Disneyworld “Lines” & Touring Plans.com Review

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February 3, 2010

So we are recently back from our Disneyworld vacation and wading through all the emails, news stories, photos and reviews that are on my to do list I wanted to start off with a review for the guys over at Touring Plans.com

Around 5-6 months ago I made a schedule of parks we wanted to visit, restaurants we wanted to eat at, and tried my best to determine if they would be busy or not. Lets just say if I would have went first to the Crowd Calendar on Touring Plans website things would have been a heck of alot easier. Luckily I was able to use their website weeks before we left and make the proper modifications to our Park and Dining reservations on my schedule. (yes I am a planning nerd)

So before leaving for Disneyworld I created an account at http://m.touringplans.com and bookmarked their page on my Droid phone. I tested out the page, checked the wait times, and played around with their user interface before embarking on our vacation. (still a nerd)

Once we arrived at Disneyworld the first thing I did after checking in was bring up their webpage and check to see what park would be the busiest, and which parks would be ok to visit that day.

(I will have to say for January the parks were really busy, I was at Disneyworld last February and the lines were no where near as long as they were last week)

So having checked Lines we determined what park to attended that day. My family and I are big park hoppers, we like to take advantage of all the Disney transportation and sometimes visit all 4 parks in a day. (Boat ride between Epcot and HS is the best)

While all the parks were pretty busy, Lines was correct in determining which park was the busiest. A few times we had no choice and had to visit the “Park to Avoid” for breakfast or dinner, but once that was done we left and went back to one of the other parks.

I also found myself submitting wait times while hanging in line. Their submission page is simple to use and most times I just glanced at the sign before walking into a ride or as I walked past.

We didn’t start a day without visiting their webpage, and while in the park using the wait times to guide us through our day. I know Verizon and Disney have their own apps that basically do the same thing but for now why should you pay for an application that the guys over at Touring Plans is offering for free.

In conclusion their program & touring plans made our vacation 100% more enjoyable and I will be a life long supporter of their products. So if you have a smart phone and a DisneyWorld trip coming up what are you waiting for check them out today!

Souvenir photo could identify alleged Tower of Terror groper

By

Chip

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February 3, 2010

This is the continuation of the story I posted yesterday:

Police in Anaheim are looking for the person who groped a woman on the Tower of Terror ride at Disney’s California Adventure theme park.

A woman in her 30s was on the ride with her daughter about 5:30 p.m. Friday when the lights went out, as they always do just before the ride makes an adrenaline-pumping, 13-story drop, and she felt someone grab her breast, said Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez.

When the lights came back on, the person let go, she told police, who are working to identify the groper using a souvenir photo taken during the “delirious drop into the fifth dimension and beyond.”

The victim, who identified herself to the media as Christina Esquivel, told theme park security and police that she thought a man to her left touched her, but she did not see who it was. She also bought a copy of the photo, usually taken as a keepsake. Esquivel said she did not purchase the photo but used her own camera to take a picture of it from a screen.

Anaheim police have not identified the woman, but Esquivel has been distributing the photo, saying she wants to identify the man she thinks did it. The photo taken just after the lights came on shows Esquivel with a stunned expression on her face while a man in a baseball cap across the aisle stretches his arm toward her.

“It’s not right,” Esquivel told KTLA. “I didn’t do anything to deserve it, and he needs to pay for it.”

Police obtained their own copy of the photo from the theme park and are trying to contact everyone in it as potential witnesses or perpetrators.

“It’s fortunate on our part that the attraction does take photos,” Martinez said.

Source

Photo & video from KTLA

Disneyland to give away free tickets on Twitter

By

Chip

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February 3, 2010

Disneyland to give away free tickets on Twitter

Disneyland Resort officials are being a bit vague about a new online contest to give away passes to the theme parks.

But in the past two days, Disneylandâ€™s official Twitter has announced that it is launching a new giveaway.

Hereâ€™s what the tweet says: â€œAt 12pm today, weâ€™ll be announcing details on how to enter the SoCal 2fer Sweepstakes to win tickets to the Disneyland Resort.â€

Hereâ€™s the link to the rules for the sweepstakes.

Source

Free Nick Jonas concert at Disneyland Resort – watch video here

By

Chip

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February 3, 2010

Nick Jonas arrived at Disneyland at 7:30 tonight to a crowd of roughly 2,000 people.

