Fowler's Landing - That's Where We Were!

Yes, yes, we know that it's Tuesday and not Monday today.  We're probably playing with fire and risking a disruption of the space time continuum that could destroy the entire universe (granted that's the worst-case scenario) by posting a Monday article on a day other than Mon, but we're just crazy enough to do it anyways!  Truth is, we were playing on another blog yesterday and just didn't have the time to get our usual Monday game done, but we enjoy doing them so much we wanted to make sure we got one out this week regardless.  We hope that everyone is okay with that!

It's Tuesday (this week's Monday!) which means that we get to start out (sort of!) on a fun note and challenge you (hopefully!), our readers, to once again guess where at the Disneyland Resort we took this week's photo.  We saw this one during our rambling this weekend, and thought it might make a good spot to challenge people with.  Not to mention, for some reason Chad is still trying to fathom, it struck us as pretty darn cool.  Maybe we need more protein in our diets or something...

If you're not familiar with our "Magical Mystery Mondays" concept yet, each and every week we come across loads of spots around Disneyland Resort we think would make great picture opportunities, and each and every week we challenge you, our readers, to attempt to guess just where at The Resort we were when we took our pictures.  Some are easy, some are hard (and some are smack dab in the middle!), but we think it's a great way for us to get you involved and commenting on our blog, and people seem to enjoy doing it.  We hope that this week's stacks up and that you guys all enjoy it!

So, do you know where this little beauty is located at the Disneyland Resort?

If you think you know where it is, let us know!  There are a few really easy ways to do so:

• Leave us a comment here! (probably the best way to do it) 
• Send us a Direct Message on our Twitter account @DaysInThePark 
• Drop us an email at daysinthepark@daysinthepark.com 

We try to keep your answers hidden as best that we can so that more people get a chance to guess, so if you'll help us along by submitting your answers "on the sly" (not a general comment where anyone can see the answer) we'd much appreciate it!  We like to keep it going as long as we can and give everyone a shot.

We'll be back tomorrow morning to post up all the people (we'll edit this same post) who guessed correctly and give you the exact spot where this was taken.

Have fun, don't take it too seriously, and guess as often as you'd like!  We do respond throughout the day with hints to push you along in the right direction, so what have you got to lose?  Guess often and have fun!

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Well, now that our day is done we're back to let everyone in on our little spot we chose for this week's game!


We came across yesterday's spot (again) while roaming Disneyland over the weekend, and thought it would make an excellent addition to our collection of Disneyland photos.  And what better way to introduce it to our readers than use it for our "Where Are We?" posts?  We had loads of guesses yesterday, and several correct ones to boot!  Not everyone was right, but with a little help and continuing to guess throughout the day, we had a good number, which always makes us smile.

This week's photo challenge spot can be found inside Disneyland Park, right near the borders of Frontierland, New Orleans Square, and Critter Country, and is located behind the Harbour Galley Restaurant at a little place called "Fowler's Landing".

Unfortunately, many people are completely unaware that this fantastic little area even exists!  But if you meander back through the tables at the restaurant and look to your left, you'll see the little "harbor" where "Fowler's Inn" is located, and our little signage right next to it.  It's a cute little place to hang out and is always quiet because not a lot of people know about it.  There are even some great places back there to sit and relax and eat in peace and quiet.  And when it's not being worked on, there's a little bridge back there as well that will carry you over from Frontierland and into Critter Country, crossing right over Splash Mountain's notorious drop.  We like to stand back there and yell random things at people as they pass by underneath in their rafts, because they can't see us! 

As always, we like to give a shout-out to everyone who came by and guessed, so here they in order of guess and name:

• MottMike
• Lori
• ChevyBurnz
• rayvencure
• DisneyAmanda3
• elliottdaisy
• Monica
• KatiePirateTink

And there you have it, our correct guessers for this week!  Thanks to everyone who took a shot at it.  Even if you're not right, everyone should take a guess; you've got nothing to lose!

We'll be back next week with another brand-new spot for our readers to take a crack at!  In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for a spot you'd like for us to do, or a picture of your own that you would like to submit for us to use, drop us a line at daysinthepark@daysinthepark.com.  We love having reader submissions and would love to take a look at whatever spots you might have that you'd like to see here.

