Epic Battle of Epicness: Round 1: Bayside: Liz Lemon v Captain Planet

Name: Liz Lemon A.K.A.: - Hometown: New York City Known For: Writing "The Girlie Show" Strength: Putting up with child-like adults Weakness: Food Wins: -

VS

Name: Captain Planet A.K.A.: - Hometown: Earth Known For: Being combined from "Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Heart" Strength: Saving the planet from pollution Weakness: Pollution Wins: -

When "your powers combine" he is Captain Planet. He helps protect the world from polluters and with his super strength is a formidable foe. But when you are as lazy as Liz Lemon, but have a heart of gold Captain Planet won't find it easy to fight against you. Sure, he might make her feel guilty for not taking better care of her body, and he would totally give her a talking to about being more active in stopping global warming, but considering the group of people she works with Liz Lemon knows how to ignore people talking to her (or she'd just learn more about that from Jenna).  This round goes to Liz Lemon being more epic!
Conclusion: Liz Lemon v Captain Planet

Trip Report: Las Vegas v. WDW

I deplaned and waited anxiously for my bus to pull away. If feels like I’ve been traveling for days but it was probably just the build up of coming here. Seeing my old friends, making new ones. As the bus winds its way to my hotel I see wonderful theming. Each hotel a world away from each other though being within a few miles of the next. The scaled down objects found across the world invite me in to shop and dine and enjoy all the entertainment attractions offered at each of these well themed areas.

            I finally arrive at my hotel, exhausted and ready to call it a night, so I can be up early to enjoy a grand buffet with my friends.

            I am not talking about Walt Disney World or Disneyland, but rather Las Vegas. I recently had a great trip there and couldn’t help notice the remarkably similar aspects between WDW and Vegas.

            I stayed at The Palms Casino Resort off of “The Strip.” This is a gorgeous hotel with all the amenities that one expects from a casino resort in Vegas, just a little further from other resorts.

            Although The Plams was not overly themed, they had so much going on at the resort, I never had to leave! Several sit down dinning restaurants, many quick service dinning options, two pools, MANY bars, a couple dance clubs, a movie theatre, and the casino floor itself. I only left the Palms three times. Once to look for a drug store, once to get Starbucks coffee, and once for the rehearsal dinner. Remind you of Eiser’s call to keep people on property by offering more and more things for them to do, and then providing bus services to even dissuade guests from renting cars.

            The strip itself had a lot of well themed hotels and areas with shows and attractions and shopping to appease the masses. Despite being hundreds of miles from WDW, I felt like I was home.

Epic Battle of Epicness: Round 1: Hogwarts: James Bond v. C-3PO

Name: James Bond A.K.A.: 007 Hometown: London Known For: Kick ass spying Strength: Weapons Weakness: Checkered past that keeps catching up with him. Wins: -

VS

Name: C-3PO A.K.A.: '3PO Hometown: Tatooine Known For: Being part of the team that took down the Empire Strength: Speaking thousands of languages Weakness: Can't bend arms Wins: -

Built by Darth Vader himself, C-3PO has a long history of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But without his counterpart R2D2 pushing him does C-3PO have what it takes to take out the world's best spy? James Bond has all the high tech toys that can keep him in a long battle with C-3PO as '3PO cowers in fear. With C-3PO being captured by Jawas in his first appearance, and Bond being much stronger and smarter than Jawas, Bond wins!

Conclusion: James Bond v C-3PO

D23 Costume

This year I'm starting my Halloween/Comic Con costume early so I can take it to D23, the Disney convention.

This year I'm going to be cosplaying as Mary Poppins:

So my friend Cee Cee is making a lot of the costume for me. Cee Cee is a professional costumer and is making the carpet bag and skirt; and is altering the coat, shirt and gloves for me. Plus she's doing something to make that hat look better. 

So that leaves the scarf, umbrella, shoes, and wig.

Well to do this I had to learn to crochet: 

My first row.

So I lost a stitch in the middle of the dark pink row. 

Laying flat. Can't notice the missing stitch anymore.

Selfie.

With a more Poppins nod.

This came in yesterday.

Scarf and umbrella.

The shoes also came in, but I had to return them, they were too small. :(

Epic Battle of Epicness: The Beginning

So way back in high school, my friends and I put together a list of our favorite fictional characters and then had them battle it out until there was just one winner.

Looks like I'm playing this game again. In this blog series I will look at 64 fictional characters as they battle, March Madness style to see who is the most Epic of all the Epics. Some battles might end in the death of the other character, some might not. Who knows. We'll just have to see.

Below you will find an empty bracket:

For a spoiled view of all 64 contestants click here!

