Disney Attempting To Clamp Down On FastPasses Being Sold On eBay
The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Walt Disney World is upset over expired FastPass tickets being sold on eBay. Disney has contacted eBay about this but eBay is refusing to do anything about them. Expired FastPasses are not supposed to be accepted at attractions, but the on-line sellers claim that Disney is not enforcing the rules.
“Since there are no laws prohibiting the sale of expired tickets, listings for expired tickets are allowed,” eBay spokeswoman Catherine England said. “eBay does not enforce third-party contracts, so it’s up to whoever issues the tickets [in this case, Disney] to enforce the terms and conditions they’ve defined for their tickets.”
FastPasses are now being date and time stamped along with notices that they are “NOT FOR SALE,” “Valid only on date printed” and “Nontransferable.” A Disney spokeswoman said that attraction attendants are instructed to reject any FastPass not stamped with the current date and do not have perforated edges. Disney has also been testing bar codes on the FastPasses and bar-code readers at some attractions.
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Coffee Shop Added To The Ticket And Transportation Center
The Ticket And Transportation Center has added a new coffee, espresso and pastries shop between the Monorail station and the Magic Kingdom ferry. Photos of the booth are available at the Orlando Sentinel’s web site.
This Week in Disney History (July 6-12)
1894: Disney Legend Joseph Fowler is born in Lewiston, Maine. He oversaw the construction of both Disneyland and Disney World.
1909: Publisher and Disney Legend Mario Gentilini is born in Luzzara, Italy. He popularized Mickey Mouse in Italy through his “Topolino” magazine.
1913: Actor Bill Thompson (Mr. Smee in Peter Pan, King Hubert in Sleeping Beauty, Uncle Waldo in The Aristocats) is born in Terre Haute, Indiana.
1918: Actor Sebastian Cabot (narrator of Winnie the Pooh from 1968-1977, Bagheera in The Jungle Book, Sir Eric in The Sword in the Stone) is born in London, England.
1921: Actor Bill Shirley (Prince Philip in Sleeping Beauty) is born in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1925: Walt and Roy Disney put down a deposit on 2719 Hyperion Ave., which became the Disney base for 15 years.
1926: Disney Legend Horst Koblischeck is born in Reichenberg, Czechoslovakia. He negotiated Disney’s first television contract in Germany.
1938: Actor Brian Dennehy (Django in Ratatouille) is born in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
1948: Sound designer/editor Ben Burtt (responsible for the robot voices in WALL-E) is born in Jamesville, New York.
1951: Actor Geoffrey Rush (Captain Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean, Nigel in Finding Nemo) is born in Australia.
1951: Actress Roz Ryan (Thalia, Muse of Comedy in Hercules, Kim Possible, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command) is born in Detroit, Michigan.
1956: Actor Tom Hanks (Sheriff Woody in the Toy Story movies) is born in Concord, California.
1981: Disney’s 24th animated feature, The Fox and the Hound, premieres.
1982: Walt Disney’s Tron premieres.
1986: The Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour debuts at Tokyo Disney.
1987: Disney’s The Brave Little Toaster is released in theaters.
1989: Actor David Henrie (Larry on That’s So Raven, Justin Russo on Wizards of Waverly Place)
1989: Star Tours opens at Tokyo Disneyland.
1991: Actor Mitchel Musso (Oliver Oken on Hannah Montana, Jeremy on Phineas and Ferb) is born in Garland Texas.
1991: Disney announces it will be teaming up with Pixar for future films.
1994: The Legend of the Lion King opens in the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland Theater (currently home to Mickey’s Philharmagic).
1998: The Walt Disney Co. opens the first ESPN Zone in Baltimore, Maryland.
1999: Disney World’s 11-acre Discovery Island closes after 25 years of service. It is replaced by Disney’s 500-acre Animal Kingdom.
2001: Magic Masters, a magic emporium chain based in Georgia, opens its largest store in Downtown Disney’s West Side.
2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest opens in theaters the same day that Disney World’s Pirates of the Caribbean attraction reopens after an extensive refurbishment.
