Well, we’ve know about this refurbishment for a while, but now we finally have solid dates. King Triton’s Carousel will be closed from March 9th to May 20th. While there are no official details on what will be done to this attraction, models in the Blue Sky Cellar show that a covered structure will be added, as well as similar architecture to Toy Story Midway Mania and the Games of the Boardwalk.
Stay tuned to Disneyland News Today for more information on this upcoming refurbishment.
BATTER UP!: New York Yankees pitchers C.C. Sabathia (left) and Joba Chamberlain (right) experience the “Toy Story Mania!” 3-D attraction March 1, 2009 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The two hurlers were at Walt Disney World Resort for “ESPN The Weekend,” a special event in the theme park. The Yankees conduct Spring Training in nearby Tampa, Fla. and play at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex against the Atlanta Braves twice during Spring Training 2009. (Matt Stroshane, photographer)
“Celebration Point” on Main Street, U.S.A offers guests a new place to take photos and mark their special occasions while celebrating at Disneyland. In 2009 guests will find a variety of ways to make their celebrations even more memorable at Disneyland, including street parties, behind-the-scenes tours, specialty foods and free admission on their birthdays.
Honor over at Blue Sky Disney has posted some new information on the upcoming World of Color show at Disney’s California Advenutre. Among the things he’s mentioned include the pretty obvious opening of the show being very colorful opening just like the opening to the original Wonderful World of Color TV show. The show surprisingly will be themed to emotions, such as love, anger, happiness, sadness, etc. An example he gave is that you will see Simba watching his father die. Sounds like some very powerful and emotional stuff. The highlight of the show sounds to be the giant Chernabog figure that will rise from the lagoon presumably for the “fear segment”. Finally, the only bad thing about the show will be that the Silly Symphony Swings, California Screamin’, Mickey’s Fun Wheel, and the Golden Zephyr will all close early due to the show, which will truly make World of Color a great end to your day at Disney’s California Adventure!
Stay tuned to Disneyland News Today for more information as we get closer to the debut of World of Color.
WDWNT Podcast staff member Chris Lastrapes just returned from a short two day trip to the Walt Disney World and has some interesting photos and video clips to share with us:
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, preparations have begun for ESPN the Weekend
For those of you interested in Disney Pin Trading, the 2009 Pin Celebration at Epcot (titled the Museum of Pin-Tiquities) is just a few months away and registration opens today at 2:00 PM EST. Even though I have been involved in the hobby since it began in October 1999, this is the first major pin even I will be attending. John Rick and myself will be there on behalf of the Disney Pincast and hope to see you at the museum as well. All of the details on the event and how to register can be found below:
Disney Pin Celebration 2009 – The Museum of Pin-tiquities
June 26-28, 2009
Epcot® – World ShowPlace
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Disney Pin Traders from around the world are cordially invited to celebrate the “10,000” year history of Disney Pin Trading during Disney Pin Celebration 2009 – The Museum of Pin-tiquities. This three-day, grand opening gala will be held from Friday, June 26 through Sunday, June 28, 2009 in World ShowPlace at Epcot®.
Presented in conjunction with the Epcot® Committee For Celebrating Disney Pins, The Department of Tradeology and Fellowship of Happy Traders, this event will feature unique Disney pins created for the Museum’s opening, Disney pin trading activities, a silent and live auction of artifacts direct from the Museum’s vault and much more.
Event admission is $115 per Guest.
**See below for special early booking discount**
(Event admission does not include Theme Park admission to Epcot® but is required to attend.)
EVENT ADMISSION INCLUDES:
-Opportunity to pre-purchase limited edition pins designed especially for this event.
-“Purchase with Purchase” pin promotion for event Guests only featuring exclusive pins.
-Trading activities and games at World ShowPlace located at Epcot®.
-Limited edition commemorative gifts.
-Live and silent auctions of pre-production pins, artist proof pins and more.
