All the Disney Parks in One Podcast
Disney Parks Podcast Show #373 – Interview With Margret Kerry aka TinkerBell
In this episode, Tony and Parkhopper John Talk to Margret about her Book Tales of a Pixie Dusted Life and regals us with some great stories too!
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CHECK out her awesome website too
In addition to fireworks, the stunning new nighttime extravaganza features more lasers, lights and projections than any show at Magic Kingdom Park before it. “Happily Ever After” is also an entirely new kind of Disney storytelling, one that takesbguests on an inspiring journey filled with heart, humor and emotion. Guests become part of the journey themselves as they follow favorite Disney characters on an adventure to seek out their destiny, face adversity and ultimately fulfill their dreams on the road to their happily ever after.
The 18-minute spectacle features moments from classic Disney films such as “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” to modern blockbusters “Moana” and “Zootopia.” Cinderella Castle becomes part of the story itself, with dazzling projections bringing heartfelt Disney stories to life on and around the iconic 18-story-tall castle. Quasimodo from “Hunchback of Notre Dame” swings from the turrets. Woody and his pals from Disney•Pixar’s “Toy Story” recreate the castle entirely out of toys. And Maleficent from “Sleeping Beauty” envelops the castle in her signature green flames.
Because no Magic Kingdom Park fireworks display is complete without this little bit of magic, Tinker Bell flies across the night sky, reminding guests that with a little faith, trust and pixie dust, everyone can find their own happily ever after.
Characters and scenes from more than 25 Disney films are featured through state-of-the-art projections, enhanced by more than 50 choreographed spotlights, brilliant lasers and plenty of awe-inspiring fireworks. Paired with an emotional score, the new spectacular drives the message home that anyone can grab hold of their dreams and make them come true as long as they are brave enough to listen to what guides them and bold enough to pursue their destiny.
Traveling to WDW this summer? Here’s what you should know …
This summer is going to be an amazing time to visit Walt Disney World and if you’re a teenager (or a kid at heart) like myself who is going to be visiting, there are some important points you should know for each park.
Magic Kingdom: As some of you may know, Wishes is making its final performance on May 11th, 2017. The beloved show is going to be replaced by Happily Ever After. It will have big shoes to fill but from what I’ve seen so far it will fit in just fine. Remember that this is one of the busiest times of the year for the parks and the Magic Kingdom is going to be crowded all summer long. My suggestions are be there for rope drop, schedule your FastPasses in the morning so you can schedule more for later in the day, and come back for a 2nd day if you have the option. The park is filled with so many hidden secrets that rushing through doesn’t give you the whole experience. As of right now Splash Mt will be closed for refurbishment August 28- November 16, 2017. EPCOT: If you are going to EPCOT remember that World Showcase opens at [11:00] AM compared to the rest of the park which opens at [9:00] AM. (Extra-Magic Hours may affect these hours) Frozen Ever After does open at [9:00] AM for those planning on riding that attraction.
EPCOT also has a tier system for FastPass which means that you cannot have a FastPass for Soarin and Test Track at the same time. Tier 1 also includes Frozen Ever After and IllumiNations. If your little ones or yourself really want to ride Frozen then definitely book a FastPass for that attraction. If you are not interested in Frozen then I would suggest going with Soarin since Test Track has a single rider line. I highly suggest staying to watch IllumiNations, it is a wonderful show and you can find a great spot all over World Showcase.
Hollywood Studios: This is not the park to be at this summer but it soon will be. With all of the construction going on between Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land it is not the most pleasent view in all of the parks. With that said there is still a lot to do and enjoy at Hollywood Studios. This park, like Epcot, also has the FastPass tier system. Tier 1 includes Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Fantasmic, Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, and The Great Movie Ride. The popular tier 2 ones are Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration. My plan is usually to FastPass Toy Story and run to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster right when the park opens. I would then use Tower of Terror and Star Tours as my Tier 2 FastPasses. If you have a Frozen fan or little ones in your party I would probably drop Tower of Terror to fit in the sing-along. Fantasmic! Is my favorite night show at WDW and I highly recommend it for all ages.
