After the Mouse.com

Disney Resort on O’ahu Scheduled to Open in 2011

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts broke ground for its first family destination resort in Hawai’i today with a traditional Hawaiian blessing ceremony on its 21-acre oceanfront property, located at the Ko Olina Resort & Marina development on the western side of O’ahu. Scheduled to open in 2011, the new family friendly destination will overlook breathtaking crystal blue lagoons and white sand beaches and is planned to include 350 hotel rooms and 480 Disney Vacation Club timeshare villas.

“This Disney destination resort will provide a unique way for families to experience Hawai’i,” said Jay Rasulo, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “By blending Disney’s high standard of guest service and creative storytelling, we’ll create a place where all family members can discover the wonder of these special islands.”

Rasulo noted that Disney chose to build a resort on O’ahu due to the international popularity of Hawai’i as a family vacation destination. Hawai’i is among the top vacation choices of Disney Vacation Club members following Disney’s theme park destinations.

Several of Hawai’i’s elected officials and community leaders welcomed Disney to O’ahu at the ground blessing ceremony, including Lieutenant Governor James R. “Duke” Aiona, Jr.

“We’re excited for this project to begin, knowing the family appeal of both Hawai’i and Disney,” Aiona said. “We’re confident this resort will attract guests from the mainland and Asia because of the natural beauty of Hawai’i and Disney’s reputation for delivering unparalleled family experiences.”

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa also attended the ground blessing and said, “From the moment Disney announced that it was purchasing property on O’ahu, they have shown an interest in our community and have demonstrated they understand the spirit of aloha that we hold dear in our state. I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Disney to Hawai’i as a new neighbor and employer.”

Planned Resort Features
Rasulo noted that plans call for the resort to be built to engage every member of the family, from parents to children, teens and grandparents.

“This resort will be a place where families can escape to reconnect and create lifelong memories,” Rasulo said. “We have kept this vision in mind throughout the design.”

Plans call for an expansive pool and water play area, an 18,000 square-foot spa, a wedding lawn, an 8,000 square-foot convention center, a children’s club and spectacular dining at two restaurants — one of which will provide a stunning view of the ocean.

The design also calls for activities and amenities that aim to engage every member of the family. At the resort’s signature water way, for example, family friendly tubes and body slides will weave through volcanic rockwork and engage an iconic caldera volcano, while a nearby wading pool gives parents with toddlers a welcoming alternative to the sprawling zero-entry fun pool. In addition, more adventurous family members will find vibrant fish species in a saltwater snorkel lagoon.

Beyond activities for the whole family, the resort is being designed to respect and connect with the local culture of the Hawaiian islands. During the past year, the Walt Disney Imagineering team has been researching Hawai’i and working with local architects and cultural experts as part of the resort’s creative design process. The resulting design is a village celebrating the Hawaiian customs and traditions that lead to a life filled with joy and in harmony with the natural world. To further incorporate Hawaiian traditions, cultural programming in the areas of environmental education, music, dance, history, and arts and crafts; a story-driven, technology-enabled adventure game; and other surprises come together to create a Hawaiian destination that’s uniquely Disney.

Additionally, Hawai’i’s aloha spirit will influence the many intricate details for which Disney resorts are famous, with stories woven into the architecture, interiors, art, graphics and three planned signature gardens all brought to life through carefully selected colors, patterns, materials and forms. Wood, thatch, lava stone and coral will be among the materials represented in the resort’s two 15-story guestroom towers, each oriented perpendicular to the ocean to maximize ocean views from the strategically angled guest rooms. Façade murals will add to the distinctive look of each tower and will begin to portray some of the stories and legends of the islands.

At the heart of the resort, an open-air lobby building — dubbed Hale Aloha — will draw its design inspiration from a traditional Hawaiian canoe house, visually connecting families to the sea and beyond. Window designs, wall graphics and other details will welcome families with tales of adventure, myth, legend and more, while twin streams flow through the building before uniting as a single cascade into the center garden below.

In October, Disney shared design plans for the new resort with Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who is looking forward to the opening of the project in 2011.

“From my first meeting with Disney executives in California, to subsequent sessions in Honolulu, I continue to be impressed with the effort and the time Disney has put into researching Hawai’i,” Mayor Hannemann said. “Disney leaders have met with Hawaiian cultural experts to gain an understanding and appreciation of our host culture. The end result will be a resort that local residents will be proud to have on our island, and it will be a family attraction that our residents and visitors will find enjoyable and meaningful.”

Disney Vacation Club
Part of the Disney resort hotel in Ko Olina will be dedicated to Disney Vacation Club, a timeshare program that helps families enjoy flexibility and savings on vacations for decades to come. By becoming a member of Disney Vacation Club, families can enjoy vacations at Disney destinations worldwide as well as more than 500 other popular Member Getaways vacation locations around the globe.

Disney Vacation Club accommodations blend Disney’s famed attention to storytelling detail with all the comforts of home. From well-appointed studios equipped with convenient kitchenettes to sprawling, one-, two- and three-bedroom villas complete with full-size kitchens, washers and dryers, luxury tubs and other homelike amenities, Disney Vacation Club Resorts create flexible options to meet the needs of thousands of families from around the world.

Since its inception in 1991, Disney Vacation Club has grown to serve more than 350,000 individual members from approximately 100 countries and all 50 states.

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Disney’s Hawaii DVC Resort Ground “Blessing”

First we had bees. (My favorite insect, if I had to choose.) Then we had clowns (did I tell you I used to have a job as a clown?). Then church (also had a job there). Then there was the escort service (did NOT have a job there). Next was a Chinese restaurant (definitely my favorite take out). And this week it’s magic (it’s the job I WISH I had!). You’d think they were writing this season of Pushing Daisies just for me! What? This isn’t my personal blog? Oh, you came here to find out about last night’s episode? Not about moi?

Well, I can’t help it if I want to have dinner at The Pie Hole. (Yes, dinner.) I can’t help that I wish Chuck, Olive and I were the Three Amigos. I can’t even help wishing Emerson would throw one of his snarky comments at me. So, I’m just sad that the buzz in TV land is that it might be canceled! Are you believing this?! The most creative, colorful (albeit, dark) show on TV, canceled?! Say isn’t so! *sigh*

Let’s step away from that dreary subject and get into last night’s episode. It was magic! Literally!

We begin with Young Ned. And for the first time we see a parallel experience with Ned’s “new” half brothers, Ralston & Maurice. (*snicker* I can’t get over their names.)

Young Ned is enthralled by his father’s magic tricks. One day his biggest “magic trick” ruins Ned’s life. His father disappears forever! Then we see Ned’s dad doing the same trick for the twins. (Sick joker.) They are with their father at a magic show of The Great Herrmann. Their dad volunteers to be in the final disappearing act–and he never comes back. The twins adopt The Great Herrmann as their “new magic dad” and never realize how horrible their father had been to them.

