Blossom really captures the whole Disney spirit. The episode is narrated by someone who sounds exactly like Snow White, and they even manage to make The Hall of Presidents interesting. Yep, seriously. The episode is the only one in the competition to take place at Disneyland, and (taking advantage of the smaller park size) they have all of the characters interact with the Disney characters/attractions in a very comprehensive way. But before we get into the nitty-gritty of the episode, does anyone find it odd that I’ve never once covered a Blossom episode on The Very Special Blog? I mean, she is the queen of very special episodes, right?
Well, there is one simple reason for that. You see, I got in trouble in elementary school for watching Blossom. It was that episode where Blossom and Six go to a make-out party and after that it was like the Blossom police lived in my house! I did manage to see this Disney episode though, but I remembered pretty much only the part where she sees her boyfriend kissing another girl from the Sky Buckets.
That’s pretty much the only plot in this episode. Blossom sees Vinnie kissing someone (who turns out to be his cousin) and she flips out. When he tries to explain that it was a totally innocent situation, she doesn’t believe him. This makes her kind of an ass, in my opinion, but he’s been acting really weird all day, so her suspicions are not without merit. It also turns out that Vinnie has never been to Disneyland before and is incredibly afraid of heights–which he’s been trying to hide since he’s a cool guy and all that. Other than that, we get to see Joey try to get a date with Sleeping Beauty, who tells him that she’s engaged and so are all of the other princesses. (Sheesh, stop hitting on these women while they are working!) Then he gets stuck riding the rides with a nun all day since they are both alone, and it’s pretty great.
Blossom’s other brother (the not Joey Lawrence one) has brought his girlfriend to the park with them and every character in one of those full body-suits is into her. That’s really weird. I mean like fine if she’s soooo hot or whatever, but in that case shouldn’t the princes be trying to get with her? It’s like only Tigger and Dopey are into this girl and yet this dude gets jealous. Luckily, Abe Lincoln sets him straight in the most interactive Hall of Presidents ever in the history of halls and presidents. Six also gets with the Jungle Cruise guy who they happen to know from high school. Then they discover that their father is actually an Elvis impersonator performing center-stage at Tomorrowland. It’s boring and the only reason I’m pointing it out is that he makes out with Belle at the end of the episode in which there is a montage of make-outs. (There really was SO much kissing on this show.)
The plot of this episode isn’t the cool part though. It’s really great how they feel so genuinely connected to this place. They are a family with memories there, and that makes it the most realistic of all of these promotional episodes. Six talks about feeling a little sad because the park reminds her of spending time there as a kid before her parents split up. Blossom and Six make a b-line for the Sky Buckets because they have traditionally always started their days there. It just feels really sincere in a way that the other episodes don’t. And since Disney is a place where sincere and fake come together to form magic, then I think this episode really nails it on integration of setting.
The overall plot of Boy Meets World, is a little more intricate, but that doesn’t make it better. Basically, Corey has been dating every single girl in school since he broke up with Topanga and that makes her not want to date him again. No shit. Anyway, he follows her to Disney World after she and two other classmates win a contest to study dolphins in Epcot. The other two classmates are alleged cult-leader Andrew Keegan and a girl who Corey recently went on a date with right before the trip. This girl also has a bad habit of showing up when Corey is professing his intense feelings for Topanga, and mistaking them for his thoughts about her. Corey sneaks away from Philly without telling his parents, Eric covers from him surprisingly well with a really stupid looking life-size plush, and Corey manages to stalk Topanga all over the place while posing as Disney workers and sneaking into unauthorized areas.
Now, I can take a lot of ridiculousness for an episode (i.e. Michelle gets to be a Princess and total asshole to her family for a day) but this is just too much. Someone on the Disney side of things would have shut this down and put him in Disney jail until Alan an Amy could get on the next flight to Orlando. Also, I’m not buying that they didn’t notice he was missing. They’re like the most hands on parents in the 90’s ABC family. Ridiculous things happened in Full House but since Snow White found Michelle almost as soon as she disappeared and Danny was rich enough to live on Alamo Square and take 10 people to Disney World–I figured they had special circumstances.
Anyway, Topanga isn’t down for Corey’s stalking, and it’s only after he bumps into Stacey Keenan (we’ll see her later in Step by Step) who has decided to “hang back” alone after a guided tour (ugh yeah right) and becomes best friends with a sad dolphin who has lost her lover that he stops acting like a maniac. Corey realizes that he needs to chill out and let Topanga live her life, which is of course when she decides to date him again. Other than Corey/Shawn sleeping on Splash Mountain (so ridiculous), we see a few choice locals but nothing is really integrated into the plot. Almost by default, Blossom gets the point for plot. While Boy Meets World may be more intricate (sort of), I want to yell at it a lot.
The fashion point totally goes to Boy Meets World though. I would have expected Six to bring this one home for Blossom but she wears a really weird purple sweat-headband the entire episode and I’m not on board. Plus, Topanga’s outfits are rocking the entire week she is in Disney. I especially like her sea-foam green crop top and pants set. I can’t find a picture of that so here’s a picture of another one of her cute outfits:
Blossom also gets the point for music because they had a live performance form a band called The Party which is made up of former MMC cast members. I didn’t particularly like their music but their cool 90’s choreography won me over. Plus, BMW didn’t have any music at all.
