Character 7 - Minnie Mouse and a Quiz

I do like having my picture taken with other Disney characters in Walt Disney World. Here you can see me with Minnie Mouse. The humans were with me (you can see Andrew and a bit of Mikki in the picture) but claimed they couldn't see Minnie at the time. I bet they admit they can see her now. And if they thought she wasn't there, who were tney making room for on the bench?



Mikki has been asked to do a little quiz for one of the discussion boards and she has asked me to help so I have let her have some of my pictures with charactes. She is calling the quiz, "Figaro's Frolics". People have to say who the other character is; which film that character appeared in; and which park the photograph was taken in. We want to make some questions easier than others but I'm not allowing her to use any pictures I have used on the Blog. This one would be a bit too easy for who the character is but a bit complicated for the film. I think all the characters Mikki is using in her quiz appeared in animated features. Minnie Mouse appeared in so many shorts films (including several with Figaro). She was in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" but I don't think that counts as a "proper" aminated feature. Nor do featurettes like "Mickey's Chistmas Carol" and "Prince and Pauper" or movies made for video like "Three Musketeers". Oh, gosh, it is complicated. Have I given away that "Minnie Mouse" is not the answer to any of the questions?

As for which park this picture was taken in, that isn't the easiest it could be but it isn't that difficult for anyone who knows that Disney imagineers make the benches an important part of their theming. In the Magic Kingdom, you can usually tell by the benches not just which park you are in but which land you are in too. Time was when the colours of the waste bins were just as cleverly done but I fear the bean counters have caused a bit of a retreat on that! This is the Studios.

By the way, my Mikki is now counting down the days until our next visit. Her current projects are working out what car hire we will need and checking out the best flights for our "weekend away" in Bermuda.

Back to Disney

At last! Those darned humans have finished talking about Bermuda and I can get back to thinking about my next trip to Walt Disney World.

Take this morning. We were all lying in bed when one of the humans asked, "Why do people want to go on holiday when they can just lie in bed cuddling?". This was double perplexing for me. For one thing, I wasn't getting cuddled at the time. For another, the answer was easy. We go on holiday (vacation) so I can have my picture taken and can play "commander cat" on Mission Space. Oh, yes, and there is so much more. And it's not all about me: I let the humans go on Soarin and Big Thumder Mountain and Peter Pan and . . . .

So here is a picture of me with some of my cousins in front of Cinderella Castle. You can see we had to sit on the trash can but they keep those so clean in Disney World that we didn't mind.. Just look at that lovely blue sky and imagine how warm it will be when we next go back. OK, it will be January and it isn't always very warm in January (unless you mean warm compared to England or most of the rest of North America). But that's not the point. It's vacation time, and it's Walt Disney World and everything will be magical. And we will be staying at Bay Lake Towers and at Kidani Village so there will be lots of new places for me to have my picture taken; and we can go and meet Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse and Tinker Bell and her friends and whatever new characters they have behind the Animation Gallery at the Studios; and I can have cuddles and ... and ..., oh! Prrr, Prrr.

And a lot of things will be the same as ever. The picture was taken a few years ago but Cinderella Castle will still be there at the end of Main Street. Oh did I mention we can ride on the Main Street trolley and if we are lucky the Dapper Dans will come and sing to us while we do it. And the humans can have cakes at the Bakery (keep your sticky fingers off me until you have cleaned them please) and ... and... .

Gosh, it's less than 4 months away.

Swimming: Bermuda style

The day after the wedding, my humans went out on a boat. That means going out to sea - where there is lots and lots of water and a toy cat could very easily get lost. I was very happy to stay in our hotel room but I thought I should tell you about it as my final post about our trip to the island.

So, I haven't seen the boat but it sounds like it is a beauty. It has just been bought by my Mikki's sister and her husband. It has lots of special features for fishing (which please him) and lovely cabins below (which please her). Please remember that toys of toon cats don't eat real fish. If I want to know what toon Figaro thinks of sea fishing, I'll go and watch Pinocchio: the scene inside Monstro!

It's ths swimming that my humans enjoyed. What you do is this. On a Sunday, you take your boat out, well stoccked with food and drink. You find a calm bay and join a group of friends in other boats where you tie your boats together, side by side. Then you all go off the stern of your boats and laze about in the water like you can see my Mikki and her brother doing in the picture. Yes, this is the man who was married the day before.

As you can probably guess, it was a very relaxing afternoon. Lots of adults bobbed about on floatation devices ("noodles") and drank wine or beer. There were some children but they went off on their own in an inflatable dinghy and did more sensible, active things. Mikki stayed in the water longer than she realised (and caught more sun than she intended too), but did enjoy herself a lot. If you want to go swimming (or floating) in the sea, Bermuda has very clear advantages over England.

Wedding in Bermuda

We have been busy for a few days again. Well, the humans have been busy. Can you believe they even went away for two nights and left me behind? Yes, I had the run of the house but it's not the same. I have had a few strong words with them! Anyway, I can now catch up with my news. First, here is some more about Bermuda.

Mikki's brother was married in August. I think I've shown you a picture of the place where the ceremony was to take place, so here is one taken on the day. No, this is not the Bride and Groom - although it is taken under the moon gate where they exchanged vows. It is of my humans. And yes, you will notice that, again, I am not in the picture. Well, somebody had to hold the camera (actually, that wasn't me either). There were lots of beautiful official photos taken and I think they may be on the web somewhere soon and I don't want to be accused of anticipating things.

