FIN

Two weeks ago, the Project was presented in my college's BFA showcase. It was well-received! I wish actual Disney-nerds stepped forward to talk to me about it, but that's alright.

The Project is still-ongoing, tho! I've been doing more Creative Costuming for other aspects of WDW, such as the resorts (been posting them to my art tumblr) And my good friends are making some of the designs~

The Living Seas: Wig Construction

I had mentioned it here and there before, but I'll mention it for the new people. Some of my super-talented friends offered to help me with this project by making some of the designs on their own! The first one who jumped on board was my dear friend (and my 'Disney Sister'), Laura! She called dibs on The Living Seas, as well as The Land to make for her boyfriend. How adorable is that?!

A couple weeks back, I went into NYC to help Laura pick out fabrics for Seas. I offered to craft the wig for her, since I LOVE making crazy wigs.

This was the most complex wig I ever made in all my 10 years of cosplaying. But I am SO proud of the results and the time spent on it was oh so worth it! So were the many hotglue burns!

The wig started out as a rather long 3-tone wig I luckily found on eBay for $21 even! JACKPOT!

Long time, no post! Well, at least a post on something related to this project!

This past weekend, I wore my completed Animation Courtyard dress to a convention in Maryland. I was absolutely STUNNED how well-received it was; I was tearing up at so many instances because of the kind words people said about it, no joke. I've been cosplaying for about 10 years and I don't think any of my costumes ever received as much praise as this one. Considering this was one of my own design? That meant the world to me.

Bah, enough of me being sappy, PHOTOS!

Even B&W suits this costume!

I made a quick lil' palette as a prop. Get it? Animator's Palette? dohohoho

It's the thingamabob

Three years ago today, I started my role at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in the Magic Kingdom, as part of the Disney College Program. It'll be three years since I've *been* to WDW, come June, but that's depressing to think about...HAPPY THOUGHTS INSTEAD!

So I thought, hey, I never posted a whole lot of the photos I took during my 4-month stay (or at least publicly I should say), so why not share em'?

Save everything.

My curiosity usually gets me in trouble most of the time. But today it proved to be a good thing! While I was in my basement, I felt a certain...force, drawing me to these filing-drawers. I opened one and went down the list of folders...

Hmm, now what's in here...?

My mom, much like me, is very sentimental. She keeps a LOT of things, but not like those Hoarders on TLC, thankfully. Turns out she saved just about every piece of paperwork from our Disney trips over the years! I also found photo-negatives from the trips as well but those aren't included here. 

Let's see what she saved!

Just an update of sorts~

First off, Animation Courtyard dress is at 90% completion!

Close-up of the bodice. All the Mickeys are freehanded with a ballpoint pen, because you can't trace with vinyl pleather :(

I originally had craft-glued the cells on, but that was before I switched to Heat n Bond. I then proceeded to rip off the glued cells and reattach them with HnB. I'm nuts, what else is new...

After literally a day's worth of pattern-drafting for the underskirt, I set up the "sheets" and what sketches I wanted on each one.

A day and a half later, the tracings are done and the 'papers' are stitched in place on the dress.

After the skirt was sewn together with the zipper installed, I had to hand-sew the filmstrip border on. Again, an annoying thing about vinyl-pleather: hates sewing machines.

Fun Fact: Total number of Who Framed Roger Rabbit viewings while making this: 7.5

What's currently being worked on are the gloves. Hot-glue + gloves + pencils and paintbrushes = Voila!
Once the dress is fully done and out of the way, I'll proceed to the final part of the project, the small-scale float model.

Another thing I wanted to post in here were the VERY FIRST sketches of this whole entire project. Like, even before the whole concept popped into my head.
See, these were originally designs I wanted my friends to do if we were going to D23 Expo together. That plan fell thru in that respect (tho I DID get to attend for free!). But I held onto the designs just in case they could be useful later. Which they did!

Adventureland and a very faint idea of Frontierland. I tried to got for a pirate/tribal combo here.

Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, which didn't stray too far from the final concepts for the project!

Ye Olde Photo Dump

So this is just one huge photo-post that has nothing to do with my project. If anything, it's proof for how long WDW has been a part of my life!

Caribbean Beach room '91. No Nemo here, yet. Notice the 20th Anniversary bags on the table.

