A Father’s Day Adventure at Brooker Creek Preserve

Posted on June 16, 2013 by DadScribe

This post is sponsored by Tide and Downy, who made it possible for me and my sons and a group of our friends to create a great Father’s Day weekend memory. All opinions are the author’s.

Brooker Creek Preserve, Pinellas County, Florida.

Nature conspired against us Saturday morning – scattered rain showers, suffocating humidity, searing UV rays, buzzing mosquitos and deer flies. Really, you’d think we could take the hint. Nature just wanted to be left alone.

Sorry, Nature. We couldn’t stay away. A little sunscreen, a little insect repellent: science, victorious! Temporarily, of course. Nature always wins. Always. That’s why we’re drawn to it. Everybody loves a winner.

Brooker Creek Preserve is an 8,000-acre expanse of wilderness left intact among the suburban sprawl of northern Pinellas County on Central Florida’s West Coast. It is a cross section of everything beautiful about wild Florida: freshwater marshes, cypress domes, pine flatwoods and sandhills. It is home to white-tailed deer, wild turkey, eastern diamondback rattlers, river otters and hundreds of other species of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.

The pine flatwoods at Brooker Creek Preserve.

It was all there to savor, Nature raw and spoiled only by good intentions. And savor it we did.

Part of my compensation as a Dad’s Way ambassador for Tide and Downy was the opportunity to hold an event for Tampa Bay area dads and their kids, an event that would celebrate the unique way we dads do what we do. After consulting my sons and my own boyhood memories for ideas, I invited a group of my dad friends and their kids for a hot, humid, buggy, sandy, muddy and unbelievably rad guided hike and a picnic at Brooker Creek Preserve.

As you might imagine, it gets a bit steamy in the Florida wilderness in June. It’s Nature’s sauna. Sweat happens. And on a hike with kids through swamps and along sandy trails, dirt happens. It’s all good, though. Dad’s way means you make a mess, you clean it up. Messes certainly were made, and so were memories. Here’s a video of our adventure, and what had to be done afterward to get ready for the next one:

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Everyone has a story about how his or her dad is truly unique. If you would like to help Tide and Downy celebrate dad’s way this month, tell that story about dad on Twitter using the hashtag #DadsWay. Was there a time when your dad was strong, like Tide on stains? Or gentle, like Downy? What were your dad’s “Tide” moments and/or “Downy” moments? What Father’s Day memories are you making this weekend?

For every tweet sent using #DadsWay until June 23, Tide and Downy will donate $1 to the National Fatherhood Initiative. The celebration continues Thursday at 8 p.m. EDT with a Dad’s Way Twitter party (check back here or keep an eye on @DadScribe for details).

Dads and Kids, Making Memories #DadsWay

Posted on June 14, 2013 by DadScribe

This post is sponsored by Tide and Downy, who have made it possible for me to plan a very cool Father’s Day event Saturday for my sons and a few of our friends in the Tampa Bay area.

After a nature walk and picnic in the hot Florida sun Saturday morning, it’ll be time to bring up these heavy hitters to clean things up and get ready for the next adventure.

As a #DadsWay ambassador, it is my privilege this Father’s Day weekend to be able to help Tide and Downy celebrate the unique way each dad does things. I like the analogy they’ve shared, the idea that dads can be as strong as Tide, as gentle as Downy and sometimes can show both of those sides simultaneously.

Let me pause here to provide full disclosure: Long before Tide and Downy ever offered me the chance to participate in this campaign, my family used Tide detergent. And during the course of writing these sponsored posts, I learned that when my father was a boy, his mom used Tide, too. So, you might say it’s a family tradition.

Only, these days, it’s not just the mom who does the laundry. Modern Day Dads share in the housework far more than their dads did 30 or 40 years ago. So, once we’re done with our incredible Father’s Day weekend nature walk and picnic at Brooker Creek Preserve on Saturday, you can bet that many of the participating dads — including me — will be heading home to wash a load. It’s just dad’s way of doing things these days. You make a mess, you clean it up.

This is Brooker Creek itself. There’s an alligator hidden in that algae bloom. How could any kid (or dad) resist? It’s going to get messy out there, though. (Good!)