Now, back to the future…and the murder…

Ralston & Maurice are at the Pie Hole inviting our favorite Pie people to a magic show. Ned is completely against it. Chuck and Olive think the twins are “magically delicious”. While Emerson is just using them to practice his investigative skills.

While at the magic show, the twins “new magic dad” fails to escape his famous “Cementia” trick. (He’s chained in a box that has cement poured into it.) They are devastated and Ned is determined to find the murderer for his new half brothers. They begin by interviewing The Great Herrmann’s only human assistant, Alexandria. She points them to one of Herrmann’s fellow entertainers, The Geek. He is a sword swallower, bottle chewer and animal regurgitator. (Did you even know they existed?) Both of them seem guilty, but nothing solid can be proved.

Speaking of solid, the Pie Trio head to the morgue to speak to the The Great Herrmann. But after our happy morgue attendant uses a chainsaw to open the cement block that is The Great Herrmann’s murder weapon, we find only a scarf and an envelope that says, “Now you see me, now you don’t. xxoo.” They assume The Great Herrmann is only hiding…no body, no murder. Until Ned remembers his father’s cups and ball trick and realizes this block of cement had been switched with another block of cement–a block of cement containing The Great Herrmann.

Now our Pie Trio plus Olive and the twins hit up the theater to find this missing block of cement. And armed with metal detectors (I missed the reason for these…) Ned and Chuck discover the block in the floorboards while Emerson and Olive discover The Geek dead in an upstairs room—with a spike shoved up his nose. EW.

Ned and Chuck break away the cement to interview The Great Herrmann. Magic man to magic man, Herrmann tells Ned his secret–magnets in his shoes that open up a secret compartment to escape before the cement is poured in.

And then Chuck realizes who the killer is–The Geek. He swallowed the magnets so The Great Herrmann would die. And why? Well, as our yummy narrator says, the facts are these: The Geek, Gunther Pinker looked to The Great Herrmann as a father figure. He wanted to do a Father Son act. And when Herrmann chose the twins over him, he was livid. If he couldn’t have the Great Herrmann, then no one could.

And the spike in his nose? Dead in an upstairs room? A ruse to distract our Emerson. While the Pie Trio is discovering the cement block, The Geek grabs Olive and with spike to her head, confronts our Pie friends. Ned saves the day by proclaiming his love for his dad even when his father disappeared. This catches The Geek off guard and he falls in the same trap door he used to kill his wannabe-dad.

The lesson learned:
Ned really loves his dad. Ralston and Maurice discover the truth of their dad’s betrayal. Assistant Alexandria becomes The Great Alexandria. (cute, huh?)

And let’s not forget our secondary plot…

Dwight Dixon is back! And this time he’s visiting Lily & Vivian. And he knows. He KNOWS Lily is Chuck’s mother. He talks to the sisters about serving in the Peace Corps (or something…) with Charles Charles and asks to have Charles’ pocket watch. Lily and Vivian pretend to know nothing about it. And while Vivian is getting Dwight’s coat, he reprimands Lily and her secrets.

Meanwhile, Vivian has one of her own. She initiates a date with Dwight at The Pie Hole. She tells him Charles’ pocket watch was buried with Chuck.

And our episode ends with Dwight digging up Chuck’s grave to find an empty coffin!

(see, this is why this show cannot be canceled! WHY does Dwight want the watch? What is he going to do now? Will Lily ever tell Vivian? Will Chuck be reunited with her mom and aunt? Will Ned find his dad and get over his issues? Will Emerson find his daughter? Will Alfredo Aldarisio and woo Olive? Will Oscar Vibenius show up again? And what about Digby?)

But wait! There’s a third plot we haven’t even talked about…

Chuck has been crank calling Lily to see if she will admit to being a mother. She won’t. So, Ned (our loving yet completely cynical hero) sets up a magic show of his own. Olive, armed with an in-ear speaker hears Chuck asking the questions she’s always wanted to ask her mother. Lily thinks they are just role-playing and Chuck gets to hear it all. Lily, Chuck and Ned have tears in their eyes. And Ned and Chuck stroke each other’s hands through the plexiglass barrier in their car. *happy sigh*

Best lines of the night:

Emerson to Chuck and Olive, “Where is that rat’s a$$ I could give?”

The Great Herrmann to Olive, “I’m not made of hugs.”

The Great Herrmann to Emerson, “Please, call me ‘Great’.”

Ned to Alexandria the Assistant, “Which means you are the killah, killah.”

Emerson to Maurice & Ralston, “What’choo gonna do? Use your wonder twin powers?”

Emerson to Chuck, “So what?”
Chuck to Emerson, “So buttons!”

In conclusion:
I mean, really. You know I liked it. I can’t help but love this show. Plus I love magic. I loved the curtains closing between each scene. I loved Chucks’ feathery cape. I love the absolute perfect characterization of each person. I love Ralston and Maurice’s eyebrows!

That’s why this show CANNOT be canceled. It just can’t. Please TIVO it next week. Make your family watch it during Thanksgiving. Make pies in honor of Ned. Rent a billboard that saves “Save the Pie Hole!”

(I’ll be at ohamanda.com this week thinking of more ways to save Ned and our Pie friends.)

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Oh, Oh, Oh, It’s Magic! (Pushing Daisies 2.6)

The IAAPA Attractions Expo opened on Monday. But the show doesn’t really get going until the “What’s New” presentation which was yesterday morning. This year the kickoff session featured performances from Universal and The Blues Brothers, dancers from Busch Gardens, and a new song from beautifully performed by a singer from Walt Disney World Resort. All in all a great showcase for central Florida.

Three new IAAPA members were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Arto Monaco (Land of Make Believe) and Edgard “Eddy” Meeus (Walibi Parks)  both played key roles in the early days of theme park development and were awarded posthumously. Larry B. Cochran helped open Six Flags over Texas and rose to the top of the company during his 41 years of service and team building. He gave a wonderful speech with a tribute to his family and team members.

The bi-annual Applause Award went to Xetulul a theme park in Retalhuleu, Guatemala. I’ve never heard of this park, but it looked like a lot of fun. San Diego SeaWorld cam in a close second.

After the morning performance everyone heads down to the show floor to make some deals and see what’s hot from vendors old and new. I only managed to cover about 20% of the show floor yesterday but click through the cut to read a few things that caught my eye.

The ‘Flogos‘ machines that were on Good Morning America a few months ago are at IAAPA. They can produce little ‘clouds’ of bubbles formed into your logo or other design. You can see a familiar shape in the photo above. In the photo below you can see the secret.

These are really just little bubbles, similar to the big blobs ’snow’ machines produce when they’re malfunctioning, formed into a shape and then released into the air. It’s a really neat affect and word is you’ll see them in action at Disney Parks next year.

Sadly the outside display area of the show is really reduced this year. Before there would have been a couple fun rides and other ‘tall’ items, now there are just four vendors.