Castle, '91

Chef Mickey's in its original location at Disney Village (now The Marketplace). Fun Fact: I severely burned my hand on a light right outside this restaurant. This is clearly me getting revenge.

Chef Mickey's, post hand-burning. '91

Illustration Recap

Video Recap: Floats

I thought it'd be nice to take a look back at the floats, in a nice, easy-to-view video format!

Personally, I love seeing the before and after with the pencils and the final colors for the floats. Weird to say, I know, because I'm responsible for the transformation. But I dunno...I always love seeing that sort of thing! It just goes to show how much life can be breathed into something just by adding a dash of color! ~The Wonderful World of Colooooor~!

~

Floats: Magical Memories/'Here & Now'

And last but most certainly not least is the "Magical Memories/ Here & Now" float!

Florida Project → Magic Kingdom → Epcot → MGM Studios → Animal Kingdom →Magical Memories

Okay, this one might be a lil' hard to explain, as it actually does something!

See, the float would be coming out with the cover facing forward. On each side, there are two cameras. Now, those just ain't for show- they actually take your picture! As the float crawls by the guests, a Mickey Mouse sound-bite ("Everybody all neat and pretty? Great! 1, 2, 3, SMILE!") plays, the camera flashes, and the guests that happened to be in that spot while the camera flashed show up...on the back of the float! Once the float passes by the guests, they can look to see if they showed up in the book! The pages of the photo album are actually one big LCD screen, where the photos would appear. For the illustration, I have mostly my own photos from my WDW internship, but that was just to fill up space.

Ideally, there'd be some tech' going into the photo-taking, where it would focus on at least two faces in each shot, so nobody would have to search frantically for themselves in a giant group shot. Think like Facebook-tagging tech, haha.

This idea would be playing along with the "Let the Memories Begin!" campaign, and be sorta like a day-time Magic, Memories, and You! show (which was truly a magical memory to actually show up in in Disneyland's, btw!). The other name for the float "Here & Now" takes its name from one of the lyrics of the theme song, and also fulfills the 'timeline' theme of the parade. 

Another detail to note is the filmstrip base. Hard to illustrate, but each strip is a mirror! So that's another way guests can find themselves on the float. Or at the very least, their feet!

Well folks, the only illustrations left to do for this project are the back-details of some of the floats (MGM and Epcot, mainly). After those are done, I begin on the physical aspects, such as the small scale-model of one of the floats and a constructed costume.

I have some of my dearest friends helping me out with the Creative Costuming part, which I am THRILLED about!

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Float Count : 6/6

Floats: Animal Kingdom!

Not as insane to draw as the MGM one, but still a lot of work!

Florida Project → Magic Kingdom → Epcot → MGM Studios → Animal Kingdom

 Well, this is the last of the main floats, and I didn't wanna make it lackluster in comparison to the others. It still feels like it's missing something...

Right from the start, I wanted the carnotaurus skeleton and Everest to be on the float. The skeleton isn't exactly a landmark, but I dunno...something about dinosaur skeletons in general are always a striking image to me.

Originally, I wanted various animal prints to go around the base of the float, similar to some signage you see when entering the park. But after looking at the over-head signs that are at the ticket booths, I decided to go with those carvings. Yeah, those were fuuuunnn to draw....

Rafiki's there to represent his Planet Watch/Conservation Station. I thought about putting Simba at the top, but him and Pride Rock are always paired; Rafiki fit better with the tree. You can probably spot Flik easily at the base of the tree. I had to include him for myself because he's one of my favorite characters. Hooray, creative outcasts! *brofist*

