Happy Fab News Friday! It’s the end of 2016 tomorrow, and I’m really not unhappy to see it go. While there have been some nice things, there have been some rotten things too, so out with the old and in with the new. Next week, I’ll be able to go to Disneyland again! Hooray!

Fabulous Congratulations!

Commenter #12 of 13 Autumn belonged to the number that Random.org’s generator generated, so she won the Fabulous Things this year. I’ll be doing it again next year, and trying to give away more stuff in between. Sometimes, I’ll just throw a trivia question into the middle of a paragraph and if you answer it I’ll give you something, because I’m certifiably insane and occasionally get free stuff to give you for no good reason. Anyway, Autumn is getting the Main Street Art Corner “Wintry Wonder” Michael Levy art print, BabyTattoo’s Carnival of Astounding Art “BeautiesBeasts” book by Olivia De Beardinis and Jordu Schell (signed!), something RAD from Toddland (possibly one of the things I wrote about, possibly something else. Only The Bearded One knows!), something from Winchester Mystery House, and several other fabulous gifts. Thank you to everyone who participated! Everything I wrote about is still available; it’s past Christmas but it’s still the holidays and it’s never too late to give someone (or yourself) a nice gift!

DVC Resale Market 844 DVC PROS

Nine Old Men, One Swell D23 Gold Member Gift

Wow! Remember last year, when we got that swell box with all the wonderful mementos from Walt’s history as the D23 Gold Membership gift? This year, it’s Walt’s Nine Old Men who get the D23atment!  Check it out:

1180-x-600-member-gift-2017

As if you don’t get enough perks from the gold membership – like Early Bird ticket prices for D23 Expo 2017.  This is just marvy. It’s got goodies from all nine of Walt’s favorite men in his company of artists, Les Clark, Marc Davis, Ollie Johnston, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Frank Thomas, notes, sketches, postcards, all sorts of ephemera, which the Disney fans who run the show at D23 gathered with the help of Rebecca Cline and her team at the Walt Disney Archives and also the nice folks at The Animation Research Library (ARL).

I Forgot, You Gain

I’m a terrible fangirl. I really love Tom Hodges’ work; I’ve written about his work here before but I left him off the Fabulous Things list because I’m an idiot. But, actually, it turns out to be a good thing for you, because now he’s put out a whopping 40% off code in his shop. Here’s the piece of art that made me first fall in love with his work. He did it for Celebration 2010, long before any theme park land was any kind of a Thing: Just put code FOFF2016 in the code thingy when you check out, and boom shanka, this hundred-dollar artist proof is a sixty-dollar artist proof. Maker, look at it. (The watermarks won’t be on yours; I just put them on for here.)

hodgesartmap

What Are You Doing Tomorrow Night?

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Blocked out of Disneyland? MiceChat is spending New Years Eve on the farm.  Knott’s Berry Farm that is.  Come on down and join us for a fun night of down-home cooking and entertainment that will take us into 2017!  It will be a full night of shows, rides and entertainment, culminating in a beautiful firework show at midnight.

Please RSVP HERE for our buffet dinner meet-up at Spurs Steakhouse. Buffet menu and schedule of events follow:

Our Tentative Schedule for NYE (agenda may change due to weather or adjustments to Knott’s offerings, please keep track of our Facebook Event Page for updates HERE):

4 p.m DINNER BUFFET AT SPURS STEAKHOUSE
PLEASE RSVP FOR DINNER HERE: http://eepurl.com/cvfu7f

5:30 p.m. “MERRY CHRISTMAS, SNOOPY!” ON ICE
Location: Charles M.Schulz Theatre
Please arrive before 5:30 under the bridge by the handicap entry. We’ll head in together at 5:30. (Show starts at 6pm)

7 p.m. HATS AND HORN DISTRIBUTION
Location: Livery Stable

7:20 SNOW and GLOW
Meet in Ghost Town in front of City Hall (near the School House)

8:00 p.m. CALICO MINE RIDE
Meet in front of Calico Mine Ride and journey deep into the Calico Glory Hole.

CALICO SALOON
Following the mine ride, until we leave for the Crazy Kirk show, meet upstairs at the Saloon for drinks and socializing.

9:30 p.m. KRAZY KIRK and the HILLBILLIES
Location: Birdcage Theatre
Show starts at 10pm, but we’ll need to be in line early to get a spot in the (heated) theater.

