wife and I learned from our recent trips to Walt Disney World:

ASK FOR UPGRADES AT CHECK-IN. This has worked for us about 1/3rd of the time. Sometimes the upgrade is a better view, other times it is an entirely better room.

Also, if you can afford it, upgrade, at least once, to a concierge suite (if available). We did this our last trip to Disney (for one night) and it was worth it. We had a great view of the Wishes Fireworks and also got free liquor and snacks that day (the complemetary cordials helped me get through watching the Atlanta Falcons choke against the Saints).

GET FREE BIRTHDAY PINS. If you are traveling to WDW for your birthday (which I did last year) go to the front guest relations of every park and tell the cast member it’s your birthday. They’ll give you a free pin, customized to the park. If you are ambitous (like I was) go to every park during your stay and get all four pins. Nothing makes you feel better than having lots of people tell you “happy birthday” throughout the day.

GET THE DINING PLAN. Disney offers a dining add-on to most of their vacation packages which costs $37.99 per day for adults and $11.99 per day for children. DO IT. We have used it for two vacations and if we had paid out-of-pocket for the meals we had it would have cost us $2400 to eat over 11 days – not kidding. Since we got the dining plan as a FREE promotion for our last trip we only spent around $800 (for our first vacation) and we did not have to prepare a single meal. Which leads to the next hint…

BOOK VACATIONS USING PROMOTIONAL CODES. The primary reason for our last trip was we had days left over on our tickets to the parks and we found out about the free dining promotion. Look at sites like Mousesavers.com and go off-season using a promotional code. Not only will it be markedly cheaper (sometimes hundred of dollars cheaper) but it will be less crowded.

And along similar lines to my last posting, here’s video from the Walt Disney World Wishes fireworks show. Enjoy.

Originally posted June 2006

Wanted to discuss this as it made a great impression on me – the Circle of Life Movie in the Epcot Land Pavilion. This movie.. well, let me find the proper words…

THIS MOVIE IS THE MOST HYPOCRITICAL PIECE OF FILM MAKING EVER MADE.

Why? Oh, read on..

It starts with two of the creatures from The Lion King (Kinka and Fonza, or something like that – I never saw the Lion King so I don’t remember their names) damming up a river to create a resort/hotel and Kimba (oh, sorry, Simba) comes over and questions their construction – “What about all the animals downstream?” he asks to which the obscene comedy relief animals go “who cares, they’ll pay to get to our resort!”

Well, we are then treated to a history lesson about how man was originally “in touch” with nature (native americans are shown hugging buffalos and trees, which we all know is how they treated nature – no hunting or clear-cutting there). Then these horrible people kept reproducing (cursed biology!) and then they started using more and more energy (cursed economic development!). They finally ended up building monumental cities and transportation systems (cursed internal-combustion engines!).

And some of these human (which came off to me as ALL OF US) started misusing the natural resources and BROKE the Circle of Life. We are then presented with a potent MONTAGE! Pollution! Dust! Decay! Charlton Heston fighting undead zombies! THE END TIMES!

Well, thankfully some of us (the corporate sponsors of The Circle of Life) are trying to fix the Circle of Life (Not to be confuse with the Wheel of Fortune, a different sponsor) and we are then presented with another montage (people recycling, walking to work, using public transportation, ritually sacrificing Republicans, etc.) to show how we are TURNING THE CORNER on the CIRCLE OF LIFE – though how you can turn a corner on a circle is beyond me; please note I failed Algebra.

Finally, Kinka and Fonza abandon their resort plans based on the potent montages shown to them, and devote their life to wiping tears away from American Indians who stand by garbage dumps crying.

The movie ends with another incredibly moving nature montage, and I walk out of the theatre feeling incredibly guilty – thank GOD I will not desecrate the Circle of Life by buying crappy plastic souvenirs that are available just a dozen feet beyond the pavilion! And thank Gaia some multi-million dollar company did not spend their ill-gotten gains pouring hundreds of tons of concrete on natural wetlands in Florida!

Oh… yeah. Right. Never mind.