In the Parks

Well, lots to get to today, a report of the first day from the D23 Expo.... but first, all is right with the world, the NFL has started, and what a great game it was last night..... Steelers over the Titans in overtime, can't get better than that. (Well, maybe when the Chargers kick the Raiders butt on Monday Night OK, I could talk about the NFL and the US Soccer team being in first place in the World Cup Qualifying for North and Central America, but then, what would I do with all the Theme Park related photos I took.....

Thoughts and comments about the D23 Expo.....

How can we NOT talk about this event.... I got to attend the first day, and the keynote events, plus ran to Disneyland for some photos....

First, if you are planning to attend this weekend.

Parking is $12 at the Convention Center, and is really the way to go if you are driving down for the day.



If you are coming down from the Los Angeles area, take 5 South to either Katella Avenue or Disney Way and follow the electronic signs to the parking lot that is being used.

If you are staying in the hotels, the best bet is using ART. In fact, Disney has allowed a special ART route for the weekend for the Three Disney owned Hotels. (Normally there is no Shuttle service from the Disney owned Hotels, you are expected to walk).



And the former Lion King Tram (now known as the Katella Avenue Crosswalk tram to the Convention Center) started to run yesterday morning and will continue all weekend. Have to laugh at some of the things that they expect Cast members to do. Here is a great point. The CM's that runs the trams had NO practice, and just started to run the route this morning. The CM in the back of the tram is the primary person in charge of safety (watching guests) but is also expected to make the announcements while watching over the guests. So they were handed the "spiel" script in the morning, but was expected to not "read" it, and watch over the guests instead. How can you memorize a speech in 2 minutes? Plus learning where to exactly stop the tram for the new Wheelchair ramp, etc..... Sometimes it is very challenging to be a CM! And we should make sure and thank these folks more often!!!

OK, so we now know how to get to the Anaheim Convention Center, what to do when you get there?



Well, if you have already bought a ticket online, just head to the Main entrance, if not, the Ticket booths are close to Katella Avenue. And Disney would love for you to come, as attendance on the first day was under 10,000 guests.



Once in the expo, there are a few MUST Do things, of course, stopping by the MiceChat/MiceAge Booth in the Collectors Forum is a must do. Let alone is it just fun, you should register for prizes that will be handed out every hour, and there are some GREAT prizes, including hotel stays from our friends at the Howard Johnson's Plaza Hotel on Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim!, Plus if you are one of the first 250 people to stop by each day, there is a very nice gift that you can get for Free!



Also on the first floor is the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts exhibit in the middle of the hall. This is a must see for Theme Park fans, a look at Cars Land, plus upcoming projects at the foreign parks.






This is actaully a "mouth Test", as Lighting McQueen eyes and mouth moves (via a projected video)













And make sure and take the escalators upstairs, the main exhibit here is the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archive on the second floor. And in case you can't see it in person, make sure and check out the EXCLUSIVE look at the exhibit here at MiceAge.

EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK - Treasures from the Disney Archive

And I should also mention our friends at both the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times, both of which are covering the D23 event and has some great video and photos that are updated multiple times a day.

Around Disney - OCRegister.com

Travel Deals, Vacations, Reviews, News & Tips - LATimes.com

Here are a few quick comments about the Keynote events I attended.

The Bob Iger Presentation was about what was expected, a big plug for the "Global" aspects of the company, Bob Iger talking about the Marvel purchase, then the first 30 minutes of the upcoming Princess and the Frog movie (same version as was shown at the Shareholders Meeting earlier this year), followed by the Voice of the Princess, Anika Noni Rose coming out and singing a medley of songs from the movie live. And that was even more amazing when you find out she is currently fighting a case of bronchitis.

Then they brought out Mayor Curt Pringle from Anaheim and showed a clip of Walt Disney talking about the city, which was very recently found in the archive. Then they awarded the Disneyland Dream Suite to someone in the audience. The winner, Dan talked about his love of Disney and the fact that his Dad was a Street Sweeper at the park in the early years.

The second event was the Disney Legends Ceremony. This was the first time it was held outside of the Walt Disney Studios Lot in Burbank.

It started with the Disneyland Cast Member Choir performing a Medley of Disney songs while a video of past recipients was shown. Alas, they had problems cuing the video, and it wasn't until "take 3" that the Music was "in sync".

