Archive for the 'Disney's California Adventure' Category
How to get free tickets to Disneyland and Disney World in 2010
September 29, 2009 3:01pm
Starting in 2010, Disney will give away free theme-park tickets to 1 million people who spend a day volunteering in their community.
The give-a-day, get-a-day marketing campaign — which replaces the wildly successful 2009 free-on-your-birthday promotion — starts Jan. 1, 2010 and runs through Dec. 15, 2010.
Volunteers must pre-register online at the HandsOn Network — which represents more than 70,000 nonprofit agencies nationwide — to be eligible for the free ticket.
The tickets are valid at six theme parks in the U.S.:
Disneyland and Disney World to launch official Disney theme park blog
September 28, 2009 10:54am
The Disney theme parks will finally join the blogosphere today in an attempt to bring some of the rabid faithful currently chatting at unofficial fan websites under the corporate umbrella.
Check out the new blog at http://disneyparks.com/blog/.
The blog will be the official source for information about new rides and attractions, exclusive videos and photographs as well as in-depth coverage of events at Disney theme parks in the United States.
Fantasyland to get extreme makeover at Disney World by 2013
September 12, 2009 12:05pm
By 2013, Disney World will transform Fantasyland into a magical fairy tale forest with new and upgraded rides, character meet-and-greet areas and a themed restaurant, Disney announced today.
The centerpiece of the expansion, the largest in Magic Kingdom history, will be a new Little Mermaid dark ride that will take visitors on a musical journey under the sea with Ariel and her friends. Disney’s California Adventure in California will get an identical version of the ride in 2011.
Located behind Cinderella’s castle, the new Fantasyland will also include:
When, where and how: Marvel characters in Disney theme parks
September 9, 2009 9:13am
I’ve heard the same refrain for the last week or so: How will Disney ever incorporate the dark and edgy Marvel comic book characters into its family-friendly fairy tale theme parks?
While at first glance the task seems daunting, upon further reflection the opportunities appear endless. It’s certainly not a question of “if” but rather “when, where and how.”
It’s been fun to imagine the juxtaposition of Marvel’s assassins, terrorists, serial killers and vigilantes mixing on Main Street USA with Disney’s princesses, fairies and army of anthropomorphic animals. But Marvel also has a deep bench of heroes and villains in its 5,000-character catalog that would blend seamlessly into Disney’s theme parks.
The early contenders will almost certainly come from the ranks of Marvel’s past films (”Spider-Man,” “X-Men,” “Hulk,” “Iron Man,” “Fantastic Four”) and upcoming releases (”Thor,” “Captain America,” “Avengers,” “Silver Surfer,” “Ant Man”). There’s even a few minor characters that would fit perfectly in specific Disney attractions and themed lands.
Disney’s done it before with “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” “The Muppets,” “Winnie the Pooh,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” and even Aerosmith.
And while Disneyland might not be the ideal match for Marvel characters, the superheroes fit like a skin-tight spandex suit in Disney’s “studio” theme parks.
So, keeping in mind that Mickey and Spidey have only been in-laws for less than a fortnight, lets take an unofficial and speculative look at how the marriage of Marvel and Disney might play out in the company’s theme parks around the world:
Get your mouse ears on for the opening of the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco
September 7, 2009 5:59am
Walt Disney, the man whose creativity spawned an international entertainment industry, will finally get his due Oct. 1 when the Walt Disney Family Museum opens in San Francisco.
The interactive museum is in San Francisco’s Presidio, a former U.S. military facility that is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The museum will focus on the life and times of Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and Disneyland, among other internationally known characters, films and businesses.
Highlights will include Disney’s successes and disappointments and the creation of characters that have become an indelible part of pop culture in the U.S.and abroad.
Theme park news: Another Dale Earnhardt coaster, Snow White wins lottery, Hello Kitty attraction, Coney Island closure
August 29, 2009 6:27am
A roundup of my theme park Twitter updates for the last week:
POV video: Carowinds announces $23-million Dale Earnhardt-themed Intimidator coaster for spring 2010 with stadium-style seating and T-shaped lap bar.
