Jake Pavelka (left), star of ABC’s “The Bachelor,” strikes a dance pose March 13, 2010 with his fiancee, Vienna Girardi (second from left) while Mickey Mouse poses with professional dancer Chelsie Hightower (right), star of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” at the Magic Kingdom in… Read More »Dancing With The Stars performers visit Walt Disney World
Well, hello! After all these years Disney has finally figured out how to sell an annual pass that is valid at all the domestic theme parks. We’ve only been asking for this since… well, 1992 for some of us. All I can say is it’s… Read More »Disney to sell universal theme park pass
It was a huge day at EPCOT today. A world record setting canned-food sculpture, a new duet with Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato (more on that late tonight), and Chef Robert Irvine’s Dinner Impossible filming (again more on that later tonight). But the day was really about Disney’s amazing new promotion for its Give a Day, Get a Disney Day promotion for 2010.
Against the backdrop of a world-record sculpture of canned goods destined for food banks, Disney Parks officials on Thursday announced a major milestone with the “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program, a first-of-its-kind effort to help inspire 1 million people to perform volunteer service.
Since the program’s launch only six weeks ago, more than 600,000 people in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada have volunteered or signed up for volunteer projects in their communities, announced Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
“With the launch of our ‘Give a Day, Get a Disney Day’ program, we hoped to spark something truly special,” Staggs said. “But even we have been overwhelmed with the response.”
Disney originally announced that they would try to give away around 1 million tickets to volunteers. I don’t know if that means you need to sign up for a shift soon, or if they’ll extend the promotion throughout the year.
Canned-Food Structure Unveiled, Verified Largest-Ever by Guinness World Records®
As part of the event celebrating family volunteers and to dramatize the spirit of giving, Walt Disney World Resort on Thursday unveiled a mammoth structure of canned goods – food that will be donated to food banks in Orlando, Miami and Atlanta.
The canned food sculpture – titled “Celebrate Volunteers” – was revealed for media and guests at Epcot. Disney VoluntEARS shaped the sculpture with a larger-than-life Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto – all sculpted out of cans. Goofy’s trademark hat consisted of cans of bread crumbs, for instance. Mickey’s famous head was shaped from cans of black olives, and cans of sliced pineapple made up Pluto’s eyes.
The cans represent approximately 70,000 meals, according to Dave Krepcho, president/CEO of Second Harvest of Central Florida. “Each can makes a difference in someone’s life who cannot afford this food,” he said. “Much of this food goes to children in need, working moms trying to provide, senior citizens coping on fixed incomes and people whose disabilities keep them from working.”
The spectacular, character-themed structure – consisting officially of 115,527 cans – was also a world record, according to Guinness World Records, the internationally recognized authority on record-breaking achievement. Guinness World Records Thursday authenticated the achievement as the Largest Canned Food Structure ever created, easily eclipsing the previous record of 54,527 cans set in June 2009 in New Zealand. More fun facts at the bottom of this post
Read More »‘Give a Day, Get a Disney Day’ Program Reaches 600,000 Volunteer Sign-Ups – and Counting!
Tonight at the “What’s New, What’s Next” presentation for the media, Walt Disney World resort made some exciting announcements about what will be coming to the resort this summer. The big news is that Disney’s “Main Street Electrical Parade” will light up the streets of… Read More »Walt Disney World announces “Summer Nightastic!”
Super Bowl XLIV MVP Drew Brees joins Mickey Mouse Feb. 8, 2010 in a celebratory parade in the Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Fl. Brees, the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, is the latest celebrity to star in the “I’m Going to Disney… Read More »Drew Brees visits Walt Disney World, dreams “Drew” come true
If you watched the Super Bowl tonight you saw a hard fought game between two deserving teams. But one team had destiny on their side, and a city on their backs. That team was the New Orleans Saints the champions of Super Bowl XLIV.
So how is New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees celebrating his heroic play in Super Bowl XLIV? He’s going to Walt Disney World
In the frenzied moments just after his team claimed the National Football League championship Sunday night in South Florida, Brees stood in front of a TV camera and shouted five words that have become an almost iconic reaction to milestone achievements: “I’m going to Disney World!”
Brees’s pronouncement, part of the production for one of TV’s most enduring and celebrated commercials, was captured after the Saints’ 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts – a game during which he earned the MVP honor, completing a Super Bowl record-tying 32 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns. He was 16-for-17 in the second half, twice leading the Saints from behind. It added up to be a catalyst for the Saints’ first Super Bowl celebration in team history.
On Monday (Feb. 8), Brees is scheduled to go to the place where millions of vacationers celebrate their personal milestone moments – Walt Disney World Resort. He is to be joined in the Magic Kingdom by NFL Youth Football players, who will participate with the Saints star in a Super Bowl celebration parade down Main Street, U.S.A. The parade is scheduled for 11:55 a.m. at the Magic Kingdom.
This latest commercial is the 42nd of a series that began in 1987 following Super Bowl XXI. The first “I’m going to Disney World” commercial, featuring New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms, was regarded as a groundbreaking concept – a produced national commercial involving a current event, airing on major networks within hours of its conclusion. Brees joins a lineup of people from sports and beyond who have celebrated milestone accomplishments in “I’m going to Disney World” commercials.
follow below the jump for a history of the “What’s Next” commercial:
Read More »Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees going to Walt Disney World
Went to EPCOT this weekend to check out the latest version of the IBM play center at Innoventions. It was quite good and my six year old went back to play it a couple more times later in the day. I was actually, a bit surprised that it was just being officially debuted this weekend as I played a version of the game online about six months ago.
The game itself is a bit of a trip through the history of computing, which IBM and you as the star, of course. Across from the game is a learning center where guess discover the possibilities of building a smarter planet. The exhibit is powered by a news Smarter Data Center, providing a real-life demonstration of optimized computing that reduces energy costs by up to 25 percent.
SmarterPlanet presented by IBM offers visitors to the park a “behind-the-scenes” glimpse of how technology is helping solve the world’s most complex problems – from reducing road traffic and city crime to improving food safety and local water supplies.
Update: word is that the Express line at the MK had trouble tonight too with one train being pushed back to the barn. Monorails are known to be prone to brake fires. They’re usually small ones that are easily put out, sometimes just by the… Read More »Monorail Coral Smoke Incident Yesterday