Animal Kingdom: Pandora: The World of Avatar will be opening May 27th, 2017 and it is going to make the Animal Kingdom crowded. This new land may also mean that your normally half-day park becomes a full-day park. I would suggest getting to Animal Kingdom at park opening to ensure you get onto all of the attractions your party wants. Expedition Everest is definitely one of the most popular attractions at the park but the two new Pandora attractions may challenge it. Animal Kingdom also has a night show called Rivers of Light running, which I would highly recommend checking out. Also be sure to check out Tree of Life Awakenings at Discovery Island, it will take your breath away.
Pandora Ð The World of AVATAR opens May 27, 2017, bringing exciting new experiences to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. New attractions include the family-friendly NaÕvi River Journey.
I hope all of you enjoyed this article and please let me know if you did! I am a teenager who loves all things Disney and I want to help bring Disney magic to your life out of the parks. If you have any questions for me or thoughts leave them in the comment section below.
By Teen Blogger Noah
Noah has been visiting Walt Disney World ever since he was a little kid and has a deep passion for the parks. He wants to share this passion with everyone and help bring a little bit of Disney magic to your life.
BB-8, the loyal droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has just begun greeting guests at the park’s Star Wars Launch Bay.
BB-8 appears in addition to Kylo Ren and Chewbacca, two characters from the Star Wars galaxy who guests regularly encounter at Star Wars Launch Bay. In addition to character greetings, the location also offers guests the chance to explore galleries full of treasured memorabilia and authentic replicas of large-scale Star Wars artifacts, including some from the latest film in the franchise, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Disney Parks Podcast Show #363 – An Interview With Carl Trent From WDW Magazine
In this episode, Tony and Parkhopper John interview Carl from WDW Magazine, Disney Dads and WDW Discount Club
Support us at https://www.patreon.com/disneyparkspodcast
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Disney Legends Awards. The first Disney Legend was Fred MacMurray (The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, The Happiest Millionaire), who was honored in 1987.
“The Disney Legends Award is the highest honor our company can bestow on an individual, reserved for those few who have truly made an indelible mark on the history of The Walt Disney Company,” said Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger. “It’s a celebration of talent, a recognition of achievement, and an expression of gratitude to the men and women whose work has significantly contributed to Disney’s enduring reputation for creative excellence.”
The awards ceremony is just one of the dozens of spectacular events that Disney fans can enjoy during the three-day D23 Expo.
The 2017 Disney Legends Award honorees (listed alphabetically) are:
CARRIE FISHER became an overnight sensation in 1977 with her iconic performance as Princess Leia in Star Wars. But throughout her career, Carrie took on many roles—as an actress, author, playwright, screenwriter, and outspoken advocate for mental health awareness. For Disney, Carrie appeared in Scream 3 (2000) and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) for Dimension Films, and, in 2015, she returned to the role that made her famous, starring as General Leia Organa in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. She reprised the role for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which will be released in December.
CLYDE “GERRY” GERONIMI joined the Disney Studio in 1931. His first assignments as an animator were for several memorable Mickey Mouse, Silly Symphony, and Pluto cartoons, and he eventually contributed to more than 50 of the Studio’s shorts. Gerry made the leap to sequence director with 1943’s Victory Through Air Power, and he subsequently contributed to The Three Caballeros, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and One Hundred and One Dalmatians. He also directed segments for television’s Mickey Mouse Club and contributed to episodes of Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. The apex of his Disney career came when he served as supervising director for the 1959 masterpiece Sleeping Beauty.
MANUEL GONZALES was one of 33 artists selected from thousands of applicants to join Disney in 1936. In 1938, he took over penciling duties on the Sunday Mickey Mouse comic strip from Disney Legend Floyd Gottfredson. He brought Mickey Mouse to newspapers nationwide for nearly 40 years. At its peak, his Mickey-starring comic strip appeared in 120 newspapers around the world with a collective circulation of more than 20 million readers each week. Manuel was presented a “Mousecar” award by Walt Disney in 1966.
