Could Dumbo Drones Deliver Disney Doodads?

Amazon's recently-announced push to offer drone-delivered packages within the next several years had me grinning. If they can pull it off, we'll be one step closer to The Jetsons...and Tomorrowland...and hopefully not an Orwellian nightmare.

What if Disney follows their example and adapts drone technology? Can you imagine ordering your vacation package or latest Disney Store collectible online...and thirty minutes later a little Dumbo drone lands in your driveway with your Magic Bands...or Sven Reindeer mini plush?

Trumpeting "When You Wish Upon a Star"?

Seize the future, Disney! Make it so!

Characters Invade Real World in Disney's Free Infinity App

He turns the photo around to reveal a surprise mini-snapshot of the player's face.

In advance of the much-hyped Disney Infinity video game, the company has released Infinity Action, a free promotional app for iPhone (the Android version is coming soon). An impressive little bag of magic tricks, it's definitely worth checking out.

A Sparrow Defends a Cat

The App features two main modes. In the first, you tap and swipe the screen to interact with an impressively animated trio of Disney characters: Sulley, Jack Sparrow and Mr. Incredible. Of the three, Jack Sparrow is, by far, the funniest. Be sure to try the toy props, which include a voice recorder and--even better--a cartoon camera which uses the actual phone lens to allow the character to take a shot of your face. The "goal" of this section is to earn coins for purchasing animated clips for the "Action" section.

He got a cookie for being a good sport (the dog, not Sparrow)

In this second mode, you bring the characters into your home through augmented reality as you stage brief videos combining animation with live footage. It's easy to do, and the results are amazingly smooth. Easily saved to the phone or posted to YouTube or Facebook, each clip is boldly tagged at the end as a Disney Infinity promotion...which, of course, is Disney's reason for creating this free App in the first place.

One warning: Extra coins can be purchased with real money, so make sure that feature's disabled on your phone before handing it over to children. Even without paying a cent, however, there's enough free fun here to make Action a clever little diversion for all Disney fans.

Main Street Details: Above the Mad Hatter

Disneyland's Main Street tucks dozens of great details into its signage and shopfronts, and the modest little Mad Hatter shop is a great place to pause and soak in some of the visual fun.

The hat itself, of course, sits front and center. It's unusual to see such a faithful sculpting of a piece of classic animation on Main Street.

Just above the oversized topper, however, sits the real treasure of this particular address...

As many of you know, Disney occasionally honors its major artists and contributors by awarding them their own window on Main Street. This one belongs to X. Atencio, the Imagineer responsible for adding a lot of wit and magic to two of Disney's most beloved attractions, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion. In addition to writing the scripts and dialogue for both rides, he wrote the lyrics to the rides' theme songs, "Yo-Ho" and "Grim Grinning Ghosts." He voiced the talking skull guarding the first drop on Pirates, and he can be heard trying to break out of the coffin on Haunted Mansion (as well as advising us to stay in our "Doom Buggies" if the ride stops unexpectedly).

Photo by Lana Whitham

Villainous Handouts at World of Disney

In Downtown Disney, the villain-themed room at the massive World of Disney store gets the most attention from true-blue Disney fans; Not only does it contain the best art collectibles, but it features some wildly inspired fixtures, including these creepy, wonderful...er...sconce-like things.

Each villain's personality is brilliantly summed up with a single hand holding a signature film prop.

These just might be the coolest retail wall fixtures on the planet.

Lego Genie in Downtown Disney

Today we're back at Downtown Disney's amazing Lego Store. The place is loaded with great brick sculptures, but even among such masterpieces as Maleficent and Beast, this model of Genie is jaw-droppingly amazing. At first, you'd swear the model-builders must have cheated and used something besides Lego to create this character's curving, smoke-like shape...

 But, no, it really is all Lego bricks. I'd love to know how much this thing weighs.

In the first shot, you can see Lego's mascot, Brickley the sea serpent, peaking out and looking as though he knows he's being upstaged. For more about Brickley, including a great shot of his perfect location at Walt Disney World's Lego Store, check out this March post from Ryan P. Wilson's Main Street Gazette!

Crocodile Smiles at World of Disney

The Crocodile from Peter Pan gazes down upon shoppers at the World of Disney Store, and I don't think he's got customer service on his mind. What a fantastic character design; Who could blame Hook for being afraid of this critter's single-minded quest for Captain a la Carte?

Most artists drawing a cartoon crocodile would probably focus on the sharp teeth, but Disney's animators zeroed in on what's truly scary about this guy: his gaping bottomless pit of a gullet. The croc (unofficially known as Tick Tock) gave me nightmares when I was a small child, and--though he's one of my favorite characters--his mouth still creeps me out big-time!

The Weirdest Thing In DCA

At Disney California Adventure, guests encounter many offbeat sights, from a Cadillac Mountain Range to the factory restroom of Monsters, Inc. Inside a Paradise Pier shop called Sideshow Shirts, however, they'll come face to face with the park's strangest inhabitant...

