Cartoon Destinations: Nickelodeon Suites and Resorts

 Our next Cartoon Destination takes us to warm thoughts and huge 90's nostalgia.  Nearby Orlando Florida just down the road from Disney World sat a huge hotel with characters such as Spongebob, Rugrats, and Blues Clues and filled with all kinds of activities such as live shows, 4D movies, and a huge water play area that just OOZES with GREEN SLIME.  But underneath all the slime is said to be something else.  Was it really the Best Day Every, or was it all an illusion?  Pack your bags folks, because we are about to find out, and if you are ready, kids....we're going to the Nickelodeon Suites and Resorts.  

For this story, we are looking back at the version that was located in Orlando, FL from 2005-2016, new resorts have since opened in foreign countries but with different concepts.  On a previous blog post ranting about CBSViacom, I talked briefly about its utter failure, but there is more to the story than just bad days.  In fact, the story begins before the opening of the hotel, when it was actually a Holiday Inn Resort.  This location, opening in 1999, was a way to compete against nearby Disney property hotels with two pools and a water playground among many things.  In 2003, a deal was made between Nickelodeon and Holiday Inn for a possible chain of Nickelodeon Family Suites Hotels by Holiday Inn (or Nick Hotel for short), the first being the said Orlando location just nearby Disney.  The project for Orlando was completed and opened in 2005.  4 other resorts were planned, though actual locations are unknown where they would have gone.  The resort opened with fanfare advertising on Nickelodeon as well as Live Promotions being done down there including TV appearances of Tom Kenny as Patchy the Pirate (usually to promote a huge Spongebob event).  In Nickelodeon fashion, tons of IPs were used throughout the resort including Spongebob, Jimmy Neutron, Fairly Oddparents, Dora the Explorer, Blues Clues, Little Bill, and even some older characters like Rugrats and Hey Arnold.  Even some oddball properties such as Chalkzone, All Grown Up, and My Life as a Teenage Robot, while not as present as the more popular brands, would appear as decorations throughout the resort, though easily replaced with newer characters from Danny Phantom, Avatar the Last Airbender, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Paw Patrol, Bubble Guppies, and for some reason....Fanboy and Chum Chum.

As you enter the lobby, you enter the big orange round circular building, where smiling cartoon characters greet you on the way in.  After parents checked in, guests would stay in their themed room of their choice, though the most popular rooms were the Spongebob rooms.  Other rooms include Dora the Explorer, Jimmy Neutron, Fairly Oddparents, Danny Phantom, Rugrats, and even Rugrats All Grown Up.  As shows came and went, the remaining rooms were Spongebob, Ninja Turtles, Dora, Fairly Oddparents, and one Danny Phantom room left by the time of its closure.  Depending on the size of the suite, each would legally hold 6-12 guests per room (with 6 being standard suites and 12 being the bigger double suites).  

Each suite came with a kitchen, a standard "living" area with pull out couch, rocking chair, dining area, and TV, the parents bedroom with a king sized bed and TV, and a kids room with a bunk bed, their own TV (originally hooked up to a video gaming system), and wallpaper featuring the characters based on the room's theme.  14 buildings of suites (777 total suites) surrounds the two major pools with rooms either pointing outward or inward, giving those staying near the Lagoon Pool exceptional views of the mass slimmings.  There were some smaller rooms made for one or two people, but there were very few and had no theming.  There also were Nick@Nite suites made for couples and had heart shaped Jacuzzis, but obviously those didn't last long.  Guests could also get wake up calls from their favorite Nick character (typical of most themed resorts like at Universal and Disney).  

Working our way inward is the most popular pool area of the two, the Lagoon Pool.  This was where all the activity was.  Included in the Lagoon Pool were a basketball court, an adult and family spa, a kids splash zone area featuring Nick Jr characters, a miniature golf course, and the star attraction....the massive water structure which had many splash zones, water slides, cut outs of famed Nickelodeon characters, and a HUGE water bucket when filled, it would pour down on guests standing under.  Everyday at 4:55pm, the bucket would have water dyed green demonstrating the illusion of a mass slimming (because real slime would have been a mess for both guests and the pipes pumping out chlorine water).    

Further down would be the Oasis Pool.  The smaller of the two, it featured a kiddie splash area, family spa, and its own water structure with slides and splash areas (though much smaller in stature compared to the Lagoon Pool's).  Most of the time the Oasis Pool would not be open especially on not so busy days and "off season" months.  Sometimes it would only be used for special events like for boys or girls scouts.  Usually it is only open if nearly all the rooms are booked or during peak season months, but the reality is that everyone wanted to be near the Lagoon Pool since that's where all the action was, so for them to keep the Oasis Pool closed on the least busy days made sense, but it was an option on extremely crowded days or should the Lagoon Pool had to close for whatever reason.  

