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Showing posts with the label wdw

Me: Hey ChatGPT, Can You Write A Poem About The Carousel Of Progress?

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 ChatGPT:  sure thing.  How's this? I mean...come on. So let us celebrate this grand invention, The Carousel of Progress and its intention. Here, here.   

Riding the Calm Seas - Walt Disney World - March 2022

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This recent boat ride - from the Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian - was on aboard a new-to-us vessel:  the Calm Seas.  We love a good Disney boat ride and have done a bunch of them:  from resort to parks.  From resort to Disney Springs.  From Resort to Resort.   Friendship boats.  Motor Launch boats.  Ferries.  Pontoon boats.  But, the boat you see below in photos, was new-to-us:  Calm Seas. It was running on the Seven Seas Lagoon, so that had me wondering...what was the story with the boat?  Turns out, it is repurposed boat from Animal Kingdom.  Via Wikipedia, we discover (get it??) that the once-used Discovery River Boats ride was in service for about 18 months and closed in 1999 .  Two of the four boats have stayed at Animal Kingdom.  But, Wikipedia tells us about the Calm Seas and how it was relocated .  With another boat: Two of the boats were later moved to the Magic Kingdom resort area on Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon, where they were repurposed for a pirate-themed fire

Staghorn Ferns On Disney's Jungle Cruise in Adventureland - March 2022

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We recently rode the Jungle Cruise in Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom and being all-in on Staghorn Ferns lately, it was a lovely surprise when I spotted a couple of them attached to tree trunks near the beginning of the ride.  I've looked at a bunch of POV videos on YouTube , but can't seem to find a clear look at the ferns and I wasn't able to whip my phone out fast enough to capture them.  But, trust me...they're there.  Once you leave the dock, look to the right side on a few of the bare palm tree trunks - about six-or-so-feet high from the waterline, you'll see a couple of Staghorn Ferns.   Although there isn't a similar site for Walt Disney World, the folks at Plants of Disneyland have documented four different Staghorn Ferns in Disneyland.  You can see the listing page here - screenshot below.   Source via Plants of Disneyland I'll be sure to have my phone out the NEXT TIME that we board the cruise. 

Disney's Boardwalk: The Showplace of the Shore - March 2022

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We've been going to Disney's Boardwalk since for ten years now ( here's a post showing our first visit, I think...back in March of 2012)  and have come to really love and appreciate this resort area of Walt Disney World.  Sure, the Magic Kingdom resorts have the monorail, the electric water pageant and Magic Kingdom Fireworks.  But the Epcot resorts have walking-to two parks, the Skyliner and the Boardwalk area.  On a recent walk around the Boardwalk, I came across this sign that is situated right on the border between the Yacht Club and the Swan and Dolphin bridge that evokes one of those old-time-y vacation postcards.  It has a cute Walt Disney World Resort postmark on the top, even.  But, the part that jumped out to me was the copy in the red bar across the bottom:  "Come to the Showplace of the Shore".  That's a new-to-me tagline for the resort area.  See the signage below: A quick spin around the Google machine shows me, however, that is his NOT a new tag

My Disney Wine and Dine 5K Experience - January 2022

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Back in November, I posted a photo of what I called a pair of "underutilized" Disney MagicBands .  I wrote about how they weren't able to "live their best life" because our trip was cut short.  In a post a week earlier where I posted a photo of Pooh Bear as a 50th Anniversary statue , I talked about how we didn't see too many of those statues due to "unforeseen circumstances".  But, in those posts, I didn't really talk about what we *did* do on our trip.  Besides going to a couple of parks and having some good drinks at my favorite restaurant on Disney property (more on that in a different post, I think), Nat and I were down there for the Run Disney Wine & Dine Race Weekend.   Both Nat and I were set to run the 5K, but she was also running another, much longer race.  I was happy to just do the 5K.  Here, below is my bib.   Our race started in the rain and thankfully we had ponchos.  We stood out there for a couple of hours, waiting in the c

Vintage Vacation Kingdom Balloon Logo - Florida Project - Vintage Disney

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I was thumbing through a Disney World 50th Anniversary coffee table book at the Downers Grove Library last week and I was (of course) drawn to the early days pages.  From the land acquisition (Walt was involved then) to the opening of the Preview Center, the ephemera that they show is pretty interesting.  One of the standouts was this Florida Disney World balloon logo that features the Disney World glove as the center of the Mickey ear balloons. They've moved away from the Vacation Kingdom monicker, but with the 50th Anniversary merchandise that came out this fall, it seems that (at least part of) Disney is leaning into nostalgia.  

