Today, Disney officially opened a store in Downtown Chicago. While a Disney Store has been located further north along the 'Magnificent Mile' for some years, this new store is located in the heart of the Chicago Loop retail and business center. I was able to visit the store today during my lunch break since I work nearby. Here are some pics I took:
The Disney Store is located at Washington and State Street. Its located inside Block 37, the new retail center complex.
Where else can you see classic Disney films? This picture does not do any justice to the look of the film and the screen. Its definitely a HD projection.
This is the first Disney Store I have seen where you can make Ridemakerz cars. This store is really aiming for the boys. Check out the CARS related toys and merchandise:
This is the sitting area for the movie screen...
Time for arts & crafts...
This is the touch-screen panel that controls what is shown on the movie screen...
Here is a closer look..
Another view of the screening room area...
This is the other store entrance located inside Block 37...
This is a digital panel that shows info about the store...
Looks like its gonna be a busy week at the new Disney Store...
This mural is located next to the store entrance...I LOVE IT!!!
Don't worry...there's PLENTY of toys and merchandise for the girls...LOL!!!
Various images are projected on these tree panels...can you spot the Hidden Mickey?
How about now...
Or now...
All in all, its a great store. Its a nice size and seems to have everything for everyone. The location of the store is PRIME. This store will easily do big business and get tons of foot traffic. I for one will be a regular shopper. Have a Magical day!!!
Well it looks like the dog days of Summer are quickly coming to an end. The chill is in the air, the clouds are grey and the leaves on the trees are turning a golden color. I can't believe Summer went by so fast. Where did the time go? Well when I think of Summer, there is one Madonna song that always reminds me of fun-filled days. That song is CHERISH, from the Like A Prayer album.
Cherish is a great fun-filled song. With easy lyrics to remember and a great melody, this song just hums along. Its a great song about having a wonderful relationship and 'cherishing' every moment together. The one thing that makes this song stand out is the Herb Ritts directed video for the song. Prior to this video, Herb Ritts was a world-famous celebrity photographer whose pictures graced the pages of almost every magazine that existed: Interview, George, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Rolling Stone, Vogue, Vanity Fair and Elle. He photographed Madonna for the cover of her True Blue album, among other photo projects. Here is the original photograph that Ritts shot of Madonna:
And here is the photo as used as the cover art work for Madonna's TRUE BLUE album:
When Madonna was photographed for the True Blue album cover, she suggested that Ritts try directing music videos. That project finally happened in 1989. Cherish is the 1st video that Herb Ritts directed. Shot in beautiful mono-chromatic blue hues, the video perfectly reflects the happiness and sexiness of the song. The style and look of this video would be repeated in the follow-up videos Ritts directed for other artists: Janet Jackson's Love Will Never Do, Chris Isaak's Wicked Game & Michael Jackson's In The Closet. But it all began with Madonna's Cherish video. So for your viewing pleasure, here is Madonna's ode to loving relationships:
Who knew four words could make someone so happy? Well, in less than seven days I will be traveling to California on a much needed vacation. A lot will happen on this trip: visiting LA, attending a taping of a late-night TV program, taking a movie studio tour, visiting friends and family and a trip to Palm Springs. Oh, and yes a trip to Disneyland! While we'll only be at Disneyland for two days, we are planning to do a lot while there. We're attending Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland. We're attending a viewing of the new World of Color water show at Disney California Adventure. We're gonna ride Haunted Mansion over and over now that its transformed into the Nightmare Before Christmas experience. I'm gonna ride Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy because my partner won't! We're gonna see Disneyland's version of the Captain EO attraction. This was one of the main reasons we planned this trip. Plus, it will be my partner's birthday. And where's the best place to celebrate one's birthday? So this week I will be doing all my last minute stuff to get ready for the trip: laundry, shopping, packing, double checking plans. And when I get back I'll have plenty to share. so I will be away for awhile. Until then, Have a Magical Day!
