ABD Backstage Magic 7/31 - 8/5/11

[BonnieMB]

Ok - I did a little digging and I think I have an area for questions at least. I'm really interested in the early plans for Epcot (When it was EPCOT) when it was intended to truly be an experimental community...real utopian planning akin to the earlier Garden Cities movement and other early planning models. I use the TV spot where Walt talks about his plans for EPCOT in my human geography course when we talk about living in urban centres and planning - really gets the students attention!

So I think I will get into that a bit and come up with 2 or 3 good questions

 

[paulasillars]

Also, I have ask, so has anyone come up with some good questions for Marty Sklar? I keep thinking I'm going to get the deer in the head lights look after I say "Really enjoy your work....Mr Sklar!" Just curious.

LOL the only questions I can come up with are totally inappropriate and nothing to do with anything he's done... "so Mr Sklar... love your work but the big question... do you scrunch or fold?" - bet no one has asked that before...

I think I'll just sit quietly at the back of the room in case I get thrown out

Promise I will try to behave...

 

[NitroStitch]

Afternoon Campers...

Bonnie did you start the Jim Hensen book yet? This is the one book I'm seriously considering. Otherwise I'm going to skim through my Walt Disney biography book before the trip.

Also, I have ask, so has anyone come up with some good questions for Marty Sklar? I keep thinking I'm going to get the deer in the head lights look after I say "Really enjoy your work....Mr Sklar!" Just curious.

The Jim Henson book is fantastic - I learned so much I never knew about him and about all the things he did. It made me appreciate some of what we saw in CA more, and it added so much to the Muppets productions I'd seen.

I plan to do plenty of reading before we have our lunch with Marty Sklar, and I hope to have many good questions by next summer! I'm sure he could probably be asked anything and talk about it for hours. Oh, the stories he must be able to tell!

 

[NitroStitch]

Bonnie, I did the Wild by Design Tour about a year ago and absolutely loved it. It honestly made Animal Kingdom one of my least favorite parks to my second favorite (MK being the first). You really appreciate everything so much more after going on that tour.

Sara, glad to hear you are enjoying Birnbaum's guide to DLR. I always love those books.

I hope everyone is looking forward to a good weekend. The weather is beautiful here and I have no plans as of yet. Not sure what to do today, but have an itch to go shopping.

I really want to do the Wild by Design Tour - AK is my favorite park!

 

[AllyGirl_79]

Hello fellow Adventurers!

I've been doing some travelling and got terribly behind in this thread -- I just read 10 pages! Can't wait to get more in the swing of things.

T-shirts: I'm not really big on matching t-shirts traditionally, but I think this could be cool and a great souvenir. My favorite character is Dopey and Eileen's is Stitch.

Books: I ordered the field guide to Disneyland (and also the Lee Cockrell and Charlie Ridgeway books for the cruise) but I have such a huge stack of books that I have bought and haven't read, I'm waiting on the others. The Muppets will be Eileen's favorite part of the trip, so I might get her that book as part of her Christmas gift ... and then borrow it! I'm also reading the Imaginering book now. I've had it for several years, but somehow never read it all the way through. I'm thinking about the second one, as well, after Dave Parfitt's review on the blog. I'm trying to convince myself to wait on the DL guide and buy next year's edition.

Questions for Marty Sklar: I haven't really thought about questions yet. I'm most curious about the fact that he's opened every park - is it still just as exciting? Does he have a favorite park? What does he think Walt would think of how big and far-reaching the parks have become?

I'm off to raid the mini-bar, watch some more of the US Open, and then dream about this trip!

 

[DisDan26]

Hey Ya'll!

Just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. My DP (Leah) and I (Danika) are soooo excited about this trip!! We were on the waiting list and I got notice a couple of days ago that they had 2 spots open... As of Yesterday we are IN!!

We are DVC Members and have been to Disney World multiple times, but this will be our 1st trip to California!!

I am a Bank Manager & Leah is a Pharmacist... we work hard, & stay busy but DISNEY IS OUR PASSION!! Any free time we have is spent @ the Happiest place on Earth!! We have been together 6 years & love our life, but nothing beats being at "Our Happy Place"

Anywho... Enough of all of that.. We are stoked about this trip & can't wait to meet everyone!!! We are always up for finding new friends that are as big of "Disney Nerds" as we are!!!

P.S. We are new to the boards.... so i hope I am doing this right hehe

 

[NitroStitch]

Hey Ya'll!

Just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. My DP (Leah) and I (Danika) are soooo excited about this trip!! We were on the waiting list and I got notice a couple of days ago that they had 2 spots open... As of Yesterday we are IN!!

We are DVC Members and have been to Disney World multiple times, but this will be our 1st trip to California!!

I am a Bank Manager & Leah is a Pharmacist... we work hard, & stay busy but DISNEY IS OUR PASSION!! Any free time we have is spent @ the Happiest place on Earth!! We have been together 6 years & love our life, but nothing beats being at "Our Happy Place"

Anywho... Enough of all of that.. We are stoked about this trip & can't wait to meet everyone!!! We are always up for finding new friends that are as big of "Disney Nerds" as we are!!!