Until next week, keep those peepers open and be sure and take in all of the little details all over Disneyland; you never know what little details you might see that you never have before!

Back Into Big Thunder Ranch at Disneyland's Halloween Time - Almost Wordless Wednesday

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Last week we took you into one of our favorite areas to visit in Disneyland Park during our annual Halloween Time celebration, to show you some of our favorite pumpkin carvings from this year's batch.  Today, we're going to take a very short detour from our Mickey's Halloween Party series, and take you back into Big Thunder Ranch for some more of the sights from a recent trip inside.  One of our favorite places to hang out during normal times is Miss Chris' Cabin, which is transformed during Halloween into what we call "The Scare-Dy-Crow Shack" with all kinds of seasonal goodness going on inside.  Come along with us as we show you some of our favorites this year from "The Shack".  Enjoy!

No longer Miss Chris' Cabin; welcome to "The Shack"!

ANY sign of Jack is cool with us, but a hand-carved original? Too cool!

This may in fact be Miss Chris. We're just not sure...

The two "Jacks" always have SOMETHING up their sleeves...

The Cowboy "Jacks" which fill the cabin really bring a lot to the celebration

The inside decor is just awesomely perfect!

The mantle itself is totally decked out for the occasion...

...while the fireplace itself takes on a new and rather creepy glow

Cowboy "Jack" outside The Scare-Dy-Crow

Random pumpkin carvings little the entire area. Awesome!

Big Thunder Ranch at Disneyland's Halloween Time - Almost Wordless Wednesday

We've never even tried to pretend that the Holiday celebrations at the Disneyland Resort aren't some of our favorite times to be inside The Parks. There's just something a little extra magical and special about these times of the year, and Halloween might just be our favorite.  One of our favorite places to hang during the Halloween season is the Big Thunder Ranch "Halloween Roundup" in Frontierland, and over the next couple of weeks in our "Wordless" articles, we're going to show you why.  We hope you enjoy seeing the magic just as much as we do.  Have fun!

Big Thunder Mountain Ranch and the Disneyland Petting Zoo: Disney Tip Tuesdays

A couple of weeks ago we started a new segment called "Disney Tip Tuesdays" with our good friend Sarah from Magical Days With The Mouse.  For our first segments we gave our readers tips from one of our favorite areas in Disney California Adventure Park, Paradise Pier.  We're back again this week, but we're switching gears, and Parks, to bring you a whole new batch of tips from another one of our favorite "Lands"; this one from Disneyland Park.  The focus of this week's tips?  Frontierland and Big Thunder Ranch!

For our part of this week's articles, we've chosen to focus on something we think is an excellent way to spend time with the kiddies (with some adult fun thrown in for good measure): goats.  Once you've picked yourself up off of the ground and stopped laughing, as funny as it sounds, we're quite serious.

The Ranch is known for many things with guests (great BBQ, anyone?), and is very popular with the kids (and Mark) because they have a petting zoo inside.  It's a great way to spend some time with the kids, because who doesn't like to wander around a petting zoo and look, and pet, some friendly barnyard critters.  The Disneyland Petting Zoo is home to many different goats who spend their days sleeping, playing, eating, and being pawed at by people.  Sounds like the life to us!  And it's especially cool when they switch over The Resort for the holiday season, because the goats leave and the reindeer move in before they make their annual trip carrying around Mr. Claus' sleigh.  You can't pet them, but they're beautiful creatures and we've never failed to see the area around Christmas-time filled with children, and adults, "ooh"ing and "aah"ing over them.

One of the best times to be at the petting zoo, though, is right around closing time.  Big Thunder Ranch closes well before the entire Park does (so the animals can be cared for, fed, and sleep), and if you catch it at just the right time (a Cast Member will be more than happy to tell you just when this is on a daily basis), you may just be in time to witness the "world famous Running of the Goats!"; a Cast Member's words, not ours.  Each and every day, the goats are taken from their pen, and run back to their homes through the middle of Big Thunder Ranch and through the Festival Arena in back of the Ranch.  When we first heard about the Running, we knew we just had to see it for ourselves.  At the time, they allowed Guests to stand on either side of the path that runs through the Ranch, so the goats ran right by you on their way out.  We were lucky enough to catch some pictures the last time we saw them do it this way.  We've shared these before on the blog, but it's been quite some time so we're re-sharing them today.

