Monthly Archives: July 2011

We Have A Winner! And Some Housekeeping.

9 Comments Posted by on July 8, 2011

Thank you to everyone who entered the Gibson Girl Caption Contest!! You guys totally crack me up. After a lot of thought and giggles, I have finally decided on a winner and runner-up. And so like the Miss America contest, I’m going to announce the runner-up first. Drumroll please…

Five Dollar Footlong

Submitted by mmax13/Margaret! This truly made me laugh out loud, until the song got stuck in my head and I had to stick a pencil in my ear to get it to stop.

And the winner is…

After both her career and her stature were cut short in a tragic workplace accident, former magician’s assistant Margaret “Leggy Peggy” McGee went on to find success as a model for Charles Gibson

Submitted by JC! It’s long for a caption, but I completely cracked up.

Thank you everyone for entering. Margaret and JC, shoot me an email to claim your prize! MyYearWithTheMouse@gmail.com.

Second, in pursuit of more noble ends, I will be attending my third residency at Vermont College from the 10th through the 21st. But don’t let that fool you! Through the power of time, space, binary numbers, the interwebz, and Tinkerbell, MYWTM content you know and love will still be magically appearing on your screen just like it does when I’m home! It does, however, mean that I probably won’t be able to respond to comments, even though I love reading them. MYWTMouseketeer and husband Kevin will be taking over administration duties including updating Facebook. As always the best way to know when new content is posted is by subscribing or through Facebook.

AND, we’ve got a very special surprise in store for you! Kevin will be making a guest post, and yes, he’s just as funny as I am. Often funnier.

And and, MYWTM has some really awesome stuff planned in the coming months. In September, we’ll be floating with the Mouse on a Disney Cruise! Yes, there will be a full report. Who knew I was going to be this thorough?

We’re a little over halfway through the year in my little project here, and you might be concerned about if I’ve got enough things left to do or if I’m going to be reduced to just talking to myself. Despite the fact that blogging is totally just talking to yourself, I made out a list and off the top of my head, thought of over 60 things I haven’t blogged about (not counting the blog posts in the summer blockout pipeline). Honestly, I’m a little nervous that the year is going to run out before I run out of things to do. But as always, I shall try my best.

My readers deserve nothing less!

And finally, we went to see Cars 2 tonight. I really liked it. I didn’t think it was as good as the first, but it was just a different type of movie. What I’m really looking forward to is Carsland, pronounced Cars Land, over at Disney’s California Adventure. They’ve been working on a whole new giant area of the park, completely new, themed for Cars. It looks like it’s going to be amazing. Unfortunately, it doesn’t open until next June, so I won’t get to see it unless I buy a regular admission ticket :(. But anyway, I took a picture of the fence and you can make out the top of Radiator Springs in the background.

This is gonna be awesome!

Everything Else

Disneyana

8 Comments Posted by on July 4, 2011

 

Don’t forget to enter the Gibson Girl caption contest!

Okay, when I hear or see the word Disneyana, I immediately think of a large red barn on the side of some major highway but in a totally deserted stretch of said highway. For example, I know I’ve seen some in the Midwest, and up north there’s one right outside of Gilroy (Garlic Capital of the World! Home of the Garlic Festival! Eat some garlic ice cream! I wish I were kidding!). And to be honest, these barns kind of make me shudder a little. I mean, they’re basically antique shops (or those co-op antique shops where you rent your little section and sell on consignment or whatever, I don’t know) and some people have Disneyana (Disney memorabilia) to sell.

I know a lot of people like antique stores and collect pretty much anything, but I am not one of those. Plus I think a lot of the stuff is total crap, like Camp Snoopy glasses you got at Burger King when Camp Snoopy opened up at Knott’s. I mean really? People pay top dollar for giveaway glasses from Burger King?

Anyway, so when I saw that one of the stores on Main Street was called Disneyana, I was a little confused.

Oh god, please don't let there be headless Kewpie dolls wearing miniature Mickey shirts or something

I did not expect to find some Mickey statue that had broken in 3 places and was glued together with a couple of chips missing,or pretty much anything I can find at my grandmother’s very cluttered house.

