This Holiday I'm Thankful For...

Well, another thanksgiving has come and gone. Hopefully everyone had a wonderful day and even managed to spend some time reflecting on life and thinking about all of the things in our own lives that we have that we can be truly thankful for.

D23 The Offical Disney Fan Club Relaunches Website with Member Exclusive Content and More!

Never-Before-Released Photos From Walt Disney's Camera Highlight the Reimagined D23.com

The Official Disney Fan Club relaunches their website with member-exclusive content and a new free level of membership.

Many Disney fans have heard Walt Disney tell the story of how watching his daughter's on the carousel at Griffith Park in Los Angeles served as inspiration to build Disneyland. But images from that fateful day have never been shown to the public… Until today. D23: The Official Disney Fan Club is launching their reimagined website with thousands of pages of new content, including a story that features photographs of Walt's daughters Diane and Sharon on the merry-go-round on that fateful day that ultimately changed how Americans — and people around the world — vacation. The Walt Disney Archives recently discovered rolls of film from Walt's personal camera with hundreds of images, just a few of which are showcased today on D23.com in their new member-exclusive section. Other photos include a young Roy E. Disney on the same carousel, as well as candid moments from Walt's life and travels around the world. 

In addition, visitors to  www.D23.com will find:

·         Exclusive Audiocast Interviews with Ginnifer Goodwin of Once Upon A Time and the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz of Phineas and Ferb

·         Disney A to Z – A complete and newly-updated electronic version of the definitive Disney encyclopedia with more than 7,000 entries written by Dave Smith, founder and Chief Archivist Emeritus of the Walt Disney Archives

·         A selection of new member-exclusive discounts and special events

·         Disney Legends and the Walt Disney Archives – Two new microsites; Disney Legends will provide a deeper look at those who’ve made significant contributions to the Disney legacy, and the Archives site will open up the doors of this venerable institution so D23 can share more of The Walt Disney Company’s expansive collections.

·         And much, much more!!

At D23.com fans can sign up for a free membership to unlock even more Disney content that is only available for D23 Members.

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What are you waiting for? Join up today!

Disney Channel Announces Star-Filled Line-Up for Disney's D23 Expo

DISNEY CHANNEL, DISNEY XD AND DISNEY JUNIOR ANNOUNCE STAR-FILLED LINE-UP FOR DISNEY'S D23 EXPO

Fans Invited to Meet the Stars of "Teen Beach Movie," "Shake It Up," "Jessie," "Phineas and Ferb," Marvel Universe, "Gravity Falls," "Good Luck Charlie,"

"A.N.T. Farm," "Kickin' It," "Dog With A Blog," "Lab Rats,"

"Crash & Bernstein" and "Wander Over Yonder"

-- Musical Performances by Bridgit Mendler and R5 featuring Ross Lynch, plus

"Teen Beach Movie" 'Surf Crazy' Fan Dance Saturday --

-- Popular Characters Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, Jake,

and All-New Mickey Mouse Cartoon Shorts Screening Sunday --

BURBANK, Calif. (June 14, 2013) – An unforgettable experience awaits kids, tweens and families who can meet their favorite stars from Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior, experience live performances, get autographs and rock out to Radio Disney tunes over three fun-filled days, FRIDAY, AUGUST 9–SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, at the ultimate event for Disney fans, Disney’s D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.  The schedule includes musical performances by certified gold Hollywood Records recording artist Bridgit Mendler (Disney Channel's "Good Luck Charlie") and Hollywood Records' pop-rock sensation R5 featuring Ross Lynch (Disney Channel's "Teen Beach Movie" and "Austin & Ally"), a 'Surf Crazy' fan dance with stars from the Disney Channel Original Movie "Teen Beach Movie," a special screening of never-before-seen Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts and more.

On FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, in celebration of "Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel," a special-one hour telecast featuring an epic teaming of characters from two hugely popular Disney and Marvel franchises, fans can meet the stars and characters including Phineas, Ferb, Agent P, Spider-Man and Iron Man. The unforgettable special premieres this summer on Disney Channel.

On SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, bikers and surfers unite on the dance floor of the Disney Channel booth for the ultimate beach ball bouncing, high-spirited ‘Surf Crazy’ fan dance with stars from Disney's “Teen Beach Movie,” an exuberant song, sand and surf fest, premiering July 19 (8:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel.

