Rory with Friend Like Me Travel Co.

03/04/2021

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘪𝘬𝘪, 𝘛𝘪𝘬𝘪, 𝘛𝘪𝘬𝘪 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘮 by ʀɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ ᴍ. ꜱʜᴇʀᴍᴀɴ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴏʙᴇʀᴛ ʙ. ꜱʜᴇʀᴍᴀɴ

https://youtu.be/GTWoGH_bVAk

The Enchanted Tiki Room was Disney’s first successful marriage of animatronics and audio. This process had called for a steep learning curve in the world of animatronics. Fortunately, Disney’s desire to have the birds appear as real and authentic as possible, syncing the music with the movements of the birds (an arduous task in and of itself due to the significantly longer coded movements of the animatronics) the attraction still beloved by many holds up well even all these years later. Not to mention the deliciously cool relief it brings on a hot day!

Written by the Sherman Brothers who worked closely with Disney, the music of The Enchanted Tiki Room may sound familiar to some Disney-goers. Why? The Sherman Brothers collaborated on songs featured in many other beloved attractions — The Carousel of Progress, it’s a small world and Journey into Imagination with Figment!

22/03/2021

Happy Marvel(ous) Monday!

As I'm sure you all are aware, fans of the Marvel Cinematic verse is all agog over 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳 and I am certainly no exception!

For the next foreseeable Mondays, you can all join me here for some Marvel appreciation, tv show and film discussion, thoughts, feelings, theories etc.

Last night, I started watching 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 over again (technically it's not a true beginning over as I did not actually watch the last two episodes but still)!

What I love so much about the progression of these episodes is how much they are a capturing and taking the viewer through television history. The first episode feels like a marriage between 𝘉𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 and 𝘐 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘺 and as someone who still repeatedly enjoys watching the comedic follies of Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Lucille Ball, this pilot episode holds so much magic in its reverent nod to television from this era. The creators took a lot of care and pride in this as well as demonstrated by their special effects — they used the same techniques in 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 as they did in 𝘉𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 which more than adds to the charm and success of this first episode. And while laugh tracks are generally considered kitsch and gimmicky by today's standards, I think it's important to remember that, once upon a time, it added a little something to a show and it's that kind of enthusiasm that we could learn to appreciate a little more.

What makes this even more enjoyable is the surprise ending which delightfully confuses the viewer, building the anticipation and excitement for the next episode!

ℝ𝕠𝕣𝕪 ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕖 for 𝔽𝕚𝕝𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝔹𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕒 𝕃𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕠 𝔸𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖
🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬 out of 🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

I honestly do not believe anything could be improved upon, especially for a pilot episode!

I'd love to hear your thoughts!
What did you like about the first episode of 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯?
Was there something you didn't care for?
Let's discuss!

18/02/2021

“Happiness consists of living each day as if it were the first day of your honeymoon and the last day of your vacation.” - Leo Tolstoy

Even the man who wrote 864 pages of the most beautifully complex narrative understood the importance of a vacation. Believe me, if I had just written Anna Karenina, I too would feel the call to recoup. In fact, I’d probably want, at the minimum, a two week break a third of the way into writing it.

Like Tolstoy, I’m a firm advocate in vacations and enjoying ample slices of happiness where they can be found. Given that you found this page, I can only guess that you and I are of the same mind! Planning your vacation should not relegate you to hair-pulling and sleepless nights in anticipation of your time-off from normalcy. That’s where your Friendly Neighborhood Travel Agent comes into play! I relish in the insanity of vacation planning. Late-night bookings, early bird call-ins, feverish refreshing of pages and itineraries -- it’s a thrill to me! The most fun I have is helping to plan a magnificent vacation for my clients, no matter how big or small! When helping to plan a vacation, I’m envisioning it, making sure it’s the highlight of familial memories to come!


Interested in beginning your vacation the moment you’ve decided to go? Allow me to do the heavy lifting! After all, that’s what your Friendly Neighborhood TA is for.

20/01/2021

20/01/2021