And I’m pretty sure our kids are going to be a mess by the time we’re done with Saturday’s big event. You see, we live in Central Florida. It gets hot here in June, even in the morning. We’re going to walk through the woods along dirt trails for a couple of hours, then play games and eat picnic food. My kids will run and rip. They’ll sweat, they’ll fall down, and they’ll get as dirty as 7- and 5-year-old boys tend to get under those circumstances.

No problem. We’ve got Tide and Downy. When we’re all through for the day, our clothes — and our kids — will be ready for the next adventure.

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One thing I like about working with Tide and Downy on this program is the opportunity to share well-done videos and ads depicting dads in authentic situations with their kids. It’s an important issue for some of us. Earlier this week, I shared my thoughts on the matter and showed how it should be done with Tide’s the Princess Dress spot. Below is another offering from Tide, and it might be just the thing to get you in the mood for a great Father’s Day weekend! (Seriously. Watch this. It’s very well done.)

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Everyone has a story that describes how his or her dad is truly unique. If you would like to help Tide and Downy celebrate dad’s way this month, go tell a story about your dad on Twitter using the hashtag #DadsWay. For every tweet sent out using #DadsWay, Tide and Downy will donate $1 to the National Fatherhood Initiative.

I would also personally like to thank Tide and Downy for making it possible for DadScribe to make a donation of $100 to Brooker Creek Preserve, which is run by incredibly dedicated and helpful volunteers who love nature as much as we do (probably even more).

What adventure lies around the bend for us this weekend? We can’t wait to find out!

The Force For Fun: the Voice of Vader

Posted on June 10, 2013 by DadScribe

This is the fifth The Force For Fun video for DadScribe, “Don’t Hold Your Breath.” It was made by Matt Sklar and Colin Duffy, who go by the collective name, “Norman Invasion.” This one tells a story that any office dwelling drone who longs for fame and adulation can identify with. One man’s hidden talent carries him to a career made for the tabloids, a career as incredibly meteoric as any former Disney child star’s. Only, when this guy’s career flames out, there’s a twist from the Dark Side.

Here is the video:

This is one of seven finalists in a competition put on by Tongal, Pringles and Star Wars. The winning filmmaker receives $25,000 and a chance to be part of an actual Star Wars themed Pringles commercial. In truth, all seven are worthy of being part of a Star Wars/Pringles campaign. In fact, anyone who is a hard-core Star Wars fan (not to mention Pringles fan) will enjoy the videos, and would certainly enjoy going in-depth with the filmmakers during this Google+ hangout with all of them.

And if you’re in the mood to win some Star Wars-themed gear and delicious Pringles, click this link to the DadScribe giveaway: an incredible, not-spooky-looking-at-all Jawa doll with light-up eyes! Only residents of the United States are eligible for the giveaway (sorry, Canada! I’ll make it up to you … somehow!).

Yes, the eyes of this Jawa light up. How awesome is that?

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Pringles, which partnered with Star Wars for Tongal’s The Force For Fun contest. DadScribe was chosen as a The Force For Fun influencer and was compensated to provide a platform for The Force for Fun contest videos, as well as the giveaways. The giveaway is available for residents of the U.S. only. Opinions expressed are those of the author.

The Force For Fun: When Vader Comes A-Knockin’

Posted on June 3, 2013 by DadScribe

My Week 4 The Force For Fun video is “Darth Visits,” by filmmaker Steven Houser. It is basically a video instruction manual on what not to do if you’re sitting at home watching Star Wars and eating Pringles and Darth Vader suddenly breaks the fourth wall and tries to get some of those delicious crisps using the Force through the screen.

Here is the spot:

And here is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of “Darth Visits.”

And if you’re in the mood to win some Star Wars-themed gear and delicious Pringles, click this link to the DadScribe giveaway: an amazing R2-D2 folding chair (pictured)! Only residents of the United States are eligible for the giveaway (sorry, Canada! I’ll make it up to you … somehow!). (Side note: If I was eligible to win one of the great prizes Pringles is giving away during this promotion, this would be the one I’d want! So cool, and so useful.)

The Force For Fun: Wookiee Mistake (sponsored giveaway)

Posted on May 27, 2013 by DadScribe

My third video for The Force For Fun contest by Tongal was, I must disclose, my sons’ favorite. It is absolutely no surprise that a 7-year-old boy and his 4-year-old brother would go crazy for a dancing wookiee. Filmmakers Jordan Allen, Luke Rocheleau and Brooke Dooley, known collectively as team “Side of Fries,” found the perfect combination to appeal to kids and grownups. Enough words from me. Here’s the video:

It looked like these guys really enjoyed putting this one together, too. Here are a couple of behind-the-scenes videos that reveal their process:

And if you’re in the mood to win some Star Wars-themed gear and delicious Pringles, click this link to the DadScribe giveaway: a pair of Star Wars earbuds! Only residents of the United States are eligible for the giveaway (sorry, Canada! I’ll make it up to you … somehow!).

