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Last week a fascinating show was aired on WMFE.org, the Central Florida NPR station, that looked at what SeaWorld needs to do to complete its recovery from the twin blows of a deflated economy and the death of a trainer who was attacked by the largest killer whale in the pod.

SeaWorld decided not to send a representative to take part in the show, but I found that the 1st half of the show was reasonably balanced and had some new insight I hadn’t considered. Alas, the second half of the show featured a decidedly one-sided view of what it was like to be a trainer and work with killer whales.

The episode is now online or you can download it as a podcast and is worth your time if you’re interested in the future of SeaWorld. Myself, as long as training is improved and safety procedures followed, I’d like to see trainers back in the water with the whales. The show has greater power when audience members see how close our future is tied to the survival of the ocean. Putting a barrier there dulls the impact.

Another group that’s interested in SeaWorld is PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals). But rather than see improved safety in the pools, they want a judge to declare that keeping animals as part of a show, is the equivalent of slavery. I find that to be a pretty extreme position, but a judge didn’t see it that way and actually heard preliminary motions in the case. Let’s hope this case is thrown out on it’s ear before we’re having to free all the fish from our aquariums, dogs from our kennels, or cows from their ranges.

What must SeaWorld Do To Fix Shamu Show, Parks? originally posted on
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Disney has released a few stills from its next animated feature “Wreck It Ralph.” Ralph is a video game bad guy who decides to see if there is more to life than what he experiences in his game.

Ralph decides that he can be a hero and finds his way into a game called Hero’s Bounty, headed by hero Sgt. Calhoun. Ralph jumps inside this game to fight off oncoming bugs but unleashes a terror that could destroy his whole arcade.

Finally, we have by what looks to be another world for Ralph to explore.

Very interesting. As you might expect in a film where the protagonist moves from video game to video game, it looks like visual style will shift greatly throughout the film. I have to say that none of these ‘wow’ me like the early stills from “Brave” did. But I am intrigued. The concept and the character have a lot of potential for some great story telling. Let’s hope Walt Disney Animation Studios hits this one out of the arcade.

Wreck It Ralph his theaters in November 2012.

Wreck It Ralph Stills Released originally posted on
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NFL World Champion New York Giant’s & two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning managed to put in an appearance as scheduled after winning Super Bowl XLVI and recording the world famous “What Are You Going To Do Next?” commercial. Why go to Walt Disney World, of course.

“I’m going to Disney World!” proclaimed Manning Sunday shortly after his team scored a dramatic 21-17 win over the New England Patriots to capture Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. In a gala parade Monday at Magic Kingdom, Manning made good on that promise, waving and smiling alongside Mickey Mouse from a red convertible in the shadow of Cinderella Castle.

Four years ago the scene wasn’t the same as Manning left Pop Warner players to ride the parade route alone after deciding to stay at the Super Bowl scene. Even though Manning still has childish good looks, he has matured and was at the park for a full parade and an interview session.

Fans of the Giants and Manning, including those sporting team jerseys Monday, got to see their hero up-close as he rode the route. New York Giants balloons mixed in with red, white and blue balloons along the parade route, Mickey Mouse was joined by other Disney characters and confetti in the shape of the Lombardi Trophy (awarded to the NFL champion) rained down on the happy scene. Manning was later joined in the Magic Kingdom by NFL Youth football players.

Manning’s “I’m going to Disney World!” — anchoring one of TV’s most enduring and iconic Super Bowl commercials — was captured seconds after the final whistle. Monday’s visit marked his second “What’s Next…?” appearance in the Disney commercial. In 2008, Manning was celebrated following the Giants’ 17-14 upset win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

This latest commercial is the 45th in a series that began in 1987 following Super Bowl XXI. The first “I’m going to Disney World” commercial, featuring New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms, was regarded as a groundbreaking concept – a produced national commercial involving a current event, airing on major networks within hours of its conclusion. Manning again joined a lineup of people from sports and beyond who have celebrated milestone accomplishments in “I’m going to Disney World” commercials.

Next up for Manning and his teammates? A Ticker-tape parade in New York City.

(photos courtesy Disney)

Previously: Eli Manning to visit Walt Disney World.

Eli Manning Visits Walt Disney World as two-time Super Bowl MVP and NFL World Champion originally posted on
The Disney Blog - Disney News and Information -- by fans, for fans

The Disney History Institute scores big again with a vintage color film from 1957 Disneyland. DHI uses the same transfer process that Ken Burns does to get his amazing footage and the result is something with the truest and brightest colors I’ve ever seen from Disneyland’s early days.

