Gotta Go! Walt Disney World Orlando

This past November we made a quick trip to Orlando, Florida, home to Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World. I was immediately impressed with the sheer size of the city and the amount of construction going on. Walt was on to something when he started picking up acres upon acres of swamp land back in the 1960's. Apparently Disney owns, designs and built the entire resort which houses something like 30 hotels and owns 24 of them. Unlike Disneyland where you can stay on property or in the resort and simply walk over, at Disney World we took an Uber to a parking lot then a ferry to the gate, no half day, in and out trips for this place. Driving around you see grass and bodies of water everywhere, apparently a swamp is a piece of land with lots of vegetation while ponds are just bodies of water? There's some general signage but you really can't see much of the parks at all from the road. There's four parks total, Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. We opted for a Hopper pass and hit up three of the four parks in a single day, phew!

Magic Kingdom is basically like Disneyland with the castle and the main street and your different lands. In a nice touch you can set up your first three Fast Passes online once you buy tickets and there's cool spots like Gaston's Tavern and a Snow White mine car ride. Hollywood Studios houses shows and roller coasters along with one of the last Planet Hollywood's in the world, it's not even a restaurant though, just a gift shop with some 90's era photos of Stallone and life sized Arnold Terminator 2 prop. The Turner Classic Movie ride was a nice throwback to Hollywood but lines were insane for the Aerosmith coaster and Tower of Terror. Epcot has that giant golf ball looking thing and several science attractions along with beautifully designed sections of the world complete with people from those countries to work there. It was Food & Wine Fest time so it was PACKED. Tooling around Orlando was fun, most of our Uber drivers were from New York or Jersey and had just had enough of the cold weather. Target didn't sell hard booze but there was a liquor store next door so it worked out. Nearly every restaurant we went to asked if you wanted to make it a double for $2-3 bucks more, we couldn't afford not to!

All in it would be pretty easy to spend a few days or even a week in town as there was plenty to Disney and Orlando in general we didn't get to see. With so many hotel options prices were considerably less than in Anaheim, California. There's also an interesting trend of seafood offering buffets we didn't get to nosh at so next time it will be lobster-pocalypse.

Wine Guys: Adrian Paul & Kurt Russell

I don't know how it happened but I've been wine tasting twice in the last few weeks. First it was in Malibu at the Wine Safari where you hang out with animals like horses, llamas and a giraffe then at Disney California Adventure Park during their Food and Wine Festival. April continues to be the time to get wine'd up as this Sunday, 4.10 at the Lorimar Winery in Temecula you can learn how to use a sword AND taste wines at Adrian Paul's The Sword Experience. Paul of course was the star of the hit syndicated show Highlander and starred in two feature films as Duncan MacCleod, cousin to Christopher Lambert's Connor. Living through the centuries as an immortal who battles others like him with decapitation as the only way to kill them. With the removal of the head comes the absorption of knowledge set to lightning and rain with a blaring rock soundtrack. For $350 bones, you can train with Paul for 4.5 hours while enjoying breakfast and lunch, a photo with the star and teacher, complimentary wine tasting and a free club membership. If that weren't enough, there's live music afterwards. Paul is taking The Sword Experience on the road, hitting Chicago, Houston, London, Stuttgart and Minneapolis to meet the fans and support his charity, The Peace Fund, which aims to Protect, Educate and Aid Children Everywhere.

Next Saturday, 4.16 at California Adventure Park you can meet movie legend Kurt Russell and hear him discuss his awesome career and passion for wine making. Apparently the star of Escape From New York, Big Trouble In Little China, Tombstone and Tango & Cash fell in love with the fermented drink while shooting Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof in wine country. Since then, the apprentice winemaker has created small batch boutique label Gogi that offers Goldie Chardonnay and Tiger Pinot Noir. I picked up a bottle of Tiger last weekend and can't wait to crack it open with friends on Friday night. For $199 you can kick back with Russell in the advertised informal 90 minute get-together. Through May you can attend demonstrations and meet the likes of Robert Irvine and Guy Fieri.