Inside things are a little different. There are a few holes in the show floor where vendors would have been in the past, but in general it’s almost as full as usual. The traffic yesterday might have been a bit lighter than usual. But only 15-20% or so. So that’s a good sign. People appear to be making deals despite the slow down in the economy. You have to be willing to look ahead. Of course, you also have to have cash on hand, since credit is hard to get these days.

Finally, I did have at least one celebrity sighting. Joan Lunden, a big Disney fan herself, was at the show with her family and a new product called Kinderkord. But more on that later.

Now, I’m off to the show again. If you see me, please do say hi!

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An Initial Look at IAAPA Attractions Expo 2008

Just a quick follow up on a story from last week. It was reported that ESPN had bid $125 million for rights to broadcast the NCAA Division I College Football Bowl Championship Series on the cable channel. Turns out that was for just one year. They actually bid $500 million to get the rights for four years… and guess what? They won.

That’s a lot of money, I hope it pays off.

(Via Orlando Sentinel)

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Disney’s ABC/ESPN is now the home for College Football Bowl Championship Series

So, with three couples it could be, tonight’s results show will be interesting.  And you can tell how far into the season we are getting by how much they start plugging the guests who will be singing instead of telling us which stars are safe and which one is going.  Shall we get to it?

Unless I missed it during the recap show, it looks like we didn’t have an encore at all tonight.  That’s too bad.  I was looking forward to seeing Lance do his Jitterbug with both shoes on.

And I will give them this, having Julianne do one of the songs was nice.  Granted, she already has a built in audience from this show.  But as long as they are going to bring in all kinds of singers, might as well include the one they can do for free.  She’s got a great voice, too.

I did slow down the fast forward button to watch reigning champs Kristi and Mark perform.  I was reminded why I was rooting for her last season.  She’s still great!  And getting to hear Aretha Franklin perform “Respect” was fun, too.

Just as I was beginning to think they forgot what the “Results” show was all about, they did finally get to them.  50 minutes into the hour.  They didn’t do a bottom two.  They started off by telling us that Lance & Lacey and Brooke & Derek were safe.  No surprise with Lance, but I’d been wondering all day if Brooke really would be safe or not.

Of course, Lance and Brooke had to chat with Samantha.  Then a commercial break.  Can they drag this out any further?

Eventually, they did get around to telling us that Cody and Julianne are eliminated tonight.  On the one hand, I’m glad.  I’m tired of correcting my typo of Docy.  I type that every time I type his name, and I don’t know why.

On a serious note, I’d really love to see Julianne and Derek face off in the finals.  And Cody was growing every week.  As you know, I think Warren is the weakest dancer left, so I would have preferred to see him leave.  But Cody just couldn’t overcome those low scores.

Next week - the finals.  Until then, any thoughts on the final elimination of the season?

Mark

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Dancing with the Stars: Semi-Final Results

The International Associations of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) swings into Orlando this week for its annual Attractions Expo. Industry leaders, companies and hangers on swarm over the Orange County Convention Center for a week trying out all the new things the industry has to offer. It’s also a great place to pick up scents and rumors for what’s coming down the line technology wise.

This year the main story is the same unavoidable story that’s affecting companies and families all over the world - the economy. A few parks did not survive last year (Hard Rock Park, for one) and even more look to fall to the side of the road this year. So everyone is a bit nervous. When I hit the exhibit floor this year, I’m curious to see how big a contraction the industry has already experienced.

I’d invite everyone down, but there is no public day this year. Next year the Expo will be in Las Vegas, and I’ll be looking for a correspondent. <grin>

That’s it for now. I’ll be back later with some stories on what’s happening at IAAPA. If you’re at the show keep an eye out.

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IAAPA Attractions Expo hits Orlando

ICE! at Gaylord Palms Resort is back for its sixth season. I was lucky enough to go last night and found the new displays to be a lot of fun. It’s amazing to see how huge blocks of ice have been transformed into wonderful works of art.

A little advice: make sure you buy your tickets online ahead of time to save a few dollars. Plus plan to eat somewhere else either before or after the event. The restaurant selection at Gaylord Palms are good, but very expensive, even more than what you might find on Disney property.

The ornaments are a whole new room this year and my favorite of the show. There are a few more pictures below the cut.

Fun Facts About ICE!

• Nearly 2,000,000 pounds of ice was used to create ICE!
• Nearly 5,000 blocks of ice was hand carved to be transformed into a winter wonderland.
• 9 degrees Fahrenheit is the average temperature inside “The Florida Fridge,” the home of the ICE! attraction.
• 1500+ fluorescent and fiber optic lights are frozen within the ice, creating a magical holiday experience.
• More than 18,000 total square feet of space is covered by the ICE! attraction. Kept at a brisk 9 degrees, the unique structure housing ICE! is also known as the “Florida Fridge.” It is believed to be the first of its kind in North America.

Yeah, I couldn’t resist the polar bears.

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It’s ICE!

You go Mickey. When I’m your age, I want to look as young as you do today.

These last 80 years have been quite transformative for you. You’ve gone from a sweet and unpretentious little rascal to a modern day role model for the young. The next 80 are sure to be as transformative, especially as more images of you begin to enter the public domain. Sure there will be fights, huge ones, for control of your future. You have become a part of us. And now you belong to all of us as much as you ever belonged to Walt and the company he set up with his brother. I only hope you’re up to the task.

Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse.

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Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse!

We are down to four stars, which means tonight is all about 8 dances.  The stars will perform the one of the familiar dances they haven’t done, then another dance from the selection of new dances that were introduced a few weeks back.  Plus, there’s the coaching session from Len.  All told, this should be another jam packed semi-final.

Brooke Burke & Derek Hough - Jive - Okay, so this wasn’t quite the routine that Derek and Julianne did last week, but it was pretty darn close.  That was high energy from the get go, and they never slowed down.  You know what that means.  I loved it!  I did notice one under arm turn that looked a tad awkward, and they definitely did some lifts, so unless the rules have changed, watch for Carrie Ann to dock them for that.  Len, however, said they messed up three or four times.  Bruno was surprised about how bad the technique was.  And Carrie Ann did come down hard on them for the illegal lifts.  Yet I could tell from their faces they agreed with the judges, so at least they weren’t too upset.  And Brooke confirmed that she agreed with the judges backstage.  Can I just say that impressed me even more?

Scores: Carrie Ann - 7 Len - 7 Bruno - 7 Total - 21  Her worst score of the entire season.  Wow.  Could she fall just short of the finals?

