Disney parks

Today is Epcot’s 25th anniversary. The second park of Walt Disney World in Florida, EPCOT Center, opened to the public on October 1st, 1982. Today the park celebrates this special day with a rededication ceremony, special fireworks display, a gallery exhibition showcasing Epcot memorabilia, and guest conversations with Disney Legend Marty Sklar.

To launch the Disney Parks’ “Year of a Million Dreams” celebration, spectacular new images were unveiled yesterday featuring the work of acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz, and starring Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella, Beyoncé taking a spin in a giant teacup and David Beckham slaying a dragon. Disney has commissioned more images by Leibovitz that will feature other celebrities in classic, Disney fairy tale settings.

New character heads with blinking eyes and movable mouths have debuted at the “Dream Along with Mickey” show at the Magic Kingdom Castle this week. The eyes and mouth are moved by the puppeteer’s hand motions, which control the mechanics inside the rubber head. Check out this video of the new Mickey, Daisy, Goofy and Donald in action. More »

This weekend, the Sunday Times reported that Disney is talking with Spanish officials about building on farmland near the Spanish town of Manilva, on the Costa del Sol, a popular tourist area. Disney said it was investigating various possibilities, from a summer camp for children, to a full-scale theme park. More »

At the official opening of the brand-new Expedition Everest this weekend, President Al Weiss revealed two new attractions to be added to the list of upcoming attractions at the World, both based on the popular Pixar animated film Finding Nemo. The two new attractions will open by the end of this year. More »

This week the brand-new attraction Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast had a surprise soft-opening at the Disneyland Paris park as visitors got a sneak preview at this fifth incarnation of the popular attraction, which first opened in 1998 as Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. There will be shareholder and annual passholder previews this weekend and next week, and the official opening is scheduled for 8 April. More »

Disney will be sailing into new territory in 2007. The company announced today that Disney Cruise Lines will sail to Italy, France and Spain from May to August 2007 as part of a larger strategy to ‘chart new waters’. More »

Today Hong Kong Disneyland announced that it plans to add three new attractions to their small theme park as part of its long-term expansion plan. The additions include Autopia, Stitch Encounter and UFO Zone. More »

The Disneyland resort in California is changing it’s smoking policy from March 1st; all hotels will become non-smoking. At the resort an average of no more than two requests per day come in for smoking rooms. More »

Times Square in New York City will be transformed into the legendary Mount Everest on 15 and 16 February, celebrating the newest addition to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida: Mount Everest.

A 57-story spectacular will bring the Himalayas to life, with powerful avalanche effects, daytime pyrotechnics and the ferocious roar of the yeti, plus world-renowned aerialist acrobats performing a never-seen-before display of vertical acrobatics. More »