Strange Things

[DaveInTN 3,247]

You know, while we're on the topic, who the hell is Bean, anyway? I mean, he plays a heavy role in the Muppet 3D thing, but he never played a prominent role on the TV show or the movies, did he? How did he and that annoying bouncing thing get to be stars of a Disney attraction?

 

Simply put, Bean is an opportunist.  He appeared on the scene long after the Muppets became wildly successful.  In my mind, any Muppet introduced after the original run of the Muppet Show is not a real Muppet.  It's no different than an actor who joins a tv show that's already a ratings hit.  There's no risk in that.  It just makes you a leech.  Kind of like that creepy kid Oliver who joined the Brady Bunch in their last season.  C'mon, you want to be a real star?  Get yourself on the pilot episode, you little puke.  

[The Troll 67]

Up arrow!

 

Oliver sucked. Bean sucks. Goober sucked. Shemp sucked. Olivia sucked. Lawrence sucked. Anna sucks.

[wendinator 109]

You know, while we're on the topic, who the hell is Bean, anyway? I mean, he plays a heavy role in the Muppet 3D thing, but he never played a prominent role on the TV show or the movies, did he? How did he and that annoying bouncing thing get to be stars of a Disney attraction?

 

Everything I know I learned from this - http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Bean_Bunny

[fowlandfishmommy 10]

Just a few things.  Yes I knew about the Azalea Maids.  I have a friend that lives in Mobile and her little girl is so obsessed with the Maids.  She got her very own big dress for Christmas this year.  (She is the cutest!)  And there is something similar in a community close to Birmingham.  The Vestavia Belles. http://thevestavian.com/city-hospitality-the-vestavia-belles/   What can I say.  We Alabamians love being southern and we like to show off our whiteness for all to see.  Ha!! :)  These types of things make me very glad I have all boys.  

 

Also, those baskets on that rolling house came from JoAnns craft store, I know that because I make Easter baskets for people and I bought about 5 of those 2 years ago.  I just thought you'd like that bit of information.  I find it very interesting there someone just goes out and buys Easter baskets for the Magic Kingdom, now THAT is a job I'd love to have!!

 

Fisher's basket was one of those.  Poor Flint, he's too wild to let his momma get a basket made for him.  Maybe next year.  :)  

 

[The Troll 67]

 

We Alabamians love being southern and we like to show off our whiteness for all to see.

 

Um...yikes.

[fowlandfishmommy 10]

Um...yikes.

I agree -- yikes!!  It's a little embarrassing.  :)  

[jmaul 65]

Up arrow!

 

Oliver sucked. Bean sucks. Goober sucked. Shemp sucked. Olivia sucked. Lawrence sucked. Anna sucks.

 

The Troll is back.  You got an up arrow for that post.......

[fowlandfishmommy 10]

You know people from say Spain or Australia visiting Disney World, were like what in the world is this???  (Well I don't know there is that Pinocchio float) But it is a big honor and I would have loved it when I was that age.  :)  

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Chicken women = UberStrange

 

Simply put, Bean is an opportunist.  He appeared on the scene long after the Muppets became wildly successful.  In my mind, any Muppet introduced after the original run of the Muppet Show is not a real Muppet.  It's no different than an actor who joins a tv show that's already a ratings hit.  There's no risk in that.  It just makes you a leech.  Kind of like that creepy kid Oliver who joined the Brady Bunch in their last season.  C'mon, you want to be a real star?  Get yourself on the pilot episode, you little puke.  

 

I offer an alternate theory...

 

Cousin Oliver was a last ditch effort to keep the franchise going. 6 episodes later and it was dead dead dead.

 

Peter could have broken Marcia's, Jan's AND Cindy's noses playing ball in the house; Davy Jones + the other 3 Monkees could have taken Mrs. Brady to Vegas; and Alice could have gone to work in Mel's Diner and really confused things; and it wouldn't have done a darned bit of good.

 

Bean = David Spade

A little blond guy that latches onto a hit show and rides it out for years.