Cody Linley & Julianne Hough - Paso Doble - Julianne’s back!  When I first saw their costumes, I thought with the military look they would be doing a Jive.  This could be an interesting routine.  You know, I’d never noticed how much this dance has military precision until watching this.  And I do think I prefer Julianne’s choreography to Edyta’s.  But I still wasn’t too impressed.  Bruno said the timing was poor and the lines were non existent, but he did find the dance interesting.  Carrie Ann saw too much tension.  And Len wasn’t impressed with it, saying it was stiff and not dance quality.  Wow, I think the judges are being harder than I am tonight.  That’s a nice change from the last couple of weeks, right?

Scores: Carrie Ann - 8 Len - 7 Bruno - 7 Total - 22  I wasn’t sure what to expect for sure, but this is a combined score one better that Brooke’s.  This is getting very interesting.

Warren Sapp & Kym Johnson - Mambo - That was interesting, stating off in the audience.  And wow, Kym has great abs the way she could hold that back bend while Warren took off his jacket.  But again, I find Warren’s dances fun but not nearly as good as the others.  Obviously, I miss the technical stuff, so we’ll see what the judges say.  Carrie Ann started and said he could include more difficult moves.  Len praised him for showing great personality even if he doesn’t have much content.  And Bruno said it was engaging but very flat footed.

Scores: Carrie Ann - 8 Len - 8 Bruno - 8 Total - 24  So he’s got the highest score in the first round so far.  And with Lance being hit or miss with the judges, this just might be the high score of round one.

Lance Bass & Lacey Schwimmer - Mambo - And Lacey got to show off her abs, too.  While this had the fun of Warren’s dance, it also seemed like a better dance to me, which the various tempo changing moves.  Plus they really seemed to be traveling all around the floor.  But I’ve been shocked by the judges comments before, so let’s see what they say.  Len called it the best dance so far.  Bruno called it semi-final material.  Carrie Ann said it was a show stopper.

Scores: Carrie Ann - 10 Len - 9 Bruno - 9 Total - 28  They were so happy with their first 10 of the season.  And this makes it the best dance of the first round.

Now I’m really curious to see how things play out with round two.

Brooke Burke & Derek Hough - Salsa - Again with the lifts.  And right out of the gate.  Carrie Ann won’t be happy about that.  I think they were up to three by the time the dance was over since her feet stayed on the ground in that spin.  But I really did enjoy the dance over all.  I’m hesitant to get too enthused, however, after the way the judges have reacted to things tonight.  Brooke and Derek seem happier.  And so did Bruno who welcomed her back to the competition.  Carrie Ann did mention the lifts, but said they were appropriate to the number.  She even praised her for the way she came back.  Len told her to work toward her strengths, which is crisp technique like we saw here.  Naturally, they were much happier back stage.

Scores: Carrie Ann - 9 Len - 10 Bruno - 9 Total - 28  They have started the second round with an impressive score.  While Lance has some wiggle room, they’ve put the pressure on Cody and Warren.  Let’s see if they can keep up.

Cody Linley & Julianne Hough - Salsa - During the master class, Len tried to work on Cody’s hips.  I am seeing an improvement most of the time.  Of course, anyone standing next to Julianne is going to have a hard time standing out.  And we’ve got two lifts here as well.  I’d say their second round was stronger as well.  Way to answer back, guys.  Carrie Ann said it was fun, but he was slightly off from the music at times.  But Len thought the musicality was fine.  He even praised the lifts.  Bruno said it was a bit loose technically, but otherwise good.

Scores: Carrie Ann - 8 Len - 8 Bruno - 8 Total - 24  Funny, based on the comments, I expected a couple 9’s in there.  So they are now below Brooke.  But I think that Lance is really the one to beat tonight.

Warren Sapp & Kym Johnson - Jitterbug - I’m wondering about this one.  In my mind, Warren has been slow all season.  Why would they choose to pick the fastest dance they could have done?  Okay, the contestants must have decided to band together and do lifts tonight.  That’s all I can come up with.  When I think Jitterbug, I think a fast paced dance.  This one just seemed too slow to me.  It was fun at times, but it seemed very weak to me.  Len praised him for selling it.  Bruno came down hard on him, however, because his feet were all over the place.  Carrie Ann became the tie breaker and said she liked it, although she was afraid that the dangerous lifts wouldn’t work and Kym would get hurt.

Scores: Carrie Ann - 9 Len - 8 Bruno - 8 Total - 25  So, Len loved it and Bruno saw flaws, yet they came away with the same score.  Yep, I’m confused yet again.

Lance Bass & Lacey Schwimmer - Jitterbug - So that’s four for four in the final round.  I sure thought from what Carrie Ann said they weren’t supposed to be doing lifts, but everyone did so maybe I misunderstood.  And then Lance lost his shoe.  He missed a couple steps trying to kick it out of the way, but they soldiered on.  After how hard I was on Warren, I’ve got to say I thought this one was only slightly better at the start, but they seemed to pick up speed as the dance progressed.  And some of their moves were lots of fun.  As Tom pointed out, it was pretty amazing that he only missed a couple steps considering he was dancing with one shoe and one sock.  Len even got into the fun pretending to be upset about him dancing barefoot again.  But the real comments started with Bruno who said it was brilliant and a joy.  Carrie Ann agreed, saying they didn’t miss a step.  Len said this was his second fabulous dance of the night.  These should be good scores.

Scores: Carrie Ann - 10 Len - 9 Bruno - 10 Total - 29  The high score of the night, and they can’t completely believe it.

And that brings the semi-final round to an end.  Here’s tonight’s rankings:

1. Lance - 57

2. Brooke - 49

2. Warren - 49

4. Cody - 46

Encore: Well, Brooke has one more week to get an encore.  This week’s is going to Lance’s Jitterbug.  And I have no complaints because once it got going, it was really good.

Going Home: I feel pretty confident in saying Lance won’t be going home.  I think Brooke, being the only female, is most likely safe as well.  I bet it comes down to Warren and Cody.  There is a slight chance that Cody makes the finals, but my guess is that this is the week we say goodbye to the Boy Wonder.

Is there something I am missing, or will this be Cody’s week to leave the competition?

Mark

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Dancing with the Stars - Season Seven Semi-Finals

James (Black Wolf) Hansen, Anita (Quick Silver) Hansen, and Garry (Thunder Hunter) Englehart perform the annual Blessing of the Four Directions, November 12, 2008, in the lobby of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. November is American Indian Heritage Month.

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Blessing of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

Susan Lucci, Emmy Award-winning star of the ABC Daytime drama “All My Children,” strikes a pose with her “Dancing with the Stars” professional dance partner, Tony Dovolani, Nov. 15, 2008 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Lucci and Dovolani, who were eliminated from “Dancing with the Stars” on Nov. 5, appeared at “ABC SOAPnet Super Soap Weekend,” a soap opera fan event held this last weekend at the Walt Disney World theme park.

2008 marks the last year Super Soap weekend will be held at the Walt Disney World resort. In 2009 plans are to have six regional events around the country.

