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Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts

Seven Highlights From A Week at Walt Disney World

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

In case you've never read a word of this blog before, let me just fill you in: I loves me some Walt Disney World. It is easily my favorite spot in the entire world for so many reasons I could never list them all. Earlier this month, we were there for a week to have a good ol' fashioned family vacation. We hadn't been to WDW since June 2009, which is like 70 years in Disney Years! So, it was exciting to go and of course we did all kinds of neat things, eat wonderful food, rode incredible rides and met favorite characters from beloved movies. I'd go on for days telling you about every cool thing we did (and I will if you want me too!) but for here I thought I'd share six highlights from our trip...

#7) Staying at the new Disney's Art Of Animation Resort.  The value resorts at Disney are, in my opinion, the most "Disney" hotels to stay at. They aren't fancy, they are just overflowing with colorful fun and excitement. As always, Disney has taken their own game to the next level with the Art of Animation resort - which just opened earlier this summer. The new hotel immerses you in the environments of four favorite Disney films. You can almost literally swim with Nemo, explore the jungle with Simba and walk a stretch of highway with Lightning McQueen and Mater. We opted for the fourth and final option - hanging out with The Little Mermaid herself, Ariel.

It's no secret that 1989's The Little Mermaid is my very favorite Disney film, not to mention at the top of my list of all-time favorite movies in general. I was thrilled when I found out Disney chose this slightly older film to include in their new hotel. The other three sections of the new resort are made up of suites for 5 or more guests, while The Little Mermaid buildings house rooms designed for families of four or less. So, it worked out for me that The Little Mermaid was out best option money wise.

The buildings are decorated with images of fish, clams and other neighbors and friends of Ariel's. Around the grounds of the Little Mermaid wing you will find Prince Eric's statue (direct for Ariel's Grotto,) a salute to Dinglehoppers and Snarfblats as well as four story tributes to Ariel, King Triton and Ursula. There is a Flippin' Fins pool which is way less crowded than Nemo's Big Blue Pool, and it plays music from not only The Little Mermaid film soundtrack but also the Broadway Cast Recording and several Ariel and Sebastian albums that Disney had released back in the day.

In the Landscape of Flavors food court, you can dine surrounded by background and concept art from the film while dining under a huge light fixture that looks like Ariel's grotto from beneath and appears to be above the sea when viewed from the side. The guest rooms are decorated in great detail with my favorite being the shower. The shower curtain features a full sized image of Ariel, but when you pull the curtain aside you reveal Ariel's Grotto in great detail surrounding the shower. It was a very cool touch. Sebastian's sheet music for "Under The Sea" embedded in our coffee table was a nice touch too.

The newness of the resort made for some very crowded experiences at the food court, but overall the Art of Animation is a really cool place to hang out between parks especially if Cars/Finding Nemo/The Lion King or The Little Mermaid happens to be one of your favorite movies.

#6) Buying $7.00 Binoculars at Animal Kingdom  You don't have to talk me into buying anything in Walt Disney World. If it has a picture of a character, or mentions anything about Disney World - I'll easily buy it. I love to buy stuff for the kids without their asking. While we were waiting for our Fast Pass time for Kilimanjaro Safari, I surprised the kids each with a cheapo pair of toy binoculars. They said Disney's Animal Kingdom on them, and had a picture of Mickey Mouse in a safari outfit holding a pair of binoculars. I mean, how was I supposed to NOT buy them? So, the kids loved them and they took them on the safari ride and they just elevated the ride to a whole new experience. The kids were so into looking at the animals through their binoculars and hunting around for more animals than were out in plain sight. It was adorable to watch the kids see the safari though their "new eyes". I must have snapped two dozen pictures of the kids looking at animals. After the ride, the kids were so excited to continue using their new binoculars. They stopped at any chance to see animals and get an up close look at them. The binoculars experience, coupled with a great meal at Rainforest Cafe, meeting Pocahontas (one of the kids' favorites) and the incredible Finding Nemo The Musical show - made for what was easily the most enjoyable day we've ever had at Disney's Animal Kingdom! The binoculars even made several trips with us to other parks.

