Final morning

Our final morning at WDW. We are packing up to start our 2-day drive home.

Figment

Of my imagination

TT

About to go on TT

Sum if all thrills

About to go on this

Soarin

About to get onto soarin. Epcot just opened.

Good morning

A gorgeous morning at WDW after the storm last night.

Entertainment

Being entertained by a performer in the lobby of the Boardwalk.

Rainy evening

It is a stormy, rainy evening. We are back at SSR and chilling out.

Some EPCOT acts will be leaving

Disney Parks Blog reports that several familiar acts will be ending their run at EPCOT this Fall. Disney will be "refreshing" the entertainment around the countries.  The article did not provide details of the new acts.

As we embark on this enhancement of World Showcase entertainment, we bid a fond farewell to Mo’Rockin’, Off Kilter, Spirit of America Fife & Drum Corps and World Showcase Players. We thank these performers for all they’ve done to make the Epcot guest experience enjoyable and memorable, and we invite you to come out and see them in their farewell performances over the next few weeks.

Starbucks at WDW Hollywood Studios

A 5th Starbucks at WDW will be opening at DHS in 2015.  So there will be a Starbucks at EPCOT, MK, DHS and 2 Downtown (Disney Springs).  The obvious question is: any plans for Animal Kingdom? 

From DIS News...

A new Starbucks location will open inside the park in February of 2015.  The Trolley Car Cafe will be located along Hollywood Boulevard and be themed like a trolley car station.  Disney baked goods and Starbucks La Boulange pastry items will be available.  An exact location hasn't been announced.

Ride

Guess where we are going next?

Lunch

Having lunch at Columbia Harbour House. Yum!

Frontier land

Hanging out in Frontierland waiting for Columbia harbour house to open

PP

About to get on Peter Pan

Mine train

Almost to the loading area

MK

In line for Mine Train

Studios at Night

Evening at the Studios. Waiting for the Frozen fireworks.

Muppets

About to see muppets 3D

Tot

About to get on Tower of Terror

Studios

Spending the evening at studios.

At SSR

Checking in at Saratoga Springs

Back on land

We just got off the Disney Dream and heading to Saratoga Springs. Will report on the cruise later.

Zz.

Cruise

We are finally here!!!

Cruise Day

Our cruise say has arrived, and so has Cristabal! I hope the storm doesn't ruin our cruise.

We had dinner at the Cocoa beach pier last night.

On our way

We are driving to Port Canaveral area for our DVC Members Cruise tomorrow and then will spend 3 days at WDW afterwards.

Donald is excited already.

Zz.

Reasons to be cheerful at WDW

You might be cheerful if you had some interesting things to do at WDW that didn't cost anything.  This post at DIS News talks about 5 things that can be enjoyed at WDW at no cost. 

These are things that can be scheduled in your vacation itinerary during an open afternoon, or maybe just kept in the back of your mind if you find yourself with some free time and not wanting to spend much money while at Disney.

An example of free things to do are: a visit to Fort Wilderness Campgrounds, and exploring life on the Monorail, i.e resort hopping.  Haven't seen this talked about much on the various posts, but it is entirely possible to visit WDW for a week and never go into a park. Between hanging out at the resorts and doing some of the things mentioned in this post, you could easily skip the parks.  A variation on this theme is to get up early and go to a park for a couple hours in the AM, then exit stage right before the crowds reach the intolerable level.  An advantage of this strategy in the Summer is that you would also avoid the afternoon heat and the typical storms. 

WDW attraction closings

DIS News posted this news about planned closings to various WDW attractions due to upgrades and maintenance.  Haunted Mansion will be closed for about 2 weeks in December.  The Wild by Design tour at Animal Kingdom will be discontinued after September.

Alice returns

WDW News Today reports that the sequel to Alice in Wonderland has started production.

The all-star ensemble cast includes:

• Johnny Depp returns to the big screen as the Mad Hatter—Hatter Tarrant Hightopp.
• Anne Hathaway portrays the White Queen—Mirana.
• Mia Wasikowska once again appears as Alice Kingsleigh, who’s on a quest to help the Mad Hatter.
• Helena Bonham Carter  returns as the Red Queen—Iracebeth.
• Rhys Ifans fills the shoes of Zanik Hightopp, the Mad Hatter’s father.
• Matt Lucas returns to the revelry in a dual role as Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
• Ed Speleers portrays James Harcourt in the film.
• And Sacha Baron Cohen was called on to bring Time to the big screen.

