Chef Robert Irvine Cooking “Dinner:Impossible” in Epcot?

By

-

February 11, 2010

Wow sounds like a lot of fun and interesting things going on at Disneyworld the past few days. AJ from the Disney Food Blog is reporting about one of my favorite Food Network Chef’s running around Epcot:

Chef Robert Irvine from Food Network’s Dinner:Impossible is running around the World Showcase today with a team of Disney volunteers. What are they doing? Looking for food! Chef Irvine, it’s been reported, will be cooking our Give a Day, Get a Disney Day media event dinner tonight!

Stay tuned for photos of the food. For now, here’s a few pics of Chef Irvine headed around Epcot and getting to work in his kitchen.

Click here for more information and some more photos!

Photo from Disney Food Blog

World-Record Sculpture of Canned Goods at Walt Disney World

By

Chip

-

February 11, 2010

Walt Disney World Resort on Thursday unveiled a mammoth structure of canned goods food that will be donated to food banks in Orlando, Miami and Atlanta. Read more about it on our Disney News Blog: http://land.allears.net/blogs/dnews

World Record Attempt Will be Part of Volunteer Celebration at Walt Disney World

By

Chip

-

February 11, 2010

Disney Park Blog is celebrating the spirit of giving at Walt Disney World with a special event that’ll include an attempt at a world record – and you’ll be able to see it live. Since the launch of the “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program six weeks ago, an overwhelming number of volunteers have signed up to participate. Some of those superstar volunteers from across the nation will be featured at Thursday’s event, along with a few surprises.

The Volunteers Celebration is a closed event and we’re not yet sharing details of the world record attempt. But there will be a live stream of the announcement beginning at 9:58 A.M. EST at www.celebratevolunteers.com. We’ll also have an update on the blog Thursday.

Juicy Development Unveils Disneyland App at MacWorld 2010

By

Chip

-

February 11, 2010

iPhone app developer Juicy Development unveils Disneyland(R) app this week at San Francisco’s MacWorld 2010. The app for iPhone and iPod Touch, FastTrac(TM), for Disneyland cuts users’ waiting time for the park’s rides. Unlike other Disney apps, FastTrac creates a dynamic customized Disneyland(R) ride schedule for the FastTrac user. With this schedule, users can walk onto popular rides, like Indy and Splash Mountain(R), even during crowded times like spring break and Christmas. The FastTrac app was tested extensively in the middle of the park’s peak capacity times during spring break and Christmas break. Testers of the app found wait time was reduced significantly, with only a maximum of 10 minutes wait for the most popular of rides.

FastTrac(TM) employs a complex predictive algorithm that predicts the best time to ride each ride. This program also draws on historical data collected, and tips and tricks from Disney veterans with 30 years of park attendance experience. FastTrac(TM) pulls from millions of possible itinerary combinations to provide the user with the most accurate schedule with the least amount of wait time. FastTrac(TM) takes into account holidays and special events, as well as major ride closures.

Users select the attractions they wish to ride, the attendance date, and arrival time. FastTrac(TM) creates a schedule for the user that will get them on the most rides with the least amount of wait time. While in the park, users can generate individual schedules for everyone in their group.

FastTrac(TM) also displays a map of the park. The map was created in the style of Mary Blair’s artwork. Mary Blair was a noted Disney artist who created the whimsical artwork in It’s a Small World, as well as designing conceptual art for Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland.

Pricing and Availability: The cost of the application for the iPhone is $4.99 in Apple’s app store.

New Toy Story 3 Official Trailer #2

By

Chip

-

February 11, 2010

On the tails of the teaser trailer, here is the new Toy Story 3 Trailer! I cant wait!
Toy Story 3 Trailer #2 in HD

Trailer Park Movies | MySpace Video

Main Street Electrical Parade is set to return to Disney World!

By

Chip

-

February 11, 2010

This is great news from the Orlando Sentinel! Sad that I missed out on this on our most recent trip but who knows maybe Disney will fly me down to review this event!

I was able to locate the video of the last showing of the Main Street Electrical Parade below. Here is the wonderful news from the Daily Disney!

Great news for fans of “thousands of sparkling lights and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sounds”: Walt Disney World will bring back the classic Main Street Electrical Parade to the Magic Kingdom this summer.

Other changes around Walt Disney World: A new Magic Kingdom fireworks show, and new effects at Hollywood Studios’ Tower of Terror, including a change to the drop sequence.

But it’s the return of the Electrical Parade, the most beloved parade in Disney history, that will have Disney fans rejoicing.

As part of a seasonal promotion called “Summer Nightastic!,” the parade is being shipped from the Disneyland resort in California. Although it’s the classic parade, it will have some tweaks: A new Tinker Bell presentation at the head of the parade, and floats dedicated to Snow White and Pinocchio.

On the technology front, the lights will now be LED bulbs and there is new audio technology being employed.

“Even the music is guaranteed to bring back Disney memories,” said Walt Disney World president Meg Crofton Wednesday evening.

