Mousekingdom Blog

Next time you’re at Walt Disney World, Disneyland or one of the other Disney Parks around the globe and you are waiting in line for a long time think about the fact that the Disney lines are the best in the world. While nobody likes standing in line, at a Disney park you’ll at least get some sort of entertainment, either in a form of a pre-show experience or because of the beautiful decorations and other stuff to discover while waiting. Some people think that one can learn a lot about Disney, or should even contract them to build lines for other events. So does the writer of the following piece, who says that the lines at Obama’s inauguration where a disaster.

Many people have now heard the basic story of last Tuesday morning: Some number of people with tickets showed up hours in advance, and did not get in through the the gates to see President Obama’s inauguration ceremony. That number, of which I was one, is easily in the tens of thousands, and maybe higher. (Tripso)

The write up however didn’t start positive for Disney as she says that it is a favorite pastime for many to bash the “Mouse”. But after the lines she experienced at the  inauguration she found a new appreciation for Disney.

See, Disney does something good for everybody…

Could the “we will, we won’t” games be over? According to the China Daily it is!

The Walt Disney Company and the Shanghai municipal government have signed a project proposal to build the first Disney park on the Chinese mainland. (China Daily)

The first phase could include a theme park, one hotel and a shopping center. The biggest change will be the park itself as a traditional Disneyland isn’t something that would work because many of the Disney characters and movies are unknown in China. Mickey will be there, but many other Disney characters might not pass the gates.

Remember that this is still not an official announcement!

1000, a magical number!?… well, it is for the Mousekingdom blog as we celebrate 1000 blog entries today! It has been almost three years (it will be in February) since we started to bring you Disney news, Disney fun, Disney stories, Disney tidbits and hopefully a whole lot of Disney magic (seen from different points of view) in the last 1000 blog entries.

We would like to thank all of our readers, visitors, Disney fans and guests for coming to our pages. Without you we could not do this. So thank you for your visits and support. Also a big thank you to Disney for bringing us the magic every day. Without Disney we would also be not here. And a special thank you to all the Disney Cast Members who are the heart of the Disney parks.

We hope you will come back for many more visits to our blog to share our love for Disney. Up to the 10.000 now… so spread the word about this blog and thank you again (to everybody reading this)

Only a couple of hours ago I added the Disney Shanghai news. While I was careful with the report, mentioning more than once nothing is official, it now looks like the Reuters report was wrong after all.

The original story was brought by a Chinese newspaper, and one can not be sure if Reuters based their article on this paper, but the news was incorrect as Disney says no agreement has been made.

The report is not true and no agreement has been reached (People’s Daily Online)

A surprising Disney news about Disney building their park in Shanghai has been released by Reuters. It has been very quit around the possible Disney expansion on the Asian market, especially after the problems with the Hong Kong park not performing as hoped one would not expect Disney or the Chinese government to continue with any new plans. But if Reuters is correct talks are now over and an official announcement will be made soon. Once plans have been revealed it will still need approval from the China’s central government, without it no park can be opened. One would suspect however that the government will give their seal of approval in a heartbeat. The new park would provide many jobs to the people from and around Shanghai, that’s not something anybody will say no too. If the park will be build a possible opening date is set for 2013.

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For the first time in it’s history the Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Resort Paris will be open till 1 am for New Year’s Eve and will offer it’s own fireworks show at midnight.
The fireworks are said to be identical to the ones offered at the Disneyland Park next door albeit centered around the Tower of Terror instead if the castle. They will be shot from Rock’n'Roller Coaster and the Tram Tour area.
So if you happen to be in the resort today – you can choose which park to welcome 2009 in! Considering the current guest level despite cold, fog and occasional snowing the additionof the second park was a necessity.

It’s almost Christmas, so there will be a lot of magic going on at many houses around the globe. For sure some of the magic will include Disney in some form. One will be lucky enough to celebrate in a Disney park, others might get that special Disney gift and many more will enjoy the new Disney Movie Bedtime Stories that will be released on Christmas Day.

The movie stars Adam Sandler and Keri Russell and promises to be a lot of fun. Looking at the trailer it does look like it will keep that promise.

If you want to know a little more about the movie follow the link to see some exclusive video interviews with the two stars and the director Adam Shankman. Adam Sandler says he only does it for the paycheck, but looking at the interview, that’s hard to believe. Find out for yourself here; Exclusive Bedtime Stories Video Interviews!

Picture Copyrights Disney

“Walt Disney World?”, “Isn’t that for children?”, “I would rather go to a park where there are roller coasters”. Have you as a Disney fan heard that before. I sure did! So I’ll tell them about, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Barnstormer, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Primeval Whirl (for some counting this one twice) and their lates coaster adventure Expedition Everest. With Whirl counting as 2 experiences that’s a count of 7 coasters. Not enough? Well that might change as rumors of a new PIXAR coaster for the Hollywood Studios park have been floating around for a while. While initially a Monster Inc. coaster was the main rumored theme, new rumors even speak of a possible Incredibles theme. Either way, if rumors are correct it will be a PIXAR coaster.

