Good News

July 21, 2008    Category: Disney News Today   No Comments »

I did not post last week that I had a follow-up visit to my surgery from December. They had found some cells that could lead to uterine cancer in the future with the biopsy in December. I was put on a six month drug treatment. Last Wednesday I had another biopsy performed to see if the treatment worked and it did. Praise the Lord. The biopsy came back normal. Secondly, we had a great week in Florida and I am exhausted. We missed the evening parade at Magic Kingdom because we went home to rest

Read the rest of the story...

Magic Kingdom

July 19, 2008    Category: Disney News Today   No Comments »

Hoje (sexta-feira) o grupo conheceu o Magic Kingdom, símbolo da Disney com o Castelo da Cinderela, justamente o qual foi o palco de um belíssimo show de fogos após a parada dos personagens. O espetáculo rendeu muitos momentos de emoção. Confira abaixo algumas fotos do dia de hoje!

Read the rest of the story...

53 years ago today Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom of Disneyland opened to the world with a, rare for the time, live broadcast television special featuring some of the biggest stars of the day and a crowd of excited invite only guests (plus about an equal number of guests who used counterfeit tickets or snuck in over the low berms). Walt’s vision of a little park where parents and children and family members of all ages, races, creeds, and nationalities could have fun together was a huge hit and quickly outpaced all estimates for attendance. No one since has quite matched the magic of the Happiest Place On Earth and I doubt anyone ever will.

Disneyland, the Imagineers old and new, cast members who make the magic every day, and all the special attractions, hidden nooks, exquisite detail, featured performers, and rich history hold a near and dear place in my heart. Everyday I’m away from ‘the park’ I feel a little heavier in my heart. But the magic is available in smaller doses at other parks like Walt Disney World, via the passion of its fans, and in my memories, which I will always cherish.

So Happy Birthday to Disneyland! And for everyone who, like me, wishes they were walking right down the middle of Main Street USA this morning instead of heading into work. Here’s a couple videos to help wipe away a few of those blues:

Originally posted on The Disney Blog.

Fifty-Three Years of Memories at Disneyland

Read the rest of the story...

Over at the Magic Kingdom a month long refurbishment has been announced for the Country Bear Jamboree. That’s good news because the attraction has been neglected as of late. And with the refurbishment ending so close to the holidays there is hope that we might see the return of the holiday show, gone for two years now.

At the Passport to Dreams blog FoxxFur has posted a timely reminder about the importance of the CBJ to Disney’s legacy, and how its designers even snuck in a little American History education to the famed attraction:

Even more importantly, the show uses many of the performers who were actually there for the roots of that kind of music, including Ernest Van Stoneman, Dallas McKennon and Tex Ritter. And although the songs in the second half of the show are mostly from the decade surrounding the opening of the attraction, their vocalization and arrangement is clearly meant to insist on their status not as “Country Music”, which even back then tended to be garish and over processed, but as a continuation of the longer legacy of truly American music, folk music and cowboy music. When Bertino wrote in the introduction to the show that it would be “…songs from Americana”, he wasn’t kidding. To those who recognize that’s going on in the show in terms of instruction through entertainment, it is a remarkable panorama of American music.

FoxxFur has also included a recording of Tex Ritter talking about recording Blood On The Saddle and even better a YouTube video of him singing it. Amazing how close Marc Davis came with his “Big Al”.

So, let’s make a date and I’ll see you in November at the Country Bear Jamboree!

Originally posted on The Disney Blog.

A Country Bear History Lesson

Read the rest of the story...

Davey Disney Dance

July 15, 2008    Category: The Disney Portal   No Comments »

You’ve heard of Matt and his dancing around the world. Now meet Davey (and friends) who are dancing at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.


Davey Dance Blog -50- ORLANDO - The Beatles “Baby You’re a Rich Man” from Pheasant Plucker on Vimeo.

Are there other Dancing at Disney videos?

Originally posted on The Disney Blog.

Davey Disney Dance

Read the rest of the story...