The return of ELP, as aficionados abbreviate it, is expected to take place in June; it will run through the summer.

The parade debuted at Walt Disney World in 1977 and ran until 1991, when it was replaced by the SpectroMagic parade. It later returned for a limited engagement from 1999-2001.

It has been showing at peak times at Disney’s California Adventure park in Anaheim during the past few years. The California parks had a Summertime Nightastic! promotion this past summer.

Summer Nightastic announcement for Walt Disney World

By

Chip

-

February 11, 2010

Summer Nightastic! is coming to Walt Disney World in 2010. The events include the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade with some new floats and effects, A new drop sequence and effects on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and a brand new fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom.

Johnny Depp goes ‘Mad As a Hatter’ for Role

By

Chip

-

February 11, 2010

Don’t expect just breathtaking special effects and an all-star cast when Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland opens on March 5. The visionary director has turned the Lewis Carroll classic into a psychological adventure, too.

A new Disney trailer reveals the 3-D epic fantasy’s central character to be truly mad. With his shrill laugh, green eyes and flaming red hair, Johnny Depp‘s portrayal of the Mad Hatter may just rival Heath Ledger‘s sinister take on the Joker.

“He’s a fascinating character,” says Depp of the depraved dandy. “He’s mad. He’s unpredictable.”

Click here to keep reading the article from People Magazine.

Alice in Wonderland Exclusive Mad Hatter Featurette in HD

Trailer Park Movies | MySpace Video

Brand New Toy Story 3 Teaser & Pictures

By

Chip

-

February 11, 2010

The creators of the beloved Toy Story films re-open the toy box and bring moviegoers back to the delightful world of Woody, Buzz and our favorite gang of toy characters in TOY STORY 3. Woody and Buzz had accepted that their owner Andy would grow up someday, but what happens when that day arrives?

In the third installment, Andy is preparing to depart for college, leaving his loyal toys troubled about their uncertain future. Lee Unkrich (co-director of Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo) directs this highly anticipated film, and Michael Arndt, the Academy Award®-winning screenwriter of Little Miss Sunshine, brings his unique talents and comedic sensibilities to the proceedings.

Toy Story 3 will be presented in Disney Digital 3D™ in select theaters on June 18th, 2010.

A few more images:

ken2

peas

ken

Pixar CFO jumps ship to Twitter

By

Chip

-

February 11, 2010

Pixar Logo web2

Twitter said Wednesday that Ali Rowghani, the Chief Financial Officer at Pixar Animation Studios, will become its CFO.

The short-messaging site said Rowghani will start in March.

Rowghani is now CFO and senior vice president of strategic planning for Pixar, Disney Animation Studios and Disney Toon Studios.

He has been at Pixar since 2001.

Lions Gate & others Interested in Buying Disney’s Miramax

By

Chip

-

February 11, 2010

I have been seeing articles the past few weeks now of people interested in buying Miramax. I think with this economy everyone is very leary about jumping in. What I thought was interesting in this article from Business Week was the makers of Twilight were interested as well:

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., the maker of the “Saw” horror movies, is interested in buying Miramax, the film unit Walt Disney Co. is putting up for sale.

“It would be something that we would certainly look at,” Lions Gate Vice Chairman Michael Burns said today on a conference call.

Other potential bidders for Miramax include Summit Entertainment LLC, maker of the “Twilight” movies, and Qualia Capital LLC, a closely held media investment company, a person with knowledge of the situation said. Miramax is worth about $500 million, according to David Davis, managing partner at Arpeggio Partners LLC, an investment advisory firm.

Click here to keep reading.

Disney Interactive scaling back ‘highest end console games’

By

Chip

-

February 11, 2010

Gamespot reports on Disney strategy towards games and gaming in the upcoming year. Looks like more of your Disney type games are going to be coming out on the Wii & DS. Here are a few highlights:

Mickey Mouse outfit still expects high-end Marvel titles to do extremely well; gaming division sales slip 29 percent, but losses also declining.

Gamers still holding out hope for sequels to sales disappointments Turok or Pure might be advised to give up the ghost, as Disney executives have indicated the company will be making fewer investments in “highest end console games” in the future.

Speaking with analysts after Disney’s latest quarterly financial report, CEO Bob Iger addressed a change in the company’s gaming strategy, as shaped by a handful of observations. First off, Iger said that traditional high-end console games are an increasingly difficult market thanks to their increased development and marketing costs and the abundance of competition from more casual games and nontraditional platforms like the iPhone.

“We also learned that the typical game that we set out to make, which I’ll call it Disney branded game, seems to perform better on the Nintendo Wii and DS platforms and on the platform basically that are not the high end console games,” Iger said. “So while we’re going to continue to make games for the high end, we’ll be very, very judicious in how many and which ones we choose.”

Click here to keep reading.

Photo Split/Second is an increasingly rare Disney title for core gamers not built on an established brand.