Cool Moms Rule!

But Does Sauza Tequila Make Regis' Clothes Come Off?

2011-11-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

I've watched Regis Philbin for years, ever since my oldest son was growing up with ex co-host Kathy Gifford's son, Cody. And now Regis is signing off from morning television.

He will be missed.

~Viv

Our friends from Sauza Tequila invite you all to raise a glass to the longest running broadcaster, Regis Philbin, with Sauza Tequila’s Marga-Regis! as he signs off from over 28 years on-air today.

Yu can order this sparkling kiwi margarita, a “girly” cocktail that “Reeg” would order, just steps away from ABC studios at one of his favorite NYC hot spots, The Atlantic Grill.

This delicious Marga-Regis! features kiwi as a key ingredient for a little touch of green in honor of the beloved host’s extreme Irish pride for alma mater Notre Dame. It is the perfect easy-to-make addition to at-home celebrations for the final episode of “Live! With Regis and Kelly”.

Marga-Regis!

Kiwi, peeled and sliced, estimating three ¼ inch slices per cocktail, reserving 1 for garnish

4 parts Sauza® Tequila

1 part simple syrup

1 part fresh lemon juice

1 part sparkling wine

In a shaker, muddle kiwi (note: I asked, and this seems pretty much like just squishing the kiwi up! If you don't have a shaker, you can "muddle" your kiwi with the back of a spoon--Viv).

Add next three ingredients. Shake and pour over fresh ice.

Top with sparkling wine and garnish with a slice of kiwi.

By Popular Request!

2011-11-15T22:28:00.001-05:00

You asked for it, you got it! Part III of the Most Critical Review I've EVER written! Before you check the next post, though...

Did you miss Part I? Part II?

~Viv

EDIT: Ack! Link for Part II is fixed! Thanks for the heads-up.

Howl-O-Scream Part III: The Reckoning

2011-11-13T13:42:00.001-05:00

You've been waiting for this (thanks for the supportive comments and emails!), so here it is, the final installment in my most critical review ever. I think I took so long getting to it because I honestly dislike having to give negative feedback. I prefer working through the issues; almost all the people I deal with are responsive; they make it clear that their top priority is customer satisfaction.

*sigh*

Almost.

~Viv

Our team divided into two groups--the disappointed, exhausted and totally fed-up segment, and the other made up of college/high-school kids young enough to still be energetic after a 2.5-hour drive over and 5 hours of waiting in line for sub-par entertainment. Obviously, I was not in the bright-eyed, optimistic, we're-going-to-keep-trying-because-things-can-only-get-better-right?! group.

So!

I headed to the front of the park with my team, to speak with Guest Services.

I am, as I've said, very familiar with the park. I know what guest services does, I've known people that have worked there in the past, and I know the kind of people companies look for when they hire "guest relations" specialists: professional, enthusiastic about the company, terminally cheerful and perpetually helpful types.

And this makes sense, because guest services is usually the last place a customer goes before leaving the park, the place you go to when you have a problem. No business--especially no entertainment-themed business!--wants the last person their customer is going to speak with leaving them with a bad impression of that business.

And as we've learned from the power of positive public relations and social media, word-of-mouth counts for a lot. A good reputation is imperative to be successful in this economy. So, by necessity, these, the guest service representatives, are there to try to de-escalate conflict, calm down angry patrons, soothe ruffled feathers and resolve problems.

If you are a guest, then, you should leave Busch Gardens, and in this case Howl-O-Scream, feeling like someone heard what you said, listened and responded to your complaints, and cared about setting things right. And that, by extension, the business is a caring, customer-service oriented company.

But someone completely screwed THAT up during the last hiring phase, because the women working guest relations for Howl-O-Scream that night? They could not have cared less about their job and their customers, and it showed.

They were talking to each other when I came up, and both looked like they could not be more bored without actually sticking earplugs in their ears and texting on their smart phones. I felt like I was intruding on their space just by addressing them.

I later determined their names were Jonell, who I spoke with directly and Sandra, who sat to Jonelle's right.

try to be professional and not resort to general whining or bitching when I do have complaints, and since I had plenty of time while waiting at the Gwazi ride, I'd taken very specific notes.

I started off by saying that I had some complaints about HOS, and asked if they were the appropriate people to speak to about this, and they indicated that yes, they were.

I explained that I had been to HOS before, always had a great time, came back this year to find it had not lived up to past standards in many ways, and I was very disappointed with my experience.

No response.

Okay, then!

I jumped into my narrative, and brought out my extremely specific complaints.

First, the wait times were outrageous.

They interrupted me to point out that I could have bought a VIP, front-of-the-line ticket, which was true. I indicated that this had never been an issue before--wait times might be long but we'd always been able to go to all the houses in the allotted time.

They said that tonight was a busy night. Dryly, I agreed that it was incredibly busy, and I'd never had to park so far before during HOS. Still, shouldn't attendees have the expectation that the basic ticket would let us do the basic offerings of HOS? Just the haunted houses, if not the Club Zero nightclub or the rides? Or did you have to buy the VIP ticket to see everything?

They said no, but it was a good idea if you wanted to get through everything. Jonell also volunteered that next weekend was supposed to be even busier than this weekend, and everyone better'd get a front-of-the-line pass then.

That attitude, by the way, bothers me. Why even SELL a basic ticket if you have to upgrade to see everything?!

I was struck that neither one still had not asked for any information from me like my name, offered me a complaint form to fill out, asked for a phone number or contact information. Nothing. I asked them if they would like this information from me, and they said no. I mentioned that I thought this was unusual, and if maybe there was a form they could give me to write down my complaints? No, no need. They assured me that they were the people I needed to speak to.

So I went on, sure that as I kept going they'd see there were many reasons why I was so disappointed.

I explained that Nevermore was CLOSED (no explanation or estimated opening time given, vague "come back later"), with no warning, and we'd really wanted to see that one.

We went into Vampire Casino, and had an 1 hour 28 minute wait (I had the specific times to verify this), but we had no idea the line was that long going in, because it snaked around so much and the whole thing wasn't visible from the sign, and anyway there was no indication of the wait time on the sign in the first place--

At this point, I was interrupted, and Jonell said that I was wrong. Not, "I'm sorry, Ma'am, but are you aware...."

But, "Yes, the wait time is posted on all the Haunted House signs." Period.

No, I reiterated, it isn't. I went back and checked after Vampire Casino especially, because the wait was so long.

No. Wait Time. Posted. Period.

At this point, Jonell changed position. Not to, "I'm sorry, they should be posted," though!

No, now she went from saying the wait time was on the sign to, "Well, there is an app for your phone that tells you the wait times. And it is updated in real time! So then you would know." And Sandra backed her up on this.

Well, that MIGHT have made me feel sheepish, if I was just a non-tech-savvy parent. And I'm pretty sure that was the intention, to put me on the defensive. Which is NOT how this is supposed to work. I'm a "guest", remember?

But I'm just savvy enough that I had actually checked into that, and I wasn't sheepish at all, because I KNEW there was no such app linked on the HOS website.

Also, I was getting pissed at the attitude. 'Argumentative' is the word I would use to describe their response.

Just in case there was some misunderstanding, though, I politely inquired how one would get this app with the line wait times? They said it was on the HOS site.

I had ALSO checked the HOS mobile site on my iPhone (while waiting in that 1 1/2 hour line!), so I asked if they could show me where the link was, because I sure didn't see it anywhere when I looked on my phone.

Jonell and Sandra let me know that they weren't really into all that technology themselves, but they knew there was an app for that. It must be on the HOS main site, not the mobile one, they said.

While noting that it was not very practical to have a phone app that you couldn't get to with your phone, I was also able to tell them confidently that NO, there was no app linked to on the HOS main site. I knew, you see, because I had checked out the website thoroughly the day before when I purchased our tickets online. No app. Oh, and I follow the HOS Insider Twitter feed, I've been to the HOS Facebook page. No app there.

They shrugged, said I must have missed it. They were firm.

No. I checked out ALL the links. I was firmer.

Again, the stance was that I was just plain WRONG. Sandra said that maybe the app was in the, the what-do-you-call-it, the place where you go to buy stuff for iphones? From the commercials?

iTunes, I said, or the App store?

Yes, that was it.

I pointed out that there was no sense having an app anywhere if no one knew of its existence. How would anyone know to go to the app store if it had never been advertised or linked from their site?

Again, Jonell and Sandra said they weren't responsible for updating the wait times, and that wasn't their department. But there was an app. They were adamant about that. And people used it, so it was available.

Still no apology. This was getting old. I was losing faith in the system. I AGAIN asked if they wanted my contact info or if there was, please, an official form I could fill out. They assured me, they were "taking notes".

But I went on, to talk about how there were no entertainers in the park from the Moroccan Theatre, in the left side entrance, through Timbuktu, Congo, Stanleyville, and the old Bird Gardens, all the way to the entrance of the Gwazi roller coaster--we had spent hours trudging through the park, seeing nothing. No werewolves, no zombies, no vampires.

They said that there were lots of entertainers in the park, and it was a shame, but I must have just missed them while they were on break or something.

I'm sure they could hear my incredulity in my voice when I asked if they were seriously suggesting that the entertainers were on break in the PERFECT SEQUENCE for us to keep JUST missing them for FOUR STRAIGHT HOURS?!

I had actual times on my phone to show them that yes, that was how long we had gone without seeing anyone: 7:30 pm until 11:26 pm.

Pretty much just shrugs from Jonell. Sandra looked like she would rather be somewhere else at this point.

I mentioned that in the past few years, they'd had both scare zones and wandering performers, and this year we'd only seen them in two locations in the park. Why was that? Jonell said that was a decision they'd made this year, to go in a different direction, but she didn't know why. Fair enough.

I kept going, mentioning that my party of 7 had been charged $3 for each bottle of water we bought, bottles that sold for $2.50 everywhere else, while we waited in that 1 1/2 hour line, and that I felt this was extortionate. They assured me this wasn't the policy and that someone would look into it.

I AGAIN asked if they wanted my contact info, and if they were actually going to do anything with the specific complaints I was giving them.

Sandra again assured me she was "taking notes".

ON HER ONE LITTLE YELLOW POST-IT!

You can see by the length of this post that I had given more information already than would fit on that thing.

No, they didn't. How I was supposed to know if anything was going to get resolved, I couldn't tell you. The .50 sense per bottle was a little thing, too, but obviously they weren't concerned with actually reimbursing me for those, as they still had no clue who I was.

Jonell, at this point obviously just wanting me gone, said, "So, what do you want, you want to come back another night?"

I want to be clear that it was phrased in a very dismissive way. This was not an apology at all. I would have said something like, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, and I can see your night didn't go at all the way you expected. I can assure you that what you experienced is NOT our typical guest's experience with HOS. How can we set this right? Would your party like to come back another night instead?"

But that's not how it was phrased. Plus, there was only weekend left of HOS. AND, the offer, such as it was, sure sounded like it only applied to me and not my whole party. Remember, they hadn't asked for any names at all.

So I said, honestly, "Well, if it is only going to be more crowded next week, I can't see why I would want to come back, can you?"

So now we are at an impasse. I then made the point that, although I was here just as a guest and not attending an official press function, I was actually a credentialed member of the press (I just got my press pass the other day, actually. Yay!), and I was going to write a review of HOS, which I had always recommended before, but was NOT going to this year, and did they have anything they would like to say to that? Any official statement?