Unfortunately, we discovered when we went back this past weekend to attempt to get video footage of the Running for this article, that they no longer do it this way to keep both the animals and the Guests safe.  We were a little bit disappointed at first, but after seeing one of the goats get a little bit frisky in the video we did take, we were forced to concede that Disneyland knew exactly what they were doing (again!) when they changed the policy.  We still think it's an awesome place to spend some time during the day, and an awesome sight to see!  The kids loved it, and there were still lots of people standing around at the entrance/exit to see them leave their pen and head home.  It made us want to belt out the theme to "Rawhide" at the top of our lungs, but we opted for a "Forrest Gump" knock-off instead.




So there you have it!  It may not seem like a lot, but the kids were smiling, the adults were smiling because the kids were smiling, and sometimes it's the little things like this that can be the most magical.

But the goats aren't just for the kiddies.  We have a bonus tip this week!  One of our favorite coasters at Disneyland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  It's an awesome, fast-moving coaster through the old west and a boom-town.  Loads of critters pepper the landscape on this one, including one particular goat responsible for something Disneyland patrons refer to as "The Goat Trick".  We've been asked on more than one occasion what "The Goat Trick" is, so we're sharing that for all the coaster hounds out there today.  People ride roller coasters for lots of reasons, but the main is because of the sense of speed, flying, and the way they tend to warp your perception and the way your body feels as you fly around at high speeds.  Our friend the goat on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad gives you a little added "oomph" in this department.

So here's how it works.  You'll know doubt see friend goat as you climb one of the hills about midway through your ride, especially if you are looking for him.  Lock eyes on him, and don't take your eyes off.  Yes, you will pass him, and rounding the bend you'll eventually lose sight of him, but if you're staring where the goat is, and would be, as you round the curve, it definitely throws a body-bending curve-ball at you.  We're not sure exactly why, human physiology certainly being no specialty of ours, but all we know is if you watch the goat as you fly around those corners, your body will let you know something's up, and it's a good thing!  Amy has been known to laugh hysterically for the entire last portion of the ride because of it.  We've been told by some people they don't like the "new sensation" it causes, but by and large people who know about "The Goat Trick" swear by it and won't ride Big Thunder without doing it.

So there you have it, our Disney Tips for Big Thunder Ranch.  Do you have any of your own that you would like to share?  Let us know because we'd love to hear them, and let us know what you think of ours, too!  When you're done here, head on over to Magical Days With the Mouse for another Disney Tip from Sarah, and let her know we sent ya!  Yee-haw!!

Magical Mystery Mondays! - Where Are We?

We took a brief hiatus last Monday from our weekly game of guessing where in The Parks we took a photo, but we're back this week with a whole new picture for our readers to take a crack at.

This week's picture was submitted to us by our friend Jen from Disney Day Trippers, and we thought it was a great "little detail" we could point out to you guys, and a fun one for you to take a guess at.

If you think you know where it is, let us know! Leave us a comment here (probably the best way to do it), send us a Direct Message on our Twitter account @DaysInThePark, or drop us an email at daysinthepark@daysinthepark.com; that way more people get a chance to guess! We'll keep tabs on who made correct guesses and come back tomorrow morning and post up all of the people who got it right along with the correct answer.

We do these just to share a little of The Park detail that we really enjoy, and nothing more. We've had a few people tell us they feel bad that they're Passholders and don't know where our pictures are, but don't! We just do it to share our enjoyment, so don't take it too seriously! Take a look at it, hazard a guess, and just have fun!

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It's the morning after so you know what time it is.  Time to reveal the answer to this week's pictorial trivia question!  We had several guesses yesterday, but only one was correct.

This week's picture was taken inside Frontierland at the Westward Ho Trading Co. This particular sign is located on the side entrance door.  The interesting thing about the sign is that even though it is on the inside of the door so technically would be inside the shop, the door is almost constantly open all the way so the sign is most easily seen on the side of the building. 

