To continue my new tradition of visiting Walt Disney World every year, my pal Jonathan and I made the trip to Orlando this September. What an absolutely perfect trip! Nearly every attraction was a walk-on - our longest wait in line was 10 minutes (for Peter Pan's Flight)! This year I made of point of seeing all the wonderful shows, including the amazing Fantasmic! Of course, we ate lots of great food and did some drinking on Pleasure Island, too. We stayed at the All Star Movies resort - nothing fancy, but the pool was nice. I had fun talking with Cast Members, too - I got a few nice comments on my Disneyland shirts that I was wearing. I can't wait to go back again!View photos: WDW 2002 MGM Studios
View photos: WDW 2002 Animal Kingdom
View photos: WDW 2002 Epcot
View photos: WDW 2002 Magic Kingdom
View photos: WDW 2002 More Magic Kingdom
View photos: WDW 2002 Jonathan's Photos
Disneyland Countdown: 13 days!
There's nothing like a great burger (you know, not like McDonalds, though I like Happy Meals like they were their own food group). I used to love eating burgers at Hang Town Grill, but sadly, they closed. So, now the best "real" burger is found at Waterloo Ice House - they really taste great, and they chop up the lettuce and onions just like Hang Town used to! The bacon cheeseburger is really good, and the fries are awesome. They have tons of beers, too, but I usually only go for lunch - however, they do have bottles of Big Red!
I'm not a big fan of buffets - I usually never eat enough to justify the price, and there's always so many dishes I don't like. There are three Buffet Palaces in Austin - the one close to me looks pretty skanky, but my pals Chris and Eliza wanted to try out a new one close to them, and it was pretty good. The decor was really cool and clean, especially for a buffet, and the food was tasty - nothing spectacular, but I enjoyed the Lo Mein, plus they had some good Korean food like Dae's mom makes. I doubt I'll go back, but it was a good time anyway.
An absolutely amazing movie (you can search for my review to see how much I loved it) deserves an absolutely amazing DVD, and Monsters, Inc. does it all. This is a fantastic two DVD set including the movie and tons of extra features. In fact, it took nearly an entire day to dig through all of the material, which is cleverly organized into the Human World and the Monster World. I loved watching the tour of Pixar - what a fantastic place to work! The new Mike's New Car short is funny, but way too short, but the DVD makes up for it by including For the Birds (so hilarious). Watching the movie again was a treat, made even more special by seeing all the hard work and creativity behind the scenes. My favorite bit of trivia - several Disneyland attraction posters are on the walls in the kids' rooms!
If I hadn't recently become a fan of the House of Mouse series, I wouldn't really have understood this DVD. This is basically a single long episode of House of Mouse, with tons of Disney characters hanging out at Mickey's club to watch cartoons, when suddenly the villains decide to take over. The Halloween theme is pretty obvious, and even the cartoons that Mickey shows are "spook" oriented. It was fun to see some of the ghosts from the Haunted Mansion, but most of the other stuff falls flat. There are a few extra features, but nothing too exciting. It was still fun to rent, though, so I'm not complaining!
I didn't see this in the theater, but I figured I should rent it since it was nominated for Best Picture. I've enjoyed Robert Altman movies in the past - I loved Short Cuts (but then again, I love Raymond Carver). Gosford Park starts quite slowly - at first I thought it was just going to be a simple comparison of servants and their masters, and then suddenly the murder occurs and I was on the edge of my seat! With that one event in the middle of the plot, the film changes entirely, and makes all of the setup worthwhile. I enjoyed all of the characters - there are so many of them that it takes a while to get used to them all, but eventually things fall into place. I wouldn't call it Best Picture, but it's a great film.
Another ho-hum direct to DVD Disney release, Tarzan & Jane isn't even new animation. Instead, this is a compilation of three episodes of the Tarzan TV series (with a little bit of story to somehow clump them all together). Some of the stories have a little excitement, but generally they aren't too exciting - I had to drink plenty of coffee to make it through this one. The DVD has some fairly cool extra features, such as a game where you select items to build Tarzan's treehouse, but I was really hoping for something more out of the "movie", since I really love the theatrical release! Oh well, thank goodness this was a rental!
I had lots of fun buying goodies at Walt Disney World - it was great to buy things only available at the parks!
Here's a few things I bought over the last couple weeks:
Being a total surfing fan (and poser), I had to see this movie, not for the bikinis (which were a nice bonus), but for the fantastic surfing video. This movie has some fantastic shots - I love the amazing angles right inside the pipe, just like you were there! However, the cheesy CGI work to put the star's face on the actual surfer was a little funky - it kind of looked like a video game. The editing was a little too MTV for me, but I'm just used to watching more standard Bruce Brown-style surfing photography. The story was just OK, but the lead character was so cute in a Peppermint Patty sort of way. Not a bad way to spend a Friday evening!
