Another Visit From The Disney Collectible Curmudgeon

NO!!!!

With now less than 2 weeks from actually being in Disneyland, my attention turns toward my least favorite aspect of any trip to Disneyland - shopping. I know that makes me the exception from most people that pass through the turnstiles. I can't feel too bad though. Mrs. DisneylandTraveler more than makes up from my absence from the stores. She can't pass by one without stopping which usually leaves me on a nearby bench - which I am actually fine with, that is until that innevitable text message or phone call comes that says "come in here, I need you to look at something". That little trip from the bench to the store usually costs me $$$.

 

Now if I'm being honest, there are a couple of stores I like. There is Off The Page in DCA. And I like Disneyana on Main St. but its due to close right around the time I show up and eventually merge in with the Disney Gallery. These stores sell some nice things. And I like The Gag Factory because of its whimsy and seemingly doesn't take itself too seriously. The rest of the stores, you can have them, even though I know Mrs. DLT will call me into each and every one of them before our week's stay is through.

 

But still, Disney tries to guilt me into collecting something. I've tried but I just can't seem to generate any enthusiasm for Disney collecting. I have several Disney baseball hats but I don't wear any Disney clothing outside my visits to the park. The hats are more functinal than decorative. All other Disney clothing items end up in the closet or drawers. I've got a couple of pins, but when I go into a pin shop, I get dizzy from the shear volume of pins available. Vinylmation? I would rather spend 24 hrs going round and round on it's a small world before I let one of those hidious little abominations in my house. We have Disney coffee cups and maybe a shot glass or two but nothing in the realm of being a collection. Did I mention I am also....eh......extremely "practical" when it comes to Disney shopping. Mrs. DLT calls it......eh........being cheap.

 

As I've mentioned before we have maybe eight Disneyland poster prints nicely framed and distributed around the house. I like most of them (though I've kind of soured on the Kinkade prints since the guy kind of turned out to be something of a liar and a fraud). Mrs. DLT has a few very nice Mickey and Minnie Lenox pieces in her curio cabinet. Maybe that's the secret. When shopping at Disneyland, resist the urge to collect for collectibles sake. If you see something that's nice and you can see it occupying a nice place in your home, go for it. Let's face it, 90% if what's sold at the stores in the parks is junk. But Disney also sells some very nice things. My goal is to forget about the collecting and if I see something I really would like, then send Mrs. DLT over pick it up. She'll buy anthing.

New Years Resolutions - Disney Style

Ah yes, the annual tradition of making New Years resolutions. Here would be my Disney resolutions in 2013 (and as I sit here right now, really plan to keep, unlike most of my non-Disney resolutions).

• Two trips to Disneyland in 2013. Mrs. DisneylandTraveler blurts it out to me at least 5 times a week "I want to go to Disneyland" - I guess that means we are going. My guess is one trip between late spring and early fall and the second trip coming during next year's holiday season. See you there.

• While I'm at Disneyland in 2013, I hope to cross at least 3 things off My Disney Bucket List (hint: those having to do with food are most likely to be crossed off).

• Start a new Disneyland collectible collection. I don't know what, but I'm going to start collecting something (hint: it won't by pins or vinylmation).

• See the Disney / Pixar / Marvel theatrical releases of The Lone Ranger, Monsters University, Iron Man 3, Saving Mr. Banks, and hopefully a new Muppets movie.

• Avoid seeing Oz: The Great and Powerful (simply because it looks creepy and I'm probably the only person alive who doesn't like The Wizard of Oz).

It's a simple list - perfectly do-able (providing the required funding is available). We shall see, we shall see...

Happy New Year from The Disneyland Traveler.

Coffee At The House on Pooh Corner

Take 1: I'm not a huge Kenny Loggins fan but I saw him in concert several years ago. He played one of the sweetest pop songs I have ever heard - House on Pooh Corner. Yes, it is an homage to the Winnie the Pooh stories. The song is in no way associated with Disney. If you are not familiar with the song, I would encourage any Pooh fan to go out and find it somewhere. I would embed it here but apparently Google makes embedding mp3 files difficult in their blogging tool.

Take 2: We had the inside of our house painted last year including the interior of kitchen cabinets. Everything had to be boxed and taken out to the garage including a collection of Disney coffee mugs that we had picked up on a few of our trips. A lot of the stuff that was crammed into the cabinets never made it back into the house. It's still in boxes out in the garage. Of the Disney coffee mugs, the only drinking vessels that made it back into the house are 3 mugs featuring Pooh characters (mostly Eeyore). I know there are other Disney mugs out in the garage but its been so long now that I have forgotten what they are.

