John B.’s 5/3, 5/9, 5/10, & 5/17 Photo Report

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

While we haven’t had a photo report in from him in a while, John B. has still been visiting the Disneyland Resort very frequently. Here are his photos from May 3rd, 9th, 10th, and 17th:

The one and only Brian Sommer, the voice of the Disneyland News Today Podcast, WDW News Today Podcast, and The Disney Pincast

Celebrity Chef Jamie Gwen at the Food and Wine Festival

A kind of Burger

Jamie Gwen’s book “Good Food for Good Times”

Push looks a little different than usual

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Photo Report From the Christmas Carol Train Tour – 5/24/09

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Today I went to the opening weekend of the “A Christmas Carol” Train Tour at Los Angeles Union Station. This tour provided a unique look into the creation of the film, which opens in theaters nationwide November 6th, 2009, as well as an 11 minute preview of the movie. Let’s take a look at some of my photos from the tour:

This way to all trains

Yes, the wait really was 3 hours! Even worse is that later in the day, the line got up to nearly 6 hours!

A lot of people obviously wanted to come out and see this thing

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Shawn Hutchison’s 6/12/09 Summer Nightastic Photo Report

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Our third and final photo report for today comes to us from Shawn Hutchison who was at the beginning of Summer Nightastic yesterday at the Disneyland Resort:

An ad for Summer Nightastic at the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure

Finally new billboards at the Mickey and Friends Tram Station

Guess it was too late to change all the promotional images featuring the dragon? 😉

Looks like they’re going for a dragon combo here

A new edition to the Esplanade, a giant inflated house promoting “Up”

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DLR Photo Report – 6/14/09

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

I was at the lovely Disneyland Resort today and have some photos to share with everyone:

Signs for the D23 Expo around the Anaheim Resort

Long lines to get into Disneyland at opening

What’s wrong with these Summer Nightastic banners?

There’s a new Honda sweepstakes in the Esplanade to win a new Honda INSiGHT, as well as other smaller prizes

A Summer Nightastic poster by the security tents

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Myrna Litt’s 6/16/09 Photo Report

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Myrna Litt brings us a great report which includes both of California Adventure’s great parades! Let’s get to her photo report:

The new billboards for Summer Nightastic at the Mickey and Friends Tram Station

It was incredibly busy on Monday and Tuesday, as they were 2 of few days this summer that the SoCal and SoCal Select Annual Passholders can see the new entertainment for Summer Nightastic

Some painting going on in the Hub

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The Rest of The Year at The Disneyland Resort

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

As Summer Nightastic! lights up the night this summer at Disneyland Resort, more exciting Disney attractions and experiences are on the horizon.

GET A DISNEY STUDIO STAR MAKEOVER AT STUDIO DISNEY 365
Opening Friday, June 26, in Downtown Disney, Studio Disney 365 offers aspiring stars, age 3 and up, makeover transformations and an opportunity to walk the carpet for a grand, show-business-style entrance. Girls and boys can choose from a range of “rock star” hair, makeup and costume options for their own scene-stealing experience, inspired by the characters from “Hannah Montana.”

HOT AND COLD RUNNING CHILLS
The summer-long celebration of a Disneyland landmark, Haunted Mansion, begins in June with the roll-out of new Haunted Mansion-themed additions to the popular Disney pin-trading program. On Sunday, Aug. 9, the 40th anniversary of the Haunted Mansion opening, the popular artist Shag will be in the Disneyana shop on Main Street, U.S.A. signing his new Haunted Mansion artwork. www.artofdisney.com

DISNEY UP CLOSE AND BEHIND THE SCENES AT D23 EXPO
D23, the official community for Disney fans, will present its first-ever D23 Expo Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 10-13, at the Anaheim Convention Center near Disneyland Resort. D23 Expo will offer fans unprecedented access to never-before-seen movies, TV shows, theme park experiences, collectibles and more. Early glimpses of upcoming new Disney movies, a look ahead to new vacation destinations and theme park attractions (including the expansion of Disney’s California Adventure) and an extraordinary exhibition of classic and contemporary Disney artifacts will be among the highlights of D23 Expo. In addition, D23 Expo will be the home for the 2009 Disney Legend Awards, a 22-year tradition that pays tribute to the talented men and women who have made indelible contributions to Disney entertainment. For more information, visit www.D23EXPO.com.

DISNEY VACATION CLUB COMES WEST
Disney Vacation Club’s first accommodations on the West Coast will welcome its first occupants on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. The 50 two-bedroom-equivalent vacation villas are part of a Grand Californian expansion that also includes 200 new hotel rooms, a new swimming pool and underground parking. Bookings begin in June for the first Disney Vacation Club on the West Coast.

THE RETURN OF DISNEY GALLERY AND MR. LINCOLN
Long a favorite of Disney fans and collectors of Disney art, the Disney Gallery will reopen this fall in a new home next to the Main Street Opera House at Disneyland in the space originally occupied by the Bank of Main Street. Later in the year, the Opera House next door will reopen with the inspiring and newly refurbished The Disneyland Story featuring Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln. Opening dates will be determined later this year.

