There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island

Disney's Boardwalk Soundtrack

I sat in The Belle Vue Lounge for a while at Disney's Boardwalk Resort, and this is the playlist that I heard. I think it may have been on shuffle rather than a set list:

What's New - Bob Crosby - 22 Original Big Band Hits

I Got Rhythm - Glenn Miller - Best Of The Big Bands

Stompin' at the Savoy - Benny Goodman - Pure Gold

Lester Leaps In - Count Basie - Count Basie Orchestra

Lady Be Good - Benny Goodman - Swing Sessions

Body And Soul - Benny Goodman - Pure Gold

Taxi War Dance - Count Basie - The Essential Count Basie

Swingin' On The Teagarden Gate - Jack Teagarden - 1939-1940

Who? - Benny Goodman - The Ultimate Benny Goodman

Tiger Rag (Binaural Stereo) - Art Tatum & Zenph Studios - Piano Starts Here: Live at the Shrine Zenph Re-Performance

Someday Sweetheart - Benny Goodman - The Platinum Collection

Weather Bird - Louis Armstrong - Jazz - The Essential Collection, Vol. 2

Singin' The Blues - Bix Beiderbecke - Chicago

China Boy - Benny Goodman - After You've Gone: The Original Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet, Vol. 1

He's Gone Away (04-04-50) - Artie Shaw - The Last Artie Shaw Orchestra

More Than You Know - Benny Goodman - After You've Gone: The Original Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet, Vol. 1

The Irish Washerwoman - Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians - Take It Easy

Nobody's Sweetheart - Teddy Wilson - Revisits the Goodman Years

Skater's Waltz - Bob Crosby And His Orchestra - The Big Band Swing Christmas

Brown's Little Jug - Les Brown - Swing Essentials Vol 8 - Les Brown And His Band Of Renoun

After You've Gone - Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman Sextet Live at Basin Street East (feat. Charlie Shavers & Mel Powell)

Body And Soul - Benny Goodman - Pure Gold

Dark Eyes - Gordon Jenkins And His Orchestra - (no album?)

Sweet Sue, Just You - Benny Goodman - The Ultimate Benny Goodman

Casa Loma Stomp - Casa Loma Orchestra - Boneyard Shuffle

Boneyard Shuffle - Benny Goodman - The Ultimate Benny Goodman

Moten Swing - Count Basie - Chairman of the Board

I'm Free (What's New) - Bob Crosby and His Orchestra - South Rampart Street Parade

I Got Rhythm - Glenn Miller - Best of the Big Bands

Tiger Rag - Art Tatum - Piano Starts Here

Real Genius + Frozen = Real Frozen

Is Frozen Disney's best since the Disney Renaissance?

To quote Olaf: Nope. I enjoyed the movie, I thought it was good, but I don't think it lives up to all of the superlatives being heaped upon it. A lot of people are saying it was the best Disney film since the Disney Renaissance (generally considered to be the 10 year period of 1989 to 1999) or the best since the Lion King. I enjoyed a lot of the Disney movies since then. There were also some that were meh. But here are some post Renaissance, pre-Frozen movies that I enjoyed more than Frozen:

Fantasia 2000
Lilo & Stitch
Home On The Range (one of the most underrated)
The Princess and the Frog
Winnie the Pooh
Tangled
Wreck-It Ralph

These films, in my opinion had either better artwork, a more well-crafted story, both or other less tangible qualities that I feel make them superior.

There. I just had to put in my two cents. Now go build a snowman.

* Bonus content and potential spoilers:

Here is how I would have made Frozen better:

1) The trolls were a bit unnecessary. They could have replaced them with the ice-cutter folk from the opening scene. I want to see more of those guys. Of course I know why they included the trolls. They're part of Scandinavian folklore, they're cutesy and, of course, the Norway Pavilion in Epcot is riddled with them.

2) We didn't need a bad guy. The story of a rift between two siblings is powerful enough. It would have been even more powerful if we didn't have the bad guy. Hans could have been in the film, he should have just been the wrong guy. And the Duke of Weselton red herring, also unnecessary.

That's my two cents.

Gears Behind The Ears

Wish I had a DVD full of these segments.

Disney's Vero Beach Resort: Tropical Chicken Pita

The Tropical Chicken Pita served at Bleachers (the poolside counter service restaurant) at Disney's Vero Beach Resort is perhaps my favorite Disney food (Dole Whip is a close second.) On our last trip down I carefully made notes about what might comprise this concoction. Here are my transcribed notes:

• Grilled Chicken
• Whole Wheat Pita
• Lettuce
• Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
• Red & Yellow Peppers, finely diced
• Red Onion, finely diced or finely shredded
• Pineapple, diced
• 2 sauces?
  • Oil-based sweet oniony sauce
  • Wasabi sauce, mildly spicy (other items at Vero have a Mango Wasabi Sauce)

Update:

I have been informed this food item has been discontinued! I was lucky I recorded this information when I did. What a loss.

