It’s Veterans Day. Time to turn to those you know who served in the armed forces and offer them a word of thanks or perhaps pick up their check for a free meal as many restaurants are doing this year. If you’re at Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom today (we’ll be at the MK) make sure you find your way to Town Square for the flag retreat. Lately the parks have been doing a little something extra on Veterans Day.

To all who served and serve today, a big thank you from everyone at The Disney Blog.

The last couple holiday seasons have brought a new Holiday commercial from Disney Parks. Here’s this year’s entry:

One last little bit to share from the media event for Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee at the Magic Kingdom. I got the chance to meet and interview Tara Anderson, Show Director from Creative Entertainment at Walt Disney World Resort.

Her previous work at the Magic Kingdom includes the Move It! Shake It Celebrate It! Street Party – which shares a very similar energy to Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee. A good thing in my book.

In the three and a half minute interview we discuss coordinating development of the show on both coasts, the song choices, and more.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Update: The Disneyland Version will officially open tomorrow. The LA Times has a preview.

If you’re heading out to Disneyland or Walt Disney World this fall, make sure you mosey on down to the Rivers of America and catch “Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee.” Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen, Louis, and the evil Dr. Facilier are all featured with their own songs from the movie and it’s sure to get you excited about seeing The Princess and the Frog in the theaters.

I’ve put together a few clips from the show to give you an idea on what to expect.

The show is currently scheduled to run through January 3rd, 2010 as a tie-in to the movie’s launch on December 11th.

It’s one of the realities of Disney Animated Features, they’re just plain expensive to produce. So much that sometimes even a $400 million box office earning film, like Cars, just breaks even for the company after marketing and production are accounted for. So how does Disney make money off these animated beauties? One word, merchandise.

That makes Dara Trujillo a very important person at Walt Disney World. She’s the Manager of Merchandise Synergy and is in charge of coordinating the theme park’s line of products with the animator’s vision for the film.

I got to speak with Trujillo at the premier of Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee, the Magic Kingdom’s tie-in to the launch of “The Princess and the Frog”. She was presiding over a very full and very beautiful table of merchandise to be sold in the parks. Much of it already available and flying off the shelves even with the film’s debut more than a month away.

Tiana is the Walt Disney Company’s newest princess in 12 years and the first princess under Trujillo’s watch. So she was excited about the possibility of making dreams come true for a whole new generation of theme park guests.

Central to those dreams is the Princess Tiana costume. It’s a theme park exclusive and very similar to the dress that Tiana wears in the film and the park. There were already a number of little princesses wearing this dress at the Magic Kingdom, anxious to spot the ‘real’ Princess Tiana as she made her way through the park. It was very cute.

Another item that I think will be a bit hit are the Kissing Frogs. These are a pair of frogs from the film representing Tiana and Naveen in amphibian form. A magnet in their heads keeps them together in the kissing pose.

All this merchandise is currently available in every park in at least two locations, said Trujillo. And they’ll roll out to more locations as the film’s premier draws closer.

See anything you like?

As a kid, one of the joys of visiting my grandparents was knowing I would be offered a Werther’s butterscotch candy from the bowl beside my grandfather’s favorite chair. I’ve never lost that love of Werther’s and fully intend to have my own bowl to dole out to the grandkids when I reach that age.

Back in April, I saw a TV ad for Werther’s that seemed really familiar to me. It took me a few seconds to figure out why… it was filmed in the Germany pavilion at EPCOT. Unfortunately, I don’t have the ability to record off my DVR, but here’s a still shot from the TV.

I like that they didn’t even change the window displays. The toys are all still right there.

Keep your eyes open and if you do catch it on DVR, see if you can save it your PC and send it my way.

Update: Here’s a similar commercial. You can clearly see it’s the Germany Pavilion in the first few seconds of the commercial.

Fans of the horror film genre know that the soundtrack is often the key component of the tension required to really put the scare on. It works the same at Disney’s parks, only it’s not tension that’s building, but atmosphere. It takes a lot of talent to compose for either genre, but John Beal has composed for both.

Beal was one of the orchestral conductors during the Walt Disney World Grand Opening in 1971, and he also supplied music for America Sings and the Carousel of Progress.

Mark Morton has an interview with Beal that is admittedly heavier on the horror, but there are a few juicy Disney tidbits.

I must say that working with the folks at Imagineering was a dream – a collaborative creative experience such as I’ve not found anywhere else. To work with completely open minds that encourage all ideas and build on each others’ suggestions was a real treat.

More here.

As many predicted after the Walt Disney World Monorail accident that resulted in the death of one cast member, the two trains will be salvaged to make one new train with the color teal. Both Pink and Purple will be retired out of respect for the cast members and the families who were involved in the accident.

I believe there is precedence for this. An earlier version of the Monorail had some safety problems. After a train unit caught fire, it was combined with the rest of a unit that was damaged coming into the barn.

I also heard that Monorail Teal will be the first train to feature a new touch screen pilot control system currently being explored by Disney. Update: note that the current system is touch screen too. But it’s mostly an overlay on the old control system. They’re working on a new system for monorail control.

Will you feel uncomfortable the first time you see Monorail Teal around the resort? Is this the right move by Disney officials?