Showing posts with label Downtown Disney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Downtown Disney. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

SHAG, Star Wars and Disney



Sometimes all of your favorite thing combine.
That was the case this last weekend when the my favorite Artist SHAG premiered his latest artwork at Downtown Disney.  
I'm a big Disney fan,  a big Tiki fan and of course a huge Star Wars fan.   So when it was announced that SHAG was doing a version of the Cantina scene and that he would be a the Disney resorts.
I was all in.





The Wonderland Gallery in Downtown Disney was the location. The store would open at 8am ....They told people not to line up until 6am.   When I heard that I knew the wife was not up for this adventure.   She likes to sleep in on the weekend --so I headed off solo for what I thought would be a quick adventure to get some cool SHAG Star Wars stuff.   I arrived at the Disneyland Resort at 6am and the entrance to the parking structure lane was open and since I have a pass with parking I headed into the parking structure.  I pulled up to the booths with only a few people in front of me, but the booths themselves were not open yet.   I should have parked in Downtown Disney lot.....I had unknowing made a fatal error that would cost me hours.   There were cast members in the booths --but the booths didn't open until 6:30am....so by the time I got over to the line for SHAG it was all the way around the Rain Forest building.  At 6:30am there were probably already 200 people in front of me.


By 9am:  An hour after the store had opened I was still near Rainforest.  My parking mistake had cost me dearly.  My plan to hit the store early when it opened and maybe hit the park for an hour was already a failure.   I guess I underestimated how many people would get up that bloody early.   I was going to be stuck in a line longer than the lines would be when Star Wars Land opens.


10am:  They had escorted us to where we could at least see the store.  I wanted to bail--but I'd already invested 4 hours.  I was pot committed as they say in poker.  There were SHAG fans,  Harvey purse fans, Disney Merch fans and Star Wars fans all in line.  All of those worlds colliding made for a slow moving line.  

11:30-12:00:   At this point I had lost track of time.   I finally made it into the store.   The made rush for product lasted a few minutes as people stocked up on items.   I was only going to pick up glasses and postcards originally --but after waiting so long I knew that my wife would think I was an idiot if I didn't pick up a shirt as well.
So I forked over more money than I had planned just to make my wait worthwile.
















Besides this shirt will be perfect for Tiki Oasis in August which has a Monster Island theme this year.    The check out line which moved very , very slowly and was the obvious reason for the length of the line as a whole.



Here was the haul I brought home. 
  The line was insane and I will never do that again.  
 I waited so long I should have received a Fastpass for Star Wars Land.  After over 6 hours --I choose not to return for the Signing that was between 3-5pm since I was number 106 for the signing.  I get to see SHAG every year at Tiki Oasis in San Diego without massive lines --so I headed home.




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Sunday, October 18, 2015

The Descendants Cast: A Fan Celebration at Downtown Disney : Descendants 2 is on its way.


I was checking out the Disney Parks blog Saturday morning and I came across the news that the cast of the Disney Channel movie Descendants would be a Downtown Disney that day.  
My stepdaughter watches the Disney Channel non-stop -so I knew that a chance to see the actors from the film which are also stars of some of her favorite TV shows was an opportunity we couldn't pass up on. So off to Downtown Disney we went.


We got there about a 40 minutes early and of course it was already packed so our view would be difficult at best.  They should have had big screens showing what was on the stage like they have done for other events, but they didn't. 


We waited in the hot sun melting like a witch in OZ--wishing someone would throw a bucket of water on me.  The show started right on time with the director Kenny Ortega talking briefly about the film.  He has also directed the High School Musical movies, Hocus Pocus and Newsies.



Then they brought out the films stars which include: Cameron Boyce (Jessie, and Gamer's Guide) and Booboo Stewart (who played Jafar's son in the movie


 Then Dove Cameron (Liv and Maddie) and Sofia Carson joined them on  stage. 


I got some okay pictures over the tops of out raised arms and kids on shoulders.  If I had run the event I would have had an area for kids to sit up close to the stage and all the parents in fold out chairs behind a rope.   The first come first serve standing home only was an ineffective way for the true fans (kids to see everything).   My step daughter still had fun though.  All these pictures are zoomed in after the fact.





