Hi Everyone! A few months ago I posted what I called a Disney “Parks Ready” Style Board. I showed you some digital techniques to create your own Disney-inspired fashions using clip art from the web. And when you wear them, some people call this “Disney Bounding,” after a tumblr. site of the same name (Our own MakAttack excelled at this on the WDW Radio Cruise 2.0). Babble and Disney Parks themselves are even getting into the game.

I recently heard that Disney Mary Poppins on Broadway draws its final curtain on March 3. So, I wanted to put together a tribute to one of my all time favorite musicals in style board form. I took a bunch of clips, fashion ideas and other images that remind me of the best of Mary Poppins and arranged them into two outfits for everyday life.

I think the Mary Poppins look is, of course, “practically perfect” for a rainy weekend at work.

I couldn’t forget all you Berts out there. And here, I replace his signature scarves and vests with a muted red button down.

If you haven’t seen Disney Mary Poppins yet, it is still on U.S. tour. For more information, visit: http://www.marypoppins.com/. But better get those tickets, Spit Spot!

What Disney style boards you will come up with? What former show, event or ride will inspire your future projects?

It’s a “Jolly Holiday”, when we style ourselves away!

Photo credits: Disney Mary Poppins, DisneyStore.com, D23, Old Navy, Jo-Ann, Vera Bradley, Piperlime and Pinterest. Style Boards by Fran Cassano.

The post Practically Perfect DISNEY Techniques: Style Boards to Salute Mary Poppins on Broadway appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Soaking in small bits of Disney magic between trips right in your own community.

Sometimes the stretch between Disney trips can seem like forever.  We’ve all had those days when we just want to crank our Disney CDs at full blast with hopes we might be magically transported to Main Street USA.  We want a little bit of Disney magic, even just a few hours of it, to bridge the sometimes-long gap between vacations.  It was during one of these episodes a few years ago that I glanced at an ad in the paper (too late, though, alas) and realized that I could have had exactly that, as Disney On Ice was in town for the week.

Well, duh!  There ya go!  My parents used to take me to Disney On Ice every year (including my first time when I was two… in the second row… and the villains came out first and scared me silly), but naturally as my siblings and I grew older, we stopped going.  In recent years, though, we’ve started attending annually again.  And you know what?  It’s pretty neat.  Not only are we now old enough to appreciate from a mature perspective the magic that we were once so enthralled in, but it provides a quick Disney fix that’s hard to beat, no matter how loud that CD is cranked.

Here’s a rundown of some of the major ways that Disney spreads the magic of its Parks around country:

Disney On Ice

I feel like many Disney fans have never experienced Disney On Ice simply due to it being deemed for young children.  And while the target audience is definitely the younger crowd, there’s a lot to soak in for anyone who is a fan of Disney Parks and movies.  Disney On Ice (DOI …what a funny acronym!) has been running for over twenty-five years and is produced by Feld Entertainment (the same company that runs the Ringling Bros. Circus).  Most of the time, DOI presents verbatim translations of Disney films, just on ice.  Sometimes a whole show is devoted to one movie, but most of the time multiple properties are combined into one show so as to attract a broader market.  For instance, one show currently touring brings together Cars, The Little Mermaid, Tinker Bell, and Toy Story 3—a perfect quartet representing a sampling of Disney’s four biggest franchises at the moment.

That brings us to the next eye-opening aspect of Disney On Ice: its ability to tell us what’s currently the bee’s knees in the world of Disney.  My family generally sees most new Disney animated movies, but since there are no young kids in our home anymore, I no longer have an accurate gauge of what Disney things kids have become obsessed with these days…. until I go to Disney On Ice.  For example, I saw Tangled in theaters in 2010 and thought it was a good movie.  I enjoyed the characters and songs, but I didn’t consider it much further beyond being a decent film.  But then I went to Disney On Ice and saw that Rapunzel received more applause than all of the other eight princesses in the room… and I got the impression that maybe this unsuspecting movie must really mean something to the Disney legacy and deserves a closer look.

For the most part, DOI sticks to the books as far as how the movies are translated to the ice in terms of story.  However, since an entire ice rink is at the show’s disposal, the medium is used to its fullest advantage possible and makes for some entertaining sequences that you didn’t see in the movies.  Some of these are just plain cool (like Rapunzel and Flynn Rider doing awesome tricks and stunts with Rapunzel’s extremely long hair hanging from the ceiling) while others are admittedly a bit questionable at first (like Jessie and Bullseye dancing to “These Boots Are Made For Walking”).  But more often than not, the creativity the ice offers comes to the show’s advantage.  Other really neat sequences I’ve seen were a march of the brooms from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and a busy New Orleans number from The Princess and the Frog that made the movie’s opening song enjoyably seem a lot like the opening of Beauty and the Beast, which it doesn’t feel like at all in the film.

