ZoMG: Under the Big Top Release Party

WDWNT on July 27, 2012

Zoe went to the Costa Mesa, CA Disney Store release of the new Vinylmation mystery box series Under the Big Top. Check out her pictures:

Poster advertising the big event!
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There were clowns, a carousel, games and other entertainment.
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Wow! The packaging looks great!
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Gold and Silver tickets were handed out to guests. 
The more product purchased, the more autographs you could get.
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Here is a look at what Zoe and her friend pulled from the blind boxes. All signed by artist Gerald Mendez.

Disney Gives First Look at Innoventions’ Habit Heroes

WDWNT on July 27, 2012

From Jennifer Fickley-Baker on the Disney Parks Blog:

A new interactive exhibit, Habit Heroes presented by Florida Blue and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, debuted at Innoventions at Epcot today.

This new experience encourages children of all ages to learn healthy lifestyle habits and become more active. Guests can join forces with Habit Heroes Will Power and Callie Stenics to fight off villains like Sweet Tooth and The Snacker.

Two Habit Heroes even made a special in-person appearance today for the kick-off of the exhibit.

Can’t make it to Epcot? Kids can visit www.HabitHeroes.com to create their own avatar and learn how to fight bad habits.

Disney Reveals Dining Options for Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

WDWNT on July 27, 2012

From Pam Brandon on the Disney Parks Blog:

“Better-for-you” options at five mini shops serving breakfast, lunch and dinner is the overarching theme of the new Landscape of Flavors food court still being tweaked for Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, opening in May. The new restaurant will be adjacent to the lobby.

“The idea is that you customize your choice,” says Chef Ed Wronski, Director, Food & Beverage Concept Development, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “From burgers to pasta, salads, ethnic flavors, omelets, even parfaits and gelatos, everything is made fresh as you order.”

There’s a big focus on beverages, too. Fresh fruit smoothies are made to order, ditto for lemonade and pomegranate limeade. They’re stocking organic teas, beer (including gluten free), wine, coffee and juices. You can get a plain cup of coffee or a French vanilla or mocha iced. And half bottles of wine are paired with cuisine from the food shops.

We got a sneak peek at the menu, and here are some of the highlights:

  • The Soup-Salad-Sandwich Shop lets you create your own salad (with beef or chicken) and offers a caprese sandwich with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes on focaccia, or a Buffalo-style turkey sandwich with arugula and a blue cheese-Buffalo sauce-mayo spread. Both are served with delish house-made potato chips.
  • The World Flavors Shop adds Indian-African flair to breakfast, too, with scrambled eggs, tandoor potatoes, Portuguese sausage, slab bacon and a mini-naan; or a veggie flatbread sandwich on naan with cauliflower, spinach and paneer. Lunch and dinner is a choice of tandoori chicken or shrimp, Mongolian beef with vegetables, mahi mahi, Portuguese sausage or roasted acorn squash served with sides and naan bread.
  • The Pizza Shop features make-your-own pasta, cheese and pepperoni pizzas and meatballs on ciabatta bread. Room delivery is an option, too.
  • The Burger Shop includes a breakfast burger with chicken breakfast sausage, cheese and scrambled eggs on a multi-grain bun, and a steak-and-eggs breakfast burger with a burger topped with fried eggs, cheese and bacon. Besides the traditional burgers, lunch and dinner includes a surf and turf burger with crab cake and fried popcorn shrimp, and a pastrami cheeseburger topped with pepper jack cheese and a slice of fried green tomato.
  • The “grab ‘n go” Market Shop offers drinks, yogurt, bagels, pastries, gourmet cupcakes, cookies and gelato.

The food court will be part of the Disney Dining Plan, details to follow.