 

 

(Then does it again.  And again. And again... Seriously it's gotta be magic because I have no explanation for his career otherwise.)

[Humphrey Bear…Rob 42]

Bean and Elmo are equally annoying...

Riding Kermits and Grovers coat tails

Strangely wonderful TR!

[The Troll 67]

Cousin Oliver was a last ditch effort to keep the franchise going. 6 episodes later and it was dead dead dead.

 

 

Oh, I agree with you 100%, but it doesn't change the fact that Oliver sucked. But the show was out of gas. The Brady Bunch kids were all too old and the story lines had all fizzled out. Oliver was a desperate attempt to inject a new "cute kid" into the equation.

Same with Olivia on the Cosby Show. Olivia was a Rudy wannabe. But she could not hold a candle to Rudy's genuine cuteness. Olivia was a put on. Even so, when Olivia was introduced, that show still had a few more seasons left in the tank, unlike the Bradys.

 

 

Bean and Elmo are equally annoying...

Riding Kermits and Grovers coat tails

 

I agree with you on Bean but have to disagree on Elmo. Don't get me wrong...I despise Elmo, but Elmo is a phenomenon unto himself who's upstaged the rest of the show.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Man- I didn't notice that before.  All kidding aside, I wonder what happened to that poor kid.

 

As mentioned- definitely either a craniotomy (alien or otherwise) or an incision for a spinal surgery. My daughter has that one from her brain tumor removal. And my mother-in-law has one due to spinal surgeries. My guess is the former because unless it's a trick of lighting, his hair seems thin back there which could indicate radiation treatments.

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

The Troll absolutely approves of the Azalea Trail Maidens. The Troll is a big fan of grace, sophistication, class, and tradition. I agree the website design gets a C, or worse, but the girl's writing skills are exceptional.

 

Very interesting read and very interesting that the group still exists in this day and age.

 

I'm a fan of the Azalea Trail Maidens too.  I wonder what kind of deal was struck to get them to WDW?  I imagine Disney paid their way, but I wonder what else they provided?

 

You know, while we're on the topic, who the hell is Bean, anyway? I mean, he plays a heavy role in the Muppet 3D thing, but he never played a prominent role on the TV show or the movies, did he? How did he and that annoying bouncing thing get to be stars of a Disney attraction?

 

LOL @ the annoying bouncing thing.  I think it says its name, but I'll be darned if I can recall it.  Per the link provided by wedinator, below, Bean has appeared in quite a few Muppets productions.

 

Simply put, Bean is an opportunist.  He appeared on the scene long after the Muppets became wildly successful.  In my mind, any Muppet introduced after the original run of the Muppet Show is not a real Muppet.  It's no different than an actor who joins a tv show that's already a ratings hit.  There's no risk in that.  It just makes you a leech.  Kind of like that creepy kid Oliver who joined the Brady Bunch in their last season.  C'mon, you want to be a real star?  Get yourself on the pilot episode, you little puke.  

 

Holy Mother of Hijacks!

 

Cousin Oliver?

 

How did we get there?

 

Up arrow!

 

Oliver sucked. Bean sucks. Goober sucked. Shemp sucked. Olivia sucked. Lawrence sucked. Anna sucks.

 

Who's Lawrence?

 

And, where's Chachi?

 

Any such list should include Chachi for the sake of completeness.

 

Everything I know I learned from this - http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Bean_Bunny

 

And that's a lot.

 

What I want to know is who the heck wrote all of that?

 

Very strange, to say the least.

 

Just a few things.  Yes I knew about the Azalea Maids.  I have a friend that lives in Mobile and her little girl is so obsessed with the Maids.  She got her very own big dress for Christmas this year.  (She is the cutest!)  And there is something similar in a community close to Birmingham.  The Vestavia Belles. http://thevestavian.com/city-hospitality-the-vestavia-belles/   What can I say.  We Alabamians love being southern and we like to show off our whiteness for all to see.  Ha!! :)  These types of things make me very glad I have all boys.  

