Disney Parks Shutdown Photo of the Day 5

One of my most favorite photo that I have snapped, all with a point-and-shoot camera no less.

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Almost Empty Walt Disney World Streets

Driving through an almost empty Walt Disney World streets. I must admit, it looks rather creepy and spooky, as if everyone has been abducted!



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Imagineering In A Box

Want something to keep you entertained while you are cooped up at home? Khan Academy and Pixar has themed up for a free online course on theme park design and imagineering. You can access the Imagineering In A Box course directly here.

That should keep you occupy for hours!

Zz.

Disney Parks Shutdown Photo of the Day 4

Gone, but not forgotten. Disney's Hollywood Studios still doesn't have a recognizable and popular icon so far.

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Disney Parks Shutdown Photo of the Day 3

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Disney Parks Shutdown Photo of the Day 2

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Disney Parks Shutdown Photo of the Day 1

I'm going to start posting a photo a day of Disney theme parks and Resorts (including Disney Cruise Line) during their shutdown, just to get some Disney Magic going. Here's my first one.

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Classic Star Tours On The Disney Dream?

Who knew?

Supposedly, if you're on the Disney Dream, you can find the classic Star Tours, with scenes from the first movie (Episode IV), in the Oceaneers Club.



I gotta crash that club next time we're on that ship, and hope they still have it.

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Carrie Fisher Didn't Show Up For The Star Wars Premier - She Had A Good Excuse

This is so dumb that I had to do a screen capture and post it.

"... but noticeably absent were creator George Lucas and Carrie Fisher"??! SERIOUSLY?!

They don't do proofreading anymore, do they?

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Rise of the Resistance Ride Through

Rise of the Resistance attraction at DHS has finally opened (with some technical difficulties from the reports I read about last night's opening and press preview).



I must admit, somehow this reminds me of the Great Movie Ride married to Star Tours. I wonder how long before Disney starts to cut back on many of the cast members who are live characters on the attraction, and how frequent will the technical problems be that will shut down the ride.

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Jack Skellington Tree

This is our Jack Skellington tree for Halloween 2019.

We started off with a basic Jack Skellington tree that we probably bought at Walgreens from a few years ago. Then we added two sets of Jack Skellington head ornaments that we got from Hallmark. Those filled up the tree quite a bit, and this is what we end up with.



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Epcot Forever Opening Night

If you haven't seen it, here is a video of Epcot Forever on its opening night.



It isn't bad, and certainly not as disappointing as the show that replaced Wishes at the Magic Kingdom. I think die-hard Epcot fans will like it more than a casual visitor because of the nostalgia factor. So my guess is that the majority of Epcot's visitors will not be familiar with many of the tunes being played during the show. The overall music, though, is not as catchy and as spectacular/melodic as the original Illuminations - Reflections of Earth. But at least they incorporated, for my nostalgia benefit, snippets of Tapestry of Nations, which is my all-time most favorite Disney music.

There were anything spectacular with respect to the show itself, other than the kites. They were neat, but considering the number of cast members they have to employ during the show to do that, I don't see that one lasting for long, even if this is a temporary show. There are also a few "dead" spots during the show where nothing happens for several seconds. So the transition from one to the other was too obvious.

All in all, it isn't a poor replacement for Illuminations, but it isn't as good. Now they have an almost impossible task of coming up with something more spectacular next year when they replace this one.

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Disney Cruise Line Update From D23

If you haven't seen the Disney Park Blogs yet, here are the latest news on the Disney Cruise Line new ships and also the 2nd island in the Bahamas. The first of the new ship has been given the name Disney Wish.

But even more exciting, Joe Rohde is leading the design of the 2nd Disney island in the Bahamas.

Joe Rohde, whose work includes the design of Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Hawaii, has embarked on an in-depth cultural tour of The Bahamas. With local artists and cultural experts, he has explored cultural sites across New Providence and Eleuthera, from Junkanoo shacks to noted art galleries.

Joe points out that Disney will be directly involved in conservation efforts to preserve and protect the environment and will be working with local artists to create a unique destination that is rooted in Bahamian culture and filled with Disney magic.

When I looked at the artist rendering of the new island, I noticed something in the background that looks like a zipline!! :)

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The Animation Experience at the Conservation Station

Here is a video from the opening day of the Animation Experience at the Conservation Station.



I guess this is a good reason to make regular stops at the Conservation Station, eh? Too bad they can't bring the animation class back DHS.

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4th of July Illuminations, With Heartbeat of Freedom Tag

For those of us who could not be there on the 4th of July, this, I suppose, is the next best thing.



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Palo's Chocolate Souffle

Of course, one of the best thing about cruising with a Disney cruise ship is dinner at Palo, and having the ridiculously good and famous Palo's chocolate souffle. We never fail to get it, plus maybe another dessert as well (yes, I know that we were being pigs for having more than one dessert).

So it is nice that Disney Cruise Line has released a video on how to make their chocolate souffle. Maybe we can do this ourselves at home and don't have to wait till we get on a Disney cruise ship to have the pleasure of such a delicious treat.



For the record, here is a picture of the chocolate souffle that we had on the Disney Wonder during out Alaskan Cruise this past September, 2018.

It was delectable!

