Weekend Update: "Celebrate A Dream Come True" Parade, Germany, Penguins, & Postcards
We have the second installment of MickeyMaxx's German Holiday report. Such magical images! Then SummerInFL takes us on a tour of St. Augustine, Florida. Yes, it's true - there was civilization in Florida before the great Disney invasion. It's been a while since MaryAnn in Wndrlnd sent us penguin photos, so she remedies that with a trip to Sea World San Diego. Then we check out some eyepopping images from PhotoMatt taken with his new fisheye lens. We finish up the Update with vintage postcard images from darkfairycthulu.
For those of you enjoy the Update's foreign park coverage, never fear. TDLFAN hopes to be back in few weeks with some photos from the Asian parks.
First up today, thanks to Denise nbodyhome Preskitt, we have late breaking photos of the debut of the Magic Kingdom's new parade.
"Celebrate A Dream Come True" Parade
Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida
Denise also shares these update photos from around the "world". Check out more photos at her website: mousesteps.com.
The Contemporary Bay Lake Tower:
The Outer Rim opened back up today:
Concourse Spirits closed a few days back to make way for a DVC supply store:
Work being done in Chef Mickey's:
The Adventure by Train to Nuremberg
Besides the quaint, pristine and beautiful sights we saw, one of the things we two inexperienced travelers appreciated most about our first trip to Germany was the transportation options. The Germans pride themselves on their extensive rail system. One can go from anywhere to just about anywhere else on sleek, well-maintained trains. The sign above says our train leaves at 10:10. At 10:10 on the dot we were headed for Nuremberg. The trains were basic commuter units of varying ages, but were built of such hearty materials that they looked like they might last forever.
58 minutes later (on the dot), we were gliding into the Nuremberg train station. Where we live in Northern San Diego County, we have a fairly high level of train service for an American town, with Amtrak and 3 commuter rail lines taking us north, south and east. Our stations, however, are little more than tiny shelters with a platform. Note the quality and size of the Nuremberg station. The difference between a culture that embraces rail service and one that doesn't.
A quick cab ride and we found ourselves at the city's Main Market Square. With Nearly 200 vendors, it is Germany's largest Christmas market.
Quote:
Every year, Germany's most famous Christmas Market opens its stalls for visitors from all over the world, right in the middle of the city, on Nuremberg Main Market Square. At 5.30 p.m. on the Friday before the first Advent Sunday, the Christmas Angel opens her market, reciting the solemn prologue from the gallery of the church of Our Lady. And as every year, by Christmas Eve, more than two million visitors from all over the world will have sampled the delights of the Christmas Market.
Wooden stalls, festooned with red-and-white cloth, have given the Christmas Market its name of "Little Town from Wood and Cloth". 200 stall holders present their traditional wares: Nuremberg spicy gingerbread, fruit loaves, bakery goods and sweets, typical Christmas articles such as Christmas tree angels, cribs, Christmas tree ornaments and candles, toys as well as arts and crafts products. Favourite souvenirs include "Nuremberg Plum People", little figures made from prunes. And of course, by way of refreshments, there are always rolls with Nuremberg roast sausages and mugs of mulled wine.
Wooden stalls, festooned with red-and-white cloth, have given the Christmas Market its name of "Little Town from Wood and Cloth". 200 stall holders present their traditional wares: Nuremberg spicy gingerbread, fruit loaves, bakery goods and sweets, typical Christmas articles such as Christmas tree angels, cribs, Christmas tree ornaments and candles, toys as well as arts and crafts products. Favourite souvenirs include "Nuremberg Plum People", little figures made from prunes. And of course, by way of refreshments, there are always rolls with Nuremberg roast sausages and mugs of mulled wine.
Official Website
The depth of tasty goodies and beautiful hand-crafted items was amazing.
Nuremberg is famous for its lebkuchen (gingerbread).
So many details add to the festive atmosphere.
Angels in the sky.
These fellows were assembling sausage sandwiches.
Youth singing...emboldened by the plentiful German beer...and encouraged by the lady on the left side of the photo.
Again, we were struck by the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables sold outdoors in the middle of 15°F weather.
This was apparently the "O" section of this vendor's booth . . . Olives and Octopus.
Another touch of home.
And a retailer we no longer have.
Pondering the menu.
Nuremberg sausage and potato salad.
Other sights around town as we slowly walked back to the train station.
Nuremberg was a fortified (walled) city early on. These are some of the gates and walls of that fortification.
On the way home we found a familiar place to get a bite to eat. (Better bun, same slap-dash assembly as in the U.S.A.)
