Disney World

Walt Disney World is lending a helping hand to a small group of Republican senators trying to stockpile cash ahead of the fall elections.

New financial reports show Disney in mid-June wrote a $10,000 check to a group called the “Alliance for a Strong Economy.” That’s a political fundraising organization that was recently formed by six Republican senators, including Senate President Ken Pruitt of Port St. Lucie and Central Florida Sens. Mike Haridopolos of Indialantic, J.D. Alexander of Winter Haven and Carey Baker of Eustis.

Disney is one of six donors to the group so far. Others include Florida Power & Light, which gave $15,000, and the American Insurance Association, which gave $25,000.

Walt Disney World is planning to add actresses playing Tinker Bell and her friends from an upcoming series of “Disney Fairies” movies — and might be creating a new attraction based on them.

Disney held auditions last week for actresses to play the Disney Fairies characters in the parks, including Tinker Bell, Silvermist, Rosetta, Iridessa and Fawn.

In a prepared statement, a Disney spokeswoman explained: “Disney Imagineers are currently creating a special new home for Tink and her friends which promises to immerse guests in the world of Pixie Dust at Walt Disney World.”

Spokeswoman Andrea Finger would not elaborate about whether this meant the fairy characters will have their own attraction, nor did she specify which park they might appear in.

Except for Tinker Bell, the characters are based on a new “Disney Fairies” entertainment franchise that the Walt Disney Co. has been developing in recent years through children’s books, Internet Web pages, games, toys and a series of straight-to-DVD movies that will begin emerging this fall.

GTOs scheduling a visit to Disneyland Resort Paris over the coming autumn and winter months will find plenty of events to keep your group entertained.

Between 4th October and 2nd November, Disney’s Halloween Festival will be staged at the Resort featuring special shows and plenty of character meet and greets. Also, for one night only, groups will be able to attend Disney’s Halloween Party, to be held on 31st October, where you can attend a DJ party, parade and fireworks display. Tickets for Disney’s Halloween Party are an additional cost; however, group discounts are available.

Shortly after will be Disneys Bonfire Spectacular, set for 3rd, 5th and 7th November, which will feature a dramatic fireworks show and a floating bonfire on Lake Disney.

Christmas, meanwhile, will be celebrated in usual Disney style with artificial snowflakes settling on Main Street USA and a colourful night time parade. Taking place from 8th November until 6th January 2009, the event will also see Sleeping Beauty Castle transformed into an ice palace and group members may even be lucky enough to meet Father Christmas and his reindeer.

Entry to these events, excluding Disney’s Halloween Party, is included in the park’s admission charge.

Some were up all night, others tried to sleep on the sidewalk, but concrete generally doesn’t make for a cozy bed.

“She came in at I think, at 3:30 yesterday”, one man said.

“I’ve been here since 11 o’clock yesterday morning”, said a woman in line.

Those potential home buyers camped out beginning Friday morning outside Stadium Lofts in Anaheim, in hopes of snapping up a condo, at what for many were bargain prices.

A broker for the developer, Windstar, called it a one day sale.

“It’s sort of like your blue light special, only this was more than your garden variety discount… This was a real, real estate deal, with condos slashed by up to $125,000 for a two bedroom, two bath unit”, the broker said.

The lowest price was for a one bath loft, reduced to $242,908 down from $341,400, with the highest priced… a two bedroom at $402,966 down from $535,300.

Granite counters are standard and all appliances, stainless steel, are included.

The 390-unit building on Katella, near Disneyland and a block from Angel Stadium, was completed in January of 2007.

Scott Hamilton with Doma, the company which brokered the sale, says while 195 units had been sold, nothing since February of that year had moved.

Hamilton says prices were dropped so the developer could stop losing money, while putting home ownership within the grasp of people who would otherwise be priced out of the market… in this case, an urban market.

The building sits atop shops with amenities including a gym, pool and game room with a gourmet kitchen.

Hamilton says nearly 50 condos were sold during the event, plus three which were were purchased at regular price.

Casey Williams became a first time buyer with a one bedroom condo.

First item on the agenda, a condo-warming party.

“I’m really happy”, Williams said. “This area is going to appreciate, with all these shops around here. Yeah, I’m excited.”

People around the world are flipping over judo at Disney’s Coronado Springs, which hosted the USA Judo National Junior Olympic Championships this weekend.

The sport of judo is kind of like the popular mixed martial arts “ground-and-pound,” without the pound.

MMA has has enjoyed an incredible surge in popularity in recent years, but it is still not as popular as the sport from which it originated. Judo is the second most popular sport in the world, next to soccer.

