FIREWORKS, CAMERA, ACTION!: Fireworks light up the sky above Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Todd Anderson, photographer
Themed Entertainment Association names Disney’s Rick Rothschild President-elect
“I welcome the opportunity that the International Board of the Themed Entertainment Association(TEA) has extended in selecting me as President for the upcoming year,” says Rick Rothschild, founder and chief creative officer of FAR OUT! Creative Direction. “For TEA, serving the global community of those who create compelling guest experiences and places, this next year is significant as it leads up to the 20th anniversary of TEA’s founding. I look forward to leading the TEA International Board in its efforts, to building on the legacy of the past two decades, and to helping plan the next 20 years – as we look towards continued growth and improvement of benefits for the members of this important and unique association.”
Creative plus technical expertise; museum plus theme park experience a former creative executive with and current consultant to Walt Disney Imagineering, Rothschild’s projects include directing the creation of Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, and bringing back the Captain EO attraction. Blending a unique set of entertainment skills developed over 40 years of experience in the world of theater, Disney theme parks, media and museums, Rick Rothschild brings a deep technical knowledge together with a strong creative perspective to provide both vision and direction to any project.
Rothschild is also part of Global Immersion’s creative technology team supporting the development of unique planetarium and immersive theater experiences worldwide. Along with the responsibility of creatively directing and producing over 25 separate Disney attractions during a 30-year tenure as a creative executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, Rick led and participated in a variety of concept development teams that explored new attractions, complete theme parks and other resort, recreation and immersive experience related business lines. His work at Disney also included consulting with a number of prestigious museums and institutions around the United States.
“Rick Rothschild’s background with entertainment and education projects alike, and his understanding of both creative design and tech design enable him to effectively address the needs of museums along with theme parks and to speak to all TEA membership and market sectors,” says sitting TEA president Steven J. Thorburn PE, of Thorburn Associates Inc.. “Rick Rothschild has all the ‘right stuff’ to take the Themed Entertainment Association and the business communities it serves into the new, post-recession global commerce environment: creative dynamism, innovative spirit, leadership quality plus rich experience and a long line of successes at the epicenter of our industry. I look forward to passing Rick the gavel in established TEA tradition this November, when TEA convenes at the IAAPA Attractions Expo.”
About TEA
The TEA (Themed Entertainment Association) is an international nonprofit alliance founded in 1991 and based in Burbank, Calif. TEA represents some 7,000 creative specialists, from architects to designers, technical specialists to master planners, scenic fabricators to artists, and builders to feasibility analysts working in more than 650 firms in 30 US states and 40 different countries. TEA presents the annual Thea Awards and the TEA Summit and hosts the annual SATE conference (Story, Architecture, Technology, Experience) held this year in Orlando Sept 30-Oct 1. TEA also produces a variety of print and electronic publications, including the TEA/AECOM Theme Index, TEA Project Development Guidelines, and TEA Annual & Directory. Visit teaconnect.org.
Visit TEA on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Fun Facts about Disney’s Blizzard Beach
WHAT IT IS: Blizzard Beach is a 66-acre themed water recreation attraction — inspired by the mythology of a snow ski resort that didn’t exactly find a suitable climate in Florida!
LOCATION: Disney’s Animal Kingdom resort area between Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort and Disney’s All-Star Resorts at Buena Vista Drive/Osceola Parkway intersection — Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
ACCESS: Vehicle parking lot is located off of Buena Vista Drive and is next to park entrance; buses operated from the Transportation and Ticket Center and Walt Disney World resort hotels.
OPENED: April 1, 1995
ATTRACTIONS:
- Mt. Gushmore: The snow-capped, 90-foot-high peak that is the park’s visual centerpiece, on top of which sits the platform “launch pad” for the park’s most-talked-about attraction, Summit Plummet.
- Summit Plummet: Thirty feet above the peak of Mt. Gushmore is the platform for a thrill ride that sends the daring on a high-speed adventure down a 350-foot slide. At 120 feet high and up to 55 mph, it is one of the world’s fastest free-fall water slides.
- Downhill Double Dipper: Side-by-side racing water slides that begin 50 feet high on the slopes of Mt. Gushmore and plunge riders along a hilly 200-foot-long course at up to 25 miles per hour.
- Slush Gusher: A double-humped water slide that drops guests through a snow-banked mountain gully from a start 90 feet up Mt. Gushmore (next to Summit Plummet).
- Teamboat Springs: The world’s longest family white-water raft ride takes six-passenger rafts down a twisting, 1,200-foot series of rushing water falls.
- Toboggan Racers: An eight-lane water slide that sends guests racing over exhilarating dips as they descend on a 250-foot course along the “snowy” slope.
