 {TheBestMagic.net} This weeks surprise video is another great one. This is clearly the best way to capture the moment and putting it on youtube, cause everyone can see it! Uploaded by YOuTUbe user runtodisney· "We surprised our boys by giving them a letter to open that told them we were on our way to Disney. We packed up the night before and shocked them in the van. We were all in tears. This is why I take my family back to Disney World every year--moments like this. This is the full version that we had to cut to 1 minute for a Disney contest. Here it is full length" | |
Add Comment
 Richard Bilbao Reporter- Orlando Business Journal This is it, Star Wars fans: Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Star Wars Weekends is in full effect starting today. My geek sense is going wild knowing Walt Disney World will host several familiar faces from the Star Wars universe signing autographs for fans throughout the next month. The event also will host several other activities for fans. For example, this weekend's headliners include Ray Park (who played Darth Maul from Star Wars Episode I), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett in Star Wars Episodes V and VI) and Dee Bradley Baker (voice of Captain Rex in Star Wars: The Clone Wars). Theme park events like Disney’s Star Wars Weekends tend to provide a bump during non-peak tourism seasons generating business for Orlando. Industry standards show these events help towards drawing tourists to the region, which are expected to be responsible for more than $32 billion in economic impact. Be sure to check back as our resident Star Wars expert and OBJ photographer, Jim Carchidi, is on-site and has been covering it in-depth between the geek outs and bags of Star Wars merchandise he’s likely hauling around. Follow him on Twitter @MediaLife_OBJ for more. — Rich out Oh yeah, and you can click here for more of my blogs. Go ahead — you know you want to do it.  By Josh Levs, CNN CNN) -- Disney World is looking into reports that some wealthy visitors are hiring disabled people to pretend to be family members so that they can skip lines. "It is unacceptable to abuse accommodations that were designed for guests with disabilities," spokesman Bryan Malenius told CNN Wednesday. "We are thoroughly reviewing the situation and will take appropriate steps to deter this type of activity." Reports of the alleged practice sparked fury on social media, with some people calling the actions "crazy," "awful," and "despicable." But others defended the idea, arguing it's a way to help some disabled people make good money. The debate began with an article in the New York Post. "The black-market Disney guides run $130 an hour, or $1,040 for an eight-hour day," the report said. Social researcher Wednesday Martin "caught wind of the underground network" while working on a book about practices among New York City's Park Avenue elite, the Post reported. "It really is happening," Martin told CNN's "Starting Point" Wednesday. "I live among the privileged and powerful parents of New York City," she said, "and once in a while I come across a practice that's really surprising." She added, "It's not my job to judge." Disney for the '1%' The Post anonymously quoted one mother as saying, "My daughter waited one minute to get on 'It's a Small World' -- the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours. You can't go to Disney without a tour concierge. This is how the 1% does Disney." The woman said she hired a company called Dream Tours, the Post reported. The Florida company did not respond immediately to CNN's requests for comment. But it posted a note on its website saying, "Due to inaccurate press and slander, Dream Tours is not offering VIP tours at this time. Our focus has primarily always been providing magical vacations for adults with special needs and helping their dreams to come true." Ryan Clement runs Dream Tours, and Jacie Christiano is assistant director, according to the website. The Post reported that Christiano served as a tour guide for the mother whom the paper quoted anonymously. Clement told the Post that Christiano has an auto-immune disorder and uses a scooter on the job, the report said. Disney offers official ways to avoid long lines It's unclear how often the alleged practice may have actually taken place. The theme park offers VIP tours and FastPass service allowing people to avoid long lines. Martin said the wealthy people she spoke with found that hiring a disabled guide can cost less and allow people to skip straight to the front of lines. Disney World has also been rolling out bracelets designed in part to inform visitors when it's their turn to come to a ride. Anger erupts, but some defend the idea People took to social media to express outrage at the idea of wealthy able-bodied people using money to take advantage of a benefit preserved for the disabled. "This has blood shooting from my eyes this morning," Twitter user Kaneshow wrote. "Wow, I can't even..." wrote Allison Cole. And Twitter user Ruth summed up her take in two words: "Con artists!" But others had a different view. "At least they are sharing the wealth and providing the less fortunate with over $1000 a day to go to Disney World," one of the first comments on this CNN.com story said, from user "blindliberal." And jessied44 wrote, "$1040 for a day spent having fun -- not a bad job. Pretending they are part of the family isn't a good example for the children, but providing work for someone who is disabled isn't a bad thing to do."  