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Hello everyone,
Today the Disney Parks Blog announced the incredibly sad and disappointing news that the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights would run for its final year this year, at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. The reason given for their cancellation is due to future projects such as Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land. Even though these new lands will be a great addition to the park, the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights have been a Christmas tradition for twenty years now, and many people have many cherished memories here. It's very sad that Disney are not going to find another home for them anywhere else across the resort; there are certainly many other locations that would be suitable. The streets comprising the UK pavilion at Epcot, while a little smaller, could accommodate them, perhaps even Germany, not to mention other areas of the Studios such as Hollywood Boulevard. Although it is unlikely they'll change their mind, given Disney's recent run of cutting things with no replacement, we can hope that someone will change their mind, and we will see them return; but I won't keep my hopes too high.
We will get to see them one last time this coming Christmas season, but let's take a look back now at some of our photos [ Read More... ] |
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 | Disneyland Paris, August 2015 Photo Trip Report | |
| DisneyDan
Tuesday, September 8, 2015 3:44:21 PM |
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Hello everyone,
A couple of weeks ago, in August, Jon and I were back in Disneyland Paris for five days, after a hiatus from visiting for a while (not a hiatus from Disney though - if you follow our adventures you'll know we've been to the US parks numerous times this year already!). Despite being annual passholders and having visited Disneyland Paris six times last year, due to personal circumstances we hadn't been back since last September. So, following our extended break from the resort, we were glad to finally be able to get back there.
For the first time in all our trips to Disneyland Paris, [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
Today, 5th September, is Pluto's 85th birthday! First appearing in the Mickey Mouse short "The Chain Gang" in 1930, Pluto was first seen tracking Mickey down after he escaped from prison! Since then though, Pluto has become Mickey's faithful companion and one of his best friends.
Today is also the 88th birthday of [ Read More... ] |
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 | Happy 14th Anniversary Tokyo DisneySea! | |
| DisneyDan
Friday, September 4, 2015 9:15:11 AM |
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Today, 4th September, is the 14th anniversary of the grand opening of Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan.
Extravagant, incredibly detailed, beautifully themed and elaborately decorated, Tokyo DisneySea set a new bar in theme park design, becoming an instant hit with not just the Japanese, but world over.
Its seven themed ports offer an incredible array of attractions, stores, dining venues and experiences that are all amazing in their own individual ways. We have been fortunate enough to visit Tokyo DisneySea numerous times over the years, most recently in May of this year, which of course means we have taken many, many photos there!
In my usual style, I want to share with you a selection of our photos from our various trips [ Read More... ] |
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 | Happy Force Friday! | |
| DisneyDan
Friday, September 4, 2015 9:07:32 AM |
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| Today has been dubbed Force Friday by Disney, in celebration of the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. To celebrate the day, I thought I'd share with you just a few of our photos from [ Read More... ] |
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Hello everyone,
It has been a while since I have had chance to make a full news post here on the blog, but today I thought it would be nice to finally share some of the things we have learned recently.
Let's start with Disneyland Resort in California, [ Read More... ] |
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 | Throwback Thursday - Celebrate! A Street Party | |
| DisneyDan
Thursday, August 13, 2015 8:58:07 AM |
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Hello everyone,
Today's Throwback Thursday is to Disneyland's "Celebrate! A Street Party".
Celebrate! A Street Party replaced the much loved Parade of Dreams, opening on 27th March 2009, during the "What Will You Celebrate?" campaign at the US Disney Parks. Unfortunately, Celebrate! A Street Party was no comparable replacement for the Parade of Dreams, and was widely unpopular with regular Disneyland guests.
Celebrate! A Street Party featured twenty-three characters, ranging from Mickey and friends, Winnie the Pooh, Mary Poppins, Peter Pan and Woody, as well as many talented performers. The performance was not so much a parade, but more what the name suggests, a street party. In general, there was nothing wrong with this concept, but when you take into account the fact that this replaced a much loved day parade, which featured beautiful floats and great music, this was not going to cut it. It would be like the Magic Kingdom ending its day parade and advertising Move It! Shake It! as the main parade for the day - and we all know how awful that is.
To its credit, the street party did include new costumes for Mickey, Minnie and Clarabelle Cow. Chip 'n' Dale's sweet heart, Clarice, was also featured in the party; fans will know that, sadly, Clarice doesn't get out much in the US parks, so it was good to see her.