After a brief Q&A with the cast they posed for some pictures with a couple early arrivals that were dressed up like characters from the film.



This unzoomed shows what our actual view was like....How early did the people in front show up for this event?





Then they did a fun little sing- a -long featuring some of the hit songs from the movie


The Choreographers from the film came out on the stage and taught the audience the dance moves to "Set it Off" and then the cast danced with the audience to the song.  I caught that on my phone --but for some reason couldn't load it to my Disney Facebook page...only my regular one.

As we were leaving a line had grown where the cast was exiting and my step daughter lined up to watch them exit...




My thoughts on the event:   It was free!  Parking in Downtown Disney for this short event was also free.  My stepdaughter got to see some of her favorite stars from her favorite shows up close and personal.  The standing home only with adults in the mix and no big screens to see what was on stage could have been better...but it was a great event all in all.   And the big annoucement that a Descendants 2 is currently in the works was a special treat for the fans.  All in all it was a fun event.


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Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Indiana Jones Themed Bar coming to Downtown Disney (Disney Springs) I can't wait to get back to Orlando

So many things to be excited about in the last couple of days!!!!!1

Yesterday I saw online that a UFO themed hotel is possibly being built on the way to Las Vegas in the small town of Baker.  (known for it's giant Thermometer and its 100 degree weather).  I can't wait to stay there if and when it actually opens.  The concept art looks amazing --so it will probably be totally cheesy when it opens---but still a must see.

Today I see this news story on Disney Parks Blog and several others.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/05/jock-lindseys-hangar-bar-to-open-this-fall-at-downtown-disney-at-walt-disney-worldresort/

It looks like Disney owning the rights to Indiana Jones is already starting to pay off.   We were just in Orlando in March and missed the opening of Trader Sam's Grog Grotto by about 2 weeks (so we already have a reason to go back)  and we saw a lot of construction on our trip over at the Downtown Disney area.   Well it turns out one of those additions is going to be an Indiana Jones Bar!!!!


Yes you heard that right and Indiana Jones themed bar!!!   It seems Indy's pal Jock (the one with the snake in the plane at the beginning of Raiders)  has gone into the bar business.


According to all the articles it will seat about 150 people.  Jock's old airplane from the film will be hanging out outside of the bar which is rumored to be like Trader Sam's but with an aviation theme.  The bars interior is said to have old Travel Posters and other memorabilia.   I'm sure it will have some Indy items like Trader Sam's in California does like these:



I'm certainly putting this at the top of my must see list the next time we head to Orlando.   Raiders is my favorite movie so an Indiana Jones themed Trader Sam's type bar is exactly my kind of place. 

These also brings up a couple questions.

If it is successful will we get one in California???

And if Disney is opening an Indiana Jones bar --can more Indy Movies and possibly attractions be far behind?

I'll share my ideas in an upcoming blog.  What do you think?






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Thursday, September 19, 2013

Downtown Disney: Top Spot for People Watching


There is no better place for people watching while having a cocktail on the Disney Property than the cool and stylish  Uva Bar.   Located right in the middle of Downtown Disney.   People watching is something we enjoy and Disneyland and Vegas are the two best places for this activity.  What better way to relax and get out of the traffic of weird people in Goofy hats than this spot.   Number one on our people watching spot list at the resort.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Shopping Disney: D-Street

 The Queen of Hearts is absolutely mad over the new Alice in Wonderland Vinylamation


"Put him in the Cargo Hold"


Disney meets Star Wars




Buck is in the house


I'm a sucker for cool Star Wars Stuff



Hanging with a big white Mickey






Sunday, June 3, 2012

The Lego Store at Downtown Disney has reopened


The Lego store at Downtown Disney just reopened lately with some impressive new giant Lego figures...



To Infinity and Beyond!

'

Beauty and the Beast








 The Dragon is so impressive I just kept taking pictures of him



Inside the Store Aladdin, Jasmine and the Genie were flying high.   





Apu on the flying carpet.


Hulk Smash




The Fire hitting the shield effect is great


Another cool feature outside the store is this build your own lego car and race it feature which is free


 Jacob's car is in the lead but is quickly heading off course
 Okay before the kids make me spend too much money inside the store we better go......One last shot of  the dragon





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