Shopping Disney: Trader Sam's Grog Grotto Shirts at the Disneyland Hotel

When we took our family trip to Disneyworld last year,  the one thing we missed out on was getting to visit Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto.   Unfortunately it wasn’t opening for a few more weeks.   Our trip was planned around my stepdaughter’s Cheer Competition otherwise I would have planned the trip around the opening of Trader Sam’s.   I was hoping that it would be soft opened---but no such luck.

I really wanted to go there in order to get the Trader Sam’s Hawaiian shirt and the cool Grog Grotto  T-Shirt.  
Luckily I didn’t have to wait to get back to Orlando.   The main store at the Disneyland Hotel is now carrying both shirts.  (Actually they have been carrying them for awhile now—they are just often out of stock).

So for Tiki and Trader Sam’s fans.  The next time you head over to Trader Sam’s for a Tiki Cocktail stop over at the shop near the Hotel Lobby and grab a bit of Tiki.

To Follow my Disney Facebook page go Here.

https://www.facebook.com/braddisneylandblog/

The Mouse Minute has moved to it's own Website

https://themouseminute.wordpress.com/

Disney’s Rogue One Problem??

I’m a huge Star Wars fan.  I’ve seen all the movies.  I’ve watched the Ewok specials.   I’ve seen every episode of the Clone Wars and Rebels and read about 100 Star Wars books.  I waited all week for the Rogue One Trailer and watched it at least 7 times the night it came out.    I personally can’t wait for the movie so as far as Disney is concerned they have this Star Wars fan wrapped around their finger.  

The problem Disney faces with Rogue One is the casual Star Wars fan.  The marketing for a Rogue One is a challenge for Disney.  This movie has no recognizable characters from previous Star Wars films with the exception of Vader.   As I sat mouth a gape in front of my big screen TV during the Olympic coverage as the Rogue One trailer rolled across the screen my wife turned to me about one minute in and said “Are there any characters we know in this movie?”    And that is the problem.   The diehard fans like me get that this movie takes place right before  A New Hope.    The average casual fan that showed up to see Han Solo in the Force Awakens remains confused.   As much as Disney will try to get the message out as to what this movie is about and when it takes place in the Star Wars Timeline---there are going to be people that show up to the theater and wonder ……”Where is Luke?”   “BB-8 isn’t in the movie?”   Despite the ads people are going to think this is Episode 8.  People are going to ask “ I thought Vader died?”     How is Disney going to solve this problem?  How will they get the message out to the average fan and how will that effect the box office for the film?    Disney can’t expect this film to even come close to what The Force Awakens did.  The Force Awakens marketed itself.   It was the right movie at the right time.  
I assume Disney will expect Rogue One to be more like a Thor or Antman at the box office movie when compared to The Avengers, but what if they mistakenly think this will be just as big?  

Personally I think the are doing a good job of explaining what this movie is.....But is that enough for the average viewer to get it?

Here is the trailer.

Follow my Disney Facebook Page Here

https://www.facebook.com/braddisneylandblog/?ref=bookmarks

The Mouse Minute has moved to it's own Website

https://themouseminute.wordpress.com/

Disney/Pixar Animated Short Reviews: #81 Good Sports 2016 8 out of 10

Good Sports  2016  8 out of 10

The latest Mickey Mouse cartoon is a throwback to the old school Goofy Sports cartoons that I love so much.   Mickey is the announcer of a basketball game that tries to give a bunch of Goofy's a lesson in good sportmanship.  The cartoon goes on to show a bunch of different sporting events through out history that demonstrates both good and bad sports behavior.  It is a nice homage to the old Goofy cartoons with several good gags, but never fully reaches the excellence of those original cartoons.  The best gag in the cartoon is the Football Goofy's touchdown celebration,

The cartoon can be found on the Disney Channel or Disney Online.

For more Cartoon reviews, Movie reviews and Disney news follow my Disney Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/braddisneylandblog/

The Mouse Minute has moved to it's own Website

https://themouseminute.wordpress.com/

Turtle Talk with Crush gets an Upgrade

The long awaited sequel to Finding Nemo (Finding Dory) just came out and swam it’s way to box office records.  It now stands as the number one animated movie all-time at the domestic US Box Office.

It only makes sense that the Turtle Talk with Crush show in the Disney Animation building in DCA would get an upgrade.   And that is exactly what happened.  



\
Starting with a new waiting area that teaches you about some of the characters in the new film.

The structure of the show remains basically the same.  If you have never experienced Turtle Talk with Crush it is basically an interactive conversation with Crush from Finding Nemo and Finding Dory.   Using innovative technology Disney has made it possible for you to actually talk and interact with a cartoon.  Your little ones will love it as they can ask Crush questions and he will respond back.  Every viewing has the chance to be slightly different depending on the audience.

