Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you, again,  Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop. Thirteen months ago, a dear friend and I set out on a series of conversations that led to this blog! So in honor of thirteen months of slowly joining the incredible world of Disney bloggers, I would like to post a list of thirteen of my favorite Disney blogs and podcasts! Back in the day... 1.) Focused on the Magic by Deb Deb first introduced me to the regular blog hop. I loved meeting up with her on facebook and getting to know the lady behind the camera. She inspired me to take another look at photography and slowly move from terrible but enthusiastic to okay. By next year I aspire to be pretty passable and eventually good! (After all, it's a step in the right direction!) 2.) Magical Mouse Schoolhouse by Jodi Jodi introduced me to the notion that fun school could be a family affair. I'd known several homeschoolers over the years, but she is the most rece...

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you, again,  Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop. If you happen to be an avid cruiser (ahem) or are just looking forward to the next release date for the Disney Cruise Line so that you can snag an opening day price, you might be hanging out on the DISboards a ton recently as we all hold tight for the 2015 release dates. The threads seem to be coated with phrases like "any day now" and "this is not normal for DCL." With that in mind what is normal?   Last year, when we all eagerly awaited the summer (for the Magic and Wonder) winter (for the whole fleet) 2014 sail dates, February 12th of 2013 was the magic day! For the first of the 2014 dates for the Classic ships were released in December of 2012. The Dream and Fantasy had their schedules released for both spring and summer of 2014 in October of 2012. Previous years involved the whole fleet releasing dates at the same time! Sometimes allowing Cas...

Welcome Wordless Wednesday Blog Hoppers! This week's wordless Wednesday is brought to you by Disney History!  The Flying Dutchman harbored at Castaway Cay back in the day. The history of Castaway Cay can be found in Fastpass to History ~ REAL Pirates of the Caribbean. Thank you to Focused on the Magic for hosting! 

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you, again,  Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop. Back in 1943, Disney was in talks to make a animated sequences for a variety of different Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales as part of a live action biography of the famous author. Unfortunatley, they found the titular Snow Queen to difficult to adapt, despite the rich possibilities of the story. The whole project (including " The Little Mermaid ", " The Little Match Girl ", " The Snow Queen ", " Thumbelina ", " The Ugly Duckling ", " The Red Shoes " and " The Emperor's New Clothes") eventually got shelved.  Given the success of " The Little Mermaid" and amazing box office and acclaim of Frozen, I wonder what other diamonds sit among Disney's shelved works in progress. Which one would you like to see?    

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you, again,  Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop. Back on this day in 1953, Peter Pan opened at the Roxy Theatre in New York City.  Never Growing Up, for 61 Years! Wishing you faith, trust and a little bit of pixie dust!    

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you, again,  Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop. Did you ever stop and look at the striking photographs on deck five forward? They capture various aspects of the Wonder under construction in the Fincantieri shipyards. Beautiful Bow in Progress Who did they hire to capture this momentous occasion? Turns out, nobody. These photographs mostly came from an amateur photographer with fairly nice camera equipment who basically wandered onto the yard, pretended he belonged and started taking photos. After quite a while, someone finally realized he wasn't a construction worker, imagineer or cast member they asked him to leave the premises. Black and White images from the shipyards. First they asked for his film and took down his name. On developing the film, they realized that several of the pictures were not only good, but striking. Calling him back, they asked if they could pay for the film and use it in the ...

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you, again,  Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop. Back in 1999, the very first paper FastPasses came into existence and ever since Mouseketeers have toured in an entirely new and different way. Originally FastPass allowed each ticket holder to pull one new FastPass at one of several E-Ticket rides. Guests would come back during an assigned ride window to a significantly shorter wait, using the intervening time to eat in restaurants, shop and enjoy other attractions and shows. Originally, you couldn't pull an additional FastPass until your first window opened. Eventually they relaxed the time limitation to allow guests to pull additional FastPass tickets two hours after the first pulled FastPass. FastPass influenced the design of Mission:SPACE, which included the first designed separate line for FastPass holders. Other attractions designed before 1999 had queues added to accommodate the ...

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you, again,  Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop. Much like the famous Main Street USA windows, each film reel table in Studio Sea represents a different person from Disney history... Today's table? The Accidental Cruise Guest Directed By: Tony Rimmer So who is our Accidental Cruise Guest? Tony Rimmer first started at Imagination as the Head of Architectural Lighting Design in October of 1994 in order to start the department that would design the original lighting for the launch of the first two Disney Cruise Line ships, the Magic and the Wonder. So that means his team designed things like this:  A Magical Space, Beautifully Lit. After completing this project, Mr. Rimmer went on to work on other prestigious projects, eventually leaving Imagination to help grow Indigo Lighting Design and then start his own award winning business, Studio-29 Lighting Design . Aside- I am particularly proud of...

