by Sean | Oct 30, 2014 | Favorite Food Friday
Our Favorite Food This Week: Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe – Onion Rings
Location: Pecos Bill – Magic Kingdom Frontierland
Welcome to this week’s Favorite Food Friday where we share our favorite foods with our friends. This week we look at one of our favorite side items, Onion Rings. There are not many locations on property that have onion rings, but one of our favorites is Pecos Bill. These onion rings are amazing, perfectly sized and just the right amount of batter.
What is your favorite side item at the park?
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by Sean | Oct 30, 2014 | History
The Sorcerer’s Hat, are you a lover or a hater? Disney recently announced the removal of the hat from Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The Sorcerer’s Hat will be removed in early 2015. I’ve seen many posts and articles about this topic and you can definitely see the divide of those that visited the park before it existed and those that had a first visit afterword. Let’s take a look at the history of the hat and the history behind it’s placement at MGM (Hollywood Studios).
We were introduced to Sorcerer Mickey in the 1940 film Fantasia, in a role originally intended for Dopey from Snow White. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is the third and most famous piece of this film. Mickey was working for a sorcerer master named Yen Sid (Disney backwards) and was learning to perform magic. Yen Sid went off to rest and Mickey “borrowed” the hat and became Sorcerer Mickey. His first bit of magic ended up with a flooded tower and Yen Sid coming back in to help.
Since this film, Sorcerer Mickey has made many appearances in film/TV in The Mickey Mouse Club, Mickey’s 60th Birthday and House of Mouse. He can also be found in video games including Kingdom Hearts , Epic Mickey, and Disney INFINITY. And also theme parks including World of Color, Fantasmic, Mickey’s Philharmagic, and the weenie at the end of Hollywood Boulevard.
The Sorcerer’s Hat at Disney’s Hollywood Studios was erected in September of 2001 as part of the 100 Years of Magic celebration. It replaced the parks previous icon the Earful Tower. Under the hat you originally found kiosks you could go up to and learn more about Walt Disney’s life and career, today you find a gift shop.
Before the Sorcerer’s hat visitors has a clear view down Hollywood Boulevard to the front of The Chinese Theater. Disney’s version of The Chinese Theater was an excellent copy of the actual theater in Hollywood which leads to the speculation on why the hat was put in front of it. In 2000 the Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood changed hands and the rumor was that the new owners of the theater wanted Disney to pay royalty fees anytime they sold a picture to guests with the theater in the picture. So Disney put the hat up in front of the theater to avoid these royalty fees and block the theater from any pictures being taken down Hollywood Boulevard.
So the hat will fall in early 2015. I’m a pre-hat visitor so I’m excited to see the original view we had down Hollywood Boulevard. Let us know if you will miss the hat in the comments below.
by Sean | Oct 28, 2014 | Wordless Wednesday
Theme – Disney Villains
by Sean | Oct 28, 2014 | Tips and Tricks
World of Color is the night time show that is presented at the Disney California Adventure park in the Paradise Pier area. This is an amazing show with colorful water fountains that move in all directions, movie projections on mist screens, and of course Disney music from past and present. The best viewing spots, including those that you have to have a fastpass for, are directly in front of The Little Mermaid Attraction. Be sure to arrive early and be prepared to stand for awhile. About 45 mins before the show starts they require people in the area to stand to allow others to come in and fill in any open area. Besides being able to grab a fast pass you can also reserve a dining experience that includes passes to a viewing location.
A show similar to this will soon join the waters at the Animal Kingdom Park – this show titled “Rivers of Light Nighttime Spectacular” will be the first night time show at Animal Kingdom and will feature floating lanterns, water screens and animal imagery. The show will be in the larger body of water between Discovery Island and Expedition Everest. Dates have yet to be announced on when this will begin but construction is well underway.
Now let’s get to our trivia: How many fountains do you think are used during the show?
These fountains can shoot water 30 to 200 feet into the air, that’s 50 feet taller than Mickey’s Fun Wheel in the background.
Here is our video to you can count 🙂
How many did you count? The answer to this week’s trivia is 1200.
Each fountain is individually controlled for different colored lighting along with intensity and the height and angle of the water. Our video doesn’t give it justice, it is truly an amazing site to see and highly recommended if you are visiting the park. For more trivia be sure to stop by our friends below.
by Sean | Oct 27, 2014 | Hidden Mickey
Our Hidden Mickey this week comes from Bonjour Village Gifts in New Fantasyland at Walt Disney World. How many of us spend time window shopping while in the parks? While you do this be sure to watch for our pal. Here Mickey can be found in the front window at Bonjour Village Gifts.
Sorry about the reflection in the glass, but you can clearly see him in the bottom left side of the window.
Hi Mickey!! Did you spot him?
We love Hidden Mickey‘s. In what other windows have you spotted him?
