Mousekingdom Blog

Even if it’s early to talk about it now; Halloween is always been one of those fun things at Disney. There are enough villains to throw in the Halloween fun. I have seen Halloween at Disneyland Resort Paris and at Walt Disney World.

A rumor says that WDW will get a second gate to share in these celebrations. With the big success of the Halloween Horror Nights (I am a big fan) over at Universal Studios (Island of Adventure) it now looks like WDW wants some of that cake too.

A more adult and Teen orientated celebration might finds it way into the MGM Studios. There is no real info if they will add haunted houses, although doubted, my guess is the will have the streets filled with villains (maybe hunting down some guest) and some of the thrill rides open and maybe a special parade… Who knows?

This rumor has been there since 2003, but died out shortly after. This year however the rumor came back and with (rumored) big plans over at Universal Studios this might see the day of light in the near future… It stays a rumor of course until official announcement from Disney, but as a Halloween fan wanted it to share with you.

Source: Screamscape

I was just surfing the net and came across the news of Wishes. It seems that it is almost confirmed that it WILL NOT be re-appearing and there’s to be no replacement this year. What a loss!

Personally I would really like to see the show back this year… if they were to promote it more appropriately of course. Not having a firework show after Fantillusion is hardly the end of the world, but fireworks over the castle is such a Disney trademark as is widely expected by guests… I believe!

(more…)

…that Disney catalog won’t be arriving anytime soon at your doorstep. The New York Times reports that the Walt Disney Company has decided to end its successful catalog business and concentrate fully on online shopping - such swiming against the tide and the expert’s opinions which claim that a catalog helps retain guests. Will it be a success? Only time will tell. But one has to notice that of the once three retail arms which TWDC operated and made money with outside the Resorts, only one (OK, and a stump) is left: The Disney Store chain was sold (even so the World of Disney Store on 5th Avenue in NYC is still operated by TWDC - the above mentioned stump) and the catalog is closed now, which leaves us with the online shopping.

A short look at my habbits provides bad news for Disney - and happy news for my purse. I used to sit down and look through the catalog, see a few things I liked but did not want to order. A few weeks later I used to pick the catalog up again in a leisurey moment (maybe when it was raining outside and I was listening to a new Disney CD), flipped through it again … and … usually I ended up ordering something. Unfortunately for Disney I do not really enjoy browsing through an online shop as much as that, and I hardly catch myself relaxing on a rainy day with a new CD in the background and getting the sudden urge to start up the PC, run my browser, surf to the Disney website and start browsing through their online shop. While not an expert I fear I am not the only one…

Ok, blogs are also supposed to be about sharing great stuff and especially great blogs one finds out there … so here is one for all those interested in the history of the original Disneyland in Anaheim, the only park Walt ever walked through:

Stuff from the Park publishes photos and items from the past of Disneyland (and other items). The latest post feature photos of the construction of the Main Street and the Fantasyland dark ride buildings which are not the more or less often seen official construction photos but material the blog’s author obtained through garage sales and at various other opportunities. Have fun browsing through the photos…