Date Night: "Onward" Edition

I know I haven't posted in a while, things got a little chaotic for me, but I'm trying to get back on track with things now.  So, that includes more blog posts.  Last night, Bryan and I saw Pixar's latest movie, Onward, and we both enjoyed it.

Let's start with our dinner beforehand.  I normally just gloss over this part, but we had to change up our routine a little bit (we're creatures of habit when it comes to certain things).  Normally when we go to the movies in Rockville we go to Gordon Biersch for dinner beforehand.  Unfortunately, Gordon Biersch closed down, so we're both pretty disappointed with that.  Instead, we opted to try World of Beer, which is right across the street from the movie theatre.  We'd been there before, and thought it was alright, so we decided to give it one more chance.  I'm glad we did, as it was much better this time around.  Since we got there at the tail end of happy hour, we opted for more mainstream beers for our first round.  I got Alagash White, which I love but don't drink too often.  For my second beer, I got Secret Llama Blueberry Wheat Ale.  Now, my mom gets this blueberry beer from Rhode Island, and she absolutely loves it, but whenever I drink it, I don't taste the blueberry.  That was not the case with Secret Llama.  It had this wonderful blueberry taste, and they even added some blueberries to the glass.  I would definitely drink it again.  In fact, I think I'm going to see if I can get my hands on it at home.  I highly recommend it, especially if you enjoy fruit-flavored beers.

One of the reasons we enjoyed going to Gordon Biersch so much was the giant pretzel, although they got rid of the bacon sauce and changed up the cheese sauce lately, so it wasn't as big of a hit with us.  World of Beer has a giant pretzel too, so we decided to get it.  I don't like mustard, but Bryan said the mustard was really good.  When he tried the cheese, however, he immediately fell in love.  It was beer cheese, which is always good in my book, but, this time, it had a little kick to it, a little like queso, but it was beer cheese.  The kick wasn't overwhelming, just every once in a while you'd get some of it, and it added something different to the sauce.  Needless to say, we've found a pretty good replacement for Gordon Biersch for when we go to the movies in Rockville.

After a delicious dinner, we headed to the movie theatre.  There were so many trailers.  I mean, I expected quite a few, just not half an hour's worth.  Oh, and a short with Maggie from The Simpsons (Bryan pointed out that there was no talking during the short, as the voice actors cost a ton of money).  It was a cute little short where Maggie meets a boy she has a crush on at the park, and, of course, nothing goes as planned, especially when Homer's suddenly put in charge of taking her to the park.  It was cute, although I found it interesting that they had a Simpson's short during a Disney movie, but that's not my decision to make.  It could be worse, it could be Family Guy.

Okay, enough rambling, now to talk about the movie.  For those of you who don't know what Onward's about, it follows two brothers, Barley and Ian, who are elves but live in a world where technology has replaced magic.  So, you have all the mystical creatures you'd expect in a fantasy movie, but they're doing day to day jobs just like us normal people.  On Ian's 16th birthday, they're given a gift from their father, who died from some illness before Ian was born; it's a magic wand and a spell that can bring their father back for twenty-four hours.  Of course, the boys are thrilled, especially Ian, who never actually met his father.  As can be expected, things don't go exactly as planned, and only half of their dad is brought back (from the waist down).  There's the possibility of getting another one of the gems needed to power the magic wand to bring their dad back, so they set off on a quest.  For Barley, this is his dream.  He's obsessed with role playing this game that's based on what life was like for his world before they stopped using magic.  Therefore, he sees himself as an expert on quests as magic, although he has a habit of acting like a fool, so no one takes him seriously.  His heart is always in the right place though.

When I first saw the teaser for this movie, without really knowing the plot, I thought it looked amazing.  I mean, you have fantasy creatures who have lost the ability to do magic, fly, etc., just living normal, boring lives.  When I saw the first full length trailer, I thought it looked alright, but I was definitely less excited about it, as I didn't really like the plot.  I still wanted to see it though, and I'm definitely glad we did.  I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, and Bryan seemed to enjoy it a lot as well.

