Wednesday, February 27, 2008

DisneyLand Dream Suite Podcast

I have just finished listening to the Official Disneyland Podcast. This particular show is pretty cool in that it is all about the New Disneyland Dream Suite that had opened up in the last couple of weeks. There is a discussion with Imagineer Kim Irvine who talks about the design of the suite and some of the hidden secrets that can be found there including a in the suite ‘Good Night Kiss’. The biggest fact that stuck out in this interview is that the Imagineers used the actual drawings that Walt had made for the planned living quarters for himself before he died. We then meet Dream Squad Member Josie and then follow her as she finds and gives out the very first stay in the suite to a family from Oregon. We then follow lucky winner Christine and her family into the suite and hear a lot of oohs and aahs. The link to the Video of this room can be found HERE. Here are two more links, the first is of Christine's family after winning the Dream Suite stay courtesy of the DisneylandNews site. And here is a link over to the Distant Creations Blog and more pictures of the Suite. Very Cool!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Horizons Revisited

I just came across a great post over at the Disney and More Blog. Alain posted an article about Horizons, that great, but extinct attraction from Epcot Center. There are a ton of pictures and video of the ride itself at the end of the article. Just the picture of the Imagineer painting the murals in the attraction is very cool Also look for links to a bunch of other attractions at the end of his post. Spaceship Earth, the Living Seas, and The Land to name a few. So check out this very well laid out post and have fun with the memories.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Scouting With the Mouse

Scouting with the Mouse is a website we came across a couple of weeks ago. It is run by a friend of mine on Disfriends. I had never even thought of this, but what if you can combine WDW with Scouting. Well it has been done and done with style. This is a website that will help you and the Girl, Boy or Cub Scout in your house get ready for a trip to WDW. You will be amazed at the number of activities and requirements you can achieve while in the parks. There are links to buy Scouting and Disney stuff and plenty of news updated daily about both. There is also a feature that will let you become a MouseScouteer. Sign up for free and get some great extra options from the site. I have not signed up as of yet. As soon as we're going to WDW again, we will. My son has just recieved a prize from Scouting with the Mouse. He just had his Pinewood Derby and we had posted a picture of his Car over at Disfriends. Hypermommy(which I am sure is just a screen name) liked it and posted on the Scouting with the Mouse site. The boy received this great pin in the mail this past week.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Walt being Walt...

Jim Hill posted a small article the other day that caught my eye. The title of the post wasThe Story Walt did not Want You to Hear.’ My first reaction was, uh oh, now what. Based on the title it can’t be good. But I was very wrong. Jim shared a story revealed by Richard Collier of how months before Disneyland had opened Walt had granted what can be called the very first Disney Magic Moment. A 10 year old boy’s mom had written to Walt about how excited she and her son were to hear about the plans for Disneyland. They watched Walt every week on his tv show. Unfortuantley her son had a terminal disease and would not live to see the opening of the park and was there any way her son could see what they had finished. I was still wary based on the this posts title, but for no reason. The boy and mom came out and Walt spent the entire afternoon with him riding the train and talking about his plans for the park. It seems that Walt had made a very definite appeal to all who were there that day that there were to be no pictures or stories about his to get out. It was for the boy and that’s it. Even just reading back over what I have written makes my eyes moisten up. It always feels good to see Walt be who we think he was. Thanks for the post Jim!