Anyone Game? 2 Castles and a Road Trip TR! Last Day and TR Wrap Up! #2796; 10/01

[PrincessInOz]

Are you a DVC member PIO? Jo and I were wondering if any folk from Australia are. Obviously you can't come over every year because of the distance but a lit of UK folk buy half the points needed and bank them using them all once every 2-3 years. We started like that... Then came once a year... This year twice lol.. Then bought more oh my.

There are a number of Aussies on the Dis that are DVC members. Some of them go once a year or every second year.

We didn't buy into it. We should have done so in 2005; but DH and I figured we wouldn't head across to WDW so often.


We tend to go to Disneyland because LA is usually our first port of call when we go to the US. We've gone to the US at least once a year for the last 11 years because DH is employed by a US company and he's had business trips to San Francisco. Not sure if we'll have a trip this year. It might be nice to have a 'consolidation' year for a change.

Oooh a staycation! Where will you be staying? We're looking at doing one of those in November but not sure where yet. Has to be somewhere dog friendly.

You'll have to wait and see......if the pictures are any good, I might share them.

But our staycation is DEFINITELY not pet friendly.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I see re DVC. Oh nice re San Fran. We love that place!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Me too, Paula. I'm always happy to be back there and as the song goes...I left my heart in San Francisco.

We almost made the decision to move there years ago. Now....DS has his roots too firmly planted in Melbourne. *sigh*

 

[zanzibar138]

You'll have to wait and see......if the pictures are any good, I might share them.

But our staycation is DEFINITELY not pet friendly.

You tease

 

[Luvchefmic]

" If the pictures are any good " yeah okay hmmm ? " not pet friendly " The Zoo ? Oh I hope so

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Me too, Paula. I'm always happy to be back there and as the song goes...I left my heart in San Francisco. We almost made the decision to move there years ago. Now....DS has his roots too firmly planted in Melbourne. *sigh*

oh close but no cigar! We have been lucky enough to go twice. Can't get enough. Omg that sour dough Boudin's or something? We loved the Bubba Gump at pier 33 I think it was. Oh I want to go back now...

 

[PrincessInOz]

You tease

" If the pictures are any good " yeah okay hmmm ? " not pet friendly " The Zoo ? Oh I hope so

Wait and see. I've had absolute disasters on some of my shoot outings; so I'd rather not promise anything.

oh close but no cigar! We have been lucky enough to go twice. Can't get enough. Omg that sour dough Boudin's or something? We loved the Bubba Gump at pier 33 I think it was. Oh I want to go back now...

I love eating at SF. Although, I do stay clear of Bubba Gump there. Not that I don't like it or anything but I find that there are so many good eateries in SF that I can avoid chains that I can get anywhere else in the US.

We should see if we can meet up in SF. There are a number of Dis-sers there that I'd love to catch up with again.

 

[ejud]

"The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco" - Samuel Clemens.



Jud

 

[PrincessInOz]

"The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco" - Samuel Clemens.



Jud

Never the Twain did spend a winter in Melbourne.

 

[franandaj]

We should see if we can meet up in SF. There are a number of Dis-sers there that I'd love to catch up with again.

After your TRs and seeing the wonderful Chinatown places you find, I'd be happy to head up north to meet with you just to use your Asian knowledge of where to go in Chinatown and just hang out and have a great meal together!

Plus it would give us a bonus to stay at my folks house. Perhaps we could all get together, I think you would like them and vice versa.

 

[PrincessInOz]

After your TRs and seeing the wonderful Chinatown places you find, I'd be happy to head up north to meet with you just to use your Asian knowledge of where to go in Chinatown and just hang out and have a great meal together!

Plus it would give us a bonus to stay at my folks house. Perhaps we could all get together, I think you would like them and vice versa.

Sounds like a plan.

 

[Leshaface]

First and foremost, Happy belated Birthday!

Thanks. Oooh! A Baby Shower. Your desserts table sounds great. What about some mini cupcakes? They always look nice and you can have fun decorating them.

I would also be tempted to find some nice candy glass jars/bottles and fill them up with candy. You could always get some marshmallows and fill one up with white, pink and blue? Or get some jelly beans for another bottle.

I would also be tempted to get some of those lollipop sticks. You could put some marshmallow at the end and partially dip them in coloured white chocolate and then dipped in some sprinkles or something. They are easy to make (fiddly but fun) and always look spectacular for a baby shower.


Macaroons? What about some for the table?

Are you planning on decorating the table?

Yes! Mini cupcakes were on the list too and I forgot to list that.

I just asked her today about decorations for the dessert table and she already has a few things ready, so I won't try and add anything more to it. In fact, all her decorations are already made and ready by her and her sister. So i'm basically in charge of all desserts and beverages. I'm not sure if I mentioned the teas i'm making, but an unsweetened english breakfast tea, a Peach iced tea(with frozen peach slices) and a Summer berry iced tea (with fresh berries). Along with cucumber water.

