Picspam: Monster High dolls at Disneyland
May. 18th, 2016 04:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hat_plays_dollsI never do anything fun with this blog, despite doing the occasional fun thing in reality. I'm going on a trip to Disneyland starting Friday, and the most agonizing decision isn't what to pack or what to ride or where to eat or how to deal with the cat in the car (the cat goes with), but which doll(s) to bring.
This started simply enough. I wanted to prove to some folks that Twyla is basically the Haunted Mansion souvenir shop in doll form.
So I asked the cast members IN the Haunted Mansion souvenir shop if I could take a few pictures. They graciously said yes.
Protip, if you are polite and ask first and only project an air of harmless ridiculousness, people will usually let you take pictures of dolls doing silly things even if you don't end up buying anything.
Also a protip, it is not always easy to get cute pics of dolls indoors under lighting you don't control. (I could've used the flash but I hate using flash in general. I've got different shutter speeds and lighting settings for a reason.)
This was the point where I started sort of wishing that Twyla were bigger or the souvenirs smaller. She posed so prettily on that black velveteen pillow that I couldn't decide between the long shot (most Haunted Mansion color balance) or the following two closer shots:
Prettiest hair or...
Closest on Twyla.
So that was in May of 2014. I was supposed to go to Disneyland again in October of 2014, buuuut sadly that was when my aging cat sort of developed lymphoma and had to have surgery and the family I had planned to go with went without me while I spent a few days sleeping three hours at a time between medication, feeding, and the medication that had to be given an hour after feeding. By the time July of 2015 rolled around, we were gearing up for the kickoff of Disneyland's 60th anniversary celebration, and Harley (said sick cat) was recovered enough to go with us (pet-friendly hotels are the best)-- and so were Abbey and Heath!
The first place I pulled out my temperature-control couple was the waiting area for the Enchanted Tiki Room, because frankly, the light was gorgeous right then. However, I learned it is difficult to:
Pose two dolls
Steadily
Together
On an uneven surface like fake rocks (in front of a fountain)
As though they're taking a shared selfie (looking directly at the camera)
With contrasting skintones and finishes looking good
So please enjoy these links to the Heath and Abbey Tiki Room Awkard Selfie Series:
"Abbey, you're out of the shot!" "Rocks are slippery!" | "We are looking washed out and sleepy. Take another." "You look so shiny, it's so cool."
... You know what, that was fun, I'm just doing dialogue on the rest of these.
"Be sending me copy of this one."
"I like how your nose sparkles."
"Is scary-humid."
"Yeah, if it gets any worse, you'll start condensing and I'll start steaming."
"I got the shiny thing again and we don't look stupid!"
"Is restroom at top of stairs, yes? We are at this long time."
"We are done with this one, Heath."
"I swear I can get one with the fountain going off."
"Are going to fall in fountain before getting selfie with Heath looking cute, Abbey looking cute, and fountain looking like fountain."
"We're gonna stay right here until the sun moves."
"We are looking like we had plan! Is good."
"Why no one tell me mouse ears fall down in first pictures? At least am looking good now."
"Hey! Hey, could you take our picture with the volcano goddess, please?"
(On our last day, I was on my own for a few hours... and Anaheim got some Weather. Good lighting for pics, though.)
"Is good shot. I send to parents."
"How does the castle match your hair?"
"Excuse me! Could you take our picture?"
"Is pole in way."
"It's a pole, nobody's gonna look at the pole, strike a pose."
"Is still pole, Heath."
"But everything else in the picture is awesome!"
(For the record, that's Home Ick Heath wearing Puma Boy shorts and the T-shirt and backpack from a Disneyland exclusive doll, and Skull Shores Abbey wearing her fashion pack, carrying her Dot Dead purse, and with the jacket and ears from that same doll. Basically Heath and Abbey jumped her and stole her stuff.)
"It's not too long for the dress."
"Is almost too long for dress."
"Turn around and show off the back! We didn't take pictures of the back."
"Is back."
"You coulda got a smaller size."
"This way all can share. ... Except headband. Headband meant for tiny children."
"... Too kiddy?"
"Too small."
And then we packed up the dolls and the cat and went home. I'm glad I got to take Harley on vacation with me, because it turned out that trip was my last chance. Mom and I went at the very beginning of December as a pick-me-up from losing Harley, and this time I brought Mouscedes.
I love Mouscedes (I've got the three-pack one) because I used to keep rats and 'New York Rat Princess' had me almost won over when I first heard about her. The deciding factors were 'bald tail' and 'lactose intolerance.' Mouscedes is a little short-limbed to steal the Celebrate jacket and a little too stylish to wear a T-shirt two sizes too big for her, but she dressed up for Christmas(time) in the park anyway.
