April 4, 2013: The (not really) Invincible Iron Man (Superman could kick his butt.)

I am Iron Man. Wellll… I’m not but Robert Downey, Jr. is and today is his birthday. Robert Downey, Jr. has definitely had a roller coaster ride of a career but right now he is on the fast track to the top of a huge hill on that coaster. Just think; he’s Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes. Either of those roles means a career defining movies series and he has both. I have a student, Jeremy Webb, who is obsessed with Iron Man. He thinks Iron Man is the ultimate superhero, he even thinks he could beat Superman. Even though Jeremy is horribly, horribly wrong, I do admire his defense of his hero. Right now, you can go to Walt Disney World and ride the Iron Manorail, a monorail train decorated with an Iron Man wrap. But the Iron Manorail does not run the monorail route that goes through EPCOT. EPCOT is a park, the monorail is a ride and Disney owns Marvel but Marvel had a prior contract with Universal that gives them exclusive use of Marvel characters in amusement park rides east of the Mississippi River. Hence, the Iron Manorail cannot run the route that goes through EPCOT. Ahh, I’m glad I’m not in charge.

The Iron Manorail

On this date in 1944, Craig T. Nelson was born in Spokane, Washington. Nelson was Coach Hayden Fox on Coach but in our little World he is Bob Parr, Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles. Now I know they recently discontinued the parade at Hollywood Studios but I’m betting that it will be replaced with a similar Pixar experience focusing on Monsters University. Disney is already referring to this summer as a Monstrous Summer. So I suggest hitting Hollywood Studios and looking for The Incredibles.

Let’s stick around Hollywood Studios, we’ve done that a lot the last few days, and celebrate the birth of Estelle Harris. Estelle was George Costanza’s mom on Seinfeld and Mrs. Boogins in Teacher’s Pet and Mrs. Turtle in House of Mouse and Mrs. Lipsky in Kim Possible but the role that hits home is her turn as Mrs. Potato Head in Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3. Remember she did almost the entire movie in Toy Story 3 with only one eye. So get to Toy Story Midway Mania and be sure to pack your happy eyes.

Two quick hits:

1915: Muddy Waters, born McKinley Morganfield, the master of Chicago Blues. It’s a no brainer here; hit the House of Blues at Downtown Disney (soon to be Disney Springs).

1932: Anthony Perkins was born in New York City, the star of Psycho and numerous other movies. Perkins also starred in Disney’s The Black Hole. If anyone knows of anything that commemorates The Black Hole at WDW, let me know. There may be a display at Pop Century but I do know that WDW is a black hole that will suck you back in once you are under its influence.

Remember, your best excuse is always: waiting for your dreams to come true.