Hello, Fab Nation! The air here in California reached a brisk 89 degrees today, heralding the entrance of fall and all of the wonderful things it brings, including the MiceChat Invasion of Walt Disney World in less than two weeks!

Today’s column has gossip, exclusives, tiki goodness and lots of news for you die hard Disney fans.

SEA You at the Canteen

We’ve learned a little more about the Jungle Skipper Canteen, soon to be opening in Adventureland at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. The restaurant, which will replace the defunct Adventureland Veranda (and then some), will be the Skippers’ answer to Be Our Guest over in Fantasyland. As Be Our Guest is to French Cuisine, so will this new joint be to the exotic foods of Africa, Asia and the South Pacific.

What I’m really excited about is the theming, decor and layout. You enter through the Veranda, and to your left is Porter’s Post. I’m guessing that this is the intrepid explorer (and Jane’s father) from Tarzan. There are some great photos and artwork, very Adventurers’ Club-like, but glued down even harder for the theme park crowds. My favorite: a hilariously illustrated warning as to why one should not bring jungle animals home.

 

Some of the lighting will prominently feature Tiffany-style stained glass representations of four famous tiki birds. A stained glass window will feature an angrily-charging rhino, from what I hear. Exchange prices for heads and everything else about this project subject to change.

Seasons Are Gone, Why Have Seasonal?

Since there’s really not very much of a “low season” any more, at Walt Disney World, they have quietly begun eliminating Seasonal Cast Member hires and rehires in a department or two. Only present Seasonal Cast Members will remain, with the lion’s share being Full-Time, Part-Time, and (a lot of) College Program.

A Fun Afternoon in Anaheimland

The Parks were hot and packed after the fantastic CHOC Walk, so a whole bunch of smart folks rested their tootsies in the air conditioned comfort of the Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School last Sunday for a two-hour trip to Anaheimland with Charles Phoenix. A fabulous time was had by all!

We got a slideshow tour starring Kevin Kidney and Charles himself visiting many of the wonderful places where you can find true Americana in Anaheim, narrated as only Charles Phoenix can. After a brief intermission, We got to visit Disneyland of the fifties and sixties through the eyes – and the cameras – of families who had been there before, nothing staged, just real people having real fun in Walt’s Park. And it was wonderful!

It helped a couple of great causes as well, the Anaheim High School Alumni Association and the Anaheim Halloween Parade hosted the festivities, so we got to see a couple of cute characters there, too!

Bing, Baby!

So, the brick opposite my daughter Alice’s at WDW, just as you step off the Monorail ramp, belongs to a guy named “Bing Futch“. Cool name. In 1995, my pal Arlen was showing me how to connect with other Disney fans on the computer. Before then, my friend Darby would just bring me printouts of things like interviews with Dave Smith by university groups back in the mid-80s. I treasured them. There was Prodigy, then RADP, then we kind of lost touch. I never saw him, we just talked Disney. He knew so much. I envisioned him as kind of a geeky guy with glasses. As soon as I got on Facebook, I looked for him. Yep. Geeky guy with glasses. Also, a musician who travels all over the country playing the mountain dulcimer. His band was called the Crazed Bunnyz, so, right up my alley. Worked with Raffi Kaprelyan at Knott’s back in the day. Gets the kids to rock out in classrooms, plays folk festivals, and has a motorhome named Rita.

Last week, I met him in person for the very first time. It was fantastic.

Descend Upon Downtown Disney

Just in time for Halloween Time, when their moms and dads are running rampant through the park, Disney’s Descendants are having their first major fan event (outside of the D23 EXPO) on October 17th for one hour only, from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM at Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort. Enjoy a performance of singing and dancing followed by Q&A with director Kenny Ortega; Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Cameron Boyce and Booboo Stewart will be there, showing their darkest #DisneySide – and Descendants fans are invited to dress up and show theirs, too, for a chance to join the stars onstage! If you are a Disney’s Descendants fan, this is something you do NOT want to miss.