No, they did not, that was "not our job." Fine, then who would I speak to?

Blank looks.

If I wanted to get an official statement from someone, I pushed on, how would I do that?

At this point, Jonelle pulled out an Incident Report form, and suggested that I fill it out. She said someone would get back to me if I did that.

WHOA!

Hey, look, a FORM FOR ME TO FILL OUT! To someone who would actually ADDRESS my concerns and GET BACK TO ME!

Like I had requested.

Which, naturally, I pointed out.

How come, I said, I asked, several times in fact, if they wanted my contact info and if there was a form I could fill out, and each time they'd said no, until NOW?

Jonelle said, "We don't usually give these out."

But...but it was an Incident Report! For official reporting of Incidents! Why didn't they give it to me before?

Because, and again she was clear on this, they don't give them out. We do not give out Incident Reports.

But..but now you are giving me one?

Yes, because you said you were from the press, and you made it "all official."

What? Does that make sense to any of you? It didn't to me.

But just to hammer it home, I said, "So, if I weren't asking you as a member of the press, you would not give this form to me?"

No.

"So you don't let guests fill out Incident Reports AT ALL?

No.

Okay, do I have to explain how disturbing this is? If you are a guest looking for some kind of recourse, you have to rely on people like Jonelle and Carla faithfully reporting your complaints. Even though they don't take down your name or contact information!

That bothers me on a couple levels, because I know that large amusement parks, like Universal and Disney and yes, Busch Gardens, are on an honor system of sorts. You see, they are required report, every quarter, injuries and problems with rides, for example, to state authorities. This is different from small, mobile carnival rides, which are subject to inspection. The big parks are expected to self-police.

I went searching through the archives of places like the Florida Bureau of Fair Safety, Theme Park Insider, past articles of the Orlando Sentinel and Tampa Bay Online and found that for the last few quarters, Busch Gardens has reported no incidents at all. Since incidents that are required to be reported are serious injuries requiring at least an overnight hospital stay (though parks like Disney report even minor issues), this could just mean that Busch Gardens is a really safe park to visit. I just wish it wasn't so hard to find actual hard data to back that up!

I took the Incident Report form, and noted contact information on the top of the form for the VP of Operations, . I told Jonelle and Carla I planned to take the form with me, fill it out and send it to that person.

***

But of course that is not the end of it!

First off, I found out from the other half of our team that they stayed until ~1:30 in the morning, and in that time they were unable to ride a single ride or get into a single haunted house.

So, another hour plus more didn't do any good, either.

First thing Monday morning, which was the soonest I was told anyone would be there to man the phones, I called the number I'd been given.

No answer at that number; I tried twice. Interestingly enough, the name on the voicemail was not Sarah but Maggie. I left a voice mail at 11:32 a.m.

Then I found the number above 'Contact Us' form on the Busch Gardens Tampa website in the meantime, called it and was connected with Sue.

I asked Sue if she was the right person to speak to about complaints with HOS (I always like to start this way, so I don't waste anyone's time, mine OR theirs), was assured she was, and not to bore you with all the details, went over all the above issues, along with, Jonell's and Sandra's reactions to them.

Sue had these things to say:

Sue repeated that Saturday, the night we went to Howl-O-Scream, was a very busy one, and that the park was expecting even higher crowds next weekend.

Sue also said, though, that she had attended HOS and been able to visit every Haunted House.

I asked if she attended the night I did; nope, the very first Preview Thursday, back in September.

I asked if she had a front-of-the-line pass, and she said, well yes.

So, that's really comparing apples to oranges. I am really thinking that when I DO get invited, as I often do, to press-oriented events, I need to keep in mind that my experience there will be different than the average guest's.

If I went to the front of every line during the HOS Preview (or got free tickets; HOS in Williamsburg was giving them away on Twitter!) and breezed through all the Haunted Houses, like Sue did, I'd probably think HOS was fantastic.

I would have given you all a really positive review--and I'd feel really bad about that, in light of knowing what HOS actually was like on a typical, non-preview night.

A thought occurred to me, and I asked Sue if they were worried that the park would reach capacity during HOS and they would actually have to turn guests away, due to fire safety regulations?

Sue said she was sure the park was nowhere near capacity for HOS and would not be next weekend--however, park capacity is NOT given out to the public.

This is just "Park Policy".

Although actually it appears to be just a Busch Gardens, Tampa park policy.

The Busch Gardens in Williamsburg is MUCH more open, with a constantly updating Twitter stream that not only reports attendance at their HOS events on Twitter stream, but also when the park closed down due to reaching park capacity because of the HOS attendance.

Just like I said they should! Seriously, this is simple stuff. I am starting to think maybe the Tampa park just needs to hire more people who know what they are doing.

Be responsive to your guests. Doh. Social Media 101, just posting updates to Twitter. I could do that. Maybe I should apply? ; )

So, did they even know how many people were in the Tampa park for HOS? I asked Sue, and she explained that every ticket has a bar code and every attendee goes through the turnstile, where that barcode is read, so yes, they know exactly how many people attended HOS!

So obviously I asked what the attendance was for the night I was there, and Sue didn't know. Someone tracked that, but it wasn't her. But again, she stressed, she was sure they did not reach park capacity or the park would be closed.

What were the procedures for closing the park? She didn't know that either.

I asked if there was a limit for the front-of-the-line or VIP options, because the wait times were so long. If nearly everyone had front-of-the-line, that defeated the purpose, really. It would slow the lines down for everyone, right? Sue felt that the front line privileges might be limited to 500? Again, she didn't know. She did know the Fright Feast attendance was limited, though. But no, she didn't know the limit for that, either.

Sue said I should talk to Maggie (who I had tried to call, and she got the name right, too), and that Guest Relations in the park is not staffed all the time (she spun this like they were walking around the park, helping people, handing lollipops to toddlers and helping little old ladies navigate the traffic), and that might be why I hadn't reached Sarah yet.

But she didn't know if they were there right now because (you won't believe what she said next): She was not even located in park.

Sue said, after I had talked to her for 40 minutes, that she could not help me with the complaints I was making or some of the information I was requested, because she wasn't at the park, so maybe I needed to speak to someone who was.

I was gobsmacked. Not in the park? Where was she, then?

And not only was Sue not in Busch Gardens, she was not even in Tampa.

But if you are thinking I had screwed up (which happens sometimes, I admit) and somehow reached the Williamsburg park by mistake, nope, think again.

Remember when I asked, way back at the beginning of the phone call, if she was the one I should talk to and she said yes? Yeah. I had dialed the right number.

But Sue told me she was talking to me from the Cole Center, in Orlando.

So, okay, why was someone in Orlando answering the phone for the Busch Gardens, Tampa "Contact Us" number?

You can probably guess the answer. Say it along with me: Park Policy.

Sue said that when anyone called the "Contact Us" number, that's who we got. Someone in Orlando, at the Cole Center, over an hour away from Busch Gardens.

Great policy.

BUT! Sue did manage to get in touch with Maggie and tell her I needed to speak with her, and she gave me a direct line to Maggie at Public Relations instead.

I would love to give you that number but it is the number for Public Relations and--this is straight from the horse's mouth, folks!--That number is not given out to the public.

Yeah, I said it. Public Relations does not want its number given to the Public, okay? I guess you guys don't rate.

Why not?

Say it with me: Park Policy.

***
Okay, I want to now give some (thank goodness!) positive feedback and a big heads-up to the Big Heads (heh) over at Busch Gardens, Tampa: Promote Maggie right now.

Maggie rocks, okay? Maggie is the only one I'd spoken to at this point who either knew the answers or actively tried to find them out for me, was bright, cheerful, and she was just filling in for someone else while there was an opening; this wasn't even her regular job!

Seriously: Maggie is an asset. Make use of her, because she actually appreciates the meaning of the term "customer satisfaction".

Okay.

So, went over all my complaints AGAIN, blah blah blah, I'm sure you are all sick of this incredibly long post by now, right?

Here are the answers I got (which don't all make sense, okay, but at least I got some!):
They did away with scare zones this year in favor of roaming entertainers because they wanted to give the impression that the whole park was basically a scare zone this year, and nowhere was safe. This is why the site says the scare is "everywhere you turn".
Maggie apologized (wow!) that we didn't experience that, but that was the intention. Which made sense to me. I said that zombies were popular just now ("zombies are hot," Sarah agreed), and so I could see where the logic was in that approach.
Maggie said that they also do not like to use the incident reports because they prefer to handle a situation right then rather than let it develop into a major problem, and also to share information electronically if necessary, "save the trees and all that!"
Okay, I am not actually buying that's what they do in actual practice, but it is a good explanation for why they didn't give me that incident report right away. Although she did say that I should have filled out the top copy and left it. Like I said, and repeated to her: I didn't feel confident anything would come from it.

Finally, Maggie told me to call Jill (yes, I know, ANOTHER person to talk to!).

Jill is the Senior Manager of the Communications Department, and she really had her act together, too. Jill is good at her job. Thankfully, because I was exhausted by this point (we'd gone from Saturday to Wednesday in my timeline at this point).

Jill got down to the business on that App I'd been told about, and it wasn't on the website or anything. Which surprised her, as Jill was apparently the one who was charged with updating the app with the real-time wait estimates for the lines. But she said they were trying to get a Blackberry and an iPhone version up, and that's why it wasn't on the site, and she thought maybe it was on the HOS maps.
Since I didn't have a map (because I was familiar with the park, I hadn't grabbed one), I will take her word that MAYBE an app was listed there, although one in our party did get a map, and she said she did NOT see it on there. So, again, people were not getting this app at the website and using it.

I did suggest to Jill that if they KNEW the wait times, at the very least they should be sending entertainers over to the longest lines, werewolves and vampires and zombies, to help entertain the very disgruntled guests waiting to get into the Haunted Houses, and she said she would pass that along. I DID get the impression that she meant this, too, as she was also checking into things and getting answers from other people while we were on the phone together.

About attendance and park capacity:
Jill, for the first time, also told me that they were expecting LESS PEOPLE to attend the following week. This was in direct contradiction to what everyone else had already told me. She also said that a Fire Marshal was on hand for every major event, including HOS, so she knew they did not exceed park capacity for fire safety regulations. If parking lots are full, they do issue alert bulletins. And yes, that information on attendance and capacity was proprietary "for competitive reasons."
Okay, so that sounds good. Actually, the following Thursday and Saturday WERE more crowded, but for some strange reason, Friday wasn't at all. So, basically, it varied, and I can't blame anyone for not knowing that. And they had somebody on hand to make sure it was safe, even with the heavy attendance, which is all I could ask for.

Jill said they actually conducted surveys of people coming out of the park during HOS and the feedback was "very positive" for this year's HOS, especially for zombie mortuary (which we were unable to see), and that she felt she could say that it was a "great event this year" which was only "born out in attendance...one of the most successful in terms of attendance" they had ever had.

While I am not denying that they had a LOT of people there, I know a lot were excited by HOS initially, as I was, but were later disappointed. I'm a little surprised by the positive feedback reports.

I checked Facebook, and found that there was actually a lot of positive feedback, but it was mostly from employees and people who didn't go on the night I went, or any of the typically busy, Friday and Saturday nights.