D23: Pre Event Excitment

From disneyparks.disney.go.com

Less than a month away from the this years D23, I’ve finally looked over the current schedule (as of July 11) and have compiled my tops (and bottoms) for this convention.

Top Seven events I am excited for during this year’s D23 Expo

1. Richard M. Sherman and Alan Menken: The Disney Songbook (8/10 – 6:30pm, D23 Arena)
2. Broadway and Beyond (8/9 – 6:30pm, Stage 23)
3. Disney Imagineering Legend Marty Sklar Presents … Dream It! Do It! (8/9 – 3pm, Stage 28)
4.  Undiscovered Disneyland (8/9 – 12:30pm, Stage 23)
5. A la Mode Costume Contest (8/9 – 2:30pm, Stage 23)
6. Voices of Disney Parks (8/10 – 2pm, Stage 28)
7. We still don’t know what “Walt Disney Imagineering’s 60^th Anniversary” events will be, but considering that is what Sunday is about, I’m sure I’ll have something from all those panels here.

Non-Panel excitement:

·      Mary Poppins archives exhibit

Bottom Seven events I am LEAST excited for

1. ALL Disney Channel meetings
2. Exclusive Screening of Disney’s Planes (8/9 – 3pm, D23 Arena)
3. Broadcast from Buena Vista Street (8/10 – 10:30am, Stage 28)
4. ESPN Films Screening of The ‘99er (8/11 – 2:30pm, Stage 28)
5. R5 Performance (8/10 – 4:30pm, Disney Channel Pavilion)
6. Disney Ambassadors (8/11 – 4pm, Stage 28)
7. Rave Bossert Remembers Roy E. Disney, with special guest Roy P. Disney (8/9 – 1:30pm, Stage 28)

Top Seven Second Choice events

1. Disney Legends Ceremony (8/10 – 2pm, D23 Arena)
2. Crash Course in the Force: Star Wars Saga 101 (8/10 – 5pm, Stage 23)
3. Ridley Pearson and the Kingdom Keepers Quest (8/9 – 12 noon, Stage 28)
4. Charles Phoenix Presents (8/10 – 12noon, Stage 28)
5. Mayhem, Mischief, and Monkeys: The Magic of Mystic Manor (8/9 - 11:30am, Stage 28)
6. The Art and Artistry of Aulani (8/9 – 4:30pm, Stage 28)
7. We still don’t know what “Walt Disney Imagineering’s 60^th Anniversary” events will be, but considering that is what Sunday is about, I’m sure I’ll have something from all those panels here.

If I Ruled The World: Magic Kingdom

Now that the colonies are under better control, I can turn my attention to the capital, the Magic Kingdom.

If I Ruled the World: Magic Kingdom
(not too much change)

Main Street, USA:
• Main Street doesn’t have a lot going for it. It’s the shopping district of the Magic Kingdom, and I’m fine with that. What I don’t like here (and in other parts of the park) is every time there is a parade, they lay tape on the ground. This takes a lot of manpower and doesn’t look great. I want to embed metal strips into the ground, in the exact locations of where the tape gets laid.

Carousel of Progress Main Street edition

Back where they belong

• Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. I LOVE this game. On more than one occasion I’ve spent the entire day playing the game. I want to see more locations. There is nothing in Tomorrowland nor Storybook Circus. Expand the game.
• Whatever happened to the Swan Boats? Well, they are back!
• Move the Carousel of Progress to Main Street, and bring back Walt’s original ending. It harkens back to the glory days of Walt, although it would play with the timeline of Main Street, it just fits in better with the theme of “Yesterday” better than “Tomorrow.”

Tomorrowland:
• Let’s start with the now emptied space that was the Carousel of Progress. I actually want to make it part 2 of the Carousel of Progress. Have the final scene just a 10 years in the future, so the first scene would be 1980, followed by ‘90, 2000, and the final scene being ’10. Then, as we approach ’20, dismantle the ’80 scene and move everything up. This updated scene would continue to highlight the newest marvels. I would like to see Apple sponsor this pavilion.
• I’ve previously discussed moving the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor from Tomorrowland to Pixar Place in Hollywood Studios. I don’t know what I’d like to see instead, but Monsters have nothing to do with the future.
• The Tomorrowland Raceway. I’m not sure which of the flowing I would like better.
1. As cars have nothing to do with “tomorrow” they could be rethemed to be more futuristic – possible look like Jetson type cars, or even space ships.
2. Move the entrance over to Fantasyland and rethemed the cars to Pixar’s Cars.
Both of these could make perfect sense, but for now, I’ll leave it in Tomorrowland, as Fantasyland is going to have a lot of new attractions.

Fantasyland:
• With all the construction, I’ll wait to pass judgment on the current expansion.

