-
Subscribe for FREE!
Receive our Daily Disney Newsletter.
Have the best in Disney News & Views Delivered to you!
Category Archives: Walt Disney World
Major League Gaming Makes a Stop at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
Being an avid gamer I love this article from Disney Park Blog:
If you think you’re a video game whiz, wait til you see the pros play. The Major League Gaming Pro Circuit season kicks off this weekend at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort and features the top video game players in the country.
Spectators can roam around the Jostens Center at the sports complex and watch the fast-fingered pros and top amateurs go head-to-head in a variety of popular video games such as Halo 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Tekken 6. There are even opportunities to actually try your skills against a pro gamer.
There’s a main stage where the marquee players battle it out throughout the day. There’s cheering. There’s a little trash talking. And there’s a lot of activity with more than 2,000 gamers and roughly another 8,000 spectators.
There is a lot riding on these competitions, too. Not only is there more than $700,000 in season-long prize money up for grabs, but perhaps more important, there’s the title of MLG Champion on the line.
In addition to the competition, the event is a virtual mecca for video game lovers with autograph sessions, product demonstrations and contests for video game enthusiasts of all levels. But nothing would be sweeter for a fan than to actually whip the pants off one of the pros.
If you’re up to the challenge or if you just want to watch, get your weekend long spectator pass for $25 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex box office and follow @DisneySports for the event schedule.
Source & Photo disneyparkblog.com
DIY Network’s Ahmed Hassan to ‘Crash’ Epcot Flower Festival as Season’s Final Great American Gardener
Television viewers may recognize Ahmed Hassan as the host of the DIY Network show “Yard Crashers,” on which he hangs out at garden centers looking for unsuspecting weekend warriors who look like they could definitely use the help of his landscaping team to completely transform their yards.
But those kinds of yard-changing projects aren’t just the stuff of a reality TV show for Hassan; they are his life as a professional landscape designer and owner of a landscape design, installation and maintenance company. And May 14-16, he is bringing his wit and expertise to Walt Disney World Resort as the final presenter of the Great American Gardeners seminar series held in conjunction with the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.
Hassan’s presentation, entitled “For the Love of Landscaping,” will take place at 12 noon and 3 p.m. on May 14-16 at the festival’s Garden Town, located adjacent to Mission Space at Epcot. On the same days, the final Disney Gardening at Home seminar of the festival – “Stars of the Show: Must-Have Plants with Unique Characteristics” – will be presented at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Garden Town.
Here’s the weekend-by-weekend lineup of Great American Gardeners and Disney Gardening at Home presentations for May:
April 30-May 2 Disney Gardening at Home: Tough Plants for Extreme Gardeners
Great American Gardeners: Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden/Weedless Gardening (Lee Reich)
May 7-9 Disney Gardening at Home: Growing It Yourself
Great American Gardeners: A Fragrant Love Story (Matt Henderson)
April 30-May 2 Disney Gardening at Home: Stars of the Show – Must-Have Plants with Unique Characteristics
Great American Gardeners: For the Love of Landscaping (Ahmed Hassan)
All sessions are at Garden Town (Disney Gardening at Home at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Great American Gardeners at 12 noon and 3 p.m.). The opportunity to attend sessions is included with Epcot admission. For more information about the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, visit disneyworld.com/flower.
Refurb/Closure Schedule for Walt Disney World April 2010
Refurb/closure information is subject to change without notice and should be confirmed just prior to visiting. Updated information is available at http://www.disneyworld.com
Current
- Ranchos Quiet Pool (Coronado Springs Resort) closed through 4/16/10 for refurbishment.
- All Star Music Resort Bus Depot closed through April 2010 for resurfacing. Buses to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Epcot stop in the parking lot across from the check-in parking. Buses to Hollywood Studios and the water parks are to the left as you exit the resort’s main entrance.
- Teamboat Springs (Blizzard Beach) closed through 5/15/10 for refurbishment.
- Cantina de San Angel (Epcot) closed through Fall 2010.
Upcoming
- Muppet Vision 3D (Hollywood Studios) closed 4/24/10-5/14/10 for refurbishment.
- Stormalong Bay Pool Slide (Yacht & Beach Club Resorts) closed 5/2/10-5/31/10 for refurbishment. Guests may use the rest of the Stormalong Bay pool complex or use the pool slide at the Boardwalk.
