Sunday, July 20, 2008

Grumptastic Distractions: Celebrations Magazine

 

Tim Foster (Guide to the Magic) and Lou Mongello (WDW Radio, Disneyworld Triva) have announced at  CelebrationsMagazineMagicMeets an exciting new venture that is sure the please the Disney Fans around the world.

Introducing……

Celebrations Magazine

In addition to Tim Foster and Lou Mongello we’ll get the pleasure of being informed and entertained by many of our beloved authors, podcasters, and other Disney community personalities such as:

In addition, Tim Foster has asked me to contribute, so keep your eyes peeled for some excellent content from yours truly.  I’m excited about the opportunity to have my words printed amongst such A-List members of the Disney Community.

If you go to the www.CelebrationsPress.com you’ll be able to get an early bird special on a 6 issue subscription.

And now the “Copy & Paste” from the official web site:

This is the magazine that all Disney fans have been waiting for! Discover the magic of the Disney theme parks & resorts, relive the classic films, and celebrate the secrets, stories and history of the most magical place on Earth.

Inside Each Issue You'll Find:

  • The latest news from Disney
  • Upcoming events at the parks and resorts
  • Feature articles and exclusive interviews
  • Great moments in Disney history
  • Spotlight features highlighting attractions, resorts and beloved films past and present
  • Hidden treasures and magical moments
  • Fun & games, scavenger hunts, mystery photos, the Celebrations Kids Korner, and more!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

MagicMeets 2008: Auction total

Over 19000
16616 (from today) + 2500 (from MEI)

MagicMeets 2008: Experts Ahoy

The experts panel fielding questions

MagicMeet 2008: Hidden Mickeys Galore

Enjoying a breakout session with Steve Barrett

MagicMeets 2008: Auction is in full swing

Tons of action on the auction items. Grumpy's Hollow is bidding on a
couple items. The quilt is up to $400. Can we get it to $500???

MagicMeets 2008: Everything is Fabulous

The WDW Today boys streaming live

MagicMeets 2008: Mongello!!!

Enough said

MagicMeets 2008: It has begun

Lots of activity around the TMIP table

Friday, July 18, 2008

MagicMeets 2008: Running on Fumes

Tim and I are still up and so are most of the sponsors. Trying to get
the tables setup perfectly for everyone tomorrow.

MagicMeets 2008: The Quilt has been delivered

MagicMeets 2008: We made it

Finally!!!

We are here at the Radisson. We aren't staying here but need to help
Tim setup. We are staying at the Hampton

MagicMeets 2008: Holy Cow Pies Batman

Just drove through some fertile farmland and found the General Lee

MagicMeets 2008: Traveling through Amish Country

Traffic is better but the view is scenic

MagicMeets 2008: The wheels on the bus go round and round

Tim is enjoying a lovely McFlurry while we take a slight diversion

MagicMeets 2008: Camp Hill bound

Driving down the highway in the Devine's car. Just passed the art
museum in Philly.

MagicMeets 2008: The waiting begins

If you saw the timestamp on the last post you will notice that it
wasn't long ago. I have had less than 2 hours of sleep and Nancy none.

MagicMeets 2008: Packing is not fun

I never seem to be able to get this right. If it was up to me, I'd be
taking one set of clothes and wash them and buy my toiletries there.
But, I'm not a female and I guess such commando trips are frowned
upon.....LOL

I'm going to try to do periodic updates via my iPhone for you all at
home with a detailed trip report to follow.

DreamTeam Auction 2008: Quilt Progress #3…..Ready for a New Home

DreamTeamLogoAfter much toiling and sweating and some cursing, The Mickey Mouse Dream Team Quilt has been completed.

I thought it would be fun to provide you a bit of information about the quilt.  So here is it by the numbers:

  • Number of Hours Spent Piecing and Quilting:  150
  • Number of Yards of fabric used:  30
  • Number of Yards of Thread used (approxiametly):  2200
  • Cost of labor if quilting services had been paid for:  $25/hour
  • Number of Hidden Mickeys:  ?? (That’s for the owner to find out)

It should also be noted that all cotton fabric and batting was used on this quilt.

DSC_5686As the final post about the creation of this quilt, I thought it would be fitting to provide in Enchanted Rose’s own words why she is doing this for the Auction:

I have a nephew named Collin Presley who has very special needs.  He has a very rare medical condition called trichothiodystrophy. 

Collin is a Disney fanatic to the core!  He is also a Make-A-Wish kid.  He was offered a trip to Walt Disney World, but my sister was too concerned to have him that far from his medical team, so he was granted an alternate wish.  He is at Disneyland at least once a week though and loves his experiences.

