Marvelous May
May was certainly a marvelous month! It seems like every time I turned around there was another fun thing to be doing and something else even better to look forward to. Every month should be this way! Towards the beginning, Erika and Beth came to visit... Erika driving in from Arizona and Beth flying all the way from Washington. Beth had a wish to celebrate her birthday at Disneyland and I being the enabler of magical moments stepped in to make this dream a reality. We played in the park, enjoying World of Color in all of its glory, the new menu at the Hungry Bear restaurant (which is AMAZINGS!) and of course each other's company. I was glad to see Erika and Beth having a geektastic time together (even if Beth did fall asleep when we watched Tron: Legacy) and was happy to be a key part of it. Perhaps for the first time ever we bought a balloon... something I never wanted to do as a child, but as an adult it has a strange nostalgic appeal. We gave the balloon to a friend and it still it sitting on her ceiling after nearly a month... quality stuff.
More Disney magic was made with Jungle Cruise Skipper Game night at TDA (the big green building you can see from the 5 freeway). I'm a sucker for work parties... just like I was a sucker for official dorm events like our silly Dorm Prom. Man, good clean fun sometimes just takes the cake. I was invited to help set up for the game night and helped a fellow skipper make cupcakes. We didn't know how successful the party would be since not that many people signed up, but in the end we had a healthy turnout with several people competing in the costume contest. I think either the attacking natives or dancing natives won. I played (and won!) a rousing round of scrabble and a turn of "The Magic Kingdom Game" which is based on a trip to Disney World where you have to "visit" certain attractions to win. Amusing. I also won third place in the Jungle Cruise trivia challenge... a pair of pineapple sunglasses was my prize. The first place winner won a shrunken head prop from the new Disneyland Hotel Bar, Trader Sam's, which is based on the Jungle Cruise. The imagineer that designed the bar was a former skipper and came to join in at game night and present the prize... which brings me to the next segment...
Trader Sam's! There seems to be a trend that I welcome around the Resort which is to revert to the retro. A lot of merchandise these days is retro and now the Disneyland Hotel is also taken on that nostalgic look. In addition to the vintage monorail water slide pool and the re-theming of the towers, a new bar has taken the place of The Lost Bar, which was the former watering hole of the Disneyland Hotel. Trader Sam's takes its name from the shrunken head dealer at the end of the Jungle Cruise who offers guests "two of his heads for just one of yours". The bar itself is small, holding only a maximum of 45 people, but its incredible inside. The walls are plastered with Jungle Cruise and Adventureland memorabilia. Spending hours in there wouldn't be enough time to see everything that is featured... especially since you'd have to lean over other patrons. Tiki totem poles from The Enchanted Tiki Room flank the bar itself where you can order a variety of tropical drinks, all inspired by the Jungle Cruise. In essence, a skipper's after-cruise paradise. Opening day was busy, with a line snaking down the terraced steps just to get in. I managed to get in to sneak a peek at the decor and chat with some fellow skippers. I have decided that perhaps a renaissance of imagineering design has begun.
The very next day after visiting Trader Sam's for the first time, I embarked on a trip to Arizona to visit my sister and attend Phoenix Comic Con. I'd never been to a convention before and it sounded like a lot of fun with some cool panelists including George Takei, Leonard Nemoy and Bruce Boxleitner. One of my best friends from college, Jennifer, also elected to join me. I set off from Orange County in the morning around 10am and picked up Jennifer from Cathedral City where she lives, just outside of Palm Springs. From there we made a happy trek through the desert, stopping only once to fill up on cheap gas... much cheaper than California in part because of a lack of emission taxes. Upon arrival in Phoenix we took to the pool and cooled off in the unheated pool. Good times. The next morning we donned our Con gear and drove downtown to the convention center. I gotta say, I had an amazing time. Just watching all the other con-goers was entertainment in itself. People had some really creative costumes ranging from Stormtroopers to Pokemon to My Little Ponies and a variety of obscure anime characters. Not nearly as many people in Tron gear, but I guess that's alright. We browsed the indy comic artists and the rare action figure vendors, attended lectures on topics such as NASA's recent and future plans, how to make a steampunk costume (not very informative), the probability of time travel and others. We also met up with some additional friends and ate delicious lunch at a place called Pita Jungle. Not jungle theme. I loved the panels listening to the actors talk about their careers and answer some questions from the con-goers. Good times... and an amazing trip. I was pretty sad I had to leave after enjoying such fun in Arizona, but Disneyland and getting paid lured me back to California. So ended Marvelous May.