- Snow Stormers: Three flumes descending from the top of the mountain and following a switchback course through ski-type slalom gates.
- Runoff Rapids: An inner tube run where guests can careen down three different twisting, turning flumes — one in the dark.
- Chair Lift: Wooden-bench chair lifts sporting colorful overhead umbrellas and snow skis on their underside, converted from ski-resort to beach-resort use, carry guests over the craggy face of Mt. Gushmore, from its base at the beach to its summit.
- Tike’s Peak: A kid-size version of Blizzard Beach for children ages 2 to 5 (under four feet tall), including scaled-down elements of Mt. Gushmore. In addition, this area features a snow-castle fountain play area.
- Melt-Away Bay: One-acre pool at the base of Mt. Gushmore and fed by “melting snow” waterfalls.
- Cross Country Creek: A lazy creek circling the entire park, carrying floating guests through a bone-chilling ice cave. Once inside the mysterious cave, guests will be splashed with the “melting” ice from overhead.
- Ski Patrol Training Camp: Designed for pre-teens with a T-bar drop, crinkle slide and a challenging ice-flow walk along slippery, floating icebergs. Cool Runners is the camp’s twin inner tube slide.
FACILITIES:
- Lottawatta Lodge (counter-service restaurant featuring burgers, sandwiches and salads)
- Polar Pub & Frostbite Freddie’s, Avalunch, Warming Hut, Cooling Hut and I.C. Expeditions (snack stand locations throughout the park offer hot dogs, nachos, chips, pretzels, frosty beverages and other tasty treats)
- Beachcomber Shacks and Polar Patios (premium shaded rental spaces include towels, locker, drink mugs, Adirondack seating, ice chest stocked with bottled water, service attendant)
- Locker rooms (dressing rooms, showers, locker rental, towel rental, life jacket rental)
- Beach Haus shop (bathing suits, towels, T-shirts, sunscreen and other beach essentials)
- Snowless Joe’s (photo pickup, sundries)
- Shade Shack (sunglasses and accessories)
- Picnic areas (picnicking is permitted but no alcohol or glass containers can be brought into the park)
INFORMATION:
Guests may call 407/824-4321 or visit disneyworld.com
Downtown Disney location shuts down
This article comes to us from Sarah Tully at the OC Register
A caricature stand next month will temporarily take the place of a custom skateboard kiosk, which recently closed in Downtown Disney.
The Board Factory, which allowed visitors to design their own skateboards, closed Aug. 9 after about seven months. The large kiosk near the Monorail entrance opened in December around the holiday season.
“The diversity of carts and kiosks at Downtown Disney allows us the flexibility to provide our guests with unique experiences while testing new concepts,” said Betsy Sanchez, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman, in a prepared statement. “We have enjoyed a positive relationship with The Board Factory and look forward to future opportunities to work together.”
Disney is looking for a permanent replacement, Sanchez said last week. In the meantime, caricature artists are scheduled to set up at the spot in early September.
Click here to keep reading.
Photo credit Sarah Tully
Halloween Time Returns Sept. 17 as Disney Villains Transform Disneyland Resort for the Season
Disney villains will invade Disneyland park along with Mickey Mouse and his friends in Halloween costumes when Halloween Time returns to Disneyland Resort Sept. 17 through Oct. 31. Highlights of the Disneyland Halloween season include the return of Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy – the thrillingly “haunted” version of the popular Tomorrowland attraction – and the longtime favorite Haunted Mansion Holiday, in which Halloween and Christmas collide for an attraction inspired by “Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas.” Guests will also enjoy the new, nighttime water spectacular “World of Color,” performing nightly at Disney California Adventure park.
Halloween Time offers families a chance to enjoy seasonal attractions and decor, as well as interact with beloved Disney characters decked out in whimsical Halloween costumes. Guests will also experience spooky fun with Disney’s more sinister characters, the Disney Villains. In addition, the private-party celebration that has been so popular with guests will return for 10 special nights in October as Mickey’s Halloween Party.
Moving to Disneyland this year with a new name, Mickey’s Halloween Party is the separate-ticket event that invites adults and children to dress up in costume and trick-or-treat at the resort. This nighttime celebration is scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays in October (1, 5, 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, 26 and 29) plus Halloween night itself, Sunday, Oct. 31. Highlights include:
- Trick or Treating in the ultimate Disney neighborhood, with even more treats along “Mickey’s Hide-and-Go-Treat Trails”
- New dance parties – at Tomorrowland Terrace and the French Market
- The “Halloween Screams” fireworks spectacular, hosted by “Master of Scare-omonies” Jack Skellington (presented exclusively for guests of Mickey’s Halloween Party)
- New surprises in “Mickey’s Costume Party” cavalcade, performed twice nightly
- Character photo locations featuring Mickey and his pals, princesses and other favorites
- The opportunity to arrive three hours before the party starts to play in Disneyland
- Nearly all the favorite Disneyland rides and attractions
Tickets purchased in advance for Mickey’s Halloween Party are $49 most days, while tickets purchased on the event days are $54. For Oct. 31, all tickets to Mickey’s Halloween Party are $59.
