Time for a Change; New Look

I was very tired of seeing the same header day after day at the top of this blog. The fact that I shared it with a lot of other Disney themed blogs that use Blogspot was equally annoying. So, I threw together the above logo. It is a little crude but I think it came out pretty good for using 7 year old software. I am going to have a very cool and professional looking header soon. Check out the Disneyland sign at the bottom of this Blog to compare it to what I put together. I had this idea for the longest time. I finally saw my idea come to life, so to speak over at The Mickey Room. This is a Disney Podcast I had reviewed earlier. When I saw this logo, the only thing different from the way I saw it was no black background and of course different text. Wayne uses this as a show tag for their archived shows. Even though I built this from scratch, I modelled it pretty much after his with some changes to the flags, the added castle, and colors. I also wanted a floating logo with no background. So thanks Disneyland and Wayne from The Mickey Room for the new logo.

The MouseStation/MousePlanet Watch Podcast

The Mouse Station podcast has been around since the beginning of 2007. This was the former Magical Memories podcast. Now, Mike and Mark are the official podcasters for the Mouseplanet.com website. In their words, “Broadcasting from the MouseStation, high in orbit around the MousePlanet, join our podcasting crew each week for news and information from MousePlanet on the MousePlanetWatch show, and hear our feature story, the Tip of the Week, a Magical Moment, the Featured Attraction, our Review System Spotlight and more on the MouseStation. Hosted by former Disney cast member Mike Demopoulos and MousePlanet editor and staff columnist Mark Goldhaber, these weekly shows will help you to relive the Magic!” This is a very informative podcast. The two gentlemen are able to take advantage of the Mouseplanet Press Pass and are able to attend a number of press only events for exclusive reports. They often have great interviews with Disney legends current and past. Both guys also have extensive first hand knowledge of the USA Disney parks. Mark's WDW Park Update that comes out every Monday is packed with news and updates from the world. That combined with the collected knowledge at Mouseplanet.com makes this a podcast full of facts and tips and park announcements. They have even kept the idea of their last podcast by having a Magical Memories segment. Another nice feature of this podcast is that it comes out 3-4 times a week. So take some time and listen to this podcast. You won't be disappointed.

So your going to WDW: Park Parades

There are many different parades that you can see when you go to the Walt Disney World parks. Here is a summary by park of what they have to offer. Make sure you check for times on the dates you go. As far as how early to start getting a seat, rule of thumb is 45-60 minutes but that could change either way based on crowds.

Magic Kingdom: The MK’s main parade is the Dreams Come True parade and usually runs once per day and usually at 3:00 pm. This is the classic daytime parade that had all the characters in Glass Snow Globes until recently. It stars most of the classic Disney characters on all manner of floats and walking by. The parade starts at the gate between Adventureland and Fontierland right next to Splash Mountain. The parade then winds it’s way through Frontierland, Liberty Square and onto the Hub and Main Street. Everyone has their favorite place to watch this parade from. We have seen it from where it starts, from the Hub and from Main Street and from in front of the Magic Kingdom entrance next to the Town Square Exposition Hall. Can’t say any place was bad as long as your close to the front of the crowd.
The other parade at the Magic Kingdom is Spectromagic. This is the incredible lighted parade that runs at night. Until you see this parade, you cannot truly appreciate it. It is magical. The lights, music, the characters and to certain extent the promise of Fireworks right after make this an incredible parade. Not only the parade floats light up, but so do all of the characters riding on floats and walking. Spectromagic starts near the entrance of the MK and goes the opposite way the day parade goes. We have only seen this parade from Main Street and the Hub. Again if your toward the front, all seats are good.
There is a third Parade at the Magic Kingdom. That is the Holiday Parade. This is held on nights that the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is held and the last couple of days before and including Christmas. This parade, of course, ends with Santa.
There is also a Halloween Parade the is held for nights that the MNSSHP is held. This is of course a Halloween themed parade. I have seen video of it with the Grave Diggers from the Haunted Mansion and the dance they do in the parade is very cool. Did I mention that the Parade Grand Marshall is the Head-less Horse-man? He rides the parade rout sans head before the parade on a real horse.

