Friday, November 3, 2017

John's Birthday "Blues"

Some of you *may* have noticed it was John's birthday yesterday. We spent the later part of the day at Magic Kingdom, mostly so we could see the new fireworks show, Happily Ever After. Anyway, John tells me if I'm going to spend so much time on my Instagram Stories then I should at least put them somewhere more people will see them, SO... prepare for photos, videos, and disjointed Disney rambles. :D



John in his birthday suit outfit. Look how blue he is! 


And here's the kind of cutting-edge commentary you get in my Stories:



Yep, two days after Halloween Disney had already switched to full Christmas mode - though the castle lights and the big tree aren't up yet at Magic Kingdom.




Not that I'm complaining about Christmas decorations, of course. :D Plus I love the Dapper Dans. If it ever comes up in conversation you WILL hear about the Disneyland Dans and how they rode their bicycle-built-for-4 just for me that one time, because it. was. AWESOME.


Oh hey, here's some stuff I haven't posted yet: cool new phone cases!

 The Madame Leota one has a 3D sculpt of her face on the back, just like the tombstone. Love it. The Figment one is the wrong phone size for John, but then he tells me he'd rather have the perfect Hufflepuff case instead? So hey, if you have any recommendations...

And this one has fun little sparkles in it:


SPARKLES. (Anyone else mildly obsessed with resin shakers lately? I follow a couple of people who make them on Instagram. I like the ones with liquid in them best.)


Here's a spooky easter egg - how many of you knew the mirror in Memento Mori (the Haunted Mansion gift shop) did this?



It's hard to film this without getting a bunch of random tourists in the reflection, ha. But hey, John says hi at the end!


And now, COUNTRY BEAR JAMBOREE:


Maybe it's because this show is one of the few things at MK my agoraphobia has no problem with, maybe it's the decidedly dated (and potentially offensive?) song lyrics. Whatever it is, Country Bears cracks me up and my love for it is TRUE.

My two favorites are "Mama, Don't Whoop Lil' Buford" and, of course:



(Crap quality, but you really just need the sound on. :D)

John and I like to sing this to each other during tender moments.
You're welcome for that imagery.


My favorite Angry Bird outside PhilharMagic:

That's another great show, btw, even if the "apple pie" smells nothing like apple pie. C'mon, Disney, get it together.

More merch:


Now I want to see one for the Citrus Swirl! And while they're at it, I'd like the Orange Bird Funko Pops to come back, please. (We missed that one, but my friend Steph snagged us a Figment Pop on release day, so yay for crazy friends willing to drive 2 hours and stand in line all morning for Disney merch!

Here's the Figgy Pop next to John's Dreamfinder shrine in my office:

First Pop I'm actually tempted to leave in the box! Though I still want to paint his eyes yellow.


One of my friends immediately called me on this next vid and my subtle Stranger Things shout-out:



Apparently no one actually says "totally tubular." ;)

There are two night shows at Magic Kingdom; the castle projection show, and then the fireworks almost immediately after. What's interesting about the new fireworks is they use SO much castle projection that it's hard to tell the two apart. Especially considering the projection show uses fireworks! Ha!

Anyway, here's a pretty castle shot:



And a few shots from the projection show:



The Frozen section of the projection show:


Again, this isn't the actual fireworks yet, but you can see why people get confused.


I didn't film any of Happily Ever After because I wanted to just watch it the first time. Overall it's a good show, but I wasn't quite as blown away as the hype led me to believe. It's just very BUSY, with so many different characters and lasers and fireworks and mini-movies all playing at once, to the point that it's hard to catch everything. I told John afterward I almost didn't even notice the fireworks, because with so much happening on the castle I kept missing what was happening in the sky. So it definitely feels like more of a projection show now than a fireworks show - much more so than Wishes.

That said, the simpler scenes that concentrate on just one movie at a time - like the Tangled lanterns and the Pirates fire fight - are downright breath-taking. Plus any time the projection mapping actually uses the castle shape - as opposed to only playing a movie on it like a screen - are beyond stunning. The Genie section with the whole castle decked out in neon lights is particularly awesome. So definitely see it, if you can.


Hope you guys liked my Disney randomness! And happy birthday again to the best hubby a geek gal could ask for.



