From Expanded Cruise Itineraries and Limited Time Magic, To Splashy Water Thrills and Rejuvenating Retreats, Summer 2013 Turns Up the Heat with Vacation Fun at Walt Disney World Resort
Summer 2013 sizzles with exciting new attractions and events at Walt Disney World Resort. Disney Cruise Line returns to Europe with an expanded portfolio of Mediterranean cruises, while Saratoga Springs Resort reopens the doors to a luxurious new spa. Disney’s “Limited Time Magic” hits full-stride this summer. Plus, Star Wars Weekends let guests release their inner Jedi, and there’s water park fun for the whole family. Here’s what’s in store.
Magical experiences in all shapes and sizes that appear and disappear as the next special surprise debuts will continue with a weeklong Independence Day celebration highlighting the summer season — all part of Limited Time Magic at Disney Parks.
Independence Week: It’s red, white and blue as Disney Parks salutes America with a 4th of July Fireworks Party — for an entire week, with patriotic lighting bathing the Disney castles on both coasts. Mickey Mouse appears in his patriotic finest and guests will find special USA shirts, Ear Hats and other limited-edition souvenirs.
Guests will enjoy an extra dash of pixie dust each week in 2013 when they visit Walt Disney World whether it’s a meet and greet with rarely seen Disney characters, A Chalk Art Festival or a special salute to Father’s Day — the element of surprise enhances the experience.
A second family has come forward with allegations that a Disneyland character ignored their children because of their race.
The White family was visiting Disneylandfor their 2-year old’s birthday in December when they claim that their 5-year old son Razzi was discriminated against by the cast member portraying Donald Duck. Razzi’s mother Natasia White said the boy walked within a few feet of Donald Duck when the costume character made a deliberate move away from him and went to play with a baby in a stroller. She then alleges they waited in line for a photo with Donald and asked the Duck twice for a photo but the castmember went up to a white girl near a bench and hugged her. After three minutes of waiting they left in frustration. White said she complained and was sent a letter offering front of the line passes to alleviate her “disappointment”.
This story follow up another story of a Spring Valley family who have filed suit earlier this week alleging discrimination after they claim that their family was brushed off by the White Rabbit in lieu of hugging white and Asian children. That family’s attorney, Dan Gilleon, has also been hired by the White family.
Disney has not confirmed whether the two incidents involve two employees playing different characters, but officials said they were surprised by this story because the original complaint had no mention of discrimination, just a child being ignored.
A’S” GAMES HAVE THE LIARS ALL RUNNING SCARED IN AN ALL NEW EPISODE OF “PRETTY LITTLE LIARS,” AIRING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26th AT 8:00 PM ET/PT ON ABC FAMILY
The PLLs are looking for answers in all of the wrong places in “Out of Sight, Out of Mind,” an all new episode of ABC Family’s hit original series “Pretty Little Liars,” airing Tuesday, February 26th (8:00 – 9:00 PM ET/PT).
Spencer is finally ready to talk, but Emily is not so ready to accept what she has to say. Will she heed Spencer’s warnings or will Emily go off to find her own answers down a path “A” has designed for her? Hanna, on the other hand, is preoccupied with helping her mother after Ashley is involved in a hit-n-run accident. Now having a new secret to hide, Hanna wonders if “A” had something to do with it after all. With Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer are now really afraid does “A” have them right where they want them?
Meanwhile, Aria has to come to terms with Ezra’s new life with Malcolm.
“Pretty Little Liars” is produced by Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television and is executive produced by I. Marlene King, Oliver Goldstick, Leslie Morgenstein and Joseph Dougherty. The series stars Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Tyler Blackburn, Holly Marie Combs, Lucy Hale, Ian Harding, Laura Leighton, Chad Lowe, Shay Mitchell, Janel Parrish and Sasha Pieterse.
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” is wrapping up season 5 with an epic four-part finale that will no doubt be some of the best – if not THE BEST Clone Wars episodes ever released.
Yahoo! TV has an exclusive trailer that Star Wars fans have been eating up. Even if you haven’t seen every episode of this amazing series I believe EVERY FAN can join in from this point and get hooked. For those of us like me who has seen the show blossom over the past five seasons there looks to be a lot of things going on with our main characters that point to where the rest of the show’s direction for the next few season leading up the “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.”
From the creators of “Grey’s Anatomy” comes the sixth and final season of ABC’s emotional, sexy medical drama, “Private Practice.”
Addison and the practice are faced with challenges, joys and heartaches when loved ones are lost and new life begins. The team at Seaside Health and Wellness have gathered together for the final round of laughter, tears and unexpected moments in the most no holds barred season yet.
One of the best stores (in my opinion) at Walt Disney World is the Art of Disney Store. It is full of beautiful paintings, lithographs, posters, hand drawings, watches, Lenox figurines, the list seems almost endless. It’s a great place to find that unique souvenir if you don’t want another t-shirt, set of mouse ears, or you’ve already ordered your Chip and Co. t-shirt to be waiting for you at home.