The Monster Inc. coaster sounds great, as it is rumored to be a theme related around “the doors” section of the movie. However, personally, I find the new rumor on an Incredibles coaster sounding that little bit more interesting. But it’s what it is, a rumor and it will stay a rumor until Disney officially says otherwise. Until then, one can only dream…

But for those Coaster fanatics thinking there is no thrill at Walt Disney World for them. Have another look at the list of those coasters already there.

Rumor via Screamscape.

Hong Kong Disneyland had a couple of problems from the start. One of them is it not being big enough and lacking of rides. While some expansion already took place, like adding Small World, it still remains a small place some say it can be visited within a couple of hours. However news has emerged that the Hong Kong government, which owns 57% of the park, and Disney are looking into expanding the park by adding three new lands.

According to the South China Morning Post the Hong Kong government and Disney are now discussing addition of three new themed ‘lands’ at a cost of some HK$5 billion ($645 million). (Variety)

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Walt Disney World is more then 4 theme parks and 2 water parks (although some even forget about the amazing water parks). But there is so much more to do and explore. Just have a look at some of the awesome hotels and what they have to offer. You don’t have to stay at the hotel to enjoy their beauty or magic. All you need to do is take a bus or even a stroll and you can have some extra fun so many people don’t even know or forget about.

With the parks always busy, visiting some of the hotels during your Walt Disney World stay could be a nice and relaxing experience. Here are some tips on visiting some of the hotels and what you could do there.

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Cypress Gardens opened its gates on January 2, 1936 and offered visitors water Ski Shows, beautiful gardens and Southern Belle models. No wonder it became one of Florida’s biggest attractions. But it hasn’t been easy all the time. Once Walt Disney World opened it got one of its biggest competitors taking over the many Florida guests and a rocky future started to take form. The real problems however started after 9/11, declining tourism didn’t help the park and there was even talks about developing the property into condominiums.

Damages created by three hurricanes (Charley, Frances, and Jeanne) didn’t help either and bills run up until Adventure Park Group had no choice but to file for Chapter 11. Today Cypress Gardens is under management by the Baker Leisure Group, but it doesn’t look like it will last for long as some grimm rumors are popping up of a closure of the main park, only leaving the Water Park “Splash Island” open.

…the owners would simply just announce that the park was closed one day this winter and begin the process of selling off and removing all of the park rides without warning. (Screamscape)

For the full story visit Screamscape.

Imagine where the next Disneyland could be. What could be the next location? What kind of venue could they build? Will Shanghai really be the next Disneyland? We still need to hear if this rumor is correct, but until then let’s have a look at a future possibility out of the mind of a dreamer…

With petrol prices sky rocketing and global warming being a big issue why not build a park that floats on the seas and can even come to you. A floating Disneyland. A little over the top you say? Have a look at the floating cities design called “Lilypad” by the award winning Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut. Doesn’t sound that weird anymore, does it now. Just imagine hearing that Disneyland is on its way to a location near you, or to a location where the sun always shines. Sounds nice enough to me. I don’t think the architect had Disneyland in mind when creating these, but just look at the form of the cities, wouldn’t a rollercoaster on the outlines be awesome. Include some sub level rides with the oceans as your background and you have a good start for the first floating Disneyland.

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The preview center for the “updated” Disney’s California Adventure will open its doors as from October 20. Visitors will be able to see concept art, models, sketches and video related to all the planned changes. You can expect to see things from the new nighttime watershow, the little Mermaid dark ride, the Cars Land themed area and the new Los Angeles of the 20s theme that will be used in the park.

Walt Disney Imagineering is poised to open up its Blue Sky Cellar — a special attraction in California Adventure’s Golden Vine Winery. ( OCregister.com)

To see a small collection of pictures follow the link to OCregister.com.

Picture copyrights Disney

While adding Harry Potter to Islands of Adventure will be a goldmine for Universal Studios, I never liked they idea of it being added to the park. I loved the park how it was and will miss the “old” Lost Continent land. The land will be changed a lot, including the Dueling Dragons. If rumors are indeed correct Universal has now destroyed the dragon statue… The news isn’t 100% verified so I hope this rumor is incorrect. Please somebody come and tell us here Harry Potter didn’t kill the Dragons. (via screamscape)

Every business wants to expand, Disney wants to expand, Oriental Land Co Ltd wants to expand, everybody would want to expand (and make more money). So it isn’t a surprise when the Oriental Land group looked into opening another park in a major city in Japan. However, a one year study convinced them that opening another park with Disney character running around would not bring them the investment return they want to justify the plans.

The Oriental Land company is now looking into other option without the Disney Characters.

Source: OLC group and Reuters.