Celebrating the Magic Kingdom's New Fantasyland

To contact us Click HERE

Ginnifer Goodwin, Tom Staggs, Jordan Sparks and Mickey  © Disney

If you haven't yet noticed, we've be celebrating the official grand opening of the Magic Kingdom's New Fantasyland all week with some great stories and photos from Scott & Carol.  If you've missed any of their articles, make sure to scroll down and check them out!

The official grand opening was held today, complete with celebrities and several press presentations.  With most of the land now open to the public - sans the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster - visitors are flocking to try out all the new rides and attractions.

Speaking of the Mine Train ride, while it doesn't open until 2014 Disney has released a little more footage at a press event of the animation for the combo coaster and dark ride and it looks good!  The above video, from Inside the Magic, includes a new look at one of the dark ride sections where the Dwarfs are hard at work.  It's no Big Thunder Mountain, but I think it will fit in well in New Fantasyland once it is ready.

Finally, part of the opening festivities last night included a pretty neat dragon flying over the park, fire breathing and all.  Disney has been promoting the dragon for some time now, even creating a Tumblr site for it, and last night it impressed visitors as it passed over the Magic Kingdom.

Neat, right? Disney fans have speculated about the use of this small aircraft to create possible characters in the future for Avatar at Animal Kingdom, so the Magic Kingdom's dragon might have been just a preview.  Granted it needed the cover of darkness to hide the plane aspect, but it's still fun.  A real fire breathing dragon!

---

One Last Chance For Valerie -- Orange Circle in the Atlantic in December...

To contact us Click HERE



Yes... sir the NHC has put up an orange circle in the Atlantic for a system and crowned it with a Special Tropical Statement Weather Release and a 50% chance of developing into the next named system which would make her Valerie.



I mean she is definitely visible, yet her demise is just as visible so not sure why they would name her at this point in the Post Season.

The Navy site is following her with an Invest which is rather interesting and shows the interest the NHC has in her.


Models show it staying far out in the ocean..being picked up by an approaching cold front.Not sure if there is enough of a window for this system to get a name..but it did get a mention so you never know....
And, as mentioned earlier this would possibly have an impact in the Azores ... so it does get make it a higher priority than if the models had it dying out at sea


So... that is what is happening in the tropics in December in Post Season..something the Miami Dolphins may not see for a long time.... 
It is also worth noting that practically no one is talking about this late season wannabe..
and while we are enjoying warmer than normal temps in the US
it's also worth  noting people in Europe are freezing

and........in about 10 days our flirtation with warm weather will fizzle in cold drizzle and possibly snow.


How you may ask is this storm managing to stay alive out there in the cold Atlantic?
It's got a warm, long feed of tropical air to the south...

You can see how she is tapping into tropical moisture that is feeding her this late in the season.

Something worth mentioning is that I have noticed how the ITCZ has been very active this late in the season... or post season or to be honest I thought that a few days ago when it was still November.
Also, interesting to  note that that orange moisture feed is alive in the Caribbean ..tho I don't expect anything...but thought I'd mention it.
Little swirl south of Panama ... 
Not that I am watching Panama........
So..... let's keep watching and remember something...
there is a river of air that circles the planet like a big merry go round.. when it goes up we get warm weather in Oklahoma, Iowa and Carolina..when it dips down................the cold weather zooms down 
Moscow is having the heaviest snow it's seen in over 50 years.... very very cold in Europe.
And, tornadoes... 
sort of like lions and tigers and bears oh my over there....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/moscow-sees-heaviest-november-snowfall-in-50-years-wintry-conditions-in-germany-central-europe/2012/11/29/e2d4d3a0-3a5b-11e2-b01f-5f55b193f58f_blog.html
Good video in the below link...
http://rt.com/news/prime-time/spring-moscow-snow-weather-248/

Around the Twittersphere as some people call it... they are talking winter not Valerie.. 
LiberalFish ‏@akemorClimate Change Skeptics, Get Your Heads Outta' the Sand & into the Snow! Moscow Sees Heaviest November Snow in 50 Yearshttp://wapo.st/YbfS4I  View summary 

•  Reply 
•  Retweet 
•  Favorite

10hRadixExtreme (World) ‏@radixextremeGLP New Thread: WTF Greece gets smashed with 3 tornadoes,: Theweather in europe is nuts, multiple tornadoes ove... http://bit.ly/VfyKde Expand22hEIN Oil & Gas News ‏@EINOilGasNewsOil rises on debt deal in Europe, but natural gas plunges on forecasts of warm weather http://s.einnews.com/uETKgY2Fef Expand29 NovCapital Weather Gang ‏@capitalweatherStorm in Europe also producing big snow in eastern Germany:http://wapo.st/St0DiE  View summary29 NovCapital Weather Gang ‏@capitalweatherMoscow receives heaviest Nov snow in 50 years, could see totals up to 22 inches - photos: http://wapo.st/St0DiE  View summary

Besos Bobbi

Valerie Never Amounted to Much... 2012 Hurricane Season Ends Later Rather Than Sooner

To contact us Click HERE

Another one bites the dust... 
....didn't even really ever get a name...
though in ways it looks better tonight than last night when it had a higher chance
So... the season closes on this note...
Valerie was a no show............
Sweet Tropical Dreams... 
Ps...   we think it's over.............only time will tell.............
Curtain is down on the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season..
We'll talk about winter soon...
Besos Bobbi

NHC Changes the Play Book for 2013

To contact us Click HERE


In the news............

