First Look Inside The Be Our Guest Restaurant In The New Fantasyland!
It looks like the construction of the “Be Our Guest” Restaurant is coming along very nicely indeed! In the video the imgaineers go into detail on how the great mural was created.
As you can see by the video, the restaurant is still a very long way from being completed and you can expect to be dining in this fantastic restaurant in late 2012/early 2013!
New updates on this as soon as I hear them!
Disney Resorts Adding Better Cable To Televisions In 2012
It seems that once again, Disney have been listening to guest and have decided (at long last) to go ahead with adding more channels to the cable that comes with every resort television. Like every Disney change, this is being done in phases, here are the scheduled changes:
March 13: Disney’s Port Orleans Resorts
March 15: Disney’s Old Key West Resort
March 20: Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
March 22: Disney’s Pop Century Resort
April 3: Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
April 5: Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
April 10: Disney’s All-Star Resorts
April 12: Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
April 17: Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts
April 19: Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
April 24: Disney’s Contemporary Resort
April 26: Disney’s Polynesian Resort
May 1: Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
May 3: Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort
May 8: Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
The best news? The fact that Coronado Springs is not only being changes on my birthday but that the changes will be going in before I head to the Springs in May!
Channels being added include National Geographic, The Food Network and SyFy!
New Costumes For Cast Members At New Fantasyland
Disney have released another video that goes behind the scenes of the Fantasyland Expansion project at the Magic Kingdom. This its all about costumes and just how a decision was made on what cast members were going to be wearing when the section of the park opens.
The costumes really look awesome but it is also interesting how the imagineers go into more detail about the land itself. In the video they call the new section “rustic, rural, woody and overgrown”. Sounds like they are talking about a lot of focus on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves!
They also reveal the costumes that will be around the circus tent, both male and female costumes have ringmaster look and feel to them
What do you think of the costumes for the new Fantasyland?
EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival 2012
Last year I was lucky enough to be at EPCOT during the International Flower and Garden Festival. I saw some amazing topiaries across both Future World and World Showcase (photos below). This year I am heading back to Disney during this time of the year which means I will get to experience it all over again!
Take a look at the dates for this years events:
EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival Dates 2012
This year the events kick off on the 7th March and end on the 20th May, leaving plenty of time to organise your trip!
Flower Power Concert Series 2012 Dates
At the America Gardens Theatre in World Showcase on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 5:15 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. throughout the festival dates
March 9 to 11 – Jose Feliciano (Light My Fire)
March 16 to 18 – Starship Starring Mickey Thomas (We Built This City)
March 23 to 15 – The Guess Who (American Woman)
March 30 to April 1 – The Spinners (Cupid)
April 6 to 8 – Chubby Checker & The Wildcats (The Twist)
April 13 to 15 – Paul Revere & The Raiders (Good Thing)
April 20 to 22 – The Turtles Featuring Flo & Eddie (Happy Together)
April 27 to 29 – NEW! Chuck Negron, Formerly of Three Dog Night (Joy to the World)
May 4 to 6 – NEW! The Orchestra Starring Former Members of ELO (Don’t Bring Me Down)
May 11 to 13 – Herman’s Hermits Starring Peter Noone (I’m Henry VIII, I Am)
May 18 to 20 – TBA
2012 HGTV Celebrity Appearances
ohn Gidding, HGTV’s Curb Appeal: The Block – presenting March 9 – 11
Sabrina Soto, HGTV’s The High/Low Project – presenting March 16 – 18
Jason Cameron, DIY Network’s Desperate Landscapes and Man Caves – presenting March 23 – 25
Camille Styles, HGTV.com Entertainment contributor – presenting March 30 – April 1
Dan Faires, HGTV.com’s DanMade, Fan Favorite HGTV Design Star Season 5 – presenting April 6 – 8
Brandon Johnson, host of HGTV’s My Yard Goes Disney – presenting April 13 – 15
Meg Caswell, HGTV’s Meg’s Great Rooms – presenting April 20 – 22
Monica Pedersen, HGTV Dream Home Tour 2012 and Designed to Sell – presenting April 27 – 29
Antonio Ballatore, HGTV’s The Antonio Treatment – presenting May 4 – 6
To be determined – presenting May 11 – 13
Genevieve Gorder, HGTV’s Dear Genevieve and HGTV Design Star – presenting May 18 – 20
If you are going this year make sure you try and catch some of the great shows and take the time to view everything!
