With the hernia surgery and FMLA paperwork and blah blah blah, of course, the magical things get left in the dust. But I’m home, a bit sore and achy (altho for the first time in a month and a half, my sugar has dropped to normal) and bored because there’s a huge game patch happening, so I can catch up!
Everyone knows of my old anti-Disney stance. But it wasn’t necessarily Disney I was against. It was some of their practices. I didn’t (and still don’t) care for how they take a story, and once they do it, it seems to become their sole property. Yes, legally, THEIR version is their property, but Beauty and the Beast is a French folk tale, so its open domain for another version to come along. Likewise, The Little Mermaid is Hans Christian Anderson…public domain. Lewis Carroll…public domain. Poe…public domain. There’s a good article on Wikipedia for when various mediums become public domain (good info for artist friends to look into as well).
Now, as to those stories, I like Disney’s versions of them. I truly enjoyed the park. I grew up watching Wonderful World of Disney, and had a surreal moment when I was there, as I watched the fireworks over the castle: as a child, who would have ever expected I would one day be there, watching it happen?
Some of the rides/shows I did: Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Peter and Wendy, It’s a Small World (its actually easy to tune that song out if you play Metallica in your head), Na’vi River Ride, Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth, Carousel of Progress, Buzz Lightyear’s Ranger Spin, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Jungle Cruise, the Little Mermaid….
Pandora!
And the parades! I’ll have to upload the zillion or so pics still on my phone, but Mickey’s Very Christmas Party (or whatever its called) was incredible.
This picture doesn’t do justice to HOW FREAKIN’ COLD it was, after a torrential downpour the night before. The fake snow was beautiful, and somewhat magical, except that I’m from upstate New York, and I just felt like I never left. Things are blurry because I WAS SHIVERING.
And that wonderful, wonderful iconic castle…
I saw amazing puppet shows (the newer animatronics move so smoothly that they are utterly mindblowing) that make me want to be doing puppetry again. The Little Mermaid Show…in Disney Hollywood Studios?…brought tears to my eyes. The Ursula puppet/bot was astounding. I didn’t get pictures because, honestly, I couldn’t stop watching long enough to dig out my phone.
Inside Gaston’s tavern, yes, lots of antlers used in decorating.
Look! Another parade! Festival of Fantasy! AMAZING!
Which included Rapunzel
And dancers…does this woman even have legs?
There was also breakfast with Chip and Dale, and breakfast with Pooh and friends, and Rivers of Light and Reflections of Earth…again, need to load up more pics, in an upcoming blog. But for now…this sums up what Disney did for my tired, aching soul.
azbaelus 