Monday Roundup

For various reasons I’ve decided to start listing some of my Disney collection on eBay. You can help support The Disney Blog and get a neat Disney collectible in return by checking out my Disney auction listings. It’s a short list today with some non-Disney stuff thrown in, but I have some signed artwork, hard to find collectibles, and rare Disneyland merchandise coming soon. Good luck and happy bidding.

• The Arizona Republic has an article on one of Disneyland’s classic Dixieland Bands, The Side Street Strutters. They actually play concerts away from Disneyland tool
• Chuck at Remarks On The World reflects on some of the changes in service quality he’s experienced at Walt Disney World’s Resorts. I’ll give you a hint, the changes weren’t for the better.
• Shining light on one of the worst kept secrets on Disney property, the Orlando Sentinel jumps in on the speculation that the Contemporary Resort will get some Disney Vacation Club units as part of the new construction. (see photos in my recent Flickr update). It’s tough to keep a huge construction site just feet from the Magic Kingdom a secret.
• Congratulations to Brazil’s Adriano Bastos who raced to his fourth straight victory in the Walt Disney World Marathon on Sunday. In the women’s race, St. Petersburg runner Melanie Peters won in 2:47:29. Almost 13,000 runners finished the race which winds through the Walt Disney World property and theme parks. That makes for some tough driving for guests for a few days. But it’s worth it, right? (Times via USAToday)
• The Tampa Bay Rays want to return to the Walt Disney World Wide World Of Sports for three more games this season. The games would be over April 22-24 if approved and would feature games against the Blue Jays. I went to one of the matches last year and had a reasonably good time. I heard they even fixed the food and vending problems over the next two nights.
• A couple follow ups on my story about smaller attractions in the Orlando area. The Orlando Sentinel has an indepth look at the competition between regional dinner shows. Having never been to any of them, I couldn’t tell you which ones to go see. But it sounds like you can’t go wrong if you just venture out. Denise, who runs the excellent MouseSteps.com, headed out to Gatorland after reading my article and offers this photo heavy report. She tells me it was definitely worth the visit. I think you’d find it enjoyable too.