Today we’re excited to share more details about the incredible lineup of enhancements debuting this week on the newly transformed Disney Wonder. From Super Hero sightings to a New Orleans-style street party celebration, there is so much for guests to discover. Here’s a closer look…
At Marvel Super Hero Academy, Spider-Man, Captain America, Black Widow and other Super Heroes from the Marvel Universe host training activities for kids all cruise long.
Tiana’s Place is a new restaurant celebrating the charm of the Louisiana bayou with southern-style cuisine and a spirited atmosphere. Inspired by the Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, Tiana’s Place features a lively jazz band on stage, a high-energy parade around the room and performances by Tiana herself.
At Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post, kids can get their “Frozen” fix Frozen adventures in our youth club. This with imaginative play and hands-on activities, plus one-on-one interactions with Anna, Elsa and Olaf.
And, while the kids are having a blast with our youth counselors and characters, adults can sip a pint at a proper English pub. The new Crown and Fin Pub offers the perfect spot to relax and enjoy adult-exclusive fun.
Doctor Strange is the second-biggest fall movie of the year and has crossed $100m at the US box office on November 9. Globally, Doctor Strange passed $325m on Tuesday afternoon. Its also a Disney success story, hitting new records of $6 billion at the global box office. Also a success story for Nepal. Many scenes of Disney and Marvel’s Doctor Strange was shot on location in Kathmandu, Nepal soon after the 2015 earthquake that devastated the country where thousands of people died and many were left homeless. The filming of the movie in the country brought positive attention to Nepal, helping the victims and showing the world Nepal is safe to visit again.
Pritan Ambroase flashes a million dollar smile on the red carpet at the world premiere of Doctor Strange. Ambroase is wearing Jeffery Rudes.
Ambassador Pritan Ambroase, whose other titles include Global Luxury Ambassador, Style Icon, Philanthropist and soon-to-be Talk Show Host says:
“I truly believe that Hollywood, World Cinema and the Fashion Industry can unite our world and make it a better place. Hollywoodand Movie Studios often get a bad name for being money hungry, whitewashing, corporate monsters. But I would like to sing a different tune and highlight the fact that Hollywood and movie studios have also done great work for betterment of our world. I am proud of Disney and Marvel, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Scott Derrickson for going to Nepal to shoot the film so soon after the earthquake that devastated the country. They could have easily chosen to film only on set in LA, but they didn’t. I am all for it. My philanthropic foundation Humans of our World did extensive work in providing relief to the victims and brought positive attention and help to Nepal. The trouble with disaster areas, is that the media’s attention lasts for a few weeks, Nepal’s earthquake victims plight was soon forgotten, but Benedict and Marvel being there, brought attention back to Nepal and now the movie’s release worldwide tells the world that the country is ready for tourism and highlights the continued plight of earthquake victims in Nepal. The country’s economy depends largely on tourism. As a philanthropist who believes in a unified world, I would like to thank all of them. And I must say Nepalhas been picturised in such a spectacularly beautiful way. The country is a perfectly beautiful backdrop which adds to the grandeur of Doctor Strange. Hopefully just like Nepal, Hollywood will film movies in other disaster struck areas like Italy, Haiti, etc too, while organically fitting the storyline. I love the world uniting, be it for art, fashion, sport, movies, etc and hopefully someday for politics. I will keep using my platform to shine light on the causes that need help and to the ones bettering our world.”
New this year at Disney California Adventure Park, Festival of Holidays will entertain guests with heartwarming holiday festivities inspired by cultural traditions from around the world.
Inspired by and expanding on the warmth and fun of the popular ¡Viva Navidad! celebration, the all-new Festival of Holidays will immerse guests in the diverse celebrations of several holiday seasons. Guests will discover something around every corner, from festive food and beverages in 14 marketplace locations to fun craft-making and the universal languages of music and dance.
The daily lineup of entertainment includes nearly 50 performances of nine unique shows, with more than 100 artists rejoicing in the holiday season. They include special Disney characters, cavalcades and performing ensembles that range from a Klezmer band with a global sound to traditional Indian dancers. Disney ¡Viva Navidad! is part of the fun and Princess Elena, the first Disney Princess inspired by Latin American cultures, makes her Disneyland Resort debut as part of the Festival. Princess Elena stars in the new Disney Channel series “Elena of Avalor.”