Here are what THOSE people (the ones who were there when it was most crowded) had to say:

Buddy Poston Went yesterday.. Lines were way to long. 6 1/2 hrs in lines. 2 houses and 1 ride, so 10 mins worth of attractions. but the 2 1/2 hr wait for cheetah run was worth it. Sunday, 11/23  

Jacqueline Thats it Wasn't sht. Haunted houses were ridiculously long, and rides were long too. The least popular haunted house was an hour wait, in tht was when the event started. The rides lines were 30 minutes to 90 minutes wait. I got there at 8 and left when the park was closing. Only got to ride 3 RIDES, and waited in 2 that ended up shutting down. Didn't even think to touch a haunted house cuz time was fckin limited.  Friday at 7:34pm  

Patrick Hunt  Just got back from HOS tonight. Was more crowded than any year I have been. Could you please start limiting tix sold for Thursday night events. People were smoking all over the park. Probably the worst trip I have ever made to HOS by no fault of the park itself. The production this year was outstanding, but when there are so many obnoxious people around, it takes a lot of the fun away from it. Friday

Finally, after Jill and I had talked for a while, she hooked me up with the pictures I posted on the very first installment of this review, and she also asked me how we could reach some kind of satisfactory resolution.

I thought about that, and how the kids I'd taken with me had been so disappointed. I'd really been excited to share HOS with them, and they'd been excited too, and we were all deflated now, and I felt responsible.

I really wasn't sure where to go from here. HOS was done for this year.

So, Jill, who as I said is really good at her job and has her act together, set us up so we could all go to HOS again for free one night next year.

Which worked for me. I personally couldn't have gone that last weekend, anyway, as it turns out, as Jonell had sorta kinda offered, because even if I'd wanted to drive across the state again the very next week, my husband's aunt passed away and sadly we had the funeral to attend.

So next year at HOS works.

But I did want to be fair, so No VIP or front-of-the-line access (unless we paid for them), because we didn't have that this time, and that wouldn't be right. I specified that.

And when we do go to HOS next year, I will report to you all what it is actually like, for the average guest, just like this year.

And if I DO think we need to purchase VIP upgrades, I will let you know, and I'll tell you much it all costs and what you can REALLY expect, okay?

Okay.

Revving Up the Cars 2 Coverage

2011-11-13T13:00:00.000-05:00

Cars 2 Discount code!

Coloring Pages and More!

Updated: Recipes!

Cars 2: Pixar Not Running Out of Gas After All

2011-11-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

I love Pixar.

I really do! I think they are the most creative animation studio out there today. I love their interesting stories, and ESPECIALLY love that they have strong characters that don't fit the typical mold.

The crochety old guy in Up, everyone's favorite enviro robot Wall-E, etc.

But I had heard that Cars 2 was not one of Pixar's best, and I am not much of a Nascar fan, and not particularly fond of the original Cars movie (it's the idea of Cars populating the whole world that bothers me a bit, rather than existing in ours like the toys from Toy Story. I don't know why, but it just feels...weird).

I am also...not a huge fan of "Mater". I imagine a lot of adults view Mater, as voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, in the same way that I do: as the Jar Jar Binks of the Cars universe.

Kids love him. Adults? Not so much.

So I did not go into this review with high expectations as I sat down to watch Cars 2 on Bluray.

But I am so happy to say that I actually LIKED Cars 2 ! I really did.

It has all the components I've come to expect from a winning Pixar film:

AMAZING Animation--The artistry of the animators captured me from the very first scene in the movie. The turbulent, rolling sea, for instance, is just beautifully done. The animation reminded me of when I first saw Finding Nemo, actually, and how REAL the water looked there. Except this time, it was more like an ocean of the Perfect Storm variety, a dangerous, unfriendly ocean.

Definitely up to Pixar's standards. Lighting, scenery--it's all spectacular. I could watch this movie for its artistic quality alone (which is kind of a good thing, as Mater, never been my favorite character, does have WAY too big a role in the film).

Voice Talent:

Owen Wilson is back reprising his role as race car Lightning McQueen.

Rod “Torque” Redline--voiced by Bruce Campbell. He's the "greatest American spy in the world", who Mater is confused for (his part in the movie is actually pretty small).

Finn McMissile--Michael Caine! The car even has a David Niven-style English gentleman mustache painted on. Nice touch. His character is like the cool car secret agent James Bond drives, with all the bells and whistles, except that the cool car IS the secret agent.

Holly Shiftwell--Emily Mortimer (she has a lovely voice, but I've found her pretty forgettable in other roles, sorry to say). Rookie British agent under the tutelage of Finn McMissile.

Tater--Larry the Cable Guy. *sigh*

Sir Miles Axelrod--voiced by comedian Eddie Izzard. This is one of those neat factoids that I, as a language nerd, like (discovered on Wikipedia): his last name, a portmanteau of "axle" and "rod", is a reference to Mr. Izzard's stand-up routine about the invention of the wheel and axle.

Francesco Bernoulli--John Turturro, a talented comedic and dramatic actor who also starred, God knows why, in the Transformers movies as a Sector 7 agent, clearly has a lot of fun with this role. He's a single-seater, Formula 1 style race car (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_One), with sexy "open wheels", whatever that means. These are much admired by the ladies.

Professor Zündapp--Respected German actor Thomas Kretschmann (Valkyrie, Eichmann), basically spoofing the villainous German role he has portrayed so well in the past.

Zündapp's henchman are Grem (voiced by Joe Mantegna) and Acer (voiced by Peter Jacobson), Gremlin and Pacer "Lemons" that have a chip on their shoulder because the other cars never took them seriously. *sniffle*

I personally don't know a lot about various car makes, other than that Gremlins do indeed have a bad reputation as lemons (and that Italian cars are damned sexy).

Plot:

Okay, admittedly this is the weakest link in the big three. The plot for Cars 2 can best be summarized as what TV Tropes has dubbed "Mistaken for Spies". In this version, Mater plays the pivotal role of (I love this term) "Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass."

If you want the less abbreviated version, here it is:

Mater calls in to Sir Miles Axlerod's show to defend his friend, Lightning McQueen. Axlerod has supposedly created an alternative fuel that will make gasoline-powered cars obsolete, and when he and Bernoulli poke fun at gasoline-powered McQueen on-air, loyal Tater gets upset, and is in turn insulted. So Lightning McQueen takes up the challenge and agrees to join the Grand Prix (normally the purview of Formula 1 cars like Francesco Bernoulli) race, much to Tater's delight.

At girlfriend Sally's request (I forgot to mention her in the voice talent, but her part in the movie is TINY), McQueen takes Mater along with him (and the gang from Radiator Springs, who serve as his race crew) to see the world on the Grand Prix racing circuit.

After Mater embarrasses Lightning repeatedly in Japan and accidentally causes LIghtning to lose that leg of the race, Lightning McQueen lashes out against his best friend. Mater decides to quit the race and go home rather than cause any more trouble.

Instead, Mater is intercepted by experienced British agents Finn McMissile and his rookie field agent Holly Shiftwell, who enlist Mater's help (though Mater at first thinks Sally wants to date him). The agents, due to a tracking device planted on Mater in a desperate situation (read: silly bathroom humor scene), mistakenly believe him to be Rod "Torque" Redline, the greatest spy in the world, and an American agent. Tater's "Aw, shucks," Average Joe routine and embarrassing antics are viewed as an ingenious disguise he chooses to assume in order to throw off enemy suspicion.

Spoilers (though you probably guessed this already): In the time-honored tradition, the rookie agent, Holly Shiftwell, and the Average Joe Mater, aided by a repentant Lightning McQueen, save the day after desperate circumstances bring out the best in them, earning them the respect they deserve as under-appreciated, diamond-in-the-rough good guys.

Oh, and Mater gets the girl. ; )

Viv's take: I liked Cars 2, and I'm thrilled, because Pixar deserves the accolades. The movie is predictable, but the voice talent and animation more than make up for a rather tired plot. And, in the Cars 2 Bluray combo pack ($39.99), you get a digital copy for your computer AND the HD DVD as well!

Announcing Our Winners!

2011-11-01T17:48:00.000-04:00

We have several contest winners we need to announce!
I know it's taken a while to post the winners, so I won't leave you in suspense any
longer:

First, the winner of the Real Steel Giveaway:
Dane, from the Asylum over at USF!

Here's what's unbelievable: Dane was the only entrant in that contest!

I don't know what happened, but it just goes to show that you need to keep an eye on these giveaways, because when we have low entries, you can sweep in at the last minute to win it all!

Next, the one you've all been waiting for (judging by Twitter and my emails!) our Skylanders: Spyro's Adventures Winners!

No problem with low entries on this one--we had 132! The winner was picked randomly through Rafflecopter.

The winning entries were:

#7: Kimberly!

Kimberly took advantage of our multiple optional entry method.

The one that won for her? Subscribing to the Cool Moms Rule RSS feed!

and

#55: Michael!

Michael also entered multiple times, and

his subscription put him over the top for the win as well!

Congratulations to all our winners!

I also want to thank all of you who entered for commenting, tweeting, subscribing, and just generally making this contest such a success.

And don't worry--we have more giveaways coming up soon!

Best Pitch I've seen in a while!

2011-11-01T14:51:00.003-04:00

Maya Water sent me this cute Kim Kardashian and Kitten pic and tagged it with the Twitter trending topic #ThingsLongerThanKimsMarriage:

If you go like them on Facebook, please tell them @coolmomsrule sent you! I figure companies who skip the hard sell in favor of a sense of humor ought to be rewarded. ;)

2011-10-31T08:30:00.000-04:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Are you all set to hand out that Halloween booty? Want to add some pirate to your day like me?

Here's some tips for swashbuckling Halloween!

First, find a costume you like, adapt and accessorize to make it truly you. Thanks to a generous benefactor, I had a few pirate costumes for the family. We all meant to pose in them sooner, but sadly we had a death in the family and a funeral in Tampa to attend.

When we got back, I realized the female pirate costume didn't work for me at all. I'd lost some weight, so it was too big, and the gold blousey top, brown vest and skirt just didn't say "pirate" to me. So I tried on this men's costume, switched out the fabric belt for one of my own, and added some shell necklaces and earrings to round out a Pirates of the Caribbean look.

The Engineer went for this cool Blackbeard costume. I know what you're thinking: where's the BEARD? Astoundingly, the costume comes with a jacket, jabot (in case, like me, you recognize the word jabot but can't remember what it is, it's like a neckerchief or cravat), tricorne hat, belt and boot covers--but NO beard! We would have preferred the beard to either the belt or jabot, but the coat is very nice, don't you think?

Carve a pirate pumpkin!

Just go here and download this Jolly Roger pumpkin stencil and carving instructions!

You can also check out this pumpkin carving time-lapse video below for more inspiration:

Host a Pirates of the Caribbean marathon!

The latest movie, On Stranger Tides, is available now on Blu-ray 3D & Blu-ray Hi-Def Combo Pack!

Fool around with some photo effects to capture the mood! Here, I used AppZilla 2 for the iPhone, and Photoshop on my laptop, to give our pirate photos a vintage look.

Finally, take the little swashbucklers out and pillage for your own pirate booty!

We received this pirate costumes to help promote the October 18th release of the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Blu-ray 3D & Blu-Ray Hi-Def Combo Pack!

Howl-O-Lame

2011-10-30T21:36:00.000-04:00

Part II: The Happening

We headed through the park from the first Haunted House, talking about how much we enjoyed it, still excited...but as we went, walking through the park, bunching close together as we'd reach the foggiest, darkest sections of the paths, anticipating the thrill of being startled in the dark...nothing happened.