#5) Elias Conquers the Extended Mountain Range  Elias, now 9, had been on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain before when he was much younger - and had no idea what was going on. He had sat out riding both the last couple of times we've visited Disney World. After 300 rides on the wooden roller coaster at our local amusement park, he was ready to take on the Disney Mountain range at full force. He had no problem getting on Splash and Big Thunder. I give credit to any kid who gets on Space Mountain. You can't see anything of that ride before you get on it. It's a complete mystery. He was a bit nervous, but not at all intimidated to ride. We got to the park early one morning and walked right up to the ride platform and got on with no wait. Elias LOVED the ride! We got back on and did it a second time. Some new tweaks that Disney has done to the attraction even brought new surprises to me. It was great to see Elias enjoy the ride so much. He liked it so much that he decided he was ready for the much bigger Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom. He wasn't too sure about getting on it, but he did without delay and he also enjoyed the heck out of that ride too. He was proud of himself for doing it, and it was certainly the biggest coaster he has ever been on. I almost got him on the Rock and Roller Coaster the following night, but after consideration he felt he had enough thrills for one trip. It's all good, there's always next time.

#4) My Kids & Stitch  My boys have this thing where they latch on to something that has already expired in the mass Pop Culture world because I think they like the thrill of the hunt finding things at yard sales or thrift shops. One of their biggest, most recent out-of-date obsessions is Lilo & Stitch. Luckily, Disney has made many attempts to keep Stitch a relevant character in Walt Disney World long after the movie has faded from the public conscience.  We had breakfast at Disney's Polynesian Resort with Mickey, Pluto, Lilo & Stitch. To the kids, this was just like meeting a real big-time celebrity. Decked out in their Stitch ball caps and t shirts, not to mention the Stitch plush Tanner carried around for most of the trip, the boys were stoked to get to meet Stitch. The presence of Lilo & Stitch even prompted the kids to join in the morning breakfast parade around the restaurant. Participation in such things is generally avoided by both my children.

Then there is the attraction, Stitch's Great Escape. If you ask me, it's one of the few bad attractions in all of Disney World. It's not a ride, it's more like a show - which is a watered down version of a really scary show they used to have in the same space. The new show, which has Stitch getting loose and running around a room in the dark with you, makes little sense and feels a bit dated. Nonetheless, the entire duration of the show brought nothing but huge smiles and giggles from both Elias and Tanner. They ate it all up and wanted to go back for seconds....which we did. Then later...thirds...which we did! I experienced that attraction more times in one trip than I have in all other visits to the Magic Kingdom combined. However, after the first show we noted where Stitch spits into the audience and claimed those seats for performances two and three so that Elias could receive a face full of alien spit smack dab in the middle of his face. He loved it. Again, he was proud. The joy and happiness in my two little buddies made one of the least enjoyable attractions at the park one of the most enjoyable.

The kids also got some personal one-on-one time with Stitch at Club 626, a show where Stitch dances out in the audience with everybody. Stitch stole Tanner's Stitch hat and made off with it, later giving it back in exchange for plenty of hugs. Tanner was out of this world excited!

#3) Getting to Preview New Fantasyland  We booked our trip around a four day weekend the kids had in their school schedule, so I didn't really pay attention to much else than that when booking. Then shortly after paying off the trip I realized that we were going to miss all the new Fantasyland expansion goodies by just a few weeks. So, going down not thinking we were going to do all that stuff made it all the more thrilling when it turned out that we got to experience a handful of the new attractions before they are open to the public!

I had read online that Disney was doing some previews of their new walk-through attraction Enchanted Tales With Belle. I dragged the family by the area of the new attraction every time we walked through Fantasyland. One one such go-round, I noticed a little bit of extra foot traffic in the area, so we quickly made our way over to what appeared to be just a row of shrubs. There, a single cast member was standing and I asked her about the Beauty and the Beast attraction. She invited us behind the greenery and told us if we didn't mind taking up 45 minutes of our day we could have a chance to experience to new show. Of course we did, making it one of only a few lines we waited in our whole trip.

The new attraction is a walk-through experience which can best be described as taking the Princess Meeting to a whole new level. You enter through Belle's house and see all her father's inventions. A magic mirror the Beast's castle hangs on the wall and soon enough the mirror expands and you walk through the mirror and end up standing inside the castle! There is an audio animatronic of the Wardrobe from the movie which is just about the most amazing piece of technology you've ever seen until you enter the Beast's Library and see a Lumiere animatronic which is even more amazing! The event is very audience participation and several people get GREAT photos with Belle which I don't see how anyone could pass up not spending several hundred dollars on prints of the event.