The Force For Fun: the Delectable Weapon (sponsored giveaway)

Posted on May 20, 2013 by DadScribe

My subject for Week Two of the Pringles/Star Wars the Force for Fun video contest is the Delectable Weapon by filmmakers Ryan O’Rourke and John Griese.

The premise is simple: A beleagured office worker wants to leave for the day and watch a Star Wars marathon with his buddies, but his Vader-like boss wants him to stay late. A light saber duel ensues, and the worker triumphs with the help of his favorite snack food (hint: the snack’s name starts with “P” and ends with “ringles”). Here is Ryan and John’s full-length video:

And here is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Delectable Weapon:

Finally, here’s where things start to get real interesting in the giveaway department. This week’s prize is a talking plush Ewok (pictured) and two delectable cans of Pringles. To enter, click on over to the DadScribe Facebook giveaway page and follow the instructions. Best of luck!

This could be yours; just follow the link to the DadScribe Facebook giveaway page and follow the instructions to enter.

Empathy

Posted on April 17, 2013 by DadScribe

The Basin – San Francisco.

On a crisp, bright morning in San Francisco, as I stood apart from the semi-circular line of tourists who waited to board the cable car at the Powell/Mason turntable, I saw a young woman exit a black car that had stopped in the Market Street bicycle lane. She got out of the car and walked toward me.

I saw her piercings as she walked – black studs in her nose and lower lip, a small gold hoop in the corner of her left eye. Short, dark hair, black t-shirt, stained denim skirt, black Chuck Taylor high-tops. Pasty white skin, thick black eye shadow.

Staring straight into my eyes, she walked in my direction. She didn’t stop, though. As she passed – close enough to whisper – she looked me in the eyes and told me in a low, clear voice:

“You don’t love us.”

She broke eye contact and walked on. I stood there and watched her melt into the crowd of tourists, past the cable car turntable, up Powell Street, on toward Union Square and back into her Gothic oblivion.

It didn’t even occur to me to try to contradict her.

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She was right, though. I didn’t love her.

Yet, over the years, a decade and more, I have replayed that scene in my mind so many times that even the memory flickers, like an old film exposed far too often to the projector’s hot light. It’s not my most vivid memory, or anywhere near my most relevant.

Those would be things like, you know, our wedding in Boston, the births of our two sons, waking up healthy after emergency angioplasty … life-altering or live-saving events. My Memories, with a capital M.

Yet, that moment in San Francisco has stayed with me. There was no reason for that particular young woman or her peculiar declaration to stand out in a four-decade-long swirl of memories. You don’t love us, she said. But …

I am her. And so are you. And so is everyone you know, and everyone you ever have known or ever will know. And she is you. She is my wife, my sons, my mother and father, everything I have ever loved or ever will love. She is every word I’ve ever written or will write or will read, every tear I’ve shed and every smile I’ve smiled. She is my everything and she is your everything, too. You don’t have to love someone, or even know their name – or even know they are alive a decade after a fleeting encounter on a bright cool morning – for all of that to be true.

This is empathy.

It is remembering every detail about the girl on the street who looked into your soul and walked right on past and disappeared forever into the crowd. It is four words – you don’t love us – carved into your cortex like a hieroglyph on a temple wall, taunting you with its complex simplicity.

Empathy.

It’s the visceral response we feel toward a grieving father when we see photographs of his smiling little boy, gone now, carefully holding up with just the tips of his fingers a hand-lettered sign that reads, “No more hurting people. Peace.” It’s the overwhelming urge to weep, the unavoidable shudder, the inexorable need to make physical contact with our small children after we read or hear accounts of a deadly day on the first-grade wing of an elementary school in Connecticut.

It’s running toward the bomb blast to see if there’s anything you can do to help those who were in it. It’s the physical inability to sit through a movie because some people you never met were gunned down during the midnight premier in a theater a thousand miles away.

Empathy.

