From attractionsmagazine.com:
add to del.icio.usWe now have a complete 49-minute video online of Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde’s presentation on the history of Animal Kingdom given at 9:45am on April 22, the park’s 10th anniversary.
The presentation was delivered in front of cast members and fans at the theater that houses the Finding Nemo Musical stage show.
Click here to download the video from our videos page.
From attractionsmagazine.com:
add to del.icio.usDisney’s Animal Kingdom celebrated its 10th anniversary today with a morning ceremony in front of the Tree of Life featuring Imagineer Joe Rohde and Dr. Jane Goodall. After the ceremony, we had a chance to talk to Rohde and Goodall about Animal Kingdom and their favorite parts of the park.
You can download a high-quality video of the complete ceremony and interviews by visiting our video page.
We attended a Back to the Future screening / panel discussion at Celebration on Saturday, April 19 in which actor Christopher Lloyd and writer/producer Bob Gale revealed some interesting tidbits about The Simpsons Ride and the upcoming Blu-Ray release of Back to the Future.
From attractionsmagazine.com:
During the Q&A session, Christopher Lloyd revealed that he had, in fact, voiced his BTTF character, Doc Brown, for The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios. He stated that the crazy, wild-eyed doc would be making a brief cameo appearance, as a Simpsons character, near the beginning of the new attraction.
Bob Gale also mentioned that they are seriously considering adding the Back to the Future: The Ride flim to the Blu-Ray release of the movie, which does not yet have a release date.
Link to full post and event photo gallery
add to del.icio.usFrom attractionsmagazine.com:
add to del.icio.usThe Top 3 candidates for Disney’s first-ever Chief Magic Official have arrived in Orlando and will begin engaging in various competitions tomorrow.
Below is the schedule for the CMO events around Walt Disney World for the next few days, in case anyone wants to try to see and/or take part in the various competitions:
Thursday, April 17:
8am - Stroller Derby - Skyway Stroller Parking in Fantasy Land
11:30am - Noon - Throw In The Towel. This is a non-public event, shot in a resort room for the web.
2pm - The Loudest Crowd - Main Street, MK.Friday, April 18:
10am - Know The Show - Epcot Tip Board
2pm - Make A Face - AK, Lower Bradley Falls.
Time unknown - Shadow the Dream Squad.Tuesday:
8am - Selection Ceremony, MK Rose Garden.It appears that the 8am events will take place before the Magic Kingdom opens, so they are likely not going to be open for public viewing, unless Disney allows early entry for them.
We have been told that the CMO Selection Ceremony on Tuesday will be broadcast live on DreamCMO.com. Voting to select the winner of the contest is currently ongoing at the web site as well and will continue through Monday, April 21. Videos of the competitions will be posted there over the next few days.
Thanks to Kenny (”the pirate” - one of last year’s Dream Job winners) for sending in the schedule.
From jpgmag.com:
add to del.icio.usOn a recent vacation to the West Coast I ventured to one of the World’s most beloved, and for obvious reasons unnamed, Theme Parks in Southern California. After an hour or so I became fascinated with the lack of enthusiasm on the faces around me. While waiting near a ride to take pictures of my friends as they drove by in a tiny yellow car I decided to snap some random shots of other people driving by.
It quickly became clear to me that most of the people around me were here because of some sort of cultural obligation to have fun. Just one in a long list of “not to be missed” experiences that Americans feel the need to indulge in.
As part of my experiment I began to take pictues while walking past crowds of people going the other direction. I just held up my camera and snapped.
From attractionsmagazine.com:
add to del.icio.usThe Walt Disney Company has a long history of sending interesting and collectible swag to the press to boost their excitement for attractions opening soon. The newest attraction headed for both Walt Disney World here in Orlando as well as the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Ca. is Toy Story Mania, scheduled to officially open this Summer (and possibly unofficially open within the next couple of weeks).
This attraction blends “4D” technology (3D screens/glasses practical effects, like water squirting riders) with an interactive carnival-themed shooting element, similar to Disney’s own Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin at the Magic Kingdom, only taken to the next level. The new attraction will feature not only Buzz Lightyear, but a host of other characters familiar to any fan of the Disney/Pixar films Toy Story and Toy Story 2.
Today, we received this fun and inventive box, not as an invitation to a press event, but simply as a reminder (to us and everyone reading this) that Toy Story Mania is on its way soon
It appears that there’s going to be a double-dose of ceremonies on April 22 this year. In honor of Animal Kingdom’s 10th anniversary, a rededication ceremony will take place in front of the Tree of Life just before the park opens. April 22 is Earth Day, a fitting birthday for a park all about animals, plant life, and conservation. In attendance at the ceremony will be Dr. Jane Goodall and Walt Disney World Resort President, Meg Crofton.
