Over in New Orleans Square–you know, that area of the park I haven’t written ANYTHING about yet (My Year is a miserable failure, however, MYWTM is an astounding success–rock on!)–there’s a small, fragrant shop called Mlle. Antoinette’s Parfumerie.
Here it is!
Mlle. (which is the abbreviation for Mademoiselle, as all of my sophisticated readers undoubtedly already know) Antoinette’s Parfumerie is one of the original shops opened in New Orleans Square at the request of Lillian Disney, Walt’s wife.
Particularly lovely at night
To be honest, I was feeling a bit sheepish because I had absolutely no memory of the Parfumerie.
I felt much better when my Standard Research Method (3 minutes on Google) confirmed that the Parfumerie closed in the 90s when I was living in the Midwest and re-opened just this May.
It has elaborate window displays
Like this
The inside of the shop is both cozy and extensively decorated.
Is that wallpaper on the ceiling?
According to my SRM, the chandelier was selected by Lilly Disney herself, from a shop in the real New Orleans. Plus the mirrors are hand-painted with some technique where the back of the glass is painted and then it’s turned into a mirror.
A little more ostentatious in person
The shop carries normal perfume from companies like Dior, Givenchy, and other expensive perfumes I know nothing about because I don’t wear perfume.
I wanted to talk to the cast member behind the counter, but these three girls talked to him forever.
And I mean for.ev.er.
So I just gave up. But apparently the old perfume shop allowed you to mix and create your own signature scent, which sounds pretty cool to me, but this one does not. And supposedly there are either 2 or 3 perfumes that are “exclusive” to Disney (some say Disneyland, some say Disney Parks–this is where my SRM breaks down).
Still, I wouldn’t recommend buying some and then going on, like, Space Mountain or something.
First I have to say that I almost didn’t include this because of the sheer awesomeness of the video. I mean, the video encompasses everything that the 80s had to offer hair. The mullets are top-notch, especially George Michael’s, and the bangs and perms on the ladies are classic. There’s even a woman sporting a David Bowie ‘do!
(sorry for the ad there)
But in the end, the song did make the cut because it’s so frequently played on the radio.
Now let’s deconstruct this. The chorus goes:
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special
Okay, I guess I can get onboard with that, although if it’s been a year, it’s kind of well beyond time to get over it.
Once bitten and twice shy
I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye
Nothing I love more than a good cliche.
Tell me baby, do you recognize me?
Well, it’s been a year, that doesn’t surprise me
Here’s where we start getting problematic. So you gave her your heart (whatever that means) and a year later she doesn’t recognize you? Are you, like, some creepy stalker guy or something?
Whispered: Merry Christmas
I wrapped it up and sent it
With a note saying, “I love you,” I meant it
Well we know you did not literally wrap your heart up and send it (with a note), so what exactly is “it”? What, did you go all Vincent Van Gogh on her?
Now I know what a fool I’ve been
But if you kiss me now
I know you’ll fool me again
Okay. Dude. She either doesn’t remember you or she wants you to think she doesn’t remember you (see above). Neither one of these is going to result in a kiss, so I think you’re pretty safe here.
A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
I’m hiding from you and your soul of ice
Oh SNAP!
My God I thought you were
Someone to rely on
Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on
Okay, so you’re the shoulder to cry on. So this breakup thing–was it along the lines of “It’s not you, it’s me” or was it “I love you like a brother”? And if you were some kind of shoulder to cry on, why doesn’t she remember you? Did she sustain a head injury that resulted in amnesia or something?
A face on a lover with a fire in his heart
A man undercover but you tore me apart
Very poetic, but I’m not quite following you here.
Now I’ve found a real love you’ll never fool me again
Whoa whoa WHOA, buddy. You’ve found a real love, so you’re going out with someone else? I mean okay, but does she know you’re still carrying a torch for this other girl? Plus “you’ll never fool me again”??? One chorus ago you were lamenting that if she kissed you now then you WOULD be fooled again. Talk about wishy-washy–I’m kind of seeing why she dumped your butt last Christmas.
And then there’s a couple more choruses, the poetic lines, and the thing about next year I’ll give it to someone special. Let me just put this plainly–have you considered counseling? Because the relationship described in the song is not a healthy one. Pining for a year over someone who was your girlfriend for a day? Not that I don’t empathize with getting dumped the day after Christmas when everyone’s hitting the mall for the 1/2 off sales, but seriously. Get a grip.
Although the tune is quintessentially 80s, I’m going to have to put this baby at #7.
PS. George Michael, I think you’re going to have better luck with the dudes next year.
Every so often I’ll take a picture of something and sort of file it away because it doesn’t fit into any real category or post, and then it just sits there, so I decided to weed through some and finally put them up.
