Disneyland's Haunted Mansion: Confused?

I know that in Disneyland, they have layovers for some of their attractions, including Haunted Mansion, which is a pretty cool concept.  I did not know that the Haunted Mansion layover, themed to The Nightmare Before Christmas, happened during Halloween. 

I heard a lot of people complain about this layover and I didn't see what the problem was with it, it was holiday themed and was only for a short time, seemed kind of neat to me.  I didn't have a problem with it because I thought it happened in December. But a Christmas layover during Halloween?? Am I the only one who is confused about this? I do not understand at all why they would put this layover now, it would fit with the Christmas theme much better. Halloween is the Haunted Mansion time, thats when it should be in it's natural form for all to enjoy.  It goes with the season, it makes sense just as it is, why would you change it with a theme for a completely different holiday?

If anyone has information about this that can clear this up, I would be most appreciative, I just do not understand it at all! What do you think?? Leave your comments below or send me an email at lady_aurora_yensid@hotmail.com and let me know.

unKNOWN Actors: Candy Candido

This time on unKNOWN Actors, we are looking at an actor with a very unique voice who played many unique characters.  Johnny Candido, known throughout his work as Candy Candido, was born on December 25, 1913 in New Orleans and died in Los Angeles on May 19, 1999.  Why was Candy so unique you may ask, besides his unique name? Candy’s voice was exceptional, he had a huge range, going from a soprano all the way to a low scratchy baritone.  You hear very few voice actors and singers who are able to do this.  You will recognize Candy’s low gruff voice from many Disney films.

The first Disney film that Candy was in was Peter Pan in 1953. He provided the voice for the Indian Chief who played with the lost boys and Peter Pan.

Sleeping Beauty (1959) was the movie that I recognized his voice from, as it is one of my favorites.  He give a voice to Maleficent’s main goon or henchmen.  He tells Maleficent that they have been searching in all of the cradles looking for Princess Aurora.

Candy was next heard in Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color 10 years later as just an extra voice in the series.  A few years later, in 1973, he leant his voice to the Captain of the Guards in Robin Hood, which happened to be a crocodile.  Most of his lines are during the archery competition scene.

He kept with the animal theme for his next movie, doing the voices of Brutus and Nero, the evil Medusa’s alligators in The Rescuers (1977).

The last movie voice that Candy provided for Disney was in 1986, bringing Fidget, the bat assistant of Ratigan to life in The Great Mouse Detective.

There is one voice that Candy did for Disney theme parks; in the Haunted Mansion attraction, he does the voice of the Graveyard Executioner.

There is a controversy that is found on the internet about whether or not Candy did the noises made by the Raven in both Sleeping Beauty and the Haunted Mansion attraction.  Because of his incredible voice range and the fact that both ravens never had a voice actor listed, it is quite possible that he did do the sound effects for them, we cannot be entirely sure though. What we do know is that Candy’s unique voice can be heard in several Disney films and now you can pick out his distinctive gruffness when you next watch the films!

Is there an actor you would like me to investigate? Leave me a comment or send me an email at lady_aurora_yensid@hotmail.com.

Mom's Panel Quest 2011: The End is the Beginning

Tuesday Evening into Wednesday Morning, many people received emails, two different kinds.  The first one was an email stating that Disney was appreciative of your interest and taking the time to fill out the application for the Mom's Panel 2011 search, but you have not been selected to move onto round 2.  The second email had the wonderful words stating that the reader was to be congratulated because they have moved onto round 2 of the Mom's Panel 2011 search! 

The select few that have received this second email are currently filled with a combination of joy, excitement, anxiousness and total fear! They have moved on, but now have to continue on the roller coaster of emotions and rounds to get to the final goal, Official Mom's Panel Member! I would like to give my most warm congrats to all who got this email, you completely deserve it and I will be pulling for all of you to make it to the panel because you are all wonderful people and deserve it!

For those of us (yes, I mean us) who received that first, less happy email, do not be discouraged by it.  Consider it a beginning.  We get to learn from this year's trials and prepare ourselves to enter the journey again next year! Remember that just because this year was not your year does not mean that you are unfit to be on the panel. Quite the contrary; there are so many of you who are more than qualified to be on the panel that if Disney wants to keep this contest going for many more years, they need deny some of you now so they can accept you later! Just continue learning and enhancing your love of Disney to prepare yourself for that inevitable day when you will be accepted to the panel!


Oh, and a little side note from me: If anyone knows what this "Mickey Mom's Club" is all about, please let me know, I had tried to log in, but it keeps saying they are not taking any members right now.

Get Tangled up in the Tangled Trailer!

Weekly DDL Post

This week on The Disney Driven Life, I look at the food and countries featured in this year's Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. Check out the bounty of food offered by clicking here. CAUTION: If hungry, do NOT read until you have eaten!!

Weekly DDL Post

This week on the Disney Driven Life, I talk about my take on the new celebration "Let The Memories Begin".  I would love to hear your opinion on it as well, so feel free to email me or leave me comments! Check out the article here!

The Resort Romp: All Star Sports Resort

Ok, so starting a new series here. Was given the idea for this series in August on my last trip to WDW. My family walked around several different Resorts because my little sister was trying to decide where she wanted to stay for her graduation present trip in June or July of 2011.  We visited several resorts and when I went back and looked at my pictures from all of them, I thought that I would share the pictures with all of you!

The first resort we will be hopping to is the resort my family and I stayed at in August of this past year: All Star Sports! It is one of the three All Star Resorts, first on the bus stop route for all parks and themed to, you guessed it, sports! Join me through a picture walk-through of the resort:

The Guard Gate

What you see as you drive up

The Lobby

Lobby

A Stairwell on the Baseball part of the resort

Towel Rack and Baseball Wallpaper

Bathroom

Sink Area

Entertainment Center

Curtains and Window

Table and Mirror

Beds

Hallway on the Baseball Side

Hallway and more wings

Closeup on the other wing

View from the second floor out to the Quad area

Baseball Pool

Baseball Pool Area

Leads to the Stairs and elevator

Pool Area

Center of the Football Area, you walk here from the  Baseball area to get to the lobby, buses, store and food court

Giant Football Helmet

X's and O's on the Football Field...fun to climb and take pictures with

End of one of the Surfing wings

Football area

The Mickey in the center is really awesome!

Bus Stop

Stairwell in the Tennis Wing

Tennis Area Hallways

The center of the Tennis Area

Donald looks a bit mad on the Tennis court

Yep, I would say he's mad....I wonder why?

Yea, I would say this is probably why

Part of the Surfing Wing

Surfing Area

Mickey Statue in the center of the resort

Close up on the Mickey, statue is handicap accessible and good for photos

Surfing Wing

Surfing Wing

Cool Shark Fin in the Surfing Wing Area

This is our little walk-through of All Star Sports.  The only area that I did not get any pictures of is the Basketball area.  For More Pictures, I would suggest checking out Allears.net, Deb has tons of pictures on her site of all of the resorts.