Time-share suites are becoming a larger part of Walt Disney World’s lodging portfolio.
The resort’s number of hotel rooms has shrunk as its Polynesian Village Resort converts rooms in three of its buildings into 360 new time-share villas. It’s the resort’s largest-ever conversion of hotel rooms into units for its growing Disney Vacation Club.
Take a look at Oswald getting set for his meet and greet near the entrance of Disney California Adventure.
Once again this year I attended the Candlelight Processional during Holidays Around the World at EPCOT. I enjoyed narrators Levar Burton and Edward James Olmos. For one show I stood the entire time and the other I had a seat. Each time I was moved and reminded of what the season really means. I have written other articles at this time of the year recommending this show so I will not harp on that again but I will provide some background about the show and mention a few changes I noticed.
First the changes, most notable I noticed how popular the event was for each show, each night I was at EPCOT, huge crowds. The night we stood, the crowd was 4 deep! One change is that you cannot just walk in form the routine front entrances of the theater after the show starts, you can only enter though the areas that are used to line up on either side of the theater. The one side is for those who have dinner packages, these packages include a 3-course meal or full buffet for lunch and/or dinner and priority seating for a performance of the processional. The other side is the stand-by line/entrance, which is how we were able to obtain a seat. Although I think this is a good policy change, I was a little disturbed at the empty seats in the theater and people standing outside. Why not fill them all? I noticed that there is new décor too! I like the new ‘stained glass windows’ on the sides behind where the trumpeters play. It sort of looks like the EPCOT Ball! Beautiful!
Another notable change in the past few years has been the removal of the markedly Christian essay, “One Solitary Life,” read during the “Candlelight Processional” since 1976 and written by Dr. James Allan Francis in 1926. It details Jesus’ life, death and historical impact. Disney relates that shows are always reviewed and updated and this change was made to benefit performers. It seems the show was running so long and there wasn’t enough time in between performances for them to recover and prepare for the next show. So the 221 word essay was replaced with a 78 word narrative referencing the meaning for the season. The song DO You Hear What I hear has also been removed. The story and meaning are still there. Tis is why I still enjoy it so much.
Now a little background information. The show originated in 1958 at Disneyland. Walt Disney loved Christmas and wanted a special show for the season, so the legend goes. Carolers first with an evolution to what we see today. It was replicated at the Magic Kingdome in 1971 and moved to EPCOT Americans Garden Theater in 1994. The show is comprised of an orchestra and a mass choir that perform traditional holiday songs while a guest celebrity recites the biblical story of Christmas using verses Luke 1:26-31, Luke 2:1-18, Matthew 2:1-2, 10, Matthew 2:9, 11 and Isaiah 9:6 from the English Standard Version of the Bible.
My favorite conductor is John Sinclair. While I have seen many narrators including Neil Patrick Harris and Whoopi Goldberg, I have trouble picking a favorite! I am always moved by a narrator who I can see signing and is moved by the story by their own added words at one point in the show. I also enjoy watching the interpreter for the hearing impaired.
If you would like to have a CD of the show before some of the changes, check Amazon for a copy with Phylicia Rashad as the narrator.
Celebrate New Year’s Eve and welcome 2015 with a brand new sneak peek at Disney’s Cinderella. See the live-action version of the classic fairy tale when it opens in theatres March 13, 2015.
Next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron is already one of the most hotly anticipated movies of 2015, and it will likely end up being one of the highest grossing films of all time. But that’s just the start in terms of superhero movies set to be released in the next few years.
Disney recently released the above new picture from Avengers: Age of Ultron and just below and on the second page is a large batch of promo art for the film featuring new looks at Tony Stark’s Hulkburster, James Spader‘s Ultron (including a profile card), Thor atop a heap of dead robots, several new looks at Vision (Paul Bettany) including a profile card and much more.
Recently I’ve been writing about my last trip with my parents but I’m going to switch it up this month and write about my first experience with the Disney Cruise Line! This past weekend I sailed along with 2 of my close friends on the Disney Dream on a three night Bahamian Extravaganza! I was more than a little nervous about the cruise be¬cause me and the sea have not gotten along in the past. Well I should say me and boats don’t get along very well, but I was equipped with my motion sickness bands and hoped for the best. I packed light for the most part but I also decided along with my friends to participate in a Fish Extender gift exchange! If you’re not familiar Fish Extenders is more of less secret Santa among a group of cabins. The idea came from the Disboards and through that site and face¬book has grown among cruisers.
My friends had done some re¬search and decided to participate and I hopped on board with the plan as well. My gifts took up half my suitcase and another bag which bumped up my luggage to two bags. With my gifts, clothes and camera ready we departed early Friday morning for Port Canaveral!When you are driving in you can see the ships and I can’t lie I was squealing with delight the first time I saw the Dream. It is beautiful from the outside. You can see the Mickey Mouse heads from a distance and the ship is colorful and fun to look at. All my nerves shot out the window and I was just purely excited to get there.
We dropped off our checked luggage and headed for check in. If you know me you know I’m a Mickey Mouse fan, so I literally squealed when I saw Captain Mickey was meeting right in front of the check in line. My friends know I’m a character stalker so we got in line to meet him. We hadn’t even boarded the ship yet and a dream came true. I got my Captain Mickey photo and hug. I couldn’t have been happier.We got all checked and waited for boarding. We got to meet a few of the people from our FE exchange group while we waited which was really cool. Finally they made the call for boarding, they called our group number and off we went. We got to take a few pictures before we got onto the ship and then they let us walk on.
When you arrive they announce your family name and welcome you on board. The lobby is literally the most amazing thing ever! The chandelier was breathtaking as were all the statues. I was in complete awe of everything. And because it was a Merrytime Christmas Cruise, the tree was up and they had this amazing gingerbread house erected. It took a couple hours before our rooms were ready but we didn’t mind. We headed off to have lunch at Cabanas the buffet. It was SOOOO GOOD! They had a variety of everything from chicken tenders to crab legs. And crazy enough that was just the buffet! By the time we finished lunch our rooms were ready and we headed up to our stateroom. We were lucky enough to get a balcony view so we could see the other ships at port. We had a stateroom host that brought us our luggage and took care of us for the entire voyage. His name was Danny and he was AMAZINNNNGGG! We headed down to entire a raffle for the spa. We didn’t win but it was really cool to see all the services offered. We also got to explore the ship some and went to see the night clubs along with get¬ting to explore the pool area and I got a good look at the Aquaduck slide.
Disney officially announced its 2015 slate of films yesterday and it’s time to brace yourself for the Year of the Mouse. The Walt Disney Company has a consistent business model of rejuvenating its film and animation divisions through the strategic purchases of stand-out creative properties while allowing them room to grow under the Disney banner.
