To MK

On the SLOW monorail heading towards MK.

Pin games

Standing in line at pin games.

The Seas

At the Seas with Nemo. Epcot is BUSY!!

Lunch

We escaped the pin event and having lunch at Sunshine Seasons.

At pin trading event.

We arrive at World Showplace just in time before the big storm arrived. The place is buzzing already.

Soarin'

Waiting to get on Soarin'

Figment

We are seeing figment.

Back to Epcot

We ditched pin trading night and are walking back to Epcot. I think it is EMH night at Epcot tonight.

Pin Trading Night

Pin trading night going on at full blast.

Gelato

Having gelato at the beach club. The mango gelato is crazy good!!

Dinner

Having a lovely dinner at mitsukoshi.

At Epcot

Spending another HOT afternoon at Epcot.

Sorting pins

People are busy sorting pins and figuring out what to trade and maybe what to sell later. I already can tell that this dream machine pin is going to be the hit of the event and will fetch top money on ebay.

And I have one!!!!

Pin trading

We are through the lines. Pin trading area is full of pin traders.

Line

Close to the front of the line.

In line

In line for registration and merchandise pickup.

Pin shopping

One more stop at a pin store before we make our way to the early registration.

Watch the price tag.

We were overcharged by $2 per pin on the "blue" price tag at WoD! Pay attention to the price color charge and make sure that is what got rang up!

Shopping

Shopping at World of Disney.

Good Morning.

We slept in since this will be a rather long day. We are at SSR Carriage House getting my coffee. The only have pin trading board available between 11 am to 8 pm. Bummer.

We plan to head off to Downtown Disney to do shopping and an early lunch. Then to the Beach Club Conv. Ctr. for the early registration.

Waiting for Illuminations

We are by Italy waiting for illuminations.

Dusk

Dusk at World Showcase. We are strolling until we find a good place to view Illuminations.

Japan

In the japan gift store. I don't get the hello kitty thing.

Dinner at Marrekesh

We are at epcot obviously. Having dinner at Marrekesh.

DVC mixer game

Quiz games are on during the mixer.

DVC Mixer

We're in!

Looks like it is going to be busy.

Boardwalk

More views from one end of the Boardwalk.

Mixer

Waiting to get in for the DVC Mixer.

Burp!

We have finished devouring the delicious bbq chickens. We plan on heading back to the resort and rest for while before attending the DVC mixer this afternoon.

Flame Tree

Waiting for Flame Tree BBQ to open. I'm starving!

Performance

Enjoying an amazing musical performance right across from Flame Tree.

More Everrest

Scream of delight at EE.

Everrest pt 2

Going back for 2nd round of Everrest. The Yeti isn't working.

Carrots and celery

A small container of carrots and celeries with some ranch dressings at Beastly Bazaar costs $3.69. Ouch!

Bug's Life

Bugs life was fun as always. I think there were a lot of first timers - lots of screaming and surprises. Applause at the end.

DAK

We are at DAK. Have done Everrest. Safari was 70 mins!

SSR

Y' know, SSR is very under rated in terms of beauty. That's too bad because it is a lovely resort.

Morning

Just finished with my workout at the gym here ar SSR. Now I'm ready for more Dole Whip.

This is dawn ar SSR.

My Dopey

OK, so here's a picture of my Dopey sketch from the Animation Academy today.



Not bad, eh? :)

Zz.

Downtown Disney

A rainy evening at Downtown Disney. Had a worderful time doing pin trading with traders there.

Mobile Blogger

Mobile Blogger seems to be working now. I've just sent something via my phone, and it worked. So unless there are more hiccups during the rest of the trip, I'll continue with my live blogging whenever I can.

Right now, Orlando is under a severe thunderstorm. Luckily, we're back at our resort.

Zz.

Testing

Testing mobile blogger.

ToT

Tower of Terror broke down around 4 pm while we were in line. We left.

It looks like it is going to rain. So we are leaving Studios and heading to a grocery store to buy some supplies before heading back to SSR.

Zz.

animation academy

We got to draw Dopey!!!!

Zz.

Animation Aademy

Studios is very busy. We are waiting to get into the Animation Acadeny. Wonder who we get to sketch this time.

Zz.

Live Blogging May Not Work

For some odd reason, Mobile Blogger isn't getting through when I try to post from my cell phone. It worked when I was in Chicago, but here in Orlando, both of my MMS to Blogger are not getting through. It is tedious for me to actually pull up the browser on my cell phone and post an blog entry.

