12 Days: The "Almost Teen" Is About Grown Up

So I wrote this about sharing Walt Disney World with John as he was about to turn 13. I loved that he was as interested in the Imagineering as  I am and I was impressed with the examples of "show" he found all on his own and how much he appreciated the thought that went into them. In re-reading that, I had a tar in my eye. Not because those days are gone, but because all the hopes I had for him then are being realized.

John is in his senior year now and we are beginning to see the "lasts" coming. We got the mail about ordering cap and gown. This Friday is his last home football game night and Senior Night for the band (we get to walk him out onto the field to be recognized). The night we leave for Disney is his last marching band competition. And this will likely be the last Disney trip we make as a family all living here in the same house. I mean, I can't imagine we won't be going to Disney with John anymore, but it will be different. He'll be his own person traveling with us. And he is already knocking on that door.

But it's a good thing. He has really become what I was hoping in that blog four years ago. His inquisitive nature has blossomed and is now informed by knowledge and experience I don't have. We have begun seeing things from different perspectives, and enjoy sharing them with each other. That's what I'm looking forward to this trip.

Going to Disney and and getting to see it through your child's eyes is always magical. Even if that child is almost a grown man now. I am so very lucky.

20 Days: Star Wars Land Ride Details

Photo Courtesy of slashfilm.com

A long and very detailed article on slashfilm.com is filled to the brim with rumored details of Star Wars Land, especially the Escape the Stormtroopers Battle attraction. Now, this is specific to Disneyland in Anaheim, but I'm thinking the attractions at Disney World will be very similar if not the same.

The entire land will be themed to a degree not seen in Disney or any other theme park. Take that, Universal! The article descibes it as more like a Renaissance Fair than a theme park. I can't wait to just walk around.

But the stormtrooper ride really grabbed my attention. Apparently it will involve moving guests through several stories of the ride building and having them actually leave the trackless ride vehicle to run away from approaching stormtroopers before boarding another later. This has got to be hugely complicated, but I'm believing the story because I think Imagineering simply has no choice than to one-up Potterland.

Rumor has it the attraction will use more than 100 animatronics. For reference, the Disneyland version of Pirates of the Caribbean has about 75. Combine that with recent animatronic advances coming out of WDI and we are looking at a potentially mind-blowing experience.

I can't wait!

29 Days: Bringing Dead Men To Life

A rumor shared by the WDW News Today suggests the revamped Fantasmic show in Disneyland will replace the Peter Pan segment with Pirates of the Caribbean.

That's cool and all, but get this. They plan to use "projection mapping" technology, the same technique used on Cinderella Castle during Wishes and the Chinese Theatre during the Galactic Spectacular, to transform the sailing ship Columbia on the Rivers of America into the Black Pearl. The projections would be able to follow the ship as she moves during the show. Cool, huh?

Ok, but that's not the coolest part. The same technology is going to be used, according to this rumor, to change actors from living pirates to skeleton pirates and back again. Apparently they can install an RFID chip, like in your MagicBand, in a costume and them program the projector to follow the chip and change the actor's appearance back and forth according to timing and location on the set. He steps into "moonlight" and, BAM, skeleton. He steps out and BAM, back to flesh and blood. Just like in the movie.

This would be incredible, but, given pieces of this technology are already in operation, it is something I think Imagineering can make happen. They would really "just" be stitching together existing tech. But man oh man would I love to see it in action!

37 Days: New Disney Patents

I wrote a couple weeks ago about Disney filing a patent application for dron.....I mean "Flying Robots" that would launch fireworks and other goodies into the sky during park shows. Well, apparently it's Patent Application Season, because I've seen news of two more pop up this week, and both are just as cool as the Flying Fireworks Robots.

The first patent involves a projector that would essentially theme a space (like a resort room) in any way Disney desires. The application is very technical and goes pretty far over my head, but it looks like a lamp or ceiling fixture would be fitted with apparatus allowing animated objects to appear around the space and, along with integrated audio, turn the room into an immersive, themed experience. As I understand it, it would be a lot like virtual reality games but your room would take the place of wearing VR goggles.

The possibilities are huge, both for good and, well, a bit evil. According to the Orlando Business Journal article,

The patent also looks at including a tracking camera that can be programmed to remember a user's facial features and then change the imagery to that person's settings — or in another case can be used to wake up a child by projecting images onto their bed.

Waking a child by projecting images onto his or her bed? That could be way too much fun.....

The second patent is an attempt to make animatronics, especially faces of speaking human animatronic figures, more life-like. The Imagineers have for decades been able to make very real seeming figures, such as those in the Hall of Presidents, but when they speak, the movement of the figures' mouths tend to give them away as robots. The most recent fix for this problem has been to leave the figure's head kind of a blank slate and project a moving, speaking image onto it. This works great on Buzz in is Space Ranger Spin, but apparently not as well on the new Frozen attraction in Epcot's Norway pavilion. No matter how well done, we are looking at two very different technologies and the realism isn't quite there.

The fix in this patent application is based upon building animatronic muscle-like material underneath a "skin" so that when the muscles underneath the skin it looks like a human does when it speaks. The problem with the old animatronics was that the movement points, the pieces of robot that actually moved, were very visible.  This new system spreads the movement along an artificial muscle-like material so the face moves realistically. I think I grasp this concept better than the virtual reality projector, but it still leaves room for  being a tad creepy. I mean, just how life-like are we comfortable with our animatronics looking? Science fiction has delved into the idea of humanoid robots and it doesn't always end well, does it?

