The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[MoonRakerSCM]

If you have time in Anchorage before or after, I'd recommend a seafood dinner at Simon & Seafort's downtown, brunch or dinner at The Rustic Goat, and/or a stroll through the Alaska Botanical Garden just outside of town. The garden is an interesting display of the various flora that survives and thrives in that climate, with fun and striking art installations placed throughout the garden trail.

Anchorage is not a very attractive city itself, but it's surrounded by natural beauty, and has a few very good restaurants. The Anchorage Art Museum downtown is also very impressive, and punches way above its weight class in style and substance and size thanks to generous donations and lavish funding by the various oil companies that operate in Alaska. A fun afternoon is found there, with stunning exhibits of native arts and culture especially!

Will definitely spend a day or two in Anchorage to check out the scene. I'm thinking about renting a car and heading up to a gold mine state park but that is dependent on if it's open or not (wasn't open that time this year due to heavy snow). Thanks for the resturant recs... that Rustic Goat looks like my scene. Simon and Seafort's looks to have a great view... but why go there when there's a Pel'meni 500ft away from it??? I scarfed those dumplings by the drum when in Juneau this year.

 

[TP2000]

Is it wrong for me to WANT to see this movie now…?

Oh the hilarity that would insue….



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I thought Suzanne Somers as TDA President Du Jour Rebecca Campbell was a particularly inspired choice.

That celebrity lineup of, ahem, "stars" could only be rivaled by an episode of Supertrain. Or, I guess, TDA circa 2025.

 

[TP2000]

I'm getting ready to head home from the beach where it's been sort of overcast and clammy this holiday season, and I see I've got lots of low temps in the 30's ahead of me the next few weeks back home.

But my GAWD the long range forecast for the eastern third of the nation for January is downright brutal! Single digits in Chicago and the Midwest, teens from Washington DC to Boston, etc.

Our friend @Figments Friend is a wise New Englander who undoubtably knows her way around a furnace, but I hope she's ready for this January!

I think some of my most memorable visits to Disneyland were winter nights when it would be in the low 40's and clammy. Looking at the recent wait times in the evening this week, the park seems busy but even Tiana's Bayou Adventure drops to a 5 minute wait time by 8pm because it's just so cold and foggy. I can't even imagine trying to operate a Disneyland in Chicago or Boston in January when it's 14 degrees with a stiff breeze.

 

[britain]

You’ve probably all discussed this somewhere else, but I just wanted to praise Kevin Perjurer’s latest opus. Really well researched, thoughtful, with a few funny little winks.

 

[Consumer]

Planning my annual summer road trip and it looks like I'll be passing right by Florissant Fossils Bed National Monument in Colorado. Part of the National Monument includes the Pike Petrified Forest, which is the same forest where the petrified tree in Frontierland came from. Do I really plan on stopping there just because of its connection to Disneyland? Not exactly, but it is certainly a motivating factor.

I may not be the biggest fan of Disneyland's current state, but I really do love the history of the park and its many influences.

You’ve probably all discussed this somewhere else, but I just wanted to praise Kevin Perjurer’s latest opus. Really well researched, thoughtful, with a few funny little winks.

I hate how he makes my esoteric Disneyland knowledge accessible to the masses. That said, his work is incredible and this video is no exception.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

But my GAWD the long range forecast for the eastern third of the nation for January is downright brutal! Single digits in Chicago and the Midwest, teens from Washington DC to Boston, etc.

My friends and I will be in DC for the inauguration and we're keeping a close eye on the weather... one friend thinks it's freezing when its below 70 degrees so we're prepping her for maximum heat retention during our exploration of the Smithsonian, monuments, and National Archive etc...

 

[Consumer]

My friends and I will be in DC for the inauguration and we're keeping a close eye on the weather... one friend thinks it's freezing when its below 70 degrees so we're prepping her for maximum heat retention during our exploration of the Smithsonian, monuments, and National Archive etc...

Same! On Black Friday I bought a fantastic wool overcoat with January DC weather in mind. Still need to pick up some ear muffs. I was in DC a couple Januaries ago and the cold there is no joke. My ears were turning blue.

 

[TP2000]

Speaking of esoteric Disneyland (ish) trivia, I still know this from memory without going to Google...

For President Reagan's second inauguration after his landslide win in 1984, the eastern seaboard was hit with record low temps and snow the third week in January. They had to cancel the parade and all outdoor events, and he was sworn in for a second term inside the White House instead. So... President Reagan moved his inaugural party to EPCOT Center that following summer, and all the marching bands and performers and revelers went there instead. Disney hosted the event and used the American Adventure pavilion as the headquarters for the party. Fun!

