Reading, Riding, Roundup
July 6, 2008 Category: 0 Disney Pipe No Comments »
If you were unable to make it to the Magic Kingdom for 4th of July Fireworks, LaughingPlace.com has your back. Check out this view from inside the park and this one from the beach of the Polynesian.
I was thinking a bit about the forecast closure of the Adventurer’s Club and some of the earlier projects that Disney closed over the years. In Walt Disney World one of the most beloved attractions was Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. So I moseyed on over to Virtual-Toad.com where they’re trying to recreate the lost attraction in a 3-D model and what did they have on the front page, a protest about the closing of the Adventurer’s Club. I wish them better luck with this protest.
I had the pleasure to sit in on a 1-hour class by Disney sign-language expert Mark Jones. He made learning sign language fun and easy with an act he could talk on the road and charge admission for. Now he’s been profiled in the Orlando Sentinel with some attached videos so you can learn some of the signs exclusive to the world of Disney.
The NY Times goes behind the scenes of Disney On Ice, which is a co-production of Disney Theatrical and Feld Entertainment. Disney On Ice has been a success story over the last few years, although it largely flies under the radar.
Didier Ghez has an early look at a much anticipated book on ‘Disney Dogs‘ as part of an interview with it’s author. The book comes out in October, just before Disney’s BOLT! hits the theaters.
Finally, please take a look at my current selection of eBay auctions. Eight end tonight. In particular, there are two Hannah Montana ONE-OF-A-KIND handmade scrapbook items that any little kid would love. Your support helps The Disney Blog and you get something collectible in return. Thank you.
Originally posted on The Disney Blog.
Magic Kingdom Trip Report
June 30, 2008 Category: The Disney Portal No Comments »
I spent a long day at the Magic Kingdom Saturday. Summer crowds were evident, but it wasn’t oppressive. If anything it might have been a little lighter than usual. But that may be related to changed vacation patterns with the holiday weekend coming up.
Sadly, the park appears to be cutting back on some of the simplest maintenance. Many attractions were covered in litter. Splash Mountain was particularly bad with water bottles and gum on nearly every surface. We went on Splash 5 minutes after opening too, so there was no excuse not to clean up during the over night shift.
Ended the night with a viewing of Spectromagic. They’ve slowly been upgrading this old parade and last night I noticed a ton of new costumes. It’s still a great parade, but it could use some additional sprucing up and perhaps a new float or two. Technology has advanced so far since when it was created, you know there is some out of this world stuff they could be doing.
I’ve put a few photos down below and more up on Flickr for your browsing pleasure.
This little fellow was waiting for us inside our log. We were the first passengers for the day, so I felt a little like WALL-E and set the little fellow on top to enjoy the view during the ride.
Alas, by the end of the ride he had jumped ship. Always fun to look at Terri Hardin’s sculpture however.
A couple great shirts on the Haunted Mansion merchandise cart. I was surveyed after shopping the cart, but the questions were so pointless as to not really track anything interesting, such as the reasons I didn’t purchase anything or did I find what I was looking for.
Some of the WALL-E merchandise for sale in Tomorrowland. The markup didn’t appear to be too bad.
The new glass blowing demonstration was amazing. You either have to stumble on it or know it’s there. I didn’t see any schedule posted either. So ask at City Hall if you’re interested in catching this live. It’s worth it. If you have the money you can buy some of the pieces made right in the shop.
Some windows are now in and work on the walkway continues. Looks like the suspension elements will be added soon.
More photos from the trip over on Flickr.
Originally posted on The Disney Blog.
Magic Kingdom 1971 Video - wow
June 23, 2008 Category: 0 Disney Pipe No Comments »
Here’s a quick video introducing Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in song and dance. Check out the groovy outfits. Those dancers are the “Kids Of The Kingdom”. The park was a few weeks from opening to the public, note the very unfinished Tomorrowland.
Originally posted on The Disney Blog.
Magic Kingdom 1971 Video - wow
VMK still running at one Disney Themepark
June 17, 2008 Category: 0 Disney Pipe No Comments »
Fans of Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom don’t get your hopes up, but there is at least one spot where you can find VMK running inside a Disney theme park. Here’s a hint:
Click through to see where this was found:
This laptop is running a demo version of VMK inside the ‘Disney Online’ display in the “One Man’s Dream” attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Ironic, eh.