SummerInFL spent the weekend in historic St. Augustine, Florida. Her photos illustrate the rich pre-Disney history that can be found in Florida.
Quote:
St. Augustine, FL is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city, and the oldest port, in the continental United States.
St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish under Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in 1565. The first Christian worship service held in a permanent settlement in the continental United States was a Catholic Mass celebrated in St. Augustine. A few settlements were founded prior to St. Augustine but all failed, including the original Pensacola colony in West Florida, founded by Tristán de Luna y Arellano in 1559, with the area abandoned in 1561 due to hurricanes, famine and warring tribes. Fort Caroline, founded by the French in 1564 in what is today Jacksonville, Florida only lasted a year before being obliterated by the Spanish in 1565.
St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish under Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in 1565. The first Christian worship service held in a permanent settlement in the continental United States was a Catholic Mass celebrated in St. Augustine. A few settlements were founded prior to St. Augustine but all failed, including the original Pensacola colony in West Florida, founded by Tristán de Luna y Arellano in 1559, with the area abandoned in 1561 due to hurricanes, famine and warring tribes. Fort Caroline, founded by the French in 1564 in what is today Jacksonville, Florida only lasted a year before being obliterated by the Spanish in 1565.
The old swimming pool of what was the Alcazar Hotel (now the Lightner Museum and shops).
At the time it was the largest pool in the world.
Early 1900's
(Early photo courtesy of Evilqueenrocks)
Today
Quote:
The Old St. Johns County Jail (also known as Authentic Old Jail) is a historic jail in St. Augustine, Florida. It is located at 167 San Marco Avenue. On August 27, 1987, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The St. Johns County Jail now serves as the Old Jail Museum.
The Old Jail Museum consists of a restored jail with sheriff's living quarters. It also contains a display of weaponry.
The Old Jail Museum consists of a restored jail with sheriff's living quarters. It also contains a display of weaponry.
Castillo de San Marco
Quote:
The Castillo is a masonry star fort made of a stone called "coquina", literally "little shells", made of ancient shells that have bonded together to form a type of stone similar to limestone. Workers were brought in from Havana, Cuba, to construct the fort. The coquina was quarried from Anastasia Island across the bay from the Castillo, and ferried across to the construction site. Construction lasted twenty-three years, being completed in 1695.
Penguin Encounter
Sea World San Diego
Our resident penguin expert MaryAnn in Wndrlnd sent us some photos of her favorite subject.
Quote:
SeaWorld was founded in 1964 by four graduates of the University of California Los Angeles. They had originally considered the idea of building an underwater restaurant. Although this idea was not technically feasible, the concept grew into the idea of a marine zoological park on 22 acres along the shore of Mission Bay in San Diego. With an initial investment of $1.5 million, 45 employees, several dolphins, sea lions, and two seawater aquariums, SeaWorld drew more than 400,000 visitors its first year!
In the lab, PenguinTV, 24/7.
Group of Adelie Penguins
This is the oldest penguin in the exhibit. He's an emperor penguin.
"Hey, kid. Come back into the alley. I wanna show ya somethin'."
Young Gentoo Penguin
Baby Adelie Penguins
The Disneyland Resort Through the Lens of PhotoMatt
Quote:
There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat, there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to...The Outer Limits.
We have another round of great vintage postcard images courtesy of darkfairycthulu. I never get tired of seeing these peeks into the past.
Quote:
Basketville is a landmark outlet store in Putney, Vermont, offering shoppers all the comforts & accoutrements of the Vermont lifestyle! We also sell baskets online. And many of the baskets you see at famous retail destinations around the country are made by Basketville. [LINK]
Quote:
Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village, also known as Bottle Village, is a folk art piece, located in Simi Valley, California.
This assemblage is one of California's Twentieth Century Folk Art Environments. In 1956, Tressa Prisbrey, then nearly 60 years old, started building a "village" of shrines, walkways, sculptures, and buildings from recycled items and discards from the local landfill. She worked for 25 years creating one structure after another to house her collections. Today, Bottle Village is composed of 13 buildings and 20 sculptures, and is a California Historical Landmark (#939). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
The village is located at 4595 Cochran Street, Simi Valley and viewable from the sidewalk. Officially closed in 1984 and severely damaged during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, tours by appointment can be arranged.
This assemblage is one of California's Twentieth Century Folk Art Environments. In 1956, Tressa Prisbrey, then nearly 60 years old, started building a "village" of shrines, walkways, sculptures, and buildings from recycled items and discards from the local landfill. She worked for 25 years creating one structure after another to house her collections. Today, Bottle Village is composed of 13 buildings and 20 sculptures, and is a California Historical Landmark (#939). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
The village is located at 4595 Cochran Street, Simi Valley and viewable from the sidewalk. Officially closed in 1984 and severely damaged during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, tours by appointment can be arranged.
Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village Official Website [LINK]
[LINK]
"In San Antonio It's EARL ABEL's Smart Restaurant. Open 24 Hours.
Recommended by Duncan Hines and Triple A."
Quote:
A San Antonio institution for over 75 years, Earl Abel's Restaurant is now at its new location at 1201 Austin Highway in the Terrell Plaza Shopping Center. Earl Abel's extends old-fashioned comfort to dining out. From our extensive breakfast menu including homemade biscuits, omelets and fresh-squeezed orange juice, just for starters, to a stack of Earl Abel's short thins - three slightly sweet pancakes made from scratch, breakfast at Earl Abel's is what you want to wake up to. Heftier appetites may require the full thins, a stack of five pancakes. [LINK]
Founded in 1907, the Los Angeles Alligator Farm operated in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles alongside the Los Angeles Ostrich Farm. In 1953, the alligators were relocated just down the street from Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park where they remained as a tourist attraction until 1983. Beset by dwindling attendance and an expired lease, the park closed and moved its animals to a private preserve in Florida. The closing was a five day rodeo catching all of the alligators, crocodiles and caiman. They were flown by a 707 to a private estate in Florida. Arthur Jones, the inventor of "Nautilus" sports equipment, was their host.
Check back next week for more postcard images.
Looking for Disneyland news and photos?
Check out Andy Castro's Dateline Disneyland column
and Michael "DarkBeer" David's In The Parks column.
And that brings us to the end of another week. Our photographers have just enough time to reload their cameras before we see you all again next weekend. Thank you to all of our wonderful readers, and as always, a huge thank you to our amazing team of global photographers, spies, and gossips:
Jack Hollywood 1939 Wixom
TDLFAN
Denise nbodyhome Preskitt
SummerInFl
PhotoMatt
Fishbulb
sir clinksalot
MickeyMaxx
BigPigletFan
Abominable Snowman
A very special thank you to to our wonderful guest photographer MaryAnn in Wndrlnd for sharing her vision with us and darkfairycthulu for sharing the postcard images with us.
Your Editor - Rixter
Where have YOU been recently? We invite you to share your photos of theme parks or any other destination that may be of interest to our readers. Please feel free to contact me via MiceChat Private Message (screen name Rixter)
or send me an email: oceansiderick@gmail.com.
or send me an email: oceansiderick@gmail.com.
It is readers like you who make MiceChat such a special place.
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Some factual information sourced from wikipedia.com.
Total Comments 20
Comments
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SummerinFL: What we don't get to see the Fountain of Youth, just the sign?
I remember Santa's Village and the Alligator Farm... although I don't recall petting and riding an alligator like the video! I would encourage today's distracted, cell phone addicted youth to bring that tradition back, though...
Posted 01-24-2009 at 09:14 AM by JesterMn
- PhotoMatt, you are a true artist. There are some that say that photography is not a true art form but to them I say "you haven't seen the work of Ansel Adams or PhottoMatt".Posted 01-24-2009 at 10:24 AM by toemblem
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Nice pictures everyone!Posted 01-24-2009 at 10:44 AM by WheresMickey -
The first photolens pic is great.
Thanks for the update.Posted 01-24-2009 at 11:26 AM by llama5492 -
Those pictures from Germany are so neat. I want to go there at Christmas time. And the trains ... wow!
Between the wonderful old buildings in Germany and the great commentary and the trip to St. Augustine, I feel like I've had a history lesson this morning.
Love the old postcards being shared. I also only remember Santa's Village and the Alligator Farm (but from Buena Park not Lincoln Heights). The YouTube video from the early 40's is a riot. Imagine letting kids run around and hit alligators like that today
Posted 01-24-2009 at 11:42 AM by Wendygirl -
Sorry JesterMn, we didn't visit the Fountain of Youth this trip, just did a drive by.
But next time for certain!Posted 01-24-2009 at 12:15 PM by SummerInFL -
Awesome update.
I need to talk to MaryAnn in Wonderland about her penguin pics. They are my absolute favorite and I've ALWAYS wanted to do one of the backstage things at Sea World.Posted 01-24-2009 at 01:24 PM by sir clinksalot -
I appreciate the Earl Abel's postcard...I went to college right across the highway and believe me, there was a big fuss when they got rid of the original to move it out to some subdivision. This postcard brought back some great memories!Posted 01-24-2009 at 01:39 PM by nileprincess -
wait, is the parade just a rebranding of the same parade that the magic kingdom's had for centuries? oh i am sooooo sorry, you poor WDW fans.Posted 01-24-2009 at 10:18 PM by twobluestripes -
Yay! The penguin pictures! I was looking forward to them.
