We believe Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a great fit for this project because it was created to give guests the opportunity to experience the worlds of animals and nature – real and mythical – in new ways. Disney’s Animal Kingdom also celebrates adventure, living in harmony with nature and environmental stewardship – themes that are deeply rooted in the story of AVATAR.

Construction is slated to begin in 2013, with opening by 2016.

UPDATE:

RE: Whether or not the world of Avatar belongs in Animal Kingdom, I present you this:

Welcome to a kingdom of animals… real, ancient and imagined: a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs and dragons; a kingdom of balance, harmony and survival; a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama, and learn. — Michael Eisner, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Dedication, April 1998

Roy Edward Disney was born to Roy Oliver Disney and Edna Francis Disney in Los Angeles on January 10, 1930 (and is their sole child). As a child, he traveled to the Studio where he viewed the films the animators were working on (i.e. “Snow White”, “Pinocchio”) and acted as a sounging board to his father’s (and his uncle’s) workers. He graduated in 1951 from Pomona College with a Bachelor’s degree in English. Once out of college, he returned to the entertainment industry as an assistant film director on “Dragnet” before returning to the Walt Disney Studios in 1954.

Once back at the Studios, he worked on “The Living Desert” and “The Vanishing Prarie” (two True-Life Adventure films that won Academy Awards) as an assistant editor. He continued writing and working on television series like “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” as well as “Zorro”.

He formed his own production unit in 1964 to write, produce, and direct other television and theatrical productions (i.e. “Varda, the Peregrine Falcon”, “Mustang!”, “The Owl That Didn’t Give a Hoot”) before joining the Company’s Board of Directors in 1967.

He left the company in 1977 (after 23 years with the Studios) to become an independent producer/investor because he didn’t agree with the direction of the company. However, he still retained his seat on the board of directors.

In 1984, Roy used his swagger on the Board to oust his cousin’s husband (Ron Miller) and brought in Michael Eisner as CEO and Frank Wells as COO. In this same year, he became the Vice Chairman and head of the animation department (where he oversaw “The Little Mermaid”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Lion King”, and most of the Golden Age films). His favorite movie ever to oversee was Fantasia 2000-the long awaited sequel to his uncle’s Fantasia.

While Disney was head of animation, his department was extremely successful. He also had enormous power over most of his colleagues (even Eisner) which allowed his department to have some artistic freedom.
Towards the end of Eisner’s reign, Disney’s influence started to wane as Eisner appointed high posts to “Suits” that were more loyal to him, not the Disney family. On November 30, 2003, Disney resigned from the company (after the board of directors rejected his request for an extenstion of his term as a board member) based on differences of opinion about the management style and direction within the company.
After his resignation, Disney continued to actively work on forcing out Eisner as CEO (he and Stanley Gold created SaveDisney.com). In 2004, 43% of Disney shareholders voted to oppose the re-election of Eisner to the corporate board of directors, but he retained the CEO title (much to Disney and Gold’s dismay). As criticism against him increased (especially for being dissatisfied with PIXAR), Eisner annouced his resignation from the company on September 30, 2005. To this day, Eisner still holds 1.7% of Disney stock (2nd largest owner) while Roy Disney holds 1% (the 3rd largest owner).

Roy Disney and Stanley Gold have become the Chair and CEO (respectively) of Shamrock Holdings which manages Disney’s personal investments. Disney is also a well known sailor (he set the monohull time record from Los Angeles to Honolulu with 7 days, 11 hours, 41 minutes, 27 seconds) and produced the film “Morning Light”.

Roy E. Disney was named a Disney Legend in 1998 and lost his battle with cancer on Dec. 16, 2009.

{Author’s Note: Upon the news that Roy E. Disney had passed away, I found it only appropriate to learn more about his life. We’ll resume our look at some comic strip artists next week}

A more detailed biography of Roy E. Disney can be found here.

In 2010, a Swindon exhibit will be unveiled at Epcot.

The Walt Disney Company has won the dismissal of the Segway lawsuit and had the original settlement voided according to Bloomberg.com. In 2007, two Illinois residents and one from Iowa sued the Walt Disney Company because the park refused them from using their Segways in the park. Disney had agreed to settle the case by purchasing 15 stand-up vehicles to settle the case.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell in Orlando, Florida voided the decision saying that the guests are able to use wheelchairs or scooters and failed to show that the Segways were needed to access the resorts. “Although some individuals may, with good reason, not want to use those devices and instead prefer to use a Segway, that preference — standing alone — is not essential to accessing Disney’s Parks,” Presnell wrote in the opinion.

Ana has run aground in the Caribbean and is weakining. If she curves northward, she might dump some rain on WDW, but that’s all

Bill, now a hurricane, will spin north, north-west and has a potential to hit New England, but won’t be impacting WDW.

There has been no official end date set for the promotion nor has any similar offer been announced for Disneyland.

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From Glenn Sonoda via Facebook:

“[...]I renewed my AP in July. However, I was able to get the extra three months on my renewal (and avoid paying the extra $20 increase) by politely speaking with guest relations and explaining my situation[...]“

Note: The website above currently only includes merchandise from the American parks.