Surrounding the Belle attraction is the entire village from Beauty and the Beast and nearby sits scenes from The Little Mermaid which were all behind ropes and/or construction walls. I joked with a cast member about letting me on the new Little Mermaid ride to which she responded she hadn't even seen it yet.

So, of course I was beside myself with excitement when we were at the Magic Kingdom later that week and found New Fantasyland open for a Dress Rehearsal. The new Little Mermaid ride, which is very similar to the one at Disney's California Adventure Park, is awesome! You ride in a Clammobile under the sea and ride through all the songs from the movie. I'd by lying if I didn't say I was so excited that I didn't even comprehend everything that was going on around me!

The Beauty and the Beast village was open too. We got to see Gaston's Tavern which is done in great detail. There is a new B&B gift shop as well as a full service restaurant which is not yet open for service but we got to see the interior. They even have a popcorn cart outside which looks like it was built by Belle's father.

New Fantasyland also features Storybook Circus which holds the new double capacity Dumbo ride, a rethemed Goofy roller coaster, the East Coast debut of Casey, Jr. in the form of a splash playground and some other neat circus themed shopping and character greets.

#2) Meeting Ariel   But the icing on the cake to the whole New Fantasyland experience was the Ariel Meet and Greet after the Little Mermaid ride. Now, I've been a huge Little Mermaid fan since the movie came out in 1989. You've been able to meet Ariel for years but I've never done it before. My family was very gracious to go along with it and we waited in line for maybe 15 minutes. You have to wind your way through some tunnels in the rock work around Prince Eric's castle to get to Ariel. She's kind of hidden back there. Now, let me set this scene....

One of the things I love about Walt Disney World is how it can bring out the kid in adults. I'll never forget the first time I took my wife to Disney World and she was so excited to see Pooh. I've seen it in my friends that I've visited with too. I don't really experience that first hand because I wear my childhood on my sleeve. I'm excited about everything in Disney World and I'm all over the place with wide eyed excitement and wonder. But....when it was our turn to go up to Ariel's big shell and she invited me to sit down with her....I just turned into a 6 year old kid. I bought into the whole thing hook, line and sinker (no fish pun intended) and was totally mesmerized by the whole experience. Both my wife and the Disney PhotoPass photographer snapped great pictures of me and Ariel talking like the rest of the dry world didn't exist. I was honestly, on a complete Disney High for several hours afterwards. It was the last day of our trip, so it was the perfect way to end our week of Disney Awesomeness.

#1) Spending Time With My Family  No matter how many big shiny rides you build, no matter how many different foods they can make in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head, no matter how many ways you can shove The Little Mermaid in my face...there is nothing better on the face of the Earth than spending quality fun time with the people I love the most: My wife and my kids! We didn't have my stepson Joey with us on this trip, and we missed him. Joey and I would often squeeze in a few more hours while everybody else went back to the hotel. Elias stepped into that role nicely but we all just had so much fun. Seeing the expressions on the kids faces, their excitement over things to come and passing on experiences that I had as kid to my kids. Good times!

It was an exhausting, bank breaking week - Can't wait to do it again!

Real Steel

Wednesday, February 29, 2012


I am actually lost for words. Real Steel did this to me. It's a film that has its heart in the right place, but fails on so many levels that it disheartened me tremendously.

Real Steel stars High Jackman as an ex-boxer, now participating in robot boxing, down on his luck and left with a son that he disowned. The film simply put lacks originality. Taking ideas from a few movies of the 80s and 90s it never rises up to anything spectacular. It primarily takes its story from Sylvester Stallone's Over The Top and places it in the not-so-distant future where rather than hand-wrestling we have robots fighting. There is an endless wait throughout the movie for something to happen. Unfortunately, when it does happen, and I’m guessing it is the end fight, which resembles Stallone's Rocky IV, it is nothing but a fizzle.   

Real Steel lacks emotion. The supposed father-son bonding does not have the same angst that we had in Over The Top. The "air boxing" that Hugh Jackman does in the final climatic fight is laughable. The family dynamics are just too Disney-esq and might have worked a couple of decades ago, but not anymore when people look for some reality and edge in relationships, even on screen.


Surprisingly enough, the only interesting aspect of the movie comes from hunk of metal piled together in the form of robots. The robot fights are fun, in-your-face, and intense. They are pictured meticulously and turn out to be the only saving grace during the entire abysmal film.