Still, all three of these new ideas are completely in keeping with Disney's history. I am thrilled to see the Walt Disney Company continuing to follow in the footsteps of its founders by keeping on the cutting edge of entertainment technology.

38 Days: Stitch's Great Escape Moving To Seasonal Operation

Stitch's Great Escape's days are almost certainly numbered. The attraction will be closing for except for the most busy days in the Magic Kingdom. According to the Orlando Sentinel, you'll be able to visit Stitch in Tomorrowland from November 19-26 and from December 17 - January 2. Beyond that Stitch's future is cloudy at best.

Rumors suggest a Wreck-It Ralph virtual reality attraction taking Stitch's place, and this mostly-closure certainly leads one to believe something new is on the horizon.

I'm not terribly excited one way or another over this whole thing. I rode Stitch once and while I'm not as anti-Stitch's Great Escape as a lot of the Disney community seems to be, it's not something I will really miss. I was hoping for a Big Hero 6 attraction or maybe something Tomorrowland (the film) oriented, but I guess a Wreck-It Ralph presence won't be bad. I'm most looking forward to seeing what WDI does with virtual reality, no matter what franchise it's tied to, so cheers to that.

48 Days: Disney Dron.......I Mean Flying Robots

According to the DisKingdom blog Walt Disney has applied for a patent on "Air Delivered Special Effects." This would entail using drones, or as Disney calls them in the patent application, Flying Robots, to deliver a variety of special effects such as pyrotechnics, confetti and smoke. Imagineering is clearly trying to  "plus" the fireworks and even evidently daytime shows with drone....oops, I mean Flying Robot, launched effects. How cool would that be?

I can only imagine what they will able to do, but as the blog points out, one goal may be to elevate the performance of fireworks to expand the viewing area. If you launch your fireworks from a few hundred feet, they will explode that much higher and be visible from that much farther away.

51 Days: Rivers of Light Rumors!

Photo By Blog Mickey

There are rumors floating around that Animal Kingdom's Rivers of Light show has been released from Walt Disney Imagineering to the Animal Kingdom park. This would be a step toward actually installing and running the show, hopefully soon. The show presented some problems when it was tested this spring, so let's hope the Imagineering wizards have worked out the kinks and the show can be brought to life (see what I did there?) this fall.

Let's be honest, I just hope it's running by November 2nd, when we'll be in the park. If so, I'm assuming, and hoping, a restaurant or two will offer a dining and seating package as they did for the Jungle Book show this summer. If I'm not mistaken, Tiffins was a part of that. I'd love to have a good excuse for a meal there!

Here's a link to some more really cool photos on Blog Mickey of the Rivers of Light floats during their test earlier this year.

81 Days: Is Stitch Making His Final Great Escape?

I saw a rumor this morning from WDWThemeParks.com suggesting that Stitch's Great Escape will close towards the end of this year and re-open in 2018 as a new attraction. The rumor is classified as "Blue Sky," meaning it's just a rumor at this point, but I doubt anyone would be surprised to see Stitch leave Tomorrowland. It doesn't seem to be a hugely popular attraction, though if Disney fan social media is true to form it will attract a huge following the minute Disney announces its closure. Just watch :-) The fun question to me, though, is assuming a closure, what is the replacement? Let's play armchair Imagineer and put out a couple ideas.

My first thought for this spot was a Big Hero 6-themed attraction. It's right across the walkway from Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor and around the corner from Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, so another animated movie based attraction would provide some sort of flow to the area. It is a way to bring Marvel into the Magic Kingdom, which is a bit of a stick in the eye to Universal and as such much fun. The film is great and fun and colorful and would work great visually as an attraction. The setting is quasi-futuristic so it wouldn't be jarringly out of place, in my opinion. I'm not sure of the mechanics, though. I mean an entire year would be enough time to gut the present ride and create something new, as in not "theater-based," but Disney hasn't seemed to be in a start from scratch mode when updating or switching attractions lately. Which leads me to a second idea.....

What about a Tomorrowland-based attraction in Tomorrowland? I was telling the lovely and talented Lisa about this story and

my wish that somehow the Tomorrowland movie would be incorporated into Tomorrowland the Land, and she thought this would be a great fit. She's right. It would even work in its present configuration. The characters in Tomorrowland are transported to Tomorrowland by strapping into seats and having a shaking, sensory overloaded experience. That would completely work here. As Lisa suggested, you could even work in some sort of live-feed from a camera outside looking down the sidewalk toward Space Mountain as an ending shot. The downside to this idea is that the movie wasn't all that well received, but I loved it, so that should count for something, right?

What do you think? What would you put in Stitch's place? Or would you leave our little blue friend alone?