There is nothing like seeing this child, who is constantly in pain, belly laughing at the floats in the Electric Light Parade at Disney’s California Adventure or smiling when he feels the wind in his face on Dumbo.

My sister’s blog rarely has a weekly post that does not include at least one trip to Disneyland.

I am more than happy to construct this quilt that will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of America in honor of my very own Make-Wish family member.

To learn more about Collin, visit:  http://presleyfam.blogspot.com

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Announcement: Another way to help the Auction

castle-ver3 In addition to the option I posted about earlier, Tim Devine of The Magic in Pixels, has provided a second option on how to help contribute to the Dream Team Auction's final talley from the comforts of your home.

Tim will be providing post card sized prints of his donation print for sale at MagicMeets plus some magnets.  The proceeds from these sales will go directly to the Dream Team Auction.

If you are not able to make it to the auction, Tim has posted the following on his forums:

As you probably know, it was announced that TMIP will be donating a percentage of all sales at MagicMeets on Saturday to the DisneyWorldTrivia.com Dream Team Project.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to offer members of TMIP to participate in this endeavor who may not be able to attend MagicMeets.
The goal of the Dream Team Project is to send pediatric cancer patients and their families to Walt Disney World when they could not otherwise afford to do so.  If you are able and wish to help in the donation, you can send a PayPal to sales (at) themagicinpixels (dot) com and 100% it will be added into the Dream Team donation.
Everyone who donates will receive a postcard featuring the artwork on the 16x20 custom canvas print that is also being donated to the Project.  No donation is too small, even $1 or $5 will be more than appreciated. 
Donations must be received prior to 1:00pm Eastern Time on 7/19/2008 to ensure that they are added to the final total, which will be donated on the spot at MagicMeets.
Thanking you in advance,
Tim

Tim has told me that this offer is available to anyone who wants to take advantage of this option.  So, I thought I should post it here to get more eyes on this opportunity.

So to summarize, there seems to be two ways for people to contribute from home:

  1. Donate through the FirstGiving site, as outlined in the previous post, and the WDW Today podcast will announce your name on their Live broadcast from Magic Meets
  2. Donate through PayPal as outlined above, and you'll receive a postcard featuring the artwork on the 16x20 auction print.

I think it's awesome that there are such options for people at home to help participate. 

The location for MagicMeets is limited and only allows for about 500 people to attend.  Poor Fred has done the best he can to accommodate as many people as possible.  Unfortunately, there are many more people who would love to be there, not only the comraderie but also to participate in the Dream Team Auction.

We may not have found a way to allow people to be there from the comforts of home (WDW Today does their best with their live broadcast), but at least a few people in the community have found a way to allow those people who wanted to donate to the Auction to have a "voice"

Announcement: How to help the Auction from Home

The DisneyWorldTrivia.com Dream Team Project is spreading the word about a special part of  Fred Block's MagicMeets Disney Fan Gathering event and their Charity auction happening on July 19th.  The best part is that it is for people who can't be at MagicMeets.

The Dream Team Project (http://www.disneyworldtrivia.com/Dream-Team-2008-Auction.html) raises money to help send seriously ill children and their families to Walt Disney World through The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of America. Their annual silent auction at MagicMeets raised $9000 last year, and this year they hope to do even more to bring smiles to the faces of children who need it most.

WDW Today podcast will be broadcasting live during MagicMeets. Co-host Mike Newell (Mouse World Radio) came up with a great idea to include a tie in to the Dream Team Charity Auction during the MagicMeets Live Show.

Any donations made to the FirstGiving web page for the DWT Dream Team between 9:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on July 19th will be announced on the WDW Today live show podcast.  The FirstGiving website, http://www.firstgiving.com/dwtdreamteam allows guests to make donations securely using a credit card.

All donations made during the time period will be included in the Auction total announced at MagicMeets.   When you fill in your donation, please include your Internet community affiliation in the comment field, so that you can be thanked properly on the air.

Check out the WDW Today podcast website, http://www.wdwtoday.com/ for details on how to join them for this and all their live shows. They will have a chat room going during the broadcast, which is always lots of fun, and sometimes have a live video feed direct from MagicMeets.

For people attending MagicMeets, or those who want to see what they will be missing, check out the DWT Dream Team Blog, http://www.disneyworldtrivia.com/Dream-Team-Blog/  for some previews and behind-the-scenes peeks.  Starting on July 1st, previews of all the auction lots will be available on the DisneyWorldTrivia.com forums. http://www.disneyworldtrivia.com/forums/dream-team-project/17074-2008-dream-team-auction-previews.html

The Dream Team Project is really looking forward to this event and would like to thank Mike Newell for the great idea and WDW Today's help implementing it. Together we can spread some Disney magic and make a difference in the lives of seriously ill children.

