EPCOT 30th, Wreck-It Ralph, and other such nonsense.

I feel a bit bad for all of this, because I've neglected to write anything for nigh-on 20 days since I returned from Walt Disney World and EPCOT center's big 30th anniversary of existing.

I wish I had more to say, because it was both an amazing and horrific week.  I finally got to meet Leonard Kinsey and the beautiful Pentakis Dodecahedron, both of whom I am in love with, proposed to my girlfriend (they were there!  We have witnesses!) met Nomeus who, I am happy to report, is a wonderful guy, and got to meet our new roomies, Chris Wakefield of the Wakefield Report and the lovely Daniel Bennett.

We were practically rained out of our Halloween party while we were there, caught a stomach bug that made us both vomitty slobs for half the week, and missed our chance to meet Kristen Hoetzel and Aljon Go from Sorcerer Radio fame, which really cooked my grits.  I hated missing them, especially on an EMH night, but life's a bitch and then you die.  I'll see them again soon, I'm sure.

Since then, I've moved to Florida!  Yaaaay! Cue applause, please.  It beats the hell out of Kentucky, and now I'm only two hours from the world instead of eighteen.  Marvelous!  I just wish my cat wasn't such an a-hole, I'd like to get him out and moving about, interacting with his new cousins, you know?

For the EPCOT 30th, I must steer you to WDW Kingdomcast, Wakefield, and the Fanboys.  I have, unfortunately, not nearly enough to say for this trip.  Spending half of it throwing up everything will do that to you.

What I can say, however, is that Wreck-It Ralph is PHENOMENAL!  I actually expedited our move so we could get over to see it, and it was fabulous.  I even went as Fix-It Felix!  I really hate to spoil it, so I'll only say that I'll be seeing this movie about a thousand more times, that it made me cry, and that I am so grateful I had good friends there to see it with me.  We even got Hero's Duty Medals!  Check out the picture!

The event itself was awesome.  The organization was really good (I think we can thank Walt Disney Animation Studios for that) and I managed to even save my wrist band.  The medals were of really good quality, very heavy and quite lovely.  I got pounced on by Cast Members to say "I can fix it~" into a camera, so be on the lookout for me in the Disney Parks Blog coverage for the Wreck It Ralph preview!  I'd like to thank them a thousand times for the medals, the free soda and popcorn, the free MOVIE admission, and the free admission into DisneyQuest--I don't think I'd ever go in there otherwise.  Playing Fix-It Felix, Jr. on a machine was killer, too!  I placed 3rd on the machine on the 3rd floor, and I'll be back to land first place within the year.  I've been practicing.

Tomorrow we're headed to WDW to see Fantasyland (wink) and check out Pirates.  We're even staying to do the Halloween Party again, since we got rained out last time (and I'm in love with Master Gracey the Ghost Host).  We're staying at the Wilderness Lodge, which is so neat since I haven't stayed off the beaten path since Port Orleans French Quarter two years ago (it's been Bay Lake Tower ever since) and hopefully I'll have an article up Friday night.  Sound good, kids?

Until Friday!

-Candy

You know what?

Fuck haters.  It's just not even worth my time or effort.  I just have a sense of clarity right now about all this nonsense and it's not bothering me anymore.

Disney is gonna be /awesome/ this year.

PEEEACE MOTHERFUCKERRRRS

Good Things, Bad Things, Disney Things

It's the 28th of September, and I leave for Walt Disney World with my girlfriend October 1st, so I'm starting to feel kind of excited.  Unfortunately, there's a lot of really dumb shit going on in my life right now, but I won't bore you with the details...but it's bad enough that for a while, up until yesterday, I was kinda like "eh, Disney."  Me.  I'm the goddamn Disney Bitch, and I had a legitimate moment of non-excitement for my seven night, eight day, Holy-Shit-This-Is-Gonna-Be-Awesome DISNEY TRIP.  But, it's come and gone, and the excitement has begun to re-mount.

Let's do the 'bad shit' about this trip first, shall we?  I've got a $1 pending charge on my card and I can't figure out what the hell it is.  At this point, after doing some web research, talking to WDW billing and my bank, we're all pretty sure that it's just them making sure my credit card guarantee for one of the restaurants I'm eating at will actually work.  Like, making sure the actual card number is valid.  They told me to watch it, and if it actually /clears/ to call and dispute the bejeezus out of it.  I just hate that even if it turns into a larger amount, the bank can't dispute it until it clears, so I could literally be out that money for a while if that does happen.  I'm not entirely worried about it, but I will be monitoring everything very closely.

I've an order from Amazon that I needed to bring with me on the trip, but FedEx pissed around enough that it won't be here on time, so now I have to spend another $20 to have it shipped to my resort.  That's $20 I could have used to buy more liquor at the World Showcase at the food and wine festival.  That's two and a half beers.  Fuck you, FedEx.  Here's the part that really grinds my gears too--according to the tracking, it was literally in Hebron, KY (right in the next town over) and then shipped to Indianapolis, IN, and then back to Hebron.  At this point, I wanna be like, assholes, just let me pick it up.  I know where the sorting facility is.  And it's not something that can wait till after the trip, but it's not something I can talk about just yet.  I'll fill you all in a little bit later.  SUPER SECRET SURPRISE.

Finally, I had to cancel my reservation at 'Ohana.  I'll explain why in the next paragraph, and it actually has something to do with the $1 pending charge mentioned above (I think).  The really super-shitty thing though is that I can't get back in on any of my free days.  I'm willing to even do a super late seating but NOOOOO, nothing is available.  I'll keep checking, right up to the end of our trip, but at this point, I may just have to suck it up and go to Kona Cafe--thanks to my CoHost Sam for pointing out that they have a lot of the same food!  I think my ladyfriend was just wanting to see the show.

