Weekend Roundup

Hope everyone had a great time and devoured some great food these last few days. At The Disney Blog world headquarters here we’ve still got turkey leftovers enough to imagineer a dozen Turkey Sandwiches, yum! Last night we got out of the house to experience the holiday festival at Epcot. With the Candlelight Processional drawing in the crowds, a new selection of holiday merchandise and a couple additional quick dine locations (great idea, not sure about the food choices though), it was a busy night. But Epcot can absorb a lot of people and it handled the crowds well.

• The Wikipedia entry for Enchanted has a list of cameo appearances and tributes to other Disney films in the movie. Oh Gee, now you have to go back and see it a second time to catch them all.
• IESB.net interviewed John Lasseter on the red carpet at the Enchanted premiere. Lasseter revealed some details about Walt Disney Feature Animation’s return to 2D animation, WALL•E, and more.
• Earlier in the week John Lasseter was seen checking out the new exhibit showcasing seldom seen artwork from Snow White & The Seven Dwarves. The OC Register caught up with Lasseter and the exhibit curator.
• If you’re a fan of MAKE magazine or just like to tinker in the garage and build your own robots, then you might want to join the Wall-E Builders Google Group. They’re all about building a working model of the cute little robot from the upcoming Pixar release Wall-E.
• The SunCal project to build luxury condos in the Anaheim Resort District may be demolished, but the need for Low Income housing remains as this article in the LA Times reminds us. Sad thing is, if the Anaheim City Council had stood behind the Anaheim Resort from the beginning this project might be already on its way to completion at some other more appropriate location and the residents of Anaheim would have both their tourist tax dollars and new housing.
• A slightly irreverent and odd look at a vacation to Walt Disney World and Orlando from a reporter out of Montreal Canada. With the Canadian dollar passing the US dollar in strength, expect to see more of our friends from up north down this winter.
• High Gas prices and the weak US dollar don’t have Disney executives worried. But the availability of Las Vegas style gambling in Florida has them picking up the red-phone to Florida Governor Crist’s desk. That’s not to say Disney isn’t prepared, I heard that when they built the Boardwalk hotel at Epcot parts of it were pre-wired for slot machines.
• Honor Hunter must feel like throwing a Barbecue because he’s written a wonderful post examining all of Disney’s theme park weenies.
• Over on MouseGoods.com, my Disney shopping blog, I just added a couple new items that might make perfect holiday gifts for the Disney fan in your life, even if that’s you! My favorite is the 2008 Aerial Photos Theme Park Calendar.