It’s the spark and flutter of what I guess scientists these days are calling mirror neurons, which fire off signals that make us unconsciously reproduce emotions we witness – or imagine we witness – being expressed by someone else.

Evidently, some of us have more active mirror neurons than others.

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Did you know that the word empathy didn’t enter the English language until the early 1900s? It was introduced by psychologist (and Oxford man) Edward B. Titchener as a translation of the German term einfühlung (“in” the “feeling”), which itself was a loose translation of the Greek term empatheia (“in” “pathos”), having to do with art appreciation. I didn’t know any of that, either, until I looked it up.

Empathy. It’s the unspoken recognition of the knowledge that we’re all going to die. It’s the shared, and the sharing. It’s the point in space and time where “we” intersect “they.”

It’s the truth behind you don’t love us.

And that truth is this …

Even now, so many years later, I want to run after that Goth girl in San Francisco and catch up to her in the crowd, and tell her that she’s right, that I don’t love her or anyone else in her life. But so what? I don’t have to love you. You still matter to me because the part of you inside that makes you human is inside me, too, and I love that part of both of us and all of us because that’s what life is. It’s what being alive is.

Empathy is life itself, acknowledging its presence and luminosity in the other.

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This is the latest entry in the Word of the Week series. For details and earlier entries, click here. And please, if you like, take a moment to share in the comments section what the word empathy means to you.

Hunting Easter Eggs at the Glazer Museum (and Various Other Locales)

Posted on March 31, 2013 by DadScribe

Easter means only one thing in our house.

Egg hunts.

Notice the plural.

In years past, we’ve hidden eggs in our back yard and watched the neighborhood kids scatter like soap bubbles on a brisk breeze, snatching up every egg or egg-like receptacle they spotted, dropping them quickly into their baskets and moving on to the next and the next and the next.

We fill them with jelly beans and flavored taffy, miniature chocolate bars and hard candies. It’s Halloween without the costumes or the hassle of the door-to-door begging.

This year, we went to one of the boys’ favorite places, the Glazer Children’s Museum, for a pre-Easter egg hunt and brunch Saturday morning. We used to have family passes to the museum, which is located adjacent to the Tampa Museum of Art on the picturesque Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. I’m not sure we would’ve gone to this event if it had been anywhere else but the Glazer. The seven year old has fond memories of the place, and has been asking to go back for weeks. It’s where we held his fifth birthday party. The three year old has been going since he was able to walk.

We were all excited to go back.

We got to the museum early, about a half-hour before the doors were scheduled to open. In fact, we were the first ones there. But they hadn’t finished setting up, so we went up the street to grab a couple of bagels and coffee. When we got back, the line was already around the building.

Had we stuck around instead of going for coffee, we would’ve been at the front of this line.

The museum has three public floors, and the egg hunt took place on the first two. The staff was crafty. It was almost as if they were using reverse psychology, because there were so many eggs scattered all over both floors that it was hard to know where to start.

There were eggs everywhere. And I mean … everywhere.

Fortunately, our boys were not paralyzed into inaction.

Almost there …

We didn’t notice, at first, that there was a 10-egg limit. In fact, we didn’t notice that pretty important stipulation until Jay already had filled his bag to overflowing with about five dozen. We also didn’t notice that a reasonably large section of the museum had been kept aside just for kids three and under. Of course, our boys dashed right past the huge sign informing everyone of that fact. The attendants kindly pointed out that our boys clearly were a bit older than three. So, we spent a while rehiding the eggs that had been procured under false pretenses, then went off to claim our prizes (a purple spiked bouncy ball and a glow wand).

One cool thing about the Glazer Museum egg hunt was that there was no line for the fire pole!

Once we had satiated our desire for hands-on fun, we retired to the third floor for the brunch and a possible encounter with the Easter bunny. One happened. The other didn’t. Fortunately, the spread of fruit, croissants, muffins, and other scrumptious morning food hit the spot for everyone. Unfortunately, we would have had better fortune trying to get our boys to wrestle one of the alligators in our pond out back than actually spending even a second in the company of the big, fuzzy egg hider.

Me and the boys unwind after a hard morning of egg hunting and playing at the Glazer Museum, where the Easter bunny had plenty of company. Just not these two boys.