Not a thing. No performers waited in the dark to scare us, no werewolves or zombies, no one.

It wasn't even one of those, "It's quiet--too quiet," nights, because of course we were surrounded by throngs of people, pressing in on us, so that I'd kept looking around, checking to make sure the seven of us stayed together in a group.

Mostly, it was just like a regular day in the Gardens, except for the fog, and that disturbed me, because when I attended HOS before, there were designated scare zones all around the Haunted Houses, and then there were guys in camouflage, and even a Carnival section with Dia de Las Muertas characters. This is right out of my previous (very favorable) review of HOS last year:

The fog effects and creatures walking around scaring you were *fantastic*. You couldn't see the characters until they were right up on you in most cases. The werewolves were are favorites, though the Owl tried to surprise a huge, hulking walking ghost by hiding behind it, figuring it would take a while to turn around--and ended up being startled himself by a scary clown with a chainsaw! I don't want to spoil any of the surprises for you, but they are really good at distracting half your group on one side while someone comes up on the other and scares the rest of you when you aren't expecting it at all!

But now, no chainsaw-wielding clowns or ghosts were to be found.

We passed rides with long lines, saw the Phoenix and made a decision to ride it because at least one of our party had never been on it before. The Phoenix (in case you haven't, either), is a big boat ride, not like an African Queen let's-go-down-the-Amazon boat ride, but a suspended one that swings like a pendulum. We wanted our group member to experience it because he didn't believe the ride actually completed at least one complete 360 revolution, holding you dangling upside-down in your seats.

So we waited in line for the Phoenix, pulled down our over-the-shoulder harnesses and carefully kept our arms out of the way for the waist one, which comes down on its own. The guys in our party told the newbie rider to brace his knees, because apparently once the waist restraint comes down, the pressure on *ahem* certain parts of the male anatomy is intense, and only worse once you hit that complete 360 and are fighting against gravity. Oh, and there is an added "click" which tightens it further when the ride attendants first start the ride, too.

This time, for the first time ever in all the years I have been riding it, the Phoenix swung back and forth, going ever higher, gaining momentum, holding us just barely upside-down at the peak of its swing--with an incredible view of the clouds and the stars beneath us--and then slowed down, the swings declining, until we were once again at the bottom, on the ride platform, and clambering out again.

No complete revolutions! I've never gone on the ride and had it not complete at least one 360 before. A couple of the guys in our group suggested it was because riders were maybe misbehaving, spitting on people or something (I later verified with operations that this ride, in an emergency situation, can be made to swing right down to the bottom to stop, but that "you'd know it if that happened, because it's fast. Like immediate." But, according to her, the ride cannot simply be cut short, just that emergency stop option. So this was, apparently, a fluke?).

We were disappointed, but that was just one thing, right? Well, that and no scary performers anywhere. But we still had a lot of the park to cover.

And then we went to the Haunted House in the Timbuktu theater, Zombie Mortuary, which we'd been looking forward to, and the line was unbelievable. Up both the ramps to the stage, zigzagging all over the place. We were told by some attendees exiting that the wait was at least an hour and a half, and we had no reason to doubt them based on what we could see.

So we decided to come back around, and hit the HH at the very back of the park first, because we figured the wait times couldn't really get any longer than that. Some people were bound to leave early, right?

So we kept traversing the park--and cool, creepy, scary, startling performers with amazing makeup conspicuously failed to jump out at us from the depths of the darkness or the obscuring clouds of fog.

We deliberately chose the darkest parts of the paths, the roads-less-traveled. Still nothing; other than pretty lights on the bridge to Stanleyville and masses of attendees, we might as well have been walking down any road in the dark. Actually, any other road might have been scarier in the dark.

We rode Kumba, because it was there more than anything, and because the line was shorter than anything else--though normally, when the park is open, there's barely any line at all, so it was actually longer than typically.

Our spirits diminished, but still hopeful, we came to another new haunted house, Nevermore, only to be turned away. Nevermore was closed (no reason for why it was closed, no anticipated wait time. Just, "Come back later," we were told). So we continued on.

The Vampire Casino Haunted House was next, and from what we could see of the line it was long, but at this point we were ready for some fright night, so by accord we joined the queue.

And so we waited--and as we came around the sign and slipped behind it, our spirits raised, thinking we were close. We zigged and we zagged, and kept on zigging and zagging, and as we turned a near 90 degree turn in the line, we realized that what had been visible to us before--what we had mistaken for THE line--was in fact only a very small portion, like the tip of the iceberg visible to the Titanic right before the crash that sunk it.

We were over 45 minutes in line, and damned if we weren't even halfway through this thing already. There was no way to go back--throngs of people waited patiently behind us--and certainly no way to go forward but to continue on. Later, we would see tour groups, with their telltale lighted necklaces, passing us by without a care in the world, enjoying their front-of-the-line privileges. Murmurs in the crowd grew ugly; I heard disgruntled attendees all around me saying things like (actual quote) "Dude, this sucks, we should have gone to Halloween Horror Nights," and, repeatedly, "I've never seen the lines this long!"

An employee with a galvanized tub full of ice and cold drinks planted herself near the middle of the line. One of our party had a sore throat; all of us were thirsty, so I ponied up for bottled water for all, parched myself. The employee asked me how I was enjoying my night, and so I told her, honestly, that I was disappointed, but that there was nothing she could do about it; I explained the long lines and lack of performers.

She took her time getting me my change and the crowd moved up, taking my group with them, who hollered back to me. As I went up to join them--barely any distance at all, and passing only those people who had already seen me stop to get water--an inebriated guest tried to stop me, sure I was cutting in line. I hurriedly explained the situation, holding up the bottled water, pointing to my group who were waving at me just ahead, and continued on, though he continued to rail at me, proffering some choice expletives at my back. I couldn't blame him for being upset--I would have, too, if I thought someone was trying to cut in line.

Apparently, as others in the line shared with me, at some HH, employees were not just granting front-of-the-line privileges to the VIP and Tour guests, but "their friends" and, allegedly, one entire "group of school kids" (the "kids" might have been in their teens; I have no way of knowing, but HOS is definitely NOT intended for young kids!).

When I reached my group, I went to put my change in my pocket, only to find that the employee who taken so much time with it had over-charged me for every bottle of water, $3 instead of 2.50, while asking me why I was not enjoying my night.

Whatever. It was only a few dollars, right? But I was getting annoyed. And I had about 45 minutes to wait.

So I pulled out my iPhone and went to the HOS mobile site, trying to find wait times, contact info, someone I could call to find out why HOS was going to hell in a handbasket this year.

There's no contact info on the mobile HOS site, and the Busch Gardens one had only a form to submit which didn't render right on the iPhone, even if I could have typed well in the sized-down-for-the-phone textbox.

So, still with plenty of time to kill, I Googled until I found some phone numbers. Two turned out to be only-open-during-bankers'-hours useless. The third got me through to a real-life person who had no authority and didn't know what to do but did tell me that there were updated phone numbers and gave me two more. One of those was disconnected. The other was a voicemail.

Right, I said to myself, that's it, I'm going to talk to Guest Relations in person before we leave tonight.

Finally, after an hour and 28 minutes (I know because I checked my phone when we got in line, and I also put my timer on once we got halfway in, since, again, I had all that time to spare while I was waiting), we reached the entrance to Vampire Casino, where a performer at the door was doing a comedy skit in character. I didn't hear much of it, though, because there was so many people going in that he would get drowned out, and besides after waiting all that time no one spared an extra moment to engage with him, which took away from his schtick.

I have to say that I was not in the most receptive mood for the HH by this point. The Owl's girlfriend was worried she might get really scared (she didn't), so I placed myself in the middle of the group in front of the two of them (nothing scares the Owl. It's almost eerie).

So it was probably my annoyance that had me muttering, when the 'bartender' in not-at-all scary chalky white makeup thrust her face into mine,"Oh, don't even."

She took one look at my less-than-impressed face and turned away, murmuring, "Huh, you must have kids..."

And I had to smile.

This HH, the one we had waited in line for an hour and a half to get get into, was honestly very meh. It wasn't as good as the first one we went in, and it would have had to be much better to impress us at this point. Plus, although lots of characters tried to scare us, their preferred method was just popping out and yelling "HA!". I remember just once thinking, "Hmm, I didn't expect that one." I don't remember being scared even once.

90 minutes for a less than 10 minutes experience does not a happy group make. I think the Owl's girlfriend was the only one not miserable at this point, because she wasn't going to have nightmares when she went to sleep. The rest of us just felt we had spent half our night in line so far-- and seen only two haunted houses, rode only two rides.

We trudged on, and reached Gwazi, where half the party decided to give just one more ride a try. The rest of us, me included, sat down on a bench (Gwazi is a wooden roller-coaster that has a known bumpiness issue that leaves some of us with headaches afterward).

Now, at last, after more than four hours since we had seen some of the front of the park, we found entertainers in costume.

No one had shown up to entertain the crowds during the interminable lines. None in Timbuktu, Stanleyville, Congo or Nairobi. None, the full length of the park from just right of the Moroccan Village entrance area at around 7:30 until now, when we reached Gwazi, which is just to the left of the Moroccan Village, at 11:26.

Four hours with nothing.

But now, finally, at Gwazi we saw werewolves, scaring guests and posing with them, a zombie with a walker (scary makeup, although this zombie made no attempt to surprise or scare anyone), and a zombie groom who actually seemed enthusiastic about his job and had some talent at it. He snuck up on the people sitting at the caricature stands, alarmed others on the benches, and completely freaked out a number of unsuspecting people strolling along the path. Some of the Werewolves, howling, took off in a group, while a few remained behind. One even used our group as cover once our friends came out and we started talking about what to do, standing with us and nodding his head, his back turned to the crowds on the walkway, until he saw a likely target to scare.

We waited 50 minutes, all told, for our friends to get out of Gwazi, so we had plenty of time to observe the guests and entertainers (and for me to take notes). I think, if we'd seen more of this kind of stuff anywhere else in the park, we'd have had a better night in spite of the lines and not getting in most of the Haunted Houses.

But, of course, we didn't.

So, at just about midnight, half of our group, including me, decided we'd had enough, and would take that first car home.

After I had a little talk with the folks in Guest Relations.

Next in the series: Part III: The Reckoning

Howl-O-Frustration, Scream of Despair. A Farce in Three Parts.

2011-10-28T19:08:00.000-04:00

This, as promised, is the most critical review I have ever written. Thank you for your patience; I know it is late in coming. In the interest of covering all the bases to figure out what the hell went so wrong, I spent the last several days on the phone playing phone tag, doing research on the internet, and venting to my family while trying to reach a resolution of some kind, even if it is less than ideal. You'll see what I mean soon.

So it's also a long review. I'm splitting the posts into parts to spare your weary eyes and also to retain my sanity while rehashing all the crap I went through during this debacle and have had to wade through in the days since, so this is the Part the First, which basically sets up all the afore-mentioned crap. We don't really wade in it until the next installment.

I also just received my review copy of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventures, and I'll be announcing our giveaway winners in-between these posts, so those folks won't be kept waiting in suspense.

And I (truly, honestly!), have some short, positive reviews coming up soon. Promise.

By the time this whole thing is done, hell, who knows, I might have to resort to posting rainbows, unicorns and kittens for a while just to reach blog equilibrium.