Macaroons are a great idea too, even just on the table! I'll mention that to her.

I realised I got so carried away with adding stuff to your dessert table that I didn't answer this question.


The first time in 2005 was pure tiredness. He'd be on the go go go for 4 or 5 days solid (from 8 am to midnight) that when we got to DHS, it just got too much for him. He was 5 then and we were there in July; so it was really hot as well.


The second time was on 2010. We were there in May. We were there with my DB and his kids. All the kids were grouchy but they wanted to meet the Power Rangers. DS and his cousins waited at that Streets of America section for over 90 minutes in order to meet all 5 of them. They all kinda chucked a tanty after that. DS was 10 then.


This was the 3rd time for him. I think I would have lost it too if I had lost the MB.

Wow you guys did commando with him at age 5?! Good for you! And him too for doing so well, especially in the Summer.

Holy cow 90 minutes for the Power Rangers! I forgot about those guys.

And yes definitely, I think anyone would have been upset about their MB.

 

[PrincessInOz]

First and foremost, Happy belated Birthday!

Thanks!

Yes! Mini cupcakes were on the list too and I forgot to list that.

I just asked her today about decorations for the dessert table and she already has a few things ready, so I won't try and add anything more to it. In fact, all her decorations are already made and ready by her and her sister. So i'm basically in charge of all desserts and beverages. I'm not sure if I mentioned the teas i'm making, but an unsweetened english breakfast tea, a Peach iced tea(with frozen peach slices) and a Summer berry iced tea (with fresh berries). Along with cucumber water.

Macaroons are a great idea too, even just on the table! I'll mention that to her.

Sounds like it's all under control. I hope you'll take some pictures! I'd love to see that table.

Wow you guys did commando with him at age 5?! Good for you! And him too for doing so well, especially in the Summer.

Holy cow 90 minutes for the Power Rangers! I forgot about those guys.

And yes definitely, I think anyone would have been upset about their MB.

DS always had bags of energy. He never slept much during the daytime but would crash and sleep right through the night. Even as a baby.....he was sleeping 7 hours straight at night by the time he was 6 weeks old and that got stretched out to 11 - 12 hours straight at night a couple of months later. On the flip side, he only slept for 30 minutes during the day. He just wouldn't go to sleep during the daytime and when I checked with the maternal health nurse, she figured he was getting the total average amount of sleep that babies needed in the day and given that he wasn't showing signs of tiredness or grumpiness during the daytime, it was fine.

 

[PrincessInOz]

La Belle et la Bete



I've always been a sucker for Broadway musicals and the Golden Age of MGM.
So it was always on the cards that the Disney Renaissance period from the late ‘80’s was going to strike a deep chord with me and where my love for Disney was going to be rekindled. For all his sins, Eisner did allow the revival of the movie side of the business by allowing Roy E Disney to supervise the animation business. The rest, as they say, is history.


Beauty and the Beast was the 3rd movie made in this Disney/Eisner Renaissance era and it has always been one of my favourites. The Alan Menken music is uplifting and tuneful and I just love Jodi Benson's voice in it. Making time to see the DHS show was always on my must-do list and something that I omitted to tell DS. Needless to say, it wasn't on HIS must-do list at all.


I realised that Disney seems to like using yellow and blue in combination a lot!







The prince really should have taken the rose. But then....if he did, it wouldn't be much of story, would it?







The transformation....







....to the Beast.







Chorus life.







Baker, Book Shopman, villagers....







There must be more than this provincial life.






It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting *ideas*, and *thinking*. Yeah. There must be more to this provincial life.







Gaston, you are positively primeval.







No one's neck is as incredibly thick as Gaston. No one fights like Gaston either.







The Bimbettes.







I want adventure in the great wide somewhere.








Enchanted? Ha-ha ha-ha! Who said anything about the castle being enchanted? Ha-ha-ha....







If it's not Baroque, don't fix it!







Time is moving along.....








A Chip off the old block.













Ma chère mademoiselle. It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight. And now, we invite to relax, let us pull up a chair, as the dining room proudly presents.....your dinner!







Go on, unfold your menu







We'll prepare and serve with flair







Be Our Guest!







This was the closest I was getting to BoG this trip.







It makes you think what the MK version would be like if they broke out in song and high kicks every half hour or so.






An absolute culinary cabaret!







(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)



Back to the DHS musical version. Who can ever learn to love a Beast?






There may be something there that wasn't there before.















Time for a mood change. Raise the flag, sing the song.....






…..here we come, we're fifty strong….






….and fifty Frenchmen can't be wrong...








Let's kill the Beast!







At least we get to see the Beast with Belle one last time.







Because....It’s transformation time again.







Check out the sparkles on that curtain.






Put your hand up if you can see that hand.







It's Me, Belle. Look at the hair....you should recognise me from my hair!