When I first visited Disneyland in 2006, I had a very important question to answer: What would be the 1st Disneyland attraction that I would ride? When I first visited Disneyland, I had arrived with my friends around 3pm, just in time for the afternoon parade. Since we were still at the park entrance, we decided to watch the parade. After the parade we started walking down Main Street. We took our pictures by the Partners statue and we took pictures of the Sleeping Beauty's castle. After that, we started walking towards Fantasyland. On the way, we walked by the Matterhorn. This is a ride that is only located at Disneyland. I wanted my first Disneyland ride to be a classic Disneyland attraction. As we got closer to the line for the Matterhorn, we saw that the wait was only 5 minutes. So we jumped right in. We were all excited to finally ride the Matterhorn. Here is the video of that first ride on the Matterhorn.
As you can tell, we had more than just a good time. I love the Matterhorn. You think its just gonna be some slow or mild ride, then all of a sudden it sneaks up on you and your going FAST! I could ride the Matterhorn over and over. My next trip is in two weeks. I want try to ride the Matterhorn at night. I'm sure that's gonna be extra wild. So whenever I think of Disneyland, I will remember when I rode the Matterhorn for the very first.
So I was going thru my Madonna collection today and trying to decide what kind of mood I was in. Personally, I hate Mondays. That's why I need to listen to Madonna music on Mondays to get the week started right. In two weeks, I'm going on vacation, so I need a song to get me thru the next couple of weeks. One of my favorite Madonna songs is one of her oldest, HOLIDAY.
When I first heard this song, I was blown away. This song just radiates joy and happiness. This is the perfect house party song. This song is an amazing beginning for an artist. Its a song Madonna continues to sing in concert. I can never get tired of this song.
So the video I want to share this week is Madonna's live performance taken from the famous Live Aid concert from July 13th 1985. Madonna was on top of the world at this point. She was just starting out on her first tour. Photos of a younger nude Madonna were published in Playboy AND Penthouse. And her album Like A Virgin was pretty much playing EVERYWHERE. Since I was too young to attend Madonna's 1st tour, watching Madonna perform at Live Aid was all I needed to make me happy. From that televised live performance I knew Madonna was destined to be a major music artist. Since then, I have seen Madonna in concert numerous times. Actually too many to count! So without further ado, here is Madonna singing Holiday live at Live Aid:
I've been visiting Walt Disney World for 20 years now. However, my first trip to Disneyland didn't happen until Labor Day weekend 2006. At the time, a good friend of mine, another Disney fanatic, was hired as a Disney Cast Member at the recently opened Disney Vacation Club offices in suburban Schaumburg, IL. With her job, she got tons of Disney perks. She was itching to try out her benefits. She, like I, had not yet visited Disneyland. So we started planning a trip. This was going to be amazing. We would spend 5 days touring Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure.
It was perfect timing when we planned our trip: we would be visiting Disneyland during its 50th Anniversary celebration. My friend and I took separate flights to Anaheim and were staying at separate hotels. Her benefits got her a room at the Disneyland Hotel while I used my family benefits to stay at the Sheraton Park Plaza Hotel.
I arrived in Anaheim before my friend did, around noon time. As I was settling into my room, my friend called saying she had just checked into the Disneyland Hotel. She told me to come over when I was ready. So I got my stuff together and headed over to her hotel.
I took a quick 5 minute taxi ride from my hotel to the Disneyland Hotel. While my hotel is walking distance to the main entrance plaza of Disneyland, I did not want to see any part of Disneyland until I was with my friend.
As I visited my friend in her Disneyland Hotel room, I couldn't keep my eyes off the decor in the room. The room was recently re-modeled and updated with new furniture. All the wood furniture was detailed with carvings showing the original concept Disneyland park map. From the head-boards to the chairs. But the one piece of furniture that really amazed me was the giant armoire in the room that stores the TV. Its just beautiful. And the etching of the Disneyland park on it really is impressive. Here is a pic of that armoire:
After visiting my friend's hotel room, our group gets ready to head into Disneyland (my friend brought her mother and son along on this trip). We walk out the back entrance of the hotel and see the Peter Pan themed hotel pool. We also see the Hook's Pointe, The Lost Bar and Croc's Bits 'n' Bites. Since its now early afternoon, we decide to get a quick bite to eat. I ordered the adult chicken tender meal, which was HUGE. One order could easily feed two people. The Lost Bar faces a small pond that had remote-controlled Jungle Cruise themed mini boats. Too bad all these places have now been demolished. After our meal, we headed to Downtown Disney and Disneyland.
