Seuss Landing

A couple weeks ago, Kali and I went to Islands of Adventure where we spent a bit of time in Seuss Landing. When both our children were little, we spent many nights reading the numerous books of Dr. Seuss. Kali was even born on Theodore Geisel's birthday! In elementary grades, we even did a unit study on Dr. Seuss. Needless to say - Kali and I loved our time in Seuss Landing!

Christmas decorations were everywhere - in typical Seussical/nonsensical fashion - what fun!

The top of the Caro-Seuss-el, where Horton the elephant sits perched.

The Cat in the Hat was probably Dr. Seuss' most popular book. In 1954, Life Magazine ran a story about illiteracy in the public school system, declaring students couldn't read because the books were boring. Dr. Seuss' publicist made a list of 400 important words and asked Seuss to write a book using just 250 of those words. This culminated in six months worth of work, during which Seuss used 220 of the words and wrote The Cat in the Hat. A bet ensued and Seuss followed up with Green Eggs and Ham, which contains a mere 50 different words.

Next, we entered the Street of the Lifted Lorax - a place near and dear to our hearts! This past year, Kali and her duo partner competed with their interpretation of Seuss' The Lorax! They qualified to regional competition with this piece, as well as performed it on many local platforms.

The Lorax.

Part of what they are judged on includes synchronization, how they work in tandem. To make the character of the Lorax - they doubled up - Kali was the head, her partner was the body of the Lorax. They spoke all the lines in unison - it was awesome!

The Onceler's House.

Kali's partner was the Onceler. Here 'he' sits and looks out of his lerkim, and sometimes ... he speaks. And she would clear her throat. In the Onceler's house above, you can see the lerkim. It is the pink window, at the top, on the left. You can see the hole the Onceler looked out of.

In case you aren't familiar with the storyline, it is environment-based, teaching us to protect and preserve what we have. And the truffula trees? They are what everyone, everyone, everyone needs.

Kali in front of the Onceler's House, surrounded by truffula trees - haha! It really is - you just can't see them in this shot. This would be before they got greedy and chopped down all the truffula trees.

Kali listening to the whisper-ma-phone.

In the story, the whisper-ma-phone drops down and the Onceler tells how the Lorax was lifted, and taken away.



Kali re-enacted part of the duo - the humming-fish who hummed while splashing around in the rippulous pond.

The same thing from their duo.

Here's a shot of them at the Florida Qualifier - the first time they presented The Lorax in competition - waiting to see if they broke. This would mean they had qualified for regionals.

And --- they did! I had stuffed Loraxes stashed under a table. I knew they would qualify. They worked so hard! And the Loraxes were the perfect way to congratulate them!

And there was even more Dr. Seuss stuff - like this cool shop! And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street was Seuss' first book. In came out in 1937, as a poem.



So many cool things to see. Great Seuss shapes! Great Seuss characters! Great Seuss colors!

Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?

Do I even need to tell you? :) This was such an incredible amount of fun! Dr. Seuss is the best. You should definitely check out Seuss Landing at Islands of Adventure if you get the opportunity! McElligot's Pool, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think, Green Eggs and Ham, The Sneetches, Horton Hears a Who, If I Ran the Zoo, Hop on Pop, it's all there for you to see and experience!