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Opening Dedication of Disneyland's Galaxy's Edge

Opening dedication of Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland. Can't wait for the opening at Hollywood's Studios.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/star-wars-galaxys-edge-dedication-ceremony-at-disneyland-video-200510694.html

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Mickey beignets

Having Mickey beignets at Sassagoula in Port Orleans French Quarter.

Haunted Mansion

Donald loves the haunted mansion. But the crowds today at MK is nuts!

DVC Preview of The Riviera

Attended the DVC preview of the Riviera. Had snacks, and they brought back Deevy See. Got a pin. Yea!

Epcot EMH

Enjoying Epcot's extra magic hour. About to do Soarin'

Spaceship Earth

My favorite photo that I have taken on this trip so far.

Slinky Dog

Just finished riding slinky dog.

Butterfly Garden

Butterfly garden at Epcot's Flower and Garden festival.

Passholder Magnet

Picked up our passholder magnet at Epcot.

We are “home”

We have arrived at our "home" at SSR. Donald lives the view from our room, and so do we.

Disney Acquires Second Bahamian Island

Move over, Castaway Cay. There will be a second Disney Cruise Line exclusive island coming soon.

The statement said Disney's development of the 700-acre (280-hectare) property will amount to an investment of between $250 million and $400 million.

The statement also says Disney will donate 190 acres (more than 75 hecatres) of the land including the southernmost tip of the island to the government for a national park. The donated land has a value of $6.29 million.

It definitely will be a reason to go on a Caribbean cruise when they finally get this island ready.

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Major News For Epcot

My most favorite theme park at WDW will be receiving major facelift, including its main entrance.



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Trevor Carlton at Festival of the Arts

The beginning of Trevor's performance painting at EPCOT. What will it be? Answer below. Sold within minutes,

The finished Sircerer’s Apprentice

Twenty minutes and already sold.

Performance art at EPCOT

Trevor Carlton painting for an audience of hundreds

Unca Scrooge

Nice painting at Festival of the Arts

Guardians of the Galaxy

Behind the old Festival Center, are those solar panels?

The old and the new

The EPCOT dome with part of the new Guardians of the Galaxy construction

Painting the mural

At Festival of the Arts, paint the mural by numbers

A mixed clientele apparently

Philosophy for Le Chien

Another side of Minnie

Do you?

Slinky Dog

Charging down the hill at Toy Story Land

Ready to greet their fans

M and M at Disney Springs Pin Traders.

Mary Poppins Returns

Just got back from a fan opening night preview of Disney's Mary Poppins Returns. We all loved it, especially the music.

For this special event, we got an opening night pin, and also a free download of the soundtrack.

If you have a chance, go see it on a big screen.

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Tina Stitch Turner

Donald met up with Tina "Stitch" Turner

ToT

Donald at Tower of Terror

Toy Story Land

Green soldiers patrolling at toy story land

MVMCP

Waiting for holiday wishes at MK

Tiki birds

Waiting for the birds

At MK

Donald is very happy to be back at MK once again.

Dusk

Dusk at world showplace

Gingerbread Train

Donald likes the gingerbread train in the DVC lounge at Epcot.

Happy birthday Mickey

And Minnie too. The party at Destination D 2018

Mickey’s 90th birthday attire

The Disney characters wearing special costumes for Mickey's 90th.

Mickey’s 90th

Destination D afternoon session

People arriving for the afternoon session at the Contemporary,

The new Skyliner car

An actual car from the new WDW Skyliner, scheduled to go into service in 2019.

Destination D 2018

Some of the attendees celebrating Mickey's 90th at Destination D. About 2000 people are at the event.

Scene at WDW Disney Springs

The balloon seen from the Edison restaurant

Christmas at Disney Springs 2018

The tree near Town Center with the Moon

Mickey’s 90th anniversary

The entrance to Mickey's of Glendale, celebrating Mickey's 90th at Destination D. Steamboat Willie opened Nov 18th 1928.

2018 Destination D

Mickey welcomes you to the 2018 Destination D at WDW Contemporary resort

New WDW Resort To Be Built At Old River Country Site

Finally, Disney will build something at the long-neglected site of the former water park River Country.

Walt Disney World Resort is building a new hotel with more than 900 beds on Bay Lake where the former River Country water park was once located, the company said Thursday.

The unnamed deluxe resort, set to open in 2022, will be in between Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, Disney said in a news release.

My question is, what was taking them so long? The site has been abandoned for such a long time, one starts to wonder if there was something inherently wrong with the location.

It will be interesting to see if it will have a "wilderness" theme to match the two resorts that bookend the location. I hope that it will be distinct enough from those two to make it interesting and unique.

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"Nightmare Before Christmas" Turns 25 Today

25 years ago, "Nightmare Before Christmas" premiered, on Oct. 13, 1993. And now, all these years later, it has become a cult classic.

This is an interview with animator Henry Selick, who directed the movie.

Speaking with Yahoo Entertainment on the 25th anniversary of Nightmare Before Christmas, Selick went in-depth about the process of creating his characters, his disagreements with Disney (the studio wanted Jack to have eyeballs) and Burton (who hated one of Selick’s favorite scenes), the twist ending that didn’t get made, and whether the glorious, laborious art of stop-motion animation will survive this century. 

You gotta read it.

Zz.