In its latest post, Passport 2 Dreams talks about the music behind one of my favorite attractions – The Matterhorn at Disneyland. Set in the Swiss Alps, the Matterhorn background music is best known for its polka music full of broad accordion playing and, of… Read More »For the first time ever, the complete Matterhorn Background Music Loop
I have two large complaints about The Swan and Dolphin Hotel at Walt Disney World. First, they charge a lot of money for parking, which makes it difficult to just drop by and enjoy some of their fabulous restaurants. Second, they were built just a tad too close to EPCOT, so they tend to loom in the background of photos. On the other hand, that also means they’re perfectly situated between EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Making them a popular resort destination since they opened 25 years ago.
I’m also a fan of the architecture style brought by architect Michael Graves. Did you know that the Dolphin hotel actually represents a volcano that rose out of the ocean and that the Swan hotel was splashed with the water from the rising volcano. Check it out next time you visit. You’ll see that the causeway between the two hotels represents the water.
It was just announced that the Swan and Dolphin Hotel will be getting the largest makeover in its history. The hotel has launched a multi-phase, multi-year, $125 million redesign project that will transform every guest room in the 758-room Swan Hotel and the 1,509-room Dolphin Hotel.
“As we celebrate the hotel’s 25th anniversary, it is appropriate that we mark the occasion with a renaissance of our room product,” said General Manager Fred Sawyers. “Our guests will continue to receive the level of service and hospitality that comes with a quarter century of experience while enjoying a modern new guest room.”
The transformation, it is promised, will occur without disruption to the guest experience as the majority of guest rooms will be available throughout the process. The hotel’s public spaces, restaurants, meeting rooms, shops, pools and recreational areas will not be impacted and remain fully operational throughout the renovation. Read More »Swan & Dolphin Resort starts room renovation
Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, and Emily Blunt are all featured in the first featurette for Disney’s musical feature “Into the Woods.” I am so excited to see this on the big screen for the first time. Yes, I know it will be Disney-fied… Read More »Into the Woods – First Featurette “The Story”
If you have visited Disneyland this fall, I hope you had the chance to try the excellent Pumpkin Twist treat available at Troubadour Tavern and Maurice’s Treats at Disneyland park, and Cozy Cone Motel at Disney California Adventure park. Turns out they’re relatively simple to make at home by using some off the shelf frozen puff pastry and common pantry ingredients.
Here’s Chef Christina Orejel from Disneyland giving the basics.
The full recipe is below:
If you’re in the New York City area and looking for some 18+ Disney fun this Halloween, have I found the perfect event for you. On October 31st, you’re invited to rock out with New York’s premiere Disney cover band, The Little Mermen. They’re throwing… Read More »NYC Disney Dance & Costume Party by cover band The Little Mermen
If you haven’t heard the news, Moana’s release date has been moved up two years! Now coming to us late 2016 as the second film from the Walt Disney Animation Studios. That’s right the second one. The first is Zootopia, in what can most easily… Read More »What about Disney’s Animated Feature Zootopia?
The teaser trailer for Marvel’s Avengers Age of Ultron was originally going to debut with the next episode of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD on ABC. But someone leaked the international version of the trailer (blame Hyrda) and now Marvel has officially released the first trailer for the next Avengers film a few days early.
Without any further ado (other than a word about spoilers, there are some):
Some initial reaction: that is one eerie version of “I’ve got no strings” from Pinocchio. I like that we’re seeing lots of international settings, the Avengers are not restricted to NYC for their battles. And, as we saw from the SDCC preview art, there’s the broken shield of Captain America.
This does not surprise me. Joss Whedon is known for making sure the audience feels the stakes are very real for his characters. Mortal peril must be real.
All-in-all, a great trailer. There is loads of stuff left to be explained, but what we see is pretty dramatic.
More, including a full plot synopsis and some rumoring from Peter below the jump:
Read More »Teaser trailer for Marvel’s Avengers Age of Ultron
Last night’s episode was less focused on action (though Bobbi Morse did a great impression of Natasha Rominav) and more focused on setting the stage for what’s to come.
Hydra is attempting to weaponize the obelisk’s power but without the obelisk itself they are limited to using a sample from one of its victims, and coming up unsuccessful. In the meantime, Raina goes back to Skye’s father for help with delivering the obelisk to Hydra in order to save her hide. However, he isn’t happy that she has failed to deliver his daughter to him so he refuses.
On her way to Hydra, Raina spots Simmons and decides to use her double agent status to blackmail Coulson. She arranges a meeting with him and offers not to reveal Simmons to Hydra if Coulson allows her to take Skye to her father. Coulson refuses the offer and Raina is visibly shaken (a great performance by Ruth Negga) but she exposes Simmons’s cover anyway. Hydra security chief, Bobbi Morse, has had some run-ins with Simmons as Morse pursues seeks out the mole that has been feeing S.H.I.E.L.D. information. She did a great job intimidating Simmons and actually had me convinced that she was going to have a long road to becoming the hero, Mockingbird.
Read More »Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. recap – S2xE5: Hen in the Wolf House