Selfie on Main Street by the tree! Signature outfit plus Bratz jacket (from the Baja set, everything else went to Skelita), bag of unknown origin (probably Liv, got it in a lot), Honey Swamp's pearl studs (gotta get Mousecedes her own set), Rochelle's Make a Splash sunglasses, and an Apple White necklace I got in a lot and repainted in two shades of gold. Big Apple. Boo York. Well, I thought it was cute.
Photoshoot at the castle! Same place as Abbey and Heath, five months later (I avoided the pole this time). You can see the bag.
Sweeter pose. While I was lining up this shot (and its slightly longer alternate), a woman came up to me and asked if I wanted her to hold the doll for me. I'm sure she meant to be courteous, as I stood there leaning back and stretching one arm forward and one arm back to line the shot up just so, but I will be honest-- it kind of freaked me out.
So, protip, if you want to play dolls with a stranger in public, maybe don't literally open with "Would you like me to hold your doll for you?" Try starting with "Hello," or "What a neat doll!" first, maybe.
Look at these two mousey cuties.
Mousecedes got her hair re-done before the trip, so instead of a cloud of pink floof it was a tumble of pink curls. I'm really pleased with how it came out, especially since it's not a boil perm but a heating-pad perm (which is a lot easier when boiling involves a flight of stairs).
Still, by the end of the trip, Mousecedes had been in and out of my purse a LOT, and no paper towel roll was going to keep those curls looking fresh and cute forever. So we finish up with a trip to the Jolly Holiday Bakery (and a cupcake from a bin of charms in Frontierland). Because of course what Mousecedes needed was more bows, more ears, and more pink.
But WHO LEAVES WITH ME ON FRIDAY? I have two days to decide and all I know for sure is that Luna, Sirena, and Bonita are out because I don't want to break/lose any of their bits, and Gooliope is out because I don't have a purse that big, and Robecca doesn't get to go to Disneyland until I can bring her AND Hexiciah (I'm getting that two-pack. I will sell my eye teeth for it). River doesn't photograph super-well, Elle has wiggly hips, I'd feel bad taking one Wolf sibling without taking the other three (and I don't have a purse that big, remember), Vandala photographs better than Porter but couldn't bring her obstacle of a hat, I don't want to crush Honey's hair... Maybe I'll bring Neight. Or Draculaura, to show off her new Bunny Blanc body (I have a Bunniculaura). Or Toralei. Or Jinafire, I've painted a lot of her stuff.
This is a hard decision!
Like what I do and want to help me feed my cats, but don't need anything I have for sale on eBay? You can always support me on Patreon or throw some change in my tip jar.
This started simply enough. I wanted to prove to some folks that Twyla is basically the Haunted Mansion souvenir shop in doll form.
So I asked the cast members IN the Haunted Mansion souvenir shop if I could take a few pictures. They graciously said yes.
Protip, if you are polite and ask first and only project an air of harmless ridiculousness, people will usually let you take pictures of dolls doing silly things even if you don't end up buying anything.
Also a protip, it is not always easy to get cute pics of dolls indoors under lighting you don't control. (I could've used the flash but I hate using flash in general. I've got different shutter speeds and lighting settings for a reason.)
This was the point where I started sort of wishing that Twyla were bigger or the souvenirs smaller. She posed so prettily on that black velveteen pillow that I couldn't decide between the long shot (most Haunted Mansion color balance) or the following two closer shots:
Prettiest hair or...
Closest on Twyla.
So that was in May of 2014. I was supposed to go to Disneyland again in October of 2014, buuuut sadly that was when my aging cat sort of developed lymphoma and had to have surgery and the family I had planned to go with went without me while I spent a few days sleeping three hours at a time between medication, feeding, and the medication that had to be given an hour after feeding. By the time July of 2015 rolled around, we were gearing up for the kickoff of Disneyland's 60th anniversary celebration, and Harley (said sick cat) was recovered enough to go with us (pet-friendly hotels are the best)-- and so were Abbey and Heath!
The first place I pulled out my temperature-control couple was the waiting area for the Enchanted Tiki Room, because frankly, the light was gorgeous right then. However, I learned it is difficult to:
Pose two dolls
Steadily
Together
On an uneven surface like fake rocks (in front of a fountain)
As though they're taking a shared selfie (looking directly at the camera)
With contrasting skintones and finishes looking good
So please enjoy these links to the Heath and Abbey Tiki Room Awkard Selfie Series:
"Abbey, you're out of the shot!" "Rocks are slippery!" | "We are looking washed out and sleepy. Take another." "You look so shiny, it's so cool."
... You know what, that was fun, I'm just doing dialogue on the rest of these.
"Be sending me copy of this one."
"I like how your nose sparkles."
"Is scary-humid."
"Yeah, if it gets any worse, you'll start condensing and I'll start steaming."
