9 Months and 37 years, Pasadena and Hogwarts

It's not every day your young man turns 9 months, now is it, eh?

Or 37?

Well, Little Man and I both did, respectively, and on the same day.

It happened to coincide with a most auspicious event, a choir tour to Pasadena, which meant that The Wife and I had to take advantage of heading over to see Harry in Hollywood.  Having already experienced The Wizarding World of Harry Potter on the other coast, and visited Disneyland just a month before, it was just the right timing to finally see That Other California Park.

We flew to teeny-tiny Long Beach airport (and lost a baby toy, alas), rented teeny-tiny Kia Rio (despite their insistence that I upgrade for a larger care and my insistence that I and my very small party picked Economy size for a reason), drove DIRECTLY to the beach (which was wonderful and different from other recent beach visits), and then made our way to teeny-tiny Ramada in Pasadena (it wasn't the best place ever but they did [eventually...] have a crib, which was of utmost importance).

The front-facing camera is a game-changer I tell you.

We missed our babies!

We had some food at the impressively named Top Restaurant and the next day headed first thing to see Harry.

When we went to Universal Orlando, Harry only inhabited one of the theme parks, and I will say that based on our experience there at the time, Hollywood's version seems almost identical.  We bought our passes online which allowed us early entrance (but not free parking -- wah waaah), and this turned out to be a really great thing.  We were able to do all the big time attractions before most people even had a chance to get into the park.  The weather was great, the rides were few but fun, the experience was unique (all the escalators!) and the tour was worth is for the Bates Motel.  I had a birthday button from the very start which I'm pretty sure led to my being chosen at Ollivander's.  It was all very magical and the wand that chose me was cool but I ended up getting the Elder Wand instead (eep!).  We borrowed a friend's interactive wand so we could try that new feature, and I didn't feel AT ALL silly waving my wand and needlessly uttering incantations in front of shop windows...

Don't think I missed an opportunity to flaunt this little baby.

Or this one!

That's what we in the fandom like to call a REAlly Hidden Mickey.

Worth the hour-long backlot tour just for this set.

There was other stuff there too, like Squishee Milhouse.

Little Mister didn't seem to realize it was his 9 months, but he had a good time anyway!

I realized only too late that we were actually driving RIGHT PAST the Disney animation studio, which seems like a huge misstep on my part not to take more advantage of, but as far as I've learned we couldn't just traipse in and ask for a tour anyway.  It was enough for now to just see it, along with all the other Disney landmarks I've heard so much about (Griffith Park, Forest Lawn, etc.).

Later that night my choir met for rehearsal and dinner, which featured a lovely birthday sing-along and delicious ice cream sundae, and then the next day was the actual purpose of the trip:

Twohey's!  AKA 2ee's.  Don't ask, I don't know.

We were invited to perform a 23-minute show at ACDA.  It's a real honor to sing there, and we made the most of our time by showing just what a community choir can do -- wide vocal range, four languages, variety of style from early sacred to contemporary musical theater, and some effective and subtle choralography to top it off.  We were informed later that this ain't Utah, not just anyone gets a standing ovation, but...

We had just a few hours to wrap things up and get back to the airport, which is indeed teeny-tiny, and then head back home to see our other babies, from whom we had never until now spent a night apart, but who were safe and happy in the care of Nana and Papa.

Reunited!  And pretty happy about it!

It was nice to have another mini-vacation just a handful of weeks after our full-on family event, and baby boy did a great job on the airplane both ways, Julie was a great sport trooping along on my choir tour, and I mastered that last phrase of German that I had been struggling with.

Back home, back to work:

I wasn't there for my birthday but they decorated for when I came home all the same.

Then of course there was this...

This...

THIS!!!

As for Little Mister, he's still a happy healthy boy.  He's very active and crawling all over the place, he's eating plenty, he's having trouble sleeping through the night (at the time we had a plan which is now set in motion...), and he's starting to be more... vocal...  More on that in the weeks that followed.  He's really starting to prefer his mommy, especially to strangers, but he's still pleasant around relatives and friends.  He's been a champ through some sniffles and is showing real signs of more teeth appearing.  We're pretty sure he has a late-arrival birthmark, his hair is lightening considerably, and he is still tall and chubbsy.

So happy!  Even when his nose is runny!

Beach boy.

So happy!  Clever Mommy to remember to bring his li'l hat!

*blink*

 Love that boy!  I was glad to share my big day with him!  See you in a couple weeks!

