Creativity is the spice of life. Imagine Disneyland without all the innovative ideas and theme. Today’s Fab News starts off with a project very near and dear to my heart – a project designed to instill Walt Disney’s creative values in the hearts of the next generation of dreamers. Plus, I’ve got a great offer for you, an interesting app, and some news about Frozen heading to Broadway.

Get the CerativiTREE Growing for the Walt Disney Birthplace!

One amazing way to support the amazing Walt Disney Birthplace project is by sponsoring The “Creativi-TREE.” This tree will be a living, ever-growing celebration of the Disney children born in the home, and a symbol of the center’s mission to inspire the next generation of creative thinkers, dreamers, and doers. Sponsor the Creativi-Tree individually, as a family, as a group of friends, or as a business! And don’t forget, they have amazing perks such as a dinner with Tony Baxter, a World’s Fair themed pin, shirts, park benches, and other amazing things. No matter what you give, it’s important that you help – HERE.

And speaking of help, Fab News wouldn’t be here without the help of my wonderful sponsor,

Escape to the Sun and Fun this Spring!

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It’s BEAUTIFUL weather in Southern California – time for a theme park escape! Just in time, MiceChat Partner Hotel, The Anabella, is offering a special: $89 per night including breakfast for two on the following dates: February 21- 25 and February 28 – March 3rd. Just call Reservations at 1-800-863-4888 and ask for the MiceChat deal!

AND, I just saw Anabella post a contest on their Facebook Page. Enter here to win a 2 night stay in a concierge room, plus breakfast for 2, free parking and a $100 Disney gift certificate.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Brilliant Idea and a Nice Thing to Do! PASS It Forward!

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I got this info about two weeks ago and went over it back and forth with a few of my decidedly unofficial Disney legal opinion that isn’t legally a legal opinion folks,, and they say that this is Kosher. It does not break the rules as posted and written for Fastpass at Disney Parks. Cool! That hurdle passed, I cannot recommend this enough.  More Fastpasses that are distributed get used when they are supposed to be used instead of wasted, more people get to have fun and ride instead of clogging up the standby line when there are unused fastpasses RIGHT THERE, it seems like a win-win. Plus, it’s completely free. Here’s the Official Information:

Kunani Gaming, LLC has announced the release of Pass It Forward, an app for unused Disneyland FASTPASS sharing. Disneyland and California Adventure crowds are heavy every day. FASTPASS tickets help by reserving a visitor’s place in line for some of their favorite attractions and rides so they can enjoy other areas of the parks. Visitors must return and use the FASTPASS ticket during the one-hour time frame that is listed on the ticket. FASTPASS tickets are often wasted as park visitors are unable to use them for various reasons- such as the need to exit the parks earlier than planned, or change of itinerary. Pass It Forward is a fantastic tool to help users connect, so they can give their unused FASTPASS tickets to someone who can use them.

Major Features Include:

  • Users can FOLLOW their favorite attractions or rides and will receive notifications the moment new passes become available.
  • Easy-to-use CHAT setting helps users list their extra FASTPASS, decide who to give their pass to, and how to give it to them.
  • Useful REMINDER TIMER on their home screen to remind users as soon as they can get their next FASTPASS, or to remind them of any upcoming park events such as parades or shows.
  • Useful NOTIFICATIONS queue.

Device Requirements:

  • iPad or iPhone
  • iOS version 9.0 or later

Pricing and Availability:

Pass It Forward version 1.0 is available exclusively through the App Store in the TRAVEL category for FREE, with no in-app purchases.

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I’m jusr waiting for some couple who met via the app to get married. You know it’s going to happen. I’m calling it now.

Frozen Headed to the Great White Way

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In a move that should surprise no one but will delight tons of Frozen fans, Disney Theatrical announced that Frozen will be making its way to Broadway in the future, following hits like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. All of Disney’s theatrical endeavors except Aida had earlier versions in their theme parks. I hope that the upcoming Frozen Musical at DCA gives us a peek at what’s coming ahead on stages all over the world. It will be called Frozen: The Musical.  There is already a real Twitter account that posts information about the people involved and a fake Twitter account that pretty much does nothing but repost This Day on Broadway posts.

“As has already been announced, Disney Theatrical is working on a stage adaptation of the animated film Frozen,” said Thomas Schumacher, President and Producer Disney Theatrical Productions, in a statement. “It will come as no surprise that the EGOT-winning Broadway veteran Robert Lopez and the Oscar and Grammy winning Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who wrote the indelible songs for the film, will be working on the show and that Oscar winner Jennifer Lee, co-director and screenwriter of the film, will be working on the book of the stage version. No other staffing or dates have been announced.”

Keep in mind that Mr. Schumacher is at present riding the crest of the Hunchback of Notre Dame Cast Recording at #1 on Billboard’s Albums chart, a jaw-dropping feat that much of the entertainment media has ignored.

I’d love to see Idina Menzel reprise her role as Elsa. If she did, the audience response would be of Biblical proportions, but I suspect she is focusing on moving forward to new things, not looking back. I’d use the greener pastures line, but it just doesn’t work here.

One thing of which to take note: once the Broadway show is waiting in the wings, (2017-8) it’s very likely that the Hyperion Theater version of the show will be shuttered and replaced with a new spectacular. I don’t think we’ll be seeing any more decade-long runs of Broadway-style shows there again. So Frozen: The Musical will only be there a couple of years, at the very most. I could be wrong. I’m excellent at being wrong sometimes!

Thank You, Chris McVeigh

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For remaking part of Undercover Boss:Starkiller Base, in Legos. If you have been near any type of fandom related thing ever and have a sense of humor, you have probably appreciated Chris’ work. 

Next Week on Fab News

Next time, I’ll be talking about some cool books with Secrets and Stories (no, not my old Secrets and Stories tour!) and a talk with Pixar’s Harley Jessup about why they did THAT and how they did THAT and how someone almost lost a leg doing THAT!

Thanks for your support!

I want to thank my Patreon supporters, my Square donors and my Official Fab News Sponsors DVCResaleMarket.com for helping me be able to get all this done. I couldn’t get into the parks without you, seriously. I’m hugely grateful. Also, I love when people leave a comment here or on Facebook or Twitter too!

If you want to learn the ins and outs of Disney Vacation Club points, how they work, the different seasons, the different fees, and how pre-paid vacations are different from Vacation Ownership, talk to the experts at DVCResaleMarket.com. They’ve worked both inside and outside of Disney, so they can handle any DVC-related question you throw at them. Plus, Cleatis is adorbs.

Shelly Valladolid
Shelly Valladolid, aka Fab, has been writing about Disney and theme parks for about two decades. She has written for various fan and pop culture sites, Disney Magazine and OCRegister.com and participated in several books, including Passporter's Disneyland and Southern California and Disney World Dreams. She was co-founder and president of the Orlando, Florida chapter of the NFFC (now Disneyana Fan Club). She taught a class on theme park history at a Southern California University. She is creator and co-owner of Jim Hill Media, one of the creators of MousePlanet and was a consultant on MSNBC, The Motley Fool and others about Disney and various media matters. She was a Heel wrestling manager on TV and a voice artist on the radio in Honolulu, HI, where she grew up. She has a blog and a podcast with her daughter, Mission:Breakout Obsessive Alice Hill. She and her husband, MiceChat columnist Noe Valladolid, live in Southern California with Alice.