One thing I really liked about this movie was how these fantastical creatures have lost the ability to do magic as they became more reliant on technology.  It honestly reminded me a lot of the world today.  With technology, people have forgotten how to sew, cook, make things with their hands, etc.  At the end of the movie, however, there was a definite shift as characters wanted to get back to their roots and learn what had been forgotten over time.  This also reminds me of today.  Quite a few times in my 7th period especially, they get upset because they're not being taught how to sew, cook, build things, etc.  They tell me that they want to learn that.  One student even said, "I heard there used to be a class where they taught you that stuff.  Why did they get rid of it?"  I couldn't agree with them more.  Yes, we live in a society driven by technology, so those skills are important, but that doesn't mean we have to forgo learning how to do things with our hands as well.  Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now.

When it comes to the movie, I also loved the focus on brotherly relationships.  Lately (meaning the past 20 years or so), Disney has really focused on sisterly relationships, with the only exception being Brother Bear, which is an amazing movie.  Onward focuses on the relationship between Barley and Ian as they try to navigate life together and even mourn their father's death together.  What I enjoyed most about that was the fact that both Barley and Ian weren't afraid to show their emotions; they cried, got angry and laughed with each other.  The focus of the movie wasn't really about getting their dad back for 24 hours but rather the growth and evolution of their relationship.

I want to talk more about this movie, but I'm worried it'll get into some spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie or don't want to read spoilers, this is probably where you should stop reading.

That ending was rough for me, I'm not going to lie.  There were definitely some moments that hit close to home for me, and I think it's just the timing of it all.  Had I seen this movie a year ago, it would have been sad, but I would have been fine.  With my dad passing, however, it all hit very close to home.  I think Bryan sensed that, as he kept squeezing my hand during certain parts. 

The scene where Barley talks to Ian about how he didn't go say goodbye to their dad in the hospital was difficult for me.  I almost didn't go see my dad that last day in the hospital before he took a turn for the worse, but now I'm so glad I did (we didn't know that that was his last day at the time).  I can understand where Barley was coming from, though, as it can be incredibly difficult to see a loved one like that, but it can also be incredibly difficult to live with the guilt of not saying goodbye.  That's difficult enough for an adult, so imagine how difficult it must be for a child.

I do have to say, I'm glad Ian gave Barley that chance to say goodbye.  How they did it in the movie was perfect too.  I thought it was great that you didn't hear specifically what they talked about but instead had Barley recount it later, it gave him a chance to show what was important to him from that conversation.

The other part of the end that I loved was when Ian realized that while he didn't have his dad with him to grow up, he still had Barley, who stepped up and filled in that roll early on, despite the fact that he was young when his dad died.  It was a wonderful moment when Ian realized that he had a male figure to look up, and while it might not have been his dad, it was still someone who loved him and cared for him immensely. 

Overall, I thought that this was a fantastic Disney movie.  It captured the whimsicalness of Disney films and the importance of family in a way that hasn't been done before.  Even though it's not doing as well in the box office as people anticipated, I still hope this isn't the last we've heard from Ian and Barley.

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A Trip to the Future and Partially Around the World at Epcot

Wow, it was another wonderful, jam packed day today.  This time, we headed to Epcot for our first day there (we'll return on Friday).  There weren't any morning Extra Magic Hours today, so we got an extra hour of sleep, which was wonderful.  It's amazing how much of a difference an hour can make.  Once again, we took the skyliner, only this time it was a much longer journey to Epcot.  I do have to admit, we like the skyliner better than the bus, especially because it means we're guaranteed to have a seat.  There's an added bonus taking the skyliner to Epcot, you're dropped off in World Showcase, which is a significantly less crowded entrance, so we were through security and everything in record time.

Our first stop for the day was Journey Into the Imagination with Figment.  We definitely didn't need the FastPass, as there wasn't even a stand-by line.  It was an adorable little ride and a nice, slow way to start out the day as we explored the importance of the imagination.

When we got off the ride, we found some character meet ups we were looking for: Ralph and Vanellope and Joy.  It was perfect, because we had been looking for them before hopping onto Figment.  I love Vanellope, she's feisty and blunt while simultaneously sweet and adorable.  I seriously can't get enough of her.  Ralph was a lot of fun to meet too, and it was great to see them together, especially after what happened in Ralph Breaks the Internet.

Right across from Ralph and Vanellope was Joy.  Before all the construction in Epcot, Joy and Sadness were together, but now it's just Joy.  There was barely a line (maybe one family in front of us).  I asked Joy if Riley went on a second date (if you haven't seen Riley's First Date, which is a Pixar short, you must immediately).  She told me to keep it a secret.  We also talked about Riley becoming a teenager, and I sympathized with Joy, as I work with middle schoolers.  Everyone, including Joy, acts surprised when they hear that, followed by sympathy.  I promise, it's not nearly as bad as it sounds.  Overall, Joy was a wonderful character experience, and since there wasn't much of a line, we got to spend a little bit more time with her.

