While everyone has focused on the controversial change to the iconic auction scene on Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean, people have missed a subtler and more astounding addition to the classic attraction. In the cave as guests transfer between the world of the dead into the world of the living pirates, a skeleton holds treasure while hanging from a rope above a living octopus. Barbossa’s assault on the Spanish fort can be heard in the background as the guest’s ship glides by the skeleton.
But wait, it’s no longer a skeleton. The figure has transformed into a full-blooded pirate with flesh and hair! The effect may be simple to create, the result is still astounding. It was so surprising that I had to ride twice to make sure I saw what I did and other members of my party didn’t see it the first time either. So, while Scarlett, who is available as a funny, powerful face character in New Orleans Square, gets all the glamour, this other more low-key addition to Pirates of the Caribbean proves that Disney can still make magic!
The Pirates of the Caribbean auction scene, as presented in
2018, shows Scarlett going head-to-head with the Auctioneer in a sales pitch of
sorts. The Auctioneer is trying to sell off Tiny’s egg-laying hens while
Scarlett is trying to sell her rum. The pirates who are bidding want nothing to
do with the egg-layers, but the Auctioneer refuses to give way and allow
Scarlett to auction off the rum. This scene replaces the infamous “Take a Wench
for a Bride” scene where the Auctioneer was attempting to auction off the
overweight Tiny while Scarlett showed off her gams and the men in the audience
shouted, “We wants the red-head,” as well as other more derogatory comments
directed at Tiny.
This isn’t the first change that Pirates of the Caribbean
has gone through. In 1997, the pirates stopped chasing women and started
chasing food. Captain Jack Sparrow and his friends were added to the attraction
in 2006 and beyond.
Those who deride the change in the auction scene as pandering to the political correctness miss the point of Disneyland entirely. Walt Disney, a man who had his fingers on the pulse of American culture for three decades, said that as long as there was imagination left in the world, Disneyland would never be completed. The same holds true for its attractions.
Walt Disney’s first goal was to entertain and make people
happy. Pirates of the Caribbean was never about historical accuracy, or even,
edutainment. Instead, it was about helping people be happier and allowing them
to explore an extremely sanitized version of an historic population – pirates.
Those who wish to teach their children about the realities
of pirating and a pirate’s life can use the Pirates of the Caribbean as a
starting point. They can address the inaccuracy of pirates as depicted in
movies and other forms of entertainment and how media affects the way people
view those that came before. Pirates and their lives weren’t clean, friendly or
fighting for justice. As the song says, they pillaged and plundered and rifled
and looted; they kidnapped and ravaged and never gave a hoot about it. So, for those who choose to go that route
with their children, “properly warned ye be, says I, arrrr.”
Before shouting for the red-head, check out the new version and see if it fits the story line better. There is no slippery slope here. It’s just a chance to keep the ride fresh and accommodate the changes in American society and culture. Keep your ruddy hands inboard and embrace the magic of the new version. (And if you’re still concerned about the sanitized version of the pirates ride, do some research to see what Walt said about scalps in front of the Indian Village in Frontierland.)
The original “Mary Poppins” is a ground-breaking cinematic achievement that is as magical today as it was in 1964. There’s no way a sequel could match it, and if this is the reason some people don’t like “Mary Poppins Returns,” they’re missing out on a story that this world, at this time, desperately needs and will probably fail to hear. “Mary Poppins Returns” isn’t about saving the children or saving the father; it’s about saving ourselves.
“Mary Poppins Returns” is similar to the 1964 “Mary Poppins” that it’s a sequel to. There are songs, hand-drawn animation combined with live action, a bunch of working-class men doing dancing in the most preposterous of ways, a female character fighting for a cause, a weird relation who’s facing an impossible affliction and a father whose situation has caused him to forget all of the things he learned as a child when Mary Poppins was his nanny.
From a time before the film was released, it was clear:
Emily Blunt is no Julie Andrews.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is no Dick Van Dyke.
Meryl Streep is no Ed Wynn, but you might not
recognize her either.
Marc Shaiman is no Sherman Brothers.
