Category Archives: Disney

Proof that waiting on line at Disney parks can be miserable



The Disney Queue Line Survival Guidebook
The Disney Queue Line Survival Guidebook

Web Watch never get bored while waiting on line for a Disney theme park attraction.

The detailed queues, interactive distractions, background music, park smells – the general happiness that permeates the Disney parks are designed to distract you from even thinking that you’ve been waiting in line for 2 hours to ride Toy Story Mania.

Okay – maybe waiting two hours for a 3-minute ride isn’t exactly a good use of anyone’s time, and definitely showcases the largest problem with the use of FastPass (but we digress, as we’re not going to talk about the pros/cons of FastPass today).

No, today we’re going to highlight the dark side of the Disney Park experience: the “gotta go, gotta go” mentality that pushes a family to Do Everything, Because It’s an Expensive Disney Trip, Dammit.

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Why are animated FILMS never nominated for Best Director or acting awards?



Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3

It’s a completely legitimate question, especially as Pixar continues its stellar run of high-quality animated entertainment.

There’s a reason why TOY STORY 3 is nominated for Best Picture this year.  There’s a reason why UP was nominated for Best Picture last year.  There’s a reason why WALL-E‘s lack of a Best Picture nomination forced the Academy to increase the number of eligible Best Picture nominees from five to 10, thus ensuring that there would be 5 more chances for an animated film to lose any chance of ever winning a Best Picture award of its own outside of the animation categories.

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Video Fun: “Premakes” – old-school movie trailers for modern films



Disney/Pixar's UP
Disney/Pixar’s UP

By now, Web Watch hopes that you’ve seen Disney/Pixar’s UP.

Hopefully, you’ve shown it to your parents.  If you haven’t, and have had difficulty explaining to your parents why they should want to watch an animated film, perhaps you should show them this PREMAKE, a movie trailer using old video clips done in a style as if the new film had been made decades ago.

Perhaps it’s a bit hard to explain.  It’s what the trailers would look like if these films had been made in the 1950′s. Does that make sense?

Why don’t you watch this clip and you’ll see what we mean:

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A Disney Dilemma: What will autistic children like Ben Miles do without the Snow White attraction?



Snow White's Scary Adventures
Snow White’s Scary Adventures

SNOW WHITE’S SCARY ADVENTURES is a classic Disney dark ride in Fantasyland, one of the original rides at both Disneyland in California and at Walt Disney World.

Go out and ride the Walt Disney World version of the ride while you can, because it is going the way of Mr Toad’s Wild Ride.  That is, Disney is ripping the ride out to make way for a Disney Princess meet-and-greet.

What?

Web Watch will break this down for you, summing up what other websites have already said:  Walt Disney World is currently in the middle of a long-awaited (and much needed) multi-million dollar expansion of Fantasyland, originally with the following changes:

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Muppets with Human Eyes will creep you out



Muppet Animal on DrumsAnimal on Drums

Wanna see something weird?

Somebody took the beloved Muppets and Photoshopped human eyes onto their heads.

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Disney star Miley Cyrus is making gambling fun



Hannah Montana - Miley Cyrus Movie
Hannah Montana – The Movie

Miley Cyrus is making gambling fun.

More specifically, gambling websites is making fun of Miley Cyrus and her recent exploits.

By now, you’ve probably seen celebrity gossip site TMZ reporting that a VIDEO OF MILEY CYRUS SMOKING A BONG (albeit a bong containing salvia, a natural herb that is not considered illegal) has been making the rounds.

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Visualizations of Winnie the Pooh neurological disorders




Tigger on the Couch: The Neuroses, Psychoses, Disorders and Maladies of Our Favourite Children's Characters
Tigger on the Couch: The Neuroses, Psychoses, Disorders and Maladies of Our Favourite Children’s Characters

Earlier this year, Web Watch mentioned a study called PATHOLOGY IN THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD: A NEURODEVELOPENTAL PERSPECTIVE ON A.A. MILNE that discussed which various mental and psychological illnesses the Pooh characters suffered from.  Let’s recap, shall we?

  • Winnie the Pooh has ADHD and OCD, has very little brain, and suffers from obesity and binge eating
  • Piglet has a generalized anxiety disorder
  • Eeyore has dysthymic disorder, housing problems, and suffers from a traumatic tail amputation
  • Rabbit, it should come as no surprise, is narcissistic
  • Tigger also suffers from ADHD and hyperactive-impulsive tendencies
  • Kanga and Roo have to deal with Kanga being a single, unemployed parent while Roo hangs out with a bunch of undesirables – like Tigger

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Pixar’s Toy Story is the #1 movie to make men cry



It's Enough to Make a Grown Man Cry
It’s Enough to Make a Grown Man Cry

PLAY.COM has released their list of the TOP TEN FILMS THAT MAKE MEN CRY

Number one on that list is the original TOY STORY from Pixar.  The full list is below the cut:

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Moms are online over 20 hours a week. Doing what?




Cooking Mama
Cooking Mama

According to a study released from Disney Online, MOMs SPEND 24 HOURS A WEEK ONLINE.

The study, entitled M.O.M. – Moms On A Mission, was focused on showing how much today’s parents relied on using the Internet and other electronics to make parenting easier.