TERRIBLE TERRIBLE NEWS

I was in the middle of another blogpost just now, but I had to change gears and post about this fiasco RIGHT now.  And I know it's not the worst thing that could ever happen in the world, but as far as theme parks go, and especially Disney theme parks, I don't think I can possibly imagine anything worse:

Disney announces James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ themed land and rides for Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World.

Read all about it here.

When I read that headline I felt seriously ill and went O.O and then wished ever so dearly that it was just a really, really late April Fools' prank or bad joke from The Onion, but alas, it looks like it's true.  Anyone who knows me knows well my dislike for this film, and to this day some parts of it are favorite family jokes (nice crying, Zoe Saldana).  But the worst part of this whole imminent disaster is that some people think this is Disney's response to Harry Potter at Universal.  HARDLY.  To put this in perspective, I finally was persuaded to make my first ever trek to Universal on our last trip to Florida JUST to see Harry.  On the other hand, though Disney is my primary destination in Orlando, I will strive to avoid all traces of Avatar when it appears in Animal Kingdom.  (It should also be noted that, ironically, Harry was originally discussed as part of Walt Disney World in the first place until JK demanded a little too much creative control for the Imagineers' liking.)  It seems kind of like the most offensive thing they could do to Disney fans.  Besides the fact that this film is thoroughly overhyped and overrated and extremely environmentally heavy-handed and completely unoriginal, it's absolutely NOT (NOT NOT NOT) Disney.  Sure, there are a select few welcome non-Disney elements sprinkled here and there throughout the parks (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, American Idol, etc.), but not a whole land's worth of them.  Harry at Disney would make a little sense at least, since it has the ABC/Disney tie-in and of course the similar theme of magic and family entertainment and such...  Yes, this movie is Pocahontas meets Dances With Wolves meets Fern Gully (which is at least animated) meets Smurfs in space, and while ONE of those is Disney-related, it makes no sense.  Pocahontas makes sense.  A gimmicky, non-Disney rip-off does NOT.  And, I submit that the only reason this movie broke any kind of records was because it was one of the first big 3D movies, so of course it will make a lot of money due to increased ticket prices.  What if these planned two (TWO!!!) sequels are total bombs?  What then, Animal Kingdom?!?  What's the big hurry??  And anyway, since when is Animal Kingdom about freakish barely-clad blue humanoids who worship trees and brood among neon-colored glowing landscaping?  What about the whole animal theme?  Yeah, there are a few inbred dinosaurs running around Pandora, but they're so ancillary it's just too much of a stretch to give them credit for it.  I get the ultra-environmentalism angle, though seriously, that's already really heavy-handed and king of overwhelming at that park as it is.  Now it's just going to be unbearable!  I'm sure there is a response to Harry Potter's popularity (which still could never dethrone Disney as the top tourist attraction in Orlando anyway), and I'm sure that there are even a few ways to increase long-term Animal Kingdom attendance, but this certainly is NOT it on either counts.  Fantasyland expansion?  Yes.  Animal Kingdom expansion?  NO.  At least not in this woeful direction.  I really didn't think it was possible for someone to come up with some reason for me to dislike Avatar even more.  Maybe this ill-conceived plan will go the way of Port Disney and WestCOT*?...  Or maybe even River Country...  I can only hope.

Seriously, I am getting more and more livid about this as time goes by...  I need to calm down.  Writing this helped a little (I guess I haven't had a good blogrant in quite a while now, after all).  What kind of cruel theme park world ends up with Harry Potter at Universal and Avatar at Disney?!?  *cries bitter, bitter tears*


* Though at least WestCOT could have been cool.

Florida: I Want To Go Back Already (Part IV)

And now (almost two weeks after I started writing what was once an immensely long blogpost, and what has become what I like to call the Great Orlando Blogging Project), the time has at last come for Part IV: The Wrap-Up.


After our Universal excursion we had two final days at Walt Disney World, where we went back to each park one more time to fill in the gaps of what we didn't get around to the first few days (and to re-ride some of our favorites, of course).  We took pictures at all the entrance signs and even had a photo tour around the World Showcase, where we kept an eye out for passers-by who looked like they would be willing and able to take our picture at each country (we dubbed them "poor unsuspecting souls," which Julie very cleverly adapted to Ursula's song from The Little Mermaid).

 

Epcot didn't seem to have a sign outside, so we had a picture with Spaceship Earth from the back instead.

We wore ourselves out pretty well those last couple of days, but we were determined to make the most of every last minute of our trip.  I had been yearning to go back for so long, and I wanted to try to remember everything in case it's many more years since we visit there again.  I think we did pretty well at soaking it all in before we had our final goodbyes to the parks and even the shuttles.