Robert Ashburn’s 1/24/12 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

WDWNT on July 27, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Robert Ashburn visited the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us, including Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom play-testing and Grand Floridian DVC wing construction, so let’s take a look:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Work continues on the Main Street Bakery facade

Is this crane for Fantasyland construction? No…

They are fixing a few small things on the Castle

Nice to see maintenance being done after such a short period of time

That is one tall crane

Work continues on the Main Street bridge

Renovations continue inside Plaza Ice Cream

Main Street characters out and about

The Chapeau and some of the Confectionary behind tarps

It is a strange look down Main Street these days

Package Pick-Up/Chamber of Commerce also behind tarps

Time to take a look at the progress on the Big Thunder Mountain refurbishment

Almost every roof is being replaced

Painting the mountain

They sure are friendly!

Some scrims are up to block some of the view

Still plenty to see though

Tumbleweed is practically being rebuilt, as are the lift hills

Another roof being replaced

Workers still up on the Castle

No, it can’t be…

EVERYONE RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

The Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom windows on Main Street have all been installed

Sorcerers play-tests every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday currently

A window under the Train Station

I warned you that more and more Disney Store merchandise is invading the parks…

Many windows now have a permanant floor marking

A look at Robert’s cards

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Now let’s take a quick look at the construiction progress on the Grand Floridian Disney Vacation Club wing

Nothing to see here yet…

Opportunity to Experience Animal Kingdom with Jane Goodall

WDWNT on July 27, 2012

There is a pretty interesting experience being made available at Disney’s Animal Kingdom around the park’s 14th anniversary for those with a little expendable income:

The 2012 Walt Disney World Safari VIP Weekend
A VIP Family Weekend at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park
April 20, 2012 – April 22, 2012

While many people dream of going to Africa to live like renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall, most of us just don’t have the time to pack up and fly around the world, particularly those of us with children.  The Jane Goodall Institute, together with our longtime friends at Walt Disney World, would like to offer you and your family the next best thing: An Exclusive VIP Weekend at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge® featuring the chance to spend time with Jane.

Trip Highlights

  • Relax around a campfire and swap stories with Jane while enjoying hot chocolate and s’mores;
  • View the wildlife right outside the window of your savannah view room in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge®;
  • Get an up-close and behind-the-scenes view of majestic animals on Disney’s special Backstage Safari Tour;
  • Enjoy breakfast with Jane and some of Disney’s famous characters at Backstage Prop Shop in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge®;
  • Explore all of Disney’s Orlando theme parks with your Park Hopper® passes and much more!

The tickets for this three day, two night adventure include all scheduled events, two nights in a savannah view room in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge®, select meals, unlimited three-day admission to all Disney theme parks, a Disney Dining Card, and transportation to and from the Orlando airport as well as all of the Disney parks.

The trip costs $5,000 per person for members of Jane’s Peak Society (JGI’s $1,000+ giving circle) and $6,000 per person for new members. A significant portion of this payment is a tax-deductible donation to support JGI’s programs. For more information please contact John Davison, Major Gifts Coordinator, at jDavison@janegoodall.org or (703) 682-9281.

Guests Can “Glow With Show” With New Interactive Ear Hats

WDWNT on July 27, 2012

From Erin Glover on the Disney Parks Blog:

tarting June 15, Disney California Adventurepark guests will have the chance to light up the night when Glow with the Show Ears become available for purchase at select locations throughout the park.

For more than 55 years, the classic, black Mickey Mouse ear hat has been a Disney Parks guest favorite. In 2005, those ears got a golden touch to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Disneyland park, and there have been more than 200 different ear hats including limited-edition and novelty ear hats. Now, using the latest interactive technology, our newest ear hats will quite literally let you “Glow with the Show.” Watch as the iridescent ears change to complement and harmonize with what’s happening around you, allowing you to become a part of the magic of our nighttime spectaculars, such as “World of Color” and Mad T Party. But that’s not all – there are lots of surprises in store when you visit Disney California Adventure park with Glow with the Show Ears, so I’ll let you discover them for yourself!