Thanks for your support,

~Viv

Part I: It Begins

Last weekend, on Saturday, October 22nd, I took a van loaded with excited teenagers across the state to attend Howl-O-Scream. I was on my own; The Engineer was away globe-trotting for two weeks to exciting places like Kuala Lampur and Bangalore, doing thrilling things like flying for 24 hours straight into a 12-hour time difference and falling, exhausted, into a hotel bed every night after working 11 hour days! I had decided, after very little internal debate, not to join him on that adventure.

To those of you wondering just how much of a masochist I am, juggling everything on my own with the 16 year-old Rhino for two weeks (during soccer tryouts! While on medication!) and then choosing to add to the stress by chauffeuring an entire group of teens across the state on a beautiful Saturday afternoon--these are all great guys, and honestly it's no trouble.

Friends of our sons, they're cool, smart kids, and if I could adopt them all, I would, because they are already our second family anyway. But their parents, who are also good people, would object to that, so we just do stuff like have movie nights, sleepovers and outings like these instead.

So! Four of us tumbled into the van and headed for Tampa, about a 2 1/2 hour drive. Once there, we'd pick up The Owl, his girlfriend and his best friend at USF (go Bulls!), and divide up into two different vehicles (because some of us might not last the whole night and want to leave early, and once you leave Howl-O-Scream, there is no re-entry).

How did we choose Howl-O-Scream? Halloween Horror Nights, at Universal, is actually closer, by a good hour, to where we live. The Engineer and I had been to both Busch Garden's Howl-O-Scream and Universal's Halloween Horror Nights before.

We liked HOS better. In past experiences, the Haunted Houses were just as good as HHN and the lines were not too long (about 30-45 minutes each), there were roaming performers all over the place (not just in scare zones), some of them wearing ghilie suits or shrouded in simulated fog that hid them completely until they jumped out and scared you. As an added bonus, the rides were open, too. We'd taken the Rhino and the Owl to HOS last year and we all enjoyed it.

In fact, we grew up, the Engineer and I, only a few miles from Busch Gardens, and we both had strong ties to the park, especially me. We had both worked there as teens, as had our siblings. The Engineer worked on the now defunct boat ride during the summer season, and I worked in the games area in Timbuktu, smiling and sweating and handing out big stuffed animals. I chose to stay on and continue working after the season while I attended USF like the Owl is now. My Mom, a skilled Administrative Assistant, also spent years working in the zoo department for the Busch Gardens veterinarian.

But this was all back when the park was owned by Busch Entertainment Corporation, a subsidiary of Anheuser Busch. Back then there was a working brewery at the park, and if you were legal you could stop by the Hospitality House for a few free samples of their beer. Today, the park is owned by Sea World Parks & Entertainment, which is in turn owned by the Blackstone Group.

If you aren't familiar with the Blackstone Group (which I wasn't, before I looked them up), they are an investment firm whose CEO is Steven Schwarzman, a name you might know.

Remember him? He's the guy who, as reported by the New York Times, "referred to President Obama’s plans to raise taxes on the private equity industry in the following manner: “It’s war. It’s like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.” Mr. Schwarzman did not explain how the genocide of 3 million Polish Jews was comparable to large companies having to pay higher taxes."

So, yeah, BG has changed quite a bit since Blackstone took over. More on that later.

HOS is held on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from late September until the weekend before Halloween. Thursdays, HOS goes until 1:00 in the morning, Friday and Saturday nights it lasts until 2:00 am.

And HOS costs--well, that depends. The price for you to attend HOS for could range anywhere from $24.99 all the way to $179.99. For one night.

For instance, on Thursdays, you can buy a four-pack (online and advance purchase only) and attend for only 24.99 each. This is a great option for starving college students, or anyone on a budget, if you live in Tampa. You can also get promo codes from local businesses if you live in Tampa, to bring the price down. Naturally, you pay more for front-of-the-line access, VIP tours, and private tours. You pay less than full (or promo, or passholder) price per night if you go for the whole weekend, BUT more than the Thursday night package rate. More for Fright Feast. Less if you buy tickets online in advance. I'm not sure how they came up with all these pricing packages; figuring it out is like playing a game of Fizbin.

Why, for example, are advance ticket purchases less when there are no limits on attendance and no HOS benefit to having your tickets ahead of time?

Anyway! When you buy the basic HOS admission ticket (77.99 at the gate, 52.99 advanced online purchase! 42.99 with the promo codes! 32.99 with passholder discount!), HOS begins at 7:30 pm.

This is important because, although an HOS ticket says you can use it to get into the park at 5:00, the early admission is not actually valid for any HOS stuff. While you can get in line for the regular Busch Gardens attractions and rides, none of the Haunted Houses are available until you hit that 7:30 mark.

Even with the premium packages that give you front-of-the-line access, you can't get into the Haunted Houses early. The ONLY option for getting into any of the Haunted Houses before 7:30 is the Fright Feast (add $25 onto your purchase price! Add $22.50 if you are a pass holder!) dinner option, and even then you only get a half-hour head start into them.

So HOS lasts from 7:30 until 2:00 on Saturdays, when we went. That will be important later. We all had basic tickets (with the passholder discount! bought in advance online!).

Our group left USF in its little two-car convey in plenty of time to get to HOS before 7:30, which is a good thing, because although BG is less than 3 miles away from USF, we waited in twenty minutes of traffic just to get into the park. That was no one's fault, of course, although, as it was the 2nd to last weekend of HOS, I'm surprised there were no police directing traffic. We were excited and in high spirits as we drove in...and in...and in, to park in an Adventure Island remote parking lot (1.4 miles away from Busch Gardens).

Which astonished me. Here HOS was just starting, and we were parked waaaaaaay far away. I've never parked that far away, even attending BG all day, even on their most crowded days. When I worked there, they had remote parking lots, for when crowds were highest, like 4th of July weekend. But even then it was common knowledge that the park capacity for safety was, if I remember correctly, ~23,000(?), and the park wouldn't let anyone else in if they reached that level of attendance, for fire safety reasons, so that's as far away as it got.* Busch Gardens has added rides since then, of course, but not much acreage to the park, so I was amazed they were expecting this many people just for tonight's HOS.

After all, we'd chosen this Saturday deliberately. Most locals and college students went on Thursdays because it cost less. We couldn't go on Thursday, because the kids had school the next day. We couldn't go Friday, because leaving after school would have gotten us there too late for the start of HOS. So that left Saturdays, and since USF was having its homecoming game this weekend, we figured that would draw people away from HOS this Saturday. Where were all these crowds coming from?

The line for a tram was long (walking would make us late to get into the park, and we'd also gotten separated in traffic and didn't want to take off walking before the rest of the group caught up to us). It went quickly in the beginning, as several trams were running and lined up waiting for us, but then the line would stop, because each tram had a long way to go, and they hadn't staggered their departures. So between the traffic and the parking situation, our reunited group of seven ended up on two different trams anyway.

We meandered through several parking lots and across various roads to the park. In the last parking lot before we got off the tram, as we waited for those ahead of us to clear out, 'zombies' attempted to push through barriers to get to us, which helped set the mood for the night.

Our party met up again just inside the entrance to Busch Gardens (Cell phones are a MUST for coordinating at times like these), excited to (finally!) head off and experience Howl-O-Scream for ourselves.

NightShade Toy Company

When we got inside, it was wall-to-wall people already, carrying us along in a river of bodies past zombies and set pieces--we saw one wall where bushes were creatively co-mingled with a hidden zombie covered in foliage--until we got to a bottleneck in front of the Nightshade Toy Company. Since we'd seen it last year and the line was long already, which we put down to it being close to the entrance of the park, we headed to the next house to begin our night of horrors.

At this point, we are still in great humor, and we even saw some zombies as we passed the building that will be holding the ice show by the front of the park.

Death Row Vengeance

The line for the next HH was long, too, but as we hadn't been in Death Row Zone (though it was a repeat house, too), we got in, figuring it must be good with all those people waiting already. We waited about 45 minutes or so, and it actually was a great haunted house, with a novel ending that scared us more than anything that had come before it.

And that's when things took a decided turn for the worse.

And this is where I stop, as it is 7 PM already!

*Note: All of the park officials I spoke to told me that it is now policy not to release what the capacity of the park is at all, or to release how many attendees are present during the day, or on any given night of HOS, although they do track all of them by the bar codes on their tickets. I was assured that if they had reached park capacity for HOS that night, the park would have closed down, though I was also told that procedures for doing so were proprietary information that they would not disclose, either.

OH HAI COME SEE OUR MOVIE KTHXBYE! ALSO, SHAKESPEARE

2011-10-23T22:06:00.000-04:00

Recently, I was sent this pitch (I am not going to include any links, and you'll see why in a minute):

Cambio, an interactive online entertainment experience aimed at teens and young adults, is now in the business of helping its readers do their homework with Mark Burnett’s “CliffsNotes Films.” The first 6 episodes, which are live now exclusively on Cambio, humorously bring the most trusted study guides to life.

The episodes are entertaining, modernized versions of Shakespeare’s classics: Romeo And Juliet, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, Hamlet and Macbeth. Cambio also offers quizzes about each episode to help their young audience cram for the big test. There are also CliffsNotes points, badges, contests, social feeds and commenting available to Cambio members who want to discuss these fun, quirky shorts (Note: highlighting is mine).

I anticipated recommending this site enthusiastically, because I do think that Cliff's notes and similar services can be valuable study aids for students.

Note that I said study aids. These products are meant to supplement, not supplant, the original material.

So, no, teens, you cannot get out of your assigned reading! And trust me, later in life, you'll thank whoever first exposed you to Shakespeare. Really.

So, back to the site in question. I'm stressing "site", because despite the pitch I was sent, the short films are not really what you are being sold on here, the website is.

The site hosting the films (which, as noted, is run by Cambio, that online entertainment experience aimed at teens and young adults) is incredibly ad-heavy. The whole set-up comes across as more of an ad campaign for the movie Anonymous than a helpful tool of any kind.

And the ads are intrusive. I have a free Adblock extension for my browser that I use when ads start to take over site content, and even my attempts to use scripts to block the ads did not work.

Not only is the left margin of the website taken up by a picture ad for the movie, anyone wanting to watch one of the short films summarizing the Shakespeare plays (I chose Othello) is first subjected to a trailer of Anonymous, too. Then, the short film is again interrupted in the middle, in an inappropriate and completely out-from-left-field manner, by a character hawking Anonymous.

That's right, they use a character in their "study guide" film to hype another film coming out in theaters.

Which, okay, is a film at least superficially about Shakespeare. But, much as I would love for it to be an educational, historical film, Anonymous is riddled with historical inaccuracies. It has been derided as "inadvertently comic" and "a pompous, ignorant, ill-informed, and clumsy film." Even the premise (that Shakespeare's plays were actually the creation of a former English earl, Edward de Vere), is one that, among respected authorities in the field, has "roughly the same currency as the faked moon landing does among astronauts." (sources referenced via Wikipedia)

There's also an ad along the bottom of the website (which can at least be closed by clicking the x), AND an oversized box along the right side margin with links to Cambio entertainment "news". This "news" section includes the latest on Kim Kardashian's acting career and a profile of Beyonce.

There's a small link to AOL in the top margin. There's another one to Cambio's home page right under that. At the bottom of the website, in small print, there is a note that Cambio is "part of the AOL network."