“The MMA has a lot of things realated to judo,” said Jose H. Rodriguez, CEO of USA Judo, the U.S. Olympic headquarters for the sport. “As a matter of fact, if you actually look at one of the best, [Chuck] Lidell, and that group of fighters, they all came from judo. A lot of MMA agents out there are going to be checking out some of our athletes to get them into fighting in the MMA.”

Of course, many of the athletes might not be turned so easily. Judo is something they have been doing most of their lives, and it is in their blood.

“I got into it through my father,” said Tyler Ferry, a young judo practitioner from Riverview, in Hillsborough County. “He’s been doing it since he was little. As I grew up, he came back, so I went with him and haven’t stopped since.”

“It’s very tough. Everyone is out there to win, trying to make junior world teams, Olympic teams,” Ferry said. “You just got to do whatever you can, and train hard.”

“I mostly enjoy the competing part — winning,” said Ronni Aragona, of Rotterdam, N.Y. “It’s a good high, being able to beat my opponents, and trying to improve myself every time I go to these things.”

Even with all the takedowns and throws, the sport of judo is actually the safest contact sport for children under 13, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.

It’s nowhere near ready, but fan reaction was intense for the fourth instalment in the Terminator franchise at Comic-Con. The cast and director talked to AP Entertainment about why they bought Terminator: Salvation to the San Diego convention.

“I think our mission to come to Comic-Con was to let the fans know that we’re staying true to the mythology, that what we’re setting out to do isn’t to take it a million miles away from the Terminator family,” star Sam Worthington said. “You know, we’re here to reboot it and give them what they want, give them this gritty judgment day war.”

Fan reaction to footage screened during a panel was loud and intense. “It felt good to put that footage in front of everybody here,” director McG said. “Seeing 7,000 tough critics jump up on their feet, nearly the house down, and start clammering about Terminator all over the Comic-Con convention. That’s a very special feeling, because that’s a tough audience and an audience you want to be respectful of, always.

The movie stars Christian Bale, Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood and rapper Common. All were warmly received by fans at the San Diego show.

“I’ve been coming to Comic-Con for years,” McG said. “I’ve been here many, many times. I always like to put it in front of the people who care the most. I want to share the film with the passionate and we can do that down here.And we’re only halfway through principal photography. So I wanted to make sure we were on  the right track. And to get that response really galvanised our efforts, made us feel like we were doing the right thing. I already reached out to Christian who was in Japan talking about The Dark Knight. And Sam was here. We just feel very energised to go out and finish the film properly and hopefully make an extraordinary picture that’ll come out next summer.”Rapper Common - who plays Barnes - was enjoying the energy of the geek convention.

“I walked the floor a little bit,” he said. “I didn’t get to walk alone because we started signing autographs. But I feel the energy. I like the passion that people got for Comic-Con.”And Moon Goodblood compared costumes on the show floor to Halloween: “I love Vegas, I love Disneyland. I love people who get excited about things, you know? It’s like Halloween here.”

Recently, my family returned to California to attend a wedding and take a much-needed vacation. For months my wife and four kids were bubbling with excitement to go to Disneyland. As a native Californian, I went to Disneyland about once or twice a year and always had a great time.

We moved to Washington five years ago and haven’t had a chance to return to California, so I went online to look at the new rides and prepare for the trip.

Looking through the menu, I noticed a link for disability accommodations. I found I could request, just like any other business, an ASL interpreter to fully enjoy the park’s attractions. The Americans with Disability Act has been around for 17 years and established the legal foundation for providing such disability accommodations. Disney’s Web site provided an e-mail address to send itinerary and arrange for an interpreter. I even learned of a cool option for handheld captioning for rides like Pirates of the Caribbean.

As I shared the possible live shows with our family, I got a roar of approval. Although I’ve always loved the shorter lines that occurred during the parades and shows, my family’s enthusiasm convinced me to go check out the shows.

“What the heck,” I thought, “the shows should be cool and I’m curious what the House of Mouse can do with an accommodation request.” A few e-mails later I had an interpreter set up to meet me at City Hall at the appointed time.

I’ll admit I was nervous about what was going to happen as I’ve never made such a request before and hoped Disney wouldn’t let me down. I’m pleased to say I was impressed by the professionalism of the park staff and the interpreter. It made all the difference in the world as I went to the different attractions with full accessibility. With an interpreter I could go back to being my old self and enjoy the park. I didn’t need someone to interpret my screaming neighbors on Space Mountain, but for live shows like Jedi Academy, it was great to be included again.

