Disney (not) Photo of the Day

H/T Comic Con

Chow, Baby!

Disney Dining is changing over at Epcot's World Showcase.

 
Cantina de San Angel (the outdoor fast food place) at the Mexico pavilion in Epcot is closed for a significant refurbishment and expansion - a 400-seat waterside restaurant and quick service food location.

And over at the Italy pavilion, a new, unnamed as yet, 14,000 sq.ft.,  300-seat family-style pizzeria, featuring wood-burning ovens, and genuine Italian dishes, will expand the piazza by 10,000 sq ft.

Both places are expected to open in fall 2010. 

Summer Nightastic!

The "Main Street Electrical Parade" will return to WDW's Magic Kingdom this June.  About time, too! This marvelous montage of moving lights has been at Disneyland since 2001.

The Magic Kingdom will also have a new summer fireworks spectacular.

Aaaand, over at Disney's Hollywood Studios the Tower of Terror will have new lighting effects and a new drop sequence.  Yowza!

Mickey must be hearing footsteps...

Wizardly footsteps.

WDW CM Spotlight

During last year, WDW Cast Members were given an opportunity to submit photos to celebrate vacations, anniversaries, birthdays, etc., and then vote for their favorite.

And the winner:

A WDW Cast Member who returned from active duty with the military!

What in the (Wizarding) World ??

In case you've been unconscious, under a rock, or in outer space for the past year...

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is coming to Islands of Adventure, Universal Orlando.
     JUNE 18, 2010

What you can expect to see:


The Hogwarts Express,
which whistles and billows steam to signal its arrival;

Hogsmeade Village 
    with Wizard shops....

Zonko's:
a joke shop where you can purchase Extendable Ears and Sneakoscopes;


Honeydukes:
which features treats like Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans  (take 'THAT' Ghirardellis);

The Three Broomsticks and the adjacent Hog's Head pub, offering traditional British food and drinks ... and the definitely non-traditional Butterbeer (non-alcoholic) and pumpkin juice;

The Owlery and The Owl Post:
where you can send letters with a  Hogsmeade postmark and buy official stamps from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter;

Ollivander's:
the wand shop where the 'wand chooses the wizard' in an interactive experience (I wonder if the Wand of Destiny will be available? );

Dervish and Banges:
the magical instruments shop selling Quidditch equipment, Triwizard apparel, Spectrespecs and Remembralls.

The attractions:

Dragon Challenge:
a twin high-speed roller coaster with many elements from the Triwizard Tournament (the former "Dueling Dragons");

Flight of the Hippogriff:
a family coaster simulating a Hippogriff training flight over the grounds of Hogwarts castle (the former "Flying Unicorn");


Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey:
the big, huge, new ride located in Hogwarts Castle: a state-of-the-art attraction that uses entirely new technology to bring the magic, characters and stories of Harry Potter to life in ways never before experienced;

Before exiting back into Hogsmeade:
Filch's Emporium of Confiscated Goods
(get your Omnioculars here!)

I'm saving my Galleons and Knuts for HarryPotterstuff and butterbeer!!

Goodbye, Roy

Roy E. Disney, son of Disney Studios co-founder Roy O., and the nephew of Walt, has died at the age of 79.

Roy E. was involved with the Walt Disney Company for more than 56 years and was vice chairman of the BoD from 1984-2003, and chairman of the Studios' animation department. More recently, Roy E. served as director emeritus and consultant for the Company.


Disneyphiles (Disney lovers) may remember Roy E. as the man who 'took on' Michael Eisner in 2003-05, when many were dissatisfied with Eisner's job performance as head of Disney.

Requiescat in Pace, Roy

Dancin' in the Park

We were at the EPCOT/World Showcase this weekend and I always check out the model train at the Germany pavilion when we're there. 


There is a pavilion in the village. And in the pavilion there is a dancing couple. Either they fell over (probably) or ... maybe the CMs were having some fun because I do suspect they move things around during non-open hours..



P.S.  Mickey has been A.W.O.L. from the castle for quite some time. Please come back, Mickey!

Disney Picture of the Day

(I dunno who these people are, but they have a great sense of humor)

Busch Gardens Newbies

We finally made it over to Busch Gardens Tampa.

Before going, we had determined to NOT see and do everything in one day.

But we definitely wanted to:
ride the Rhino Rally,
ride the Serengeti Express,
ride the Skyride

Did all of those, liked them all.
The train's wheels did at times make an awful noise as we rolled along. Very distracting.

The Good:
The park was easy to find, even for 1st-timers.
BG's employees were friendly and helpful.

The Better:
Not crowded!

The Best:
The Park's cleanliness was most impressive.

The So-So:
Lunch: We had sandwiches (His: Italian Sausage, Mine: Corned Beef) at the Desert Grill.  The food was so-so, typical theme park fare, not as good as some of the WDW counter-service places. The servers were friendly.

It was hot and humid and the lush foliage added to it (like at DAK), so the animals were lethargic (just like us after lunch!).

Will we go back?
You betcha!
We missed all of Jungala, and will do that next time.

WWWD?

The Disney Company just spent about $4 Billion to acquire 5,000 Marvel characters.

Some of them (Spider-Man, The Hulk, Dr. Doom) can already be seen as rides / attractions up the road at Marvel Super Hero Island, Islands of Adventure, Universal Orlando.
I have two problems with this.

#1 That $4 billion could have been spent upgrading ALL of WDW's parks, building a new moderate resort and upgrading the others, re-opening River Country and Discovery Island (both of which are just moldering away), creating a new land at DAK (how about Australia!), adding a new country to Epcot's World Showcase, keeping the parks cleaner, or how about this: extending the monorail to run all over WDW and get rid of the buses.


#2 Marvel characters are NOT Disney characters. I admit to being somewhat of a 'traditionalist'; I just can't see Captain America (for example) and Mickey together.

So, What Would Walt Do?
Well, I'm pretty sure he'd be spinning at about Warp 6.