Scrolling down the page gets us to the Twitter feed (that's the "social feed and comments" part, not a social network designed for teens, but just plain old Twitter, which, by the way, does contain tweets about the Shakespeare films on the site, but not from other teens or educators, just PR reps tweeting the site to bloggers).

Finally, I reached the bottom of the webpage, with a grouping of links by, naturally, Cambio, not one of which references Cliff Notes or Shakespeare whatsoever.

Now, I have no problem with advertising or promoting a brand, please don't get me wrong! But Cambio, spawn of AOL, is pushing so many advertisements with this site that the content, such as it is, gets buried in them.

So, let's look at the content.

Eventually (after sitting through that trailer for Anonymous, a film I had originally thought of seeing but am thoroughly disenchanted with now), I was able to watch a film summarizing the plot of Othello. Now, the ads on the site are distracting enough to me, so if you have a teen who is having trouble understanding Shakespeare, I'd steer far clear of this site for that reason alone.

But in addition, the animated film I saw, while including some of the classical language and effectively summarizing the plot (which I do approve of, because mature students assigned the plays should be able to handle terms like, "the beast with two backs" and themes like jealousy, deception, adultery and murder), was unfortunately presented in a silly, caricatured format that seemed designed to appeal to young children. Or at least, certainly not designed to appeal to teens.

I can see teenagers just being annoyed by the childish characterizations, if they had the patience to wait out the ads in the first place to watch them, which I doubt. There's an implied condescension in the style, like obviously teens need to be talked down to, as they can't possibly understand the complexity of Shakespeare unless we talk down to them in the form of a cartoon. The silliness of the short films just reinforces the initial impression I had: that this website cannot be taken seriously.

So, rather than actually making a useful study tool--and generating positive feedback and word-of-mouth for Cambio from parents, educators, and students while they were at it--Cambio chose to take the low road and flood a website with advertising first, placing content a very distant second.

So that is why there are no links at all in this post, because not only do I NOT recommend this Cambio ~~educational tool~~ advertising portal, I cannot condone the way they are attempting to pass off very sparse content buried inside a myriad of advertising vehicles as "the business of helping" teenage "readers do their homework."

Just Ghastly

2011-10-23T20:44:00.000-04:00

Dear Readers,

I have two posts coming up next that, I want to warn you, are not "glass is half full," enthusiastic endorsement posts in any way, shape or form. So be warned, all you cheerful optimists out there: you might want to have some cute pics of sleepy baby kittens basking in sun rays on the side, bookmarked and ready to go, just in case.

In my experience as editor of Cool Moms Rule!, I have found the vast majority of public relations and media contacts to be delightful people. Talented, enthusiastic professionals, they are passionate about their work.

Because they are people of integrity as well, they graciously accept that, occasionally, some of us are less-than-enthusiastic about what they're pitching than they are.

I would liken their reaction, 99 times out of a hundred, to a new Mom's first Girls Night Out with her old girlfriends after having the baby.

There you are, a new Mom, lovingly sharing for only the second (okay, maybe third) time the miraculous story of the birth, including all 27 hours of excruciating labor and your mangled episiotomy--which, incidentally, you have thoughtfully detailed, complete with annotated flow charts and live video of the birth on your smartphone--when suddenly you find yourself realizing something is not quite right.

Your friends' eyes have glazed over. Their smiles are stiff and forced.

And they are guzzling down their drinks like a college student inhaling Red Bull during finals week.

So you, with your uncanny powers of perception, decide it might be a good idea to talk about something else just now, and deftly shift the subject to Melissa's latest breakup or Megan's promotion.

The professionals I am fortunate to have worked with over the years are are just as expert at 'reading the room'. They have a sense of humor. They all understand that although they love what they do, Tab A doesn't always fit into Tab B.

That said, I have a job to do, too, and part of that includes letting you all know when something I've been asked to review not only fails to live up to expectations, but fails spectacularly.

My next post is one such example.

And, on Monday, I'll be sharing with you my own personal Perfect Storm: an eagerly anticipated (and expensive) outing gone horribly wrong, and how the cavalier response of the event's staff to customer complaints made me see red.

Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

~Viv

Halloween is Creeping Up On You!

2011-10-22T04:46:00.000-04:00

Halloween is only 10 days away! That means you don't have much time left to scare up those fall decorations and work your magic with the kids' costumes, and what about snack time?

Grab yourself some Pringles (they've got Pringles Grab & Go, Pringles Snack Stacks and Pringles Sticks for fast portable snacking), and if you haven't had a chance until now, be sure to try some of their eerily familiar flavors--how do they make potato chips taste like pizza and dill pickles?!

And if you've got a little more time on your hands, you can always whip up something a little more substantial, like these fun salty-sweet Halloween treats (no tricks, promise!).

Pringles Ghoulish Brownies

INGREDIENTS:

6 ounces baking chocolate, unsweetened

3/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup flour

1-6.41 ounce can of Pringles Original or 1-5.71 ounce can of Reduced Fat Pringles Original

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Orange and black frosting (optional)

Edible decorations, such as sprinkles and candy corn (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Line 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, and spray foil with cooking spray.

3. In a glass bowl, microwave chocolate & butter on high for 2 minutes.Stir until chocolate melts.

4. In a stainless steel bowl, mix sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well mixed.

5. Pour in butter chocolate mixture and mix well.

6. Empty Pringles and flour into a food processor, and puree until very fine.

7. Empty flour mixture into chocolate mixture and mix well; add nuts to distribute.

8. Bake for 30 minutes, and cool.

OPTIONAL DECORATION DIRECTIONS:

1. Before pouring Pringles into food processer, reserve 3-5 crisps and set aside.

2. While brownies cool, gently break Pringles crisps in half and decorate with frosting gel.

3. Top brownies and frosting and place crisp “gravestones” in brownies along with other edible

decorations to create a fun and playful graveyard scene.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Has Officially Launched

2011-10-17T23:20:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to enter our Skylanders: Spyro's Adventures giveaway, NOW with the new rafflecopter giveaway system.

We have TWO copies of this game to give away for our lucky winners--one could be yours!

If you use every entry method, you could have a total of 15 entries in one day. And you can tweet every day from now until Sunday, October 23rd, for an additional daily entry.

And just between you and me? Your odds on this giveaway are looking good. I think some of our readers missed it on their radar the first time around, so entries are low right now (don't worry; if you did enter before we switched to the new raflcopter system, I transferred your entry for you. But why not go and tweet about the contest for another entry ?).

Okay! I want to enter now.

Silly Old Bear Doesn't Look a Day Over 80

2011-10-15T00:24:00.003-04:00

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Here's to 85 Years of Hunny Hunting

…and Many More!

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

On October 14, 1926 A.A. Milne published Winnie-the-Pooh, the first volume of stories featuring the beloved bear and his Hundred Acre Wood inhabiting pals! In honor of this momentous occasion, here are some film clips from the upcoming 10/25 release of Disney's WINNIE THE POOH on Blu-ray & DVD.

First, the movie Trailer:

And since my oldest son's favorite character was Piglet, here's a bonus clip for you, Relying on Piglet:

And, for the littlest readers, we even have fun games and activities!

Just click the button below to Print and Play!

My Favorite Giveaways Around the Web!

2011-10-11T17:52:00.000-04:00

Laptops and Tablets and Phones, Oh My!

Dolby Lounge is giving away Dolby-enhanced prizes like Lenovo laptops, Acer tablets, and LG phones in a Facebook/Twitter contest that ends Friday! With each entry comes a free download of "12 Dubset DJ mixes", too. I have no idea what that is, but if I were a cool kid, I bet I'd know. ; )

To enter, either go to http://twitter.com/dolbylounge and follow, then tweet out the answer to the question “How do you Surround Yourself?” with the hashtag “#dolbylounge”

OR follow these instructions to enter on Facebook.

Contest Rules Ends on Friday.

Fun-da-Middle Fundamentals Gift Pack!

This is a really cute giveaway: a cupcake-making set for those cupcakes with a creamy filling inside!

It's on a blog called Having Fun Saving, and here's what you can win:

One sample of new Betty Crocker Fun da-middles cupcake mix
One cupcake pan
One oven mitt
One package of cupcake liners
One box of cupcake gift notes

Just comment for initial entry, and there's instructions on what to do to get s'more!

Ends today, so you had better hurry if you want to enter!

Scare Up a Box of Delicious Cookies for Halloween!

Over at a blog I just discovered called the ReviewWire (which really needs a more eye-catching header IMHO), they're giving away a box of Smiley's Halloween Cookies!

To enter, you'll need to check out the Smiley's Cookies website and comment on the giveaway with your favorite Smiley's Cookies. Additional entry methods are also available.

[ Note: Why do delicious cookie places not ask me to host a giveaway? I have the One Sweet Tooth to Rule Them All. Smiley's, I'm looking at you. Hook me up.]

Also ends today!

Spookamole Recipe Contest

Avocados are good for you, and I know I don't eat enough. Let's be honest: unless it looks and tastes good, I'm not likely to change, either. This recipe contest asked for creative recipes with avocados, and since I love Halloween, I was delighted to see some recipes for items I would actually serve and eat myself! Voting is open to the public, and I didn't have to register to vote (I liked the Witch's Fingers). Check it out and vote for your favorite recipe to win!

Voting ends on October 16th.

Dove Chocolate Discoveries Home Starter Kit

Okay, this contest is unique.

You can win a "starter kit" of Dove Chocolate Discoveries, worth about $159, AND what makes this really different is that Dove Chocolate Discoveries is one of those businesses where you go and demonstrate the products in parties hosted in other people's homes.

Now, I don't know anything else about the business side than that. But I do know that Dove makes some awesome chocolate!

Plus, If you don't want to start a business, there's a lot in this kit for any chocoholic would really enjoy.

I personally actually have some experience in this home party stuff. I used to be a Partylite consultant, which I really enjoyed doing. Even though I was one of their best saleswomen in my first few weeks in the company, I found I didn't make all that much money doing it. You could get their starter kit free by signing up enough people to host parties with you as the consultant. I did that with the help of my wonderful friends, but you also have other expenses that come out of your own pocket.

Sometimes your mentor could help with the forms and materials, and I had a really nice mentor, but she decided to stop mentoring(!) and kinda left me in the lurch. And I couldn't even get mad at her because she went into the ministry for her church! Yes, really.

So why, you may be asking yourself, if I didn't make a lot of money and all that happened, did I enjoy doing it?

Because I was a SAHM, and working as a Partylite consultant let me get out of the house a few times a month while my spouse watched the kids! I met a lot of people, I enjoyed demonstrating, and my husband and I really liked their candles, (I don't think I could be in sales if I had to sell something I didn't like; I just don't have it in me). So even though it wasn't that profitable for me, I know my Phone Phobia kept me from calling "leads" like I should have, and I probably could have made more money if I did more of that. Also, some people really did make money.

Most importantly, I had fun doing it! So I consider the whole experience a plus. Since this contest reminded me of all that, I am including it here.

So If you love chocolate, or if you are maybe looking for a little side business or a way to get out of the house, you can enter the contest here

This one ends on Friday.

Note: It looks like the contest is part of a Mom Central campaign. I've done some blog tours for them, but I am NOT part of this one and I don't have any affiliation with Dove Discoveries AT ALL, or any of the other contests mentioned above.

Now, have you entered OUR Real Steel and HandVibes giveaways?

