Category Archives: News

WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BOY WHO LIVED

by John M. (NDD#172) | Published: Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Photo Credit: Disney

You have to wonder what went through the minds of Disney executives when they learned that July 15, the day they had selected for the release of Winnie the Pooh, would be the very same day the final movie in the epic Harry Potter series would be released. Oh bother!

It is unfortunate, to say the least, because this Pooh deserves its own rabid fan following. Winnie the Pooh is the first big-screen Pooh feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios in 35 years (the intermediate Pooh releases came from Disney’s straight-to-DVD unit).

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Upcoming Monorail and Parade Changes

by Jessica C. (NDI#21) | @lady_aurora | Published: Sunday, July 10, 2011

Photo Credit: Jess Clawson

Disney has announced new changes beginning tomorrow regarding the monorail systems in Walt Disney World.  Beginning tomorrow, the Epcot monorail will operate up to one hour after regular park closing, no longer making it available during evening Extra Magic Hours.  The same will be happening with the Magic Kingdom Monorail service as of August 1st.  Extra boat and bus service will be available at both parks to help with Extra Magic Hour traffic.

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Disney Artistry Comes to Life at New Resort and Fantasyland Expansion

by Sherry B. (NDM#393) | @sherryboswell | Published: Thursday, July 7, 2011

Courtesy of Disney website

Squeal! Imagine my excitement at the announcement of the new Art of Animation Resort, making its official debut in October 2012. OK, so for now, all we have are artist renderings of what it will look like, but I’m pumped! Hmm, I sense a need for an upcoming blog report on the Art of Animation Resort as reviewed by the DDL’s Fine Arts Blogger. Anyone else see the connection besides me? (Notice my jockeying for position to review this resort and it’s not going to be open for another year). Oh well, can’t blame me. After all, the concept and theming for this resort sound like a winner. The inspiration for the rooms and suites? Why, only some of the most beloved Disney movies of all time…The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Cars.

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CROFTON PROMOTED; WEISS JOB ELIMINATED

by Jessica C. (NDI#21) | @lady_aurora | Published: Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Photo Credit: Jess Clawson

The Orlando Sentinel reported yesterday that Tom Staggs, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman, has given the newly created job of President of Operations for the U.S. and France to current Walt Disney World president, Meg Crofton.  This position was created after a retirement announcement by Al Weiss two weeks ago.  In order to bring about the new “One Disney” initiative, Weiss’ position was eliminated in favor of a two person approach for the same position.  Instead of one person in charge of all six Disney parks, Crofton will be in charge of Walt Disney World, Disneyland in California and Disneyland Paris and Bill Ernest will stay in charge of the Disney parks in Asia, including Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland and the newest Disney park, Shanghi Disneyland, currently in construction.

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WEISS ANNOUNCES HIS RETIREMENT

by Jessica C. (NDI#21) | @lady_aurora | Published: Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Copyright: Disney

Al Weiss, the president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts announced today that he will be retiring as of November 1st of this year.

Weiss’ Disney career has spanned nearly 39 years, beginning as a teenager working in Walt Disney World. He progressed in the company, eventually becoming head of the Walt Disney World resort and, since 2005, head of all of the Disney parks throughout the world.

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JOHN LASSETER DRIVES CARS 2 AROUND THE WORLD

by John M. (NDD#172) | Published: Monday, June 20, 2011

Photo Credit: Disney

John Lasseter grew up around cars.  His father, Paul, was a parts manager at the local Chevrolet dealership in Whittier, a small town in Southern California about 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles.  As a young man working weekends and summers, John would help his father count parts for inventory.  Eventually, he worked his way up through the dealership and became a parts delivery boy.

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DEAR BOB IGER…

by Mark J. (NDD#102) | Published: Wednesday, June 15, 2011

. . . I’ve been meaning to write you for some time. As a Disney shareholder, I want to pass along an idea that I feel will add to Disney’s profits to the shareholders while also providing more value to Disney’s loyal customers.

