Photo Friday - an Adventureland hidden Mickey?

 

Time for another Photo Friday.

Once again, we return to shots from my January 2015 trip to Walt Disney World.  As regular readers of this blog know, I like to look for new hidden Mickeys.  I was walking through Adventureland near Pirates of the Caribbean, and glanced at the stage where the Jack Sparrow Pirate Tutorial takes place.  I happened to notice the coconuts on the left side of the stage were arranged in a way that could form a classic hidden Mickey.  It is best seen when on the stage.  So a snapped a few photos and I'll put it up for your thoughts.  Is this a hidden Mickey?  Post a comment and share your thoughts.

Photo Friday: Farewell to a bear

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It's Friday and you know what that means!!! Photo time!

With the closing of Malestrom earlier this week, I wanted to say goodbye to one of my favorite parts of this attraction - the giant polar bear that you speed by as you go "back, back, over the falls..." and then stare at as you pass into the next show scene. 

We can only hope this big guy will find his way into Arendelle.

Photo Friday: Catastrophy Canyon no more

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It's time for another Photo Friday!

With the recent closing of the Backlot Tour at Disney Hollywood Studios, I thought I'd share a photo of one of the great moments of this attraction.  While I'm eager to see what's next for the studios, I will miss this scene from the Backlot Tour where guests got an up-close experience of a major special effects shot.  I especially enjoyed seeing the shock on people's faces just after the moment you see here when tons of water appears to pour over the ride vehicle. 

Farewell Backlot Tour!

Photo Friday: Off Kilter about changes to Epcot

Time for another Photo Friday!

With the recent announcement that several live attractions in Epcot will be leaving in September, I wanted to share a shot of what I think is, and soon will be "was." the best live attraction in World Showcase - Off Kilter.  Back in November, 2011 (show# 249), I joined Lou Mongello on the WDW Radio Show to talk about the best live music in World Showcase.

So if you have a chance to get out to Epcot in the next few weeks, I'd recommend catching one more show of Off Kilter and several other World Showcase live acts, because they will be gone soon.

What's coming next?  Well, Disney isn't saying much right now, other than to say that Off Kilter will be replaced by a "lumberjack show."  Not sure what that really means, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Photo Friday: A photographic comparison of Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid

Welcome to another Photo Friday!

This week it's 2 for 1 day!  Well, sort of.

During my May trip to Disneyland, I noted a change to the main cavern portion of the Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid attraction at Disney California Adventure.  The lighting was drastically different than the Magic Kingdom version.  Later, I found out Disney was testing a different lighting level to see if it improved the attraction.  The main reason, as I understand it, was to eliminate guests seeing production elements such as light instruments, projectors, etc.

So see for yourself - which do you like better?

Here is the Magic Kingdom version (this shot is from June, 2013):

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and this is a similar shot from the California Adventure version (this shot is from May, 2014):

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So which version do you like better?  Post your thoughts in the comments section below!

Photo Friday: Going ape for smartphones?

Welcome to another Photo Friday!

I was going back through some of my Animal Kingdom photos today and I ran across this shot of a gorilla along the Pangani Exploration Trail.  While the photo itself isn't all that compelling, there was something about the way he was sitting and looking at his hands that made it look as if he was using a smartphone.

So here's where you come in -- it's caption time!  Imagine that our gorilla friend above is doing something with a smartphone - what caption would you put on the photo?  Post in the comments below!

Photo Friday: The civic groups of Radiator Springs

Welcome back to another Photo Friday!

This week, I'll share another photo from my May 2014 trip to Disneyland/California Adventure.

I've said many times before that Cars Land may be the best Imagineered space in any Disney park.  Here is just one more reason why.  This is the welcome sign to Radiator Springs.  You see these as you drive into just about any town across the nation.  Take a look at the different signs promoting the various civic groups - any sound somewhat familiar? 

Click on the image for a larger view and enjoy all those little Disney details!

Photo Friday: Dinner anyone?

Welcome back foolish mortals for another Tip Tuesday!

Last Friday I had the honor of sitting down at a Haunted Mansion themed table as part of Master Gracey's ball during Mousekemeets.

So this week, I thought I'd share a photo from one of the real Haunted Mansion ballroom scenes - this one from Disneyland.

It never ceases to amaze me the level of detail the Imagineers put into all their work.  The level of authenticity and believability is second to none, and I'm still blown away by the Pepper's Ghost effect, even if it is developed more than 100 years ago.

Anyway, enjoy!

Photo Friday: Torch lighting at the Polynesian

Welcome to another Photo Friday!

This week, I asked some of my Facebook friends to help me choose a random photo from my Disney archive (thanks John Reilly!)

This shot is from March 2010 and is from the nightly torch lighting ceremony at the Polynesian Resort.  This, like so many other things at the various Disney resorts, is completely free.  Every night around sunset, cast members hold a brief ceremony in which the ceremonial torches are lit for the night. 

As you can see, there's a bit more to this than just popping a few matches... though I'll leave that fire-tasting stuff to the experts.

Enjoy and aloha!

Photo Friday: Back in time

It's time for another Photo Friday!

This week' we're heading back in time to bring an Iguanodon forward in time - thanks to our time rover!  This shot captures the moment we are transported back millions of years to the time of the dinosaurs... or maybe it's just some huge heat lamps keeping us warm for when the T-Rex has us for a little pre-meteor shower snack.

Fortunately, I made it back to the present in the nick of time so I could share this with you.

Photo Friday: A "sweet" hidden Mickey

Welcome to another Photo Friday!

Can you spot the sweet hidden Mickey in this display at the Confectionary at the Magic Kingdom?  These hidden Mickey's can be found all throughout the Confectionary, though they're not really sweet - just decorations.

Enjoy!