Tale as Old as Time. The Tale as Old as Time was based on the fairy tale retold by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, and published in the Young Misses Magazine (1757) which was designed to frame stories, history lessons, and moral anecdotes told by a governess to young girls.






Song as Old as Rhyme. This story was originally based on a longer narrative, much darker and more risqué for Disney, on Mme Gabrielle‐Suzanne de Villeneuve's longer narrative of 1740. More risqué? This version explores more than just the romantic froth of love and marriage.



















Bittersweet and strange. In the Villeneuve version, the Beast asks Belle “May I sleep with you?” each night......instead of the “May I marry you?” question that Beaumont phrased. In this version of the story, Villeneuve explores the concept that Belle has the control and choice over her own body and sexuality, something that without the trappings of marriage, is her right to determine. Remember.....we are talking 1740. Pretty forward thinking to have then.











Certain as the Sun. Guess which version Disney chose to make? Love and froth and marriage is more in keeping with the Disney philosophy. And with the origins of the story distinctively French, it is no surprise that Beauty and the Beast was set in a rather French provincial setting.







Ever a Surprise. But did you know that if you did back far enough to c150 AD….the origins of this tale can be loosely attributed to the Maldarus (Algeria) Apulieus' book Metamorphosis aka The Golden A-s-s (that really IS the name of the book!!)?
I looked it up....Lucius, the protagonist, does turn into a Golden A-s-s (I hope this spelling makes it past the Dis filters. I'm not name-calling. I can't help it if that's the title of the book and the name of an animal!!!) and the book consists of a number of seemingly random stories or chapters loosely held together because the Golden A-s-s is present. There is no equivalent of Belle in that book. But.....At the end, the Golden A-s-s eats a crown of roses and turns into a human again.


Finding you were Wrong. Yeah. Loose association is probably as far as I would go with this.


I can't imagine the princely Beast as a Golden A-s-s and I can't imagine the Disney story without Belle. Thank goodness for Disney sticking with the Beaumont version!








(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)



Stopping our way down Sunset Boulevard




The tribe had spoken.


By this stage, it seemed like a long time since we had breakfast. The boys were hot, hungry and thirsty and they demanded we stop somewhere to address all 3. I did try and change their minds as I knew what was coming up; but it was probably easier to give in graciously than start a pointless discussion at this time of day.

And because we were right there, we stopped by Anaheim Produce. DH was very happy to grab this snack. Disgustingly healthy!







I was surprised but delighted to find the frozen lemonade slushie at the Anaheim Produce. DS and I were happy to share this.



 


We also grabbed cups of iced water to quench our thirst. Contrary to any misgivings I might have had beforehand, I think the little pitstop did us all good. It was good to sit and relax and rest our feet.









Afterall, fed and watered, we were more than happy to smile our way down Sunset Boulevard. We definitely got our money's worth with the Photopass Plus service on this trip.







And in case anyone is wondering, I flatly refuse to get on the Tower of Terror. I blame real-life for this. Back in 2003 or 2004, I was in an elevator that free-fell about 5 or 6 floors before the safety brakes caught. I won't willingly repeat that experience again. And as neither DH nor DS are inclined to do this attraction, it's never been on my to-do list.







We continued to make our way down the street, stopping our way in and out of the souvenir shops (didn't buy anything).

The clock was ticking on us......we have a DisMeet......and more food.....to get to!

 

[Leshaface]

DS always had bags of energy. He never slept much during the daytime but would crash and sleep right through the night. Even as a baby.....he was sleeping 7 hours straight at night by the time he was 6 weeks old and that got stretched out to 11 - 12 hours straight at night a couple of months later. On the flip side, he only slept for 30 minutes during the day. He just wouldn't go to sleep during the daytime and when I checked with the maternal health nurse, she figured he was getting the total average amount of sleep that babies needed in the day and given that he wasn't showing signs of tiredness or grumpiness during the daytime, it was fine.

Yes i'll definitely post some pictures!

Oh my word he was such a good baby. DS has definitely gotten better from when he was first born. He now sleeps about 10-11 hours at night AND still takes 2 naps a day, each for about an hour and a half. I'm lucky that he's still taking naps cause that's when I get to DIS.


I was a little obsessed going through all your photos and looking at the actors and the many roles they have to take on. Like one guy was holding the 'curtain and then he was a dancer in the ''Be Our Guest' scene and THEN he was in the mob scene! Geez that's a lot of changing and running around back scene.

Boo to veggies....well sometimes.

 

[ejud]

Interesting stuff on B&B! Thanks!



Jud

 

[zanzibar138]

How do you find all this information? You make me feel bad that I don't provide history lessons in my TRs

I'll take the lemonade slushie over the disgustingly healthy veggies any day

 

[jedijill]

I love B&B and Be Our Guest is my favorite Disney song. Love the history lesson! ToT is one of my favorite rides but I understand why you won't ride it!

And happy Belated Birthday!

Jill in CO