I somehow missed the news that three unions at Disneyland Paris were on the verge of a Christmas week strike. The strike began on the 23rd, one of the busiest days of the year for the parks, over demands for wage increases in 2010. Cast… Read More »Christmas Strike at Disneyland Paris
Princess Tiana appears in a horse drawn carriage fit for an American Princess.
Yesterday marked the official opening of a 15 week run for Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. As I posted earlier, the show envelopes guests into being part of the show, a great experience for the guests involved, but how would it play for the rest of the park attendees? Turns out, pretty amazing.
For the special ceremony New Orleans dancers led Princess Tiana to the castle.
The Princess and The Frog is an American story at its root and it features the first African American Princess. The park is really excited about promoting the first new princess in 12 years, so they rolled out some big guns for the press event. One of those was Bruce Smith, the lead animator on Dr. Facilier, the main villain of the movie.
Characters representing current inhabitants of the Magic Kingdom welcome Princess Tiana to the fold.
There was also a wonderful display of merchandise that Disney spent the last two years creating. Some of it, like the theme park exclusive Princess Tiana dress, has been for sale in the park for two weeks and is already flying off the shelves.
A royal proclamation is read.
But the focus of the day was the introduction of Princess Tiana to the park and the official debut of Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee. TSJ has three distinct parts, and while it’s possible to catch all three, if you can only pick one, make sure to choose the middle part performed on the Liberty Belle when it stops in front of Splash Mountain.
The regular show will take place three times daily on the Liberty Belle with a procession leading to and from the boat before and after each performance.
The show is currently only scheduled to run through January 3rd, 2010 as a tie-in to the movie’s launch on December 11th. It’s my hope they extend this show at least through the summer. The show was already drawing huge crowds without the benefit of the movie even being in theaters, I imagine it will continue to grow once it’s seen by the public.
Lots more photos below the jump, so come on down
We’re still a few months away from Hurricane season, but preparation for storms is always ongoing at Walt Disney World. Disney has a “Hurricane Policy” (not yet updated for 2009) for their Magic Your Way Guests whose vacation might be affected by a severe storm, but what else do they do?
With picture-perfect skies outside his window most days, Walt Disney World Emergency Operations Coordinator Eric Alberts dedicates his time to preparing for inclement weather. “Safety for everybody that works or stays here is our top priority,” Alberts says as he checks the latest forecasts.
By expertly planning for severe weather in advance, Walt Disney World Resort made history in 2006 as the first theme park and resort area to be recognized by the National Weather Service as a StormReady® Community. Committed to maintaining its leadership in emergency management, Walt Disney World Resort just renewed its StormReady status through 2012 and remains the only recognized commercial site in Florida. Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Ca. has also earned recognition as StormReady.
Here’s a timelapse video documenting the construction of The American Idol Experience stage and theater. I love these backstage looks at how the magic is made. (video courtesy Walt Disney World)
The set of The American Idol Experience.
I knew The American Idol Experience is in previews and I heard via a twitter from someone who had auditioned and made it into the 2pm show that there would be shows on Saturday, so I drove out to the Disney’s Hollywood Studios to sit in on three Saturday afternoon shows. I’m glad I did.
There is much to be happy with about the attraction, and, as always, a few rough edges that need to be cleaned up. But, hey, that’s what Soft Openings are for. Right?
Read More »American Idol Experience, Disney Magic at its best
On the day after Christmas in 2008, we were at Disney’s Animal Kingdom enjoying some family time together and decided to attend a showing of The Festival Of The Lion King. The crowd was growing and there were a lot of disabled to seat, so… Read More »Unruly Crowd does The Wave at Festival Of The Lion King