Disney News Feed for August 2

MousePlanetWatch 30 – news feed for August 2, 2007

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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.

• In news breaking since Monday’s Park Update, a new policy will restrict
  usage of Annual Passholder discounts. There will need to be at least one
  passholder in each room. This change was confirmed twice with Disney by
  Sue Pisaturo of Small World Vacations, MousePlanet’s preferred travel provider.
  The policy is so new that not all cast members are aware of the policy yet.
  Existing reservations should not be affected.
• In honor of Oklahoma’s centennial, Disney and Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry
  announced
  that Oklahoma would host the first state-dedicated marketplace experience
  at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival this fall.
• Reservations for special events at the Food & Wine Festival. Details
  on the special events are expected to be available online tomorrow at disneyworld.com/food.
• .Next January’s Marathon, as well as October’s Twilight Zone Tower of
  Terror runs, are selling well. Check out Monday’s
  park update for information on where to go to sign up for each of them.
• Disney college program member Paul Sherrer saved
  a four-year-old boy’s life at Port Orleans Riverside by diving into
  the Sassagoula River, finding him and cashing in on fame.
• Disney has signed
  a deal with the Children’s Miracle Network for sponsorship of the annual
  PGA Tour event at the resort.
• A new
  set of pins is going to be released on October 1 in celebration of Epcot’s
  25th anniversary.

In the Disneyland news, some of the news came from this past Monday’s Disneyland
Park Update.

• This fall’s MouseAdventure
  will be held on October 14. For more details, see the Park
  Update. To join the taunting .. er .. discussion of the event, visit
  our MousePad
  discussion forums.
• Mickey’s Halloween Treat tickets went on sale yesterday. You can join
  the discussion about a MousePlanet meet during Mickey’s Halloween Treat
  here.
• .A Los Angeles Times article tells about the Indian
  casino proposal.
• You can read about the DCA Segway tour here.
• Happy 95th birthday to Art
  Linkletter, who helped Walt Disney to open Disneyland Park.

In The Walt Disney Company news:

• Euro Disney S.C.A. had good financial news to report in its third
  quarter earnings report.
• Orange UK has signed
  an agreement with Disney-ABC International Television for video-on-demand
  and Internet television rights to films from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone
  Pictures and Miramax Films.
• The Walt Disney Company released financial
  results for the third quarter last night. The 58 cents per share beat
  last year’s earnings of 51 cents per share and analysts’ predictions of
  55 cents per share. You can listen to a replay of the earnings call online.
• Disney has pulled its proposed Ratatouille
  Chardonnay before it even hit the shelves at Costco.
• Disney announced
  last week that it would end smoking in all Disney-branded films and
  show anti-smoking public service announcements before any other films that
  showed smoking.
• “What Time Is It,” the first single from the “High School Musical 2” soundtrack,
  debuted at #1 on the Top Singles chart, selling 87,000 physical
  CD singles, and 31,200 digital singles. The soundtrack
  itself will be available on August 14, three days before the movie premieres
  on the Disney Channel.
• The Disney-owned Power Rangers will be celebrating
  their 15th anniversary with a 15-city tour. Following are the tour locations
  and dates:
  • San Diego (July 29)
  • Toronto (August 10-12)
  • New Jersey/New York City (August 17-19)
  • Philadelphia (August 24-26)
  • Baltimore (September 1-2)
  • Washington, DC (September 8-9)
  • Orlando (September 14-16)
  • Atlanta (September 21-23)
  • Bentonville, AR (September 28-29)
  • Dallas (October 5-7)
  • Phoenix (October 13-14)
  • Las Vegas (October 20-21)
  • San Francisco (October 26-28)
  • Los Angeles (November 2-4)
• At Comic-Con in San Diego, producer Mark Johnson announced that Disney
  plans to release films based on all seven Narnia books, one each May. as
  work on Prince
  Caspian wraps up in late January or early February (for release on May 16,
  2008), work will begin on The
  Voyage of the Dawn Treader (for a May 1, 2009 release).
• Disney had several winners, including the President’s Award and Creative
  Achievement Award, at the 22nd
  Imagen Awards.
• Last
  weekend’s box office was dominated by The Simpsons Movie, with blockbusters
  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in third and Transformers in sixth.
  Ratatouille managed to hang on in seventh place, pulling in $7.4 million.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End dropped from 14th place to 22nd
  place, taking in just $405,000 to bring its total to just under $306.9 million.
  It seems certain that the movie will finish no higher than third in the
  summer
  box office derby, with the possibility that Transformers ($284.6 million,
  $11.6 million this week) and Harry Potter ($242.4 million, $17.7 million
  this week) might overtake it as well, if not by summer’s end then by the
  time that the movies leave the theaters.
• Underdog
  and Becoming
  Jane hit movie theaters tomorrow.