We had a pretty uneventful last day, sleeping in, checking out of our hotel, eating at the new T-Rex restaurant at Downtown Disney (think Rainforest Cafe but with dinosaurs, and also amazingly even more overpriced--we made it work for not too much by sharing a hearty appetizer sampler and a big salad), and catching a pretty late flight home.  It was a pretty relaxing day, but it still would have been nice to have a day to recoup before heading straight back to work, or at least getting in before midnight (there was a brief glorious few moments when we thought we had been bumped up to an earlier non-stop flight, but alas, 'twasn't meant to be).  But, um, I guess I can't complain about anything after such an amazing vacation.

This bed is kind of tiny.  Our big bed is one thing we had to look forward to back at home.

So we had a wonderful time, and Julie's first visit was a great experience.  My itch has been scratched!  It's nice to go back after all these years, see how things have changed, and how so many things are just the same as I remember.

When can we go back, Wife?!?*

* But seriously, I can wait if I must.  It's nice to know there's a Land so relatively nearby that we can visit when we get the itch again.  Which is going to happen in like six months.

Florida: I Want To Go Back Already (Part II)

Part II: Universal Orlando--

And now, I couldn't possibly leave out the literally amazing Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal.  After a few days at Disney, we decided to use our one day at a neighboring theme park.  Historically I haven't cared much for the "U-word" parks, but Julie has been there before and enjoyed some of the rides, and then, considering their recent addition, they must have known exactly how to get my attention (and my cash).  To put our excitement for HP Land in perspective, there are two parks at Universal Orlando--Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure--and we spent a total of one day going back and forth between them, and out of the 9 hours of that day, 6-7 of them were spent in Hogsmeade.  If they had stayed open later, we would have been happy to browse the streets and shops even more.

I may or may not have bought this shirt just in preparation for HP Land.

In general, Universal was a pretty fun place, but if it weren't for Harry, there wouldn't be a HUGE need for us to go back there anytime soon.  They don't have a general Fastpass system (unless you pay extra for it), a lot of rides require you put your belongings in lockers, and the theming and lands are just missing a little something that is so evident at Disney parks.  The cast members have a totally different feel, and everything seems a lot less organized.  They have a few more thrill rides, but some of them are based on much older movies, and it has a pretty dated feel.  I loved the Jaws ride, and the Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, E.T. and Mummy ones were really cool too, but a lot of things we just walked past.  Harry Potter fans MUST spend a day there, but otherwise, it was just a pretty fun theme park.

This girl just loves that Wolverine.  And he is HUGE!

*cue JP theme here*

Shes also loves that T-Rex.  She would have one as a pet if she could, though I try to tell her it might just eat us.

The spinosaurus?  Not as much of a fan here.

I'm holding my nose in reference to the memorable Triceratops poo excavation in the movie.

Imposing, yes?

I'm saying, "We were JUST talking about this!" because I was just texting Lacie about getting tickets to Seussical when we get home.

This girl can find a library anywhere she goes.

"Bathing Beauty, say hello!"

It seems like a perfectly safe shark-free day to visit the beach, doesn't it?

IT'S SO BIG AND SCARY.

This is also so big and scary.

I'm saying, "Who needs it?"  (Apu: I dooooooo!)

So, between Disney and Universal, which park features the better Keane's artwork?...

As we were leaving Universal Studios to go back to Islands of Adventure, we were asked to answer a few questions about our trip and our feelings about the park, and at the end of the (rather lengthy) survey, they asked a rather pointed question about how our family feels about Harry Potter.  We responded quite enthusiastically that we were big fans (gesturing to our t-shirts), so it's pretty clear they were trying to gauge how many visitors were drawn by Harry.  Speaking of which...

And now, for the main attraction...

We could see Hogwarts from Jurassic Park!!!

• Hogsmeade is incredible.  It's a spectacular recreation of the village in winter from the movies, and features so many of the stores, though they are sort of a conglomeration of shops found there and at Diagon Alley (Zonko's, Honeydukes, Ollivander's, The Hog's Head, The Three Broomsticks, Scrivenshaft's, Dervish & Banges, and an Owl Post station).  They have so many awesome wands and props for sale, as well as general souvenirs, and a lot of it is unique to the park shops.  The candies at the sweet shop (Chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, U-No-Poo, etc.) have packaging just like in the movie, and, I should say, charge a good amount more than the mass-produced versions you find at Smith's, but I guess that's to be expected at a theme park.  We dropped a good amount of cash there, but not an obscene amount, and really, we were AT Hogsmeade.  We couldn't possibly resist buying wands at Ollivander's or a time turner to complete Julie's Hermione costume (which we pretty much have decided we're going to bring back this year)!

