As part of an ongoing celebration of Disneyland‘s 55th year, I have been in friendly competition with my friend Francis over whether it is possible to go on 55 attraction in 55 hours at the park. We have gone through a significant chunk of those hours and the end is in sight. I’m glad I’m not the one doing it though as he seems to be living in lines or on attractions. I’m quite content to sip on my coffee, listen to Ragtime Robert, and watch him whiz by on his way to the next attraction. I have to admit, he has done better than I expected him to and it might end up actually being close. It does remind me that I need to get busy with my computer and edit all the video that we have compiled. We have at least two, or three, or four more episodes worth of footage filmed. I might keep it down to one or two though.

For those of you who haven’t seen the first episode, I am including it in today’s post.  Do you think Francis will be able to achieve this challenge? Only time will tell. I guess that is all from me for today. Enjoy the video!

Make it a GREAT day!

-Mr. DAPs

As you might have noticed on DAPs Disney News this morning, they are casting for The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made. Along with the opportunity to be a part of the next Muppet movie this release also gave a better look at what the movie will be about.

According to the release, The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made will  ”center on the The Muppets reunion, in order to save The Muppet Studio in Hollywood. They get everyone together in an adventure to defeat Tex Richman, an evil Hollywood man who wants their studio! Everyone must work together in order to save their beloved Muppet studio, and together with their human pal, Gary, they are sure to do so!”

We can make a fairly educated guess that Gary will be played by Jason Segal. It will also be directed by Nicholas Stoller.  Ben Stiller and George Clooney are rumored to be working on The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made as well. The rest is up in the air. One draft of the screenplay indicated they’d like to have a lot of celebrity cameos including Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Christian Bale,  Steve Carrell,  Jack Black, Mel Brooks, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Rachel Ray, Bob Saget, Lisa Lampenelli, Jeff Ross, and Charles Grodin. I think it’d be a complete coup if they pulled all this off. Traditionally, the GREAT Muppet exploits had some really fun cameos throughout the years.

The release date for The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made is December 25, 2011. Filming will be this month (September) through November of this year as well.

I cannot wait for this movie! I think this will be the best Muppet movie since The Muppet Christmas Carol. So now as I wrap this up for today I have a couple of questions for you. What is your FAVORITE Muppet movie? What is your favorite Muppet? Do you think that they are on the right track with this movie?

Make it a GREAT day!

-Mr. DAPs

ps. For information on the casting call you can click HERE or check out DAPs Magic Daily Disney News.

Now they are making Mr. Popper’s Penguins into a movie.  Originally Ben Stiller was attached to the project but for whatever reason that didn’t work. Now, after some speculation on if it’d be Owen Wilson, Jack Black, or Jim Carey, a new Mr. Popper has been chosen. Jim Carey will be playing Mr. Popper.

Sadly, they have also made some changes to the storyline.  As it turns out, in the movie Mr. Popper is no longer poor but a rich man. He inherits the penguins and they end up becoming his family. Because he is focusing so much on the penguins, his business ventures go down the tubes and he ends up in trouble. While this might seem like a good idea in a studio conference room somewhere…I would much rather have seen a period piece that stayed true to the original story. The original really was an enchanting storyline that would still make a wonderful family/kid movie. I am hoping that they still overcome this (what I consider) flaw and make a decent movie. Only time will tell though.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins will be released sometime in 2012.

Make it a GREAT day!

-Mr. DAPs

A trip to Disneyland is a treat for all of the senses. The sights and sounds are the most common sense that people think of. With the music, bright balloons, beautiful castle, fireworks and more it is easy to see why these two senses might be the most commonly thought of. However, have you ever stopped to smell the roses when you enter the park? That may sound silly, but I mean it in the most literal sense.

Let’s close our eyes and take a mental stroll down Main Street shall we? There are many scents here to tease your nose. Start right when you enter the tunnel the scent of popcorn from the popcorn cart by the flag pole almost instantly demands you buy a bucket (ok maybe that’s just me). As you continue your stroll the coffee and vanilla fragrance from the coffee house, bakery and candy store overwhelms you. An interesting little fact about the vanilla scent is that most of what you smell is actually filtered out to the street to entice you to come get a snack (and boy does it work!).