The updated version of the show features cameos from several characters from the smash hit sequel including Dory herself.

You can also expect to see Hank (if you are paying attention).  Squirt, Bailey the Beluga Whale and Marlin.

 If your kids love the latest film then definitely check it out....

For my thoughts on Finding Dory go here
http://braddisneylandblog.blogspot.com/2016/07/disney-animated-movie-review-13-finding.html

    Please follow my Disney Facebook page for all future blogs, Pictures and Disney News.

https://www.facebook.com/braddisneylandblog/?ref=bookmarks

The Mouse Minute has moved to it's own Website

https://themouseminute.wordpress.com/

Disney/Pixar Animated Short Reviews: #80 Split Decisions 2016 8 out of 10

Split Decision  2016  8 out of 10

Professor Von Drake is back in the latest Mickey Mouse Cartoon and he does an experiment to try and take the anger out of Donald Duck.  Of course the experiment goes wrong creating two Donalds. One Donald is a super nice huggy Donald that seems like he took some strong medication. The other is basically a Hulk version of Donald.   Donald Smash!   Chaos happens and it is delightful.   The two sides of Donald make for make for an entertaining effort in the cartoon series. 

The cartoons can be found on the Disney Channel or Disney Online

My Disney Facebook page can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/braddisneylandblog/

Disney/Pixar Animated Short Reviews: #79 No Reservations 2016 6 out of 10

No Reservations 2016

In the latest Minnie Mouse Cartoon we go deep into the subject of discrimination.  Minnie and the gals have reservations for a fancy Space Needle Restaurant.   This is a high class joint and apparently Daisy, Minnie and Clara Belle aren't welcome.  Deep stuff for a Minnie Mouse cartoon.  The  Maitre D takes on look at the gals and their simple farm style outfits and completely ignores the fact that Minnie actually does have reservation.  The gals spend the rest of the cartoon trying to sneak into the restaurant which leads to some silly and weird moments including Clara Belle being stuck in the roof and spraying milk all over the customers.   It was an okay cartoon with several gags, but not one of the better of the series.   If one looks deep enough into the plot it has a stronger message about class struggle and could represent revolution of the struggling masses against the elitist rich. 

The cartoon can be found on the Disney Channel and Disney Online.

My Disney Facebook page can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/braddisneylandblog/

My Ever Changing Thoughts on the new Pete’s Dragon: 4-D Sneak Peek in the Parks

When they first announced that they would be doing a remake of Pete’s Dragon I was excited.  I’m generally not a fan of remakes –except for when they have a chance to really improve on the originals.  I don’t think classics should be remade. When Hollywood remakes Classic movies they general fail.  You end up walking out of the movie thinking “I should have just watched the original”.  This was the case with Psycho and Halloween.  I would never want to see a remake to one of my favorite movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Ghostbusters ( yeah I know),  but something like Pete’s Dragon is perfect to remake.   It is the kind of movie that makes you wonder what they could do with it with today’s technology.

The original Pete’s Dragon from 1977 was a fun, silly live action/Animated musical with a 2-D animated Dragon.  The story is basically Mary Poppins with a Dragon instead of a nanny.  

The 2016 Remake brings the Dragon into the modern era of CGI.  Gone are the songs and instead we get a great cast of quality actors and an amazing looking CGI Dragon.

When the original Teaser Trailer dropped---I was lukewarm on the remake.   It was such a short teaser that I couldn’t imagine how the movie would turn out.  It looked like a young Tarzan boy story.  Instead of being excited about the film I thought  “Maybe they screwed it up”.

As the summer went on long  more trailers begin to appear that make it look like a more magical worthy of a remake film.   I was starting to get a little excited again and I started looking forward to the Disneyland Parks sneak peek that would begin airing in July.  

The sneak peek has now turned this into a must see movie.   Like previous sneak peeks with the exception of Alice Through the Looking Glass (which fell as flat as the movie)  this sneak peek only enhanced my wanting to see the film.  My original concerns about the plot are now gone.  Robert Redford will be amazing.  Elliot the Dragon looks like the perfect mix of Dragon with a touch of the old animated version.  It would have been a bad idea to make a traditional Dragon---they stayed true to the original Elliot in their updated design.  The sneak peek has a great scene with Elliot flying around with Pete that was epic in the 4-D theater.   The movie looks like a fun and touching action packed version of the original.  ET with a Dragon.    I’m now confident that I’ll love the film.  

I wouldn’t even want to guess how it will do at the box office however.   I was shocked at how much money The Jungle Book Live Action film made…..yet the Alice sequel to a billion dollar original film bombed and BFG died despite supposedly being good.   Will people show up in droves to this new Pete’s Dragon.

               Here is my Disney Facebook Page   
https://www.facebook.com/braddisneylandblog/?ref=bookmarks