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Category Archives: News
Recession slows some construction at Disney World
Saturday’s Orlando Sentinel carried a story looking at how construction at Walt Disney World has slowed amid the weak economy. Not only has construction slowed down but attendance and box office numbers have dwindled. As you can see by all the offers and deals Disney is offering they are struggling. As soon as our economy turns around we will see the numbers jump back up I am sure of it. Oh by the way if you are booking your Disney trip be sure to wait after the end of January to book so that there are no lines when we visit..just kidding..
Here is the article from the Orlando Sentinel:
Data from the Reedy Creek Improvement District show building permit activity during the past year fell 25 percent from a year ago and total value of construction permitted fell 61 percent (from $409.4 million to $158.7 million).
So what IS getting built? Here’s a look at some of the biggest projects that Reedy Creek has permitted over the last year (according to monthly reports that the district’s building department submits to its board of supervisors):
– Upgrade facility controls, ride controls and smoke control at Space Mountain (valued at $12.3 million)
– Renovate rooms at Disney’s BoardWalk Villas ($4.4 million), the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort ($3.7 million), Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort ($2.8 million), Disney’s Yacht Club Resort ($2.5 million) and the Shades of Green Resort ($1.5 million)
– Install hardscape and infrastructure for Flamingo Crossings ($2.6 million)
– Resume construction of a Holiday Inn ($1.8 million)
– Demolish the Magic Kingdom Skyway building in Tomorrowland and renovate restrooms ($1.1 million)
Click here to keep reading
Jonas Brothers keeps Disney Channel ‘Jonesing’ for Season 2
The Disney Channel are jonesing for more Jonas Brothers!
The cable channel has ordered a second season of the pop stars’ comedy series “Jonas” and has tapped new executive producers: showrunner Lester Lewis and director Paul Hoen.
Disney Channels Worldwide entertainment president Gary Marsh called Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas, who are in Italy as part of the European leg of their Live Nation-produced world concert tour, to give them the pickup news.
Production on Season 2 of “Jonas” is slated to begin in February for a premiere in the middle of next year.
Additionally, Disney Channel has renewed the trio’s short-form reality series “Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream” for a second season. Filming already is under way for a premiere early next year.
“These guys are the superstars of their generation,” Marsh said. “We had the opportunity to extend our relationship with them, which we did.”
Click the picture above to keep reading.
Disney Channel starlet spies “Harriet” TV movie
Jennifer Stone (Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place”) will play the lead role in “Harriet the Spy,” a TV movie based on the classic kids book series by Louise Fitzhugh.
The movie, shooting in Hamilton, Ontario, will debut next year on Disney Channel worldwide and on the CBC and YTV in Canada.
The script sees young Harriet determined to be her high school’s class blogger as she clashes with her nemesis, popular student Marion Hawthorne.
The 1964 book was turned into a feature in 1996 with Michelle Trachtenberg in the starring role. Which reminds me why is this being remade in the first place?
Farewell Mickey’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’
“Mickey’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” show will no longer be available for viewing at Walt Disney World with the removal of the Galaxy Palace Theater. The show will be replaced with a new show starring some Disney-Pixar stars.
Starting on Tuesday, November 10 with the Magic Kingdom’s first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party of the season, there will be a new show premiering to the public in Tomorrowland.
The new show, “Totally Tomorrowland Christmas” is an interesting concept with Stitch, Buzz Lightyear, and Mike Wazowski trying to discover the true meaning of Christmas. Â While the show will include Christmas classic songs, it will have a more ‘upbeat’ and mix the songs with a more modern style. Click the picture above for the full article.
Here is some video from last’s years performance..Who knew it would be the last year?
Former Disneyland Employees Bookkeeper Sentenced for Embezzlement
Teresa Cora Luna isn’t going to Disneyland – not as a union official anyway. On October 6, Luna, formerly bookkeeper/office manager of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 504, was sentenced in federal court to five months in prison for embezzling $67,416 in funds from the union. She also will have to pay full restitution. The union represents about 300 stage production workers at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
Luna, now 35, a resident of Anaheim, during November 2004-June 2005 allegedly printed out more than three dozen checks from an IATSE checking account and made them out payable to herself. To make the theft convincing, she forged the signatures of two other union officers. She was fired in 2005 shortly after discovery that funds were missing, and eventually was charged and pleaded guilty in September 2008. Luna faced up to five years in prison, but U.S. District Judge David O. Carter gave her a lighter sentence in a less restrictive lockup so she could see her children more often. The sentencing follows an investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.
