The Grump's Opinion: My Favorite Disney Hymn

We've gathered here tonight around the fire as people of all lands have gathered for thousands and thousands of years before us... to share the light... and to share a story. An amazing story as old as time itself, but still being written. And though each of us has our own individual stories to tell, a true adventure emerges when we bring them all together as one. I hope you enjoy our story tonight: Reflections of Earth.

Have you ever found yourself standing in a Disney Theme Park and suddenly realize that the music you are enjoying is causing an emotional response?  That the music you are listening to makes you feel something bigger than childhood nostalgia?

I'm sure the most novice of Disneyphile has already guessed where my quote comes from.  For those who are still trying to place where they know those words from, they are from IllumiNations:  Reflections of Earth.  It is EPCOT's nightly pyrotechnic masterpiece.

Every person has a favorite nighttime event at Walt Disney World and for many of us, we are very passionate about their favorite.  My wife loves Wishes! but I'm an IllumiNations man.

For me, it's not a Disney vacation until I hear the words quoted above.  But the real punctuation mark is when the narrator blows out the gigantic propane torches that surround the World Showcase Lagoon.

So, you are probably wondering what the meaning is behind the title of this post.....

Those who know me in the real world, know that I'm not a very religious person.  But, I have been around religion, specifically Christian faiths, enough to know many people who love to talk about their favorite Church Hymn.  The people will gladly tell you the emotional response they have when they hear these particular pieces of church music.  Some will even go as far as to tell you how they feel like they can take on the world after hearing their favorite hymn.  But, in an even greater case, they will tell you the hymn gives them a warm, all-encompassing feeling of being loved.

Well, it was during our trip in September 2007, while sitting around the World Showcase Lagoon watching IllumiNations that I noticed that I was having many of these feelings I have heard my more religiously inclined friends talk about.

It was at this time that I came to the conclusion that secular music could have the same impact on people as the non-secular tunes people enjoy every Sunday at their favorite religious service.

When I'm watching this particular spectacular at EPCOT, I cannot help but get into the music.  To me it's like a musical roller coaster.  There is a point near the middle of the show where I always feel like I have just climbed the big hill and it is going to be nothing but thrills to follow.  I'm not a musical person, but I think that's called building up to a crescendo.

The music tugs at my heartstrings which I find amazing since it's mostly an instrumental score.

To top everything off, you get some highly choreographic pyrotechnic displays which seem perfectly matches to the musical score.

During MouseFest 2007, I was able to get an added bonus in the form of the Holiday Tag at the end of IllumiNations.  As I think I described it in my Trip Report, it was like an explosion of glitter in the sky.

Sometimes when I'm feeling a bit down and suffering from a rather serious case of Post Disney Depression (PDD), I listen to the IllumiNations soundtrack.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to my 2008 trip to Disneyworld so I can get another dose of my favorite Disney Hymn performed by the masters who made it great.

What is your favorite Disney Hymn?

Technorati Tags: Grump's Opinion, EPCOT, IllumiNations

MouseFest 2007 (Day 03): Enchanted Rose's Lucky Day

When we woke up this morning, we got to log a few more hours of sleep than previous days.  Today we really didn't have anywhere to be for MouseFest before noon when the Mega Mouse Meet began.

We had made plans to meet up with Tim's friend will and his girlfriend.  Since Tim was tied up with a webmaster's breakfast, we needed to do something to keep us busy while we waited.  So, we were going to go to EPCOT Center and hang out until it was time to go to the Mega Meet.  Since that park was close to The Dolphin it made most sense.

Before we headed out, we all grabbed some breakfast snacks down at the Dolphin's lounge. 

At some point during the eating conversation switched to shopping.  So, we altered course and went shopping.

By the time we got done shopping and standing in line for 30 minutes to pay, it was an hour before the start of the Mega Meet.

So, it was decided that we wanted to go to Beaches & Cream to get a burger.  It was nice that we are DVC members because it allowed the person who was driving the ability to park there since it was a DVC Resort.

On our way to Beaches & Cream, we stopped to take a look at the giant gingerbread carousel in the lobby of the Beach Club Resort.

When we got to Beaches & Cream, we discovered that Jonathan Dichter's Kitchen Sink Meet was going on.   Fortunately, we were able to get some seats at the bar.  Jonathan had quite a turnout for his meet.  A good 20+ people were there.  They were enthusiastic but not obnoxiously loud which is easy to have happen in such a small place.  You could definitely tell these people love Disney.

