Three Hour Cruise Meal?

Hello my fellow Utilidorians. So D23 just happened and I am not gonna speak of the obvious. I am going to speak of the most hidden in plain site construction ever. The brand-new Jungle Navigation Co., Ltd. Skipper Canteen will be coming to Adventureland. I have been hearing scuttlebutt about this since mid last year but nothing anywhere else. I listen to a lot of the Disney podcasts and read many a blog but nothing. Thus I put this jungle cruise restaurant in the rumor files.

Photo Courtesey of widenyourworld.com

On my first trip in January to the Kingdom this year we went by the old Veranda building and all was fine on the Friday, we came back by it Sunday and walls had sprouted up all around the Veranda, but still nothing. Then in the Spring with the swap of Sunshine Tree Terrace and Aloha Isle which everybody thought was a way to decongest the area for foot traffic it started fluttering again.  It was for decongestion but not for foot traffic it was a measure to alleviate traffic in front of a new restaurant’s entrances and exits. Still only chatterings but no definites on the Restaurant. Lots of speculation, a long talked about Pirates Jack Sparrow eatery, maybe a Trader Sam’s inside the park, but no real answer. By our latest trip in July still nothing but you could see the construction from the bridge to Adventureland and Liberty Square.

At this point I decided to see the incarnations of the Veranda. The Adventureland Veranda opened October 1st 1971 with no sponsor. It was sponsored by Kikkoman from 1977 to 1994 for Lunch and Dinner and as the 1975 guidebook said it served "Fried chicken, hot sandwiches and soft drinks in a Polynesian setting."  It changed food themes many times over its 23 years from burgers to Asian inspired foods but after losing sponsor it closed its doors in 1994 and sat relatively untouched since then. Depending on one's vantage point and level of interest, this building looks anything  from Carribean to African.  It is a great example of how Disney masks it buildings to look as distant locales and, in turn, make you feel like you are on an adventure.  Inside, the furniture was also a mashup, with dark wooden paneling, earth-colored tile floors, high ceilings braced by ornate rafters and flowery brass chandeliers.

After it closed the building sat dormant opening during busy seasons for sitting and an area was also set up for Captain Jack Sparrow and the Fairies and their leader Tinkerbell until she was sent off to Town Square. So at D23 they announced the new Restaurant which looks like a cross between adventurers club, the Polynesian Resort and the upcoming Jock Lindey’s. I am also wondering during their counter service Lunch and sit down Dinner what “World Famous Jungle Cuisine” is? Don’t know what it is but can’t wait to taste it. My only other thing to say in closing is, could Disney not come up with a better mock up than that? I mean we have a huge Pandora landscape model where you can see basically trees rocks and a giant blue planet, but the restaurant get a sepia colored picture of the building with a caricature of skippers and people in front. Well that’s just my opinion. Guess it’s that time again and I will talk to ya next time.

  

A Studio Too Far Far Away....

I swear I am trying to commit to this blogging thing but it is so much easier to sit on my butt watching television. Now that I have gotten that out let’s get to business.

Today I am going to talk about Americas favorite third of a day park, that’s right Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Now hop into my pal Marty’s DeLorean and lets go back to the year 1989. I was sitting in class when all of a sudden over the PA I am called to the front office. I walk slowly to the front office wondering which one of my many daily infractions I had been caught doing, I see my Dad in the office and totally seized up. This never happens so I ask Dad what’s up and he tells me my Mom has fallen and broken her leg and he was picking me and my brothers up early from school. Now this means nothing on its own, but my mother had to be in the hospital a few days.  So on Monday May first of 1989 we went to visit her and on the TV they were showing the opening ceremonies of Disney’s MGM Studios. At that point my day became less about my poor moms leg and more about the gallantry and splendor of the opening of uncle Walt’s newest park.

As a budding nerd I was always about movies. I loved watching them, seeing the trailers and eating the popcorn. With that in mind riding movie related rides made my 15 year old mind explode! That following summer after my mother’s leg got better we jumped into the old family trickster and drove to Disney’s MGM Studios. We got there and wow there were only a handful of rides but wow it was awesome! An almost 2 hour immersive behind the scenes and backlot tour , Star Tours, Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, Monster Sound Show, Superstar Television and The Magic of Disney Animation Tour. Boom that’s it, that was all that was there and we loved it! We were so glad to be there enjoying the studios and seeing all the new stuff, and that is the memory that made me saddest the last trip I went down.

