Bill Nye the Science Guy App

You have probably seen Bill Nye the Science Guy at some point, even if you've never seen his Emmy Award winning show, you'll likely know him from Ellen's Energy Adventure at Epcot.

Disney is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Bill Nye the Science Guy with this free app!

Scan yourself into this app using your thumbprint...

...and your in, and ready to explore Bill's desk of science!

You'll learn about sundials on Mars.

Tap on the robot on Bill's desk, and you're taken to a game where you dig for artifacts.
It is very addictive despite the simple graphics.

Avoid obstacles, including an overly friendly dog, and locate hidden articles, some trash, some treasure. It's decievingly difficult.

Click on the rocket on the desk to be taken to another game, just as addictive, and even more educational.

 

The television brings you to episodes of Bill's show, which can be purchased from the iTunes Store.

The book has do it yourself science experiments!

There are a couple more articles on his desk, plus you can look inside the desk as well, but I'll leave those surprises to discover on your own.

This is a fun app, and you really can't beat the price!

 

Big Fun, Mini Golf

Guest Writer Wednesday
Big Fun, Mini Golf
By: Gaylin


In Spring 2005 my travel friend and I were leaving Blizzard Beach, I noticed the sign for Winter Summerland Miniature Golf and we decided to take some time to play a 'round'.

Believe it or not, I had never played mini golf before and don't play big golf either. Turns out that mini golf is a lot of fun. You have a choice of two courses, the Winter side, which is all themed winter and Christmas and the Summer side which is themed summer and Christmas!

We chose the Winter side and it was a lot of fun, 9 holes and all of them had some kind of challenge, slopes, moving pieces, lots of theming to enjoy.

This first hole is set up like an outdoors hockey rink and the hole is in front of the goalies net!

This is my lame attempt to get the golf ball int that square in the front of the toboggan. You might notice that there is no hair at the back of my neck, I had my head shaved a few weeks before that vacation, for charity! Being bald was the easiest vacation hairstyle I ever had!

If  I remember correctly, not only did you have to get the golf ball into the castle door, it had to go to the right spot inside to roll out to the right to get to the hole.

Next up, Mickey, Minnie & Pluto snow carvings!

This one looks like it would be easy, the hole is right in front of the snowman but the surface was rippled and that darn golf ball would not go in the hole.

This was by far my favourite hole of the course, if you got the golf ball in the right spot in the snow in front of the pole, the stripe in the pole is moving! It picks the golf ball up and rolls it up the pole and then drops it out the back where it goes right into the hole. I got a hole in one on this one, I was a very proud newbie mini golf player.

This was the only time we ran into the people playing in front of us, we slowed down and took some time playing around the candy to let them get ahead of us again.

This last hole was fun as well, the Santa legs lift up and down and you have to get the golf ball to roll under them at just the right time or it keeps returning to you to try a gain. Love the flippers instead of stocking!

I don't know how much time it took to play the course, I know we both had a lot of fun. I lost by a couple of points but didn't really care. Would I play mini golf again while on vacation - Yes! It was a great way to take a break from the theme parks, next time I will take more photos.

Next time I will try the Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf outside the Boardwalk Resort.

Epcot's Garden Grill, Chip and Dale's Harvest Feast

How many of you know that there is actually more to The Land Pavilion located in Epcot's Future World than Soarin'?

 

Well, there is! Honest!

On our trip this past January, we ate at the Garden Grill which is located in the Land.

If you've only been to the Land in the morning, you may not even know this is a functioning restaurant, as it is only open for dinner, when it hosts Chip and Dale's Harvest Feast.

The characters:

Farmer Mickey, here with our friends Kandi and John. As far as I know, this is the only place in Disney World where you can get Mickey in this outfit.

Pluto is seen here with my wife Barbie.

 Chip and me.

 

Dale, with our check. There is a great story to go along with this picture.

Our bill came just as Dale walked up. Dale grabbed our check, and tried to give it to Mickey to pay. Mickey passed! 
Then he tried to give it to a family at a neighboring table, but they, of course, also declined! 
He then proceeded to attempt to throw it over the side of the restaurant, but our server stopped him! Oh well. 
It was hilarious. 
The characters spent plenty of time at each table, and this was easily the best character interaction we've had in a long while.

Throughout the evening, the restaurant itself rotates very slowly, so you can see different scenes of the "Living With the Land" boat ride below.

The menu:
Basket of Warm Breads with Maple Butter
Harvest-inspired Farmer's Salad
Char-grilled Filet of Beef with Red Wine Butter
Roasted All Natural Turkey Breast with Lemon Caper Sauce
Sustainable Fish of the Day with Roasted Tomato and Pepper Compote
Garden Fresh Vegetables
Buttermilk Smashed Potatoes
Artisan Bread Pudding
Fresh Baked Harvest Fruit Cobbler with Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
Non- alcoholic soft drinks are included.
 

The food was very good. My favorite being the Beef. Our fish this evening was Talapia.