Universal Studios Orlando unveils eight Halloween Horror Nights mazes: Saw, Wolfman, Chucky, Dracula, Frankenstein, Silver Screams, Leave it To Cleaver and The Spawning. Six scare zones: Lights Camera Hacktion, Cirque Du Freak, Horrorwood Die-In, Apocalypse, Containment, War of Living Dead. (Orlando Attractions)
Disneyland’s Snow White wins $5.2 million lottery jackpot, feels “like Cinderella.” (O.C. Register)
Busch Gardens Tampa adding Sesame Street Safari of Fun for Spring 2010: kiddie coaster, flume ride, carousel, swing ride, water play area. (Orlando Sentinel)
D23 Expo to highlight upcoming Disney theme park expansions
August 3, 2009 5:05am
For complete Disney fanatics, the first-ever D23 Expo coming to the Anaheim Convention Center from Sept. 10th to Sept. 13th promises a sneak peek at new rides and attractions debuting soon at Disney’s 11 theme parks around the world.
Among the highlights at the Disney D23 Expo:
Poll: Would you pay for FastPass perks at Disney theme parks?
July 22, 2009 11:19am
Disneyland issues VIP FastPasses to celebrities, fights the sale of the line-cutting tickets online and dreams of a day when visitors can reserve ride times via cellphone.
So that raises the obvious question: Would visitors pay to use the theme park giant’s currently free FastPass system?
Disney theme parks around the world offer variations on the FastPass ride reservation system, which allows visitors to return to an attraction at a designated time and enter via a shorter line.
* Hong Kong Disneyland sells a $25 Star Pass booklet that offers “priority entrance” to six of the theme park’s most popular attractions.
* Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Fla., is testing a new centralized FastPass distribution system in which visitors pick up all their line-hopper passes at a single location, according to Mice Age.
* Disneyland Paris provides VIP FastPasses to visitors staying at on-property hotels that offer “immediate access” to nine attractions at the resort’s two theme parks.
Vote: Would you pay for FastPass perks at Disney theme parks?
Theme park news: World of Color concept art, China building Neverland tribute, Obama records Disney World audio track
July 18, 2009 7:02am
A roundup of my theme park Twitter updates for the last week:
Pictures: World of Color concept art from Blue Sky Cellar at Disney’s California Adventure. New website. (Disneyland News Today & Mice Age)
“Mouse Ears” author David Koenig calls fatal monorail accident at Walt Disney World “years in the making.” (Mouse Planet)
Latest accident: Twelve hurt when two Disney buses crash at Walt Disney World. (Orlando Sentinel)
Blueprints: Fantasyland remodel calls for dueling Dumbo rides, “Gaston” restaurant & plenty of character meet ‘n’ greets at the Magic Kingdom. (Disney Report)
Sneak peek: Scene-by-scene preview of World of Color water show at Disney’s California Adventure
July 17, 2009 7:51am
I watched with awe Thursday as Steven Davison pantomimed his way through a sweaty and breathless preview of the World of Color water show coming to Disney’s California Adventure in spring 2010.
For those who’ve never had the pleasure of watching a performance by the Walt Disney Imagineering vice president of parades and spectaculars, it’s a treat to behold and a sight you’ll never soon forget. I’m always worried he’ll pass out from hyperventilation or hyperbole. (Watch video from Davison’s Summer Nightastic presentation.)
World of Color, which blends the nighttime spectacle of Disneyland’s Fantasmic and the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas, is the first major addition of a $1.1-billion makeover planned for Disney’s California Adventure through 2012.
The water show will feature an array of dancing fountains, movie projections and lighting effects all tied to the original Sherman Brothers musical score from Disney’s Sunday night television show of the 1960s and ’70s.
As best as I can determine from my furiously scribbled notes of Davison’s thousand-words-per-minute summary, here’s the scene-by-scene rundown for the 25-minute World of Color show:
