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Monthly Archives: April 2010
Disneyland Paris to host Electronic Sports World Cup June 2010
The Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC), an international competition for the world’s best video-game players, will be held at Disneyland® Paris for the first time from 30 June to 4 July 2010. The event is being organised by Games Solution, which recently acquired the brand. ESWC 2010 will bring together the 600 best players and teams from around the world.
ESWC, which was launched in 2003, has established itself as the leading event in the world of video games. The only event of its kind, ESWC is an annual electronic-sports celebration that gathers the best teams in the world in order to compete on video games specially designed and adapted to player confrontation. The next event will take place at Disneyland® Paris in the summer of this year.
The 2010 programme will include five tournaments for console games and five tournaments for PC games: Counter Strike; Counter Strike Women; Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne; Trackmania ESWC; Quake; Defense of the Ancient; Need for Speed Shift; Street Fighter 4; FIFA 2010; and Guitar Hero. Players are competing for the title of World Champion in their discipline, as well as for prize money of US$213,500.
Established in over 50 countries, the ESWC competition is not open to all: players wishing to take part must attend one or more national events during the season in order to ultimately qualify for their national heats, which are held by local organisations. Participants who make the finals will qualify for the ESWC. Qualifying heats began in January 2010 and end in April, with national finals taking place in May 2010.
The qualification system often depends on the number of contestants and on how much interest electronic sports generate in a particular country, as well as on the quality of the national organisations involved. Some countries, such as Denmark, have high-level players but do not have major local tournaments, and, as a result, have not previously been able to qualify for ESWC, while other countries, including the United Kingdom, boast a very active national community and wide-scale events, but have yet to succeed in placing a single player in the finals.
About ESWC
In 2010, the Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) will take place from 30 June to 4 July at Disney’s Newport Bay Club® Convention Centre at Disneyland® Paris (France). The event will be broadcast to over 50 countries, as well as live on the internet.
For further information, please go to: www.ESWC.com
200 Students Enter Downtown Disney Resort Hotels 2nd Annual Teachers Contest
More than 200 students from around the country already have entered the “A+ For Teachers at Downtown Disney” awards competition being hosted by the Downtown Disney Resort Area Hotels in partnership with AirTran Airways and Walt Disney World®, and more are expected to participate before the competition ends on May 31, 2010.
The contest asks participants to nominate their favorite teacher, with winning educators and the students who nominate them each receiving a four-day, three-night vacation trip to one of the seven Downtown Disney Resort Area Hotels. Entrants to date are praising their teachers for hard work, mentoring, a sense of humor, engaging lesson plans, dedication, patience, and sincere concern for their students. The essays relate tales of educators who stand out with their unique teaching and ability to connect with students.
Students wishing to nominate their teachers for consideration have until May 31 to write a brief essay and submit it via the Downtown Disney Resort Area Hotels’ Web site at www.downtowndisneyhotels.com. Entrants also were solicited via Facebook through April 17. Ten national winners will be chosen, and both the participant and their favorite teacher nominee will win the prize package that includes:
- Four-day / three-night accommodations for up to four people at one of the Downtown Disney® Resort Area Hotels
- Free airfare to Orlando for up to four people on AirTran Airways (for residents outside of Florida)
- Four free Walt Disney World® one-day, one-park passes
- Complimentary breakfast at the hotel each day for up to four people
“Downtown Disney® Resort Area Hotels want to celebrate those teachers who truly make a difference in the lives of their students in spite of the many challenges their schools are facing,” said Kelly Knowlen, chairperson of the organization’s marketing committee. “We’re thrilled with the entries we have received to date in our nationwide contest, and we look forward to rewarding 10 lucky entrants.”
Contest winners will be announced on the hotels’ Web site and on its Facebook page
For more information on the “A+ For Teachers at Downtown Disney,” visit www.downtowndisneyhotels.com
Special Dining at DisneyWorld for Mom’s Special Day
Go “Under the Sea” or have dinner with the Disney characters in two different dining options for Mother’s Day on May 9.
For brunch, Tables in Wonderland is creating a special “Under the Sea Garden” at Epcot in the Living Seas Salon, on the second floor of The Seas with Nemo & Friends pavilion. With fab views of the saltwater aquarium, this is one of the most unusual “backstage” spots for parties.
There are two seatings, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and from 2 to 4 p.m. Price is $95 per person, plus tax (gratuity included). For reservations, email WDW.Tables.In.Wonderland@disney.com with your name, daytime phone number, home address and number in your party. You’ll be notified on a first-come, first-served basis. Credit card information will be taken by phone once a reservation is confirmed. The event is limited to 108 guests per seating, and you must be a Tables in Wonderland member to attend.
Three courses include strawberries with Devonshire cream; traditional Nicoise salad; filet mignon, petite tenderloin of beef on English muffins, poached eggs and Bearnaise, potatoes and asparagus; crepes, chocolate lava cake with vanilla gelato, pastries, fruit and berries. Mimosas, magnolias and sparkling wine included!
Tables in Wonderland is for Florida residents only and is $100 a year ($75 for annual or seasonal passholders).