I had read on several anime sites that Sailor Moon was much better in the original uncut Japanese versions, and I had already really enjoyed the full-length movies with subtitles, so I figured a few episodes of the series would be fun, too. The "S" series involves the bizarre "stealing of pue-heart talismans", and includes the way cool Sailor Soldiers, specifically Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, who are full-on lesbian lovers (the episode where all the Sailor Scouts think Sailor Uranus is a boy is a scream!). If you watch too much Sailor Moon, all those transformations get pretty boring, but it's generally a lot of fun.
Yet another Disney site, but this is one I check everyday! MousePlanet is primarily full of planning information for Walt Disney World, but it does have regular columns by Disneyland experts who visit the park constantly. The two best columns are by David Koenig, author of the Mouse Tales series of books (read my reviews in Last 5) and Al Lutz. I'm not sure what Al's background is, but I'll tell you one thing - he is a major whiner and super negative about every last detail you could imagine when it comes to Disneyland! Still, his writing is entertaining and he does report cool news and rumors. This site has tons of information and photos, and gets updated nearly every weekday!
I know, I know - there are tons of better sub shops out there. In fact, I would much rather go to Thundercloud Subs if I'm planning on a tuna sub, but for some reason, I like Subway better for the turkey. My usual is a 6-inch turkey on wheat, with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and black olives, plus spicy mustard and a little black pepper. I typically get the Baked Lays chips and drink water. Pretty standard lunch, but it's fast if I want to grab one on the way home for a midday swim!
Guess I've decided to add fast-food to my restaurant reviews - why not? I like to treat myself to an Einstein Bros. lunch every couple weeks or so. My favorite is the Tasty Turkey, which I get on a poppyseed bagel, with yummy cucumbers, tomatoes, and even sprouts. I've also had their chicken caesar salad, which is almost good for two meals. Their coffee is pretty good, too - it's nice and strong, but still has some great flavor. And I always look forward to their huge peanut butter cookies - oh yeah!
As many WEBmikey readers know, I've had this game for months! All DDR at home fans were excited by the release of this game, since it finally brought many excellent songs to the US audience, along with the great DDR 4th Mix graphics and interface (I've been playing these cool songs for a long time, but only because I have a Japanese PSone)! My favorite thing about Konamix is that it's become a kind of "greatest hits" of the songs I've loved playing on my import mixes. I'm not too fond of the scoring system - you have to get a full combo just to make an A! Still, I play Konamix all the time - now I can't wait until DDRMAX arrives in the US for PS2!
I got this cool PlayStation game used for less than ten bucks, and believe me, it's worth so much more! On the surface, this is a typical cart racing game, a lot like Mario Cart with chunkier graphics. The kicker is that all of the tracks take place inside real attractions at Walt Disney World! There are courses inside of Test Track, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, and lots more. The best track is the Haunted Mansion, which actually follows the basic layout of the real attraction and includes the authentic Grim Grinning Ghosts soundtrack! The "quest" portion of the game is pretty hard, so I've got a long way to go to finish it all.
Finally Gwenyth makes the kind of movie her admirers (like me) want to see her in - her recent roles have been great, but I prefer to see her looking beautiful in every frame. The movie is structured with lots of cuts from the present to the past (some cleverly using the same sets), as these literary sleuths snoop around to uncover a mystery romance between two turn of the century poets. Of course, at the same time the two modern day characters fall in love, but it's made more interesting by their uncommon personalities and past baggage that must be overcome. There's some nice messages about what experiences are worth, made more believable by Gwenyth's glow.
After many months of watching on and off, the Trigun series finally comes to an end with this volume. I have to say that these episodes really don't wrap up all of the unanswered questions, but at least they do solidify the main characters - Vash comes to grips with his borrowed philosophy, the priest sees past his own issues, and even Milly gets some depth. The grand finale isn't as dramatic as I thought it would be, but the events with Legato leading up to it are spectacular! Overall, this has been a great series - way off the beaten path of futuristic mechs and gorgeous gals.
I've eaten at Bahama Breeze several times, but since I just ate there again, I guess I should finally review it. This restaurant appeals to me because it's truly themed, almost to Disney-style specs - everything is tropical, from the huge moving fans, the music, and even the wait staff are called "tour guides". The outdoor bar is fun, and I'm totally in love with the giant onion rings stacked a mile high (they make a nice mohito, too!). The dinner food is pretty nice - not spectacular, but great for a change of pace. I've enjoyed several dishes, and I'm sure I'll be back for several more.