Great update!Posted 01-25-2009 at 01:09 AM by MonstersGoBoo! 
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photomatt, beautiful photos....Posted 01-25-2009 at 01:39 AM by aussiedave - I just moved to Germany from Utah in November. I took my family to the Deidesheim, Kaiserslautern, and Kusel Christmas markets. What a treat! Your pics of Nuremburg has helped us decide at least one market we'll hit next year.
Personally, I'm really looking forward to going to Frankenstein castle for Halloween and Europa Park, too. Based on last year's website, Europa's version of Halloween Horror Nights looks 10X better than USF could pull off.Posted 01-25-2009 at 02:47 AM by WesternMouse -
My husband and I have been stationed over here in Germany for almost 4 years now. We regularly go to the places in your pictures. Esp during Christmas time. I was so happy to see someone came down here to Bavaria. Usually when people make trips over here it's the Northern part they visit and only Munich during Oktoberfest!! Loved your pictures. You did a great job on showing people what Bavaria is all about.Posted 01-25-2009 at 06:18 AM by PrettyInMickeyEars -
We were visiting my brother and sister-in-law who are civilian elementary school teachers at the US Army Base at Grafenwoehr. That's how we ended up in Bavaria.Quote:I was so happy to see someone came down here to Bavaria.Posted 01-25-2009 at 12:13 PM by Rixter -
Great pics Photomatt, however I must say that the first one make the Mickey Floral look a bit.....creepy.Posted 01-25-2009 at 04:18 PM by Mnemorath -
I always love the weekend update! Good to see things that are going om around the world and not just with Disney. Great Great Great!Posted 01-26-2009 at 12:10 AM by Kritter -
I have a comment, and I want to word it carefully so that I don't sound like a jerk here. While the pictures that are posted from around the world are very pretty, I don't understand why they're being posted on a Disney website. I come here to find out the latest stuff going on in the parks around the world. Someone's trip to Germany, while interesting on its own, just doesn't seem to have a place here. If I'm in the minority I'll happily shut my yapper and just skip past them. But I thought I'd make a statement and see if anyone else agrees.Posted 01-26-2009 at 07:47 AM by danyoung -
Dan, I can understand where you are coming from. You are interested in what this site offers regarding Disney. Great. That's the main point of MiceChat. That's what brings us all here, and is our common bond.
But, for some of us, MiceChat isn't just about Disney. There's forums for other theme parks, entertainment outside of Disney, sports, collecting, etc.
Andy Castro does his weekly Disneyland update. Which has all the information and pictures of even the most minute details and changes. David Michael's So. Cal parks column has even MORE Disney, with a dose of other So. Cal park news. And Kevin Yee does a weekly column on the happenings in Florida. Not to mention the Al Lutz updates, whenever there's major news.
If there was no other outlet for information and pictures on Disney than weekend update, I might find myself agreeing with you. But Weekend Update is exactly what it says it is. "New photos from around the world every week." And there is always some dose of Disney tossed in to appeal to people like you, who are just looking for a Disney fix.
And that's fine and understandable. I think my point is that MiceAge/MiceChat offers so much content, it's easy to pick and choose what you want to read/be involved with. And that would be my recommendation to you.
On a side note, I believe, now an administrator can correct me if I'm wrong, Weekend Update is one of the more popular MiceAge features. This means more people coming to MiceChat, which equals more members, which is all around good for MiceChat.
PS I want to thank you for taking the time to politely voice your concerns. I can't speak for anyone else, but I appreciated it, even if we disagree.Posted 01-26-2009 at 11:57 AM by MaryAnn in Wndrlnd
Updated 01-26-2009 at 12:30 PM by MaryAnn in Wndrlnd -
I didn't know they tethered the characters to the floats. Is that to keep them from attacking the guests? Or is it to keep them from escaping back to civilization?Posted 01-26-2009 at 10:02 PM by disney-fan-reborn - I also agree with Dan about the vacation photos from places like Germany, St. Augustine Florida, etc. I don't think they really have a place here on a Disney-based forum. I would have to say that the Weekendu Update "New photos from around the world every week" would mean photos from Disney parks around the world.
I do like the various other vacation pics, but....I don't know. Now I'm finding it hard to decide. Ah...just keep 'em!Posted 01-26-2009 at 10:08 PM by disney-fan-reborn
