The Fabulous Disney Babe
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If you were called back for the next day's auditions, they would let you know right away. The experience was similar to the Country Bears Movie filming: sit and wait and sit and wait and get to know interesting people. There was no Disney Trivia at which to whoop Doug's hiney, (I'm gonna get it now) but, then again, there was air conditioning and indoor plumbing.
David and I found comfort in going to Burbank and seeing something really cool that I can't tell you about, while I gloried in my uber-cool Loser Status. This was even better than getting knocked into the turnbuckle by Sexy Savannah on WPW!
But every rose has its thorn: Doobie now knows that he can coerce me into doing just about any idiotic Disney-related stunt at this point, merely by uttering the words: "But Fab, it would make a good story!" I expect, as I told anyone who would listen that day, to find myself atop the Matterhorn with a bungee cord around my ankle, with Doobie, armed with The Sony Camera of the gods, grinning at me and saying, "it's gonna make a good story!" right before pushing me off. Mark my words.
Having recovered from the crippling devastation of the prior day's failed audition, I made the now-quick trip from the new house to Disneyland, and got there just in time for the dedication of Sounds Historical with Abe Lincoln. No, no, I'm not ragging on the show; I like it a lot. Yes, there are Soundsations (the booths at the exit of the Disney-MGM Studios Florida sound show, where you get a haircut, have a soda opened next to you that is so real you get thirsty, and have Mickey Mouse put a pair of ears on you.) elements to it (the lamp instead of the soda, the fly, the haircut) but they get the gimmickry out of the way quickly enough to get over the "ow wow" hump and into the story.
I'm glad to see the show have its own story and venue now, instead of being "Great Moments with Epcot's American Adventure". Cynthia Harriss spoke to the crowd, Walt's Opening Day speech was played, and Marty Sklar and Martin Landau spoke, the latter reciting the Gettysburg Address. I had Alice with me, and her favorite moment was when the white doves were released. When the guests had gone inside or to be interviewed, Alice gathered up some of the dropped feathers to keep. Rebekah told me later that afternoon that while Orange County News was interviewing Martin Landau, Alice could be seen behind him, gathering up feathers.
Our friend Kim treated us to coffee and cocoa, and we said hello to all of the friends passing by our table at Coke Corner. Disneyland's birthday is always like a big family reunion. (Sings) "Join hands at Disneyland and join the jubilee, and we'll be one big happy fam"...sorry. Got carried away there. I learned that many of the pins that had been ordered for that day, which came from the usual company, had many errors and were deemed not acceptable by Disney to be sold. We had done our maps (they really are more like color brochures) the other day, but Kim needed to do hers, so we stopped with her at one of the spots, then noticed that it was time for the annual NFFC photo.
A huge group of us met at the Rivers of America, across from the entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean, chatted for a while, then posed, then broke up into smaller groups. Bruce had brought Alice a glow-in-the-dark butterfly hair clip from his last Disney Cruise, so she pinned the prettiest white dove feather in her hair, and we went off to ride rides. We went over to DCA and rode rides there, too, and Alice finally got to ride Grizzly River Run, which she loved. We had a nice ride on the Sun Wheel, and it compares favorably to the Millennium Wheel at the Orange County Fair. Red car only, thank you.
We met up with Doobie, Rebekah, and some other friends at Coke Corner, then split up and met again at Plaza Inn, where my child coerced Doobie into taking her to the Enchanted Tiki Room. The minutes were ticking down to the LaughingPlace.com meet at Fantasia Gardens. Finally, it was time, and we got to meet a bunch of wonderful people and one very interesting spider, which turned out to be poisonous. (No one was bitten, I looked up its description on the Internet). I won a Golden Doobie and am greatly honored. Now I know what the Doobinator would look like if he ever got on the wrong side of Goldfinger (pretty cool, actually). We also had cupcakes to celebrate Rebekah's birthday. Lulu, you put on a heck of a soiree. Thanks!
Next: The Good Old Days are back again at the NFFC Convention
• • •
Follow-up to an earlier column:
"The Wilhelm in Golden Dreams is heard while the Spanish missionaries are
walking through California and the earthquake occurs."
Good ear, Gregory! You are the winner of the Wilhelm!
Discuss It
Related Links
- More Coverage of the Who Wants To Be a Millionaire Auditions
- LaughingPlace.com Coverage of the opening of Mr. Lincoln
-- Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith can be reached using the Talkback form below or by emailing her at [email protected].
The Fabulous Disney Babe's column is posted every Friday and when ever else she has something to say. For more on Michelle's background, see her first column. She also offers The Fabulous Tour: Disneyland Secrets and Stories. Click here for more information.
The opinions expressed by our Michelle Smith, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted July 27. 2001