While we were in the area, we decided to see Mickey since he was nearby.  He was hiding in the Pixar Shorts lobby, and we walked right up.  There was seriously nobody in any of the three lines which was perfect.  This also gave us the opportunity to see the Pixar Shorts, which was something Bryan had wanted to do, he loves watching Pixar shorts.  We watched "Get Yourself A Horse", which looks like an old fashioned Disney short until the characters pop out of the screen.  You could tell the animators were having fun with the 3D effects.  Afterwards, we watched "Piper", which has always been one of my favorites, followed by "Feast".  Personally, I liked "Piper" the best; "Feast" was a roller coaster of emotions.

From the Pixar Shorts, we went to meet Pluto and Goofy, although we only really had time to meet Pluto, so we'll go back to meet Goofy on Friday.  Afterwards, we went to use our second FastPass for the day at Mission: Space.  Since the last time I went on this ride, there have been some changes; there are two versions, a regular version and less intense version.  We opted for the regular version.  I swear I remember Mission: Space being different; more like Smuggler's Run where you're in an actual cockpit, not a claustrophobic little chair in a line next to three other people.  Of course, that was fourteen years ago, so I could be remembering things differently.

While in Future World, we decided to ride Living the Land since the line was fairly short.  This was a ride I had never been on before, so I was willing to check it out.  It's a nice, leisurely little boat ride where you learn a little bit about agriculture and how Epcot grows some of the food eaten in Disney World.  This includes new techniques such as growing the food vertically to allow for more to be grown in less space.  It was pretty interesting, but nothing too spectacular.  If you were more into that kind of stuff, I imagine you'd like it more.

Since it's the Festival of the Arts, there are some special activities going on, including a paint by numbers mural.  You get a little paint brush and cup of paint with a number on top, and you can paint 4 squares.  Even with people only painting 4 squares, they still have to put up a new mural every two days or so.  It was a lot of fun and our way to leave our mark on Epcot.  In the end, you get a postcard of what the final product will be.  This is going to be a large rainbow.

This this point, we were done with Future World for the day and headed over to the World Showcase.  Our original plan was to go to each pavilion in order and work our way around.  In reality, however, we bounced around a lot.  We started in Norway instead of Mexico because of our FastPasses for Frozen Ever After.  This ride replaced Maelstrom in Norway.  It was cute ride that retold some of the highlights from Frozen as Arendelle gets ready for a winter party in the middle of summer, courtesy of Elsa of course.  Like I said, it was cute and fun, but it definitely wouldn't be worth the ninety minute wait it had in the stand-by line

When we got off Frozen Ever After, there was only a 15 minute wait to meet Anna and Elsa, so we rushed over there right away to meet them before the line got any longer.  We got there right on time, as the line started to pick up afterwards.  I have no idea what was up with Anna, she wasn't bubbly and didn't smile in the photos.  It was super weird.  Elsa asked if we'd met before, so now I've bee wracking my head to figure out if I know anyone working in Disney.  If I do, no one has told me.  Elsa asked where we were from, and I said, "Outside Washington, DC, so a little bit colder than here."  I completely forgot we were supposed to be in Arendelle, and she commented, "Colder than Arendelle?  I'll have to go there one day."  Oops.  Elsa was much friendlier than Anna.

Now that we were done with Norway, we doubled back to Mexico.  We got some barbacoa to eat, which was delicious, then went inside the pavilion to ride Gran Fiesta.  This ride definitely needs to be updated or something, it was mediocre at best.  Bryan's reaction was, "This was why you made me watch that movie?"  Yes, that's why we watched The Three Caballeros, which we both absolutely hated.

Next, we went back to the Norway Pavilion to look at the Norse Gods exhibit.  It was quite small but still really cool.  They talked about Odin, Thor, Loki and Freya and had some amazing artifacts that are well over a thousand years old.  Disney isn't the place you'd expect to see something like that, so it was a pleasant surprise.

In Norway, we grabbed a beer and started drinking around the world (okay, Bryan started in Mexico, I started in Norway).  The beer was alright, it tasted kind of generic, but Pilsner is good no matter what.