Our correct guesser yesterday by Twitter name was:

• Granuaille

And there you have it!  We'll be back next Monday with another picture for everyone to take a crack at.  Thanks to everyone who took a shot yesterday. We love doing these!  If you have any pictures you'd like to submit for us to use, or have any suggestions for us, drop us a line at daysinthepark@daysinthepark.com and we'll be happy to use them and give you credit.

See you next week!

Our Favorite Spots To Shop

Welcome to the first stop aboard Magical Blogorail Blue. Enjoy the ride as we share with you our favorite Disney shopping spots.

When we first began going to The Parks several years ago we definitely had yet to acclimate ourselves to the environment enough to completely enjoy it.  We were the ones who would go from line to line, from attraction to attraction, all day long and then leave at the end of the day absolutely wiped out, because that's how we figured it had to be done.  We've since become Annual Passholders and with that has come a certain amount of understanding in just how to play our time in The Parks to our advantage.  As time has gone one, we've begun to enjoy all of the other things that The Parks have to offer as well, including restaurants and shopping spots.

We honestly enjoy shopping now in The Parks, even though as men, this probably puts us in some kind of minority.  We even have our favorite places to shop, which we're going to share with you today!  One of the reasons we enjoy shopping in The Parks is because there is always something to see.  It's true, you can find the same merchandise in any number of shops around, but we enjoy the way that they gear each shop towards the land that it is in and much of the merchandise the same.  And it seems like there is always something we've not noticed before every time we go in a particular shop, such as window-dressings or displays.  We talk a lot around here about the "little details", and Park shopping is certainly no different, so come along with us for some of our favorite shopping haunts inside The Resort.

One of our favorite "window-dressings" in The Park

Westward Ho (Frontierland)

The Westward Ho Trading Co. - Pins and Vinyl galore!

One of our favorite places in The Park to hang out is Frontierland, so it's probably only natural that one of our favorite places to shop is there as well. We love the pioneer and western feel of the area, and Westward Ho is perfectly themed to fit in. Set on the end of a western boardwalk (picture a saloon with hitching rails outside, complete with a cigar store Indian), rarely a visit to The Park goes by where we don't stop in at least once. It's specialty? Disney Pins and Vinylmation! When we go shopping for Vinylmation (when we're in the heat of a collection), this is usually our first stop. In our experience, it offers the best selections of Pins in The Park, and there are trading tables outside if that tickles your fancy. Or, if you're like us and deal in plastic, there are also trading boxes inside you can use. We've always found the Cast Members in Westward Ho pleasant and fun to deal with as well. They've always been great to deal and interact with, and definitely go a long way towards making Westward Ho one of our favorite stops.

Pooh's Corner (Critter Country)

"Waiting for you, and me Winnie the Pooh..."

We've almost begun thinking of Pooh Corner as a hidden treasure! Set way back in The Park at the back end of Critter Country, the Corner (as we've taken to calling it) has become one of our weekly stops while we're roaming around late at night. We love the Critter area, and this shop fits in perfectly with all of the other decor and features around. Pooh Corner itself is an awesome shop for souvenirs for the kiddies! There are several rooms stretched out together here (the shop is really quite large) with all kinds of clothing, toys, and everything else your kids would typically be screaming for. Good stuff!

Being who we are, though, our reason for coming back here is totally different. We like the treats! We've talked to many people, many of whom don't even know, that there is in fact a candy shop in Pooh Corner. We kind of think of it as a miniature Main Street Candy Palace (from Main Street, USA). We love going into the shop and watching them hand-make all of our favorite treats. And what's better than watching them make them? Eating them, of course! Many an evening will find us at the counter ordering either a Peanut Butter Sandwich (or Heaven) and a carton of milk for dessert. Or, if you have peanut allergies, there are TONS of other options as well, such as toffees and candy apples. Plus, there is a wide assortment of other candies here such as the Disney brand of Jelly Belly candies (which take up an entire wall along the back) and pretty much any Goofy's Candy Co. candies you can think of (including our beloved Sour Balls). Not sold yet? We honestly don't know what else could say to convince you then. Moving on!