A couple things of note.
If you want the meat cooked a bit more, like our friend John, they are happy to bring you more cooked however you'd like it.
Our friend Kandi doesn't eat pork, and the stuffing that comes with the Turkey has bacon. Our server brought out a plate of stuffing minus the bacon.
And when we wanted more of anything, there it was. We were stuffed.
And then dessert came! We didn't get the Artisan Bread Pudding, not sure why, but the fruit cobbler was more than enough!
This was a great meal, and a lot of fun, so I highly recommend it.

Portions of this article were originally posted on the Tips From the Disney Divas and Devos Blog, where Nick is a contributing writer.

Grumpy Over a Barrel

Grumpy Monday
Today I share another part of my Grumpy collection.

I'm not sure where I got him, or how much he was. I do know I've had this talking Grumpy on a barrel forever, at least 15-20 years, and after all this time, he still works! The speaker and battery compartment on the bottom. Made by Just Toys. No year indicated.

Just push the button on the back, and Grumpy says 2 phrases:
"There's trouble a brewin'!" and "We're mad as hornets!"

The Lone Ranger : Movie Review

This review of Disney's The Lone Ranger may seem as disjointed and contradictory as the The Lone Ranger sometimes feels.  I'm also going to be as spoiler free as possible, which may actually add to the convolution.

It's very entertaining, but overly long and predictable.
I knew the direction the movie was going in after 10 minutes, yet was still captivated.
I was engrossed by the train wrecks, and felt that the movie itself was a bit of a train wreck.

I love the way the movie is laid out, being told in a very inventive way, jumping back and forth through time,  leaving you anticipating what is to come. But, as I said, I was able to anticipate the outcome very early on.

The film is a lot of fun, but very dark, and at times, sinister.
In fact, besides it's predictability, how dark and violent it turns at times is the biggest problem I had with the movie. It's being marketed to families, with a rating of PG13, but I wouldn't bring a child younger than 15.

Probably the saving grace for me was the chemistry of Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as The Lone Ranger. They are the Odd Couple of the Wild West, and their scenes together made some of the more aggressive elements of the film more palatable. Yet, at the same time, I felt a lot of the lighthearted moments between the two actors were shoe-horned in to diffuse the more aggressive aspects of the film.

My wife's opinion of the film is a lot more succinct : "If I was at home, I'd have changed the channel at a few points, but overall, it was okay."
A friend who saw it with us: "That was awful, but I didn't mind spending the money to see it."

So, is it worth seeing? Yes. Like it or not, it's a spectacle, like a train wreck, hard to look away.

Disneylanders, A Novel: Book Review

 
Disneylanders, A Novel
Have you ever read a book that immediately transports you to the place or time that you are reading about? The sights, the sounds and smells? Has a book ever taken you back to your childhood? Well, Kate Abbott's book, Disneylanders, A Novel, published by Theme Park Press, does just that. Not only does the author take me straight to Disneyland, but she has the ability to take me back in time to my own childhood and those oh–so–awkward moments of testing my wings; trying to become an adult. (p.s. this book is geared for the teen audience.)

Kate Abbott's book is well written and thoughtful; about a thirteen year old girl struggling to figure out who she is. Casey is on vacation with her parents at Disneyland, where through crazy circumstances, she bumps into a fifteen year old boy and they innocently spend their time together with and without their families, touring the parks, enjoying the rides and getting to know one another. There's a lot of Disney trivia thrown in for good measure.

I found myself completely engrossed in the story, reading aloud descriptive paragraphs to my husband, and quizzing him on the chapter titles. Each chapter named "more or less on a famous Disney slogan, song, attraction, show or spiel." (The answers were at the end of the book!)

Although the book is written for a specific group, young adults or tweens, I truly enjoyed reading this. It is a fun, heartfelt story, sometimes hitting close to home, it made the tale that much more believable.

Thank you to Theme Park Press for sending this book to me for review!
This link will take you to their other book selections!

America on Parade Metal Lunch Box

The United States of America celebrated it's 200th Birthday, or Bicentennial on July 4th, 1976. Disneyland and Walt Disney World started celebrating this momentous occasion on June 6th, 1975 and continued to do so through September 6th, 1976 with a spectacular parade that served as a daytime and nighttime extravaganza.
There were plenty of souvenirs to commemorate this commemorative commemoration, such as this metal lunch box.

The front features Mickey, Goofy, and Donald paying homage to the painting "Yankee Doodle 1776," by Archibald M. Willard.

The other side shows an example of the floats, which focused on American historical events, innovations, and leisure activities.

The floats were made in a large and exaggerated scale so everyone would "view the parade through the eyes of a child."

 

The inside doesn't have a clip for the thermos for some reason.

The thermos essentially features the same images as the lunch box.

 

We hope everyone enjoyed their July 4th, and have a happy and safe 4th of July Weekend.

Disney 4th of July Snow Globe

A few weeks ago, my wife and I found this snow globe at the Columbus Flea Market.

It was love at first sight.

