Disney News Feed for August 30

MousePlanetWatch 34 - news feed for August 30, 2007

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Run time 0:23:04

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Walt Disney World News

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Most of the news came from this past Tuesday's Walt Disney World Park Update (it was published a day late this week).

• The wand, crane and stars are all gone from Spaceship Earth.
• The "Muppet Mobile Lab" that was tested at Disney's California Adventure early this year went through some additional testing last week at Epcot.

The Muppet Mobile Lab goes out for a test spin with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker rolling about Epcot's Future World. Photo Disney.

• The new "O Canada!" movie debuts at Epcot's Canada pavilion tomorrow.
• The Orange County Sheriff's Department is looking for additional witnesses to the "line rage" incident at the Mad Tea Party attraction back in May.
• Last Thursday, Walt Disney World Resort was honored by the American Lung Association of Florida and Florida Surgeon General Ana Viamonte Ros for its decision in May to make all of its 24,000 hotel rooms smoke free.
• A permit application for a "Kim Possible World Showcase SFX Package" has been submitted to Orange County.
• The decking and substructure at the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse at the Magic Kingdom will be replaced on third shift.
• MouseFest has arranged for a special discounted rate at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort for MouseFest!
• As it nears the end of its renovation the Grosvenor Resort on Hotel Plaza Boulevard will be getting a new name on Saturday: the Regal Sun Resort.

Disneyland News

Much of the news came from this past Monday's Disneyland Park Update.

• The 2nd annual Disneyland Half Marathon is next Monday, September 3, 2007 (Labor Day). You can view the course map here and read more about the VIP spectator packages here.
• The Disneyland Resort will offer a new Halloween-themed tour this year, called Disney's Happiest Haunts Tour. You can read reader reactions to the ill-fated 2004 version of this tour.
• Prices for the character meals at Disneyland will go up effective September 12th.
• The Indiana Jones Adventure will have a previously-unscheduled, three-day closure this week.
• Robert Olszewski will be at Disneyland on September 22 for the release of the final pieces in his Disneyland Main Street, U.S.A. Collection. You can see photos of the new releases on the Disney Gallery web site, and the display platform for the complete collection at the Olszewski Studios web site.
• The Anaheim City Council voted to put a Disney-backed zoning referendum before the city's residents on June 3, 2008.

The Walt Disney Company News

• On Sunday, Greenpeace activists snuck into a hotel at the Hong Kong Disneyland resort, swapped out light bulbs in two lobby chandeliers for fluorescent ones, and unfurled a banner stating "Mickey cooks the climate".
• The Children's Place is in serious trouble with Disney related to its amended license deal that they signed June 8 for running the Disney Store operation in the U.S. and Canada. Since the breach of their agreement would allow Disney to either demand action or cancel the deal completely, it'll be interesting to see where Disney goes with this, since the original deal was created under Michael Eisner. If Bob Iger thinks that Disney shouldn't have sold off the Disney Stores, the company could cancel the deal with Children's Place and take the stores back.
• Disney Publishing has decided to fold Disney Adventures magazine after 17 years following the November issue.
• Disney's ABC Television Network arm and Roger Ebert are sparring over the use of the trademarked "thumbs-up/thumbs-down" rating system on "At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper." First, ABC released a statement last Friday to the AP stating that Ebert was withholding the rights to use the "thumbs" on the show. Later last Friday, Ebert responded through his web site, noting that he had not withheld the thumbs, and that Disney was not negotiating in good faith.
• ESPN has purchased Scrum.com, a popular rugby site. ESPN had recently bought Cricinfo.com, the top cricket site.
• Disney properties picked up 17 awards at the Teen Choice Awards Sunday night.
• Home Improvement and George Lopez will be showing up on Nick at Night.
• The Disney Music Group landed three titles in the Billboard Top Ten last week. The High School Musical 2 soundtrack was at # 1, Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus was at # 2, and Jonas Brothers was at # 8. DMG had a total of eight albums in the Top 50.
• TV Guide is reporting that Disney has confirmed that the theatrical release of High School Musical 3 will not be "Haunted" after all. However, first they have to meet the increased salary demands of the stars.
• The "Extended Edition" of High School Musical 2 will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 11.
• Ratatouille will debut in stores on November 6.
• Disney movies continue to drop on the weekly domestic box office charts.
• While Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is now fourth domestically, it's still more than $62 million ahead of its closest competitor globally, with $957.7 million worldwide.
• Domestically, Disney's distribution arm is in fourth place overall.