ESPN the weekend starts today at DHS

ESPN and Walt Disney World Resort are again offering fans the opportunity to see and hear ESPN personalities and current and legendary athletes during ESPN The Weekend presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods, a one-of-a-kind sports-themed special event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Feb. 27-March 1.

ESPN personalities John Anderson, Colin Cowherd, Jay Crawford, Mike Golic, Mike Greenberg, Dana Jacobson, Chris McKendry, Karl Ravech, Stuart Scott and Trey Wingo are scheduled to participate, along with more than 30 athletes, including NFL quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Kurt Warner and recently retired Brett Favre; 2009MLB Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson; and U.S. Olympic gold medalists Shawn Johnson and Misty May-Treanor, among many others. The ESPN personalities and sports celebrities expected to attend the sixth annual event are listed at www.espntheweekend.com.

ESPN The Weekend will feature on-site telecasts of popular ESPN programs (beginning Thursday, Feb. 26), including Baseball Tonight, First Take, Mike & Mike in the Morning, NFL Live and interview segments on SportsCenter; motorcades and Q&A sessions with athletes and ESPN personalities; Inside ESPN sports shows with commentators and athletes; live ESPN Radio broadcasts; and the ESPN Sports Zone interactive area. Guests also will be able to enjoy all the popular shows and attractions at the theme park during Disney’s “What Will You Celebrate?” celebration. Dick’s Sporting Goods will serve as presenting sponsor of the event for the third straight year.

Report confirms "Are You 23?" is a fan club

The folks over at Stitch Kingdom have pretty solid proof that the whole "Are you 23?" campaign is about a new "official community for Disney fans." Stitch Kingdom happened to come across an advance copy of the new Pinocchio DVD release (officially releasing on March 10). Included in the insert booklet is a sketch image of Jiminy Cricket that reads: "Wishes do come true," and "D23 - the official community for Disney fans. Join at Disney.com/D23." (I tried that link and it just goes back to the preview page - for now).

Stitch Kingdom has the photo online -- so check it out!

Online resort check-in service begins

From a Walt Disney World news release:

Walt Disney World Resort has launched a new Online Check-In Service, designed to simplify and streamline guest arrivals. The new service is complimentary and available to guests staying at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels and Disney Vacation Club resorts open as of February 2009.Within 10 days of their arrival dates, guests are able to provide check-in information, advise the resort of their arrival times and request room preferences (although those cannot be guaranteed). Guests can also register the names of all the people in their party and provide a credit card to cover charges at the resort hotel.

Upon arrival at their resorts, guests visit a special welcome location where their room keys and other registration material are waiting. Disney cast members are also available to provide additional information and answer questions.

Meeting professionals can also arrange private group check-in at a Disney resort convention center or other locations.

“Our new Online Check-In Service offers added convenience and time savings for Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests,” said Kevin Myers, vice president of Resort Operations for Walt Disney World Resort. “It’s the latest benefit created as part of our continuous effort to provide a seamless and hassle-free arrival experience for our guests as they begin their Disney vacation.”

Online Check-In Service is the newest Disney service designed to simplify the travel and arrival process. Guests staying at select Walt Disney World hotels get an extra dose of pixie dust with great perks and services including: Complimentary on-property transportation; Disney’s Magical Express, which offers complimentary airport shuttle and luggage delivery; and Extra Magic Hours, where each day one of the Walt Disney World theme parks opens one hour early or stays open up to three hours later, providing extra time in the parks to experience select attractions.

For more information about the new Online Check-In Service or to make a resort reservation, call 407/W-DISNEY or your local travel agent or click on disneyworld.com.

Tip Tuesday: Park etiquette

Hello Disney fans and welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

This week's tip is a little bit different. Normally here on the DisneyDaddy blog, I give you tips to help make your Walt Disney World experience a little bit better. This week's tip is going to help you pay it forward. How can you make someone else's Disney trip a little bit more enjoyable (and how someone else can make your trip more enjoyable as well).

It all comes down to etiquette, Disney-style.