"I got the shiny thing again and we don't look stupid!"
"Is restroom at top of stairs, yes? We are at this long time."
"We are done with this one, Heath."
"I swear I can get one with the fountain going off."
"Are going to fall in fountain before getting selfie with Heath looking cute, Abbey looking cute, and fountain looking like fountain."
"We're gonna stay right here until the sun moves."
"We are looking like we had plan! Is good."
"Why no one tell me mouse ears fall down in first pictures? At least am looking good now."
"Hey! Hey, could you take our picture with the volcano goddess, please?"
(On our last day, I was on my own for a few hours... and Anaheim got some Weather. Good lighting for pics, though.)
"Is good shot. I send to parents."
"How does the castle match your hair?"
"Excuse me! Could you take our picture?"
"Is pole in way."
"It's a pole, nobody's gonna look at the pole, strike a pose."
"Is still pole, Heath."
"But everything else in the picture is awesome!"
(For the record, that's Home Ick Heath wearing Puma Boy shorts and the T-shirt and backpack from a Disneyland exclusive doll, and Skull Shores Abbey wearing her fashion pack, carrying her Dot Dead purse, and with the jacket and ears from that same doll. Basically Heath and Abbey jumped her and stole her stuff.)
"It's not too long for the dress."
"Is almost too long for dress."
"Turn around and show off the back! We didn't take pictures of the back."
"Is back."
"You coulda got a smaller size."
"This way all can share. ... Except headband. Headband meant for tiny children."
"... Too kiddy?"
"Too small."
And then we packed up the dolls and the cat and went home. I'm glad I got to take Harley on vacation with me, because it turned out that trip was my last chance. Mom and I went at the very beginning of December as a pick-me-up from losing Harley, and this time I brought Mouscedes.
I love Mouscedes (I've got the three-pack one) because I used to keep rats and 'New York Rat Princess' had me almost won over when I first heard about her. The deciding factors were 'bald tail' and 'lactose intolerance.' Mouscedes is a little short-limbed to steal the Celebrate jacket and a little too stylish to wear a T-shirt two sizes too big for her, but she dressed up for Christmas(time) in the park anyway.
Selfie on Main Street by the tree! Signature outfit plus Bratz jacket (from the Baja set, everything else went to Skelita), bag of unknown origin (probably Liv, got it in a lot), Honey Swamp's pearl studs (gotta get Mousecedes her own set), Rochelle's Make a Splash sunglasses, and an Apple White necklace I got in a lot and repainted in two shades of gold. Big Apple. Boo York. Well, I thought it was cute.
Photoshoot at the castle! Same place as Abbey and Heath, five months later (I avoided the pole this time). You can see the bag.
Sweeter pose. While I was lining up this shot (and its slightly longer alternate), a woman came up to me and asked if I wanted her to hold the doll for me. I'm sure she meant to be courteous, as I stood there leaning back and stretching one arm forward and one arm back to line the shot up just so, but I will be honest-- it kind of freaked me out.
So, protip, if you want to play dolls with a stranger in public, maybe don't literally open with "Would you like me to hold your doll for you?" Try starting with "Hello," or "What a neat doll!" first, maybe.
Look at these two mousey cuties.
Mousecedes got her hair re-done before the trip, so instead of a cloud of pink floof it was a tumble of pink curls. I'm really pleased with how it came out, especially since it's not a boil perm but a heating-pad perm (which is a lot easier when boiling involves a flight of stairs).
Still, by the end of the trip, Mousecedes had been in and out of my purse a LOT, and no paper towel roll was going to keep those curls looking fresh and cute forever. So we finish up with a trip to the Jolly Holiday Bakery (and a cupcake from a bin of charms in Frontierland). Because of course what Mousecedes needed was more bows, more ears, and more pink.
But WHO LEAVES WITH ME ON FRIDAY? I have two days to decide and all I know for sure is that Luna, Sirena, and Bonita are out because I don't want to break/lose any of their bits, and Gooliope is out because I don't have a purse that big, and Robecca doesn't get to go to Disneyland until I can bring her AND Hexiciah (I'm getting that two-pack. I will sell my eye teeth for it). River doesn't photograph super-well, Elle has wiggly hips, I'd feel bad taking one Wolf sibling without taking the other three (and I don't have a purse that big, remember), Vandala photographs better than Porter but couldn't bring her obstacle of a hat, I don't want to crush Honey's hair... Maybe I'll bring Neight. Or Draculaura, to show off her new Bunny Blanc body (I have a Bunniculaura). Or Toralei. Or Jinafire, I've painted a lot of her stuff.
This is a hard decision!
Like what I do and want to help me feed my cats, but don't need anything I have for sale on eBay? You can always support me on Patreon or throw some change in my tip jar.