Disney Weekend: Star Wars Edition

 
To celebrate an early Christmas, we trekked down to Anaheim for a weekend of Disney and Star Wars shenanigans. The place was already pretty jammed on Friday night but I was excited to check out the Star Wars themed makeover "Season of the Force" in Tomorrowland. Space Mountain is now Hyperspace Mountain, Star Tours contains new footage inspired by The Force Awakens, part of Innoventions is now the Launch Bay with toys, costumes, models and more while you can get themed burgers from the Galactic Grill along with BB-8 and Chewbacca souvenir mugs. Captain EO recently ended its resurgent run and has been replaced with a SW clip show from the previous 6 films and ending with an Awakens trailer. They say Disney stands to make $5 billion bucks alone from The Force Awakens in merchandising and ticket sales so that $4 billion price tag is looking like a giant bargain already. Hyperspace Mountain was cool as you flew around in the dark of space while Imperial Stardestroyers, Tie Fighters and X-Wings duked it out around you. It was a little chilly this weekend so the fast moving attraction was freezing! Star Tours added a message from new character Fin (that annoying kid from Attack the Block, don't suck, kid!) and a new sequence where you're flying around wreckage in the desert and run into the Millennium Falcon. If you're on the hunt for a BB-8 sipper, don't waste your time at the drink cart, just go into Pizza Planet Port Place and grab one. Storm Troopers were walking around the park and Cast Members were using lightsabers to direct traffic, it's great to see such excitement and enthusiasm and Disney is making a killing.

Con-Man: D23 Expo '15 Friday

 
Another jam packed weekend, complete with heat wave! It was another first as we traveled to Anaheim for the every other year Disney celebration that is D23 Expo. D23 is the official fan club of all things House of Mouse and the Expo is like their version of Comic-Con to showcase all of their latest and greatest in film, animation, television, video games, toys, theme parks and the like. We arrived Friday evening with just enough time to walk the floor for a bit. Sadly, unlike previous shows at The Anaheim Convention Center WonderCon and Star Wars Celebration, there were no bars on the floor. #ThanksLittleKids. Since we got there so late we also missed The Goofy Movie Anniversary panel, double sadly.

It was surprisingly not crowded walking in as food trucks had virtually no lines. Greeting us was the Buzz Lightyear balloon from the Macy's Day Parade. Buzz aka animated Tim Allen looked great as we entered the empty lobby to pick up lanyards, event guides and bags (that I ripped right away, Damme lats). Heading into the show floor I really had no clue what to expect. I hadn't done any research and just figured there'd be a lot of Disney things. What shocked me was how empty it was. The entire exhibit hall was set up with colorful carpet, displays, attractions, stores and more; basically a trade show to highlight upcoming products while displaying the history of the Disney brand. Right away you had sections devoted to Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, ABC, the new Muppet Show, Red Cross, on and on.

There were three stores set up, each selling show exclusives like art, shirts and those little Tsum Tsum things. Unlike a typical comic and pop culture show, there were only a handful of non-Disney vendors, many of them selling pins and other collectibles like statues, paintings and park memorabilia. We walked into a sudden influx of attendees as I realized where the crowd was, in the D23 Hall watching a panel. Earlier in the day the likes of George Lucas, Danny Elfman and Johnny Depp greeted the crowd. One upping San Diego's 6,500 capacity Hall H, D23 passed on using the Convention Center arena and set up 7,500 chairs in Hall E. Even with the new wave of people, it wasn't that crowded. Ed Asner was set up selling autographs and there were tables for the likes of Dick Van Dyke, Sean Astin, Corey Feldman and several voice actors.

Walking around the memorabilia sections I was very disappointed in the lack of items from either The Rocketeer or classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea starring one Kirk Douglas. On the other side of the show floor there were Star Wars video game set ups along with Disney cartoons, more Marvel, more Pixar and a large booth selling fine art with several artists dropping by for signings and sketches. Every few aisles you'd run into a Trading Card post where you'd be handed one of thirty cards being given out during the show for trading. Little did I know that this would become one of my hobbies for the weekend. Afterwards we caught an Uber to Anaheim favorite spot The Lazy Dog Cafe that had crowds of people waiting outside but we walked right in and sat at the bar. It was a terrific start to a fun weekend. Saturday and Sunday coming right up!