Smack dab in the middle of the resort is the mall area.  This is where most of the dining area takes place.  Options include Antonio's Pizzeria based off of Ninja Turtles, a deli, the Nicktoons Cafe, the buffet, the lounge, and Starbucks.  And as the name suggests, the Nicktoons Cafe is where you dine with your favorite Nicktoons characters, usually Spongebob but sometimes other famed characters from Nickelodeon.  When not dining, sets of character meet and greets happened throughout the day at the mall.  The mall itself was decked out with orange and green and even has pictures of old Nickelodeon shows like Double Dare, Figure it Out, and Weinerville.  Other attractions inside include a 4D Theater with Spongebob Squarepants, Nick Pix where you can buy pictures of you with the characters, an arcade, a gift shop, kids' spa, and Studio Nick home to live entertainment such as character shows and game shows including Who Knows Best, Nick Live (which would move over to the Lagoon Pool eventually using a different kind of slime; not too fake, but water based again due to the pipes used for chlorine water), Slime Time Live, Let It Snow, Celebrate Nickmas, Spongebob's Krabby Patty Celebration, TMNT Dance Show, Dora's Friendship Fiesta, other Dance Parties, and the classic game show....Double Dare.  The latter of which would be the last remaining show at Studio Nick.  When the Turtles got popular in the 2010's, a Laser Maze was added called Laser Lockdown where you had to avoid lasers in order to save one of the Turtles.  

The characters there would make daily appearances at the lobby, mall, and sometimes the Lagoon Pool.  Nearly every Nickelodeon character you can think of was there.  I may do a walkaround costume post for some of these characters especially Spongebob and the Rugrats as they had different costumes over the years.  Defunctland's Keven Perjerer claims that some of the costumes were creepy, but I wouldn't say they were "creepy", rather some of them were "in development stages".  Take Spongebob for example: early character appearances limited character movement of the sponge making it hard for kids to interact with him.  Rods would control the arms of the character, making shaking hands with the sponge.......awkward........  Improvements to the costume ceased such limitations making Spongebob able to hug, shake hands, and give high fives.  Other characters were not so lucky: Mr. Krabs had huge claws for hands, and had an angry face for some reason, The Fairly Oddparents had NO arm or head movements giving NO ability to interact with guests, and the Bubble Guppies had their costumes look messed up just as bad as bootlegged Paw Patrol costumes.  Sadly, not every Nick character got a costume, or were at least retired like Rocko, Ren and Stimpy, and the Wild Thornberries.  I would have loved to have seen walkaround characters for shows like My Life as a Teenage Robot and The Mighty B since they are among my favorite Nicktoons.  Instead we got Ming Ling Duckling, Team Umizoomi, Bubble Guppies, and for God knows why.....Fanboy and Chum Chum, who despite the show's failure, stayed at the Nick Hotel until the bitter end.  And by the time The Loud House went on the air (only a Lincoln Loud costume has been confirmed for character appearances) it was too late....the Nick Hotel was just starting to become no more.  The Spongebob characters were by far the most popular in the hotel as nearly all the characters from the show had a costume.

You allergic?  No?  Then GET SLIMED, SCRUB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So what happened to the Nick Hotel causing its demise?  In theory, when you look at the pictures and videos, no mater how good or amateurish they can be, it seemed like a really fun place to go.  The kids seem to be having the time of their lives.  The reality, however, is that things were slipping away behind the scenes.  For starters, as simple as everything was, it was WAY TOO EXPENSIVE.  Being an all inclusive resort, and adding everything up such as dining, lodging, and daily activities, could cost as much as over $700!  And for what?  Waterslides and Chuck E Cheese like food?  Nickelodeon also had a deal with Karisma Hotels to open up their own versions of Nickelodeon Resorts in the mid-late 2010's.  Nickelodeon's presence at Universal Studios dwindled drastically.  Finally, with very rare exceptions such as adding Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers, the Nick Hotel was simply left to rot.  No major updates were made to make guests return for more.  Many of the shows have ended, and some of the rooms were not in the best upkeep having a mildew like smell, rusted appliances, old TV's, broken

ipads, pealing paint/wallpaper, and failing equipment. Some pictures even claim that the hotel had bed bugs (yuck!). "We were like the ugly stepchild of just the company," claim former Nick Hotel Manager Kate on a Defunctland Podcast, "We were too far from Universal for folks who stayed here that wanted to go to Universal.  We were close to Disney but it's like why stay with us when you can go to [Disney's] Art of Animation for around the same price and be on Disney property."  Kate also continued stating that Holiday Inn contracted the rights to Nick and their characters, and then just left them by saying "you're on your own, chumps!".  Kate, "Nickelodeon gave us no support; I think they wanted to forget that we were alive.  We were trying really hard to make it as best as we could but it's like how good can you make it with what you had and we weren't getting anything new[....] so for [the last] eight months [of it being Nickelodeon] like we're drowning."  By summer 2016, the hotel was fully remodeled, stripped from the Nickelodeon theme, and is now a regular Holiday Inn Resort with bare boned activities such as the Lagoon Pool being shells of their former selves.  The location is still there but struggling, and by 2021, filled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

