First I found the post about the Hannah Montana movie. When I saw that, it clicked.  They were planning on ending Hannah Montana.  It is just the way Disney does it (Well, except for Phil of the Future, which they quite abruptly ended with a single episode at the end of Season 2).  The Lizzie Maguire Movie, The Proud Family Movie, The Even Stevens Movie, and even Kim Possible: So The Drama (though fans managed to wrangle an extra season out of that).

Of course, if I had just gone back a few more posts first, I would have found this post.  Now  there was a  rumor  flying around lately (I wouldn’t be surprised if they were started by PerezHilton, which seems to have it out for Miley) that Hannah Montana was already canceled.  That was patently false.  The show is still going on… at least until that movie is aired.  Even the premise as reported, that the Stewarts were going back to Tennessee, sounds like the type of storyline that would end the show.

Now I realize that many of you (and I certain “should be”) are a bit tired of Hannah Montana, and her seeming overexposure, but if Hannah is to survive the end of season three, it is time to start now thinking about writing a letter or giving a call to Disney and tell them that they have got to stop arbitrarily axing shows after  3 seasons.

I am totally not telling LatteGirl until the show has completely ended, and I guess hope that she is “over” Hannah by then.  I don’t want it to break her achy breaky heart.  (aww, c’mon, you knew I had to do it sooner or later)

We have clothes, dolls, I was one of the fortunate parents that was able to get tickets (at face value) for the concert, and  Santa Claus even came across with the Digital Blue 718 Disney Mix Stick Hannah Montan Mp3 Player (a compromise between me wanting her to have her own music player, and TheWife thinking she was too young for a “real” MP3 player).

Now of course, since our TV rarely leaves the Disney Channel, I of course knew that the Hannah Montana 3D movie was coming.  I was somewhat hoping (fine I was in denial) that since she went to the actual concert, she would not be interested in going to see the movie.  Of course this was NOT the case.  But fine I thought, it is just a movie.

What I didn’t anticipate (and did not see in the commercials until this past week) is that this movie is being release for “1 week only.”  Which in many of the theaters (at least around here) means they are only showing it 1 or 2 days.   Then TheWife informs me that tickets are $15!!!  $15 for a movie that is barely over an hour long!  But things don’t stop there.  No, since there are only a total of 6 shows over two days, the closest theater to us that is showing the movie is SOLD OUT!  TheWife was actually considering (before I found tickets at another theater) trying to buy tickets through a ticket broker.  Can you imagine this?  Scalping tickets to a movie?

Fortunately as I said, I was able to find tickets at another theater, because there was no way I was “paying up” for tickets to the movie.  So, TheWife and LatteGirl will get to see Hannah in 3D (Noooo, I’m not going… not at $15 per).  And I am left to ponder, is Disney out of their freakin’ minds?  Or am I?

Of course much of this was only a bit of background story by the next day as she prepared to go back to the Prudential Center once again, but this time to see Hannah Montana / Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers.  Between Santa Claus, Mommy and Daddy, and some relatives, she was completely decked out in everything (except a blond wig) in Hannah Montana apparel.  Shirt, Denim Jacket, Jeans and even her purse sports the logo of the Disney Channel Pop Princess.  They arrived at the arena 3 hours before showtime (and an hour before the MileyWorld bus for the fan club showed up.  Not quite suprisingly, she was not the only one, as on my way to the office about 1/2 hour before that, I saw tweens and parents already milling around the train station area a couple of blocks away from the arena.

Needless to say the show was a big hit as Miley and the Jonas Brothers were “so on” (or so I was told).  The only disappointments (if you can call them that) was first at MileyWorld they had some sort of Karaoke setup for people to sing songs, but LatteGirl did not get picked (this is one of those instances, where I almost regret her being so polite and well mannered, she would raise her hand to show she wanted to sing, but was not jumping around, screaming and pushing like others were and she just really never had a shot to get picked) and the second “issue” was that LatteGirl refused to leave afterwards, as she tried to get a glimpse of Miley up close.  She did manage to spot the Jonas brothers and “they waved right at me.”  But Miley was apparently whisked away in a separate car.  LatteGirl simply would not accept it to be true until a security guard from the building confirmed that “Miley has left already,” before she finally resigned herself to the fact that she wasn’t going to see Miley.