On SUNDAY, AUGUST 11 in the Disney Channel booth, Disney Junior fans of all ages are invited to meet beloved characters from top-rated preschool series "Sofia the First," "Doc McStuffins" and "Jake and the Never Land Pirates," and enjoy a special sneak-peek screening of new Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts in Stage 28.

 

Popular radio personalities from Radio Disney, the 24-hour contemporary hits radio network and the only radio broadcaster for kids and families, will join in the fun every day, along with the Radio Disney Road Crew, for interactive entertainment, fun prizes and the hottest music from kids' favorite artists.

Following is the schedule of stars making special appearances and signing autographs in Disney Channels' booth:

Friday, August 9

10:00-11:30 am  "Phineas and Ferb" creators/executive producers and stars Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh, plus stars Vincent Martella and Alyson Stoner, with character appearances by Agent P, Phineas and Ferb

11:30 – 1:00 pm  Marvel Universe stars, plus character appearances by Spider-Man and Iron Man

1:00 – 2:30 pm  "Crash & Bernstein," stars Cole Jensen, Tim Lagasse, Landry Bender, Aaron R. Landon, plus Crash appearance

2:30 – 3:30 pm  "Gravity Falls" stars

3:30 – 4:30 pm  "Lab Rats" stars Tyrel Jackson Williams, Billy Unger and Spencer Boldman

4:30 –5:30 pm  "A.N.T. Farm" stars Jake Short, Sierra McCormick, Stefanie Scott and Aedin Mincks

             

6:00 – 7:00 pm  "Shake It Up" stars Zendaya, Roshon Fegan and Adam Irigoyen

                                                

Saturday, August 10

10:00 – 11:00 am  "Dog With A Blog" stars G Hannelius, Blake Michael, Francesca Capaldi and Beth Littleford

12:30 – 1:30 pm  "Kickin' It" stars Jason Earles, Leo Howard, Olivia Holt and Dylan Riley Snyder

1:30 – 2:30 pm  "Jessie" stars Skai Jackson and Cameron Boyce

2:30 – 4:30 pm  "Good Luck Charlie" stars Bridgit Mendler, Jason Dolley, Bradley Steven Perry and Leigh-Allyn Baker, plus a performance by actress and Hollywood Records recording artist Bridgit Mendler

4:30 – 5:00 pm  Performance by Hollywood Records' R5 band

5:00 – 7:00 pm  "Teen Beach Movie" stars Ross Lynch, Grace Phipps, Garrett Clayton, John Deluca, Chrissie Fit, Jordan Fisher and Mollee Gray, plus 'Surf Crazy' fan dance

Sunday, August 11

10:00 – 12:00 noon  "Sofia the First," "Doc McStuffins" and "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" character appearances         

12:00 – 1:00 pm  "Sofia the First" star Wayne Brady, plus Sofia

                       

1:00 – 2:00 pm  Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts screening (stage 28)

2:30 – 3:30 pm  "Wander Over Yonder" stars Jack McBrayer and April Winchell, plus creator/executive producer Craig McCracken

*Schedule is subject to change.

Tickets to the D23 Expo are available at http://www.D23Expo.com.  Admission includes access to all experiences and entertainment at the D23 Expo, including the Disney Legends Ceremony, and can be purchased for single days or for the full three days of festivities. Admission is $47 for a one-day adult ticket and $37 for children 3-12. Three-day passes are $136 for adults and $106 for children. Members of D23: The Official Disney Fan Club will receive a discount for up to four admissions, as well as early entry to each day of the D23 Expo for themselves and their guests.

About Disney Channels Worldwide

Disney Channels Worldwide is a portfolio of 100 kid-driven, family inclusive entertainment channels and/or channel feeds available in 169 countries in 34 languages, spanning Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Disney Cinemagic, Hungama and Radio Disney brands.  Through cable, satellite and digital terrestrial television channels and a strategic partnership with Disney-ABC-ESPN Television for the third-party distribution of Disney-branded kids’ programming across the globe, Disney Channels Worldwide reaches hundreds of millions of viewers.  Disney Channel properties continue to rapidly expand into new markets across the world, playing a key role in introducing the Disney brand to new consumers.