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you, again,  Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop. Can you believe it's been a year since Splitsville opened it's doors to the general public at Downtown Disney? Back in July of 2011, Disney announced the plan to begin construction on Splitsville. With it's retro cool décor and expansive menu featuring sushi and Mahi Mahi alongside traditional bowling fare with a twist ("Alley Nachos" covered in BBQ and many creative sliders), this is not your grandparents bowling alley. The beautiful building renditions trickled out over the months until finally opening on December 19, 2012.  "No no no, can't be. I distinctly remember, your birthday was last year." -Mother Gothel Happy Birthday Splitsville! Have you bowled at Splitsville? Do you have a favorite food from Splitsville? Share in the comments, please!

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you, again,  Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop. If you've spent some time poking around in the Disney Cruise Line forums, you've probably noticed the term FE getting flung around. What is an FE?  Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start), FE or "Fish Extender" stems from the on deck mail delivery system. Fish Mail Clip above room number. Each evening your personal navigator is left on a decorative clip outside your stateroom. On the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, it is a pewter fish. Onboard the Dream class ships, the clip is shaped like a fish only on the starboard side of the ship, the port side features seahorse in an effort to make navigating hallways easier (if in doubt the clips face the front of the ship). The Dream and Fantasy concierge get yet a different clip in a starfish shape. All fish, seahorses and starfish function the same way for the purposes o...

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop! Disney's animated classic Peter Pan was adapted from the stage play by J.M. Barrie Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up . As cute as the movie's introduction of Peter Pan ended up, original story ideas included presenting Peter Pan as a darker more devious character intent on kidnapping Wendy to serve as a mother to the Lost Boys. Peter Pan, Kidnapper? Eventually they decided to stay closer to the original play, including the story of Peter Pan listening to Wendy's stories and losing his shadow rather than this darker route. Interestingly enough,  Peter Pan follows that alternate background in his role during the current television series Once Upon a Time on ABC. Do you watch Once Upon a Time ? Which way do you prefer Peter Pan?

Now that the round three emails for the 2014 Disney Parks Moms Panel search will be going out any minute:   I thought it was a good time to look back at the dawn of the panel. Back in September of 2007, a search for ten to twelve helpful Disney experts began. The 10,000 who applied during the month long application window answered three essays, one hundred word each. One introducing essay introduced yourself, one introduced your family and one last essay explained why you would be an excellent match for the panel. The reward for the lucky panelists? The joy of spreading their help to guests, a seat on the first panel and a very desired pink jacket. Easier Said Than Done. Six years later, the panel has included over forty moms (and dads). Rechristened in January of 2013 as the Disney Parks Moms Panel, the panelists now specialize to cover not only Walt Disney World, but Disneyland, DVC, ABD, runDisney, DCL and ESPN WWoS. Phew! That's a lot of pixie dus...

On October 1, 1971 as the Magic Kingdom opened for the very first time a much different park lay in wait than what we experience today. 23 attractions existed for guests to enjoy on that first morning: 1. Cinderella's Golden Carousel 2. Country Bear Jamboree 3.Diamond Horseshoe Revue 4.Dumbo Flying Elephants 5.Fire truck, Horse-drawn street cars, Horseless carriages, Jitney vehicle 6.Frontier Shooting Gallery 7.Grand Prix Raceway attraction 8.Hall of Presidents 9.It's a Small World 10.Jungle Cruise 11.Mad Tea Party  Mad Tea Party 2004 12.Main Street Cinema  13.Mickey Mouse Revue Audio-Animatronics musical  14.Mike Fink Keel Boats 15.Mr. Toad's Wild Ride 16.Penny Arcade  17.Skyway to Fantasyland attraction, 18.Skyway to Tomorrowland 19.Snow White's Adventures  20.Sunshine Pavilion attraction (also known as Tropical Serenade and later The Enchanted Tiki Birds) 21.Swiss Family Tree House 22.The Haunted Mansion and last, but mo...

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop! As Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party wraps up, I would like to take the time to look back and remember two other hard ticketed events that have gone the way of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. E-Ride Nights From 1997-2004, this hard ticket event, available for purchase by resort guests offered an additional three hours in the Magic Kingdom "after hours." Replaced by evening Extra Magic Hours, this offered an experience of many of the most popular rides while getting to experience a much roomier park. Think evening Extra Magic Hours, for a fee, but capped out at 5,000 guests. Disney's Pirate and Princess Party  Offered on varying dates between January and June starting during 2007, this party featured an emphasis on classic Disney princesses and Pirate of the Caribbean. In 2008, it underwent a rename as Mickey's Pirate and Princess Party, but after 2009, sa...