Need we go on?

D-Street (Downtown Disney)

The King of Vinylmation stores. See, told you we called it that...

Lastly, we need to visit what we've dubbed the King of Vinylmation stores at The Resort, D Street. Located in the hip and trendy Downtown Disney area, D Street is also a place we typically stop at at least once a trip out. If a new Vinylmation series is coming out, this is your place to get it! They get all of the new releases as soon as they come out, and many an hour we've spent in here just checking things out and wishing we had the money to buy every piece of Vinyl in sight. There is also always a trading box in here (and usually people outside willing to trade as well), so if you are looking for that special piece for your collection, this just might be your place to find it.

As strange as it is to say, since that's mostly what we are there for, D Street isn't only about the Vinylmation. It is in Downtown Disney after all, and there are tons of other cool and kitschy items here. Lots of Star Wars and other sci-fi items are in here, and there are tons of t-shirts, posters, toys and other things here to keep even in the most discerning geek happy. Definitely worth checking out!

It was hard narrowing down our favorite shopping spots to just three, there are so many of them!  But in the interest of time we had no choice.  But we have a little bonus for you!  We've taken the liberty of creating a Gowalla Trip of our favorite shopping spots, specially for The Magical Blogorail and its readers.  Here you'll find our Top 10 shopping spots (including the three you've just read about) with a little description as to why we enjoy them so much.  That way if you're ever at The Resort, you can easily pull up our spots and see just where we like to go yourselves.

We hope you've enjoyed coming around with us to our favorite shopping spots today, and like always, when you're out and about and doing the shopping yourself, keep your eyes open for your own little gems inside The Parks.  You never know what you might come across. 

Thank you for joining me today.  Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail is The CanaDisney Blog.

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Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

1st Stop ~ Days in the Park

2nd Stop ~ The CanaDisney Blog

3rd Stop ~ Disney Babies Blog

4th Stop ~ Cooking with Mickey

5th Stop ~ Meet the Magic

Final Stop ~ Pursuing the Magic

Pathing Around The Park: Frontierland To Fantasyland

We pride ourselves around here as knowing a lot about The Parks, and especially the geography and locations of everything. The awesome thing about hanging out though, is that the more frequently you do, and the more time you spend you doing it, you begin to do things a little bit differently than the average tourist would (no knock meant on them whatsoever). We've been doing it long enough now that we have our own favorite ways to "Path Around The Park", as we like to call it.

For example, in today's offering, we're going to show you how we enjoy traveling from the main thoroughfare of Frontierland (or at least what we like to think of as the main thoroughfare) out and into Tomorrowland. We eschew the norm, so whereas many people might simply leave Frontierland and walk into Tomorrowland through "The Hub" by the Partners Statue, not so with us! We have our own way we like to do it. Over the course of the next few weeks, we'll continue our way around The Park and show you all of the attractions we like to do and the way we like to get there, too. Ready to come along with us? Let's mosey!

One of our first stops in Frontierland is always into Westward Ho Trading Co., our favorite place in The Parks to buy Vinylmation. It's your one-stop place to shop for all manner of Vinyl or Pins if you're a pin collector (when we did collect pins, this is where we went for those, too). Other than candy, Vinylmation and pins are all that you will find here. While it might be true that there are other places in The Parks to buy these items, Westward Ho nonetheless rises to the top for us because of its Land, theming, particularity and focus. And if you catch it just right, there are plenty of pin stations outside where you can trade your own pins or Vinyl with others, but it's all a little too much for us.

Next up (moving towards the Rivers of America) is the Frontierland Shooting Exposition, which we recently talked about. We enjoy stopping off here for a little target practice. 50 cents will get you roughly ten shots with the old musket, and there are plenty of western themed targets (and even a Hidden Mickey) for you to take aim at. Word of warning: this attraction can be very busy, especially during the day time and there are lot of kids playing. It can be a lot of fun standing around and watching everyone else have their shots (we've done it many times), but for what it's worth, our favorite time to play is much later in the evening after the shows and The Park has cleared out some. You can pretty much have your pick of any spot that you want and there's just something different about playing it at night that can't be beat!