A Couple More Steps

I had, briefly, the brilliant idea to write 39 posts on this blog about my experiences helping bring The 39 Steps to the stage. As much as I dislike math, I do like numbers and I sort of thought that would get me writing more regularly. But the last exercise to help me write regularly was an attempt at a Blog Challenge to put up a post for each letter of the alphabet in the month of April. It took me over a year to write 27 (yes, 27. I did two "I" posts. I'm an over-achiever) blog posts. I'm not thinking 39 in a couple months was very realistic. Aside from that, I'm always nervous writing publicly about a play I'm involved in (heh, I say "always" like I've done this more than a couple times) because I'm afraid that in my enthusiasm and excitement, I'll write something I shouldn't or give away something that would be better kept a surprise. So while this isn't going to be the last update from the world of 1935 Britain, I'm not going to turn this into a play diary. But this blog is about what makes me happy, basically, and last weekend saw some small steps forward for the play and one bigger step for myself, and that made me happy.

Saturday we (my family along with Director Jen and her dad, Jonathan, who is building sets/props for the show) visited  the Historic Amuzu Theatre to have a look around. I've been fascinated by this building since we moved here so I was really happy to get to poke around the whole place. The Amuzu was a movie theater begun by the current owner's father, but it's since been remodeled into a venue for live shows. It has a stage and the balcony houses lights and tech equipment. To say it's a bit cramped backstage is a huge understatement, but this show has a cast of four and minimal sets, so it won't present much of a problem. I'm not going to say this is the ideal theater space for any show, but it will work very well for THIS show, we think.

I'm not going to give away Jen's ideas for staging the show, but the fact that the stage features two "balconies" is going to be perfect. We spent an hour or so poking all around (that was mostly me) and measuring things (mostly Jonathan and John) and taking pictures (all the little shots of the Amuzu you see on this post are Lisa's work) and imagining how the show could be brought to life in this space (that was mostly Jen, who is a flat-out genius at that). It was a great morning, getting to indulge my curiosity about the interior of one of my favorite landmarks while watching my friend go into Imagineer mode. Jen's the closest thing to Walt Disney I'm ever likely to meet and I love being there to see how she works through ideas and starts bringing a show to life. Then, when we got home and I downloaded all of Lisa's pictures, I was reminded once again what a treasure she is and what a great eye she has. She shot that place so well, it actually led to me putting a little blurb about our trip on the show's website. Just because I HAD to use a few of her photos.

Also on Saturday morning, Jen shared a bit of news that led to Sunday's fun. The show was cast after auditions the week before, but one of the four actors had second thoughts and backed out before the first rehearsal, scheduled for Sunday. This was to be a "read-thru" of the script. That is just what it sounds like, the actors read the script aloud, each reading his part. It's fun. Jen wasn't too worried, she said. She'd already contacted a couple people and was putting a last minute call out on Facebook with the idea of carrying on with the scheduled read-thru and turning it into a sort of audition if need be. I volunteered to read the missing guy's part if it came to that and no
one showed to try out on short notice.
I guess the idea was already started in my head. I'd had a lot of fun watching the auditions and actually found for the first time being around theater stuff that I wanted to be taking part in what the actors were doing. It was a series of improvisational games followed by readings of parts of the script. I'd read the script twice already before the auditions and found myself thinking about how I'd do it if it were me up there trying out. Not that I wanted to be IN the show, mind you, just that I thought it'd be fun to get to act out this stuff. So, when it looked like Jen might need a warm body to read, I jumped at the chance.

Then, while running errands and walking around Walmart of all things, I got to thinking. That really did look like fun, the acting thing. It seemed, for the first time, accessible to even me. There was no singing or dancing. It was a lot of lines, but maybe I could memorize that. No, I could never do that on a stage, in front of people. Well, maybe. I just don't know. I sent Jen a message reiterating my offer to help read. She read between the lines I guess and understood and said what I couldn't bring myself to say, "Unless you're ready to make your stage debut...." 

Was I? I don't know. I knew for a fact that the guys she contacted to try out would be great and if they showed I was out, I said. Another volunteer responded to her call and said he'd come out. I didn't know his acting background and figured if he was as new to this as I, I would go ahead and read for the part with him. Jen told me whatever else happened, she'd give me a chance to read. I guess she understood what was going on in my head, she's been through this herself as an actor and seen many others go through it as a director. And she gets me. 
Sunday came and I surprised myself by not being nervous at all. I was happy, really happy. I was imagining my friends and family coming to the show. I was imagining being one of a small cast and all the camaraderie that I figure goes with that. I had myself convinced  it was totally doable for me to remember all the lines. I was excited and happy and looking forward to three o'clock. Then, while I drove to Adrian and Jen's office where the rehearsal was to take place, it hit me. I had been asked that morning to stand up in church and sort of wave "hi" to the congregation as I was introduced as a member of a new committee, and I hated it. It made me nervous and uncomfortable. What the Hell was I thinking volunteering to get up and ACT in front of an audience at a real show that people expected to be very good? I'd freeze and embarrass myself, embarrass the other actors, embarrass Jen. What sort of friend was I to put everyone in that position?  And if I did get the role, that would mean I wouldn't be stage manger, something I've been looking forward to all year. I loved stage managing Wizard, but I was one of three and this time I would be flying solo on a show that presents some real interesting challenges. That, and I love being Jen's helper, part of her production team.

 

When I got to the office, I saw that the other volunteer, Dan, had come out and I resolved to take Jen aside and tell her I was out as far as trying out. Let Dan have it, good or bad Jen would make him work. But I didn't. I went ahead as planned and read for the part like I wanted it. And if Dan hadn't been as great as he was, and Jen thought I would be right, I'd have done it. Really I would. And that surprised me about myself. I gotta say, I'm proud of me.