Now, onto the good news!

WE GOT INTO CALIFORNIA GRILL!  We've been waiting two years to do this (and I know people have waited a LOT longer) but I saw an opening and took it.  Unfortunately, that meant cancelling 'Ohana, but...WE GOT INTO CALIFORNIA GRILL!  I think we're doing the sushi and sashimi platters, since we're suckers for sushi and sashimi.  That night's gonna be super cool, too!  I'm so psyched!

Also, I got approved for the Premier Disney Rewards Visa!  There's an annual fee, but everything else about the card totally offsets it--including a $50 onboard credit on cruise ships.  I can't wait to totally abuse the perks when I get down there.  I've been building my credit for a while now, hoping to get my hands on this card.  When I started making phone payments and the Discover offers started coming in, I knew I was golden so...I gave it a shot.  Approved!

Finally, I'm going to Disney World!  I mean come on, no matter what bad things happen, knowing that I'm going AND it's all completely paid off (resort, tickets, dining plan, and gift cards to pay for everything else) and I don't have to worry about a damn thing while I'm down there really makes it for me.  Plus, I get to meet a lot of friends in person that I've only known through all the blogging and podcasting the group does.  And I'm having dinner with Leonard Kinsey and Pentakis Dodecahedron, both of whom I am totally in love with.

Plus, Grimm comes back on tonight.  FUCK YEEEEEAH MONROOOOOOEEEEE!

It's red.  Like my burning love for you.

REVIEW: From Dreamer to Dreamfinder

Okay, so it's been a long-ass time since I've posted anything, but with my trip to Colorado, Disney trip on the horizon, and move to Florida after that (along with some personal bullshit) life just caught up to me and I didn't have a chance to plug anything into the ol' blogaroo.  I needed to get back to this thing and get back in the groove of it, as the trip to Disney looks like it might be (as Leonard Kinsey said in a stunning interview for the WDW Lost Girls podcast last night--thanks!) a Hunter S. Thompson book in the making, and I plan on chronicling it.

When I bought Ron's book, it actually had nothing to do with him being the Dreamfinder.  I was attracted to the story of a man who decided that he wanted to do something and pursued it.  I am, quite literally, doing just that with my life right now so the book was basically a big ball of nip for me.  I couldn't stay away.

On the content of the book, every story is told with such detail that you feel as though you're there, in the scene with Ron as he tells you his story.  The book covers way more than his 'tour' at Disney, too.  There's the lead up, his initial desire--seeing Wally Boag and deciding that that's what he wanted to do--and this his path to get there.  My favorite part of the book is Chapter Five, where he tells about being part of a loud, wild dinner show that revolves around Henry VIII and his court.  Finally, we get to the payoff.  Spoiler, alert, by the way.

He becomes the Dreamfinder, a still-relevant symbol of what EPCOT was, a beloved character that still has people enchanted today.

That's really all I want to say about the content of the book--read it yourself.  What I do wanna talk about is the technical aspects of the book.  The tone is spectacular, reads as though it was someone actually telling you a story, rather than someone talking at you.  The book is paced appropriately, with a few flashbacks and flash forwards where appropriate, to tie off loose ends.

The length of the book is appropriate too.  It doesn't drag on with a lot of fluff to bulk the book unnecessarily, but it doesn't leave you wanting more.  Well, it DOES, but in a positive way, rather than the "that was it?" way that seems to plague so many books these days.  I'm actually looking forward to rereading it over the next week to pick up the little bits that I missed because I read the book in a few chunks.

I love the book.  Love the stories.  And I love how much it has inspired me on such a personal level.

It almost inspired me as much as this .gif image.

REVIEW: The Haunted Mansion (PS2) 2003

Well, I'm back.  Sorry it took so long for another blog entry, but between stupid internet drama, moving back home (finally) and preparing for a Walt Disney World trip and my own move to sunny Sarasota, I really just haven't had the time to do this review.  But, I do now, so here it goes!

Okay, so for a looong time, I had no idea this game existed.  I saw the movie ages ago and kinda said NO NO NO NO over and over again when it came to shit other than the ride itself.  Anyway, I've been writing a lot of shitty fanfiction lately and in my research, I stumbled upon this game.  I decided to give it a shot since it got better reviews than the movie and Guillermo del Toro's 'vision' is probably not gonna happen anytime soon.  It was definitely a gamble, but it's one that I'm essentially glad that I took, even if I feel like I'm a little bit late to the party.



                                                                                                           

I got the game used on Amazon from an independent dealer for 6 bucks, and that includes tax and shipping.  Came with the case and the book, too, and they were in great shape, as was the game disc itself.  Sadly, they did not come with the free movie voucher, which I would have enjoyed having for the lulz if nothing else.  Pictures would have been taken and Eddie Murphy would have been photoshopped in.

Anyway, we tore into the game pretty much immediately, and we were introduced to Ezekiel Halloway (who prefers Zeke), a young man who'd lived his entire lives in orphanages and is trying to become a writer.  Zeke's answered an ad in the newspaper asking for a caretaker to come and assist caring for the old mansion, not realizing that it was the forlorn spirits of the Mansion reaching out for help.

The controls are, thankfully, very easy to get used to.  Zeke is not a 'tank' like so many heroes of his time were (looking at you, Redfield family.  Zombies are no excuse to pilot like a school bus).  Tilting the analog stick forward makes him move forward, there's a button to jump, a button to attack, and a button to gather 'withered' spirits.