Real Steel works as a clean family movie, especially if you have a pre-teen son. It tries to be uplifting, with the father and son coming together as underdogs to take on the reigning Robot champion, but unfortunately it is the robots that show more emotion than the humans and that is why probably Real Steel is nothing but a stylized piece of movie dud.

Rating 2/5
   

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)

Thursday, January 5, 2012


If Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as a frail and uninspiring revival of a series that lead many to question the need for throwbacks to its origin, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is an equally worded title that hits back with a whopping "Indiana Jones style adventures will never die." And with the ever increasing quality of motion capture cinema, this style of film may just be here to stay.

Having not grown up with the Tintin stories, I went in to Spielberg's latest family-ready adventure a bit skeptical of my ability to latch on to the story. Sure, I had more than my fair share of blogging buddies ready at the shot of the pistol to sound off with any number of Tintin related facts or stories that I worried I may be overwhelmed. But Spielberg handles the transition for long time fans and newcomers with great precision. For those new on the scene, the core cast of characters are introduced. These introductions are swift, to the point, and lack an obtrusive nature films of its like often fall into.

Of course that's partially because none of these characters are particularly dynamic. Sure, they're a little rough around the edges - which goes a long way in making them believable and enjoyable - but by and large they each fall on one side or the other of a particular goal and its easy to determine which side of the fence they fall on. For a family film with great ambition this is understandable, and vintage Spielberg. After all it gives Spielberg the opportunity to explore this animated world in which he and his crew brought to life. And explore they do.

With some stunningly choreographed visual spectacles and action scenes that'll have you working a death grip on your arm rests, Tintin uses the three-dimensional world in which it operates to masterful success. In fact, I must say that remains my favorite component of the entire film. Granted that may be telling of the film's lacking in other areas, but by and large the action sequences more than make up for the other misgivings. I honestly felt like I was a kid, back at disneyworld, experiencing one of those simulation rides (e.g. the Star Wars Tours ride) all over again. They were eventful, constantly moving in a variety of directions, and full of sequences that made you want to jump up and yell "yes!" Of course you shouldn't, but that's because you're in a room filled with other people and that would be awkward.

But speaking of jumping up and yelling yes, how's about a big round of applause for the year of Andy Serkis. If they awarded a Most Valuable Actor (MVA) award at the Oscars each year, I believe you'd be hard pressed to find another candidate. Between this and Rise of the Planet of the Apes he has become living proof that even with just motion capture at your disposal, you can still act the hell out of a film.


Overall Score: 8.00/10

Credits:
Directed By: Steven Spielberg
Written By: Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish
Comic Book Series By: Hergé

Camping With My Pal Yogi

Monday, August 1, 2011

Last week I took my family on our first camping trip. We spent three nights at the awesome Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp Resort in Quarryville, PA. The kids were beside themselves with excitement and we all had a really good time. Not only did we get to hang with our good bear friends Yogi and Boo Boo, we were also joined by some friends of ours who booked a visit at the same time as us. It was even more fun to have some other people to hang out with. We mostly stayed at the campground for the entire three days, minus a few hours for a grocery store run (and a hot pizza!) There are many activities at the park from arts and crafts to a pretty neat-o water park complete with slides and a huge water playground.

Now, my wife enjoys the great outdoors as much as the next person...but she needs her NOT PUBLIC restroom and some air conditioning. So, instead of completely roughing it, Yogi put us up in one of Jellystone's finer cabins:


This was our home for the week. In addition to our own bathroom w/shower and the nice cold air conditioning, we also had a kitchenette (which we hardly used,) a TV (which we only used to watch Yogi cartoons before bedtime,) and a few other comforts of home. We honestly didn't spend too much time inside, but it was nice to beat the heat every so often and also not have to walk the kids down to the bath houses to use the potty at three in the morning.



The kids took this opportunity to switch up their normal bunk positions from home and Tanner took the top bunk, while Elias slept on the ground level.

There's lots of cool things to do around the park. There's a pedal kart track for the kids which was pretty impressive. Tanner tore it up doing laps around the course...



....there is also volleyball, horseshoes, a playground and an arcade.



One night we hosted dinner at our campsite. Here we are with our friends enjoying various grilled meats and pasta salad.