Disney Live

Perhaps the best way to describe Disney Live (also produced by Feld Entertainment) is that it’s Disney On Ice without the ice, though there are several other distinct differences.  Disney Live (DL) began just several years ago and has much less history than DOI, and usually presents original stories rather than retellings of Disney movies.  Each production usually involves Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy wanting to do something (like put on a talent show or share magic tricks) and enlisting other Disney characters to help them, much like the castle shows in the Magic Kingdom.  There is occasionally an exception to this format (like the Phineas and Ferb show that’s currently touring), but those exceptions are few and far between.

Overall I tend to enjoy DOI more than DL.  Not only does the ice open the floor for a lot more fun in terms of big song numbers and that level of spectacle that we’re familiar with at the Parks, but I’ve noticed DL tends to have a significantly smaller cast than DOI.  I’m not sure the reason for this, but you’ll see a lot more characters at DOI than you will at DL.  Additionally, Disney Live tends to be geared more toward the Disney Junior preschool crowd, with a lot of open questions asked to the audience like on preschool TV (“I can’t find the hat. Do any of you see where it went?”) and an emphasis of interactivity (like dancing, clapping, and shouting in your seat).  That’s not to say that DL is not an enjoyable experience—it’s quite fun!—I just think most of the Disney fans who frequent WDW Radio would prefer DOI if you don’t have young children.  If you have a choice, I’d go with DOI, but DL is still a very magical time.

Disney Theatrical

An entire independent realm unrelated to Disney On Ice and Disney Live is Disney Theatrical (DT), the branch of The Walt Disney Company responsible for the Broadway productions and the successive tours those Broadway shows take.  Right now the shows on tour throughout the country are Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Mary Poppins, with the latter two also being on Broadway in New York along with Newsies.  These are definitely more sophisticated than DOI and DL, delivering a more mature and adult experience with emphasis on music and performance rather than appearances by favorite characters.

With DT shows, I often get the same feeling of Disney magic that I get when I watch the fireworks or a nighttime spectacular in the Parks—a warm, gentle, emotional magic factor that I know all you WDW Radio peeps are quite familiar with.  Whereas with Disney On Ice and Disney Live, I’m all “Disney is AWESOME! Rock on!,” with Disney Theatrical, I’m more “Wow, this is why Disney is so special.”

It’s important to note that a DT show is less likely to visit your town as frequently as DOI or DL.  While the other two both visit annually to the places they tour, the Broadway shows generally roll in once every two to three years, sometimes longer and sometimes shorter.  It’s a bit difficult to predict their frequency to any given city, but you’ll definitely know their arrival dates far more ahead of time than DOI or DL, sometimes over a year in advance.

Wrapping Thing Up

Disney On Ice, Disney Live, and Disney Theatrical are all brilliant ways that the magic we all love so much about the Parks lives on and reaches even more Guests, but this time right where they live.  It’s pretty special to be able to hop in your car and know that Mickey Mouse is only 15 minutes away, especially if you can’t make it out to Florida as often as you’d like.  Or, even better, think about all the kids who have never been on a Disney vacation who get to have a small sampling of that magic through these shows.  That’s what so cool about these productions.  They’re practically a mini-Disney World.  In your own town!  Possibly minutes from your home!  There’s a lot to appreciate.  Doi!

Blake is a college student focusing on Creative Writing and Media Studies. He enjoys making his family of six watch the parade on Main Street and then sprint to Frontierland in time to see it again. You can follow Blake’s random Disney ramblings on Twitter at @blakeonline, or at BlakeOnline.com.

The post Portable Magic: When Disney Comes to Town appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Did You Know?

June 8, 2005 – The Walt Disney Company donates several objects from Disneyland’s opening year to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. A couple of the items are ride vehicles from “Dumbo the Flying Elephant” and “The Mad Tea Party”

Other Notable Disney Dates:

June 3, 1984 – The Bistro de Paris restaurant opens in the France Pavilion in Ecpot’s World Showcase in Walt Disney World

June 4, 1999 – The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh opens in the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World

June 5, 1972 – The attraction If You Had Wings opens in the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World

June 6, 1959 – The Submarine Voyage attraction opens in the newly renovated Tomorrowland in Disneyland; this attraction was inspired by the beloved 1954 Disney movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

June 7, 1998 -The Lion King Broadway show wins six Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Director of a Musical, Best Lighting Design, Best Costume Design, Best Choreography and Best Scenic Design

June 8, 1951 – The 100^th Donald Duck cartoon short, Test Pilot Donald, is released

June 9, 2006 – The Disney-Pixar movie Cars is released in theaters

Question of the Week:                 

A new item will soon be added to the Disney collection at the Smithsonian Museum. This action figure recently orbited the Earth for 467 days at the real International Space Station.  Who is this beloved Disney character?

Candra Spirtoff and Megan Voisard are identical twins, born and raised in Cincinnati,  Ohio. They both graduated from the University of Cincinnati, Candra with a Bachelor’s degree in Legal Assisting and Megan with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice.  They currently work as a paralegals for a local law firm.  Their passion is anything and everything Disney, and they have visited WDW almost every year since 1988, at the age of four.

The post THIS WEEK IN DISNEY HISTORY: Week of June 4 appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.