Home News Disney News Disney News Round Up: Royals, Rebels, and Refurbs

Disney News Round Up: Royals, Rebels, and Refurbs

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January 21, 2015

Today we time travel to the 90’s, bounce back to the future of Sleeping Beauty Castle, and view the recently reopened Royal Courtyard at Disneyland. The Star Wars Half Marathon took Disneyland by storm and a new Frozen meet and greet area is coming to Epcot. Did you hear that the new Avatar film is being delayed until 2017? Could that mean anything for the project happening at Disney’s Animal Kingdom? We also have news coming from the Disney parks overseas with a Hong Kong Disneyland trip report, figures from Euro Disney, news for a new attraction coming to Tokyo Disneyland, and the possibility of DisneySea coming to Hong Kong.if you haven’t heard yet, MiceChat is celebrating 10 amazing years and the full line-up of weekend festivities has just been announced.	Get Mouseaddict for free HERE
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Disneyland gets ready for its 60th Anniversary with refurbishments throughout both theme parks Disneyland is quickly becoming a park full of construction walls as more and more closes for refurbishment as the park gets ready for its big 60th Anniversary celebration this summer. Today, Sleeping Beauty Castle begins its refurbishment and transformation for the park’s Diamond Celebration. And that’s not all — repainting, repairs and renovations are underway in both theme parks, from “it’s a small world” to Paradise Bay as the Resort gets ready to celebrate. Meanwhile, Disneyland hosted the inaugural RunDisney Star Wars Half-Marathon over the busy holiday weekend. CityWalk Changes and Islands of Adventure Construction Dateline Disney World is growing. For 2015, I decided that I wanted to have more of a finger on the pulse of the theme park industry in Orlando, so I reached out to Dusty and Co. about doing some Universal Orlando coverage. They loved the idea, so once a month, I will be doing Universal Orlando updates here on Dateline, with the other 3 weeks being focused on Walt Disney World as always. There’s a lot of excitement at Universal, so let’s jump right in and see what’s going on . . .