So if this doesn't change, I will not be doing too many "live" updates on here. Hopefully, whatever is causing this problem goes away soon.

We are in our room at SSR. Relaxing a bit and unpacking, before we head out to Downtown Disney for a quick lunch, and then off to DHS for the afternoon.

Zz.

SSR here we come

Driving towards "home" at SSR.
Zz.

we are in orlando

We are here and it is HOT!

Zz.

On the plane!

I'm on the plane and waiting for other passengers to board. Will be turning off my phone after this. My next transmission will be from Orlando.

Gate Not Too Busy

The gate area doesn't look too busy. Hopefully this isn't a full plane. Still, the airport, especially the terminal, was very busy for a Tuesday, and for the time of the day.

Zz.

At airport.

We are at the gate waiting for our flight. The weather looks great!

We're Ready To Go!

So, did you think that I would have trouble sleeping last night?

DAMN RIGHT!

Woke up at 2:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep. By the time 3:30 am rolled around, I finally decided to get up since I have to be up by 4:00 am anyway.

So we are all packed and ready to go and see Mickey. For a change, we're bringing TO WDW, the largest amount of stuff ever! Even though we have attended many pin events before, it seems that this is the largest amount of pins we're bringing to the event. So it is highly unusual for us to being that much stuff there. Usually, we bring a lot of stuff coming back! :)

Anyway, I will try to post live reports whenever I get the chance (especially when I'm not driving - that wouldn't be good while trying to type on my Blackberry! :)).

Zz.

A Few Hours And Counting

Other than having to buy more high-def video tapes for the camcorder, I think I have almost everything I need for tomorrow's trip. We leave very early in the morning, and will get into Orlando well before lunch.

I will post "live" reports (with limited amount of pictures) during various times while I'm there. They'll be coming in via my phone whenever I can find a quite few minutes to type something on my Blackberry. Alternatively, you can follow the daily summary of my activities from two different trip reports on two different forums:

Trip Report at WDWMagic
Trip Report at WDWForGrownUps

I'll try to make each of those trip reports slightly different, but it all depends on how much energy and time I have left at the end of the day. So don't yell at me if you see them being the same now and then - I don't get paid for writing them! :)

Back to packing....

Zz.

"The Proposal" Landed at #1

All the predictions seem to be correct. "The Proposal" landed at #1 box office chart this past weekend, and with all the great review it got, this movie could have staying power.

This is good news for the Walt Disney Studios, which is starving for not only a good review, but also a hit for its live-action movies. Could this year be a year that the movie division of the company makes a lot of money? "Up" is still doing incredibly strong.

Zz.

2 More Days To Go.....

Less than 2 days left before we leave for a week at the Most Magical Place on Earth. So damn right I'm excited.

Had a wonderful time at our Windy City Pin Traders monthly pin meet yesterday. I came in expecting not to do too much trading, mainly because I didn't load up my pin trading books that much, since I'm saving a lot of pins for the pin event at WDW. Turned out we did a HUGE amount of pin trading! It seems that there were people who haven't shown up the past month or so and the Soda Fountain pins that I had were a hit! We also had new members who obviously brought a lot of new collections and who haven't seen my pins yet, so that help in doing a lot of trading. A couple of people also just came back from WDW with a fresh load of WDW pins, so there was another large amount of pin transaction there.

All in all, it was a great, great pin meet, with a lot of turn out, and seeing many friends while making new ones. The pin meet just keeps getting better and better, and bigger, all the time. And now, I have to start packing, not only clothes, but also the pins that I will bring to the pin event at Epcot. This is going to be tough to decide what to bring and what to leave behind.

Anyhow, back to packing....

Zz.

A Very Soggy Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade

Theme Park Rangers has a detailed account of the Magic Kingdom's Celebrate A Dream Come True parade that went wrong and wet very quickly.

But things were getting worse quickly. The female dancers' hair was already sticking to the sides of their faces. Thunder was starting to crackle. I assumed floats would stop coming out of the gate, but they all came out. Aladdin, umbrella-less, was sporting a very soggy turban. Mary Poppins, of course, has her own umbrella, and Bert was cheerful as ever. Alice and the Mad Hatter even had a little horseplay as she was too short to effectively hold an umbrella over his gigantic hat.

It was a deluge by the time the Fairy Godmother and three royal couples arrived. Fairy Godmother seemed flustered -- and who could blame her? Her hood was being blown off by the gusty wind, and she was forced to literally hold on to her hair. Thankfully, her platform was lowered to bring her closer to earth.

