58 Days: Poohsticks' Bookshelf

With the approach of Hermine, one must gather supplies. Tops on my list, truth be told, was rawhide bones for Belle the Hound Dog. She gets a little stressy during storms and raw hides are her Valium. The there's biscuits (Lisa's request), cereal and of course Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies, because they are traditional.

But what to do while it's nasty outside? Perhaps the power will go out. Good thing I'm stocked up on some pretty top notch reading, and Disney reading at that. You'll see a review of each of these in the coming days and weeks, but here's a little preview.

The Thinking Fan's Guide To Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom-- I've actually already finished this book, and it was great, but it was a little bit ago and I think I need to refresh my memory before I can review it. It contains history and some editorial thoughts on each attraction in the Magic Kingdom, both of which were interesting and often thought-provoking.

Drunk At Disney-- I'm almost finished with this one and it has made me snort out loud quite a bit. But aside from being hilarious, this book contains some really valuable information, such as which bars allow you to order from the associated restaurant's full menu. Brown Derby with out an ADR? Yes, please.

The Design of Fear-- This is the second book by RJ Ogren, a former WDW Animatronic Artist Lisa and I met at Mizner's Lounge during our Epic Monorail Bar Tour last September. This book features stories about working on haunted houses, from Disney's Haunted Mansion to the Queen Mary to others all over the country.

Keep Moving-- This is Dick Van Dyke's autobiography written on the occasion of his 80th birthday. This man is an inspiration. He lives Disney Magic. He loves life and it shines out of him. I'm guessing there's a lot he can teach me about growing older with class and exuberance. If he has any dance tips in there, so much the better :-)

Any interest in a Poohsticks Book Club? I just had that idea. I'm a genius.

76 Days: Pete's Dragon reboot

I'm a huge fan of the original Pete's Dragon. I believe I still have the soundtrack LP downstairs as a matter of fact. I will be the first to admit that I wasn't thrilled with the idea of a remake. Then, when the first images were released and I saw the forest setting, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be going to see it. It wasn't that I wanted a carbon copy of the first film, going in a new direction was a great idea to not spoil the original for people like me. I was afraid this was going to be another Lorax, yet another preachy morality tale about how evil capitalist loggers are and how the underdog spirit of the forest has to teach them to conserve Mother Earth's vital resources. But the more I heard and saw from the movie, the more intrigued I was. The CGI Elliot was undeniably cool. Matter of fact, it's the resemblance of his facial expressions to the looks of the original animated Elliot that made me decide I really must see this film. And I'm so very glad I did.

I walked in still not convinced I wouldn't be watching a Sierra Club commercial. When I saw it set in a logging town and a logger was confronted about "going too far in," I thought "oh well, here we go." But that plot line never developed. The loggers were portrayed as real human beings who happened to pursue forestry as a career. The man who owned the logging company, or at least ran it and stood to inherit the business, was one of the "good guys." His younger brother was the closest the film has to a human antagonist, but he isn't driven by greed. His failing such as it is, is that he's in the shadow of his older brother and wants to be someone on his own. He's not a bad guy at all. Disney portrayed loggers as people. I love Disney.

Pete's Dragon is about family and acceptance and loyalty. The real antagonist is misunderstanding. Oh, and it's about magic. That is what has me sold on this movie. It contains that little nugget of magic that makes all the best Disney stories great. Robert Redford completely owns this film, in my opinion, thanks to his grandfather character's 30 second explanation of magic to his grown daughter. It's absolutely brilliant and something Walt would have loved and something you, as a Disney fan, need to see as soon as you can.

The rest of the film is hugely entertaining as well. The CGI Elliot is every bit the dragon you may remember, and will work his way into the hearts of kids who've not seen the original just as animated Eliot worked his way into mine. Oakes Fegley portrays Pete expertly. He has few lines, really, as a child who raised himself in the woods should. He conveys his thoughts and feelings with facial expressions and body language that is impressive for a young actor. The rest of the acting is good as well, and everyone is Disney-pretty as they should be. The film was shot in New Zealand, so the scenery is out of this world beautiful. The story has ups and downs, it pulls on the heart-strings and may elicit a tear or two on the way to a suitably happy ending.

Pete's Dragon is great for any child old enough to sit through a movie and is a must see for any adult who has any spark of magic alive in his or her soul.

98 Days: Disney Food Blog's Guide To The Epcot Food & Wine Festival

The lovely and talented Miss Lisa and I are sitting on the couch torturing ourselves with the DFB Guide to the 2016 Epcot Food and Wine Festival. It's approaching lunchtime and everything in this e-book looks delicious. The descriptions alone would have done it, but the folks at Disney Food Blog have photographed everything so well we are dying here.

I like to pride myself on being good at researching all things Disney, on planning well even for things we've never attended. I hesitated buying this because I thought why spend money on information I could just as easily track down on my own. But I was interested in the e-book format, in how it would work, and I also love the Disney Food Blog for its photos and well-written reviews, so I went ahead and bought this guide last week. I am so glad I did!

First off, the convenience of an e-book really can't be beat. I was worried it would be a hassle (or impossible) getting the book on several devices, but nothing could have been easier. After purchasing the book via a link on the Disney Food Blog website, we simply used another link sent immediately in an email to download the Guide onto my PC laptop, my wife's iPad Air and a shared Kindle Fire. It comes as a PDF and works well on all three devices. I've found myself actually using the laptop to read it more often because the photos are so great and I like seeing them really big. It's fun looking at it together with Lisa on different devices and shouting out the things we've found to each other, but then we're geeky like that.

The Guide itself covers everything you need or want to know about the Food and Wine Festival. There are schedules of guest chefs and demonstrations and special events along with instructions and advice on booking everything. All the booths are described with info on all menu items and photos of many of them (did I mention how great the photos are?). There are sample itineraries for visiting for one or more days or just an evening or doing the Festival with children. I'm particularly fond of the "crawls" section with everything from a beer crawl to a wine crawl to a sampling of each continent crawl and more. Basically, if you want to know it, you'll find it here along with lots you never even knew you'd want to know.

We will only be at the Food and Wine Festival one day during our trip. We didn't plan on it at all, really. The Festival happening while we are going to be in Disney was a pleasant surprise. But since it's happening I want to get the most out of it and the DFB Guide is going to help.

If you'd like to purchase a Guide for yourself, I'd use the above link to the Disney Food Blog website because they have a code for 20% off up right now. The regular price is only $14.95 and it is worth every penny of that, but hey, a deals a deal, right?