Here’s a peek at what the new Glow with the Show Ears will look like:

“Rendering
“Glow with the Show now lets our guests become part of the color of our magical ‘World of Color’ at the Paradise Bay lagoon,” describes Steve Davison, Creative Entertainment Vice President of Parades & Spectaculars. “Throughout the show, the Glow with the Show Ears become a set of pixels that dance and play along with each sequence in ‘World of Color’ in a bright and dynamic way. For example, during the show, guests become part of the ocean with the Little Mermaid, a shining galaxy of stars for WALL-E and Eve, an extension of the Genie’s magic in ‘Friend Like Me,’ among other interactive explosions of color throughout the entire show. It truly brings the show’s environment out of the lagoon and into the audience in an amazing and dazzling new way!”

Are you planning to “Glow with the Show” on your next visit to Disney California Adventure park?

This is an interesting concept that has actually been tried before with The Magical Moments promotion in Florida. Guests could buy pins that would light up when you walked past certain buildings in the parks, watched parades, or even went in to certain attractions.For example, on Tower of Terror in the hallway scene, when the walls turned into a star field, your pin would light up as well.

Field Trip! Nerds go to Epcot

WDWNT on July 27, 2012

It’s Summer vacation for most kids out there, but the Disney Nerds can’t get enough of school. So they have been sent off to summer camp to keep on learning. Last week, they took advantage of the beautiful Florida sunshine with a field trip to Epcot. Math, Science, Art and History are all at your finger tips at this Walt Disney World park.

The class is on their way to the park entrance.
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Chip ‘n Dale don’t need too much help in this area, but they picked up some tips on how they can better live with the land.
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They took in the sights and sounds of nature.
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Donald was amazed at the physics of an up side down waterfall.
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Daisy was also drawn to water, but she wanted to learn about The Living Seas.
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No goofing around here… lets learn about speed!
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Double bonus! Not only is Pluto a Bill Nye fan, but he also loves energy!
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This is one thing they do not teach you in class… but Figment is an expert in Imagination.
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Stitch isn’t looking to escape… he’s just on a mission to learn more about the galaxy.
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Is an Imagineering degree in the works? Mickey discovers that this shape is everywhere in nature. (at least here at Walt Disney World.)
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Always excited about culture, Minnie explores the World Showcase.
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Only the nerdiest of Nerds would be interested in the survey marker found in the parking lot.
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A “What if” experiment went wrong and Nerd Mickey was super sized!
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Speaking of experiments… Stitch is in awe of the Mickey Spaceman statue…
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…so he poses for one of his own.
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Nerd Figment went home with a bunch of cool souvenirs.

Romance Blooms in “The Magic, The Memories, and You!”, Summer Overlay Teased

WDWNT on July 27, 2012

From Shawn Slater on the Disney Parks Blog:

One of the true delights of the recent holiday season at Disney Parks was a special segment during our evening projection show, “The Magic, The Memories and You!” The faces of Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom Park and “it’s a small world” at Disneyland park were transformed into gingerbread masterpieces, brightly colored packages and palaces of ice.

Well if you enjoyed that, our Creative Entertainment team has another treat in store, just in time for Valentine’s Day! A new show segment is set to debut Feb. 1, inspired by some of the most romantic moments in Disney animation. Cinderella Castle and “it’s a small world” will be covered in red roses for one sequence and turned into a beautiful, star-filled sky for another. During part of the show, spectacular stained glass windows will grace the façades, depicting the stories of Cinderella, Snow White and Belle.

One of my favorite moments comes when the king and queen from “Tangled” appear on a balcony, lifting a single lantern to the sky for their missing daughter. It’s soon joined by hundreds of others, creating a magical sight sure to draw “oohs” and “ahhs” from the crowd. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it! Of course, the most heart-warming part of any segment of “The Magic, The Memories and You!” is the images of our guests, captured by Disney PhotoPass photographers during the day and incorporated into the show each night.

The romance segment is planned to run as part of “The Magic, The Memories and You!” through mid-April but we’re not stopping there. Wait until you see “it’s a small world” as a sand castle in a segment we’re working on for summer. It’s chock full of detail… right up to the point where Goofy rides a wave across the façade, washing it all away to reveal… well, I don’t want to spoil all the surprises!