Yesterday Dateline Disneyland posted an article in the Micechat forums. It is a huge post of all the construction going on at Disneyland. From the draining of the Rivers of America, to the new ticket prices, and even information about the new Red Cars that are coming in 2012. Here are a few highlights from the post, I would recomend heading over there and reading the full post. (link is at the bottom)
The Rivers of America have been drained as the River closes for a scheduled refurbishment over the next four and a half months.
The Red Car Trolleys will help unite the new 1930s Los Angeles-themed Buena Vista Street with the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, which will soon be getting some much needed period-specific re-theming and in the process be renamed Hollywood Land.
Share a story about how your family demonstrated the power of giving back for a chance to win a vacation to Walt Disney World® Resort and be recognized at Disney Parks’ Celebration of Volunteerism event on February 11, 2010. See rules
Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 6 – 11 PM Eastern
Registration and attendance is Free and Easy!
Join AAA/CAA online for this virtual travel show, where there’s magic at every destination. Whether you’re planning your very first visit to a Disney Destination or looking forward to returning to your favorite Disney theme park, you’ll find that the magic is endless! During the live event you can-
Interact with fellow travel enthusiasts and travel experts.
View live webcasts and hear about Disney Destinations.
Learn travel tips and international travel requirements.
Explore your best Disney vacation options!
January is Disney Month at AAA and CAA! What better time to let AAA/CAA Travel help you plan your Disney dream vacation! When you book a Disney vacation with AAA/CAA Travel in January, you’ll receive special values and extra savings in addition to the exclusive benefits given to AAA/CAA members!
During the show, you can enter the special drawing for a magical AAA Vacations® package to either the Disneyland® Resort in Southern California or the Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida. There will be other great prizes you may qualify for during the live event.
Don’t miss out! AAA/CAA Travel’s virtual travel show on January 19 will let you Discover Your Magical Disney Dreams!
Enjoy the magic of Disneyland® Park on one day and the excitement of Disney’s California Adventure® Park on another day — at a spectacular rate of just $36 a day**! From January 5 to April 12, 2010, Southern California residents can purchase a 1-day admission to a Disneyland® Resort Theme Park and visit the other Park within 30 days for FREE*.
The popular 2fer Ticket is back — but only for a short time! Make 2010 a special year and visit both Theme Parks at a great value.
With the 2fer ticket, you have the opportunity to explore each Park on different days — plenty of time to catch some of your favorite attractions!
Revisit beloved attractions at Disneyland® Park such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain and Dumbo the Flying Elephant.
Check out all the fun-filled attractions at Disney’s California Adventure® Park, like the popular interactive 4-D Toy Story Mania, Soarin’ Over California and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terrorâ„¢.
Turn your visit into a 2fer getaway with great Resort offers! Go wild over the weekend while you enjoy signature Disney magic and accommodations at Disneyland® Resort Hotels!
Dave Sheegog of Anaheim Hills has created a sprawling Disneyland-themed garden railroad in the backyard of his two-story home.
Castle Peak Thunder Railroad, a 1,370-square-foot utopia that encompasses 11 model trains, five themed lands, dozens of plastic figurines and replicas of five iconic Disney buildings.
He’s so detailed about it, that he’s been known to compare paint samples to actual Disney trains, and photograph Disneyland landmarks so that his model buildings are to scale.
Click here to read more about Sheegog, his railroad, and what drives his passion.
If you love the Muppets as much as I do then you will enjoy this…A comprehensive post of all the Muppets VoluntEARS Cavalcade Videos from the Magic Kingdom theme park.
The Muppets pre-parade celebrating volunteering at the Magic Kingdom – This was shot on opening Day 01/08/2010
Disney’s Honorary VoluntEARS Cavalcade at the Magic Kingdom theme park steps off minutes before the daily Celebrate a Dream Come True parade. The musical cavalcade includes an appearance by Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and Sweetums, and two cars full of volunteers. The cavalcade also includes a team of dancers, dressed in volunteer attire.
Heres a preview of the new Disneys Honorary VoluntEars Cavalcade, which precedes “Celebrate! A Street Party” at Disneyland park. This video is from a rehearsal in California. You can see Miss Piggy and Kermit in the real thing once a day, prior to parades at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom park in Florida.
Brazil’s Adriano Bastos will have to find space somewhere on an arm or a leg for another tattoo of Mickey Mouse ears. That’s how the 31-year-old personal trainer from Sao Paulo has marked his six victories in the Walt Disney World Marathon, and he earned his seventh title Sunday.
Bastos, dubbed “the hair guy” by spectators and fellow runners for his head full of pigtails, crossed the finish line of the 26.2-mile course in 2:22:08, waving both the Brazilian and American flags.