Fortunately, I did not!

Turns out that Disneyana at Disneyland is basically art and figurines. You’ve got your typical, straightforward Disney porcelain stuff, including little kids playing with Disney toys.

That's the best you can do?

A smattering of jewelry, with various themes, like the Nightmare Before Christmas.

This isn't the jewelry store--that's across the street. Literally. Like 15 feet away.

My favorite are pieces by Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily, who happen to be my neighbors.

Seriously, they live in our extended neighborhood!

Items range from the classy and kind of cool

I'd buy this if the price was right

To the unforgivable travesties known as Mickey and Friends in Star Wars.

Donald Duck as Darth Maul??? W. T. F. ???

I mean look, I’m a big Star Wars fan and a big Disney fan, but some things just shouldn’t be mixed.

You can also buy prints of various scenes, ride posters, and general Disney art.

The fancy ones

Again, these range from the tasteful

Is it easy to find a frame for these things?

To the tacky and atrocious

Just say no

Again with the Mickey and Star Wars? Seriously, this is not a good idea. Other things that should never be combined:

  • Pickles and ice cream
  • Charlie Sheen and more drugs
  • Winnie the Pooh and pole dancing
  • Chocolate and rat poison
  • Ice skating and flamethrowers

(that was by no means a comprehensive list)

To clear your mind, here’s some more nice art including Walt.

I don't know much about art presentation, but that glare cannot be good for that picture.

They have these cool kind of light box things that are really hard to photograph

I should say really hard to photograph if you're me

There’s the romantic princesses too.

I'd be willing to bet real money that someone used that Belle and Beast figurine as a wedding cake topper

And one thing that I really love, which is the print on demand station. There’s ride posters and all kinds of other art. You just click on the ones you want and a couple hours later, it’s yours! We have a ride poster (full-size) for the Monorail, and a small version of the Dumbo one in Theo’s room.

It's fun to just look through these, but then people get annoyed with you if you've been hogging it for an hour and don't even buy something

There’s a whole Disneyland-themed Precious Moments section.

Snow White on a rocking horse? I totally remember that part of the movie.

I’ll be honest here–I find Precious Moments to be utterly nauseating. I’m having a hard time trying to decide which offends my sensibilities more, the Precious Moments stuff or Mickey and Star Wars. It’s really a toss-up. I suppose there’s room on the bottom for everyone.

And then you get to the ultimate terror: the Marie Osmond dolls.

Mommy, I don't like these

I really do find porcelain dolls to be disturbing on a guttural level. The eyes just creep me out and I’m convinced they are going to come to life, rise up, and eat me. Two, who wants a doll with a head that shatters? It’s even worse when people have a whole collection of them. It’s like a Lilliputian graveyard just waiting for the Gulliver equivalent of the rapture so they can achieve world domination with their soulless, unblinking eyes.

Plus looking at this picture, wtf is the doll in red supposed to be? She looks like Violet Beauregard meets Scarlett O’Hara meets Chuckie. I pity the cast member who has to open that glass case. I’m pretty sure he or she is going to lose an arm in the process.

Moving on, the Disneyana store also has a collection of Vinylmation

There's not nearly as many here as there are in Downtown Disney

Vinylmation are these little vinyl Mickey Mouses who are painted to represent various…I don’t know, various things. There are sometimes themed collections too. It seems that the primary purpose of Vinylmation is to trade them with other people for their Vinylmation. Oh, also, many of the packages are grab-bag-style, which is to say that you don’t know what design is inside. But yeah, Vinylmation trading is definitely on its way up. I think Disney wanted to exploit the pin trading model and start yet another thing to buy and trade. Talk about a money maker.

Anyway, there you have it. Figurines, scary dolls, good art and bad art–that’s Disneyana.

Main Street , ,

The Difference Between Frozen Lemonade and “Frozen” Lemonade

22 Comments Posted by on July 3, 2011

So I’m at the park and I’m really flippin’ hot, and the water from my trusty water bottle isn’t doing enough to rehydrate me. What’s a mouse to do? I decided that what I’d really love is a hand-squeezed lemonade. You know the kind–where they have the press in front of you and just stick in half a lemon, press it down, and add it to some sugar water and ice? I love those. LOVE!

