MouseStation 122 – MousePlanetWatch news
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Walt Disney World News
- Disney and CareerBuilder.com have launched
another contest, this time to find a Chief
Magic Official (CMO) for the domestic Disney Parks. Here’s one competitor’s
entry video:
See Mark’s personal
commentary on the subject on his new
blog. - The Disney Cruise Line has
announced that a new show, Toy Story – The Musical, will replace Hercules
– A MUSE-ical Comedy in the entertainment lineup aboard the Disney Wonder
in April. - Disney’s Animal Kingdom cast member Darren Scott Snyder was
killed in the massive traffic accidents due to smoke and fog on Interstate
4 last week. - The Tampa Bay Rays (no longer the “Devil Rays”) plan to hold
another series of three regular-season games at Disney’s Wide World
of Sports Complex. - While the Walt Disney World
Marathon was another runaway for Brazilian Adriano Bastos, the Half
Marathon was a nail-biter, with Chad Johnson edging out teammate C. Fred
Joslyn by just one second. - We had a small update
on the installation of iHome alarm clocks at the Contemporary and Grand
Floridian Resorts. - There’s been lots of construction
is going on around the resort, including exterior work at Disney’s Old Key
West Resort, a new DVC kiosk at the Magic Kingdom, and some work on the
Courtyard Pool at the Grand Floridian Resort. - Monday’s Orlando Sentinel ran
a story as a “Sentinel Exclusive” stating that Disney is building
a Disney Vacation Club resort adjacent to the Contemporary Resort. Since
we’ve been reporting that fact since August
2006, it’s uncertain what part of the story is an exclusive. - Quick Takes:
- Star Wars Weekends will be held June 6-29.
- The Tomorrowland Indy Speedway is testing two different alternative-fuel
vehicles. Since recording the show, we’ve found out that the test vehicles
have not been rolled out for guest use yet. - Spaceship Earth’s official reopening has been moved up by four days.
- Journey Into Imagination with Figment will close for four weeks of
refurbishment. - The NFFC’s World Chapter has announced its meeting dates for 2008.
- WDWCelebrations.com has now officially launched. These are the folks
that put on the Celebration 25 Epcot anniversary event in October. - Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede closed suddenly and was sold to the
owner of Orlando Premium Outlets. It is unknown when or where Dixie
Stampede may reopen.
This and other news can be found in this week’s Walt
Disney World Park Update.
Disneyland News
- The Disneyland Update also talked
about the new CMO
contest. - Disneyland Senior Vice President of Operations Greg Emmer will
retire effective February 8, 2008. - We clarified the policies surrounding the SoCal
2fer offer. - There’s a new height requirement
for sitting in the front seat at Splash Mountain. - Other stuff:
- The new Pixar Play Parade will debut at Disney’s California Adventure
at 5:15 p.m. on Friday, March 14. - The Mad Tea Party and Grizzly River Run both closed for last-minute
refurbishments. - This week’s Park Update is a little brief because Update editor Adrienne
Vincent-Phoenix was in Atlanta attending the America’s Mart gift show.
For those Disneyana collectors out there, Adrienne has detailed all
the great new Disney merchandise that will be released in the coming
year in her
new blog.
- The new Pixar Play Parade will debut at Disney’s California Adventure
- The annual NFFC Strictly Disneyana
show and sale will take place Sunday. More details and a discount coupon
are available at the NFFC web
site. Steven Ng will be attending the NFFC Show and Sale in Anaheim
this Sunday for a few hours. He will have his portable recording equipment
with him, so look for him if you want to record a message for the podcast.
You can find him or follow his adventures on his Twitter
feed.
This and other news can be found in this week’s Disneyland
Park Update.
The Walt Disney Company News
- Tokyo
Disneyland cancelled parades
for the first time since the park opened following an accident where a 660-pound
pillar fell off of a float very near a group of guests. - Hong Kong Disneyland is meeting increasing
resistance among Hong Kong citizens, despite the Hong Kong government’s
willingness to continue to provide more money to help trying to vitalize
the park. - Disney and four financial institutions are buying into NBA
China, a developmental program. - A dozen Disney stories will
be translated into a variety of Indian dialects for multiple series
of books. - The
Little Mermaid opened on Broadway last Thursday night. Tickets
for the show are already on sale for performances through May 25. While
Disney’s
press release trumpeted the debut as wonderful, reviews
did
not
agree.
However, “Beauty and the Beast” did not get good reviews either,
and it ran for 13 years. - The Children’s Place is re-evaluating
the future of the Disney Store. - The Walt Disney Company will be holding its annual meeting of shareholders
on March 6 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It’s likely that, for the first time
in five years, MousePlanet will not provide on-site coverage of the meeting. - According to the proxy
statement, Disney CEO Bob Iger had a pay increase of 7 percent, up to
$27.7 million. - The first image from The Princess and the Frog appears on the last page
of Disney CEO Bob Iger’s letter to shareholders in the company’s Annual
Report. (It is not on the back page of the report, as we stated on the
show.) - Enchanted will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 18.
- Disney signed a video-on-demand
deal with Cogeco cable, the second-largest cable provider in Ontario
and Quebec. - Disney and Sony bought
the rest of FilmFlex that they did not already own. - The Writers Guild of America signed interim contracts with United
Artists and Weinstein.
Long-term impact is uncertain. - Disney’s Pixar and Miramax studios did well at the Golden
Globe Awards, picking up 5 nods for Miramax films and one for Pixar’s
Ratatouille. - National Treasure dropped to number 4 at the box
office this week.
Administrative stuff
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Thanks to our West Coast correspondent Andrew Rich, and audio engineer and
sound editor Steven Ng.
Thank you for listening!
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