Mousekingdom Blog

With Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe being a success it wasn’t a big surprise they where going to make a second movie.

The second movie isn’t even ready yet and talks about a third one are already going on. Neil Burger, the director of “The Illusionist”, seems to be attached to the third movie.

If rumors are correct the movie will be “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”, the third (and the fifth in chronological order) Narnia book written by C.S Lewis (source MovieHole.com)

We are all waiting for the Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End trailer but until it will be released we will have to do with the spoilers and news that pops up on the web. Disney presented the visitors of the International Distribution market at ShoWest in Las Vegas a little look at some footage of the new movie.

Once you click to read the rest of this story you will see some spoilers of the Pirates movie… (You have been warned)

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Traveling from Europe to the US for, say, a short visit to Walt Disney World or Disneyland Anaheim?? Or maybe traveling from the US to Europe to pay visit to Disneyland Resort Paris?? Then you better pay extra attention to the time! For years travelers between these two continents have gotten used to both, the countries of the European Union and the United States of America (as well as the majority of Canada), observing Daylight Saving Time (aka summer time) for nearly the same part of the year. But thanks to the US Energy Policy Act of 2005 this has now changed.

As of this year the US (and most of Canada) observe Daylight Saving Time from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. In other words: since yesterday the clocks in both Disney resorts in the US have moved one additional hour ahead. At the same time the countries of the European Union (and thus Disney’s European Magic Kingdom) continue to observe Daylight Saving Time “only” from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. In other words right now we are still on “standard” / “winter” time here in Europe for another two weeks!!

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Disney are well versed in their special evening ‘party’ events which add a whole new style and enjoyment to experiencing the various attractions at the Magic Kingdom. Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and the festive Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party are both well-established events, but we have just seen the debut of a brand new evening experience, the Pirate & Princess Party.

This ran for 13 separate nights from January 22 to March 8, and there is good reason to think this will become a regular annual event. This year’s event was very much an experimental outing, the first of its kind outside the more traditional Halloween and Christmas offerings. But the feedback from the public has been almost unreservedly positive, and our own experience would certainly back that up.

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Guest Blogger; Ricky Brigante

I’ve always considered dropping everything to get a job at Walt Disney World. While the pay may not be great, it truly is an experience of a lifetime. Whenever I have thought of getting a job with the Mouse, the first thought that comes to mind is, “I want to work at the Haunted Mansion!” This classic, spooky attraction, is, of course, my all-time favorite. I’ve often thought I would live there if I could. I’d never get tired of wandering its endless hallways.

Unfortunately, this attraction is also one of the top requested positions when applying for a position in Operations at the Magic Kingdom. Generally, you either have to get really lucky or work your way onto it, as most Cast Members who work there never want to leave.

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Finally! The trailer of the third “Pirates” movie is coming our way. On Monday march 19th the trailer will be aired on ABC during the “Dancing with the Stars” (between 8-10 pm) show.

Once the debut of the trailer has been shown on TV, all “Pirates” fans will be able to see a High Definition trailer on Yahoo.com and Disney.com. It might also pop up on other sites.

If you can’t wait until the 19th you should try to win one of Disney.com/piratesfanevent tickets for an exclusive “Pirates of the Caribbean” event. The event takes place in several movie theaters on March 18th where winners are invited to come dressed as pirates and enjoy an exclusive premier of the highly anticipated trailer! (via ComingSoon.net)

When you (have to) plan your Walt Disney World holiday early it can happen that you’ll only find out about closures of certain attractions way after you booked. I can only say that I am very happy that the Haunted Mansion will be open and refurbished when I am going. The dates of the closure are June 6th to September 12th and will be a surprise for many summer time visitors. I guess Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party has something to do with it as this attraction is the one you should visit during a Halloween party. Although not many people did this, lines where never long, even during the 31st October. In my opinion no Halloween party is complete without a visit to the Mansion.

I am looking forwards to visit my favorite Walt Disney World attraction again in October and am very curious and can’t wait to see the result of the refurbishment.

Picture from The Magic in Pixels

Yahoo.news has release a Associated Press photo of the Frog Princess. The scene was shown on a big screen when Randy Newman and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band played a song from the Walt Disney Company’s animated musical fairy tale called “The Frog Princess” during the Walt Disney Company Shareholders meeting in New Orleans.

If you click on the picture you will see Newman on the piano playing the song together with the band.