Go read the original post where Todd J Pierce points out some of the amazingly cool things even I missed in these clip.

1957 Disneyland Film is a Treasure originally posted on
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Opening at Discovery Cove this spring is Freshwater Oasis, an all-new attraction featuring wading adventures and face-to-face encounters with playful otters and curious marmosets. Designed with a rainforest canopy above and sparkling-clear springs below, Freshwater Oasis is a natural fit within Discovery Cove’s tropical atmosphere.

Discovery Cove is great for relaxing or having fun (mix and match to your own desire) and the addition of the Freshwater Oasis will add even more fun to the mix. No matter where you turn in the area’s water-filled trails, you’ll find endless discoveries. I’m looking forward to the river otters myself.

Here Discovery Cove Vice President Stewart Clark leads us on a sneak peek at the progress made so far.

Look for more Webisodes as they get closer to the opening of Freshwater Oasis later this year.

Discovery Cove’s Freshwater Oasis – A Sneak Peek originally posted on
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Eli Manning and Wife Abby McGrew at Disneyland in May 2008

The 2012 46th Super Bowl was eerily similar to the 2008 game, it featured an amazing acrobatic catch and the winning team is once again the New York Giants over the New England Patriots. Once again Eli Manning was voted Most Valuable Player, just as he was in 2008. And once again Manning recorded the famous ‘What Are You Going to Do Next’ commercial. Of course, there’s one event from 2008 we hope Manning does not recreate… missing his Disney Main Street victory parade.

The Disney Parks Blog notes that Eli Manning will be parading down Main Street USA at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World on Monday, but in 2008 Manning decided he needed to stay in town and do some other engagements. So the parade float with Pop Warner stars went down the route with out him (see this sad photo on LaughingPlace). Manning finally made it to Disneyland in May and met with the youngsters, but it wasn’t cool to leave the Pop Warner football stars and all his fans hanging like he did in the first place.

Wouldn’t it be funny if everyone stayed home tomorrow so Eli Manning could get a dose of how it feels to be left hanging.

NFL Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning Appearing at Walt Disney World on Monday originally posted on
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There is a great library of Disney characters ranging from Oswald The Lucky Rabbit to the Disney Afternoon Cartoons; and yet, when you look at the iOS Apps that Disney is releasing, it seems if there isn’t a marketing budget for some new movie or re-release, then it doesn’t make it onto the iPhone. Instead we get “Where’s My Water” (iTunes), which is a good game, and it can complete with other viral games like Angry Birds, but it doesn’t have that tie to the Disney magic we fans desire.

So, I guess it is left up to the fans to fill the gap. Take Robert Piquel. He’s 25 years old and from France. He’s spent the last 5 years learning how to program because he wants to make a great Disney TakeSpin Fan Video Game. The following video is a concept piece for the game he really wants to make.

It’s not exactly cutting-edge, but it has me excited to go back and revisit the stories from shows like TaleSpin or Gummi Bears and tell new stories in the modern video game format. What about you?

Where are the Disney Game Apps? originally posted on
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Prepare to have your sweet tooth teased. The latest “Every Role a Starring Role” video from Disneyland picks the ‘rolls’ of the new Jolly Holiday Bakery Café on Main Street, U.S.A.. Head Chef Janine Ruozi is responsible for these amazing creations (look for the Matterhorn Macaroons).

Did this one may make you hungry, or what?

Jolly Holiday Bakery Café at Disneyland, Sweet Treats originally posted on
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The 2012 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival will begin blooming soon. In just over a month the park will roll out its 19th festival and the third with HGTV as a sponsor. I think it’s been a great partnership and look forward to seeing what the combined forces can bring this year.

One of the highlights promises to be the Sorcerer Mickey topiary that’s part of the largest-ever Disney front-entrance topiary. There will be a stellar cast of HGTV design celebrities and a great line up of artists at the Flower Power concert  series.