Celebrate! A Street Party featured the (actually not-so-bad) Disney created campaign song "Celebrate You", along with a remix of King Louie's "I Wanna Be Like You", and even Ricky Martin's "Ole Ole Ole". Overall, the idea of having a street party with popular characters is not a bad one, but when you look at the characters they included, and then listen to the soundtrack, you can see why it didn't work! Mary Poppins, Bert, Geppetto and Winnie the Pooh, all dancing along to "Ole Ole Ole" is not really within those characters' genre. Combined with the fact that this was the replacement for a wildly popular parade, it simply didn't work.
Celebrate! A Street Party ran for a year and a half, and ended at the start of the 2010 Christmas season. It did not return in spring 2011, and was replaced with the much more appropriate, and much better received, Mickey's Soundsational Parade, which still runs today.
Let's take a look back at some photos from both August 2009 and August 2010, when we watched Celebrate! A Street Party.
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Hello everyone,
This week's belated Throwback Thursday, which is now a Flashback Friday, is about the Magic Kingdom's former Exposition Hall.
Exposition Hall, or Expo Hall as it was more commonly known, is the building that is now known as Town Square Theater. Before Mickey Mouse and Tinker Bell took up residence, the building was home to a cinema, a small exhibit and fun photo locations.
Expo Hall was a great place to chill out, away from the crowds and intense Florida heat. The continuously playing cartoons on the main screen were a nice respite from the outside world. There were also various photo locations that were fun to take pictures with, and characters would often show up, seemingly randomly, at these locations, too! It was always one of those places that was hidden in plain sight - it was hardly ever crowded, but there were enough people there and things going on, that it was a fun indoor location that we loved to visit.
It was also a place where special events could take place, such as the Tinker Bell movie annual passholder preview, back in September 2008. The Fairies of Pixie Hollow made their debut appearance at the Disney Parks, right there in Expo Hall! We were very fortunate enough to be able to attend the event, where as well as meeting all five fairies, we also met the director, producer and screenwriter of the film.
Let's take a look inside, and take a look at some of our adventures there.
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Hello everyone,
Walt Disney World Resort finally put online the speculated holiday dining for Hollywood and Vine at Disney's Hollywood Studios, this Christmas season. There had been a couple of months of speculation, since the dinner option for the restaurant had disappeared.
The official description on the Disney websites says:
"[A] rare chance to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy all together (in all-new holiday finery) making merry with you and your Guests! Get hugs and photos with your happy hosts, and wonder as you wander through the dazzling décor, heartwarming music and holiday-themed food and activities—followed afterwards by special VIP seating for the popular Fantasmic! nighttime spectacular."
That's right - it's a Fantasmic! dining package as well as character dining. We are glad to hear that there will be brand new outfits, too!
The brand new experience will run from November 7th 2015, until January 3rd 2016, and will cost $52.99 per adult and $31.99 per child age 3 to 9 (plus tax and gratuity). You can visit the official Disney Dining page to make your reservations, or call (407) WDW-DINE or (407) 939-3463.
UPDATE: If you call the Disney Dining line, you can make telephone reservations without the extra expense of the Fantasmic! package. Prices are $50.05 per adult and $29.81 per child age 3 to 9 (including tax but NOT gratuity).
Will you be making reservations? We made ours already!
Dan.
Disclaimer:
Header image is for placement and decorative purposes only, and does NOT reflect the costume worn by Minnie Mouse at this new experience. Quoted text and prices come from this official Disney page here, and are copyright Disney. |
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 | A Year with Minnie Mouse at Walt Disney World | |
| DisneyDan
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 11:17:45 AM |
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Hello everyone,
Throughout the years at Walt Disney World, Minnie Mouse has appeared in hundreds of costumes, making her wardrobe one of the most diverse in the world! From shows, to parades, and character greetings, Minnie has an outfit for every occasion! I thought it would be fun to take a look at the outfits you can meet Minnie in throughout the year at Walt Disney World.
The costumes below are based on our most recent experiences at Walt Disney World, however, as always, schedules, events and greetings are subject to change and cancellation by Walt Disney World, without prior notice.
Let's start with Minnie's regular locations around the four Walt Disney World theme parks.
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