Sunday was a get together with TheWife’s side of the family, where there were a few tense minutes when I heard about supposedly racy photos of Miley that were posted at PerezHilton.com.  Fearing another “Spears-like” scenario, I was quite releived to find out that this was more about somebody trying to make a big deal out of something that wasn’t, and I am only linking to it here so that other parents that may hear about it can actually see it for themselves so they are not panicked (as I was at first), because when you read the headlines, like at MSNBC that says, “Miley upset about leak of racy photos” you initially assume (or I did) that they were much worse than what they turned out to be.

And finally it was quite pathetic to hear read this story about a mother that admitted lying about her husband dying in Iraq in an essay to win Hannah Montana tickets.  This really has me all twisted up in side.  The promoters of the contest are considering pulling the tickets away.  At first, I thought “Good”  she deserves it.  And the mother really does.  However, I feel sorry for the six year old daughter who has now already been told that she won a makeover, a flight and tickets to the show.  How do you tell that poor little kid that, now you can’t go because your mom is a lying, manipulating sleezeball that won the prize under false pretenses?

Well, none of that fortunately actually affects us, and at least for now it is all Miley all the time around here.

Unfortunately, if you had preconceived notions on this going in, there was very little in this production to change your opinion. For those with kids, and the touristy (is too a word) types, the show was enjoyed. Of course, for those people, they were satisfied hearing the numbers that you expected to hear going in, such as Part of Your World, Poor Unfortunate Souls and Under the Sea. For the most part the cast was admirable, Sierra Boggess proved quite good as Ariel, and simiarly other members were at the very least acceptable in their roles with a few glaring exceptions, but even in those cases, I am not sure whether I can blame the actors in the roles, or the “vision” of director.

In short (what do you mean “too late”), I was disappointed with The Little Mermaid. It wasn’t “Quick Close” awful (like the recent Broadway bombs Lestat or Lennon), as the main numbers are already known hits, and tourists will help keep it afloat (pun somewhat intended) for some time, but the show is missing it’s magic. You do not get completely wrapped up into the show or its characters, and the ability to “lose yourself” in it is noticeably absent. In short, if this was a regional production or small local show, I would say “well done” but instead looking at this as a full scale stage production, I am only left scratching my head asking, “What were they thinking?”

So, where did it go so wrong? At first blush, I thought to myself that something did not quite add up when looking at the show. It was as if the whole did not add up to the sum of its parts. If I was happy with the cast, and I thought the singing was good, then why did it seem so off? Then I realized, it had little to do with the people on the stage, and more about those that weren’t.

Choreography. Not the worst part of the show, but the numbers were clearly lacking. Perhaps because of the costumes and adjustments that had to be made for actors that had to spend the show on “Wheelies” (more on that in a minute), but the choreography was lacking. I am not quite sure what the choreographer was going for, but it came off with some sort of tribal feeling that seemed more at home in The Lion King than it did here, and seemed overall uninspired.  Under the Sea, which should have been the livliest and most fun number in the show comes off as a chaotic mess more reminiscent of Three Ring Circus.

Sets. What sets? It seemed like the show was pushed into the realm of “interpretive” where the audience was expected to accept an awful lot of abstract pieces and make the set in their minds. It fails miserably. The ship appears to be hanging in mid air rather than floating in the “water” of the set. There was little to no backdrops to anything. The one standard piece at the back of the stage flipped and turned into, (theoretically) the moon, the sun, and what is that a spaceship? Oh, no I guess it is supposed to be chandelier in the dining room and the ball room. Overall, it wound up looking more like something I would hang up in my windows for Christmas.  Other large, unidentifiable pieces pop on and off at times, providing to fill the stage, though you never quite really have any clue what they actually are supposed to be or represent.

Directing. The characters I was least satisfied with in the play were Sebastian (Tituss Burgess), Ursula (Sherie Rene Scott) and her sidekicks Flotsam (Tyler Maynard) and Jetsam (Derrick Baskin).  Initially I was going to lay at the feet of the actors themselves, but as the show went on, and the things I found wrong mounted, I can only assume these “interpretations” of the characters that I was so disappointed in, was the work of the director.  In the case of Sebastian, as the show went along, Burgess’ presence seemed to get stronger and was not nearly as dragging on the show as he was in the first act.  Now  I should point out in fairness that TheWife did not share my disdain for Ursula and her cronies, she thought they were fine.  I on the other hand was so annoyed by their style, their presence on the stage immediately jerked me out of the moment, and instead of making me feel like I was watching the show, I was instead watching some sort of cartoonish Saturday Night Live version.  Picture Ursula played by Phyliss Diller, cackly laugh and all, and you have this version of Ursula.  Flotsam, if you can imagine him played by Martin Short with the silly faces and all, you have Maynard’s character down, and Jetsam was similar.  If that is what the director had in mind building these characters, then the actors did a superb job of building that vision, it just wasn’t The Little Mermaid.

