Hello Loungers!
We had a wonderful time at the MausHaus. Our reunion went so well they want to meet again! It'll be in a different city so not everyone has to travel all the time.
A few words about our Animal Kingdom experiences on June 2nd:
- The tree animations are spectacular. Cast members would not affirm the "kiss goodnight" was going to happen just that the park closes at 11pm... which was weird. Luckily, we had Yulilin "on our shoulder" whispering... stay, stay... you'll love it. Indeed we did, and had front row seated spots from 10- 11:15pm to watch the animations. So awesome!
- The night parties were very well done. We had a nice time enjoying the cool of the evening and the dancing in the streets.
- In my opinion, the shows at AK are very different from one another. Being in theatre, I appreciate that their theatrical lineage and inspiration are very different from one another. Comparing them without this acknowledgement I think is a dis-service to what they are. I suppose a non-theatrical comparison would be that a car is not a bike, which is not a skateboard, but they all have wheels and are modes of transport.
- - - Finding Nemo is your typical braodway/musical theatre one-act show. It's songs are derivative of historical musical theatre styles. Festival of the Lion King has its lineage in the thrilling cirque style with excellent audience participation as well as its sung storytelling, immersive set and character costumes. Jungle book personifies characters through dance and music. The storytelling is in the choreography for the individual character. It uses singers to enhance the dancing, not to tell the story. The audience focus is on dancers and live instrumentalists, and while the singers are in the center, they are ultimately ancillary. Jungle Book is a dance performance piece, Nemo is a musical theatre one-act and Lion King is a cirque spectacular; they are all theatrical. For my experience, they were all entertaining in their unique expression of theatre.
- We found our dining package seating to be excellent. We arrived early for the 9pm show and sat on the very last row. This enabled us to stand without blocking anyone if we wanted to stretch our legs, and we were not on the stone benches. The space in between the row in front of you is very tight.... tighter than some plane rides I've been on!
- More JB notes: The water met in the middle for the screen, but was still blurry. Had we been 100ft away I bet it would have been more clear. It is a still night, so no major wind to move the curtain of water. During the "red flower" dance, some lightening was going off in a cumulonimbus cloud in the distance. It seemed to get stronger during the dance, so naturally I thought.... golly, their dance is so authentic they are calling down the lightening! Of course, that may not be true, but the dramatic theatrical and natural lighting effects were exciting. (The cloud was not so near that they cancelled, we saw the whole performance.)
- Nomad lounge is a beautiful oasis with delicious drinks. If I return to AK, I plan to take a lot of time to simply enjoy the Nomad. The JB dining package on 06/02 was a value considering the cost, and we greatly enjoyed the meal. It's a quality signature restaurant and worth a look around. I would go there again.
- It was AK GayDays, and we saw a few red shirts. I had my rainbow lei and red shirt celebrating with gusto!
- Bring glow sticks for some fun nighttime flair!