(Photo courtesy Disney. Matt Stroshane, photographer)

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Susan Lucci Dances into Disney’s Hollywood Studios one last time for Super Soap Weekend

The NY Times has a terrific article about Mark Walton, the Disney Animator and general pop culture nerd, whose ’scratch’ track for Rhino, the wheel bound Hamster from BOLT!, became the breakout character of the movie.

A couple months ago, though, the co-directors asked Mr. Walton to meet them in the recording studio. He assumed it was to re-record a line that was slurred or too quiet. Instead he was told he was the voice of Rhino.

The directors suddenly had a very animated 6-foot-2 bearded man on their hands. “I jumped up and down and screamed like a girl,” Mr. Walton said. “There’s a videotape to prove it.”

“Who cares about fame and fortune?” he said, clenching his fists in excitement and waiving them in the air. “I’m going to be a plush animal.”

Mark sounds like someone I hope Walt Disney Animation Studios plans to keep around a long time.

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Destiny calls Disney Animator to Voice Talent Stardom in Bolt!

We’ve always known there is a bit of a dark side to Mickey Mouse. Usually he was just being his mischievous self, but sometimes, as in Runaway Brain, he seemed like a completely different mouse. Okay. Maybe he was a completely different mouse. But he’s always been fairly squeaky clean when it comes to consumer products. In the last few years, however, we’ve been treated to some wider extremes of Walt’s most famous creation.

Walt Disney’s influence as a creative visionary and artist has inspired generations and BLOC28 by Disney is a new label that uniquely connects today’s street art and contemporary art culture with Disney’s most iconic character, Mickey Mouse. BLOC28 by Disney - Series 2, builds on the phenomenal success of the first series with well-known urban artists Aroe, Chaz Bojorquez, Ewok, Rime, Suiko and Tenga.

Each artist developed a one-of-a-kind piece of Mickey–themed art in their signature style which serves as the inspiration for a line of limited-edition product. And in celebration of the contemporary art community, Disney is kicking off a ten-day auction of limited edition BLOC28 product with eBay Giving Works to benefit Art Share Los Angeles – a community arts incubator whose mission is to shape lives through art, education and community action.

If you don’t live in New York or Los Angeles it can be incredibly difficult to get your hands on the BLOC28 line of products. So this auction is probably your best chance. Plus it supports a good cause. So everyone is a winner.

More information on the auction is available at eBay.

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Urban Street Art meets Mickey Mouse for good cause

As part of a recently started tradition for 43-year history of the Disney Ambassador program, the worldwide 2009 Disney Park Ambassador team gathered for a week of training at the Disneyland Resort. Each of the eight Ambassadors pictured above represent the five Disney Resort locations around the world - Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Resort Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland - and will serve as emissaries of goodwill in their respective communities for the year.

The training included meet and greets with Disney executives, a complete overview of the history and heritage of The Walt Disney Company, visits to Walt Disney Imagineering, Walt Disney Studios and the Walt Disney Archives. After training at Disneyland, the team of eight flies to Florida for a similar experience at Walt Disney World Resort. The extensive training schedule prepares the Ambassadors to represent their Resorts, as well as The Walt Disney Company, for the duration of their term as a Resort representative.

The Disneyland Ambassador program began in 1965 under the supervision of Cicely Rigdon. Julie Riehm was the first Ambassador and was selected by Walt to help celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Disneyland.

2009 Worldwide Ambassador Team (From Left to Right in Photo): Chi-ho Law, Hong Kong Disneyland Ambassador; Makiko Okamoto, Tokyo Disney Resort Ambassador; Vanessa Rosas, Walt Disney World Resort Ambassador; Quinn Shurian, Disneyland Resort Ambassador; Danielle DuBois, Disneyland Resort Ambassador; Clay Shoemaker, Walt Disney World Resort Ambassador; Prisca Vigana, Disneyland Resort Paris Ambassador; and Julien Lothier, Disneyland Resort Paris Ambassador.

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2009 Worldwide Disney Park Ambassadors go back to where the magic began

Disney’s ESPN cable sports network brand is making a bid to become a big player in the Bowl Championship Series.

Disney made a reported $125 million bid for the rights to the complete Bowl Championship Series, the five annual contests — the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose bowls plus the BCS National Championship — that ultimately determine college football’s No. 1 team.

Fox, which has the rights to all but the Rose Bowl at a cost of $82.5 million per year, has upped its bid to $100 million. If Disney is successful, ESPN will air the games beginning in 2010. The Rose Bowl, currently airing on ABC, would likely also move to ESPN.

I really hope the big wigs at ESPN listen to the talking head talent they’ve hired. Nearly all of whom agree that NCAA Division I football needs to end in a playoff series, at minimum a plus one game. Imagine the hero ESPN would become to college football fans everywhere.

(via)

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ESPN places $125 million bid for rights to College Football Championship

If you’re like me and wondered while you were watching WALL•E in the theater you wondered what happened to that repair robot who got locked out of the AXIOM when EVE and WALL•E flew in, then you’ll get a real kick out of BURN•E.

Below the cut you’ll find the transcript from a recent roundtable discussion with Director Agnus MacLane.

Previously: My Review of BURN•E, WALL-E on Amazon.

Q: BURN•E will be another great addition to the acclaimed canon of Pixar shorts. What is it, in your opinion, that makes short films like BURN•E and Presto so unique?

A.M.: I’m glad you enjoyed the short. What makes the films so unique is that all of the shorts are personal stories. Pixar supports the directors realizing their unique visions and as a result you get a wide variety of stories. Presto is Doug Sweetland and Doug Sweetland is Presto. Likewise for the other shorts.

Q: BURN•E has a very “Pixar” feel to it as an animated short. What is it about repetitive failure (Lifted, One Man Band, now BURN•E) that is so funny?

A.M.: Humor usually comes about when result doesn’t match the expectation. If everything in a characters’ life goes well it’s hard to relate to and probably not as funny.

Q: What do you think was the hardest thing to get right in the short?

A.M.: There were a lot of difficult shots to pull off in this film. From a technical perspective, the shot with WALL•E touching Saturn’s rings that transitions into the pebble meteor was the hardest to pull off. The Effects Supervisor, Bill Watral did a fabulous job stitching the shot from the film and a bunch of new elements that were on a literally planetary scale. On the performance side, the shot where SUPPLY•R drops the light on the ground was the trickiest to get right. There was something in the boards that was really funny that was extremely difficult to capture.

Q: What is the most difficult aspect of creating a character?

A.M.: For BURN•E, communicating his thought process to the audience was the biggest challenge. He is a fairly limited character, which is appealing, but more work must be done in the story process to communicate his intentions. With BURN•E and with WALL•E, if the audience can’t tell what the character is thinking or what is going on, then they loose interest very quickly.

Q: Where do you actually start on design with so many different kinds of robots?

