26 posts tagged “walt disney world”

My oldest niece sent my wife and I her school project, Flat Stanley.

For those of you not in-the-know, Flat Stanley is a children's story about a kid who had a bulletin board fall on him while he was in bed causing him to be flat.  He then mails himself all over the place and his family receives pictures about his adventures.  At the end of the story, Stanley's brother blows him up with a bicycle pump.

I remember reading the story when I was in 1st or second grade.  I think I even made a Flat Stanley.  We didn't mail ours around, though.

We received Jordan's Flat Stanley a few weeks ago with a letter from her instructing us on what he likes/dislikes and also a letter from her teacher explaining everything.  The best part, "...if you can't do anything fun with Stanley, just take pictures of him helping around the house or with your pets."  Riiiighhhttt.

The wife first took him to her workplace and down to the vault for pics with kickass memorabilia that wasn't currently on display around the world.  Stuff that would impress teenagers and adults, but not mean much to little kids.

I, on the other hand, could do quite a bit to impress her classmates.

I awoke early on Sunday and headed off on my adventure.  Went to all 4 theme parks in a matter of a few hours.  Barely stopping to rest and eat (although I did spin on the Tea Cups, go on the Haunted Mansion which had even more updates installed since I was last on it, and Spaceship Earth which was also just updated).

What I learned was that a ton of grandparents knew what I was doing.  A ton of kids knew what I was doing.  Some people gave me strange looks.  Others questioned what I was up to and then asked why my niece wasn't there doing this.  I tried to explain the concept of the project, but they still didn't get it.  I was also reminded that I should have brought sunscreen and a hat with me (I had my haircut on Main Street first thing- Stanley received a trim immediately after).

 I feel sorry for any kid that has to follow her presentation.
  "Here is Flat Stanley with Mickey Mouse, Kim Possible, and Stitch."

 "Here is Flat Stanley with my grandma's dog."

Here are the pics from the adventure.

Although it is hard to see in the pic (it was hard to take the pic), this wonderful little sign says "Magic Kingdom Closed".

What does that mean?

The park is just a tad bit crowded.

For the past 60 some years, the company has been heavily involved with Toys for Tots.  In my building, each dept. is given a collection box to decorate and be judged.  Each year, our box is usually horrible because we do not have any time or resources to devote to decorating.

We had a bit more time this year.  Not as much as we would have liked, but 90 minutes is 90 minutes.  Disneyland's "Small World Holiday" was what we were going with.

I was volunteered to do the clock face.  I was told (or thought I was told) that judging would be on Mon.  I thought I had the weekend.  Come in this morning to find out that I was wrong... and had 20 min or less.

After a mad scramble of photocopying, scanning, outlining in Illustrator, and running into way too many "printer failed" errors for no reason, I got something together.  A co-worker taped the 2 halves together and was in the process of cutting it out when I heard voices coming down the hall.  It was the judges.  She ran out and slapped the face on to the the front of the main box just as they rounded the corner.

I think the group did a pretty good job with the limited time and resources we had.  There are several things that I would have done differently, but that type of stuff takes more time than any of us had.  I kind of like that it isn't a direct copy of the clock facade, but more of an interpretation or "inspired by" look.  That makes the odd scaling, and crooked lines look OK.

I'm actually happy that I didn't do much work on the face prior to this morning.  I was going with a 19" diameter.  That would have fit the main part of the box, but would have been totally out of scale with what they actually did with that part.  10" worked much better.

The thing lit up and someone hooked up their iPod with a loop of the Small World Holiday music in the background (alternates between the classic Small World song and Jingle Bells).  It is driving us a bit insane.

Well, actually, it has come to Orlando.  But they did make it to Lake Buena Vista to snap pics through the main thoroughfares of Walt Disney World.

Here is the Magic Kingdom Toll Plaza

Child too small or too scared to ride a ride?  That's OK.  Just leave them alone out in the sun while you go do it.

That must have been the logic behind 2 idiots who did that to their kid.  It is freakin' hot here right now.  Really hot and humid.  So much so that I hate even going outside in the afternoon.

Two Orange County parents were arrested on child-abuse charges after telling authorities they accidentally left their 3-year-old daughter in a stroller while they rode Pirates of the Caribbean at Walt Disney World.

A Magic Kingdom patron alerted park management about 4:45 p.m. Saturday after spotting the girl in a stroller parked in the sun, according to a report released Monday by the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

The girl was hot, turning red, covered in sweat and appeared to be "lifeless," the report states.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-pirates26_207jun26,0,7241396.story

Show us a photo of you from when you were in grade school.

Heading out to lunch and saw thick black smoke over around the West Side area of Downtown Disney.  Of course, had to go over and check it out.

They were repaving the parking lot in front of the Cirque du Soleil theater and one of the trucks caught on fire.  One of the large Reedy Creek firetrucks was there spraying water.

Smoke was all over the place.  I'm sure the local news will have more and make it into something much bigger than just a repaving truck catching on fire.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-disneybrawl052207,0,3582906.story

Three teens and two adults were arrested at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom after deputies said they spat on guests, cursed and brawled with an Orange County deputy, according to a report released Monday.

The arrests took place at about 11:15 p.m. Sunday, after Rose Dipietro, 20, Brian Guilfoil, 19, and three teens, all of Shirley, N.Y., were detained by Disney security for being unruly and possibly drunk, according to a sheriff's report.

The group threatened the security officers, who called for help from sheriff's deputies. When one deputy tried to intercede, Guilfoil pushed the deputy while his companions rushed into the fray, the report states.

Security guards and deputies rushed to the deputy's aid, and the deputy used his stun gun against a 17-year-old girl.. The five suspected brawlers were arrested for felony battery on a law enforcement officer and other related charges.

Dipietro and Guilfoil were booked into Orange County Jail, where they were released Monday afternoon on $2,300 bail each.

The teens -- girls 17 and 16 and a 14-year-old boy -- were taken to the county's juvenile detention facility.

A Jacksonville news station ran 2 segments on "hidden places" at Walt Disney World.

The first segment talks about the Utilidors underneath the Magic Kingdom.  These really aren't a secret since they are discussed in every Travel Channel special highlighting WDW.

The next segment talks about the massive wardrobe department and how thousands of Cast Member costumes are issued and cleaned each day.

Both videos are linked at the top of the article (the text is a transcript of the Utilidor segment).  The video is much more entertaining than the text.

Hidden Places: Beneath Walt Disney World
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/spotlight/news-article.aspx?storyid=81978

Went to the Magic Kingdom yesterday to get my haircut.  The barbershop was packed with people.  Sometimes the crowds are due to first-time hair cuts (all members of extended families must view these I guess).  Other times it is a bunch of little kids who only want colored gel in their hair and have no interest in getting an actual cut.  Anyway, the line was out the door (which kills me because people can wait inside) and there really wasn't anyway to tell if the people were outside were with people inside, if they had actually queued up, or what.

I just walked around the park and took some pictures- jumped on Peter Pan with a 5 min wait as well as The Haunted Mansion (I almost had a stretch room to myself, but 3 others ran in just before the butler closed the door).

I also wanted to experiment with the "Match Color" with famous paintings technique recently featured in MAKE (I've used this before, just not with the famous subject matter) and pairing it with some Lomo actions that I've been tweaking for years.

I like the results.

As for my hair- I went back this morning and then walked the loop of the park before heading over to Epcot to ride "Living with the Land" (haven't been on it since they automated the spiel) and the rehabbed Mexico boat ride with the Three Caballeros.