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So, that was nice. It made us remember why we have enjoyed the Glazer Museum so much since it opened in the fall of 2010. Our seven year old still loves the activities, and the four year old has reached that perfect age when the museum is full of wonder and excitement. In general, I’d recommend events like Saturday’s egg hunt, and the museum in general, for kids eight and younger. I’d also recommend investing in the annual pass, which included free admission to Saturday’s event and is well worth it for those who seek an indoor change of pace from Florida’s relentless heat and humidity in the summer.

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And then came today’s Easter festivities. First, the intramural egg hunt here at the house. That yielded a great bounty of sugary loot, and the boys were pleased. Well, for the most part. There was a bit of grumbling about the lack of Made in China toys, like the Frisbees and other stuff you find in those prepackaged Easter baskets at the drug store. But a quick word from me about the iniquity of ingratitude was enough to stem that nonsense pretty decisively.

Next, it was off to the neighbor’s house for a traditional Easter brunch. A nice selection of sweet and savory pastries, along with a homemade dish of cheese and potatoes — and a generous amount of orange juice and sparkling wine for mimosas — livened up the morning, as did the bonhomie of good friends and neighbors.

It wasn’t long until it was time for the real business of the morning, the egg hunt. (In case you lost count, it would be the third egg hunt in two days for our boys. They are very much into egg hunts at this age. Clearly.)

The Easter bunny was feeling a bit mischievous during the hiding of the eggs. Or maybe the mimosas made him do it. But more than one egg found its way into the trees, positioned tantalizingly just out of reach of the eager hunters.

It looks pretty high up, and it was. But it took these enterprising little hooligans about 10 seconds to figure out how to shake it down. They threw other eggs at it, tossed a basket at it, then finally found a branch on the ground and dislodged it. I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong end of a man hunt with these egg fanatics on the loose.

Most of the eggs were just scattered in the grass. Those were gone in 60 seconds. There was no messing around. Speed was everything.

There was no hiding Sunday if you were an egg.

And of course, no holiday visit to the neighbor’s house would be complete without an obligatory photo of their cute cat, Pepper.

Pepper upstairs.

One last shot. The Easter bunny had a fantastic view Saturday on the third floor of the Glazer Children’s Museum. Thank you, Easter bunny.

This was as close as our boys got to this dubious latter-day representation of the ancient Roman and Greek celebrations of fertility and rebirth.

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Disclosure statement: Through Denise Mestanza-Taylor of the Tampa Bay Bloggers Facebook group, we were invited by the Glazer Children’s Museum as a family to attend the event so that I could review it for this blog. The only compensation I received was admission. My opinions are my own, and were not coerced or influenced in any way.

Seconds to Check, a Lifetime of Moments to Savor

Posted on March 10, 2013 by DadScribe

They bounced from tire to tire Saturday at the Radiator Springs play area during the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot.

I’m trying to remember how I thought about things when I was seven. I carry a few foggy memories from that age of an awakening awareness of gonads, girls and God. I was on the verge of knowing a few things, but I was still working out the details.

For instance: I knew older boys were terrified of being hit in the ‘nads. That’s what we called them: ‘nads. Or, I suppose I should say that’s what the older boys called them, and we first graders followed suit.

Because that’s what first graders do. They emulate. They’re mostly undifferentiated human templates, absorbing and assimilating the qualities of those around them. What they hear, see, smell, touch, do and dream at that age combines with nature to give them form and substance for life.

At seven, I don’t recall if I had the slightest idea that ‘nads were properly called testicles (and even more properly called testes, but we’re not really sticklers for propriety). I do remember that I didn’t know what purpose testicles served. I only knew they were my constant companions, and that it hurt like the dickens when I they got hit or kicked or smashed by the pointy tip of my bicycle seat, and older boys wore a cup during baseball practice and games, and I wanted to get a cup, too, because it would mean I was a big boy.

So, now, I’m the father of a seven-year-old first grader. In preparation for this piece about testicular cancer awareness, I thought it would be good to start with a lesson for my older son. I thought I’d begin with the generalities then move on to the specifics.

They really got into Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure Saturday. We never did catch Doofenshmirtz, but we’ll try again soon.

During the drive from Tampa to Walt Disney World Saturday, I asked the back seat the general question, “Hey. You guys know what testicles are?”

Silence. Then …

“They’re, like, well … um, no, not really.”

Turns out my older son knows approximately what I knew almost 40 years ago at that age. Only, instead of ‘nads, he and his buddies call them balls.