We got done with our food and paid about 10 minutes before the  start of the Mega Meet but we didn't rush back.  The Mega Meet lasted a long time.

We got back to the Dolphin and headed to the location of the Mega Meet.  Once my wife and I knew where it was, we decided to go up to our room first and drop stuff off and change into something a bit more comfortable.  Well, actually, I wanted to show off my Yoda T-Shirt I bought at Tatoonie Traders in September.

The Mega Meet was something else.  The room was huge and it wasn't too hard to meet all the people that you wanted to. 

As can be expected, there were tables that were constantly packed with people and you had to be patient to get to meet them.  Some of those people were Lou Mongello and Jeff Pepper at the Disneyworld Trivia/WDW Radio Show table, Paul Barrie and Patrick Hurd's table for Window to the Magic, the WDW Today table, Passporter's Table, the table selling the books, Nathan Rose and Tim Devine at The Magic in Pixels/Magical Definition Podcast table, and any table near the raffle location.

I really spent too much time catching up with George and Andy and  not as much time snagging swag off tables as  I should've.  That I regret now.  But, I did somehow step outside my comfort zone a bit and get to talk to some of the community personalities.  This is something I normally would've been incapable of doing without the assistance of my lovely wife as my wingman. 

I got to thank Mike Scopa for his great keynote speech at the last Magic Meets (I heard it on the WDW Today podcast).  I got to say hi to Lou and Jeff several times and even asked Lou to sign my books (I got to buy the first volume of his book which now completes my set).  I asked Steve Barrett for his John Hancock inside his Hidden Mickeys book which he graciously obliged.

I also got to spend a little more time chatting with Jessica from If we can Dream It.  She brought her mother and her grandmother to the event.  It was a 3 generation representation.

The exciting part was the raffle.  Unfortunately, the facility wasn't equipped with an overhead speaker setup so the microphone they were using wasn't powerful enough to really do anything.  So Dave Marx and his entourage had to yell out the numbers. 

My lovely wife, Enchanted Rose, actually won something.  Her number came up on the XM Satellite Radio that Fred Block contributed.  This allowed me and my wife to get to meet Fred who is the founder of the Magic Meets event in Pennsylvania every year.  We are hoping that we'll get to go to Magic Meets next year.

It was at the Mega Meet that Jeff Pepper finally divulged to George that I had been inducted into the Crate Appreciation Society.  But, much to his chagrin his application was still being rejected and we was relegated to the role of groupie.  This was sealed when Jessica gave him his Crate Appreciation Society card with the title of "Groupie" under his name [ed note:  These cards were grumptastically awesome].  Sadly, my induction occurred too late to go to press.

Lou came through with is promise to play Santa and I was gifted a copy of his Audio Tour CD and I am excited to be able to mainline some "Vitamin M" into my earbuds.

I only got to speak to Tim a little bit because he was constantly swarmed with people who were interested in looking at his album of pictures.  I hope all his hard work is finally paying off and his name is getting out there.  His work is phenomenal and the 4x6 prints he had on display at his table really didn't do his talent justice.  To really appreciate his work you need to see them at a minimum of 8x10.

I didn't even come close to meeting every attendee at the Mega Meet nor did I meet everyone who was working   the tables.  But I have to say that from what I've observed these first 3 days, Lou has the coolest wife who is stuck as a Disney Widow.  I constantly saw her working the room.  She is vivacious and energetic and always had a smile on her face.  You'd think she had gone through Disney's Traditions Class.  When we made it to Lou and Jeff's table she very warmly congratulated my wife on her win of the XM Satellite Radio.  Good news seemed to have traveled fast. 

If I ever get to the point where I have a table at an event such as this, I know my wife is the same type of person that will be doing the same thing.  My wife is my biggest cheerleader and supports all that I take on inside and outside of my paying job, I know how lucky it is to have a spouse like that.  You rock Deanna!  You and my wife should be the founding members of the Men of Shorter Stature Appreciation Society (MOSSAS).

By the time the meet was over my feet were sore, but there was still time to kill before we could call the day done.

So, we went to grab some food at a restaurant in the hotel before heading to EPCOT Center.  I got a hot dog and it was one of the best dogs I've gotten outside a ballpark.

When we got to EPCOT Center we were able to get onto Space Ship Earth for the "Sneak Peek" Opening that has been going on the whole time we were here [ed note:  I have done a separate post in more detail in regards to this part of my trip].

After riding Space Ship Earth twice, we had to move on because Tim had a meet to get to about night time photography. 

