August 13, 2010
BusinessWeek has an interesting debate about whether vacations have a cumulative effect.
The author references a Harvard psychologist, Daniel Gilbert, whose recent Disneyland vacation did him absolutely no good: the psychologist returned snarling about overpriced hotels and awful food.
Too much of a good thing is not always a good thing, but if any Disney Dispatch reader would care to argue that extra days (or weeks) spent at Disney are not beneficial, then I'd like to reserve them a couch in Dr. Gilbert's corner office...
MORE: Business Week (Anand Narasimhan and Preston Bottger)
The first annual Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic will be held October 8-9 (shortly after the start of Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival) at those resorts. You can book a one- or two-night stay (starting at $169 per night), buy an advance ticket ($50), or pay a la carte ($2 per sampling or $50 for an all-you-can-consume bracelet).
In addition to sampling food, you can also attend educational seminars to learn more about beer, sake, mixology, and other liquid subjects.
You can make reservations now by phone. Visit the official site for details. And check out the entertaining feature about the event just posted on the Disney Food Blog.
MORE: Swan & Dolphin Resorts
3:48 PM
Disneyland, Disney World
With Star Tours at Disneyland closed, and Star Tours at Disney World closing, speculation has begun about the new Star Tours scheduled to open next year. Will it replicate the old version or will it be completely different? (And will Paul Reubens be back as Rex the Star Tours pilot?)
Eric Goldman, reporting today from Celebration V, drops some juicy hints, including the possibility of multiple adventures: you won't know which variation of the ride you'll get until after it has started. Goldman also reports that the new Star Tours will be 3D.
You can, sort of, see for yourself. Goldman's article includes a video promo containing footage from the new ride.
MORE: IGN (Eric Goldberg)
Jamie Collins, owner of OnlyWDWorld, has some construction photos of the new San Angel restaurant currently a-building' in Epcot's Mexico.
Formerly La Cantina de San Angel, an outdoor counter-service, the new restaurant will be much bigger and offer quick service dining during the day but table service dining at night.
Jamie mentions that this 'dual-dine' concept is now in favor with Disney, and that the concept will be used again for Fantasyland's Be My Guest restaurant, scheduled to open in 2012. (Subject to change, of course.)
In addition to the pictures, Jamie lists a few tantalizing items from the new menu. My taste buds are a-clamor for the queso fundido (warm pictures with poblano pepper and chorizo sausage).
MORE: Only WDWorld (Jamie Collins)
2:12 PM
Disneyland, Disney World
With the air conditioner on, not quite drowning out the racket of someone's poorly maintained lawn mower, I'm enjoying a festive picture of Mickey Mouse in a Santa costume decorating AJ Wolfe's run-down of the best places to eat at Disney during the holidays.
AJ also mentions a few of the multitudinous Disney holiday events such as the Candlelight Processional and the appearance of massive gingerbread houses inside many Disney resorts.
I'm not an early planner when it comes to most holidays. But if you have to think about a Disney Christmas in August, AJ's Disney Food Blog is the place to start doing it.
At the end of her post, AJ references one of her articles from last year entitled Christmas in July which has a photo of a fabulous gingerbread carousel from last year at the Beach Club. It's almost enough to make me start planning for ... nah.
DisneyFoodBlog has gotten hullabaloo here before, most recently in the August 12 edition for Magic Kingdom Loosens Its Belt for Free Dining Promotion.
MORE: Disney Food Blog (AJ)
Arthur Levine, About's Theme Parks Guide, offers his take on whether the current plans for Fantasyland are too 'girly-girlish' and suggests that Universal's Potter cash-cow has, in fact, influenced Disney executives.
Early results from Levine's reader poll are mixed: the majority of a small sample think Fantasyland might be tilted a bit toward girls but that boys and adults would still enjoy going there. As someone who has enjoyed Princess Storybook Dining at Epcot's Akershus alone, I have no problem with Disney going heavy on the Princesses in Fantasyland, but a few dragons would be nice, too.
The picture at your left shows a dream encounter for most young girls but few (young) boys. It's likely that Disney will throttle back on the uber-Princess theme and introduce more attractions and events that reach across the gender aisle.
MORE: About (Arthur Levine)
Earlier today, I posted a link to Jason Garcia's brief piece in yesterday's Daily Disney about changes afoot in the current Fantasyland expansion. Jason's article contained a few quotes from an interview the Orlando Sentinel conducted last week with Disney exec Tom Stagg.
Jason presents further excerpts from that long interview in a new article today.
In the interview Stagg is asked whether the success of Universal's 'Wizarding World of Harry Potter' had anything to do with the revised plans for Fantasyland. No, he says, and further claims that he hasn't even seen the Harry Potter attraction. I haven't seen it yet, either. But if I were a Disney executive I'd be concerned about its success and would think hard about how to counter Potter without losing any of the traditional Disney appeal.
It sounds to me like that's what they're doing with Fantasyland. Competition tends to bring out the best in people, especially creative people, and my hopes for Fantasyland are now even higher than they were before.
MORE: The Daily Disney - Orlando Sentinel (Jason Garcia)
Disney Parks Food Writer Pam Brandon says Opa! to celebrate the first anniversary of Kouzzina, Cat Cora's Greek(-inspired) restaurant on the BoardWalk.
Pam's short article includes a few quotes from Cat and a few remarks about the cuisine that have me saying Opa!, too. Beguiling mention is also made of some 'fun new changes' to the restaurant, but instead of another Opa! we get a much less zesty 'details soon'.