About D23 Expo 2013

The D23 Expo—The Ultimate Disney Fan Event—brings the entire world of Disney under one roof, providing attendees with unprecedented access to Disney films, television and theme parks. For the latest D23 Expo 2013 news, visit www.D23Expo.com. To be part of the D23 Expo conversation, make sure to follow @DisneyD23 and tag your tweets with #D23Expo.

About D23

The name “D23” pays homage to the exciting journey that began in 1923 when Walt Disney opened his fledgling studio in Hollywood. D23 is the first official club for fans in Disney’s nearly 90-year history. D23 gives its members a greater connection to the entire world of Disney by placing them in the middle of the magic through its quarterly publication Disney twenty-three; a rich website at D23.com; member-exclusive discounts and special events for D23 Members throughout the year, highlighted by the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, August 9–11, 2013.

Fans can join D23 at www.D23.com and at www.DisneyStore.com/D23. To keep up with all the latest D23 news and events, follow us @DisneyD23 on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.

Character Greetings at Disneyland's Mickey's Halloween Party

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When we first started blogging, just a little over a year ago at this point, it was right around Halloween Time 2010 at the Disneyland Resort.  One of the things that we tried to do was jump right in feet-first and go for the gusto so to speak.  As such, one of the earliest posts we did highlighting the season was to attend the Happiest Haunts Tour with our friends at FindingMickey.com.  It was an awful lot of fun (you can go back and read it to see for yourselves), but what we didn't say was that when we decided to do the Tour, it was a choice between that and Mickey's Halloween Party.  Each and every year, the Disneyland Resort hosts the Halloween Party, where guests are able to go into Disneyland (only if you purchase a special ticket) and watch a special Halloween fireworks show, see a special Halloween parade, see special Disney Villains and characters in some great meet and greets, and go through various trick or treat stations around The Park and get all the candy your little heart can stand (figuratively and literally).  So this year, we knew it was going to be a must for us to attend Mickey's Party; under the guise of it being an official blog assignment of course!

Mark had been to The Party a time or two in the past with his niece while it was still being held at Disney California Adventure Park, but had never attended it since they moved it inside Disneyland Park last year, and Chad had never been period, so it was a new experience of sorts for both of us!  So over the next few days, leading up to Halloween, we're going to share some of our experience (and photos!) with you, our faithful readers.

We decided to go with our friends FindingMickey.com (again!) this year and attended Mickey's Party on the 21st, which was a Friday.  Of course, being the only weekend day when The Party is held, it was crazy crowded with loads of people, but we did manage to do everything we planned on doing.  Part of the problem (if you can really call it that) with Mickey's Halloween Party is that it's only 5 hours long (7pm until midnight), and with so much to see and do, choices have to be made!  We knew we wanted candy (who doesn't?!), and we knew we wanted to see Mickey's Costume Party Cavalcade (parade) and Halloween Screams (fireworks), which left us deciding what characters we wanted to see and what attractions we wanted to ride; not to mention the amount of time it takes to navigate the crowds and move around Disneyland at night.  There was just no way to do everything, unfortunately.

So, looking over our choices we decided to make our way to two different character areas over the course of the night to try for some photos.  Everywhere else had characters that were out fairly frequently anyway, so we opted for some of the more "rarified" ones and decided to try our luck with the Phineas and Ferb Character Greeting (we love that show!), and Jack Skellington and Sally later in the evening in New Orleans Square.  We had originally wanted some pictures with some of the Disney Villains, but when we went by their area they were pretty standard ones you could see any of day of the week, so we were pretty much thwarted in that regard.  But as you can see, the ones we did want to get, we did!  And we're sharing those with you today.

Meeting Phineas and Ferb was just plain awesome.  These guys, of course, really know how to throw a party and if we've learned nothing else from them and their cartoon series, it's that summer shouldn't be wasted and childhood is for the enjoyment of it all!  Can't think of any better characters to have wanted to take our picture with, so score!  

But we got a bonus with this one! Our little calendar of events for the evening said nothing about Agent P, and yet there he was!  Awesomely cool to have our picture taken with possibly the greatest secret agent on the planet?  We think so!

Maybe the coolest (and certainly the funniest) part about the entire thing though was Mark's costume.  He decided to go to The Party as Agent P, and his costume was a hit with pretty much everyone who recognized him during the night.  Simple, yet hilarious!  The Cast Members loved it too, as is evidenced by the fact that they made both of our platypuses turn around and show off their tails.  Probably one of the funniest things we saw all night, and definitely something not everyone got to experience.  We love those special touches!