Unfortunately, Disneyland doesn’t sell that.

Incidentally, I seriously want to get one of those squeezers for home use. We have the Lemon Tree That Ate Manhattan in our backyard and the number of lemons it produces for us is a little on the insane side. I love lemonade, but I hate doing all the squeezing in our little hand twisty juicer thing. But anyway.

So I’ve got a hankerin’ for lemonade at Disneyland, and I pass a bunch of ice cream carts offering Frozen Lemonade.

Also cotton candy

And then I pass this fruit-and-chip stand type thingie over by Casey Jr. (and the site of the dearly departed Fantasyland Skyway station *sniff*) and I see that they are offering “Frozen” Lemonade.

Just like that. With the quotes.

And a cast member singing YMCA

As a writer, I get rather twitchy when it comes to misused punctuation. Well, when it comes to misused apostophes, I get absolutely apoplectic. But quotes bug me too, and I’m thinking come on Disney, surely you’ve got an editor on staff there somewhere.

Quotes are, of course, used to note when someone is speaking (eg. So then Mickey Mouse said, “Shelby, why does misused punctuation bother you so much?” and I said, “Because it’s the ruination and downfall of our civil society, and also it’s not that hard.”), and quotes are also used to denote something similar to, but not really, but kinda close or at least trying to be (eg. Turkey “bacon”).

So assuming that Disneyland has an editor somewhere on the payroll, what exactly is it that makes “Frozen” Lemonade kind of frozen, but not quite frozen? I mean, it’s either frozen or it’s not, right? And then what’s the deal with non-quoted Frozen Lemonade available from the ice cream carts? How many variations on Frozen can we possibly have? And what is so special about “Frozen” Lemonade that makes it worth 19 cents more than Frozen Lemonade?

I did the only logical thing I could do in this situation. I decided to buy a “Frozen” Lemonade. Because while looking at the inordinately-priced chips, craisins, and bananas:

Who comes to Disneyland to buy Cheetos? Look, just buy yourself some popcorn and a churro and enjoy it.

I noticed a slushee-type machine in the background.

I’m so observant sometimes. Rarely.

And using my clever powers of deduction, I thought that “Frozen” Lemonade would be like a slushee lemonade, and Frozen Lemonade would be like that solid block of lemon-flavored ice you get in a cup that you have to chip away at with a plastic spoon when nothing short of an ice pick will do the job. I hate those, by the way, because I just don’t want to work that hard for my food.

Anyway, I was right.

Frozen Lemonade

"Frozen" Lemonade

Mine had a shot of raspberry, and it was actually really, really good. I may have to make this my beverage of choice to go with my salty popcorn if water isn’t doing it for me.

But also, if you read the sign closely, the “Frozen” Lemonade stand also sells “100% Frozen Apple” Juice and that, my dear Disney, is just incorrect. The treat you are serving there is not 100% frozen, nor is it likely made from 100% frozen apples. And if it’s “Apple,” then it’s not really apple, so what the hell is it? I think you’re going for “Frozen” 100% Apple Juice to accompany the “Frozen” Lemonade, but then that makes me wonder, the Lemonade didn’t specify that it was 100% Lemonade. Maybe it was some percentage of lemonade and some percentage of something else?

Disney, you need an editor.

Stuff To Eat ,

Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor (Plus A Contest!)

53 Comments Posted by on July 1, 2011

I could really go for an ice cream cone right now. I haven’t even had breakfast. Hey–ice cream for breakfast! Ice cream for lunch! Ice cream for dinner! Let’s scream Oprah-style EVERYONE GETS AN ICE CREAM! EVERYONE GETS AN ICE CREAM!

Actually I’ll admit I’m not a huge ice cream person. I do enjoy a good cone every once in a while, and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s certainly hits the spot, but I’m not one of those ice cream obsessed people. When I think of ice cream I always think of when we lived in Germany. Now THOSE people love their ice cream. Any time, any place, anywhere, you’d see someone licking a cone or eyeing an ice cream vending machine longingly. Seriously, that was the only place I’ve ever seen people standing at a bus stop in the dead of winter, bundled up in coats, scarves, gloves and hats, snow swirling all around them, munching an ice cream bar. And not just once either.

