Inside John's Locker

We all have favorite parts of the movie Fantasia...mine is the part with the broomsticks carrying buckets of water...like this one:

That segment of Fantasia is called The Sorcerer's Apprentice--which is the name of the piece of music we hear as more and more brooms carry buckets of water...much to Mickey's dismay.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We were really pleased that Magic Strollers was featured as on this week's EarsTheDeal newsletter by AllEars.

Have a look:

Sharing the Magic Worldwide™

EARS THE DEAL™

October 29, 2009 Issue #170

This is a special mailing for AllEars® subscribers who have elected to receive special offers and announcements from us pertaining to Walt Disney World and Central Florida.

This issue of EARS THE DEAL™ features a special announcement about the launch of a new stroller rental company: MAGIC STROLLERS brought to you by Owner's Locker.

Owner's Locker is proud to announce the birth of Magic Strollers!



The same reliable service of Owner's Locker is now being brought to stroller rentals.

*We feature Baby Jogger-brand City Mini single and double strollers -- super-easy to fold up and a breeze to steer.

*Free delivery and pick-up to and from your resort.

*All strollers include a parent console with cup holders and key storage at no additional charge.

*No minimum rental and day-by-day pricing.

*Strollers are cleaned and sanitized after each use with Ecolab commercial products.

Why bring your own, when renting from Magic Strollers is so easy and affordable?

To make a reservation call 866 866 6177

or visit: www.magicstrollers.com

Here's what our customers are saying...

"I cannot begin to tell you how fabulous the stroller was...

It was the Cadillac of strollers! It was sturdy, functional and easy to use.

Having it delivered and picked up from our resort was so convenient!"

-- Jean Cronin 

" Just wanted to let you know how WONDERFUL the stroller was!

The whole process was super-smooth, and we so appreciated having it."

-- Kristin Fulgenzi

"We were very pleased with every part of the rental process.

The stroller was already at our hotel when we arrived and it was immaculate.

The parent-console with cup holders was a much-needed

(and much appreciated!) addition to the stroller.

The stroller itself was great -- it fit through every doorway with ease.

The umbrella canopy kept our two toddlers from the sun.

The individual, fully reclining seats were great for separate nap times.

Kudos to you for another great service.

We look forward to renting from you when we visit Florida again!"

-- Jen and Brian Haas

The same reliable service of Owner's Locker is now being brought to stroller rentals!

To make a reservation call 866 866 6177

or visit: www.magicstrollers.com

Posted by JDVM at 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you drive a purple van to the Disney resorts every day, you never know what you might see. Like today at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. On display at both Jambo House and Kidani Village were entries in the cast member pumpkin carving contest.

Here are some of the entries at Jambo House:

And here's Cinderella's pumpkin coach at Kidani Village:

The pumpkins will only be on display for a couple of days so if you're at Walt Disney World, it's worth a trip to AK Lodge!
john

click here for a high resolution version of the Jambo House photo and here for the Kidani Village photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 9:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We were very gratified to see this review of Magic Strollers today on the DISBoards:

Posted by JDVM at 9:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

if you need another reason to fall in love with Disney's Wilderness Lodge Resort, here it is: Trout Pass Bar.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Have you ever stopped to think about just how much water there is at the Walt Disney World Resort?

It's everywhere and I think it really makes the place look great. Here's a view of Disney's Grand Floridian Resort taken from the Polynesian across Seven Seas Lagoon.

And I think that the water featured at almost all of the resorts really adds to their appearance. Many of the resorts like the Grand Floridian have water right at their back door.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 7:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Only Disney would commission a shipyard to build a fishing boat like the ones that used to ply the Mississippi to add to the atmosphere of a restaurant..

This real wooden ship under construction is hanging from the ceiling at Boatwright's Dining Hall at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort.

click here for a high resolution servion of this phoyo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 5:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Where on earth would you find a 30 foot tall Rubik's Cube?

Why at Disney's Pop Century resort, of course.

Disney's Pop Century Resort is the largest of the Disney resorts with almost 3000 rooms and is divided into 5 sections featuring the decades of the 1950's through the 1990's.

Pop Century is located between Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort and the Wide World of Sports complex.
john
click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's not surprising that the lobby of Disney's Yacht Club Resort has a nautical theme.

This is one of them.

Unlike its companion resort, the Beach Club, the ceiling in the lobby of Disney's Yacht Club Resort is low...to give you the feel that you're on board a yacht. And there's lots and lots of natural wood.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The theming just never stops at Disney's Port Orleans Resorts.

In fact, I think these resorts look like a bunch of buildings that were turned into hotels rather than resorts that were made to look like old buildings

I think this arcade looks more like the entrance to a riverboat ticket office with the destinations listed: Natchez, Baton Rouge and Port Orleans.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The gang at Owner's Locker created Magic Strollers because our Members asked us to.

 
We had repeated requests to rent strollers so we decided to get a bit more detail of just what our Members wanted.

So we sent out a survey to over 1000 of our Members about whether we should rent strollers....

...and we go back almost 600 responses.

Not only did our Members answer the survey questions, they provided comments that ran some 300 pages!

What did we learn?

-over 90% said we should begin renting strollers and over half of our Members said they would be interested in renting a stroller when they visited Walt Disney World. We were pleased at the overwhelming endorsement of the stroller rental idea.  There were lots of comments about how our Members were confident that we would do it right. 