Just a Pair of Under-Utilized MagicBands - November 2021

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These two Disney MagicBands (Orange Bird on the left for him and Epcot Construction Walls on the right for her) barely had a chance.  They got all gussied up and didn't get to live their best life.  Sure, they rode the Magic Express and rode the boat from the Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom.  But, they had so much more planned for their journey.  These MagicBand stickers are different than the ones we've used in the past, but they seemed to work just fine.  Here's hoping they'll get to live their best life one day. I've posted photos of some of our MagicBands over the years here on the blog including some of the original version (without the circle bump-out in the middle) here with Mary Poppins and Bert in 2016 and with Monorail Orange in 2016 , too.  And the full boxed versions in 2015 and 2014 .  

Buffalo Painting at Disney's Wilderness Lodge - 2nd Floor Lounge - 2021

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I've posted a few times about our experience(s) at Disney's Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World over the years .  It was the first place we stayed on our own as a family, the first place we experienced the Electrical Water Pageant and has the best resort-to-park transportation experience on property (imho) with the boat ride from the dock at Wilderness Lodge to the front of Magic Kingdom.  One of the best spots to just sit and relax on property is in the train room in the DVC studios building on the first floor where they have a bunch of Walt Disney's Carolwood Pacific backyard trains displayed .   On our recent trip at the Lodge, we found ourselves in an area that we've never really been before:  a little hidden area on the 2nd floor of the resort that feels tucked away and very private.  There's a big desk to do work and a little couch area, too.  I'll post about that part in a different post.   But, by the desk area....there's a really striking painting

Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Celebration Pooh Bear and Piglet Statue - November 2021

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I thought we'd see a lot of these Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary "Fab 50" statues .  But, due to some unforeseen circumstances, I only took a single photo of *just* one of the golden (EARidescent is what they're calling them, I think) character statues that is inside of the Magic Kingdom. Luckily, it is a guy who's big in our house - Pooh Bear.  And, it is a double feature that has the big guy (Winnie the Pooh) giving a nice cuddle to his pal Piglet.   Guess we'll have to go back before the 50th Anniversary Celebration is over. I know this is a minor thing, but it bothers me that there aren't REALLY 50 statues like this one for the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World - the Vacation Kingdom.  There are *ONLY* 36 statues .  A bunch of them are two-fers like this Pooh Bear/Piglet one above.  I know that costs are important, but feels like a little bit of the bean counters winning out.

Mickey Mouse Topiary - 3 Months In - Creeping Fig Vine - July 2021

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Earlier this Spring, we came home with a Standing Micky Mouse metal wire topiary frame from the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival and I went ahead figuring out how to acquire the material, stuff the thing, wire it up and plant it with a creeping Fig Vine.  Here's that post from April that shows the steps I took to get it set up initially.   Mickey Mouse topiary spent the first few months of its life on our counter top in the kitchen sitting in a bowl.  I tried to keep it pretty wet and the vine grew just a little bit.  Then, I had a setback with some dieback on the tips of the vine.  I think I let it dry out too much.  Around the beginning of June, I decided to try to move it outside on our back stoop and patio.  After a few days of trying to harden the vine off (I put it out in the shade for a few hours, then brought it back in.  Repeat that process over the course of a week or so, each day adding a little bit of time.), I decided to give it a little bit of assistance in terms of

Disney's Bar Riva Coaster - #38 in Collection/#14 Disney

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A couple of months ago, I posted some new coasters for the collection that were from Oga's Cantina in Black Spire Outpost in Disney's Hollywood Studios .  Those were the 37th coasters and 13th Disney-specific coasters.  I mentioned that the rise of parks ephemera in the form of drink coasters is a really nice trend. Today's post is featuring a new Disney coaster from their new (at least to us) resort called Disney's Riviera Resort.  On the ground floor, near the pool, there's a great lounge called Bar Riva .  It is like eating indoors outdoors.  Or, eating outdoors indoors.  The food was good, the place looks great.  And...they have custom coasters that are oval and include this RR-logo that you can find in various places around the resort . This makes 14 Disney coaster sets (thanks, Lamplight Lounge and Oga's Cantina for having to say 'sets') that I've documented on the blog for the collection. The full Disney list includes: 1. The standard one yo

