Third Time's a Charm PTR - May 2012 - I should give up on planning trips.

[dgbg100106]

A Gimlet is a martini made with gin and lime juice instead vermouth. I don't like gin though. Horrific! I prefer my martinis dirty and with vodka.

me too!!!! Filthy... Extra olive juice

 

[dgbg100106]

Eventually we will head here

I just love this restaurant, it is so elegant and opulent

David and I ate at V&As for our anniversary 3 years ago and loved every minute of it.

I used the stand for my camera...

 

[dgbg100106]

Your day with Arline sounded wonderful Love all the pictures.

Can't wait to hear about your cruise plans

agree

 

[dgbg100106]

Ok I am now caught up!

 

[Leshaface]

You might like to be in on that thread just because they talk a lot about views and other stuff, and when local stuff come up they mention it. I was fairly stressed when the info came out which is why I probably forgot to let you know, it was right around the time when we canceled the trip and I sort of got Fran to agree to it because we weren't going to Florida.

I barely got in on it because I started the night I read about it, but was too tired to finish the reservation, I was lucky there were some left the next morning!

That's what I figured. I guess they sell out quick since you said there were some spots open left the next morning. That means I'm going to have to jump on that quick if I ever see that deal. Thanks for the info!

 

[franandaj]

Ok I am now caught up!

Wow! You were MIA for quite some time...glad you are all caught up now. I'm working on my last update then I'll retire this PTR.

That's what I figured. I guess they sell out quick since you said there were some spots open left the next morning. That means I'm going to have to jump on that quick if I ever see that deal. Thanks for the info!

These things are pretty popular and then they only have a limited number of spaces to use them, so if you want to use one close to the expiration date book it months in advance.

 

[dgbg100106]

Wow! You were MIA for quite some time...glad you are all caught up now. I'm working on my last update then I'll retire this PTR.



These things are pretty popular and then they only have a limited number of spaces to use them, so if you want to use one close to the expiration date book it months in advance.

I get here in time for you to stop!

 

[lisaviolet]

Catching up Alison. I'll be back. The computer is like a snail today - and I simply want to whip it.
WHIP IT GOOD.

Let's see if I can actually get back to listen to your music.

 

[lisaviolet]

Sugar Blues

Wow. This one's sexy, eh?

So if you are at all squeamish....avoid this post....


r!

I'm not. But good call Alison.

Oh, poor her. Ouch.

Our trip to the Fanniversary event at the Studios.

Here are some shots on the way out of the studios.

This is where I knew I need to wear my glasses more often - I actually said to myself "OMG, are they actually wearing matching outfits?"

And then grabbed the glasses.

Every time Bret says MS, I keep thinking Member Services not Main Street.

So true. I was on facebook the other day and my graduating niece said "Finished with my APs". And my brain actually thought "annual passes" first and then a big "WHY WOULD ANYONE GIVE THEM UP?". Funny what Disney does to our brains.

The 15th would be perfect. We are still at BCV and are planning on doing all our meals from the kiosks, just sort of "eating around the world".

Love that. I've only done one F&W and I was solo. One day.

 

[lisaviolet]

Retire this - okay lead me somewhere Alison - I guess if I used my brain I would check your signature.

 

[franandaj]

Wow. This one's sexy, eh?

Va va va voom!

I'm not. But good call Alison.

Oh, poor her. Ouch.

I know, but today at the doctor it looked tons better the wound area was smaller and they gave her another dose of the skin substitute, plus did a tiny bit of debreeding.

In about a month she might be all healed up and pretty soon (week or two) I won't have to wrap her leg in Saran Wrap to take a shower.

This is where I knew I need to wear my glasses more often - I actually said to myself "OMG, are they actually wearing matching outfits?"

And then grabbed the glasses.

I was actually mortified when I saw that her dress was so similar to mine. I had been wearing it all day so I couldn't really go and change without being rude. We were not playing "twinsies"!

So true. I was on facebook the other day and my graduating niece said "Finished with my APs". And my brain actually thought "annual passes" first and then a big "WHY WOULD ANYONE GIVE THEM UP?". Funny what Disney does to our brains.