Your goal is basically to rescue the 999 Happy Haunts from Atticus Thorn, a malevolent priest that leads the Brotherhood of Shadows--a death cult.  Zeke reluctantly agrees, and is a real trooper the entire time.  He's been described by other reviewers as a coward, which I don't think is fair at all.  Yeah, he's scared--but he helps these ghosts in spite of his fear.  Pretty damn brave if you ask me.

Me, however...I was not so brave half the time.  The game has some amazingly effective scares that play on sight and sound.  I'd hate to spoil the scares for anyone, so I won't say too much except  that you'll be on your toes--and you'll be swearing.  I don't remember how many times I shouted "oh shit" or "fuck me" while scrambling to get my bearings while being attacked.  

There are 'boss fights' which can be anything from an actual fight to a ball-bustingly irritating puzzle or eight.  There are plenty of cameos from well known characters--ghosts we've seen at the Haunted Mansion over and over again, if we've seen the attraction in person--including Phineas, Ezra and Gus, the Hitchhiking Ghosts, the organ player, the Duelist...Zeke himself seems to even be a younger version of the Caretaker in the graveyard scene of the attraction...y'know, the one with the skinny-ass dog?  The resemblance is definitely there, only young Zeke is a bit skinnier and seems to really go for the eye makeup.

The music is fantastic.  It doesn't abuse Grim Grinning Ghosts, and you only hear the entire version of the song during the credits.  Hit pause, though, and you'll hear an adorably maddening loop of the Dapper Dans singing their intro to the classic song over...and over...and over, until you've unpaused the game.

Overall, I give the game an 8/10.  The only negatives are the jarring puzzles that can occasionally take you off guard and irritate the piss out of you, and an anti-climactic final boss fight that leaves you wanting a little more.  Definitely worth the few bucks you'll have to shell out for the game, and still worth it if you have to pick up a used PS2 from your local GameStop.

Scattering Ashes at Disney

Cremation seems to be growing in popularity as a way for people to tend to their dead.  Walt Disney himself was cremated, but I'm sure there are still people who hold tight to the idea that he's frozen somewhere in the Utilidors (I maintain he's in Spaceship Earth, a real spaceship that will take off December 21, 2012 with Walt's Chosen Ones aboard where he will awaken and take them to the promised land on a distant planet).  Scattering ashes is nothing new, either.  From romantic images of a lover's ashes being scattered in the countryside, over a lake or the ocean, to The Dude getting a face full of Donny's ashes courtesy of Walter, it's a scene we've become all too familiar with.

"Goddammit, Walter!  Fuckin' asshole!"

What's totally astounded me, however, is the fact that this happens often at the Disney Parks.  Well, okay, maybe I'm not astounded.  It makes a sick sort of sense, as the most popular place tends to be the Haunted Mansion, with everyone wanting to be the 1000th Happy Haunt once they pass away.  There's a sort of romance to it, spending your eternity with Phineas, Ezra and Gus, The Singing Busts, and Master Gracey?

And before you say anything at all, fuck you, Dwight.  I know Master Gracey isn't the Ghost Host, but he is in my head canon and there isn't shit you can say to convince me otherwise.  I've written incredible fanfictions based on this ride that none of you all will ever see and I know my shit.  I just choose to ignore that factoid.  Anyway, moving on.

So it's a thing to have your ashes scattered in Disney.  I don't know how often this happens anymore, but it happened a few years back and they straight up shut Pirates down for 45 minutes to make sure it wasn't bone matter.  It doesn't say whether or not it was, but the woman swears it was baby powder.  Okay, maybe it was.  Why the fuck were you scattering baby powder on Pirates of the Caribbean?

EDIT:  It was fucking bone matter and it took them a while to clean it up, according to multiple sources I'm too lazy to state.  Google it.

And evidently this is happening all over the park, though Pirates and The Haunted Mansion seem to be the most popular.  It's fucking nasty, though--and these idiots don't seem to realize that their loved ones are just gonna get cleaned up, especially in the Haunted Mansion.  What's even more alarming is that a bunch of comments all over the internet seem to say "Wow, we scattered ___'s ashes there in (insert year here) but we didn't know it was a big thing!"

Seriously?  Fucking gross.

                                     

Review: Our Kingdom of Dust

Beautiful cover graphic, isn't it?  It really sets the scene for the story inside, too.  I'm gonna try to do this without being too spoiler-rific, because the book is freaking awesome.  Actually, I might spoil a lot, and I don't fucking care.  I won't ruin the important bits though, honest.

The book is fast paced, and easily as in-your-face as his previous book, The Dark Side of Disney, which is easily the greatest Walt Disney World tour guide every written.  The book comes out swinging with what appears to be our hero Blaine's discovery of the grisly murder of a beautiful girl, and then cuts back to a brief synopsis of Blaine's life.  

I'm not normally a fan of blatant exposition, but Kinsey does it in such a way that it's terrifying and engrossing, and you're unable to tear yourself from the words on the page.  You find yourself in Blaine's shoes, wanting to tear your heart out when you read about the death of his dog Sam, which is somehow a thousand years more powerful than the death of Blaine's parents.  

Blaine, now well off, makes a desperate attempt to grab at his past by returning to Walt Disney World, a place his parents used to take him when he was a kid, only to find out that time had passed without him, meeting Jay, a creepy Disney-obsessed limo driver with something dark surrounding him that Blaine just can't seem to put his finger on--though we already know the man commits a terrible crime toward the end of the story.