An all-new holiday spectacular, “World of Color – Season of Light,” brightens the night on Paradise Bay during Festival of Holidays.
Holidays celebrated throughout the Festival:
Diwali, the Eastern festival of lights
Hanukkah
Christmas/Navidad
Kwanzaa
Three Kings Day/Dia de los Reyes
Festive Foods Marketplace: From chile pozole to adobo pork bao and mini turkey pot pies, the food and drink at 14 marketplace locations will tempt guests along the Disney California Adventure walkway, from Carthay Circle to Paradise Garden. Menu items include:
Heritage Cottage – braised beef short ribs, sausages and sauerkraut, vanilla rice pudding
Making Spirits Bright – wines by the glass and tasting flights, warm holiday spiced wines, sparkling juice
Treats for Santa – cookie decorating, harvest puff pastry, cookies, panettenes, peppermint bark, fudge, warm bourbon cider, white hot chocolate, holiday fruit punch
In addition, Paradise Garden Grill will offer some seasonal specials for Disney ¡Viva Navidad! including torta al pastor, street style tacos and chicken mole.
Festival Entertainment
The classic Disney ¡Viva Navidad! holiday celebration includes a high energy street party hosted by The Three Caballeros (Donald Duck, Jose Carioca and Pancho). Mickey and Minnie join the fun, dressed in their fiesta best, along with folklorico and samba dancers. Additional Disney ¡Viva Navidad! highlights include holiday foods, crafts, Disney character experiences and Latin American bands.
Princess Elena’s Musical Grand Arrival welcomes the adventurous and kindhearted Princess Elena of Avalor, her royal dancers and magical friend Skylar as they celebrate the holiday with an uplifting musical cavalcade.
Blue13 Dance Company turns up the fun with traditional Indian dances that build to a Bollywood party for all.
Mischievous Holiday Toy Drummers march to their own merry beat as they perform precision drills with holiday cheer.
The GRAMMY® Award-winning Mariachi Divas celebrate the holidays with their signature repertoire of catchy bilingual tunes.
Mostly Kosher Klezmer band showcases an entertaining and eclectic musical tapestry that weaves together jazz, Latin rock and hip-hop.
RAISE, an uplifting a cappella vocal group, brings its powerful harmonious R&B spin to new and popular holiday songs.
Santa will arrive for Santa’s Holiday Visit to greet guests of all ages. The joyful elves have transformed Redwood Creek Challenge Trail into a jolly playground of holiday fun and games.
For many guests at the Disneyland Resort, a visit during the holidays means a must-do voyage through the heartwarming “it’s a small world” Holiday. Now in its 20th season, “it’s a small world” Holiday is transformed from the classic attraction into one that depicts children of the world dressed in seasonal costumes and happily singing a mix of holiday songs, along with the “it’s a small world” theme. The story of the attraction changes from a charming party with dolls, toys and decorations representing children of many nations, all joining in a song of unity, to the winter wonderland of “it’s a small world”Holiday.
Fun Facts:
Guests who enjoy searching for “Hidden Mickey’s” at the Disneyland Resort will discover a new challenge for Holidays 2016: There are at least half a dozen “Hidden 20s” in “it’s a small world” Holiday, a tribute to its 20th holiday presentation.
Jolly decorators use 50,000 lights on the façade of “it’s a small world” Holiday, and an additional 350,000 mini-lights in the trees, hedges and animal topiaries surrounding the attraction in whimsical Fantasyland. Thousands of additional lights decorate the shops and food kiosks around the attraction, bringing the total to more than 400,000 lights adding sparkle and wintry ambiance to the plaza area around “it’s a small world.”
The warm holiday atmosphere of the plaza area is further enhanced with colorful garland, festive poinsettias and beautiful, international holiday wreaths.
After dark, the smiling clock at the front of “it’s a small world,” decked out in a Santa hat, reveals a sparkling projection show. On every quarter hour, the brightly light façade of the attraction is transformed into an enormous clockwork mechanism with advanced 3D-projection technology presented by Siemens. The gears and springs pull back to reveal a world of holiday wonders hidden behind the whimsical clock.
Guests on “The Merriest Attraction on Earth” sail through 10 scenes inspired by places around the world, such as Europe, Asia and Africa, each representing unique cultural holiday traditions celebrated in these regions.
