Category: Theme Parks
From charleston.net:
For once, the Eagles are playing to an empty house.
A concert runs on TVs for folks waiting to ride a roller coaster based on the band’s hardest-rocking song. But the wait these days is less than a minute — no time to check out the Hotel California.
There is Life in the Fast Lane, but not in the queue line.
That’s the way it’s been all too often during Hard Rock Park’s first season. The rides are running, the music’s playing, but so far this gig isn’t a sellout.
South Carolina is not showing the Grand Strand’s first major theme park a Whole Lotta Love.
Hard Rock finishes its opening season this weekend with scaled-back plans for the fall, and fewer employees than it started the summer with. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Dr. Disney on August 31, 2008 at 6:08 am · Permalink
add to del.icio.us
Category: Movies
From canada.com:
Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki of Oscar-winning animated film “Spirited Away” has captured the hearts of Japanese moviegoers again, this time with a tale of a mermaid which will soon be seen around the world.
“Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea,” about the friendship between a five-year-old boy and a mermaid girl who wishes to live in his world, has become one of the most popular Japanese movies in its home market in its first month of release.
Box office sales have surpassed 10 billion yen $91 million, and the film’s theme tune features as a ringtone on thousands of Japanese mobile phones.
The film is also set to be shown at the Venice Film Festival, which starts next week, and then it will be distributed in the United States, said a spokesman for Japanese distributor, Toho Co Ltd, although details have not been set.
“It was full of dreams and heart-warming. I think many people are seeking something like this,” said 39-year-old Miyuki Ueda, who watched the film with her sons.
“Ponyo was really cute,” said Yuta, her 14-year-old son.
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on August 30, 2008 at 9:39 pm · Permalink
add to del.icio.us
Category: Travel
From prweb.com:
For one inspirational weekend this Fall, Seralago Hotel & Suites proudly announces the arrival of the exciting Christian Music events, Night of Joy and Rock the Universe. With powerful performances by the biggest acts in Christian music and special times with cherished friends, it’s a can’t-miss concert event of fellowship and fun. In support of this uplifting celebration hosted by Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando in Florida, Seralago is offering its guests hotel accommodations starting at just $42/night plus tax. As always, Seralago Hotel & Suites provides these family-friendly amenities: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Dr. Disney on August 30, 2008 at 6:31 pm · Permalink
add to del.icio.us
Category: Universal Studios
From orlandosentinel.com:
Universal Orlando is unveiling its new ad campaign for the 2008 Halloween Horror Nights, beginning with a gruesome promotion of a creepy jewelry box , sent out to media outlets, featuring a broken mirror and two blank eyes staring back.
Bloody Mary?
Universal is being coy, but not for long. The theme park resort is promising an “in-your-face” campaign with more than 80 billboards around the Orlando area, with the first being unveiled today.
“They will push the art form — and reaction to that art — to places other theme park billboards will not go,” Universal promises in a press release. “So motorists be prepared: you’ll have some company on your morning commute.”
The 18th-annual Halloween Horror Nights, an after-hours, hard-ticket festival, begins Sept. 26 at Universal Studios and runs for 22 select nights, mostly on weekends, featuring haunted houses, scare zones and Halloween-themed shows and street entertainment. The base ticket price is $69.99 though various discounts are available.
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on August 30, 2008 at 6:27 pm · Permalink
add to del.icio.us
Category: Music
From nbc29.com:
Dave Matthews was among 1,000 mourners in Charlottesville who paid homage to LeRoi Holloway Moore, the saxophonist and arranger for Matthews’ band.
Moore died Aug. 19 in Los Angeles from complications stemming from a June 30 accident near Charlottesville involving an all-terrain vehicle. He was 46.
At Wednesday’s service, Matthews remembered Moore as “a great friend” with many talents. He recalled how he and Moore sat together at a Charlottesville restaurant and talked music.
Moore was 1 of the founding members of the Dave Matthews Band and a key part of its eclectic jazz-infused sound. The band formed in 1991 in Charlottesville when Matthews was working as a bartender.