We're introduced to a host of completely bizarre and totally interesting characters, including Charles, a kind old cast member determined to look out for Blaine, an old widow covered in teddy bears, a couple who've experienced a miscarriage aren't coping so well, a stalkerific creep with some massive, deep-seated issues, and finally the beautiful Lisa, who we already know to be our victim from the flash-forward at the beginning of the story.

We're also introduced to a terrifying drug--The Dust, the recipe for which is contained in the Evil Queen's heart box.  The book is a wild ride, and once I was finally able to sit down and read it, I was able to clean it up in a few hours, but I'm a fast reader--and it's a hard book to put down.

THE NEGATIVE:

The Horizons scene, and your mileage may vary with this.  He sees Mission: Space where Horizons should be, and he's pissed.  I mean hell, I'm pissed whenever I see Mission: Space because it sucks, but I don't get the pain he felt.  I wish Kinsey had spent a little more time describing Horizons to the reader because, and I'm sad to say it, I've never experienced it.  I've seen some pictures, and I know how important it is to many people, and I'd love to see it come back, but I was a little lost at this point.  However, I do know about that goddamn GIANT MICKEY HAND that was up on Spaceship Earth for a while, and I was right there with him on that note.

I wish we could have spent some more time with Lisa.  I get that the book was from Blaine's point of view, making that next to impossible, but I was left wanting to know more about her, which, I suppose, isn't an altogether terrible thing.

The dialogue in a few places felt a bit forced, especially some of Blaine's lines.  I grimaced once or twice, but other than that, it was fluid and natural.

THE POSITIVE: 

The book is fucking amazing.  The story is fucking amazing, the characters are amazing, and the fucking towel baby had me in stitches, and I don't care who I piss off when I say that.  It was hilarious in that 'holy shit' sort of way.

The comedic bits are hilarious, the parts that are supposed to be sunny and happy are sunny and happy, and there are some moments of terrifying suspense that are, well...terrifying.  The turkey leg segments are pretty grotesque too.  I'm not sure if that should go in good or bad actually.  All I know is that I'm going to get one and chew obnoxiously on it at some point when I'm surrounded by my other friends who have read it this year.

The attention to detail is pretty stunning, too.  I had NO idea what DermaBlend was before this book, and now I'm dying to get some.  I do amateur makeup, so finding out about something like this was pretty ground breaking for me.  The props in Jay's house are neat too, and you get to wondering at what lengths he's gone to obtain all of this shit--and then you begin to find out.

All in all, the positives WAY, way, way, way, way....way?  WAY outweigh the negatives, and this book is easily a 9 or 9.5 out of ten.  I wish it had been longer!  Now I'm out of shit to read!

Write something else, Kinsey!

And Everything Comes Together.

Seems like everything is starting to work out in my favor, generally.  The first podcast has been recorded, of course, we have tickets on the way for Walt Disney World (8 Day Parkhoppers, bitchesssss!) and our Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party tickets.  All we have left to do now is get our dining plan.  We decided that this year, the DDP is probably gonna be best for us.  There's a lot of places we wanna check out, and the DDP is the most economical way to do it--this year, especially since we're moving to Sarasooootaaaaa!  :)

I've got Dethklok/Lamb of God tickets for my birtday, too, so I'm hoping everything works out for Randy Blythe.  I'm a little irritated at what's happening over in Prague with him right now--it's a total shakedown.

Back to Disney, I'm finally on twitter, so make sure you follow me @ThatDisneyBitch for a good time.  I'll be updating the blog later with all of our current dining reservations.  We have one left to make, and I haven't decided what I'm gonna do yet.

Didney Worl Trip News and Podcast News

I guess I'll start with the podcasting bit.  We finally recorded, so Samantha's supposed to be editing that shit up over the weekend, and hopefully it'll go live on Monday.  It'll be a pretty boring start I think, kind of an 'intro to us,' but we both thought it was something kind of important to do.

Anyway, everything for my trip is bought and paid for except my dining plan.  I got into it with Chris Wakefield about whether or not the dining plan is 'worth it,' and I know Leonard Kinsey has advised against it in his book The Dark Side of Disney, but honestly, I love food.  I'm going to Disney, eating at the fancy ass restaurants, and using all my snack credits at the food and wine festival.

I've pretty much decided that this year, the DDP is the best option for us, so we're gonna go with it. 

Had to make some changes...

You'll all forgive me.  I'm taking an alias, removing my pictures, etc.  I want everything to be washed clean, as I'm getting ready to MOVE to Florida, and I wanna make sure that everything is kosher between the real me and the parks.  I haven't breathed a negative word about any of the parks (except Animal Kingdom, it still sucks) but I do say some bad words, and I don't want that tied to the real me.  Also, I don't want to endanger my job.

Breaks my heart to have to remove a lot of those pictures though, especially the one of me and Tron.  I mean Bruce Boxleitner.  Actually, haha, I meant Tron.  =p

More info to come!

WDW Lost Girls Podcast (Coming Soon!) and the Disney Parks app for iPhone

So for those of you following along, you'll likely know that a friend and I have been working on setting up a podcast.  Obviously, this podcast is going to be Disney flavored and very much intended for adults only.  Rated 'M' for 'Mature,' folks, and we mean it.

We start recording soon, and already have a few guests lined up, so stay tuned!  In the meantime, make sure you check out her blog (linked above) because she tends to be less emotional and far more informative than my crazy ass.

