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MousePlanetWatch 28 - news feed for July 19, 2007
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Run time 0:34:07
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In the Walt Disney World news, most of the news came from this past Monday's Walt Disney World Park Update, and links to the various information reported can be found there.
- The new games installed in the Soarin' queue are proving very popular.
- Disney has signed a deal with the Chelsea Football Club as the Official Professional Soccer Club of Disney's Wide World of Sports and the presenting sponsor of Disney's Soccer Showcase Series.
- New touch-screen kiosks are being tested at Pecos Bill's Tall Tale Inn and Cafe.
- The Arribas Brothers shop, which recently relocated into the former Market House, will now be expanding into the long-vacant former Disney and Company shop on Center Street, and the new Fantasia merchandise shop will be located adjacent to the new Game Station arcade.
- We took a look at some of the plans that almost were put into place for Epcot's 25th anniversary before they were scuttled by the Year of a Million Dreams. We're trying to get more information on what may actually be in place for the revised plans.
In the Disneyland news, which this week was reported live from Disneyland by Andrew Rich, some of the news came from this past Monday's Disneyland Park Update.
- The celebration of Disneyland's birthday seems a bit understated this year.
- Disney announced the goings-on for this year's Halloween celebration.
- A limited number of Annual Passholders discounted rooms have been made available at Disneyland Resort hotels..
- "Fourth Night Free" rates are available for September 3 through December 12. For more information on how to book those rates, contact MousePlanet sponsor Small World Vacations.
- The Anaheim zoning battle continues, though a compromise may be in the offing..
- The OCTA bus drivers' strike may be coming to an end. Until it does, you can find out which routes are running on the OCTA web site.
- The interactive Mr. Potato Head that will greet visitors in the Toy Story Mania queue was installed, tested and removed in Disney's California Adventure last week.
In The Walt Disney Company news:
- Last Thursday, Disney filed to issue $1.1B in notes, $750 million in three-year floating rate notes and $350 million in ten-year 6 percent notes. The prospectus and the SEC form 8-K for the notes are also available online.
- The Secret of the Magic Gourd had another good week at the Chinese box office, coming in second to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Its two-week total of $1.8 million makes it the second highest grossing Chinese language picture for the year thus far.
- The Disney-owned Power Rangers will celebrate their 15th anniversary at next week's San Diego Comic-Con.
- Billy Ray Cyrus releases his first album with Walt Disney Records on Tuesday.
- Disney is releasing High School Musical 2 with prime-time showings on three consecutive nights. Friday, August 17 will have the premiere of the movie. Saturday, August 18 will have the "Wildcat Chat" rerun, where viewers will be able to send questions to the cast during the broadcast. On Sunday, August 19, the "Sing-Along Telecast" will feature on-screen lyrics so that fans can (what else?) sing along with the cast.
- Members of the Disney Movie Club have received letters telling them of a security breach where their credit card numbers may have been compromised.
- Disney Interactive made many announcements at last week's E3 Media & Business
Summit 2007:
- DGamer will be an interactive web-based community centered around Disney video games and will make it's first appearance next May. It will initially be released for the Nintendo DS platform, and will eventually be available on the Windows PC platform.
- The new Turok game will be released next February.
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian will be released next May, the first title that will include DGamer interfaces.
- Spectrobes II will be released in Fall 2008.
- Disney Interactive added Junction Point Studios as their fifth game studio.
- Disney also announced that they will be releasing 35 movies through the Xbox Live platform.
- One door closes, another opens: While Beauty and the Beast closes on Broadway next Sunday, The Little Mermaid begins its pre-Broadway shakedown run in Denver next Thursday.
- Ratatouille came in third at the weekend box office, bringing its total since release to just under $143 million.
- At the last minute, Roy E. Disney decided not to skipper his yacht Pyewacket in the TransPacific Yacht Race. His son, Roy Patrick, is skippering instead. Disney didn't want to sail with his attention split, as he is also making a movie about a crew of young sailors that he financed to sail the Morning Light in the race. As of Wednesday night, Pyewacket was in the lead, but seems to be falling behind the speed necessary to take back the record for the fastest transit of the course. Morning Light appeared to be in the lead in the Division 2 race.
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Thanks to our West Coast correspondent Andrew Rich, and audio engineer and sound editor Steven Ng.
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