As we walk thru Downtown Disney, I am taking in the lay-out of shopping district. I'm also checking out what kind of stores and eateries are located here. I see the House of Blues, Tortilla Jo's, ESPN Zone, Rainforest Cafe and Napolini. I'm surprised to see Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen. I go to New Orleans often and I think the Brennan restaurants are very good.
As we continue to walk, we see many more retail shops and eateries. We then come upon an alternative entrance to the Grand Californian Hotel. This hotel is very beautiful. Plus I love that the hotel is right in the middle of the Downtown shopping district and that it has its own separate entrance to Disney's California Adventure theme park. As we walk past the Grand Californian, we see up ahead the World of Disney Store.
This is one HUGE store. Seeing a Disney Store always makes me happy. I look forward to buying tons of souvenirs in this store. One of the window displays is showcasing all the items available for the 50th anniversary. I'm sure I ended up buying one of everything. As we walk past the store, we see the security checkpoint that leads to the theme park entrances.
After going thru security, we are HERE!!! We are in the main entrance plaza of Disneyland and California Adventure. We all just stand in the center of the plaza taking in the view and taking pictures and video tapping. Its almost surreal the feeling I have. After seeing many Disneyland programs on TV, I can't believe I'm actually here and seeing Disneyland with my own eyes.
After taking many pictures, we finally go thru the turnstiles and are officially inside Disneyland. There are tons of activity as people are trying to take pictures in front of the Mickey flower bed. Fairy Godmother is taking pictures with guests nearby. You instantly feel the excitement in the air. You would think that after visiting the Magic Kingdom for many years, I would be used to be being at a Disney park. But for some reason, Disneyland has a very distinct feeling to it. Maybe because its the ORIGINAL Disney park. Maybe its because Disneyland is the only park Walt Disney actually walked thru when he was alive. As we start to walk under the railroad train tracks, I look up and I see a familiar site. Its the plaque with the words Walt Disney spoke on the opening day of Disneyland. I know I'm about to have a very Magical adventure.
As we walk past the train station I look to my left and I see the Disneyland Fire Department. We get closer and we look to the second floor window of the station. And in the sunlight I can see very clearly what I'm looking for: Walt Disney's apartment lamp. The lit lamp represents the sprite of Walt Disney. And in many ways, I feel Walt Disney is still with us. I stare at the lamp for a few more minutes and I say to myself "Thank You Walt Disney".
As we turn to walk down Main Street, I hear music and cheering. I look at my watch and see it's just past 3pm. It must be time for the Parade of Dreams parade. We decide to sit curb-side and watch the parade. You knew the 1st thing we would do in Disneyland would be to catch the parade. But it just seemed the perfect thing to do.
After the parade was over, we started walking down Main Street towards the Main Hub. And there before us is the center piece of the park: Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Yes, of course I think the castle looks small, or at least smaller than Cinderella's Castle from the Magic Kingdom. But that doesn't matter. I just know its the castle that Disney built. It's the first castle. This is where it all began. And for that I am very, very, very happy.
If you were listening to music in the 80's, there's a pretty good chance that your taste in music has some variety in it: Pop, R&B, Soul, Dance, Techno, Rap, Country, Goth, New Wave and Alternative. This is when I got introduced to Alternative music. This is when I discovered The Cure.
Thru-out the 80's, Robert Smith and his band put out very seductive and dreamy music, that needed to be played LOUD. They were dark, mysterious, gloomy, introspective and full of doom. Their music was considered 'Gothic Rock'. To me it was music, with an edge. But it wasn't until 1989 when The Cure released their 8th album, DISINTEGRATION, that I because obsessed with The Cure. To me this is what I was waiting for. This is what I thought Goth music was all about: dark, gloomy, depressing, sad, obscure, droning guitars, uttering vocals, lush, orchestral.
Every song on this album is a set-piece of music. The lush opening of Plainsong, the up-beat Lovesong, the drowning of The Same Deep Water As You, the scary Lullaby, the depressing Prayers For Rain, the madness of the title track. But of all the songs on this album, none affects me more than Fascination Street. The extended bass line intro leads to pounding repetitive drumming paired with some of Smith's amazing vocals. Its an angry song. Its about being stuck in a place that you can't get free from. The song ends with a musical rage. This is with-out a doubt my favorite song from The Cure. So for your listening pleasure, here is a live performance of Fascination Street:
One of the many things I like about Madonna is she's one of those rare artists to sing songs in another language that is not her own. Madonna has always had a love affair with all things Latin. One of her first Latin themed songs is the great song LA ISLA BONITA.
