The Toy Story Mania Dash (and disaster)

Continuing with another story from our July 2010 Disney World trip, attended by me, The Lovely Steph Leann and the In-Laws, Mama Ruthless and Big Daddy Ron.  So far, we've done...

--PENSACOLA BOOBAGE... Spending the night in Pensacola, including getting flashed on the road side.
--DISNEY IN HOT JULY... Day One of the trip, including the French Quarter, dinner at Epcot, the Electrical Light Parade, the Haunted Mansion Wailer and the Saturday morning's Soarin' snafu...
--ATTACK OF THE LEFT EYE... How my contacts and my eyes conspired to ruin my trip through Ellen's Energy Adventure

On Sunday morning, we were up early because Hollywood Studios opened early, at 8am.  We were up and at 'em at 7, ready to get on the bus soon enough, get over there, get in line and get into the park as soon as possible... what awaited us this morning was the event that any Disney trip worth its salt must make, that being the Toy Story Dash.

THE TOY STORY DASH

Upon entering Pixar Place, you'll see Toy Story Mania, if not
for the signage, than for the 53,008 people trying to ride it.

Toy Story Midway Mania is by far and away the most popular ride/attraction in Disney's Hollywood Studios, and probably one of the most popular in the entire World of Disney.  That means that within the first 30 minutes or so, the wait time for the ride shoots through the roof.  In the down times, it gets anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour (and when I say "downtime", I mean a crowd slow enough to get on Rock'n Roller Coaster in like, 5 minutes) and on busy days, I've seen 80 minute to 120+ minute waits.   I have the firm belief, at least for my own self, that NO ride is worth waiting 2 hours for, but if there was such a ride, Toy Story Mania might be it.

So, the answer is, Fastpass it.  But there is a finite number of Fastpasses available per day... I found out later that what they do is insert a number of Fastpasses into a machine, and once those are gone, thats it.  No more.  Toy Story Mania Fastpass lines are sometimes longer than the initial queue for the ride itself, and if you don't get a Fastpass for it, you might not get to ride it, save waiting 2 hours of your already crammed Disney day in line.  The ride opened early 2008, so the first time we were there after the ride was open was September 2008, when we went with DeNick and DeLisa... It was a short trip, and we got to The Studios later in the afternoon, with the wait around 90 minutes.  In hindsight, I wished we had waited, but we elected to not ride it.

Thus, the Toy Story Dash.  When you get into Hollywood Studios, like Epcot, they will only let you go so far before you run into a rope.  At the park's opening, you have a crucial decision to make, one that will essentially set your schedule for you for the rest of the day... do you want to ride Toy Story Mania, yes or no?  If no, then when that rope drops, you go right.  Go ride Rock'n Roller Coaster, or Tower of Terror, and though there will be a small crowd to fight through, but nothing that will cost you more than 10, maybe 15 minutes of wait time for anything. 

If yes, then you enter The Dash.  When the rope drops, ticket(s) in hand, you begin to move quickly forward.  Hundreds of other people are having the same goal as you, all to get a Toy Story Mania Fastpass, and like you, they are flooding that way.  The goal is to not knock over strollers, even though moms try to run over you, to not bump into anyone, even though everyone is stampeding, not to flatten small children, even though parents are dragging kids along and those same kids are just all kinds of walking in front of you.

At some point, Cast Members must have figured out that just letting a mass of people storm the Toy Story Mania castle might be dangerous, so they have various Cast Members leading the pack with a small rope--go around that rope, and they pull you aside and you have to wait for everyone to pass.  Kinda like how some shampoo bottles say "Hey, don't eat this!" on the bottle, because some dorkface ate it, I'm guessing they Cast Members are there now for crowd control because it was deemed necessary.

THE TOY STORY DISASTER
Now that you know about The Toy Story Mania Dash, this is all leading to the Sunday morning of our Disney vacation. As I said before, we were there way, way early, and this allowed us to be first in line at the turnstiles.  So, when they started allowing us to get in, I was first in.  I walked at a brisk pace to down the street between the shops and Keystone Clothiers, to the rope.  The rope.  It was in my hand.  I put my hand on the rope, looked ahead toward the Sorcerer's Hat, and knew... I just knew... I was going to be one of the first people to get a Fastpass.  I would make sure I got tickets from Big Daddy Ron, The Lovely Steph Leann and Mama Ruthless, I would get our passes...

...and then we'd jump in the regular line, wait maybe 15, 20 minutes, then we'd ride Toy Story Mania!  Oh, the fun time we would have!  Then, we'd exit the building, and while the wait time had increased to 45 minutes, we'd head over to Rock'n Roller Coaster... we'd wait 20 minutes or so, and ride it.  Then we'd do Tower of Terror.  Perhaps by that time, we'd be able to get another Fastpass, but more than likely, we'd wait the probably-no-more-than-30-minutes-by-now wait time, and ride it.  And by 11am, pehaps 11:30, we'd have done the three biggest, most popular rides in the park, with passes to ride Toy Story Mania again at our convenience.  And we'd ride it again, or maybe we wouldn't... who knows!  We have the power!  All because I had the rope in my hands. 

Rope in hand, I veered around to see Mama Ruthless coming up behind me.  I was a little worried for a few seconds, but I saw that she was waving her ticket... had to have that to get all of our Fastpasses.  My phone buzzed.  It was The Lovely Steph Leann.  I figure it will say something like "wait for us, need our tix" or "where r u?" or "see you, don't move, coming".  But no.  It didn't say something like that. 

"Dad's ticket doesn't work"

Wait... what?

I reread it.

"Dad's ticket doesn't work"

Those four words means that the entire morning just came crashing down.  All hope of riding Toy Story Mania in the next 20 minutes, gone.  Riding Rock'n Roller Coaster in the next hour, gone.  Riding Tower of Terror in the next 2 hours, gone.  Getting those three big rides done by 11:30, all gone.  Walking around, laughing at those people in the 120 minute Toy Story line, taking our pick of whatever ride we want because everyone else is on the the big rides, walking easily from ride to ride to ride, with Fastpasses burning a hole in our pocket, Gone Gone Gone!!!!! 