I had to think about this one. And I even took AP History!

Love that. I've only done one F&W and I was solo. One day.

I've only done one Epcot F&W and that was three years ago. I have plans to go for the next two years and I really hope that California gets our festival back after Carsland and BVS open up.

Retire this - okay lead me somewhere Alison - I guess if I used my brain I would check your signature.

Next post, there will be a link!

 

[franandaj]

May 14, we attended a dinner on character voices. The event featured Rick Dempsey head of the Character voice Department, Bill Farmer who is the voice of Goofy and Brett Iwan who is the current voice of Mickey Mouse.

After we ascended to the second floor, me on the stairs and Fran and Arline in the lift, we encountered a line for taking our pictures with a statue of Mickey, Goofy and Donald. However, the waiters passing hors d’oeuvres still stopped to give us some nourishment. These were Swiss Cheese Gougère. Very tasty and I ate a few of these during the Reception.

We made it to the photo op, Donald is back there, you just can't see him.

I found our table first off, and wanted to make sure that we had our normal “easy access” spot.

Place setting…

The Menu

Looking back through the bar area, the place was packed with tables all the way back to the bar.

I braved the crowed to go back for some more hors d’oeuvres, these are some Hawaiian Honeymoom Chicken Skewer.

These little ditties were Jelly and Peanut Butter Crumpet, supposedly these were Minnie’s favorites.

Here is the menu for the evening. As it turned out, this was not one of my favorite dinners for the club, but the information was fascinating.

Before we were served any food, Rick Dempsey began speaking. He has been working in the Character Division for over 20 years and had some great stories to tell. He had been working for Disney for a while, before being hired on in the newly formed Character Division. He started off showing early video of Walt who was the first voice of Mickey Mouse. The video showed several takes of the recording. It was almost like bloopers because Walt kept making mistakes.

On to the Power point presentation. In 1988 Roy Disney established the Character Voices division. At the time there were eight different voices for Mickey Mouse. They were

Disney Commercials
Domestic Disney Parks
Disney International
Disney Cartoons
Disney Merchandise
Disney Resorts
Disney Radio
Disney Music and Children’s music

They had all the Mickeys audition for the job and that’s when Wayne Allwine got the job. He was the voice of Mickey Mouse until 2009 when he passed away. Rick Dempsey also told a story about how it took an hour and 15 minutes to get Mickey's “uh-oh” in Fantasmic and it turns out they used the second take!

The Disney Character Voices Division originally only handled the Domestic Voices, but now they have divisions worldwide. The slide below shows an example of just how many projects and how broad a scope that they cover.

[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

Continued from Previous Post
Somewhere in there we were served the first course. I really didn’t care for this one, Vegetarian Spring Roll, Candied Sea Bean, Aerated Orange Juice, Buttermilk Quacker. This was supposedly Donald’s Favorite Appetizer. It was just too healthy for me to really like it.

The next thing that they talked about was casting believable characters and the Triad of Personality. Part of it relies on the script writers, a lot has to do with the Casting of the Voice, and the other part is the performance and the Direction of that performance.

After explaining this concept they showed all kinds of footage of live actors in their human roles and then their animated roles. I tried to take pictures but most of them didn’t come out. They went from older Disney films to some of the most recent. Roy Atwell (the voice of Doc in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves) was best known as a comedian and was portrayed in a role very similar to the Doc character. They showed a clip of Lucille LaVerne (voice of evil queen and hag witch in Snow White) as a toothless hag in one of her previous movies.

Verna Felton, who played the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, starred in some show where she played a really annoying housewife, I believe she also appeared on episodes of I Love Lucy.

They showed James Earl Jones, I think in his role in Coming to America before his role as Mufasa in The Lion King.

Then there was Billy Crystal as an annoying person in something I never saw, and Monsters Inc. Then there was Patrick Warburton in Men in Black, Back in Black and his role in The Emperor’s New Groove. Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump and then as Sherrif Woody.

He went on to describe another experience of being a Disney employee. He was a major Phil Collins fan and as you know Phil Collins did the Tarzan soundtrack or at least one or two of the songs. He actually got to be there for the recording sessions and hang out with Phil Collins. A pic from the sessions.

