Banks Lee attended the “What’s New, What’s Next for Walt Disney World” press conference on Wednesday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports and has plenty of photos from the event to share:
The ESPN globe is in place
Read More about Banks Lee’s 2/10/10 “What’s New, What’s Next” Photo Report
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Feb. 10, 2010) – The “Main Street Electrical Parade” lights up the streets of Magic Kingdom and headlines a season of after-dark excitement coming to Walt Disney World Resort.
“After the sun goes down, our Walt Disney World parks will light up the night with ‘Summer Nightastic!’, ” announced Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World Resort, at a media event Wednesday.
Disney magic will shine and shimmer in a whole new light. Here’s a look around:
From the Disney Parks Blog:
Big news today…we’re thrilled to announce that one of the most beloved attractions in Disney history, the Main Street Electrical Parade, is returning to Magic Kingdom Park this summer – and it’ll be better than ever. The classic parade will feature new LED lights and new audio technology when it begins its limited engagement at Walt Disney World in early June 2010.
Tinker Bell will lead the parade waving from the basket of a magical balloon aboard a new float. The parade’s return is part of Summer Nightastic! — an amazing lineup of new and enhanced entertainment planned this summer at Walt Disney World theme parks. For example, there will be new lighting effects and a new addition to Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Also, Magic Kingdom will treat guests to a special summer fireworks spectacular.
There’s plenty more planned and we’ll have more details in upcoming weeks but we wanted to tell you what we knew first on The Disney Parks Blog. Check back here for more.
A update on the ongoing dispute between Disney hotel workers and management…
The workers union finally agreed to meditate as reported by the OC Register.
The Disney hotel union agreed to meet with a federal mediator shortly before members began a hunger strike Tuesday night to draw support to their side of a two-year contract dispute.
Outside Disney hotels, about 100 union members and backers marched in the rain, held a candlelight vigil under a tent and prayed as they supported 10 people who plan to consume only water for a week. Protesters, many wearing rain ponchos, presented flowers and candles in front of a picture of a Disney hotel worker who had a fatal heart attack on the job.
About an hour before the protest, Disney received a letter from the union, Unite Here Local 11, saying members would go along with mediation. Disney had sent a letter requesting the joint session Jan. 29. Union officials have said they doubt a resolution will be reached.
“Actions like this are not productive,” said Suzi Brown, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman, about the hunger-strike event. “We think a more productive path to resolve this issue is through mediation.”
The union got support Tuesday from a prominent labor-movement figure: Dolores Huerta, who co-founded United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez. Huerta attended the event and pledged to fast at home for as long as she could.
“Hopefully, this fast will reach their hearts,” Huerta told the crowd about Disney.
Fasters decided to spend the night at the union’s offices, instead of in tents in front of the Grand Californian Hotel, because of the weather.
Brown said Disney planned to offer them a hotel ballroom if they had ended up camping in the rain.
Police determined that tents on public sidewalks are legal, as long as pedestrians can pass.
About 2,150 hotel workers have been working without a contract for two years. The main contention is over health-care costs: The union wants to keep its own health plan, which requires no employee contributions. Disney prefers that the members join the company program that deducts money from employees’ paychecks.
Mouseplanet reported on the Hunger-Strike and has several photos of the strike…
Update on the strike and meditation…
Disney and the hotel union are trying to set a mediation date as early as next week while members continue a hunger strike over a two-year contract dispute.
Ten members of the union, Unite Here, began a hunger strike Tuesday night. One participant, Eddie Carrington, had to drop out of the hunger strike on Wednesday night because his blood pressure was too high, said Leigh Shelton, a union spokeswoman. Carrington works in the laundry department at the Disneyland Hotel and recently hurt his shoulders on the job.
The strikers have set up tents outside the Grand Californian Hotel where they are staying during the week-long fast in which they are only consuming water. Some participants are blogging about their experiences on the union’s Web site HERE.
Disney reached out to the union Jan. 29 to request that the parties meet with a federal mediator, saying the company’s proposal from June still stands. Union members have agreed to meet with a mediator, but asked Disney to improve its offer, Shelton said.
