Pooh Corner (Store)

6 Comments Posted by on July 11, 2011

As I said before, there’s not a lot in Critter Country–two rides, two stores, and a restaurant. As such, I rarely make it all the way back there unless I’m going on Splash Mountain. And to be honest, I don’t go on Splash Mountain very often, mainly because I don’t like walking around all wet unless it’s really hot out, and most of the time it’s hot out my pass is blocked. Plus it was closed for refurb for like the entire winter and just recently reopened.

Anyway, so not being back in Critter Country very often means that I haven’t been back to the Pooh Corner store (oh I forgot–there’s also the Pooh and Friends meet and greet there too). In fact, I didn’t even know it was named the Pooh Corner Store. Because it’s not. It’s just named Pooh Corner, which sounds all friendly and all until you realize that A. A. Milne’s version of Pooh Corner did not involve merchandising.

And the whole thing is all inside a tree!

In true Disneyland fashion, the theming goes all the way to the sky. I like the details above the entrance.

It's a tree house where nobody lives, except maybe Disneyland's stray cats

There are two parts of the store–actually I think it’s two stores, but anyway, I will refer to them by their technical names, “The Right Side” and “The Left Side” based on where they are located as you’re looking at the middle.

The Right Side is extensively Pooh-themed. This is the section I haven’t be in in forever.

Still high from his drug trip, Pooh pushes the limits of safety by engaging in thrill-seeking behavior

Which brings me to another thing I didn’t know existed–Pooh Corner has a candy-making window.

Wow! When did they put this in?

There’s another candy making window on Main Street (which I formerly thought was the only one) and that has always been one of my Top 3 desired Disneyland jobs (the other two being a Jungle Cruise Skipper and a Tour Guide). I don’t know why. In reality, standing there making candy for the entire shift is probably a lot of work. But maybe it’s just something leftover from childhood where wow, making CANDY ALL DAY LONG!!!!! seems really cool.

Anyway, they also sell treats that you can’t get in other parts of the park, like these:

Hunny Pot crispie treats

And Tigger Tails, which are a stick with marshmallows covered in caramel, orange-colored white chocolate, and drizzled with milk chocolate. And crack.

Sorry, no picture. Oops.

Pooh Corner also has a stuffed animal section, and first I need to talk about Theo and his Pooh Bear. This is a man who loves his Pooh Bear. He has three sleeping companions–a stuffed duck named Duckie, a blue blanket named Blanket, and a Pooh Bear. All are an integral part of sleeping.

Theo says good morning with Blanket and Pooh Bear (and also Giant Snoopy, but he doesn't sleep there, he was just visiting)

In fact, when we traveled to the East Coast last week, we brought along Duckie and Blanket but left Pooh Bear behind because he doesn’t really pack well. We thought it wouldn’t be a problem, since those were the 2 out of 3 crib friends we brought to the Mouse-in-law, but something apparently changed between February and June because leaving Pooh Bear behind was a big mistake. The first hotel we were at was a suite so Theo had his own room. After we put him to bed and closed the door, we heard “Pooh Bear? Pooh Bear? Pooh Bear?” for seriously like 15 minutes. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot, but set a timer for 15 minutes and then say “Pooh Bear?” over and over in the most heart-wrenching, pathetic voice you can muster, and that was our first night. Pooh Bear was requested again at nap time, and the second night we had another round of “Pooh Bear?”s. By the third night we had finally convinced him that Pooh Bear was safe at home keeping Digory and Nyna company (Digory being the dog and Nyna being my friend Diana, who was house-sitting). He seemed mostly okay with that, but every night for the rest of the trip he said with maximum pathos, “Pooh Bear home. Pooh Bear home. Pooh Bear HOME.”

We’re going to get a travel-sized Pooh Bear before we go anywhere else.

Anyway, Pooh Corner happens to have a big display of exactly the Pooh Bear we have. Theo immediately spotted one. And seriously, I didn’t get a shot of his face, but his expression was like “Oh THERE you are, what are you doing here?”

Pooh Bear! Pooh Bear! Pooh Bear! Pooh Bear!

He insisted on holding one of them.

Hold it? Hold it? Hold it?

And then he made his move.

SHOPLIFTER!!!!!

He wasn’t really trying to steal it. It was like he thought that his own Pooh Bear had been strangely misplaced but it was okay, Theo was going to take him back home again. Which in Toddler Land makes perfect sense.

After the joy and delight that is The Right Side, you move to The Left Side, which is kind of disappointing. It’s really just your standard-issue merchandise without anything particularly interesting.

Except for the occasional toddler trying to make a break with a stolen Pooh Bear

The outside of The Left Side isn’t as cute either.

This is where Pooh picks up his mail though

In between the two sides is a quaint porch area.

Nowhere to sit though

Even if you’re not a Pooh fan, it’s worth your while to go check out Pooh Corner. I’ve only had a Tigger Tail once, but it is delicious. Very sweet, but also very good. I always forget about them though, particularly when I’m stuffing my face with popcorn and churros, but I’ll try to remember next time and take a picture for you.

Critter Country, Stuff To Eat , , ,

The Magic, The Memories, and You!