The film is being shot in the UK and is scheduled to be released in May 2016.

Magic Band as art

WDWMagic.com has this post about new "Olaf" Magic Bands being available as a limited edition at DHS.  Disney had released a "Frozen" band earlier but this was not a limited edition.  The "Olaf" edition runs about $30 which is $10 more than your ordinary band.  The article doesn't talk about it but it would seem that a guest staying on Disney property would still be getting an ordinary band for their next visit.  The artistic bands are a special purchase. 

The "Howard The Duck" End-of-Credit Scene in "Guardians..."

*******SPOILER ALERT**********

Don't read this if you do not want to know, or if you haven't seen Guardians of the Galaxy.

Holy quack! I didn't know there was all these behind-the-scenes history behind the Howard the Duck! Business Insider touched upon the meaning of the end-of-credit scene in "Guardians of the Galaxy" which featured Howard the Duck.

The scene pans down over the wrecked ruins of The Collector's (Benicio del Toro) trophy room after it was destroyed earlier in the film. We see The Collector, a man who collects rare and exotic items across galaxies, beleaguered and injured while sipping a beverage out of a green cup. A dog dressed in an astronaut suit comes up to him and licks his face.

All of a sudden a voice off screen asks, "What do you let him lick you like that for?" The camera then cuts to none other than Howard the Duck, a sci-fi creature from Marvel, who says "Gross" before sipping from his own bright green cup.

That is all fine and dandy, but it appears that Howard The Duck has had a run in with Disney way back when.

Shortly after his creation in '73, Disney threatened Marvel with legal action claiming Howard the Duck's satirical design bore a striking resemblance to Donald Duck. 

According to an archived  Silver Bullet Comics interview — now known as Comics Bulletin —  with Howard the Duck co-creator Stever Gerber, Marvel came to a bizarre deal with Disney that virtually allowed the Mouse House to redesign the character.

"To avoid litigation, Marvel's old management signed an incredibly stupid agreement with Disney. Under its terms, all future appearances of Howard must conform to a set of designs that Disney provided for the character. You've seen this design. It's the one from the black-and-white HTD magazine, with the ghastly swollen beak, the beady eyes, and the baggy trousers that make the duck look like a derelict. What's absolutely astonishing, though, is that the Disney agreement is worded in such a way that Marvel isn't even permitted to create a new, alternative design for the character, even if that design bears no resemblance to Donald."

As the article stated, it is interesting that the Howard the Duck that appeared in the movie is a closer resemblance to the original drawing.

Hum... I still don't know what this all means! :)

Zz.

Guardians of the Galaxy - A Review

First of all, let me admit that I was rather skeptical of this movie. When I first saw the trailer several months ago (probably before Captain America), I thought that this was a head-scratcher. I wasn't sure that a "cartoonish" superhero movie based on those characters would fit into the whole "Marvel" universe. Even after reading about how big a hit it had been since its release on Thursday and into Friday, I was still a bit skeptical.

I'm glad to report that I was wrong. The movie was entertaining as heck! The mash of characters that were very different from each other did come together at the end, and I can see how this can easily carry on its own franchise, separate from the existing Marvel universe of the Avengers/Shield/etc. The tone of the movie was very much tongue-in-cheek, and it carried that sense way beyond what the first Avengers movie tried to do. The sense of irreverence towards not only authority, but also towards what a "superhero" movie should really be permeates throughout the entire movie. But more than anything, this movie is exceedingly funny, especially if you were conscious of the 1970's and the music from that era.

Now that we got that out of the way, here are my complaints (of course, you knew that was coming, didn't you?). Can we put to rest the "bad-guy-wants-this-thingy-so-that-he-can-be-a-badass" storyline already?! I mean, how many of these things are there in the universe where the possession of it will mean doom to the world? This is the major part of the movie that I was disappointed in, the same, rehashed storyline that we have seen a million times before. And why is that that everyone is after the darn thing ONLY after our hero came across it? The thing was sitting there, waiting for someone to get it, but somehow, only after he got it, then the bad guys just happen to be dropping by at the same time a few minutes too late! I mean, c'mon guys!

In any case, I can see this series of movies will be a lot of fun if they can keep the snappy dialog and having a better storyline. Now that they've announced the sequel, it will be interesting to see how the story behind the characters develop. We already know that there are some backstory that are yet to be told.

Zz.

Interviews With Agents Of Shield Cast And Creators

This was at the past Comic-Con this year. There's a lot to look forward to for the next season of Shield.



Zz.