DON’T MISS: MiceChat 10th Anniversary Weekend at Disneyland February 6 – 8th It’s been 10 years since we first started MiceChatting. Our big celebration will be held in and around the Disneyland Resort and will include a cocktail reception with legends of animation, panel discussions with Disney Imagineers, authors and even a beloved legend or two. We’ll celebrate Yesterland, give away fantastic prizes, and enjoy a wonderful time with friends old and new at the Happiest Place on Earth. If you’ve been with us from the beginning or have only recently found us, we look forward to seeing you at the Disneyland Resort February 6th through 8th. Event information and tickets available HERE now! MiceChat Anniversary Hotel Offer Looking for a hotel room for the MiceChat Anniversary? The delightful Anabella Hotel (just behind California Screamin’ at DCA) is offering a remarkable MiceChat 10th Anniversary Rate: $89 (Standard Room Types) $139 (Concierge) Rate is valid 2/6/15-2/8/15 Rate only available for those who call in to reservations at 800.863.4888. Don’t forget to ask for the “MiceChat 10th Anniversary” rate. Find out all the details of the event here! MiceChat 7 night Alaska Cruise on the Disney Wonder – June 1st, 2015: Join us as we sail toward the top of the world on the delightful Disney Wonder. We’ll hold all sorts of special MiceChat meet-ups on board and hear many wonderful stories from our special guest. Suggest group excursions you might want to join us on. Dine as a group to discuss our adventures and more. Vancouver, Tracy Arm, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, glorious glaciers, whales, and spectacular nature everywhere. Don’t miss this MiceChat adventure at sea! Ask us for more details on any of our upcoming MiceTrips or for Disney adventures of your own by emailing us at [email protected]. It doesn’t cost you more to use our travel agent, it’s just more magical. Let us do the work, you enjoy the Disney fun!!!
Profits from the sale of every bottle of refreshing O-Zell soda supports the restoration of the Walt Disney Birthplace in Chicago. Pick up some delicious Victorian style natural soda AND help a great cause at the same time: O-Zell Soda For a special treat, listen to the O-Zell jingle here: O-Zell Soda Song
This week we go back a quarter century, all the way to 1990, to see what Disneyland looked like during it’s 35th birthday. We also see the newly refurbished Royal Courtyard! ~ Aladdin The Royal Courtyard Reopened to Public! The Royal Courtyard construction has been completed and is now open to the public. dfan07 has photos of the new staircase, that was built. Tell us what you think of the results, and the new colors! Sleeping Beauty Castle Refurb With the Disneyland castle soon to be refurbished, to spruce it up before the 60th anniversary celebration begins, westonbuck wonders what the castle will be covered with, during the process. Why would it need to change? Look at it. It’s perfect. a video of Disneyland 1990 If you go back 25 years, you end up in 1990. Time Travel has a Disneyland trip video from a quarter century ago! Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend Cookie Boat is looking for your experience and opinions on the recent inaugural run of the new Star Wars Half Marathon event. Joe’s 2015 Star Wars Half Marathon weekend at Disneyland mre200200 brings us a in-depth review of the first ever Star Wars Half Marathon, everything from Pricing to event setup! Awesome New View of Fireworks Though this current fireworks show is very short, there has been some perks. DLR159 shows us a new view of the fireworks which we think you’ll really enjoy. Scarcely a week goes by anymore without meantion of Frozen in regards to anything with Disney. ~ Trekkie Dad ‘Frozen’ Meet n’ Greet Coming to the Norway Pavilion – Next to ‘Frozen’ Attraction Whats this? John69 has posted some unique and useful information in regards to where, how much space the new Frozen attraction / meet and greet is going to use up at Epcot. From Avatar being delayed to the new interactive que for Peter pan, we have some great threads for you to read this week! Avatar 2 delayed until 2017 With the delay of Avatar 2 until Christmas of 2017, KEBSD is wondering is this will impact Avatarland? Interactive Queue at Peter Pan’s Flight Disney has given us a sneak peak at the new Queue for Peter Pan’s Flight. ‘Frozen’ Meet n’ Greet Coming to the Norway Pavilion – Next to ‘Frozen’ Attraction John69 brings us information about a Frozen Meet and Greet plus maybe more at the Norway Pavilion. Lots happen overseas at all of the theme parks, with trip reports and a unique Day to Night sequence of Hong Kong Disneyland! November 2014 Trip Report HKDL indianajack brings us a great trip report from Hong Kong Disneyland. EuroDisney SCA 2014 facts & figures Hathaway Browne has shared a video about EuroDisney’s 2014 facts and figures. Stitch Encounter Coming to Disneyland Tokyo in July John69 brings us information that ‘Stitch Encounter’ will open in July at Tokyo Disneyland. Trademark ‘DisneySea’ registered in HK According to the Intellectual Property Department of HK, the trademark of ‘Disneysea’ has been registered. Hong Kong Disneyland From Day To Night TimmyTimmyTimmy has made some great video from his latest trip to Hong Kong Disneyland. “Find Your Light” Music Video Here is a nice video that may be part of a promotion for the Hong Kong. This week we have photo reports from Victoria, BC and the Caribbean. ~ Trekkie Dad Knott’s Berry Farm (Idealized Resort w/Map) charliebucket plays armchair imagineer for Knott’s Berry Farm, presenting a thorough remake of the resort, including a detailed map.
Frozen at the Royal Theatre Mr. Jones and Mr. Smythe tell the tale of Frozen with Elsa and Anna at Disneyland’s Royal Theatre in the Princess Fantasy Faire. The Haunted Mansion Show Episode 26: An Unexpected Creepy Calling Deep within the attic of Gracey Manor, the Hatbox Ghost has more stories to tell. It concerns the “Phantom Manor” once again, which seems to bear a remarkable if not room-for-room resemblance of the beloved original Haunted Mansion. You, the viewer, can only be assured that there’s more to the old place than simply creaking hinges and doorless chambers. Add to that, it took more than hitchhiking for a certain specter to follow Ol’ Hattie home… Window to the Magic: Enjoy the sounds of the park on our weekly journeys into the wonderful world of the Disney sound experience! Direct Link \| iTunes Link Disafterdark: You wait ages for shows, then two come along at once. Just the three of us again! We start the news chatting about Avatar, before it degenerates into a “what films were released in the year you were born” All neat and pretty, then on with the show. Direct Link The Season Pass: The Essential Theme Park Podcast: Tony Baxter returns to the Season Pass Podcast to discuss creating Disneyland Paris, 1998’s Tomorrowland at Disneyland, and more! Direct Link \| iTunes Link Disney Avenue Podcast: Born in Southern California in 1952, Ron was born to be a performer. He was a puppeteer, ventriloquist, magician and actor, who was fascinated by Walt Disney’s Disneyland and so was born his dream of one day performing at the park. Ron got his first theme park job in 1970, and over the ensuing 40 years he’s done it all – writing, directing, consulting, managing and performing for multiple production companies and in eight theme parks and five themed restaurants across America. Direct Link \| iTunes Link Mousetalgia! – An Unofficial Disneyland Podcast: It’s back to the email inbox, as Team Mousetalgia answers your questions. The topics include a list of our favorite exhibits at the Walt Disney Family Museum; Disneyland dining with a baby; sharing a love for Disney with people who don’t share your passion; antenna ball tips when you don’t have an antenna on your car; a special Small World birthday party report; Keila leaves for the WDW College program and has questions; what to expect from a trip to dine at Club 33; finding gold in Frontierland; ranking the Pirates films; and growing up with Disney. DoomBuggies Spook Show: In this spook-er-sized Halloween episode, we discuss the recent “Ghostly Materials” exhibition at Disneyland and speak with one of the artists, Bridget McCarty, about the opening day of this release of Haunted Mansion-related artwork. We also talk about the recent flood of Haunted Mansion merchandise in the parks, and the new Haunted Mansion-specific store called “Memento Mori” at the Magic Kingdom. Direct Link Unofficial Universal Orlando Podcast: On this show, we discuss what is coming to the Universal Orlando resort, as well as Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Singapore and Universal Studios Japan. in 2015 and beyond and delve in to some of the rumours flying around about the 4 resorts. Concentrating mainly on Orlando, we discuss the 25th anniversary of Universal Studios Florida and Halloween Horror Nights 25. Direct Link