I must say, that I just wasn't that much into the meet.  I don't know if it was because my feet were sore or because I have gotten a lot of this same information directly from Tim over the past 6 months. 

So, during Tim's meet, I sat on a nearby wall talking to my wife and some of Tim's non-participating friends.  At some point, my wife decided to go to Mouse Gear and do some more shopping.  This was a short lived endeavor but I'm sure it helped kill some of the monotony for her.  After awhile, it was decided that we were going to ride some attractions before we left the park that night.

Tim did his thing for about an hour.  The one thing that forgot to mention was that Tim hurt his toe sometime before MouseFest.  He was fine until after all that time he spent in dress shoes during the Mega Mouse Meet.  Now he was walking around like I was after my blisters set in during our September trip.

So, Tim was in no mood to walk around the park taking pictures either.  It was decided that we were going to go do Soarin'.  There really wasn't that big of a wait to get on.  We got to get on the vehicle that we wanted (you want to be on the front row of the vehicle so that you don't have anyone obstructing your view).

Both Tim and I tried to take pictures inside this attraction which is difficult because you are shooting pictures of a movie that is on a curved screen.

After Soarin' we decided to hit up Test Track.  There was absolutely no one on this ride.  We just walked right on.  It was decided that we were going to ham it up for the photo.  Since we had the whole car to ourselves, we were all going to pretend to be dead for the camera.  It turned out pretty hilarious when we saw the final product.

When we got back to the disembarking point, we asked the Cast  Member if we could ride again.  There was absolutely no one in line so we thought for sure that he'd say that it was alright.  Every time we asked, we were just told, "Please exit to your left".  We begrudgingly got out of the ride vehicle and headed for the exit.  Tim muttered to us, "The word you were looking for was....No".  This got a rousing round of laughter out of us.  The way he said it was just hilarious.

At this point, it was time for Illuminations! which meant that if we were going to get out of the park easily now was the time to go.  We got to see a few of the fireworks as they shot over Space Ship Earth as we were leaving the park.  I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to see much of the usual stuff but I'm having a blast hanging out with friends.

We went from EPCOT Center to Downtown Disney.  The ever so lovely Enchanted Rose has a checklist of stores she needed to mark off in order to feel like she properly shopped.

We hit up the 25 Days of Christmas and we were able to add a few more ornaments to the rather extensive Disney Ornament Collection we have at Casa De Grumpwurst.

It was at the 25 Days of Christmas that the Taylor Boys caught up to us again.  We had planned on going to the Adventurer's Club again, but after much review it was discovered that Tim was really the only one up to doing a back to back showing.  So shopping was chosen as the new past time.

After the 25 Days of Christmas we temporarily parted with the Taylor Boys and headed to the Earl of Sandwich to get some Cannonballs! (toasted meatball sub).  All I have to say is YUM YUM YUM.

While I was noshing, my wife was shopping.  She acquired some more scrapbooking supplies and did some looking at that Art of Disney.   Apparently, there is a new Beauty and the Beast painting that has been added to her wish list.  She also acquired a cute magnet that goes on your dishwasher that lets you indicate if the contents are clean or dirty.  That is something we desperately needed since we often ended up dirtying the entire contents when it wasn't known that they were already clean and then dirty stuff was introduced.

After getting her shopping done, she then darted off to Ghiridelli to get a fudge brownie sundae after which she re-joined us at the Earl of Sandwich to enjoy the spoils of her journey.

The whole time Tim was entertaining us with stories from his days playing baseball in college.  He had us busting up the entire time because he really knows how to tell stories.

After they kicked us out of the restaurant (by kick I mean politely influenced us to leave by putting up all the chairs onto the table around us), we stood outside and talked for awhile.

Then, once we realized it was 12:30AM, we all headed back to our respective rooms to go to bed.

Well, not all of us. Yours truly had some SD Flash Cards to dump and a blog post to write.

If you want to view all 306 pictures taken on the 3rd day of MouseFest go here:

MouseFest 2007 (Day 03)

Technorati Tags: Trip Report, MouseFest, Mega Mouse Meet, EPCOT, Beaches and Cream, Downtown Disney

In case you missed it.....

Well, the other day Disney Geek George used a picture from my recent trip to Walt Disney World for their Daily Figment 85.

The day after publishing the post, George contacted me and asked me if I saw the little bit of Disney Gold in the picture I loaned him. 

If you click on the picture to the left, it will take you to the source picture on my Flickr account.  Take a close look at the Bass Drum.

