Day 903: Starting Where We Left Off

If you remember back to about a year ago, I decided to watch all of the Disney animated films in order. Of course, that's a giant project to take on, especially when I'm traveling and already have several side projects to work on. However, last summer I got fairly far in the lineup, and over the school year I was able to fit in just a couple of films. However, I didn't finish, but instead of starting over, I'm pushing ahead and starting right where I left off: The Rescuers.

I've actually seen The Rescuers Down Under more than I have the original film, not that I really remember either of them at this point, but I forgot how classic this little film is, and after watching it once, I already feel like it's another of the most underrated Disney films out there. As a fan of The Great Mouse Detective, it felt a lot like that, but there was something about the adorable Bernard and Bianca saving little Penny that caught at my heartstrings.

Of course, The Rescuers was just about the perfect pick for the day because it happened to be storming outside, and watching Disney movies during Thunderstorms is something my family has done for years. I've always been terrified of the storms, and whenever there was a storm during the day, my brother and I would plop ourselves down in the living room and turn on a movie. Hercules and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are the two I particularly remember as being designated "Storm Movies," but we watched all sorts of classic Disney films, and many of my memories seeing these animated movies probably come from situations like that. So for it to be stormin in the movie and outside it was kind of a little trip back to my childhood in that way.

As for the film itself, like I said, I do feel that it's underrated, and I'm marking it down as one of the films I want to rewatch once I finish the entire line up because I feel like there's more there than I maybe could have caught the first time through.

Next up is The Fox and the Hound, which you can watch with me when I get to it (probably within the next week). Just keep an eye on my Instagram, as I'll post a picture on there before I start!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 25 due to travel).

Day 902: Tomorrowland Round Two

If you thought it was impressive that I saw Tomorrowland on opening day, think about how impressive it is that I saw it in theaters not once, but twice? I barely see most films the one time, much less a second. However, this time I saw it with my family rather than my friends, and I had a few thoughts on it this round through.

If you missed my first review of Tomorrowland, you can find it HERE! 

Like I said last time, I really feel like this film grows on me a little more every day. Luckily, this time I focused more on the details, leading to some interesting finds, especially in that Fan Shop she goes to. That's all I'll say about that though because #NoSpoilers. Just be sure to keep your eyes peeled for any one of probably hundreds of references in that one scene alone. 

But when it comes to the overall point of the film, the entire film made much more sense the second time through, and I think I did enjoy it more seeing it again than I did the first time. It made things a lot easier to follow, and the actions of perticular characters fit in more compared to the first time around. Going back to my first review, that means you can take out my dislike of the confusion, as once I knew what was going on, everything fit together perfectly and made the end even more meaningful than it was the first time. 

I do have to mention though that my friends and I have been making references to Tomorrowland for weeks after seeing the film. We don't necessarily talk about it directly, but we'll say something about the Eiffel Tower and all laugh while meanwhile my brother would look on in confusion.

Other things I loved about Tomorrowland seeing it a second time? The soundtrack stood out to me even more this time, as did the point at the end. I'm definitely still appreciative of the idea that we all can provide something to the future of our world regardless of the profession we choose to take on. The future needs all of us, whether we be a science, music or business major, and that's something that, especially as a college student, I feel we all need to remember. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 25 due to Travel).

Day 901: My Tower of Terror Story

At this point in my life I've been sharing parts of my life with the internet for over two and a half years, so the prospect of including a video of me screaming while on Tower of Terror doesn't really seem so frightening anymore.

For those who might not know, I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Tower of Terror, and up until recently, I'd never been on it at all. Of course, all of it is explained in my Disney Side Summer video for this week, My Tower of Terror Story. If you already know the story, watch anyway, because let's be honest, now you want to see that video of me screaming, don't you?

I actually had the idea for this video a really long time ago, but I'm glad I waited until this past trip so I could include the footage of me actually on the attraction. Like I said in the video, I was pretty terrified of dropping the camera though. Otherwise I was totally fine. Going up kind of messes with my head (meaning I definitely have to take motion sickness medicine to go on it), but I don't even really realize the going down part. 

What are your thoughts on Tower of Terror? Love it? Hate it? Let me know in the comments below! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 25 due to travel).