LETTING GO
As I turned around, my hand still clutched the rope.  It didn't want to let go.  It held on tightly, and after a few seconds, it gave one more squeeze... and released.  As I moved away from the rope, like water filling in the space that a rock occupied, suddenly my little space by the rope was immediately taken by someone else who's entire party had working tickets. 

I was ahead of all of these people.  And now, like a confused lemming, am
going back the way I came.  Sigh.  Not good times.

I made my way through the ever-thickening crowd to the turnstile, where Mama Ruthless and The Lovely Steph Leann stood on one side, my side, and Big Daddy Ron stood on the other, bar in front of him, with a ticket that just plainly did not work.  And it dawned on me... the ticket didn't work for one of two reasons, the first being that the ticket was good, but they weren't taking it.  I had hoped this would be it, because if it was, and we went back and got another ticket, even though we had a working ticket, we were totally going to Guest Relations and getting one of those All Day Fastpass Fastpasses.  The second reason that it might not work, and the reason that was probably 97% more likely to be true, was that I had given Big Daddy Ron the wrong ticket.  Remember, I had a stack of tickets that I had gotten checked, and though I thought I had kept them separate, this incident proved that they weren't.

The crowd, roaring and loud getting in, swirled around us, the Cast Member, though smiling, obviously impatient for us to get out of her line, Big Daddy Ron looking at me with a "what do you want me to do?" face.  I leaned over and said, "We've got to get you another ticket..." and it then dawned on me that while the first two days of this trip I had carried my Kermit messenger bag (and every trip before this one had me taking a Mickey backpack), but today, especially since I was in glasses and couldn't wear contacts (thanks, Left Eye. Jerk.) I had no need for any sort of bag, save for the small pin pouch I was carrying. 

The extra tickets that I had in the room were on the table... wait, no they weren't... they were... in the chair, I think... wait... they were in the Kermit bag on the bed, in the side pocket... wait, the front pocket... wait... I dunno... when Big Daddy Ron said, "Give me your room key, tell me where they are, I'll go back and get the ticket..." I stammered.  I stuttered.  I had nothing.  I couldn't tell him, and the rushing swirl of people around people around us  I sighed, my hand clinched empty with no rope to hold, no hope to have.  I was going back to the room.

With one final glance at the Sorcerer's hat, maybe a hundred yards away, it might as well have been sixty miles away, and now with the crowd gathering into the hundreds between where I stood and the blasted, glorious rope, I turned to the exit, moved out of the turnstile and Big Daddy Ron and I walked out. 

We noticed that the bag check line, the line we came through an hour or so ago with nary a soul there, had grown to about twenty, maybe thirty people deep.  There was a flock of Internationalis Groupus swooping in as well.

BUS STOPPED
We walked down the long walk to the bus stop and stood.  Neither of us said a word, both of us frustrated at the entire situation.  I knew looking back, and it proved to be true, that it would be rather humorous a tale to tell, but at that moment, it was terrible.  We stood at the bus stop for French Quarter for what seemed like ages... I looked at my phone, and realized the park was now open.  Bus after bus after bus after bus pulled up at the drop off points, some of them saying "Riverside", some of them saying "All Star Sports", some of them saying "French Quarter", all of them pulling away without a glance to the two poor saps standing in the heat, awaiting a ride back to the room to get a ticket that worked.

Finally, a Cast Member crossed the street over to us and asked, "What are you guys waiting on?  A bus?"  I told her yes, we needed a quick ride back to the French Quarter.  She pointed to a blue bus in the distance and said, "See that bus over there?  I'm going to call them over here, they'll give you a ride back.  Otherwise you'll be here awhile, because the buses really aren't going to be doing any picking up for another hour or more."  We thanked her, and within five minutes, the non-Disney-owned but Disney-licensed bus stopped and we got on. 

The mood was a bit lighter on our way back, with both of us accepting the fact that it was what it was, nothing we could do about it now and so on.  I asked him to go to the concierge's desk and make sure that in fact, his ticket was already used, and I would dash to the room and get a good one.  He did, and I did, meeting up with him at the bus stop to Hollywood Studios.  And yes, the ticket was bad.

A bus came, we were laughing about the whole thing by now, and twenty minutes later, we were back at Hollywood Studios, again, walking towards the entrance, again.  The bag check had now grown at least fifty persons deep in each of the three or four lines, with the majority of the people wearing matching yellow shirts and other "I'm in a group of 75 chanting, obnoxious fer-ah-ners" garb.  Big Daddy Ron, who had somehow procured a bag of bananas and water (maybe he went back to the room too?) looked at the line, pulled out a bottle of water, threw the bag of bananas in the trash and deadpans, "I'll buy her some fruit in the park.  Let's go."

HOLLYWOOD... AGAIN
We got in, the park was now packed, and met up with The Lovely Steph Leann and Mama Ruthless over at Pixar Place... using the Fastpasses that The Lovely Steph Leann had already gotten, the boys rode the ride (his first time, my 10th at least), we came out the other side, and our day at Hollywood was finally set on the right track.



Through the rest of the day, we hit the big stuff, like Rock'n Roller Coaster via Fastpass, a 30 minute wait for Tower of Terror, The Great Movie Ride (which actually had a line that started outside the door, which I'd never experienced), we had lunch at Pizza Planet, and about midday, we were done with Hollywood Studios. 

Of course, I do need to mention the fact we met Lotso Huggin' Bear...

For those of you wondering, we smelled strawberries as we came around the corner, but Lotso didn't give off any
kind of fruity smell.  But, he's a hugger, as we all found out when he embraced each one of us.

And everytime we go to Hollywood Studios Art of Animation building, we do have to get pictures with The Incredibles. 

