Posted on Saturday, 6th March 2010 by Nancy Johnson

The hot talk of the year is definitely the opening of World of Color at Disney’s California Adventure Park this April. It’s a little show. Not much really. It is only touted to be the most hi-tech water spectacular of its kind.  Fountains, music, color, and imagery will come together to tell a tale of Disney heros, heroines, and villains.  If it proves to be anything like other Disney nighttime spectaculars, it will provoke our minds, tease our imaginations, and bring our emotions to the forefront, while we follow the story presented.

With all of the excitement about this new water and light spectacular, I thought it would be fun to go backwards in time and share with you the progress of its construction from Blue Sky concept and model to what is happening today in the park.

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Tags: Alice in Wonderland, April 2010, Blue sky Cellar, California Adventure, construction, disney, Disneyland, Fantasia, Finding Nemo, Fountains, Lagoon, Light Show, Lion King, Mickey's Fun Wheel, music, Paradise Pier, Pocahontas, spectacular, Wall-E, water show, World of Color
Posted in Disneyland, News | Comments (2)

Posted on Thursday, 4th March 2010 by WebmasterLeah

Disney is finding that their volunteer program, “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” is much more popular than they had originally anticipated.  They said that the program would end once one million tickets had been given out.  In the hopes of encouraging a spirit of volunteerism, Disney is asking guests to pick a charitable organization from a list Disney itself provides. After completing a day volunteering with this organization, you will be given a certificate to redeem for a Disney theme park ticket. If a participating guest already has an admission ticket, they may choose from: a special fastpass, an EarHat figurine with exclusive trading pins, or the option to donate your park ticket to a participating charity.

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Tags: disney, Give a Day Get a Disney Day, volunteering
Posted in Disneyland, Walt Disney World | Comments (0)

Posted on Wednesday, 3rd March 2010 by Kathy Werling

Today was the opening of the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival at Walt Disney World. To me this signals Spring in Orlando.

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Tags: Celebrate the Great Outdoors, Epcot, Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival, Minnie's Magnificent Butterfly Garden, Pixie Hollow, Princess and the Frog, Walt Disney World
Posted in Walt Disney World | Comments (1)

Posted on Wednesday, 3rd March 2010 by Tom Bell

Recently I took my 6-year-old son, West, to visit the new RIDEMAKERZ store at Downtown Disney in the Disneyland Resort where you can “Build Your Ride”. RIDEMAKERZ is to Radio-Control vehicles what Build-A-Bear is to…um…bears. Kids (and big kids) can build their own custom vehicle from the ground up.  I knew we could blow our churro budget in this store, so West was limited to $50 for his “ride”.  Keep reading to see how he chose to customize his ride.

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Tags: Disneyland, Downtown Disney, RIDEMAKERZ, Walt Disney World
Posted in Disneyland | Comments (3)

Posted on Wednesday, 3rd March 2010 by WebmasterLeah

The following post is from my husband David, who attended ESPN the Weekend, a weekend-long festival for fans of ESPN and professional sports:

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Tags: Al Jaffe, All Star Resorts, Baseball Tonight, Caribbean Beach, Chad Ochocinco, Devin Hester, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Dream Job, ESPN First Take, ESPN: The Weekend, Howie Schwab, Mike and Mike in the Morning, Polynesian Resort, pop century, Roy Oswalt, Stump the Schwab
Posted in Walt Disney World | Comments (0)

Posted on Monday, 1st March 2010 by Dave Parfitt

We previously reported Disney rebranded its sports facility on the edge of the Walt Disney World Resort to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex (ESPN WWoS).  Corey Martin of the DIS Unplugged attended an exclusive media tour of the changes to the facility followed by a press conference with several key Disney and ESPN executives including George Bodenheimer, president, ESPN and ABC Sports and co-chairman Disney Media Networks; Ken Potrock, senior vice president, Disney Sports Enterprises; Meg Crofton, president, Walt Disney World Resort; and Al Weiss, president of worldwide operations for Disney Parks and Resorts announcing the new initiatives coming to the complex.  The official Grand Opening Ceremony followed featuring several sports stars and ESPN personalities walking down a “turf carpet” and New Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley “kick” starting the celebration.  The evening concluded with a special performance of the Harlem Globetrotters.  Continue reading after the break for photos and video of all the festivities.

Photo: (L-R) Ken Potrock, senior vice president of Disney Sports Enterprises; George Bodenheimer, president ESPN and ABC Sports and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks; Garrett Hartley, place-kicker for the Super Bowl XLIV champion New Orleans Saints; Al Weiss, president of Worldwide Operations for Disney Parks and Resorts; and Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World Resort, during the official re-launch of ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
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Tags: Al Weiss, Annika Sorenstam, Atlanta Braves, Big Easy, Brandi Chastain, Chad Ochocinco, Custom Tee Center, disney, Disney Sports, Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon, ESPN, ESPN Wide World of Sports Grill, Flight Time, Garrett Hartley, George Bodenheimer, Harlem Globetrotters, Innovation Lab, Jostens, Ken Potrock, Major League Gaming Pro Circuit, Meg Crofton, Mike & Mike in the Morning, Mike Golic, Mike Greenberg, PlayStation, Saints, Shawn Johnson, Tim Hudson, VEX Robotics All-Star Challenge Tournament, Wide World of Sports
Posted in Walt Disney World | Comments (0)

Posted on Saturday, 27th February 2010 by Kathy Werling

Gatorland in Orlando Florida is a great place to spend a day if you are looking for something different than the theme parks.

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Tags: Florida, Gatorland, Orlando
Posted in Walt Disney World | Comments (4)