As it turned out, everything went about as perfectly as we could have hoped. Before we started, Jen announced I'd be reading for the part, but that she was a bit upset by the possibility of losing me as her stage manager (something that truly never occurred to me, I figured I was very replaceable). Dan and I and the rest of the cast had a really great time with the script. Dan was perfect for the part, he has acting experience and can flip between truly wonderful accents with ease. I know everyone saw that, so after we were finished and it looked like Jen wasn't going to say it, I did. I would be happy to stay stage manager. And I meant it.

The Cast: (l-r) Ryan Joyce, Adrian Iapalucci, Liz Cervantes and Dan Gedman

So, Dan got his chance to return to the stage, Jen found a perfect Clown One and kept her stage manager and didn't have to tell her friend "no, I would rather use the other guy," and I got my chance to audition for a part in a play along with a real actor. And while Dan was clearly much better for the part, and obviously more experienced in acting in general, I didn't embarrass myself at all. It wasn't like "isn't it cute, Jeff tried," not at all. I did well, and I think better than "for a first try" well. It was soooooooo much fun, too! It was every bit as much fun as it looked, I gotta say. 

Big thanks to Lisa for humoring all my crazy ideas and supporting me even though she knows it's going to mean a lot of nights away from home. Big thanks to Adrian and Liz and Ryan and especially Dan for welcoming the rookie and making me feel like I belonged there. And Big Thanks to Jen for understanding, for encouraging and for once again showing me a new door to open. This acting door hasn't been flung wide open by any means, but it has been left ajar. And that is huge for me.

                                                

   

Wordless Wednesday....The Letter "I"

I'm making this one I Is For Imagineering.


Check out all the other Wordless Wednesday fun over at Focused on the Magic

 

 

Living Worlds and Amateur Imagineering

This afternoon I came across disneylivingworlds.com, where I read this--

Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development wants to work with innovative storytellers willing to push the limits to create fully immersive worlds where guests can explore, play and discover deep narratives. To help us achieve this goal, we are excited to announce the Living Worlds program, through which we hope to support the development of a few unique concepts through collaborative project work.

Wow. Just wow. How exciting is that?

They used the term "transmedia" to describe a method of storytelling that takes the audience inside the story where they can interact with, and sometimes change, the story itself through the use of a variety of media and environments. This is what Walt Disney set out to do with his theme parks, tell a story in a fully immersive way. Everything in the Disney parks is about storytelling, even the rides start as storyboards, like a movie would. Walt Disney Imagineering is first and foremost a storytelling outfit. More from the website--

At Walt Disney Imagineering Research and Development, storytelling is in our DNA and we are always looking to advance this art form. We have developed the Living Worlds program to catalyze and support the transmedia community and continue to push the limits of immersive storytelling.

Apparently, there is a "transmedia community," who knew?  The closest thing I've seen to Disney-type immersive entertainment is the MagiQuest attraction in Myrtle Beach, and it was developed by former Imagineers from Disney. It looks like WDI is trying to draw out anyone else exploring this area and perhaps give them a hand, perhaps recruit them? It sounds like a recruitment tool to me, anyhow. And more power to them, I'd love to see what comes from this project. Participants must apply with an idea, then a few are selected for further fleshing out and development. The winner or winners, such as they are (this isn't billed as a contest by any means) will benefit from the brain trust at Walt Disney Imagineering to help bring their idea to life. Not financial help, but coaching and support, which coming from the Imagineers could be worth more than money. It's all very cool. I mean, "Living Worlds" has a ring to it without any explaination at all.

Of course my first glimpse at this program triggered my imagination and my sizable ego drove me to look at the submission guidelines right off the bat. Surely I could come up with an idea worthy of Walt Disney Imagineering. I got nuthin' if not ideas. Well, maybe this one's not so much for me. They want interactivity with ipods and smartphones and such and they want you to have a venue and resources and experience and be able to carry the whole thing off inside of a year. Reality popped that ego bubble. But I'm still very excited about this project and I hope there will be some way to find out how it turns out, if not follow along. I think that would be fascinating.

In the meantime, I'm not going to be disappointed I can't play in the majors with the Imagineers because I have my own bit of "immersive storytelling" coming up right here at home with my friends and neighbors. The next town over, Southport, is hosting a Charles Dickens Christmas Festival this year in honor of the author's 200th birthday. As I understand it, the idea is to turn the historic downtown into a Victorian Christmas village. The Brunsick Arts Council is organizing this whole thing and has gone whole hog, bringing in shows of every kind, from dance to theatre to concerts. They also promise "clowns, town criers, carolers, Dickens characters, puppet shows, story-telling, children's Victorian games and food!" It's going to be quite immersive, and I'm going to be immersed in it as a "cast member" so to speak :)

Our friend Jen, the same one who gave us our introduction to theatre work with the Wizard of Oz this past summer, was asked to organize a recreation of Fezziwig's Ball from A Christmas Carol, and Lisa and I will be party guests. The ball will be an on-going party that festival goers can visit and even participate in if they'd like. There will be dancing of a reel, caroling, and general Victorian merry-making. I'm taking a couple days off work to be able to help with the set-up and decorating and be able to participate both Friday and Saturday. We'll need to decorate our space, an old visitor center, and we may be selling refreshments. Lisa and I get to dress up and learn a dance (we have our first rehearsal Saturday) and be a part of the show. I'm excited to do something "theatrical" again and doubly so because Jen is such fun to work with. She's the closest thing to an Imagineer I've ever met.

