Category: Orange County

RIDEMAKERZ Launches Cars 2 Line

My nearly four year old son is a tad bit attached to his cars.  Not only does he carry at least one in his pocket on school days, you’ll find one or two on his pillow at bedtime.  Children, particularly little boys, are fascinated with cars. And not just play cars…my son frequently asks my husband if he can “drive” daddy’s “big” car.  He’s a typical boy in this way with his vrooming and zooming all around the house.

Toy cars to a littte boy are fun. Motorized, custom-designed cars that he can help build are awesome. Last year around this time, RIDEMAKERZ re-designed and re-opened it’s store in Downtown Disney.  Building on the concept of stuffing and dressing your own bear, founder and ZEO Larry Andreini originated the idea of building and customizing your own ride.  His vision is to contribute to the positive development of children which I wholeheartedly support.

Boys and girls can exercise their creativity while having fun as they design something unique and original at RIDEMAKERZ. While I definitely think that children who can should have the experience of going into the store to build their ride, the online experience does not disappoint.  Here is a brief overview of the process:

Children CHOOZE from over 70 body and paint styles including their newly released Disney-Pixar Cars 2 line which includes Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, and Sally and either a Street or Monster chassis; Motorize (we opted for Radio-Control but you can also Free-Wheel it!); Mobilize by selecting wheelz and treadz and then building their RIDEZ in the RZ Pit Challenge;  Customize by adding specialty lights, spoilers, side pipes, hood scoops, blown engines, roll bars, decals and more; and Cruize  once they’ve loaded their Ridez into the RZ Cruizecase.

As I mentioned above, this is our second experience and my son was even more excited this time because of the tie in with Cars 2. We each ended up building a character from Disney-Pixar Cars and then put our own unique twist on each ride. With the help of a crew member, my son was able to use the power screw driver (with daddy’s assistance) to attach the chassis and then secured his wheelz onto Mater the Greater.  Once he customized Mater with side pipez and a hood scoop, he was ready to Cruize!

Children have a wide variety of options when it comes to the body, engines, parts, and decals which makes each experience and car unique.  This also means you can opt for a less expensive car or go all out and opt for ultimate customization.

Along with their 5 nationwide locations, RIDEMAKERZ is located within select new-format Disney Stores and Toys R Us stores nationwide.

This Father’s Day weekend, you can build one ride, and get one free (the Cars line isn’t included).

No compensation was received for this post. We were invited to build a ride at RIDEMAKERZ.

Just a Spoonful of Sugar…Mary Poppins Takes Flight in Orange County

Disney is all about bringing the magic to life and it seemed natural to adapt P. L. Travers’ children’s books about a magical English nanny into a musical film.  Even more brilliant was bringing the story to life on-stage.  Mary Poppins, the stage musical, first performed on Broadway in 2006 and is still performing for sold out audiences today.  But you don’t have to travel to New York City to experience the music and magic of this hit Broadway musical. For four weeks this summer, Mary Poppins will perform live at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

 

Photo Credit: Steve Dawson

A little over a week ago, legendary composer Richard Sherman, producer Thomas Schumacher, and stars Steffanie Leigh (Mary Poppins) and Nicolas Dromard (Bert) treated a small group of members and press to a preview and behind-the-scenes look at the hit musical.

Thomas Schumacher, who is president of Disney Theatrical Group, gave audiences some background on how the 1930′s books evolved into the musical sensation it is today.  Richard Sherman, who co-wrote the score with his brother Robert, joined Schumacher for a lively, musical journey back in time.  He talked about how the music was purposefully written to reflect Mary Poppins’ character. For example, throughout the story, Mary Poppins does the thing you don’t expect.  When writing A Spoonful of Sugar, the melody was written so that it would go up (the unexpected) rather than down (which is what is expected).

Richard Sherman talks about writing A Spoonful of Sugar
Also discussed was the origin of the silly word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, which doesn’t actually appear in the original books.  The Sherman brothers used to make up double talk words…”crazy, silly words that nobody understood.”  They wanted to give Mary Poppins a word to give to the children, and in two weeks, they came up with the word that has evolved into the noteworthy song it is today.

Dreaming up the word “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”
In the musical, Burt tap dances on the ceiling in a very popular scene. But did you know that in the books, his part is actually quite small.  How does a minor character who barely exists in the book take on such a prominent role in the film and musical?

Burt’s character evolves
Audiences who are already familiar with the film and it’s story might find themselves singing along with the cast.  Perhaps one of my favorite aspects of a musical is the music! Our preview concluded with a special performance by Steffanie Leigh, who plays Mary Poppins and Nicolas Dromard, who plays Bert. Here is a sneak preview that is certain to get you excited about the upcoming production!

 

Photo Credit: Steve Dawson

Steffanie Leigh and Nicolas Dromard

Mary Poppins, the “roof-raising, toe-tapping, high-flying extravaganza” debuts at Segerstrom Hall on July 14th and will run through August 7th, 2011.  Tickets can be purchased online, via phone or in person at the box office.

No compensation was received for this post. I was invited to a preview of the show.