The event was hosted by Tom Bergeron (Dancing with the Stars Host) and Bob Iger, with comments from Dick Cook.

Bob Iger did recognize the 23 former Disney Legends recipients in attendance, the best known one being Art Linkletter, who Bob singled out for a well deserved round of applause.

We have mentioned the 10 deserving folks here at MiceChat in the past, so I am going to just touch on a few highlights....

Did you know that the current WDI CM Kim Irvine is the daughter of Leota (Lee) Toombs Thomas.... Yes, as in Madame Leota, even though she did a LOT more than just record a "test" film as part of her job at WED.

God Bless Betty White, while all 4 Golden Girls were honored this year, alas 2 have passed away, and Rue McClanahan couldn't attend due to recent Knee Surgery, leaving just Betty to attend in person. A true icon as an actor, she did make a MAJOR oops during the ceremony. The format of the program was to have Tom Bergeron read about a minute of their honorees accomplishments and while they are receiving the award, and then Bob Iger would add a few more comments and then invite the honoree to come up on stage and receive their award and then the recipient gave a short speech thanking everyone for the honor. (And hey, when you have the voices of Donald Duck and Goofy ahead of you, it is a hard act to follow). Well, Tom started to talk about Betty and announced her name, and of course, the audience started to applause and gave a standing oveation.... And Betty started to walk up on stage (PRIOR to the list of accomplishments). Well, Minnie Mouse had to run out from backstage to help Betty up the stairs and Bob and Tom had to improvise. The photo was taken, and Betty gave her speech, which mentioned the fact that she still has her Mickey Mouse Doll that she received as a kid (and yes, she did claim that was a long time ago.... heck, she made a joke about Babysitting Walt as a kid... not true) in a very prominent place on one of her shelves.

Tom stated after her speech that they would hand out Betty's Bio to folks as they exit since she walked on stage early.

The last honoree was Robin Williams, which of course made a lot of jokes, but did honor Walter Cronkite, which he co-starred in the Back to Neverland film that was shown at WDW and California Adventure. He also thanked all the Animators that worked on Aladdin, and said they truly made the film, even though he was the voice of the Genie. He also made a few Disney jokes, including the fact that the new Shanghai Disneyland should feature "Mickey Mau". Bob Iger did announce that Robin Williams has signed onto a new project for Disney, Wedding Banned.

The afternoon Keynote event focused on ABC Television.



Once again, Tom Bergeron was the host. They had a panel of four celebrities that will be featured on Comedy shows on Wednesdays. Ed O'neill, Kelsey Grammer, Courtney Cox and Patricia Heaton. Lots of interesting comments, the most "shocking" was that Courtney Cox admitted the clip of her new show that features showing "flabby skin, including weird elbow skin" was actually her, and not a body double. (And good for her to admit it!)

To end the presentation, of course they had to plug Dancing with the Stars. Tom asked Cheryl Burke about her new partner, Tom DeLay. She said very nice things about him, and said he wasn't like she expected and said he was "like a grandpa". Tom then pointed out that they have had other political "stars" including Heather Mills in past seasons. Cheryl pointed out that the show is "Non-Political".

Then they went to videotape and played a clip of the Osmond Brothers on the Wonderful World of Color that featured the opening of the Haunted Mansion back in 1969.



Then Donny Osmond, and her partner, Kym Johnson came out and danced live for the audience. They danced to the song "In the Mood", which was choreographed specifically for the D23 event. And it looks like Donny will go far in the contest, based on his D23 performance.

Tom Bergeron made a great joke about the audience and how it will be interesting to see the Osmond family sitting next to the Osbourne family this season.

They ended the ABC segment talking about the new Christmas special that will be aired on ABC this year, Prep and Landing, which was an idea that John Lassiter came up with. (FYI, if you attend the D23 expo on Saturday, you will have the chance to see the full show at 5:30 PM).

If you have a chance to check out the event this weekend, I recommend it. (But some folks have been disappointed in not having "enough to do"). You NEED to take advantage of the Second and Third Floors. Also, the Expo was designed to feature both Bob Iger and the Disney Legends presentation Thursday morning, and that many other events were told not to do anything until they were over. This might be one of the reasons for the early complaints.