At the Magic Kingdom, presumably at the same time (or shortly thereafter), also on April 22, Disney will announce its first-ever Chief Magic Official in a ceremony in front of Cinderella Castle.
So, if you’re going to be at Walt Disney World on the morning of April 22, you can choose between attending one of the two ceremonies, as it appears you won’t be able to get to both.
I was really looking forward to seeing the first CMO announced as well as enjoying Animal Kingdom’s rededication. Now I have to choose which one to go to.
add to del.icio.usFrom thedisneyblog.com:
add to del.icio.usA local newspaper reporter got it right when she wrote that, after we updated Pirates of the Caribbean last year, “many fans grudgingly acknowledged that… the additions may make the ride more appealing to young park goers.” Now, based purely on rumors that are mostly inaccurate, we are being criticized for touching another one of Walt Disney’s “classics.”
We all agree that “It’s A Small World” is a Disney classic. But the greatest “change agent” who ever walked down Main Street at Disneyland was Walt himself. In fact, the park had not been open 24 hours when Walt began to “plus” Disneyland, and he never stopped. Having started my Disney career at Disneyland one month before the park opened in 1955, I can cite countless examples.
Like all my colleagues at Walt Disney Imagineering, I was pressed into action to help make “It’s A Small World” happen at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. We were all working to complete and open Ford’s “Magic Skyway” and General Electric’s “Carousel of Progress” (I worked on both) as well as “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” for the State of Illinois. But 11 months before the World’s Fair opening, Walt agreed to do “a salute to the children of the world” for UNICEF, and all the Imagineers somehow made it happen.
Mary Blair’s illustrations were, of course, the spark. But this was one of those great Disney “team efforts,” and many Disney legends joined her: Marc Davis; Blaine Gibson; Rolly Crump, Harriet Burns and numerous others. And, of course, Bob and Dick Sherman added that song we can’t get out of our heads. I interfaced with all of them to write and produce a 24-page souvenir book that was sold at the Fair, because Walt wanted to showcase and thank the team for an extraordinary accomplishment.
Now the rumors are swirling that we are “ruining Walt’s creation.” I’ve heard that we are planning to remove the rainforest, add Mickey and Minnie Mouse, create an “Up with America” tribute, to effectively “marginalize” the Mary Blair style and Walt’s classic (all not true).
In fact, just the opposite is true. We want the message of brotherhood and good will among all children around the world to resonate with more people than ever before, especially today’s young people. Our objective is to have everyone who experiences “It’s a Small World” understand (in the words the Shermans’ wrote 44 years ago) that “there is just one moon, and one golden sun, and a smile means friendship to everyone.”
To make “It’s A Small World” even more relevant to our guests, Tony Baxter (who created the concepts for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain and other Disneyland classics) and I arrived at the same place eight years ago. To accomplish our objective, we decided to seamlessly integrate Disney characters into appropriate thematic scenes in the attraction, and do it completely in the distinctive “Mary Blair style.” We spent many long months exploring ways to accomplish this.
We are not turning this classic attraction into a marketing pitch for Disney plush toys (rumors to the contrary). Between Tony, our chief designer Kim Irvine, and me, we represent 128 years creating Disney park entertainment and fun for literally billions of guests around the world. We are not “young marketing whizzes” trying to make a name for ourselves. We were fortunate to have trained, and worked with, all of Walt’s original Imagineers.
In the Shermans’ song, it’s the oceans that are wide, and the mountains that divide. Our goal was, and always will be, to bring people together, and keep this classic “the happiest cruise that ever sailed around the world” (words I personally wrote for that souvenir guide nearly half a century ago).
Or, as Walt Disney phrased it in his introduction to that guide, “a magic kingdom of all the world’s children.”
Martin A. Sklar
Executive Vice President
Walt Disney Imagineering
Imagineering Ambassador
From fox19.com:
add to del.icio.usSomething old is new again at Kings Island, as the backward traveling trains on the Racer roller coaster will run forward again when the park opens for the 2008 season on Sunday, April 20 at 10:00 a.m.
The decision to run both sides of the Racer forward again after 26 years with one side facing backward was made in an effort to be consistent with other Cedar Fair parks. The Red Racer trains will be on the former backward side, with the Blue Racer trains on the other side.
Mr. Potato Head has made his debut at Disney’s California Adventure. While Toy Story (Midway) Mania isn’t open yet, it looks like the ol’ spud couldn’t resist interacting with guests early.
From wttmforums.com:
add to del.icio.usHe made his debut to some of us on Tuesday, yesterday he was a bit shy only showing himself every few hours, but TODAY he was out in all his glory! Here are some of the first pictures I have seen of him anywhere on the web in his new home! Sorry about the image, lame camera phone (which he made fun of me for!)