For the back of the float, I really wasn't sure what to put there for the longest time. I thought about placing some key scenes from Kilimanjaro Safari there (like the 'upside-down' tree, the lions' rocks, the tusk-worn mud walls), but the Safari was already represented by the truck. Putting animals back there didn't make much sense, either, since they were already being represented by the base of the float.
Then I thought about Camp Minnie + Mickey, but that really isn't a great location or notable for anything other than the Festival of the Lion King, and being what *could* have been Beastly Kingdom. Hmm...Beastly Kingdom.... IDEA! *ping*
See, back when Animal Kingdom opened, I was SO excited for the park. There were tons of promotions going on for it, including the McDonald's Happy Meal toy-line. I got a few of them, but my favorite was definitely the dragon. You can see the dragon's silhouette on the park's logo and his head on one of the ticket booths before you enter the park. But a lot of people don't know that the dragon was supposed to represent a mythical creatures section of the park. Long-story short, the idea was abandoned and turned into a campground. The dragon is still hidden away in the park, unbeknownst to most guests. So I wanted to represent him somehow! I still wish Disney would pick up the blueprints again with this part of the park, but something tells me that's a big fat NO. Especially if they're working on this Avatar land (ugh).
I also like that now I have three genres of creatures represented on the float that don't exactly mesh with the ones on the base: the ones that existed (dinosaurs), the ones that may exist (the Yeti), and the ones that possibly could have existed (dragons, mythical creatures).



One float left! Then it's on to the back-details of the floats.
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Float Count: 5/6

Floats: MGM Studios!

I knew this one was gonna take awhile to draw/color. Annnnnd I was right.

Florida Project → Magic Kingdom → Epcot → MGM Studios

The first concept:

The back.

Looks more like Planet Hollywood, huh?

Well, I think I'm in the minority of people that actually likes this park! I'm a sucker for classic Hollywood. I mainly blame Who Framed Roger Rabbit for that love.

This one was very difficult to draft, as there really aren't easily identifiable 'areas' to MGM. Pixar Place and Animation Courtyard, sure. But the rest are just 'streets'.
I wanted to play around with the idea of Hollywood illusions, like the fake backdrops you can find in the park. So I made the main shops you see when you enter the park as cutouts. They're not in order- sorry, purists!

Again, I really didn't want to showcase every ride; more landmarks than anything else. Tower of Terror, while a ride, is a very notable 'landmark' for the park. You don't see that stupid hat from the top of Everest too well, now do ya?!

And yes, I called that hat 'stupid'. I dunno, maybe because I grew up with the water tower and the Chinese Theater being the 'icons' of the park for me, but I just don't like that hat. I do not like it with a bat, I do not like it with a cat. But!....I had to represent it somehow. Hence Sorcerer Mickey. He appears a few times in MGM, like at the top of the Animation building, and that epic finale of Fantasmic! (a show I regret seeing only once during my 4-month stay [I know, throw the tomatoes, I deserve it]).

Backlot Tour's shuttles were the obvious choice for the transportation. They play into the back of the float, with Catastrophe Canyon. Get it? Backlot Tour on the back of the float? Hahaha...ha...
We also have what I consider the official icon of the park, the water-tower! Had to put that thing somewhere!

I'd also like to make note of the base/signage. I tried it with the teal color scheme the turnstiles have, but it was just too much blue with the fake sky backdrop. So I reverted it to black and white, to echo those classic movie marquees, where they'd put the letters on by hand.

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Float Count: 4/6

MGM Creative Costuming:
-Animation Courtyard
-Pixar Place

Floats: Epcot!

Now that the costumes are done, time to resume working on the floats.

Florida Project → Magic Kingdom → Epcot

The rough:

The back.

Epcot is my favorite park, hands down. Everybody says, "I didn't appreciate Epcot until I was older." Well, yeah, that does ring true for me too, but I can't lie an say that I didn't enjoy the park when I was little! Wonders of Life was my favorite pavilion, mainly for the awesome 'power' milkshakes.
And these babies.

They see me rollin'...I'm really happy I worked in MK because I could always hop on the monorail after work and head to Epcot! Grab some Yakitori House, a yummy fried ice-cream (oh god i can still taste them), and, if this was the evening, I'd be walking around a totally-cleared World Showcase while everybody else was watching the fireworks. Interesting experience, actually!


...Oh right, the float....ahem. Well, I knew right away that the character that would be sitting atop our beloved Spaceship Earth was going to be DreamFinder and Figment. While I think I was too young to have met Dreamfinder, I certainly remember Figment. Had a stuffed animal of him, if I'm not mistaken! When Disney veterans are asked, "Who is the most notable character for Epcot?", I'm certain all of them would say this duo.

Keeping with the transportation theme going along the bottoms of the floats, the monorail was the obvious choice. I chose to go with the Teal one, in remembrance of the tragedy that occurred in July '09, a month exactly after I returned home. My friends and I had the privilege to sit in the front-car a few months prior- now nobody but the pilot can do that, ever since the accident.