First up–the Halloween Tree
It's a tree all decorated in pumpkins
So, yeah, like basically a leaf-less tree hanging with pumpkins. I also took a picture of the accompanying plaque that identified this as The Halloween Tree and said something I can no longer decipher about Ray Bradbury wanted to have something in the park so here it is.
Nice reflection of my camera there
Sorry, that was lame. And equally lame is a picture I took of a guy cleaning the fence.
This is in Downtown Disney
If I remember correctly, I thought this was cool because the guy was actually dusting inside of those twisty things rather than, I don’t know, hosing it all down and calling it a day, which is what I would have done. Or actually I probably would have left it dusty, because I’m lazy like that. But just another example of Disneyland’s attention to detail.
I really really REALLY want this. Should I treat myself? Please vote yes or no in the comments.
Front
This part just kills me
I can’t remember if I actually posted a picture of Tuxedo Mickey and his Mouseketeer companion, so here you go:
He didn't win this costume contest--we were robbed!
And over at the watch shop, the watchmaker was actually doing something with a watch!
Changing the links, to be specific
I don’t know if I could work in a fishbowl like that. The window faces out to Main Street. Any old weird person with a camera like me can just snap a shot.
Oh, also I got a new phone which I’m kind of ambivalent about, but it does have good camera functions and has video recording. I thought I’d try it out tonight. Of course, it was only after I shot two videos that Kevin pointed out that if I held the camera horizontally, then Youtube wouldn’t cut off my video frame. Oops. Also, it was difficult trying to keep the phone stable so the videos are a bit jumpy. Sorry.
First, the castle lighting. The video is long but pretty much all the action is over after 25 seconds so if you ditch out early, I’m not going to blame you. Also, turn your volume way down–we were standing right underneath a speaker. Also also, I tried to rotate it in Youtube so it isn’t sideways, but at the time of this posting it was still “updating” so we’ll see what it looks like in the morning. If it’s still sideways–well, lesson learned.
This video is even less exciting. We were standing near the Hungry Bear restaurant by Splash Mountain to watch the fireworks. The interesting thing I think is that when they moved the fireworks focal point to the castle and started doing castle effects, if you’re standing on Main Street or in the hub the fireworks all look like they’re directly behind the castle. However, from this angle you can clearly see the difference between the high fireworks being shot off the backlot and the low fireworks (on the right) at the castle. Also, keep your sound turned down here too–the fireworks are a lot louder in that area than in other areas, it seemed.
I have eaten a large portion of the gingerbread man my son decorated at preschool. Does that make me a bad person? Please say no. In my defense, he didn’t even finish the first piece of it he got and clearly did not like it. So that makes it okay. Right?
Way at the back of the park in Frontierland is the Big Thunder BBQ. It’s a rather expensive eating spot with all-you-care-to-eat ribs and BBQ chicken. I’ve never eaten there, but I’ve heard it’s good.
But during the various holiday season it transforms.
Cool sign
Back in the day when I worked at Downtown Disney and was considered a cast member, we got to attend the cast member Christmas party, and at said party, this area hosted a cookie decorating station.
See, it all comes back around. I bet you were wondering what my eating Theo’s cookie had to do with Disneyland, so there ya go.
There are extensive decorations.
It's a wagon and stuff
My mother-in-law makes quilts. Hers are kickass.
Apropos of nothing, I just looked up a recipe for figgy pudding. No thanks.
Anyway, Big Thunder Ranch BBQ also has a small stage which hosts a lot of fun little acts.
Country Christmas Round-Up
Closer shot of the stage and performers
Like most Disney performances, the Reindeer Round-Up is participatory to children brave enough to climb on stage. This time they were learning how to sing “Here Comes Santa Claus.”
Up on the rooftop, reindeer paws
There’s a pianist accompanying the whole thing
He also sings. He's multi-talented!
The kids are then left to perform by themselves, and it’s pretty much the cutest thing ever.
Some of these brave kids were younger than Theo!
Disney doesn’t forget any detail
I love this
The dude with the guitar also performs
Dude with the guitar
And the seating area is also decorated
It actually looks better than in this picture
And then your crucial piece of information–the bathroom
It's even Frontierland themed!
I mention this because this bathroom received The Happiest Potties On Earth’s highest rating. The only other potties to achieve this rating are the ones in Club 33!
You will definitely want to pee here
Along with the general entertainment, awesome bathroom, and atmosphere, there’s animals!
Reindeer paraphernalia
Reindeer! Presumably flightless.
Santa also hides back here, but I’m going to bring Theo to see him, so you’ll just have to wait for the pictures ;).
My Year With The Mouse 