You can see it was a lovely day in every way. The ceremony was delightful - and very relaxed by English standatds. My Mikki was specially impressed by the bit where the Minister presents the husband and wife to the assembled guests after they have signed the registers. She thought it was a lovely idea and one she is not used to in England. The food was tasty and the drink was generous. The weather was perfect. We had a canopy shading us from the sun. As the sun set, we all rushed to get more photos like the one on this post. Later, the humans had a disco and everyone enjoyed themselves some more. We were also lucky that Hurricane Bill didn't come past until the following week!

It was a very special occasion.

Lovey Time in Bermuda

Yes, I am back home from my trip to Bermuda. It was a great trip (Mikki even gave me a cuddle on the flight out) and we all had a lovely time. There's so much to tell that I expect to need several posts. I'll start with the super hotel we stayed in - which is where I spent most of my time - and the very hot weather.

I mention the weather because there's been quite a change since we got back. I started writing this as the wind blew here and the rain beat down on the roof. They say it is the remnants of Hurricane Bill. Bill was due to go past Bermuda last Saturday - and we left on Wednesday evening. The prediction then was that wind speeds would only get up to 60mph (only!). I hope everything was OK for Mikki's family's houses and boats but most of the family are off the island too so we have no direct news. Mikki's sister and father have gone to Canada and her brother is on his honeymoon in Europe. The wedding is one of the things I'll have to tell you about in another post.

So, back to the sunshine and the hotel. In the picture, I am sitting on the balcony of our room so you can get an idea of the view we had. The hotel rooms were all in low blocks dotted about a hillside so I think they all had good views. Mikki may have been right that we had a good room because it was also convieient for all the hotel facilities but that didn't bother me. I didn't need the restaurant or bar.

The weather was hot. We were all glad that the hotel had good air conditioning. The humans used to come into our room in the afternoon or evening and collapse (good chance for another cuddle). The hotel also had two cool dark caves. They were also damp, so I didn't like going there. We were told that was also what had spoiled the management's idea of setting up a night club in one of them. As it was, there were some clever flat areas includng one that looked like a stage. Mikki went swimming in the other cave. Everyone who swam there agreed it was cold! I stayed well clear of all that water and I think even Mikki preferred swimming in the pool with the bar at the edge and the bar stools in the water!

The humans also liked the frozen daiquiries at the pool-side bar (non-alcoholic version preferred). I got more concerned about the large black cat that wandered about there. He didn't look very welcoming to other cats like me. When he started scratching Andrew's chair, even he decided to move to another table.

I think tht's enough for today. Nice to be home.

Nearly Ready

Mikki has finally allowed me to talk about it: we are off to Bermuda again. This trip is for her brother's wedding.

I have just been reading my old post about our visit in March. All I said was that my human Mikki was visiting a family she didn't know she had. Well, you can guess there is a lot more to tell. Mikki was adopted as a baby and the family in Bermuda is her birth family. They hunted her out and the first contact was around Christmas. The big - and wonderful - surprise was that after Mikki was born her father and mother got back together and married so the sister and brother she has in Bermuda are full blood relatives. And the brother is geting married in a week's time.

In March, we stayed with Mikki's sister. She has a lovely house, only slightly spoiled by having a - real alive - cat and dog. Fortunately, Mikki's sister has them permanently banned from the guest bedroom, so it wasn't too worrying for me! This time we are taking a package trip to a hotel because there will be a lot of family visiting the island.

The hotel looks very nice and is actually just across the road from Mikki's sister's house. The hotel is on the beach and also has pools and other facilities. Most interesting, it has a cavern you can visit and sit or swim in it. We are all thinking that might be nice and cool this trip.

Well, you may have guessed that we have all been very busy in the last few days getting ready. The humans are trying to travel light (they always say that but this time they may mean it). The trip will be much shorter than our usual ones to Walt Disney World and they think they can be confident they will not need many warm clothes in Bermuda in August. Of course, they will need their special smart outfits for the wedding. However, I think it was unkind and unfair to suggest that they might try saving weight by not taking me! I try to get used to them teasing me but for a moment I almost thought they were being serious.

Mikki's sister has two young daughters. Mikki feels she has a lot of spoiling to catch up on, so there will (again) be a lot of presents in the luggage (mostly Disney of course: the older daughter is into Hannah Montana). In March, they even got a black and white plush cat (a brother of my cousen "long tail"). I will have to check that he is still all right.

So, to the picture. This is a picture we took in March of the place where the marriage ceremony will take place. Apparently the moon gate is considered to bring good luck so the bride and groom will exchange vows under it. I guess there will be a lot more people there then than there are on the photo.

Characters 6 - Silvermist

I'm still looking forward to my next Disney trip and so I thought it was time to remember the last visit again - and especially those sweet Disney Fairies we met.

We met Silvermist during an evening party at the Magic Kingdon. We thought the special event might make the line for the Fairies a little shorter. Well, it may have done, but they were still popular. It was worth the wait. Even the line was fun, especially the shrinking woods. Silvermist was the first one to greet us as we got into Pixie Hollow. This time I have my humans with me in the photo. I had a look but don't seem to have any of just me with Silvermist - can't think how that happened! I can remember she was very kind and attentive - but not quite as attentive as Tinker Bell was with Andrew when she saw he was wearing a light up pin of her!! Have I got a picture of that? Perhaps another time.

Meanwhile, back here at home, the humans are sorting through boxes of Disneyana they have in the garage. I am pleased to see some has come out to be displayed in a cabinet they have acquired from Andrew's mother. She was moving to a smaller flat (apartment). I am not sure I want to know or think about what is going to happen to the rest. For some reason I can't explain, Andrew has got it into his head that they don't have to fill the house with more and more ornaments and pictures. Well, I suppose that may be right - that way there is more room for the toys.

Love to everyone from Figaro the toy cat