Continuing on our little tour of scents we will head to Adventureland. Up until this point we have really been focusing mainly on food which Adventureland does have (umm hello? The ever popular Bengal Barbecue never ever smells bad) but here we have our first attraction scent as well. The Jungle Cruise is known for its great jokes and animatronics. These are part of what has kept the ride as popular as it is. I invite you to take into consideration however the scents that surround it. While floating down the river the smell of wet soil, water, and even the cap gun keep you immersed in the adventure you are taking part of.   

Venturing over to New Orleans Square brings us to my personal favorite smell in the park if not the whole world (well my husband is my favorite smell but this is a very close second). This magical scent is Pirates of the Caribbean! There is something completely unique about the smell of that ride. Maybe it’s a combination of chlorine, age and animatronic oil, but the next time you are there deep in the berm just close your eyes and inhale. It’s truly an experience you won’t regret. The Haunted Mansion has a similar “scentsation” sans the chlorine.

Hopping on the train in New Orleans Square and riding it over to Fantasyland allows for another unique scent, the natural gas used by the train. The smell that collects can be especially strong in the tunnel where passengers view Splash Mountain. While it’s not the greatest scent it is distinctive and not something you will soon forget.  

During the spring Fantasyland can be one of the most fragrant spots in the park. The flowers blooming around Storybook Land and Casey Junior offer a unique bouquet that tantalizes ones nose. Be forewarned however that if you have allergies they might tickle your nose as well as your fancy.

Tomorrowland offers many of the same scents as the rest of the park. Most of these smells are food related. This is not surprising because I am sure there aren’t a lot of smells in space. One smell I often notice here that is not prevalent anywhere else in the park is garlic! Redd Rocket’s Pizza Port exudes garlic when walking towards Space Mountain.    

This is just small sampling of the scents that can be found at the Disneyland Resort. The “scentsation” offered is not limited to just the Disneyland Park. Don’t forget that Soarin’ Over California and It’s Tough to Be a Bug in Disney’s California Adventures also treats its riders and/or audience to some interesting fragrances.

Now that you know some of my favorite scents in the park, what are yours? Popcorn, ice cream, coffee? Maybe a ride? I look forward to hearing some idea to go sniff out for myself!

Have a magical day!

Sarah

When you think about Star Trek: The Next Generation (ST: TNG from here on out) there are a few iconic images that probably come to mind. Beyond that massive ship they introduced, the first that comes to mind for me is a bald captain. I would probably have to go with the android Data, with his yellowish skin, to be my second icon for ST: TNG. Obviously the rest of the regulars onST: TNG would eventually come to mind as one thinks back about ST: TNG. But what if those hadn’t been the main icons of this show?  If things had gone as originally thought, this very well could have been what happened.

A recently released casting memo gives insight into what might have been withST: TNG. In fact, if you look at the memo you quickly realize that only ONE person from the memo actually got the part that they were listed for. That would be Gates McFadden as Dr. Crusher. But wait, you say that’s not the name on the memo? Well, Gates first name is really Cheryl.

So now lets look at what could have been. Let’s start with Captain Picard. In the show he was played by Patrick Stewart. However Stewart wasn’t the only front runner for the job. Patrick Bauchau was also in the running. You might recognize him if you ever watched The Pretender a few years back. Being that he is from Belgium it is understandable why he would be considered for the role of a French captain. I’ve always thought it was interesting that they chose and English man to play the French Captain Jean-Luc Picard. I’ve never questioned it but always thought it was interesting.

Some other interesting casting switches that happened. Denise Crosby, who eventually went on to play Tasha Yar, was slated on this memo to play Counselor Troi. For Tasha Yar they had Star Trek: Deep Space 9′s Rosalind Chao(Keiko O’Brien) on the list.  Another Star Trek alum, Tim Russ (Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager) was in the running to play Geordi La Forge.  Other actors vying for that role included Reggie Jackson and Wesley Snipes. That sure would have made for a MUCH different show! I think the one that really catches my attention the most is Wesley Snipes as a potential Geordi La Forge. I really have to wonder how he would have played it differently than LeVar Burton did. Looking at the list for Data I notice that Brent Spiner isn’t even on the list! He is definitely a character I cannot picture someone else playing.

