The Stockings Were Hung...So Were The Ornaments

Like many people, I have more Christmas decorations than room to display them all. But that means I can rotate what I put up each year. That allows me to see old, dear "friends" from Christmases Past. For example, take this ornament (not literally).

This one was given out to Disney Cast Members at the annual Disney Family Christmas Party. In 1989, we weren't as politically correct yet and had to say, "Holiday". Anyway, at these parties, the focus truly was on the Disney family. Cast Members from all parts of the Company (Park, Studio, Corporate, etc.) would come together at Disneyland to celebrate. In the years I worked at Disneyland, this is the only ornament I can remember that was given out, so it is very special. 

Then there is this one. 

I know it's a little hard to see and it looks shaky, but that's because I used Panorama to capture as much of the ornament as I could.  Let's see if this one is any better. 

This ornament commemorates the opening of EPCOT in 1982. EPCOT is my favorite of the (currently) four Parks that make up Walt Disney World, but I wouldn't get to experience it for my first time until January 11-17, 1988. I went with a group of my Tomorrowland friends and we had a blast! Thankfully they still had this ornament available, and I was able to remember that trip and EPCOT all in ornament. 

Not to mention everyone's favorite, Figment! Oh, and in case you are curious about the other side of the ornament...

In 1999, I had the opportunity to take my parents to Walt Disney World for their first trip to FL. After only knowing Disneyland, they really enjoyed seeing the "other" place, and like me, they enjoyed EPCOT the most. 

While we have fun memories of all four Parks, this next ornament helps me remember what was then Disney's MGM Studios. They enjoyed seeing the house front of 'The Golden Girls', which now is gone. So Jessica holds a special memory for me of that trip, and she sits on the mantel with her special Mouse-shaped holder.

I picked up a number of ornaments last month when I went to Walt Disney World to celebrate my 50th birthday. Do I have a favorite? It's hard to say at this point, but maybe one will win out over time. That sometimes happens when you reflect on the past. Or is that just a Figment of my Imagination?

As Christmas 2014 approaches, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, but Santa has already given me my presents as I look over my decorations and reflect on fond memories. 

Going Bananas for Herbie

So while I'm in Colorado Springs, a long way from Hollywood, San Francisco, Brazil and Monte Carlo, it was the last place I would think of seeing Herbie. Yet there he was!

I used to have a similar Beetle when I worked at Disneyland, and my friends always said I should have done this. I'll have to see if Herbie is there the next time I visit my family. I just Love that Bug!

The Peak of the Gods

Pike's Peak. It's always a beautiful sight to behold.

Likewise, so is the Garden of the Gods. I never grow tired of seeing either one whenever I visit my family in Colorado Springs.

Pike's Peak acts like a sentinel over the Garden of the Gods. No trip is ever the same because of how much snow covers the Peak. While I didn't go into the park this trip, I did go to the newly renovated gift shop in the Visitor's Center. No pictures needed of that, not even for Yelp.  

And as always, one must snap a picture of the Kissing Camels. Can you see them?

 

Random DIA Thoughts

I prefer an aisle seat so that I can get up and go potty whenever I need to go. I know. TMI.

This trip, I had a window seat, and it was fine. It's only a two-hour flight from Minneapolis to Denver, so I could wait that long. Remind me next time I get a window seat to use Depends just in case. I was fine reading my Star Wars book. I have less than 100 pages left, and I need to give this book to my nephew. He gets all my Star Wars books that I'm not keeping. Besides, North Korea wouldn't let me watch 'Old Yeller' on the plane. Something about human emotions...

As we were coming into DIA, I was surprised to see that there wasn't much snow on the ground. The warm up last week must have melted a lot. You can see in the distance that the Rockies still have snow.

Since I was sitting in the back of the bus, I had to wait for the 31 rows in front of me to disembark. As I was watching out the window, I couldn't help but think of Toy Story 2. See how the mind of a Disney fanatic works?

