If you're the Tampa Bay Rays, that is.

For the Blue Jays – and the spring before this, the Texas Rangers – not so wondrous.

While contriving to blow their fourth and fifth leads of the series, Jays eventually succumbed 5-3 to the Rays – their fourth straight loss and eighth in their last 10.

While the offence continued to pad its increasingly distressing numbers for delivering with runners in scoring position, starter Dustin McGowan can sure share the hit for this one.

Fanning five of his first seven hitters, McGowan was nearly unhittable throughout – but for most of the wrong reasons.

As in walking five of his last seven hitters – and a career-high seven in all. He was gone, bases packed, none out in the fifth.

"The first couple of innings tonight, I thought he might've even been better than that day he had the eight no-hit innings against Colorado," said catcher Gregg Zaun.

"If I knew why (McGowan so completely lost it), I'd have stopped it from getting out of control."

"Very frustrating," said McGowan. "I've never had anything quite like that. I might've got myself into more trouble just trying to find a way to fix it."

Handed a 2-0 lead in the third, McGowan gave that back on single runs in the third and fourth.

When Jays took a 3-2 lead in the fifth . . . well, McGowan opened the bottom half single-walk-walk. All three, soon enough, came around to score and Jays were off to Kansas City, a perfect 0-3 for the first third of this nine-game haul.

Jays also blew 2-0 and 3-2 leads in the Tuesday opener and even Roy Halladay lost his grip on a 3-0 cushion on Wednesday.

In all, the Jays scored in seven different innings over the three games here and, in six of those, the young Rays replied immediately with scoring of their own.

The series marked the first three-game sweep at "home" for the Rays, since they took three off the Rangers here in this very place last May — their only such sweep of 2007.

Jays at least had Scott Rolen in their dugout for the first time this season, but he won't be activated until tonight in K.C.

Even so, it's not as if Rolen is going to provide any major turnaround for a club that is now 9-for-77 with runners in scoring position over its last 10 games – 1-for-10 last night.

Three of these misfires came in Jays' last licks when, after a leadoff single, then walk, Zaun slammed one to the warning-track in right.

It was at that instant, as manager John Gibbons saw it, the wind, blowing left to right all night, just died.

"I absolutely scored that ball up," Zaun said. "I can't hit a ball any harder than that. Soon as it left my bat, I'm thinking that's a three-run homer right there."

But no.

It also wasn't to be in the fifth when, with Brian Tallet in for McGowan, one run across for 3-3, Eric Hinske rapped a possible inning-ending, double-play ball at Aaron Hill.

Only not quite hard enough.

Hill's hurried throw pulled David Eckstein off the bag, everyone was safe, the 4-3 go-ahead was across and the ex-Jay Hinske had his fourth RBI over the three games.

"You pull for a guy like Ski," said Gibbons. "Just not against us."

Produced by Original Production and HD Tikar Entertainment, Mickey and Minnie will entertain and amaze fans in a show called "Five Times the Fun with One Amazing Journey".

The characters, famous among children the world over, will lead spectators through five Disney stories: The Lion King, Lilo & Stitch, The Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmatians and Peter Pan.

Characters from the stories will dazzle audiences with great storytelling and spectacular skating on the ice rink that has been set up inside Hall A1 of the Jakarta International Exhibition Center in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

The show promises many surprises, including an appearance by Tinker Bell.

Lighting and music for the show come courtesy of Big Production.

Fifi, from the show's organizers, said all 80 crew members for the show, including the performers and skaters, had already arrived in Jakarta from the United States.

"The tickets are almost sold out. We are now only selling tickets for the same day at the venue," Fifi told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

She said the show organizers were pleased to be able to support the government's Visit Indonesia Year 2008 program and the city's tourism campaign Enjoy Jakarta.

The organizers earlier planned to stage the show at Istora Senayan indoor stadium, but had to cancel because the venue will be used for a religious event.

"But the shift to Kemayoran hall is better since it has better access than Istora Senayan. The Kemayoran exhibition center has better facilities for a big show like Disney on Ice," Fifi said.

She said the organizers would hold three performances on April 26, May 1 and May 4, and two shows on the other days.

Continuing the "Disney Dream Portrait Series" that has put stars in all kinds of Disney fantasies, Leibovitz trained her famous lens this time on the undersea world of Ariel, heroine of "The Little Mermaid." To get there, she dressed actress Julianne Moore and American swimming icon Michael Phelps in tails and scales.

"Yes, Julianne has a big mermaid tail; it's interesting," Leibovitz recalled from the shoot. "Michael, too. His movements were so graceful and beautiful you just felt like you were watching a real merman."