Then I saw the price, and couldn't get the money out of my wallet fast enough. This beautiful patriotic piece, featuring 3 favorite Disney characters, and a quote from Walt Disney to top it all off was $8!
The quote from Walt Disney, "...tomorrow will be better for as long as America keeps alive the ideals of freedom and a better life..." is from 1941.

It plays Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Stop back tomorrow for another great patriotic piece featuring Mickey, Goofy and Donald paying homage to "Yankee Doodle 1776".

Luigi's Flying Tires­ Disney's California Adventure

Guest Writer Wednesday

Luigi's Flying Tires­ Disney's California Adventure

By: D'land Diva

Perhaps one of the most talked about rides of yesteryear at Disneyland is the Flying Saucer ride. This ride, originally in Tomorrowland, allowed guests to navigate their own "flying tires"' through the use of air pressure which lifted the tires off the ground. The ride was plagued with mechanical issues and shut down within five years of opening.

This is why many guests were both excited and a bit skeptical when Disney announced there was a Flying Saucer type ride going into Cars Land at California Adventure. These saucers (redesigned as tires), however, were redesigned and mechanical issues have not been an issue in the one year they have been open. 

Much like the Flying Saucer ride, Luigi's Flying tires moves like an air hockey game, with air coming up through vents on the floor of the ride to help move the tires. The tires, however, will not from their position without a little help from the guests. Guests, seated two or a small three up on the tire (there is a safety belt) move their bodies in the direction they wish to go. So, let's say you want to move backwards. You will need to move your upper body back, sometimes significantly so, to get the tire to move that direction. Tires move around the space sometimes bumping one another, and sometimes pretty fast!

What is fun about this ride is that you, the guest, have some control in the ride. Originally there were large beach balls on the ride, and guests could pick them up and thrown them, just to give the ride a little something extra. Those were removed a while later after guests kept pegging each other with them (I got hit pretty hard once, so I do understand this move!).
The average wait time for Luigi's is somewhere around 40 minutes. This is because it is sometimes slow loading and is quite popular as it is a newer ride in the fun new Cars Land. After waiting in line, guests are given a wooden triangle and then placed into a "holding" area. The lines don't really matter much at this point. They only hand out enough triangles for the amount of room on the ride.
Guests who need assistance can be assisted onto the ride through a special gate to the left of the loading zone. The ride has a scare factor of 1, as it is outdoors and the smallest of guests may not be able to ride (there is a 32 inch height requirement).
Ciao!

Breakfast at the Boardwalk's Kouzzina by Cat Cora

Barbie never wanted to eat at Kouzzina by Cat Cora. She loved the restaurant that used to be at this prime location at Disney's Boardwalk Resort, Spoodles.

 

But on the last day of our trip this past January, we decided not to visit a park before Magical Express was to return us to the airport, and back to reality. We were hungry. As we were staying at the Boardwalk, I was able to convince my wife to at least look at the menu. She saw a couple of entrees she found intriguing, and we headed inside.

 

We were told it would be a 20 minute wait, but the pagers were not working.

So we waited. And waited. And...
35 minutes later, we were finally called. Not a great start.

Our server was friendly, but not very attentive, in fact she was pretty slow.
Strike 2.
But the food saved this from being a complete strike out.
I ordered the Country French Toast : Grilled Fig and Anise Bread with Apple Fig Compote with choice of bacon or chicken sausage. - $11.99

My wife ordered the Classic Golden Waffle : with whipped Mascarpone Cheese, Honey and Chopped Pecans with a choice of bacon or chicken sausage.-$10.49

 
We each chose bacon, but, because I wanted to try the sausage, we ordered a side of bacon and sausage. We also split the waffle and french toast.
The bacon was good, the sausage delicious. I really liked my french toast, but the waffle was terrific!
And the coffee. I love coffee, and I really loved the coffee here.
As mentioned above, service was slow. And if we were in a rush, we wouldn't have been as forgiving.
The table next to us, in fact, complained through most of their meal about the lack of attention to their ever empty glasses of juice.
Will we return? My wife feels it was good, but with so many other great choices at Walt Disney World, it wouldn't be at the top of her list. We agreed, if in similar circumstances, we would have breakfast here again. And if friends wanted to go for lunch or dinner, we would accompany them.

Portions of this article were originally posted on the Tips From the Disney Divas and Devos Blog, where Nick is a contributing writer.

Disney's Grumpy Disneykin

Grumpy Monday

Disneykins were miniature hand painted plastic figures from the Marx Toy Company, manufactured  from around 1960 thru the early 1970's. They were sold individually or in packs. To this day, they are hot collectibles, and there are several sites dedicated to them and their history. Originally, individual Disneykins sold for $.15 each. I got this Grumpy Disneykin at an antique shop about 16-17 years ago, and while I can't remember the price, I am absolutely certain it wasn't for 15 cents.

My favorite thing about them, to be honest, are the graphics on the boxes, this one featuring Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

This box has seen better days.

The other thing I love is the great little character sheet.

Another favorite thing about this line; they from an era when Walt Disney was alive. This was likely something he had some supervision of, even if it was small (no pun intended). There is something very special about that to me, and makes this one of my favorite little collectibles.