I'd like to share a few do's and don'ts when it comes to spending a day at a Disney park. Many of these could be considered common courtesies, but, sadly, many (way too many) don't seem to understand or care about being courteous to other guests.

So without further adieu, let's get started.

Dark Rides:
When riding a dark ride, any dark ride, please do not take flash photography. Turn the flash off (or set the camera to a non-flash setting). There's nothing worse then riding Pirates of the Caribbean and seeing a hundred flashes every time Jack Sparrow can be seen. It totally ruins the effect. If you're trying to get pictures during a dark ride, see some tips from The Magic in Pixels. Whatever you try to do - turn off that flash!

Those with video cameras are just as bad (and I have to admit I've been guilty of this one too). Ever been behind someone taping an attraction and all you can really see is a bright LCD window? Those things put off a lot of light. Close the side window and use the viewfinder (that's the little thing you look through with one eye). And please don't use a light (see the flash comment above).

Finally, put your cell phones to vibrate. There's nothing worse then going through a dark ride with great sound to all the sudden hear some funky ringtone going off. Of course, it should go without saying that you should keep the cell phone put away during the ride. Sadly, I've been in the Haunted Mansion with someone in an adjacent doom buggy jabbering away on the cell phone.

Speaking of talking - if you have to talk during a dark ride, do it quietly. There's nothing more annoying then hearing someone try to spook everyone out on the Haunted Mansion by yelling and being stupid (well maybe the constant camera flashes might be more annoying, but it's a close call). When in the stretching room of the Haunted Mansion - be silent (like the dead). These so much incredible audio to be heard there, but no one can hear it if everyone is chatting away. And please don't use profanity. Walt Disney World is a place for kids, so don't go spouting off that kind of stuff for kids to hear. They'll learn it soon enough.

Parades
It's no secret that parades draw a big crowd, especially special parades. Guests line up nearly an hour in advance (and sometime longer) to get that great spot. Please don't think that you can slip into a great spot at the last minute. If seeing the parade is a priority, make the time for it. And don't use your kids as an excuse to butt in. I was at Mickey's Very Merry in December and one woman in front of me had been sitting at the rope line for well over 30 minutes waiting for the nighttime parade. She said she was going to get up and take a few photos of a light-up Main Street for a minute. Her jacket and everything was still there and she was no more than 15 feet away. It wasn't 10 seconds that some woman shoves her kids into that space and then proceeds to stand right in front of me and my camera. I mentioned to this person that the guest was returning in a second and got berated by the mother for "interfering." She managed to find a way for the kids to mooch into a spot at the last second, but that's not the Disney spirit.

That being said, it is the Disney spirit to be polite and considerate of others. If you're standing along the rope line and a guest in a wheelchair, ECV, whatever, is in need of a space, you might consider letting that person move to the rope while you stand behind. You'll see over them and give someone else a great view as well. If you can make room for a child, offer them a spot (this is different than the squatter situation mentioned above).

Oh and it's OK to use a flash and video camera LCD window for a nighttime parade. :)

Smoking
Oh yes, I'm going to go there. Aside from the aforementioned flash in a dark ride, there's nothing else irks me more than someone smoking in the parks outside of a designated smoking area (personally I'd get rid of those too, but that's just me). Disney understands the needs for some to smoke and provides outside areas to do so. Sadly, I've seen too many guests who apparently can't read all the no smoking signs or just don't care. You smokers know what you should and should not do. Need I say more?

Hopefully these tips are not a surprise and you aren't guilty of any of these breaches of Disney ettiquette.

What other Disney ettiquette tips do you have? Post a comment!

Have fun and be nice!

New Star Wars Weekends big figs announced - LAST ones!

StarWars.com has pictures of the four new big figs that will be on sale during this year's Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

This year's four figs are:
- Mickey as Luke Skywalker (in Dagobah attire) with Yoda on his back
- Minnie as Princess Leia (in Jabaa's slave attire)
- Goofy as Chewbacca
-Donald as Han Solo (encased in carbonite)

Most importantly, these are the FINAL four big figs in the series. Presumably, after this series, there will be no more Star Wars-inspired big figs.