But wait, that's not all! I mentioned "Dickens characters" a bit ago right? Well, I'm also going to be one of them--Uriah Heep, the villain of David Copperfield (Wikipedia calls him an "antagonist," but "Villain" sounds better, and more Disney). Jen was asked to help find someone "tall and gangly" for this role, and apparently I fit the bill. I'm not an actor by any means, but Jen tells me I'll just need to learn a few lines of script and ad-lib the rest as I interact with festival goers. We attended a few murder mystery parties Jen put together as fundraisers, and she says it will be a lot like that. We'll see. I've not read David Copperfield, nor even seen the movie, so I was at a bit of a loss as to who this Uriah Heep is. So I did what any responsible person would do and turned to Google. I found out that he is utterly repulsive physically and even worse personally. I found that on a list of male English literary characters rated on their "bangability" my man Uriah came in 110 out of 111. He was just one better than Frankenstein's monster. Uriah apparently goes on about his humbleness while stabbing everyone in the back to get ahead. I hope I'm not being typecast, but this guy sounds like he could be a lot of fun.

So I'm not going to be chosen to work with Walt Disney Imagineering to make the products of my fevered imagination come to life, but that's fine. Maybe I won't be discovered and hired to spend my life living my Disney dreams. But that doesn't mean I can't be my own Imagineer, helping to make a story come to life for friends and strangers in my way and in my own community. It's all about the story after all, and not just the stories we tell. I like to think of life as a story, one I can add to and embellish everyday. It's the ultimate immersive experience, and this story is getting better all the time.

A (Almost) Teen In The Kingdom

Tomorrow my son John becomes a teen. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one, though he has been counting down for weeks now. Thanks, John, that helps :)  John is our only child so I imagine we feel the sense of him changing forever each and every day more acutely than we would if he had a younger sibling. Tomorrow, there will no longer be a pre-teen in this house. He's "Moving Forward" as Walt liked to say. He is truly opening new doors all the time, he is exploring new things because he is truly and wonderfully curious.I know intellectually that tomorrow he will only be one day older than he is today, that 13 is only a number and an arbitrary milestone at best. But it serves emotionally and very practically to put a sort of time stamp on the changes that have been coming to John faster and faster the last few years and especially the last six months or so. I've watched him becoming less a subset of Lisa and I and more an individual with his own opinions and goals and interests. I thoroughly enjoyed John's childhood up to this point and I suppose there's a part of me that will always miss him as a child, but the person he is growing into is so absolutely and incredibly wonderful that he tips the bitter/sweet nostalgia scales almost all the way to the sweet side.

The early teen years are a big transition time, and this trip to Disney put the very best of that transition on vibrant display. John was able to enjoy the parks as a child who thrilled at driving his own go cart around the Tomorrowland Speedway, but he also started looking at Disney World with an adult's appreciation for what went into creating the Magic. For me, it was one of the best Dad experiences of my life. I got to have the best of both worlds, playing with my kid and teaching my son about one of the things I really love. John made me so incredibly proud because he gets it, he understands on a basic level that Disney is special for a reason and he was actively trying to understand it.

John and the snowman

I wasn't surprised that John was interested in what went into the Magic, the kid loves watching "How It's Made" on the Science Channel after all and even as a toddler, he was watching the ride mechanism while going around on the little firetrucks or cars or motorcycles at the fair. He completely ate up my stories of what the Imagineers had done and how and why. I was truly impressed and a bit surprised with the way he went about internalizing what I told him and actively seeking out examples himself. Before our trip, I read a lot of books about all the detail the Imagineers put into the building of everything they do. John and I had a ball looking for examples ourselves and I think John spotted one of the greatest in Hollywood Studios. Right next to Mama Melrose's restaurant, there is a little Christmas shop on the corner. Naturally, being Disney, it's winter all year round on that corner. There are Christmas decorations like you'd find on a city street and there is snow on the ground, drifted up against the corner of the building. Someone has even built a snowman. All this is cool, but after so many years of Disney parks, it's not all that uncommon to find some pretty consistent "themeing" at parks outside of Walt's world. But John discovered how the Imagineers went the extra mile, and why they are still the best. Outside the window of the Christmas shop were some footprints in the snow drift. If you followed them by putting your own feet in the outlines, you saw that they were "left" by a person walking up to the store to do a little window shopping. I was impressed by that little touch, but John found one even better. Around the corner the shop ends and before the next building begins there is a little transition. It's a set of wooden garage doors with the name of the local fire department written on them. It was "Engine Co. #"something, but I can't remember what exactly. The snow drift starts to peter out here, it's not very deep, but it does extend in front of one of these garage doors for the fire company. And right there in the snow, just where a fire truck would be leaving the garage, is a set of tire tracks in the snow. John and I wondered to each other what kind of mind thinks of that. I explained that it came from basing everything around a story, much more like the play we worked on than normal architecture where you build for a purpose. We were walking in a giant set. All of Walt Disney World is a show, one you actively participate in, but a show all the same. John totally got it, because he'd seen a show come to life from start to finish, he could totally relate to the Imagineers. The doors he opened this summer helped him open more doors, and my hope is that will continue to be a pattern throughout his life. I think he's on the right track.