 

Also, those baskets on that rolling house came from JoAnns craft store, I know that because I make Easter baskets for people and I bought about 5 of those 2 years ago.  I just thought you'd like that bit of information.  I find it very interesting there someone just goes out and buys Easter baskets for the Magic Kingdom, now THAT is a job I'd love to have!!

 

Fisher's basket was one of those.  Poor Flint, he's too wild to let his momma get a basket made for him.  Maybe next year.   :)

 

 

Wow, what a cute photo!

 

I hope all is going well with Flint.

 

Um...yikes.

 

Yeah, yikes.

 

I agree -- yikes!!  It's a little embarrassing.   :)

 

I'll say.

 

The Troll is back.  You got an up arrow for that post.......

 

The Troll should have a lot more up arrows than he does.

 

You know people from say Spain or Australia visiting Disney World, were like what in the world is this? ??  (Well I don't know there is that Pinocchio float) But it is a big honor and I would have loved it when I was that age.   :)

 

Like Troll said, it's a little hard to believe that a tradition that seems to go against modern feminist notions still exists.  From what I saw on the website, it apparently is still a big honor, and I think it's nice that the City of Mobile has kept the tradition alive.  A little heritage is a good thing.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Chicken women = UberStrange

That's true. There is so much strangeness happening in this trip report that the Chicken Women got lost in it. And, isn't it strange that Clara Cluck appears in both the Halloween and Easter parades? She must have a good agent.

 

 

I offer an alternate theory...

 

Cousin Oliver was a last ditch effort to keep the franchise going. 6 episodes later and it was dead dead dead.

 

Peter could have broken Marcia's, Jan's AND Cindy's noses playing ball in the house; Davy Jones + the other 3 Monkees could have taken Mrs. Brady to Vegas; and Alice could have gone to work in Mel's Diner and really confused things; and it wouldn't have done a darned bit of good.

 

Bean = David Spade

A little blond guy that latches onto a hit show and rides it out for years.

 

 

(Then does it again.  And again. And again... Seriously it's gotta be magic because I have no explanation for his career otherwise.)

See what I meant about this report going off the rails with DIT's Cousin Oliver mention?

I never thought of David Spade in the way you described, but you're right! I happen to be a fan of his. Mrs. TCD, on the other hand, calls him "that Llama guy," and is not a fan.

 

 

Bean and Elmo are equally annoying...

Riding Kermits and Grovers coat tails

Strangely wonderful TR!

I can't think of a trip report where the merits of various Muppets has been discussed.

Which makes this one even stranger than it already was.

 

 

Oh, I agree with you 100%, but it doesn't change the fact that Oliver sucked. But the show was out of gas. The Brady Bunch kids were all too old and the story lines had all fizzled out. Oliver was a desperate attempt to inject a new "cute kid" into the equation.

Same with Olivia on the Cosby Show. Olivia was a Rudy wannabe. But she could not hold a candle to Rudy's genuine cuteness. Olivia was a put on. Even so, when Olivia was introduced, that show still had a few more seasons left in the tank, unlike the Bradys.

 

 

I agree with you on Bean but have to disagree on Elmo. Don't get me wrong...I despise Elmo, but Elmo is a phenomenon unto himself who's upstaged the rest of the show.

Just when I think I can't be surprised, here we find out that Troll is an expert in the Muppet Universe. So strange.

 

 

As mentioned- definitely either a craniotomy (alien or otherwise) or an incision for a spinal surgery. My daughter has that one from her brain tumor removal. And my mother-in-law has one due to spinal surgeries. My guess is the former because unless it's a trick of lighting, his hair seems thin back there which could indicate radiation treatments.

 

I hereby officially apologize for calling that kid a nimrod. He gets a pass.

I forgot to mention that his nimrod dad was teaching his kids the trick where you roll up the ends of a straw and then have a friend flick it so it pops. These jackwagons (the kid with the scar is excluded from that statement) must have gone through a half dozen straws while they were standing there gumming up the works. I think it's pretty rude and wasteful to stand there and show your kids how to pop straws that had never even been used. Nimrods.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Update time

 

We left off with the end of the pre-parade.