The Fat Lady Is Singing

2011-10-11T11:59:00.000-04:00

Lee's National Denim Day is over, and so is our contest for two of your favorite jeans. In a moment, I'll be announcing the winner (I know you are all excited about that, I am too!).

But first, the results of our fund-raising.

Sadly, we didn't reach our goal of $150. We got close, I donated (twice!) myself, and I admit I'm disappointed we didn't make it.

But I appreciate each and every one of you who commented, tweeted, blogged, posted and helped spread the word about this important issue. Any more awareness about breast cancer and the need for more research is a GOOD thing. So let's give ourselves a pat on the back for our efforts.

And I want to give a very special, and heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you who donated. I know that we're used to the internet providing us with information and entertainment free of charge, and asking people to step up and spend money was tough for me, even though I knew this was a good cause. And I also know that times are tough and a lot of us don't have extra money to give, no matter how much we might want to.

So, again, thank you to the very special people who made that extra effort and found it in their hearts to give. I love you all.

Thanks to you, we raised $130!

Oh, and here's how the other bloggers working with Lee for National Denim Day did (and wow, are you going to be amazed and impressed with the "first place" blog's efforts! I know I was floored myself):

Wendy Will Blog - $1,725

Periwinkle Papillon - $475

Cool Moms Rule - $130

The IE Mommy - $48

All Things Chic - $30

Family Life in Las Vegas - $15

Laughing Lindsay - $10

A Frugal Friend - $0

Shop With Me Mama - $0

The Mom Reviews - $0

And now, without further ado, the winner of TWO pairs of her favorite jeans (chosen by random integer generator):

So, comment #40 was our winner! And that was....(drum roll)

lewalk(at)hotmail(dot)com!

Congratulations!

Lewalk, I'm emailing you right now to get all your information on those jeans!

Thanks again, everyone!

We. Are. SO. Close!

2011-10-06T20:30:00.004-04:00

UPDATE: We have reached $130 in donations, only $20 to go to meet our goal, and Team We Got All the Cool Jeans could go even higher!

That's the good news. The bad news is, we only have hours left to do it!

So how are we going to do this?

Remember, you get FIVE entries in our Lee Jeans giveaway for TWO pairs of your favorite jeans just for donating.

NEW! I have 3 Pink Ribbon pins to award to the first 3 people who donate between right now and 3 PM (October 7th) if we reach our goal.

NEW! You'll also get FIVE entries into the REAL STEEL giveaway for making any donation between now and 3 PM October 7th!

Thank you so much for helping us meet our goal, and

more importantly, raising money in the fight against breast cancer!

This Giveaway is a (wait for it) REAL STEEL!

2011-10-06T18:52:00.001-04:00

DreamWorks Pictures’ REAL STEEL opens in theatres everywhere tomorrow.

The movie stars Hugh Jackman (good enough reason to see it right there), and takes place in the not-so-far-away future, where boxing is now high-tech and fought not by men but by huge fighting robots (sounds like a more humane way to go about it, actually. No more concussions!).

Hugh Jackman is a former fighter who lost his chance at the title when the robots came along. When he hits rock-bottom (and basically runs out of other choices), his son (played by Dakota Goyo), who wants a better relationship with his estranged Dad, team up to build (and train, apparently?!) their own robot contender.

Now, if that isn't enough to get you excited for the weekend, guess what? To celebrate the opening, we at Cool Moms Rule! get to host REAL STEEL giveaway for you!

ITEMS FOR GIVEAWAY:

- REAL STEEL t-shirt
(in adult sizes S, M, L, XL)

- REAL STEEL bottle opener

- REAL STEEL stickers

- REAL STEEL temporary tattoos

One lucky winner takes home the whole kit and kaboodle (ever wonder what a "kaboodle" is? It's things like that keeping me up at night).

To Enter:

Just leave a comment here with your favorite Hugh Jackman film. Come on, the guy's had billions, this is an easy one!

For Additional entries:

Tweet about the contest using #realsteel and #coolmomsrule for THREE extra entries.

"Like" Dreamworks and the REAL STEEL Facebook page for another TWO entries.

+1 on Google Plus for another entry.

Contest ends Monday, October 17th and is available to US and Canadian entrants only, please.

Good Luck!

P.S. A caboodle (or boodle) - is an archaic term meaning group or collection, usually of people. A "kit" is what soldiers carried their equipment in. The beginning "ca" was most likely added on to boodle simply for alliteration when combined with "kit". The exact phrase "the whole kit and caboodle" was first recorded in 1884. There. Now you can get some rest!

The items in the giveaway are being sent directly to the winner, chosen through random integer selection, by the giveaway sponsor. I have received no personal compensation whatsoever for posting about the REAL STEEL movie or hosting this giveaway on this blog.

Spyro Flies Again!

2011-10-03T23:06:00.000-04:00

Remember the loveable, playable dragon, Spyro?

He's baaaaaaack!

Cute little purple dragon (that spits fire), Spyro

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventures, set to release October 16th from Activision, offers a unique new take on the old classic, delivering a "cross-platform experience" that will fully immerse kids in Spyro's vivid 3D world.

This Little Dude is The Eruptor

Activision has worked some kind of technological magic, and their cute little dragon toys can go from the playground to TV screen, letting your children interact with them virtually through TV, computer and game console, too. And THEN, the toys actually "remember" where they are in a game, so that your kids can take them to their friends' houses and start just where they left off via the Portal of Power (great name, btw).

The Portal of Power! Muahahaha!

But that's not even the best part! Are you ready for the best part?

I still don't know how they can do this, but the toys can transfer those "remembered" game experiences effortlessly from one platform to a completely different one!

So, if you have the Nintendo Wii and your neighbor's kid has the Xbox 360, there's no problem--Spyro and his pals can go back and forth between them without losing a step! And that's not all--Playstation, Nintendo DS, even PCs and Macs are compatible with the new technology. There's even a whole website world where your kids can play online, too: Skylander's Spyro's Universe. I love that everyone can keep the technology they have now, and yet their kids can still play along with their friends who have a different game console or computer.

Sounds high-tech and space-agey, doesn't it? Don't you just want to try this? I mean, let your kids try this (I admit it, I want to play this game myself, so there!).

Gill Grunt

And wouldn't you be just the Coolest Mom in the world if your family was one of the FIRST families to get this whole wallopin' world of wondrous whimsy right in their home?

You know what--I bet it would be even cooler if you could get it for FREE, right?

Okay, then.

Cool Moms Rule! is giving away TWO Skylander: Spyro's Adventure games to celebrate the game's launch day, October 16th!

To Enter: All you have to do is visit the game's website and leave a comment on your favorite character from the game, and on what console your family would play Skylander: Spyro's Adventure! (required for all entrants).

For Additional Entries (optional):

Like Activision on Facebook
Tweet about this Giveaway (you can do this once every day!)
Blog about this giveaway (5 entries!)
Like This post
Subscribe to our RSS feed (3 entries!)
Add our giveaway to any giveaway listing (3 entries!)

~~Contest ends on launch day, October 16th, at noon.~~

EDIT 10/17/11: I have now set up this contest on rafflcopter (if you entered previously, I transferred your entry, don't worry). Since I have not yet received my review copy, I will announce the winners along with my review. This giveaway will now end on noon Monday, October 24th!

Which just means you have more time to enter and WIN!

Skylanders Spyro's Adventure includes a vast single player adventure, co-op gameplay, battle modes, puzzle solving and treasure hunts. The game is rated E10+ by the ESRB. For more information, visit http://www.skylanders.com/

I will receive a complementary copy of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventures to review for the blog in conjunction with this giveaway and my blog posts about the game. The prizes in the giveaway will be shipped directly to the winners from the contest sponsors. Their prizes, and my own copy of the game, are not contingent on a favorable review. My review will be an honest assessment of my own experience with Skylanders: Spyro's Adventures.

Born to HandVibe, Baby? Our New Giveaway Puts a Ring on It

2011-10-03T21:51:00.004-04:00

Kids love to collect things. For some, it's action figures, others like trading cards, and I'm sure you've seen those rubber bands in strange shapes all over the place lately.

HandVibes remind me of those rubber bands, except, to me, make more sense than those do (it's hard to tell what the shapes are supposed to be sometimes, and because they ARE shapes, they don't really fit kids' wrists all that well).

HandVibes are rubber novelty rings that any kid can wear. They come in different colors and include savings like “Rad,” “BFF,” “Epic,” “Dude,” “Boo-Yah,” and lots more. There's actually 25 unique sayings, 9 vibrant colors, and when you add in the hard-to-find 10 emoticon☺ designs (!), a total of 235 unique rings in all (huh. Never thought I'd actually use all that "permuations" stuff from Algebra. Go figure).

Personally, I like (heh) the two-thumbs-up Handvibe, perfect for Facebook fans (naturally, HandVibes have their own Facebook page, too), and the "Dude" and "Bro" ones, because my teenagerss use those words all the time.

So I showed the HandVibes to the Rhino, who is technically a bit older than the target age range (I'm thinking more tweens and early teens), and still he thought they were pretty cool.

Adding to the collectability of HandVibes is the packaging. HandVibes are sold in packs with two visible rings, plus a third ‘Mystery Ring’ contained in a hidden compartment. That 'Mystery Ring' might just be one of the ten rare blue swirl or black emoticon designs, featuring smiley faces, winks, smirks and more, which are randomly inserted into just one out of every six ring packs. So every purchase has an added element of surprise as kids discover if their Mystery Ring is one of the rare emoticon designs.

Viv's take: I think HandVibes are fun and colorful, and let kids show a little 'attitude' without being disruptive or disrespectful. They're age-appropriate for tweens and young teens, but also appeal to older kids. Plus HandVibes aren't expensive, so even frugal, budget-conscious Moms can indulge (or reward) their kids and not break the bank...

...Especially if you WIN some!

HandVibes are graciously offering one lucky Cool Moms Rule! reader TWO packages, for a total of 6 HandVibes (and two chances to get rare collectable rings!).

Here's how you can enter the giveaway (required):

Visit the HandVibes website to see all the possible combinations, then leave a comment below this post with which Handvibes ring (color and saying or emoticon) is your favorite!

Additional entries! (Optional and awesome):

Tweet about this giveaway (you follow me, right?), using #Handvibes.
Follow us on Blogger, or subscribe to our feed (one extra entry each).
Add this giveaway to any contest listing.
Like HandVibes on Facebook. They'd really love you to help them get the word out about their product--THREE extra entries!
Add our button to your site (check the middle sidebar for the code). This is also worth THREE extra entries!
Add a blog post about this giveaway and you'll get another THREE entries!
Donate ANY AMOUNT to our team in the fight against breast cancer before National Denim Day, October 7th! FIVE extra entries!

That's it! Contest runs until Friday, October 14th. Open to readers with U.S. shipping addresses only, please.

Good Luck!

I received two packs of HandVibes to facilitate this review. In addition, HandVibes are providing two 3-packs for this reader giveaway.

Kindergarten Kingdom Keepsake

2011-10-03T05:00:00.000-04:00

In 1971, I was 5 years old, no doubt cute as a button (okay, actually, I had an authentic "Toni Tenille" haircut), and living with my family in Florida.

And Disney World--just the Magic Kingdom then, no Epcot, Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios--opened its doors for the first time.

Guests entering the newly-opened park received maps like this. In those days, you had to buy tickets to ride the rides.

I remember the tickets. They had them for a few years. Disney guests would buy either a group of 7 or 11 tickets, in categories A-E.