The Future of Disneyland Paris We have a bittersweet post today from Alain Littaye of Disney and More. He is hanging up his writing hat for now and this is his very last column. Fortunately for all of us, this is a big juicy post just filled with Disneyland Paris rumors, news and updates. And no worries, Alain has set us up with a Disneyland Paris reporter whom we already know. More on that in our next update. For now, enjoy this post from Alain and join us in casting a spell which brings Alain back to us sooner rather than later. Disney Review – Rogue Wave by Jennifer Donnelly Knotts Berry Farm is Pretty in Pink Yesterland: Unknotting the Treehouse Legend A Delightful Dollop of Dole Whip A day spent at the Disneyland Resort, for many of us, induces excitement at the thought of indulging in our favorite magical treat(s). The churros, the character candy apples, the popcorn, the mint julep, the Mickey-‐Mouse-‐shaped ice cream bars, the corn dogs…I’m salivating at the very thought of such guilty pleasures.

The MiceEars Crew puts a lot of time and effort into making these Round-Ups happen. Our thanks to: Editor CakvalaSC and the MiceEars Crew: Aladdin, Yoyoflamingo, Trekkie Dad, DLandFansAZ, RegionsBeyond, Fishbulb & Dustysage.	We hope to see you online again soon, Dusty and the amazing MiceChat crew!
If you have questions for Anthony our Editor or our MiceEars Grew they can be e-mailed at: [email protected] or Follow him on Twitter @CakvalaSC \| Flickr: flickr.com/photos/cakvalasc/ \| Instagram: instagram.com/cakvala