 

Which means that the actual parade was still to come.

 

And here it is.

 

Note how the Swan Court dancers are all waving to their CM friends gathered over there in front of the Starbucks:

 

 

And Beauty and the Beast did the same:

 

 

As did the Frozen sisters:

 

 

Until they saw me, that is:

 

 

Elsa even whipped up a big frozen fractal to throw at me:

 

 

Here's something strange.

 

I noticed this the last time we saw the Festival of Fantasy parade- the girls who dance with that giant strange mime have started to twirl so fast that they are showing guests the goods.

 

See what I mean?  I see London, I see France . . .

 

 

 

They didn't used to twirl that fast. I'm sure I would have noticed if they did.

 

Strange.  I wonder what the Azalea Trail Maids would say about that?

 

Rapunzel said hello to her CM buddies:

 

 

The Under the Sea ladies all swam over to say hi:

 

 

The warm weather means no bodysuit for the fish girl.  Seashells only, the way God intended:

 

 

Next came the Lost Boys. They all seemed to know the Justin Bieber lookalike across the street-so maybe he's one of them:

 

 

Peter and Wendy also waved at the CM's:

 

 

I missed getting a photo of the dragon breathing fire the last time we saw the parade.  I waited too long for the perfect shot that time.  So, I made sure to get an early one this time, just in case:

 

 

Here comes those fairies on the modified segways:

 

 

Here's a pretty good shot of Prince Phillip battling the dragon:

 

 

And yet another fire shot:

 

 

Speaking of strange, here comes the CM with the strangest role in the entire parade- the Dragon Tail Pilot:

 

 

The guy who has to wag the dragon's tail always seems to be starved for attention. Today, the guy ran all the way across the street and got up in these peoples' business:

 

 

Then he came running back.  I gave him the evil eye, and he stayed away from us. Give it up, guy:

 

 

Next up were the little people and Miss White:

 

 

And then that whacky puppet and his bubble machine, which was stuck on high:

 

 

 

Although Daisy got to be in the pre-parade with the Azalea Trail Maids, old Donald was in his same old spot:

 

 

Look at that beautiful blue sky behind the Pegasus Girls:

 

 

Chip, Dale and Goofy were all here:

 

 

They did a little ring around the rosie:

 

 

And then Mickey and Minnie closed things out:

 

 

 

So that was that.

 

Time to ride some rides.

 

But first, one more strange thing happened.

 

Look at the giant black backpack on this guy going in to the Emporium, what the heck is he up to?:

 

 

 

I asked the girls if they had seen that guy, and he managed to slip by without any of them noticing.

 

But I did.

 

I've actually seen something like this before.

 

Can anyone guess what that guy was up to?

 

TCD

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

My guess is that his kid just turned 3 and he didn't want to spring for a ticket? Because seriously, it looks like there's a small child in there.

 

 

 

Who knew the twirling girls boots were so cute? 

 

Well I guess we all do now.

[The Troll 67]

 

LOL @ the annoying bouncing thing.  I think it says its name, but I'll be darned if I can recall it.

 

Waldo C. Graphic. Considering the massive advances in CGI these days, that thing is embarrassingly dated.

 

That Muppet Vision attraction is an interesting thing. The queue is outstanding, the pre-show is outstanding, and the animatronic things in the theater are outstanding, but the show itself ain't all that great.

 

 

 

Who's Lawrence?

 

He was Tattoo's replacement on "Fantasy Island." The producers of that show had to fire Tattoo because he was abusive, uncooperative, confrontational, and kept propositioning the extras who played the hula girls for, you know, girl favors in exchange for money. True story.

 

So in came "Lawrence," and then "Fantasy Island" quickly went into the trash can. Thanks a lot, Tattoo.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

He was Tattoo's replacement on "Fantasy Island." The producers of that show had to fire Tattoo because he was abusive, uncooperative, confrontational, and kept propositioning the extras who played the hula girls for, you know, girl favors in exchange for money. True story.