Here’s a sneak peek of this year’s festival news:

• The 19th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival presented by HGTV runs March 7-May 20.
• Disney’s gardening magic goes a long way when an eight-foot-tall floral Sorcerer Mickey topiary holds court in front of the park’s iconic Spaceship Earth.  Standing atop a 12-foot-tall floral mountain cliff, Sorcerer Mickey directs a riot of color in the manicured shapes of dancing broomsticks, buckets, mushrooms, hippos, alligators and elephants straight from the classic Disney film, “Fantasia.” The scene pops with pink geraniums, white poppies, violet petunias, blue delphiniums and pansies.
• Twice daily each Friday through Sunday of the festival, HGTV designers and hosts share their insights on landscapes and design with Festival Center audiences.  John Gidding of “Curb Appeal: The Block” kicks off the series March 9-11 with curb-appeal design tips for homeowners.
• Music fills each festival weekend when pop music hitmakers of the 1960s and ’70s rule the America Gardens Theatre stage with performances of their greatest songs.  Jose Feliciano ignites the Flower Power concert series March 9-11 with his treasure trove of tunes.  Two new festival acts are in store:  Chuck Negron formerly of Three Dog Night (April 27-29) and The Orchestra featuring former members of ELO and ELO Part II (May 4-6).

The front-entrance floral spectacle will welcome guests to a festival packed with new gardens and displays, featured speakers and hands-on fun for all ages, including daily gardening workshops with take-home projects for all who participate.

Thirty million blooms, 240 floating mini-gardens on two ponds, 700 container gardens of flowers, herbs, plants and vegetables, dozens of Disney character topiaries, 30 “flower towers” of impatiens and sweeping beds of original floral designs create a new tapestry of brilliant color across the 260-acre Epcot landscape.  It takes more than one year and 400 Walt Disney World horticulturists to plan and prepare for the 75-day festival.

Halfway through the festival, Disney gardeners remove the cold-hardy blossoms that thrive in March and early April to plant a new crop of flowers that flourish in spring’s warmer temperatures.  And throughout the event, dozens of gardening experts meet guests daily with fresh landscape ideas for 2012.  Daily workshops at the Festival Center let guests dig into projects they can take home at the end of the day.

Don’t Miss!

• The Festival Center- Guests can shop for festival merchandise, attend demonstrations and get ideas and tips from master gardeners.  In Future World between Universe of Energy and Mission:SPACE.
• Disney Gardening at Home presentations - Disney horticulturists and local experts like Robert Bowden of Harry P. Leu Gardens will share gardening tips and lead guests in a hands-on, take-home activity. At the Festival Center.
• Special Festival Weekend Celebrations - An Art in the Garden celebration of plein air artists is scheduled March 23-25; a Disney’s Animal Kingdom Specialists weekend presents indigenous insects that are part of our world; a Florida Federation of Garden Clubs gathering will be April 27-29; and a Fresh from Florida Farmer’s Market salute is slated for May 4-6.
• Bambi’s Butterfly House, three times the size of the festival’s original, is a-flutter with multiple species of brilliant butterflies.  At Imagination Walkway by Innoventions West.
• Pixie Hollow Fairy Garden - Fabulous Disney fairy topiaries alight to greet young fans who enter this whimsical garden designed with play structures for children ages 2-5.  At the Test Track Walkway.
• The HGTV Designers Stage presents HGTV celebrities each Friday through Sunday and nationally recognized garden personalities Monday through Thursday.  At the Festival Center.
• Flower Power concert series welcomes back 20th century pop favorites this year when Chubby Checker and The Wildcats, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Davy Jones and eight other bands rock the America Gardens Theatre with their timeless tunes.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Performers and appearance dates subject to change.

Join us below the fold for some topiary trivia:

The largest number of front-entrance topiaries ever, 1,000 brilliantly hued butterflies, 240 floating mini-gardens and 30 million blooms paint a landscape masterpiece at the 19th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival March 7-May 20 at Walt Disney World Resort.

Among this year’s fun festival facts:

•  30 million blooms blanket the park throughout the festival, which runs 75 colorful days.
•  The festival’s front-entrance Fantasia topiary scene comprises 28 topiaries - more than have been used in any front-entrance display.  The 28 include Sorcerer Mickey, three ostriches, two hippos, two alligators, two elephants, nine stars, a spiral and eight mushrooms.
• 22,615 plant plugs of 15 plant varieties make up the Fantasia front-entrance topiary.  They include reindeer moss for Sorcerer Mickey’s face and red begonias for his hat; creeping fig for Mickey, hippos and gators; Sweet Ayssum, and three shades of Lobelia  simulate water spilling over a large topiary rock made up of Black Scallop Ajuga upon which the Sorcerer stands.
• 4,000 Blushing Bride air plants from Guatemala color the two hippos’ tutus and 300 Cotton Candy air plants from Peru feather the wings and tails of the three ostrich topiaries.  Smaller air plants are used as ostrich slippers.
• 1,250 feet of quarter-inch irrigation tubing is woven into the Fantasia front-entrance topiaries.
• Dozens of additional Disney character topiaries represent the largest collection of Disney character topiary in the world and include classic film stars like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Cinderella and Tinker Bell.
• At least 25 different plants, grasses and mosses of various colors, including pink and red begonias, dusty miller, palm fiber, palm seeds, ficus and lichen, are used to create and define features of additional festival topiaries.  More color has been added to the topiaries than in any previous topiary presentation.
• 1,000 native butterflies represent up to 10 species at the expansive Bambi’s Butterfly House. Among the garden’s two dozen nectar plants are Cape Royal plumbago, passion flower, coral honeysuckle, blazing star, butterfly bush, scarlet milkweed and canna lily.
• More than 500,000 plants, trees and shrubs are planted for the festival; 250,000 of those are annual blossoms installed for the festival.
• Festival plants include 60 different species of trees, 47 types of palms, and 48 varieties of bedding plants.
• 150 hands-on gardening demonstrations and seminars will be presented.
• Thirty “flower towers” of impatiens line Innoventions Plaza.
• 240 floating mini-gardens, each three feet in diameter, of multi-hued impatiens provide splashes of color on two ponds that border the walkway between Future World and World Showcase.
• 700 container gardens of flowers, herbs, plants and vegetables in clay pots, barrels and urns enhance the landscape throughout Epcot.
• 400 Walt Disney World horticulturists are needed to install the festival landscape, topiaries and many exhibits; 100 Epcot horticulturists maintain topiaries and other festival displays.
• It takes more than one full year and about 24,000 cast member hours to prepare for the annual festival.
• The festival’s weekend Flower Power concert series includes 11 artists and groups known for more than 100 Top 40 hits.  This year’s musical hit-makers from the 1960s and ’70s include Jose Feliciano, Starship starring Mickey Thomas, The Guess Who, The Spinners, Chubby Checker & The Wildcats, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie, Chuck Negron formerly of Three Dog Night (NEW!), The Orchestra starring former members of ELO (NEW!), Herman’s Hermits Starring Peter Noone and Davy Jones.

EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival Blooming Soon originally posted on
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The magical sights and sounds of Disneyland Resort can now be discovered with “Disneyland Explorer,” the official Disney Parks app for iPad, available as a free download from the App Store.

I like the photo-realistic aspect of this app. The photos, video and special activities inspired by the classic attractions and entertainment at the resort look like this could be a lot of fun to use in between trips to the park.

Disneyland Explorer App Now for Free on the iPad originally posted on
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I love a good story that brings warmth and happiness, I mean literally warmth. The BlanketEARs are a group of Disney World cast members dedicating to are sprinkling a little extra pixie dust throughout the community by knitting and crocheting items for donation to various charitable organizations in and around Central Florida.

Established in 2007, the BlanketEARs started out as a small group that would get together once a week to knit caps for soldiers deployed overseas. Over the years the group grew into a sizable organization and expanded their efforts to include baby caps, afghans and pet mats. They meet once a month for an evening workshop to work on various projects as well as to learn new skills — a new stitch, pattern and even learning to quilt.

This past holiday season, the BlanketEARs delivered more than 150 caps and blankets to hospitals in the Orlando area.

“The thought of someone personally creating items makes patients feel cared for and blessed. It means a lot because the Disney BlanketEARs took the time to make something that can bring joy and comfort,” said Alexsandra Rosello, a coordinator at the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute.

Cast Member Kelly Ann Antalek was inspired to start the BlanketEARs here in Florida after reading about a similar group in California. She quickly learned that there were many local organizations that would gladly take hand knitted crafts.

“My motivation is simple.” Says Antalek. “The more I crochet, the more I can donate to people in need.”

Looking forward, the BlanketEARs aspire to reach out to more charities in need of assistance and hope to include wheelchair totes and scarves among their donations.

Disney Cast Members Are BlanketEARs originally posted on
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With this latest video I’m continuing my Expressions series. This series is about capturing the details of the parks that help make the magic and provide memories of a lifetime. If you can’t be at the parks today, perhaps watching an Expressions video will at least put you in the spirit.

Thanks for watching.

Expressions – A Day at the Magic Kingdom originally posted on
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