Oga's Cantina Coasters - #37 Coaster Collection - April 2021

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One of the trends that I'm really enjoying in Disney Parks is the additional of some restaurant-specific Disney Parks ephemera in the shape of custom coasters.  I've documented a few of these over the years here on the blog as part of the Coaster Collection .   The last Disney one that I posted was back in 2019 when I shared one from Aulani .   This post is about some coasters from Oga's Cantina in the Black Spire Outpost on the Out Rim planet of Batuu.  Or, you could say it is located in the Star Wars Land inside of Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida.  Either way, you'd be right.  And, if you're interested, check out the full story on the place here on the Wookiepedia .   As for the rest of the Disney-related coasters in the collection, here's the rundown of the (now) 13 kinds 1 . The full Disney list includes: 1. The standard one you see in your rooms @ Walt Disney World resort hotels . 2. This black and white one from the original Disneyland Resort Ho

Mickey Mouse Topiary - Build and Plant - May 2021

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I've been thinking about topiary for a number of years.  I've talked about backyard topiaries - including (recently) the idea of a Block I one and as far back as 2017, I bought a topiary wire (angel) at an Estate Sale and never did anything with it .   It is something that I've included on my to-do lists over the years ( 2019 and 2020 ), but never was able to tackle the project.  I've also set it as #24 on this year's list (topiary), but I've taken a little veer off course. Instead of moving on an outdoor topiary, I've somehow started with a tropical topiary on a stuffed frame. This, too, has been like five years in the making.   Over those five-or-so-years, we've been down to the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival a number of times and EACH TIME we're there, I always pause and pick up a Mickey Mouse-shaped topiary and THINK about buying it.  But, each time, I've put it down.  Either logistics, or impulse control or something.   But this year...

Epcot World Showcase Disney Trading Pin - Spring 2021

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Earlier this month, the fine folks at Disney Imagineering shared even more details of the newly refreshed entrance to Epcot that includes the original fountain, some cool ribbon lighting and a series of flagpoles that are flying flags featuring the original symbols of Epcot .  Seems like it is a lot of "back to the beginnings" for Epcot in terms of the entrance and I'm here for it.    In our pin trading, we've collected a series of the Epcot pavilion symbol pins, but there's one that we just came across that was new to us.  It is what you see below:  Now, we can certainly have a conversation about *if* this is scrapper (and it might be), but that's not what I'm here to post about.  It is about the fact that, based on THIS pin, I just learned that the World Showcase had/has a symbol that was in harmony with all the other ones that I was familiar with over the years.  What is interesting is that this story on D23 (the official fan club for Disney) doesn'

Vintage Family Disney Vacation Kingdom Photo - Location Solved

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Over the weekend, I posted a vintage photo of my family 1 at Walt Disney World back in the early 1980's and talked about how I wasn't sure EXACTLY where the photo was taken nor was I sure why my sister and I were wearing these white tags on our clothes.  Here, again, is the photo in question below showing three of us wearing Mickey Ears and my mom looking very chic in the Florida heat. See those tags on me and my Sister next to me that seem to be pinned or tied to our shirts?  Earlier this week, I posted about the details and solved *that* part of the mystery:  those are "Lost Parent" Tags with Mickey and Minnie Mouse on them .    But, I still didn't know the location.  Of course, we're in a hat shop.  And, the cast member is wearing some sort of lederhosen-like outfit.  But, was it in Epcot @ the Germany pavillion?  Was it at The Chapeau in Magic Kingdom?  I wasn't sure.   But, I knew that someone WOULD know the location.  And, the first place I turned

