Disney Food Blog posted a wonderful piece today that includes beautiful pictures of the new Starbucks that has been placed in n the heart of Disney California Adventure’s new Buena Vista Street! Why is this exciting? Because it means the Starbucks at Disney World are coming soon!
If you are in DCA you will have to keep your eyes peeled. Disney is famous for adding little touches and details that you really have to look for, and the sign at the new Starbucks fittingly is discreet. You will want to go inside Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe, which is a quick service restaurant, for your Starbucks fix. While you’re there you can also choose to partake of some of the cafe’s food offerings. They have soups, and also sandwiches, like the roasted veggie or roast beef and cheddar. Check out the sweet treats too! With a few exceptions, the top two shelves in the case are Starbucks treats, and the rest are Disney.
I am still California dreamin’ but if you get to go – please send me a note and pictures. I’d love to hear all about it!
Opening ceremonies for the 2012 Olympic Games was on TV – and with it – lots of talk about the Olympic Games of the past. In 1960 the organizers of the Olympics asked Walt Disney to provide the entertainment for the event. Walt brought in big named entertainment, fashion shows, and even snow sculptures to the Winter Olympics. He also had Art Linkletter plan logistics for performers to provide nightly entertainment for the athletes and officials. You will hear Art Linkletter tell you in this video that the stars and performers came out to be a part of this at no charge. Not only that – but Art got to be a guest in Walt’s home while all this work was taking place.
Walt wasn’t just responsible for glamour and glitz – they even asked him to provide help with tickets, parking, and security. Walt was such a pioneering business man, was there anything he couldn’t do?
The 1960 Olympics were where many “firsts” took place – thanks to Walt. For instance, this Winter Olympics introduced Disney artist John Hench’s Olympic Torch design, which all further torches have been based on. Then came the idea of having the first ever Olympic sponsors. Walt Disney decided on the concept of thirty steel poles for the flags of all nations participating in the games. They each cost $500-$600 (big money back then!) so every flagpole came with a plaque from Walt thanking the Olympic sponsors for their contributions. What a way to get your company some exposure! After the Games were over, each company received the flagpole their finances had helped place. Things I wold imagine you don’t read on a thank you note every day…my paraphrased version: “Yay you got to be one of the first Olympic sponsors in history! Thanks so much, and here’s your flagpole back now.” Actually, I’m sure Walt Disney would have written a thank you note with much more class…if he actually wrote thank you notes that is.
Olympic officials complained about the costs for some of Walt’s elaborate plans but he quickly responded, “Either we’re going to do it the right way or Disney will pull out.” (You tell ’em Walt!) The Opening and Closing Ceremonies involved 5,000 participants, 1,285 instruments and 2,645 voices from 52 California and Nevada high school bands. This and so much more meant Disney set new pageantry standards for future Olympic games. In the Los Angeles Times, reporter Braven Dyer wrote, “The opening ceremony was the most remarkable thing I ever saw. No matter how much credit you give Walt Disney and his organization, it isn’t nearly enough.”
I have wanted to go to Hawaii for pretty much as long as I can remember. I’m a BIG Elvis fan and the movie Blue Hawaii probably influenced this in some way. A tan, handsome, young Elvis gyrating among the beautiful scenery of a Polynesian background? What’s not to like?!I guess since I love the thought of Hawaii, I love the thought of a luau, even if it’s just right here in my home town of Orlando Florida.
My mother first came up with the idea a few months before. She wanted to get the family all together for something really special and fun. I promise I did not suggest or influence her in any way to pick the Disney luau, she came up with it all on her own. It took about a month to get our entire group to agree on a date but it finally happened. We picked Friday April 27, 2012. This also happened to be my cousin’s birthday. Matt is a quiet guy who doesn’t like a lot of hoopla or attention on his birthday but he agreed this might be ok as long as we didn’t buy gifts or go to crazy.
I sent out the first email and everyone seemed excited about the big day! I made a list of all the names and counted it 4 times. Could we really be a group of 16??? Yes we could – and in fact — we ended up adding one more a couple weeks later for a grand total of 17. Wow! We lost my Dad about a year ago and I just couldn’t stop thinking about how much he would have loved this. I missed him through the whole process (and again on the big night) but I feel like he was watching the whole time. I think he would’ve loved to make it a party of 18.
My Mom decided on category 2 seating. When I called to make the reservation – all that was left was category 1. There was no changing the date now — so we went with it. I read and researched all I could about the luau just so I could make sure it was something everyone would like AND to try and help things to go as smoothly as I possibly could. The main thing that bugged me was why we had to be there an hour early. Disney policy states this for the luau and they even read you that policy again when you book the reservation. There was very little I could find on the internet about why this policy was in place.
