Well, first off, happy birthday, Estelle! I'm afraid I'm unable to remove that blasted hat from the Studios, but I can rate in-park musicals. And... once again, the first choice is wikkid easy.
Kill: "Voyage of the Little Mermaid"
Many years ago, my family and I waited in line for hours to see this then-brand-new live musical expecting something really special, given it's popularity and we were... disappointed. On a recent trip we went to see it again out of curiosity, since it was still absurdly popular, wondering if anything had changed. Nope, still the confusing low-rent puppet show we saw back in the early 90s. Except it's even worse now because "Voyage"'s reason to exist, really, was the fact that Ariel was -and still is- one of Disney's most popular characters and aside from meet-and-greets, she only had this one attraction to her name. Now there's a big beautiful dark ride based on "Little Mermaid", so I really have no idea why "Voyage" is still around.
Refurb: "Dream Along With Mickey"
I'm going to be succinct here. You know what would be a better, less inconvenient for everyone place to stage a show in Magic Kingdom? Literally anywhere. Hell, the only thing good about "Escape From Tomorrow"* is how nostalgic it made me for the days when you could just run right up the Hub and through Cinderella Castle whenever you want. Also, as a staunch Donald Duck fan, I'm a little sick of stories where he's a brat and not in a funny way.
* - Tangent time: if you haven't seen "Escape From Tomorrow", do not bother. I know you're probably still curious, but you've got to trust me as I wish I had trusted my Disney fandom colleagues. The whole idea of filming a movie in secret in the Disney Parks is kind of neat (if you can put the legal issues out of your mind; good luck when non-actor people are onscreen). But really, it is about as insightful a satire of Disney theme park culture as "Bebe's Kids" [actually, it's less insightful], it's about as subversive as kicking your grandma, and it is horrifically sexist. I cannot emphasize that last thing enough; I, as a woman, just felt really gross and awful watching it. I reiterate: Don't bother.
Marry: "Festival of the Lion King"
Is there any doubt? This show is so great; it's up there with "Flights of Wonder" as one of my favorite, "Oh, you may have skipped this before but you REALLY gotta see this" shows in Animal Kingdom. Yes, I know it's currently under rehab, moving to a big new theater in the Africa section of Animal Kingdom, and I cannot wait to see the new version of the show. Though really, I hope they don't change it too dramatically.
For more opinions on this blog hop, head on over to the list at Mouse on the Mind. The next topic is World Showcase Counter Service; a topic I have surprisingly little experience with but hope to remedy on my upcoming trip. Until then, if you don't mind archive-binging, I've been doing Tweet-commentary on all the Disney Princess movies (and a bonus, instantly regrettable look at the aforementioned "Escape From Tomorrow")! Got some plans for that project here on the Blog so stay tuned...
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Sketch of the Day!
Lots of people were drawing magical self-caricatures a while back. So, here's my Herbalist Witch with her onion wand.