It's this guy. If you've never shopped for souvenirs under the gaze of a gigantic, stooped-over sideshow barker holding up the ceiling...well, here's your chance!

It really is an amazing statue, full of personality. It reminds me of the old Fun House at San Francisco's Playland at the Beach (long gone), which featured a large central room under the watch of giant clown faces hanging from the ceiling.

Paradise Pier once hosted a giant hamburger, a giant orange, a giant test-of-strength game and giant sunglasses on a dinosaur. Our friend the giant Sideshow Barker has managed to--so far--escape the wrecking ball fate of his oversized buddies. In that light, the poor guy almost looks like he's hiding, hoping he's not the next to go. I'll keep my fingers crossed for him; He may be strange, but he certainly is unique, fun and startling in a classic boardwalk kind of way.

Lego Maleficent at Night

Evening at Disneyland Resort's Downtown Disney means live music, great food and a life-or-death struggle atop the Lego Store. I've posted about Lego Maleficent before, but the amazing sculpture is even better after dark. I can't get over how perfect the color and lighting is on that creature.

Lego remains one of the most perfect products on Earth, and Maleficent is one of Disney's most perfect creations. The powerful combination of the two can make passerby stop, stare and forget about the passage of time as they're overcome with a perfect storm of awe and delight.

Note to Disney: Sleeping Beauty dark ride. Please.

The Kind of Home a Jeep Could Love

Sarge the Army Jeep lives a down-to-basics, no-nonsense lifestyle, and that's reflected by the exterior of his combination home/business in Radiator Springs, Sarge's Surplus Hut. Modeled after a WWII-era quonset hut, the weathered and rust-stained dwelling truly looks as if it's been sitting in Cars Land for decades.

Inside the shop, things get a bit more whimsical. It seems Sarge has realized that human customers are more inclined to choose die-cast miniatures and plush Maters over his usual stock of military surplus. If you look around while toy shopping, however, you might notice some stashed-away items from his store's original inventory, including an enormous pair of night-vision goggles.

Lizzie's Curio Shop in Radiator Springs

It's the only shop owned by a Model T Ford, and at night it glows with a perfect blend of tackiness and beauty. Radiator Springs Curios, one of the three gift shops in Cars Land, offers an eclectic mix of merchandise, much as its exterior might suggest.

Fans of the movie can just stand in the street a moment and stare at the amazingly accurate details all over the front. My favorite element -- and it's a feature found all over Cars Land -- is the car-sized front entry.

Armor and Swords at the Heraldry Shoppe

This terrific suit of armor guards the entry to Fantasyland's Castle Heraldry Shoppe at Disneyland -- your one-stop destination for family crests and really expensive Middle Earth swords. Although I miss the Disney Villains Shop that once occuppied this space, I do love the blend of history and fantasy found within the newer store.

With one foot in the real past (your own past!) and one foot in the domain of legends, it's one of the park's most interesting shops, and a perfect, classy fit for the castle courtyard.

Star Trader Shopping: A Tomorrowland Tradition

This animated spacewalking neon Mickey has charmed Tomorrowland night shoppers for decades. With an area overhaul on the drawing boards, now may be a good time to take a fond look at current icons, because -- especially in light of Disney's Lucasfilm purchase -- anything in Tomorrowland could change in the near future. And I have to admit, I've got a soft spot in my heart for The Star Trader shop.

Ghosts of the Past: The Disney Villains Shop

This quaint little shop in Disneyland's castle courtyard has seen many changes over the decades. It's been a magic shop, a Christmas store, and it currently sells swords and family crests. In the early 90's, however, it housed the Disney Villains shop.

One of the most fun stores in the park, The Villains Shop sold a colorful variety of shirts, hats, license plate frames and coffee mugs, all featuring characters such as Maleficent, Chernabog, the Evil Queen, Captain Hook, Ursula, Cruella and the Cheshire Cat.

The Cheshire Cat?!?

They See You

The folks in charge of designing the World of Disney store at Disneyland Resort could have picked anything to go over the shop's park-side entrance -- and they went with this. I love it.

It would be so cool if this turned out to be an actual working security camera.

If you're over forty and reading this, I'll bet you're thinking of Adventure Through Inner Space right now. Yeah, I miss it, too.

Everything's Better With Dragons

The humongous new Maleficent dragon atop the remodeled Lego store is the best thing that's ever landed in Downtown Disney...besides chocolate-covered marshmallows on a stick. The fact that it's made out of Lego just makes the creature more wonderful. Downtown Disney's a great place, but a few more jaw-dropping sights like this would add extra fun to the mix.

It's hard to believe the shop originally opened with nothing up there. I'd like to shake the hand of the person in charge of the remodel -- the visionary who gazed up at the plain rooftop and said, "Something's missing...Aha!"

Disney and Lego -- what a perfect pairing! It's nice to know that, even though the building-brick company operates a competing theme park a bit farther south, the two giants can cooperate to create something as cool as this.