After dinner, while we were waiting for Fantasmic to start, a deaf couple found my interpreter and asked me whether they could join us for the show. I was more than pleased to do this, however we had limited space in the reserved seating and it was the Disney folks’ decision whether we could include our new friends. We presented our case and lo and behold, it was approved. I commend the employees on their flexibility and understanding as it certainly made our visits much more enjoyable.

Maybe my brain is still stuck in Fantasyland, but I’d love to see more businesses follow Disney’s lead in recognizing the value of providing disability accommodations. The ADA isn’t perfect, but with the right attitude all of us can make it work.

If you want to help provide accommodations to an employee or someone you know but aren’t sure of the process of how to make it happen, feel free to contact me.

Two organizations at the University of Arkansas have joined together to bring the Disney Institute’s renowned professional development program to Northwest Arkansas.

The Center for Management and Executive Education in the Sam M. Walton College of Business and the Office of Human Resources are sponsoring “The Disney Institute Keys to Excellence. “The full-day program will be held from 8 a.m. to 4: 30 p. m., Thursday, Sept. 18, in the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development on the University of Arkansas campus. For more information and to register, call (888 ) 824-3933 or 575-2856 or go to http: // execed. uark. edu / disney.

“The Keys to Excellence “program showcases philosophies and strategies that have made the Walt Disney World Resort a success - ideas that are easily adaptable to other organizations. The sessions take people inside the Disney operation, showcasing on-stage and behind-the-scenes locations so attendees see firsthand how it all happens.

The program comprises four 90-minute sessions, covering leadership, management, service and loyalty - all presented through the Disney style. Participants will discover how leadership has been the catalyst at Disney to drive employee / customer satisfaction and bottom-line results; understand the importance of integrating corporate culture into the selection, training and care of employees; explore world-renowned Disney principles of service excellence; and learn the key practices and principles in building and sustaining loyalty that have made Disney a trusted and revered brand around the world for more than 75 years.

Registration and tuition fees for the program are $ 399 per person for the day and include materials, lunch and the experience.

Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-Man, X-Men and Iron Man, is revered as a superhero in his own right by comic book fans. Now he’s rapidly becoming one of Hollywood’s most wanted. Lee’s comic book creations have been box-office gold this summer, with “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” grossing $313 million and $139 million, respectively.

So, the Walt Disney Co. used the forum of Comic-Con, the annual comic book convention in San Diego, to announce that it was deepening its partnership with Stan Lee’s POW Entertainment.

The home entertainment group will work with Lee on a new digital comic book, “Time Jumper.” Readers can follow the exploits of a new crew of superheroes, however they choose: online, via mobile phone or old-fashioned comic book format.  Time Jumper” blends old-fashioned storytelling with technology that extends well beyond dialog and thought bubbles. In its digital form, it’ll include music, voices and fast-paced story-boards.

Now for the geeky narrative details: “Time Jumper” follows the exploits of our hero, Terry Dixon, who is an agent of a secret government organization known as HUNT (short for Heroes United, Noble and True). He has a cellphone called The Articulus that has the one feature you can’t get — yet — from Apple’s iPhone: a time machine. We wonder if it’s possible to travel to a time where there are no dropped calls!

Comic-Con just revealed a BIG surprise courtesy of an old school property that’s about to get a big screen revamping.We have just seen footage of a new “Tron” movie and yes, Jeff Bridges is back!During a Disney panel that was ostensibly set up to promote “Race to Witch Mountain,” the studio waited until the very end to reveal their new version of “Tron.” And the new film has an official title, “Tr2n.” Yes, it is officially a sequel.

Since no casting or release date had even been announced for the film, the debut of fully completed footage, much less starring Jeff Bridges, caught everyone by surprise.And it wasn’t just the fact that Bridges appeared in the teaser, the Oscar-nominated actor appeared to be playing two different characters Flynn (from the original) and a younger version of himself.

Here’s what was shown: Calling in a second to explain. The Disney logo appears and quickly seems to get digitized. We pan over ominous clouds into a digital city landscape only to find a man in a updated “Tron” costume. He’s on the run. The man jumps into a brand new 2008 version of the familiar light cycle.And a huge chase ensues with a pursuer in a dark mask after our racer. Unlike cycle races of old this one goes up and down AND side to side.

- The chased man is vanquished, crashing horrible. As the pursuer gets off his cycle he pulls a familiar disc from his back. The winner looks up to a previously unseen observer. And the observer is…Jeff Bridges! An older (and now evil) Flynn?!? He rises from a meditative state in his watchtower to see the pursuer do his bidding.The vanquished man pleads to his pursuer. “It’s just a game!” And then the final big reveal: the pursuer takes off his helmet and he is also Bridges, a seemingly younger Bridges!