MARK HAMILL began his career in 1970, appearing in numerous television series guest-roles and several TV movies, including a recurring role on ABC’s General Hospital and starring in MTM’s acclaimed The Texas Wheelers. He achieved worldwide attention as Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy, which included The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He returned as Luke in The Force Awakens and will appear in the upcoming The Last Jedi. His stage career includes Broadway shows and the first national tour of Amadeus directed by Sir Peter Hall. A prolific voice-over actor, he has performed in countless animated television shows, feature films, documentaries, and video games. He appears on Disney’s Miles from Tomorrowland and Milo Murphy’s Law, and has also provided the voice of The Joker in the Batman animated series, a role that recently earned him a BAFTA Award.
WAYNE JACKSON began his career as a Walt Disney Imagineer in October 1965, and in the decades that followed he would put his technical skills and know-how to great use in the development and installation of Disney attractions around the world. Originally trained in aircraft tooling, he began as a technician and machinist assigned to rebuild the shows from the 1964–65 New York World’s Fair that were slated for installation at Disneyland. Instrumental in the early development of Audio-Animatronics® technology, Wayne would go on to help bring Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion to Disneyland. He went on to work on the construction and installation of attractions and show systems at Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, and Disneyland Paris.
STAN LEE got a job as an office assistant at a comic publisher in 1939 called Timely Comics—forerunner of the powerhouse we all know as Marvel. Stan made his debut with a Captain America story in 1941, and by the next year, at the age of just 18, he was promoted to editor. In 1961, Stan teamed up with Jack “King” Kirby to create the Fantastic Four and ushered in a spectacular new age of comics. Stan co-created an enormous roster of Marvel characters, including Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, the X-Men, Daredevil, and Falcon. He became Marvel’s editorial director and publisher in 1972, and eventually was named chairman emeritus. His well-known cameos in Marvel films began with 1989’s telefilm The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, and since the release of X-Men in 2000 he has appeared in nearly every Marvel film project. Outside the super-hero realm, he has even popped up as a wedding guest in Disney’s The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.
GARRY MARSHALL began his career in Los Angeles writing for a number of hit shows, including The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Lucy Show. But his big break came in 1970, when he produced The Odd Couple for ABC, the first of many big hits he created for the network. Beginning with Happy Days in 1974, he developed a shared universe of spinoffs including Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, and Joanie Loves Chachi. His other ABC sitcoms during these years included Angie, The New Odd Couple, and Blansky’s Beauties. Garry was also a successful movie director, with 18 films to his credit. At Disney, he made stars of two young actresses: Julia Roberts, in Pretty Woman, and Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries. He directed Bette Midler in Beaches, as well as in The Lottery, a short film that for years was a fixture of the Backstage Tour at the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park. Garry was known for his acting, as well, and he appeared in Disney’s Race to Witch Mountain, Chicken Little, and as the Devil in Hocus Pocus.
JULIE TAYMOR is a Tony®-, Emmy®-, and Grammy®-winning and Oscar®-nominated filmmaker who has changed the face of Broadway with her innovative direction. Her adaptation of The Lion King debuted in 1997, becoming the most successful stage musical of all time; 24 global productions have been seen by more than 90 million people. The show has played in more than 100 cities in 19 countries. It received 11 Tony Award nominations, earning Julie Best Director, Costume Designer, and Best Musical for the show. Her production of The Magic Flute is currently in repertory at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Her films include A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Titus, The Tempest, the Golden Globe-nominated Across the Universe, and the Oscar-winning Frida. Taymor is a recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and an inductee into the Theater Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement. She is currently directing M. Butterfly on Broadway, opening Fall 2017.
OPRAH WINFREY is a renowned award-winning producer, actress, talk show host, and philanthropist. For 25 years she was the host of the award-winning talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, which ran for 25 seasons on hundreds of stations domestically and in more than 100 countries around the world. Oprah is also an Academy Award®-nominated actress for her role in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 hit The Color Purple. In 1998, she starred in Beloved for Disney’s Touchstone Pictures, a film that she also produced. Oprah also produced and starred in ABC’s 1989 limited series The Women of Brewster Place, and would go on to produce many films for ABC, including Tuesdays with Morrie, Before Women Had Wings, and Their Eyes Were Watching God under the “Oprah Winfrey Presents” banner. She performed as Eudora in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog in 2009 and will co-star as Mrs. Which in Disney’s 2018 film A Wrinkle in Time.
