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Epcot Flower & Garden Festival Kicks Off This Week

This week the Epcot International Flower Garden Festival officially opens.  It’s one of Epcot’s longest events, in the length of time it’s going on at the park.  So from year to year it might not seem like a lot changes.  This year, though, it’s got something special up its sleeve. One of Disney’s big films of the year is “Oz: The Great & Powerful,” which tells the story of how a man from the American Midwest became the wonderful, terrible Wizard of Oz.  It opens on March 8, two days after the kickoff of the Flower & Garden Festival, and … Continue reading →

The Animal Kingdom’s Rides

Today I’m returning to my profile of Disney’s Animal Kingdom to look at its rides. At first I thought the Animal Kingdom wouldn’t have any, being more like a zoo, but no, it’s still a Disney amusement park so there are rides. Expedition Everest is one of the park’s two roller coasters. It takes riders – big kids, teens, and adults – to the top of a mountain and into the home of a Yeti. The coaster careens in and out of the mountain, plunging riders into darkness, then light, then back again. At one point it even seems that … Continue reading →

Disney Junior to Become A Channel

On March 23 Disney will debut a brand new channel: Disney Junior. The announcement, in this case pulled from Disney fan magazine website DisZine, doesn’t come as that much of a surprise. In some of its marketing for new shows Disney has mentioned Disney Junior, though before this notice on the new channel I’m sure many, like me, just assumed that any relevant shows would air during Disney Junior (formerly known as Playhouse Disney) hours on its parent channel. Up until this point, Disney Junior has just existed as a scheduling block on the Disney Channel, one meant to indicate … Continue reading →

Disney Jr. – Live on Stage!

It’s certainly a time of change at Disney, and last week the latest took place: the switch from Playhouse Disney to Disney Jr. Thanks to Michele for pointing it out to me; I wasn’t sure if Disney Jr. was indeed the replacement for Playhouse Disney, or just an additional feature. Despite discussing it, we’re not really sure of the motivation for the name change. The most likely candidate is that Disney’s trying to compete with Nick Jr., but having names so similar seems like it will just cause more confusion than competition. I also thought that perhaps execs thought kids … Continue reading →

Spring Break Down South

South Point on the Big Island of Hawaii is the southern most point in the United States. However, you don’t have to trek to the 50th state in order to enjoy the sun, sand and surf this spring. California, Texas and Florida are some of the most popular spring break destinations thanks in large part to their mild weather and family-friendly theme parks. If you are planning to take the kids to Florida, but want to bypass Disney, then head to Tampa and check out the following attractions: Lowry Park Zoo Lowry Park Zoo is home to more than 2000 … Continue reading →

Charlie’s Got More than Luck

Most Disney Channel original series focus on the lives of their intended audience. Shows on Playhouse Disney often feature young protagonists learning to interact with the world. The plethora of Disney Channel’s tween and teen shows, the channel’s bread and butter, again usually focus on the lives and problems of its protagonists, whose ages usually match that of the channel’s target audience. Refreshing, then, is the Disney’s Channel recent hit series “Good Luck Charlie.” Although the series’ main character is arguably Teddy Duncan, a 15-year-old girl, the show really revolves around the entire family. The premise of the show is … Continue reading →

The Great Muppet Comeback

The Muppets are making a comeback. Disney’s successfully integrated them into the parks, but now, backed by their new owner, they’re soon to make a hopefully triumphant return to the big screen. I mentioned their upcoming film in my Muppet article back in January, but now New York Magazine has some details about the film. Tentatively titled “The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever,” (I’m sensing tongue-in-cheek humor with the title) the script sounds like a return to the classic Muppet movie formula. It tells the story of lifelong friends Gary and Walter (the latter of whom happens to be a Muppet) … Continue reading →

Hints of More Disney on Broadway

Music makes Disney great. Who could imagine wishing for a star, longing for a prince to come, or wanting to be a part of a new world without the uplifting swell of the famous scores accompanying those stories? As I’ve implied before, part of Disney’s magic comes from its music, and when that music isn’t strong the movie’s better off not trying to be a musical. It’s no surprise that, given the high quality of most of Disney’s musical movies, many of them have migrated to Broadway. While “The Lion King” continues its reign as Disney’s most popular musical theater … Continue reading →

Miyazaki: Master of Animation, Pt. 1

“It’s just a wonderful world that (Miyazaki) creates that’s just so different from anything you see out there today.” – Frank Marshall, Executive Producer, “Ponyo” English language version In my review of “Ponyo” earlier this week I mentioned that Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, though excellent, might be a little off-putting to those who haven’t seen any of the Japanese animation master’s other films. I decided to compile a list, complete with descriptions/recommendations, of all of Miyazaki’s films (available Stateside on Disney DVD) and his involvement in them, which almost always includes him being a main animator. At the end of … Continue reading →

Muppets Debut at Magic Kingdom Today

They’re characters who feel like an integral part of childhood for generations of kids growing up since the 60s. Some members of their extended family living on Sesame Street still hold a dear place in children’s hearts today, teaching them about reading, counting, and neighborly spirit every day on PBS. But overall, kids today don’t care as much about The Muppets. Disney’s finally starting to change that. The House of Mouse added a new wing for The Muppets in 2004, but has done little with the beloved characters since then. They’ve made a few television and direct-to-video appearances in the … Continue reading →