As we were in line for Lotso, we could see up the stairs where The Incredibles were.  At first, it was Frozone and Mr. Incredible--I've had a picture or two with each, but never together.  By the time we were out of the Lotso line, Frozone
had gone, and Mrs. Incredible came out.  Which was quite alright.

Because this story took forever, as my stories are wont to do, I'll stop here, and do one more with a few fireworks pics, the quick wrap up on the rest of the trip, and maybe a few things I missed... because I absolutely forgot to mention Captain EO... and it must be mentioned.

Hollywood Studios signs up model Rachele Schank

Models International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hollywood Studios International announces the signing of acclaimed international model Rachele Schank.

Shortly after Rachele's signing, she was hired for Dimitri Zafiriou's runway show at Athens Fashion Week, an editorial for the popular teen magazine PINK WOMAN, a commercial spot for SOFT KINGS COOKIES and a commercial spot for VODAFONE. Each of these commercials runs on every major channel, giving Ms. Schank even more widespread exposure.

Scott Whitfield, Managing Partner of Models International, said, "We are excited that respected model Rachele Schank has been added to our already fantastic roster of talent. Her unique look is widely sought after by photographers, designers and clients alike. Along with the US, Rachele is now one of the hottest commodities on the European and Asian model circuits and has truly become a Superstar."

Models International is a premier boutique modeling agency based in New York and Los Angeles with plans to expand domestically and internationally. The agency represents over 400 models for fashion, commercial, hosting, and endorsement endeavors. The agency's client list includes Vogue, Teen Vogue, Teen Magazine, Allure, Maxim, Cosmopolitan, Modern Salon Magazine, Women's Wear Daily, Rolls Royce, Abercrombie + Fitch, Ralph Lauren, Ed Hardy, Bebe, Rock & Republic, Pottery Barn, Macy's, Fox Racing, Sketchers, Wella, BCBG, Tilly's, Urban Decay, MTV, HBO and many others. 

Read More............ 

More Fashion News - USA

More Fashion Models News - USA 

Reports from The Happiest Place on Earth

So, here's our Walt Disney World vacation for our 5th Anniversary, 2009. I tried to figure out the best way to tell it without rambling, but the best way really was just tell some stories. Read the ones you want, skip the ones you don't, but along the way, I'll give you some great Disney tips and perhaps some food reports too... it might be two columns, it might be four, who knows... but, here we go...

I love seeing Cinderella's castle at the beginning of any of my Disney vacations. The broad base and moat, the tall blue spires that reach towards the heavens in... well, for lack of a better term, a majestic fashion. I know the castle doesn't do this for everyone.



Different things excite different people. I could care less about U2, I think Rammer Jammer is stupid and though I can dig on "Hey Ya!", its not my favorite joint... but in the same way that Mikey gets excited when he hears the opening notes of "With or Without You" in a U2 concert, or in the same way that Tyler Campbell jumps for joy when Rammer Jammer starts blaring from the band or in the same way that Mindy D'A starts breakin' it down when "Hey Ya" comes on the radio, I am about Disney World. (granted, I'm not sure that Mindy D'A breaks anything down when she hears OutKast, but I thought I'd name drop)

There's so much to tell in any trip to The Happiest Place on Earth, especially one that starts on a Thursday night, and doesn't end until Saturday of the following week. This was planned to be the 5th Anniversary vacation for myself and The Lovely Steph Leann--we had honeymooned here the first week of March, 2004, for 4 days before embarking on a 3 day Disney Cruise, so we thought a return for our fifth year kickoff would be grand. We'd already been 2 times in between, but who's counting.

Well, along the planning stages, somehow, someway, The Lovely Steph Leann's mom, Ruth, and Aunt Becky worked their way into the trip. Being a manager assistanty type person, a part payment for my hard earned work is the ability to get myself and three others into the parks pretty much most of the time. So, for you math skolurs out there, take myself, add The Lovely Steph Leann, throw in my just wonderful mother in law and now the aunt, and that makes four.

Discussions where had, compromises were negotiated, and no matter how I did or didn't feel about the entire thing, it was what it was, it is what it is, and Ruthy Campbell was paying for gas, so there ya go.

The thought was to leave late, late Thursday night, possibly around 10 or 11pm, drive all through the night and arrive at The Magic Kingdom around 8ish or so. The women would sleep in the car, I could drive the trip, and the next day, I'd be dead tired, but hey, I've done the whole "up for what feels like a bajillion hours" before. Well, we're taking this behemoth of a vehicle, a GMC Yukon, the type of SUV that cars like Toni Rocki Honda would actually orbit around, and I'm just not comfortable driving something that unfamiliar.

So, in my brilliance, I called up The Lovely Steph Leann a few days prior to departing, and suggested that we leave earlier, and get a room for Thursday night. She agreed, I called down and though Pop Century was completely full, we upgraded slightly for a night at Port Orleans Riverside...

...DISNEY TIP!!! There are several catagories of rooms, with the least expensive being "Value Resort", which is All Star Movies, All Star Sports, All Star Music and Pop Century. I highly recommend these, mostly because all you truly need is a bed at Disney. That being said, sometime it is nice to go a little better every now and then. "Moderate Resorts" include Coronado Springs, Port Orleans Riverside, Port Orleans French Quarter and Carribean Beach. From there, you get to "Deluxe Resorts", which include the very pricey digs like Grand Floridian, Yacht & Beach Club, The Polynesian, The Contemporary, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Fort Wilderness Lodge, Boardwalk Inn, Saratoga Springs and a few others. Beyond that, you've also got Disney Vacation Club resorts, campgrounds and a few other places mixed in...

...which is cool because we'd never stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. Its kind of my thing now, I want to try to stay in the different hotels at some point, with the ultimate dream of mine being The Polynesian, with all its tropical atmosphere and tiki towers rising through the lobby. We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge for a night in September of last year, when we went with our friends DeLisa and DeNick, and it was glorious.