The main store is located in Downtown Disney Marketplace close to the parking lot with another store located in Epcot to the right of Spaceship Earth. To commemorate my son’s first trip to WDW we bought him a hand drawn, pencil sketch to hang in his room and it was reasonably priced for what it was. We have also purchased quite a few presents from there for other people, various Lenox Disney figurines, Tinkerbell painting, and posters.
They will ship straight to the gift receiver or to your house. Shipping anything from Disney, to me, is a wonderful idea. Saves on space in my suitcase and they guarantee its safe delivery.
Next time you are wandering around Downtown Disney or Epcot stop in, but be prepared to spend some time. The artwork is amazing, the figurines fun to look at and the prices are sometimes easy to swallow.
Chips Tips: You can find additional Disney art in the Main Street Gallery at Magic Kingdom and the Animation Gallery at Hollywood Studios.
As we all know, one of the best things about Disney World is the option to dine with the characters. This is a great way to see some of your favorite stars and have a really nice interaction with them that isn’t very rushed! Recently I dined at two popular character locations: 1900 Park Fare and The Garden Grill. What follows is my reviews of these restaurants. I am going to warn you that the content of this article may not be suitable for younger readers as it contains a few spoilers!
1900 Park Fare is a buffet style meal that takes place in The Grand Floridian. During Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner you will get to choose from a variety of foods including their famed chilled strawberry soup. The meal was ok. I enjoyed the prime rib and the chicken marsala. Dessert offerings were standard Disney sweets such as rice krispy treats, bread pudding and cookies. I thought the meal was decent but not as good as other similar character meals. It was not one of my favorite dining choices.
Will the real Cinderella please step forward!
In terms of characters I was a little…what is the word I want here…shocked. Cinderella did not remotely look the way she did in the movie. To me she looked like any other girl who had visited the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique complete with slightly messy hair! I have seen Cinderella many times before and on this particular evening she just didn’t look herself. Lady Tremaine looked awfully young as well, Perhaps she has a new skin care regiment that she would like to share with us. Both ladies were very fun and entertaining so I was happy about that, but the step sisters stole the show. Not only did they look exactly how I remembered them looking, but they were so funny and offered spectacular interactions! I do want to be clear, though, that all the little princesses at the restaurant seemed none the wiser about Cinderellas appearance!
This restaurant is located in The Land Pavilion in Epcot. Here you are served an all you can eat family style meal. This means that the waiters deliver as much as you care to enjoy of the dishes they serve! These dishes include a salad, bread with maple butter, turkey with stuffing, roast beef with mashed potatoes, and the fish of the day with a vegetable. Honestly, they could have just kept the bread, butter, and salad coming and I would have thought it the best meal of my trip. That butter is remarkable! The roast beef was also delicious. The turkey and stuffing was only ok, and if I had ordered it off a menu as my only entree I would have been disappointed. I cannot in good faith tell you about the fish. You see, I am from Cape Cod where some of the best seafood in the world can be found. For this reason I just cannot eat fish anywhere else. I know it’s crazy, but when you have the most fresh and delicious seafood at your fingertips year round and can eat it while looking at the ocean it was pulled from, you really don’t want it any other way. Dessert was a warm berry cobbler with whipped cream. It was so yummy!
The restaurant itself actually rotates and you can see different scenes from the Living with the Land ride! That is really cool. In terms of the characters this was one of the best interactions I have had! Mickey, Chip, Dale, and Pluto all visited our table not once, but twice! Mickey even sat down with us for a while and Dale stole our bread! This is a great chance to get some excellent photos with the characters!
Star Wars Weekends, the Force-filled, fun-fest that takes place annually at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, returns to the Walt Disney World Resort galaxy every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 17-June 9, 2013.
A celebration of all-things-Star Wars, the special event is included in regular park admission to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Among the features: a special Star Wars-themed parade, appearances by Star Wars celebrities, special additions to Jedi Training Academy, a Star Wars-themed talk show, behind-the-scenes presentations, limited-edition merchandise, a nightly celebration and more. The centerpiece of the celebration is Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, the immersive 3-D attraction that speeds guests through worlds featured in the Star Wars saga.
Also showcased at the event: the largest collection of official Star Wars characters gathered at any theme park in the world, roaming the areas and posing for meet-and-greet opportunities in front of themed scenery.
Magical experiences in all shapes and sizes that appear and disappear as the next special surprise debuts will continue with a weeklong Independence Day celebration highlighting the summer season — all part of Limited Time Magic at Disney Parks.
Independence Week: It’s red, white and blue as Disney Parks salutes America with a 4th of July Fireworks Party — for an entire week, with patriotic lighting bathing the Disney castles on both coasts. Mickey Mouse appears in his patriotic finest and guests will find special USA shirts, Ear Hats and other limited-edition souvenirs.