Press Release: The Walt Disney Company On June 17, D23: The Official Disney Fan Club, will launch a massive reimagining of its D23.com website, opening up the wonderful worlds of Disney like never before to its members. The site will provide access to newly digitized content that delves deeply into The Walt Disney Company’s vault of material, past and present, along with exclusive glimpses of the future. The new gated content will be free to current D23 Members; plus D23 is launching a new free level of membership, which will include access to this incredible content. D23.com will continue to offer the latest Disney news free to all guests who visit the site. But D23 Members can unlock even more magic in each section by logging in and accessing content whenever a golden key is shown. “We’re creating a unique destination that celebrates, in all respects, the essence of Disney,” says Steven Clark, head of D23. “We believe the new site will offer one of the most engaging Disney experiences yet — with even more to come in the future. We look forward to debuting the new D23.com to our current members as well as to new ones from around the world.” The reimagined D23.com will feature exclusive celebrity interviews; vintage film clips; rarely seen artwork and photography; treasures from the Walt Disney Archives; behind-the-scenes previews of new movies and theme park attractions; and more. Website highlights at launch will include:
And that’s just the beginning — on launch day, D23.com will reveal even more surprises. D23 Free Membership will include:
D23: The Official Disney Fan Club celebrates the remarkable past, present, and future of Disney, taking its name from 1923, the year Walt Disney founded his world-famous company. D23 brings its members a host of exclusive benefits, including a weekly e-mail newsletter; an array of discounts and special offers; and exclusive, member-only special events. Disney fans can join the world’s only Official Disney Fan Club by visiting www.D23.com or www.DisneyStore.com/D23. To keep up with all the latest D23 news and events, follow “DisneyD23” on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.  {By Ronald Grover | Reuters} LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Disney's ABC network will become the first broadcast network to stream its shows live online through an ongoing service, starting with viewers of its TV stations in New York and Philadelphia on May 14 and expanding to its other stations by the end of the summer. To promote its WATCH ABC service, through the end of June Disney is allowing all viewers of its WABC station in New York and WPVI station in Philadelphia to watch live ABC programs online or on mobile devices by downloading the WATCH ABC app, Disney said in a statement. The app will initially allow users to be able to watch the service on Apple's iPad and iPhone and on the Kindle Fire device, and later this summer on Samsung Galaxy devices. Other networks are expected to follow Disney, as traditional broadcasters scramble to keep viewers watching its programs instead of drifting off to Netflix and other online services. In April, CBS made an investment in Syncbak, a technology company that works with local TV stations to stream programming to consumers over the Web. Starting on July 1, Disney will only provide its WATCH ABC service to subscribers of cable, satellite and other TV subscription services that have agreements with ABC to offer the service to their subscribers in New York and Philadelphia. Subscribers must provide an authentication code to be granted access to the shows. Later this summer, Disney said it will expand use of its WATCH ABC service to authenticated subscribers that receive its TV stations in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno, California. The company signed an agreement with Hearst Television to offer the service as well to Hearst's 13 ABC affiliates, including Boston, Pittsburgh and Kansas City. The stations will offer the service "in the coming months," the two companies said. Users of WATCH ABC will be able to access programs on demand as well as watch live programs, Disney said. Disney already offers similar services to subscribers of three of its Disney Channel outlets - WATCH Disney Channel, WATCH Disney XD and WATCH Disney Junior - and through its WATCH ESPN service for several of the sports channel outlets.  {stltoday.com} If you're interested in the history of St. Louis development, as I am, you may know that St. Louis once was in the running for Walt Disney's second theme park. According to legend — and as told at least once in the Post-Dispatch — the deal fell apart over August A. Busch Jr.'s insistence that any such attraction should sell beer, and Disney's refusal to do so. Todd Pierce just published a 10-part history of Disney's St. Louis dealings on the Disney History Institute blog, and he's convinced that the legend is false. The alcohol issue was a potential stumbling block at one point, but Disney found a way to resolve it. In part 8, Pierce describes a March 1964 meeting in which Disney presented his plans for the project, called Riverfront Square, to St. Louis officials: An observation floor capped the building, with picture windows overlooking the Arch: the floor was divided into a formal restaurant, banquet space, and a 150-seat cocktail lounge that would sell wine, alcohol and of course beer, such as that brewed by the Busch family. Guests could enter this floor directly, by using special elevators and bypassing the amusement areas entirely, or, with a hand stamp, guests could pass from the amusement areas into the restaurant and cocktail lounge. With this, Disney allowed for the sale of alcohol within the structure but created an invisible barrier between the bar and the family-oriented park, though adults could pass freely between the two areas. Only once this proposal was explained, a working compromise between the original Disney position and that of August Busch, did the presentation move on to the amusement areas of Riverfront Square. The development was to have been a completely enclosed, five-story indoor theme park covering two city blocks. It would have featured rides and attractions themed around the history of St. Louis, the Mississippi River and New Orleans, and maybe an animatronic Abraham Lincoln that Disney had developed for the New York World's Fair. In the end, Pierce says, the project fell apart over money, not beer. Leaders of Civic Center Redevelopment Corp., which controlled the land, agreed to pay for the building that would house Riverfront Square, but balked when they found out the cost of the building Disney wanted. Disney was only willing to pay for things like rides and movies, not for any part of the structure. A memo said that on one of the floors, Civic Center would have spent $9 million to build walls, floor pits, and so on, while Disney's installation costs would have been just $4 million. Disney may have had another reason for not wanting to commit a lot of money to St. Louis: Even as he was courting civic leaders here, he was acquiring land in Florida for what would become Walt Disney World. So, were St. Louis leaders wise to pass up a lopsided deal with a company that was already distracted by a far bigger project? Or would the Disney magic have transformed downtown St. Louis? We'll never know, but Pierce's history of Riverfront Square is a fascinating read.  {Latimes.com} Walt Disney Co. reported a massive jump in net income for its fiscal second quarter, lifted by the performance of its media networks, movie studio and theme parks. The Burbank company posted net income of $1.51 billion for the quarter that ended March 30, up 32% from a year earlier. Revenue rose 10% to $10.55 billion. Disney, the world's largest entertainment and media company, posted adjusted earnings per share of 79 cents, up from 58 cents a year earlier. The company beat the expectations of analysts who predicted earnings per share of 77 cents. “With adjusted earnings per share up 36% over last year, we're obviously pleased with our second quarter,” Robert A. Iger, chairman and chief executive of Disney, said in a statement. “Our results reflect our successful strategy, the strength of our brands and the value of our high-quality creative content, all of which continue to drive long-term growth and shareholder value.” Shares of Disney rose $1.01 on Tuesday to $66.07, not far from an all-time high of $66.09 set earlier in the day. The stock rose to $66.27 in after-hours trading. Disney's Media Networks Group, which includes ABC and ESPN, posted an operating income of $1.86 billion, up 8%. Revenue rose 6% to $4.96 billion. Although its broadcast division saw operating income fall 40% to $138 million -- due in part to higher prime-time programming costs -- the operating income of the company's cable networks was up 15% to $1.72 billion. Disney partly attributed the gain in the cable business to increased affiliate revenue for ESPN. The company's movie studio had a strong quarter, posting operating income of $118 million. The studio said that it performed well in part due to the release of "Oz The Great and Powerful," which has grossed $228.9 million domestically and $256.2 million abroad. A year earlier, the film studio posted an operating loss of $84 million -- the result of a $200 million write-down on the sci-fi movie "John Carter." The film had a global gross of $282.8 million, but was estimated to have a production budget of $250 million. Disney's parks and resorts posted operating income of $383 million -- a gain of 73% from a year earlier. Disney said the strong performance was largely due to an increase in business at its domestic properties. Disney's interactive division posted an operating loss of $54 million, a slight improvement from the same quarter a year earlier, when it lost $70 million. Revenue was up 8% to $194 million. On Monday, Disney announced that it had struck a deal with video game developer Electronic Arts Inc. that will see that company make and publish new "Star Wars" games. Under the exclusive, multi-year agreement, Electronic Arts will develop titles for "all interactive platforms and the most popular game genres" related