By the way, if you are going, please bring a few cans of food. Let alone are they building a castle from the cans.... They are also donating all the food after the event to the Orange County food Bank. Thanks in advance for the donation!

Golden Ticket Award winners for 2009

“THE GOLDEN TICKET AWARDS HONOR THE “BEST OF THE BEST” IN AMUSEMENT INDUSTRY

AMUSEMENT TODAY ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL POLL

ARLINGTON, Texas, Sept. 10, 2009 – Who has the best amusement park food? What about the friendliest staff or how about the best kids’ area in an amusement park? The ballots have been tallied, and in an awards’ show hosted this evening by LEGOLAND California, Carlsbad, Calif., Amusement Today announced the winners of its prestigious 2009 Golden Ticket Awards.

The Golden Ticket Awards are presented to the “Best of the Best” in the amusement industry calculated from an international poll conducted by Amusement Today. Surveys were sent to a database of experienced and well-traveled amusement park fans around the world – in balanced geographical regions – asking them to rate the “bests” in 25 categories such as “amusement parks,” “roller coasters,” “shows,” “friendliest staff” and “water rides.” The 2009 winners are …

Best Amusement Park
Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio

Best Waterpark
Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort, New Braunfels, Texas

Best Children’s Park
LEGOLAND California, Carlsbad, Calif.

Best Marine Life Park
SeaWorld Orlando, Orlando, Fla.

Best Seaside Park
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, Calif.

Best Wooden Coaster
The Voyage at Holiday World, Santa Claus, Ind.

Best Steel Coaster
Bizarro
at Six Flags New England, Agawam, Mass.

Best Kids’ Area
Kings Island, Kings Mills, Ohio

Friendliest Staff
Silver Dollar City, Branson, Mo.

Cleanest Park
Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Ind.

Best Halloween Event
Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, Orlando, Fla..

Best Landscaping
Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Va.

Best Christmas Event
Smoky Mountain Christmas at Dollywood,
Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Best Food
Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pa.

Best Shows
Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Best Outdoor Night Show Production
IllumiNations: Reflections of the Earth
at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center, Orlando, Fla.

Best Water Ride
Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls
at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Fla.

Best Waterpark Ride
Master Blaster at Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort,
New Braunfels, Texas

Best Dark Ride
Amazing Adventures of Spiderman
at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Fla.

Best New Ride of 2009 - Amusement Park
Prowler at Worlds of Fun, Kansas City, Mo.

Best New Ride of 2009 - Waterpark
Congo River Expedition at Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort, New Braunfels, Texas

Best Carousel
Grand Carousel at Knoebels Amusement Resort,
Elysburg, Pa.

Best Indoor Roller Coaster
Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Orlando,
Orlando, Fla.

Best Indoor Waterpark
Schlitterbahn Galveston Island, Galveston, Texas

Best Funhouse/Walk-Through Attraction
Frankenstein’s Castle at Indiana Beach, Monticello, Ind.

This is the 12th annual year for Amusement Today’s coveted Golden Ticket Awards, which are the most sought-after awards in the business of amusements and attractions. The awards have become the subject of much discussion by park aficionados the world over and have garnered mentions in such notable media outlets as USA TODAY and the Chicago Tribune, by venerable radio newsman the late-Paul Harvey and were the topic of a one-hour documentary on the Travel Channel.

“Congratulations to all of the Golden Ticket Award winners and the finalists on their well-deserved honors,” says Gary Slade, publisher and editor-in-chief of Amusement Today. “The competition is friendly, but the voting is becoming tighter every year. It’s fun to see parks and attractions the world over vying for a Golden Ticket Award, which truly recognizes superior quality in all facets of the amusement industry.”

Personally chosen by Slade, the Publisher’s Pick Awards are presented in three categories: Park, Individual and Supplier. Respectively, the 2009 recipients are Wonderland Park in Amarillo, Texas, for its dedication, drive and patience as a family-owned park; Dick and Barbara Knoebel of Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pa., for their professional and personal passion, challenges and journeys; and Gary Goddard Entertainment in North Hollywood, Calif., for its creativity, innovation and excellence in thematics.

New this year, the Legends Series will annually highlight an amusement legend who has touched the industry in a unique way. The first honoree of this series is the late Jack Krantz of Adventureland Park in Des Moines, Iowa, for the incredible vision, enthusiasm and business sense he instilled throughout his venerable career.

