Tuesday night we made it over to Downtown Disney’s Marketplace to experience “T-Rex” the latest addition to the food and entertainment options. Lines were long, but moved fast as guests were entered into a virtual queue to wait for their tables. Inside the place was loud, but everything seemed surprisingly well run for the first night open to the public.
Central Florida theme-park attractions must report incidents and injuries to guests at their theme parks every quarter. The latest report is out and there are 10 incidents added to the list as reported by the Orlando Sentinel. Again it’s your usual assortment of broken bones,… Read More »Park Injuries Reported
From Dark Horizons we learn that Pirates Of The Caribbean co-scribe Terry Rossio has denied the veracity of all the rumors about the fourth edition of the series. On his official blog Rossio says, “none of the recent Pirates 4 rumors have any truth, including… Read More »POTC4 Rumors just that says Scribe Rossio
This morning in a backstage area behind Epcot, the Walt Disney Company redeemed a prescription for healthy cast members when it opened the Center for Living Well as a one stop shop for primary medical car for 40,000 eligible Cast Members and their families. Disney partnered with Take Care Health Systems a provider of over 375 similar on-site facilities to bring this valuable resource to the cast members of Walt Disney World.
As a primary care center, the Center for Living Well includes Labs, Facilities, Pharmacy, and the ability to handle any urgent care matters. Additionally there are staff members who will help patients to develop the tools required to stay healthy for the long run.
With the Center for Living Well “Cast Members gain a tool for healthier living,” said Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World Resort. “It will make it easier than ever before for them to take advantage of the many health and wellness resources Disney offers.”
President of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Al Weiss, who has been appointed the Executive Champion for health and well being at the Walt Disney Company, said the center will provide cast members Holistic look at health with teaching opportunities. It will also tie-in with other facilities provided around the resort, such as health clubs, to ensure a healthy cast. That makes it a win-win in the long term.
Another benefit of the center is the outreach to the many cast members who come from overseas to work at the resort. Large populations of Haitians, Vietnamese, and Spanish speaking people work around the resort. The center for Living Well features signage in multiple languages, staff members who are fluent in one or more of the common languages, and resources available via telephone for other translation needs. This will no doubt be a big selling point as Disney attempts to attract more workers from these communities.
In addition to cultural sensitivities, they’re also taking privacy into concern. The design and layout of the facility means you’re unlikely to run into your boss while waiting for service. Wait times will be minimized and exam rooms are specially designed to protect the identity of whomever is in the room.
The Center is open to all Disney Cast Members who are enrolled in one of the 5 Cigna plans. It will be open 7 days a week (M-F 7A-7P and S-S 9A-5P) with the pharmacy open the same hours. They are recommending that everyone make appointments, although walk-ups will be accepted.
I have a full set of photos from the event this morning and a tour of the facility over at my flickr account. You can also read the whole press release below the cut.
Read More »Walt Disney World opens on-site health and wellness center for cast members and families
Walt Disney World guests answer the question, “What’s it like riding Big Thunder Mountain?” and give a tour of every hair-raising drop, twist and turn for this ‘wildest ride in the wilderness.’ Almost as good as being there… not really. Better than actually being there… Read More »Video: Wildest Ride In The Wilderness
The Le Cellier restaurant at the Canadian pavilion at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT Center features this out of the world Cheddar Cheese Soup. It’s also featured in the Canada booth during the popular Food & Wine Festival. Now you can learn how to make it yourself from Master Chef Brian Piasecki of Jiko-The Cooking Place (although he’s at neither restaurant for this demonstration)
In a ceremony at the Burbank Walt Disney Studios, the Walt Disney Company inducted 11 new Disney Legends yesterday. The Legends are chosen by a selection committee chosen by Roy E. Disney. The program honors gifted animators, Imagineers, songwriters, actors and business leaders as having… Read More »Walt Disney Company inducts 11 new Disney Legends
Walt Disney’s Animated Masterpiece Sleeping Beauty 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition has been remasterd and re-released on DVD and Blu-Ray. Each frame of the original fairy-tale classic has been painstakingly recreated to Walt’s original specs. That means you’ll get to see the movie in a way hidden from audiences since the original theatrical release.
On the plus side this means that you get to see characters and detail that were previously cut from the widescreen version of the film. On the bad side, that means that the letterboxing is extreme. So unless you have a fairly good sized TV, you’ll be squinting a bit to take it all in.
Also updated were the rich color palette of the original film. We’ve all grown used to a somewhat dulled version with deep blues and greens. But the remastered version reveals purples, reds, bright greens, and other amazing colors that add a whole new depth to the film. I do have to big complaints in this area however. The greens tend to be a little on the puke green side and the pinks now tend to be more red. This is particularly bad in the famous pink or blue dress fight.
That said, the small errors are mostly overwhelmed by how rich and detailed this restoration is. To see the master animators at work, the detail of the backgrounds, and the hear the masterful soundtrack in a whole new level of high definition makes all the difference.
Even if you already own Sleeping Beauty, which we did, there are plenty of new extras that make this worth adding to your collection. My number one favorite is the featurette on the Original Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Walk-Through Attraction With Walt Disney Imagineering. It’s a fully-immersive 3-D experience recreating the original Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-Through that Walt supervised over 50 years ago.
Do yourself a favor and buy the Blu-Ray edition even if you don’t own a Blu-Ray player yet. It comes with the normal DVD and you never know when you might own a Blu-Ray player.
The full DVD details are below the cut:
Read More »Sleeping Beauty: Remastered, Reissued, Really Good