The hotel we slept in... for about four hours. It was awesome. And breakfast was great, too.

Problem was, we actually didn't quite get out of town until around 6pm, or after, and truthfully, when you have three women picking at each other about which direction to head, and who it is to blame for why we left so late and so on and so forth, its easier to just sit in the back seat, plug in my earbuds, and keep quiet.

After all this, we finally rolled up into Disney World, or at least Port Orleans Riverside, around 430, maybe 5am Eastern Time. Check out at the hotel was 11am, and we hadn't even checked in yet. I laid my head to rest around 530p, The Lovely Steph Leann didn't get to lay down until closer to 6am. We slept until around 9, then had to get up and pack up the few things that we had taken out. It might be silly to pay for a room for only a few hours, but trust me, that sleep was invaluable--I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

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The benefit of having so many days in front of you at The Happiest Place on Earth is that you can take your time doing everything. Magic Kingdom is not nearly the biggest size-wise, but has the most to do and is the park that is almost impossible to cover in a single day, so we had already planned to break it into two, perhaps three days, so we hit Magic Kingdom first, doing most of Tomorrowland... we rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, we toured the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor (both highly recommended rides), we rode Space Mountain--which, by the way, they will be closing later this year to update it, making it faster, darker and adding music.

We strolled into Pixie Hollow, which is located in Toontown...

... DISNEY TIP!!! The Magic Kingdom is comprised of seven different areas, each with its own style and atmosphere. Besides Tomorrowland, there is Main Street USA, which you walk on when you enter the park, finding various shops and such... Liberty Square, where you'll find the Haunted Mansion... Adventureland is the home of the Jungle Cruise, the Tiki Room and Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride... Frontierland has Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain... Mickey's Toontown Fair contains Goofy's Barnstormer kid coaster and The County Bounty... and finally, Fantasyland, a big area with all the major traditional rides like Mad Hatter's Tea Party, aka the teacups, Dumbo, Peter Pan's Flight, It's a Small World and so on...

...more specifically, the County Bounty, a huge pavilion of gifts and stuff. To the right side of the County Bounty, once you enter the big doors, you'll see two queues, one to meet princesses, and the other to meet fairies. We got in line, and for the first time, was able to meet Tinkerbell (who called my pin lanyard 'flitterific') and her fairy BFFs Silvermist and Rosetta.

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FOOD!!! That night we ate at 1900 Park Fare, which is located at The Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, at Cinderella's Royal Gala. Quite simply, its this huge buffet topped off with table visits by Cinderella, her boo Prince Charming, the Wicked Stepmother, and the two stepsisters, Drisella and Anastacia. The two stepsisters are my favorites, though, because they always seem to really play it up great.


Dessert was marvelous

Dinner for me consisted of yummy creamed potatoes and a large hunk of sliced roast beast, some mac & cheese, some other foods I can't think of, a bowl of chilled strawberry soup, and several little bitesized cheesecake tarts, berry tarts and chocolately junk. It was a-may-zing.

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After just passing out within ten minutes of getting to Room 240 at Pop Century, I slept like a baby. And since we went slower on Friday, we had to be up early on Saturday to hit the ground running... and Saturday...

TOY STORY MIDWAY MANIA!!! This was a ride we had been unable to ride last September due to the fact the wait was up to 3 hours in length. I had heard this ride was just unbelievably a fun ride to be on, so I wanted to prove it for myself... The Lovely Steph Leann and I raced... well, I say raced, but you have to understand, The Lovely Steph Leann doesn't run. She just doesn't. I was talking with The Dainty Steph Halpert earlier tonight, and she agreed, "Yeah, Stephanie doesn't run. I'm sure of that."

So when I say "race", we really just walked kinda fast. We got there and immediately got our fast passes, then immediately jumped in the currently-only-20-minute-wait-but-soon-to-grow-to-hours line. The queue is fascinating, as its as if your a toy sized being walking through Andy's room... everything is enlarged, from the crayons to the Tinkertoys to the Barrel o'Monkeys to the Scrabble game on the ceiling. In the back is Mr. Potato Head, telling jokes and singing and welcoming one and all to Toy Story Midway Mania.





Finally, we get to the ride, and are just giddy... seriously, we've heard from a ton of people that the ride is great, but truly, we really don't have much of an idea of what we'll be doing. We get in to the little car, both of us sitting behind brightly colored "guns" with a little pull string coming out of it. We throw on our 3D glasses, and suddenly are whirled in front of a screen with Woody and Jessie, as they tell us its time to practice. Pull back on the string, and a little "ball" flies across the screen, smashing "paint" all over a plate Jessie is holding.

Hold on... this is... kinda cool... this is really, really cool!

The little car zips around through various scenes, and we shoot ducks and plates and balloons and we try to ring the little alien guys and it was 100% incredible awesome. It was a ride you wanted to continue, so as soon as it ended, we hung out in the Pixar area until our fastpasses allowed us to ride it again. Over the course of our vacation, we rode Toy Story Mania five times.

...DISNEY TIP!! When you go to Hollywood Studios, you want to go immediately to this ride if you plan on doing it. Why? Because that is what every single other person will be doing. The fastpasses will sell out usually by midday, but even if you got one of the last ones they give, it wouldn't let you on the ride until 4, 5, maybe 6pm. My suggestion is to get a fastpass for it right off the bat, then either ride it then (allowing you to ride it again later with your fastpass) or just ride it a little later. The wait time will get up to an hour or more. If you aren't interested in this ride, though that's just weird, this is a good time to go straight to Tower of Terror and Rock'n Roller Coaster, because again, most people will be at Toy Story Mania

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We headed over to The Beauty and the Beast stage show, which is about 30 minutes in length, but is worth it. The colors are vibrant, the music is great--yes, the songs are somewhat condensed, but its enough "Gaston" to whet your appetite--and the dancing is top notch. Plus, its a great chance to sit and relax, especially since the theater is covered, during the summer months it will be awesome. Another show that is along the same lines, though not quite as good is "The Voyage of the Little Mermaid", which is simply the Little Mermaid story.