You must be present at MagicMeets to bid on the auction items. 
There are no phone or online bids.

MagicMeets is a sold out event.
The WDW Today / Dream Team Project tie-in is asking people to make an online DONATION to www.Firstgiving.com/dwtdreamteam
There is no compensation for this donation. 
If you have any questions, please email Pat@disneyworldtrivia.com

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Grumptastic Distractions: What’s your Favorite Adventureland Attraction?

Jungle Cruise:  Elephant Grotto In honor of the recent release of Lou Mongello’s Audio Guide to Walt Disney World:  Adventureland, I thought it would be fun to discuss what I feel is my favorite attraction in Adventureland.

There are a few attractions in Adventureland that conjur of childhood memories of fun and excitement and I bet for many of you when you hear the word Adventureland you immediately think Pirates of the Caribbean, Dole Whips, or the Tiki Room.  Some of you may think JUNGLE CRUISE!

As you may have determined, the Jungle Cruise is my personal favorite.  The Jungle Cruise was Walt’s Tribute to his Real Life Adventures shows on TV but was realized in an audio-animatronic world.

What many of you may not know is that it’s my favorite not for the presentation as devised by the Walt Disney Imagineers but due to the “plussing” that was done to it by one of my friends and fellow Disney Geek, Tim Devine.

I was introduced to the “Hi-O Cruise” (aka The Ed McMahan Cruise aka The Heckle Cruise) back at MouseFest 2007.

I’m sure my readers are all aware that one of the facets of the attraction is the really bad jokes that our Skippers Jungle Cruise:  Backside of Water tell as we cruise through the many rivers of the world. 

Well, what always amazed me is the the guests just sit there not making a sound as these jokes are delivered in their usual serious and deadpan manner.  It’s almost as if the guests were just tuning them out since they’ve heard the joke a million times.

What Tim Devine introduced me to was a good natured ribbing that we’d give the skippers.  At first, we randomly, but in unison give out a big-ole "Hi-O" whenever one of the lame jokes is delivered.  As the cruise goes on, they get more frequent. 

It never fails, half-way through the cruise, we can get half to all of the boat participating.  Sometimes we'll shout out the punchlines (BACKSIDE OF WATER) as a group much as fanatics of the Rocky Horror Picture Show do when at a midnight showing of that Tim Curry cult classic.

Of all the times, I have participated in this "event", the Skippers were into it just as much as we were.  In one or two cases, I swear the Skippers decided it was time to bring out their "A" game and increased the lameness factor of the jokes.  At this point, we'd sometimes not respond and remain dead silent in the manner in which they are used to their guest behaving.  This would often get a response of, "Not bad enough for you" and the jokes get worse and worse. 

Jungle Cruise Disneyland Now, I know some of you may be yelling at me from your computer screens saying things along the lines of how irreverent we are for doing this.

Trust me, this is all done in good fun.  We would never dare heckle a comedian at a comedy club because we know they are trying hard to be GOOD.  The Skippers are paid to be bad. 

Secondly, the poor Jungle Cruise Skippers are stuck going around a circuit all day long delivering the same spiel over and over again to a bunch of people who just look around and say nothing.  It is of our opinion that we are adding a little something to their day.  A little spice so-to-speak.

Also, when we get the rare skipper that seems to be annoyed by our actions, we cease.  We aren't there to make their day worse, but we want to see them smile.

The best response to date was the skipper who announced, "I see you all are from Ohio....go Buckeyes!"....LOL

Very few attractions give us the opportunity to participate.  The Adventurer's Club is walking the Green Mile.  Buzz Lightyear and Midway Mania are games.  The Country Bears lets us sing along.  But, we have found a way to let the cast members know we are listening, enjoying ourselves and hopefully that we care.

So what is your favorite attraction in Adventureland?  If you have your own blog, write about it and post a link in the comments to it’s location.  If you aren’t a blogger, tell us about it in the comments.

Now I come to the most dangerous part of the journey, wrapping up the post.  If you enjoyed this post my name is Grumwurst McGrumps-A-Lot and this is Grumpy's Hollow.

If not, my name is George Taylor and this is Imaginerding.

Here are some pictures I have taken:

Jungle Cruise (Disneyland)

Jungle Cruise (Walt Disney World)

And here are some of Tim Devine's pics

Jungle Cruise Gallery