19 comments:

  1. What a wonderful day! I'm so glad you all had a good time! I can design John basically any Hufflepuff (Paws up!) phone case he could dream up and order it from my RedBubble shop. Just let me know if you want to go that route and we can work something out! (This is steampunk Mickey ears Christina, FYI!) <3

    ReplyDelete
  2. *I* watch your Instagram Stories!

    ReplyDelete
  3. When I was a kid/teen my family went to Disney every two years, and one of the first things we did at Magic Kingdom each time was Country Bear Jamboree. To me it wouldn't be a trip to Disney without it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was at Disney in February as a chaperone with my daughter's HS Marching Band. One of the moms I was with had never been to Country Bear Jamboree, so, since there was no wait, we went. She was completely horrified, in a hilariously good way. We had a lot of laughs on that trip.... And I bought her her first Dole Whip, too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are so lucky to be able to go to Disney so often! I've only been to DisneyWorld once, and DisneyLand Paris twice.

    Tell John happy birthday from me, a random reader of your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't know who wrote "Blood on the Saddle", but it is one of the all time greatest Disney songs. Right up there with "Feed the Birds" , "Rescue Aid Society" and "Yo Ho" as far as I am concerned.

    A very merry unbirthday to John!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Written by Everett Cheetham, recorded by Tex Ritter.

      Delete
  7. One of my dad's very favorite things to do at WDW was see the Country Bears, *SOLELY* to hear Blood on the Saddle. Big Al was my dad's favorite. I lost my dad in 2004, but to this day, I tear up hearing this song. So many memories. Thanks for the column today. The happiest of birthdays to John.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Belated Birthday Salutations to John! Woot! Woot! :D

    That Figgie iPhone case may make me upgrade. ;) I also love the Dapper Dans. A friend of mine used to be one of the DL DDs and my brother-in-law used to be a DL musician. I miss CBJ. One of these days, maybe once I retire, I need to go to Orlando for a couple of weeks and camp at WDW!

    -Zippy

    ReplyDelete
  9. LOVE CBJ!!! At our wedding - we used the whistling from the opening, with Buff with his "let's get on with the show!" .... to let people know it was time to begin! lol I miss it so much at Disneyland, was so sad when it left. Totally enjoyed ALL of your Disney sharing! Happy Birthday John!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I like the idea of the perfect Hufflepuff phone case - following for links.

    ReplyDelete
  11. My last trip to WDW was in July and it was my first opportunity to watch Happily Ever After. I somehow had the fireworks time wrong and we ended up exiting Princess Fairy Tale Hall just as they were beginning, so we watched right next to the carousel. Of course, we missed out on all the castle projection and were able to just watch the fireworks (from all around us, which was great) and hear the music. Maybe that was the better way- less to take in all at once- but there was enough room for my kids (and maybe me, a little bit) to dance around and just soak it in. Try it that way next time; we LOVED it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy Birthday to John. Looks like a fun day out. :)

    Being a stickler here, but I think you mislabled the shot of Donald. Isn't that Mickey's Philharmagic at MK and not the outdoor night show at Hollywood Studios? Unless they've moved Donald since the last time I saw Philharmagic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oops, you're right, thanks for catching that! Aaaand fixed.

      Delete
  13. Yep... John was right - I like seeing all the random rambles and it makes waiting for my next Disney trip so much better! Virtual tour with the coolest, most welcoming internet/pocket friends EVER! Another Happy Birthday ('cause that's always fun), and thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I bought the figment phone case a couple of weeks ago at WDW. I love it so much.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Jen: I went with my beloved to Disney World for our honeymoon. He wanted to get a haircut (yeah, his hair was 1/2 long instead of 1/4 in long! HA!), wo we went into the barber shop (next to the fire house) and he got a haircut! Of course, the Dapper Dans came into serenade us during the haircut! It was just AWESOME!

    I miss my beloved. He passed away from colon cancer at age 49. He was a lover of all things Disney...and Pooh was "our" thing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Happy Birthday John and....WHAT?!?! Bear Country Jamboree can be seen in MK?!?!? The Tiki Room and Bear Country Jamboree are my all time favorites and I still get Grumpy when we pass the Honey Pot ride that replaced it at DL.

    ReplyDelete

Please be respectful when commenting; dissenting opinions are great, but personal attacks or hateful remarks will be removed. Also, including a link? Then here's your html cheat sheet: <a href="LINK ADDRESS">YOUR TEXT</a>