Photo Friday: It's A Curious World After All

 

It's back -- Photo Friday returns!

My apologies for the looonnngg absence - the journey to earn a Masters degree from USC became all-encompassing for the last few months.

But enough of the past -- moving on to the future!

And speaking of the future, since I'm planning a return to Disneyland soon, I thought I'd share a photo that the DisneyMommy especially enjoys -- Alice and the White Rabbit found in the Disneyland version of it's a small world. 

I'm still blown away at how different the Disneyland and Walt Disney World version of these attractions are.  I'll have more about that in a future post.

Anyway, it's good to be back!

Photo Friday: Zoom into Flo's V8 Cafe

 

It's time for another Photo Friday!

Here's one of the thousands of photos I took back in July during my inaugural visit to Disneyland.  This is from the new Cars Land at Disney California Adventure.  The neon signs all through Cars Land is simply fantastic.  I thought I'd try a bit of show shutter photography to create the neat zoom trails with the neon.

Enjoy!

Photo Friday (makeup): Pipe humor

 

I'm back!

After a month of traveling, including visiting BOTH Walt Disney World and (for the first time ever) Disneyland and California Adventure, boy have I got a LOT of photos and tips to share.  Of course, many of you also know, I'm still working on a master's program at USC (fight on!), so there may still be some times where posts are lacking.

But I'm going to try to do some makeup work, which leads me to today's Photo Friday makeup post!

This is from the well-known (and often ridiculed) skunk scene in Epcot's Journey into Imagination with Figment.  Don't know what the skunk scene is?  Go ride it and you'll find out - just hold your nose.

While most guests are devoting their attention to the three large screens (you can see a bit of the right screen at the top left of the photo above), there are some fun little details and gags that you can catch.  Take a close look at the pipe labels above.  One reads "fume and far between" while another says "scent out."  These are fun play on words phrases Imagineers added to punch up the gags.  There are some other funny pipe labels on the left side of this scene as well.

So I hope you enjoy this little bit of Disney detail and remember -- your nose is "how you tell a skunk's not a rose..."

Photo Friday: "To honor America"

 

Welcome to another Photo Friday!  With Memorial Day just a few days ago, I thought I'd post a photo from the Main Street Electrical Parade to honor our and remember our veterans who have sacrificed for our country. 

To our veterans - thank you!

Photo Friday - Worlds combine

 

Time again for another Photo Friday!

This is a shot from November 2009.  We were staying on an upper floor of the Dolphin Resort and I happened to look out the window and see this interesting collision of worlds.  Here in one shot are the Eiffel Tower from the France Pavilion in Epcot with Characters in Flight from Downtown Disney and the top of the Cirque du Soleil theatre.

Thanks to a good zoom lens, the different elements are compressed together to make it look like they're much closer together than they really are.

Enjoy!

Photo Friday - the Tree of Life

 

Time for another Photo Friday!

This week's Photo Friday is by request -- so here it is - a photo from the Animal Kingdom and you can't get any more iconic of a shot than the Tree of Life.  Some of you might not know that it's not really a tree - it's made of concrete and artificial leaves.  And what's under all that?  An oil rig!

Have a good weekend!

Photo Friday - Luxo Jr.'s brief onstage appearance

 

Time again for another Photo Friday!

This week, let's dive into the recent past at Disney Hollywood Studios for an image from a now extinct attraction that only lasted a few short months - Luxo Junior!

As most of you know, the icon of the Pixar studios is Luxo Junior, the desk lamp first seen in Luxo, one of the first Pixar shorts.

Back in Spring 2009, Disney created an audio-animatronic version of Luxo that would come out every once in a with a short little performance at an area directly across from Toy Story Mania.

Well all good things come at a price, and the price in this instance was a lawsuit by the company that make the actual Luxo lamp.  According to published reports, Luxo had agreed to allow Pixar to use the lamp image as part of the company logo, but when Disney made a physical Luxo (as seen in these photos), the Luxo company Disney - Pixar had taken things too far and filed suit.  To further compound the problem, the Luxo Jr. audio-animatronic was temperamental and often suffered malfunctions.  By Spring 2010, less than one year after Luxo Junior had first debuted, Disney pulled the plug (sorry, had to use the pun) on the project, presumably due to the lawsuit. 

While there's nothing to back this up, I suspect the Luxo company wanted more money and Disney wasn't going to give in.  Personally, I think this was a dumb move by Luxo as it was a golden opportunity to market their product to millions of people each year, but I digress.

Anyway, there you have it - a piece of short-lived Disney history.

Enjoy this obituary for Luxo Jr. by Matt  Hochberg of StudiosCentral.com.

Photo Friday: "Retro" Epcot

 

Time again for another Photo Friday!

This week, let's again borrow Mongello's Wayback Machine and travel to the summer of 2007 and this photo from Epcot.  It may seem like a long time ago, but it's only been about five years since the often maligned hand and wand came down from Spaceship Earth in 2008.

So enjoy this look back at the Spaceship Earth of (the not-so-long-ago) yesteryear!

Photo Friday: Nemo's vibrant colors

 

Time again for another Photo Friday!

This week, I let fans of the DisneyDaddy Facebook page choose from which park this week's Photo Friday would come and it is... Animal Kingdom!

I'm such a big fan of Finding Nemo the Musical that I thought I'd share a shot from one of the many excellent scenes in this production.  This is the first scene in which we meet the characters from the fish tank at Dr. Sherman's office. 

One aspect of this show that appeals to me is the vibrant color scheme.  Much of Animal Kingdom has muted colors (with the exception of Dinoland USA, but we're not going there), so to see the rich colors in this show is a welcome change.

If you haven't seen this show -- you really need to.  It's one of my must do's at Animal Kingdom.

In the meantime -- just keep swimming!