While you're waiting for soon to arrive, you can drool over the current Kouzzina menu.
MORE: Disney Parks Blog (Pam Brandon)
12:07 PM
Disneyland, Disney World
Seattle Times staff reporter Marian Liu has details about the second annual Mouse Meet scheduled for tomorrow at the Lynnwood Convention Center in Washington.
A Mouse Meet is a Disney convention with guest speakers, exhibits (such as a vehicle from Mr. Toad's Wild Ride), and the one indispensable ingredient of any Disney experience - Dole Whip. You can get more information from the Mouse Meet site. If you attend, please drop me a line and tell me about it.
By the way, this year's keynote speaker is Bob Gurr. About three posts ago (less than two hours in human time) I gave you a link to Chuck Schmidt's multi-part interview with ... Bob Gurr! Chuck just wrote to share some good news: the final two parts of his Bob Gurr interview are scheduled to appear in the Staten Island Advance next week. He calls it a 'grand finale'. My calendar's marked.
MORE: The Seattle Times (Marian Liu)
One of the best parts about doing the Disney Dispatch (other than the instant riches) is discovering really, really cool Disney stuff.
Case in point: Jed Blau's post yesterday on Vintage Disneyland Goodies about a huge binder he bought years ago for $30 packed with narration scripts used in Disneyland as of January 14, 1963.
Jed is scanning the scripts, slowly. For now, he has a few pages posted as teasers. Let's open our windows and say it together: 'Jed, Scan Faster!'.
MORE: Vintage Disneyland Goodies (Jed Blau)
11:02 AM
Disney Everywhere
It's link-to-interview day at the Disney Dispatch! (Not really.)
After just posting a link to a fabulous interview with Bob Gurr, I came across an older (2007) video interview with Roy Disney who in the course of nearly three hours discusses with Jennifer Howard his life from childhood through the turmoil of his later years.
Roy Disney, as most of you probably know, was Walt's nephew and upon his death in December 2009 the last member of the Disney family actively involved in running the company. His final years were focused more on politics than the parks, an unfortunate reality chronicled in James Stewart's book, DisneyWar.
The interview is sectioned into 'chapters', each dealing with specific events in Roy's life, making it easy to watch only what you want - though if you're like me, you'll want to watch it all.
MORE: Emmy TV Legends (Jennifer Howard)
Chuck Schmidt writes a Disney blog for the Staten Island Advance. Perhaps his biggest scoop is still unfolding: a multi-part interview with Bob Gurr, the Disneyland magician responsible for such marvels as the original Audio-Animatronic Abraham Lincoln, the Matterhorn Mountain bobsleds, and lots more. Bob Gurr is one of those 'living legends' whose genius helped create the technological miracles it's easy to take for granted today.
Chuck posts new installments of the interview every few days (Part 4 appeared this morning). You'll want to start at the beginning, but each part is self-contained and can be read on its own.
The 'grand finale', as Chuck puts it, of the interview is scheduled for next Wednesday (8/18) and Friday (8/20). I'll headline it here, for sure.
MORE: Staten Island Advance (Chuck Schmidt)
10:28 AM
Disney Everywhere
Scott Thomas, owner of the popular PSCalculator site and author of the popular Photographic Innoventions blog on AllEars, provides a few tips for taking great Disney food photos with a digital SLR camera.
Until recently, my preferred gear for Disney trips was the double-pack of disposables sold at Wal-Mart for five bucks. When I showed my dog some food shots I had taken, he ran away. I've since invested in better photographic equipment, but without tips like those provided by Scott and the other Picture This! bloggers on AllEars, my pics would still be the stuff of canine nightmare.
The picture on your left is of my daughter eating something, somewhere at Disney. She's smiling because she expects one of my typical 'half the head is cut off' pictures. Fooled her.
MORE: AllEars (Scott Thomas)
According to Jason Garcia of the Orlando Sentinel's Daily Disney blog, the Fantasyland expansion is being 're-thunk' to broaden its appeal from the original target audience - young girls - to a wider demographic, perhaps some of the same demographic drawn to Universal's Harry Potter attraction.
Jason quotes Disney executive Tom Staggs as having nothing specific to quote just yet.
The expansion is still in its early phase and there's still time for tweaking. It's unlikely Disney will do more than tweak. Now might be the time, however, to annex a corner of Fantasyland for the Disney villains and see how they fare with fickle tweeners. Disney has toyed with a villain-themed land before though the concept never went far. Pressure from Potter might finally put gas in that engine.
MORE: The Daily Disney - Orlando Sentinel (Jason Garcia)
When Imagineers go wild, they sometimes bring back ideas like ... the Handwich, Disney's re-invention of the sloppy, two-handed sandwich as an elegant swirl of meat, veggies, and condiments stuffed into a soft hunk of bread shaped like an ice cream cone.
Parkeology's Teevtee has details, including a few pictures of the beast itself. While you're there, check out the archived posts by Teevtee and by his partner Shane Lindsay: all are snarky and hilarious - but historically accurate, too. The discovery of the Handwich was undoubtedly a 'thank you, God' moment for the Parkeology guys.
I wonder. I just wonder: might there be someone yet alive in the wild who once sauntered through Frontierland, Handwich in one hand, turkey leg in the other? Now that's someone I'd like to meet! Or maybe not...
MORE: Parkeology (Teevtee)