But in spite of all the issues the Nick Hotel had, kids that went to it all claimed they had the time of their lives.  It may not have been perfect, and sure there were some bad instances here and there, but there were many who had fond memories of going to Nickelodeon.  It might not have survived in the long run, but it may have been successful of making it the Best Day Ever.

For more information, check out Defunctland's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CN9HpYrjeM

For even more info, there's also a Defuctland podcast filled with very unusual stories challenging 'The Best Day Ever": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of_lyqUmCpk&t=1400s

And yet there is even more Nick fun to dive into since there were some amusement/theme parks that used the Nick characters over the years, but that may be for another Cartoon Destination.  

The Best (if any) and Worst of 2020

 

You don't need me reminding you how awful the year was.  Heck I'm so dang tired of everyone out there saying, "Oh this the year unlike any other...oh this year is gonna be a little bit different....blah blah blah....." yes we know........BUZZ OFF!!!!

Well, now that's out of the way, here is the annual list

Best Animated Feature

Unfortunately with COVID-19, very few movies were able to make it to theaters.  Many of them ended up on streaming as shutdowns happened.  Had it not been for that, Soul could easily have taken the top spot.  Sadly, that is not going to be the case.

By process of elimination, Onward takes the top spot.  It was a movie people looked forward to and had an interesting take considering it's Pixar.  It's not a very powerful top spot however, as it's not one everyone will be talking about.  The only good thing about movie theaters shutting down when they did is that there wasn't any Worst animated feature this year.  Sonic the Hedgehog was on track for being the worst, but the fans stood up and demanded change, and it has become a more tolerable movie with some claims of it being a love letter to the 90's.

Best Animated TV series

Streaming isn't just killing the movie theaters, but over the years, it took its toll on TV networks.  More specifically, the cable companies are suffering.  Many stations are trying to have the best new shows, and while that may be so, how much do you wanna bet most of these views are from streaming either on demand or perhaps some other means such as Amazon Video and itunes?  I only know this because some of The Casagrandes epsiodes debuted on Amazon first, NO AIR DATE YET for Nickelodeon (what's more, extended clips from said show and episodes ended up on official Youtube videos).  Nevertheless, because of the pandemic it was more easier to order animated shows since everything can be done at home.

This has become a surprise hit for Disney as the fanbase grew like wildfire since its premiere.  Of course, some of that fanbase is freaking out over possible LGTB relationships, and controversies arose over the ever so popular "prom" episode.  Perhaps cartoons are now trying to fuel the shipping wars fire.  Even the slightest touch of each other gets a ship, which could prove very dangerous.  Nevertheless, this fantasy has become a fan favorite and should be respected as such.  Major shout outs to The Loud House and The Casagrandes as I have now become a fan of both (especially The Loud House).  They have given me something new to enjoy.  Expect some sort of blog post about them in the near future.

Worst Animated TV series

With networks ordering so many shows now because of the pandemic, that means an excellent chance for some stinkers, and yes, there were a few, but this one takes the cake.

Finally, Teen Titans Go has been dethroned after 3 years.  Even though Cartoon Network still reruns this over and over again, it hasn't been as bad as reruns of Gumball, despite no new episodes, take up a good chunk of the schedule now.  Meanwhile, Cartoon Network's reboot of this year, Thundercats Roar, takes the top spot.  All it does is trash on the original series even going so far as to say if you don't like this new series, you're a poopy head.  It didn't work and it failed miserably hardly ever airing on Cartoon Network.  Syfy's Magical Girl Friendship Squad comes a very close second due to its terrible quality.  Sadly, we can expect more crap from both networks, but there is hope with TV now that Me TV has the Toon in with Me show coming soon with reruns of your favorites from the golden age, and it looks like some shows are right on track to becoming the next big hit for TV.  However, it's gonna be an uphill battle

Best Streaming series

Streaming has also gotten tighter and in need of animated content, and the competition is getting stronger with Netflix, Hulu, and now Disney + and HBO Max.  This year's big winner is....

