Mousekingdom Blog

Disney is releasing the third Santa Clause movie staring Tim Allen. This time he’ll be battling Jack Frost who will be portrait by Martin Short. “Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause” will be release on 3rd November.

Disney has released the One Sheet for the movie. We already had a “Nightmare before Christmas”, but as you can see on the poster we are now getting a “Fight before Christmas”.

I must admit I’ve never seen the two previous movies, I did see Nightmare before Christmas, and with the “T was a Fight Before Christmas” subtitle they have caught me in their net and I’ll might be checking this one out.

(Big Thunder Mountain, Disneyland Resort Paris)

Typhoon Lagoon is one of my favorite places in Walt Disney World. Every WDW visit includes at least one visit to this water park. One of my favorite attractions is the lazy river Castaway Creek, but I’ve always been intrigued by the Surf Pool’s early morning Surfing lessons (I used to do some windsurfing in a previous life).

If you would like to find out if the Surf Experience is something for you check out this write up on a First Surf Lesson experience.

The first wave washes under me, I let it pass and wait for the second smaller wave that is recommended for beginners. The instructor pushes me into the second wave as I quickly replay the steps in my head. I jump into the squat, but instead of landing on the board, I jump right into the water, the surfboard still in my hands.

Luckily, the only injury was my pride. (Orlando Sentinel)

MMmm… Maybe I’ll stick to the Lazy River

How often do you send E-cards? I must admit that I haven’t sent one for ages. But would it not be fun to get one? Sure, especially when you can send them from a collection of over 5000 pictures to choose from. Even better, they are pictures taken by many Disney fans, collected to share with everybody on the web. Search or browse the pictures and send a card to one of your friends.

How does it work? Easy, all you need is a free (yes, as in no cost at all) account. Once you’re logged in you can send a card. Where do you have to go? Just visit ClickMagique PicParade!

But there is more than just sending E-cards. Once you have your account (remember, it is free) you can add up to 50MB worth of pictures. Picture added; name it, comment on it and see how people give marks to it. You can also use them linked in forums or websites, or use ClickMagique PicParade just to keep track of your best Disney pictures.

If you want to share your Disney pictures this is the right place as, up to now, over 450000 times the pictures have been viewed so far.

So what is stopping you? ClickMagique PicParade wants your Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Resort Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland pictures! Add them now (did I mention it was free).

While the Pirates of the Caribbean; Dead Man’s Chest is breaking all the records ($300 million in 16 days, $500 million already world Wide, nr 1 movie of 2006) Johnny Depp is looking for a little more of the pirates live. Together with his family he will be living on an island he bought back in 2004, dividing his time between living there, in France and in the US.

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India the country no longer is only that far off place that outsourcing companies move the support and service centers to. It is a thriving economy with a giant populace - and thus also increasingly an interesting market for international companies. Therefore it was only a question of time till The Walt Disney Company would move into that market as well. Certainly there have been rumors about a potential Disney theme park in India for quite a while which are bound to stay with us for the coming years. But now there is also some real news to report!

It’s not theme park related though but tv related. TWDC has acquired the Indian children tv-station “HUNGAMA” fro 30.5 million US-$ from its current owner United Home Entertainment in which’s mother company UTV Software Communications TWDC also acquires a 14.9% stake for another 14 million US-$. (more…)

Well, I am sorry this final installment has taken so long to materialise. Who would have thought that after finishing university I would have LESS time… Everything is going full steam ahead for Florida, I am sorting out my Visa at the moment, and I have just returned from a weekend at Disneyland Resort Paris, which was very enjoyable, and you’ll find all the photos from my trip on my site… But anyway, the final (and VERY delayed) final installment to my trip to California!!!

Monday 5th June 2006

Today we got up at approximately 8:30am and had breakfast in the hotel. Quite enjoyed the breakfast, though I was a bit disgruntled they put the cheese right next to the meat (touching) not very good for vegetarians lol!

We went into the shop in our hotel, they were offering coach tours of San Francisco. The bus didn’t pick us up til 10am so we had a look around the area near our hotel, nothing too exciting in the close vicinity. We got picked up by bus at 10 and taken to the office for the tour company to pay up, and the tour coach itself left at 11am.

The tour was very interesting, the first place we visited was the Palace of Fine Arts. There was a story behind this building, I believe it was one of the only buildings in the area that survived the 1906 earthquake. Was very nice to look at and I took a few photos which are on my site!

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For some, Pin trading is part of a Disney holiday while there are others who still wonder what the collectors see in this little pieces of metal. I do collect them myself but narrowed it down to Halloween and the once I like. I used to try to get more, but as I cannot be at the parks all the time missed out on the once I collected or wanted and started to cut down. Sure, Ebay is a place to go if you want to get some, but with some of the prices being doubled I could not bring myself to buying them. As I wanted to keep it fun I now get what I like on my trip, with Halloween being the main interest.

It looks like I am not the only one thinking like this as Disney decided to end most of their pin trading events in the Walt Disney World Hotels. Although Disney doesn’t say why they end the events but they do admit that he number of visitors was going down.

