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News and Views

Disney thanks, “Hurricane Heroes”

Walt Disney World is thanking hurricane relief workers by giving out five-day park hopper passes. “Disney's Salute to Central Florida Hurricane Heroes” program includes complimentary admission to any of the four Walt Disney World theme parks for eligible power company and emergency relief workers. Eligible workers are employees or contractors of power companies, governmental agencies and relief organizations who directly contributed to relief or restoration efforts in Central Florida in the aftermath of recent hurricanes.

The program is being coordinated directly with eligible agencies and companies, such as the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, National Guard and various county and city government agencies in Brevard, Lake, Indian River, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia Counties. For more information about the program and eligibility, visit the program's Web site (link) on the Internet.

The Land becoming a travel agency?

MousePlanet reader Grizzly Hall contributes the following about the rehab work coming for The Land pavilion:

During the rehab, which will extend through Spring Break, The Land may undergo the following changes:

• Potential ramps, a new elevator, staircases, and escalators will be installed to ease guest flow to the bottom level
• The Sunshine Season Food Fair will be “demolished” and replaced by a brand new, smaller restaurant. It may have seating back where the current Food Fair is or perhaps in the center of the pavilion with more “permanent” tables.
• Living With the Land will have its queue changed with potential ride changes. (No, the greenhouses aren?t going anywhere). There may be a new opening scene and brand new Animatronics.
• The balloons and fountain are going away.
• California Time… gift shops, fastpass, you name it.
• Entire retheming of the pavilion.

That's where the big news comes in. For the first time, we are hearing strong information about the long-held rumor about The Land Travel Agency.

The details?

• “Modernization” of the pavilion with “travel agency” theming.
• Soarin' will become an “airport” (as confirmed by the most recent Disney press release)
• Living With the Land would be rethemed to a cruise line. Will this affect the ride? Who knows. Maybe the name.
• Potential retheming of the future restaurant to suit the pavilion's needs.
• Circle of Life would remain.

Note that this is still a rumor and has not been confirmed yet.

New York City World of Disney store opening

Last week, we told you about the union picketing at the October 4 opening of the new World of Disney Store in New York City, but neglected to tell you about the store itself. We'll take care of that now.

The Fifth Avenue store was opened with the arrival of Cinderella and her glass coach, brought up from Florida for the occasion. Also in attendance were Disney CEO Michael Eisner, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Walt Disney Resorts and Parks president Jay Rasulo (who is now in charge of the store), and a whole bunch of celebrities.

The 24,000 square foot, three-story store has been completely remodeled from its life as a Disney Store/Disney Gallery. There are now many interactive shopping experiences, including creating your own candy mix, designing your own princess crown, and building your own Mr. Potato Head. The latest Disney video games are also there for the testing.

There are free character greetings during the day, but the big featured event carries a $75 price tag. Cinderella's Princess Court is a 60-minute “interactive experience” featuring songs, storytelling and engaging games that demonstrate the four “Princess Principles”—Intelligence, Grace, Thoughtfulness and Honesty for would-be princesses. Free preview performances for Disney Visa holders sold out almost immediately after an e-mail announcing the events was broadcast.

Left Coast news, part 1: 1,000th ghost slot up for auction

While this isn't really a Walt Disney World-related story, it's sure to attract a lot of interest from Haunted Mansion fans across the country. Disneyland Resort is auctioning off the right to become the honorary 1,000th ghost at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion (link). The winning bidder receives round-trip tranportation to the Disneyland Resort and a one-night stay at the Grand Californian Hotel in order to attend a “burial” ceremony officially placing the tombstone in the graveyard of the Haunted Mansion. The winner also receives a miniature replica of the tombstone and a certificate officially recognizing the winner as an Honorary Happy Haunt of the Haunted Mansion. The tombstone will be created especially for the winner by Walt Disney Imagineers. There are many restrictions noted on the auction page, including the fact that the winning individual's legal first name will be placed on the tombstone, though a common derivative of the legal first name will be considered, subject to Disney's review and approval. No group, organization or company names will be considered.

Note: The auction is only open to residents of the 50 United States.