 

[TP2000]

Will definitely spend a day or two in Anchorage to check out the scene. I'm thinking about renting a car and heading up to a gold mine state park but that is dependent on if it's open or not (wasn't open that time this year due to heavy snow). Thanks for the resturant recs... that Rustic Goat looks like my scene. Simon and Seafort's looks to have a great view... but why go there when there's a Pel'meni 500ft away from it??? I scarfed those dumplings by the drum when in Juneau this year.

If the Rustic Goat is your scene, there's also a fabulous bakery-cafe/coffee complex downtown. For the life of me I couldn't remember the name, so I had to go look on Google maps and from memory find it by tracing streets... and it's...

Fire Island Bakeshop! Like much of Anchorage, it's an unassuming building that looks like nothing. But it's a fabulous bakery that makes everything in house, and then serves delicious homemade soups and sandwiches made with their breads; and cakes and cookies and pastries and anything that rises. Plus an adjacent coffee shop pulling espresso shots and selling Fire Island made pastries. Also a little gift shop for hip Alaska wares. I think there was also a wine shop in the odd little complex, but I mostly remember the fab bakery and cafe. Lines out the door on the weekend, but very worth it!

Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop

Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop is a small artisan bakery located in Anchorage, Alaska. We specialize in traditional breads, sweet and savory croissants and scones, muffins, cookies, cakes, tarts, granola and sandwiches.

www.fireislandbread.com

Has Disney or Disneyland ever had an Alaska themed anything? Ride? Movie? Cartoon? Show? Character? I can't think of one. There was Brother Bear, and technically I guess you could include the southern panhandle around Juneau and Ketchikan, but I always thought Brother Bear was more coastal B.C. and coastal Washington State than Alaska.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

Planning my annual summer road trip and it looks like I'll be passing right by Florissant Fossils Bed National Monument in Colorado. Part of the National Monument includes the Pike Petrified Forest, which is the same forest where the petrified tree in Frontierland came from. Do I really plan on stopping there just because of its connection to Disneyland? Not exactly, but it is certainly a motivating factor.

Just up the road (right next to it) is the Florissant Fossil Quarry where you can spend some time to sit there and crack open a bunch of rocks to try and find fossil leaves and bugs.

 

[TP2000]

My friends and I will be in DC for the inauguration and we're keeping a close eye on the weather... one friend thinks it's freezing when its below 70 degrees so we're prepping her for maximum heat retention during our exploration of the Smithsonian, monuments, and National Archive etc...

I'm jealous! That sounds like such fun!

When I was stocking up for New Year's Eve at my favorite wine shop last week, I made sure to also buy a couple of bottles of my favorite champagne to take home with me to use on Inauguration Day. I don't have an exact party plan yet, but I can think of a few friends to invite over and toast and watch it on TV and play our old Village People records and dance.

I need to get on that ASAP and get a party plan going. It's already January 4th!

I wonder how WDW's Hall of Presidents will be handling the roll call with this rather unique turn of events? I'm vaguely remembering there was one other man who gets introduced twice during the chronological roll call, right? He gets to nod or do a finger twitch or a lapel pull again I think as his name is read a second time. One of my junior high history teachers is furious up above right now that I don't remember his name.

I'll have to go look into that, for no good reason but Disneyland (ish) esoterica. (Thank you @Consumer for the word of the week!) But during the roll call, they'll announce President Trump at #45, then President Biden at #46, then go back to President Trump as the 47th for the traditional words from the sitting President. Right?

 

[TP2000]

Grover Cleveland!!! He was our 22nd and 24th President, and is the only other man besides Donald Trump to serve two non-consecutive terms. I'm going to use that fascinating bit of trivia to really wow them at the Marine Room bar tonight.

Also, I found this.... the Hall of Presidents closes appropriately on January 20th, Inauguration Day, for a refurbishment. Usually those President swap refurbs last six months or more, likely owing to animatronic production and programming. But perhaps this refurb will be shorter because the robot already exists and just needs a new speech recorded?

Disney World's Hall of Presidents Closing for Refurbishment in January 2025

Disney World's Hall of Presidents Closing for Refurbishment in January 2025

www.wdwmagic.com

EDIT: Okay, I just found this. Grover Cleveland only gets introduced once. That man was robbed! What was I thinking that he gets his name said twice? Did they redo the show at some point and maybe in the 20th century he got a second call out? If I was in charge of the Grover Cleveland Presidential Library, I'd be on the phone to Burbank ASAP.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

Grover Cleveland is muh boi!

"It is difficult to think of the slow-moving, corpulent President Grover Cleveland, who weighed 240 pounds and loathed exercise ("Bodily movement alone...is among the dreary and unsatisfying things of life"), as an active outdoorsman, a north woods camper, deer stalker, wing shot and fresh-and salt-water fisherman. Yet he was all of these and spent so much time fishing and hunting—more than any other President—that he was constantly criticized in the press."

