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A magical knopportunity

NDM1 — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:15:57 GMT

Going to Walt Disney World isn’t just about riding the attractions. It’s also about seeing old friends and making new ones. It’s a place where friends meet everyday to share a magical journey.

On my most recent Disney family vacation we had the pleasure to spend our first day in the parks at the Magic Kingdom with JL Knopp, the creator and founder of the Neurotic Disney People, and her three amazing and beautiful children Margeaux, Miller, and Ellie. Although my son, Bret, and daughter, Haley, are much older than JL’s children, they all seemed to hit it off and had a great time touring the park. My wife, Michele, and JL also got along very well. It’s too bad JL’s husband, Joel, could not join us because he just started a new job and had to work.

In finally meeting JL, I was able to see first hand what drives her passion for Disney, and it is also clear her three children share the same fervor for the parks. They have an infectious zeal that spreads cheer to all those around them. Despite the intense heat and massive crowd levels they never uttered a single complaint. As a matter of fact, they maintained an incredible, energetic enthusiasm from the early morning hours until very late at night. The Knopp clan are an exceptional group, and you could just sense how proud JL is of her children, and deservedly so.

They say a mother will do anything for her children. Well, JL is a perfect example of that. As the day moved on and with the Florida sun getting stronger and stronger with Animal Kingdom like temperatures, JL made sure her children remained properly hydrated. So, she goes into a small back pack she’s been lugging around all day and pulls out a full gallon bottle of water. I have to tell you this back pack was so small it was like watching a magician pull a rabbit out of a hat. My wife and I were astonished to see this huge bottle of water come out of the tiny back pack, and we were further amazed that JL had been carrying it around all day. For those who don’t know, JL is a petite woman, but she must have bones of steel.

It is clear JL is devoted to her family, loyal to her friends, and dedicated to Disney.

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Behind the Scenes: Disneyland Performers Prepare for Celebrate! A Street Party

Bigbearsg — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:30:10 GMT

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Give A Warm WDBoards.com Welcome To conrenmil

WDBArnyVee — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:29:08 GMT

Welcome conrenmil :happy:

Please introduce yourself to your fellow WDBers and make sure that you check out all of the different features on the WDBoards.com such as....

WDB Arcade: Click Here To Play Great Games!
WDBling Shop: Get A Piece of WDBling!
WDB Video Directory: Watch Great Disney-related Videos!
WDB Ratings and Reviews: Get The Scoop From WDBers On Everything From The Disney Parks To Disney Movies!
WDB Tic Tac Toe: Donald Vs Mickey, Isn't That Always The Case?!
WDB Sudoku: Fun game that can be VERY addicting!

....and, those are just some of the 'extras' here on WDBoards.com! You see, we have Disney amateur and professional experts here on the WDBoards! That's right, you can ask questions in our various forums and you'll get answers from your fellow WDBers and even some of our Magical Travel agents can help you get things sorted out just in time for your next trip to any of the Disney parks from around the world! :woot

So please, go ahead and introduce yourself....the water's warm! ;)

Universal Studio's Singapore & Resorts World Sentosa Give's Their Standard Answers to

Bigbearsg — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:00:11 GMT

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New Video: Laugh-O-Grams Films - Little Red Riding Hood (1922)

WDBArnyVee — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:07:43 GMT

Laugh-O-Grams Films - Little Red Riding Hood (1922)

Video: Laugh-O-Grams Films - Little Red Riding Hood (1922)
Category: Laugh-O-Gram Cartoons
Uploader: WDBArnyVee

Quote:

Originally Posted by WDBArnyVee

July 29, 1922 - The first Laugh-O-Gram cartoon Little Red Riding Hood is released. A silent black & white short, it is written, produced, and directed by Walt Disney and animated by Rudolph Ising. It is considered Walt's first full-length short cartoon as prior to this only minute-long cartoons have been produced.

R2.8 - Disney Movie Challenge: Pinocchio vs Cinderella

WDBArnyVee — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:32:26 GMT

WDBOARDS.COM DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

PINOCCHIO vs CINDERELLA
ROUND TWO CHALLENGE

If you missed the introduction to this game and would like to learn the rules, please click here. Everyone is welcome to play at any time!

In short, simply vote for the one of the movies based on your own personal criteria. Post why you voted a certain way (or didn't vote for a certain attraction). We'll be voting on 32 Disney Movies during the course of this game, resulting in 1 final winner.

HOW TO VOTE?
At the top of the thread you will see two choices. Please click on the radio button next to your choice for the best attraction in this particular matchup.