The auction is scheduled to conclude at 3:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Thursday.

Left Coast news, part 2: DVC points cost for Disneyland Resort hotels get changed dramatically

Disney very quietly posted the 2005 point charts for Disney Vacation Club members to stay at the hotels of the Disneyland Resort in California on the DVC member Web site. It's no wonder that they did it quietly. The rates for some rooms have gone up quite a bit. It appears that what they've actually done is to remove the weekend differential by taking the cost of seven consecutive nights and averaging to get a uniform nightly rate, then modifying the rates depending on the hotel. They've also broken the summer out of peak season to be “regular season” at about half the price increase.

The Grand Californian sees increases of nine to 12 percent in both value and regular season and 18 to 22 percent in peak season. The Disneyland Hotel sees a range of a 2 percent decrease to a 10 percent increase in value season, increases from 6 to 15 percent in regular season, and increases of 14 to 27 percent in peak season. The Paradise Pier is the most schizophrenic, with prices ranging from no change to a five-percent decrease in value season, a four-percent decrease to a nine-percent increase in regular season, and increases from two to 19 percent in peak season.

As an example, while the top cost of a weekend night with a concierge-level theme park view room in peak season at the Grand Californian has dropped from 117 points to 94 points, the weeknight rate has climbed from 65 points to 94 points, for a net increase in the weekly rate from 559 points to 658 points. The lowest-cost room, a standard view room at the Paradise Pier hotel in value season, goes from 21 points weekdays/38 points weekends/181 points weekly to 25 points nightly/175 points weekly, a 3 percent drop.

In just about every case, though, especially if you're not staying at the Paradise Pier Hotel, it's going to cost you a lot more DVC points to go to Disneyland's 50th Anniversary celebration.

Tiger out of Funai Classic

For the first time since 1995, Tiger Woods will not be playing in the Funai Classic (formerly known by many other names) at Walt Disney World this year. Instead, Woods decided to extend his honeymoon after his marriage to Elin Nordegren on October 5 in Barbados. The field will feature eight of the 24 top golfers this season, including defending champion Vijay Singh.

In other tournament news, the date for next year's tournament has been announced. It will take place on October 20–23, 2005.

Union continues protests against Disney contract offer

The Service Trades Council union, the coordinated bargaining unit for six union locals representing about 22,000 Disney employees in the Walt Disney World Company, is continuing its informational picketing campaign. After protesting at the opening of the World of Disney store in New York City on October 5, they continued with a protest outside a Disney on Ice show in Philadelphia last Thursday and Friday. In addition, 200-300 union members held a meeting at a hotel near the resort's entrance on U.S. Highway 192, followed by a candlelight protest walk along the heavily-traveled road. Negotiations continue this week.

Ears to the ground

…Starting this coming Sunday, Disney's Princess Storybook Breakfast at Akershus in Norway is adding 70 minutes of operation time from 10:30 to 11:40 a.m., and by doing so, is ceasing lunch operations. Hundred of seats are currently available to book at the breakfast, which was previously sold out.

…Bad news for Princess lovers planning January trips. We've just received word that Cinderella's Royal Table will be closed for rehab from January 17 to 27, 2005. The restaurant is tentatively scheduled to reopen at lunchtime on January 27, with character breakfasts resuming the next day. The work will include new paint, stairwell replacement, routine maintenance, and a complete refurbishment of the restrooms.

…If you are a collector, or if you really like the current logo for Disney's Animal Kingdom, stock up now. We're hearing that there's a new logo in the works that will feature Mount Everest in addition to the Tree of Life. It's not certain if they'll take advantage of this change to remove the dragon.

…We've heard that Stitch previews are temporarily over, as Imagineers make changes based on the first round of previews. Round two may start as early as this weekend (But watch out for Stitch's chili dog breath).

…Chicken Little, the title character of next summer's big Disney Feature Animation release, appears as a balloon in this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

…It looks like construction on the next phase of the Finding Nemo overlay at Living Seas in underway.

…It appears that the press release for the new Magic of Disney Animation attraction didn't list all of the stations. It will indeed have versions of Beast's Library and Ursula's Grotto stations.