And now its Jovial June! Lately I've been working a great deal on the steam trains, that being my preference attraction. The Park has been busy owing to the opening of two new attractions (Star Tours and The Little Mermaid ride) and the beginning of summer break. Next weekend my extended family is coming down for our annual Father's Day weekend trip. I hope we'll have fun!
More Disney magic was made with Jungle Cruise Skipper Game night at TDA (the big green building you can see from the 5 freeway). I'm a sucker for work parties... just like I was a sucker for official dorm events like our silly Dorm Prom. Man, good clean fun sometimes just takes the cake. I was invited to help set up for the game night and helped a fellow skipper make cupcakes. We didn't know how successful the party would be since not that many people signed up, but in the end we had a healthy turnout with several people competing in the costume contest. I think either the attacking natives or dancing natives won. I played (and won!) a rousing round of scrabble and a turn of "The Magic Kingdom Game" which is based on a trip to Disney World where you have to "visit" certain attractions to win. Amusing. I also won third place in the Jungle Cruise trivia challenge... a pair of pineapple sunglasses was my prize. The first place winner won a shrunken head prop from the new Disneyland Hotel Bar, Trader Sam's, which is based on the Jungle Cruise. The imagineer that designed the bar was a former skipper and came to join in at game night and present the prize... which brings me to the next segment...
Trader Sam's! There seems to be a trend that I welcome around the Resort which is to revert to the retro. A lot of merchandise these days is retro and now the Disneyland Hotel is also taken on that nostalgic look. In addition to the vintage monorail water slide pool and the re-theming of the towers, a new bar has taken the place of The Lost Bar, which was the former watering hole of the Disneyland Hotel. Trader Sam's takes its name from the shrunken head dealer at the end of the Jungle Cruise who offers guests "two of his heads for just one of yours". The bar itself is small, holding only a maximum of 45 people, but its incredible inside. The walls are plastered with Jungle Cruise and Adventureland memorabilia. Spending hours in there wouldn't be enough time to see everything that is featured... especially since you'd have to lean over other patrons. Tiki totem poles from The Enchanted Tiki Room flank the bar itself where you can order a variety of tropical drinks, all inspired by the Jungle Cruise. In essence, a skipper's after-cruise paradise. Opening day was busy, with a line snaking down the terraced steps just to get in. I managed to get in to sneak a peek at the decor and chat with some fellow skippers. I have decided that perhaps a renaissance of imagineering design has begun.
The very next day after visiting Trader Sam's for the first time, I embarked on a trip to Arizona to visit my sister and attend Phoenix Comic Con. I'd never been to a convention before and it sounded like a lot of fun with some cool panelists including George Takei, Leonard Nemoy and Bruce Boxleitner. One of my best friends from college, Jennifer, also elected to join me. I set off from Orange County in the morning around 10am and picked up Jennifer from Cathedral City where she lives, just outside of Palm Springs. From there we made a happy trek through the desert, stopping only once to fill up on cheap gas... much cheaper than California in part because of a lack of emission taxes. Upon arrival in Phoenix we took to the pool and cooled off in the unheated pool. Good times. The next morning we donned our Con gear and drove downtown to the convention center. I gotta say, I had an amazing time. Just watching all the other con-goers was entertainment in itself. People had some really creative costumes ranging from Stormtroopers to Pokemon to My Little Ponies and a variety of obscure anime characters. Not nearly as many people in Tron gear, but I guess that's alright. We browsed the indy comic artists and the rare action figure vendors, attended lectures on topics such as NASA's recent and future plans, how to make a steampunk costume (not very informative), the probability of time travel and others. We also met up with some additional friends and ate delicious lunch at a place called Pita Jungle. Not jungle theme. I loved the panels listening to the actors talk about their careers and answer some questions from the con-goers. Good times... and an amazing trip. I was pretty sad I had to leave after enjoying such fun in Arizona, but Disneyland and getting paid lured me back to California. So ended Marvelous May.
And now its Jovial June! Lately I've been working a great deal on the steam trains, that being my preference attraction. The Park has been busy owing to the opening of two new attractions (Star Tours and The Little Mermaid ride) and the beginning of summer break. Next weekend my extended family is coming down for our annual Father's Day weekend trip. I hope we'll have fun!