to "Star Wars." Disney retains certain rights to develop games for mobile, social, tablet and online platforms, the companies said. It wasn't the only bit of postive pre-earnings news for the company. "Iron Man 3," from Disney's Marvel Studios, grossed $174.1 million domestically in its first weekend of release. The film's opening run trailed only that of Disney and Marvel Studios' "The Avengers," which was released last summer and took in $207.4 million over its debut weekend. As of Monday, "Iron Man 3" had already grossed $504.8 million abroad. The success of the film should buoy the company moving forward, said Disney analyst Harold Vogel, president of Vogel Capital Management, in an interview before the earnings release. "Earnings should have an all-around positive feel to it, especially given 'Iron Man 3,'" he said. "I am sure they will play that up and say they have a great quarter coming."  {OrlandoSentinel.com} Dewayne Bevil on Attractions Theme Park Ranger 9:21 a.m. EDT, May 2, 2013 There are plenty of projects in the works at Walt Disney World, but here are progress reports on four incoming attractions. Disney gave updates on them last week during a preview for members of the media. Train schedule The middle of New Fantasyland remains a construction zone for the the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train I think it's definitely going to add a dynamic, a lot of kinetic energy, which will be fun," says new Walt Disney World President George Kalogridis. The mine train will double as attraction and spectator sport, much like the very visible drop of Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom. "I think of it as theater in the round," says Mark Kohl, director of project management for the Fantasyland expansion. "Our guests will be able to walk 360 degrees around the coaster when it's complete and experience it from all angles." Or maybe it's a triple whammy. The attraction slows down indoors, morphing into a dark ride. "We're going to take you inside this magical cave where millions of diamonds and gems are going to shine, and seven of our closest friends are all going to be hard at work in there," Kohl says. It later shifts back to coaster mode. Mine Train is set to open next spring. Meeting, greeting The next element of New Fantasyland to open will be Princess Fairytale Hall, a central gathering place for Disney royalty in the shadow of Cinderella Castle. "This is where all the royal subjects of Fantasyland, our guests, can go and meet them in sort of a royal receiving room," says Jason Grandt of Walt Disney Imagineering. Look for Cinderella, Rapunzel and other princesses to rotate through there. The space, formerly home of Snow White's Scary Adventures ride, has been overhauled. "If there's a clue that Snow White [ride] used to be the building, it will be a well-placed homage by us," Grandt says. The attraction will be ready by the end of 2013, "in plenty of time for the holidays," Kalogridis says. Go West California Grill, the restaurant topping Disney's Contemporary Hotel, is midway through its first refreshening in 19 years. The establishment is a hot spot for anniversaries, birthdays and marriage proposals, says Michael Scheifler, food and beverage manager. "Seating capacity stayed the same, but we changed quite a few of our tables to many more two-tops to accommodate the demand for those special occasions," Scheifler says. The look will be midcentury modern with tones found in a sunset, such as hot pink and amber. New energy-efficient windows are being installed. Guests will be greeted by a "wall of wine," he says. California Grill is expected to reopen in late August or early September, he says. Digging in Coming soon — within weeks — is Wilderness Explorers, an interactive experience being incorporated into Disney's Animal Kingdom. It has 30 "locations where kids and families can pay a little closer attention to the things that they see, dig deeper into the educational side of it, earn badges that sort of elevate their stature as Wilderness Explorers over time," Imagineer Alex Wright says. One stop, for example, will be along the park's Maharajah Tiger Trek. "There's going to be a station where you can walk up and, through a little field viewer that we've got set up, you can experience how a predator like a tiger sees their prey in the wild," Wright says.  {By Felicia Fonseca, Associated Pres} The Hollywood image of Tonto once had the Lone Ranger's sidekick wearing a thin headband and lots of dangling fringes. The latest Disney version has a shirtless Johnny Depp adorned with feathers, a face painted white with black stripes, and a stuffed crow on his head. The character in the upcoming "The Lone Ranger" still speaks broken English and chants prayers. But Depp has said he's less subservient, honors the proud American Indian warrior and displays a dry sense of humor seen throughout Indian Country. The production even hired a Comanche adviser, making it decidedly a Comanche story, and received the blessing of other tribes through ceremonies during filming. Yet The Walt Disney Co. has caught flak for what some say is the perpetuation of stereotypes through a character that lacks any real cultural traits. Moviegoers will have to wait