The latest Leibovitz photography is part of her acclaimed series as Disney Parks continue, through 2008, the "Year of a Million Dreams" celebration on both coasts.

In the finished image captioned "Where another world is just a wish away," shafts of light pierce the blue depths as Ariel (Moore) sits in her undersea world amid wavy coral and darting sea life. In the foreground of the frame, Phelps slips past, flipping his fins.

Inside The Shoot

Leibovitz worked her mastery on soundstages on both coasts. Fitted in his silvery fishtail, Phelps was lowered into a backlot tank in Los Angeles used for underwater movie scenes. Leibovitz was on the outside, snapping away, communicating her instructions to Phelps via members of her crew.

"One of the most complicated shots I have ever done," said Leibovitz. "I didn't know if it was going to work, what to expect. I have to tell you, he was beautiful. Michael put on that tail and ... he just became like a modern dancer. He just took to it and enjoyed himself and swam through this tank. I was blown away."

For the four time "World Swimmer of the Year" (as designated by Swimming World Magazine), donning flippers was worlds away from the swimming competitions he's used to.

"It was kind of weird to be able to put on a tail and swim around in a tank," Phelps admitted. "To work with Annie and try these crazy sorts of ideas is really an honor and something I won't forget."

A host of swimming stars, past and present, joined Phelps in the water and final image: Janet Evans, Rowdy Gaines, Brendan Hansen and Cullen Jones.

At a New York soundstage, Leibovitz perched the fishtailed Moore on a rock as the starry-eyed Ariel.

"There's a moment in the shoot where Julianne is sitting on a rock in her mermaid tail and her young daughter comes in, and there is not a dry eye in the house," Leibovitz recalled. "She sat in her mother's lap. Her jaw just dropped. She could not believe her mother was Ariel."

When Moore was asked to play Ariel, she recalls, "I leapt at the chance." "Ariel is my daughter's favorite princess, so I was just really so excited to do it," Moore said. "All the images I've seen that Annie's shot so far - Cinderella and Alice and the prince one - are absolutely exquisite. They are so beautiful and so kind of wonderfully emotional. So I was really thrilled to be asked to work with her and do this."

Star-Studded Series

The latest image - planned for the June issue of Vanity Fair magazine - continues the renowned Leibovitz series of putting celebrities inside their Disney fantasies. Released in separate flights since January 2007.

"It is about bringing great stories to life," Leibovitz says of the series. "Working with great actors - these are stories that they know. It's embedded in them. And when they start to have their own children it means even more to them.

"These are the stories that are passed on and on, from generation to generation. We just want to do the stories justice. To me it's a lot of play acting, it's a lot of dress-up, that's the joy of it."

Disney plans to add a Tinker Bell attraction at Disneyland in October, 253 rooms to the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa and new rides and themed lands to Disney's California Adventure.

At some point, Disney might add a third theme park on 88 acres of land next to Disneyland and possibly operate two hotels proposed for the Anaheim GardenWalk, Grier told a crowd of about 150 at an Orange County Forum event Wednesday.

"We had great success with the 50th anniversary (of Disneyland)," Grier said. "Now it's about how we keep that momentum going."

Here are Disney's Anaheim expansion plans:

A Tinker Bell attraction will open at Disneyland in October. This was the first time Grier mentioned the attraction, and he was short on details. All he would say is that "we know how special she is to all our guests" and that she will be in Disneyland in October. That timing coincides with the Oct. 28 Disney DVD and Blu-ray release of "Tinker Bell," the first in a new franchise of original movies that include the Peter Pan-movie character along with other fairies.

California Adventure expansion plans were announced in October and are expected to be completed by 2012. Those $1.2 billion plans include: a land based on the "Cars" movie, a "Little Mermaid"-themed ride, a new 1920s plaza, an interactive "Toy Story Mania!" ride opening this summer and a "World of Color" show in the lagoon. Leaving the park is the Golden Gate Bridge structure, tall letters spelling out "California" and the Golden Dreams theater. Grier said the expansion is intended to bring more "memorable attractions" and "more Disney" to the theme park.

The Grand Californian Hotel and Spa is adding 253 rooms, including its first timeshare-type villas on the West Coast. The capacity will increase by about 30 percent – up to 998 rooms – at the hotel that Grier said has "very strong occupancy rates."

A third theme park was hinted at by Grier on Wednesday. "We do see a tremendous opportunity on our 88 acres of land," Grier said.

Since 1992, hundreds of nonprofit organizations in Central Florida have benefited from the dedication and contributions of Disney VoluntEARS, including BETA Center, where VoluntEARS assist resident teenage mothers by distributing food or reading to children; Second Harvest Food Bank, where VoluntEARS work to sort food that is distributed free of charge to families in need; and Coalition for the Homeless, where VoluntEARS prepare and serve food to families trying to regain financial stability.
 