Honorees receive a two-foot-tall bronze Disney Legends sculpture that signifies the imagination, creativity, and magic they have brought to the Company. Disney Legends Award recipients will also participate in a handprint ceremony at the end of the event, and their bronzed prints will be displayed in the Disney Legends Plaza at the Company’s Burbank headquarters.
Admission to the ceremony will be on a first-come, first-served basis and is included in the price of a ticket to D23 Expo 2017.
Including this year’s honorees, a total of 276 Disney Legends have been named. Past Disney Legends include Tim Allen, Julie Andrews, Beatrice Arthur, Howard Ashman, Regis Philbin, Annette Funicello, Peter Jennings, Johnny Depp, Estelle Getty, George Lucas, Angela Lansbury, Steve Martin, Rue McClanahan, Alan Menken, Hayley Mills, Fess Parker, Sir Tim Rice, Dick Van Dyke, Barbara Walters, Betty White, and Robin Williams. Beginning with the inaugural D23 Expo in 2009, thousands of Disney fans have been able to enjoy the Legends Awards ceremony live.
Ticketsfor D23 Expo 2017 are available for $81 for one-day adult admission and $59 for children 3–9. Membersof D23: The Official Disney Fan Club can purchase tickets for $72 for a one-day adult admission and $53 for children 3–9. Multi-day tickets are also available. For more information on tickets and D23 Expo 2017, visit D23Expo.com.
About D23 Expo 2017
D23 Expo—The Ultimate Disney Fan Event—brings together all the worlds of Disney under one roof for three packed days of presentations, pavilions, experiences, concerts, sneak peeks, shopping, and more. The event provides fans with unprecedented access to Disney films, television, games, theme parks, and celebrities. For the latest D23 Expo 2017 news, visit D23expo.com. Presentations, talent, and schedule subject to change. To join the D23 Expo conversation, be sure to follow DisneyD23 on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube, and use the hashtag #D23Expo.
About D23
The name “D23” pays homage to the exciting journey that began in 1923 when Walt Disney opened his first studio in Hollywood. D23 is the first official club for fans in Disney’s 90-plus-year history. It gives its members a greater connection to the entire world of Disney by placing them in the middle of the magic through its quarterly publication, Disney twenty–three; a rich website at D23.com with members-only content; member-exclusive discounts; and special events for D23 Members throughout the year.
Fans can join D23 at Gold and General Membership levels at D23.com and at DisneyStore.com/D23. To keep up with all the latest D23 news and events, follow DisneyD23 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.
Miss Adventure Falls, a new family-friendly water attraction at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, is now taking guests of all ages on a high-seas journey.
Miss Adventure Falls brings to life the story of Captain Mary Oceaneer, a treasure-hunting heroine and world-famous oceanographer who made it her goal to sail the seven seas and collect treasures to share with the rest of the world. Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon became the home to Captain Mary’s ship after a rogue typhoon swept it and some of her artifacts to shore, where the locals then repurposed the goods and statues to create this fun, family raft adventure.
In a first for a water attraction in Florida, guests are transported via a conveyor belt — while seated in their treasure rafts — to the top of the slide, passing by Mary’s wrecked ship where her parrot and diving partner Duncan talks alongside their treasures. From there, this white-water adventure takes them through twists, turns and dips where they will see deep-sea artifacts Captain Mary collected on her many treasure hunts around the world.
Miss Adventure Falls is the latest in a variety of expansion projects across Walt Disney World Resort. Coming soon: Pandora – The World of Avatar, opens May 27 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom; a new indoor, multipurpose athletics facility at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in 2018; and a Star Wars-themed land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2019.
Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon offers water activities suitable for all ages, including signature attractions such as Crush ‘n’ Gusher, a water-coaster that takes riders aboard inflatable rafts on a twisting, turning, up-and-down adventure; Ketchakiddee Creek, a water playground for children ages two to five (under four feet tall) and their parents; and Castaway Creek, where guests hop onto inner tubes for a meandering water tour through a misty rain forest and a hidden grotto.
For more information on Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, visit disneyworld.com.
Disney Parks Podcast Show #359 – An Interview with the Griswold’s
In this episode, Tony and Parkhopper John talk to Lisa & Steve Griswold, who built a family Truckster and drove it to Wally World and WDW and so much more