In other news, I've broken down.  I got an iPhone, after years of swearing I never would.  Why?  It was free.  My stepdad was helping me set up my own plan and bought the phone for me.  I can't really complain about that.  I'll always be a google-Droid fan in spirit, so maybe in two years when I get my upgrade.  My number has not changed, though, so if you've got it, shoot me a text!

I think, aside from Siri, my favorite feature might be the Disney Parks app.  I've been dying to try this thing out for ages, and it's pretty cool even outside the parks.  It shows me the hours of operation for all of the parks in WDW and DLR, and even tells me what parade and showtimes are.  In the parks, it's supposed to give me total ride wait time and Fastpass information, so I'll be able to review that in more detail here in a couple months.

Finally, It looks like I may be in Colorado for another month, watching the wildfires rage on.  My mother is paying me for helping out around here, so I don't mind doing it too much (though I'm reaching an incredible level of exhaustion--I may just have to take a week-long coma when I get home) but it'll give me some time to make sure the podcast is ready to roll with Kristi, and maybe even make a few more appearances like....

WDW DIS-Cussion!

I made an appearance on their most recent show, so check me out!  I'd like to thank Ryan, Brandon and Chris so much for the opportunity.

I appeared alongside Derek Burgan, so make sure you listen to all the plugs and check us out.  The topic of discussion was what to do in WDW after the sun goes down, but we derailed quite a few times into other topics of discussion, including whether or not WDW bus drivers should ever be believed.  Very hilarious.

Till next time--which should be soon!

"World War D"

The Disney Turf War is back, and with a vengeance.

I've been without internet for a few days now.  As most people I've ever come in contact with know, I've been with my family and we've been in the process of a rather large move.  Unfortunately for me, this meant zero internet (minus my crappy phone).

In my absence, it appears that my facebook friends have come in contact with one another, and they fucking hate each other.  Or maybe it's not hate so much as taking words said the wrong way, and unleashing a shit storm over DISNEY PARKS.  It makes me wonder if these people have any idea what they sound like to outsiders.  The worst part is that they expect me to get involved.  Everyone wants me to rush to their defense, which is blowing my mind because I am no one's attack dog, no one's personal army.

Meanwhile, I have other people alongside me scratching their heads and wondering what the hell is going on and why this is even happening.  Well fuck you guys, you're all gonna catch it here when I'm on the WDW Kingdomcast.


Speaking of Podcasts, the WDW Lost Girls Podcast is coming soon!  Make sure you check out the sister blog, No Dancing on the Monorail.   Kristi and I will be your permanent hosts, and we look forward to hearing your feedback!

Just Met Cindy Morgan and Bruce Boxleitner

And I'm one happy Disney Bitch.


(EDIT: Picture has been baleeted for privacy purposes.  I hated having to do this, but with the upcoming Podcast and my group of friends and everything, I don't want to flub anything up with Disney.)

Bruce is my guy.  Always was, always will be!  He's such a sweetie too, dealt with my stuttering and fumbling over my hands...I'm a little embarrassed of myself but I think I did rather well.  I didn't burst into tears of joy and completely mortify myself.

Cindy Morgan is an absolute BABE, too.  She's gorgeous, funny, kind, smart...Yori is by FAR my favorite Disney Princess.  ;)  I can't believe how wonderful she is, and I can't wait to read her book!  May even get to do an interview with her for this blog!

The image Aimee drew was beautiful--Cindy and Bruce loved their copies.  I'll get a scanned image of the signed picture for this blog soon.

Also just found out Michael Bay's 'Ninja Turtles' has been canned.

TODAY IS A GOOD DAY FOR (WO)MANKIND.

EDIT: Patrick the Bartender here at Embassy Suites is back for the Manager's Reception.  Drinking his custom drink, and it's fabulous.  TODAY IS A GOOD DAY.

Walt Disney on What's My Line

I don't have a whole lot to say today as nothing has really happened.  I do, however, want to keep the blog going strong, so here's a cute little video of Grampa Walt on a gameshow!  Whee!

Reminded of Disney in Our Current Accommodations

So we're currently at the Embassy Suites in Loveland, Colorado and this place is pretty awesome.  Everyone is friendly, it's close to shit, and it's freakin' nice.  Manager's Reception, free booze for two hours!  Lovin' that.

The pool and hot tub are nice as hell, too.  I'm...actually enjoying myself.  For once, I don't have much to bitch about.

There's something about this place that's kinda Disneylike too, actually.  Everyone on the staff wears a nametag with their hometown on it, house keeping is awesome (TOWEL ANIMALSSSS) and I'm actually kind of having a blast. :)

I just wish I didn't feel like shit.  The high altitude is kicking my ass.  I'm tired, headachy and nauseated.  Plus, there's that freaking wildfire in Ft. Collins, which is like...20 miles away.  Not cool.  Woke up this morning wondering who the hell was hard at work burning breakfast.

Anyway, till next time.

Getting the Hell Outta Dodge

Okay, totally pissed off right now.

So, the movers are still at the house, packing shit up and they shoulda been done ages ago, so Greg dropped us off at the hotel.  We're just chillen now, Airport Marriott in Greensboro, but it totally sucks here.

Maybe I'm just spoiled by Disney resorts.

Or maybe it sucks here.  No fridge in the rooms, 12.99 internet (though I get mine for free, DVC...but I think WIFI is going free soon if it hasn't already) and there's a bottle of water in all the rooms, tempting the kids.  Open it, that's 2.50, you gullible fuck.

I can't wait to get out of here and to Colorado tomorrow.  We stayin' in the Hilton Embassy Suiiiiites.