You can also add the Princess and Pirate Parade to this list also. Run on special nights, staring of course, the Princesses of Disney World and the great Captain Jack Sparrow.

Disney Hollywood Studios
The DHS parade is the Stars and Motor Cars parade. We have seen this parade a couple of times and it is a fun parade. Instead of floats, the characters all ride in cool customized cars. There are some characters that walk also. The Power Rangers were a big favorite of the little guys. There are many of the later movies characters. Mulan, Muppets, and Star Wars characters are backed by many other characters. This parade begins near the Star Tours Ride and winds it’s way toward the entrance of the park only to take a right before the entrance. There is a Holiday version of this parade. Basically they add a lot of tinsel and snow to the cars. There is a rumour that this parade will be getting changed out in 2008. Look for a Pixar character based parade.
Animal Kingdom
The AK parade is the Mickey's Jammin’ Jungle parade. This is a very African looking parade with all of your favorite, mostly animal, Disney characters. This is also the only parade that you can watch pass you twice without moving too far. If you stand next to the BBB stand and watch it coming from your left then cross the street and watch it as it finishes it’s circle around the park. There is a holiday version of this parade also. Mickey's Jingle Jungle parade, I think.

Epcot

There is no parade in Epcot anymore.

The Disney and More Blog

I found a great site the other day as I was tooling around the Internet looking for some new Disney Blogs. The name of the site was the Disney and More Blog. This a very colorful and informative Blog. He covers all aspects of Walt Disney's World and of course More. The majority of his latest posts cover a lot of Walt Disney and his life with the Company, the Public and his Private life. The icing on this wonderful Disney treat of a blog are the colorful pictures and the detailed drawings and graphs that he uses in all of his posts. In his words:


"To all who come to this happy blog, welcome! Like at Disneyland, we celebrate here the past, the present and the future! You will find here the latest infos about Disney theme parks, attraction art-work or rare Disney historical photos. You can also watch great videos and even buy some Disney art or rare collectibles, and much more!"


My first visit to this blog lasted over two hours. This blog is run by Alain Littaye. Alain is from Paris, France and his profile lists him as a the co-author of the the Disneyland Paris from Sketch to Reality book and is a book designer and photographer and all around Disney Park fan. Alain is a constant poster. In fact he just posted another article on Walt's Apartment and Club 33 in Disneyland while I wrote this post. This is a quality site. I would normally say take a couple of minutes and check out the site, but I would be lying. So take a couple of hours and check out this site. You will not be disappointed. And since his site has been around a lot longer than mine, it looks like my header will need to be changed. This is another great Disney Website to Check Out.

Escape to Witch Mountain 2007

The other day I had just finished reading an article about the Disney Park's mountains and a rather random thought came to me. What about their mountain movie, Escape to Witch Mountain? I remember this movie as a kid and as I went to do a couple quick searches on the net, and came up with some un-expected news. It seems that Disney has decided to do a re-make of it. I was, to say the least, a little curious. All of the references that I found all pointed to Borys Kit and the Hollywood Reporter as the source to the story. I saw zilch at the Walt Disney Company Corp. web site. So nothing confirmed. However, the director of the movie is said to be Andy Fickman. He is known for Anaconda, Reefer Madness, and She's the Man. He's also just Directed a Family Movie for Disney for 2007, The Game Plan, with The Rock. Andrew Gunn of Gunn Films will Produce. He has produced a lot of Disney movies including Sky High and both Freaky Friday movies.

From what I remember of the movie Escape to Witch Mountain, it was pretty cool. I remember wanting to have the type of powers the kids had. Heck , I was 10. I almost remember the commercials on TV leading up to the release as much as the movie. It must have been a good add campaign if I remember it today.

Hopefully this will be a lucrative endevour for the Disney Company. It would be a shame if this was the knee-jerk reaction to Harry Potter and his success though. We'll see.