I may go back and add Nemo or some fish in general to the Living Seas' splash. Needs something there....

The back of the float features the Fountain of Nations, which is something I always stop to watch. Especially when it plays the theme from Rescuers Down Under! It's also such a gorgeous sight to see at night. I didn't see any point in representing World Showcase on the back, since it already goes around the entire float.

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Floats: 3/6

Creative Costuming: Discovery Island! +Finale

Ladies and gentlemen, it's here. The last costume set of this project.


FINALLY! *throws confetti!*
I've been working on these since...what, May? I can't remember. But whatever, this phase of the project is DONE! And now I can focus fully on the floats, which is actually a bit easier, believe it or not! I don't have to worry about anatomy with those, haha.

So here's the last of the Animal Kingdom sets, and the last set in the Creative Costuming series, Discovery Island/Oasis.

Not sure if I should consider this the Oasis or the Discovery Island... Clearly, the inspiration here is the centerpiece, the Tree of Life. It's always an amazing experience to head out of the Oasis and see the Tree, even when I know it's there.
The Oasis is noted for the various birds that populate it, like the macaws. I wanted to incorporate them somehow, so that's where those ropes and feathers come from.

Well, I hope you folks enjoyed watching this part of my project! Stay tuned for the floats!

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Costume Count: 28/28

Creative Costuming: Africa!

ALMOST DONE. ALMOST DONE. ALMOST DONE.

Here we have Africa!

Okay, this set was a little easier to design than Asia, but to color? A whole-day nightmare. I'm still not happy with it, and I doubt I ever will be. Don't be surprised if these colors change a bit.  
Also, please, nobody read too much into their skintone.

Like the Asia set, I wanted to use face-makeup to represent an animal. At first I wanted to do zebra stripes, but cheetah spots are closer to markings that are traditionally African.

ONE SET LEFT, FOLKS!!!!
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Costume Count: 26/28

Creative Costuming: Asia!

Alrighty, back on the trail with the Animal Kingdom costumes, now that MGM is done and outta the way.

Here we have Asia!

This one [along with Africa, which will be the next set] was a bit tricky to figure out. I mean, how do you come up with a design to represent a smaller version of a whole continent?!


I remembered the flags with the various animals on them being a consistent decoration in Anandapur (on the Trek, near Everest, etc.). So I definitely wanted to include those. The Yeti being a prominent icon of this area was another thing to consider. Thus, I used one of the masks you see while waiting in line to face off with the beasty. The tigers on the Trek were another 'icon' so I had them represented in the make-up of the performers.

The inspiration for the clothing was taken from statues and drum decorations found around Anandapur. The color scheme was a pain to figure out because I didn't want them to be too dull or too vibrant. For now, I'm okay with these colors. But who knows, I may go back and change them if I come up with something better!

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Costume Count: 24/28

Creative Costuming: Pixar Place!

I really hate to admit creative defeat. But I'm afraid I've hit a rather large wall, and I cannot get around it.

That wall's name is MGM Studios/Disney's Hollywood Studios.

See, this park, with it's classic Hollywood charm, doesn't really have much to offer in terms of costume inspiration. They have the Citizens of Hollywood already populating the streets, and I really can't bring myself to design new characters like that. The only areas of the park that I was able to come up with sets for were Pixar Place [scroll down if you don't wanna read my creative woes] and the Animation Courtyard.

I thought about doing a set based on Tower of Terror (grayscale costumes), but again, what's so exciting about that? Nothing much. It also clashes with my goal to not design costumes based on any one particular ride. The downside to MGM is that they don't have really distinctive "lands", like MK or Epcot have.

Disney cuts corners with their parades all the time, and I'm afraid that's what I'm gonna have to do with mine. So the only costume set you'll see for MGM are Pixar Place and Animation Courtyard. The remaining two sets that would dance around the float would just be the Citizens of Hollywood pasted in there. Apologies to anybody who wanted to see what I could come up with for this park. But my creativity does have its limits...

With that said, here's the Pixar Place set!