Drinks in hand, we temporarily skipped over China so we could go meet Snow White in Germany.  She and I had a lovely conversation.  I commented on the gorgeous painting of her that Doc made, and she said she had no idea how he found the time to such a beautiful artist.  I asked her if the dwarfs were keeping the house clean with her gone and she did express some concern, saying she wanted to go back and check on them.  I said she could come clean our house if she had the time, and she said she'd love to, and she'd bring her animal friends.  I told her that I live right next to a forest, so there will be plenty of animals around to help.  It's perfect, now we wait for her to show up.  It's also worth noting that we got beer in Germany, how could we not?

Temporarily done with Germany, we doubled back to China.  Here, we waited in line to meet Mulan, who I don't think I'd met before.  I wished her a happy Chinese New Year, and complimented Mushu on the painting he did of her (he did it with his fire breathing).  After meeting Mulan, we stuck around to see the Golden Dragon Acrobats perform.  This was something I was so excited to see, as I love Chinese Acrobats.  Personally, I felt their performance was a little lackluster.  While what they did was impressive, I've seen more stunning and dangerous stunts performed by Chinese Acrobats in the past.  Afterwards, we got some potstickers and drinks nearby.  I got plum wine, which was alright.  It was definitely fortified and reminded me of port.  It was alright, but the potstickers were delicious.

Leaving China, we went back to Germany to look at some of the shops.  I especially wanted to visit the Christmas shop.  If you didn't read my pre-trip post about Epcot, that shop has some wonderful memories for me.  When I was 8, I was too scared to see the fireworks (I had issues with sudden loud noises then).  My Pop-Pop and I stayed in the Christmas shop where a wonderful cast member took us around the shop and showed us so many wonderful things.  It was an amazing moment just between the two of us.  Going back to the Christmas shop, however, it was significantly smaller than I remembered, but it was still great to revisit.

Keeping in our path around the lagoon, our next stop was Italy.  We wandered around a little bit but spent most of our time in  Tutto Gusto, an Italian wine cellar.  This was something I'd really been looking forward to doing.  It was dark and had low ceiling, just like what you'd expect from a wine cellar.  I got the Tuscan flight, and the chianti was absolutely delicious.  I took the little slip of paper with the wine's name on it so I could find it at home.  We also got some cheese and salami.  We really took our time here, sitting down and relaxing.  It's also worth noting that my phone died at this part, and none of the external batteries I brought were working, so this is where I stop having pictures.

Having spent about an hour at Tutto Gusto, we went to the American Pavilion where we walked around the little gallery there.  There was some amazing Native American artwork on display.  My personal favorite was this stunning black and white gown and the skateboard.  Both were very modern and showed how traditional artwork is being used with modern mediums.

At this point, I hit a wall.  We just sat for a while, and I didn't feel quite right.  Bryan was super sympathetic and sat with me for a while.  What surprised me was the fact that even though I wasn't saying anything, Bryan knew it was more of an emotional wall instead of a physical one, even though I didn't vocalize it or even recognize it myself.

We rested for about ten minutes before going back outside were the Disney on Broadway concert was going on.  Immediately, I recognized the voice singing, it was Josh Strickland, the original Tarzan on Broadway.  We stopped and listened to the rest of the performance.  I was so excited to hear Josh perform.  I've wanted to see Tarzan on stage for a while, but no one does it, and it doesn't go on tour.  This was the closest I was going to get, and that was good enough for him.

After the concert, we staked out a place to watch the fireworks.  We stood on the bridge between the French and UK pavilions.  I wasn't sure if it was going to be a good spot, but that's where the boats for private parties watch, so that was good enough for me.  The fireworks show, Epcot Forever, is a temporary show while they get the permanent show ready.  I was a little upset, because I loved Illuminations so much, but it was 20 years old and time to do something new.  Epcot Forever pays homage to the past, present and future of Epcot.  There were bits from Illuminations and even Tapestry of Nations, which was the parade Epcot performed for the millennium celebration, and I was so excited to hear those little bits.  The fireworks were stunning, and the technology was out of this world.  Epcot has definitely stepped up its game.

Even though there were evening Extra Magic Hours, Bryan and I decided to head back to the hotel for the night.  We were both exhausted.  We'd ridden several rides and met eleven characters (I didn't blog about meeting Pluto, Minnie or Donald).  The next two days are going to be long days in Magic Kingdom, so we decided to get some rest so we could get as much done as possible in Magic Kingdom over the next two days.

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