Liberty Square:
• Liberty Square River Boat. I would update the Native Americans. This seems like the perfect place to include Pocahontas.

Frontierland:

Woody's show building
(borrowed from Buzz's show building)

• Country Bear Jamboree. Update the score. Give us some digital quality songs.
 • Return the Diamond Horseshoe Review show. The building is so sad – that is when it is open.
• Add a Woody (from Toy Story) Ride. Frontierland is tight on space, so the show building would be outside the brim, right where the parade route ends. (The parade would be onstage for a bit longer as it would follow the new path created for Woody.) As for the content of the ride, I don’t have any ideas yet.

Adventureland:
• Just like the hat at Hollywood Stuidos, I don’t like Aladdin’s Magic Carpets. They just take up space! So they are gone!
• The Swiss Family Tree House needs some TLC. I would like to see it rethemed somehow, but from my understanding the retheming to Tarzan at Disneyland didn’t bring in the crowds. Maybe it has just served it’s purpose and it’s time to reclaim that land for some other walk through exhibit.

Wishes:
• God I LOVE this show! But I hate the crowds. There have been many times when I enter the park just as Wishes begins and I can’t get up Main Street (let alone into Tomorrowland). So I would just want them to use the new line built into the ground to keep a path open for pedestrians. Perhaps these lines could have fiber optics that get turned on during the evening parade and Wishes.
• The evening parade. I don’t like The Main Street Electrical Parade. The music sounds like it was made on a synthesizer. Bring back Spectromagic, or even better yet, how about a whole new parade.
 • Wishes Desert Party. I enjoyed the Wishes Desert Party, but I wanted something more for my money. A second level should be added to the Tomorrowland Terrace. From this second level, we would have an excellent view of Wishes, and then the audience would be able to enjoy the evening parade too.

Now that my Kingdom is perfect, I can rest and relax until I see what the New Fantasyland looks like.

If I Ruled The World: EPCOT

If you haven’t realized by now, EPCOT is my favorite park, but that doesn’t stop it from needing some major and some minor work. My desire to learn about science and culture comes through EPCOT.

If I Ruled the World: New EPCOT Map

Over All:
• Illuminations: I love Illuminations, but I want an updated score.

Future World:
Over All: • Bring back logos. I love them, and they should be used. Logos are part of are daily lives again, thanks to social media apps (look to the left to see the social media buttons and see it you can name them just from their buttons).

Universe Of Energy Pavilion:
• This ride just needs some updating. A new Ellen Audio Animatronic. The new Jack Sparrow one looks so much like Jonny Depp, but Ellen’s barely looks like her.
• Maintain the story line of the entire show, but give more time for alternate forms of energy (Bill Nye just glosses over them)

Wonders of Life Pavilion:
• Do something with this. Either turn it in to a permanent attraction (not just a festival center). Or have more festivals. I would love to have a body pavilion again.
• It could focus of DNA and genetic research.

New Physis Pavilion
(courtesy of Hollywood
Studios Map)

Physics Pavilion:
• In between the Space and the Transportation pavilions, I would like a physics pavilion.
• Sum of All Thrills would set up permanent residence there, in a much larger capacity.

New walkway from World
Showcase to Future World

The Imagination Pavilion:
• Do something upstairs. This space is currently used for storage, but Imagination is supposed to be limitless. This could be a playground for new technology where guests provide feedback on the ease of use.
• What does Captain EO have to do with imagination? Get rid of this film and have Figment do something in the theatre.
• I would also open up a path that goes from World Showcase to the Imagination Pavilion.

The Land Pavilion:
• Soarin’ needs another theatre.

Two show buildings for Soarin'

• I would also change the movie in Soarin’. I just don’t think it’s right for the Florida park to be soaring over California. It should be a more national view.
• Circle of Life, update the film. Use HD footage, etc.

The Seas Pavilion:

Finding Nemo Musical show building
from Animal Kingdom

• This is where the Nemo Musical belongs.

World Showcase:
Overall:
• Unique merchandise at each location, and all merchandise found in each country will only be found in that country and nowhere else.

People mover track

• People mover. Here is another place where a people mover can come in handy. There would be a stop at every other country. It would be above and through the pavilions.
       o Stops Include:
            • Trading Post East
            • Norway
            • Current Outpost
            • Italy
            • Japan
            • France
            • UK
            • Trading Post West
            • There is no connections between the two trading posts, as to not ruin the view across World Showcase Lagoon

White space means open real estate.
Of course the World Showplace would be closed.

• Fill it In! See the Google map for expansion locations. I don’t care what countries are put in, but it’s time for more countries.
• As for the countries that are currently there, just update films all around and a good paint job.

Just one more park left to spend my unlimited funds.