Point Break Down:
Boy Meets World: Vacation Attire (1 pt) 1 pt
Blossom: Integration of Disney Setting (1 pt) + Overall Plot (2 pts) + Music (1 pt) 4 pts
Very Special Winner: Blossom
*While this was not a “very special episode of Blossom,” Snow White does say that they’re going to the park for a “very special day.” Also, what is this trend of good costumes bad everything else? Maybe I should run some analytics on this. Maybe the next bracket challenge will even have seeds and statistics.
The plot of Sabrina (while much better than that of Roseanne and about on par with Family Matters) revolved around a single task, whereas Full House had tons of subplots and moving parts. That is what they do so well on vacation episodes. That is why this is the team to beat. But I do believe it’s possible. Or do you think they will become double vacation episode title holders?
The best part of this episode is that you get to watch Harvey be the safari tour guide. Aunt Hilda zaps him into that role to get him away from Libby (because apparently Harvey is totally untrustworthy?) Oh yeah, Hilda and Zelda are there as chaperones, but they spend almost no time at all with the kids. They’re the kind of chaperones who would let your kids lose their virginity in a maintenance closest behind the tree of life or walk around in the animal-only areas. Real winners. Actually, yeah the second one does happen. Poor, Martin Mull is the only one trying to keep these kids in line! And apparently there are also no Disney staff members around, which I find to be the least plausible part of all of this. Even less plausible than the witchcraft.
Full House features a bossy/bratty/still sweet Michelle winning a contest to become “Princess for a Day,” which she was only able to do because she cut in front of Stefanie in line. This grants Michelle the ability to have a series of wishes granted to her by the Disney Parks. She also gets to ride in a parade. And there are posters at every park and hotel declaring her the Disney Princess. This is ridiculous and I would like to subtract points for it, but overall the show has a better plot than that of Sabrina. There’s just no way that Disney World (who wants to make EVERY kid feel like princess/prince/pirate/magical creature/personified rodent/etc would ever publicly display everywhere in the park that they had a regular kid just like you to lord over you for a day on your expensive vacation. Speaking of vacation, the reason for this trip is that Jesse is taking a working-vacation with the family. His band, Jesse and The Rippers are playing at Cinderella’s Castle.
hey are Cinderella’s Castle level entertainment. These guys would be lucky to the get the stage near Canada at the World Showcase. The only Jesse and The Rippers performance I have ever enjoyed was the time they covered “Hot Child in the City” on Wake Up, San Francisco! But I can’t find that anywhere on the internet, so I am starting to worry I invented that memory. But this episode does win in terms of music, not for the band (or for the fact that Sabrina doesn’t really have music) but rather for the fact that Jesse sits down at the piano in the Grand Floridian lobby and beckons Becky to watch him doe-eyed from the balcony even though he’s been too busy working to spend time with her. He’s like some Greek-Romeo/Bryan Adams combo and it’s incredibly effective.
Fireworks at Magic Kingdom. Stephanie deals with loving Michelle even though she is an asshole. Michelle becomes less of an asshole. DJ/Kimmy/Stephanie lose Michelle and she’s rescued by Snow White. DJ thinks she sees Steve everywhere, which means that actor gets cameos as Indiana Jones and most princes (extra cool since he really was the voice of Aladdin). Then he shows up at the Grand Floridian to surprise her! (Remarkable for someone struggling to save for college.) Joey and Jesse do their radio show from the tank in the Coral Reef restaurant. (Still don’t see the point of having a radio show in a cool visual location.) And we barely see twins, Nicky & Alex, thank God!
I am totally torn about who to give the point to for overall integration of Disney setting. In Roseanne, you get to see more of the park locals, but they are pretty much just running through everything. Dan seems to be doing the Drink Around the World thing at Epcot, which is cool. But other than that they are mostly like “OH HEY LOOK AT THIS” and yet you barely see them on a ride. At one point, two of the characters even list all of the rides that they just did, but you don’t get to see those. Because of this, I think Family Matters has to win. Also, I like that they set a lot of plot development conversations at yummy restaurants. For example, when Stefan asks Carl for Laura’s hand in marriage (ugh) they are eating at that little outdoor cafe near the Brown Derby in Hollywood Studios. They also show Carl meeting a ton of characters, and he announces his plan to move the family to Orlando on The Tower of Terror just before the elevator drops…so yeah that’s some good setting integration right there.
re many very special moments. But things got really serious on one dark day when Lizzie and her bffs made a music video. Aspiring director, Gordo, took photos of Lizzie and Miranda as they practiced their choreography to Play’s “Us Against the World.” I vaguely remembered that song, but I don’t think it was a hit. It is very catchy though. I still have it stuck in my head and I did play it on youtube a couple of times…kinda want to play it again right now. It’s just so catchy!
been under a lot more pressure than anyone knew–mostly due to the fact that her parents for some reason demanded that their thirteen year old determine her life goals. Miranda feels so much better that she’s able to complete all of her music video choreography even though she hasn’t eaten in the past couple of days. The music video is a more innocent rip off of Britney’s …Baby, One More Time. Though it does feature Miranda and Lizzie in detention dancing on top of a very uncomfortable teacher’s desk. The teacher also dances with them and they hip bump him and it’s kind of strange. Other than that it’s pretty cute and the song is soooo catchy. Here’s a gif: 
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