Do you see it?

No?

Maybe this will help:

 

 

 

 

 

Now that you know what you are looking for, you should be able to find it in this picture.  I knew about this one because my wife pointed it out and insisted I take this picture:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the big question that I have is, where did that logo come from?  I'm sure one of those Disney Scene Investigators Lou Mongello (Disney World Trivia and WDW Radio Podcast) or Jeff Pepper (2719 Hyperion and WDW Radio Podcast) will be able to provide some historical insight on that logo.

As Lou and Jeff always tell us, look up and look down and look around.  Something Grumptastic is always under your nose.  So don't forget to have a camera handy. 

Technorati Tags: In case you missed it, Hidden Mickey, Disney Gold

EPCOT Center, It's Your 25th Birthday What are you going to do?

Happy Birthday EPCOT Center.  Yes, I still call it EPCOT Center despite it's handler's many attempts to rename it to various incarnations.

Despite the fact that Every Person Comes Out Tired, it is still by far the most favorite park for me and possibly my wife.  Those of you who plugged through my very length, yet detailed 9 days of trip reports know that we made it to EPCOT almost every day that we were there and saw and did new stuff each time.

A trip to EPCOT Center isn't for everyone, just like standing any of the other parks are not for everyone [ed. maybe the exception is the Magic Kingdom.  Come on who can hate the Magic Kingdom].  There is a lot to do and walking is to be expected because everything is spread apart. 

The one thing I like is the fact that no matter where you seem to be standing, you can still see the iconic geodesic sphere called Space Ship Earth (or as I irreverently refer to it as:  The Giant Golf Ball).

I have to admit, the thing that most stuck in my mind from my first trip in 1985 was the following:

• The Dreamfinder and Figment from Journey into the Imagination v. 1.0
• Space Ship Earth
• The candy maker in Japan

EPCOT Center, I say to you Happy Birthday.  May you live on to see another 25 years and keep making "The World" a much more Grumptastic place to be where Disney Geeks of the world can unite!

Technorati Tags: EPCOT, Happy Birthday

A Whimsical Segway

Enchanted Rose on Segway @ EPCOT

Well, I thought I would do something different that I haven't done before on this blog....include some video!

I have provided for everyone's viewing pleasure a little 20 second clip I made with my Canon Powershot S70 point-and-shoot camera while we were on a break during the Segway Tour through the Epcot World Pavilion.

As you can see, my lovely wife makes it look so easy :)

(Editor's Note:  This video was shot a year ago before Ms Enchanted Rose entered into a vigorous exercise routine and shed 2-3 dress sizes)

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Segway, EPCOT, Enchanted Rose

The Grump's Opinion - The Giant Golf Ball

As anyone who's keeps up with the goings on in this extremely exciting, entertaining and niche market known as the Disney Community knows, it has been officially announced that the Mickey Arm, Wand and Epcot sign is coming down from the centerpiece of the Epcot park, the Geodesic Sphere known as Space Ship Earth (SSE) or as I like to call it, the Giant Golf Ball.

The Giant Golf Ball

This has sparked conversations all over blogs and web forums through the ether. One such location was Mouse Extra with their posting entitled Disney Announces an end to the Wand.

In many ways, I’m in the same position as Dave who wrote the article. But I think the best bit from his piece was this:

Now I get it!!! Well purists, you got your 25th Anniversary celebration after all! No more belly-aching about a lack of “Epcot 25” snowglobes or pins. No more whining that there isn’t a special parade for the quarter century milestone, or an eighteen month long celebration with special figment hats. You’ve got the ultimate birthday present this year. The wand is coming down. What more could you have asked for?

Now, some people may wonder where the Grump’s opinion lays. Well, I am a purist but not in the same sense as the others that call themselves “purists”. I am a purist from the standpoint that the theme, purpose and message of the Disney Theme Parks, AS A WHOLE, remains intact. Wand or no wand, I think Epcot is still remaining true to that.

As a child, my family wasn’t big on staying put. We moved about every 5-7 years. It may have been a short move across town or across state boarders. But, we moved. My mom likes to tell the story about how my brother or I would come to them and ask if it was time to move after we had been in one place to long.

Having said that, I had to learn two lessons at an early age:

1. Change is unavoidable
2. You can never go home again.
   

Yeah, they are clichés, but they do hold true. With me, I was always in a new town, new school, or just plain new. But the other one, “You can never go home again.” Was the hardest to swallow.