Day 900: Meet the Emotions

Well, amazingly, for the second time this year, I was able to catch a showing of a new Disney film on opening day, and this time I had the chance to see it in the theater at the Mall of America! It's funny because I'm fairly certain that in all of 2014 I saw about one movie in theaters, if that, and in the past few months I've seen four, one of which I saw twice. But we're here to talk about the emotions inside our head, specifically those featured in Disney & Pixar's new animated feature film, Inside Out.

A number of years ago, when they first introduced the concept for this film, my reaction was pretty much the same way it is for any new animated film coming out of Disney or Pixar: Skeptical. I remember the feeling with Tangled and Frzoen and Wreck-It Ralph and even as far back as Cars. After all, a movie about emotions? How in the world?

But like always, I put my trust in Pixar and they brought everything they had to this film, and honestly, without giving any spoilers, I think that this is one of the finest Pixar films to date. It has the creativity of Toy Story and Cars mixed with the pure emotion we get in films such as Up, all while mixing in the humor we've seen in films such as Monsters Inc. I absolutely adore this movie and everything about it, and here's why, for me at least, I think it meant more than ever.

Over the past two years, or at least since making my way to college, I've really been forced to examine how I look at life. I've had a lot of hate thrown my way, and for a long time the best way to respond to it, or so I thought, was with anger and sadness and fear. But then a little show called Once Upon A Time became more important than ever and brought me the positivity of Jennifer Morrison, who's on my list of role models for that exact reason: positivity. There's so much hate in our world, but I've decided to make attempts to embrace the joy instead, and you know what? It works. Once I decided to stop being angry and sad and terrified, my life got better, and it got brighter. I think a year or two ago I would have watched this film from a completely different perspective, but now, I see so much of myself in Joy, and it's extremely comforting to know that maybe I have a little Joy of my own up in my head. That was an extremely weird sentence out of context...

Of course, as the movie shows, it's totally ok to associate with another of the emotions too. We all need anger and sadness and fear and disgust to live a happy and fulfilling life. It's all a part of the game. And that was comforting too, and I think that is what's going to hit home with so many viewers out there. It's totally normal to be sad or angry, and sometimes we need to embrace those emotions the same way I strive everyday to embrace joy.

Regardless, you can bet that I'll be seeing Inside Out again, probably at least once while it's still playing in theaters, and then many many times after I have my own copy on BluRay. If you have yet to see Inside Out, I highly reccomend seeing it, as it's a film absolutely everyone can relate to.

After all, we all have emotions inside our heads...we just have to meet them.

If you've seen Inside Out, let me know what you thought in the comments below!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 25 due to travel).

Day 899: Just a Spoonful of Sugar

I've seen two versions of Mary Poppins so far...well, now I've seen three...and I can't wait to see another production later this summer, but it all goes to prove just how much I love this musical. Mary Poppins has something special for me, and while I can't quite put on my finger on why, I would see a production of this one long before many other musicals out there. 

This time, it wasn't on broadway and it wasn't put on by a high school, but rather a cast at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre in Minnesota, where I attended a performance on the band trip. Now, for those of you that don't know, the Chanhassen is an experience unlike most theatre shows, as you arrive roughly an hour or two before the show for a meal and then experience the show from your seat at your table. Dessert arrives during intermission as well, so it really is a complete dining experience mixed with a show. That being said, I was more impressed with my dessert than anything else. Don't get me wrong, the food was good, and I probably feel that way because with my lactose intolerance it was in my best interest to order the chicken tenders, but I was impressed with how everything else looked! And when it came to dessert I was thrilled to find a dairy-free option on the menu as well, which I promptly ordered. It was a lactose-free chocolate cake and it was 100% delicious. 

As for the show, however, I felt like it just fell a bit flat for me. Mary Poppins is an astonishing show, especially when it comes to the special effects that most productions include. However, due to the small size of the venue, which you can see in a picture below, many of those effects were impossible. Most noteworthy? Mary Poppins flying over the audience. Obviously it was pretty impossible to get a rig into such a small theater to do so, but it's just not quite the same without that extra element. 