- Fast Forward Arcade (Pop Century Resort) closed 5/10/10-5/12/10 for refurbishment.
- Baby Care (Magic Kingdom) closed 5/14/10-5/20/10 for refurbishment.
- Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster (Hollywood Studios) closed 5/15/10-5/20/10 for refurbishment.
- Lake Buena Vista Golf Course closed 5/17/10-5/27/10 for refurbishment.
- Magnolia Golf Course closed 5/24/10-6/3/10 for refurbishment.
- Palm Golf Course closed 6/1/10-6/10/10 for refurbishment.
- Osprey Ridge Golf Course closed 6/7/10-6/17/10 for refurbishment.
- Oak Trail Golf Course closed 6/14/10-6/20/10 for refurbishment.
- Lake Buena Vista Golf Course closed Mondays only 6/21/10-7/26/10 for refurbishment.
- Palm Golf Course closed Tuesdays only 6/22/10-7/27/10 for refurbishment.
- Magnolia Golf Course closed Wednesdays only 6/23/10-7/28/10 for refurbishment.
- Osprey Ridge Golf Course closed Thursdays only 6/24/10-7/29/10 for refurbishment.
Click here for April’s Disneyland Refub/Closure Schedule.
Star Wars Weekends Brings Sci-Fi Saga to Life at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Jedis, Wookiees and Ewoks, Oh My!
Once again, the power of the Force and the magic of Disney combine in May and June for Star Wars Weekends, a sci-fi fan-fest inspired by the popular film saga. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 21-June 13, 2010, Disney’s Hollywood Studios becomes the galaxy’s home for out-of-this-world characters including Sith, Bith, droids, bounty hunters, Twi’leks and Rodians.
Dates are May 21-23, May 28-30, June 4-6 and June 11-13. This year’s event will celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back,” which first appeared in theaters May 21, 1980.
More than 50 Star Wars characters will roam the streets of Disney’s Hollywood Studios for meet-and-greets and photo opportunities. Also featured: the chance to purchase special- and limited-edition Star Wars memorabilia, Star Wars trivia contests, Jedi Training Academy, Star Wars parades, rides aboard Star Tours and the popular “Hyperspace Hoopla” dance party.
Celebrities from the Star Wars films and creative geniuses who helped create the saga will be on hand each weekend for star conversations and autograph sessions.
(*Talent subject to change)
The celebrity hosts for each weekend are Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett in “Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back” and “Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi”)and Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano from “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”).
Special guests making weekend appearances include:
- May 21-23: Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett in “Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones”), Daniel Logan (Boba Fett in “Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones”), and Dee Bradley Baker (voice of Captain Rex in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”)
- May 28-30: Matthew Wood (voice of General Grevious in “Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith” and “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”), Lorne Peterson (model-maker who worked on all six Star Wars live-action films) and Tom Kane (voice of Yoda in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”)
- June 4-6: Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian in “Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back” and “Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi”), Ray Park (Darth Maul in “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace”) and Dave Filoni (director of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”)
- June 11-13: Ray Park (Darth Maul in “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace”), Peter Mayhew (who played everyone’s favorite Wookiee, Chewbacca, in four of the live-action films) and James Arnold Taylor (voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”).
Event activities are included in theme park admission. For more information, guests may go online to starwars.com, disneyworld.com/starwarsweekends or disneyparks.com/blog.
Party for the Planet on Earth Day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Another great article from the Disney Park Blog:
April 22 is a very special day for Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Not only is it Earth Day, but it’s also our theme park’s birthday. Could it be 12 years already? As an opening team member, I can’t believe how quickly time has flown! And how fitting it is that Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened on Earth Day. Walt Disney — whose life-long love affair with wildlife and wild places inspired animated features, documentaries and more — would have been proud.
There’s no better place to celebrate Earth Day than at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where Guests are invited to Party for the Planet in a fun-filled day overflowing with special activities from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
The party starts just inside the turnstiles, where Guests will be welcomed and begin their celebration. Guests can play earth-friendly games at several activity stations throughout the park, and then head to “party central” — Rafiki’s Planet Watch. It’s the perfect place for kids to get in touch with their inner amphibian (can your child jump as far as a frog?), sea turtle (what’s it like to wear a shell?) or other fascinating creature (be on the lookout for lady bugs). In celebration of the premiere on Earth Day of the new Disneynature film “Oceans,” families will learn actions they can take to protect ocean wildlife and habitats, including coral reefs.