Just found out they have an open bar for two hours every night.

I'm so excited.

I can't wait.

No. Also, yes! Yes, yes, yes!

WARNING:  Massive bitch-fit incoming.  Skip to part 2 for the good news.


I ain't doin' this.  I outright refuse to be pulled into this WDW vs. DLR bullshit, and I can't believe it's an issue.  If you really feel like you have to fall all over yourself to make your favorite park look better, then you can go and eat a large helping of dogshit.

Tell you what.  For those of us who are normal, let's round up all these jackasses, put 'em on a Disney Cruiseliner, let 'em have at each other, and then have it sail directly into the center of the Bermuda triangle, and then NUKE THE BEJEEZUS OUT OF IT.

Earth has no use for you.



IN OTHER NEWS, I will be meeting Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan next weekend at the fiiiirst annual Denver Comic Con.  As someone who takes TRON very seriously, this is a really huge moment for me, and I'm really excited.

TRON: Uprising seems to be doing pretty well, and it's a generally enjoyable show.  I can't wait to see more of it, and hope that we may see TRON in Disney parks here in the near future again!

More on this later!

Disney Turf Wars

Yes, you read that right.  You, if you're a relatively normal human being, are having the same reaction I originally had to this.  I think it goes something along the lines of "what the actual fuck?"

I had a discussion with a few friends of mine that are Disneyland Resort 'natives.'  They have stated that there are Walt Disney World natives that are vicious and bloodthirsty, trashing DLR at every turn, particularly Disney California Adventure.  Their answer?  Return fire!

I pointed out the flaw here--they're just making themselves look like asses to those of us who can't see every single one of the attacks on WDW that they're responding to.  To me, it just looks like some jerkoffs trashing my park because they feel a little insecure--and yes, they do feel insecure.  Sorry if you're reading this guys, but having to jump to the defense of your park means that you don't feel it can speak for itself, so you have to talk it up.  If that's not true, then you really need to change your language around, because that's how it's coming off.

Honestly, I couldn't believe what I was reading.  And here I am sitting here wondering when the hell this all started.  I've never, before this, known anyone involved in what seems like a Disney turf war.

I posed the following question to the gang at WDW Kingdomcast, word for word.

I've got a question and I'm looking for some straight talk, not any of this yuppie friendly bullshit that I keep getting. Is there really a 'turf war' of sorts going on between people who prefer Disneyland Resort and people who prefer Walt Disney World? I've got a small group of people who are just driving me insane on my newsfeed, and it's like the goddamn Hatfields and the McCoys. I've always been under the mindset of 'if it's a Disney Park, it's pretty cool' and then maybe specific beefs with the way individual things are run. I didn't realize there was this big, whiny ass "Hollywood Studios is better than Disney California Adventuuuuure" and vice versa. 

I got some pretty legit responses, too, and I'm genuinely fond of this group now.

 I think it's more of people trying to take stabs at each other in 140 characters or less. If it's more than that those people need to find something better to whine about. No question Disney parks around the globe are pretty damn cool.  -Ron Bidnez

Unfortunately it's not just DL vs WDW. It's happening throughout the entire Disney fan base online. Bash this, bash that. Bash everyone and everything. And yes, particularly, there's an undercurrent of some Disneyland regulars who blame everything bad on Orlando. If something is awful out there, it must have come from here. But if something's good, then we don't deserve it. Really makes no sense.  -Ricky Brigante

Fuck them, Walt said that they are our Parks. Not some d-bags in Cali or shitheads in Florida. I'm partial to wdw because I grew up there, doesn't make it any better than dl , just more special to me. Screw them and their nonsense. -Chris Tucker

Can we all just agree: fuck Eurodisney? -Curtis Rogers

 There's nothing I can say to Curtis

that won't cause a shitstorm.

Anyway, I love Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort.

And there is nothing you cunts can do about it.

EDIT: Not five minutes after I posted this, someone commented about the new dark/speed ride in DLR, to which someone replied "Still better than Test Track."

Fuck you, California.

New Gourmet Dinnerware from the Disney Store

Check this shit out.  It's Disney's new line of dishes that they're selling in their stores.  Extra adorable!

Hard to see the casserole dish from here, but it has Mickey ears.  Meeeee guuuustaaaaaa.

Check out this link to get to the store and purchase if you're interested.

Walt Disney World Night Shows

I feel like I've missed something.  Like something's happened when I wasn't looking, but I'm not sure when that would have been, because I've been looking the whole time.  But something's definitely changed with the community I've been so close to for over a year now, and I just don't feel the way I used to anymore.

I don't hold any hard feelings, of course.  I still love (almost) everyone involved, but lately it's just felt unfocused and unwelcoming...and well, I'd hate to say it, but I think I've found a new family.

I've grown distant, I've grown meaner...maybe it's not them, maybe it's me.  And maybe I just needed to find some people who can handle my personality a little bit better.

I just don't even know what else to say about this.

I'm still madly in love with a lot of the people involved, so I'm gonna stick with it.  Maybe I'll warm back up to it.

The Joys of a Good Night's Rest and Holy Crap, My Vacation is Under Four Months Away.

So this morning, only Tony still had school so I guess Mom got him out the door in time because I was never called up.  I'd left my phone upstairs in the kitchen, so there really was no hearing my alarm this morning.  Anyway, when I woke up, the sun was up and I was feeling rather well rested.  After a week with a spotty sleep schedule, it was awesome.  I wanted to spin kick the door open and break into 'Good Morning USA' from American Dad.

Kinda felt like this.