Last year alone, Walt Disney World VoluntEARS contributed more than 174,000 hours to a broad range of local causes.
Their efforts included:
 

Conducting a successful back-to-school supply drive, donating enough paper, pencils, and other supplies to fill more than 5,000 backpacks distributed to students in Orange County Schools as well as more than 200,000 supplies to A Gift For Teaching;

Taking part in the Florida Coastal Cleanup in partnership with Keep Brevard Beautiful. Cast Members and their families removed more than 2,500 pounds of trash and storm debris from six miles of Brevard County's shoreline;

Committing $3 million to the Heart of Florida United Way, making Walt Disney World Resort the organization’s largest corporate contributor;

Collecting more than 23,000 toys for Toys for Tots; and

Donating more than 3,250 units of blood at on-site blood drives.

The "Suit Life of Zack and Cody" star says of the "Hannah Montana" star's recent brush with scandal, "I love Miley. I think she's a very talented actress and singer. Whatever she does in her personal life is her personal life."

Song, 20, who was speaking at the 2008 JC Penney Asian Excellence Awards in Los Angeles, adds to People magazine, "Miley is probably the most charismatic and strong 15-year-old I know. She brushes everything off with a smile. She is truly a diva, in a very good way!"

The actress is not the first one to jump on the sold-out concert performer's defense. Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers was also quick to back 15-year-old Cyrus up.

He said in an interview with Yo on E! "I think it's just the way you come out of it. As much as they say, no one's perfect and everybody makes their mistakes. I think it's the way you handle it and come out of it the proper and respectful way."

The 34-year-old singer has signed on to host the upcoming ABC reality show "High School Musical: Summer Session," inspired by the Disney Channel phenomenon costarring Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens, ABC said this week.

The program debuts July 20, and will air Sundays and Mondays for three weeks before settling into a Monday timeslot.

The competition will heat up as finalists participate in a summer music program: one winner will "receive the opportunity of a lifetime, becoming a part of `High School Musical' history," according to ABC.

Just what that entails — quality time with Efron? — hasn't been announced yet. The champ will be named in mid-September.

Open casting calls for "High School Musical: Summer Session" will take place Sunday at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif., and May 7 at Champion Stadium at Disney's Wide Worlds of Sports Complex in Orlanda, Fla. The age range for contestants is 16 through 22.

The audition process will be featured in early episodes of the show, ABC said.

Dropping on our doorstep this week was a copy of Disney's 'National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets,' which features a pre-movie trailer previewing a host of previously-announced upcoming releases, including 'Tinker Bell' and 'Sleeping Beauty.'

The excitement comes at the conclusion of the montage, however, with a sparkling clip for Tim Burton's beloved cult classic 'The Nightmare Before Christmas.' Though the spot offers no exact street date, the Blu-ray is touted as arriving this Fall, and timed to coincide with a new standard DVD two-disc re-issue.

No additional specs are revealed in the spot, though it does promise fully remastered video and audio, plus all-new exclusive bonus features.

“This five-year agreement gives us the resources to expand our services for Central Floridians and the 50 million annual visitors to our area who rely on LYNX to get to work or play everyday,” said LYNX Chief Executive Officer Linda S. Watson. “This is another good example of how the public and private sectors can work together to enhance transportation options in our region.”  

This agreement will allow LYNX to utilize approximately $4.86 million in funds paid to FDOT by WDW for mitigation of traffic impacts due to development. Additionally, WDW will contribute $1.25 million to LYNX over the next five years ($250,000 per year) for continuation of a match to the federal Job Access Reverse Commute Grant (also $250,000 per year over the next five years). LYNX will use this combined $7.36 million to improve operations and maintenance efforts throughout Central Florida with new routes and increased frequency on existing ones.   LYNX intends to leverage these funds wherever possible for additional federal, state, or other funding opportunities to bring additional revenue to LYNX.    

“We are incredibly proud to be able to work so closely with these two organizations and we look forward to seeing the benefits come to life for many Central Floridians – including our 62,000 Cast Members – over the next several years,” said Walt Disney World Vice President of Operations Mark Rucker. “We recognize that accommodating transportation needs in our community is not the sole responsibility of government and we’re pleased to participate.”  

Disney Internet Group is planning to expand its team here from 300 to 400 people over the next year, reflecting the Seattle operation's importance to Disney's broad digital strategy, according to John Spelich, vice president for corporate communications.