Among the holiday special effects inside the attraction are scents of fresh pine from a glistening winter forest and peppermint from tantalizing candy canes in the European scenes. In the South Seas scene, hundreds of iridescent bubbles float through the air.
Nearly 150 giant candles decorate the Christmas Tree in the European scene. Once a common tradition in Western European countries, the lighting of candles has inspired the string lights seen on modern Christmas trees today.
The attractions’ finale features a 14-foot snowman made of glimmering crystal snowflakes that shine with thousands of luminous lights. The snowman stands atop a 10-foot-wide snowflake and holds a beautiful “icicle” sign that spells out “Happy Holidays” in colors that change as guests drift along. The snowman joined this festive attraction in 2011, bringing an extra sprinkle of holiday pixie dust with him.
The iconic music of “it’s a small world,” written by the legendary Sherman Brothers, is one of the attraction’s signature elements throughout the regular season. During “it’s a small world” Holiday, guests may still hear this classic tune weaved in between the joyous caroling of holiday favorites “Jingle Bells” and “Deck the Halls.”
Many languages of the world can be heard serenading guests, with cheerful tunes in English, French, Italian, Spanish and Scandinavian languages. Festive signs and banners throughout the attraction spread holiday greetings in such dialects as French Canadian, Dutch, Asante and Hawaiian.
The Disneyland Resort has its own team of holiday “elves” who help create the magic of “it’s a small world” Holiday each year. It takes a talented and dedicated team of nearly three dozen cast members 35 days to install the glittering façade, and nearly 18 days to decorate the holiday attraction’s dazzling interior.
Throughout the regular year, 100 percent of the holiday props and scenic elements are actually stored inside the attraction. A merry reminder: Do not open until the holiday season begins!
We’ve watched the teaser trailer and scrolled through movie stills of the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, but we finally have the most official thing to date: the first official poster!
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) today reported earnings for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended October 1, 2016. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the fourth quarter increased 16% to $1.10 from $0.95 in the prior-year quarter. Excluding certain items affecting comparability(1), EPS for the quarter decreased 8% to $1.10 from $1.20 in the prior-year quarter. Diluted EPS for the year increased 17% to $5.73 from $4.90 in the prior year. Excluding certain items affecting comparability(1), EPS for the year increased 11% to $5.72 from $5.15 in the prior year.
A few days ago, the Walt Disney World Resort announced that PizzeRizzo (the new quick-service location that replaced the former “Pizza Planet“restaurant at Disney’s Hollywood Studios) will officially open on November 18, 2016.
Construction of Toy Story Land has begun at Shanghai Disneyland, the giant theme park and resort that opened in mainland China in June. The land will be the seventh at the park and is set to open in 2018.
For their high price of admission, Disneyland and Disney World offer park-wide immersion and entertainment capped off with nightly shows and seasonal fireworks.
An all-new nighttime spectacular, “Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!,” premieres at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Nov. 14-Dec. 31, sending beloved Disney animated characters on a spirited yuletide adventure to get Santa back to the North Pole in time for Christmas Eve. “Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!” combines state-of-the-art projections, fireworks, special effects and Christmas music to create a dazzling, one-of-a-kind holiday experience for guests – capped by a special message from Santa himself.
A new dessert party themed to the show will be offered nightly, one hour prior to each performance, in the courtyard of the Chinese Theater. Guests who book the “Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!” Holiday Party enjoy holiday-inspired snacks, decadent desserts and specialty beverages. Guests can call 407/WDW-DINE or visit Disneyworld.com to reserve their spot (Nov. 14-Dec. 17, $69 adults, $39 children, including taxes and gratuities; Dec. 18-31 $79 adults, $45 children, including taxes and gratuities).
New for 2016 is the opportunity to meet Santa Claus at the Once Upon a Timeshop starting Nov. 14. The beautiful and vintage setting reflects the bygone days of Santa’s visits to the great department stores across the country.
During the holiday season, “Tinsel Town” takes on a new meaning at the theme park celebrating the magic of movies and television. A giant Christmas tree towers over the main entrance, holiday displays capture the imagination, shops along Hollywood Boulevard welcome holiday shoppers and colorful garlands and lights sparkle throughout the park.
