Photo Credit: Ayefour Publishing
Four Decades of Magic: Celebrating the First Forty Years of Disney World: a collection of essays, Compiled by Chad Denver Emerson, Ayefour Publishing, 2011, 379 pp.
Amid the pomp and circumstance certain to be part of the Walt Disney World 40th Anniversary celebration, what will likely be ignored is any reference to the Walt Disney World that never was.
Photo Credit: Jess Clawson
This year’s D23 Expo came to a close Sunday night rather quietly, much like the entire, relatively uneventful weekend.
Friday opened with the Disney Legends Ceremony and big cheers from the Disney fans. A big highlight was the voice of the princesses singing songs from their movies.
Friday afternoon was much less well received as there was no large announcements at the Parks and Resorts presentation as many expected. Among the discussed topics were the Fantasyland Expansion, Aulani, Carsland, Tangled coming to Disneyland’s Fantasyland and the Snow White Mine Train coaster being built in Fantasyland. Fans were furious because they expected big news just as was announced two years ago, but due to the economy and number of projects Disney already has under way, this lack of announcements comes as no surprise for some.
Image Copyright: Disney
Grab your wallet (Disney Dooney of course) and your lanyard because once again lucky D23 Members have been invited for a day of shopping, signing, and trading at the exclusive Imagineering Boutique, Mickey’s of Glendale.
This past weekend I was listening to the incredible Betamouse Podcast, http://betamouse.net/, episode #37 Betapotter. At the beginning of the show, the Betamouse Team discussed Nate Parrish’s recent knee surgery. Their conversation got me thinking, if I needed to have surgery would I be better off with a medical doctor or an Imagineer performing the procedure?
I pondered this question for a few minutes. I thought about all the excellent surgeons we have here in the United States and across the globe. I thought of all the advancements in science and medicine over the last few years. Then I thought about the Disney Imagineers, both their imagination and their innoventions. I thought of the advancements in Animatronics since they first appeared and how lifelike they have become. I looked at their track record, and I said to myself, “Hands down I want a Disney Imagineer to operate on me!”
Late last week, the Disney Parks Blog posted about a couple changes being made to Magic Kingdom in the near future. There were two things announced and it’s one of those something old and something new situations
First change is the something old; it is old news that “it’s a small world” is under refurbishment now until October 22nd. The announced changes include bringing back the old style of queue that the attraction had prior to the 2004-2005 refurbishment. The Imagineers have said that there are no plans during this refurbishment to put Disney characters in the attraction, as seen in other Disney parks.
It was a beautiful, sunny spring day. The temperature was in the low 70’s, the birds were chirping, there were green leaves on the trees and the flowers were starting to blossom. There was also a small breeze, the kind you only get in the spring. What a gorgeous day in New Jersey.
Except for one thing.