In a deal nearly a decade in the making, Disney is on track to open its Shanghai Disney Resort at the end of 2015. The company unveiled its concept art for the site last weekend, and it seems Disney’s Pixar-brand Toy Story will be the star of the resort.
Though “Into the Woods” debuted in 1986, it’s “a fairy tale for the post-9/11 generation,” said director Rob Marshall at a Q&A in New York after a screening of the film Saturday.
With the holidays right around the corner, Members and Vera Bradley fans alike will be excited for the latest Membership Magic merchandise offering: Disney Vacation Club Member exclusive Vera Bradley tote!
Available via the Disney Parks online store, this Cobalt Blue “Vera Tote” features a Disney Vacation Club Member patch embroidered on the outer shell along with a choice of one of two famous colorful patterns lining the inside. Designed with Members in mind, this tote combines the stylish quilted cotton handbags, luggage and accessories the Vera Bradley Company is known for with a touch of Disney Magic!
Look for the Disney Vacation Club exclusive “Vera Tote” to become available in the Member Marketplace beginning December 8, 2014. Please note: Due to limited quantity, purchases will be limited to 2 bags per customer. For more information, head to the Special Offers section of DVCMember.com.
Singer/songwriter/musician KT Tunstall heads to Pixie Hollow to help bring animal fairy Fawn’s story to life in “Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast.” Tunstall performs three new songs in the film, including “Float,” “Strange Sight” and “1000 Years.”
“KT is a celebrated songwriter and musician,” says director Steve Loter. “She reminds me of Fawn in a way with her big heart and this amazing voice that has a little bit of edge and a tremendous amount of appeal.”
The all-new Tinker Bell film is about the relationship that develops between Fawn, a compassionate animal fairy who thinks with her heart, and Gruff, a massive beast with glowing green eyes who seems to be on a mission. “It’s a real action-adventure movie,” says Tunstall. “The characters are so cool. I was over the moon to take part. Disney Animation has such an incredible heritage of work, spanning decades, and it’s really special to be part of that.”
Tunstall had fun channeling the film’s heroine. “‘Float’ is Fawn’s opening theme,” she says. “It’s fantastic how she spends her days looking after all the animals around Pixie Hollow. The song says, ‘I’ll just float.’ She doesn’t have to have a reason, she just really loves having a pair of wings, so she’s going out for a fly, getting into trouble and mischief.”
The artist also helped introduce the NeverBeast. “‘Strange Sight’ is heard when Fawn discovers this beast living in the woods near Pixie Hollow,” says Tunstall. “He’s a huge, scary-looking guy, but she isn’t afraid. She wants to help him and make friends with him, but can’t work out what he is or what he’s doing with the rocks he’s collecting.”
The third song in Tunstall’s lineup, which she sings with singer/songwriter Bleu, is an emotional song that can be heard during the film’s end credits.
My social media newsfeed has been buzzing with Walt Disney World news lately. Some of the changes that the park is taking action on are starting quite a feud while others seem to be making frequent guests quite happy. I’m going to write some questions for you guys throughout my article and would love to hear some opinions to my twitter @LauraWeyand.
Maelstrom is the beloved Disney attraction that is home to Norway in the World Show Case at EPCOT. Walt Disney World has decided upon removing the attraction and replacing it with a “Frozen” themed attraction. Most guests were outraged with the news some saying “Enough with “Frozen”! Many agreed that the attraction was in need of an update and was truly showing its age. That was nothing a little pixie dust couldn’t fix. What do you think could have made this old attraction new again? Promotional wise I unfortunately do agree with the move that Disney has made.
Rumor has it that Anna and Elsa will replace the fairy godmother and the Cinderella Crew for the lighting of the castle during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. My first time visiting the park at this time of year was last year and seeing this moment was absolutely magical. I understand the concept that they are trying to get at with Elsa being the “Snow Queen” and using her magical powers to make the castle look like ice. Do you think they should keep Cinderella or do you agree with the rumor of Anna and Elsa?
Recent news on the removal of Mickey’s sorcerer’s hat at Hollywood Studios has struck my social media accounts. The Walt Disney World Company has confirmed this and I’m seeing a lot of positive feedback. Added in 2001, the new Hollywood icon blocked the view of the theatre entrance to ‘’The Great Movie Ride”. Many are happy to hear the original view will be restored but do you think that they some expansion ideas in mind?
Tweet me @LauraWeyand I really would love to hear your opinions with all of the news that Disney World has recently released. Good, bad, do you not care?
Have a magical day!
Laura Weyand
Cars Land, Buena Vista Street and Main Street, U.S.A. are decked out with holiday ornaments. Mater from Disney’s ‘Cars’ has turned Disneyland Resort into a Winter Wonderland.
The Holidays 2014 season marks the 14th time that Jack Skellington has visited the 999 Happy Haunts who dwell in the Haunted Mansion, transforming this attraction into Haunted Mansion Holiday. Each year, Jack dresses up as “Sandy Claws” as he and his ghost dog Zero bring ghoulish delights from Halloween Town to visit Disneyland Park.