Originally posted on The Disney Blog.
VMK still running at one Disney Themepark
Charges dropped against Grandma who brought Gun to Walt Disney World
June 5, 2008 Category: 0 Disney Pipe No Comments »
Mary Ann Richardson, the 63 year old grandmother who was caught at Magic Kingdom security bag check packing a pistol in her purse, no longer has to worry about possible jail time for her crime.
A spokesperson for State Attorney Larson Lamar in Orlando said the charge of carrying a concealed weapon was dropped following “receipt of exculpatory evidence.” She said that means law enforcement officials determined that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to proceed with prosecution.
Fine with me. It’s obvious she was just being forgetful anyway and didn’t realize she still had the pistol in the bag. The real question is how many other people are bring in weapons to theme parks that aren’t caught by security?
The charges were official dropped in April, but the case was never removed from the court docks, so the news just came out. (Read).
Originally posted on The Disney Blog.
Charges dropped against Grandma who brought Gun to Walt Disney World
Tired of Letting Fans Love Its Brand, Disney Shutters Virtual Magic Kingdom
May 29, 2008 Category: Disney News Today No Comments »
Tired of Letting Fans Love Its Brand, Disney Shutters Virtual Magic Kingdom Disney 05.28.2008 I guess successful marketing can become too much of a good thing. Last week, Disney shut down Virtual Magic Kingdom, its popular (and free) virtual-reality theme park. “Disney plans to throw everyone out of VMK and lock the gates — erasing their online profiles, lives and collections of virtual trinkets and real estate. Disney says it never intended the 50th-anniversary promotion to run this long,
Disney World Update III
May 28, 2008 Category: Disney News Today No Comments »
On Monday, May 5th we woke up early and headed back out to the Magic Kingdom. We grabbed breakfast, “Breakfast on the go” as Emily named it. Just some donuts and lots of Diet Coke. We did this a couple of times during the week, so that we were not wasting time eating at the food court while we could be waiting in line for the bus! We made it to the Magic Kingdom before rope drop and were able to catch the opening ceremony. This is where we first caught a glimpse of Mary Poppins. We were not able
Disney wipes out community and virtual merchandise
May 28, 2008 Category: Disney News Today No Comments »
On the 22nd of May Disney closed down Virtual Magic Kingdom, a “game site” with community features. Disney chose to close the site, as “it was only promotional” and “did not achieve scale”. The marketing bozos at Disney might think they simply had a promotional property, with a lifespan drawn on their Excel charts. But people, the users of the site, had built a community. If you’re in marketing, you might have forgot what a community really is, so here’s a a brief and not all-inclusive primer
VMK - The End Of The Magic
May 21, 2008 Category: 0 Disney Pipe No Comments »
Tonight marks the end for Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom online multi-player interactive environment. But don’t try to log on for the first time, new sign ups have been discontinued for some time now. Today regular users will log on one more time, exchange personal information (because hey, what’s Disney going to do, kick you off?) so they can stay in contact with each other after the plug is pulled.
The matter has finally started to attract the attention of online community experts and some national media; alas it’s too late to make any difference. I agree with the expert interviewed by the OC Register, Disney is failing in its responsibility to the users of this game by not providing some transitional community. But perhaps the biggest failing is that future users will be wary of Disney pulling this stunt again. Once burned shame on you, twice burned shame on me.
Although I don’t work for the mouse, I still want to apologize to all the community members of VMK. Disney should know better than to treat you like this. It’s not how they would want their sons and daughters to be treated and it’s totally out of line with the new ethics of cyberspace. Let’s hope they learn a lesson or two.
Originally posted on The Disney Blog.
Fans proberen sluiting virtuele Mgic Kingdom te voorkomen
May 20, 2008 Category: Disney News Today No Comments »
Het was voor de Walt disneyCompany een koud kunste om een virtueelMagic Kingdom op het internet te zetten. Maar de sluiting van de populaire site vormt toch een probleem. Gelijk met de start van de viering van het 50 jarig bestaanvan Disneyland in 2005 werd op het internet eengratis online game gestart. Het spel speelde zich af in een viruele versie van het Magic Kingdom (VKM). Hier konden de “bezoekers” online heet park verkennen diverse attracties doen, met elkaar praten een eigen avatar ontw