Any man to have said "Bodily movement alone is among the dreary and unsatisfying things of life" is a great man.

 

[Figments Friend]

I thought Suzanne Somers as TDA President Du Jour Rebecca Campbell was a particularly inspired choice.

That celebrity lineup of, ahem, "stars" could only be rivaled by an episode of Supertrain. Or, I guess, TDA circa 2025.

OMG…Joyce DeWitt…!!



Happy New Year, TP!


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[Figments Friend]

I'm getting ready to head home from the beach where it's been sort of overcast and clammy this holiday season, and I see I've got lots of low temps in the 30's ahead of me the next few weeks back home.

But my GAWD the long range forecast for the eastern third of the nation for January is downright brutal! Single digits in Chicago and the Midwest, teens from Washington DC to Boston, etc.

Our friend @Figments Friend is a wise New Englander who undoubtably knows her way around a furnace, but I hope she's ready for this January!

I think some of my most memorable visits to Disneyland were winter nights when it would be in the low 40's and clammy. Looking at the recent wait times in the evening this week, the park seems busy but even Tiana's Bayou Adventure drops to a 5 minute wait time by 8pm because it's just so cold and foggy. I can't even imagine trying to operate a Disneyland in Chicago or Boston in January when it's 14 degrees with a stiff breeze.

Awww..thanks for thinking of me.

Yes, I shall be hugging the oven and stoking the furnace a little bit this month I am sure.
But I LIKE the cold.
It’s refreshing…in a way.

I keep my home set at a cool 45 degrees at this time of year.
Helps keep the ol’ body temp more in line with the outside weather so it’s not as much of a shock when you step out the door.
Keeping the heat down also keeps your skin from getting too dried out as that can be an issue here during the wintertime.
And sleep!
Hibernation season here…with the shorter days and cooler temps, it is the best quality sleep of the year in wintertime.
Cold is okay by me.


If we had a Disneyland here outside of Boston, you can bet ten lobster rolls that the locals would still show up at the front gate wearing shorts regardless of it being 14 degrees.
That’s how New Englanders, especially men, roll here.
It’s hilarious..but true.
The colder the weather, the shorter the pants.

Just today I saw a guy shopping for groceries at my local wearing a sweatshirt hoodie and …shorts.
It was 22 degrees outside.

Ahhh…New England winters…!
Where people still drink iced coffee from Dunkies when it’s 20 degrees outside, and wear shorts when it’s snowing.


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[mickEblu]

Beautiful day at the park. Can’t remember the last time I didn’t see those ugly fountains coming out of the water.

 

[mickEblu]

How long is the waterfall outside of Big Thunder going to be turned off for? Hoping that’s not a permanent thing. What worries me is they got the water running in the queue again. Wondering if the waterfall being turned off outside is some kind of trade off or perhaps something was impacted by them turning the water again in the queue. It’s great to have the water runnning in the queue again but if it had to choose between the both I’d go with the waterfall that can be enjoyed from Big Thunder Trail.

 

[Consumer]

What even is the point of switching between Soarin' Over California and Soarin' Around the World? Who actually prefers World? They keep bringing back California, why not just keep it?

 

[Touchdown]

I wish they kept California in DCA and World everywhere else.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Now that the Holiday season is officially over, a few thoughts on my trip over Christmas:
I really, REALLY loved IASW Holiday, and dare I say that compared to HMH it might even be underappreciated by the general public at this point. So many changes of costumes, scenery, no one told me there were scents, I couldn't stop taking pictures of the facade at night-I could go on and on. It was marvelous.

And while the actual festival food was hit or miss, I loved the Festival of the Holidays entertainment at DCA. With different, high quality entertainment rotating in and out by the day, the place felt like Silver Dollar City, which from me is high praise. DCA was actually a place I enjoyed visiting as a result, something that hasn't otherwise been true in some time.

Adventureland Treehouse is a home run. There were certainly plenty of people willing to ride TBA on chilly December days, but I was not one of them.

On a more negative note, while I'm sure this isn't helped by the time of year, I noticed lots of places that needed a little refurb and refresh help. Some areas that needed a good power-washing/scrub down (Space Mountain station, looking at you), a number of scuffs here and there on buildings and walls, Tiki Room in particular needs some love ("Wait, wait! We forgot to wake up the Glee Club!" **cue a loud mechanical WHIRRRRR reminiscent of an electric train set that didn't abate the rest of the show and was louder than any of the show audio, in addition to the usual clicking and clacking that could always be better**). As much as they've done a lot of good work in the last year, frankly, they need to do more, much more, if the place is to be in good shape for the 70th.