Like a kid in a candy st-- well, anyway.

Not exactly as described in the books, but it's all good.

Julie just loves that Arnold.  (Right, sweetie, right??)

"Why are you worrying about You-Know-Who? You should be worrying about U-No-Poo!"

Ollivander's!  So, so many wands!

This is my Voldemort's-wand-hand impression.  Nice fingers there, man.

I wanted to Elder Wand SO bad, but that's just too much power.

Julie was quite taken with Sirius's unique design.

In the end we went with Hermione's and Harry's wands.  (Of course!)

OMGoodness, Gilderoyyyyy!!!

The girl selling wands at this stand (near the robes) offered to take our picture as if we were working at the shoppe.  This is a good look at the characters' really cool wand designs.

They had a bunch of other really neat non-character wand styles too, in case you wanted something different.

"Dementor, dementor!"  Nothing like a bit of good old Boy-Who-Lived hazing, eh, Malfoy?  Classy.

"My horn can pierce the sky!" -- Michael Scott

Kitty!

Poor Hedwig.

Who would want a Li'l Pettigrew?  Gross!  Unless they didn't know, in which case, spoiler alert...  But seriously, if you don't know that by now, it's just too bad.

 • The food is splendid!  Butterbeer is delicious and comes cold or frozen (basically a slush version, we preferred it cold), it's sort of like root beer mixed with butterscotch, and served with a delightful foam on top.  Pumpkin juice was also so so very nice, a kind of pumpkin-flavored cider.  We had lunch in The Three Broomsticks, which featured a great English menu--I had Shepherd's pie and Julie had Cornish pasties.

Worth the price--JUST BUY IT.

At the Three Broomsticks! (slash Hog's Head)  Can you see the actual three broomsticks??

• The rides are really awesome!  Two of them were there before and have just been rethemed to fit in the world of HP (Dragon Challenge is a cool dueling-dragons double roller coaster themed to the Dragon Task in GoF, and Flight of the Hippogriff is a tamer roller coaster surrounding Hagrid's Hut and Buckbeak's nest), but the new Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride is just amazing.  The queue winds through Hogwarts and there are SO many awesome things to look at (Dumbledore's office and the Pensieve, the Mirror of Erised, statues featured in the movies, mandrakes in the greenhouse, house points in their glass containers, moving portrait galleries, classrooms, and really great appearances by Dumbledore, Harry, Ron and Hermione), and the ride is such an amazing blend of motion simulation and dark ride elements, it just has to be experienced to be understood.

I wanted to put my name in for consideration, but I was fresh out of parchment.

That's right, go on!

The roller coaster cars were wicker hippogriffs!

The winged boar entrance even!

A wee warning from the headmaster.

"Cockroach cluster."

My heart's desire was to be in Hogwarts.  That's why my reflection showed me pretty much as I was.

• The overall feel of the whole area is so authentic and immersive, it just feels like you're in the movie set.  You look behind you and see Hogwarts rising above the trees and you look down the street and you see Hogsmeade winding down the path, leading to the steaming red engine of the Hogwarts Express at the exit back into the rest of the park.

Busy and bustling, just like Hogsmeade should be (but not overwhelmingly busy, the crowds were pretty good).

*ahem* Bad boys?...

She really wanted to get on board.

They even have character meet-and-greets!  If there weren't a line we would have posed with them, but we settled for an in-between-pictures picture.

There wasn't so much interest in taking pictures over on this side, so Wife decided to show a little love.

And that's it.  We were among the last to leave at park closing, taking literally hundreds of pictures of every single detail (including the signs for the "Public Conveniences" where you can even hear Myrtle moaning and complaining in the toilets, the Gringotts-themed ATM and signs for the Wizarding Wireless Network), until we were ushered out quite insistently by a security man (it might have been a nice touch if he had been wearing some sort of Ministry of Magic logo, or perhaps an Azkaban pin or something).  The Wife has posted dozens and dozens of pictures on Facebook if people are interested in seeing some of the details of the shops and castle and props and such.

It was quite incredible.  I'm pretty sure that Universal has finally figured out a way to get me to have to visit each time I go to Florida now.  There are rumors of expansions and additions, which would be awesome (even though it is truly magical just as it is).

Saying goodbye to Hogsmeade... *sad*

Just a few more trip details are on their way, don't go too far!