A Year in Disney Fandom: D23 Events for 2013

Any D23 members wondering what will be on the official Disney Fan Club’s schedule for 2013 don’t need to wait any longer.  The official D23 website and the official Disney Parks blog have both posted announcements of the fan club’s 2013 events. The most exciting news to come out of D23 for 2013 is the announcement of a second year of Fanniversary.  The event, which is open to the public (but D23 members get first registration), is a must-attend celebration for any Disney fans.  It’s hours spent reveling in the best of Disney movies, history, park attractions, and more.  Special … Continue reading

Disney Animation Convention

This summer Disney fan convention D23 is put on hold for another year. Ever since its debut it has alternated years with another sort of Disney convention: Destination D. While D23 is the House of Mouse’s answer to Comic Con, with its main focus being panels on upcoming Disney films, Destination D is a quieter conference for the Disney history buffs. The first Destination D, held in 2010, centered on the theme of Disneyland. Walt’s first park debuted 55 years ago (well, 57 now), and that year’s Destination D was all about celebrating the groundbreaking Disneyland. Can you tell I … Continue reading

One More Day at Disneyland Too

When I wrote about One More Disney Day I made an oversight: I didn’t check to see if the event was exclusive to Disney World or if it’s happening at Disneyland as well. My article on the subject only mentions the Orlando park. Thanks to The Orange County Register I’ve found out that Disneyland is also celebrating Leap Year by keeping its gates open for a full 24 hours. In fact, the event is going to be basically the same as in Orlando: the fun starts at 6 a.m. on the 29th and will continue to that same early hour … Continue reading

Disneyland Grad Nite

Although Disney World might have decided to convert its decades-old Grad Nite celebrations into Senior Class Trips, Disneyland’s keeping the tradition. We know that Grad Nite will continue there for at least the next two years, as the official Disney Parks blog just mentioned some updates Disneyland is making to its graduate celebrations. Next year, any students partying for their graduation will be able to enter any Disneyland or Disney California Adventure park whenever they want. They’ll also be offered two FASTPASS tickets and a special showing of Fantasmic! before the private Grad Nite parties begin. In 2013 the aforementioned … Continue reading

Disney Senior Class Trip

Disney World might be ending its decades-long Grad Nite event this year, but that doesn’t mean execs want to miss out on all the revenue brought into the park by partying seniors. In an effort to retain its status as a popular stop for high school kids celebrating their matriculation, Disney World announces its Grad Nite replacement: the Disney Senior Class Trip. Instead of offering a few nights toward the end of the school year during which the Magic Kingdom turns into a seniors-only party destination, Senior Class Trip options are available year-round. Anyone who is a high school senior … Continue reading

Disneyland’s World of Color

Tonight Disneyland premieres a beautiful new exhibit called the World of Color. Playing exclusively in the evening, World of Color is a high-tech water and light show celebrating the magic of Disney. Powered jets shoot water up to 200 feet above spectators’ heads, and rotate to let the water dance amidst colorful beams of light. Within the water and light play scenes and clips from famous Disney films, all set to music. The type of music isn’t specified, but a New York Times profile on Bob Iger mentioned he tweaked it to sound more contemporary. Frankly I’d be surprised if … Continue reading

Disneyland to Geek Out?

When I mentioned last year’s Disney fan convention, D23, I said it was like Disney’s answer to Comic-Con. I realized that some of you might not know what Comic-Con is. Comic-Con started in the 70s as a relatively small convention specifically for fans of comic books (hence the title). As the years went by other media appealing to the comic crowd, like science fiction and fantasy television and movies, were added. Forty years later, with geek properties firmly ensconced in the mainstream thanks to the popularity of fantasy and comic book movies like “Lord of the Rings” and “X-Men,” Comic-Con … Continue reading

D23 Expo Headed to Japan

D23, the official Disney fan club, just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  Tickets are already on sale for the much-anticipated D23 Expo in August, and the club just announced another huge convention for 2013, this one abroad.  The D23 Expo is hitting the road, and will come to Japan on October 12-14, 2013. The D23 Expo Japan will not just be a carbon copy of the one held in Anaheim months prior.  Although there will be a lot of overlap, in merchandise and in smaller events, the Japan expo will be unique.  It’ll be held mostly in Japanese, with events … 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

Family Fun Weekends

Visit Disneyland next weekend to meet Baloo and other rarely-seen Disney characters Everyone knows that the Disney Parks don’t need much of an excuse to throw a party. Sometimes their festivities for actual holidays seem dimmed, because fireworks and parades are almost daily occurrences at the parks. Still, we can trust Disney World or Disneyland to roll out something special for even the most minor of holidays. The first few months of the year are packed with various cultural celebrations, and this year Disneyland has decided to take advantage of that and host a months-long party. The official parks blog … Continue reading