Favorite Disney characters, including Mickey himself, will dress up in their favorite costumes. It’s the ideal environment to have fun, eat special holiday treats, play interactive games, listen to “spirited” music and watch a nightly character cavalcade that celebrates the season.
For Halloween fun at Disneyland, guests will enjoy Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy in Tomorrowland. The experience begins as a typical Space Mountain adventure, but suddenly launches voyagers into a haunted section of the universe. Ghosts appear out of the starry darkness and swirling galaxies of Space Mountain, reaching out as if to grab guests as they speed through space. The exhilarating drops and curves of the journey are punctuated by piercing screams, creepy sound effects and haunting music.
Jack Skellington also returns to take over the Haunted Mansion and bring back Haunted Mansion Holiday to New Orleans Square in Disneyland. Transformed to a mix of Halloween spookiness and Christmas tradition, Haunted Mansion Holiday is inspired by the classic animated film “Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas.” Jack and his friends provide plenty of havoc and surprises as they celebrate the holidays in their unusual style. Jack’s return to the Haunted Mansion includes the traditional Halloween/Christmas gingerbread house in the Mansion Ballroom, with some special spooky surprises in this year’s design.
Halloween Time offers frightfully delightful fun for children and adults.
- For spine-tingling fun, drop in at The Twilight Zone™ Tower of Terror at Disney California Adventure park, where a “supernatural” event happened on Halloween evening, 1939, forever haunting the building.
- Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland is transformed for the Pumpkin Festival. More than 300 pumpkins will be on display in shop windows and none of them are the same!
- Visitors to Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland will find ranch animals, pumpkin carvers, Halloween decor and activities for youngsters, all presided over by Sheriff Woody.
- Meeting Disney characters will be easier than ever as Disney villains gather to plot Halloween mischief at “it’s a small world” Mall in Disneyland, while other characters in spooky attire greet guests in Town Square, Main Street, U.S.A.
- Rancho del Zocalo in Frontierland will honor Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead with traditional skeleton figures on display Sept. 19 through Nov. 2.
- Special Halloween treats will be available in Disneyland, including menu items such as Zero’s Ghostly Ghoulash, served in a dog dish in honor of Zero.
- Halloween Time gifts are offered in Disneyland Resort shops. Gifts include jack-o-lantern mouse ears and collectable pins depicting Mickey Mouse and his friends in Halloween costumes.
For more information about Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort, see www.disneyland.com/halloween. This site will be updated with frightfully fun details.
Eagle Scout Earns Rank with Help from Disney Imagineers
With the goal of becoming an Eagle Scout within reach, Alex Skilling of Orlando Boy Scout Troop 498 recently enlisted the help of a few Walt Disney Imagineers to make a dream come true for Give Kids The World Village (GKTW). Recognizing the need for a walkway to the basketball courts at GKTW, Skilling set forth on a community service project with some VoluntEAR assistance.
“Walt Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney World Resort have a long-time relationship with Give Kids The World, so it seemed like an ideal opportunity to combine the community service of both the Boy Scouts Of America and VoluntEARS,” said Imagineer Tommy Byerly, who helped Skilling assemble a project team.
While Skilling had some experts on hand, he was responsible for complete oversight of the project.
Patio Rentals Now Available at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach
Guests at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon and Disney’s Blizzard Beach always have had a way to beat the heat: by taking the plunge into cooling waters. Now they also have a means to get out of the sun and just “chill” during a day at the two popular Walt Disney World water parks: Beachcomber Shacks and Polar Patios.
Available for a day-long rental, Shacks and Patios are premium spaces that put a roof or a large umbrella over guests’ heads, provide upscale Adirondack seating for relaxation, put beverages to quench a whole days’ thirsts at guests’ fingertips, and give them a service attendant who does the leg work if they want to purchase food from the a la carte menu.
The spaces – six at Blizzard Beach and seven at Typhoon Lagoon – accommodate six guests each and cost $250 ($150 for non-peak season) plus tax for the day rental, which includes towels, a locker, all-day drink mugs and an ice chest stocked with bottled water. Four additional guests can be added to the standard six at a charge of $25 per guest. Water park admission is not included. The spaces have been extremely popular and usually sell out within one hour of park opening. They can be reserved by calling 407/WDW-PLAY.