For evening fun, the casual Garden Grove at the Walt Disney World Swan is trading in its usual barbecue buffet for a Mom’s Day dinner from 5 to 9:30 p.m. with chef interactive stations and food a mom could love: Florida grouper, pesto-crusted Cornish hens, beef tenderloin, wild mushroom ravioli and more (with plenty of sweets). Kids get mac ‘n cheese, mini-corn dogs and chicken tenders. And the Disney characters make anyone smile for priceless family photos.
Cost is $34.95, $15.95 ages 3 to 9 (not including tax and gratuity).
Source and Photo disneyparkblog.com
DisneyNature to Save 35,000 Acres of Coral Reef in Bahamas
Disneynature’s Motion Picture “Oceans” Helps Establish a New Marine Protected Area
Disneynature announced today that its “See ‘OCEANS,’ Save Oceans” campaign will protect more than 35,000 acres of coral reef in The Bahamas on behalf of the moviegoers who came out to see Disneynature’s motion picture “Oceans” during its opening week. Through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, Disneynature will help establish new marine protected areas through the The Nature Conservancy’s Adopt a Coral Reef program. At 55 square miles, this protected area of coral reefs will be almost two-and-a-half times the size of Manhattan or the equivalent of more than 412 Disneylands, supporting the expansion of the Westside National Park of Andros.
The Bahamas represent an important ecosystem, straddling the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The 700 islands that comprise The Bahamas contain miles of vital coral reefs, which are the foundation of a healthy ocean environment, providing shelter, nurseries and feeding grounds for hundreds of marine species, including dolphins, sea turtles and a wide range of fish. Scientists estimate that the coral reefs of the Caribbean could be gone in 50 years without a network of well-managed marine protected areas.
“We’re excited to once again collaborate with The Nature Conservancy on an initiative that takes the impact of Disneynature’s storytelling to an entirely new level,” said Alan Bergman, president of The Walt Disney Studios. “The health of our oceans is absolutely vital to the well-being of our planet and thanks to the supporters of Disneynature’s motion picture ‘Oceans,’ this investment in marine conservation will help ensure critical aquatic environments will thrive for future generations.”
“Disneynature has captured the beauty, wonder and fragility of our world’s marine habitats and species in ‘Oceans,’ said Mark Tercek, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. “We appreciate Disney’s commitment to help protect marine areas in The Bahamas, which is home to 30 percent of all coral reefs in the Atlantic Ocean. With Disneynature’s support, The Nature Conservancy and its partners are making significant progress toward our ambitious goal of doubling the total amount of marine protected area in The Bahamas.”
Throughout Earth Month, Disney also supported The Nature Conservancy’s initiative in stores and online adding an additional 4,000 acres protected. In Disney Stores (DisneyStore.com), proceeds from sales of eco-friendly “Save Planet Earth” reusable bags benefit the Adopt a Coral Reef program. In addition, a donation on behalf of the company’s environmental youth initiative, Disney’s Friends for Change (Disney.com/projectgreen),
is also supporting the cause allowing kids to vote on which region of coral reefs the contribution will protect.
In The Bahamas, 300,000 acres are currently protected along the west side of Andros Island. The Nature Conservancy and its local partners have worked to define new marine protected area boundaries, which would result in growing the total protected area from 300,000 acres to more than a million acres.
This is the second consecutive year that Disneynature has collaborated with The Nature Conservancy to protect the planet. Last year, Disney offered to plant a tree in honor of every moviegoer who saw “Earth” in the first week of release. This resulted in the planting of 2.7 million trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, one of the planet’s most endangered rainforests as part of The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees campaign (plantabillion.org). Similar initiatives through DVD sales and Disney Store promotions pushed that number to nearly three million trees.
For more details on Disneynature’s collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, please visit disney.com/Oceans.
ABOUT THE MOVIE
Disneynature, the studio that presented the record-breaking film “Earth,” brought “Oceans” to the big screen on Earth Day, 2010. Nearly three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered by water and “Oceans” boldly chronicles the mysteries that lie beneath. Directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud dive deep into the very waters that sustain all of mankind—exploring the harsh reality and the amazing creatures that live within. Narrated by Pierce Brosnan and featuring spectacular never-before-seen imagery captured by the latest underwater technologies, “Oceans” offers an unprecedented look beneath the sea in a powerful motion picture. For more information, visit disney.com/Oceans, become a fan on Facebook: facebook.com/Disneynature or follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/Disneynature.
ABOUT THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Nature Conservancy and its more than one million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at nature.org.
Good Eats – Main Street Bakery at Walt Disney World
Main Street Bakery in the Magic Kingdom is known for their delicious baked goods for breakfast or anytime during the day. The decor fits perfectly against the backdrop of the other stops and shops on Main Street.
Pop in for a Cappuccino, Smoothie or indulge on their world famous Ice Cream Sandwiches! There is plenty of seating room for families so come in and take a load off.
For those on the meal plan you can dine her for a snack credit or a quick service meal.
Helpful Hint – Gluten Free Snacks are availble for those with special Dietary needs!
Our last visit we stopped in here for a couple of cupcakes and a cookie. The smells were so intense and delicious it was hard to leave.
Check them out on your next visit, they are open anytime the park is open!