There was a time when Disney re-released its animated features to the theaters every seven years or so in order that a new generation of children could experience these classics. This practice ended shortly after VCRs and other home video players became popular. The feeling was that since the movies were available to watch in one’s home, releasing the movies in the theaters wouldn’t generate enough revenue to be worth the effort. However, I disagree and humbly suggest that the Walt Disney Company renew this practice and begin re-releasing its library of animated classics into theaters.

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THIS WEEK’S NEWS

by Jessica C. (NDI#21) | @lady_aurora | Published: Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Copyright Disney

Here are your big Disney headlines for the last few days:

Ticket Price Upgrade – Disney has announced prices and packages for 2012 and, while there are price increases that are already in effect, there are still options to help you save money while you are vacationing in Disney. Click here to see the pricing for Walt Disney World or here for the Disneyland pricing information.

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JUST GRAB ‘EM AND GO!

by Molly B. (NDM#398) | @realdisneymom | Published: Monday, June 13, 2011

Photo Credit: www.disneyjunior.com

Ahoy! Summer is upon us and as the mother of two very rambunctious little boys, I am always looking for activities that will engage and calm them down for a few precious moments during our long days! As a family who leads a Disney Lifestyle, I can bet that I will grab my little munchkins attention if I wave a Disney related activity in front of them! My boys absolute favorite show on television right now is Jake and the Neverland Pirates, so you can imagine my excitement when I learned that Disney Junior is launching a programming event specifically for this show!

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THIS WEEK IN THE NEWS

by Jessica C. (NDI#21) | @lady_aurora | Published: Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Photo Credit: Jess Clawson

Here are a few news stories that have been highlighted so far this week in the Disney world:

Disney fans are saddened by the passing of not one, but two Disney legends over the weekend and these two Legends worked side by side for years.  Wally Boag and Betty Taylor, both former cast members at Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe Revue, passed away this past weekend.  Boag was 90 and Taylor was 91.

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DISNEY FILES, THEN WITHDRAWS, TRADEMARK APPLICATION FOR “SEAL TEAM 6”

by John M. (NDD#172) | Published: Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The gravity of the event had not yet fully sunk in. Families of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks were just beginning to grasp the reality that, after 10 long years, the loss of their loved ones had been avenged. It was just two days after the raid on Osama Bin Laden’s Pakistani compound and the country was still trying to make sense of the mission—how it would affect our national psyche and what it would mean to our long-term fight against terrorism.

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FANTASYLAND EXPANSION UPDATE

by Jessica C. (NDI#21) | @lady_aurora | Published: Sunday, June 5, 2011

Smiling in front of concept art! Photo Credit: Chris Reid

Information on the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland Expansion was released recently during the re-opening of Star Tours and fans are brimming with excitement.  For months, the only way fans were able to get any information about the expansion’s progress was from riding the Dumbo attraction and trying to catch a glimpse of the work.  Now Disney has announced more details of what is really going on behind those walls.

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DISCOVER A FANTASY ON THE DISNEY FANTASY

by Jessica C. (NDI#21) | @lady_aurora | Published: Monday, May 30, 2011

Copyright: Disney

With all of the news that came out recently from the parks, let’s not forget the newest news from Disney Cruise Line,  the details for the newest addition, Disney Fantasy.

To the excitement of many at the official announcement, Disney Fantasy will feature some of the much loved features of its sister ship, Disney Dream, including the AquaDuck, Magical Portholes and Enchanted Art. It was made clear though that these ships are merely sisters, not twins, as Disney Fantasy will have several new features all its own.

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TIKI ROOM: UNDER OLD MANAGEMENT

by Jessica C. (NDI#21) | @lady_aurora | Published: Sunday, May 22, 2011

Picture Credit: Disney Parks Blog

It was announced last week at D23’s Destination D that the “Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management” would be closed permanently and reopened as simply “Enchanted Tiki Room”.