Vintage Disney Parks "Lost Parent" Paper Tag From Early 1980's

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 A few days ago, I posted a retro photo from a family trip to the Vacation Kingdom back in the early 1980's and wondered both where (inside the park(s)) it was taken and also, what these little tags on our clothes were for during our visit to the parks.   I was maybe four or five years old.  And that would make my middle sisters age 6 and age 12 or so.    It didn't take long to turn up this listing on eBay that shows a "Lost Parent" paper tag that they say is from Disneyland. Source via Ebay listing.  This is NOT my listing, not my tag.  Original here . Now, if I zoom waaaaaaaay in on our original photo, it sure seems to be Mickey and Minnie in this pose on the tag.  Have a look here: So, we're wearing "Lost Parent" tags.  The back of those ( via that *same* eBay listing ) looks like this: Source via this eBay listing.  Not my tag, not my photo.   Pretty interesting to think how much they de-prioritized the telephone number on the form isn't it? 

Tinkerbell Castle Disney Pin With Easel

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Here's another Disney Parks pin that was in the recently uncovered stash of pins in my closet.  This one, however, isn't new.  It is NOT on a card, so I'm thinking we traded for it off of a cast member's board or lanyard.  PinPics says that it is from 2011 (or at least the companion DLR one with Sleeping Beauty's Castle is from 2011 ). This one features Tinker bell and Cinderella's Castle.  It is billed as "It's Magic" .   The pin "starts" as a black and white line drawing of the castle.    But, when you lift up on the tab that has the Walt Disney World logo and pull, you get a little color magic show with a full-color castle with fireworks.  It is kinda neat. This is a pretty THICK pin and like I said, has a easel on the back: The easel makes it seem like this pin is best set up on a shelf somewhere, but you guys know that we have a board and not a shelf.  Seems like I'll give it a go to see if it sticks in the board and will hang th

Vintage Walt Disney World Epcot Center Felt Pennant - Spaceship Earth and Rainbow Suits - 1980's

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A few days ago, I posted a photo of a vintage University of Illinois Fighting Illini football 1984 Rose Bowl felt pennant and remarked that it was from my childhood.  It was (somehow??) saved by my mother who packed it away with a bunch of other things from my life.  When my folks moved out of their house in Frankfort - and we moved into our home in Downers Grove - they gave me a bunch of boxes and tubs loaded with personal effects.  Along with a collection of greeting cards from my First Communion and sports trophies, these pennants were stuck into the boxes.  There are a whole bunch of them that I'll get to, but today's post is about this epic, vintage Walt Disney World Epcot Center spacesuit felt pennant.  It features Mickey, Donald and Goofy all in their 'Rainbow Brite' costumes  and this one, too, I remember from my childhood.  I'll have to ask my mom if she has any memories of when we got this, but it seems that this *has* to be from the 1980's, ri

Walt Disney World Opens - Life Magazine October 1971

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We picked up this copy of Life Magazine that features the opening day of Walt Disney World in Florida on the cover.  Being Disney people and vintage/Antique Mall people, this seemed like a good fit for us.  There's a lot of little things to note on the cover including the front row of characters (See Pooh Bear's costume?) The inside headline is all about the east coast move:  "Disney Moves East" with Mickey the Mouse leading the marching band down MainStreet USA. The biggest spread of photos is below and is from this pretty unique angle starting with the Rivers of America and Frontierland in the foreground and you can see the Seven Seas Lagoon in the background.  A few things to note - Frontierland really just had a cul-de-sac and didn't go over to where Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain are today.  And the show buildings where Peter Pan and Philharmagic are located ARE HUGE.  Likely due to the perspective, but still. Filing this under both [ V

Cube Shaped and Pruned Box-like Shrubs and Trees at Disneyland

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Look at those cube trees.  These are in Disneyland's Fantasyland right on the same path to the It's a Small World ride that the Belgian Fence espalier setup (on the little riser/stage) and the Mary Blair-inspired garbage cans .   These cube trees are right across the main path. Based on this post from Plants of Disneyland , I think these might be Fern Pine or Podocarpus gracilior and add quite a bit of visual interest to the background of this spot - and, of course, provide plenty of screening for people watching the parade. I've documented a few different plants/trees/flowers from Disneyland and Walt Disney World over the years here on the blog and summed it all up in this post.    With the recent posts in the past week or two, I guess I need to update that post - or write another now. Full list of posts (at that time) about Disneyland horticulture .   Here's a look at some of the Disneyland Roses in their native environment .  A Belgian Fence at Disneyland