A.M.: In the WALL•E universe most of the robots are designed and built around the idea of function first, character second. With the character of WALL•E we figured out his motion as a trash compactor first. After that had been firmly established we then worked on how to define his character based on the limitations of him being a trash compactor

Q: How hard was it to get the right type of emotion out of a robot?

A.M.: It is always our goal as animators to make our work clearly communicate the thought process of the characters to the audience. It was particularly challenging for us on BURN•E as well as WALL•E because of the limited nature of the designs and the lack of dialogue. Both characters limited designs are appealing, but more work must be done in the story process to communicate his intentions. With BURN•E and with WALL•E, if the audience can’t tell what the character is thinking or what is going on, then they lose interest very quickly.

Q: How did you come up with the story for BURN•E? Did you already think of it during the production of WALL•E?

A.M.: As a filmgoer I wanted to know what happened to BURN•E. I had a few ideas of places we could cut back to BURN•E in the feature, but it slowed the pace of the film down. Once Andrew encouraged me to take these ideas and develop them into a short, I needed to find a unifying story arc. I came up with this idea of him having a job and that job would be repairing this light. Then I thought, it would be funny to have WALL•E inadvertently cause this meteor to hit the light on the ship. This led to the central idea of the short. In the feature, WALL•E has a positive effect on everyone he meets. So I thought what if there is someone for whom WALL•E ’s arrival on the Axiom isn’t a good thing. WALL•E is never purposefully mean to BURN•E, it’s just bad luck. Once I had that central idea I looked for key moments in the film to cut back to BURN•E to see what he was doing at that particular time.

Q: How long did it take you to make that short?

A.M.: I first pitched the storyboard to Andrew Stanton in November of 2007 and we finished production in late June 2008.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for BURN•E?

A.M.: BURN•E in the feature, but Andrew felt that it would slow the pace of the film down. He agreed it was a funny idea but encouraged me to develop it into a short film. Visually I wanted to replicate, or ‘pay homage’ to late 70s early 80s Sci-Fi movies. The unifying element in these films is that everything was hand made, they did not have CGI, and so it gives the worlds a tactile quality that has been missing from many modern sci-fi films.

Q: How did you come to choose BURN•E as the main subject of the short (and not other characters, like, say, M-O, who was interesting, too)?

A.M.: I was drawn to BURN•E because his story was not fully explored in the feature. I like M•O, but he is in the feature a lot already, so I did not feel like his story needed to be told as urgently. Also I liked the idea of having a short that took place outside the central story arc of the WALL•E feature film.

Q: John has previously said that Pixar’s shorts provide animators with the opportunity to experiment with new challenges outside the confines and limitations of a feature. Were there any particular technical or story challenges you set out to accomplish with BURN•E?

A.M.: The biggest challenge was how to make a 7+ minute film on a budget. I was allowed to make a film that long if it came in on budget. To be honest, I think the budget constraint helped. I wanted the film to look like a 70’s-80’s Sci-Fi films. On those films they built awesome sets on limited budget. We used a lot of the same principles of repeated forms for BURN•E. As an homage, the floor grating in BURN•E is based on floor grating in featured in the movies Outland, Alien, and Aliens.

Q: As far as I can tell BURN•E is your first film as a director. Do you see this film as a steppingstone towards directing features? Is that something you aspire to do?

A.M.: BURN•E was a tremendous opportunity for me. The shorts program at Pixar is designed to be a training ground for potential future directors and new department heads. Sometimes that translates into directing features or heading departments on features and sometimes not. I have stories that I’d like to tell, so we’ll see what happens.

Q: Are there any easter eggs we should watch out for?

A.M.: There are a few small nods here and there to various sci-fi properties. I won’t go through all of them, but I will mention that there is a graphic on the elevator inside the Axiom that reads “ELV 426″ indicating that this is elevator number four hundred and twenty-six. This is of course (pushing my glasses up on my nose) a reference to LV-426 the planet that is the setting of the movie Alien and Aliens.

Q: Why did you choose the Beethoven’s Ode (European’s anthem) to joy to play a key role in the soundtrack?

A.M.: It’s true that Ode To Joy has been used many times in the history of cinema. Most notably to me in Raising Arizona, Die Hard and A Clockwork Orange. There is a reason why is this piece of music has stood the test of time. It is a great piece of music. Using it in a film is a bit of a cliché’ but it is still a very effective piece in communicating a certain emotion. For BURN•E the needs of the emotion from the piece overruled the originality from the selection of the piece. I also thought that it was funny that BURN•E would be humming Beethoven.

Q: I noticed that BURN•E does a fist-pump when he cuts through the door. What gave you the idea to include that?

A.M.: That is a bit of an inside joke. Brad Bird’s pet peeve is the movie cliché’ where a character does that fist-pump an says “YESSSS!” I think that I put that joke in just to irritate him. I think there is an easter egg on the Ratatouille DVD that explains this. So if you watch that before you see BURN•E, the short will be 34% funnier.

Q: How hard was it to think of a name that sounded like a robot but was a pun for a human name (Bernie)?

A.M.: His name internally had been “Repair Bot” When I started the short, I envisioned him as being called WELD•R. About two days later Jim Reardon, the head of WALL•E Story handed me a drawing he had done of the word BURN•E burned into metal. After that there was no going back.

Q: WALL•E stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth class. What does BURN•E stand for?

A.M.: I was called one day by Derek Thompson who worked in story on BURN•E, informing me that we had to know the answer to this question. He and fellow story artist Ted Mathot informed me that BURN•E stood for: Basic Utility Repair Nano Engineer. However, Jim Reardon, head of story on WALL•E thought of the name BURN•E.

I have since heard from some people that it actually be BURN•A because the “E” in WALL•E stands for “Earth-Class” and the “A” would be the appropriate “Axiom-Class”. Now I could argue that maybe BURN•E was a robot on earth that then was installed on the Axiom, but A: I would be lying and B: What is the point? If that is the biggest problem you have with the film, then I have done my job. Now put yourself in my shoes- you have to name this robot. The name BURN•E is funny and breaks the continuity of the film or BURN•A which is more accurate to the feature and is not funny at all. Which would you choose? I thought so. I do love that geeks pick up on this and I am happy to be creating this controversy. I’d probably do the same thing were I not involved.

Q: At what point during the development of WALL•E did you start planning the story of BURN•E? Did they construct any plot points in the feature to facilitate the short, or vice versa?

A.M.: I came up with and started boarding the short approximately 5 months before WALL•E was completed. However, no plot points were changed in the feature to make the short work. There were things that were changed in that one shot in WALL•E that featured BURN•E after it had been finished. The light spire that he welds was not originally in the shot.

Q: Did you work on BURN•E during or after the production of WALL•E?

A.M.: Both. I started boarding BURN•E on the evenings and lunches when we were in the heat of animation production on WALL•E. Once the animation was wrapping up on the feature, production started on BURN•E. It dovetailed nicely but I did have to put off a May vacation till August.