ABC’s Lost: The Complete Collection Releases today
For all those Die Hard fans of ABC’s Television Series “Lost”. The complete Lost Collection releases today on DVD & Bluray. The Bluray copy is jammed pack with all kinds of bonus content including:
• One full disc of never-before-seen content
• Special edition collectible Senet game as seen in Season 6
• Custom LOST island replica
• Exclusive episode guide
• Collectible ankh
• Black light
• Plus all episodes and 30+ hours of bonus from Seasons 1-6
• Special edition collectible Senet game as seen in Season 6
• Custom LOST island replica
• Exclusive episode guide
• Collectible ankh
• Black light
• Plus all episodes and 30+ hours of bonus from Seasons 1-6
So are you going to shell out the hefty $194 price tag? Let us know in the comment section below.
Good Eats – Riverbelle Terrace
Experience down-home Southern hospitality while enjoying a hearty meal amidst the graceful elegance of ornate wrought iron rails and shade-bearing umbrellas. Once the cherished Sunday morning breakfast locale of Walt Disney himself, this stately restaurant remains a sentimental favourite for classic breakfast fare, as well as hearty and healthful specialties for lunch and dinner.
Breakfast menu items include:
- Fluffy “Mickey Mouse”-shaped pancakes
- Scrambled eggs with country-style potatoes
- Fruit plate of the season’s most refreshing selections
- Sides such as bacon, sausage, cinnamon rolls and more
Lunch and dinner menu items include:
- Signature Sandwiches, featuring roast new york, turkey breast, barbecued pork, or savory vegetable
- Bountiful entrée salads, with roast new york, turkey breast, or a harvest of vegetables
Children’s menu items include:
- “Little Carver” prime rib, turkey, or PB & J sandwich
Disney Food Confession – Mmm Mickey Mouse Pancakes
Where is it? Riverbelle Terrace, Disneyland Park
What is it? Pancakes in the shape of our favorite Disney character Mickey Mouse!
Why you want it? Almost to pretty to eat..
Photo Credit: by Disney
If you have a Disney Food Confession email [email protected] or let us know on the Disney Food Confessions Facebook page.. He is accepting Food ideas or Photos if you have them!
Knicks Amar’e Stoudemire Creates His Own “Big Apple” at Walt Disney World Resort
New York Knicks free-agent signee Amar’e Stoudemire spent Monday having fun with his family at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando. Stoudemire took time out to work with Disney cast members to create several Mickey Mouse-style candy apples in the Knicks’ orange and blue team colors, and also tossed a basketball around with Mickey Mouse.
Stoudemire grew up in Orlando and competed in the AAU National Basketball Championships at ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World Resort when he was a teenager. More recently, Stoudemire sponsored an AAU team that has regularly competes in the AAU National Basketball Championships at Disney.
More on Changes to the Fantasyland Expansion.
Cinderella’s Chateau is rumored to be on the chopping block.
Copyright Disney World.
Before you proceed any further, I just want to caution that what follows is mainly the product of the internet gossip mill, so take it all with a huge grain of salt.
You may have been following the news of the Fantasyland expansion over in the Magic Kingdom, but if you haven’t been, it essentially involves turning one large area in the northern part of the park into Princess Central. There are also plans to take out Mickey’s Toontown Fair and replace it with a Pixie Hollow meet and greet, two Dumbo rides, and re-themed Goofy’s Barnstormer. In the last weeks however, Disney publicly stated that some of that will change, clearly due to fears that the original plans appealed mainly to a very small demographic. Disney hasn’t specifically said what those changes are yet, but the most credible rumor up until now is that Pixie Hollow is out.
Sorry ladies. It’s not you, it’s us.
Just recently however, the rumor mill started churning from some pretty credible sources that the Sleeping Beauty’s cottage and Cinderella’s castle, both souped up meet and greets with entertainment and audience participation, are being replaced with plans for a Snow White themed roller coaster. Think something slightly less adventurous than Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Is this credible? Well, many Disney fans would love it, which may be why the rumor is so popular. When the initial Fantasyland Expansion plans came out at last year’s D23 Expo, it was rumored that Goofy’s Barnstormer would be re-themed along those lines and from what I could tell, it was one of the most well-received elements of the expansion. So maybe. But so far there’s nothing official out of Disney.
The other rumor is that the area that Toontown currently occupies will be getting the full circus treatment, something I personally don’t get given that most kids have never seen Dumbo and seem to care very little about circuses. The Little Mermaid ride will definitely stay (we know there have been permits pulled, for example) as will the Beauty and the Beast elements.
Artists rendering of the Little Mermaid attraction.
Copyright Disney World.
Again, all of this is just speculation. All we know for certain is that some elements of the expansion are being replaced. Personally, I can’t imagine a better addition to the expansion than an E-ticket attraction representing Disney’s first full-length animated film, Snow White.