Another thing that he mentioned was that his son was actually the voice of the Young Tarzan. When he entered his son in the audition, he did use a false last name so that his son got the part fair and square and not as the son of the head of the department. They talked a lot about the Lion King and how it had been translated into sooooo many different languages. They played a clip of Hakuna Matata which every three or four lines it was in another language. They had some really strange ones in there, of course there was French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and many others, but there were some there I’d never even heard of! Unfortunately not everyone in the room was enjoying the presentation as much as we were and they talked loudly through a lot of the tune, so we couldn’t hear as well as we liked.

Soon after this the second course arrived. Roasted Red Beet, Frisee Lettuce, Edible Flowers, Feta Cheese, Pink Lemonade Vinaigrette. This was supposedly Minnie’s Inspired Salad, she was batting zero with me tonight, I didn’t even try her peanut butter and strawberry things and I didn’t like this one either. I noticed quite a few plates going back to the kitchen full.

So I guess they waited until after the main course was served before anyone else got up to speak because that is what my pictures indicate. Our Main was Prime Bone-In Porterhouse Steak, Yukon Gold Potato Corn Dog, Freshly Cut Grass. Now this was something to write home about. Way to go Pluto! The steak was cooked nicely medium rare, the corn dog thing was awesome, the grass, not so much!

Our table all raised their corndogs high and toasted to the mighty corndog!

After that Bill Farmer took the podium. He told us how he was working as a standup comedian touring around the country working in nightclubs and just squeaking out a living. At one point Disney advertised some openings for character voices. He had developed quite a few voices in his act. Never Mickey, but Goofy was his favorite. He had recently moved to Hollywood from Dallas and when his agent inquired if he could voice any Disney characters, Goofy was a natural fit. He has been playing the part since 1986. He did tell us a bunch of other things, but of course being that it was three weeks ago, and I drank my wine, Arline’s wine and some of Fran’s wine, so I’m a little fuzzy!

The next speaker was Brett Iwan who has been the voice of Mickey Mouse since 2009. I believe that Wayne Allwine was terminally ill, so they began to look for a new Mickey Mouse about a year before he was supposed to step down. By this time all the auditions were handled by emailing a sound byte of yourself speaking the part of Mickey. Bret was working in Kansas (I think) when his friends encouraged him to submit a recording. That’s about all I remember him talking about, but I know he told us more

We were served dessert during his presentation and this was Goofy’s Sweet Dessert. GAWRSH, a Spoonerville Chocolate Surprise. Ah-Hyuck! Basically it was a Ding Dong, but made a little better.

As guests were shuffling out of the club, the two gentlemen were recording voice messages in the voices of the characters on their phones. I didn’t get one because I really didn’t see the point.

At the end of the evening we got to participate in an AP event to view Fantasmic! at 11:30PM. We left the club around 10:30 and decided to go right to the VIP viewing area. It was a good thing we did otherwise Fran and Arline would not have been able to see. As it was Fran fell asleep during the show. Usually I check on her to see if she is drowsing. I need to remember that. Anyways after that we headed out. Boy was it late for us and I was tired when we returned home!

So this is it for me on this PTR. I’m going to retire it now and concentrate on the other one. Soon a cruise PTR may pop up too, so for now, you can find me over here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=38439137#post38439137

 

[kmedina]

Another awesome event. Such cool things you get to see. Thanks for sharing. I love that he submitted his son for the young Tarzan part with a different last name. Did the people not even know what his son looked like? Does he not have pictures of his family in his office or bring them to work fuctions from time to time? I guess none of that matters if it was a taped audition unless he got pointers from his Dad the others did not get. All the food looks awesome, but the corn dog and "ding dong" look really awesome.

I was talking to DH a while back about what we would do if our names ever got called from the waiting list. Since we live too far to make it to these special events very often, I think we will pass for sure. I am not certain 10k is worth it otherwise. I wish the 3600 option was still available to new members. The site I read says the 10k gets 4 premier passes, does this mean the member needs one of the four or is that in addition to the member? If we have a third kid (hopefully a daughter), it could make a difference in our decision. Even though it is a long shot, it just depends on how we feel and can we afford it once our name is called.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Fantastic main course and dessert.