Snow White’s Scary Adventures ride at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Jul 13 A complete ride-through of Snow White’s Scary Adventures in Fantasyland at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom theme park. Journey inside through the dark. See a higher quality version of this video at http://www.veoh.com/videos/v697835XKCKCwhX Taken on June 25, 2007. Duration : 0:3:20 Read the rest of this entry » July 13th, 2008

Read the rest of the story...

Recently, the Disney Dreams Come True Parade replaced the Share a Dream Come True parade at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. This is the daily parade at the Magic Kingdom that is typically held at about 3:00 p.m. The new parade is extremely similar to the old parade. It appears that most of the floats are the same with the “snow globes” removed, new dances and a few other small changes. You can see the Disney Dreams Come True Parade by checking out the pictures below! First up, Aladdin!

Read the rest of the story...

WFTV reports on a lawsuit Disney has filed against a Lake County, FL family owned business for using Disney characters as part of their party entertainment business. It’s in video format, but the bonus is you get to see the really ‘high’ quality of Pooh character costumes they had purchased from eBay to use in their party business.

Alas, these weren’t look-a-like costumes where it could be argued that they weren’t infringing on Disney’s trademark and copyright. I’m especially not very sympathetic to someone who lives practically next door the Magic Kingdom and claims to not know what they were doing would upset Disney’s lawyers. Not to mention impacting the magic of kids and families who expected real Disney quality characters and got those shoddy eBay knockoffs instead.

The Walt Disney Company has every right to take them to the cleaners, but it sounds like the family might get off with just a slap on the wrist and covering Disney’s legal fees.

See also: the Orlando Sentinel’s coverage.

Originally posted on The Disney Blog.

Disney files $1,000,000 Lawsuit Against Family Party Business for Use of Pooh Characters

Read the rest of the story...

Editor’s Note: I’d like to welcome Jenn (aka Sleeping Beauty’s Sister (@SBSister)) to The Disney Blog. She’s kicking off a new column that will cover the ever growing world of Disney Fan Podcasts. We look forward to your feedback.

This Week on the BIG 3!!

Lou makes his BIG announcement on WDWRadio. Ricky shows his dark side on Inside the Magic. And Paul gets quick, wet and bare- err bear on A Window to the Magic. All this and more on This Week on the Big 3!

This week we re-join our intrepid adventurer, Lou Mongello, for another trip around the WDWRadio dial. George Taylor from ImagiNERDing.com joins Lou to discuss 3 more books for the Disney geek library. The underlying theme of the books is Disney Theme Park architecture. Designing Disney’s Theme Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance is a compilation of various articles put together by Carol Ann Marlin. Designing Disney was written by the venerable John Hench. Building a Dream: The Art of Disney Architecture was written by Beth Dunlop. For a complete run down check out Lou and George’s discussion this week on the show.

In keeping with the Adventure theme, Lou is joined by the Disney fan communities answer to Indiana Jones, Steve Barrett from HiddenMickeysGuide.com. Steve and Lou discuss some fun Hidden Mickeys in Adventureland, including two very intriguing ones on Pirates. To hear all the details be sure to check out this week’s episode. Here’s a fun one Steve mentioned from Toy Story Mania (yeah, I know, not in Adventureland but you’ve gotta listen to the show for those), in the queue on the wall down by the floor look for our pal Mickey in purple paint.

And finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for, Lou’s BIG announcement. In honor of the release of Lou’s newest Audio Guide to WDW, Lou is launching the Adventureland Challenge on July 21st. For all the dirty details be sure to check out this week’s episode but here’s a sneak peek. There will be three rounds of play, each more challenging than the one before. Only 25 will advance too Round 2 with three from those 25 going on to Round 3. The Ultimate Adventurer will win a Grand Prize that you have to hear to believe! I can definitely say that I was amazed at all the goodies involved.

Be sure to check out WDWRadio # 74 for more on these great topics.

Next we turn to Inside the Magic. It’s apparent to me that Ricky may have had a bad holiday weekend. If there could be a Grinch of the 4th of July, Ricky may have taken the title with this week’s show.