Guests will enjoy an extra dash of pixie dust each week in 2013 when they visit Walt Disney World whether it’s a meet and greet with rarely seen Disney characters, A Chalk Art Festival or a special salute to Father’s Day — the element of surprise enhances the experience.
Limited Time Magic was inspired by the reality that many of life’s most cherished memories are made during those special, but fleeting moments when families spend time together with shared experiences.
Disney dream makers are crafting more surprises and magical offers that will be rolled out weekly during the magical year. The experience of the week will be announced in a variety of ways including in-park, Disneyworld.com, Disneyland.com, Facebook, Twitter, the Disney Parks Blog – adding to the element of surprise.
For more information about Limited Time Magic, guests should visit www.disneyparks.com.
DAPHNE AND TRAVIS’ FALLING OUT HAS A DOMINO EFFECT ON AN ALL NEW EPISODE OF “SWITCHED AT BIRTH,” AIRING MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18 AT 8:00 ET/PT ON ABC FAMILY
Zoey Deutch, Lea Thompson’s Real Life Daughter, Guest Stars
A “Switched at Birth” Catch-Up Marathon Airs That Day From 2:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET/PT
A decision sets off a chain of events on an all new episode of “Switched at Birth,” airing Monday, February 18 at 8:00PM ET/PT on ABC Family. A six part catch-up marathon airs first, starting at 2:00PM ET/PT.
In “Drive in the Knife,” Daphne and Travis (guest star Ryan Lane) have a falling out that sets off a series of events that neither of them saw coming. Bay and Noah’s (guest star Max Lloyd-Jones) relationship blossoms, but Emmett won’t give up without a fight.
Meanwhile, Toby meets a new girl at his father’s campaign headquarters. Zoey Deutch (“Beautiful Creatures,” “Ringer”) guest stars as Elisa, a volunteer with a secret agenda.
“Switched at Birth” is executive-produced by Lizzy Weiss (“Blue Crush”), Paul Stupin (“Make It or Break It”), Becky Hartman Edwards (“Parenthood”) and John Ziffren (“Melissa & Joey,” “Make It or Break It”). The series stars Katie Leclerc as Daphne Vasquez; Vanessa Marano (“Gilmore Girls”) as Bay Kennish; Constance Marie (“George Lopez”) as Regina Vasquez; D.W. Moffett (“Friday Night Lights”) as John Kennish; Lea Thompson (“Back to the Future,” “Caroline in the City”) as Kathryn Kennish; Lucas Grabeel (“High School Musical”) as Toby Kennish; Sean Berdy as Emmett Bledsoe; and Gilles Marini (“Brothers and Sisters”) as Angelo Sorrento with guest star Marlee Matlin (“The West Wing”).
Related articles
The Awakening Conscience strikes on an all new episode of Switched At Birth on ABC Family (chipandco.com)
MABEL JUMPS AT THE CHANCE TO RUN THE SHACK IN AN ALL-NEW EPISODE OF “GRAVITY FALLS,” FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15 ON DISNEY CHANNEL
“Boss Mabel” – When Mabel questions the way Stan runs the Shack, he challenges her to a bet – whoever can make the most money in three days wins the chance to run the Shack however they wish to for the rest of the summer. Mabel takes the bet and implements a new bossing method that coddles her employees and gives them the freedom to follow their hopes and dreams. Unfortunately, the results are not as expected and Mabel finds herself just trying to get back some normalcy. Meanwhile, Grunkle Stan sets off to win big money on a television game show, in a new episode of “Gravity Falls” premiering FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15 (9:00 – 9:30 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel.
I am loving the Disney iPad apps-especially this new storybook one-Dug. I feel like there are a lot of Disney movies that don’t get the love they deserve. UP is one of them! It’s such a heartwarming love story, and Dug the dog is as cute as can be. He makes his appearance {squirrel} in this new Dug Disney Storybook app available for iPad on the App Store.
As soon as you start up the Disney Storybook App, you’re eye to eye with Dug. His cute little tail is just wagging along to the whistling music. And, he immediately says he loves you! How sweet! Here is what I love about My Name is Dug:
Whimsical, water color like illlustrations
The options are Read to Me or Read it Myself, making it adaptable for pre readers and parents.
Easy, short text on the pages helps the story move along quickly.
Dug is following a bird through the story, and it’s marked by his sniffing trail. So cute!
You can easily add a bookmark to pick up where you left off.
An easy, fun way to introduce your children to other Disney characters.
We are always looking for ways to bring the Disney magic into our house…and in this case take it along with us. Having Disney Storybook Apps on our iPads makes it easy to keep our preschooler entertained, while learning. I highly recommend the Dug Storybook App for the iPad.
Magically Yours,
Carrie
Carrie writes here on Chip and Co, where she shares her love of Disney with planning tips and tricks. She also writes on My Favorite Finds, where you’ll find Disney travel tips, crafts, recipes, and lots of joy!