Suzi Brown, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman, said Disney officials are ready to meet with union negotiators as soon as possible to begin discussions.
Unite Here Local 11 is holding daily events during the hunger strike, including a rally Thursday night that U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Garden Grove, attended, Shelton said.
At 3 p.m. Saturday, guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine is set to perform on Magic Way near the Disneyland Hotel. See a full schedule HERE.
In response to an overwhelming response from our followers, we are providing a number of ways to keep in touch with live updates from tonight’s announcements from the “What’s New, What’s Next for Walt Disney World” press conference from 5:30 PM through 6:45 PM ET. You can either follow the updates on Twitter by following us @wdwnt, by the special live interactive chat on WDWNTunes, or by refreshing this post that will be updated with information as it is provided. The updates will begin below shortly, we hope you enjoy our live coverage.
6:42 PM ET – Fireworks show at Magic Kingdom will be never seen before, not Magic, Music, and Mayhem.
6:29 PM ET – Summer Nightastic will also include extended hours at Disney’s Animal Kingdom seven days a week, Main Street Electrical Parade will be the version of the parade that performed at Disney’s California Adventure in 2009
6:20 PM ET – Presentation ended, more details coming from post conference events, so stay tuned
6:10 PM ET – Tower of Terror additions may be temporary for Summer Nightastic or permanent, not sure
6:07 PM ET – Wide World of Sports talk – http://twitpic.com/12h4e8
6:06 PM ET – Disney Cruise Line stuff, not our bag 😉
6:00 PM ET – Parks Blog has info already on June 2010 MSEP return: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/02/main-street-electrical-parade-returns-to-walt-disney-world-resort-this-summer/
5:59 PM ET – Now on to Fantasyland Forest: http://twitpic.com/12h2tq
5:58 PM ET – Electrical Parade will have new floats that debuted at Disneyland in 2009 for WDW 2010 return
5:57 PM ET – Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios to get new drop sequences and effects, Magic Music and Mayhem fireworks coming to Magic Kingdom
5:56 PM ET – MSEP officially returns for Summer Nightastic: http://twitpic.com/12h25z
5:55 PM ET – Main Street Electrical Parade to return to Magic Kingdom
5:54 PM ET – Talking about recent changes
5:50 PM ET – Talking about Give a Day, Get a Disney Day
5:48 PM ET – Crofton Begins Presentation: http://twitpic.com/12h0kz
5:46 PM ET – Still waiting: http://twitpic.com/12gznv
5:37 PM ET – Another look at the stage: http://twitpic.com/12gy1i
5:35 PM ET -Meg Crofton and Al Weiss have arrived and taken a seat.
5:26 PM ET – Banks Lee has a front row seat: http://twitpic.com/12gvnp, http://twitpic.com/12gvmx
5:04 PM ET – Matt Paul intimidated by Channel 6’s equipment 🙂
4:54 PM ET – Another pic from inside the grill: http://twitpic.com/12goob
4:50 PM ET – Blurry picture of new ESPN Grill at Wide World of Sports: http://twitpic.com/12gocx
4:45 PM ET – WDWNT is checked in: http://twitpic.com/12gndc
4:40 PM ET – The event is being held at the new ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, which will be dedicated as such later this month: http://twitpic.com/12ghsy, http://twitpic.com/12gigp
Super Bowl XLIV MVP Drew Brees joins Mickey Mouse Feb. 8, 2010 in a celebratory parade in the Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Brees, the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, is the latest celebrity to star in the “I’m Going to Disney World!” and “I’m Going to Disneyland” commercials which aired only hours after last night’s NFL championship game ended. Brees led his team to a 31-17 victory over the AFC champion Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. (David Roark, photographer)
Drew Brees (left) signs an autograph Feb. 8, 2010 for Paul Grace (center) from Orlando, Fla., as his wife Lisa Grace (right) looks on in the Magic Kingdom.
WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee spent his Sunday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and has some newsworthy photos to share with us:
Overcast Blvd.???