We went on a wonderful nature walk through some paths that travel through the woods...





...the paths lead to a fishing hole in a secluded area. Jellystone really is as beautiful as it looks in all those cartoons.

One of the coolest attractions at the campground is their Jumping Pillow...



...it's basically a huge moon bounce without the walls. The best part is there are no age, height or weight restrictions. Anybody can join in the fun. It was super fun but also extremely tiring. Three minutes on this thing and grown-ups feel like they've just worked out for 45 minutes. Of course, kids can go for hours without taking a breath! I snapped this picture from across the road to illustrate how enormous this thing is...





Yogi and his crew have a lot of activities planned throughout the day. We played Candy Bar Bingo with jackpots of up to 52 candy bars. We didn't win! We also attended an ice cream social and a pool party. They had arts and crafts in the morning. The one day they were coloring Yogi Bear t-shirts with fabric markers. It looked really cool and I wanted the kids to do it but they were so excited about going to the water park I knew coloring a t-shirt wasn't going to hold their interested against having gallons of water dumped on them.




Another activity we attended was Sidewalk Chalk at the Basketball Court. I knew Tanner would really get into and he did drawing a whole city of buildings...and people with guns!?


Elias also got into the act with a portrait of our host...




The night we went over to our friend's site for dinner they treated us to some crazy good Grilled Cheese Pizza Sandwiches which were out of this world good!


Here's one more shot of us all playing cards one night...




South Family Camping Trip #1 was a success. The kids are already asking when we can go back. I'm hoping to take the boys tent camping sometime in the next month!

Rango (2011)

Wednesday, March 30, 2011


Overall Score: 7.75/10

To be absolutely honest, it's not very often that I find myself turned off by a commercial for a movie and then perform a complete 180 when I finally seek it out for an official viewing. If anything, it is far more often that I am drawn in by a commercial and then sulk into a darkened corner and rant when the final product is unveiled. So, it is always a pleasant surprise to find a movie which without caution sails past my lowered expectations, and finds a place high upon my shelf of entertainment.

Last year, that movie was How to Train Your Dragon. This year, the movie is Rango. And believe me, the commercials couldn't be worse with respect to what this film is trying to do. Combining elements of Star Wars and the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns, whose connection might be less vague than you realize, with surrealism in the vein of Hitchcock/Dali's Spellbound, Rango is a mentally entrancing experience. An experience wrapped in the fragile shell of generic loner becomes hero, family stamped and approved storyline simplicity.

With more curious head turns than a Dancing With the Stars audience at a Higgs Boson seminar, Rango is a charming, lonely soul whose infectious stories and flamboyant mannerisms can take charge of any scene. Where many films deal only with surface level, external aspects of being lonely, Rango's is tackled internally, through the use of dream expositions. We see the power of a vivid imagination and dedication to a character, mixed in with the longing for friends who both appreciate, but also idolize you. You're not just good to them, you're the best to them. And in the case of Rango, that draw means more to him than even the most basic fundamentals of his personality.

Depp delivers a whimsical performance as the sporadic protagonist lizard, Rango. Rich in layers, and heavy on quirky, the character is T-ed up perfectly for Depp's cinematic persona. Ned Beatty continues racking up the villainous vocal roles transition from a cuddly teddy bear to the turtle mayor of Dirt. A straight forward, self-interested baddy whose evil ways rely more on Beatty's strong voice command than demonstrable action. And simply put, the movie couldn't handle much more characterization than that.

The rest of the cast is a hodge podge of worthwhile characters, each with their pre-associated character quirk to maintain their usefulness throughout the run time. There's not much digging to be had here, and the film's better for it. Rango is by all accounts a character piece, living the shadow of the family genre. It's only there because the main story wants to be, but it could easily transfer to another medium without fault.

That's not to say Rango is without faults. Despite the high voltage action, the film Rango can be as unfocused as its titular star. It can turn a hilarious moment that will split the guts of audiences right into the kind of comedy you'd expect to find on some Saturday morning cartoon rehashing the same joke over and over. Taking the ride of Rango is like hoping on a beast of a roller coaster. When it's high, it's as high as any would dare go, but when it's low... well, let's just say the fall is steep, quick, and may involve nausea. But it is to the endless credit of the talent involved that those low moments are brief and far between, using every bit of inertia to keep the movie going up.