Ursula looks cool, but beyond that, its just a so-so show. Its a good wake up, though, when onstage the ship is in the storm, and in the audience, you get rained on. Sprinkles, really, but it will make you wet. Beware.

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They just started The American Idol Experience at Hollywood Studios, which both The Lovely Steph Leann and I jumped at. Earlier in the day, we passed the audition area, where you could sing for the judges to try and get on the show, but The Lovely Steph Leann refused to do so.

Though the "grand opening" wasnt until the next week, February 14th, they were showing "preview shows" all week. We filed in, and the stage looks like what the American Idol stage probably looks like in real life. There was a judges table, with the Coke containers sitting so you could clearly read "Coke".


The stage is set. The contestants are here. The dream is alive. THIS. IS. AMERICAN IDOL (lite)

A guy comes out, energizes the crowd and tells us how it all works (apparently, they do this on the real show too)... quite simply, three people perform, that being three guests who auditioned and were chosen. The audience picks the winner. Our host comes out, this chick with long legs and a bit too much makeup, and three judges come out, two girls and a non-British guy on the end.

Since its a preview day, the prizes won't be awarded today, but apparently, there will be four shows per day. The first three shows each produce a winner that goes on to the 7pm "Finals" show. The winner of that show, crowned the best singer of the day, gets a special "golden ticket" that allows her to go to any Idol audition in the country, and go directly to the front of the line.

The first girl to come perform is like, 15 or 16, and she does a great job even though she is singing "Colors of the Wind", on of my least favorite songs. The next guy does a forgettable country song (as in, I actually don't remember what it was) and the third chick does a loud version of "Independence Day". She starts off great, but loses it toward the end, but the crowd goes nuts anyway. The Lovely Steph Leann voted for the third chick, I went with the first one, but the third chick won out.

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I got to meet Frozone!

There is an Art of Disney show that I highly recommend, because... well, its really cool. Afterwards, though, you spill into an area to meet some characters and see some animation, and they have a few kids areas too. We heard that Rhino the Hamster and Bolt were going to be there, so we got in line--we were the last ones in line, as a matter of fact.


Its Rhino and Bolt! It was awesome! It was beyond awesome... it was.... BE-AWESOME!

On our Times Guide, "The Characters of The Incredibles" was listed as being there, and though I love me some Incredibles, we had already met Mr. Incredible and Elastagirl. But after our pics with Rhino and Bolt, I glanced up, and saw a familiar blue color. In a voice that sounded like I was eight, I giddily exclaimed, "Steph! Frozone is up there!"



We scurried up the walk, and there was Frozone! It was one of the coolest things ever!

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FOOD ALERT!!! For dinner, we traveled over to The Garden Grill, located at Epcot in The Lands. The Garden Grill is a character meal, but its known more for the restaurant itself. It spins. When I booked it, though, I was imagining a tower like building with a rotating top, much like the one that used to be in Florence, where I shared a dessert date with Mary Ann Crittenden in 2000.



The fact that I couldn't recall any such tall tower in Epcot, though, puzzled me. Its not in a tall tower, though... its on the 2nd floor of The Land (a building in Epcot that houses "The Circle of Life" ride, "Living with the Land" and "Soarin'") and when we first walked up, The Lovely Steph Leann says, "Oh, it must not be rotating tonight. That's too bad, I guess its broken."

So I ask our cast attendant about it, and he says, "No, its working!" I stared at the floor, at a small black seam on the floor at the top of the ramp. On the right side, the ramp was just there, not moving. On the left side, every so slightly, the floor was moving. You had to really look at it to tell, no doubt it took an hour or more for it to make a full revolution. There was the lower level of seats that was in a big circle, where you could overlook part of The Land lobby area, and another part of the circle allowed you to overlook the "Living with the Land" ride.

We sat on the second level, which was really just one step up. It was strange, because as I sat, there was a large rock on the outside of the "vehicle/restaurant", and twenty minutes later, I had to turn around and look behind me to see the same rock. The food was great, though. They served us roast beast, along with turkey and some other meat, potatoes (now, I'm not a huge fan of potatoes unless they are really creamy, but there were some rockin' creamed taters all over Walt Disney World) and some cranberry sauce that The Lovely Steph Leann was diggin'.


They even brought us Anniversary Dessert, which was really a cupcakey thing with a few candles on it. It was nice, though.

And on Sunday... its off to The Magic Kingdom!!

Idol's First Group of 12 (with Results!)

Here's the result update... for a recap of the performance show, just skip down past the line....

Left the television on as I was at church tonight, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), for KidStuf rehearsal and other fun and frivolity. As I came in tonight, whatever channel I left it on was current showing "Barb Wire", the Oscar winning epic starring one of the greatest actresses of our generation, and a first ballot entry into the Silicone Gone Wild Hall of Fame, Pamela Lee Anderson. As I sat, I checked my email real quick, found comments made about Disney pictures I posted (more to come on Facebook and here as well), and started to turn on the DVR, when I got IMs from my buddy Langer and from Erin the Marine Wife.

Now, since I don't talk to either very much, I was cool with chatting with them for a few, but as I was, I felt myself getting dumber and dumber because Pamela raced around the screen in her black leather, shooting things and blowing things up (no, not THOSE things, I mean like helicopters and cars and stuff) and what have you. I feel like I need to call up The Dainty Steph Halpert and talk to her husband, Matt Halpert the Science... Guy... pert... to help regain those lost IQ points.

So, if I wake up tomorrow and forget how to tie my shoe, I blame you, Langer, and you, Erin the Marine Wife for forcing me to watch fifteen minutes of "Barb Wire". In fact, I lost three IQ points just typing that name.