Here's what concerns me the most about this announcement. Could the fact that these are the last big figs be some indication of the future of Star Wars Weekends in general? I certainly hope not!

The big figs were wildly popular in the past, but have started to drop off in sales, especially last year. I recall many figs were still available for purchase well after SWW 2008. There were a few available at Tatooine Traders when I was at Mousefest 08 (and that was in December).

One other problem I see with Disney's plan is that the big figs themselves won't be released until the second week of June - that put the release date during either the very last SWW date or even after SWW has ended. I can only assume fans coming to SWW would be able to purchase big figs as a pre-order only. In my opinion, this process has contributed to making buyers a little hesitant to plop down $200 just to pre-order a big fig. Disney did this last year and I think it's one of the reasons sales have declined.

If you can attend Star Wars Weekends, I highly recommend it, though be prepared for some long lines, especially to see characters and actors.

The dates for the 2009 Star Wars Weekends are:

- May 22-24

- May 29-31

- June 5-7

- June 12-14

If you're going, have fun and may the Force be with you!

Could the "Are you 23?" mystery be solved?

(Image courtesy of WDW News Today)

WDW News Today, along with my friends at The Disney Blog, have articles showing pictures of two pins that appear to be related to the whole "Are You 23?" buzz campaign that Disney fans have been speculating about for the past few weeks. The secret will officially be announced on March 10, presumably at the Disney's annual shareholders meeting.

(Image courtesy of WDW News Today)

As you can see, these pins seem to support the theory that the whole "D23" thing is a membership club. The "23" would mostly likely be a reference to 1923, the year the Walt Disney Studio was founded. So far there's no official word on what these pictures mean, but the picture is getting much clearer.

If this is a membership group and if this group does include annual meets, I wonder if this was one of the reasons the 2009 Mousefest was placed on hiatus? This is total speculation on my part, so please don't start any rumors.

What are your thoughts? If this is a new club (obviously with some sort of membership fee), would you join?

Congrats to Wall-E!!

"Wall-E" has won the Oscar for best animated film over "Bolt" and "Kung-Fu Panda". Unfortunately, Andrew Stanton didn't win the Oscar for best original screenplay for "Wall-E." Also, Pixar fell short in the best animated short category. "Wall-E" didn't win in sound editing, sound mixing, best score or best song categories either.

At least "Wall-E" received one Oscar.

In all, the Disney/Pixar film was nominated for six Oscars.

iTunes find: Louis Armstrong sings classic Disney tunes

(Image copyright Amazon.com. All rights reserved).

While searching around iTunes for some Disney-related music, I came across an album I had never seen before. It's called "Disney Songs the Satchmo Way," by Louis Armstrong. I ran through a few sample tracks and was blown away by what I heard. Naturally I had heard Armstrong sing before, but when his signature deep, raspy voice started singing "Zip a dee doo dah, zip a dee ay," I was spellbound.

The album has ten songs including:

1. Zip a Dee Doo Dah

2. Ten Feet Off the Ground

3. Heigh-Ho (this is a fun song that Armstrong slightly modifies)

4. Whistle While you Work

5. Chim Chim Cher-ee

6. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo

7. 'Bout Time

8. The Ballad of Davy Crockett

9. The Bare Necessities

10. When you Wish Upon a Star (mesmerizing!)

Check it out on iTunes -- I think you'll find this as incredible as I did. Of course, I downloaded it right away. It's also available on Amazon.com's mp3 download section.

Attraction review: Festival of the Lion King

Welcome to a new segment for the DisneyDaddy blog. Every once in a while, I'll share my thoughts about an attraction at WDW. For this post, I'd like to discuss the Festival of the Lion King at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

---- SPOILER ALERT ---- SPOILER ALERT ----

I will get into some specifics about the show, though there aren't any real surprises that I will discuss. If you haven't seen this show and don't want to know anything about it, you might want to stop here.