I should probably repeat that last statement. There isn’t a
tune that I was humming at the end of the movie. “Mary Poppins” gave us “A Spoonful
of Sugar,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious,” “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” “Feed
the Birds,” “Step in Time,” and “Chim-Chim-Cheree,” which won the academy
award. “Mary Poppins Returns” gives us…
Whatever you’re doing this Christmas, go see “Mary Poppins Returns.”
It’s grown up a little while keeping most of its innocence intact. (The “Book
by It’s Cover” Sequence is a bawdy vaudeville style song.)
The owners of the Enchanted Tiki Room have teamed up with
Trader Sam to create a Tropical Hideaway along the rivers of the Jungle Cruise.
In the space formerly occupied by Aladdin’s Oasis and the Tahitian Terrace, the
Tropical Hideaway serves up adventure in the form of Dole Whips and Baos.
The signature Dole Whip is the Twisted Ambush, a mix of
orange and pineapple whip speared with chocolate sticks and surrounded by a
fruit mix. Order this and expect the hoopla that comes with and AMBUSH and an
alarm gong!
Farther down the line are the Bao. If you’re not familiar with them, you might seek out the short animation “Bao” that showed before “Incredibles 2.” These slightly sweet pastries surround a variety of fillings, including chicken and chick peas. The Bulgogi Beef filling was our favorite. Since we ordered three, we got a discount on our purchase and a free spicy sauce. At about $6 each, Bao are a tasty snack at a decent price for Disneyland.
The crowd waiting to try the Tropical Hideaway with a photo of Bao.
If the Dole Whip doesn’t satisfy your sweet tooth, the sweet
lumpia might. Filled with cream cheese and pineapple, the fried treats continue
a long time Disney tradition of cinnamon and sugar covered dough treats, which
include beignets and churros. Lumpia are served with a pineapple sauce with a
hint of spice.
We were there on either the day it opened or the day after.
If the Tropical Hideaway becomes popular, seating will be difficult to find.
For anyone, or any bird, wondering what happened to Rosita, the Tropical
Hideaway provides an answer and some tasty treats both sweet and savory!
As Charles Dickens wrote in ‘A Christmas Carol’: “It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself.” Creativity requires people to be child-like. Children are insatiably curious. They combine things that no one else would think of; they explore the intersections where concrete meets grass and water meets land.
Enjoy these photos from Disneyland’s ‘A Christmas Fantasy Parade’ and find your inner child. Read more about being childlike and creativity.
Kaws, Sesame Street and Uniqlo have teamed up to kill your favorite Sesame Street characters. Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, the Cookie Monster and Elmo are dead as evidenced by the exes in their eyes and the inert way they interact with the Kaws character himself.
Exed out eyes are a long-time symbol of death used in comic strips and by serial killers. The eyes are the mirrors of the soul and the accusers. The stare at the killer until his guilt causes him to kill the staring entity and remove sight from this world, either through a plucking out of the orbs or through a closing of the eyelids.
What is Kaws trying to assert with his exed-out-eyes Sesame Street characters? Do they sardonically grin while representing the death of childhood and innocence, or is something more sinister afoot? Perhaps, Kaws is looking to represent the death of American education through the death of the most recognized symbol of learning in the Western World.
The sales team at Uniqlo will tell you that it’s just theartist’s signature style; the characters aren’t dead. No one should be naïve enoughto believe Kaws doesn’t know the significance of the exes. For that matter,Uniqlo and Sesame Street shouldn’t have missed the meaning.
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If you haven’t seen “Wreck-It Ralph 2,” look away now. This review probably contains spoilers. If you’ve seen “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” continue below the trailer.
When Wi-Fi gets plugged in at the arcade and Ralph’s good intentions mess something up, it’s up to Ralph and Vanellope to visit the World Wide Web and find the part that fixes the problem. The fish out of water find a variety of new experiences that they can’t explain. Some of it is as disconnected and strange as the Internet in real life. You might find yourself wondering what you’re actually watching.
However, it isn’t until the Disney Princesses show up that “Wreck-It Ralph 2” finds its groove. The princesses are fun and redeeming, and Disney continues doing what it’s been doing to its princesses since “Frozen” and before.