My Mom and I headed to the Polynesian a couple of days early to pick up what I thought were going to be “tickets” to the luau, which are normally at the concierge desk. It was that magic time of around 7:30pm however. I knew there would be cast members at the luau podium this time of night so we made a beeline for the podium first with my list of questions in hand.
Sure enough, the crowds were filing in for the 8pm show and there were cast members waiting to greet us. I told them we were early for the Friday night show (this was Wednesday) and I had some questions. They were happy to assist. My first question was about parking. When my Mom and I pulled up that night we got one of the last spaces available. I was fearful with our big group that there might not be enough spaces for all of us! The cast member didn’t really know what to say. Just then I really lucked out and a manager approached us! The cast member repeated the question for him and just like that – that manager was MINE. The poor guy had no idea what he was getting in to. He politely calmed my fears by stating that parking has never been a problem for luau guests– and we could always pay to valet if we really needed to. He was surprised to hear the lot was so full on this particular evening. OK, so I was satisfied with that answer. I smiled sweetly and asked, “Do you have a few more minutes to answer my other questions?”
“Sure!” he replied in all his typical Disney helpfulness. So off we went…
“We have a group of 17. Do we really need to be here an hour early?” His response: “There is no reason for you to get here that early IF you have already picked up your ticket.”
“Ticket?” I asked, “I thought there would be 17 tickets.”
“Nope,” he replied, “ What you actually get is a slip of paper that has your confirmation number on it and says party of 17. That acts as your admission to the luau.”
WOW! One little slip?
I was shocked. This was a wonderful thing because I had no idea how I would see everyone beforehand to give them a ticket and what if they lost it? It’s just one little slip so I didn’t have to give anyone anything. Awesome.
Next I asked him about being tardy. My nephew Jason would be working that night and not able to get to the luau until probably 9pm or later. The manager said that wasn’t a problem and if my nephew was REALLY late we could ask for a refund on his ticket.
Finally, I asked him about seating. All he could promise me was that we’d be in Category 1 because that’s what was paid for. Oh well, I tried.
Friday night finally came and we all met at my Mom’s to carpool.
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We got through all the gates and parking without incident. Everyone was in a great mood when we arrived. I was SO glad I had talked to the manager because even though we weren’t super early, we still ended up standing around outside with no where to sit for 20 minutes or so, even after the formal pictures were taken.
When we finally got in however, things went great. The food was fantastic, the show and costumes were awesome. I couldn’t help but bob my head and wiggle a little in my chair to that music. It was a wonderful night. One of the highlights of the night was that they just happened to pick my nephew, pull him up on stage, and have his shake his booty like a rock-star. He was a great sport!
Here’s a few photos from our big night.
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This is not video that I took but it’s a great 4 minute clip of what the show is like.
All in all, we had a blast. Go see this thing if you get a chance! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Just in case you aren’t familiar, it is a spectacular show that takes place each night before the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom.
I’m a big fan of the fireworks but this…well I can’t even describe how awesome I think this is. The music is beautiful. I’m such a Disnerd – I like to listen to it in my car.
Video doesn’t really do it justice but here is a pretty good try (turn on your sound):
Disney updates the show seasonally with themed overlays and some festive elements. If you’ve had your photo taken that day by a Disney photopass photographer – make sure you look closely. You, and thousands of others watching the show, just might see that picture of you in your Goofy hat.
Disney announced yesterday they will have a new scene for the summer where Cinderella Castle will turn in to a giant sandcastle. Here’s a picture they released to kind of give us a sneak peek.
My husband is a big Starbucks fan – so I’m hoping this great news might get my Decaf Dude to come to the parks with me more often! The one and only Starbucks announced today that they will soon have a presence at all the Disney theme parks.
You’ve got to be a California girl (or boy) to be the first to see it. Starbucks says they will open the first of six Starbucks locations in June at Disney California Adventure and then Disneyland Park. Disneyland guests can enjoy their “ pick me up” at the brand new Fiddler, Fifer and Practical Café. The Fiddler location will be themed to the 1920’s vision of Buena Vista Street. Sounds pretty cool to me!
Not long after – Florida will be “perked-up” Seattle style in the Walt Disney World resort! More specifically, we will enjoy Starbucks in Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, AND Animal Kingdom. The new locations will serve coffee, espresso, frappuccino, signature Starbucks sandwiches, pastries, and desserts.