While Pixar Place is mainly designed to shrink you down to toy-level, in promotion of the only attraction in the area, I didn't want to outright make these Toy Story-costumes. I used the bouncy ball from the Luxo, Jr. short as the main inspiration. Aside from Luxo, Jr., it's a well-known "logo" of Pixar. I did think of basing these costumes off Luxo, but they wouldn't be comfortable for the performers! There's a hint of Luxo on the guy's hat, tho.

Pixar films are known for being light-hearted (for the most part) so sticking with the primary color scheme that the bouncy ball has worked out!

So...yeah, that does it for MGM's costumes. Back to work on Animal Kingdom~!

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 Costume Count :  22/ 30  28

Creative Costuming: Animation Courtyard!

Again, I'm jumpin' around...To start off the MGM Studios set, we have my favorite area of the park- and home to the studio that made my favorite Disney film "Lilo & Stitch"-, The Animation Courtyard! I veered away from doing anything for this area at first, but after a chat with a good Disney pal o' mine, I decided to come back to the idea.

Animation, as you all may or may not know, is my passion, and is one of my favorite parts of Disney. It's a gorgeous and limitless medium and without it, I don't think Walt Disney Studios would be the same.

I prefer 2D/tradtional animation over 3D/CGI, so I wanted to pay tribute to that part of Disney history.

Really wish I could've worked at the Animation Courtyard as part of my internship, since it *is* my major. Oh well! I visited it enough to stalk characters, haha

The girl's skirt is composed of animation paper with Mickey sketches on it. The film strips have pencil-test animation of Mickey doing a running cycle and of various expressions. [I take no credit for drawing those! They're authentic pieces I pasted in].
The brushes and pencils on the costumes are taken from The Magic of Disney Animation sign, same with the film strip detailing. I went with the same color scheme, too. It screams, MICKEY MOUSE, so it all works together with the sketches.

Here's a bit of a close-up:

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Costume Count :  20/32
COMPLETED COSTUME:

What WDW means to me...

I should've posted something yesterday, but I was so tired/busy/lazy....But I would like to take the time now to put in my personal thoughts on WDW in honor of the 40th.

Disney, Disney, Disney.....where do I even begin?


My first trip to WDW was in 1991 [I was three], so my first time there was when the 20th anniversary was going on. I really can't recall much of the trip because I was still too young to retain memories. But clearly, the vacation with my parents was memorable and meaningful enough that we had to come back next year. And then again. And again. And again. My sister Brooke was pretty much born into WDW, as my mom was pregnant with her and she was a baby on her first visit, if memory serves.


I can't place years to these, but here are some scattered memories from my trips when I was younger:
-burning my hand on a footlight in the Marketplace
-scaling the pile of Mickey and Minnie plushes in the Christmas Shoppe
-standing on a lightpost in Liberty Square, screaming, "MICKEY! MICKEY!" when he made the corner into the area during Spectromagic [we have video evidence of this]
-openly criticizing Fantasmic's dragon as nothing more than, and I quote, "A dragon's head on a stick with streamers" [video evidence of this as well]
-almost getting bit by a softshell turtle on one of the shores of Caribbean Beach Hotel
-the park about to close, mom and I trying to find dad  and Brooke(this was before cellphones), only to find that they were getting an ear-hat embroidered
-the Goosebumps Show at MGM Studios and getting freaked out by the giant hamster
-hammock fights with my sister on the shores of the Caribbean Beach

Man, there are too many memories attached to this place that I can't even remember all of them!

And rightfully so. I mean, how can you NOT have countless memories of WDW?!?!

We always stayed at the Caribbean Beach Hotel. We're not sure why, especially since there's so many other lovely hotels on the property. But I think we fell in love with it and didn't want to try anywhere else! To this day, it remains to be my favorite hotel. Oh sure, I've ventured into just about all of the other hotels, just to get a looksie. But it's the nostalgia that keeps me attached to CB. The rooms have a distinct smell to them. Heck, even the air feels different there. And for some reason, I actually welcomed rain while we stayed there. Not sure why.

I didn't think my love for this place could get any bigger, but that was before I participated in the Disney College Program from February to June '09. Prior to that, I had what my friends and I dubbed "Disney Con" in August '08 which was a BLAST! I had never been to the parks with friends before and it was a wonderfully fun experience! I love my folks, but it's nice to run around like, well, kids. Without adult supervision, haha.