From her third album, True Blue, its a great song about a very dreamy place. I like how the song really doesn't say where La Isla Bonita is located. Its just somewhere 'where the sun warms the sky'. Plus I love how Madonna has two looks in this video. One that's very natural and spiritual, and another one that is very Spanish Queen and flamenco. Its also the first video where Madonna uses a lot of religious images. Since 1986, Madonna has made many Latin-themed songs and videos, most notably EVITA the movie & soundtrack. Madonna's Latin love affair is just one of the many reasons why I love her as an person, singer and artist. I hope she continues to record more Latin infused songs. I wish she would record more Spanish versions of her songs ('Veras' is her Spanish version of You'll See...its just AMAZING!). But for now, here's the video of Madonna's first Latin love song, La Isla Bonita:
There are very few artists from the 80's who were able to maintain their careers. There are even fewer artists who started out in a group and went onto a solo career. One of those artist who did survive and became even more famous on their own is George Michael.
Without question, George Michael was a huge star in the 80's. One of the best singers, song writers and performers that came out of that era. While I'm a fan of his radio-friendly pop music, I'm a bigger fan of his ballads. Careless Whisper, Everything She Wants, Father Figure, A Different Corner. I'm also a fan of the many cover songs he has recorded over the years. If I Was Your Man, Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me, Papa Was A Rolling Stone. Michael is one of those rare Brit singers who can sing any R&B song and make it his own.
One of my favorite songs is a ballad found on Michael's FAITH album. The song is Kissing A Fool. It's a simple song that has beautiful lyrics and a great arrangement. The video of the song is also very classy, set in a empty Jazz club. From this song you can tell that Michael wanted to venture into more mature, adult music. This song is not as popular as Michael's other songs, but it does hold a special place in my heart. I was lucky to catch George Michael on his 2008 Greatest Hits World Tour. And after all this time, George Michael and his music still holds up very well and will probably stand the test of time. So without further ado, here is the video to Kissing A Fool:
How quickly time flies when your having fun. So today is the last day of our trip. We plan on spending the morning at Animal Kingdom before flying back home. Today is also July 4th, probably the worst day to visit the parks. Let's see what happens.
So after a good night's rest, we get up by 7am and start collecting our belongings and prep to check out of Pop Century. We take our luggage to the Magical Express counter, where we make our arrangements for our ride back to the airport. Our flight is not until 6pm. After confirming with Magical Express, we catch a bus ride to the Animal Kingdom.
Its just after 9am. I'm wearing a grey tank top with grey shorts. Its hot. I mean its HOT. Its a sunny day. I don't see any clouds. I hope it doesn't rain because our rain jackets are packed away in our luggage.
As we enter the park, we are greeted by older cast members. They are handing out small plastic American flag pins to everyone. I thought that was fitting and kinda cool that Disney would do that. As we make our way in, I decide the 1st thing we need to do is to get Fast Passes for Expedition Everest. But somehow I get confused and we are headed toward the Kilimanjaro Safari. So we check the wait time. Its only a 10 minute wait, so we get on. I love the Safari ride. We see plenty of animals out this morning and my niece really seems to be enjoying it.
After the Safari, we now head towards Expedition Everest. We see its only a 15 minute wait. I was kinda surprised by that. So in we go. My niece totally enjoys riding this coaster. When we exit, my niece wants to ride it again. As we make our way to the entrance, I see that the wait time is now only 10 minutes!! I don't think I have ever seen the wait time DECREASE for an attraction. So we head on in right away just in case it was some weird mistake. But it wasn't. We are quickly back on Expedition and enjoying the ride again. After this, we head to It's Tough to be A Bug!
As we enter the theater, I warn my niece about some of the special effects. She seems OK with that. We really enjoy this 3D film and my niece is really laughing at all the special effects. Its almost close to the end of the film, and I tell my niece to lean forward if she doesn't wanna get 'stinged' by the bugs. We laugh as we see everyone else getting stung by the bugs. Its pretty funny.
