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Category Archives: News
Disneyland Resort Gives Back During the Twelve Days of Christmas
The Disneyland Resort and its cast members have a legacy of giving, started by Walt Disney himself, and the giving efforts kick into high gear during the 12 days of Christmas. Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to:
- On the first day of Christmas…1,000 individuals receive necessities through the annual Adopt-A-Family program in partnership with MOMS Orange County.
- On the second day…2,000 military care packages and postcards are sent to military personnel around the world through Operation Uplift.
- On the third day…30 children at CHOC Children’s Hospital attended a holiday party hosted by Disney and gift bags were provided to another 150 hospitalized children.
- On the fourth day…4 food packing events at the Orange County Food Bank, including one on National Family Volunteer Day, provided more than 150,000 meals to individuals in need.
- On the fifth day…$5,000 worth of Disney merchandise was donated by the Resort to support the Adopt-A-Family program.
- On the sixth day…$6,000 was donated to the Irvine Animal Care Center, and during the Center’s holiday pet adoption event, Disney VoluntEARS helped 241 animals find a home.
- On the seventh day…700 holiday Goofy hats were donated to five local nonprofit organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
- On the eighth day…800 gifts were wrapped by Disney VoluntEARS during the annual holiday gift wrap event, raising funds to send military care packages.
- On the ninth day…90+ Disneyland Resort Cast Members volunteered to host holiday parties at local nonprofit organizations, including Walnut Manor and the Blind Children’s Learning Center.
- On the tenth day…10,000 toys were collected for the Toys for Tots Foundation through the Resort’s annual toy drive – a tradition that was started by Walt Disney 62 years ago.
- On the eleventh day…11 food drop-off locations throughout the Resort resulted in a food drive that collected 2,100 pounds of food for families in need.
- On the twelfth day of Christmas…more than $12 million in cash and in-kind goods will have been donated by the Disneyland Resort and its Cast Members in 2009.
Alaska Airline’s Spirit of Disneyland II
Alaska Airlines showed off its newest livery, “Spirit of Disneyland II.” Back in 2002 Alaska announced their “Spirit of Disneyland I” livery, which was retired about two weeks ago. Can you tell which one of Mickey’s friends was missing on the first livery?
Because they used a Boeing 737-400 on the first livery, it wasn’t long enough to include Pluto, but since the newest livery is on a Boeing 737-900 (which is about 20′ longer), Alaska was able to include Pluto, re-uniting Mickey and his closest four friends.
The new livery took over 300 gallons of paint, 120 gallons of paint remover (before painting the new livery), and 32,400 feet of tape (which is 108 football fields).
Not only did Alaska show off their new plane, they also flew three “Make a Wish” children from Portland, down to LAX to go to Disneyland.
Alaska Airlines’ new Spirit of Disneyland was the inspiration for this creation by Austin Hoben, age 4-1/2:
Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade with Ryan Seacrest
Celebrate the holidays with Ryan Seacrest, as he hosts this years Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade, Christmas morning on ABC- 10am Eastern, 9am Central, Mountain & Pacific.
*New* Walt Disney World Vacation Offer – Free Disney Gift Card
Disney is launching a new vacation package offer at Walt Disney World Resort and it’s one worth noting. Beginning today, you’ll get up to a $750 Disney Gift Card free when you buy a 5-night/6-day non-discounted Walt Disney Travel Company package at a select Walt Disney World Resort hotel. The offer is available for stays most nights through June 3.
Never used a Disney Gift Card? It can be used to shop, dine and play at Walt Disney World. Disney Gift Cards have no fees and they don’t expire.
You can book now through March 27 but you should know that the number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited. We have more details about this offer at the Disneyworld.com special offers page.
Also, there’s one gift card per room provided at check-in. Visit Disneygiftcard.com for participating locations and terms and conditions.
Monorail guide warned of hazard when trains backed up without a spotter
The manufacturer of Walt Disney World’s monorail trains warned against the kind of reverse driving that contributed to the system’s first fatal crash this past summer, according to documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.
An operating manual written for the Disney trains by Bombardier Inc. warned that driving the vehicles in reverse “is a potentially hazardous operation even under the best conditions†and “strongly recommended†that an observer be stationed at the opposite end of a train whenever one is backing up.
The July 5 accident occurred as a Disney train was supposed to be moving off of the resort’s Epcot loop at the end of a work day, a process that requires the train to move in reverse through a track switch and onto a short spur leading to one of the system’s Magic Kingdom loops. But the track switch was not activated that night, so the train wound up reversing back down the Epcot loop instead, hitting another train and killing the second train’s 21-year-old driver, Austin Wuennenberg of Kissimmee.
At the time of the crash, Disney’s monorail policies did not require that someone be watching the back of the train being driven in reverse. So there was no spotter in place who could have warned the driver that the switch had not moved and the train was backing down the wrong track.