2008: The Victorian-style Tokyo Disneyland Hotel opens.
Disney Employee Challanges Disney On Hangun Law
Edwin Sotomayor, a security guard at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, is challenging Disney on their stance that the park is exempt from the new gun law passed in Florida. Sotomayor has been suspended from his job after he refused to allow Disney managers and Orange County Sheriff Deputies search his car. Managers drove Sotomayor to their offices, questioned him then sent him to his normal job. After four hours, managers told him he was suspended. Disney said that Sotomayor was suspended because he wouldn’t cooperate with their investigation.
Sotomayor has indicated he is willing to test the new law even if he loses his job over it. He says he is testing the law on his own case and not for groups like the National Rifle Association.
Disney Finds Loophole In Florida Law Allowing Them To Ban Firearms In Employee Cars
Cast Members will not be able to store their hand guns on Disney property in Florida despite the law passed in Florida, ‘Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008‘, allowing employees to store hand guns in their cars at work. Disney says that language in the bill creates exceptions for companies who manufacture, use, store or transport explosives that are regulated under federal law; Disney falls into this category due to the fireworks it uses. This allows Disney to ban hand guns in all their properties except for the Vero Beach Resort, Disney Cruise Line’s crew parking lot and a few other properties around Florida.
State Senator Durell Peaden, one of the authors of the bill, was stunned by Walt Disney World’s position and unhappy about the loophole they are using. “I intended it to exempt places like defense plants, Air Force bases, things like that,” said Peaden, “But not Disney. Not at all.”
Universal Studios Orlando is using a different loophole to ban firearms while SeaWorld Orlando ‘continues to support the rights of its employees or visitors to transport legal firearms in their cars’ spokeswoman Becca Bides said.
(Additional Information: Orlando Sentinel)
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When I See an Elephant Fly
A new elephant calf was born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. A Twenty-six-year-old African elephant named Moyo gave birth to a 327 pound son. The currently unnamed calf is the heaviest ever born at Animal Kingdom. After a 21 month gestation period, caused by artificial insemination, both mother and son appear to be doing well, according to veterinarians at the park.
Save the KUNGALOOSH!
There’s a new petition online to save The Adventurer’s Club. The petition’s authors state that “The Adventurer’s Club has no equal…This club is so eccentrically Disney, it would be just as missed as the original Country Bear Jamboree show was and the Journey Into the Imagination ride was when they were changed and/or closed. All good things don’t have to come to an end.”
The deadline to sign the petition is before the club’s closing on September 27th.
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This Week in Disney History (June 29-July 5)
1865: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson publishes Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland under the pen name Lewis Carroll.
1898: Actor Johnny Lee (the voice of Br’er Rabbit) is born in Los Angeles.
1908: Disney legend and artist, John Hench (Fantasia, Dumbo) is born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
1910: Marcellite Garner (the voice of Minnie Mouse) is born in Redlands, California.
1914: Disney composer George Bruns (composer of “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)”, and songs from Sleeping Beauty) is born in Sandy, Oregon.
1935: Artist John Lounsbery (One of Walt’s Nine Old Men) is hired by the Disney Studios.
1947: Disney’s Song of the South is released in Australia.
1951: Comic book writer and illustrator Don Rosa (Donald Duck and Scrooge comics) is born in Louisville, Kentucky.
1951: Broadway star Terrence Mann (the original Beast in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway) is born in Kentucky.
1956: Disneyland’s Indian War Canoes debuts in Critter Country.
1966: Primeval World debuts at Disneyland.
1966: Cartoonist Carl Barks retires after 3 decades of drawing Donald Duck.
1967: Disneyland’s Rocket Jets, Peoplemover, the Carousel of Progress, and the Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant all open in Tomorrowland.
1974: The America Sings attraction debuts in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland.
1975: The WEDway PeopleMover opens at Disney World.
1981: The Broadway at the Top show opens in the Top of the World at the Contemporary Resort.
1985: Actress/singer Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical Series, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, A Bug’s Life) is born in Monmouth, New Jersey.