HOLIDAY FAVORITES
Of course, Disneyland Resort will also celebrate the fall and winter holidays this year. Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort returns beginning Friday, Sept. 25, with Haunted Mansion Holiday, Candy Corn Acres, Mickey’s Trick-or-Treat Party and some new, scary surprises. Beginning in late November, Holidays at Disneyland Resort will bring back “A Christmas Fantasy” parade,” it’s a small world Holiday” and all the special holiday dĂ©cor that transforms Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure parks into a holiday wonderland.

Back In Time To 1955…

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Even though this year’s summer pin festival, The Haunted Mansion O-Pin House is still going strong through August 9th, Disney aren’t wasting any time in announcing next year’s summer pin festival, which seems to either be called Happiest Memories on Earth or Dateline Disneyland 1955. From the What’s HapPINing blog on DisneyPins.com:

The theme of Disney Summer Pin Festival 2010 at DisneylandÂź Resort was also shared. Next year marks the 55th Anniversary of the DisneylandÂź Resort. The Summer Festival will invite Guests to return to the grand opening Press Event on July 17, 1955 and remember their “Happiest Memories on Earth.” Below is a logo from the event. Steven said that in the coming months, Guests should look for the stylized Sleeping Beauty Castle icon buried on various page on DisneyPins.com. When you click on the icon, it will unlock secrets of this Festival.

Be sure to tune in to the only podcast dedicated to Disney Pin Trading, The Disney Pincast, in the coming months for information on 2010’s exciting summer pin festival.

Roy E. Disney passes away at age 79

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Roy E. Disney in his office in 1985

From the Los Angeles Times:

Roy Edward Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney whose commitment to his uncle’s creative spirit prompted him to mount revolts that led to the unseating of two of the company’s chief executives and a revival of the studio’s legendary animation unit, died today. He was 79.

Disney, who had been battling stomach cancer, died at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, according to Clifford A. Miller, a spokesman for Disney’s company Shamrock Holdings.

Disney toiled for years in the shadow of his famous uncle and his father, Roy O. Disney, who behind the scenes ran the business side of the Walt Disney Co. for his brother. But the quiet man in the cardigan sweater would emerge as a forceful protector of family traditions.

“People always underestimated Roy,” said Peter Schneider, the former president of Walt Disney Feature Animation. “You underestimate Roy at your peril, as many people have learned.”

Disney devoted the first 20 years of his career to making nature films, among them “Pancho, A Dog of the Plains,” “The Owl That Didn’t Give A Hoot” and an Oscar-nominated short subject “Mysteries of the Deep.” After the death of Walt in 1966 and Roy’s father in 1971, the younger Disney was spurned in his efforts to take a larger role with the company. He finally quit in 1977, but remained on its board as a director, where he was largely a figurehead.

Adrift, Disney hooked up with lawyer Stanley Gold and became a successful financier, investing successfully in a wide variety of businesses that included broadcasting, soybeans and Israeli industrial concerns through Shamrock Holdings, a company named for one Disney’s racing sloops.

During the 1980s, Gold, Disney and Shamrock became one of the better-known corporate raiders, making unsuccessful hostile takeover bids for companies such as the Polaroid Corp. camera maker and the Wherehouse Entertainment chain of music stores. Its takeover of Central Soya, a soybean processor in Fort Wayne, Ind., would yield a sizable $170-million profit for Shamrock and its partners with its subsequent sale to an Italian agricultural concern. Through investments, Gold sought to free Disney of his financial dependence on the Disney company stock he inherited. Most were successful, although Shamrock stumbled on some, particularly a money-losing investment in sneaker maker L.A. Gear.

By 1984, Disney had grown increasingly frustrated with the Walt Disney Co., which he likened to a real estate company that happened to be in the movie business. The company had let its feature animation film business, once the cornerstone of the company, deteriorate. The company, Disney would later say, had lost its creative drive.

“I said to him, ‘Roy, I think you’ve reached a point where you need to get all the way in or all the way out,’ ” Gold said. “He said, ‘What does that mean?’ I said, ‘You either need to sell your shares in Disney and go independent, or you need to put up a fight and get rid of the managers and find real managers for this business.’ ”

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Jose Castillo’s 7/29/09-8/4/09 Photo Report

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Our final photo report from last week’s WDWNT group trip to Disneyland comes to us from our technical director Jose Castillo. This was actually Jose’s first trip to Disneyland, and therefore his first photo report for us here at Disneyland News Today:

The Palace of Fine Arts is all that remains of Golden Dreams

The WDWNT crew on their way to enjoy Disney’s Wall Adventure

The model in the Blue Sky Cellar shows that some sort of statue will be where that wooden structure is

A look at World of Color construction

One of the lighting towers for the show

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