For the fifth consecutive year, Amusement Today recognized college students who plan to pursue a career in the amusement industry and are employed by the ceremony’s host park of LEGOLAND California and area parks Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, Calif., San Diego Zoo and San Diego Coaster Co. as Ms. and Mr. Golden Tickets. These individuals exemplify the spirit and integrity of the amusement park industry by promoting the cornerstones of safety, service, courtesy and cleanliness at the highest level, while consistently exceeding job expectations. This is an annual designation by Amusement Today to promote education in the field of hospitality and amusement.

Amusement Today newspaper covers international amusement and water park news and trends and in its 13-year history is a five-time winner of various awards from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. For a detailed outline of the 2009 winners and survey results, please log on to amusementtoday.com.

Much more on the awards, including runners-up can be found at this link...

http://www.amusementtoday.com/corndog/2009GTAissue.pdf

The latest on Captain EO returning to Disneyland

As Al Lutz reported last week, Disney did close down "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" and did hold some special screenings of Captain EO for senior company executives. Bob Iger was one of the attendees and stated after the film...

Iger: No plans to bring ‘Captain EO’ back to Disneyland - Travel - LATimes.com

“There aren’t plans to bring back ‘Captain EO’ at this time,” Iger said. “We are looking at it. It’s the kind of thing that, if we did it, would get a fair amount of attention and we’d want to make sure we do it right.”

So what does that mean? Well, we will find out on Saturday, won't we?

Or maybe not... but it is clear that Disney is seriously looking into it... But has some reservations. Maybe they should take the film and digitally enhance both the images and the music....

Or maybe Bob Iger prefers Hannah Montana

And let me add Al Lutz's comments from this morning.....

Captain EO Update - Bob Iger kicked off the lavish D23 Expo with no major news and a rather coy answer on the Captain EO topic, as apparently Burbank is furious both the Star Tours and EO info leaked ahead of Jay Rasulo’s planned announcements on Saturday. Meanwhile, executives at WDI and TDA continue to prep for the January opening of EO, and gab about it rather openly. The technical tests for EO this week in the closed Honey I Shrunk Theater went well, and now it’s just up to Jay to either announce on Saturday or hold the news until after new year’s.

A look at Knott's Halloween Haunt preparations.

Note, I have been going to Burger King every day this week looking for the Haunt Discount Coupons. As soon as they arrive (hopefully today), I will post the prices on MiceChat, and update the info here in the current In the Parks article.

A look at the Disneyland Resort Half-Marathon

As always, there are plenty of photos that are updated multiple times a week at Darkbeer.Smugmug.com, and I do highlight the best of them here at MiceAge... But if you want a good "fix" of what is going on, you should check out the Smugmug site after seeing the latest at MiceAge.com.

Go Angels!

Shouldn't it say "Please Run Safely"

Gee, and they are headed to DCA... $72 for that place..... Thank Goodness I am just running through it and don't have to pay!

Selected Photos from Darkbeer.Smugmug.com

Don't forget, Knott's is offering $29.99 admission every day in September if you bring at least 2 cans of food per person to donate to the Food bank.

Tommorrowland has become "Wallland" as Disney tries to finish up the repavement project that was started early this year, but had to be placed on hold for the Summer and the large crowds.

Note, the large letters are not inside the refurb walls, at least yet....

Monorail Red has been brought out of the barn after some serious refurb and inspection of the new parts and is currently only running to meet the requirement of hours of testing, and not available to park guests.


Note, I lucked out, the Omnimovers stopped to load a wheelchair, and I did not use a flash, just the fact I was totally stopped.

FYI, I ran out of time on Thursday due to the D23 event and didn't get a chance to visit DCA.... I was told there was no major changes, and you can always check out Andy Castro's Dateline Disneyland for the latest on Monday.

Once again thank you for visiting MiceAge, we truly do appreciate it, and based on the great attendance of folks stopping by the MiceChat/MiceAge booth at the D23 Expo yesterday, we must be doing something right....

Today is 9/11, and we can't forget that is is the National Day of Service and Remembrance in Honor of all those who lost their lives 8 years ago in the awful tragedy. Thoughts and Prayers to all those who lost a family member due to the Terrorist acts.