Disney Magic vs Disney Dream

I'm not sure if I got the size comparison right, but deviantart user lupin3ITA created some nice profiles of the Disney Dream and Disney Magic cruise ships. You can see the difference between the first two ships (Magic and Wonder) and the two new ships (Dream and Fantasy).

The most obvious visual difference between the Magic/Wonder and the Dream/Fantasy is the number of decks visible. In the top, white painted portion of the ships the Magic and Wonder have three decks of portholes visible, the newer ships have five. If you can see the aquaduck on top of the ship, you're looking at the Dream (the Fantasy will have it too).

The bow of the Magic has Sorcerer Mickey on it. The stern has Goofy hanging off it and the name of the ship. The bow of the Wonder has Steamboat Willy on it and the stern has Donald hanging from it. The bow of the Dream has Captain Mickey on it and the stern has Sorcerer Mickey hanging from it. The bow of the Fantasy will also have Sorcerer Mickey on it, going by artist renderings. The stern will have Dumbo hanging from it.

The Dream:



The Magic:



The Wonder:



Magic and Dream together, don't let the forced perspective fool you, the Dream in back is larger:



UPDATE:

The fourth ship, Disney Fantasy just floated out of the dock at Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany! As you can see in the photo there is still construction going on.

The Adventurers Club Lives!

The Adventurers Club at Downtown Disney at Disney World may have closed in September 2008, but doesn't mean its dead and buried. Here is a video for an event for long serving Disney Castmembers when the Adventurers Club players performed many of their old bits.

Snoopy On The African Queen

Kind of like Jungle Cruise, but the Boat is more accurate to The African Queen.

Large Beechcraft Beech 18 Photo from Castaway Cay

This is NOT my photo:




found here

A Tribute To Fletcher's Skirt Costume

Costumes at Disney's Adventurers Club changed over the years. For a while, Fletcher Hodges had a skirt. This video montage does a good job capturing some of the zaniness of the club on visuals alone...

More Behind-The-Scenes at Jungle Cruise

Bonus, more behind the scenes video from The Orange County Register:



Also, click here to read the OC County Register article. Via The World Famous Jungle Cruise blog.

Behind the scenes at Jungle Cruise (in Disneyland)

Disney Cruise Line: Shipboard Announcement

Having Disney cruise withdrawal? Or do you need to make some shipboard announcements on your very own Disney Cruise ship? Make sure you play this sound before your announcements!

Rare meeting between Disney Wonder and Disney Magic

The Disney Wonder and Disney Magic have a rare meeting in Port Canaveral (due to the Magic being delayed in the Bahamas because of a storm), and the two ships celebrate their encounter with euphoric horn honking. Kind of like a cross between whale song and close encounters of the third kind.

Witch doctor?

At the Adventurers Club, Fletcher Hodges shares some advice he received and performs some ritual scalp massage.

More Congaloosh 2009 Video

The Colonel sings a variety of songs including Drop Your Drawers, The Beer Song and the Adventurers Club theme song.

Colonel: I can't wait to get to Hong Kong.
Crowd: Booooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Raise a glass to the Adventurers Club

Tower, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Tonight could very well be the last night any guest sets foot in the Adventurers Club as we know it. The club closed officially on Sept. 27th, 2008, but there have been privately book functions going on in the club since then. Tonight is the Congaloosh 2009 VIP Hoopla, the last (as far as I know) event that has been booked. Right now the rumor needle is about in the middle as far as I'm concerned. The internet claims information from both sides, both good news and bad news. Whatever happens, I just hope those folks at Congaloosh tonight have a great time and take lots of pictures (and share them)!

Kungaloosh! Here are some places where Adventurers Club rumors are concentrated:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Adventurers_Club/

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=325622&page=99

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17614776169&ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17614776169&ref=ts#/group.php?gid=48800157708&ref=ts

UPDATE:
Video of a twitterer wiating outside for tonight's Hoopla:

Reposted from comments on another blog: thoughts on the Adventurers Club and Jungle Trek

I loved the Adventurers Club and regret that I only got to go there twice despite many trips to Orlando while it was Open. We even made a special trip and went there the week before it closed. But if anyone thinks I will spend $250 dollars for admission to Jungle Trek to go to the Adventures Club, they have lost their mind-grapes. Besides, there is still a perfectly good building already sitting on Disney property and it already says Adventurers Club on it.