But yes, the DCP was truly a life-changing experience for me.
I was lucky enough to be spared a position at floater carts at Downtown West Side [the least magical place on property, if you ask me...] and was instead asked if I wanted to be a 'Fairy Godmother In Training [FGIT]' at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in the Magic Kingdom.

You cannot get any more magical than that.

'course I said yes! And to this day, I am still grateful to that Cast Member that pulled me aside to ask if I wished to switch  roles. Because if that didn't happen, I probably never would've met the people I did and make lasting friendships with almost every one of them!
I also never would've been able to make lasting memories for so many guests if I remained at DTD. I mean....it didn't hit me until I got a little card from this 'princess' I worked on, saying, "Thank you for spreading Pixie Dust on our vacation! - love, the [insert family name here]" Like...wow. I was a part of family's Disney memories. Me. Some chick from Tinylittletowne, New Jersey. I even made it into somebody's Youtube video of their daughter's transformation.
It still blows my mind whenever I think about it. It feels surreal when I think back to what one of my managers said one day, before opening the castle-doors: "You guys are working in the most photographed building on the planet."


The whole duration of my internship, even when I wasn't on-stage, I made wonderful memories for myself. I had all the time I wanted to explore the parks. No family, no friends to say, "Let's go here!/I wanna go back to the room/I don't wanna eat there/I don't want photos with Mickey/etc." I think that was one of the highlights of this experience for me. I admittedly got used to everything so quickly. I'd put my iPod on while walking around World Showcase and make a beeline to the Funnel Cake stand for some fried-ice cream. And if I felt like it, hop in on a party of 9 and have some tasty Teppan Edo for dinner (got to the point where the cooks recognized me...). I developed a lot of routines like that that I probably never could've done if I had somebody else with me.

After my internship, I probably talked people's ears off for MONTHS about everything I did. Surprised nobody slapped a piece of duct-tape over my mouth after awhile. But that wouldn't have stopped me, oh no. I would've still told my stories, but in muffled form.

[Wow, have I really written all this stuff so far? Sorry, readers! Guess it's still true that I talk too much about this place, haha]

But anyway, in an effort to wrap this up...

The Walt Disney World Resort has touched a good majority of my life. I have people in my world that I never would've met if we didn't have WDW as a connecting bond. And the thing I've noticed about all these WDW-crazy people? They all have beautiful hearts and minds. They're genuine.

There's a reason why tears well up in my eyes whenever Wishes! or "The Magic, Memories, and You!" or some version of "When you wish upon a star" pop up on my ipod while I'm driving.  There are millions of memories attached to such beautifully simple notes and lyrics. People's smiling faces. Adventures that I would do again in a heartbeat. Pixie dust fights. The fireworks that look like shooting stars. It's such a rush of emotions and nostalgia that overcome me.

I'm forever grateful to Walt Disney and his Imagineers for their hard work and determination to make such a happy, wonderful, magical, amazing, [insert every other worthy adjective here] place. I wouldn't be the person I am today without it.

Creative Costuming: Dinoland, USA!

I'm gonna jump around a bit. The floats are more complex to work on, so I'm saving those for last. I just really wanna get the costumes done and outta the way! There's not a whole lot of them left [which I will explain in a future post...], but let's kick off the Animal Kingdom set with Dinoland, USA!

Now...I really don't like the majority of Dinoland. Which pains me because I LOVE dinosaurs! I still remember being disappointed by this area back when it first opened up. Even during the 4 months I spent in WDW, whenever I went to AK, I always avoided this area. Really, I think I only ventured in on one of my last days just to ride Dinosaur/Countdown to Extinction for the first time. That particular area of the land, I like. It shows dinosaurs for how they really were. Not some happy-go-lucky carnival critters...

For these costumes, I wanted to pay respect to the beauty of dinosaurs, or rather, their remains. So I donned this pair in some paleontologist duds, with some fossils thrown in. I used the color scheme of the main signage that you pass under when you enter this area.

There's some interactive bits to their costumes. The brushes on their hands would emit dirt clouds when they clap, and the magnifying glasses on their heads can be moved around by them. Maybe to inspect some guests watching the parade?
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Costume Count: 18 /32