Despite having a pesky vegetarian for a DH, I think both of Minnie's choices would have been below zero for me.

I think I would have loved the Donald appertiser.

Thanks for sharing and I'm going to miss the thread.

 

[dgbg100106]

Alison, thanks for sharing... you know I love these events....

Thanks for the beautiful updates.

 

[franandaj]

Another awesome event. Such cool things you get to see. Thanks for sharing. I love that he submitted his son for the young Tarzan part with a different last name. Did the people not even know what his son looked like? Does he not have pictures of his family in his office or bring them to work fuctions from time to time? I guess none of that matters if it was a taped audition unless he got pointers from his Dad the others did not get. All the food looks awesome, but the corn dog and "ding dong" look really awesome.

I was talking to DH a while back about what we would do if our names ever got called from the waiting list. Since we live too far to make it to these special events very often, I think we will pass for sure. I am not certain 10k is worth it otherwise. I wish the 3600 option was still available to new members. The site I read says the 10k gets 4 premier passes, does this mean the member needs one of the four or is that in addition to the member? If we have a third kid (hopefully a daughter), it could make a difference in our decision. Even though it is a long shot, it just depends on how we feel and can we afford it once our name is called.

With respect to the kid getting the voice of Tarzan, I'm not sure those conducting the interview would know the Head of Character Voices well enough to know his son, and it was probably a blind interview. I'm sure he got it on hid merit, there's are plenty of child actors hanging around LA getting pointers from their parents.

Yes the four Premier passes include the member, so you would either have to buy a fifth if you had another kid or use the 50 passes. If I were you I would quit while I was ahead and not risk hurting yourself with another child, but that's me. I've never popped out a kid and don't intend to. You have a very beautiful family now and it seems risky to your health with what you have told the lasters. Of course it is always yours and Crap's decision.

Fantastic main course and dessert.

Despite having a pesky vegetarian for a DH, I think both of Minnie's choices would have been below zero for me.

I think I would have loved the Donald appertiser.

Thanks for sharing and I'm going to miss the thread.

The last two were definitely the best, I would have liked the first one except there was something in there with an odd flavor that I didn't like. Don't worry there will be more of the same on the cheating thread.

Alison, thanks for sharing... you know I love these events....

Thanks for the beautiful updates.

Unfortunately it won't be until the Fall that more of these events happen. There was supposed to be an all day one tomorrow, but it got canceled due to Carsland/BVS opening. I didn't cancel my DVC reservations in time to have them not go into holding, hence the reason we are going out there for two nights today.

 

[Pinkocto]

What a fun event those horrible people talking during the presentation... Why go if you're not going to pay attention. That kind of stuff just really irritates me.

I'm glad you enjoyed part of the meal.

 

[franandaj]

What a fun event those horrible people talking during the presentation... Why go if you're not going to pay attention. That kind of stuff just really irritates me.

I'm glad you enjoyed part of the meal.

I guess they figured since the animals were singing in a foreign language and they couldn't understand it, they didn't need to listen! But it was annoying. I was enjoying hearing the different language sounds.

 

[kmedina]

If I were you I would quit while I was ahead and not risk hurting yourself with another child, but that's me. I've never popped out a kid and don't intend to. You have a very beautiful family now and it seems risky to your health with what you have told the lasters. Of course it is always yours and Crap's decision.

It would not be as risky if I had a C-Section. I already talked about having the C-section and the other possible (whether hysterectomy or organ tie off surgery at the same time). My OBGYN says it could be possible. I was already going to ask the Doctor to cut my tubes (before I got my dx) with my final kid anyway, so a C-section seems to be the way to go. This can definitely be done at the same time.

My regular Doctor actually advised me to wait until I was done having kids before I got it (even the tie off surgery since it can make you sterile). Of course, if my bladder does not hang on until after I have the kid, that could be risky. I really want to go for a daughter though. With my luck, I will proobably get a third boy, but I am going for it. I already have boys, so I know boys pretty well. Plus, I saved all of Xander's and Connor's stuff just in case.