You Butt Was Made For Sitting

As I was waiting for my flight in Delta's Sky Club lounge at the Minneapolis airport, I saw this. This is a decent lounge, lady. If you can't sit like an adult, perhaps you should join the masses out at the gates. Even still, this is what you do at home, not out in public.

Some people. Sheesh!

Look At The Size Of That Thing!

A coworker brought in donuts today for Friday Treats that are outrageous. I'm using my work iPhone 6 as a size comparison. These are some monstrous pastries!

I knoshed on the giant apple fritter. However, it's not as gigantic as this guy's apple fritter! It's from a place called Voodoo Donuts in Portland, OR. You can read all about it on this blog: My Own Little Women: Idleness and Dissipation

Me thinks a trip to Portland may be in order.

Time Tracking

Thanks, Google, but I do not wish to be reminded how far behind I am this year. I said behind.

https://santatracker.google.com/?utm_source=VillageHPP#village

'We're in This Together' Giclée by Manuel Hernandez

I have eyed this work for some time and I still hope to get it one day.

 

We Are in This Together is a hand-embellished Giclée on Canvas.  It's limited edition, signed and numbered by the artist, Manuel Hernandez. The edition size is 195. Given all that, I really shouldn't wait too long. I think it would look great with my other Jessica.

To read more about Manuel Hernandez, visit Disney Fine Art by Collectors Editions and clicking here.

What a Crock of Hooey

Here's a follow-up on that UPS package fiasco. I received an email from a customer service. Rep. No apology, but only a horrible copy and paste job.

Apparently we shouldn't bother with putting on stickers or writing, "Fragile", "Handle with Care", "Breakable", "Do Not Bend" or "This End Up". The proof from their email is they don't bother paying attention to those signs. Click on the image below to see a larger version of the email.

I almost feel sorry for Abdule G. when I blast him with a rebuttal. But I got over it. I think it's a sin that we keep giving money to companies like this who treat customers without any respect. I have heard lots of horror stories from my friends about delivery fiascoes from UPS, USPS and FedEx, so these companies are a necessary evil and they know that we are subject to their lack of concern. It still doesn't make it right.

I know. Life's not fair. Thanks, Scar.

She's Drawn That Way

During my vacation at Walt Disney World, I was looking for that special work of art that I could take home as my memory of the trip celebrating my 50th birthday. I looked at many pieces, and my friends who were on the trip with me will tell you how long my list was of potential contenders. But I kept coming back to Mulan or Merida at the Art of Disney in EPCOT. Han Solo at Disney's Hollywood Studios was also in the top three.

The day before my last day, I took another spin into the Art of Disney, and my mouth dropped wide open. It did! For now I saw Jessica Rabbit. Oh the agony of making me choose! As much as I was leaning towards Mulan, I was 'drawn' to Jessica.

Today Jessica arrived in pristine condition. I'm thankful given the mishap I had with my Christmas ornaments, but in the end they turned out to be fine (see previous post).

I'm thankful to several friends who, over the past four years, have given me a Disney gift card for either a birthday or Christmas gift. I hoarded them away in my safe and to be honest, forgot about them until I started looking in my safe for this trip. But thanks to them almost the entire work of art was paid for by their generosity. I've always said my friends are the best, and this is just one of many examples.

Every time I look at Jessica, I'll think of them!

 

And I'm thrilled with the signed and numbered work!

 

Here's the CoA. I'm sorry. Certificate of Authenticity for non-collectors. 

 To see more of William Silvers' work, click here and click here.

UPS: Utterly Poor Service

My packages from Walt Disney World have started arriving. I had my Christmas ornaments sent to work because I figured they were light and could transport them easily home.

Today the box arrived via UPS. Here's what the outside of the box looked like when it dropped off in my office.

Apparently those orange "Fragile" stickers mean nothing to UPS. Call me crazy, but if you have a box that size that only weighs six pounds, you'd say to yourself, "Gee. Maybe I shouldn't use this box as a base for all the other packages in my truck."

After I opened the box and removed the packaging, this is what I found inside.

I continued to pull out each box, my anger increasing at what I would find inside.