You may or may not be hungry at this point, but if you are, why not make a stop off at Rancho del Zocalo for a quick bite? It's right next door to the Shooting Exposition, and is one of our favorite restaurants (casual dining and quick service) in either Park. There are plenty of great options to choose from: our favorites include the Red Chile Enchilada & Carne Asada Platter and the Sonora Burrito, but they also have tacos, salads, and a kid's or toddler's meal. Vegetarian? Not a problem as there are options for you here as well! There is plenty of seating here, the atmosphere is pretty darn cool (themed Mexican of course), and it's one of our favorite places to sit down, have a meal and kick our feet up and people watch. If you're not in the mood for food, though, feel free to hang a right at the entrance to the restaurant and we'll move on to the next spot we see in our Path.

Yes, we frequent these restrooms and fairly often. You can never have too many options at your disposal when you're in desperate need of a place to relieve yourself or the little ones. The restrooms themselves are a little on the smallish side, but we've rarely seen them unkept and that counts for a lot in our books (of course, your mileage may vary). When it comes down to it though, they're just bathrooms! They're not perfect (we've yet to find the complete restroom in The Park that is that all of the time) but we like to keep our options open and pass them on to you should you need them. And like we said, you can never have too many options where those are concerned; especially later at night when the crowds are less so of course the lines into the restrooms are less, so we like to use these a lot later in the evening. Since they're in our Path we're passing them on should the information be useful to you.

Restrooms aside, though, we do love this area here. It has the air of a covered bridge to it, and there's just something about it that we like, simple as it is.

Walking through brings us to one of our favorite places in The Parks to just sit and hang out (heck, even watch the fireworks from time to time): The Carnation Plaza Gardens. It's a huge open area with tons of places to sit, relax, snack and just enjoy the atmosphere of things around you. It offers a beautiful (if not slightly obscured) view of Sleeping Beauty Castle and there always seems to be something to enjoy back here. The stage often has bands playing (and swing dancing on the weekends) so there's usually music of some kind to listen to, and there are plenty of tables around for you to sit at, relax and have a snack or a cold beverage on a hot afternoon.

There's also plenty to stand around and look at. We love standing on the bridges which lead back to The Hub and the Partners Statue and look at the stream, gardens and ducks which populate the area. It's peaceful, tranquil and wonderful in it simplicity. When you're ready to move on, let's back up a little bit (don't go into The Hub or in front of the Castle) and let's take a left here instead of a right across the bridge to where we'll stop for this week.

In addition to proffering a peaceful view of the Castle from here, it also leads us into Fantasyland on the west end of the Castle. Exciting, isn't it? Next week we'll continue into Fantasyland for a brief stop on our way into Tomorrowland and beyond.

Hope you'll keep taking this virtual Path with us. Are there particular Paths you like to take around The Parks? Let us know; we'd love to hear!

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We would just like to stress that this article (and those coming) is just for fun and nothing more. There are obviously scores of ways in which you can move around The Park, based on preference, and we are by no means implying that ours are the best in any way, shape or form, just as we're sure that others have their favorite attractions, etc. They're just meant to be an entertaining look at some of our favorite things with some information that might come in handy to you at some point in the future thrown in for good measure.

First Time Fridays: "Pirates of the Caribbean" 3D Sneak Peek

The special leaflet you get when you arrive at The Resort (in any of the parking areas)

One of the great things we've recently discovered (and we play it to the hilt as much as we can) about being Annual Passholders is that there is very little that goes on at The Park these days that we can't be one of the first to do, if we so have a mind.  That's not to say that we necessarily have to be there and do it on the very first day (although there will be a few exceptions to that rule in the coming months), either.  But many of the things that The Park does these days, we're usually able to find some time on the first weekend to go and check it out.

This past weekend was no different as the Festival Arena re-opened in Frontierland, where it will be playing host to a very special "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" 3D Sneak Peek for the next couple of months.

We were huge fans of the 3D Sneak Peek of "TRON: Legacy" that Disney California Adventure did as part of their ElecTRONica offering, so when we found out they would be doing something similar in Disneyland Park, as huge "Pirates" fans, we knew it was something that we just had to see.  