We jump right into the News from Around the World. Florida has decided that it’s OK for you to keep your pistol locked in your car while you’re at work. Hmm, a gun in a vehicle out at the employee parking lot. A long hot walk to the employee lot, Is that going to stop a disgruntled Pooh from getting his gun and sending people on many adventures to the ER? I don’t think so. Personally, I’m glad Walt Disney World found a loophole to get around it. Monorail Red has started its regular service. Monorail Blue is in testing. I say, what about Monorail Fuchsia? Let’s give the girls something fun.

Now, what about the dark side you may be asking? Well, here goes. Ricky delights us with his review of the new Disney-Pixar movie Wall-E. To say that he didn’t like it is a HUGE understatement. I get the impression he may have left his heart at home. How could anyone not love Wall-E in some way? He wanted to love it but according to Ricky; “It was a fantasy-romance movie disguised as a sci-fi movie. Where’s the movie the trailers were advertising?” Uh, on the screen in front of you. He found the characters, animation, plot and love story were totally lost on him. On a positive note, the end credits and the musical score were the best. He made no mention of the short before the movie. I guess little Presto escaped the boiling pot. To hear more of Ricky’s review check out this week’s show.

The biggest controversy on ITM this week would have to be Ricky’s discussion about the closing of Pleasure Island with Paul Barrie from Window to the Magic. In a nutshell, Ricky says “Good Riddance” and Paul screams “NO!!” Paul made a valiant attempt to persuade Ricky that the Adventurer’s Club should be saved. Ricky did agree to go see it before it closed, but didn’t sound too serious about it. I personally have not been to the Adventurer’s Club myself but it’s quite obvious how much fun this place is. Paul’s ideas for saving it are good ones. Of course, I won’t give them away. You know where to find them.

This week’s ITM ends with a short interview with the guys from Backstage Pass and an even shorter Cruisin’ the World, some listener feedback and a quick discussion about the video of the week. I usually find Inside the Magic enjoyable, Backstage Pass and Cruisin’ the World are my favorite segments. This week it seems someone may have dosed Ricky’s holiday beverage with an ugly pill.

And last but most definitely not least, WTTM 1-5-5. (I love when Paul says that.)

In true Window to the Magic fashion we start our audio adventure at Magic Kingdom on the Hillbilly Hill Climb Meet at MouseFest ‘07. We join Paul, Tairy and the LTAD crew on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. There’s no need to wonder if Jana is having a good time. Do you get the impression Paul is not to terribly thrilled to be on Splash Mountain? Needless to say a lot of hilarity ensues. Does Paul escape the deluge? Tune into the show to find out.

After a brief intermission we re-join Paul at The Great Grizzly Hunt, the meet Window to the Magic hosted at MouseFest ‘07. We get to enjoy a sweet moment between Paul and his best girl Tairy, aww. Then it’s on to the show. Did the cast member say what I think she said? Does Paul realize he’s repeating the show verbatim? Who won the trivia challenge? (Ok, that question isn’t answered but I needed a third.) His enthusiasm for his favorite attraction enhances the audio piece and proves yet again how much Paul loves those darn Bears. Listening to the audio from The Country Bears reminds me of the last time I saw it. What a sad state of disrepair that attraction is in. I truly hope Disney rehabs it soon.

And then, just as the audio ends and you expect the soothing sounds of Nature’s Wonderland, your ears are assaulted by the overacting of Jonathan Dichter as he plugs the latest All About the Mouse. Yikes!! I don’t enjoy Surrounding Myself with His Theatrics. All in all Paul’s show is exactly what you expect from him; lots of great park audio, put together by someone who loves his craft. It’s the main reason Window to the Magic is one of my favorite shows.

And so this first edition of This Week on the BIG 3 comes to an end. Have questions or comments feel free to contact me. Tune to The Disney Blog to see what the BIG 3 have in store for us next week. Until then, See Ya Real Soon!

Links:

Originally posted on The Disney Blog.

The Disney Fan Podcast Review

Read the rest of the story...