THIS IS

AMERICAN IDOL RESULTS!!!

Seacrest comes out, reminding us that there will be three people advancing... the top chick, the top dude, and whoever has the next highest amount of votes. I like it because our top 12 isn't necessarily going to be a mandatory 6 guys and 6 girls, it might be 8 guys, 4 girls, or 5 guys and 7 girls or whatever.

During the "how they got here" recap montage, I like the fact they are playing "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson, perhaps to make up for Stephen Fowler's bad performance of "Rock With You"...

Can I just say, no one under 25 or maybe more fully how understands how magnificent of a performer Michael Jackson used to be. Now, he's a punchline, he's a joke, when you say his name, is automatically associated with little boys, or no nose, or the high pitched stupid voice.... but back in the 80s? Back in the days of "Thriller", when it first came out, or when "Bad" was first released... I mean, Michael Jackson was a bad, bad man, and holy crap he could dance.

I'll have to explore this further soon... but it helped me miss the usually terrible group performance, this time butchering Jason Mraz's hit "I'm Yours".

And now, we get the clips from last night... Jackie T dancing, The Ballad of Ricky Braddy ballad, Mike the Oil Rigger over doing the overdone "I Don't Wanna Be", Stevie Wright's disaster, Casey Carlson's facial twitch nightmare, Stephen Fowler's "Rock With You" that upon a 2nd viewing was terrible, some guy I can't even remember his name to tell you how boring he was, Tatiana the Annoying, Anoop Dawg's melancholy, Ann Marie's bad Aretha decision, Alexis Grace taking the show until... Danny Gokey takes the stage.

They are all on the Couch of Destiny now, as Seacrest grills them about how they are feeling and such. Cindy Warner told me tonight she just wanted some time to pluck Anoop's eyebrows. Now that she said that... holy smokes... those things might be their own Idol contestants.

My predictions are... Alexis Grace... Anoop Dawg... and Danny Gokey...

Tatiana the Annoying is just that. Get rid of her! Seacrest points out the three seats who will hold the top 12. Casey is up first... and she has to know there is no way she's going to get to sit in those Stools of Destiny. And its revealed--she is done. Stephen Fowler comes up next. And he's not in the Top 12.

Alexis Grace... she actually reminds me of what Gwen Stefani would have looked like at 21. And I think one of those Stools of Destiny has her name on it. And now... it has her booty on it, cause she is in the Top 12. She actually gets to sing her song again...

Jackie T and The Ballad of Ricky Braddy both walk up. This has to be tough, because this early in the show, they just had one girl move to the Top 12, you have to think that they won't have another finalist awarded this quickly. The Ballad of Ricky Braddy is not in the Top 12. Jackie T is also not in the Top 12.

Anoop Dawg and Mike the Oil Rigger come down next. So who makes it? Going on to the Top 12 is Mike the Oil Rigger. Dude! Rock on! I really like this guy, singing voice or no, he's a great guy to have around.

Just as well with Anoop. If he would have won American Idol, the terrorists win.

Speaking of which, there was a movie that came out a few years ago called "American Dreamz", which had the backdrop of a talent show much like Idol... one of the plots featured this Muslim kid who was pushed through to the finals only to suicide bomb the president, who was making a special appearance. Well, with Anoop gone, that's now out, I guess.

They are doing a feature of the new attraction at Hollywood Studios, called "The American Idol Experience". Its really a fun show, and I'll talk more about that in an upcoming post.

Coming down to the stage now is Carly Smithson and Michael Johns... what happened to her? She was so rockin' pretty! Now she looks like she planted her face into a paint tray of makeup. Time to fast forward.

Seacrest calls down Ann Marie Boskosomething. Brentoby Keith stands up as well. Stevie Wright stands up. Seacrest is calling them out all at once. And who makes the Top 12? None of them. This leaves Tatiana the Annoying and Danny Gokey, with one spot remaining. I would say that this country couldn't have possibly voted in Tatiana the Annoying... but seriously, look who our president is.

By the way, chicks love Danny Gokey. I heard a few people talk about Idol at church tonight, and the females I heard all talked about how much they loved Danny. So, I think this gives alot to The Goke. So, one is in, one is out, and... its... The Goke! Danny Goke knocks off Tatiana the Annoying, who is crying onstage, almost with a "that should have been me!!!" face.

So, its Alexis, Mike the Oil Rigger and The Goke who are now in the Top 12. No mention of how they'll choose the wild card singers. We do see the ones singing next week, and I recognize like, four of them.

The moment of the night, though... watching everyone onstage after The Goke finishes his song, clapping, celebrating, congratulating Alexis, Danny and Mike the Oil Rigger... and they flash to Tatiana, who is bawling her eyes out, her face in a "This sucks! I'm better than all these people! I am better than that blonde chick and that big fat oil rigger guy and that guy who the only reason he won is cause you stupid people out there fell for his whole sympathy 'my-wife-died' thing! I'm better than all of them! I deserve this!" Love it.

____________________________________________

THE PERFORMANCE SHOW FROM TUESDAY NIGHT

They've made it through auditions... they made it through Hollyhell week... they made it through the Final Judgement... they've made it through The Lovely Steph Leann and her deadly face coverin' blanket... and now, here they are, the Top 36... they'll perform 12 at a time, and the top three from each group will move on to the American Idol Finals.

THIS

IS AMERICAN IDOL!!!

This time, there is no second chance. The guy with the highest vote, the girl with the highest vote, the next guy or girl with the highest vote all get slots in the Finals. The final three spots are chosen by the Wild Card Show... Seacrest just introduced the 12 performing tonight, though the names were spoken too fast for me to even type 'em down.

Jackie Tohn is first up... she's 28, and unlike Nate the Pansy, she really, really wants this. She'll be singing "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley. You might know this from "Ocean's 11", which took a very little known Elvis tune and made it famous. Personally, I love the song, its probably one of my two or three favorite Elvis songs. And Jackie isn't killing it, she's putting a bluesy tone on it... but not my favorite.

