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Walt Disney World Update – Part 2 of 3

Continuing our stroll through Walt Disney World… Part one had a bunch of Fantasyland Expansion photos, let’s start with a few more:


A lot of rock work is still underway, but those trees you see in the foreground are newly planted. They’ve also been doing some other landscaping, which is behind the wall, so you can’t see it. On the left you can see that more progress has been made on Belle’s cottage.


Here’s a shot showing how close the rock work and castle wall from Beast’s castle comes to the back of Gaston’s Tavern. Note the saddle roof design. Should be really beautiful when finished.


Click image for Larger. Here’s another view where the saddle roofs are more obvious.

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Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Report


A slice of the holiday decor up on Main Street. As usual, click to see a larger version. This one is available in desktop size.

On Friday night Disney World treated some of us local media to a fun night at the Magic Kingdom enjoying Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. We had a great time, saw many marvelous costumes, and scored a metric ton of candy. There are still plenty of nights available between now and Halloween. It’s an separate ticket but if you like the spirit of the holiday, Disney does the night right.


Although they were handing out free trick or treat bags, this merchandise cart was available for those who wanted to upgrade. We recommend upgrading and consolidating your candy into a larger bag throughout the night.

Many more photos below the jump:

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Disney Dream Portrait Fan Series Wraps Up

Duy Trong, whose Disney Dream Portrait inspired photo series I’ve profiled here and here, is giving up childish things and has entered college as a freshmen. But before he left to start on his new path, he finished the series by adding some of his… Read More »Disney Dream Portrait Fan Series Wraps Up

Instaparks – Video Snapshot of your favorite Disney Parks

Instaparks is a fun new project that combines the popular iPhone photo app Instagram and something we all love, Disney theme parks, to provide a snapshot of activity occurring at each magical location. The website is a project of Rustin Jessen, who also manages MainGateAds,… Read More »Instaparks – Video Snapshot of your favorite Disney Parks

Photo that inspired EPCOT’s American Adventure

There’s one set in EPCOT’s epic American Adventure attraction that takes the story all the way from the Great Depression to the attack at Pearl Harbor. Brother’s Josh and Jared Stein found a photo that appears to have inspired that scene and shared it with The Disney Blog.

This photo was captured by renowned depression era photographer Dorothea Lange in July 1939 in Gordonton, North Carolina.

That General Store is still around just off route 49 and Wheeler Church Rd. As you can see from this image from Google Maps:

What do you think? Was it the inspiration?

Photo credits: American Adventure – AttributionNoncommercialNo Derivative Works Some rights reserved by Express Monorail, Dorothea Lange, Country store on dirt road, Gordonton, North Carolina, 1939 via the Library of Congress.

Update: One more photo of the store from Dorothea Lange below the jump:

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More Fan Created Disney Dream Portraits

Last month I was happy to share a fantastic set of photos from Disney fan and photographer Duy Truong inspired by the Disney Parks Celebrity Dream Portrait series photographed by Annie Leibovitz. He even let me debut one of his new portraits via The Disney… Read More »More Fan Created Disney Dream Portraits

Disney Fan Takes on Leibovitz’s Dream Portraits With His Own Series


Becky Meza poses as the villainess Ursula from “The Little Mermaid.”

Meet Duy Truong, he’s a photographer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with a passion for Disney. Inspired by Annie Leibovitz’s Dream Portrait series she did for Disney, he decided he could do his own tribute version after thinking the series had ceased after her portrait with Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens.

So he assembled his crew of Disney obsessed friends, some props and costumes, and did some location scouting. The result is absolutely magical. Even though Leibovitz has returned with new Dream Portraits for Disney Parks, I’m delighted to see how well Duy captured the essence of the series.

I’m very pleased to be presenting the world premier of the most recent photos from Duy. Here are two pieces featuring local actress Anneliese Banks as Alice. I love the touch of the hidden mickey in the second one. (click on each image to view it in larger size.)

Here’s one of my favorites “When You Never Forget”, with Raphael “Raffi” Mikelstein portraying Christopher Robin.

More wonderful images in this series below the jump:

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Vanessa Hudgens goes Beastly at Disney World

Another celebrity was spotted at Walt Disney World this weekend. Actress/singer Vanessa Hudgens posed Feb. 13, 2011 with the “Beast” from Disney’s animated film “Beauty and the Beast” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park at Walt Disney World Resort. Hudgens’ co-stars in the upcoming motion… Read More »Vanessa Hudgens goes Beastly at Disney World