Con-Man: August Overload

It hasn't even been a month but San Diego Comic-Con seems like a distant memory. Fortunately there are several shows big and small in August to keep us busy. Sadly, I've already missed two of them! This past Sunday saw two shows on opposite sides of the city take place. The one closest to me that I somehow didn't know about, was Carson's inaugural YesterCon, a celebration of comics, movies and cartoons from the 80's and 90's. Exhibition space sold out while guests like Michael Bower (Salute Your Shorts), Hank Garrett (G.I. Joe), Larry Houston (X-Men Animated), Townsed Coleman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and several Power Rangers met the fans. It looked like a decent sized show with plenty of vendors, a mini arcade and panel space. I still can't believe I didn't know about the show and it was only a few minutes away! Over in Claremont by Pomona is the bi-monthly Packing House Comic Book & Collectible Show. There's free admission and parking with the next show scheduled for September 27th.

A show I won't be missing is this weekend's ScareLA: the Haunt, Horror & Halloween Convention. While I'm not a huge horror guy, it's always fun to check out a new show. Plus it's in picturesque Pasadena where Bot-Con was. In it's third year, ScareLA showcases local haunted attractions, make up and decorating classes, exhibition floor with 150 vendors, speed dating, hours of panels, screenings, nighttime concert and a live exorcism?! Also this weekend north of Los Angeles is Stocktoncon where Pop Culture will be celebrated through comics, gaming, exhibitors and guests like Ken Shamrock, Tone Rodriguez, Ron Lim and Koko. B. Ware?!

The weekend of August 14th - 16th will be a big one for Orange County as Disney's D-23 Expo takes over the Anaheim Convention Center. This will also be a first for us with awesome talent like George Lucas and John Lasseter attending, panels on attractions, Imagineering, The Muppets and A Goofy Movie 20th Anniversary Reunion! Now that Star Wars and Marvel are under the House of Mouse, expect some news and appearances for upcoming films like The Force Awakens and Captain America: Civil War. Unlike this year's WonderCon and Star Wars Celebration at the Anaheim Convention Center, it looks like you can't walk the exhibit floor with booze... Just up the street in Orange, you can hang out with Cable, Deadpool, X-Force creator and O.C. native Rob Liefeld at Big Red Comics on Saturday from 2:00 - 5:00PM.

If that weren't enough, the following weekend there's Nerd Con in Escondido north of San Diego while staple Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention welcomes Agent Carter Hayley Atwell on Sunday the 22nd near USC and downtown. It's been a while since I checked out the LA Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi Con so it will be interesting to see how things have changed or stayed the same. Past guests include Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Bolo Yeung, Jackie Chan, Vin Diesel, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Arnold Schwarzenegger!

To wrap things up, Anaheim hosts Anime California on Friday - Sunday, August 8.28 - 30th. Anime and video games are the prime focus here with Artist Alley already sold out, fan-run panels lining up, concerts, cosplay and the SCR e-gaming tournament where video game athletes battle it out in Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and many more titles.  While Sunday August 30th is the San Fernando Valley Comic Book Convention that touts $5 admission and free parking. Phew! See you at the show(s)!

Rando Calrissian: Weekly Round Up

Welcome to Rando Calrissian, a smorgasbord of things randomly interesting that I came across this week.  Where else will you find blurbs about Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, BeyondFest and Friday the 13th?  Exactly.

- Tim Allen and Tom Hanks to star in Disney's
"Jungle Cruise"? 
Not sure how I missed this announcement back in 2011 but apparently Disney wanted to follow the "ride into a movie" successes of Pirates of the Caribbean and make a live action feature film based on the popular attraction that transports you back to the 1930's as you travel the exotic and dangerous Mekong, African Congo, Nile and Amazon rivers.  Opened in 1955, the 7-minute ride employs animatronic versions of tigers, gorillas, elephants and African tribesman in various scenarios.  Allen and Hanks have already teamed up multiple times for the award winning, tear jerking, massive money making Toy Story trilogy and TV specials as animated heroes Buzz Lightyear and Woody the Cowboy.  Shrek's Roger S.H. Schulman was hired to write a script to be produced by The Fighter's David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman.  It's been pretty quiet on the development front, I wonder if the lackluster performance of The Haunted Mansion slowed things down?  Anyways, I've always wondered when Allen and Hanks would team up in a live action flick so here's hoping it comes together.