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on August 29, 2008 at 11:42 pm · Permalink
add to del.icio.us
Category: Disney
From orlandosentinel.com:
No part of Walt Disney Co.’s vast corporate empire has been buffeted more by record oil prices than the 10-year-old Disney Cruise Line.
Although Disney has never broken out separate financial results for its cruise line, which has its headquarters in Celebration, company executives recently disclosed to investors that they expect its fuel bill will grow by $20 million this year.
It is a substantial increase for a cruise line of just two ships. And it has Disney making adjustments.
Those adjustments include possible changes to the company’s cruise itineraries. Disney executives are studying their existing schedules in hopes of finding more efficient sailing routes between ports that stretch from St. Maarten in the eastern Caribbean to Cozumel just off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
“All the ports would remain the same. We’re just looking at whether it would make sense to rearrange the order,” said Disney Cruise Line spokeswoman Christi Erwin Donnan.
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on August 29, 2008 at 10:49 pm · Permalink
add to del.icio.us
Category: Disney, Travel, Theme Parks
From attractionsmagazine.com:
Olympic champion and swimming star Michael Phelps visited the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World today. He rode down a balloon-adorned Main Street USA in grand fashion, with guests waving American flags as red, white, and blue confetti flew into the skies.
We’ll have a video of the complete procession down Main Street and a brief interview with Phelps online later today. In the meantime, be sure to visit our photo gallery for some pictures from today’s special event.
Posted by Ricky on August 29, 2008 at 1:31 pm · Permalink
add to del.icio.us
Category: Disney
From google.com:
Hong Kong Disneyland has seen a surge in visitors in its third year of operation, but the troubled theme park was still well short of government targets, a report said Thursday.
Visitor numbers were expected to hit 5.6 million when the park reaches the end of its third year of operation next month, up from 4.2 million the previous year, the South China Morning Post said, citing unnamed sources.
The sources attributed the improvement to a better marketing strategy, which has focused on mainland Chinese visitors, and strong economic growth in the southern Chinese city, the English-language daily said.
However, the figure is still well short of the 6.22 million visitors the government had originally projected in the park’s third year, the report said.
Despite the improved numbers, the park made a loss of 272 million Hong Kong dollars (35 million US), although that is well down on the previous year’s loss of 1.5 billion dollars, the report said. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Dr. Disney on August 29, 2008 at 6:32 am · Permalink
add to del.icio.us
Category: Disney
From people.com:
It looks like Michael Phelps is as fast on land as he is in the water.
Fresh from his Wednesday with Tiger Woods in Manhattan – at an EA Sports-sponsored party for the golfing champ’s new video game – the “Baltimore Bullet” is zipping off to Orlando to rub his broad shoulders with Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
On Friday, Phelps, 23, will receive a hero’s welcome at Walt Disney World during a special “America’s Homecoming Parade,” which a theme-park spokesperson describes as “a star-spangled salute amidst confetti and thousands of flag-waving fans.”
No word yet on whether Splash Mountain will be re-named for him.
After Florida, the whirlwind pace continues – with Phelps looking to get into the swim of things Sept. 7 at the MTV Video Music Awards, alongside Miley Cyrus and Lindsay Lohan.
After that, he’ll dive into some comedic work when he hosts the season opener of Saturday Night Live Sept. 13.
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on August 29, 2008 at 6:29 am · Permalink
add to del.icio.us
Category: Disney, Collectibles
From thomaskinkade.com:
As a child my imagination was stirred by the great animated films of Walt Disney. Imagine my delight when Disney recently opened their archives to me as I prepared for my first-ever series of images inspired by classic Disney moments.
In the first piece of this series, Snow White’s world is alive with color. The Prince’s castle where Snow White will eventually discover happiness looms majestically in the distance, while a foaming waterfall and fanciful animals remind us that Snow White is at peace with all of nature. Of course, I also included my iconic colorful flowers which festoon the scene with hopeful reminders of spring.
I hope that Snow White Discovers the Cottage will be a fairy tale come true for Disney and Kinkade collectors everywhere.
Link
Posted by Dr. Disney on August 28, 2008 at 8:37 pm · Permalink
add to del.icio.us
