I don't usually go in for designer things -- I don't own, or feel the need to buy, an Hermes scarf, Louis Vuitton luggage, Tory Burch flats, a Chanel LBD, or a Coach bag -- but there are exceptions.
My wedding shoes are Kate Spade -- not the Jimmy Choos my Younger Self vowed to buy. Hey. That was like peak Sex and the City time.
My glasses are Burberry -- and I buy their perfume. One day, I will own a Burberry trench, but that's in the distant future.
I'm a sucker for the Disney Dooney & Burke bags. Now, I'm super picky about the prints and the look -- a lot of the bags are bright and colorful and scream "Disney" in a way that I just can't get behind. But when the design is subtle or muted? I want to buy all. the. things.
Today's #tbt is throwing back to less than a week ago, when I spent my birthday at the most magical place on Earth. (Fun Fact: Disneyland (in California) is the happiest place on Earth; Disney World is the most magical. #disneynerd) It was kind of a big deal; while we've been to Disney around my birthday -- our anniversary is October 26th, so it's close enough -- I've never been in a park on my actual birthday. I highly recommend it.
Thursday, 11/09: We had dinner at the new Jungle Cruise themed restaurant -- the Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen -- before we went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. If you're a fan of the Jungle Cruise and think it's pun-derful, then you probably won't be disappointed by the restaurant, as it's full of the same oh-so-punny jokes as the ride, just delivered in a little bit more upbeat manner. Also, the food's pretty good; the average Yelp rating is 4/5 stars. While some of the more recent reviews were pretty harsh -- they called the food bland -- ...idk, our meal was delightfully flavorful. Although the buttercream on that cupcake was like *all* butter.
Friday, 11/10: my actual birthday! I had breakfast with Mickey Mouse--honestly, does it get more magical than that? NOPE.
Saturday, 11/11: We went to the Happily Ever After Dessert Party & Fireworks Viewing and the Cast Member made me a custom ice-cream-cookie-cupcake-sandwich: vanilla ice-cream between two chocolate-chip cookies + mini cupcakes as Minnie's "ears" + icing + sprinkles + a cherry on top. Chelsi might be my new favorite person ever.
I legitimately think everyone should spend their birthday at a Disney Park at least once in their life. Get you a Happy Birthday button and wear it around: every cast member will wish you a Happy Birthday -- and sometimes random strangers will too; it's a good way to meet Birthday Twins -- and sometimes, with a little bit of pixie dust, you'll get a birthday treat, like free hot cocoa, or a free Mickey Mouse ice cream bar. IT'S MAGICAL.
[In hindsight, this must be fairly annoying for cast members...a lot of people wear these buttons, so I can imagine it might be quite tiresome to wish everyone a happy birthday or say Congratulations every day...]
Just remember to take your birthday button off before you board the plane home. Otherwise, a particularly cheerful flight attendant may notice it and announce over the loudspeaker that it's your birthday and everyone should wish the girl with the blonde hair and gray sweatshirt a happy birthday as she passes by, causing you no small amount of embarrassment.
So now that early reviews are starting to come in, I'm curious to see if their work paid off. And while the reviews excerpted here acknowledge that the film isn't perfect -- will a Disney film ever be? -- the reviews do seem to be largely positive and seem to praise Disney for the efforts they made:
Confession: I have a t-shirt obsession. I think it started back in my swimming days when we'd get shirts from the different meets we went to, but all the free-shirts-as-bribes in college definitely didn't help. And now, today, it continues in the form of geeky/nerdy shirts that I wear whenever we go to Disney and to class sometimes.
One of my favorite sites is Tee Turtle, and they've had a little bit of a Disney drought lately. But maybe they renewed their Disney license recently or something because they've had a spate of new Disney shirts lately. These two popped up in my Inbox this morning:
Y'all know how I feel about The Little Mermaid *and* "Poor Unfortunate Souls" so....yeah. Currently coveting both of these shirts.
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I mean...first and foremost, this confirms that Beyonce will be the voice of Nala -- which, you just know she's going to slay that part of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight." (Sidebar: Can Donald Glover sing? I would think so...) I also wonder if this means they'll be bringing in some of the songs from the Broadway version, where Nala (and Scar, and Sarabi) have more of a singing presence since, you know, it's a musical. (Sidebar #2: Can Chiwetel Eijofor sing? I would think so and really hope so, because "Be Prepared" is one of my top 2 favorite Disney villain songs and he needs to bring it. Also, if this isn't a musical, and that song is cut, my heart will break.)