Please note the Swan and Dolphin Resorts on Walt Disney World property have served Starbucks for quite a while. These resorts aren’t Disney owned. Now we can make magical memories right inside the parks without sacrificing our morning cup of joe from Starbucks!
He’s the talk of the Disney blogs! He doesn’t sing or speak, his thoughts just go up in an orange puff of smoke over his head! Is he your ideal husband? No! He’s the Little Orange Bird!
Here is his full story if you are interested:
Now if I can just get the song out of my head! 🙂 It’s just so cheesy and wonderful.
Navigating Disney crowds can be crazy some times. Here’s an idea that might help when you are in Epcot!
Take the Future World East & West Pathways to World Showcase!
These pathways are visible to several guests, but for some reason many guests choose to go back through to Future World Plaza and take the main path at the center of EPCOT connecting Future World to World Showcase. If you have a Fastpass for Soarin later in the day it’s great to get to there via these pathways. If you simply want to leave Future World East or West you can get to World Showcase bay taking these peaceful and tranquil pathways. Both provide great scenery of EPCOT, especially during EPCOT’s Flower and Garden Festival – going on right now! These pathways do get narrow at certain points and therefore can get congested. Still, I think this is a great tip! Anything to get us to the frozen Margaritas in Mexico a little faster – right?
I am so excited about Disney’s Art of Animation Resort at Walt Disney World that is opening soon. This will be a much needed addition to the line of “value resorts” which are often quite full due to the fact that we don’t all want to mortgage our house just to stay on Disney property! Yesterday I heard that the Art of Animation Resort will have the biggest pool on all of Walt Disney World, except for the water parks. It will be called the Big Blue – a nod to the Fining Nemo movie. I have seen some Walt Disney World resort pools, and let me tell you, none of them are what I consider small. I have a feeling the Big Blue is going to live up to it’s name. There’s another thing…we will be able to hear music when we are under water in the Big Blue. How cool is THAT?
The Finiding Nemo themed family suites will be opening first on May 31, 2012, followed by the Cars family suites on June 18, 2012, and the Lion King suites on August 10th. If you have a smaller party and don’t need all the space a suite provides, you will want to wait for the Little Mermaid standard rooms opening September 15th. It is still sweaty, sticky hot in Florida in September so make sure you leave some time in your schedule to enjoy the Big Blue. You can book your stay right now! I checked yesterday and amazingly – they are showing availability for certain dates.
I don’t know where I heard about him first. I do, however, remember the first time I shared him with someone. How do I remember? Because we got it all on film.
I had the video camera and I was panning the beautiful and historic mural in the main lobby of Disney’s Contemporary Resort. I was feeling so smart, and decided to impress my sister-in-law with one of my Disney “pearls of wisdom”…so I say,
“Somewhere on here there is a 4 legged goat.”
Her response…so sweetly and non-condemning…
”Don’t ALL goats have 4 legs?”
I laugh out loud because I realize I am so smitten with this goat and how he makes me feel — that I have forgotten the very trivia I was so proud of “bestowing” upon my sister-in-law!
“YES!” I respond through my laughter, “I meant FIVE legged goat…and now we’ve got that on FILM!”
Most people really appreciate him for the history and “legend” mural surrounds him. After all, it’s a totally awesome thing. The large mosaic where he lives was created in 1971 with 1,800 one-square-foot tiles and took 18 months to construct. It was designed by Disney Imagineer Mary Blair, who is also known for her contributions to the “look” of the “It’s a Small World” attraction. The legend states that Mary believed that no piece of artwork should be perfect – because only God is perfect – so she purposely created the “mistake”. I don’t know if it’s legend or truth, but what a wonderful story! To think this “mistake” has since become one of the greatest loves of my life just cracks me up.
In the encompassment of the fabulous mural itself, it’s easy to miss the five legged goat. He stands amongst the stylized denizens of the mosaic – one of many goats and other figures – just a face in the crowd.
Still, he draws MY eyes to him like a magnet. You see, he makes me so proud that I know about him, and I love the conversation and interaction with others that he creates. I always get a rush when I tell someone who has never seen him that he is there.
The reaction is pretty similar across the board. First a raised brow and a high pitched “Really?” is voiced. Then they want me to show them where he is. Finally when he’s revealed – whether they are just humoring me or not – most people get wide-eyed and whisper,
“That is SO cool!”
I am once again (in my own mind) crowned the Queen of Disney knowledge and I beam with excitement and pride.
It just goes to show you, when looking for love, not all girls are into outward perfections.
Disneyways 