The 2012 Disney Deal – Florida Girl Post
Disney are always coming up with new deals so people can spend less on their holiday, but sometimes the deals can make you feel a bit deceived.
This years one at the moment is book by 7th March and get free dining with £150 spending money, as well as 14 days for the price of 7.
FREE DINING
I think the gist of the free dining is if you stay in a Disney hotel and want the basic Disney dining plan (2quick service) you can get it for free. This is a fantastic offer if you want 2 quick service meals a day. However if you want a few sit down meals you have to pay extra (a better dining plan). So make sure you know what you want and what you can afford before you book.
£150 SPENDS
£150 per family. Probably guessed this anyway and a very generous deal, but not fantastic if you have a family of 4 or 5. If you are a couple or there are 3 of you then fantastic for extra food or drink, but if there are more of you then thus amount won’t go very far. Again a lovely idea but still a catch.
14 DAYS FOR THE PRICE OF 7
Brilliant offer. This is great for everyone, and can’t really be criticised. 2 weeks for the price of 1, wow! However if you can’t stay out there for more than a week then you might feel a little cheated when you have to pay the same price.
Disney are amazing for trying to help out families who can’t afford a lot, and if you are looking for a cheap holiday, then amazing, but my advice to you is always read the details!
Kilimanjaro Safaris To Replace ‘Little Red’
Disney announced this week that the scene at the end of the attraction Kilimanjaro Safaris containing the animatronic baby elephant (Little Red) will be removed from the attraction later this year with a new Zebra section replacing it in the latter part of this year.
So why have Disney decided to drop the back-story to this attraction?
Animals Are The Attraction
The key thing to remember is that this attraction is not the Jungle Cruise, it features real animals, that’s why the attraction is so popular! Although it is great to have a side plot about poaching as it teaches kids about just why some of the animals featured in the attraction are in endangered in the wild, it just isn’t needed. There are animals to see all of the time on both sides of the vehicle, guests are far too busy trying to take pictures to really care about a predictable poaching plot.
To Benefit The Staff?
There are certain attractions that I feel really sorry for Disney Cast Members on and Kilimanjaro Safari is one of them. To have to repeat the same thing hundreds if not thousands of times in just a week must be truly awful and removing the story from the attraction must come as a huge relief to all of the cast members that drive the vehicles. Their time can now be focused on keeping an eye out for good photo opportunities for the attraction guests.
Will Little Red Be Missed?
Although some park guests will of course miss the plot of the attraction, it can only be a good thing that Disney are adding more animals to an attraction that is supposed to simulate a real life safari. I just hope that Disney do not get rid of the bridge that “almost collapses” when you are driving over it as that is good fun!
Will you miss the poaching plot and Little Red?
Disney Dining Plans – Florida Girl Post
Brilliant invention made by Disney. Money saving, easy to use and less worry.
There are three types of Dining Plan, all seeming to have great value.
The main point is that if you are staying in a Disney Hotel you can pay extra in your package to receive a Dining Plan, and then no more costs at the parks! No more worrying about paying for food, just a little bit if you want extra drinks or snacks etc.
The different Dining Plans consist of:
- Two quick services(going up to counter), two snacks(drink, or snacks) per day-cheapest.
- One quick service, one table service(sit down meal), and one snack per day- slightly more expensive.
- Three table or quick services, two snacks-most expensive.
When my partner and I go to Disney we always get the middle Dining Plan, and we both agree it is completely worth paying the money, we don’t use all of it per day but it gets carried over and when we want extra snacks etc we don’t end up paying extortionate money. It is perfect for families and couples as there are three choices to fit your preferences, depending on the food you enjoy and how much you can eat per day.
Piece of advice: If you get a plan involving table services, make sure you book the restaurants months in advance on the website as they book up amazingly quickly.
It is a brilliant scheme as it saves money in the long run and helps people to stop worrying about money for food, meaning they can spend it on merchandise and enjoy their stay!
A Prime Place For Wishes, Illuminations & Fantasmic
There are so many different shows in Disney, it can be quite hard to keep track; especially when, for each show, you have to find a place to be able to watch in perfect view. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to change this as big Disney fans will always be waiting early, but I can tell you where some of the good places to be are!
Wishes
Wishes may be a firework show but you still need to be in a central place to appreciate the glory of it, and as there are trees and quite tall buildings dotted around Magic Kingdom this can sometimes prove quite difficult.