Gore Verbinski may have lost me on the last two pirate films, but he sold me hook line and sinker here. Rango is a pure enjoyment of a watch. Granted, its referential obsessions may be lost on those without the cinema knowledge to back it up. Seriously people, if you're over forty and didn't get that was Clint Eastwood, you need a good talking too!

Film Credits:
Directed By - Gore Verbinski
Written By - John Logan


Addendum - Am I the only one who went 'oh come off it' when Music By Hans Zimmer rolled out into the credits? At least half the music in the movie was The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and the Harmonica theme from Once Upon a Time in the West.

Ho Ho Ho, It's Christmas

Monday, December 27, 2010

Well, this Christmas was a little tough without having my mother around and the spirit and joy that she has always brought to my holiday season. But luckily, when you have little kids - they aren't going to let you mope around and be sad because "IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!!" Our morning unofficially started at 6:30 am. This year Santa started the tradition of leaving a gift wrapped book at the end of the kids beds which bought us an additional half hour of sleep. We made it downstairs around 7:15 to find milk and cookies gone and lots of presents left behind.

The kids had a good time opening up all their loot, although to be honest with ya there could have been one present under the tree - Kirby's Super Star Ultra for DS - and they would have been just as happy. But Elias was also thrilled to get some Godzilla stuff and they were both ecstatic over plush characters from the Angry Birds game.

Myself, I scored a few DVD's including Disneynature's Oceans. In the CD department I got the multi-CD set Walt Disney and the 1964 World's Fair, which features tons of audio from the four attractions that Disney designed for the New York World's Fair. I was also happy that my wife gave me the Tangled soundtrack, as last year she assigned giving duties of the Princess and the Frog soundtrack to another family member and it was a little embarrassing opening that up sitting next to my 6 year old niece who had just got some other Disney Princess stuff.

I really had a fun time shopping for my wife this year. She was elated to receive a bracelet from the fine folks at Tiffany & Co. As a big jewelry fan, she's always dreamed of a piece from Tiffany's. She also loved her Zumba scarf which I ordered from the Zumba website, and then realized that Zumba and scarfs have nothing to do with each other.

Joey snagged a bunch of stuff for her upcoming college days. In case you haven't heard, he's heading to a branch of University of Pittsburgh next week to begin his college career. He'll be about 3 hours away, which will be hard for his mom - and she'll in turn make it hard for me.

I think I learned a valuable lesson about Christmas this year. It's more than gifts, it's more than Christmas movies and TV specials...it's about friends and family and giving and I think I'm going to paint myself a merrier Christmas next year by giving more to those around me who are so important.

Tangled (2010)

Thursday, December 9, 2010


OVERALL RATING: 6.50/10

When deriving the formula for a Disney 'Princess' film, it's often easy to forget the real factors that make them work time and time again. The way in which music, creation, and drama can be woven into our basic desires - our dreams. Disney knows better than most that the product of a great (family friendly) fantasy tale involves people rising beyond the monotony of their life. Those at the bottom realizing their dream and helping those on the top to understand theirs. In that respect Disney's 2010 offering, Tangled, knows what it's doing.

Tangled is not a unique experience. It's characters carry with them many allusions to Disney's classic - Aladdin, for example. A thief who dreams big. A princess who seeks to know and love. Cute animal sidekicks that are as defiant, as they are helpful. However, to end any analysis of Tangled there would be to sell the film short. At every turn, Tangled finds a way create something new with old Disney lore and formulate a fresh perspective on life.

It's unfortunate that Tangled doesn't start off strong. The opening is a solid setup narration, but it leads into a handful of musical numbers that are, let's be honest, dreadful. These opening musical numbers are bland, crammed together, and repetitive. Right from the start I was ready to repel the rest of Tangled, and write it off as another film I don't understand the praise for. Rapunzel's (Mandy Moore) depth felt fragile, and frustratingly trite. Her 'adventures' involve a lot of hair flying around, which makes for great CGI but not hilarious moments. Well, not as hilarious as the directors want them to be. With the introduction of Flynn Rider (Zachery Levi), everything changes.