The Lovely Steph Leann just "mm"s me when I mention this, though that "mm" might be more from the cotton candy she's nibbling on, cotton candy that I bought for her at the Main Street Confectionary in The Happiest Place on Earth last week, along with the peanut brittle that she might get to tonight as well. I'm such a good husband.

Randy says it didn't blow him away, but he liked it. Kara loved Jackie working the stage. Paula enjoyed the fact that Jackie got her up dancing. Simon, with a smile on his face, still thinks Jackie played a "clown" tonight, with a gimmicky song. I totally agree with Simon.

To top it off, The Lovely Steph Leann hates Jackie's shoes. Oh the indignity!!

Ricky Braddy is next. Who is this guy? Hearing his montage is the most I've ever heard him speak. His family is holding a sign that reads, "The Braddy Bunch". I make fun, but really, if my name was Braddy, I'd totally be playing the Brady Bunch card. His song is "A Song for You" by Leon somebody, to which The Lovely Steph Leann pipes up and says, "I love Karen Carpenter's version of this." Of course she does. The Lovely Steph Leann loves all things Karen Carpenter.

Or instead of the Brady Bunch, maybe I'd call my website "Birmingham Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Braddy". That's funny! Once again, he's got a good voice... but the song kinda bores me. The Lovely Steph Leann says, "Good stuff!"

Randy says, "This is the start of season 8! Unbelievable!" Kara says, "You killed it! Amazing!" This guy is shaping up to be Elliot Yah-meen Part 2: Good Teeth Strike Back. Paula loves him. Simon says, "Very good... I'm not jumping out of my chair... but you don't have any star quality."

And they spew the whole "this season is the best ever!" What are they going to say? "You know, we got some good people, but ain't none of them nearly as good as two years ago... but stay tuned anyway!" And when Seacrest is interviewing him, Ricky Braddy doesn't have his mic on. So no one knows what he just said.

Here comes Alexis Grace. She's cute, she's got flippy pink hair, looks comfortable in animal print clothes and is singing "Ain't Never Loved a Man" by Aretha. Oh geez... she's taking on Aretha. And instead of just copying Aretha, she does her own slinky, sexy take on it... and hey, it sounds great. And the little black dress doesnt hurt either.

Dig it! I loved it!

Randy said, "you done found the dirty and the soul! you worked it out!" Kara throws some forth some cliche, while Paula begins her tirade of butterflies and rainbows. And she almost cries. Is this really the chick I had on my wall in 9th grade? Eesh. Simon loved it as well.

So, after three... I pick Alexis Grace by a mile, followed by The Ballad of Ricky Braddy, and Jackie T.

And in the audience, we get a shot of Neil Patrick Harris and Ted Danson... I'm guessing they are in a movie or show coming up, because otherwise, that would be the most random pairing ever.

Idol goes country, with Brentoby Keith up next. And when they cut to do Brentoby Keith's montage, they screw up and show a still shot of some chick. Finally, the montage works. He's singing a song called "Hicktown", naturally, and from the first note, he's gone.

I look at The Lovely Steph Leann and simply say, "He's gone" and she doesn't even look up from her blanket. She just slightly nods her head to agree. I mean, Brentoby Keith isn't doing too bad... but its karaoke. Or like an opening act of a country band with some country term as a name, like "Jar of Pickles" or "Pork Rind Band" or "Tractor Pull". The kind of opening band that will be forgotten quickly, after Kenny Chesney or Martina McBride takes the stage.

Kara and Paula both wanted him to take a bigger risk, Randy says it was pretty good, and Simon? Paula says, "You are a country star, look what happened to Bucky Covington" and Simon asks, "What has happened to Bucky Covington?" My thoughts exactly.

Who doesn't love a chick named Stevie Wright? She's cute as a button, despite having about 103 teeth in the front top part of her mouth. Very, very toothy.

She's doing "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift, a great song choice, because Stevie and Taylor are only seperated by a year or two... and both I and The Lovely Steph Leann cringe when Stevie starts singing. Perhaps its nervous, The Lovely Steph Leann says she's flat, but either way... this is terrible.

Wow. She just blew the biggest audition of her life. Randy didn't like it. Kara didn't like it. They both tell her she went way, way too safe. I think the song was fine, she just did a terrible version of it. Paula searches for clouds and puppies, but can only come up with fog and a milkbone. Simon says, "It was terrible. There's no point booing, it was really terrible."

The Lovely Steph Leann is still "uuhhh" and "uugghhh" about the whole song.

Anoop Dubai, or Anoop Dogg as we might start calling him, comes up now. He sang "My Perogative" by Bobby Brown in Hollywood week, which was just weird, made even more weird by the fact it sounded good.

Anoop Dogg is taking on Monica's "Angel of Mine"... I gotta tell you, as much as he doesn't look like anyone who can sing such a song, he is a great singer.

Sometimes I wonder about the backup singers. Typically its three or four black chicks who sometimes sing better than the actual contestants... but do you think that they ever get the song they'll be backing up, and laugh amongst themselves, "I know that crazy white boy ain't even gonna try to sing James Brown, is he? I mean, its our job to back him up, but still..." So when they get this from Anoop Dogg, they think, "I know that crazy Indian boy ain't even trying to sing Monica, is he?" And he is. And did. I liked it.

Randy liked it. Didn't love it. Kara liked it. Didn't love it. Paula liked it. She just likes him. As for Simon, he thought the song was too grown up.

After half the contestants have gone, I gotta say its Alexis, Anoop Dogg, The Ballad of Ricky Braddy, Jackie T, Brentoby Keith and Stevie Wright. I can only hope someone is better than The Ballad of Ricky Braddy for that 3rd spot.