And things got worse from that point on. Oh my!

Still, this is another one of those occasions where my admiration for the cast members involved raises even more.

Zz.

Pixar Grants Dying Girl's Wish To See "Up"

Thanks to Patti for pointing this story.

Pixar came through for a dying girl's wish to see "Up". She died 7 hours after seeing the movie. You will have to click the link to read the rest.

We are proud of you, Pixar!

Zz.

"The Proposal" Could Be A Hit For Disney?

Forbes is predicting that "The Proposal", staring Sandra Bullock and opening today, is expected to be a hit for Disney.

The studio's new romantic comedy, The Proposal, is expected to earn $26 million at the box office, according to Exhibitor Relations. That's almost as good an opening as February's He's Just Not That Into You, which went on to earn $165 million at the worldwide box office. And those opening numbers for The Proposal, which stars Sandra Bullock, could prove conservative based on some sneak previews the studio hosted last weekend.

The studio certainly needs this to be a hit, considering that the live-action movies they have produced lately have been clunkers.

Still, I can't help but nod in agreement with the later part of the news article on "Up", which is still going strong.

Disney's other current movie, Up, is expected to earn $20 million this weekend. That would bring the total U.S. box office for the Pixar film to $215 million. The movie has proved a huge hit for Disney even though many analysts predicted that a cartoon with a cranky old man as the lead would never live up to Pixar's previous successes.

Remember those "analysts"? Remember when they, in fact, downgraded the Disney company because they don't think the movie will be that big of a hit considering the subject matter and the difficulty in getting any substantial merchandising out of it? Remember them? So Mr. Richard Greenfield of Pali Research, what do you have to say for yourself now?

I hope THEY remember what they predicted. Shouldn't these people get their pay deducted when they get something THAT wrong?

Zz.

Random WDW Picture

Relaxing at the World Showcase at Epcot.



Zz.

Disney Netbook?

Thanks to Chuck for pointing this out.

Disney as teamed up with Asus to produced a Disney-themed netbook for the kids (why not for the adult as well?).

Disney is teaming up with the Taiwanese computer maker Asus on a Disney-branded netbook called Netpal, targeted at kids 6 to 12 and due out in late July. As you might imagine, the $350 machine adds a distinctly Disney bent to Asus’s Eee PC with an 8.9 inch display and Intel Atom processor.

The netbooks are encased in “Princess Pink” (with florals) or “Magic Blue” (miniature Mickey Mouse icons). Disney designed a kid-friendly user interface to sit on top of Windows XP. Youngsters can change the desktops with customizable themes, built around Mickey Mouse, Cars, Toy Story, WALL-E and other themes.

Unfortunately:

(1) it doesn't show the keyboard. To me, when buying something that small, and certainly netbooks, you got to try the keyboard first and foremost. The keyboards on these small notebooks and netbooks tend to be cramped and small.

(2) I just recently bought a netbook, an HP Mini, after trying its keyboard. I haven't seen any other netbook that size that has as good of a keyboard layout as the Mini.

I am definitely curious in trying this Disney netbook.

Zz.

Confirmed Closure of "Stitch Supersonic Adventure"

What was reported earlier of the possible closure of "Stitch Supersonic Adventure" has now been confirmed by Disney officials. The attraction will close on June 27.

Disney officials wouldn’t say why the show, which opened with much fanfare just six weeks ago, is on the way out. Postings on blog sites by Disney fans suggest that park patrons complained about having to form queues in the late spring heat without shelter or seating.

That will give me JUST enough time to catch the end of it. Of course, if the weather is really bad and hot, and we have to be in that hot sun, I may change my mind. No attraction is worth that kind of suffering. :)

Zz.

Random WDW Picture

This is from the old "Stars and Motor Cars" parade at what used to be called Disney-MGM Studios. Of course, the parade is gone, and so is the "MGM" name.



Zz.

"Up" Has The Potential To Be Pixar's 2nd Biggest Box Office Gross

Variety has an article yesterday examining the staying power of "Up", and how the extra price of the 3D ticket could boost it past "The Incredibles" as Pixar's second highest grossing movie behind "Finding Nemo".

At the rate it's going, "Up" will soon surpass the $206.4 million grossed by Pixar's "Ratatouille" in summer 2007, and the $223.8 million grossed domestically by Pixar's "Wall-E" last summer.