I couldn't even open this one from the bottom.

After spending over $130 on Christmas ornaments, I was about to see how many arrived broken, or should I say how many made it unscathed.

To my shock and disbelief, not one ornament was broken! Even Snow White and Merida kept all their parts.

But really, that's not the point. The point is thankfully the Disney Cast Member(s) wrapped and packed the box well for travel. It even stood up to the monkeys at UPS who mishandled the box. Shame on them for their poor customer (lack-of) service!

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Disney's PhotoPass is great. You don't have to worry about taking pictures. They do it for you. Not only that, you also receive some professional pictures along with the ones of you.

So today after the Magic Kingdom closed was Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (Separate Pass).

Of course the Park is all decked out for the Holidays, and included with this special entry are fun things like a parade, fireworks, character greetings and of course, free cookies and hot cocoa. 

I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do and I missed out on some of the character greetings, but I was able to see the fireworks at a prime new location. If you stand behind Cinderella's Castle and near the Seven Dwarf Mine Ride, you can see the fireworks shoot off above Beast's Castle too. It was really cool.

And speaking of the Seven Dwarf Mine Ride, the wait times were outrageous during normal Park hours, but at the Party, it was only a 30-minute wait. It went pretty quickly, and the interactive queue helped distract people. Imagineering did a great job with that.

The new Fantasyland is looking sharp, and they did a fantastic job bringing the animated worlds to life. This was taken outside of the Voyage of The Little Mermaid by PhotoPass photographer, Timothy. I told him his name meant "perfect".

Some of the characters I did meet were Wendy and Peter Pan. For some reason, they asked a lot of questions about how I flew from Minneapolis to Orlando.

Overall, the Party was fun and it was a good night. If you haven't checked out Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, hoof on over to the Magic Kingdom for some fun times!

Hakuna Matata!

If you haven't seen a cheese ball in action, here's proof.

 

Need more proof?

 

Fortunately I'm not the only ham bone. Just about every trip to a Disney Park, I'm able to get a Cast Member to clown around with me. I guess that's a whole separate blog post.

 

And So It Begins

I am sooooo not ready for this!

Our first snow of the season, and it turns out to be a storm!

So this is a view of my first bus stop in the morning. It's coming down hard!

This is the same view the next day. Over the course of 24 hours, we had snow, sleet and freezing rain. Now the entire state is an ice rink. I'm not thrilled because that means we'll have a layer of ice until April.

PS: 'F' must stand for 'freezing'.

Look Who's In Town

Looks like the Empire even comes to the Midwest.

Toys Story

In 'Toy Story 2', toys are being kept by an avid collector. Can you image what takes place at night at the Minnesota History Center? Currently there's an exhibit entitled, 'Toys of the '50's, 60s and '70s' taking place until January, 2015. On display are popular toys that capture the craziness, the joy, and the sheer fun of being a kid. Or an adult who thinks he's a kid.

Our company at work is celebrating its 60th anniversary, so I had to plan an event that would tie into our anniversary. What better way to celebrate than to host a private event at the History Center and view this exhibit? It was nearly unanimous that everyone enjoyed the venue and event. Sometimes you can't please people with poopie diapers.

Needless to say I was in 7th Heaven. I found a bunch of toys I had as a kid, but I also found a few favorites as part of the exhibit. I doubt anyone would be surprised.

Obi-Off. Obi-On.

I have to share my birthday treat to myself. This is so cool!  It's a bust of Obi-Wan Kenobi made by Gentle Giant LTD. As you can see below, I received #908 out of 2000.

 

Here's the cool part: the bust lights up! I found this to be so unique, I had to have it, and so I bought it for myself as a birthday present.  Look!

Obi-Off.

 

Obi-On!

 

 

50 Nifty

Wow. 50 years. That's a long time, but I don't feel 50. I sure as heck don't act it.  But here it is. A half-century and I don't feel any different. Oh, I should go to the doctor to get a new prescription before surgery and that procedure...

Guess things have changed! The cheeks are getting chubbier!