-“First Trading Opportunity” to collect new Hidden Mickey pins.
-Opportunity to meet Disney Pin Partners from The Walt Disney Company.
-Two (2) $15 Gift Cards redeemable at Epcot® Food and Beverage locations.
-Plus extra special surprises throughout the event.
EARLY REGISTRATION PIN:
Guests that register for this event by March 25, 2009 will received one (1) limited edition early registration pin. The edition size of this pin will be determined once early registration has been completed.
EARLY BOOKING DISCOUNT:
Guests that register for this event by April 25, 2009 will receive an early booking discount. The early booking admission for this event will be $100.00 per Guest. After April 25, 2009, the event admission will be $115.00 per Guest. Event admission does not include theme park admission to Epcot®.
Those of you attending any of the Star Wars Weekends events at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in May or June will be happy to know that Disney will once again be releasing a collection of big figures featuring four of the fab five dressed as classic saga characters:
Mickey as Luke Skywalker with Yoda & Minnie as Princess Leia from Jabba’s Palace
Goofy as Chewbacca & Donald as Han Solo in Carbonite
Each of these is limited to 600 pieces, with 500 of each available at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and 100 of each at the Disneyland Resort. They will all retail for $195 and will be the final pieces in the long running Star Wars big figure series.
Here’s more information and background on the two Jungle Cruise skippers heading to Tokyo Disneyland according to the OC Register’s Around Disney blog:
Kevin Lively and Mickey Wright are two wisecracking men who take their craft seriously –- so much so that they’ve been vetted by Disney executives to represent the Anaheim operation at a Tokyo summit.
This professional conference –- Friday through March 6 –- will be a lot more entertaining than most.
Disneyland is sending Lively and Wright, two of its Jungle Cruise skippers, to Tokyo for a nine-day round-table forum on “jungle humor” with skippers from three other Disney theme parks.
The Jungle Cruise, of course, takes passengers in a boat around a winding, vegetation-shrouded river filled with animatronic jungle animals and spear-wielding residents. The skipper spouts off a continuous stream of corny jokes.
“You can’t lose with cannibalism,” Lively said on picking the right note of humor for the ride. “I like when we have kids on board, because to them, the ride is 100-percent real.”
Lively, 23, of Fullerton has worked at the park since summer 2007. He said he likes working with kids — he helped direct childrens theater in college.
Wright, 58, of Lake Forest started in November 2007 after he got hired at a Disney job fair. Though he said his friends figured he’d be a natural when they found out he got the job, Wright struggled with the script at first.
“The truth is, I actually had a hard time with the spiel,” he said. “I have a little ADD and all the distractions were hard to deal with.”
He’s a pro, now though, as evidenced by his selection for the Tokyo visit.
In Tokyo, skippers from Disneyland, the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, the Tokyo Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland will tour the park there and trade tips on the best spiels and practices for running the Jungle Cruise.
The trip is part of a promotion by the company that operates Tokyo Disney — it’s the 25th anniversary of that park. The company decided to fulfill 25 employees’ wishes this year. This conference is a result of Kenichi Ito, a supervisor for the Tokyo Jungle Cruise.
The competition began in January from among the 60 skippers. Feb. 6, the six finalists had to do their act before a panel of execs, including Pixar chief John Lasseter and Imagineering chief Tony Baxter.
The majority of the skippers speak English, but a translator will be available for those who don’t. Also, the skippers will get to experience the Tokyo Disney Ride in Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese.
The Disneyland Jungle Cruise is one of the park’s original rides — it opened with the park in 1955.
The seven child actors who played in Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire” spent the day in Disneyland today.
Their trip down the red carpet at the Academy Awards ceremony last night, and then their jaunt to the “happiest place on earth” today was a far cry from their typical days living in the slums of India.
The kids’ handlers wanted the event to be private, and therefore Disney put a strict ban on media.
They did agree, however, to send the photos above. To read more about the “Slumdog Millionaire” cast, click here.