Firetruck tracks

John noticed other things, such as the smell of cookies always coming from the Main Street bakery. I explained that they did that on purpose, they actually pumped out the smell of cookies all day and night to draw people into the shop. John noticed it again this time with coffee at the Starring Rolls Cafe in Hollywood Studios and couldn't wait to tell his Mom how the smell was blown out of the store as an Imagineering trick.We also amused ourselves looking for and pointing out "weineies" to each other. A "weinie" was what Walt called the big set pieces that caught a guest's eye and drove them to come towards a new area. The Cinderella Castle is a huge example, but there are weinies large and small all over the parks. I love the story of how the term came into being, and John did as well. Seems Walt loved hot dogs, weinies, and was attracted to the smell of them without fail. So he equated anything that attracted a person, that drew them in, with the smell of wienies in his own experience. Walt was a genius, pure and simple, but he was a normal everyday guy as well. That's why he was, and is, so successful. I tried to impress upon John that it was great to be the smartest guy in the room, but if you didn't know people and know how to relate to them, your genius could be completely wasted.

Walt Disney was inspired to build his first theme park, Disneyland, because he wasn't satisfied with the playgrounds and amusement parks he had seen. He found plenty of places to take his young daughters and watch them play, and he did often, but he wanted a place where parents and children could have fun together, explore together and learn together. Well, Walt, you did it. Thank you. Thank you for dreaming big and making it real, thank you for a place I can watch my son grow and learn and laugh and discover as he moves from childhood to teenager.

I dream too. I dream that these lessons never stop, that John keeps being curious and that it leads him to open knew doors for the rest of his life. No, I'm not sad that John's Moving Forward, I celebrate it. Keep moving, John. Keep moving.

Imagineering Oversight....or is it?

Before our trip to Disney, I bought an Imagineering Field Guide for each of the four Florida parks. I love these books, they are small, but packed with really interesting information about the thought processes that went into building the Disney theme parks. The books are written by Walt Disney Imagineering (it gives author credit to "The Imagineers" right on the cover) and are full of drawings and photos and inside info on the little details they work into everything they do. For a Disney Geek, these things are Nirvana.

One of the central themes of these books is the continuity they try to keep in place within and even between the parks. They work hard to make sure you aren't jarred by something "out of place." They went so far as to make the top of the Tower of Terror ride's architecture look vaguely Middle Eastern because it was visible from Morroco in Epcot's World Showcase. They even do things that I'm convinced are for their own amusement, such as locating all the bathrooms in Columbia Harbour House, which straddles Fantasyland and Liberty Square, in the Fantasyland half because there was no indoor plumbing in the time period represented by Liberty Square. Their efforts aren't always so grand or so obscure, mostly they just use architecture and landscaping to obscure views of things that don't fit in with the story they are trying to tell in a particular place.

I think I found a pretty good example of where they failed to hide the bleed-over from over stories with this picture.

This is a view of Space Mountain and the entrance to Tomorrowland as seen from the Swiss Family Treehouse, complete with old-timey gas light. I thought at first I had "caught" the Imagineers falling down on the job, how hard would it be to have a wall here and face the opening a different direction? But after thinking about it, I think I've underestimated the Disney crew.

Walt Disney's spirit is alive and well among the Imagineers; just look at the whole of Walt DisneyWorld, built entirely after Walt's death, for proof. Walt Disney was a man of seeming contradiction, but in actuality he was very wise. He was nostalgic to an amazing degree, recreating the world as it was in his time and before in his theme parks. He loved the past and studied history and longed to see the world hold onto the best parts of our heritage. He was also one of the world's greatest all-time Futurists. Walt believed in that "Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" and he worked hard to see mankind progress as far and as fast as possible. He was the best kind of idealist, the kind of man who sees a wonderful future as possible and tries to make it so. He had one foot in the past and one in the future, but he lived in the now, taking the best of history to inform his attempts to build a great tomorrow. In order to think and act like this, Walt Disney needed to be always ready to act today, to "carpe diem," to make the most of the moment no matter what the naysayers said or what was generally assumed to be possible. But he also had to have an appreciation of the fact that the future would always be there, that what we do today never stays as it is, but changes over time. He understood that he needed to not only prepare for this fact, but take advantage of it. When Walt built Disneyland, he commented that the park would never be the same, that it would grow and change and become more beautiful as the trees he planted before opening day grew over time.

It's this spirit that I think the Imagineers understood and I at first did not when they built the Swiss Family Treehouse with a view of Tomorrowland. To face the view away from the park would give guests a sight "behind the scenes" and into an area of concrete and parking lots and warehouses and sheds. Not very magical. To face the room towards the park in another direction would guarantee that some sort of "intrusion" into the story would always be there. Look again at that picture and I think you'll see the Imagineers took the best possible route. The view of Space Mountain is partially hidden by trees. I bet that when this treehouse was first constructed, much more of the park was visible. I also bet that within about ten years, as those trees grow even taller, that view of Tomorrowland will no longer exist. I think that was the idea all along. It took me a while, but I finally did step outside the box and look with eyes to the past, present and future. That's what Walt did all the time, as a matter of course. I want to get to the point where I do that as well.

