Disney Antique Collectors Find U.S. And Canadian Items
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A bronze plaque accompanying an anchor on exhibit in Frontierland contains the following Inscription: "LaFitte's Anchor. Said to be from a pirate ship commanded by Jean LaFitte in the Battle of New Orleans, Jan. 8. 1815. "It is also said that LaFitte's pirateering ships left a wake of blood from the mainland to Barataria Bay but don't believe everything you read." ...
Disney Applies To Use Drones At Disneyland
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The Walt Disney Co. is seeking an exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration so it can possibly use drones for its nightly fireworks show at Disneyland and at Walt Disney World. It's unclear exactly how Disney would incorporate the special drones, called Flixels, in the nightly shows. But in its 42-page application, Disney said it plans to use a fleet of 50 that would fly from a ...
Disney Artists Revive Art Form For New Orleans Square
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Reverse painting on mirrored panels of glass, an almost forgotten art form that dates back to the fourteenth century, has been revived by Disney artists for Mlle. Antoinette's Parfumerie, in Disneyland's New Orleans Square. Artists at WED Enterprises have prepared panels to provide a unique and exceptionally feminine decor for the shop, one of the most popular spots in New Orleans ...
Disney Attraction Powered By Nuclear Weapons Tech
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On June 23, 1963, Walt Disney opened his famous Tiki Room on the grounds of Disneyland. Featuring animatronic animals, a Polynesian atmosphere, and nonalcoholic tiki drinks, the Tiki Room quickly became a hit with visitors to the California theme park. What visitors did not know was that the Tiki Room's beating heart was derived from nuclear weapons technology, missiles that could devastate the Soviet ...
Disney Autistic Kids Lawsuit Expands But Judge Rejects Group Status
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It's kind of 69 steps forward and 95 steps sideways in the American With Disabilities Act lawsuit against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Late last week, a Florida federal judge decided that dozens more families of children with developmental disorders can join the discrimination case first filed in April, but now they must file individually. An amended compliant of August 27 sought to add 69 new plaintiffs ...
Disney Balances Family Image Need For Wild Rides
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Each day, thousands of visitors to Walt Disney Co.'s theme parks ride pulse-pounding attractions that propel them into space, plunge them multiple stories and send them racing along tracks at stomach-churning speeds. For the most part, visitors ride without worrying much about the risks, especially when the attractions are backed by a trusted, family brand like Disney. But it takes just one ...
Disney Begins 100M Dollar Parking Structure
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Disneyland Resort has begun building a 6,500-space parking structure valued, according to permits, at $100 million, and part of the park's' $2 billion expansion, which also includes a fourth hotel and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. The six-story structure is scheduled, like the new Star Wars-themed land, to open next year. It's called Cleo in permits, after Geppetto's pet goldfish in Pinocchio, but a ...
Disney Begins 4 Million Dollar Big Thunder Overhaul
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Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will undergo its biggest project in more than three decades when the ride closes Monday for at least nine months. The Frontierland ride, which mimics a runaway mine train through an Old West canyon, will close so crews can begin a makeover that will last until fall. A reopening date has yet to be announced. The renovation will cost $4 million, according ...
Disney Brings Epic Star Wars Experiences To Fans
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Six years ago in October 2012, Disney announced a deal to acquire Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion. The real value that Disney has brought to fans in taking over the franchise is the opportunity for fans to now to experience "Star Wars" adventures themselves. These experiences immerse fans in the "Star Wars" galaxies so they feel as though they are living out the story themselves. At Disney World, ...
Disney Buys Anaheim Land Sparking Expansion Speculation
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The Walt Disney Co. has purchased three parcels of land near its Anaheim resort, sparking speculation that the property would free up land for a future park expansion involving Disney's Star Wars or Marvel's superhero characters.. "People have put two and two together and they know that something cool could be coming down the line," said Robert Niles, a Disney expert and founder of ...