We did not, however, feel the need to see it on the first night, or the second night, or when it first opened on Sunday night when we actually were in The Park.  We're patient people (about most things), and having heard that the lines were approaching one or two hours at some points on the previous two evenings, we decided to wait as long as we possibly could on Sunday evening to see it for ourselves.  So come 11:00PM on Sunday evening (after Fantasmic! and a quick stop for cocoa) we finally began meandering our way back to the Arena for the show.

We suppose we should begin by saying that we didn't really snag a lot of photos; we had been told (or read) earlier that cameras weren't being allowed into the Arena, so we didn't even bother to bring one in.  That said, the area was decorated much like you would have expected it to be: very pirate-y!  The Arena itself looks about as close to the deck of a Pirate ship as they could get it I'm sure (considering the ground was made of concrete) and there is netting, look-out points and any manner of other Pirate-ship paraphernalia and decor all around the place.  They really did a top-notch job with the atmosphere.  Our favorite, though, would have to be the mounds of skulls all over the place with torches and flames at the top.  Skulls and fire; two of our favorite things.  It basically is just one big pre-show to the sneak peek of the movie.  Cast Members run amock all over the Arena, dressed like Pirates (yar!), pumping up the crowd (and drawing them into the show in some instances), and yelling a lot.  It really was a lot of fun to watch.  The preview itself did exactly what we're sure they meant for it to do; it got us pumped up for the movie which releases soon.  It was basically (like the one for "TRON: Legacy") about a ten minute look at some never before seen footage from the "Pirates" movie.  There was a ton of action, a ton of Johnny Depp (and Penelope Cruz!), and even a look at old Blackbeard himself, who we have to admit, looks just as deadly and dangerous as Davey Jones ever was.  Just our opinion, though.  The sneak peek is indeed in 3D, which was kind of fun, but we're not entirely sure it sold us on seeing it in theaters in that form.  We'll have to give that some more thought, but it definitely got us itching to see more, whether it be in 3D or 2D.  

The only drawback to seeing the show is perhaps the seating.  It's on the ground, and it's not soft ground, either.  We're talking concrete of the finest caliber here.  If you're like us, and you don't do well with being stuffed like sardines into a can while your butt slowly but surely goes numb and there's little wiggle-room, then that's probably something to take into consideration.  That said, there is seating in the back and a bit on the sides, but it's primarily for the disabled.  However, we went so late in the night that were was no line and fewer people there, and we had a Cast Member tell us we were more than welcome to sit there if we wanted to.  We didn't ask to, we were just pointed in that direction.  We can't guarantee this is policy, or would be the same with any Cast Member, but it might be something worth remembering all the same.

Our friend the "Chatty Parrot"

The show doesn't necessarily end there, either.  As you're leaving the Arena (and exiting through the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ area) Jack Sparrow stands off to the side talking to the crowd as they walk by.  The outter area in front of Big Thunder Ranch is no less busy, either.  Cast Members, excuse us, Pirates, can also be seen running around the outside of the Arena as well.  We saw one we particularly enjoyed exclaiming over one laughing youngster that he needed to see a doctor immediately because his head was shooting lightning (referring to his TRON ears which were happily lighting up).  Upon removal of the ears, the pirate yelled out, "It's a miracle!", and hugged the youngster who, if he had been smiling any bigger, his face might have cracked in two.  We also very much enjoyed the "Chatty Parrot" (no idea if that's what he's called or not, but we heard someone call him that) who, along with his CM Pirate friend, interacted with all of the people who had gathered around.  He fielded questions, called out to us, and generally ensured a good time was had by everyone who stood around.  It was one of our personal highlights of the whole experience.  When our friend parrot saw us taking his picture (he spotted our flash going off) he tweeted, "Oh, my goodness.  Someone is taking my picture.  I must show them all of my good sides.  Left (head turn).  Right (head turn).  Middle (looking straight ahead)".  People all around, us included, really got a kick out of that.  