The picture we most wanted, though, and the one that Chad has coveted the most for such a long time was a shot with Jack Skellington and Sally.  Unfortunately, Sally was a no-show when we finally got over to the line around midnight on our way out of Disneyland, but the Cast Members did a really cool thing in leaving the line open a little past when The Park closed, so we were able to get our shot with Jack.  He was seriously cool to interact with, and even shook Chad's hand and told him he loved his choice of wardrobe.  Although Chad wasn't in costume, he was rocking a Jack T-Shirt, and a compliment from Jack made the whole thing worth it.  And we think that we got a great picture to boot!  It was also, we think, probably the only time we'll ever hear Marilyn Manson inside Disneyland, singing "This Is Halloween" as they spun the "Nightmare Revisited" CD for this particular Greeting.  Too cool!

So there you have it! Our Character Greetings experience from Mickey's Halloween Party.  We think we made some good choices with who we opted for, and we hope you enjoy looking just as much as we enjoyed having the pictures taken.

We'll be back with more fun from The Party over the next few days (featuring the fireworks, parades and more) so stay tuned!

D23 Expo 2011 - Pavilions and Exhibitors

*note: click on any of the smaller pictures for a LARGER version*
When we were beginning to go through all of our pictures and starting to think about what we were going to write, well, the word "overwhelming" comes to mind.  We hardly knew where to start!  We mentioned it on Twitter yesterday to which one of our followers quickly responded: "Start at the beginning, and when you come to the end, stop!  See?"  Not only was it great advice, but it's a quote from "Alice in Wonderland", too, so that's exactly what we're going to do; start at the beginning.

We woke up bright and early on Saturday to get ready to head out.  Actually, it was before even "bright and early" now that we think about it.  We had heard that lines on Friday morning were really long, and Saturday was supposed to be sold out, so we rounded up our gear and headed out to park at the Toy Story Lot around 7am.  Luckily, the Anaheim Convention Center isn't too far from the Lot, so we were able to walk there in around 10 minutes, and after running into a few friends and gabbing a bit, we hopped into the D23 Member's line, which already looked something like this:

All we can say is "Thank God" for our membership.  It helped us get in fairly quickly all things told, and we even got to go in a little bit earlier than the 9am opening time for members that we thought we were going to get (General Admission were let in at 10am every day).  We were already all keyed up and excited, but when we got inside this greeted us, which of course did absolutely nothing to calm us down in the slightest.

Welcome to the Expo!!!

Once inside and through all of our checkpoints and receiving our ticket lanyards (a nice touch!) and guidebooks, we were ready to start exploring.  And that's where we'll start our first look at the Expo, inside the Exhibitors and Pavilions Hall.

This was "the hub", if you will, through which everything else kind of branched off and was basically a common room of sorts for all of the D23 Expo guests.  We spent a lot of our time over the course of our two days wandering all over the hall, and got to see quite a few pretty cool things (and meet some pretty cool people in the process).

The exhibitors portion of the room was of course where all of the, well, exhibitors were.  Art galleries were selling their painting and lithographs, Disney oriented websites such as MousePlanet and MiceChat were on hand to talk to guests, Vinylmation and Pin selling was taking place; there was just loads to see.  While it was kind of neat to look around at all of the booths and see all of the Disney wares, we honestly enjoyed the front of the hall the most, though, for several reasons.  A lot of movie-oriented booths were set up near the front of the room that really got us interested.  We couldn't be more excited about "The Muppets" which opens in November, and although we didn't meet them ourselves, we were able to see (and picture!) Cindy Morgan and Bruce Boxleitner from "TRON" signing for other guests.  It was awesome just to be able to say that we had seen them!  We also got to check out a booth and hear more about a movie we're very excited to see when it comes out next year, "Wreck-It Ralph".  It was the first we had heard about this movie this weekend about an 8-bit video game villain from the 80's who is tired with his status of a villain and longs for something more and sets out to prove that he is "hero" material.

Cindy Morgan and Bruce Boxleitner (TRON) signing autographs for the guests

There was also a lot going on on the floor on display, both for the kids and the adults.  We got a chance to see Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, the Black Pearl (from "Pirates of the Caribbean"), and even Walt's limo was on display!