This was not a ticketed event not did anyone pay a dime to listen to the popular Jonas Brother, this was a Twitter-tour where people found out he was going to be performing in Downtown Disney and started arriving around 3pm – all via Twitter.com

Source

Congrats Pixar for 5 Oscar Nominations

By

Chip

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February 3, 2010

Congrats to the guys and gals at Pixar who have landed 5 Oscar nominations for their 2009 movie Up. In case you have never seen Up and not quite sure what it’s about, here is a quick synopsis:

Up is described as a “comedic adventure” starring a 78-year man named Carl Fredricksen, who’s “spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest”. Due to his age, he thinks life has “passed him by”. One day, however, a “twist of fate”, and an 8-year old “Wilderness Explorer” named Russell, changes his outlook on life. The pair go on adventures, encountering “wild terrain”, “unexpected villains” and “jungle creatures”.

For the complete list of Oscar nominations click on the link here.

Danny Elfman Interviews Tim Burton

By

Chip

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February 2, 2010

Alice in Wonderland Composer Danny Elfman interviews Tim Burton. The two discuss films, art, and Burton’s career.

I am not one for reading interviews. I will watch a video before I read but this one was quite interesting and actually gave me a few weekend movie ideas 🙂

Click here to read the interview.

Photo by Sebastian Kim

Anna Margaret – Something About The Sunshine – StarStruck Soundtrack

By

Chip

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February 2, 2010

Anna Margaret’s brand new video for “Something About The Sunshine”, featured in the Disney Channel Original Movie and Soundtrack, “Starstruck” The Soundtrack is available on Feb 9th!

The Apple iPad Parody

By

Chip

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February 2, 2010

Ok so I would have to agree that the Apple iPad is nothing but a iPod touch. I have read the articles and watched the videos and I am not really impressed. This video sums up the whole iPad experience.

No offense to Apple, Pixar, Steve Jobs, Marvel, Disney and anyone who watches this video..

Apple introduces what everyone was asking for- an oversized, underwhelming iPod Touch.

Orlando Bloom quits the â€˜Piratesâ€™ franchise

By

Chip

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February 2, 2010

While Johnny Depp is still confirmed for Pirates 4 it looks like Orlando Bloom is out..

British actor Orlando Bloom has confirmed he has quit the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise.

The Brit played Will Turner in the first three movies and bosses but he won’t be a part of a planned fourth film, which will start shooting this spring in Hawaii.

Movie love interest Keira Knightley announced her “pirating days are over” in 2008, prompting speculation that Bloom would walk the plank behind her.

Click here to keep reading.

Review Video – Walt DisneyWorld map application for Android

By

Chip

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February 2, 2010

WDW Maps Box Set

This box set of maps includes all of the popular Walt Disney World maps in ONE handy application. It’s a great option for anyone looking to purchase all the park maps or for anyone looking for an all-in-one application.

This interactive map set will help guide you through these parks:

* Magic Kingdom
* Epcot
* Animal Kingdom
* Hollywood Studios
* Downtown Disney
* Blizzard Beach
* Typhoon Lagoon

No more hunting and pecking for the right place on the paper map. You can quickly search for attractions, restaurants and restrooms. Once you find it, hit the Map button and pinpoint the place on your map. Features:

* Full size, detailed, easy to navigate maps of the parks.
* Search for places alphabetically, by category or by location.
* Prioritize places to visit as either high, medium or low, and visualize your plan on the map.
* Flag places you have visited to quickly check the map for what you’ve done.
* Customize the places shown on your map by priority, not visited and type of place.
* Locate your position on the map using a GPS enabled phone.
* Built-in menus with prices – no data connection required.
* Event calendars.

Source

Marvel superheroes could pose antitrust risk for Disney, Universal

By

Chip

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February 2, 2010

Spider-Man has Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando in a web that legal experts say could put the rival resorts at risk of antitrust complaints.

The issue stems from the Walt Disney Co.â€™s recently completed, $4 billion purchase of Marvel Entertainment, the comic-book company that has for years licensed its superheroes for use in Universal theme parks. And it underscores the awkward marriage that has been forced upon Disney World and Universal Orlando, two resorts that have long been intense, sometimes bitter, competitors.

Through a 15-year-old licensing contract between Marvel and an arm of NBC Universal â€” a contract Disney inherited when it bought Marvel â€” Universal Orlando is the only theme park on the U.S. East Coast that can use some of Marvelâ€™s best-known characters, including Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk and the X-Men.

Click here to keep reading.

Woman says she was grabbed on Disneyland ride

By

Chip

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February 2, 2010

Anaheim police are looking for a man who groped a woman on a Disneyland ride.

Sgt. Rick Martinez said Monday that the victim was on the Tower of Terror ride with her daughter Friday night when someone grabbed her breast when the lights dimmed. The dimming of the lights is a normal part of the ride.

He says the woman believes someone sitting to her left grabbed her, but it could have been someone else.

Security staff gave investigators a photo taken of the victim on the ride before the lights went out. Police say they’re trying to identify the person to her left in the photo.

Disneyland officials say they do not tolerate such behavior.

Source

Photo from interactive.usc.edu