Our friend Robert Ashburn of FloridaThrills.Net visited Downtown Disney on Wednesday and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:
Motion has just about been erased from existence on Pleasure Island
Read More about Robert Ashburn’s 1/12/11 Downtown Disney Photo Report
Max Guggenheim was at The Disneyland Resort today and captured a plethora of newsworthy photos to share. As the parks continue into the slow season, a lot of interesting things are happening around the resort…
Go Wild.. at the Mickey and Friends Tram
From the Disney Parks Blog:
Do you like fiestas, hoedowns, Mardi Gras, Lunar New Year and Disney Characters? Then you won’t want to miss the next eight weekends at Disneyland park. We’re calling them “Family Fun Weekends” and they run Jan. 14 through March 6.
Families know they can find magic and excitement whenever they visit Disneyland Resort, and the next eight weekends will offer a special reason to play at Disneyland park.
“Family Fun Weekends” are themed events that invite guests to enjoy music, dancing, and special food and merchandise, along with a chance to meet and take photos with some Disney characters in specially themed attire. This weekend, for example, Fiesta Mickey and Minnie Mouse will greet you at Festival Arena in colorful, folklorico attire.
These events take place weekend days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The first five weekends will be held at Festival Arena (at the back of Frontierland), and the final three weekends will move to New Orleans Square.
Here’s a brief description of the fun, and we’ll tell you more in the coming weeks.
Fiesta Disneyland – Jan. 14-16: The first weekend celebrates the Hispanic culture and experience in a colorful, lively event, featuring performance groups such as award-winning Mariachi Divas.
Disney’s Kickin’ Country Weekend – Jan. 21-23: This weekend will feature live music – including band Forth Worth West – and a Disney hoedown with Cowboy Mickey and Cowgirl Minnie Mouse.
Character Fan Days – Jan. 28-30: This is your chance to meet and take photos with some rarely seen characters. Think of this as the ultimate Disney character reunion – featuring the characters that you told us you would most like to meet. (We’ll announce the results of our Character Facebook poll later this week on the Disney Parks Blog.)
Lunar New Year Festival – Feb. 4-6 and Feb. 11-13: Two weekends will be devoted to Lunar New Year, when time-honored traditions and family celebrations are observed within the Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese cultures as the sun and moon begin their journeys for another year.Mardi Gras – Feb. 18-20, Feb. 25-27 and March 4-6: Three weekends will be devoted to a lively, New Orleans-style Mardi Gras event, with vibrant excitement, jazzy music and sensational food of New Orleans. Where else? At New Orleans Square. Princess Tiana, along with a cavalcade of some Disney characters in their Mardi Gras finery, will appear at a photo location in the Court of Angels, staffed by Disney PhotoPass photographers.
Check back on the Disney Parks Blog each week, for more details on the weekend events.
Which of the “Family Fun Weekends” are you looking forward to most?
From the Disney Parks Blog:
Preparations continue for the arrival of the Disney Wonder to its new home in the Port of Los Angeles, as well as the inaugural voyage of the newest ship in Disney’s fleet, the Disney Dream in Port Canaveral, Florida. In the coming weeks, The Disney Gallery will pay tribute to all the ships on land and at sea, including some of those near and dear to our hearts at our very own Disney Parks.
This new exhibit, titled “Magic on the Water – The Art of The Happiest Fleet on Earth” will highlight nearly 60 years of nautical designs by Walt Disney Imagineers, from the smallest Storybook Land canal boat to the newest modern classic for the Disney Cruise Line, the Disney Dream.
From submarines and sailing ships to jungle launches and pirate bateau, water and watercraft have always played a key role in the design of Disney Parks. Through the years, the Disney maritime fleet has taken guests through uncharted jungles, under the polar ice caps, across lagoons to the Magic Kingdom and a World Showcase at Epcot, to a storybook land of enchanted fairytales and around the world on the happiest cruise to ever sail the seven seas.
“This particular exhibit is different from any other because it displays concept art from all our theme parks around the world. Tokyo DisneySea, Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Paris, all join Disneyland Resort art to form a display of various types of interesting watercraft, Disney style” says Walt Disney Imagineering Director, Concept and Show Design, Kim Irvine.
Also in store for you as we launch this new exhibit will be Disney Cruise Line-inspired original art, giclees and deluxe prints by notable Walt Disney Imagineers, Disney Design Group and Disney-inspired artists including Jeremy Fulton, Greg McCullough, Larry Nikolai, Noah, Randy Noble, George Scribner, Mark Seppala, SHAG, and Darren Wilson.
Special Tip: On Saturday, Jan. 29, Jody Daily, Jeremy Fulton, Kevin Kidney, Larry Nikolai, Noah and George Scribner will be on hand for a special appearance and signing from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at The Disney Gallery. For details visit www.ArtofDisneyParks.com.
So set sail with us on a retrospective voyage of memories – and prepare for an ocean of new ones.