BUT.
What I find most interesting is the addition of Keegan-Michael Key and Eric Andre in the roles of Kamari and Azizi, respectively. On the pic above, they're paired with Florence Kasumba (who's German, interestingly enough), who is the voice of Shenzi. Since "Shenzi" was the name of the hyena voiced by Whoopi Goldberg in the animated version, logic would dictate that Key and Andre are voicing the other two hyenas -- Banzai and Ed in the animated version.
I'm curious as to why Disney changed their names -- not that they were really well-known names. Perhaps to distance them from the animated version? Banzai in the animated version was voiced by Cheech Marin, and Ed was...well, Ed was problematic as the only animal character who didn't speak and who came off a little mentally handicapped. But I think it's interesting that all 3 hyenas will be voiced by black actors, and wonder what their "accents" will be, if they have any. After all, one of the big criticisms that scholars have against The Lion King is that the hyenas were voiced by minority actors and, they claim, had "urban accents" (essentially saying they sounded like they were, stereotypically, from the ghetto). To those critics, this was especially problematic as the hyenas were viewed as outside the circle of life and brought destruction to the Pridelands when they arrived. Critics read this as racist and classist on Disney's part -- and if you read the film against the backdrop of the LA Riots in the early 1990s, you might agree. (For a non-academic take on the hyenas, this is a pretty good read.)
I'm not entirely sure I do agree, but the name changes and casting choices are interesting, to say the least.
I've been seeing this commercial a lot on TV lately...which must mean it's airing on TBS (we watch a lot of Big Bang Theory reruns), the SEC network (my husband is a South Carolina football fan) or HGTV (we're Basic white people; this one's self-explanatory):
Now, don't get me wrong: I like Universal Studios and I love the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (obviously).
But this ad really grinds my gears. I mean, I get it. It can't be easy to be a theme park in Orlando. Busch Gardens is in Tampa; Sea World has the whole marine mammal/sea life thing going for it; and let's not forget the, ahem, unique schtick the Holy Land Experience has going for it. But Universal, until recently, had it pretty rough; it must be tough to be an entertainment-based-theme-park-in-Orlando-that's-not-Disney. The two are fairly similar -- theme parks + themed hotels + downtown shopping area + water park -- but the power of Disney is just...overpowering.
So I get the ad campaign. I do. You have to differentiate yourself from Disney somehow and, yes. Universal targets an older demographic: here are more thrill rides and coasters; Halloween Horror Nights is no Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party; the Dr. Seuss area of Universal is pretty much the only "kid" area; and kids probably graduate from Disney movies to Harry Potter books.
The implication of the commercial though is that Disney is only for little kids -- that you can "outgrow" Disney: "Kids grow up; so do vacations." Which...makes me bristle and make this face:
I won't lie and say that I didn't go through a "I'm-too-cool-for-Disney" phase; mine hit around late school and ended freshmen year when I took my First Year Seminar at UNC and realized that people could study things like Disney and Harry Potter for a job. But even then, I was never too old for a Disney vacation. When my younger brother had a soccer tournament in Orlando, I always tagged along. My mom and I would visit all of the parks -- we rode The Hulk when it first opened at Islands of Adventure; rode the Jaws and Back to the Future rides at Universal when they were still there; and we had to buy these awful pajama pants at Sea World because we got soaked on their water ride -- but we always saved the Magic Kingdom for last because...well, because it was so darn magical.
And that was before Disney upped their game. Now, some of the best restaurants in Florida -- some of the best in the country -- are at Disney World; no greasy theme park fast food here. The Food & Wine festival at EPCOT is one of the biggest crowd draws in the Fall -- especially for Florida residents. And Disney has made a conscious effort to appeal to couples/adults rather than just families and expanded their Fairy Tale Wedding packages.
At the end of the day, it's just a commercial and I know that. It's not going to change my mind about Disney and I certainly don't underestimate the power of Disney to instill a life-long love in the tiniest of humans. But that doesn't mean that "grown-up" vacations can't include days at both Universal and Disney.