The “Under New Management” version, which was closed suddenly in January after a fire in the structure, is currently being remade to be reminiscent of the original show from when the park opened in 1971, then called “Tropical Serenade.”  All of the classic characters will still be featured, including Pierre and Jose.  Whether Zazu and Iago will be seen at all is unclear, details have not been announced.  What is known is that it will be similar, but not exactly like the original version of the show.  Whatever Disney does, it is sure to include references to some classic lines just as the show always has.

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NOT-SO-SCARY DATES FOR 2011

by Jessica C. (NDI#21) | @lady_aurora | Published: Sunday, May 15, 2011

Photo Credit: Gene Duncan

Disney has announced the dates for this year’s “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party” in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.  This party, which costs extra, occurs every year around the fall and Halloween season and brings out a spooky, but not frightening side of the Magic Kingdom.  Guests dressed in costumes can trick-or-treat around the Magic Kingdom, ride some open attractions and are able to view a special stage show, parade and fireworks extravaganza!

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STAR WARS WEEKEND LINEUP 2011

by Jessica C. (NDI#21) | @lady_aurora | Published: Monday, May 9, 2011

Photo Credit: Chris Reid

Disney has released the line-up of guests coming to Hollywood Studios for this year’s Star Wars Weekends.  Every year for 4 weekends, Hollywood Studios is host to some out-of-this-world creatures from the classic films.  This year is no different and will start the weekend of May 20th.

Here is this year’s lineup, courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel:

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STAR TOURS 2 LIVE

by JL Knopp (NDM#1) | @jlknopp1 | Published: Tuesday, May 3, 2011

If there’s a new attraction that has a lot of buzz lately it’s Star Tours 2, the highly anticipated prequel to the original Star Tours attraction.  The new ride debuts on May 20th at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and June 3rd in Disneyland but what exactly does Star Tours 2 entail? What’s new with this ride? What can we expect?

First and foremost, the ride system for Star Tours 2 will be all new.  The simulators are being enhanced to offer six axises of movement and the ride will be in 3D.  To make things even more enticing, the film you see will be completely random, meaning when you ride at park opening, you’ll see one trip but come ride again and you’ll see something completely different.  Disney promises 54 possible destinations and this means there’s lot of great re-rideability built into this ride.

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AULANI, FROM THE GROUND UP!

by Natalie H. (NDM#268) | Published: Sunday, May 1, 2011

I know many of you are excited to experience the new Disney Vacation Club Resort.  There has been a great deal accomplished in the building of the resort.  Here is a short video to bring you up to speed, so to speak:

As details unfold, I will help keep you informed!

Contributed by: Natalie Henley (NDM#268) Natalie is the DDL Resort Blogger. She is also the creator of Meet the Magic.

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NEW RESORT ROOM THEMES

by Jessica C. (NDI#21) | @lady_aurora | Published: Sunday, May 1, 2011

Photo Credit: Jess Clawson

Last week, the Orlando Sentinel released an article stating that there will be even more themed rooms to choose from on Disney property! Disney has announced that they will soon begin transforming a little over 500 rooms on the Port Orleans Riverside property to “Royal Rooms”.  These rooms, supposedly used by the princesses themselves when they come to Walt Disney World for vacation, will have fixtures and decorations that are themed around different princesses, including those from The Princess and the Frog, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.  This idea is similar to that of the already popular Pirate-themed rooms in Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and comes after a survey that Disney issued early last fall asking what kind of themed rooms resort would interest guests.  These rooms are said to be ready by February or March of 2012, just a few months before the opening of the first phases of the Art of Animation resort.

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WHO ARE YOU TAKING TO PROM?

by John M. (NDD#172) | Published: Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Photo Credit: Disney

I had no idea my high school prom had impacted my entire life. Other than a fair amount of mocking by my kids after they accidentally saw pictures of me in my powder blue tuxedo and platform shoes, I’ve never given my prom a second thought. But with the release of Disney’s new movie, Prom, perhaps I should. Is it possible that prom choices made more than 30 years ago have altered the course of my life?

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