According to the study, Moms use the following technology most often:

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Johnson & Johnson, Disney top the Corporate Social Responsibilty Index




Ashoka's Social Entrepreneurship Series presents Architect of Corporate Responsibility: The Story of Alice Tepper Marlin and Social Accountability International
Ashoka’s Social Entrepreneurship Series presents Architect of Corporate Responsibility: The Story of Alice Tepper Marlin and Social Accountability International

Being corporately responsibile is not necessarily an easy thing to do, let along doing so and being recognized for it.

Harder still, is coming out on top of such a list of recognition.

Yet, that’s exactly what JOHNSON & JOHNSON  and THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY have done this year in this year’s CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INDEX

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Disney theme park-related TV listings – Still waiting on Finding Kraftland




Modern Marvels - Walt Disney World
Modern Marvels – Walt Disney World

You shouldn’t have to guess that Web Watch has “Disney” coded as a search term on one of our TiVos, in order to record the latest television program about any of the Disney-theme parks.

With it, TiVo automatically records anything and everything that it thinks we might be interested in.  We’ve seen any number of Food Network-related programming, and practically every airing of  The History Channel’s MODERN MARVELS that seems to air about once every two weeks. 

And that episode where Full House visits Walt Disney World?  Yup – seen that more times than we care to, thanks to TiVo.

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One family’s quest to go one year without Disney




Mousetrapped: a Year and a Bit in Orlando
Mousetrapped: A Year and a Bit in Orlando

Web Watch has to admire people like Lisa Ray.

Lisa has strong convictions and a big stick-to-it attitude that isn’t often seen elsewhere.  She really does mean what she says, and says what she means.  Good for her.

Lisa, the founder of PARENTS FOR ETHICAL MARKETING, was upset at how the Disney corporation handled a refund request for the Baby Einstein line of early-learning DVDs.  Her reaction to those events (already documented elsewhere) led her to comment to her family, “I wish we could boycott Disney. But I don’t think we can. They’re too big.”

This got her 12-year-old daughter thinking, and she suggested that maybe they could go a year without Disney.

Lisa liked this idea so much, she decided that was exactly what she and her family were going to do: go A YEAR WITHOUT DISNEY.

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Read “Cast Member Confidential” for behind-the-scenes Disney fun




Cast Member Confidential
Cast Member Confidential -a Disney Employee Memoir

If you’re a Disney park fan, then one thing that you’re probably interested in is some of the behind-the-scenes stories about what it’s REALLY like to work at the Most Magical Place on Earth.

Sure, you could read KEVIN YEE’s book MOUSETRAP: MEMOIR OF A DISNEYLAND CAST MEMBER, or maybe even Inside the Mouse: Work and Play at Disney World, The Project on Disney, based on interviews with former Disney employees.  Both are excellent books for what they cover, and Web Watch recommends them highly.

But sometimes works like those can offer some views of life at Walt Disney World or Disneyland that are a bit more whitewashed than how things actually were.  Looking at working at the Mouse with rose-colored glasses, if you will.

Sometimes we want to see a truth that’s a bit more unadulterated and unfiltered.

Sometimes we want to really pull back the curtain and see what life really is like to work as a cast member at one of the World’s Busiest Theme Parks.

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How to take a photograph of a popular location without any people in it




Photobomb!
Photobomb!

The Photobomb.  It was a great picture… until somebody walked into the shot.

When it comes to vacation pictures at popular tourist destinations, a photobomb is inevitable.  Someone always will get in your way as you try to take that once-in-a-lifetime shot.

Web Watch’s friend Chip recently posted an article entitled HOW TO GET THOSE EMPTY DISNEY PARK PHOTOS where he goes on to describe an elaborate process that many people do in order to get that classic “nobody is in front of the Castle” shot down Main Street USA at the Magic Kingdom.   

While Web Watch was able to get our own photo of the Castle without any people in it by running down Main Street immediately after the rope-drop and taking the picture before the throngs of madly-rushing people behind us got in our way (it’s a great picture, in case you were wondering)  – Chip’s solution is to make an early-morning breakfast reservation in the park, and take your picture while you’re heading over to the restaurant before the park opens for the day.

While Chip’s answer offers a more leisurely method of getting the photo compared to our rope-drop version, there’s still an infinitely easier way to get that same “ghost town” effect on any photo that you want to have of a big, popular tourist destination.

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Video Fun: Disney Character FAILs




Mickey Never Fails
Mickey Never Fails

As the book says, MICKEY MOUSE NEVER FAILS.

Supposedly.

But sometimes Mickey does have a bit of a bad day.  As do many of Mickey’s Disney pals around Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and the other Disney theme parks.

Because being a walkaround character (sometimes called ”rubberheads” or “FUR CHARACTERS” by some) is not always the best job to have in the theme park. 

Your vision is hindered, if you can see at all.  The costumes are heavy, unbearably hot, awkward to manuever in, and not often cleaned to smell as fresh as they should be.  You’re often kicked, poked, prodded, propositioned, and occasionally abused by children young and old-enough-to-know-better.

Yes, being a Disney Costumed Character has been called ONE OF THE WORST JOBS AT DISNEY specifically because of the high accident/injury rate associated with it according to INSIDE THE MOUSE, a book based on interviews with former park employees.

And with all that, the employees who act as “friends of” each character continue to do so in order to bring smiles to the faces of every park visitor.  And for putting up with all that, and doing their job well — we at Web Watch salute you.

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