6 Comments Posted by on July 10, 2011

As a part of their year of memories or whatever it’s called, Disneyland created a new nightly show. Disneyland shows never disappoint me, and this one was no exception. In fact, it’s completely stunning. The show is projected on the facade of “it’s a small world,” but unlike the psychedelic  frantic Christmas thing they do, it’s actually really amazing. The feature of the show is photos of guests from that day. So you–YOU–could be a part of this show!

How many photos, you ask?

500.

I’m not kidding. The pictures go by REALLY fast, some much faster than others, and there are lots of them at the same time. Honestly it would be very, very easy to miss yourself in the show. Like “I’ll just look for the cute kid with Goofy!” and realizing that there are 43 cute kids with Goofy and 27 ugly ones in the show. Just kidding about the ugly. Mostly.

The pictures all come from PhotoPass photographers during the day and get digitally entered in at night. I actually found that out after my photo session, which happened to be on my last visit before summer blockout. But when my pass is working again, am I going to spend the day getting my picture taken by every PhotoPass photographer I can find in an attempt to get in the show?

Of course I am. What blog do you think you’re reading?

The show starts like every other–the Magic Voice Of Disneyland’s Version Of God comes booming out of the speakers about 15 minutes beforehand telling you that the show will be happening and they’re going to turn down the lights for it so please don’t trip over anyone. The Voice then provides periodic reminders in a tone just one level below Monster Truck Rallies, and then finally the lights do go down and Small World turns white, which is really weird because it never looks like that.

Oh em gee, what happened to Small World?

It can be tough to find a place to stand. I ended up precariously balanced on the edge of that platform thingie (technical term) sort-of by the churro cart but farther down, but on that side.

You know the one.

Then I used my zoom lens a lot. The disadvantage of my position was a pole in front of me, which will be painfully obvious in all of the photos in this post. Sorry.

The show is technically a projection show, but it’s an animated projection. First a bunch of vines grow up from the ground.

Someone get a weed whacker--it's taking over Small World

At various stages, people’s pictures start appearing. Now honestly, it would really be impossible to try to look at all the pictures to see if one is you, since the facade is pretty big. My advice is that if you know you’re in the show, get there early, get an elevated spot, and video the whole thing. Am I going to be doing that?

Of course I am.

After the vines grow, Tinkerbell flies across leaving a trail of pixie dust

I just missed getting a shot of Tinkerbell herself

Oh wait, maybe it’s bubbles. Kind of looks like bubbles. My memory is so bad. Anyway, two things are definitely true: One, at one point Tinkerbell DOES come out and spread some pixie dust around, and Two, I didn’t get a picture of it.

The Dumbo comes out, and Small World really manages to look not-Small-Worldey.

I also just missed getting a picture of Dumbo

There are times when they focus more on guest pictures than Small World effects

There's like a billion princess pictures

And sometimes when the effects focus more on Small World itself.

These colors are awesome

There are lots of different ways to present the pictures, like in clouds, for example.

The clouds float around

Many of the scenes depicts Disneyland rides. Some of them more than one.

The hitchiking ghosts from Haunted Mansion are over on the left, as well as Minnie in a tea cup

And then one of my most favorite women in the entire universe, Julie Andrews, comes out to sing.

In every task that must be done...

This one was one of my favorites–the effect features what looks like scaffolding and Goofy and his friends start building.

If you wear a Goofy hat, you may get in this scene

There’s a great Pirates of the Caribbean scene.

There's also a cool Haunted Mansion scene with dancing skeletons, but once again, I missed getting a picture of that

This next one was my most favorite of all. They make Small World look like the castle. And seriously, it looks so real I had to go back later and see if the shape of Small World is actually the same as the castle or if it was just that good.

It was just that good

Another cool effect was when they “drew” Small World and then “colored it in.” I’m using the quotation marks appropriately here.

No actual drawing or coloring took place

Then there was more growing things. I think these are rose vines and are supposed to represent Sleeping Beauty, but don’t quote me on that. And don’t “quote” me on that either.

These pictures were flying around

Then the facade got white again and we got several old, sepia-toned pictures and videos. These aren’t actually from that day, but are boilerplate from pictures people submitted over the internet when Disneyland was looking for pictures like this last year to put in this show.

The one in the middle is a video of, I don't know, the tea cups or Autopia or something iconic like that

It was blow out the candles time, again with a guest-submitted video prior to the show.

"My wish is...to go to Knott's Berry Farm!"

Then the pictures totally started flying.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

There were integrated pictures throughout the show, but this last part (we’re near the end, btw), they just started throwing them out there like a rapid-fire machine gun.

This is where you'd need a video to see yourself

Then they made Walt out of pictures.

It is Walt, I promise

Then there were several more pictures, and the whole facade lit up.

WOW!

And just like that, the show is over. The lights come on, and Small World turns back into Small World again. And then depending on the schedule, it becomes the world’s biggest bottleneck as the fireworks come on a short while afterwards and everyone needs to either stay on the side of Small World or get on the other side of Fantasyland because the main part of Fantasyland closes for the fireworks. We headed over to Autopia, where we got to see the fireworks from the ride itself. That was pretty cool.

Expect another post on this one once I get myself into the show, ladies and gentlemice. Count on it ;).

Fantasyland , ,

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 , ,

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