CALICO SALOON DRINK-UP
Between Crazy Kirk and our Fireworks meet-up, we’ll grab a drink at the Saloon (upstairs or wherever we can find enough room).

11:15 FIREWORKS MEET-UP
Location: Western Skies of Knott’s
Meet in front of the new Calico Mine Stage. We’ll listen to “The Reflexx” and stay for the Fireworks launch at Midnight.

Dog Is GoodDINNER BUFFET MENU AND INFO
MiceChat New Year’s Eve Buffet Menu at Spurs Steakhouse (across from Ghostrider)
December 31, 2016 from 4:00pm
Adults: 35.99
Seniors (62 and over): 29.99
Children (11and under): 18.99
(Above prices do not reflect tax or MiceChat Discount of 10%.)

SALADS
California Salad: Strawberries, sweet candied pecans, blue cheese crumbles served with Raspberry Vinaigrette
Waldorf salad
Caesar Salad with Asiago Caesar Dressing
Arugula Salad: Goat Cheese, celery, cucumber, red grapes with Balsamic Vinaigrette

COLD SELECTIONS
Vegetable tray
Fruit Salad with Berries
Cheese Tray with Lavosh and Crackers
Salmon and Lox Tray with Capers and onions

ICE STATION
Chilled Gulf shrimp and Crab Claws served with cocktail sauce

CARVING STATION
Slow Roasted turkey
Honey Baked Ham with Fruit sauce
Pepper Crusted Sirloin served with Peppercorn Sauce

HOT TABLE
Penne Pasta with Peppers and Chicken
Mrs. Knott’s Fried chicken
Boysenberry BBQ Meatballs
Stir fried tofu
Pepper Jack Mac & Cheese
Mashed potato and Chicken Gravy
Fingerling Roasted Potatoes
Sweet potatoes casserole
Apple Country stuffing
Brussel sprouts with bacon and onions

SWEETS
Chocolate cake
Pumpkin pie
Chocolate Cookies
Apple Spice Cake
Carrot Cake
New York Cheesecake
Key lime Pie
Boysenberry Pie & Apple Pie

IF YOU’D LIKE TO JOIN US FOR DINNER, PLEASE RSVP HERE NOW – LIMITED # OF SEATS AVAILABLE FOR DINNER. 

Discussion and additional information on the MICECHAT FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE HERE

, Fab News: The End of 2016

 More MiceChat Celebrating – Our Anniversary Weekend!

It’s coming up Jan 27-29th, 2017 – SAVE THE DATE! MiceChat’s funnable anniversary weekend will be bigger and better than ever. DON’T miss it!!! Add your name to the waiting list HERE.

Jyn Erso Star Wars Premium Format(TM) FigureNow If I Could Just Find the Plans Instructions…

, Fab News: The End of 2016
Click on the picture to see the deets. If you pick one up it helps the site, thanks. Costs as much as a low-end Disney Annual Pass!

A Loving Tribute to the General at Downtown Disney

Wednesday night, a group of fans and admirers gathered at Downtown Disney to pay tribute to the memory of Carrie Fisher, who died December 27th after her heart failed during an overseas flight. Her mother and dear friend Debbie Reynolds followed shortly thereafter, which is not very surprising. They lived next door to each other and did everything together. I’m sending a good thought to Billie Lourd and Gary Fisher, her daughter and her constant companion, a very sweet French bulldog who acted as a service dog – she was very open about her struggles with bipolar disorder, and was a great example to me as I struggled with my own.

Photo by Mark Eades
Photo by Mark Eades

, Fab News: The End of 2016

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Shelly Valladolid
Shelly Valladolid, aka Fab, has been writing about Disney and theme parks for about two decades. She has written for various fan and pop culture sites, Disney Magazine and OCRegister.com and participated in several books, including Passporter's Disneyland and Southern California and Disney World Dreams. She was co-founder and president of the Orlando, Florida chapter of the NFFC (now Disneyana Fan Club). She taught a class on theme park history at a Southern California University. She is creator and co-owner of Jim Hill Media, one of the creators of MousePlanet and was a consultant on MSNBC, The Motley Fool and others about Disney and various media matters. She was a Heel wrestling manager on TV and a voice artist on the radio in Honolulu, HI, where she grew up. She has a blog and a podcast with her daughter, Mission:Breakout Obsessive Alice Hill. She and her husband, MiceChat columnist Noe Valladolid, live in Southern California with Alice.