Disney's employment has been up and down since it made Seattle its Web-development outpost when it bought Starwave in 1998. The group had more than 500 employees during the dot-com peak, but cut back dramatically a few years later after the crash and strategy changes.

For years Disney was a major part of the cluster of Web companies in Pioneer Square, where it occupied much of Smith Tower. But the company recently moved a few blocks uptown, to Fourth and Madison.

The Seattle office includes engineering, advertising and operations teams that build and run a platform of services powering the online sites of Disney, ABC and ESPN. They power registration, e-commerce, ad serving and data warehousing for the global network.

Spelich listed some impressive stats for the Seattle operation: It's serving a billion ads a day, handling more than 100 million registered users and managing 27 million unique visitors a month just at Disney.com.

On Thursday, the workers spoke with WESH 2 News about what it was like to search through garbage for hours.

Like most new Disney parks, Animal Kingdom went through its growing pains at first. A lack of rides and air-conditioned attractions had many guests bolting for the exits early in the afternoon. The park initially resorted to shortening its operating hours instead of responding with the influx of family-friendly diversions that patrons expected at a full-day park.

Attendance fell during each of the first four years, bottoming out in drawing 7.3 million guests through its turnstiles in 2003. Recent upgrades, including a family-friendly roller coaster in 2006 and November's debut of the first table service eatery within the park itself have helped the park grow both its attendance and its operating hours.

The park's turnaround leaves Disney's California Adventure theme park in Anaheim as the company's only domestic laggard. Attendance there fell by 4.5% to an abysmal 5.7 million last year, well behind the 14.9 million guests going to the adjacent Disneyland.

This doesn't mean that the coast is clear for Disney in Florida. Disney has historically opened new theme parks within eight to 10 years of each other. Today marks the end of that streak. It's not as if Disney is dry for concepts. And it's not as if Disney is running low on resort lodging, as it is perpetually adding inventory to its hotel and timeshare properties.

It's not even as if Disney is in a funk in Florida, since attendance at its parks grew at a healthier clip than nearby year-round theme parks run by Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) and General Electric (NYSE: GE).

It may just be that it has only begun to work on the canvas that is Animal Kingdom. It is Disney's largest park in terms of acreage. It just doesn't make sense for it to be the least popular in terms of annual attendance.

This brings us to this week's announcement -- also no doubt tied to coincide with Earth Day -- of the launch of Disneynature, a studio project that will produce nature documentary films. The first film, Earth, will come out for Earth Day next year.

Now that big-screen maker IMAX (Nasdaq: IMAX) is inking multiplex deals hand over fist and Planet Earth is a "must buy" for Blu-ray DVD owners, all of the ingredients are in place for Disney to reach back into a live-action niche that was a major part of its early history.

It will also be way too easy for Disneynature animal projects to tether themselves to the Animal Kingdom brand, creating even more cross-promotional opportunities the way that Pirates of the Caribbean helped Disney in both the celluloid and theme park realms.

Disney, whose two strongest franchises until 2001 were the gender-neutral Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse, has seen product sales skew toward girls since Disney Princesses, launched that year, has turned into a $4 billion phenomenon among 3- to 6-year-old wannabes.

To boost its appeal to boys, the Burbank, California-based studio is adding testosterone to its toys, films, video games and TV shows due for release in 2009 and beyond.

"The entire company is focused on broadening Disney's appeal to the older boy," Disney Consumer Products spokesman Gary Foster said. "That's where the company -- from an overall entertainment perspective and from a boys perspective -- that's where we want to expand into."

While "Cars" and "Mickey's Clubhouse" has bolstered Disney's appeal to preschool boys, the company has had a harder time reaching their older brothers.

Meanwhile, the slant toward girls has deepened with the runaway success of Disney Channel juggernauts "Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical" among tweens.

Brand and toy analysts said Disney's challenge is in finding narratives to lure boys aged 8 to 12 away from entrenched properties like Transformers, Spider-Man and Star Wars.

But boys may be a tough catch, spending only about half the $16 billion that girls pay for character-based merchandise each year in the United States. The products include dolls, sing-along videos, games, apparel, stationery and even band-aids, whose sales are supported by Disney's movies, TV channels and theme parks.

"You can get boys to watch entertainment but they are not really toy consumers at that age. It's a big challenge," said independent toy analyst Chris Byrne said, noting that sports, video games and music are their best draws.

SPEED, POWER, PERFORMANCE

Boys differ from girls in how they play, said Nancy Zwiers, chief executive of Funosophy, a marketing and design specializing in kids entertainment products.

"Disney will really have to focus on entertainment concepts that lend themselves to core play patterns: good versus evil, speed, power and performance," she said.