Disney Buys Lucasfilm For $4.05 Billion
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For more than two decades, Jedi Knights and Darth Vader have wielded their lightsabers at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. On Tuesday, they officially became part of the family when The Walt Disney Co. acquired Lucasfilm Ltd. from founder George Lucas for $4.05 billion. Disney is paying approximately half in cash and issuing 40 million stock shares at the deal's closing, the company said. "This ...
Disney California Adventure Set To Open A New Cars Land Ride March 7
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A replacement for a ride that closed at Disney California Adventure's Cars Land after poor reviews and several injuries is set to open March 7. Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters will debut next month to replace Luigi's Flying Tires, one of three attractions that were built at Cars Land, an expansion that revitalized Disney California Adventure in 2012. Luigi's Flying Tires lofted visitors in ...
Disney California Adventure's Flattest Ride Nearing Dead End
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Disney California Adventure is getting a much needed tire rotation, and will soon change out the Cars Land flat that is Luigi's Flying Tires. The attraction is shutting down when the gates close on Feb. 16, according a message posted Friday on the Disney Parks Blog. The bumper-car-like ride, where tires hovered (and never flew) on a cushion of air, was perhaps the weakest link of the new land ...
Disney Can Settle Florida Case Over Segways
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The 11th Circuit upheld a class action settlement that lets Walt Disney World ban Segways while it develops its own stand-up vehicle. Disney bans the use of all two-wheeled vehicles in all of the parks and hotels within its Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort. The ban provides no exception for those with disabilities who rely upon the two-wheeled vehicles for mobility. In a 2007 ...
Disney Cancels Some Fire Effects At Shows Worldwide After Dragon Incident
Disney will pull certain fire effects from shows at their resorts worldwide after an animatronic dragon caught fire at Disneyland in Southern California on Saturday, company officials say. “We are temporarily suspending fire effects similar to those used at Disneyland park 's Fantasmic at select shows and entertainment experiences globally out of an abundance of caution,” Disneyland officials ...
Disney Celebrates With New Attractions
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The 50th anniversary bash will last for 18 months -- long enough to give every Disney fan on the planet a chance to attend the party. Most of these changes will premiere May 5 (that's 05/05/05 for numerical emphasis): * A new parade, ``Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams,'' will feature floats that become mini-stage shows, music and more than 50 Disney characters. Performances twice a day, once in the ...
Disney CEO Bob Iger Talks Star Wars Galaxys Edge Low Attendance Numbers
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Disney CEO Bob Iger explained why there were lower numbers at Star Wars: Galaxy 's Edge than expected. He said a number of factors affected the attendance numbers. “I think a number of things happened,” Iger said during Disney 's Q3 FY19 earnings result webcast, according to ComicBook.com. “First of all, helped in part by some of our efforts, there was tremendous concern in the ...
Disney Chairman Makes Movie Debut
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With all of the belt-tightening going on at major studios, the director of Disney's upcoming Race to Witch Mountain may have stumbled upon a smart fiscal strategy when he chose not to cast a professional actor for the small part of a train driver whose locomotive crashes after it gets caught in "alien crossfire." Instead, the director gave the part to Disney chairman Dick Cook. Ok, it might not have ...
Disney Challenges Stricter Ride Oversight In California
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Walt Disney Co. is seeking to overturn a California court ruling that it says would impose the heightened safety standards that cover buses and passenger trains on roller coasters and theme park rides. California's Supreme Court on Thursday heard arguments in a case that stems from the death of a 23-year-old woman who died after riding on the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland. California is ...
Disney Changes Dress Code To Allow Employees To Grow Beards
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First, they could grow a mustache, just like Walt Disney. Now, they can grow a little more facial hair but not quite enough to be like one of the Seven Dwarfs. Disneyland announced that it's loosened up its dress code -- known as the "Disney Look" -- to now allow employees to grow more facial hair. Beginning Feb. 3, employees can show up for work with a beard or a goatee without worry, just as long ...
Disney Changes Fireworks And Entertainment Schedule
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Disneyland fireworks will return to a weekends-only schedule starting Monday, now that the spring break crowds have subsided. For about five weeks, the park shot off fireworks every night because of increased tourism during the busy spring break period. School vacations usually run anywhere from mid-March to after Easter. During the slower winter and spring seasons, the show only is held on weekends. ...