Script and Music.  OK, so you need to alter the show because obviously you can not pull off on stage things that you can in an animated movie, and for a musical Broadway production you need a bit more than the original show had, so you need to add some numbers.  I understand and appreciate that.  But both were poor.  If you didn’t know the show or story before going in, this did not stand up on its own.  The story was too fractured to have a clean an understandable time line, or even to say the full plot was completely conveyed.  This may have been partly due to the fact that in their effort to stuff the music in they simply didn’t leave enough time for the rest of the writing.  I don’t know.   I just know it didn’t work.  And while we are on the music, I would love to know who’s decision it was to give so much time to Scuttle.  Way too much. Scuttle is a funny character in his bit appearances, but not to give multiple numbers in the show.  He is supposed to be a funny bit part (like the chef), but they gave him way too much time, without the benefit of advancing the story.  The opening number of Fathoms Below, expanded from its short form in the Movie to a full blown number on the ship (opening the show) was a real yawner both musically and visually.   I was ready after Beauty and The Beast to buy the Soundtrack to this show as soon as I got in the door.  Fortunately (for me), this being only the 8th performance (due to the stagehand strike in New York), they have not actually made the CD yet, and were only taking pre-orders for it, which I opted against getting.  And needless to say, by the time the show was done, I was happy, I hadn’t plunked down the money for this.

In the end, I all I can say it, if you have lots of money and time to waste, and a child to bring with you (that can appreciate the fact that it is The Little Mermaid, and not care about things such as an actual storyline, and will cheer accordingly) then by all means go.  If you are expecting a worthwhile theater experience however, then The Little Mermaid will most likely leave you disappointed.

Then came the request for tickets for Hannah Montana.  It would be an early Christmas present for LatteGirl.  OK, I thought.  No big deal.  But imagine my surprise when I discovered that tickets for this concert would cost MORE than a Broadway show!  It took about 1/2 hour once the tickets went on sale before I was able to secure tickets.  Upper Level at the new Prudential Center that will be opening (theoretically) this week.  Read that again… UPPER LEVEL!  Cost? $120 a piece.  For Hannah Montana!   Now, I understand I am old now… but I don’t think if I add up the cost of every concert I have ever attended, that it would cost more than the $240 I had to lay out for this one event.

I was even more shocked when I heard that the concert sold out in a hour, and that tickets were now being given away on local radio stations, just like “real” concert tickets.  I guess at these prices that this is a real concert, but somehow it just doesn’t seem the same thing to me.  I saw this much more like a “Kiddie Concert” but I guess I was wrong.

TheWife’s new laptop machine is now “SnowWhite,” while LatteGirl’s Desktop is “KimPossible”  My old laptop has become “Mater”  (as in ‘Tah’-mater, but without the ‘Tah’)

Now the useless trivia question of the day, “What did I name my new Laptop?”

(hint for those that have paid attention, it is a character from my favorite Disney Movie.  Full Disclosure – you won’t find it by searching for “Favorite Disney Movie” on this blog, but I have mentioned in the past)

Yes, Disney World is expensive, but there are ways to cut corners and keep your expenses to a minimum if you try. Yes, it can be hot (it was in the mid 90’s with high humidity the week we were there), but you can also plan your trip when it isn’t as hot (Heck Wendy was complaining how COLD is was when she went back in February). Lines can be long for some rides, but thanks to FastPass (this wikipedia entry is a bit dated, but gives a good overview of FastPass), you can get a ticket and return at your specified time for the ride later allowing you to explore more of the park. So what is it really? What did I get to experience that these people didn’t?

The only thing I can come up with is, that beaming smile.

We had just stood for a half hour (to get a good seat) in the sun, we had been walking through the park for about 4 hours by this point, she was hungry (because we were going to lunch after this show), and yet look at that smile. Look at the anticipation as she was awaiting the appearance of some characters (in this case from the Playhouse Disney Shows).  Yet hot, sticky, sweaty… it didn’t matter.

Now, I will admit, I had a great time in my own right, so that only makes it better for me, but even if I found Disney less that what I had anticipated, I can say for sure that no matter how much I spent on a vacation, it was all worth it, to see that smile.  To experience every morning the sheer joy of her unbridled enthusiasm of the upcoming days events.  To listen to her regale others with her journey’s.  Even people that we knew were at the same park.  In amazing detail she could recount every step, every character she met, and of course how much fun she had in doing so.