I is For......Imagineering

Imagineer. It's a word Walt Disney made up to describe the people who combined imagination and engineering to make his theme parks a reality. A lot of the original Imagineers came from the movies, and they used movie tricks in the construction of Disneyland and Walt Disney World. They used forced perspective to make buildings, and castles, seem higher then they really are. They used façades and hidden areas that were "off camera" or "back stage" to make the visitor feel a part of a fantasy without being interrupted by the mundane things like trash pick-up and food delivery and mechanical infrastructure. As time and technology progressed, the Imagineers developed ever more impressive animatronics, piped smells into attractions to complete the sensory illusions and constructed ride vehicles and apparatus that made visitors fly and dive and take off into space. The Imagineers do more than create the rides though; they have a hand in all things at the Disney parks, from the restaurants to the hotels and even the human resources, oops, I mean "Casting," building. Everything at a Disney park is made possible by the Imagineers.

They have always fascinated me. I loved the word, "Imagineer" the first time I heard it. Making dreams into reality, what could be better than that? And I think I really was impressed because I have zero talent in that direction. I can't draw or paint or play or sing. I am an average mathematician at best. I mean, I have had to Google my son's 7th grade math homework. I don't think anyone wants to ride a roller coaster I designed, you know? I am chock full of imagination, but never had the skills or the talents to bring my imagining to the world, except maybe through writing. But you can't ride a book. No one ever walked into a park and gasped at the sight of a novel. You don't scream as you race around the turns of an article on a blog. I'm thankful for what I can do, but mindful of what I can't and admire those things in others, especially those others who built Disney World and keep improving and adding to it today. I still really look up to the Imagineers, with maybe a tinge of jealousy. I'm not afraid to admit it.

The Castle Iapalucci

But I had an epiphany this weekend. What is Imagineering if not making dreams, or wishes, come true? And who is less afraid to wish, to dream, than a child? Our friends the Iapaluccis have boy named Max who turned 7 just last Friday. Max's mom, Jen, is a stay-at-home mom and LOVES to put on a party. She has directed plays and musicals and holds a Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree in painting and drawing, I believe. She can flat out plan a kid's party, and so when she asked Max what he wanted for a party, he wasn't the least bit hesitant to dream. Max wanted a
Renaissance Faire party. Now, as an aside, that alone made me a little proud, as we were the ones who invited the Iapalucci crew to their first Renaissance Faire last fall, and apparently Max was impressed. Anyhow, in true Jen fashion, she set about making it happen. She worked on this for a while, getting ideas and planning things and ordering supplies and such. Jen told us about her plans and we enjoyed following the progress, looking forward to the party because they are always fun for everyone, adults and children alike.

Castle Cake

Mom, Fairy Princess, script writer and Imagineer Jen

A couple weeks ago, Jen asked me if I knew anything about deep-frying turkeys. It seems Max was heart set on fried turkey at his party. I did, a little, and I had all the equipment, so I became officially a part of the party prep crew. Of course when you get me, you get the whole Stites family. Lisa and John were more than happy, excited even, to move from party goers to party makers with me. As party day approached I was trying to think of an "I" word to blog about on here, and came up with Imagineering. And I got to thinking that it isn't just the professionals in the employ of The Mouse who are Imagineers. Jen was turning her son's and her own vision into a reality. She was using what she could find, or invent or cobble together, to create a dream come true for Max on his birthday. And we, the Stites Family, were a part of it! I cooked the birds without injury or damage, helped erect a castle, raised Rapunzel's tower and pretty much followed whatever directions Jen gave me. Lisa iced a cake into an amazing fantasy castle with turrets and knights and even a dragon placed by King Max himself. She helped write scripts for a what turned out to be a wild, and wildly entertaining, scavenger hunt and she worked her little fingers off creating banners for the coming little knights and ladies to turn into their own personal heraldry. John was charged with keeping two-year-old Milo from deep frying himself, which he accomplished with patience and love. John, a 12 year old very boyish boy, also cut out all the locks of Rapunzel hair to be used in the pin the hair on Rapunzel game, with good cheer and serious effort. I think John got it. I think he appreciated what Lisa and I were joking (half-joking, if truth be told) about when we said how honored we were to get a glimpse behind the curtain of Iapalucci party prep.

Lisa was born a beautiful Princess, so this wasn't a stretch

I started calling them Iapalucci Imagineering on party day, as we all scrambled to get things just so before the guests arrived. And they are. Jen and Adrian do this sort of thing all the time, really. People go to their house for parties and events and get-togethers, and things are always special, somehow different and unique. I wonder how many of those guests understand the work, the thought, the dreaming, the IMAGINEERING that goes into those times. Well, we understand a little better now. And we are thankful for the chance to play at Imagineering ourselves.

Disney Dinner, At Home!!!!

What's better than a night of Disney Parks behind the scenes shows on the TV? That would be sharing the fun with friends and turning it into a Disney food feast, of course! The food at Disney is one of our favorite parts of the experience, and it's fun and surprisingly easy to try duplicating some of Disney's dishes at home. Chip and Co. have recipes on their site and Disney cookbooks aren't hard to find. Our cookbook is almost 20 years old, so it has recipes from restaurants that no longer exist, which is kind of cool, really. Our feast included treats from Ohana, the Yachtsman Steakhouse, Le Cellier, the old Top of the World and a couple classic treats from the parks.