Disney Coast To Coast
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When I was ten years old, my parents entrusted me to TWA for a rumbling eternity in a prop-driven plane that pulled me across the continent to California. I was going to visit my aunt and uncle, but they were merely the agents of my real goal: Disneyland. The park had opened two years before, in 1955, and its effect on me was every bit as magical as the publicists had promised. I was enchanted by all ...
Disney Collection Mimics Halloween's Haunted Mansion
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Fans of the joining of "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" and the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland can take home collectibles based on the Halloween themed ride. Brian D. Sandahl is the art director in charge of the annual re-theming of the Haunted Mansion into the Haunted Mansion Holiday - a tribute to the Tim Burton movie that begins during the park's Halloween Time and lasts through ...
Disney Cone Building Height Limit Near Disneyland Keeps The Fantasy Alive
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Hotels will never rise tall enough to scrape the skies near Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Even with the flurry of nearby construction, developers must abide by a little-known set of height limitations known by city insiders as the "Disney Cone." "If you're building in Anaheim, then you're aware of the height limit around Disneyland," said Jeff Flint, a spokesman for the Wincome ...
Disney Considered Merging Anaheim Parks
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Attendance at Disney California Adventure has jumped 20 percent since the debut of a new water-and-light show a major part of a $1 billion expansion project meant to drum up business at the less-popular park, the Disney president told the Wall Street Journal. Bob Iger, the Walt Disney Co.'s president and chief executive officer, credited the "World of Color" show for luring more visitors to the park, ...
Disney Contractor Hit With 60,000 Dollars Fine In Connection With Worker Injury
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California safety regulators have fined a Disney contractor $60,995 after a worker was injured while cleaning the Space Mountain ride. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health says Los Angeles-based HSG Inc. violated several safety rules. The fine was levied on Friday. A 37-year-old contractor fell and suffered broken bones last November while cleaning the exterior of Space ...
Disney Couple Seal The Deal With Pirates Gold
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They worked, met, had their first date, and got engaged at Disneyland, with proposal coming in a dreamy location. Ride operator Andrew Salter met Alyssa Allinson on her first day on the job at Disneyland. Five months later, Salter asked her out for a first date at Disneyland. Four years after that, Salter bent down on one knee to propose marriage to Allinson at Disneyland. "I ...
Disney Courts The Pod People
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Could podcasts one day replace broadcasts? The Walt Disney Co. will give the new techno-trend a boost today when it starts podcasting festivities that will lead up to Disneyland's 50th anniversary celebration, which kicks off Thursday. "This all goes back to Walt's legacy," said Duncan Wardle, a spokesman for Burbank-based Disney. "Walt is the first person to put sound on animated film. And we ...
Disney Crash Reports Released
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Disneyland employees heard an unusual clacking noise coming from the wheels of Big Thunder Mountain train No. 2 on the morning of Sept. 5 and planned to pull it out of service when it returned to the station, a ride operator told investigators from the Anaheim Police Department. But the train never returned to the station. The locomotive that leads the train lost a "bogie"- the assembly that ...
Disney Creates Animated Wedding Cake With Magical Stories Projected Onto The Icing
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If you've ever dreamed of having a fairytale wedding, your wish has been granted - thanks to a new edible invention. At Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings Expo this weekend, the company unveiled a brand new creation: a tiered wedding cake with animations projected onto its surface. In a video demonstrating how it works, an animated Tinkerbell is seen flying across the surface of the cake, sprinkling ...
Disney Creates Botanicus Interacticus Multi-Touch Plants
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The last thing in the world I would've ever believed could be turned into a touch sensor would be a plant. However, that is exactly what Disney's Pittsburgh research center has done in a project called Botanicus Interacticus. I can only imagine a full-size attraction at Disneyland or Disneyworld packed with touch sensitive plants. This may well be the first step to creating something along the lines ...