Disney Princesses capitalized on a typical girl's play pattern by bringing together for the first time, the heroines of its animated classics under one brand. Sales of the new line, which includes 25,000 products, totaled $300 million in 2001 and surged to $4 billion by 2007. They are sold in 72 countries and 27 languages.

Disney created the Fairies line of toys to appeal to girls aged 6 to 8 who have grown beyond Princesses, and went on to capture the tween audience with "Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical." "Camp Rock," an upcoming Disney Channel movie starring the teen pop sensation Jonas Brothers band, also targets that demographic.

Disney acknowledges that boys "tend to have shorter attention spans" but believes the company could replicate its success with girls in the boys' market, Vince Klaseus, senior vice president for franchise management for Disney Consumer Products.

Disney Studio plans to draw in boys next year with "Prince of Persia," an action-adventure based on a video game; and "G-Force," a secret-agent themed movie from "Pirates of the Caribbean" executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Klaseus said. "Major live action event films" will be announced in subsequent years, he added.

Sequels to "Cars," "Chronicles of Narnia" and "Toy Story," due in theaters in the next five years, will spawn new product lines that capitalize on pent-up demand for the proven titles, Klaseus said.

"Cars," which hit theaters in 2006, has generated a reliable $2 billion in annual global retail sales, and Disney expects "Toy Story 3," whose previous installment was released in 1999, to be a blockbuster as well, Klaseus said.

The Disney Channel has also tweaked its schedule to include more animated and live action adventure programs that challenge competitors like Cartoon Network's "Ben 10" and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars."

Sports, and possibly Disney's cable sports network ESPN, may also figure in the plan to attract tween boys, he said.

This fall, Disney's video game business will roll out a rival to the popular music-making "Guitar Hero" game and a racing game called "Pure" aimed at older teens.

While Disney's family-friendly, wholesome brand image bars it from producing the edgy, violent games that some boys crave, it learned how to push the envelope with its PG-13 rated "Pirates" films and game and is counting on a gentler segment of teens to buoy its games.

High School Musical 2: Work This Out! is the new musical adventure game that allows fans to play as Troy, Gabriella, Ryan, Sharpay, Chad and Taylor in brand new storylines extending beyond the “High School Musical 2” movie sequel. The game features all 10 songs from “High School Musical 2” and allows players to listen to the songs even when the Nintendo DS is closed.

Also available in stores today is Cory in the House for Nintendo DS. Players take on the role of Cory, Newt or Meena as they attempt to reclaim Cory’s prize-winning Presidential bobble heads which have been tampered with by an evil toymaker, explore classified locations, navigate the streets of Washington DC, and explore brain-teasing mini-games.

Disney Channel fans also have exciting new games to look forward to this fall with the upcoming releases of Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour and The Cheetah Girls: Passport to Stardom. Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour returns for fans on the PlayStation 2 system in a new rhythm based game. It features more than 15 of Hannah Montana’s popular songs, allowing players to tour the world and shop for clothing and accessories in fashion districts around the globe, including Paris, London and Sydney.

In The Cheetah Girls: Passport to Stardom for Nintendo DS, players will join Aqua, Chanel and Dorinda on an international tour, as they embark on another wild musical adventure, singing, dancing and accessorizing their way through India, Spain and New York City. The game picks up where the upcoming Disney Channel original movie “The Cheetah Girls One World” ends, with the girls exploring and performing their way through India, and participating in various international competitions. Players will compete in dance-offs to new songs from the film and past Cheetah Girls favorites. They can also customize hundreds of outfits, choosing from an array of Indian-inspired fashions, as well as classic Cheetah Girls styles.

High School Musical 2: Work This Out! and Cory in the House are rated E for Everyone by the ESRB and available now for $29.99 at retail stores nationwide. Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour for PlayStation 2 system and The Cheetah Girls: Passport to Stardom for Nintendo DS has an anticipated ESRB rating of E for Everyone and will be available this fall.

The multi-hyphenated teen star has signed a book deal to tell the story of her young life, it was announced Tuesday. The memoir by Cyrus, who stars in the Disney Channel series "Hannah Montana," is planned to be released in spring 2009.

Disney said the book will focus particularly on the guidance of Cyrus' mother, Leticia.

"I am so excited to let fans in on how important my relationship with my family is to me," Cyrus said in a statement. "I hope to motivate mothers and daughters to build lifetimes of memories together and inspire kids around the world to live their dreams.

The Disney Book Group will publish Cyrus' book internationally in a clear bit of synergy for the Walt Disney Co. Disney said the book will also feature previously unseen photos, family stories and "a look at her inner circle of loved ones."