P.S. We are new to the boards.... so i hope I am doing this right hehe

Congratulations on moving from the wait list to the group of Adventurers! And welcome to the boards too. This is definitely the ultimate trip for all of the Disney Geeks and Disnerds that we are!

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Danika!

 

[DisneyKevin]

In reading about the earthquake in New Zealand, I realized that it happened in the place that Paula and her Mom are from.

Lets say a prayer for Paula and her Mom and all of the people from Christchurch, New Zealand.

ETA:

Paula did post to FB earlier.

Quote:
Paula Sillars - Well the earth moved for me! 7.4 4km from here - house is a mess!

Paula Sillars - Lots of tremors and after shocks and still no power - phone system overloaded - cant get hold of Roberts Mum to see if she is ok - lounge awash from fish tank - stuff fallen and off shelves but no major structural damage but waiting for daylight to see for sure

Good thoughts Paula

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I saw this earlier while on the phone. I'm still going to keep Paula in my thoughts. I'm hoping her mother in law is okay.

 

[AllyGirl_79]

How scary! Sending good thoughts Paula's way...

I hope everything gets better in the daylight and that they find all their relatives and friends to be safe and unhurt.

 

[paulasillars]

Thanks guys - it means a lot for you guys to even think of me. Report below and also Robert's Mum is fine - I know I posted on FB that we couldn't get hold of her but its all good.

Thanks all for your concern, prayers and pixie dust!

We actually live in Christchurch so are right in the middle of it, we are considering ourselves terribly fortunate that we have no damage other than some broken items in the kitchen - mugs, casserole dishes etc.

Other parts of the city are not so lucky, I have two friends with their chimney's now in their homes. Robert's Mum has her neighbors chimney on her lawn - it just missed the house.

We are still having massive aftershocks and tremors nearly 8 hours later and this could go on for days if not weeks.

A state of emergency has been declared and the city is off limits as many buildings are damaged majorly. I think the airport is still closed but they are hoping to open it soon. They might have to evacuate some neighbourhoods soon though so its not over yet.

Luckily with it happening at 4.30am, there were few people out and about - it would have been much worse if it happened 12 hours earlier when people were in the city on a Friday afternoon!

On the bright side, its a gorgeous day and we have power to our home - much of the city is still without. Water could be an issue in the next few days though!

 

[NitroStitch]

Thanks guys - it means a lot for you guys to even think of me. Report below and also Robert's Mum is fine - I know I posted on FB that we couldn't get hold of her but its all good.

Thanks all for your concern, prayers and pixie dust!

We actually live in Christchurch so are right in the middle of it, we are considering ourselves terribly fortunate that we have no damage other than some broken items in the kitchen - mugs, casserole dishes etc.

Other parts of the city are not so lucky, I have two friends with their chimney's now in their homes. Robert's Mum has her neighbors chimney on her lawn - it just missed the house.

We are still having massive aftershocks and tremors nearly 8 hours later and this could go on for days if not weeks.

A state of emergency has been declared and the city is off limits as many buildings are damaged majorly. I think the airport is still closed but they are hoping to open it soon. They might have to evacuate some neighbourhoods soon though so its not over yet.

Luckily with it happening at 4.30am, there were few people out and about - it would have been much worse if it happened 12 hours earlier when people were in the city on a Friday afternoon!

On the bright side, its a gorgeous day and we have power to our home - much of the city is still without. Water could be an issue in the next few days though!

I'm so glad ya'll are okay!! It does sound like you were very lucky - relatively speaking. I hope the daylight doesn't make things at home look worse. Take care & be safe!

 

[SaraMc]

Im so glad to hear that your ok! Thinking of you and your family.

 

[Jeff & Stacy in NYC]

Paula, we are so sorry about this terrible ordeal! You and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.

 

[itsmuggsie]

Paula so glad to hear you and your family are ok.

 

[ZiggyZ]

Paula glad u are all OK must have been scary!

 

[ZiggyZ]

Danika glad you're Onboard

 

[paulasillars]

I'm so glad ya'll are okay!! It does sound like you were very lucky - relatively speaking. I hope the daylight doesn't make things at home look worse. Take care & be safe!

Im so glad to hear that your ok! Thinking of you and your family.

Paula, we are so sorry about this terrible ordeal! You and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.

Paula so glad to hear you and your family are ok.

Paula glad u are all OK must have been scary!

I have never been so scared in my life. I think we all probably went into shock for a bit immediately after it happened. Its over 24 hours ago now so the aftershocks have eased up and aren't so frequent.

We had a lot of aftershocks during the night including a couple last evening which were 3.8 and 4.3 on the scale. We did manage to get a little sleep. Its definitely easier to cope in daylight, there is something unnerving about darkness and the thought that another could hit at any time (and will hit sooner or later - the media is always quick to say it wasn't the big one they expected).

To top it off, we have gale force winds today so damaged buildings may get another battering. Parts of the city/suburbs have been destroyed and I'm sure most of you will have seen it on the news.

It was a 7.1 on the richter scale which is the same as what hit Haiti and killed 200,000+ people - how no one died here is beyond comprehension. Someone died from a heart attack and two people are in a serious condition in hospital.

We are very fortunate.

 

[paulasillars]

Danika glad you're Onboard

Welcome to Danika