I moseyed upstairs, had some breakfast, shut Mom's door so no one would wake her up (she let me nap during the week, it's only right that I return the favor) and sat down on my ass to see what was going on around the internet.  Imgur is alight with new pictures, my package full of accessories for my Nook is out for delivery, and, wouldn't you know it, it's less than four months till my vacation!

Wait.

Wait, what?

Under four months?

In two weeks time, I'll be at the 100 day mark.  I should be really excited!  I should be ready to go!

But wait a minute...I haven't bought our park tickets, our Halloween event tickets, or our Dining Plan.  I haven't even made all my dining reservations yet.  I don't have money put away to put on gift cards for our spending money allowance.  Basically what I'm getting at is...

There are 115 days left until we take off from Cincinnati for out Walt Disney World bash, and we have nothing done.

Panic Mode: Engage.

Ray Bradbury, 8.22.1920-6.05.2012

I felt it pertinent to comment on the loss of the great Ray Bradbury, who is one of those people that we (that's the 'royal' we) will be talking about years after you and I are long gone.

I can sit and talk about Mr. Bradbury's achievements all day--and believe me, it would take all day--but I don't really need to.  He's one of the greatest, if not THE greatest modern science-fiction writer that comes to mind.

I'm gonna keep this short and sweet and just say that Bradbury was an inspiration.  See ya later, Ray.

Captain America is my role model.

 Because being family friendly is boring as hell.


...thanks for your input, Tony.

Cool Loki Fanart and Up Early again.

I found this picture doing a Google Image Search for Sigyn last night.  I've been trying to make myself like Loki, but I'm still having a hard time getting over what a little douchebag he is in both Thor and Avengers.  I started reading some of the mythology and fell in love with Sigyn, the wife of Loki, and her devotion to him.  Check it out.

The deviantART page for the work can be found here.  Please, go have a look and give him/her the view and the favorite if you'd be so kind.

Anyway, I'm up early again and mega pissed off.  Jamie was up ALL NIGHT, kept coming down for food and since I'm sleeping in the guest room in the basement, I can hear him stomping around, and it kept me up, so I'm running on about two and a half hours of sleep right now.  

Then this morning, my alarm goes off at 5:30 (seriously can't wait for this madness to end) and I meet Mom upstairs and she mutters to me "I think he's been up all night.  He's still up."  Sure enough, the little idiot isn't even trying to be quiet.  So, I look my mother in the eye and ask her "Where's the router?"

She told me and started giggling as I marched into her bedroom and hit the power switch.  Like clockwork, we hear Jamie start to shuffle around, and then come down the stairs.  He passes us when he walks through the kitchen and nearly jumps out of his skin, because we're sitting at the table in the dark and it's raining, and we must look creepy as hell because we're both just STARING at him.  He swears over and over again that he wasn't up all night!  He woke up at four!  

Bullshit.  It's the fist day of his summer vacation.  I know this game, playa, I used to play it!

So he eats a bowl of cereal, trying to act all chill, and I notice him (but he doesn't notice me noticin' him) slip into Mom's room.  A minute later he walks back out, stretches, and starts to head back upstairs.  Mom and I give each other a look and I slipped in.  Sure enough the bastard turned the router back on.  Did he think we wouldn't notice?  It's attached to this big ass strip of lights, when I turned it off, they all went out.  Now they're lit up like a string of Christmas lights.

I swear to god.  I hate teenagers.

LOKI'D

Do yourself a favor and click this. Then watch it.

I Don't Know How My Mother Does It, and I've Decided that I Really Hate the Animal Kingdom.

So I've mentioned earlier on this week that I am staying with my family for the month of June as they prepare to make their big move to Colorado.  My mom is reimbursing my income and I get to see my family and a new part of the country, so it's all cool.  I've been waking up at the buttcrack of dawn every day to help her get the kiddies off to their final few days of school, and pretty much just doing everything she's asking me to do.

Today, she asked me to make dinner, and have Jamie, my brother, take out the trash.  I couldn't wake the bastard up, because he stays up all night and then sleeps when he gets home from school.  So I'm up there screaming, but he's not answering, his door is locked so I can't get in there and shake him awake, so whatever, I go downstairs and start doing it myself.

Meanwhile, the oven's keep beeping, I have to turn over the fish fillets, shuffle the french fries around, and Christian, another brother, keeps asking me questions that I don't have the answer to, and he's eating poptarts and asking for popcorn and I'm like HOLY SHIT, STOP EATING I'M MAKING DINNER.

So Mom gets home, and I'm pulling the fish and chips out of the oven and she calls Jamie down with one yell of his name, so obviously she has the correct frequency for his ears to hear.  Trash gets taken out after he walks in circles for a few minutes and then he eats, he and Katie clean up the dishes, and I pulled this up to start writing. It's pretty much cemented my desire to stay the fuck away from ever having kids.  I'm just not interested.  Not even a little.


Moving on, I've decided that I'm also not interested in visiting the Animal Kingdom ever again.  It's too damn far from my resort, closes too early, and there's just not a whole lot there.  I can't stand Dinosaur because it scares the bejeezus out of me, and Expedition Everest is okay, I guess, but not worth the bus ride over there.  I don't get the pull.  It can't be the animals--you can go to a freaking zoo and see animals.  The food doesn't seem that great, and they're adding Pandora or whatever which I simply cannot bring myself to give a singular shit about the park.

Someone please, send me a comment, a note on Facebook explaining to me what the draw of this park is.  The "Magic" just doesn't seem like it's there.