The prime place for this show would be the open space just after Main Street, or even Main Street itself, because from there you can see the front of the castle. However, be warned, most people have the same idea and it gets extremely crowded. For this reason make sure you arrive an hour before and do not mover until it is over, because guaranteed as soon as you step away someone else will step into your place. Afterwards, feel free to move, but be warned, getting out of Magic Kingdom after wishes takes probably twice as long as the show itself.
Illuminations
Again, with illuminations you have to arrive early, but as there is a lot more room to spread out, 30-45 minutes should be plenty.
Anywhere around World Showcase is a fantastic viewing point for ‘Illuminations,’ but the prime place is probably right in front of Japan. Just make sure you are not standing behind a tree, or the scaffold on the lakeside of Japan as it will be right in your eye line.
Although it is generally an open space, try to get as near to the fencing as possible for an even better view. Don’t go to Future World as you won’t see anything.
Also if you see a restaurant with spare seats that overlook the lake, grab them if it is possible! However, don’t be surprised if no seats around World Showcase are available as people can get quite possessive when getting prepared for a show.
Fantasmic
Fantasmic is quite a difficult show to prepare for. You gave to make sure you are queuing at least one hour even before the gates open, as this is the most popular show in Disney. It does get frustrating to stand around waiting as it’s hot, you get in everyone’s way in the middle of ‘Sunset Boulevard’, and more people come to queue up, completely invading your personal space! However, completely worth it.
When the gates open you will be led to another standing point for another wait. By this point there are hundreds more people gathering.
When you do finally get to the seating area, you will most likely be instructed on where to go. If you can, and are lucky, try and get into the middle section (which they fill up first), as this is right in front of the stage. However, don’t sit too near the front as you will be less likely to see the laser part of the show. Even if you don’t get to the middle, the show is still a delight to watch.
Those are the biggest shows in Disney, but with the smaller, every hour shows, and parades the trick is to get there early and you will be guaranteed a decent place.
The Recruitment Process At Disney World
A lot of people assume that getting a job at Disney World is a piece of cake. Even jobs that you would think anyone can get have strict processes behind them so that Disney can only end up hiring the best person for the job and the company. Keeping the Disney brand at a high respect among the world is a challenge that all arms of Disney face but due to the theme park staff having public facing roles 90% of the time, a strict process is needed! Here are just some of the things that go into the recruitment process at Disney World and the other Disney parks.
Rules
You could fail at the interview before you have even said a word if you haven’t seen some of the pre-requisites for working at the parks.
One of the biggest rules (has recently been lifted after 55 years) was that employees were not allowed to have big bushy beards or even smaller beards that were deemed as being a bit scruffy!
Other rules include
:
• Sensible glasses must be worn with no fancy design on the frame;
• No false nails, natural and short only;
• Classic hairdos only, no extreme dyeing or bleaching;
• No shaved eyebrows;
• Short moustaches that have to be fully grown and well maintained which means they do not extend over the upper lip and it cannot go beyond the corners of the mouth;
• Basic ear piercings only;
• No visible tattoos;
Some of them may seem a little harsh but at the end of the day Disney are looking at putting family friendly people in their parks, people that don’t stand a chance at scaring children in anyway at all!
Training
No matter what the job is, training is a massive part of the Disney process and everyone has stated that Disney take training incredibly seriously. It doesn’t matter if you need to learn how to sign as one of the characters or are a cleaner, Disney will train until you have perfected the job and you know how to react to any given situation. Although the period of probation at Disney is three months, many employees have stated that Disney continue to make sure that training is put forward after these initial months.
Lowest Employee Turnover Rate
Disney has been reported in excellence as apparently they have the lowest turnover rate in staff in the travel sector in the USA. This means that they are effectively keeping staff as happy as possible resulting in them not having the want or need to even think about leaving the company, fantastic!
Weaknesses
There is a single weakness in working for Disney that has been reported by many people and that is the wages. So many ex-employees have stated that they would have loved to continue to work with Disney but the wages were just so low that it wasn’t possible. It is a shame that Disney don’t pay as much as they should but swings and roundabouts right, you are working for Disney!
If you have worked at WDW or Disney in general please get in touch as I would love to hear about what you have to say about your time working for the company, it doesn’t matter if you were in the theme parks or in a hidden office space, get in touch!
President Obama Visits Walt Disney World
President Obama took to the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World to tackle some of the changes that American tourism is facing. In the speech he encourages people to visit places such as Disney World as they are all part of what has become an American Institution!
See below for the video of his speech where I am sure you will agree on some of the things he is saying about tourism, specifically in Walt Disney World.