The Walt Disney Company has officially announced the new feature animation “The Frog Princess” with a release planned for 2009.

The Walt Disney Studios will continue its fairy tale legacy in animation by taking moviegoers on an all-new “once upon a time” musical adventure with its 2009 release of “The Frog Princess,” it was announced today by Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, and John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. A musical set in the legendary birthplace of jazz – New Orleans — “The Frog Princess” will introduce the newest Disney princess, Maddy, a young African-American girl living amid the charming elegance and grandeur of the fabled French Quarter. From the heart of Louisiana’s mystical bayous and the banks of the mighty Mississippi comes an unforgettable tale of love, enchantment and discovery with a soulful singing crocodile, voodoo spells and Cajun charm at every turn. (Walt Disney Company)

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When the Mousetunes podcast disappeared I was a little sad. Lou Mongello and Nathan M. Rose did a great job and they sure made my Monday’s at work more bearable. Luckily enough there was no need to be sad to long as both would start new projects. One of the new projects from Lou is WDW Radio podcast, a podcast with news, info and fun facts about Walt Disney World.

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Walt Disney World is for all ages, it doesn’t matter how old you are, as long as you’re young at heart you’ll have fun. Mary Berardi, a 91 “young at heart” woman is proof that age doesn’t matter. She was elected “Queen for a Day” at Walt Disney World and had a great time;

For Berardi, the royal treatment meant she got to go to the front of the line at many of Disney’s attractions, along with her son, the Rev. Thomas Berardi of Troy, and two friends who joined them for the trip.

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Last weekend at the WonderCon at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, California, the latest about Disney Pixar’s upcoming feature “RATATOUILLE” was revealed during a presentation by its director Brad Bird. Attendees were treated to some more details about the story and the voice casting as well as to new clips from the movie - and finally also the first trailer, after the teaser has been around for quite a while. While attendees certainly enjoyed this part of the presentation, for those of us not able to attend another segment of the presentation might be even more exciting: the open-question session, during which the audience got Brad Bird to reveale some rather interesting news … about “RATATOUILLE” as well as other projects…

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What do you do when you want to promote the new Peter Pan Platinum Edition DVD… you get into a plan, sing a Disney song and jump out of the plane to float in the sky like Peter Pan himself. After all skydivers touched down they went to the first Fly-Inn Cinema to see the Disney Classic.

Click on the link to see the video of the promotional stunt and please order the video via this link to support the blog

… well to be correct I need to say: thanks to the OSCAR ceremony. Even if Disney might have hoped for some more OSCARS to take home (see the earlier post), at least Disney’s tv network ABC was to take an extra trophy home - the one for most watched tv program of the week. As the German language website Quotenmeter reports the pre-show / warm-up show of ABC already managed to attract 26.68 million viewers and the actual OSCAR telecast was able to expand on that to a total of 38.87 million viewers - and that is just in the US!

The big Walt Disney World news we just talked about (and everybody is talking about) are the 2 new projects related to the Four Seasons resort and a second Disney Village style area with shops and more hotels. While this is big news and will bring big changes to the Walt Disney World Resort, it is not something I am wildly excited about. Maybe it is big to others, I am sure the Four Season Resort will be great, an attraction or new park would have excited me a lot more (I know, The fifth gate will never be out of my head even if it is not something that we might see anytime soon) …

While Disney did add some great new attractions like Expedition Everest or Soarin’, it are the other parks in Orlando that are now getting into the spotlight, stealing Disney’s thunder. Seaworld for example has just announced there new Water Park called Aquatica. (See article Orlando Sentinel)

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The Walt Disney Company has announced expansion plans for the Walt Disney World resort. Two new big projects will see the day of light. The first and biggest one will be the 900-acre location at the northeast border of the World, where Disney plans to convert Eagle Pines and Osprey Ridge golf courses into a luxury resort that will house the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, including a golf community.

The residents of Celebration have been informed with an official mail by Disney about these changes and the impact it would have on another project that was in development by the Celebration Company. There are plans of a new project “Island Village” that, if the mutual terms are met regarding the above project, will not see the day of light as it was intensely planned. No replacement plans for “Island Village” are on the table but the company is looking into alternatives and is inviting its key members, the home owners of Celebration, to give their input on the situation and to make sure the development of “Island Village” will be able to continue.

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