Here comes someone with "I Love Pickles!" potential, that being cutie-patootie Casey Carlson. She's even got a superstar name. I mean, I'd buy a Casey Carlson CD before I'd buy a Stevie Wright CD.

"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" is the song she's going to sing... tough order. Go Casey. The first note is harsh, but she picks up quickly. Holy crap she's hot. But her song is not. It's just pretty good... but not great. The Lovely Steph Leann can't figure it out either, maybe its the music, but whatever, it just doesn't click. However, Casey Carlson is still frickin' hot.

Randy and Kara both sing, "Everything about that song was wrong..." and Kara says, "You picked the Police! No one goes after those songs!" and Paula tries to say something good by telling her how pretty she is (never a good sign), but that it didn't work. Simon says, "you look good, but the singing was atrocious, and you could not have chosen a worse song and arrangement."

And here comes Michael the Oil Rigger, from Jasper, TX. Mike from "Dirty Jobs" did the oil rigging once, and yes, its a dangerous, dirty job. Michael the Oil Rigger is doing Gavin McGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be", a song that really is... well, its overdone.

I think I've heard this song more on American Idol through the years than I ever heard it on the radio, especially in the last few years. Mike the Oil Rigger is rockin' out with it, looking like he's having a good time and all. I mean, its not awesome, its not great, but its good and it looks fun.

Randy says, "Yo, you can sing, but it started rough for me." Kara agrees its a crowd pleaser, but wanted more from him. Paula liked it lots. She got confused by watching the mic go from hand to hand as he sang, sort of like following the ball atop the words in a Sesame Street singalong. Simon says, "We like you. This wasn't the best vocal, but you might get through."

The Lovely Steph Leann likes him lots.

And here comes Ann Marie Boskovich who has "hot potential". She's the one who sang in her auditions, got sent out to find a better song, came back and made it through. She's also taking on Aretha, "Natural Woman", so we'll see if she can take out Alexis Grace in the top spot.

"before the day I met choo..." is what she sings, and The Lovely Steph Leann laughs. Ya know, its a good rendition. Again, not fabulous, but better than most. And as the song is winding down, she's getting better... wow, two Arethas done right in the same night. Remarkable. Ted Danson loved it.

Randy says it wasn't a good song choice. Kara agrees that the song feels old fashioned. Paula stumbles around, ending up at, "you did better than you've done before..." and Simon? "If we were searching for the best hotel singer in California, that would have been quite good. But your voice isn't good enough for that song."

For me, I thought it was great. The Lovely Steph Leann says, "if you do that song, you have to strip that song, do it different, you can't do Aretha."

With three left... here's my picks... Alexis Grace, Anoop Dogg, Ann Marie Boskovich, The Ballad of Ricky Braddy, Mike the Oil Rigger, Jackie T, Brentoby Keith, Casey Carlson, Stevie Wright.

Just saw the trailer for Wolverine: Origins. Just peed myself. I'm as giddy as Michael Jackson in a daycare.

Stephen Fowler, big, stocky and afro cool, he's the guy who forgot his lyrics during a song in Hollywood week and walked off stage. And he's singing "Rock With You" by Michael Jackson... he has the potential to blow me away right here. I love this song.

This is a song that the backup chicks probably went nuts over. Dude, Stephen is doing it! It's different, its not the same old boring ballad, its Michael Jackson when he was black, back before he was all weird and Chris Hansen's dream project.

The vocals weren't even that good, the song wasn't great, but heck, I liked it. Randy didn't like it. Maybe its because it was so different is why I like it... Kara didn't like it either. Paula actually chides him for getting a second chance and blowing it. Simon hated it, calling it the word of death: "Corny".

During commercial, I comment that Tatiana the Annoying is up next, and The Lovely Steph Leann groans. "Oh... she's gone. Oh, I hope she's gone." Seacrest even pokes fun at her laughter. She was all kinds of psycho annoying in Hollywood Week, with this terrible laughter.

"Saving All My Love For You" by Whitney. NO! NO! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO SING CLASSIC PRE-CRACK WHITNEY!!! EVER!!!

You know that scene in Spaceballs when Princess Vespa is in the prison cell, and singing a very low "Nobody Knows" and Barff says, "She's a bass!" That kinda reminds me of Tatiana the Annoying at the beginning of this song... however... admittedly... she's not bad. Both I and The Lovely Steph Leann really wanted her to be... but compared to most of the performances tonight, she's not bad.

She might even be good. I might have to rank her in my top three tonight. Crap.

Randy says, "you had some moments in this song that was like 'you can sing!'" Kara says, "Your like a roller coaster!" Kara asks where she fits? I say the exit door is good. Paula sounds like she's about to cry with every word. Beautiful and pitchy is Paula's description. Simon calls her a drama queen, and tells her she's completely, desperately trying to be famous. They all tell her to be annoying again!

Finally, its Danny Gokey, the guy who was best buds with Jamar. He's a church music director who lost his wife a month before he auditioned. The Lovely Steph Leann really likes this guy too. And then he sings, "Hero" by Mariah, and The Lovely Steph Leann actually shakes her fists and says, "No! I hate that song!"

Entertainment Weekly calls him Robert Downey Junior Jr, which is what she's been saying for weeks. Seriously though, I like this guy. The song is boring, one of my least favorite Mariah songs, but Danny Gokey is at least doing it, doing it, doing it right.

Randy is throwing his fist up, Kara is yelling, Paula is standing, Simon is just there. Randy says, "That was blazin' hot!" Kara bangs the table, Paula says, "I have two words... sold-out arenas!" Simon? "Back to the real world... it was good."

So, finally... I choose Alexis Grace, Danny Gokey, Anoop Dogg, Tatiana the Annoying, Stephen Fowler, Ann Marie, The Ballad of Ricky Braddy, Mike the Oil Rigger, Jackie T, Brentoby Keith, Casey Carlson and Stevie Wright.

I'll discuss the results show on this posting tomorrow night...