Bastos was in third place at the 20-mile mark near Disney’s Pop Century Resort, chasing his countryman Fredison Costa and Virginia’s Michael Wardian. But Bastos surged past the 22-mile mark and stayed there. Costa, a 32-year-old professional runner from Sorocaba, finished 33 seconds behind the winner in 2:22:41 in his first U.S. marathon. Jay Lumpkins, 24, of Ocoee was third in 2:24:24.
Bastos, who scored his first Disney victory in 2003, said he plans to keep competing here until he achieves 10 consecutive victories. Sunday was his sixth in a row.
Roy E. Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney, was honored Sunday at a service at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre.
Sunday’s memorial was anything but a sad occasion. There were live performances and clips from some of his award-winning movies. Everyone was asked not to wear black, but bright colors or Hawaiian shirts. It was a true celebration for the man who was behind some of the most successful Disney movies to date.
About 1,000 people turned out for the memorial including many animators, actors and studio heads. Disney died in December 2009 at the age of 79 after a year-long battle with stomach cancer. He was the son of Disney co-founder Roy Disney and the nephew of Walt Disney.
Roy E. Disney played a key role in revitalizing the Walt Disney Company in the 1980s, when he was the vice chairman of the board of directors and the head of the animation department. Through his guidance, the company produced a string of box office successes including “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” and “Fantasia 2000.” Disney’s family says he really helped bring the company back to its roots.
“It wasn’t the company he loved and wanted to be successful, but he really loved the people in the company to be successful. He knew them individually, loved them, adored them, cherished them,” described Leslie DeMeuse Disney, Roy E. Disney’s widow.
“My dad was there from the beginning, so he had that connection with Walt and the connection to the beginning, so he understood the core of what this place really is, and he understood how important it was and how important good story telling is, no matter what form, ” said Roy P. Disney, Roy E. Disney’s son.
During the memorial, Disney’s CEO and President Robert Iger made a special announcement that the main animation building in Burbank will be renamed the Roy E. Disney Animation Building.
Disney is a year away from launching a permanent West Coast cruise option on its liner the Wonder. The move gives people the chance to book a Disney vacation at sea without the hassle or cost of a cross-country trek to Florida.
A year sounds like a long time away, but local travel agents say its not too soon to book the Disney cruises, which will depart from Los Angeles and sail to the Mexican Riviera and Alaska.
Savvy travelers know that if they want to go on a Disney cruise, they have to book early, says Wes Rowland with The Cruise Experts Agency in Visalia. Theres really nothing that compares to the Disney brand. And theres a huge Disney market in the Central Valley.
The Disney cruise joins the likes of Norwegian Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean International in making Southern California a port of departure.
Travel experts say January-March is known as the wave season for cruises because the three-month period is when the majority of sea treks are booked. Selecting a cruise now will assure some travelers of the best price.
Found an article talking about the soundtrack for Alice in Wonderland along with a new picture from the film. Picture is quite creepy but so is the Mad Hatter.
Long time Burton collaborator and movie soundtrack big shot Danny Elfman is writing the original score for Alice in Wonderland so at the very least the score should be dark, whimsical, and slightly goofy with plenty of creepiness thrown in for good measure.
Also, a new official image of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter has been released by Disney and it’s really nothing more than a hi-res still from the trailer but, good gravy, does he look weird. Although this isn’t the first time Depp has transformed for a role, it reminds me of how he looked for Edward Scissorhands but with more pink eyeliner. Depp, love him or hate him, has a way of “owning†every character he portrays which such devotion and originality that you can’t help but think of him when you think of the movie.
You can forgive some people for figuring Paul Newman would be around forever — including the people at Pixar.
Before Newman’s death in Sept. 2008, his character of Doc Hudson in the movie Cars apparently was set to feature prominently in the sequel (only the second sequel the company has made, after Toy Story).
“It’s a shame he’s still not around,†says Larry The Cable Guy, who’s been reprising the voice of the Southern-fried tow truck Tow Mater in Cars 2 since last summer. “They were thinking about getting a voice to sound like him. But then they decided it would be disrespectful, and I agree. You can’t impersonate one of the greats.
“They’ll have some storyline to where he’s moved on or something, and maybe they’re going to do some kind of tribute or something at the end. I’d like to tell you more, but I’m sworn to secrecy.â€
We just launched our new U Stream Channel for our up incoming Disney trips. I am going to stream live video from my Droid phone at Walt Disney World Jan 23rd – 30th.
Be sure to stop by and say hi. If you have any requests, rides or attractions you want to see reply in the comment section below, or you can chat with us while we are walking around the park.