E tickets were the best. In historical ticket analogies, they were roughly equivalent to those gold tickets Willy Wonka gave out. The rides you most looked forward to? They were all E tickets.

So naturally you only got a few E tickets in your admission booklet. I guess technically you could buy more, because apparently they were worth ~80 cents in 1971 money--but part of the fun back then was deciding which of the rides really deserved that precious E ticket expenditure. And once you'd decided, what if the lines were too long for that one, or it was broken down? Save that ticket, or splurge on another ride so you could go twice?

Decisions, decisions.

Of COURSE you were going to ride the Haunted Mansion. In those days before Space Mountain or any of the other roller coasters, HM was the best ride around, even if it was awfully scary for a little kid like me, like the infamous Snow White's Adventures with the wicked stepmother/witch--what in the world were Disney thinking with that one?! Talk about terror.

And It's a Small World was pure, magical Disney, the ride you remembered (song and all) even weeks after visiting the park. Later, as an oh-so-sophisticated teen, you would gripe with your sophisticated friends about how annoying that song was!

But when you went to the park? You'd ride it again, just the same.

The cute little animatronic kids singing their catchy, repetitive song in their idyllic lands (we always tried to guess which country was being represented in each room); the serenely drifting boat even little kids weren't scared to board; and the quickly moving line--put it all together and weary parents, tired of lugging their kids around the park, happily endured the earworm music for a moment's peace and the opportunity to rest their feet.

Best of all? Disney didn't have a Small World themed gift shop at the end of the ride for the parents to have to navigate while the kids begged for sourvenirs.

Surprisingly, apparently there still isn't one. There have, though, been several changes to the ride over the years (like removing the one frowning child ).

If you're interested in how else the ride has changed, this video compares today's It's a Small Word from the debut version in Disneyland back in 1966.

So when you were divvying up the E tickets, the Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World were pretty much a given.

But what else might you use your E tickets on? The Jungle cruise, maybe. The Country Bear Jamboree, as I recall, was also considered a must-see (Remember the Southern Belle bear who came down from the ceiling on her swing? What was her name? Damn, that's going to bother me now until I remember!*).

One thing I have never understood, though, was how in the world the ticket booklets thought the Hall of Presidents merited an E ticket!

So what if it was historical, educational, blah blah blah. For little kids, that show was a snooze fest. The Hall of Presidents is what our parents used to threaten us with when we misbehaved. It was what you used to calm down hyper kids that were SO excited to be visiting the house of the Mouse they couldn't stop yammering. Seriously, my best friend actually fell asleep watching the show when we took her with us to Disney one year.

The Hall of Presidents has improved a LOT since then, adding the new presidents, a Benjamin Franklin that (sorta, kinda) climbs stairs, and changing the narrators (Maya Angelou for a while, which I'm sorry I missed, and now Morgan Freeman, who could make a grocery list sound good).

But back then? E ticket worthy? Please. No way.

C tickets covered the second-tier "fun" rides for kids. After my big sisters rode the Speedway (too loud for my little ears), we would all head over to the Mad Tea Party, watching the ride as we waited in line to determine which was the spinniest Teacup.

Naturally we'd run to that one and pile inside. Lacing our hands across the silver disk in the center and bracing our feet on the floor, we'd start straining to turn it even before the ride started, so that we'd be off and turning right away, our complicated choreography of reaching arms and swaying bodies sending the madly whirling Teacup careening around the rails as we giggled and turned, circling faster and faster, until we lost our breath and stopped giggling. Still we'd spin, until finally our spinning heads (and aching arms) told us we absolutely couldn't take it any more. Sick and reeling from the centripetal force, one by one we girls gave up and threw ourselves back in our seats, holding on helplessly while the world blurred past us in streaks of color, like the stars when Star Trek's Captain Kirk called for warp speed. My older sister was always last to surrender; by that time I was ready for the ride to be over. My legs always felt like jelly once we got out.

Looking back, I can't explain for the life of me why making ourselves sick like that was fun.

But it was.

After all that spinnig, we were ready for some sweet flying and Peter Pan's Adventures. We'd usually eat after that, at the cafe that overlooked It's a Small World. (Pro tip: Never, Ever eat before the Mad Tea Party ride!).

We'd finish up our C tickets with Dumbo and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Man, my Mom hated that last one. When the car'd get to the dark tunnel with the train sound and the bright light overhead, she felt like she ought to jump off! I don't think she rode it more than once in her life.

But I'm still sad Disney chose to get rid of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Not only did I recognize all the Wind in the Willow characters; mini me thought I was actually driving that crazy car!

After all that excitement, the A ticket rides were almost a relief. An A ticket let you take a ride down Main Street on the horse-drawn carriage (I loved to pet the horses, and felt bad they had to work at pulling the people around in their carts) or flag down a double-decker omnibus. Or you could spend a ticket on the carousel.

Now, even though we looked down our noses at most merry-go-rounds, deeming them too 'babyish' for big kids like us, the carousel at Disney was different.

Walt Disney used to say, "Whenever I go on a ride, I'm always thinking of what's wrong with the thing and how it can be improved," and if you saw that attention to detail reflected anywhere in his parks, it was on Cinderella's Carousel. The horses, gorgeous and always freshly painted, made little girls dream of becoming princesses and riding off with their own Prince Charming .

This was before the Cult of Princessdom came into being to fill those deep Disney pockets, like Scrooge's basement vault, with showers of gold. We had no Belle, Ariel and Jasmine back them to charm us. Not for me the gullible Snow White, so easily tricked with poison apples and a witchy disguise, or even lovely Aurora and her sweet singing voice, falling love with some stranger in the wood and then stupidly pricking her finger just like everyone told her would happen! No, for me it was always Cinderella. I know she gets a bad rap these days; girls should not sit around waiting to be rescued! But Cinderella worked hard taking care of that household, and I wanted her to escape from the Evil Stepmother and Wicked Stepsisters to a better life. Plus, although her father and mother were dead (Moms always die in Disney animated features!), you could tell she remembered her with love from the moment she modestly pulled her old, dated ballgown from her hope chest and murmured softly, "It was my mother's..."

*Sigh.* Where was I?

Oh, yeah, the tickets! The B and D ones, it seems to me, ended up in our kitchen drawer as often as not. We weren't into the Swiss Family Robinson tree--in fact, we skipped it altogether, a fact my spouse couldn't believe when we first went there together, as apparently it's one of his own cherished memories of the park, along with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the Davy Crockett canoes (all attractions I don't remember my own family bothering with).

You know, I'm glad they don't do the ticket booklets any more, but this little trip down Memory Lane has reminded me how saddened I am by some of the other changes the park has undergone in recent years.

Walt Disney wanted to create something to appeal to the little kid in all of us, and he DID that--but now, the Mouse has lost his charm.

When you go to the Magic Kingdom today, the futuristic, space-agey monorails I loved are more like subways, with too many people crowded inside, having to stand and hold on. Mickey and Minnie are still there, but Buzz and Woody and Winnie the Pooh are much more recognizable to kids, and no wonder. Mickey was supposed to seem like a real person in the days of Steamboat Willie. Now his squeaky-clean persona, even more than his squeaky voice, is not appealing to today's kids.

In my day, the characters ran around actually acting out their movie parts (I remember one fabulous battle between the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John with Robin Hood, for example), and you thrilled at catching a glimpse of any of them, instead of scheduled appointments in designated character "meet and greet areas" where they stand and smile and nod while you take pictures. Plus, it seems like the only characters that show up now are the ones that have clothing lines and themed merchandise out the wazoo. You don't see Baloo the Bear or Shere Khan unless you watch a parade.

When I went as a kid, I remember feeling, despite the crowds sharing the lines, that somehow this magical place was a secret we had discovered all by ourselves. You always left feeling awestruck, wondering anew how they managed to create those sophisticated animatronics that looked so real.

Plus, we felt like we had this special claim to the park, as Floridians. We had passes once they started selling them, so we could come back throughout the year. We knew which elephant squirted at your boat in the Jungle Cruise, where in Adventureland you could get Welch's Grape Juice, and that the Sealtest ice cream (damn I miss Sealtest!) was for sale on Main Street.

We expected the Pirates of the Caribbean ride to get stuck, because it always did.

We even knew the words to all the songs in the Tiki Show, because Mom and Dad had bought us the record--and that was a Big Deal, because you had to get Disney stuff at the parks then. You couldn't just walk into a store and pick up a Tinker Belle t-shirt like you can now.

We were really, really careful not to scratch that record.

We don't even have passes to the Magic Kingdom now, though we still do to Universal Studios and Busch Gardens, and we even worked at Busch, so you'd think if we were tired of anywhere, it would be there. But no.

*sigh*

The whole Magic Kingdom, and the sisters parks, too, just seem less special these days. It's all about the merchandizing.

Maybe the new Avatar land (you heard about that, right?) will bring that magic back for the next generation. Or maybe Disney will remember its roots and dial back the merchandizing a little bit (I doubt it), so that the stuff sold in the parks regains that mystique.

Until then, let's just say I'm rationing my E-tickets.

***
*Ha! Googled it. Teddi Barra.

1, 2, 3. Three Pancakes! Ah ah ah

2011-10-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

IHOP will serve up ‘no tricks – just treats’ this October, featuring a month-long celebration with pumpkin pancakes as well as All-You-Can-Eat Buttermilk pancakes, culminating in a free Scary Face Pancake giveaway for kids 12 and under on Friday, October 28 from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (one per child).

Additionally, parents can sign up all month long on ihop.com for a wake-up call from Count Spatula with a friendly and fun reminder about the free Scary Face Pancake giveaway.

Who is Count Spatula? I'm so glad you asked!

Count Spatula was the winning name chosen from more than 1,000 entries to the “name-the-Scary-Face-Pancake” contest last October. The Count Spatula Scary Face Pancake is an oversized signature buttermilk pancake with a whipped topping mouth and strawberry nose, served with two mini OREO® cookies and candy corn on the side to allow kids to create their own Halloween hotcake. It will be offered throughout October and, like all IHOP Kids menu items, is less than 600 calories. On October 28, kids will be treated to a FREE Count Spatula Scary Face Pancake as an early Halloween treat.

Also available from October 3rd through Halloween, IHOP's Pumpkin Pancakes, made with real pumpkin and spices and topped with a creamy whipped topping and All-You-Can-Eat Buttermilk Pancakes,* a la carte or in a combo (which starts at $4.99).

For more information or to find an IHOP restaurant near you, please visit www.ihop.com. Prices may vary by location.

*All-You-Can-Eat Pancakes are served three at a time until guests are satisfied (or so full they can't get up from the table!).

Haunting House

2011-10-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

Martha Stewart Living's licorice Haunted House from their October issue is certainly fun to look at--but what's really cool is that, if you have their app on your iPad, it's also animated!

I don't have their app on my iPad. :(

And some of you, I know, don't have an iPad. :(

But that's okay! Because the video is below.

I'm told it took 8 hours and over 221 photos to create the animation.

Happy October!

Squid Are Cool

2011-09-29T22:33:00.001-04:00

I was talking to +Ryan Penagos on Twitter yesterday about how cool squid are (I know, right?) , and I pointed out that Marvel had a dearth of squid superheroes and maybe they needed a Senor Cephalopod.

And then he blew my mind. Did you know Viper aka Madame Hydra came with the Barbie squid hair accessory?! (Okay, it's the hive version. But still!)