Have any interesting news or rumors? Let us know.

Refurbishments and Attraction Closures

Magic Kingdom

• “it's a small world” – closed through March 18, 2005 for rehab (info).
• 20,000 League Under the Sea lagoon – walled off to “clear the land as well as add landscape for future use” through November 19, with the walls tentatively coming down on November 11.
• The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter – closed for good to be replaced with new Stitch's Great Escape. Latest word is AP/DVC previews November 5-7, official grand opening press event November 16, soft openings TBA.
• Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress – expected to remain open for the duration of the Stitch's Great Escape construction, then will go down for major rehab.
• Timekeeper – opens seasonally.
• Adventureland – opens with the rest of the park daily with the exception of the Jungle Cruise and the Enchanted Tiki Room – Under New Management, which open at 10 a.m.
• The Hall of Presidents and the Country Bear Jamboree – open at 10 a.m. every day.
• Magic Carpets of Aladdin – closed September 13 – October 19.
• Ariel's Grotto – closed September 13 – November 11 for theme-matching with the 20,000 Leagues Lagoon reclamation.
• Cinderella's Carousel ? will not be operating November 2–14.
• The Hub area in front of the castle – undergoes more refurbishing in January 2005 in preparation for the Cinderellabration show coming later in the year.
• Cinderella's Royal Table – will be closed for rehab January 17–27, 2005.
• Astro Orbiter – closed January 2 – February 16, 2005.
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant – closed January 10 – February 12, 2005.
• Cinderellabration – begins performances in May 2005.

Epcot

• The Universe of Energy – may close for a short rehab at any time to remove the ExxonMobil signage that has remained for an inexplicably long time since its pavilion sponsorship ended.
• Food Rocks – closed permanently to make way for the entrance to the new Soarin' attraction, which is officially scheduled to open in May 2005, but may have an earlier soft opening.
• The Behind the Seeds Walking Tour of the greenhouses at The Land – discontinued during reconstruction of the Food Rocks area into the queue for Soarin'. Expected to resume upon completion of the construction.
• The Land pavilion – expected closure January 2 – April 6, 2005 for completion of the Soarin' attraction.
• The Wonders of Life pavilion – open seasonally. The Pure and Simple eatery and the Well and Goods Limited shop have been removed, while the Body Wars, Cranium Command, and The Making of Me attractions now open when the pavilion is open. The pavilion did not open this summer, which does not bode well for the future. However, it is expected to be open next January – March during the closure of The Land pavilion.

Disney-MGM Studios

• Residential Street at the Disney-MGM Studios – closed and demolished and construction well underway to turn the site into the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, an American version of the popular Moteurs… Action! stunt show from the Walt Disney Studios at Disneyland Paris. The show is officially scheduled to debut in May 2005.
• New York Street – undergoes construction to change facades to represent Chicago and San Francisco. Previously believed to be renamed Big City Street, the newly confirmed name of the area is the Streets of America Backlot.
• The Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights – returns this year on the Streets of America backlot, November 24 – January 2.

Animal Kingdom

• Lucky the Dinosaur – is scheduled to debut in Spring 2005.

Resorts

• Port Orleans Resort – Ongoing two-year extensive rehab of its rooms. Phase I's French Quarter has reopened. Phase II is underway, and involves Riverside going through a phased rehab. The Magnolia Bend mansions are being worked on one by one, and will be followed by Alligator Bayou closing in sections.
• Polynesian Resort – nearing completion of the refurbishment of longhouses. Each longhouse under rehab is walled off and isolated during its rehab. Room refurbishments are resuming. Scheduled: Rapa Nui January 3 – April 1, 2005, Tahiti April 24 – August 17, 2005. Tokelau, not yet refurbished, is not yet scheduled.
• Disney's Old Key West Resort – The main pool is closed through mid-December to construct a new themed water slide.
• Disney's BoardWalk Resort – portions of the resort will see work on the piping system take place in corridors outside guest rooms daily between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. through summer 2005. No work is scheduled inside guest rooms.
• Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa (a new Disney Vacation Club resort) – now open. Construction continues on the rest of the resort; the other three buildings of Phase I are due by the end of the year, the eight units of Phase II are due in 2005, and the six units of the newly-announced Phase III are due in 2007. Phase III will involve the razing of the old Fairway Villas.