The last trip to the now Disney’s Hollywood Studios was with my brother his wife and the nieces. Of course it was hot as all blazes and Olaf has taken over with his Summer Frozen Fun, which with a three year old girl we had to partake. 

We did the Frozen sing along and a couple of other things and before leaving we did Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I had never seen that show and now I have my wife and nieces liked it… so. Now when we exited the show my brother needed  a restroom break with the older niece, so my wife and I waited by the stroller parking which is in front of The Magic of Disney Animation Tour. This is where this blog all started, as we were standing there I hear the cast member  at the Animation door yell out to passers by “Hey don’t go down to Toy Story Midway Mania, we don’t have a wait and they will be there Monday!”,  yup we were there August 11^th, and that attraction closed forever at the end of the day Sunday August 12^th. If you are a Disney fan you know that the Studios have been closing rides left and right, supposedly for the D23 Announcement of a name change and Lucas Land and Pixar Land, which I am sure will be great but man that was a spear through my heart. That’s right this whole blog for that one line from a cast member.

I know the future is going to be great and that everything will be Disneyrific, but I can only think of what we have lost as of late. Well enough of this, I gotta get back to the tunnels. Until next time have a magical day.

Birds of a Feather...or I mean Leaf.

Welcome back Utilidorians! Today I was walking around the Kingdom and noticed they moved the Sunshine Terrace with Aloha Isle! This is probably a logistical move due to the Dole Whip line in front of Aloha Isle being crunched by walkway and the entrance to the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. Anyways I was looking at the new Sunshine Terrace and noticed something missing. The Orange Bird was missing from his new home. This is not the first time he has gone missing, but let’s start this from the beginning.

Orange Bird came up as an exchange between Disney and the Florida Citrus Commission. In 1970 the Florida Citrus Commission wanted a mascot, so naturally they knew Disney was opening in Florida so who better to give them a mascot. Walt Disney needed a sponsor for his Magic Kingdom Tropical Serenade  attraction,  which was a copy of his Enchanted Tiki Room from Disneyland, so they worked out a deal and poof  in 1970 the Orange Bird was born. He was an amalgamation of orange and bird with a big orange for a head an orange body with green leaf like wings.  The Orange Bird took flight quickly.

  

 Anita Bryant a singer of the times who was the spokeswoman for the Florida Citrus Commission sang songs for orange juice commercials with the Orange Bird. Orange Bird does not speak, he communicates with orange thought bubbles. Do to this Anita Bryant made a record that depicted the Orange Birds story. The Orange Bird even had a walk around character at the Magic Kingdom.

  

In 1977 Anita Bryant tried to repeal an ordinance that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. It was a very well publicized protest that lasted many months even to the point of Ms. Bryant being publicly pied in the face on a October 1977 press conference. This was the beginning of the end for old Orange Bird. In 1979 Anita’s contract with the Florida Citrus Commission was let lapse due to controversy and the negative publicity her political campaign had done. The Orange Bird lasted another couple of years and faded into obscurity. In 1987 the Florida Citrus Commission and Disney severed ties and the Orange Bird flew his coop.

Flash forward and in 2004 in Tokyo Disney who should raise his big orange head but the Orange Bird. Leave it to Tokyo home of Godzilla and anything cute to coax him back out. The Asian community took him in as they did Duffy bear. The Orange Bird was not only liked he was loved by the Japanese and received a lot of coinciding merchandise. He is also depicted on a lot of Japans Orange Day festival which happens in April. Eventually he made it back to Walt Disney World and was welcomed with open arms and wallets, as he also got tons of merchandise in the US also.

 Eventually on April 17^th of 2012, the Orange Bird made a proper return to the Sunshine Terrace.

So this brings me back to the new move and the Orange Birds absence. Hopefully this is just a transitional misplacement I hope. So there you have it that is my story of the Orange Bird. Well time to get back to work, until next time keep moving forward.