(A quick aside here. I envy the years of rich discovery ahead for my sons. The lessons they’ll learn. The colorful vocabulary they’ll acquire. Oh, to relive each and every moment when life served up a new testicular euphemism. It’s all ahead for them: nuts, eggs, huevos, danglers, scrotes, cojones, rocks, stones, the family jewels. And oh, so many more. Use them well, boys. Use them well.)

After our brief chat Saturday, my older son knows now that the proper name is testicles, but I’m still not sure he’s ready to process the concept of testicular cancer. I’ll save the specifics for later.

Shooooot! It’s Topiary Mater at Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival.

Not much later, though. One day soon, I’ll explain to my sons that testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer among boys and young men aged 15-35. I’ll explain that catching it early is vital, because 99 percent of those diagnosed with testicular cancer respond well to treatment and can lead normal, active lives. My wife and I will talk to their pediatrician about teaching self-examination, and then we’ll reinforce the importance of vigilance. We won’t be shy, because it’s too important for awkwardness.

All of those details are a bit much for a seven-year-old, I think. But what we can do now is instill the zest for life that will convince him that it’s well worth the few seconds it takes to check for signs of testicular cancer.

So we savor the moments. Saturday, with MomScribe laid out by a nasty head cold, I piled the boys into the car for the hour-long drive over to Epcot. The annual Flower and Garden Festival has begun, and that means topiary! You might be surprised at how fascinated young boys can be with wired shrubbery shaped like Mater and Lightning McQueen, or like a family of pandas.

We spent a couple of hours Saturday wandering the pavilions, chasing the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz, enjoying the mild weather, relishing each other’s company. It’s the Year of Disney for our family, and this was the first time it was just me and the boys. They’ll remember these days of Disney, I’m sure. I know I will. Perhaps one day they’ll look forward to days like these with their own kids.

With that hopeful thought in mind, we’ll remind them occasionally when they’re older to self-check for signs of testicular cancer. And then, if necessary, we’ll remind them of why. Hopefully, they’ll already know. Hopefully, they won’t need to be reminded that we check because those few seconds could buy them and everyone who loves them years, decades, a lifetime of moments to savor.

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It’s Man UP Monday!

I’m proud to be a member of the Single Jingles Man UP Monday BLOGGING TEAM!

Today, I’m doing my part to spread an important message about Testicular Cancer.

Did you know that Testicular Cancer is the #1 cancer in young men ages 15 to 35?

Did you know that Testicular Cancer is highly survivable if detected early?

Did you know that young men should be doing a monthly self-exam?

What can you do?

Stop by the Single Jingles website for more information on Testicular Cancer.

Request a FREE shower card with self-exam instructions — it just might save a young man in your life!

And if you’re feeling just a little AWKWARD about this conversation, check out this video from some parents who feel the exact same way!

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Thank you to Jim Higley of Bobblehead Dad for inviting me to participate in this great series. Here is the first installment, written by Whit Honea and published last Monday at his personal blog, Honea Express. Here’s another entry by Paul Easter, and another by Andy Hinds (aka Beta Dad).

Topiary panda family at the China pavilion, Epcot.

Wreck-It Ralph: a New Family Favorite at Home and at Hollywood Studios

Posted on February 24, 2013 by DadScribe

: The same weekend I got my review copy of Wreck-It Ralph, we got to meet these guys at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

You know how we know a movie’s a winner in our house? The boys ask to watch it again the instant the closing credits begin to roll.

That actually happens a lot around here, a fact that might have as much to do with our discerning tastes as parents (ahem) as it does our sons’ inherent ability to appreciate a well-made film. We only show them the good stuff, so naturally they can’t get enough.

This was a bit different, though. For the first time, I agreed to write a product review. I did not agree to this lightly, and only the reputation of the products involved swayed me. Knowing how much our 7- and 4-year-old sons thoroughly enjoy everything made by Pixar and all the old Disney flicks (the Aristocats and Peter Pan are particular favorites), I said yes when I was asked to join a list of reviewers by the firm that handles publicity for Walt Disney Studios Blu-Ray and DVD releases.

Concept sculpture of Vanellope’s racecar, on display at Hollywood Studios.