So, were other people not paying attention?  Did they miss this with their own kids?  How could something that brings that much joy to a child be something that you don’t crave again and again?  Sure for some reasons, financias, time constraints, whatever, I may not be able to do this “all the time,” but anything that can bring that kind of smile to her face… Yeah, I want as much of it as I can.  Because I am addicted… to her beaming smile.

As it turns out, I didn’t have to worry about the little one getting hooked on the Pins. Nope, she wasn’t interested in the least. I however got reeled in hook, line and sinker. I actually did very little trading, but started looking through, and buying various pins at all of the parks, as well as the Downtown Disney marketplace.

I started off solely with Lilo & Stitch pins, but TheWife and LatteGirl decided I needed to expand a bit, and purchased a couple of pins for me for Father’s Day from Cars as well as High School Musical.

As hobbies go, it is not a bad one. And since the pins are small, they are easy to collect without needing to take up a lot of space. Heck, you could collect several hundred and not need any more space than you would need for a photo album.  I suspect that this is the reason TheWife did not mind me getting hooked on this as a hobby, it is one that can be kept “out of her sight” and not have to worry about shelf space for.

However, at $7 to $14 for the majority of the pins, the cost can spiral up real quickly if you aren’t careful.  Don’t say you weren’t warned.

In some ways I have so much to say about this vacation, but in others, I am sure much of it is probably obvious to many (if not all). I don’t want to bore (Hey! I heard that!) , but do want to share some of the ups and even (few) downs from our trip, and the lessons we learned on this first excursion to the House that was built by a Mouse.  It is tough to begin when you feel like you have too much to say, especially when you find it hard to describe how magical (yes, fine, I used it… Magical… It really does fit.) a place it really is, and what a wonderful trip it was.

As I alluded to earlier, Walt Disney World in Florida is simply huge. Until you actually see it, you really have no idea just how big the whole thing is. This is both something that makes for a pleasant surprise, and yet makes it all seem quite daunting.

There are tons of books out there on navigating, surviving and even affording Disney (I will list a few of my favorites later). And now I see why. I feel like I have only scratched the surface, and already, (if I was a real writer type) I could already fill a tome or two with information. When people say you need a plan of attack, to maximize your time, they are not kidding. It is really easy to get overwhelmed if you allow yourself to.

Since I had gone to Disneyland for a day back some 10 years ago or so while on a business trip, I thought I had things, “covered.” I thought I knew the score and what to expect. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Oh Disneyland is nice. It is entertaining, and certainly has some of the charm of Disney. But by and large, it is far more like a Six Flags Park than it is to the grandeur of Disney World Florida.

I will go into more detail later, but just let me say, if you are planning to go to Disney World in the next 6 months, the time to make your reservations for either a breakfast or dinner with the characters, especially the one at Cinderella’s castle, the time to make your reservations is right now. Not tomorrow, not next week, but now. Otherwise you may find yourself on the outside looking in at these events. We did manage to get one breakfast with the Princesses and one with the Playhouse Disney characters, but were shut out from others because of our timing. (And it was only thanks to a cancellation that we were able to get in on the Playhouse Disney breakfast).

I had planned this as a “once in a lifetime” type of trip, and probably spent way more than I should have, but to be honest, at least so far, I do not regret it. We did manage to save a few dollars here and there being smart with things like, getting the meal plan. This was not only a huge money saver, but a plain great deal. It didn’t restrict our eating in any way since we never left Disney World, we got to eat wherever and whenever we wanted, while saving a ton of money over paying for every meal separately.

My wife being far wiser than I was, and knowing full well that we would most likely return at some point, purchased passes for 10 Days. You see the more days you buy, the less it costs per day. And for a small additional fee, the passes never expire. So we used 5 days worth on this trip and for just slightly more money already have the 5 days for our next trip already paid for. Lest I forget, especially if you have children where you may not wish to spend a full day every day in the same park, the “Park Hopper” option is also a great addition to maximize your time, and so you don’t wind up “stuck” one day because the kids are “done” with a particular park early. Again, I will give more details later, but being done with a park early is definitely a possibility with in particular those younger than tweens/teens when you go to Epcot. Epcot is great in its own right, but definitely short on things to entertain the little ones.

I could probably continue this post on forever, but in the interest of brevity, readability (aww, c’mon now! That wasn’t nice.) and to hopefully put this into to sort of order, perhaps I should stop babbling…. for now.