So, who do you choose? :reading

R2.7 - Disney Movie Challenge: Tarzan vs Snow White

WDBArnyVee — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:31:10 GMT

WDBOARDS.COM DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

TARZAN vs SNOW WHITE
ROUND TWO CHALLENGE

R2.6 - Disney Movie Challenge: Sleeping Beauty vs The Jungle Book

WDBArnyVee — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:25:38 GMT

WDBOARDS.COM DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

SLEEPING BEAUTY vs THE JUNGLE BOOK
ROUND TWO CHALLENGE

R2.5 - Disney Movie Challenge: The Lion King vs Lady and the Tramp

WDBArnyVee — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:24:03 GMT

WDBOARDS.COM DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

THE LION KING vs LADY AND THE TRAMP
ROUND TWO CHALLENGE

NEWS Disney to Buy Playdom, Latest Sign of Its Social Media Embrace

WDB News — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:32:09 GMT

From Twitter discounts to Facebook games, Disney is making waves in the social media sphere in recent months. Its latest move to acquire social gaming firm Playdom is yet another example of the old media powerhouse's embrace of digital and social media.

Disney today announced its agreement to buy Playdom, producer of online games like Mobsters, Sorority Life, and Tiki Farm (pictured above).

Disney described the acquisition as a way to bring its array of licensed characters - from Mickey Mouse to Spider-Man - to new platforms. Disney already offers several games inspired by characters from its films, TV shows, and entertainment properties, such as Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Hannah Montana: Sound Board Mix-Up, on its Disney.go.com site. Disney also bought the popular Club Penguin gaming site in 2007.

According to data from InsideSocialGames.com, Playdom's titles rank much higher among MySpace users than Facebook users. While several Playdom games including Mobsters, Sorority Life, and Poker Palace ranked among the site's top 25 MySpace games in July, just one - Social City - made it into its top 25 Facebook games last month. InsideSocialGames.com ranks social games according to number of monthly active players.

But Disney already has taken its social strategy far beyond games and online entertainment. Earlier this month the company expanded its relationship with Twitter via a "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" ticket discount offered through Twitter's paid @earlybird service.

"Enter your zip code, show time, 2 tickets, the APPRENTICE code, and get your 2 for 1 ticket to #SorcerersApprentice!" stated one post linking to a page on Fandango.

The campaign followed a promotion for Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation's "Toy Story 3" through another paid Twitter service, Promoted Tweets.

At this stage, a Disney exec told ClickZ News, the company is merely testing the social media waters. Each effort is "brand dependent, product dependent, and situational," rather than part of a broad company-wide strategy. In the end, he added, it's all part of the company's mission to be where people are and offer them a number of ways to interact with Disney brands and characters.

In keeping with its efforts to pair immersive branding experiences with revenue-generation, Disney developed a Facebook application called Disney Tickets Together which allows people to coordinate "movie parties" by organizing groups of friends to buy tickets to Toy Story 3.

Disney has also embraced viral efforts employing YouTube and Facebook for films including Toy Story 3 and "Iron Man 2." The Toy Story 3 campaign, for instance, featured an intricate series of viral efforts, including Web videos mimicking '80s toy ads. An elaborate collection of websites, video, and Facebook content was created to promote Iron Man 2, a Paramount Pictures film based on the Disney-owned Marvel comics title.

The social gaming sector has heated up this year. Yahoo partnered in May with Zynga, maker of popular Facebook games like Farmville and Mafia Wars, to integrate its games on Yahoo. And today, a Wall Street Journal report suggests Google is in talks with gaming firms including Zynga and Playdom in conjunction with development of a Google social networking service.

According to a Disney press release, Playdom's shareholders will receive $563.2 million, and a performance-linked earn-out of up to $200 million. Playdom will remain in its home base of Mountain View, California. Playdom CEO John Pleasants has been named EVP of the Disney Interactive Media Group and GM of Playdom. Disney said it expects the deal to close by the end of its 2010 fiscal year.

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RUMOR Google negotiating with EA, Disney, Zynga

WDB News — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:55:27 GMT

The long-awaited arrival of Google in the games sector could almost be upon us with claims that the search giant is in talks with major publishers about game content for a new contender in the social networking space.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is negotiating with EA�s Playfish, casual games specialist Zynga and Playdom, which was recently purchased by Disney.

It�s looking to get partners on board ahead of the launch of a games-orientated Facebook-style network, or a �YouTube for games�.
The proposition is especially pleasing for casual games developers as the sector is currently dominated by Facebook. A heavyweight rival would lessen this power and create a better platform from which content providers could position themselves.

It would also give them an alternative to Facebook�s 30 per cent commission rate that it demands from the sale of virtual goods on its platform.

Earlier this month it was reported that Google had invested as much as $100m in Zynga with the intention that the Mafia Wars and Farmville creator would form the base on which a new service, labelled then as Google Games, would be built.

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Rumor Alert: New Ride Cars For Battlestar Arrive and Fire inside Madagascar Ride at U

Bigbearsg — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:40:58 GMT

This is being reported on Screamscape a blog in the US. If true why is Universal Studios covering this up??????