As it happened, my review copy of the Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Blu-Ray + Blu-Ray 3D + DVD + Digital Copy) arrived Friday. That was 11 days before the March 5 release date of the Wreck-It Ralph set, and even though I had plenty of time to write the review, the boys could not wait. We hadn’t seen Wreck-It Ralph in the theater. Actually, we rarely see movies in the theater anymore. So, my wife set up a Wreck-It Ralph Blu-Ray watch party Friday night with our boys and four other neighbor kids. The group ranged in age from 4 to 9, four boys and two girls. They all loved it. Our boys wanted to watch it again, just as the closing credits began to roll (winner!).

As it also happened, the review copy came one day before our family was scheduled to continue our Year of Disney adventure. This week’s anticipated fun was our first family trip to Animal Kingdom on Saturday morning, followed by an evening of rides and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom and a nice Sunday capper at Epcot.

Our 4-year-old REALLY wanted to play this game, but it was only a prop at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. (So did I.)

We never made it to Epcot, because traffic was diverted by the annual Princess Half-Marathon. On the spur of the moment, as I contemplated whether to cut off an oncoming bus and try to veer onto the path to Epcot or take the simpler road to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I asked where my boys and wife wanted to go.

It was unanimous: Hollywood Studios. Where, not surprisingly, Wreck-It Ralph turned out to have quite the presence.

Having just watched the Wreck-It Ralph Blu-Ray Friday night (and the DVD version on the car player during the drive to Orlando Saturday morning), our sons instantly recognized iconic characters and settings when they saw them on posters around the park and in the nice collection of concept art displayed in an anteroom at the Magic of Disney Animation section of Hollywood Studios.

Hero’s Duty concept art.

We walked into the room and our 4-year-old saw his favorite Wreck-It-Ralph setting represented and cried, “Sugar Rush! Mommy! Sugar Rush! Sugar Rush!” Clearly, the sugary-sweet racecar game that plays host to 9-year-old programming “glitch” Vanellope Van Schweetz (voiced by Twitter legend Sarah Silverman) left an impression.

Almost everywhere we went Sunday at Hollywood Studios, we saw something having to do with the boys’ new favorite Walt Disney Studios release. A huge billboard on a building façade. A display ad on the Studio Backlot Tour tram.

Billboard, Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

And of course, Wreck-It-Ralph was all over the Disney Animation section. I liked the replica of the Fix-It Felix Jr. video game – aged to look like it was about to celebrate its 30^th anniversary – and the tiny clay figurines of some of the characters and Vanellope’s wild racecar. I also liked the touches they added to the queue for kids to interact with the costumed Ralph (voiced in the movie by the estimable John C. Reilly) and Vanellope – waiting in line was like preparing to transfer between video games in the movie’s arcade. Our 4-year-old tried like crazy to play the inoperable video game (it was only a prop), and neither boy could muster the courage to meet the characters, but they were curious and enthralled by the experience of being so close to these characters only a couple of days after being introduced to the movie on Blu-Ray.

Fix-It Felix Jr. concept art at Hollywood Studios.

What I liked most about the Blu-Ray edition was actually a nice surprise. During our first viewing Friday, I paused so one of the boys could head to the bathroom for intermission. And (I hadn’t yet read the product release, so this caught us off guard), up popped The Gamer’s Guide to Wreck-It Ralph. This is a series of 10 video segments hosted by Chris Hardwick, each of which gives a different inside look at the movie’s many, many video game references, as well as some of the references to Disney history and other hidden surprises in the film. I have a feeling this feature, called Disney Intermission, will became a regular thing in all Blu-Rays. It’s that entertaining and (for this dad) interesting.

Wreck-It Ralph is a welcome addition to the roster of our family’s favorite movies. It is the story of a video game villain (Ralph) who grows tired of playing the foil to video game hero Fix-It Felix Jr. (voiced by 30 Rock’s (Jack “Kenny” McBrayer). Ralph leaves his game to try to win a medal and prove he is more than just a bad guy. Along the way, he befriends his fellow outcast, Vanellope, who just wants to fit in with the other Sugar Rush racers. Meanwhile, a mindless killer robot threatens to bring down the arcade if Ralph and friends can’t save the day.

Wreck-It Ralph was directed by Annie Award winner Rich Moore, whose work includes two of my other favorites in the animation genre, the Simpsons and Futurama.

Disclosure: DadScribe.com was provided an advance copy of the Ultimate Collector’s Edition of Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph for purposes of review. The opinions expressed are my own and were not coerced in any way. Except by my 7-year-old son, who now wants the game version of the movie for his Nintendo DS.

DadScribe

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