I would often go back to my old towns to see my friends that I had to leave behind. After the excitement wore off of being back, it was quickly realized that this person, who was your best friend, is not the same person you knew a few weeks or months prior. They had moved on without you. They have changed and done what they need to do to get by.

Well, I guess you are wondering what this means in regards to all of this Disney talk.

Change is unavoidable. Charles Darwin is credited with saying,

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”

These parks cannot remain stagnant. Stagnation will lead to death.

Well, if you insert WDW into the cliché as being “home”, my other kernel of knowledge about not ever being able to go home again can apply to WDW. Everyone has a first trip to WDW. You don’t come out of the womb a highly experienced WDW visitor. There had to be a beginning. That beginning, no matter your age, embeds feelings, images, smells into our psyche. I’m sure neurons are rewired just for Disney. Some day, I’m sure, scientists are going to be talking about the discovery of the Disney section of the brain.

Well, those indelible marks shape each successive return to Disney. But, guess what? It’s never the same. Unless you are in that rare minority that gets to travel there several times a year, something is always different. That difference may be minor, or it may be major (i.e. a giant arm sprouting out of the Giant Golf Ball). This goes back to point #1, that Change is unavoidable. Well these differences sometimes grate annoyingly against those memories stored in the Disney section of your brain, thereby causing it to cramp up and fight back. Some people accept point #1 and just deal and force the neurons to continually rewire, others side with their memories and nostalgia and fight for the way things were. Those are the “purists” in the more traditional sense. I have nothing wrong with that. Disney is one of those things in all of our lives that makes us really, really, really happy (why else would be be reading blogs such as this). With things such as Disney that bring much pleasure, there is always a part of every one of us that doesn't want anything messing up a "good" thing. But that is always a subjective observation.

Just like I couldn’t force my childhood friends to stay just like I remembered them, I cannot force Disney to stay the way I remember it.

Some people may have been asking themselves since it’s inception why would Epcot allow this to happen to itself. Here is the grump’s take on this….

When the Giant Golf Ball decided to sprout a wand bearing arm and giant 2000, Epcot was transitioning into it’s 20’s. With the exception of one’s teenage years, the early 20’s has to be one of the most dangerous times. It’s when we really start experimenting with new things to set us apart. Well, Epcot went through this. Trying to figure out where it stood in the family.

So, why an arm and a wand? If I could offer a guess, it would be whimsy. Maybe Epcot was tired of being Alex P. Keaton in a family of liberal ex-hippies. Maybe Epcot was tired feeling like the guy who forgot it was casual Friday and showed up in their suit while everyone else was sporting Hawaiian print shirts and sporting shorts.

Epcot was in really lacking whimsy and it was the key of the other parks. You had the whimsical Cinderella Castle with it’s Fantasyland, zany skippers on the Jungle Cruise and Hitchhiking Ghosts. In the Animal Kingdom, you had a gigantic tree built around an offshore oil rig which has animals carved into it’s exterior and contains a 3D movie house in it’s interior. Finally, you had MGM-Studios which was the home of the Muppets, Indiana Jones and, of course, "The Hat" (another point of contention amongst purists).

Epcot is the geeky child amongst the hip, cool ones. And like many geeky kids, they often want to fit in better than they do. It’s only natural. So it made a valiant effort. This grump doesn’t fault Epcot for trying and doesn’t think less of it for trying to do so. I kinda liked it. I think it gave the Giant Golf Ball some life, but us geeks need to stick together and remain true to who we are.

Well, as much as the purists hated it, I don’t think they were the ones who influenced Epcot to put down the gigantic wand. It’s more of a product of growing older. Epcot is turning 25 and has most likely come to grips with it’s role as being the more geeky member of the family and has decided it’s time to stop trying to be something it’s not and put down the wand and focus on what it brings to the family…education, entertainment, and the occasional heavily sponsored glimpse into the future.

To this grump, Epcot was and still is the Mr. Wizard and the Alton Brown of Disney. It took dry boring subject material and rolled it in Disney Magic and made it palatable. As long as it remembers that is what it’s purpose and message is then I’ll be happy. I think they are starting to remember that.

Maybe the wand was just a gigantic reminder that there is Magic in Epcot. Maybe we don’t need that reminder anymore.

But don’t ever underestimate the geeks. They have their secret desires to be Fantasmic! So every now and again they will do something that makes you shake your head but remember that they may be happy with it. The Wand may be going away, but Epcot’s desire to fit in will not and will break out the whimsical every now and again (aka Nemo, Mission to Space, Figment).