Take 3: I write most of these blog posts on weekend mornings over a cup of coffee that I am drinking from a Pooh mug. It came to me. "Wait a minute, Pooh is sweet, but I'm not really a Pooh kind of guy. Where's my Pirates mug, my Haunted Mansion mug, my Star Tours mug......". As mentioned many times before, I'm not really a Disney shopper but on my next trip I need to make it a point to get a few "guy" type Disney mugs. I should probably save the Pooh mugs for when I'm listening to Kenny Loggins.

Dumbest Looking Disney Hat - EVER

Disney has made their share of stupid looking hats over the years. Sometimes it's been intentional. And of course, these "unique" hats come with an exorbitant price tag. But this one takes the cake. We may have a new leader in the clubhouse for probably the dumbest looking hat I've ever seen. Anyone care to wear a whitewall tire as a hat? When he was much younger, if the Boy would have asked me to buy him at tire hat, I would have had to tell Mrs. DisneylandTraveler to take him to the doctor to see if there was something wrong with him. Maybe he hit his head on something. It could be just me. If a hat like this is your fashion statement, good luck to you.

Then again, I had a Davy Crockett "coonskin" hat when I was a kid. Wearing a dead rat on your head would look pretty silly in 2012.

The only reason, THE ONLY REASON, I would think about getting a hat like this is that many are questioning how long Luigi's Flying Tires will be around as a ride. It may have some collector's value at some point in the future. These things could have a future on EBay.

New Storytellser's Artwork At DCA

Last week Disney Parks Blog posted some advance photos of artwork that will be available at the Elias & Company retail store when it opens on Buena Vista Street in what is now a few short weeks. Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I collect Disney prints that are available in a few of the retail stores around the park and at the World of Color store in Downtown Disney. We don't have a lot of them, maybe 10 or so out of the many that are available, but they are prominently displayed around the house. The picture shown in the header of this blog shows a graphic image of the Storyteller's statue one of the iconic features of the new DCA. It would something that I certainly would be proud to hang on a wall here at home.

To accompany the print, there is also a small what appears to be bronze statue of the Storytellers Partners. Again, we have a nice collection of Disney pieces in our curio cabinet and the little statue show below would look quite nice in there I am sure. Need to add some money to the budget to bring these attractive pieces home.

Thomas Kincade Passes Away

Thomas Kincade's Painting of Disneyland's 50th Anniversary

The artist Thomas Kincade passed away suddenly yesterday at the very young age of 54. Kincade was born and lived for years a few miles up the road from where I now live. He's kind of a legend in these parts. Kincade might will have been the world's most popular artist. He was certainly among the wealthiest. The paintings and lithographs of Thomas Kincade did not hang in museums or galleries (unless he owned them), Kincades's works hung in the homes of people, everyday people who loved his "paintings of light". He billed himself as "the painter of light" because of the presence of some form of illumination in all of his work. But there have been "painters of light" for 500 years with reputations in artistic community that go far, far, beyond anything that Kincade ever did.

And Kincade found a way to mass market his works so people of all incomes could afford them. The original paintings were certainly expensive but there were lithographs, and posters, and right on down to post cards. If you really wanted a Kincade on your wall, you could have one.

Kincade struck a deal with Disney to produce artworks based on classic Disney films and theme park settings. These were enormously popular and profitable for both Kincade and Disney. These "artworks" are among high echelon of Disney collectibles. Even though I didn't have too much of a regard for Kincade and his assembly line art, I did like his Disney pieces. In a sense, Kincade's mass produced artworks are like the mass commercialism of corporate Disney but if you look at Kincade's Disney paintings they do evoke the Disney of Walt's dreams and imagination. Thomas Kincade did succeed at that.

Closing One Quarter of Main Street

Who doesn't like to stroll down Main St. Disneyland starting the vibe that's turns you loose for what hopefully will be a very exciting day? But beginning just after the new year and continuing on until probably sometime in May, one quarter of Main St. is closed for refurbishment. I don't have a trip to Disneyland during this time frame but the question is out there - if I were to make a trip down there during the closure and refurbishment, would I miss anything? Let's take a walk over there and see beginning with -

The Carnation Cafe.  As mentioned numerous times in this blog, Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I love the Carnation Cafe. What's not to love? A very good breakfast or lunch, reasonably priced by Disneyland standards, lovely setting, Chef Oscar, and a loaded baked potato soup to die for. Mrs. DLT and I will make to the CC at least once during a trip. Seeing it closed would be very much missed.