 

So in came "Lawrence," and then "Fantasy Island" quickly went into the trash can. Thanks a lot, Tattoo.

 

I don't know why they didn't just hire another Tattoo.  Aren't French speaking midgets a dime a dozen?  Aaron Spelling really blew it on that one.  

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Was that guy in the MK to buy all the Cindy Popcorn Buckets like that other DB?

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

So that was that.

 

Time to ride some rides.

 

But first, one more strange thing happened.

 

Look at the giant black backpack on this guy going in to the Emporium, what the heck is he up to?:

 

 

 

I asked the girls if they had seen that guy, and he managed to slip by without any of them noticing.

 

But I did.

 

I've actually seen something like this before.

 

Can anyone guess what that guy was up to?

 

TCD

Cast Member carrying a costume

[Seals 111]

Cast Member carrying a costume

 

I was going to guess this also.

 

Was that guy in the MK to buy all the Cindy Popcorn Buckets like that other DB?

 

But this makes a lot more sense.

[lklasing 16]

I was going to guess this also.

 

 

 

x3.  Maybe a friend of a face character?

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Who knew the twirling girls boots were so cute? 

 

Well I guess we all do now.

 

Yes, boots... I was definitely thinking their BOOTs looked nice.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

My guess is that his kid just turned 3 and he didn't want to spring for a ticket? Because seriously, it looks like there's a small child in there.

LOL- that's a good one. I guess the guy could have had the kid jump in there in between the bag check and the scanners.

 

 

Who knew the twirling girls boots were so cute? 

 

Well I guess we all do now.

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking.

 

 

Waldo C. Graphic. Considering the massive advances in CGI these days, that thing is embarrassingly dated.

 

That Muppet Vision attraction is an interesting thing. The queue is outstanding, the pre-show is outstanding, and the animatronic things in the theater are outstanding, but the show itself ain't all that great.

Seriously? Waldo C. Graphic? I'll bet the guy who thought of that was promoted to run the entire IT department and came up with the idea of FP+ and Magic Bands.

And why don't they update the Muppets 3D show? Technology has progressed way past the point of where it was when the attraction debuted.

 

 

He was Tattoo's replacement on "Fantasy Island." The producers of that show had to fire Tattoo because he was abusive, uncooperative, confrontational, and kept propositioning the extras who played the hula girls for, you know, girl favors in exchange for money. True story.

 

So in came "Lawrence," and then "Fantasy Island" quickly went into the trash can. Thanks a lot, Tattoo.

Wow. I guess I had stopped watching Fantasy Island before this. I do remember hearing bad things about Tattoo, though.

 

 

I don't know why they didn't just hire another Tattoo.  Aren't French speaking midgets a dime a dozen?  Aaron Spelling really blew it on that one.

Hey, the correct term is little people. And did Tattoo speak French? I thought he was a Spanish gentleman.

 

 

Was that guy in the MK to buy all the Cindy Popcorn Buckets like that other DB?

Good guess, but that other DB bought all the popcorn buckets, so there wouldn't be any for this guy to have put in his giant black bag.

 

 

Cast Member carrying a costume

Ding. Ding. Ding.

We have a correct answer.

The strange part, though, is that there is no reason for that guy to have been there and heading in to the Emporium like that. Those CM's are supposed to stay backstage.

 

 

I was going to guess this also.

 

 

But this makes a lot more sense.

If you were going to guess a CM carrying a costume, then you are correct too.

 

 

x3.  Maybe a friend of a face character?

 

I would say that he was a fur character.  The girls said he was "Goofy Height."  But, there was no good reason for the guy to be there, so that part is a mystery.

 

Yes, boots... I was definitely thinking their BOOTs looked nice.

Interesting. I wouldn't have pegged you as a shoe guy.

TCD

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

How can we mention shows that brought in new characters as a last ditch attempt to stay on the air, and not mention Leonardo DiCaprio?  Anyone remember what show he was brought in to try to save?