DLNT Photographer Michael Wada was at The Disneyland Resort last Monday and captured some pictures to share…
Cars Land
After hearing that Pleasure Island was starting to crumble, we sent WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee to investigate the preparation work for Hyperion Wharf and here’s what he saw:
The AMC has closed their side entrance to convert it into the new “Dine-In Theater” entrance
Read More about Banks Lee’s 1/7/10 Downtown Disney Photo Report
From the Disney Parks Blog:
Do you have a favorite Disney character you have never met?
For the first time ever, we’re giving you a chance to decide which rarely seen Disney characters you want to see in Disneyland park. Starting today, you can cast your vote in polls that can be found only on the Disneyland Facebook page, and those votes will determine which characters appear during our new Character Fan Days Jan. 28 through 30. The Characters Fan Days weekend is one of five, family-fun events coming to Disneyland park Jan. 14 through March 6 as part of “Family Fun Weekends.”
To vote, look for three polls on Facebook spanning three days, Jan. 7 through Jan. 9. Each poll will appear at 2 p.m. PT and will feature different characters – some you see often and some you don’t. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the characters included in the poll: the Seven Dwarfs, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, Clarabelle Cow and the Country Bears.
The top two vote-getters from each day’s poll will appear in the Festival Arena in Disneyland park Jan. 28 through 30 during the all-new Character Fan Days (sorry – no write-ins accepted).
On a personal note, there’s a “character” you won’t be seeing around the Disneyland Resort as often – me. Today marks my last day leading social media at the Disneyland Resort and my last post as the primary Disneyland author on the Disney Parks Blog. On Monday, I begin a new role. I’m not going too far, and I’ll still be in touch with you. I’ll be joining the social media team at the main offices of The Walt Disney Company, in Burbank, Ca., and I hope to share all kinds of interesting stories with you from there!
I’ve really enjoyed the five years I’ve spent on the Disneyland Resort Public Relations team, and I’ve had a lot of fun with all of you since we launched the Blog in September, 2009. I know I’ve said this at just about every Disneyland meet-up we’ve held, but my favorite part of the job is reading your comments and meeting you in person. Thank you for your comments, questions, interest and enthusiasm. I even appreciate the corrections when they’re warranted.
On Jan. 14, Michele Himmelberg will join the Disney Parks Blog to write about Disneyland Resort. She will share the poll results and details about how to see the winning characters during Character Fan Days.
What are you waiting for? Go cast your vote in our Disney character poll on the Disneyland Facebook page.
Demolition work has now begun on the former Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney as Hyperion Wharf is slated for completion in 2013. WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth was visiting what was left of the Island during the holidays and took the following photos, so keep in mind these were taken a few weeks ago:
Most of the Motion building is gone already, but it was starting to come down in this photo
Read More about Bulldozers Turning the Island into the Wharf
I was at The Disneyland Resort yesterday and the day before to enjoy some fun in the sun. Lot’s of work walls popping up due to the upcoming slow season for the next month or two.
On the 4th, work walls surround the CALIFORNIA letters to prepare them for removal
Read More about Conner Purzycki’s 1/4/10 – 1/5/10 DLR Photo Report
From the Disney Parks Blog:
UPDATE: Congratulations to the winners of our ‘2-Day Ticket for $99′ Contest! For the complete list of winners, click here.
Contest open to US residents 18 and over. Void where prohibited by law. Ends 1/5/11.
So Cal Residents: Want to have a little fun with us today? Play along in our game and think about all the fun things you like to do at the Parks (we highlight 99 of them in today’s video). You could have a chance to win a pair of the newest tickets at Disneyland Resort – the 2-Day-for-$99 Tickets. These tickets are valid for 1 park per day through May 14, 2011.
As we mentioned in yesterday’s post, we’ll be adding some family entertainment on weekends between January 14 and March 6. We’re officially announcing the five, fun new experiences for “Family Fun Weekends” in today’s video that shows 99 exciting moments at the Parks (Hint: Look for Mickey!). Be one of the first 99 to correctly identify, in order, the five new experiences in the video, and follow the rules – listed at this link and summarized below – and you and your guest could enjoy all the fun the Disneyland Resort has to offer.
Here’s how you can enter if you’re 18 or older:
- Watch the video and e-mail the following information to contests@disney.go.com.
- Your first and last name in the body of the email.
- Your mailing address (no P.O. Boxes).
- The official names of the new entertainment, listed in order, as they appear in the video.
Please follow the instructions carefully. Entries that do not follow these directions will be disqualified.
We’ll send notifications to the winners via e-mail by 5 p.m. on Thursday, and we’ll post a link to the list of winners at the top of the post. To read all the contest rules and eligibility requirements, click here.
If you win, we will mail the tickets to the mailing address provided.
While you have to be a So Cal resident to win a pair of “2-Day-for-$99 Tickets,” you can still join in the fun if you don’t live in Southern California. If you’re not a So Cal resident, you are eligible to participate and win a 1-Day Park Hopper ticket.
Good luck!
P.S. Please don’t spoil it for others by posting guesses or answers in the comments.