OK, you've had your warning, on with the show, er, review.

I have only had the opportunity to see this show one time, so I will state right up front that there may be some elements I missed about this show.

The show warm-up is done by four castmembers clad in attire that loosely represents the "sections" of the audience they are playing to. Those four sections are: elephant, giraffe, warthog and lion. The seats are arranged in four sections, two of which I'll call the "back" (facing the entrance) and two the "front" (facing away from the entrance). As I'll explain later, it's better to get a seat in the two front sections, as they give a much better view of certain show elements.

Anyway, back to the pre-show: these four performers bring up audience members (mostly from the front or second row) to help "demonstrate" the sounds each section should make. As I was sitting in the elephant section, you can guess what sounds we were asked to make whenever the elephant section was referenced. The poor guy chosen to demonstrate our elephant sound couldn't get into the spirit, though the cast member did a nice job trying to make him not feel embarrassed. The same thing went for the three other sections.

Once the pre-show wrapped up, the main show began with five huge set pieces being wheeled into the main area. Timon (a live character) is first to enter and sort of becomes the master of ceremonies for lack of a better term. He's not the central figure, but he does guide things along.

Four of these huge set pieces are pretty much just decoration, though each has one large animatronic on it which the live castmembers interact with at times. Those are (you guessed it,) a giraffe, elephant, warthog (Pumbaa, of course) and a lion (Simba, naturally).

The fifth set piece is a large trampoline disguised as a rock formation. This is where the tumble monkey's jump swing all over the place. The other acrobatic highlight of the show is the flying bird-woman who soars several times out into the audience. She really is quite spectacular.

That's pretty much the lay of the prideland. I won't go through a play-by-play of the entire thing, but I did want to share a few points.

If you, can, it's better to sit in either the warthog or giraffe sections. They face Simba, while the lion and elephant sections face away from Simba. I would say warthog is best (especially toward the right front). That way you get a good view of both Simba and Pumbaa. The giraffe and elephant animatronics don't really do all that much.

If anyone in your party has a fear of fire, they may want to be forewarned -- there is a fire juggler in the show. He's great, but for those with a heightened fear of fire, it might be frightening.

There is a point during the show where some kids can get into the action. If your kids are interested in taking part, it's better to sit in the first few rows and be enthusiastic.

My take: The Festival of the Lion King is one of the signature attractions at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The show runs about 30 minutes and is a great way to beat the heat (or avoid the rain). The arena is fairly large, seating around 1000 guests. The tumble monkeys are the true gem of this attraction. They perform with high energy and humor. If you haven't seen the Festival of the Lion King - it is a must-do at Animal Kingdom. I wouldn't go so far to say that it's a must-do every time, but it's a great show to see every few trips. If you do get the chance to interact with the castmembers during the pre-show - have fun! We're not laughing at you, we're laughing with you.

Disney announces layoffs at domestic resorts

This from the "we all knew it was coming" file:

The Orlando Sentinel has an article today about Disney's announcement to eliminate an unannounced number of positions as part of an overall downsizing of the east coast and west coast resort divisions. In short, functions that take place both at WDW and Disneyland may be combined so that one location may handle particular functions for both resorts.

The company pointed to the joint development of Toy Story Mania, which was added to both Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's California Adventure. By working on both attractions at the same time, Disney held down development costs.

Disney also said it would create a new "Global Business Development team," which will work to combine existing business and real-estate development functions. This team will be responsible for focusing growth strategies at existing parks-and-resorts businesses and identifying new opportunities around the globe.

My take: Disney is doing all it can to weather the economic downturn. No one likes reducing their staff, but in this climate, you have to do what's necessary to survive. Let's hope that the stimulus plan will actually do what it's supposed to do and stimulate the economy, which can, in turn, get more people to the two U.S.-based resorts and turn things around. At the end of today, Disney stock was still under $18 a share, well down from $35 a share back in May, 2008.

Maybe once the dust settles, some good will come of this shuffle. We can only hope. But as Walt said, we have to "keep moving forward."