We were  surprised at how many of our Members would want to rent a stroller.  We had never done any demographic studies so we had no idea of who might have stroller age kids or grandkids.

- Our Members told us they wanted a stroller that fit through doors and gates easily, was easy to fold and was easy to steer.  We needed to have cup holders for the parents and a rain cover.

-It was extremely important to our Members that the stroller be clean.  They had to be confident of the rental company and did not want to worry about whether the stroller would be delivered on time.  Strollers had to be easy to rent and the price had to be right.

With guidance like that we had our marching orders.  Renting strollers wasn't just something we should do...it was something we had to do.

And that's where Magic Strollers came from...

john

Posted by JDVM at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If it were anyplace else, it would be impossible to miss. But the lobby of Disney's Grand Floridian Resort is so big that it's definitely possible not to notice this rather large Victorian birdcage.

The couple on the couch were kind enough to let me take this photo with them in it so you could get a feel for just how big the birdcage is.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 8:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Magic Strollers is the latest adventure from Owner's Locker.  We rent strollers to visitors to Walt Disney World and the other Orlando area attractions such as SeaWorld and Universal Studios.

Posted by JDVM at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

What is it about Disney's Polynesian Resort? Is it just me or does everything seems to look better there? Like the marina that you see here. It looks very peaceful...like it belongs.

When my kids were growing up, we would visit Walt Disney World as often as we could. We would always head over to the Polynesian for a day and hang out at the pool in the morning and then rent these small boats before having lunch. It was fun to watch my girls look forward to being old enough to go out on their own.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 8:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I wonder if Disney has a person whose job it is to come up with the names of bars?

And how about this one? This is On the Rocks at the High Rock Spring pool at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort.

I don't know why, but I have this sneaking feeling that the name "On The Rocks" has been around for a while waiting for just the right place.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo
j

Posted by JDVM at 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's one more lighthouse for you. This one is at the end of a pier on Crescent Lake between Disney's Yacht Club Resort and Disney's Beach Club Resort and Villas.

Crescent Lake is surrounded by the Boardwalk and you can see Disney's Boardwalk Inn and Villas across the lake. EPCOT is to the left of this photo.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

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Even if you are a very observant visitor to Walt Disney World, here's something I'll bet you've never noticed before. It's a butterfly garden behind Disney's Contemporary Resort.

I had never noticed it and what caught my eye was the butterflies...lots of them attracted to the flowers planted there. And that thing on the white post? It's called Chrysalis House and it is a display of the various life stages of a butterfly (one of which is chrysalis---I only know that because i looked it up!).

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

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If you drive a purple van around Walt Disney World as much as I do, one of the most common sights is a monorail...heading to or from EPCOT or making the Magic Kingdom Resort loop.

I see them so much that it's a bit tempting to think of them as being normal. But, of course they're not. And it's certainly out of the ordinary for a monorail to go straight through a building like this one.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Disney's Pop Century Resort is a very large resort complex located between Caribbean Beach resort and the Wide World of Sports complex. At almost 3000 rooms, it's one of the largest motels in the country...and believe it or not, there are even more rooms that have been built but never opened.

This part of Pop Century is called The Classic Years and the buildings are themed after the decades of the 50's, 60's,70's 80's and 90's.

And that's why you see these rather large sculptures of the decades of The Classic Years.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 5:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the Calypso Trading Post at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort. This photo doesn't quite do it justice...most of what you see here has spilled out of the shop itself which you can just see through the arched entry!

Caribbean Beach was the first moderate resort in Walt Disney World. It has around 2100 rooms clustered in six villages of two story buildings named after islands in the Caribbean. The architecture is simple and colorful--just like the islands--and the real beauty is in the lush, tropical landscaping.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

That's not a tree with the pale yellow flowers. It's a flower stalk of the broad-leafed plant at the bottom of the photo.

This is a variety of century plant outside of Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House. I just noticed it this morning and I think it has been in bloom for only a few days.

It's called a century plant because it takes so long to bloom. But when it does, the plant sends up a huge stalk--this one is about twenty feet tall--that is covered in flowers.

Click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Before there was a Wedding Pavilion, there was this gazebo at Disney's Yacht Club Resort.

It's tucked away in a courtyard and became a very popular spot for weddings. Now it's a great spot to enjoy the sun and great view and perhaps read a book.

click here for a high resolution vesrion of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Walt Disney World is pretty at any time of day.  But I think it's especially pretty in the early morning light.

This is the entrance to Disney's Boardwalk Inn and Villas. I took this photo early this morning on my way to drop off Lockers when the sunlight was pretty much sideways. The gold lettering really stands out, doesn't it?

click here for a high resolution version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

High Rock Spring Pool is the main pool at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa and features this Donal Duck fountain in the kiddie area.

The little boy in the photo has just about got the random jets of the fountain figured out...or so he thinks...
john

click here for a high resolutiuon version of this photo.
j

Posted by JDVM at 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

And you thought the only larger than life Sorcerer Mickey hat was at Disney's Hollywood Studios...

...Well how about this one?

This 40 foot sorcerer's hat is at Disney's All-Star Movies resort--in the Fantasia section, appropriately enough.

click here for a high resolution version of this photo
j

Posted by JDVM at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)