Now that’s what I call dedication.

Anyway, when it gets nice and hot, an ice cream is the perfect snack at Disneyland. Not as perfect as popcorn or churros, since those aren’t weather-dependent, but close. And one of the places to get ice cream is at the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor right on Main Street, U.S.A.

Ich möchte wirklich Eis

In keeping with Walt’s dream of having Main Street represent Anytown, USA in the early 20th century, the ice cream parlor is represented by the Gibson Girl.

Which then got me thinking a little bit. Who or what exactly is the Gibson Girl? I mean we’ve certainly seen her likeness in those nostalgic turn of the century images–the poofy hair, slim neck, waist the size of my wedding ring, long skirt, etc.–but who is she and where did she come from?

Well, according to my Standard Research Methodology, the Gibson Girl was drawn by this illustrator, Charles Gibson, who if you believe Wikipedia quite frankly (**language alert**) kind of sounds like an ass but if you read other sites within your allotted SRM 3 minutes doesn’t sound that bad. Apparently Charles Gibson was a very influential illustrator and created the Gibson Girl to depict the “ideal American woman” and then plastered her everywhere doing all kinds of things but notably excluding participating in the women’s suffrage movement. One site compared her to her later counterpart, Barbie, except the Gibson Girl didn’t live in a pink plastic house with a ridiculously out-of-proportion swimming pool.

Anyway, it looks like people have written entire PhD dissertations on the Gibson Girl but honestly I’m already bored with the topic so MOVING ON…

Back to the ice cream

I love the window details of the stores on Main Street. And once again, looking up reveals a whole new set of things I’ve never looked at before.

I love this brick work

That is, of course, the theatrical agency upstairs.

The other noticeable thing about the GG Ice Cream Parlor is that they make their own waffle cones and they gently waft the scent out the door so when you walk by you can’t help but notice the glorious, sweet smell of freshly-pressed waffle cone. I’m not joking about that, by the way.

But hey, armchair historians, are waffle cones historically accurate to the early 20th century? Just curious.

Disneyland accurately anticipates the popularity of this centrally-located ice cream shop (shoppe? pronounced “shop”) and you get a bunch of zig zags to wait in.

I'm only a couple of yards away from the counter but there are still 294 people in front of me! Must be Disneyland!

And here’s a question for my very knowledgeable readers–back behind the fruit cart next to the lockers, there’s another ice cream window:

Here it is!

Now I know this one is definitely a cone shop, because I cleverly read the sign (I’m smart like that) but I wonder–are they the same cones and the same ice cream that’s available across the street at the Gibson Girl Parlor? I never get cones at Disneyland–the chocolate chip cookie sandwich is my frozen dairy product of choice–so I can’t say, but if it’s the same ice cream and all you want is a cone, then this would be an awesome place to get it and skip the line at the GG Parlor. I’ve never seen a line at this window, and honestly before a couple of months ago I didn’t know this window existed at all.

Help me, readers! Is this the case?

Anyway, back at the GG Parlor, when you get up close and get dirty looks from people who think you’re cutting in line even though you’re just trying to get a picture, you can see the whole operation.

I'm certain that's an original electric waffle iron straight out of 1918, or an historic reproduction at least.

The GG Parlor does offer very, very, very limited seating.

There's like one and a half tables in this place

And there are various Gibson Girl portraits adorning the walls.

Including this one:

Hunh?

I’m talking about the bottom picture, of course, with the Gibson Girl holding her hands up in a “don’t shoot!” pose. This picture is just begging–BEGGING for a caption contest.

Here she is again, ladies and gentlemice:

Caption Me!

CAPTION CONTEST RULES

This one’s simple. Think of a caption. Leave a comment (upper right-hand corner of the post) with your caption or captions. Enter as many times as you want. Winner determined by me based on creativity, humor, and whichever one I like best. I will send you a prize which will probably be cool but maybe not, no guarantees, I haven’t decided yet. You don’t need to post a separate comment for each entry.

Have fun!

Main Street, Stuff To Eat , ,

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