Torrid Exclusive Marvel Gear

Want some quick but gorgeous Disneybounding in your busy, hectic, MCU-loving life? Look no further than Torrid! Check out these explosive designs from Her Universe:

Super Trailer!

The trailer is out for Sanjay’s Super Team, The Good Dinosaur’s short. I can’t wait for Sanjay Patel’s semi-autobiographical short to come out. I think I’m more anxious for it than I am for The Good Dinosaur, even with the T-Reksises in it.

A New Trailer from NYCC

Star Wars Rebels season 2 trailer dropped at New York Comic Con last weekend with a major bang:

And here’s a clip from “The Lost Commanders” that should have Clone Wars fans starting to do algebra in their noggins:

Epic Infinity – Time to Play in the Toy Box!

Remember during E3 when Noe and I played in the new Toy Box Expansion, racing in Toy Box Speedway and fighting Syndrome when he stole Merlin’s wand in Toy Box Takeover? Finally, everyone can get their mitts on the expansion. We will too, as soon as we catch up. To be honest, we still only have 1.0!

On December 18, we’ll also see Kylo Ren and Poe Dameron figures join Finn and Rey as playable characters in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens set for Disney Infinity 3.0 “Dear Santa….”

A great thing about Disney Infinity is that they feature Toyboxes created by users, and they often actually hire them. This week, one of the best Toyboxes that they featured was one by user DizExplorer03.

Epic Mickey creator Warren Spector commented that while he didn’t like that Mickey had the flesh-colored face, he was happy to see that Epic Mickey was not forgotten. It is not, and is still widely beloved.

Mahaloween!

Let’s Rosebud this for you right out of the barn: way better. Perfect? No. But WAAAAY better than last year. And last year’s wasn’t BAD, it just could have been better.  The setup was very, very much like the Tahitian Terrace event. If it ain’t broke…

The pupus were good; they stuck pretty close to the Trader Sam’s menu. The drinks were nice too. I would have liked to have seen maybe an orchid on the cup or some little garnish. They do that even at the $40 luaus in Hawaii and it would have been a nice little touch. Or, maybe those disposable plastic tiki cups. These were pretty plain. The drinks were good. They accidentally brought me leaded when I asked for unleaded so I can vouch that the pours were very generous. King Kukulele came out, but was playing Professor Skip Town, something that sounded like it had been written for an insurance sales convention, not a group of tiki and Disney enthusiasts. It ran really, really, really long as well. They’d unveil a mask, and he would go into a very, very, very long, drawn-out story about its curse. Drink some moa. Eat some moa, Kungaloosh (didn’t get the story right). etc. not the King Kukulele we’re used to seeing at Tiki Oasis, etc.  I think he didn’t write this script.

Fortunately, Tupua and Halau Hula Lani Ola did their spectacular Polynesian Revue, inclluding fire dance. I”ve seen them perform several times, and tonight was the best. There were only two men doing the Haku, but it was far stronger than Friday when there were many more. Good performers.

King Kukulele came back onstage and grabbed his ukulele and I was so happy! Then he sang one song and that was the end! I loved him so much last year; I was really looking forward to hearing him sing and play again this year. So please, if  you do this again, for Sam’s fifth anniversary or next Mahaloween, less talking, more singing!

Afterward, we had our prints and cups signed. I didn’t like the cups in the photo, but loved them when I saw them in person/Skellington/cup.  Was it worth it? Yes. Will I do it again? Yes!

 

How do I get to do all this? Some of it, I’m a guest of the organization throwing it. the rest, like Mahaloween and a bunch of other stuff, I’m a paying customer, Whether I pay or get in gratis, my opinion remains my own. I really appreciate everyone who helps me get the info I need to make this column happen, whether it’s taking photos, letting me know what’s going on with a project they’re working on, or making a donation through one of the banners below for tires and heel bandaids and my favorite writing pens, all of which I ran out of this week and needed, so I’m really grateful for the help.

I’m on Twitter, on Facebook, and also available at [email protected]

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