Lightning McQueen made completely out of LEGO

There was also tons of excitement in the pavilions area, because that's where the Disney Channel/Radio Disney stage where. The area was always packed to the gills with parents in line with their children to see their favorite Disney Channel stars, such as the casts of "Lemonade Mouth", "Pair of Kings", "Kickin' It", and "Shake It Up".  Chad's own boys watch "Shake It Up" religiously, and we were even able to catch a pretty darn good picture of some of the stars signing autographs for many of their fans.  We're obviously way beyond the target audience of those shows, and we were still pretty excited ourselves!

Bella Thorne, Zendaya, Kenton Duty and Caroline Sunshine sign for "Shake It Up" fans

Wanting to shop? Well, the pavilions portion of the hall had you covered there as well!  There were all kinds of stores all around selling all kinds of Disney paraphernalia and goods.  Some of our personal favorites were the Disney Store booth and the D23 Expo Dream Store where they sold all of the official D23 Expo merchandise (we bought shirts which you'll see in a later picture).  They even had an area set aside for auction items from Disney to be on display!  They were hosting a large auction upstairs for some fantastic items such as a huge snow-globe of Sleeping Beauty Castle from Disneyland Park inside the Main Street, USA Emporium, but our favorite had to be the car, or pirate-ship rather, from Peter Pan's Flight.

The on-site Disney Store

One of the vehicles from Peter Pan's Flight up for grabs (and money!) at the D23 Expo

There was just so much to see, and so much to do, it would just be impossible to cover it all (as you can probably tell if you're still reading this). But we've got a couple more of our highlights from the floor still to go! We also, as avid gamers,got a huge kick out of the Disney Gaming Pavilion and seeing the new XBOX 360 Kinect's game, "Disneyland Adventures", in action.  The lines were always so long we didn't participate ourselves, but stood on the outside just like every other fan and "oohed" and "aahed" at how cool some of the gaming stuff Disney is putting out actually is.  Chad's already decided he's going to have to run out and buy an XBOX as a result of it.  No word yet on his wife's reaction to the news.

The Disney Gaming Pavilion

All that said, and out of all the excitement though, we think that one of our favorite things we did during our weekend on the floor was to participate in the Disney Voluntears program where we got to stuff bags with necessities for people who have been the victims of natural disasters around the world for the Red Cross. It was just a small way to give back to others who are less fortunate than ourselves, but it made us smile to be able to do so. So we waited in line, we grabbed our bags, and we stuffed and smiled the entire time. And at the end, we even got to take a picture with some of our favorite people on the planet, FindingMickey.com , who were able to do it with us.  It may not seem like much, but in the midst of everything else going on, we were glad that Disney was able and willing to let us participate like that in some way.  Pretty cool beans, as far as we're concerned.

Working as a Disney Voluntear for the American Red Cross

And that just about wraps up our highlights from the Exhibitors and Pavilions Hall's booths, shops, and interactivity-type things.  We feel like we only barely scratched the surface, but there was just so much we could write a novel on it and still find more to write about, so we figure as long as hit our high points, we've done our job.  There were still a few other things going on in this area of the Expo that we'll hit on later in the week, though, but we've said a mouthful so we'll break off for now.

We hope that everyone has enjoyed the pictures!  We'll be putting them into one big photo gallery (which we hope to have done later today) that we can add to as we go along, and we'll post a link for that as soon as we have it.  In the meantime, we'll be back tomorrow with a write-up of the different panels we were fortunate enough to attend during the D23 2011 Expo.  We hope you'll be back to read all about it!

We'll end with probably the coolest thing of all that was out on the floor, the "Perry the Platy-bus".  Enjoy!

*singing* Agent P...

Days In The Park Podcast Episode 7 - I Know What We're Going To Talk About Today!

Episode 7 of our podcast is up and ready for some listening!

In our latest episode we spend some time discussing the changes currently taking place inside (and outside!) Disney California Adventure Park as part of the current expansion going on at The Resort.  But we’re not all business!  We’re talking food again this month as we highlight one of the newer restaurants at The Resort, Tangaroa Terrace.  And we spend some time wittily bantering about possibly our favorite attraction (and one of its Hidden Mickeys) at The Parks, Splash Mountain.

Stop on by our podcast website and give us a listen. We'll be happy you did!