After the film, its now time to get some breakfast. We decide to head over to Restaurantosaurus, but it does not open until 11am. We had about 15 minutes to wait. But since it was really hot, the manager let us into the restaurant early so that we can be out of the heat. Now that's how a manager is suppose to manage! As we enjoy our breakfast, I hear what I think sounds like rain. Then I start seeing people enter the restaurant all wet. My heart starts to sink. Now what are we gonna do? Well, we finish our breakfast and then decide what we should do next.
At this point, we really only have one thing left to do and that's catch the next performance of The Festival of the Lion King. But we need to walk over in the rain and I'm not happy about that. So we run into a nearby shop and I doing what I hoped I would never have to do: I bought rain ponchos! Well, it really wasn't that bad. I just considered it another Disney souvenir. As we make our way to Camp Minnie-Mickey, I see people are now entering the Lion King theater. We go in and get seated. Soon enough, the show begins. This is just an amazing, funny and colorful show. We got seated in the Lion section, which was cool. I can watch this show over and over.
As we left the show, we see it has stopped raining. So by this time, its time to say good-bye to Disney World. We take some last minute Photo Pass pictures. Hopefully we have taken enough pics to justify the $150 price tag for the photo CD via Disney's Photo Pass website.
We get back to Pop Century, and I am just so sweaty from the heat. I really wanna take a quick shower before heading back to the airport and flying home. What can I do? At first I was thinking maybe I can still can get into our resort room, but I think that's kinda pushing it. As we walk over to the Hippy Dippy pool, I see a building that looks like its the restroom. As I get closer I see that its also has showers. You don't know how happy this makes me! So I see the cleaning maids are still making rounds to the rooms. So I go to one of the linen carts and quickly grab a bath towel. I head back and take a much needed shower. I wished we could have done more swimming on this trip, but Mother Nature was NOT helping. After the shower, I feel so much better!
So afterwards, we head back to the Magical Express counter and get our luggage and wait for our bus ride back to the airport, since we have plenty of time to waste. We go around the resort and take some last minute photos. I also film the main lobby of the resort, especially the 'Wall of Pop Culture'. Here is the video of the Pop Century main lobby:
As we are waiting for the bus, I kinda get the feeling that alot of time has passed. So I go check with the Magical Express cast member if the bus will be arriving soon. He asks had we checked in for the return trip. I said yes and that we have been waiting for almost an hour now. Then he tells me that we just missed the bus. I ask him how did we miss the bus, we were waiting in the lobby lounge. He says that he came into the lobby and announced that the bus was here to pick up passengers. I say that never happened because we were seating in clear view and sound of the main entrance. I ask him when is the next bus to the airport. He says in 30 minutes and not to worry about getting to the airport and missing our flight. Since it was around 3:30pm, I thought we did have enough time. So we go back to sit down and wait for the next bus.
Around 4pm the bus pulls up and he head onto the airport. Since we already have our boarding passes, we head on to security. That goes fine without any problems. We still have a good hour to wait before boarding our flight. We do some last minute shopping at the Disney store in the airport. Its now time to board our flight and head home. This is the saddest part of every Disney trip.
We land in Chicago a little after 8pm. My sister picks us up at the airport and we head back to my Mom's house. My sister is happy to have her daughter back home. My Mom asks how the trip went and I tell her it was hot and wet. Its now time for me to head back to my place. Thank God I still have Monday July 5th off from work to rest and recover.
All in all, it was a very special and wonderful trip to Disney World. It was great spending one-on-one time with my niece. She kinda suffers from the 'middle child' syndrome, so I think the trip made her feel very special. Even with the bad/hot weather, we were able to get a lot done and we never had a truly bad moment.
Next on my plate: an early October trip to Disneyland to celebrate by partner's birthday. We already booked a World of Color dinner package for October 7th. We are also attending Disneyland's Mickey's Halloween Party for October 5th. We are also visiting friends & family in California. We plan to do the Warner Bros studio tour and attend a taping of The Ellen Show. And the trip will end with a relaxing weekend in Palm Springs. Yes I know, that' a lot to do in 10 days. We'll see what happens. Have a Magical Day!!
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