And considering that "Up" has barely even opened elsewhere in the world, there's plenty more money to be made out of this movie for Disney.

Zz.

Stitch Supersonic Celebration Closing Already?

..... but, but... it just opened!!

Still, that is the rumor being reported in the discussion forum at WDWMagic.

Stitch's SuperSonic Celebration at the Magic Kingdom is expected to close within the next two weeks. The show has only been open for around 6 weeks, but has failed to win over audiences. The main criticisms voiced on our discussion forums and review pages are the total lack of shade for the guests and a poor story line.

Well, that lack of shade is a major problem, especially NOW, in the middle of summer.

In any case, I may see if I get the opportunity to take a look at this thing when I'm there next week, maybe in the late afternoon or evening if the show runs that late.

Zz.

Random WDW Picture

Entrance to Camp Mickey Minnie at Disney's Animal Kingdom. This is the best place to get your meet-and-greet with the characters.



Zz.

Random WDW Picture

The entrance to The Living Seas With Nemo and Friends.



Zz.

'Up' has its Down Moments; Here's How to Handle Them

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't seen up, you shouldn't be reading anymore of this!


Anyone who has seen "Up" would have been blown away by the depth of emotion in the movie. Needless to say, there are many adult-themed issues in it that a child may find either disturbing, or may have questions on. This news article gives suggestions on what an adult should do if a child has things to ask after seeing the movie, especially questions on death.

At the start of "Up," we see Ellie, wife of the main character, Carl, growing old and being treated in a hospital. Soon after, Carl is shown sitting in a funeral home. If this prompts questions about whether Ellie died, or why people die, experts urge parents to answer honestly.

"Kids get freaked out about things like death when people avoid discussing them in a straightforward way," says Brett Berk, early-childhood educator and author of "The Gay Uncle's Guide to Parenting." "The big thing is to reassure them that people usually don't die until they get very old or very sick, and to let them know that you and they aren't going to die for a very long time."

And Nickels says it's wise to avoid euphemisms.

"It's important to not use words that coat over the word 'death,' like 'passing on' or 'going to sleep,' because that will communicate that it's not OK to ask a question about death, that it's so terrible we can not even talk about it," she says. "It's also incredibly confusing. They start to think, 'Oh, so the woman went to sleep and never came back. Do I need to w

orry about going to sleep? Or worry about my mom or baby brother going to sleep? "

"The Gay Uncle's Guide to Parenting"??? That books sounds like a riot! I may want to find that one! :)

Zz.

10 Days And Counting

So I'm counting the days (ok... so I'm counting the HOURS) till our next WDW trip. Can't get here fast enough. It has been last mid December since our last trip, and it felt like FOREVER!

I'm very excited for this trip not only because we're going back to WDW, but because (i) we're attending this year's Pin Celebration event, (ii) we will be going with a large group of people here from the Windy City Pin Traders group (iii) we will be meeting up with other friends there during the pin event (iv) large dinner group at Sanaa (v)we MIGHT try and do the parasailing at the Seven Seas Lagoon, and (vi) a few surprises here and there.

We will be there for a week, so plenty of time to do the things we want to do. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the heat and the humidity, especially since the "summer" in Chicago so far this year has been extremely mild.

Pins! Gotta organize all the pins that I'm planning on taking with me!

Zz.

Random WDW Picture

The castle at the Magic Kingdom during Wishes.



Zz.

Utah will be Stage for Mars in new Disney Pixar Film

Whoa! I must have been asleep at the wheel. This is the first time I've heard of this movie.

Disney is scheduled to shoot in Utah for 45 days. The story, based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs science-fiction book series -- which begins with A Princess of Mars -- is about an American Civil War veteran who is transported to Mars to face a series of adventures.

Burroughs, who was born in Chicago, was no stranger to Utah, working as a railroad police officer in Salt Lake City in 1904.

The movie has been in development for several years, and noted directors Robert Rodriguez ("Sin City") and Jon Favreau ("Iron Man") were at one time slated to direct the live-action film. The movie, which is planned for release in 2012, will be directed by Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo," "WALL-E").

So wait... is this a live-action movie? Pixar is planning on producing a live-action movie? Or is this going to be like Polar Express? I'm so confused!

Zz.

'Pirates 4' Bigger Priority for Disney than 'Lone Ranger'?

That is certainly what Jerry Bruckheimer thinks in this news article. Both movies share the same lead actor in Johnny Depp. But which one will be produced first?