Seems the NHC has changed their policy after a review of their handling of Sandy, with regard to their lack of hurricane warnings for areas that were pummeled by Sandy ... but may not have been directly in the cone AND.... the issue of the storm being post tropical (by minutes) which led to high wind warnings vs Hurricane Warnings or Tropical Storm Warnings.

This is a complicated issue and a very political one. The NHC is not a private company like Accuweather or TWC and they have to report to higher authorities on matters like this and there has been an ongoing investigation and review of their forecasting with regard to Sandy.

With regard to Sandy (let's say it again) ... she was an unusual storm and yet the same situation often arises with other similar storms and the NHC usually maintains a hard stance, but one which seems to wobble a bit from year to year.

Joe Bastardi has waxed poetic on this to such a degree that there should be a Wax Museum of Weather Forecasters and busted NHC forecasts by now.

An example of their new policy ...that is being rewritten... would have possibly affected a storm like Irene in 1999. Their "weather center" was going to a beach on the West Coast and yet the strong hurricane conditions and flooding conditions was headed towards Miami which did NOT have a warning and as such employers insisted their "workers" come in to work and kids were sent to school despite the fact that anyone who could read a satellite image knew that Miami was going to get slammed with Hurricane conditions. Or maybe not, but the door is open I believe to handle situations like this differently the next time.

The new NHC line is this:

An announcement that sustained winds of 74 mph or higher are expected somewhere within the specified area in association with a tropical, sub-tropical, or post-tropical cyclone. Because hurricane preparedness activities become difficult once winds reach tropical storm force, the warning is issued 36 hours in advance of the anticipated onset of tropical-storm-force winds. The warning can remain in effect when dangerously high water or a combination of dangerously high water and waves continue, even though winds may be less than hurricane force.


How that will translate next year I don't know.. It seems an over abundance of discussion on storm surge vs wind damage or extremely high, tropical rain fall rates would be occurring and transitioning storms going post-tropical. I imagine we will have to see in real time next year how this translates into action once a storm is within a storm scenario like this sets up ..

Only time will tell as we say...and that is the real truth.

According to media sources Accuweather quotes an interview with Chris Landsea as such:


"The main issue is: we want people to get ready for hurricane conditions, and that's why we are changing the definition of hurricane warning to be a little more inclusive of other things than just a hurricane," Chris Landsea, Science and Operations Officer at the National Hurricane Center, told AccuWeather.com.
Additionally, the NHC eventually plans to begin differentiating between wind hazards and storm surge hazards.

"Sandy was not ideal, and the way we handled it was not right. But we're fixing it," Landsea told AccuWeather.com.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/05/hurricane-warning-definition_n_2245819.html
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/nhc-implements-new-hurricane-c/62603

From my perspective the  new rules in effect give the NHC a wider turning radius to take action so to speak...

Besos Bobbi

Ps... we are a good week away from any real winter weather in the Upper 48 States and the mild temps will cool off a bit and then get warm again before we deal with any real sense of weather. I'm wearing short sleeve tee shirts and painting my toenails Essie's Playdate purple seeing as I'll be wearing sandals this weekend.

Over and out.. smile... BobbiStorm

Winter Makes a Return...

To contact us Click HERE




Seems to be oozing south from Canada... snow in the west and cold damp rain in the East. It's a gray, gray day in Raleigh.  Stormy along the Mississippi in Arkansas and Tennessee.

Winter is making a subtle come back.

All the Northern ports of call.. MSP has snow... winter weather warnings... freezing rain from the Hudson Valley into Vermont.

Another ten days and winter will make it's way further south..

Till then................enjoy it if you are saving money on the heating bill and not wearing your winter coats :)

Wondering what happened at the TWC... seems no storm yet is worthy of the next name ;)

Besos Bobbi

Disney's Hollywood Studios Previewing new Jack Sparrow Attraction

To contact us Click HERE

Disney's Hollywood Studios is now previewing their latest attraction, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow, to guests of the park before it officially opens on December 6th.

I didn't follow the announcement of this attraction too closely, and honestly wasn't too sure what it was until videos of it started appearing online yesterday.  Orlando Attractions Magazine filmed the experience, so if you do not want to know just what takes place, then skip this video!

As you can see, the attraction mostly relies on audio, lighting, and video effects to entertain. I have to wonder if small kids might have a bit of a cry-fest in this one, the combination of loud and dark usually have that result.

The projection of Jack Sparrow is particularly nice, very similar to the characters in Universal's Forbidden Journey queue line.  While the attraction is by no means a big marketable addition, it's certainly nice filler for the Studios, which could use it. 

I love how it pokes fun of itself, too, as Jack departs with "come back in eight minutes and we'll do it all over again."

---

Iron Rattler's Curves

To contact us Click HERE

© Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Crazy!  That's the first thing I thought when I saw this photo that Six Flags Fiesta Texas released of the Iron Rattler under construction.  Crazy in a good way, of course.

The track is banked at what looks like 90 degrees, but take notice that it's not really during a curve, it's actually just banked that way on some straight track.  I'm a little behind on this one, as the park posted it a couple weeks ago, but it's worth the repost in my opinion.

Also, did you all hear that the industry-famous Jeffrey Siebert is returning to the ride side of things from the word of Schlitterbahn by becoming the Marketing Director at Six Flags Fiesta Texas?  Mr. Siebert really became a loved industry professional when he worked at Kings Island, and with Fiesta Texas debuting a massive new coaster this year I have a feeling we will see some interesting things from him.

---