COMPLETELY UNFUCKINGRELATED:

Katy Perry is Loki.  Or maybe Loki is Katy Perry.  Something something California Girls, something something I am a god.

I'm a Total Facebook Grump and I Really Can't Wait for October.

When I'm in Walt Disney World, I tend to stay off of Facebook for the week I'm there.  I just don't really have the time to update it, and frankly, I don't care about the rest of you jackoffs, I'm in DIDNEY WURL.  I've noticed, though, that I am evidently alone in this particular practice because it seems like everyone else is posting detailed play-by-plays of every little thing they're doing while visiting the resort.

Look, I don't blame you for wanting to brag a little bit.  I upload tons of stuff when I come home.  And honestly, I can't fault you for posting while you're there.  But that doesn't mean I'm going to be nice about it.  I'm fickle and jealous, and when I see you checking into Cinderella's castle, I want to fight you a little bit.  That doesn't mean I don't love you, though.

Anyway, on a lighter note, I can't freaking wait for my trip in October.  I can't wait to meet a few people I've been dying to meet, I can't wait to go to the Halloween Party, I can't wait to hit the Food and Wine festival, and holy /balls/ I just can't wait to be in Walt Disney World again.  I miss it every day that passes, and the rest of my life seems so amazingly dull.

We'll be at Bay Lake Tower from October 1-7th, flying down so I don't have to deal with a 16 hour drive, getting the dining plan and loading up some gift cards.  It'd be really cool to have literally everything paid for before we go down there.

Up way too early helping Mom, but I got to watch last night's episode of Metalocalypse.  I dunno what to think, it was funny, but...well, I hope Brendon Small isn't pandering to the wimminz.

Found something on Tumblr that amused me, though.

I want someone to actually make the opening set to the Friends theme song.  I would watch the shit out of that show.

Edit: Found one, but it does not please me.

Not enough Bruce Banner.  >:C

Aw.

In other news, here's Bruce Banner dancing Thriller.  Pardon my fangirling.

....Sherlock Holmes.

Golden Corral is the Worst Restaurant Ever and Disney Pin Trading is Following Me.

I'm going to start this with the Golden Corral bit so that I can brighten my own mood towards the end of the entry.

Mom asked me to take the kids, minus Jonathan who was being a terror, out to dinner at Golden Corral.  I wasn't particularly excited to go, never had a really great experience at a Golden Corral, and everyone was bitching.  I don't think anyone really wanted to go, and Mom managed to wriggle out of it by staying home with Jon.  She let me take the Benz, which is pretty freaking cool, though.  No complaints there, I guess.

We got there and it was packed, of course.  I think a church service had let out, so after paying a hefty sum, we found a place for the six of us to sit--and found out it was right next to the single most annoying family of all time.  Parents were letting their toddlers run screaming through the restaurant, and the teenage siblings were right there behind 'em, laughing and crashing into people.  I was nearly trampled several times, and almost stepped on some toddlers several more.

This went on the entire time.  The food was gross, cold, the cooks were rude, and even the dessert bar was abysmal.  Everyone left grumpy, and the drive back home was awkward.  I'm already hungry again, and I've bought myself a jug of orange juice so I can slip some vodka into it and drink without anyone realizing I'm drinking.

Grandma, who thankfully went with me, isn't feeling too well.  I'm not sure what she ate that I didn't, but I'm sure glad I'm not her right now.

Changing the subject now, I found a Disney Pin just...hanging around in the junk drawer up here.  It's a Mickey-shaped one, with American Flag colors.  It's kinda cool, especially since I'm coming down off a Chris-Evans-as-Captain-America high and I collect Disney Pins.  I hear there's more hiding around this house and I plan to find them during the move and liberate them from the other kids.  Screw 'em, they don't take care of anything anyway.

Me and my new pin.  You bitches can suck it.

Anywho, finding the pin surprised me a bit, as my family hasn't been to a Disney Park.  Most of my siblings weren't even born the last time we went as a family.  I interrogated my mother, and she gave up the goods pretty easily--my stepdad had some sort of convention down there and had picked up the pins as souvenirs.

Oh.  Well.

Anyway, no one's claimed this America Mickey pin, so screeeeew 'em.  I'm taking it, putting it in my cork board with the rest of my pins, and it'll look great.  Maybe I can even find a few more, right?


Till tomorrow,
That Disney Bitch

P.S. Once I get Aimee's attention, I'mma have her customize this a little bit more.  She can probably do something kinda cool with it, I dunno.

The First Post

Let me introduce myself.  I have a few monikers, and if you're reading this post, you're probably familiar with me in some fashion.  I'm Tr0n1982, I'm Americandy, I'm Alice, and I'm Alison.  I'm in my twenties, I have anger management issues, and I love Disney.  I'm also a Pure Romance consultant, so if you have any need for bath or beauty products, or bedroom accessories, hit me up!

Anyway, the main focus of this blog is gonna be Disney travel.  I'm a Disney Vacation Club member (best investment of my life) and I go every year.  My home resort is Bay Lake Tower.

Jesus, I'm really drunk writing this, and I promise my next post will be much more coherent.  Anyway, I'm currently in North Carolina.  Been here for three days, I miss my fucking cat and I miss Aimee and I still have mostly a month ahead of me, and a flight to Colorado.  

I'm helping my family move before I return home to Kentucky.  Silly me.

Comprehensive travel details of my trip to NC tomorrow, and then I'll be updating daily with details concerning my adventures back home with my family and planning for my October 2012 Walt Disney World vacay.

For now, though, I'm gonna hit this hip flask of vodka like it's the end of the world.