Disney Parks and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) today celebrated Buzz Lightyear’s cosmic achievement as the longest tenured crew member in space with a ticker-tape parade down Main Street, U.S.A. in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. Some of Buzz’s new friends, including astronaut Buzz Aldrin and International Space Station Expedition 18 astronaut Michael Fincke, attended.
After living his dream of space travel, Buzz Lightyear returned to Earth aboard Space Shuttle Discovery STS-128 on Sept. 11, following more than 15 months of dedicated service onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The 12-inch-tall action star flew to space as part of an education initiative between Disney Parks and NASA to encourage students to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
All aboard! You too, Mickey, Goofy, and Cinderella.
On Friday, Florida officially applied for federal funds to begin building a high-speed rail link between Tampa and Orlando, and gained crucial support from Walt Disney World.
The theme park is offering 50 acres of land valued at $25 million to build a station on or near the state’s signature resort.
“Disney World is the number one tourist attraction in the world, so you’d have tons of people from all over who would see this,” said Ramond Chiaramonte, Executive Director of Hillsborough’s Metropolitan Planning Organization. “It would be a tourist attraction in itself.”
Florida has applied for $2.5 billion in fast-tracked federal funds to install 120 m.p.h. trains in the grassy Interstate 4 median. The trains would commence at the site of the Morgan Street jail in Tampa and terminate at Orlando International Airport, with stops in Lakeland, Disney World, and at The Orlando/Orange County Convention Center.
The state must compete against 180 other areas that also want a slice of the stimulus money.
“We’re going to compete very well,” said Congresswoman Kathy Castor (D-Tampa). “The Walt Disney World announcement today was a great boost, no other application, no other state will be able to say they such a public-private partnership that we have here in Florida.”
Rep. Castor and other rail proponents note that Florida has spent decades studying high-speed rail, but has never built such a system. After spending tens of millions on research and engineering that have gone nowhere, that very research is being dusted off and attached to the state’s application.
“This corridor between Orlando and Tampa is ready to go,” said Christine Burdick with the Tampa Downtown Partnership. “We have one of the most real shovel-ready projects.”
Trains could be running within five year if the plan is approved, the state said.
Backers guessed that fares will be $20 each way per person.
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Disney’s Culinary Academy is a four-day, high energy program that instructs Disneyland Resort Cast Members on a number of culinary skills. Participants even receive 30 hours of accredited class time that can be used to pursue a career in the culinary arts. On the fourth day of class, six teams have to beat the clock to create a three-course meal from scratch.
Here is a classic Disneyland advertisement for the New Fantasyland, which was newly renovated from it’s days as a colorful courtyard since 1955. Disney Imagineers changed the motif into a Fairy Tale Bavarian village theme and gone are Captain Hook’s Pirate Ship, Fantasyland Theatre (movies) and others. I apologize for the sound quality as this came from an old VHS tape.
So we are planning our Disney trip for next Jan and I had to make a few modifications to the spreadsheet. I streamlined it a little bit, added a few more character restaturants, and tweaked the layout.
It is in Word format so you can go in and change the restaurants to the ones you like. The document is for parents who have kids and have to visit the character dining like we do. Also it has most of the Buffets that Disney offers for those who like to eat on their vacation.
Overall its simple fits on one page and is accessible online. I have seen some really awesome docs that people use for Disney so feel free to post a link to yours to share.
Walt Disney Animation Studios presents the musical THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, an animated comedy set in the great city of New Orleans. From the creators of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin comes a modern twist on a classic tale, featuring a beautiful girl named Tiana (ANIKA NONI ROSE), a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again, and a fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana in theaters December 11 2009 nationwide
A stop-motion video, from sunrise to sunset, day at the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World in Florida. It looks like the footage is being taken from a miniature model of the park, but actually it is fast slides of photos taken live.
The Walt Disney World Monorail System resumed service this morning (Oct. 1) after an electrical shortage at the Magic Kingdom platform shut the system down on Sept. 30.
According to Orlando Sentinel reporter Jason Garcia, who broke the news on his Twitter at about 10 a.m., all monorail lines serving Disney World’s parks are back in service.
The short in the control tower at the Magic Kingdom, which resulted in smoke, halted a train while it pulled into a station. Guests were able to make it off safely as a tractor towed the train to their stop.
The Magic Kingdom and resort lines went out of service following the short, but the Epcot line remained open.
Taking this safety measure was vital to Disney in order to decrease the chances of another tragedy like the July 5 monorail collision that killed 21-year-old monorail driver Austin Wuennenberg from occurring. Wuennenberg’s death was the first fatality in the monorail system’s 38 years of service.
In the event the monorail is out of service during your visit to Disney World, consider these tips on getting around Disney World without using the monorail.
Brought to you by http://www.stitchkingdom.com This time-lapse video shows a crew of 40 working over five nights to install autumn and Halloween decor just in time for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Footage courtesy of Disney.
About 25,000 unionized hourly employees at Walt Disney World represented by the Service Trades Council Union will be receiving a wage increase effective Oct. 4.
According to a release from the STCU, the increases were negotiated in April 2007 and are the third pay increase under the current union contract which expires in October 2010.
The increases will range from 4 to 5 percent for most employees. Long-term employees will receive a 45-cents-per-hour increase, the largest of the annual increases during the three-year agreement.