Not enough?  There are also merchandise carts set up where you can buy various pirate accessories for your own little Capt. Hooks such as hooks (go figure), rifles (colored green and orange), eye patches and more.  Thirsty or hungry?  Buy yourself some Pirate Booty (we got a big laugh at that) and wash it down with some Pirate "grog" (non-alcoholic).  No idea what it tasted like, though; we were full of cocoa.

One of the merch carts floating around the area - Arrrrr!

We were really impressed with the Sneak Peek.  We've heard a few people were pretty non-plussed about the entire thing, but leave it to The Parks to take something that could be fairly "blah", if the preview was all they had shown, and ramp it up to an 11 on the amp.  We were honestly only in the area for about a half hour total, but there's little doubt in our minds that we'll be back at some point or other.  We've been saying all along that we hoped The Parks continued to come up with new and clever ways to use the Arena area, and if the crowds and people we came in contact with Sunday night were any indication, they've done just that.

If you get the chance to see this special sneak peek, we certainly urge you to do so.  All our thumbs are way, way up on this one.  We had a lot of fun!

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Amy's Favorite Things: Scrump

Perhaps it's my Hawaiian heritage that allowed me to really connect with this movie, but "Lilo & Stitch" is one of the Disney flicks I love and never seem to tire of watching.  It also provides my favorite thing for this post:  Scrump!

What I love most about Scrump is that she's not necessarily the most beautiful looking doll, but Lilo still loves her, whether she's as nice as the dolls the other little girls have or not; Lilo made her out of love.  She's not the world's most perfect doll, but she's the world's most perfect doll for Lilo!  She has crooked stitching for a mouth, two different-sized buttons for eyes, a lop-sided head and a few pieces of scraggly hair.  I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel that way (LOL)!  And I love the story that Lilo has for her.  "This is Scrump," Lilo says at one point in the movie when she's introducing her doll to the other girls.  "I made her.  But her head is too big, so I pretended that a bug laid eggs in her ear, and she's upset because she has only a few more days to...", and that's when the other girls disappear, disgusted by the doll.  Upset, Lilo throws the doll and starts to run off, but then comes back, grabs Scrump and squeezes her tightly.  Lilo loves Scrump no matter what.  It's a love we all can hope for.

Now the real reason behind why Scrump is my favorite lies with a story about another little girl.  The summer after my senior year of high school, some neighbors we had at the time who were very close friends of ours were foster parents.  They had fostered dozens of kids over the years and had adopted two, a little boy and girl.  One day in July, they received a call that a baby girl had been abandoned at the hospital and was going to need to be placed in foster care, and it appeared that it would be a pretty easy case for foster-adopt if they were interested.  They told the social worker that they were interested and made their way to the hospital to bring home the tiniest baby I've ever seen.  I remember seeing her when they got home from the hospital and being afraid of breaking her if I touched her, she looked so fragile.  But from that first moment I held her, there was some sort of special connection between us.  While going through the hoops required for the foster-adopting, I even went through the Live Scan process so that I could babysit. I became her "second mommy," as she called me.  I started taking her to The Park with me as a baby, and eventually decided to splurge and got her an annual pass for a few years.  It's amazing how quickly she became as fascinated by all things Disney as I am!

Just look at the way she is gazing at Mickey.  Love at first sight!

She was about four years old when the "Lilo & Stitch" movie came out.  Of course, we watched it together many times.  We had been playing at The Park one day when I discovered The Emporium was selling merchandise from "Lilo & Stitch".  We were both checking out the display of new toys when both of us reached out and  grabbed Scrump at the same time.  That was that!  We both left The Park that day the proud new owners of Scrump dolls of our very own.  When I thought about it, Paulie was like my own little Lilo, and those dolls became a special part of our relationship.

Even as Paulie grew up and got rid of old stuffed animals and dolls, I noticed that she always kept her Scrump doll.  Her family has moved away and I don't get to see her as often, but the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Paulie is Scrump, and all the fun times that we had together taking Scrump on our different adventures through The Park.

I'm not sure if she still has her Scrump doll, but I still have mine, and I have continued to love that funky little doll.  Every time I look at her I think of little Paulie and all the fun we had together, but most importantly I think of love.

And that is why Scrump, as unconventional as she might be, is one of my favorite things.

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