Fortunately, “Ralph Breaks the Internet” contains more themes than a typical Internet usage day. Identity, friendship, and dreams all take center stage and provide fodder for the movie goer to think about. Of course, if thinking isn’t your thing, there are plenty of “duty”-type jokes to keep you happy. Though no one says you can’t enjoy both. As always, staying until the end delivers a… reward?
With Oahu Photography Tour’s Circle Sunrise Island Tour, the first stop is the sunrise! There are few sites as beautiful as watching the sun come up on the horizon. Learning how to properly photograph it is a bonus. For us, we learned about exposure times while Koko Crater stood behind us. (Pro Tip: Underexposure is better than overexposure because it can be fixed.)
Sunrise shot
Rabbit Island was named because a business man released rabbits to feed his employees, and they bred faster than the employees could eat them. The rabbits are no longer there because of the damage they did to the environment, but the name stuck. Nearby Shark Island was named for the number of sharks found on the island… Okay, not really. It was named for its shark fin shape that comes out of the water. Makapu’u lighthouse sits in the background.
Rabbit And Shark Island
Waimanalo Bay is where we met “Sergio” and his amazing limo. This is also the place for the “portrait tree.” A stop for the great breakfast burrito at Kalapawai Market was accompanied by a local celebrity sighting! The Byodo-In Temple allowed us to feed birds from our hands!
We went through Sunset Beach, where the waves were too dangerous for the professional surf competition being held that week. We also went to the best shrimp place on the island – Fumi’s. We jumped over Chinaman’s Hat, saw where “Gilligan’s Island” was filmed, and finished with the kitsch that is the Dole Plantation. (So many pineapples, so little time.)
Every group will do something a little different depending on weather and the inclinations of the individuals in the group. A smaller tour group has its advantages, especially when they are all friends. If you want to know what places you’ll visit with Oahu Photography Tours, you’ll have to sign up and go!
The first thing you need to know about Oahu hotels is that many of them have similar names. “The Waikiki Beach” hotel isn’t descriptive enough. You need to know the whole name. We were almost dropped off at the wrong hotel until I was able to qualify by using the entire name.
The Waikiki Grand Hotel by Castle is located across from the Honolulu Zoo and less than a block from the Kuhio and Queen’s Beaches. If it’s the beach you’ve come to see, there are few better locations and possibly none that offer such a great price. Just put on your flip flops, walk to the light, cross the street, and you’re there.
While the balcony we had faced the city, we used it and enjoyed it a lot. Mornings for breakfast with fresh fruit in the fridge and coffee in the 4-cup maker, the balcony made for a nice place to sit and eat while breathing in the warmth and fresh air. Evenings after the sun went down, it was a nice place for dinner or a snack, and with the buildings lit up, it was pretty to look at.
The view from our hotel room at the Waikiki Grand by Castle
For the budget conscious, the combination of cooking amenities, utensils and dishware made it a lot easier to be okay with our food choices. The ABC Store located at the corner of our building offered several tasty items that only needed to be opened and eaten or microwaved.
The staff at the hotel is friendly and fun. They seem to enjoy their jobs and do their best to make sure guests have a good visit. The front desk staff is top notch.
There is a small lending library on site, so if you need a book for your beach trip, you can find one on their shelves for no cost! My wife and I found four books between us! We only read two, though.
For people who are light sleepers, be sure to bring earplugs. The birds in the morning can raise a ruckus and the slat windows do nothing to block out any vehicle noise.
The hotel charges a cleaning fee, so if you’re not booking directly, you may get a surprise at the amount. (It’s not $95 like Hotels.com said.) In fact, it was over $15 a night, and I got a lower price because of the number of nights we were staying. Apparently, this is a common practice in Hawaii. The cleaning staff comes in about once every three days, which is nice because you rarely have to worry about whether or not you can sleep in.
Every hotel has a concierge desk. Use it and avoid scams and bad deals that may be found on the street. At Waikiki Grand Hotel by Castle,Clayton was the most helpful for our budget and our time there. Overall, I was super-happy with the location and service at the hotel.