Q: How did you go about choosing scenes from WALL•E that BURN•E could impact? Did you have to scrap any ideas that just wouldn’t fit with the existing story?

A.M.: I came up with as many places in the movie as I could think of to cut back to. We cut whatever wasn’t funny or slowed the pace down. Oddly enough the scene from the feature that sparked the original idea for BURN•E was cut from the feature. The scene is too complicated to explain. Maybe that’s why it never made it.

Q: Brad Bird created a similarly fun companion short to The Incredibles with “Jack-Jack Attack”. What are your thoughts on side-stories like these?

A.M.: I am a big fan of side stories. Coincidentally, I had a side story pitch for The Incredibles that Brad was excited about, but budget constraints kept us from doing it. I think it is important that the side story not belittle or betray the main story. If the main story is about the existence of the Easter Bunny, the side story can’t say there is no Easter Bunny or it messes with the feature.

Q: Pixar has by now built a real legacy with some of the best animation film the last twenty years, beginning with short films in the eighties. Could you feel the pressure of that legacy while working on BURN•E?

A.M.: Certainly, the rich history of Pixar Short Films is a bit intimidating, but making BURN•E feel like a logical extension of WALL•E was more important to me. I wanted the film to be good but I did not choose to spend too much time worrying about it’s comparison to earlier work. I mostly sweated whether or not it was good enough to be in the WALL•E universe.

Q: How do you - as a modern day animator - view the classic ‘oldschool’ style of animation? Do you think that’s a nostalgic era in animation that will never return fully? Or do you think classic animation styles will become more prominent in the future? And in what way?

A.M.: I love all forms of animation. Each medium does different things better than others. 2-D or hand drawn animation allows for a stylization not achievable in CGI. The audience is open to whatever world you present them with. They just want good stories. I feel that unfortunately 2-D got associated with only one type of story and the audience for that story got tired of seeing the same thing over and over. I hope in the future there are a wider variety of stories told in all forms of animation.

Q: One of your big hobbies is building your own LEGO creations. For instance the big LEGO version of WALL•E you did a while ago. Any chances of a LEGO (short) movie in the future?

A.M.: I’d love to do a project with Lego. Disney and Lego are two huge companies who admire each other’s work but the logistics of doing a joint film project might be a little difficult. I open to it though. Imagine a film that has a main character who has to remove his head to put on a backpack. Pure gold.

Q: So when will we get to see BURN•E in Lego like you did with WALL•E?

A.M.: I designed a Lego BURN•E as a crew gift as a thank you for the hard work. I ordered the pieces, made custom decals and instructions and hand packaged each of the sets. If there is interest, I will post a picture on Flickr soon.

Q: How much of an animated film is software and how much is the result of an “artist’s” vision and his/her ability to bring that vision to life? What role does software play in the process? Is it a mere tool, like, say, video editing software, or does it allow animators to do things they could not do with ink and paper?

A.M.: WALL•E was mostly created by a computer robot we have here at Pixar called the EntertainmentBot 3000. Nah, the computer is just a big, dumb pencil.

Q: Is it harder to do an animated film with little dialogue? Does it put more pressure on the animation to do the talking? Because of this, was WALL•E a harder character to create than some of your others?

A.M.: It’s not harder to animate, but it is way more work in the story board process.

Q: Is there any Pixar film that you would have loved to work on, but didn’t get the chance to?

A.M.: I would have loved to have worked on the original Toy Story, which is the only Pixar feature that I was not involved in. I also wish that I could have worked on some of those Listerine commercials.

Q: Having been the directing animator on WALL•E, what did that involve?

A.M.: The Directing Animator’s job is to help the other animators keep their animation on model so that the acting and movement are consistent for each of the characters over the entire film. They work to be both a surrogate voice of the Director when he/she is available, and also offer acting and performance suggestions. Directing Animators also help to define the motion and character of the main characters in the film. The Directing Animator reports directly to the Supervising Animators. On WALL•E (as well as The Incredibles) I worked under the Supervision Animators Alan Barillaro and Steven Hunter. They interface more with the production staff about the direction and management of the WALL•E animation department. They also serve as both a surrogate voice of the Director and also offer acting and performance suggestions as well. Time permitting, Supervising Animators will also help to define the motion and character of the main characters in the film.

Q: How did you get selected to direct BURN•E? Now that you’ve done it, what would you do differently?

A.M.: I think it was opportunity met with preparation. Andrew liked the idea of the DVD short being about BURN•E. He encouraged me to storyboard the film. After the story was approved, Andrew asked if I would be interested.

Q: Which animator or moviemaker from the past has made the biggest impression on you? And how does that reflect itself in your work?

A.M.: That’s hard to say. It’s been great to learn from the directors here at work. Right now I’m really into Jean-Pierre Melville and I would say that the movie Aliens (1986) is the best movie ever made.

Q: How much freedom do you have at Pixar as a director on a little film like this?

A.M.: I pitched the film to Andrew Stanton and John Lasseter. Once they bought off on the concept I was free to pretty much do as I wished. There were budget considerations, but there weren’t any compromises that hurt the film. I checked in with Andrew periodically and if there was anything that wasn’t reading or could be improved he would make notes. I would say that 95% of his notes made the film better. Mostly he had notes on pacing. BURN•E by nature is fairly episodic. He had a lot of notes that kept the pace from slowing to a crawl. Freedom as a director is also the freedom to make a bad movie. I had the support of an extremely talented crew so anything that was bad they did there best to fix.

Q: Could you tell us how you got to work for Pixar? Was it always your dream to be an animator?

A.M.: I lucked out when standards were low. When I was hired in 1997, Disney and DreamWorks were the hot places to work. Pixar was looking for animators to work on the Toy Story direct to video sequel. I got an internship and then worked as hard as I could to learn how to animate. I had done 2D animation in school, but I had so much to learn. That’s one of the great things about Pixar. There are a lot of people to learn from.

Q: Could you give a piece of advice to all those who start in this of the animation and dream of working in Pixar or on a project like this someday?

A.M.: Surround yourself with people whose work you admire and whose opinions you trust. In school I worked really hard and sought out others who did the same. In your work make sure that you are making something that you believe in. In BURN•E I tried to have at least one thing in each shot that was true or real or relatable. Make the world of your film believable and relatable and the audience will follow.

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Interview with Pixar Director Agnus MacLane

A couple early reviews of Disney’s upcoming animated feature BOLT! have begun to leak out. Obviously you’ll want to avoid them to remain spoiler free. But here are some summary thoughts.

Jerry at CartoonBrew recommends you see it:

I really enjoyed the film - especially its digs at the behind the scenes world of network television production. Bolt is a lot of fun, and a good step in the right direction as Disney continues to rebuild its brand in Feature Animation. I’m rooting for Bolt, and the studio, to succeed.