There were other little things that bothered me too, but nothing to ruin the entire show. Overall, per usual, I loved it, and for the band members also on the trip who hadn't seen the musical before, I know for a fact that it was just as inspiring and heartwarning as the first time I saw it years ago. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 25 due to Travel).

Day 898: Cheater Cheater

I don't often go to other amusement parks, and quite frankly, I really don't enjoy them more often than not. So it takes a lot for me to have an honest to God good time in a "theme park" that's not Disney. It's really, really hard. My band director has been trying for years to take us to amusement parks on band trips, and not once have I enjoyed it...other than our Disney trip of course. So when I was asked to come along on this summer's band trip to film and record their experiences, I was delighted by the end of our first day when I realized that I had a really great time at Valleyfair amusement park in Minnesota.

The day started off, of course, with a nice six hour drive from little old Seymour, and we arrived to approaching clouds and storms for the band to play a pep band performance. Luckily, they got it finished and we were off to lunch before rain hit the pavement, but the first bits of our Valleyfair experience were a bit wet.

We did quite a bit during our day at Valleyfair. We found obnoxiously priced water...

If I ever hear a complaint about expensive Disney water again...not to mention the obnoxiously priced food...

But I'm making this sound all bad when in fact most of the day really was good! We hit up several of the rollercoasters and our band director made several challenges to students in return for them forgetting instruments or music they needed earlier that day. I watched, mostly, but it did lead to one of my favorite parts of the day: the Lazer Maze! Basically it's like in the movies or on TV with the spies and the lazers and it was an absolute blast, especially since I beat my friends and band director! 

However, it was a group of guys that really made our day: The Acafellas! As an a capella group, they were dressed pretty dapper, and we passed them earlier in the day before we all took refuge in one of the stores during the rain. They noticed our bright orange shirts from the performance earlier in the day and gave us a special performance right in the store! We saw them again later on and it didn't take long for them to recognize us (and the camera). We hit up their show later in the day and loved every second of it!

So overall? Yeah we had a pretty darn good day at Valleyfair...although I may have had to bring along a bit of home to make myself feel like less of a cheater!

By the end of the day, we were all pretty tired out, and I have to tell you...the bed felt like a cloud where I had some pretty sweet dreams of the Acafellas singing once more.

If I ever find myself out in Minnesota again, I'll seriously debate returning to Valleyfair, although I'll still take Disney any day. If you've ever been to Valleyfair, let me know in the comments below!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 24 due to travel).

Day 897: Looking Back

Apparently June is going to be flashback month because thanks to more YouTube videos, we've got more to look back at! This time, instead of last June, I'm thinking back to January, as at this point (when I'm writing this at least), five of the vlogs from that trip have gone live! So let's travel back in time together!

The first day of any trip can be pretty boring, but I think despite the fact that we were all super jetlagged and sick and tired, we did pretty well. Then again, it's hard to mask the pure magic that is Disney, especially when you finally return home! 

I have to mention that this second day reminded me why I loved vlogging in the Disney parks. I edited it about a month ago now and was just astonished by how happy it made me. Vlogging can really take a toll on you, not that it isn't fun. But you've got to be thinking about it, and even now, after the band trip video is done, I had the camera on almost all the time, filming our experiences. Of course, when you return home you still have to edit it. But this vlog gave me the encouragement to quickly edit the rest of the January vlogs, all of which will be up on my YouTube before the end of July. 

Day 3 brought new adventures for everyone, most notably Tower of Terror, which I had basically no interest in going on. We also, however, had a chance to see the Osborne Lights on their last night for the season, which if the rumors are true, could actually be their last night in this form ever! 

We only spent one day at Animal Kingdom this trip, which is pretty usual for us, but in this video you're treated to what my brother calls "Jonny Cam." Good luck, that's all I can say. 

The last vlog that is up at the moment is another of my all time favorites, where we spent literally an entire day meeting characters and doing little else. My brother mentioned to me before the trip that he wanted to do a Dapper Day, so we made it happen, and the Princesses certainly made our lives interesting! 

And that's all for now. What's left? Another day at Magic Kingdom, some Hollywood Studios and, of course, MORE EPCOT! A new Disney Trip vlog is posted every Tuesday on my YouTube channel, so be sure to keep an eye out for them! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 24 due to travel).