Blue Ribbon Bakery. The BRB is gone for good in name only giving up its space for a new indoor seating section added to the Carnation Cafe. The bakery itself has moved up around around the corner to the new Jolly Holiday (Mary Poppins themed) Bakery in the old Plaza Pavilion structure. So nothing really changes here except the new bakery offers more space, more registers, better theming, a dining patio, and an expanded selection of food items (including sandwiches, soups, a quiche, and salads - more dining options, always a good thing). Stopping by the bakery for a nice pastry and coffee is the cheapest breakfast in the park. Expanding it - a wise decision on Disney's part. PS... if you're looking for Chef Oscar while the Carnation Cafe is on hiatus, you can find him over at the Jolly Holiday Bakery still charming customers like no other.

Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor. I love ice cream. Who doesn't? But over the course of my life I have become somewhat lactose intolerant. I can enjoy and savor maybe about 6 bites of ice cream but any more may cause suffering of the "let me just lie down for awhile" kind. So the closing of the GGICP is no big deal for me (as much as I would love to have one of their cones). Not to mention, I've probably saved hours over the years not having to stand in that ridiculously long and slow moving line. Supposedly that is one of the changes the will come with the refurbished Gibson Girl, a reconfigured line that will move along a bit quicker.

Penny Arcade.  Always looking for a "deal" in collecting some kind Disneyland souvenir to bring home, I once spent a great deal of time on one of my trips looking at several of the various penny pressing machines in the Penny Arcade and other locations around the park. I probably pressed 10 to 12 pennies on that trip. If you were to ask me what happened to those Disney penny pressings I would have to say I have no clue. They're around the house here somewhere. Needless to say, I think my penny pressing days are over so a closed Penny Arcade doesn't bother me at all. In the end collecting a souvenir that is difficult to see and hard to display isn't much of a souvenir at all. 

Candy Palace. Again, a leisurely visit around the confines of the Candy Palace is something Mrs. DLT and I do on most of our trips at least once. We usually stop by to get some fudge or some kind of other delectable chocolate morsels or sweet treat. Though probably mostly for show, the one thing a visit to the Candy Palace did provide was a classic Disneyland scene of real live candy makers working their delicious craft (though I am pretty sure most of the candy treats are made offsite in a centralized location). Since candy and sweet treats can be found around the parks and Downtown Disney pretty easily, the closing of the Candy Palace is no big deal.

(Coca-Cola) Refreshment Corner. Another traditional stop I make on my trips to Disneyland is to the Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner to get a cherry coke. This isn't the jack-nasty beverage that Coke puts in cans and bottles but a real coke with a shot of cherry flavored syrup - old school. One year I stopped by the CCRC probably 3 times over a 5 day trip to get a cherry coke. Every time I stopped by the cast member said they out of cherry syrup. Huh???? I felt like making a complaint to city hall. Also available at the CCRC (though not exclusively) is another go-to favorite of mine - the jalapeno cream cheese filled Mickey pretzel - so filling you could almost make a a meal out of one and less than 4 bucks. The Refreshment Corner is also home to Disneyland's ragtime piano players. While under refurbishment, the piano has moved aboard the Mark Twain. 

So other than the Carnation Cafe being closed, having a quarter of Main St. closed is not such a big deal. Having all those facades behind construction walls does cause bit of an eyesore though.

The Disney Pin Trading Dilemma

Disney pin trading. The buying and trading of the thousands of Disney pins really is a phenomena - a hobby enjoyed by thousands really all over the world. Now admittedly, I'm not much of a collector of Disney stuff. This was explored a little in a previous post back in July titled - The Disney Collectible Curmudgeon but Disney pins do hold some interest for me. First of all, let's take the trading aspect of pins off the table. I have no interest whatsoever in getting Disney pins and going out and trading with someone else. Seems counter-productive on some level. You buy a pin because you like it then turn around and trade it. I don't understand. Granted, pin trading is world I don't tread in so there is a lot I don't understand. My interest in pins would be based solely on the fact that some of them look pretty cool.

As mentioned in that previous post, my interest in pins would be pretty selective out of the thousands that are available. I have no interest in Disney classic characters - maybe Mickey just a bit, but a Donald or Goofy pin, no thanks. I don't think I would be into pins from Disney or Pixar films. I do have have pins of Wall-E and Eve because that is my favorite Pixar movie, but I think that's it. I have a few Pirates of the Caribbean pins but I'm not sure if they are based on the ride or the movie. Doesn't really matter, pirate pins are some of the coolest looking. 