- BeyondFest's Christian Parkes joins Alamo Drafthouse
Parkes is a friend and mentor to Dammaged Goods so I'm very excited to see his recent hard earned and well deserved success in creating and curating Los Angeles' BeyondFest, the world film festival that hosted Goblin, Clive Barker, Richard Donner, Joe Dante and more during their inaugural event.  Parkes will act as Chief Brand Officer to the Austin based Drafthouse empire that runs cinemas, film production and distribution, festivals and poster printing to form one cohesive vision for the fast growing company.  Starting at Puma then moving to Nike, Levi's, Myspace and Nasty Gal, Parkes has plenty of marketing savvy to help Alamo knock it up a notch.  While at Levi's, Parkes help shepherd the Rolling Roadshow, a nationwide tour of free outdoor 35mm film screenings that took place at locations used in the movies.  Fans watched Rocky from the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, took in Robocop at the finale's rundown Industrial Complex in Michigan and rocked out with The Blues Brothers at Chicago's Joliet Prison during the month long slate.

- It's Friday the 13th AND a Full Moon
For office dwellers, Friday is the best day of the week but in some circles it's considered unlucky as is the number 13 so when a Friday falls on a 13th, roll yourself in four leaf clovers cause shit's coming down.  12 is considered the gold standard of completeness as there's that many months in a year, hours on a clock, deities of Olympus, Apostles of JC, signs of the Zodiac and years in the Buddhist cycle! In the past, 13 has been deemed irregular and goes against the rule.  Superstitions can run so deep that some buildings omit labeling a 13th floor in elevators.  As for the Full Moon, I dunno, something about the earth, moon and sun are in alignment but the moon is on the opposite side of the earth so the sunlit part is facing us.  From werewolves to serial killers, lunar phases have been fodder for explaining surges in mental instability as well as affecting the ocean tide.  Our next scheduled Full Moon and Friday the 13th won't happen again until August of 2049.

Snow Screen: The Santa Clause

Monday was a pretty good day.  Got a few packages in the mail, received some pleasant news at work and found out on the day we were going to Disneyland, they'd be screening their 1994 holiday hit, The Santa Clause, starring our favorite TV dad Tim Allen!  If that isn't destiny I don't know what is.  You might think it's weird to go to Disneyland and watch a 20 year old movie but we've hit the park hard for 3 years already; Fantasmic anniversary, Mickeys Halloween Trick or Treat, early entry, Club 33 (dinner is way better than lunch, ambiance!)...our current record stands at 5 rides in 1 hour and that included the 3 dealies at Cars Land!  So not real worried about going on Star Tours for the 20th time, which we did anyway.

The flick was playing on Main Street where Great Moments With Abraham Lincoln usually rolls.  Had no idea the place sat 485 peeps!  After a brief introduction, they hit play on the DVD player.  Clause is the story of Scott Calvin (mother BLEEP-ing) Tim Allen, a successful marketing exec at a toy company and divorced dad trying to spend Christmas Eve with his annoyingly cute yet disconnected son.  That night, Scott startles an intruder on the roof who turns out to be Santa Claus!  Spooked Santa tumbles off the roof and dies (kid's movie?!) and Scott grudgingly picks up the mantle to appease his kid.  North Pole, grumpy animatronic reindeer, children as elves, real life divorce shit, Judge Reinhold in ugly sweaters, Armand Assante and gift giving hijinks ensues.

Clause holds up remarkably well, as in it hasn't aged into a dated, schmaltzy, hollow cash grab that it could of.  The pace moves quickly, blending the fantasy Claus elements with the pseudo realistic family drama.  It might not be a Christmas classic but it serves its purpose better than recent attempts by Vince Vaughn and Allen himself in Four Christmases, Fred Claus and Christmas With the Kranks.  What's interesting is that Allen, a raunchy, opinionated, former drug dealer comedian would have a career defined by family entertainment funded by Disney.  For a week in 1994, Allen had the number one sitcom, movie and New York Times Best Seller in America.

Iron Mouse!

Oh you didn't know?  Disney recently purchased Lucas Film and Marvel to the turn the deadbolt and put the chain on the teenage boy market.

So now we get a Stark Industries exhibit inside Innoventions at Disneyland!  Only I thought there were like twenty-five suits of armor on display but there's only five or six.  Still pretty cool to see and looking forward to some Marvel themed rides and attractions in the next decade.  Psst, Captain America everything!