Water Parks

• Blizzard Beach – undergoes its annual refurbishment from October 24 – December 11.
• Typhoon Lagoon – closes for its annual refurbishment on December 12.

Elsewhere

• Cirque du Soleil – La Nouba – performs Tuesdays through Saturdays, but closes October 17–20 and December 5–13.
• The All Star Cafe at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex – now closed Monday–Wednesday. Open Thursday–Sunday, from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Disney's Vero Beach Resort (a Disney Vacation Club resort) – still closed due to hurricane damage. The resort will "soft open" on November 8, but some common areas may remain closed for repairs, including Sonya's and the Tiger Lily wet deck.

Park Events

October 2004

• Epcot International Food & Wine Festival (link). October 1 – November 14.
• Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (link). October 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29 and 31.
• Funai Classic at Walt Disney World (link). October 21–24.
• 999 Happy Haunts event (link). October 25-27.

November 2004

• Festival of the Masters at Downtown Disney (link). November 12–14.
• Super Soap Weekend (link). November 13-14.
• Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (link). November 28 & 30, December 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, & 17.
• Festival of the Seasons at Downtown Disney (link). November 26 – December 24.
• Holidays Around the World (link). November 26 – December 30.

December 2004

• Pop Warner Super Bowl and National Cheer and Dance Championships (link). December 5-11.
• Join MousePlanet at MouseFest (link). December 9-13.
• Disney's Soccer Showcase (link). December 27-January 2, 2005.
• New Year's Eve celebrations at Pleasure Island (link) and Atlantic Dance (link). December 31.

January 2005

• Disney's Health and Fitness Expo (link). January 7 & 8.
• FamilyFun Magazine Family Fun Run (link). January 8.
• Disney Marathon (link) and Half-Marathon (link). January 9.

February 2005

• Twirl Mania - The Twirler's Championships (link). February 18 - 21.
• Atlanta Braves Training Camp at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex (link). Dates in February – April TBA.

April 2005

• Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival (link). April 15 – June 5.
• Walt Disney World Inline Marathon (link). April 30 - May 1.

May 2005

• Star Wars Weekends (link). Weekends in May – June TBA.

June 2005

• Gay and Lesbian Day at Walt Disney World (link). June 2–5.

Current Discounts & Promotions

Play 4 Days is back

The Florida Resident Play 4 Days Ticket allows Florida residents four days of play in Disney's four theme parks between July 30 and Nov. 21, 2004 for $119 per person ($126.74 including tax). Park-hopping is permitted on the days used. The ticket is available at Disney theme parks, Florida Disney Stores, and other locations such as Florida AAA offices. Proof of Florida residency is required.

Radisson Resort Parkway announces rates through 2005

Radisson Resort Parkway, a MousePlanet sponsor, has announced their rates through the end of 2005, and has reduced their rates for much of the rest of this year. Guests can receive a complimentary upgrade to deluxe pool view accommodations for the remainder of 2004 simply by typing in the code of "UPGR" in the promotional field of the reservation.

Click here for more information, or here to make reservations now.

Plan ahead and save a few bucks

The Walt Disney World Resort is encouraging visitors to buy their theme park tickets before they even leave home, by offering a slight discount on advance purchases. You can save as much as $26 per adult, per ticket with the “Advance Purchase Savings” program. These prices are before the 6.5 percent Orange County sales tax.

You can also receive these Advance Purchase Savings with packages purchased through AAA.

Annual Passholders

Receive 10 percent off the price of their lunch meal at selected Walt Disney World Resort hotel restaurants, and the discount is good for up to three guests. The offer is valid Mondays through Fridays. Call 407-WDW-DINE (407-939-3463) for locations and reservations.

Park Hours

Hours and entertainment schedules are currently available through December 2004.

Entertainment Schedule

Hours and entertainment schedules are currently available through December 2004.

Theme Park Events

Downtown Disney Entertainment

(Separate admission required)