Honor Hunter at Blue Sky Disney was also lucky enough to see the film:

It’s as good as I had hoped. Possibly a bit better. It’s got that unmistakable Lasseter fingerprint. There’s more heart in this film than the entire last decade of Disney animation.

Both are fairly strong endorsements. So keep your fingers crossed that BOLT! makes a real charge at the box office. The race begins November 21st.

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Bolt Previews have begun

In addition to the theatrically released short “Presto” Pixar and Disney have decided to include an additional short on the WALL-E DVD and Blu-Ray releases. They did this with Tow Mater and the Ghostlight on Cars to great effect. Here WALL•E is partnered with BURN•E.

What BURN•E does differently than most other Pixar shorts is it inserts itself into the story of the main movie, in this case WALL•E. So it really helps if you’ve seen WALL•E first. In fact, it’s practically a requirement. You see part of the short from perspective of the main characters in WALL•E as the story takes place, but mostly you follow BURN•E as he faces his sysiphean task in the background of the larger conflict.

“Humor usually comes about when result doesn’t match the expectation,” says Director Angus MacLane. “If everything in an characters’ life goes well it’s hard to relate to and probably not as funny.”

It’s a cute idea and MacLane really pulls it off well. As an Animator, Angus MacLane has contributed significantly to Pixar Animation Studios’ short and feature length films since his arrival at the studio in 1997. In addition to WALL•E and BURN•E, MacLane has worked on various award-winning Pixar films, such as Geri’s Game, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, For The Birds, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo. For his work on The Incredibles, he was awarded the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character Animation. MacLane also supervised the animation on the Academy Award-nominated animated short film, One Man Band.

If you watch closely “there are a few small nods here and there to various sci-fi properties.” said MacLane. “I won’t go through all of them, but I will mention that there is a graphic on the elevator inside the Axiom that reads “ELV 426″ indicating that this is elevator number four hundred and twenty-six. This is of course (pushing my glasses up on my nose) a reference to LV-426 the planet that is the setting of the movie Alien and Aliens.”

One of the details I like is how BURN•E hums “Ode To Joy” to himself as he’s making the first repair. They’re able to bring that back full circle at the end of the short very effectively.

You can find BURN•E exclusively on the Wall•E DVD and Blu-Ray sets. It is available for pre-order now on Amazon.

Stay tuned for a full review of the DVD in the next couple days.

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WALL-E DVD available for pre-order; includes exclusive animated short BURN-E

I’ll start by saying I’m not in favor of platform dependent services when it comes to mobile or wireless internet services. That said, I understand that this is the way things get built at Disney Parks. You have a great idea, you find a partner, and then you work with them to make it a win-win for both sides. Hopefully the guests get something good out of it too.

So what’s the big deal coming to the U.S. based Disney theme parks? How about a park guide with real time information on your mobile phone? It’s about time, I say. The ability to know how long a queue is without having to walk to the attraction yourself is practically invaluable to the Disney park goer. Finding last minute dining reservations, special deals, interactive games and adventures, and so much more offers to enrich the theme park experience dramatically.

Beginning next year, guests will be able to access an array of features on their Verizon Wireless phones while at the Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort to help them make the most of their Disney experiences. Planned services include an exclusive mobile application that will give guests with Verizon Wireless service the ability to easily locate shows, restaurants and the Disney characters anywhere inside the Parks; get real-time attraction availability information; access mobile games; receive messages from characters and more. Verizon Wireless is also continuing to invest in its wireless network from coast to coast, and the relationship with Disney means the wireless users will benefit from further enhancements to the Verizon Wireless network in the Parks.

Verizon gets access to millions of Disney guests each year and a good chance of converting frequent theme park visitors to their service. I hope they’ll also offer ‘test’ units to those who don’t currently have Verizon as a provider. If it’s cool and useful, it might be enough to make me switch. Any current Verizon Wireless users want to chime in with your experiences?

The full press release is below the cut:

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Teams Up with Verizon to Bring Mobile Magic to U.S. Parks
Companies Align to Bring Unprecedented New Experiences to Guests at Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort…and Right on Their Verizon Wireless Phones

Marking a first in both the travel and mobile industries, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and Verizon are teaming up for a multi-year relationship designed to enhance the guest experience – before, during and after guests arrive at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort. This alignment allows guests to have a personal tour guide right in their wireless phones along with reliable new services at the parks. Early next year guests will also use Verizon Wireless’ technology when experiencing Disney’s Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure, an ultra-interactive attraction coming to Epcot in Walt Disney World Resort.

“With more than 90 percent of families bringing a mobile phone into our Parks, our objective was to enhance the magical Disney experience through innovative wireless technology,” said Jay Rasulo, Chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “Imagine receiving up to the minute tips on special Park activities with just the touch of a button or receiving a call from Buzz Lightyear welcoming you to the Magic Kingdom.”

Beginning next year, guests will be able to access an array of features on their Verizon Wireless phones while at the Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort to help them make the most of their Disney experiences. Planned services include an exclusive mobile application that will give guests with Verizon Wireless service the ability to easily locate shows, restaurants and the Disney characters anywhere inside the Parks; get real-time attraction availability information; access mobile games; receive messages from characters and more. Verizon Wireless is also continuing to invest in its wireless network from coast to coast, and the relationship with Disney means the wireless users will benefit from further enhancements to the Verizon Wireless network in the Parks.

John Harrobin, senior vice president of digital media and marketing for Verizon, said, “All of our efforts focus on one goal: making the Disney experience even better for our customers. There are few life experiences that are more memorable than visiting a Disney Park, and now guests with Verizon Wireless service will unlock even more magic from their visit – by navigating the Parks easier and faster with instant access to key information such as ‘Where’s Mickey now?’ and other special features – even when they travel home and share their experiences with family and friends.”

In addition, guests visiting Epcot in Walt Disney World Resort in early 2009 will be among the first to experience Disney’s Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. An ultra-interactive attraction, Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure invites guests of all ages to team up with members of Team Possible to save the world from various comical villains and their mad inventions. Armed with an official Verizon Wireless “Kimmunicator,” guests will use these handheld devices to help maneuver through the mission. The interactive wireless theme park game was inspired by Disney Channel’s Emmy Award-winning animated series, “Kim Possible.”

While Verizon Wireless customers will have exclusive access to an array of enhanced features, Disney and Verizon are also working to ensure that some mobile information such as dining locations, show times and locations will be available to all Parks visitors, regardless of their wireless company.

Additional details will be available next year as the companies expect to add a suite of services and functionalities to help guests at Disney Parks have the most magical experience. For more information about Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, visit www.disney.com. For more information about Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.

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Disney Partners with Verizon for In Park Facts and Fun

In the spirit of excellent Disney movie trailer mashups I present to you Pixar’s The Incredibles meets James Bond in Quantum Of Solace.

I’m quite ready to see 007 in his latest flick and found this trailer to make me even more excited. How about you?

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The Incredibles Quantum of Solace - James Bond Trailer