Jen's Ohana Wings and my own Onion-Cheese Soup

We started out with what my son has declared "the BEST chicken wings ever. Seriously. Ever"  and onion-cheese soup. The wings Jen made are part of the Ohana family-style dinner and are truly delicious. The soup was my contribution and came from our old Gourmet Mickey Cookbook attributed to the Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Yacht Club Resort. I've had neither dish at the actual Disney location, but Jen says the wings pretty much nailed it. The soup may or may not be exactly like Disney's, but it was really good.

Poutine = Heaven

After devouring the wings and soup around the campfire, we moved inside for Jen's Poutine, a wonderful potato dish from the Canada Pavilion's Le Cellier restaurant. Poutine is basically baked potato wedges topped with caramelized onion and cheese, then covered with a red wine reduction sauce. While that may sound good, words can't describe the deliciousness of this dish. The reduction alone is good enough to eat with a spoon.

Lisa's Mickey Treats-on-a-stick!

For dessert, my lovely bride Lisa provided a classic Disney Parks treat, the Mickey Head Rice Crispy Treat! What could be better than a rice crispy treat that looks like Mickey, on a stick, with ears dipped in dark chocolate? Nothing. Period. For post-dessert TV watching treats we had Dole Whips! Both straight up and in a float, these things are hard to replicate exactly without a soft-serve machine, but ours were awesome and topped off a spectacular night.

Monorail Yellow

Disney also offers some fun and unique cocktails. The beverage I chose to accompany our meal may or may not be offered somewhere on the Disney property today, I don't know. It's the Monorail Yellow cocktail from the old Top of the World restaurant, the place that used to be at the top of the Contemporary resort. Top of the World has been replaced by the California Grill, but we brought the Monorail Yellow back for an encore. The original is a frozen concoction, but I turned it into a martini because I didn't want to bother getting out a blender. It worked nicely.


Trying to re-create some of your favorite Disney cuisine is fun and, thanks to the interwebs, not really hard. If you want to try for yourself, you can start searching either Chip and Co.'s recipe page or the Disney Family web site's recipe pages 

Enforcing Disney Fast Pass Rules; and The Joys of Waiting In Line

Disney World fan sites have been abuzz today about rumored upcoming changes to the Fast Pass system. If you are unfamiliar, the Fast Pass is Disney's attempt to control ride lines. You may walk up to certain attractions with a longer wait than you'd like, and instead of getting in line for the ride or show, get a Fast Pass, with a scheduled return time. The pass will give you a one hour window in which to return and by-pass the "stand-by" line for the Fast Pass line, which is supposed to be little or no wait.

The problem seems to be that Fast Pass wait times are growing, especially later in the day. Disney cast members have not been enforcing the time window printed on the ticket, so folks have been using them whenever they please, usually at the end of the day. Reportedly, it is no longer unusual to wait for 20 or 30 minutes in the Fast pass line, which sort of defeats the purpose.

The solution that is rumored is simply to have cast members manning the Fast Pass queue start enforcing the return time windows printed on the passes. They will reportedly allow you in up to 15 minutes after your scheduled window closes, but no more than that. This has many panties thoroughly in wads. The number of people upset by this speaks to me of the need for the change. If all those folks were not "playing by the rules," then its no surprise that longer lines than are desired appeared at Fast Pass entrances. This is really a good thing, and I believe everyone will adjust their own plans accordingly and the system will work as it was intended.

I have to say, though, that I was really surprised by the amount of interest and concern this change to Fast Pass policy brought out. We've been to Disney World four times since the Fast Pass system was rolled out in 1999, and we have yet to use it. Now we did actually get ourselves a Fast Pass, we like new gadgets and wanted to see how it worked, but we never actually used it. That was during a trip in September and the lines were so low there was no need. It was busier the other three trips, one was in the summer, but we never bothered to use Fast Pass. Thinking back, I'm not sure why. Most likely it's because I'm not a fan of change and "that's not the way WE always did it." Also, our family is about as far from Type-A as you can get. I do plan, and I really enjoy planning our meals and which day we're going to which park and so forth, but Disney is the ONLY thing I plan out like that. It amuses my wife to no end. Once we get to the parks, aside from making our scheduled ADRs, we aren't very plan-oriented. We wander about riding what we like and skipping anything that we don't deem worth the wait.

We aren't opposed to waiting in line, though, for something we all really want to do. Two hours is a bit much, but even for an hour and a half we have been known to suck it up and wait. It's really not the end of the world. There's lots to do in line. Disney has spent a tremendous amount of time and imagination and money making even the queuing areas of its attractions interesting. That's not even to mention the people watching opportunities. I pity the people who never wait in line and as a result miss out on mocking the other Disney guests' dress, hairstyle, accent, mannerisms and child-rearing skills. What do you people talk about at dinner? Even if you are sickeningly nice and don't get snarky and mean about strangers, you could spend time in line talking to your family. Imagine that! You are on vacation and the children, if not the adults, are probably close to sensory over-load. Talking about what you've done and seen and what adventures are yet to come make passing the time in line rather enjoyable.

So, I'm glad Disney is fixing the Fast Pass system, it sounds like it needed it. I also hope everyone can get along and make it run smoothly going forward. Just remember as you bustle by me in the stand-by queue, I'm making fun of your hat and how stressed you look and we are going to talk about it over dinner.