The Rock called, he wants his eyebrow back... oh and a career if you've got it.
Flynn is your made to order thief on the run, with a somber enough back story to tie it all together. He stumbles across the tower which enslaves Rapunzel while on the run following his latest 'job,' and the rest, as they say, is history. Flynn and Rapunzel's scenes together are perfect. They compliment each other in the most dynamic of ways, delivering quality laughs and plot progression. In these moments you can really see writer Fogelman (Cars, Bolt) open up his bag of tricks and let Levi take care of the rest. Levi's portrayal of Flynn as cool, vain, and cunning keeps you guessing on his real motives, while opening your heart to his amusing ways. Fogelman perfectly swaps the straight man and comic moments between Flynn and Rapunzel, allowing both to shine. When Maximus, the royal guard horse and Flynn's mortal enemy, comes into the picture the rest of the film becomes pure Disney magic.

Directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard weave in and out of Disney norms flawlessly. They balance the pleasure with the pain, the love with the loss, and when it comes time to make us fear for the character's lives, they deliver. Intelligently using 3D sparingly, Tangled is a movie that can be revisited without worry on home systems. The 3D here accentuates, not defines, the film. It highlights the visual strengths, such as Rapunzel's hair and the lamp scene by the lake, without resorting to cheap gags (yes I'm looking at you awful Yogi Bear commercial).

The only real downside to Tangled is the lack of character exposition. Donna Murphy is fine as the evil Mother Gothel, but beyond some vanity and cinematic evilness her motivations are left entirely blank. The romantic aspect of Flynn and Rapunzel's relationship seems to grow in leaps and bounds, without solid transition moments to justify some of their sudden changes. During the middle, Tangled sprints on, requesting the audience to keep up as best they can.

By the end, Tangled does enough to leave the audience with a smile on their face, but lacks the depth to impose on them a long lasting connection. They'll remember the highs as it tries desperately to sweep past the lows, but that's a given. The best thing an aspiring audience member can do is to approach Tangled with an awareness of what it isn't (deep) and a desire for what it is (lighthearted fun). At best, it's a high quality imitation that escapes the cliche label through sheer charisma and determination. The characters may lack the fine tuning to make them Disney greats, but they do plenty for one solid outing.

Film Credits:
Directed By: Nathan Greno, Byron Howard
Written By: Dan Fogelman
Based on the Fairy Tale By: Jacob & William Grimm

Photo Quiz

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Why am I running this photo today?

A) Because it features my little brother (in the stripped shirt) and his buddies on their 8th grade field trip back in 1990.

B) Because the one kid is wearing a Lowenbrau beer t-shirt at age 13 on a Catholic School field trip.

C) Because the picture features a glimpse of walk-around character Quick Draw McGraw circa 1990 Kings Dominion.

The answer is C, of course.

Hersheypark In the Dark

Monday, October 25, 2010

This weekend is the last chance you have to visit Hersheypark In The Dark, Hersheypark's annual Halloween event. We were lucky enough to make it out to the park this past Saturday with an extended touring group and we all had a good time. The park was extremely crowded with long lines at just about every ride, but we still managed to ride just about everything we wanted and got some trick or treating in as well.

The whole park is decorated for Halloween in a family friendly way. You won't find any zombies or scary clowns or insane midgets at Hersheypark. All the Halloween fun is played strictly for laughs and there is nothing to make even the most timid child squeamish.

The centerpiece of Hershey's Halloween spectacular is Treatville, a fairly elaborate little town set up just for the holiday. Kids under 12 are given a trick-or-treat bag and make their way through the many merchants of Treatville collecting various bite sized samples of Hershey products along the way. For a regional theme park, Hershey has done a very impressive job bringing the town of Treatville to life. Theatrical lighting, top notch sets and the fun Halloween soundtrack make the attraction thrilling for kids and adults.

Hersheypark in the Dark also features a few Halloween-themed entertainment offerings as well as a chance to visit ZooAmerica in the dark. Unfortunately, due to the crowds this past weekend we had to skip on shows and the zoo. We did hit up most of the major coasters in the park. It was my first time on Lighting Racer and the Wildcat. Both of these wooden coasters are outstanding rides as well as the classic Comet, which I'm pretty sure I haven't rode in at least 20 years. I only wish the lines weren't so long so I could have gone for a second spin on all three of these great rides. All of us in our party rode the Trailblazer, which is a smaller runaway mine cart-style coaster. It was nice that we could all ride together, even though we couldn't quite coordinate getting us all on the same train.