It is always fun when a little nugget like this casting memo gets released. We get so set in the way things are that quite often we don’t think of the way things might have been. Who knows if it would have been better or worse but it is definitely interesting to consider! What do you think? Anyone you’d have liked to seen in the cast of ST: TNG? It’s definitely interesting, and a bit weird, to think about!

Make it a GREAT day!

-Mr. DAPs

Tinker Bell & Vidia - Pixie Hollow - Disneyland - August 27, 2010 

Yesterday I stopped by Pixie Hollow real quick to see the newest addition to the pixie family. Vidia was indeed there and available for photos. Here is one that I took. I’ll upload more next week but thought you’d like to see one at least.

Vidia is being added to the family of fairies at Pixie Hollow in honor of her role in the upcoming Tinker Bell Movie, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue.

Recently, Dave has been telling the story of how Cargo got his raygun and then what happens when he gets it. It has been absolutely hilarious. You can check it out at www.spacebase8.com. There is an RSS feed there and I’d highly recommend subscribing to it! It makes for a nice laugh to start the day off.  He has a very definitive style for Space Base 8 that is retro yet there definitely is a modern twist to it. There are also a lot of sci fi and other references within the strip. In fact, there might be a likeness of theEnterprise in one of the strips for you Star Trek fans.  My personal favorite involved a lighthouse robot being messed with by a lamp… yes, a lamp. It is in full color and is absolutely brilliant. His schematic of the raygun is pretty funny as well! This brings me to my question of the day. Do chicks really dig rayguns? What do you think?

Make it a GREAT day!

-Mr. DAPs

Lets see... Where to begin?? I was asked to write a little bit about myself so everyone could get to know me a bit better...

Well I'm 26... I've been going to Disneyland since I was about 4 or 5... The first time I went I thought the tram was it and actually asked my parents if we could do it again. This was back in the time of the original parking lot so it was a good 5 minute long ride. We used to go once a year for my birthday so it made it that much more special. I have pictures from the 35th anniversary. The first time I went on Star Tours I was about 5 or so and was terrified. I started screaming R2 save ME!

Fast forward to age 12... We got our first annual passes. This was back when there were 2 types and we got the $99.00 one... My mom and sister would go shopping and I'd ride the rides... ah... the days before fast pass... We did that for about a year or 2 and then we moved! I didn't go to Disneyland from the time I was 14 until the day I turned 21... I consider this the dark ages...

Then on my 21st birthday which happened to be the day before the 50th anniversary my then boyfriend now husband took me to Disneyland. We weren't really aware it was 50th anniversary weekend until we got there. I have always felt that DL and I were meant to be together since my birthday is the day before... lol... So I knew my hubs was going to propose but didn't know when, where or how... around 8:30pm we were on the Haunted Mansion and in front of the ballroom (this was his first time at DL so not sure how he knew the ballroom) and he turns to me and says, "Are you happy?" and I answered, "yes of course" and he said, "would you be happy spending the rest of your life with me?" and I said YES!! We then got off the ride and watched the Remember Dreams Come True fireworks... queue waterworks... We hung around the park and then at midnight we went over to the Coke piano pavillion and sang Happy Birthday to Disneyland! It was such a magical day!!

2007-2008 and 2009-2010 were when we got our joint annual passes. There were lots of adventures, we did the Walk in Walts Footsteps Tour, Princess Dining, Ride on the Lilly Belle, Dream Fast Passes, 5 minute meet and greet with Aurora and Snow White, ride in the captains box of the Mark Twain, Company D shopping trip, viewing of the old Pet Cemetery next to the Haunted Mansion... 

That is just the briefest of overviews into my Disney obsession.  I look forward to sharing my love and excitement for Disneyland and all things Disney related. I hope that I am up to par with Mr. DAPs' wonderful blog and that I can spread a little bit of Disney magic to someone else! As usual Walt Disney said it best, "I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained."

Have a magical day!

Sarah

Sarah, a friend of DAPs Magic wrote a wonderful post about Disney social media for her work and after reading through it, I thought I'd share it all with you. I could tell you about it but then you wouldn't read it so instead, I'm just to leave you with the link! Hope you enjoy this post! Show her some support and leave a positive comment for her!

You can read her post here: http://enfortegroup.com/node/23

Make it a GREAT day!

-Mr. DAPs