until July 3 to see how all this plays out on screen. For now, they're getting a glimpse through movie trailers that have left them both optimistic and angry, and wondering to what extent the new Tonto portrays actual American Indians. What has most people scratching their heads is the black crow that appears to hover over Depp's head, and the black stripes that run vertically down his painted face. The inspiration came from a painting by artist Kirby Sattler, who said his work isn't specific to one tribe but is modeled after nomadic Plains tribes of the 19th century. Depp took the image to the film's Comanche adviser, William "Two-Raven" Voelker, to ask if it was far-fetched. His answer: It's not. "There are a lot of people out there screaming who are not Comanche, as in this story Tonto is supposed to be," Voelker said. "They know nothing of bird culture. When we wear or use those feathers, we're calling on the energy of the entire bird." Depp's elaborate costumes — as seen in "Pirates of the Caribbean," ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Edward Scissorhands" — are nothing new. Voelker said he never would have agreed to be a consultant on the movie had he not been assured the production team would be sensitive to American Indian culture and committed to at least some historical accuracy. The teepees used in the movies, for example, have four poles to reflect the way the Comanche built them, not three more commonly seen in movies and that trace back to Cheyenne and Sioux tribes. The production also visited Oklahoma to hear the Comanche language being spoken and worked with Voelker and others to give Depp Comanche lines in the movie. The story of westward expansion as told from Tonto's perspective isn't entirely accurate historically. Some of the scenes are filmed in Monument Valley on the Navajo Nation, with trains curving around the spires that Navajos believe are petrified deities, and Depp and co-star Armie Hammer looking out beyond the cliffs. Voelker had sought out the sweeping expanses of the southern Plains, home to the Comanche Nation. Hanay Geiogamah, a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma who advised Disney on "Pocahontas," said Depp's Tonto comes off as a mystical, radical modernization of the character played by Jay Silverheels in the 1950s, which is by far the most recognizable. "You can say, 'well, American Indians are going to like this one more,'" Geiogamah said. "Are they going to respond more positively to the Johnny Depp Tonto? You're still responding to a non-Indian, stereotypical image." Eileen Maxwell, a spokeswoman for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, said Depp has a tall order to fill if he wants to turn Tonto into a more positive image. "All of its past iterations have not been good for Native Americans," she said. "They've been stereotypical, one-dimension and not true depictions of the westward expansion, which was devastating to Native America." Ernest Tsosie of the Navajo comedy duo, James and Ernie, is looking forward to seeing the movie. One scene has Tonto and the Lone Ranger atop a train, being held at gunpoint by an outlaw who asked if they're going somewhere. The Lone Ranger says no; Tonto insists they are. His straight-face turns to a smirk as the two are picked off the train by a hook that catches the chains that tie them together. "It's a real quick moment where I caught it and I kind of chuckled," Tsosie said. "From what I saw, there's some moments in there that are meant to be funny but not outwardly funny. I think most Natives will pick up on it." Tsosie said other tribes have teased the Comanche for making Depp an honorary member but doesn't believe Depp is ignorant of American Indian culture. Depp was inquisitive about the Navajo language during filming, and the tribal president gave him a Pendleton blanket. T-shirts that Depp has worn have pictures of American Indian warriors in the 1492 version of homeland security and with the letters "AIM" for American Indian Movement, Tsosie said. "I think he knows what's up." Disney's remake of the "Lone Ranger" has Tonto in the role of coach to John Reid, the idealistic law school graduate played by Hammer, who finds himself out of his depth when he returns to his hometown and eventually becomes the Lone Ranger. Michelle Shining Elk, a member of the Colville Tribes of the Pacific Northwest who works in the film industry, said the latest depiction will give the wrong perception of American Indians, "that we are uneducated, irrelevant, non-contributors to society living in teepees out on the Plains." She expected Depp to deliver his lines in a more realistic and modern manner, "not like a caricature from a John Wayne movie, or 1920s cartoon," she said. But as John Wayne was a Hollywood creation, so is Tonto largely. "I just hope that the other rabble-rousers out there can just sit back and take this in as a piece of entertainment," Voelker said. "It's not ever supposed to be an end-all to our Comanche culture. If they have problems, they can come to us, and I take that responsibility." |  Author: Sal Tracanna & Dave Ness
SAL: Disney Blogger, WEBSITE OWNER. PODCASTER. Disney Fan ArchivesMay 2013 CategoriesAll Visit our sponsors
| ||||||
RSS Feed
