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Risk and Reward, is Disney Parks & Resorts on the Right Track?

With the recent announcement of an Avatar themed land and attractions coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdoms and the troubled opening of Disney’s first Hawaiian resort, Aulani, a lot of the conversation has settled on the types of risks the Walt Disney Company’s parks and resorts division has been taking lately.

It’s a bouillabaisse of different complaints:

  • The monorail and bus system is no longer inpsiring, future world has stagnated, Tomorrowland is now toontown, with the result that Disney’s position as a company with vision has been lost.
  • That Disney should believe in its own artists to come up with compelling stories and themes instead of buying properties like Avatar or Prince of Persia. Franchising is fine, but it shold be ‘Disney’ franchises, not Fox.
  • That building in Hawaii will not pay off for DVC. Either no one will buy it, or they’ll be using those points on the mainland anyway leaving Aulani an empty shell much of the year.

You can see why the Disney company may be confused. One one hand they get attacked for not doing enough on the other for doing too much. That’s true, but the general theme is Disney needs to take more risks when it comes to its parks and resorts.

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Clips of Newsies Stage Musical Production

Disney Theatrical and The Paper Mill Playhouse has released a short video with clips of the stage musical production of Newsies.

Production runs through Oct 16th.

Read our previous Newsies coverage.

Below the jump catch a video of the cast backstage at ABC’s The View.

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Kate Beckett’s new Loft from Castle. I want this.

I’m a big fan of the hit ABC prime time show Castle. But even if you’ve never watched an episode, you’ll fall in love with this new set for Lt. Kate Beckett’s loft. Check out the LA Times for photos as well as this twitpic… Read More »Kate Beckett’s new Loft from Castle. I want this.

The Middle – Episode 1 & 2: Forced Family Fun

Editor: Please welcome guest author Daniel Staten who will take on the dangerous duty of reviewing ABC’s popular sit-com The Middle.

The Middle follows the Heck family. They’re an all-American, middle-class family with everyday common struggles. The show is back for season three on ABC’s Wednesday night comedy lineup. This season’s opener features a cameo by Ray Romano that reunites him with Heck family matriarch Frankie, played by Patricia Heaton.

It’s the first day of school for Axl, Sue and Brick and as Frankie and Mike usher their kids off to class, Frankie begins to reminisce about the family’s summer bonding experience, or as most of us know it, vacation. After seeing neighborhood families travel to the beach, Wisconsin, and conveniently, Walt Disney World, Frankie decides that the Heck family needs a “quick and cheap” vacation to call their own. Mike, in his gruff and earnest way suggests the family go camping. In spite of the kid’s collective groans, they pack up the car and head out.

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A few thoughts on Avatar, will Pandora fit in at Disney’s Animal Kingdom


The Na’vi Hometree on Pandora reminds me of Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life. Of course, we can’t forget that Avatar is a sci-fi film too.

I’ve had a day to think about the announcement of Disney licensing James Cameron’s Avatar properties for it’s theme parks. We’re still very early in the process, but even in just the last 24 hours many interviews with key players have been published. That gives us a slightly better idea, but it’s still pretty much conjecture. Never the less, I have put down a few thoughts on the news, realizing that all this could change as more details of the partnership are revealed.

Disney did a good job keeping the Avatar partnership secret, I’d only heard a few rumors about the idea prior to the announcement but the exact names of Avatar or Cameron never explicitly surfaced, so I didn’t feel comfortable reporting it. However, many Disney fans now feel like they’ve been blindsided and they’re not happy.

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DWTS Elimination: Goodbye Ron Artest…Um, I Mean Metta World Peace

Ed: Please welcome back Sarah J Carter with the second half of our DWTS recap. The season’s first elimination from “Dancing With the Stars” was announced in last night’s results show. The hour began with the professionals performing a fabulous dance number choreographed by professional… Read More »DWTS Elimination: Goodbye Ron Artest…Um, I Mean Metta World Peace

Disney is adding the world of Avatar to its theme parks

Update: this is no longer a rumor. A press conference with James Cameron, Bob Iger and Tom Staggs is was held earlier today at Imagineering. From the Disney Parks Blog: James and his producing partner Jon Landau and their team at Lightstorm Entertainment will serve… Read More »Disney is adding the world of Avatar to its theme parks

New Disney Kicks from Adidas

I love these new Mickey Mouse and Pluto themed sneakers from Adidas. These ones above are limited edition and might be tough to find except at a specialty store near you, but you can find other Adidas Disney kicks at sites like Shoes.com and Amazon.… Read More »New Disney Kicks from Adidas