I only wish we had more time to enjoy the park. Hersheypark in the Dark is open Friday 4-10, Saturday 2-10 and Sunday 2-9. The tickets are $26.95, $17.95 for kids. You can buy discounted tickets at area Giant Foods stores.

Tanner Says "No!"

Friday, August 28, 2009

I assume once the gosh-awful routine of the school year kicks in around here, we'll be able to resume more frequent posts at WWoB. Until then, here's an old home video that was recently unearthed, edited and slapped up on YouTube. It's my son Tanner, maybe not even a year old, answering a battery of questions...


Back From The Beach `09

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

We spent a week at the ocean. We brought our laptop so I figured I would update the blog while we were there but then I never felt like doing it. So now we're back in the WWoB offices and the fun and mirth can continue! We were in Ocean City, MD for one whole week. We had a great time. Quite a few friends of ours were down there the same time we were. Some planned it that way, others we ran into! The weather was hot and beachy with highs of 103. The actual beach part of the beach continues to be my children's least favorite part of the beach experience. They prefer the mini-golf, candy stores and rides and quite frankly that's fine with us. We spent a lot of time at the pool and many evenings strolling the boardwalk listening to the sounds of the ocean and a guy wearing a cardboard box painted like Spongebob Squarepants and playing the banjo. Life is good!

One of the new attractions at Ocean City that we were looking forward to checking out is The Pirates Plunder Museum and Gift Shop on 26th St. With all the same ideas repeated over and over in Ocean City...it's nice when something original and different opens up. This little museum is small and doesn't have a whole lot to offer but at $3 bucks a head (kids 10 and under are free) it's worth the price. There are plenty of pirate artifacts on display such as weapons and treasures, and there is a bounty of information to be had in this small space. Who knew Blackbeard the pirate had a home and a wife right here on the East Coast of Maryland!? The museum offers lots of photo opportunities and it even has a small theatre that runs a very fascinating National Geographic film about Blackbeard. There's a large gift shop attached with all sorts of pirate goodies to take home including toy weapons which happens to be the very favorite item of one of my own little crew members and believe me, he left a happy little pirate! And yes, in case you were wondering, the soundtrack to Pirates of the Carribean was playing the entire time we were there!

Of course, eating plays a big role in a visit to the beach. For me, and many others, nothing is better than a serving or three of Thrasher's Fries. I also visited the wonderful Dough Roller for my beloved Pizza Omelet and traveled over the state line into Delaware for my newest favorite pizza in the world: Grotto Pizza.
I also established two new food traditions; a Peanut Butter Fudge and Banana milkshake at Dumsers and Kohr Bros. banana frozen custard with chocolate sprinkles! That's flavor country, my friends. We also hit up other favorites like The Bonfire, Tequila Mockingbird, Phillips Seafood, Big Peckers and Harpoon Hanna's. Oh, and the kids dragged us into at least a dozen Candy Kitchens.

A highlight of the trip for me was finally getting to ride the Haunted Mansion ride on Rehoboth Beach's boardwalk. Rehoboth Beach is about a 20 minute drive from Ocean City but offers a completely different beach experience. Rehoboth has a small amusement park called Funland which operates a handful of rides in a tightly packed but beautiful little area. Their Haunted Mansion is considered one of the best dark rides in the country. It only opens at 6:30pm so the lines are very long. I've tried to ride it two other years and waiting in a long line isn't an option when you've got two little ones with you. This year, I went back and checked on the line near the end of the night and there was no wait. I bought my $1.50 worth of tickets and walked right on this legendary ride. Unlike most Haunted Houses, this one's cars suspend from the track and the whole ride is actually upstairs from the loading area. It's a really cool ride filled with all sorts of old fun house gags and props collected from other classic dark rides. One of the highlights of the ride is the "Peeing Skeleton". Sounds charming, don't it!? It's a great ride which I hope I get to do again soon!

On the way home from Ocean City, we decided to make a small detour and visit Cheeseburger in Paradise in Pasadena, MD. There used to be a CIP not to far from our home, but it closed down about two years ago. We've often talked about making the 75-90 minute drive down to the next nearest location, but sole Maryland operation ended up only being about 10 minutes out of our way on our return trip. We were so happy to be back. Cheeseburger in Paradise has the best sliders - hands down! They also have lots of yummy island inspired dishes and drinks and you get to chow down while listening to Jimmy Buffet tunes. It was a great conclusion to a fun (and calorie) filled week!
 

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