I think if I were to pick up an interest in pins, it would be based on some of my favorite rides and attractions in Disneyland. Besides POTC, there would be Jungle Cruise pins, Haunted Mansion pins, Matterhorn pins. I could also see collecting pins based on some of my favorite lands - Adventureland pins, New Orleans Square pins. That may be a good way to go.

If I did collect pins, what would I with them? The few I have that are still in their original packaging I have tacked on to a bulletin board that I rarely look at. I have a few pins in my cubicle back at the office that I use to tack up bulletins and emails that someone tells me might be important. If I collected a few pins, I really would need to work on some kind of display. PS - I would never wear a pin on a lanyard or anything like that. It's just not me.

Then there is a ultimate pin dilemma. Disney pins are made in China for literally pennies. They are sold in the parks for I guess somewhere between $7 - $12. If you buy pin sets, start whipping out the twenty dollar bills. This can be one expensive collectible that generously pads Disney's pockets. It boils down to if I am going to pay that kind of money for a little decorative piece of metal, it better well look really, really nice.

The Disney Collectible Curmudgeon

If you have read much of this blog, you know I am not much of shopper let alone a Disney shopper. I'm certainly no collector as a lot of Disney fans are. Now Mrs. DisneylandTravel has about 4 Lenox ceramic pieces of Mickey and Minnie together. We have a couple of Disney snow globes. All these are in the curio cabinet. Nice pieces yes, but hardly a collection.

Disney loves collectors. Collectors are a revenue stream. And I'm certainly not here to bash Disney collectors of anything because they do what they want with their money that makes them happy. All Disney collecting starts with those pins. There are thousands of them, some common, some rare, all driven by a market that is kind of controlled by Disney. I think I have collected about 7 pins over the years. That's it. I keep thinking maybe I might want to collect pins from my favorite ride or favorite land (no characters) but every time I walk into a pin shop, I usually walk out scratching my head. My collection of 7 is just fine.

A couple of years ago, Disney started Vinylmation, assorted grotesque Mickeys costumed up or can be decorated by hand apparently. The thing about Vinylmation from what I understand is that you don't know the Mickey you are getting in the little box. It's a mystery. In a previous post I called Vinylmation an abomination. I'll stick by that statement. Pins I get. Vinylmation I don't.

I guess you could say I collect Disney baseball caps. I think I have about 5 or 6 of those. I have to buy these fairly regularly because I tend to lose them on rides. If anyone found a Pirates: Let the Beatings Begin hat in or near Grizzly River Run, it's probably mine. You're welcome. Mrs. DisneylandTraveler keeps dragging me into stores and wanting buy to buy this T-Shirt or that T-Shirt. The problem is I seldom wear Disney clothes outside my visits to the park. I have a Grumpy sweatshirt that's really pretty nice but I won't wear it outside my trips to DL unless it is cold - it is a sweatshirt and a warm one.

Maybe the closest thing we have to a Disney collectible are prints for the walls of our home. You know the ones that are primarily sold in the bigger gift stores and at the Disney Gallery. They run about $35 bucks each. Below is a picture of an original artwork by Disney Imagineer Larry Nicolai that was shown at the Disney Gallery and I think it had a price tag of about $6000. We have the print - $35 and it's even signed by Larry.

Maybe I'll get into this Disney collecting thing some day but not now. I pretty much collect memories.

Just A Cuddly Bear Searching for Love

Duffy the Bear -  Duffy is the Tokyo Disney mega hit character that Disney here in the states has been trying to ram down our throats for a year of so now. Maybe its time to give it up. Notice something missing in the picture above? Cute bear - no people, no line of eager fans for the photo op with good ol' Duffy.  Across the way, the Mickey photo booth has kids of all ages lined up 20 deep.

Mrs. DisneyTraveler and I walked into adjacent merchandise store and there they were, a wall full of naked Duffy's and countless outfits available for additional cost to dress him in. My wife was tempted because he is kind of cute and then the math started.  We wouldn't be able to walk out of there for less than a $50 Duffy. Nope - can't do it. And there's the rub.  There is the cock and bull story that Disney gives that Duffy is Mickey & Minnie's personal stuffed teddy bear and you can have one for your very own. But when it comes down to it, the purpose of Duffy is to sell Duffy's and little else. He is kind of cute. Maybe there will be a 75% off clearance sale some day.