Back in February, shortly after the Chicago Blizzard we experienced, I was greeted with 2 parking tickets on my 1996 Volkswagen Jetta, which I park on the street. The violation? "No city sticker or improper display." And they nailed me for it two days in a row. Ah, but I did have a sticker.
It just fell off.
Not 1, but 2 tickets on my car
Theme Park Thursdays feature photos from one of our theme park adventures in the past.
Vintage WDW Logo on SpectroMagic (2009)
Did you know that Walt Disney World celebrates its 40th Anniversary this year? Probably not, given that Disney doesn't seem to care about individual park milestones these days, instead favoring global "Disney Parks" marketing campaigns usually promoting some derivative of "Wishes/Dreams/Magic blah blah."
Today's photo is one of the opening units for the SpectroMagic Parade, a long running nighttime experience at the Magic Kingdom. It debuted in 1991 as a replacement for the Main Street Electrical Parade, and aside from a few hiatuses, has lit up for almost 2 decades now. It was mothballed last year when Walt Disney World's Summer Nightastic campaign brought back the Main Street Electrical Parade once again… which continues to run.
It's nice to have hot water.
Hot Water Heater: Before & After
Back in February, Amy & I bought a new water heater for our condo. The previous one was original to the building… 17 years old! Over the past year or so we've noticed, shall we say, disappointing performance out of the old thing, so it was time for a switch!
A few weeks ago my college roommate of 3 years, Tim Walston, gave me a call from O'Hare as he was passing through town.
Steve & Tim
He was flying back to St. Louis from a presentation he gave in Baltimore on behalf of Truman State University (Kirksville, MO), where he is an Assistant Professor of Biology.
Given how close Amy & I live to the airport, I was able to pick him up during his multi-hour stopover. We hopped over to the Potbelly's in Rosemont and enjoyed lunch together. It was great to see him again and catch up a bit.
Incidentally, the title of this post comes from the nickname we gave our dorm room in college, "The Warehouse." Basically, we had a lot of everything, both useful and weird, including a giant stick of Wrigley gum!
It's Thursday, which means it's time to once again celebrate Theme Park Thursdays. Here we post a photo from one of our theme park adventures in the past.
Steve wants Old Management to return! (2006)
This photo is from January 2006 and was shot at Walt Disney World, specifically the Magic Kingdom. Here I'm standing out in front of one of my favorite attractions, the Tiki Room. Unfortunately, since 1998 this attraction has been known as The Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management… and has been horrible.
While the original attraction opened at Walt Disney World in 1971, it was rebooted in the late 1990s to make it "hip and edgy," mainly through the inclusion of Iago (from Aladdin) and Zazu (from The Lion King). The storyline was changed to these two birds being the "new owners," with a postmodern take on music and dialog to follow.
And it's bad.
In an interesting twist of fate, while I was at Walt Disney World for a conference in January, a fire broke out in the Tiki Room ceiling. It hasn't reopened since. There are rumors that maybe the show is being changed out to something else. Here's hoping!
The other day I was rereading Disneyland Paris: From Sketch to Reality, a book by Alain Littaye & Didier Dhez. This 320-page hardcover pictorial documents the history of Disney's park in France, first known as Euro Disneyland. Originally written in French and featuring many photos, detailed stories, and concept art, I was able to get one of 3,000 limited copies of the English edition a few years ago.
1999's "El" Train: Chicago
The above image from the book caught my eye because it mentioned Chicago, but is illustrated as to reflect a 1900's Victorian view of the future. Posters like the above for many U.S. cities sit in Disneyland Paris' Discovery Arcade, one of two "back hallways" that run parallel to Main Street U.S.A. — a feature unique to the Paris park.
All I know is that Chicago sure didn't look like that in 1999! It is interesting, however, to note that the art was probably done by a non-Chicagoan, as we use the 'L' as shorthand for our train cars, not 'El'. In any case, I'd totally want to ride a train through a steampunk-inspired world that reflected the writings of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. But I'm sure there would also be some sort of Windy City corruption that would ruin it all. And then the mayor would probably want to privatize the rail cars or something. Don't get me started on the air traffic problems we'd probably see at O'Hare with that flying hot air balloon/plane thingy.
Maybe it's good that we didn't get this type of future after all!
It's time for another Theme Park Thursday photo. This one is from Disney's California Adventure…
Amy loves Disney's California Adventure (2005)
In January 2005, Amy & I got to travel to California for a conference I worked while on staff with Kidology. For me, it was my first visit to the West Coast. More importantly, it was my first visit to Disneyland, the mother park! In typical Tanner fashion, it pretty much rained the entire time we were there. We got to spend 2 days at the Disneyland Resort, which gave us a chance not only to check out Disneyland, but also explore the park that everyone loves to hate, Disney's California Adventure.
Last Friday, Amy & I, along with my parents, attended the home opener of the Chicago Rush. Yes, Arena Football season is back.
Did you see us on TV?
We attended only a few games last season, which marked the return of the AFL after the 2009 season was cancelled. Needless to say, 2010 was a mess, in my mind, regarding the Chicago Rush, who are under different ownership with this rebooted AFL.
It's pretty well established that Amy & I are fans of the boardgame Clue, as well as the 1985 movie adaptation. The film has become a cult classic, but it has unfortunately not been given an appropriate DVD special edition or other supporting releases to capitalize on this niche.
Clue Movie Soundtrack on CD
One of the unique elements of the film is the instrumental soundtrack composted by John Morris. It's performed in a style that completely fits the mystery theme. Unfortunately this music has never been released for purchase…
… until now.
Even though I've written many stories about our trips to Disney theme parks, there are often photos and situations that never get told. So I had this idea to start what I'm calling "Theme Park Thursdays." Basically, I'll post a photo or two from a previous trip and jot down a couple of words about it. Well, at least that's the idea. We'll see how it works in the coming weeks!
Dusk approaches on Crescent Lake (2009)
In December 2009, my family was given the fortunate opportunity to rent a Disney Vacation Club villa from a friend, giving us a week at the Beach Club near Epcot around Christmastime. Given that we typically camped at Walt Disney World (Fort Wilderness Forever!), this was quite a different experience.
One of the highlights for me was the entire well-themed Boardwark area set around Crescent Lake, which joins the Yacht Club, Beach Club, Boardwalk, Swan, and Dolphin resorts together. The lights and setting were quite magical!