Quote:

As for the rides themselves… I’ve heard from a few other sources about these issues. Battlestar Galactica is getting better it seems, as I’m told that some new cars are arriving at the park for the coaster this week. They will have to begin some extensive testing of the ride again soon to ensure that the problems have been solved. While early testing is likely to happen when the park is closed, it wont be long before daytime testing begins to take place once again.

As for Madagascar… the story gets a little weird. According to our source, some kind of fire may have broke out inside the attraction, causing some extensive damage to some of the scenes. If that wasn’t bad enough… it seems the entire ride system is a big steaming pile. The flume system is plagued with technical problems, and I’ve even heard it said that the lifts and chutes for the flume may possibly be removed entirely before they’re done. Anyone know just who built the ride system for this attraction?

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Mouse of zen

NDM1 — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:33:09 GMT

morning showers sing / lullaby to rainbows / a princess awakes

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Comic con announcements

NDM1 — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:33:09 GMT

When I think of Comic Con, I think of lots of superheroes wandering around and news regarding Marvel and DC Comics. I was quite surprised to find out that there were a couple announcements related to Disney at the convention last week.

After a talk about the upcoming movie Tron: Legacy at Comic Con, a 3D video was shown with Johnny Depp playing is infamous character, Jack Sparrow. Depp talked about the upcoming film in the Pirates of the Caribbean saga, On Stranger Tides. In this film, which will be in 3D, Jack Sparrow will be searching for the fountain of youth. It was reported that the crowd was impressed by the clip, and were looking forward to the movie’s release on May 20, 2011.

The second announcement is about an all new Haunted Mansion movie in the works. While there was a family friendly and comedic version of the Haunted Mansion made in 2003, this version of the movie will be quite different. The director is Guillermo Del Toro and at the announcement of the movie, he said that he is planning on making this a scarier movie. Del Toro is a huge fan of the Haunted Mansion attraction; he even has memorabilia of the attraction in his home. Because of his love for the attraction, he wants to make sure that the movie stays true to the plot of the attraction. The movie will star the Hatbox Ghost, an original ghost from the attraction that has long been absent, but everyone still seems to know who he is! The script is not written yet, so there is no word as to when this movie will be released, but it seems that this movie may be in the ever popular 3D.

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Disney�s caribbean beach: Part 1 of 3

NDM1 — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:33:09 GMT

The Caribbean Beach Resort is a beautiful resort, with lush vegetation, bright buildings and sandy beaches that surround the Barefoot Lake. This hotel is located in the EPCOT area and is also located close to the beautifully themed Typhoon Lagoon. Family’s find that this Resort is often their favorite due to the themes and moderate pricing. The resort has good room sizes and makes kids all over scream, “I want to stay in the Nemo Room!” In addition to the great room themes, the Resort offers an island feel that takes you to that tropical hideaway, right at Disney World parks’ doorstep!

For those of you that have never stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort, this Resort has approximately 2,100 rooms and covers over 40 acres. Many of the rooms are themed after the Finding Nemo film with the wall boarder and the bedspread adorned with the beloved fish. However, the Nemo theme is subtle enough that often visitors do not even notice the small, adorable orange fish! But to my son, age 4, it is such a cool room! In fact, when staying in the Nemo-themed room, he asks to return from the parks simply to check that Nemo was still there!

In addition to the themed rooms, a guest staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort will find that they have a room of approximately 340 square feet. Each of these large rooms includes a table and two chairs typically situated next to two large windows allowing for the guest to bring the outside beauty in! The room includes two double beds, a mini-fridge, shower, bath, toilet, double sinks, hairdryer, coffee maker, a storage chest, television and telephone. You will find that the “feel” of the room and amenaties are a scale above that offered in the value resorts, i.e. the double sink area in the bathroom are separated by a privacy curtain allowing guests to get ready early in the morning or late at night while others are sleeping or relaxing at the table or bed area.

When checking in at the Resort, guests are quickly whisked away to the islands as they feel the breeze from the large ceiling fans and hear the tropical music found in the Custom House Lobby. In addition, children love the kid’s area which includes a coloring table and kid-sized chairs for watching their favorite Disney cartoons. This Lobby also includes restrooms, concierge services and vending machines. Guests can make their dining reservations, buy park tickets and get all of the maps needed. Be sure to note, if you are using the Disney bus system, they do not allow guests to bring their bags/luggage on their internal bus system. Instead, guests are asked to use the bell services for delivery of their bags.

Guests staying at this Resort are assigned to a resort area, i.e. Aruba, Jamaica, etc. Each resort area includes several buildings which are all painting one pastel color to help the guest identify their area when going/returning to their particular building. Should a guest have a car on their visit, the parking in relation to the rooms is extremely close to the resort room. This makes unloading and loading bags an easy task.

Next week I will begin my review of my family’s actual stay at this Resort. I will say that the stay started off extremely rocky and included an emergency room visit. Stay tuned as I begin my Caribbean Beach mini-series!

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