1986: Disney’s 26th animated film, The Great Mouse Detective, is released in the U.S.
1986: Actress Lindsay Lohan (The Parent Trap, Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Herbie: Fully Loaded) is born in New York City.
1988: The Norway Pavilion opens at EPCOT. The Maelstrom opens a few days after the pavilion’s opening.
1993: Disney acquires the Miramax film studio.
1994: The Lion King Celebration Parade debuts at Disneyland. This is the first parade to include an animatronic character on a moving float.
1994: At EPCOT, Innoventions East and West replaces CommuniCore.
1996: The last of the planned Epcot resorts, Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, opens.
1997: The ABC Sound Studio opens at the Disney-MGM Studios.
1998: Innoventions debuts at Disneyland’s Tomorrowland.
2000: The refurbished Chevron Autopia opens in Disneyland.
2005: The United States Postal Service releases the second set of The Art of Disney stamps.
2007: Ratatouille, Pixar’s 8th animated feature, is released.
2007: Jim MacPhee, Epcot’s Vice President, announces that the Mickey Mouse arm and wand on Spaceship Earth will come down.
Changes Coming to Pleasure Island
As a follow up to Van’s last post, here’s more news of what’s coming to Downtown Disney:
First, over the next year, several immersive experiences will be added to the 120-acre complex. Downtown Disney will even get its own attraction in the form of a giant, tethered balloon that will provide guests with an amazing view of the Walt Disney World Resort 300 feet in the air.
In the fall, T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family Adventure will open. The eatery will deliver pizzas, pastas, seafood, etc., and will feature life-size animated dinosaurs that dwell among bubbling geysers, waterfalls and a fossil dig site.
Also, a design-your-own t-shirt store from Hanes will open this fall.
In spring 2009, E-brands Restaurants will open up its newest concept at Downtown Disney. The restaurant will feature authentic Central and South American cuisine, specialty drinks and live music along the waterfront.
To make room for these new stores, all of the nightclubs currently on Pleasure Island will close on September 27. Other offerings on Pleasure Island (Raglan Road, Fuego by Sosa Cigars, Curl by Sammy Duval, Orlando Harley-Davidson, etc) will remain open during the transition.
Besides the new offerings, existing stores and restaurants will be updated:
Starting this summer, Portobello Yacht Club will turn into the Tuscan Country Trattoria. The new menu will feature authentic Italian dishes and signature favorites and a re-designed interior along with an outdoor dining space.
This fall, Goofy’s Candy Company will gain a new room that will allow families to book for their child’s birthday party or other events.
This fall, the Marketplace Stage will be replaced with a larger, covered stage to serve as the premier venue for Disney Magic Music Days.
In spring 2009, Fulton’s Crab House will receive updated furnishings and a refreshed third floor deck dining area. Also, the Wolfgang Puck Café will receive updated furnishings.
(Hat tip to The Disney Blog)
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Pleasure Island to Close
Disney has announced that Pleasure Island at Walt Disney World will close their night clubs (8 Trax, The Adventurer’s Club, Mannequins™ Dance Palace, BET Sound-Stage™ Club, Motion and The Comedy Warehouse) on September 28, 2008. The area will be re-themed drastically to feature a more family-friendly atmosphere that includes a mix of shopping and dining.
(Additional information: Disney.com’s FAQ )
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Construction Worker Dies From Accident At Disney’s All-Star Resort
A 52 year old construction worker has died from his injuries received in a construction accident at Disney’s All-Star Resort on June 13th. Reedy Creek Emergency Services said the man was working on a high-lift vehicle and got pinned against something at the site. He received chest, neck and head injuries and was transported by helicopter to Orlando Regional Medical Center. His name and further information has not been released and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been notified by Disney.
(Additional Information: Orlando Sentinel)
American Idol Winner David Cook To Be Featured In The American Idol Experience
David Cook, the recent winner of American Idol, will be featured in the American Idol Experience when it opens in January 2009 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Cook taped video segments recently in Los Angeles that will be utilized in the attraction.
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