Looney Tunes Cartoons

The long awaited reboot of the classic series proved successful.  Paying homage to the classic Looney Tunes of the 1940's, it has everything you can think of in a classic Looney Tunes cartoon.  Looney Tunes quickly became HBO Max's #1 show bringing a full steam ahead to the franchise which includes next year's new Space Jam movie.  Animaniacs comes a close second with its reboot, though mixed reactions about constant Trump jokes and the original creator not in charge cost it some points, and The Adventures of Mickey Mouse continues where Mickey Mouse Shorts left off with its unique original style.  And for the kiddies on Youtube, of course, there is the massive hit that is Cocomelon.

Worst streaming series

Cleopatra in Space

This series on Peacock, yet another new streaming channel, was not well anticipated to say the least.  It doesn't seem like the most terrible thing in the world, but it does scream "cheap" and "kiddie".  In fact, Peacock's collection of cartoons compared to Disney+ and HBO Max is very lackluster to say the least.  Just overall a nothing burger.  Moving on.

Best anime series

This category is based on productions made only in and for audiences in Japan, though American streaming companies are taking bets right now as anime becomes more and more profitable.  This year's winner is clear cut.

Demon Slayer

If you want to talk about the biggest anime title right now, look no further than Demon Slayer.  This manga is cleaning up big time and sales involving the anime is just as close.  Even a recent study in Japan shows that Japanese kids are looking up to these characters more than they are their own teachers or even their own mom and dad (what?!).  And that's not to say everything else was terrible as Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia were hits again as well as Madoka Magica's latest series, Magia Record.  Covid-19 may have impacted anime causing delays, but it didn't hurt its spirit.

Best anime feature

Demon Slayer

What again?!  Well, when Japanese box offices opened up again, the Demon Slayer movie dominated.  So much so that it is passing Spirited Away in box office numbers.....during a global pandemic even.  And for the same reason why the series is the number one anime right now with manga sales very high and admiration of the characters are extremely high.  We will be seeing Demon Slayer for a long time, especially now that Attack on Titan is coming to an end

Best anime dub

To be honest, I haven't really been watching much anime this year.  I could easily pick my favorite as the best, but I think I have to be honest with this one.

NEARLY EVERY SINGLE DUB

Magia Record was one of 
several new dubs for 2020

Why?  Simple: accommodation.  Everyone figured out during the pandemic in their own way how to make their own in home studio to record their lines from home.  That's why we have dubs for new anime like Magia Record, who by the way brought back the original cast and some new ones for new characters, which by the way note to self: finish the anime.

Worst anime dub

But there was a bad moment in anime adaptation history, and this was it (NOTE: content warning ahead)

It's not because it was a bad dub, rather it was a moment when Funimation failed the fans by saying they're going to adapt this, and at the last minute during its simuldub, they pulled the plug and pulled the license, moreover, saying no to dubbing it.  Had they said no earlier, it wouldn't have been an issue, but they givith then that takeith????  Is Interspecies Reviewer a good anime, no...it's dirty as sin...maybe more than sin.  Was it what the fans wanted at that time, yes it was, and for Funimation to back out on the fans is disrespectful to the fans, and who knows what kind of devious plans that they have next.....other than buying Crunchyroll.  Remember, Sony is censor happy.

Best DVD/Blu-ray

If I may quote from The Bugs Bunny Video Guide: "After a crazy year that saw a pandemic single-handedly shut down and redefine the film industry and an intense culture war accumulating in a vicious presidential election, it would be understandable if animation fans got lost in the shuffle. But on the contrary, classic-cartoon collectors have been treated to a variety of long-awaited releases in just the past month, the likes of Disney+ and HBO Max are promising various theatrical animated films to debut on their respective services, and classic Warner Bros. and MGM cartoons are set to make their grand return to broadcast television."  And boy what home video releases did we ever get from Warner Bros., Thunderbean, and others.  This year we have a 3 WAY TIE

The first two are from the Tex Avery Screwball Classics series.  This makes it the 3rd year in a row for Warner Archive.  The most requested cartoons to be out on home video for Warner Bros. are finally out and have been restored and remastered.  Plus, each disc is entertaining because hey....they're Tex Avery cartoons, what could possibly go wrong.  These two discs showcase the very best of Tex Avery when he was over at MGM, changing the animation game forever.  Yet another hit from Warner Archive.

But if you thought that the Home Entertainment department's recent Bugs Bunny Blu-ray release has been devalued as a top contender as a result, think again.  Because this is a celebration of the 80th Anniversary of Warner Bros.' most famous cartoon character. 20 essential cartoons followed by 40 new to Blu-ray were on here, plus some excellent Blu-ray bonus material (except for the Funko....sorry)