Read More about Banks Lee’s 2/7/10 Hollywood Studios Photo Report
Disney has released a statement regarding the two new restaurants coming to Italy and Mexico in World Showcase at Epcot, including some interesting new details:
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Two exciting additions are coming to Epcot World Showcase, with culinary expansions under way at the Italy pavilion and Mexico pavilion.
In Italy, an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria is under construction with opening planned for fall 2010 in time for the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. Operated by Patina Restaurant Group, the same restaurateurs who run the pavilion’s Tutto Italia Ristorante, the 300-seat pizzeria is inspired by Naples 45, another Patina Restaurant Group pizzeria on East 45th Street in New York City.
The casual pizzeria will feature wood-burning ovens – and will import water from a source that most resembles the water in Naples, Italy, home of some of the world’s best pizza dough. The menu also will feature pastas, salads, sandwiches and Italian wines.
The 14,000-square-foot space will include indoor and outdoor dining.
At Mexico, the popular Cantina de San Angel restaurant is expanding, and will feature 400 seats with al fresco seating for lunch and a perfect place for viewing “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth,” the nightly Epcot fireworks spectacular.
The restaurant will feature south-of-the border creations from the culinary team at San Angel Inn LLC, who have run both the outside eatery and the pavilion’s San Angel Inn for more than 25 years. Opening also is set for fall 2010.
The OC Register reporting on the ongoing dispute between Disney Hotel Workers and Management:
Some Disney hotel workers today said they are willing to risk their own health by joining a hunger strike for the sake of securing free healthcare benefits.
Today, the Disney hotel union, Unite Here Local 11, announced that 10 members plan to start a hunger strike on Tuesday to draw attention to a two-year contract dispute. The participants plan to consume only water for at least seven days.
Disney officials say the union is using the strike to distract from the negotiations stalemate.
“This is just another tactic from Local 11 leadership to distract from the fact that after two years their members are still without a contract,” said Suzi Brown, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman, in a prepared statement Wednesday.
The main contention is over healthcare costs: Disney wants employees to contribute to the company health plan. The union wants to keep providing its own free health care for about 2,150 members, with Disney kicking in more funds.
In the past two years, employees say workloads also have increased, some leading to health problems, said Ada Briceno, the union’s secretary-treasurer. Disney officials say that the workload has remained about the same and injury reports have collectively decreased in the past two years at the three hotels: Grand Californian, Paradise Pier and Disneyland.
“We are offering Local 11 the same reliable and affordable heath care coverage in which members of the other 30 of 31 unions at Disneyland Resort and more than 66,000 Disney employees nationwide participate,” Brown said in a prepared statement.
Basema Sharaf, the widow of a hotel cook, said her husband died on the job of a heart attack, which she attributed to his failure to take breaks and to working extra hours.
“He worked under a lot of pressure and stress at Disneyland,” Sharaf said.
Kristi Richards, a Grand Californian Hotel cashier who worked with Musa Sharaf, tearfully said she is fasting to pay respect to her co-worker and support others.
In the past, Richards said she went to work while sick because she couldn’t afford to lose money, as employees have lost sick days because of the contract dispute. But she has since saved up vacation time to take a week off. See a previous story about the sick-pay issue HERE.
“I’ve done everything I can do,” Richards said. “I’m basically out of ideas.”
The participants plan to camp out in tents on the sidewalk in front of the Grand Californian Hotel starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday and are inviting others to join in.
It is illegal to block the sidewalk and officers have been talking to union organizers about logistics, said Sgt. Rick Martinez, an Anaheim Police Department spokesman. Briceno said participants plan to leave room for pedestrians to pass by, but they are willing to get arrested.
“We’re hoping it doesn’t come to that,” Briceno said.
On Friday, Disney urged union officials to meet with a federal mediator, which union leaders said they would do. But Disney had yet to receive a response from the union as of this morning.
WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee made a quick trip to the Downtown Disney district last night and took some newsworthy photos to share with us:
The celebration continues at Disney’s Pin Traders
Read More about Banks Lee’s 2/3/10 Downtown Disney Photo Report