Hans Christian Anderson's 1837 tale of "the little sea lady" or "Den lille havfrue" in the original Danish, is well known as a tale that, during adaptation into a Disney film, lost it's original grizzly ending where the little sea maid lost her life to save her prince.   The Little Mermaid statue, Copenhagen In the classic Hans Anderson tail, er, tale, the Little Mermaid (in the Danish, she is only called the Little Mermaid) finally gets to satisfy her curiousity about the human world when, on her fifteenth birthday, she is allowed to explore their world for the first time. Like the movie, the mermaid spots a prince out at sea, falls in love and rescues him from a storm. He is found by a temple maiden and taken inside. The Little Mermaid after discussing human souls with her grandmother, strikes a bargain with a sea witch involving her transformation to a human in exchange for her tongue. She will gain a human soul only on true loves kiss an...

Welcome Fastpass to History Blog Hoppers! Sorry for the late posting tonight, I am finally the proud owner of a working and functional internet connection! The early posts this week either went out on their schedule (early week) or typed on my (brand spanking new) iPhone 5S courtesy of the blogger app and cellular data (last couple days). Tonight I'm celebrating with easy internet access and my laptop's full keyboard! Ahem, back to history. Back in 1983, Premier Cruise Line paired up with Walt Disney World to provide what would come to be known as a seven night land and sea package. Through this arrangement, the "Big Red Boat" licensed the use of Disney characters in onboard meet and greets. The ending of this relationship in 1993 paved the way for the formation of the Disney Cruise Line in 1994. In the midst of this era, I read voraciously. Like any other girl, I devoured each and every installment of Ann M. Martin's The Baby-Sitter's Club (or Th...

drydock ( plural drydocks, verb drydocking, drydocked   ) drydock ( noun nautical ) A dock that can be drained of water and is used in the repair and construction of ships . drydock ( verb ) ( transitive ) To place (a ship) in a drydock . Throughout the course of a cruise ships life, the daily sea salt, wind, weather and thousands of guests eventually take their toll not matter how diligent the cast members and crew. So every couple of years, each Disney ship is taken out of rotation for anywhere from two to six weeks for dry dock. The dry dock allows repairs and inspections of the hull and while those repairs are busy on the outside, the inside gets a redo as well. While a shorter drydock allows for simple upgrades such as bedding and carpet replacement and thorough repainting, longer drydocks allow for more drastic refurbishment, most recently the near complete "Reimagined" Disney Magic overhaul in drydock in Cadiz, Spain. Historically, change in the ships fo...

Welcome Fastpass to History Blog Hoppers! Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Today I had the pleasure of watching " Waking Sleeping Beauty " a beautiful, fascinating film following the evolution of Disney Animation from the uncertainty of 1984 through it's own happily ever after, the animation renaissance of the early nineties. A historical look back through press releases, archival footage and even home videos by the animators themselves, this hodgepodge approach by director Don Hahn (better known as the producer of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King ) supports the theme of dissonance in the growing power struggle between (then CEO) Michael Eisner, Jeffery Katzenberg (brought in as chairman of the Walt Disney Studios) and Roy E Disney (nephew of Walt Disney and son of Roy O. Disney and then vice chairman of the board and head of the animation department). All three of these power players express their views in historical footage as well as more recently taped i...

As you may have guessed with a blog called "Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere", I am a big fan of Beauty and the Beast ! Belle reigned as my favorite Disney princess for years and Beauty and the Beast the Musical goes down as one of the musicals I regret not being able to perform back in my musical theatre days. I always wondered about where this lovely story came from and after a bit of digging, and some fun with google translate, I am pleased to announce a brief history of the classic tale, La Belle et la Bête. So brush up your French and pull up a chair for the origins of this Disney classic! The fairytale storybook in the queue for Enchanted Tales with Belle is the French version of Cinderella, not Beauty and the Beast Once upon a time, in the eighteenth century a former school teacher and governess by the name of France Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont set aside her writing of popular moralistic novels to publish magazine collections of educ...

Welcome Fastpass to History Bloghoppers! My tenth anniversary comes up in January, so I'm feeling a bit sentimental...so here is the history of how I gained my very first pair of Mickey Ears. I grew up going to Walt Disney World (repeatedly) from the age of ten onward, however due to a certain affinity I had for Goofy in middle school (who isn't Goofy in middle school?) I tended to stick to the Goofy Ear baseball hats.  Chris loves trying on daddy's ears. Once I found out that Ben planned for us to honeymoon at Walt Disney World, I recalled all the beautiful bride Minnie Ears I saw over the years and decided we could definitely pick some up. Our first afternoon after checking into our hotel, we headed to the Grand Floridian, the Chapeau, and finally lucked out at Fantasy Faire in Fantasyland...but they'd just run out of bobby pins so we trekked over to Disney MGM Studios (back before it made the switch to Hollywood Studios and stopped in Villains in...