When asked whether Depp preferred to shoot "Lone Ranger" versus a return to Captain Jack, Bruckheimer reiterated that while Depp was interested in Tonto, but "Disney's priority is to get [a fourth] 'Pirates' made."

Either way, it will be interesting to see what turns out.

Zz.

Man Travels 2,000 Miles to Share Birthday with Donald Duck

I mentioned yesterday that Donald Duck celebrated his 75th Birthday. Well it turns out that a very big fan of Donald also turned 75 and drove more than 2000 miles to celebrate it with him.

He brought his wife, Jean, all the way from their home just south of Guadalajara, Mexico, to celebrate his 75th birthday at Disneyland. That's more than 2,000 miles.

He wanted to celebrate with Donald Duck – who also turned 75 on Tuesday.

I'm a sucker for stories like this. And good for this guy who got to enter Disneyland for free for his celebration. I hope he had a magical birthday.

Zz.

Happy Birthday, Donald Duck!

Our most favorite Disney character Donald Duck turns a ripe old age of 75 (don't tell him I said he's ripe and old, because he'll throw a fit of tantrum!) today, June 9, 2009.

The prickly but long suffering duck made his celluloid debut on appeared on June 9, 1934 in a short animated feature called "Little Wise Hen," a movie fable fashioned on the "Little Red Hen" fairy tale about a chicken who finds that help is scarce when she tries to recruit workers to plant and harvest her corn crop.

He had his first starring role in 1937 as a troubadour "Don Donald" a short film set in Mexico in which he appears with "Donna Duck" -- who shows up in later films re-baptized as his steady sweetheart "Daisy."

We love him! And judging from the poll in this Blog on favorite characters, a lot of people do as well! He's currently leading Mickey by one single vote! :)



Zz.

Sequel to "Monsters Inc" in the Works?

Another delicious rumor out of Jim Hill Media. The website is reporting that the attendees out of the Licensing Expo has been told of the planned sequel to this popular movie, directed by Pete Doctor.

So it seems that Pixar is definitely getting into this sequel business after resisting for so long to make Toy Story 2.

On the delay side, it seems that Pirates 4 might be delayed into 2012.

Zz.

Passholder/DVC Member Preview of Halls of Presidents

The date for the preview of the Hall of Presidents for Passholder and DVC Members has been announced.

Be among the first to see the Hall of Presidents attraction before the official re-opening July 4th weekend! Open to all Passholders, this preview includes the Animatronics® figure of our 44th President, Barack Obama. And his predecessors will look more amazing than ever in a re-imagining of this inspiring, unforgettable attraction.

Preview Event Details

* Date: June 28, 2009
* Time: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
* Location: Magic Kingdom® theme park.
* Passholders do not need to sign up to attend the preview, but they do need to show a valid Pass and Photo ID at the Hall of Presidents attraction entrance.
* Seasonal and Epcot After 4 Passholders will need valid admission to the Magic Kingdom theme park in order to attend.

The FAQ for this event is as follows:

FAQ’S for Hall of Presidents Preview

Q: When is the Passholder/DVC preview of Hall of Presidents?
A: The Hall of Presidents preview is on June 28, 2009 from 11:00 am – 9:00 pm.

Q: Do Passholders or DVC Members need to reserve a space for this preview?
A: No. Passholders will need to bring their valid Pass and Photo ID to the attraction entrance to access the event. DVC Members will need to bring their Member ID.

Q: Can Passholders bring Guests to this event?
A: No. This event is a special offering only for Passholders as part of your benefits.

Q: Can DVC Members bring Guests to this event?
A: Yes. DVC Members can bring up to 3 Guests to the preview. The DVC member must accompany their Guests into the preview area.

Q: Why are DVC Members allowed to bring Guests and Passholders are not?
A: Disney Vacation Club memberships are sold at the household level. DVC Members are allowed to bring up to 3 Guests to enable them to extend the preview invitation to other members of their household, rather than just the individual(s) who purchased the membership.

Q: What do Passholders need to bring to the event?
A: Passholders will need to bring their valid Pass and Photo ID to attend the preview
event.

Q: What do DVC Members need to bring to the event?
A: DVC Members will need to bring their Member ID to attend the preview event.

Q: Do Passholders or DVC Members need admission into the Park?
A: Yes. Passholders, DVC Members and the Guests of DVC Members will need Theme Park admission to enter the Park and attend the event.