One of Jack’s holiday traditions is leaving a special treat for the ghosts who dance around the Haunted Mansion’s Grand Hall. The annual centerpiece for this “waltz of the weird” is always a huge, creepy gingerbread creation. Jack delivers new and thrilling surprises every year.
The Ghost Host of Haunted Mansion Holiday always says, “even a gingerbread house can be scary,” and this year’s design definitely lives up to the “scary” definition. Of course, the Haunted Mansion Holiday gingerbread house adds a little whimsy with a hapless gingerbread zombie trapped inside – and those frightening spikes are very sharp, red-and-white candy canes. The gingerbread house also will feature opening and closing doors and special lights.
A team of five pastry chefs created this year’s Gingerbread Mansion. Three of them have been part of the Haunted Mansion Gingerbread House team since the annual holiday transformation began 13 years ago.
Frightfully Fun Facts about Haunted Mansion Holiday
After reading actors last week for the highly coveted role, Disney and Johnny Depp look to have found Jack Sparrow’s new mate.
Disney-Pixar have released videos for the characters of ‘Inside Out’ which will be in US theatres in 3D on June 19, 2015.
Meet Disgust
Meet Joy
Meet Anger
Meet Sadness
Autumn has fallen upon us in Indiana. In our home that means field trips to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard, fall parties, cooler jogging weather, Notre Dame Football, and a seasonal craziness that overtakes mom (me) known as the Disney Parks Moms Panel Search. Both exciting and anxiety producing, the results of the process can either mean a coveted spot on the panel of pixie dusted planners, or an evening of crying into your homemade faux Dole Whip.
Since 2007, each fall the several month process begins to choose 10-20 new panelists from among thousands of hopeful applicants. Those that are chosen for the coveted spots will spend time each week answering trip planning questions from guests around the world! You can visit the panel at http://disneyparksmomspanel.disney.go.com/. While the majority of the panelists answer inquiries about Walt Disney World, there are also panelists who specialize in Disneyland, Disney Vacation Club, Disney Cruise Line, Disney’s Wide World of Sports, and runDisney events. Questions can also be asked and answered in Spanish, and it is hoped that more languages will be added in the future. And while the name suggests a group of ladies, the “Moms” part of the title is more for fun and tradition. Moms, dads, grandparents and even kid-less Disney experts are welcome to be on the panel!
The process begins in early September with the Round 1 application opening on a set day and time. Any guest who has visited within the previous 12 months, and meets the eligibility requirements (no Disney employees or travel agents or their families, etc…) may apply. This year the process opened on the Tuesday after Labor Day, and interested guests had until noon on Friday of that same week to submit their application. Round 1 usually consists of some general background questions, followed by secondary essay questions based upon the specialty that you choose to apply for. While no one knows for sure exactly what the selection committee is looking for, it is generally accepted that applicants should have excellent writing skills, a good basis of Disney planning knowledge, research ability, and should be able to show these with some fun and creativity! For example, the one question that all Round 1 applicants had to answer this year, in 100 words or less, was, “How many frozen fractals did Elsa have all around?” While there is no incorrect answer to the question, the idea was to do a little creative writing, and show a bit of your “Disney Side” to the selection committee.
To make the process even more fun, Managing Editor for Disney Social Media, Gary Buchanan heads up the application processes and is the liaison between the applying guests and the selection committee. This year he has been exceptionally engaging with rhyming riddles, haiku’s and photoshopped clues to keep us guessing! Even if you did not apply, but would like to check in on the fun, follow #DisneyMP on twitter for a view of the “wildest ride in the wilderness (or in social media as the case may be)!”
After 6 long weeks, applicants were notified via email if they would be moving onto the second stage of the process. Known as R2 (Round 2), even advancing to this second stage is a huge accomplishment. While Disney likes to keep a little fun and mystery in the process, and actual numbers are not known, it is estimated this year that 400-500 applicants are in this round. R2 again had a set number of days to submit your application. It consisted of several more essays, and everyone’s favorite part of the application, the video. Similar to previous years, you had a single question to answer, via a video, within a set time limit. While in the past it has always been 60 seconds, to add a little fun and Disney World flair, this year we had 71 seconds. Having done two 60 second videos in the past, having those extra 11 seconds was a treat!
In previous years, third round has been phone interviews, and the final panel has been selected at that point. This year however, we have been promised an additional 4th round, so the next step is a bit of a mystery to this year’s hopefuls. The final panel will be notified no later than November 22nd, so the next two rounds will likely happen very quickly. What will that mystery extra round entail? Skype interview? Trivia round? Online scavenger hunt? With Gary Buchanan’s penchant for fun and creativity, it could be anything!
Congrats to all our readers and writing staff who have moved on to R2. And for those that are lucky enough to make the cut to R3, good luck! Remember to have fun and put your best (giant yellow) foot forward! Above all, as Gary says, HAVE FUN!