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Don’t you love those photo trip reports? I browse my favorite forums looking for just those. Today I came across a topic that promised me some great pictures from Hong Kong Disneyland. This time however it was not just a topic on a forum but a site created for the trip. It took him 4 months to edit the pictures and to create the site (He admitted being a little lazy as well as being very busy), but it was well worth the wait. Go have a look at some of the amazing pictures of this beautiful Disney Park in Hong Kong.

You will also find the info on the camera used to create this marvelous pictures.

Today it has been 12 years ago since the opening of the Tower of Terror at Walt Disney World’s Disney MGM Studios. The tower opened in 1994 and is still a big hit today. With 4 different random sequences you never know what will “hit” you.

Have a “scary” 12th Birthday ToT, but I know you’re waiting to celebrate the big 13!

As mentioned in the past the 4 sequences might become a total of 13 scary drops to celebrate this event. We will see in 1 year if this rumor is indeed correct.

If you’re in or near the San Diego area and you are a Brother Bear fan you might want to consider visiting the convention on Sunday 23. Starting at 1:00 there will be a world Premier of Brother Bear II, the direct to DVD sequel.

I was lucky enough to be able to go to this convention in the past. (Although I must admit the main reason for that were the comics, action figures and card games they offered). I highly recommend it to all comic fans to try and visit the event at least once in your lifetime if you have the chance. Disney fans don’t have to worry as there is always a lot of Disney stuff to do too. Even with the event coming to its end it is still worth to do a search on the official site where you will get a result with all other Disney related event of this year’s convention.

DVD release date of Brother Bear 2 is August 29, 2006

Today I found a strange kind of Disney “Pirates of the Caribbean” toy in Toys’R’Us. The toy is a car in a form of a skull, not really looking like anything that is related to the movie it is borrowing the name from.

There must have been about 8 different cars in this set, most of them in form of a skull or embodied with skeleton.

The toy car is produced by the company Simba and it looks like it’s only for the European market.

How many times did you, as a Disney fan, had to hear it; isn’t Disneyland for children? Especially those adult Disney fans who have no children will know what I am talking about. I heard it many times before my son was born. (Now I get the “going to Disney… again” speech). Depending on who is talking to me about it I either just laugh with it or start telling how magical Disney is. I even got a non believer to go to the park. At the end he still didn’t like it, but he admitted he understood why some of us adults love it so much. (I do my best, but I cannot convince them all).

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Sometimes people ask me what there is to do in Epcot World Showcase that would keep you there the whole, or even multiple, days. The people asking are mostly those who think that the theme parks are all about rides only, but there is so much more to enjoy; like the atmosphere, the theme-ing, the shops, talking to the Cast Members from around the globe and the entertainment like acrobats from China or street performers from France.

One other great entertainment that should not be missed can be found in the Japanese Pavilion of the World Showcase; the Candy Artist “Miyuki”. Miyuki creates, using only her hands and a pair of scissors, little animals such as birds, rabbits, cats, monkey’s or even dragons out of rice dough.

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Pirates of the Caribbean 3: Uncharted Waters will star one of my all time favorite actors; Chow Yun Fat.

No surprise here when I say I am looking forwards to it (even if I still have to see number 2 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest).

It will still be a little while before we get to see it (Release date is May 25th, 2007) but in Japan there is already a teaser poster.

Do you recognize the skull shown on this teaser poster? Doesn’t look very promising for our beloved pirate Jack Sparrow!

If rumors are correct Soarin in Epcot might be given a new movie as from 2008. The rumors of a movie, to replace the one shown now, have been circulating on the web since they started building Soarin. There where rumors about a Florida movie even before the opening of the Soarin version at Epcot.

The new rumor however talks about a movie called; Soarin over America. I am sure, if this rumor is indeed correct, we will get to see some great scenery from the US, but I would also have liked a movie about the whole world (with Epcot’s World Showcase just around the corner), including a birds views of all Disney Castles around the globe as a final scene.

51 year ago the Disneyland in Anaheim opened its doors to the general public for the very first time. Today all Disney fans celebrate 51 years of magic.

Happy Birthday Disneyland!!! Thank you Walt Disney for making this dream a dream for everybody to enjoy.

I wish all people going to Disneyland today a Wonderful, Magical, Celebrating, Disney day.

“All who come to this happy place, welcome…” (Walt Disney)

Illuminations at Epcot, I love it and have watched it several times in 2003 and 2005. So I do love some good pictures of it too (as I already mentioned in a previous blog entry). When checking the web for more pictures I came across Tim Devine’s Disney Photo blog and had to make a request to add an Illuminations Picture after his return from Walt Disney World. My request was granted and a great picture added. (Thank you for that Tim).

If you like pictures of Walt Disney World visit the blog to find some great photographical memories.

Well, I am back from my holiday, so nothing much to be happy about… But only a couple of hours after I returned I got a phone call from the timeshare store. There was a 50 point contract for Saratoga Springs available!

Like I said, “was”, as it is no longer available after I agreed to buy it. Now it’s waiting for the contract and then I can start planning on my Disney Vacation as a Disney Vacation Club Owner…

Not to bad for a “home coming”, but I can’t wait for my “Welcome Home” at Disney thought. Didn’t think it would be so fast after I placed my request about 2-3 weeks ago. Still have to wait as Disney can use their “Right of First Refusal”, but I am confident they will not do this…