Q: Can Seasonal and Epcot after 4 Passholders attend the Hall of Presidents
preview?
A: Yes, all Passholders are entitled to attend the event. Epcot after 4 and Seasonal Passholders will need Magic Kingdom Theme Park admission to enter the Park. Annual and Premium Annual Passholders can enter the Park with their valid Pass.

Q: Will Guests that purchase an Annual/Premium Pass on the day of the preview be able to attend?
A: Yes. All Passholders are entitled to attend the event.

Q: Where do I enter to attend the Hall of Presidents preview?
A: The check in area will be located outside Hall of Presidents attraction entrance at Magic Kingdom Park.

I will be there, and I'm a DVC member as well! :)

Zz.

"Dragon Dream" at Disneyland® Resort

Holy Crap! What a fantastic "commercial" for a newly-designed dragon for Fantasmic at Disneyland!



Zz.

Random WDW Picture

Zawadi Marketplace at Animal Kingdom Lodge.



Zz.

RSP for 2009 Disney Pin Celebration

I got the result of my Random Selection Process (RSP) for this years Disney Pin Celebration pin event. I must say, I did pretty well! All the important pins that I wanted I got, including that jumbo pin of Figment and the Dreamweaver. I thought that might be difficult to get considering the low edition number, but it pays to put that as #1 on the first RSP, I suppose. I also got the other jumbo pin that I wanted, Mickey's periodic table of pins.

All in all, not a bad haul at all, so I'm pretty happy with it. I also didn't go all out and spent on all the pins that I like and get myself into the poor house. So it's a good balance between getting just the ones that I really want, and not spending too much money on them.

18 more days before our WDW trip and to attend the pin event. The days are moving soooooooooooo slow!

Zz.

Random WDW Picture

Test track at Epcot.



Zz.

Don't Miss Wall-E At The Tony Awards This Sunday

Jim Hill Media is reporting that Wall-E will make an appearance at the Tony Awards this Sunday during the tribute to Jerry Herman.

“So what’s the connection between Jerry and WALL-E?,” you ask. Well, in that Academy Award-winning animated feature, this cute little bot repeatedly watched a VHS tape of the 20th Century Fox version of “Hello, Dolly!” And WALL-E particularly seemed to enjoy two musical numbers from that movie, “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” and “It Only Takes a Moment.”

Well, as it turns out, Jerry Herman is the composer of “Hello, Dolly!”

This should be fun, considering that Wall-E has a rather limited vocabulary.

Zz.

Fun Facts About "Up"

There's a lot of fun stuff from "Up". Here are some of them. For example:

•Carl is the most complex human character ever created by Pixar. His design is symbolically and literally square, three heads high. In contrast, Russell is basically egg-shaped and round.

•Russell has more layers of clothing than any other Pixar character — a shirt, a sash covered with badges, a neckerchief and a backpack.

For more fun stuff, check out the list of Easter Eggs in "Up". SPOILER ALERT: if you haven't seen the movie, or want to hunt for them yourself, do not click on the link.

Zz.

New Hand-drawn Winnie the Pooh Movies?

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting (very appropriate) an announcement of a new hand-drawn Winnie the Pooh movie to be released possibly in 2012.

As for Pooh, the movie's planned release for spring 2011 will come six years after "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" was largely panned by critics while earning just $18 million at the domestic boxoffice.

Pooh, though, is the world's second-biggest licensed character franchise behind Mickey Mouse, according to Mooney, hence, a renewed focus on the property that will include merchandise and books.

It's interesting that they changed the TV series on the Disney channel from hand-drawn to digital animation, and it has never looked as warm as it was before. This is one of those examples where the digital version didn't appeal to me. So I am glad that they are going back to hand-drawn animation for the Pooh movie.

Zz.

Random WDW Picture

The only place where you can get Mickey Head-shaped squash/pumpkin - Living with the Land tour at Epcot.



Zz.

Disney Expands DVC

This news article looks at Disney's current expansion of the Disney Vacation Club. Amid the economic slowdown, and other companies scaling back on their expansion plans, Disney has just opened one DVC resort, and about to open several more.

The three new Central Florida properties — along with 50 new units that will open later this year at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. — constitute the most ambitious expansion yet for Disney Vacation Club, Disney's 17-year-old time-share unit.

With the one in Hawaii being a DVC resort, and the recently announced purchase of an area near Washington DC that could also include DVC villas, this is a major expansion by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just hoping that they are not over-extending themselves too fast and too large.

Zz.