Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger has just fulfilled the wishes of many a Disney theme park fan by moving Disney Worldwide Parks and Resorts Chair Jay Rasulo out of his position. He will be changing places with Disney CFO Tom Staggs effective in the new year.

Many a finger has been pointed in Rasulo’s direction when it comes to fans unhappiness with the theme park divisions direction. (Of course, some of those same fans are not so quick to give accolades when things go right.) He was often accused of not being interested in the parks to the point of avoiding any travel to them. The focus on DVC over regular resorts, the disasterous run (DCA, Paris Studios, Hong Kong Disneyland) of small theme parks with little themeing over immersive parks favored by the fans, and the general decline of the dining experience at the parks have all be laid at the feet of Rasulo’s policies. I’m not sure how fair any of that is.

As for Staggs, to be honest, I don’t know much about his views on Disney’s theme parks division. But I’ve found his handling of the corporate financial conferences to be masterful. To me this move is roughly the equivalent of Eisner putting Wells in charge of the theme parks, a move which I’m sure would have pleased many fans. So there is hope here.

Quotes from Bob Iger and Tom Staggs at the Orlando Sentinel.

Do you make a habit of chatting with strangers? How about someone you’re sitting next to on an airplane for a few hours? Perhaps you should. You never know who you might meet. In this case, Noah met a man he’s calling Mr. Q.

Mr. Q had a large role in designing the ambient sound for Walt Disney World and solving one of the big problems encountered when moving from land to land… where does one soundtrack end and the other begin?

In the mid 1990’s, the park started researching the problem. It would eventually find no existing solution, so the engineers had to design and construct, on their own, one of the most complex and advanced audio systems ever built. The work paid off: today, as you walk through Disney World, the volume of the ambient music does not change. Ever. More than 15,000 speakers have been positioned using complex algorithms to ensure that the sound plays within a range of just a couple decibels throughout the entire park. It is quite a technical feat acoustically, electrically, and mathematically.

As we land, I ask Mr Q what he considers the highlight of his career. He describes how he wrote some software for “manufacturing emotion” with the thousands of new speakers in the park. The system he built can slowly change the style of the music across a distance without the visitor noticing. As a person walks from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland, for example, each of the hundreds of speakers slowly fades in different melodies at different frequencies so that at any point you can stop and enjoy a fully accurate piece of music, but by the time you walk 400 feet, the entire song has changed and no one has noticed.

More at How Mr. Q Manufactured Emotion.

(Via BoingBoing)

A sea of more than 400 Disney VoluntEARS helped clear 1,080 pounds of trash from the Brevard County coastline on Sat., Nov. 7 as part of the International Coastal Cleanup, the world’s largest volunteer effort to improve the health of the ocean and waterways. Disney VoluntEARS, working with the Ocean Conservancy, Keep Brevard Beautiful, United States Coast Guard and the Canaveral Port Authority, represented the largest group participating in the community-wide cleanup event.

“We really appreciate Disney VoluntEARS coming out here to help as one large organization,” said John Porter, chairman of Keep Brevard Beautiful. “It makes a huge impact for our county and will make the beaches nicer for everyone.”

Joined by friends and family, Disney VoluntEARS from Walt Disney World Resort, Disney Cruise Line and Walt Disney Imagineering helped protect the environment and preserve the natural beauty of nearly four miles of beach near the Disney Cruise Line terminal in Port Canaveral. The majority of items picked up were cigarette butts, bottle caps and fishing line.

“Small objects – such as cigarette butts and fishing line – may look really insignificant, but they can be life-threatening to marine animals,” said Jackie Ogden, vice president of Animal Programs and Environmental Initiatives for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. “Picking up trash on the beach is a simple action that people can take to really make a difference for wildlife and wild places.”

Coastal Cleanup participants are acting locally as part of a global mission to eliminate ocean debris, protect marine life and make the beaches more enjoyable for everyone. This year, the Ocean Conservancy estimates 500,000 volunteers – one million helping hands worldwide – will join in on the effort.

“Trash along our beaches and waterways threatens marine wildlife and undermines tourism and other economic activities,” said Dianne Sherman, director of the International Coastal Cleanup. “The Cleanup gives everyone a chance to be a part of an important global movement to end the tide of ocean trash.”

Disney’s involvement in the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup spans six years; since 2003, more than 1,700 VoluntEARS have picked up more than 26,000 pounds of garbage at Florida Coastal Cleanup events.

The Walt Disney Company, through the Disney VoluntEARS program, provides opportunities for Cast Members to contribute their time and expertise toward positively impacting their communities. Disney VoluntEARS are active in Central Florida; in 2008, they gave more than 204,000 hours in service to the community ranging from serving meals to the homeless to coaching Little League.

Don’t forget that beginning January 1st you can register online with Disney to get a free days admission in exchange for a volunteer shift.

It’s plenty windy today around Walt Disney World, but this is nothing compared to what a Hurricane could bring to the area. Hurricane season doesn’t technically wrap up until the end of November and Hurricane Ida has just entered the Gulf of Mexico. The storm could possibly be heading toward Central Florida mid-week, although current forecasts say it’s moving in a more northerly direction.

If you’re coming to Walt Disney World this week you might want to call and see if the 2008 Hurricane Policy is still in force. But basically, just come prepared for rain with a couple ponchos and good water proof shoes or Keen like sandles you can wear without socks (my personal preference).

The best advice is to stay safe and follow any advisories Disney or your hotel might give out.

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.

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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?

Sure, the Food & Wine festival isn’t even over yet, but with winter setting in around the country you may want to dream a little about spring on those cold nights. This year spring starts the earliest ever at EPCOT with a March 3rd launch of the The 17th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.

The event will continue for 75 days through May 16, 2010, and bring bold strokes of seasonal color and brand-new topiary whimsy. Donald Duck and his topiary pals will set up camp in full floral color to celebrate the Great Outdoors at the Epcot front entrance. The elaborate topiary with a North American theme, live waterfall and pond features Goofy in a fly-fishing misadventure, Daisy Duck roasting marshmallows over a campfire and Pluto in his “pup tent.” It will be a a must-stop photo op for guests as soon as they pass through the park turnstiles.

“The advantage of starting earlier is that we’ll be able to feature more brilliant color than ever, with richly hued petunias, violas, snapdragons and other hardy flowers,” says festival horticulture manager Eric Darden. “By starting earlier and going through mid-May, it allows more guests than ever to experience the festival and to plan ahead for their spring and summer gardening.”

Follow below the jump to find out what will be new this year as well as other highlights:

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