Thanks to Blue Sky Disney for pointing out this photo album of the newest Disney Hotel in the world. It’s the Toyko Disneyland Hotel and it opens on Tuesday. It’s an absolutely beautiful hotel full of the sort of amazing detail that will make your stay all the more magical.

Stateside Disney fans have long been jealous of the money that is lavished on the Disney theme parks and properties owned by the Oriental Land Company. Of late, we’ve also been made jealous by the enormous expenditure on architecture, urban planning, and theme parks in Dubai, a whole crafted city in the United Arab Emirates.

Why is there no such development like this in the Orlando area so we may compete just a bit with overseas competition for tourist dollars? TDL gets that amazing hotel and we get Sarasota Springs. There just is no comparison.

There are plenty of differences between the way Oriental Land Company runs their Disney parks and resorts. Some of them probably wouldn’t fly here in the US. For instance, cast members don’t get free admission to the theme parks. You probably wouldn’t be able to hire or keep any part-timers without those perks.

There are also, admittedly, a difference in the amount of money guests are willing to spend one their Disney vacation. It’s higher by a significant amount in Japan and the demand is nearly as high as ever. But the cost of oil is adding a new element to the tourism equation.

That makes me wonder again about Disney’s USA based parks. Disney fans and Annual Passholders don’t hang me for suggesting this, but perhaps the US based Disney Parks could do better by tremendously elevating the quality of service, resort destinations, and themepark attractions to match and even surpass what OLC has been planning (WDI created the attractions and resorts for OLC, so they have the plans handy). Then raise the prices for resorts and parks to match. Keep raising prices until attendance levels out at a pleasantly crowded level, but not so much you have to wait in super long lines for anything.

Disney World would have to demolish and start again with almost all of the hotels. The Grand Floridian and Animal Kingdom Lodge (perhaps Wilderness Lodge as well) could be kept, but the rest would have to receive serious upgrades. Don’t want to get rid of the moderate hotels? convert them into DVC. DVC would become even more valuable, but without cheap annual passes, admission costs would affect how often DVC members could attend.

Disneyland could keep the Grand Californian Hotel and they need to replace the other two shortly anyway. I would expand Downtown Disney into where the Disneyland Hotel is now and build a brand new Disneyland Hotel of the quality seen in Tokyo Disneyland on the other side of the Esplanade between Disneyland and California Adventure with private entrances to both parks. Paradise Pier hotel could be recreated in the Lion King parking lot with it’s own beach and water feature and a seaside look and feel.

If Disney wanted to throw a bone the locals, they could keep California Adventure and Disney’s Hollywood Studios as the ‘locals’ parks with lower costs annual passes available to residents in nearby zip codes. But trips to the Magic Kingdoms, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom would become special with DAK having more and more elements of a boutique park where guests could pay more for animal and adventure experiences.

Here’s what I think caps this idea as the best plan for Disney. The price of oil will eventually, sooner rather than later most likely, surpass the $160 a barrel mark where supposedly Disney’s own studies show it makes sense to sell the parks (I’m not sure I follow or agree with that logic). If a company like OLC, perhaps even OLC, buys the parks & resort operations, they will very likely follow a plan just as I’ve outlined above.

Disney’s plan up to now appears to be to build a Disney property (either a theme park or location based resort (think Hawaii hotel) near every major population density in the world. If they continue that path, look for a new Disney theme park in Dubai. But there are other ways to compete in the world market other than spreading yourself thin.

OLC realizes that in order to compete in the new world market of tourism, where you can attract those who can afford to travel, you have to really dazzle them with Disney magic. Will Disney get that today? Disney could use this downturn in visitor volume to retool the parks and resorts and come out the other side with a product that is competitive on what is now a world market for tourism travel. Dubai is following the “if you build it they will come” model; Disney has used it in the past during economic slow times, but will they do so again with the new regime in charge?

Originally posted on The Disney Blog.

Best. Disney. Hotel. Ever.

Read the rest of the story...
« Older Entries

 Subscribe in a reader

Archives

Pages