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 August 1 - 2, 2008 |
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Saturday August 2, 2008 |
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Going
to Disney World? You'll need at least $75 Disney raising theme park ticket prices Walt Disney World Parking Prices to go Up Tokyo Disneyland offers chance to be princess Disney honors crime-fighting Boston pups Disney Reveals High School Musical 3 Posters Village of Jinjia profits before Disneyland is even built Bon Bon expands Disney lines |
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Going to
Disney World? You'll need at least $75 Orlando Sentinel - A basic theme-park ticket at Walt Disney World will cost an added $4 a person starting Sunday. Disney announced increased ticket prices Friday afternoon that push the cost up 5.6 percent to $75 for the basic one-park, one-day ticket for adults and children 10 or older. The old price, $71, is still in effect today. The price of a basic ticket for children ages 3 to 9 will rise Sunday to $63, up 5 percent from $60. Disney also raised the price of its "Magic Your Way" multiday-ticket packages, by 3 percent to 8 percent. The top deal, a 10-day adult Magic Your Way ticket, now costs $237, or $23.70 a day, up 5.3 percent. The Park Hopper add-on, which allows ticket holders to move among any of Disney's parks, will cost $50 for up to 10 days, a $5 increase. The Water Park Fun & More add-on option remains $50. Florida residents may buy advance tickets from participating agencies, by phone or over the Internet, starting at $67.50 for one day. That also reflects a 5.6 percent increase from the current base price. The price increases were no surprise to Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services, who said Walt Disney Co. executives had indicated the parks were doing well despite the soft economy. The $75 mark is a bit of a consumer milestone, he noted. And it might be hard to leave it behind, he added. "The difference between $74, $73, $75 -- there's not that much difference. Once you reach that level, you might as well go to $75," Speigel said. "But I think that puts their increases away at least for a couple of years." Central Florida theme parks used to announce price increases near the end of the year or in early January. Disney and Universal Orlando switched to late-summer adjustments in 2006 to meet the publication deadlines for annual, independently produced guidebooks. SeaWorld Orlando and other Busch Entertainment Corp. parks joined the trend this summer, announcing price increases June 30. SeaWorld now charges $69.95 for a basic, non-discounted ticket. Universal has not yet announced a price increase this year, though it and Disney have been in lock step on ticket prices for several years. Universal's base ticket as of Friday still cost $71. |
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Disney raising
theme park ticket prices Los Angeles Times - As if rising gas and food prices weren't enough, a ticket to the Magic Kingdom will soon cost a few bucks more. Walt Disney Co. said Friday that it would raise one-day ticket prices at its domestic parks starting Sunday. One-day tickets for those 10 and older to Disneyland in Anaheim will rise from $66 to $69; for children ages 3 to 9, the price will increase from $56 to $59. At Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., one-day prices will rise from $71 to $75, while tickets for children ages 3 to 9 will go from $60 to $63. The price increase applies in varying degrees for longer stays, and the park hopper option, an add-on that allows ticket holders to move among any of Disney's parks, will cost $50, up from $45. |
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Walt Disney
World Parking Prices to go Up Disney News - Walt Disney World Resort ticket prices are not the only thing that will become more expensive, Tomorrow, August 3. It appears that parking prices will be raised from $11 to $12 Dollars. Parking Price changes have been on the rise at Walt Disney World the last few years right around this time of Year. |
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Tokyo
Disneyland offers chance to be princess
AP - Tokyo Disney Resort has offered girls the chance to become the princess of their choice as it unveils a new $431 million hotel. Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, to open on July 8, houses the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique which can turn girls aged three to nine into Cinderella, Snow White or other screen princess. The full service, including costumes, shoes, make-up, hair-styling, manicure and professional photography costs 25,000 yen ($245). The hotel's cheapest room is 31,000 yen ($304) during the off-season in January and February, while the top-floor premier suite is priced at 500,000 yen ($4,900) a night. The nine-storey venture is the third official hotel in the sprawling compound in the suburbs of the Japanese capital. Oriental Land Co., which operates the Disney resort in Japan, invested a total of 44 billion yen ($431 million) to open the hotel, according to a company spokeswoman. Tokyo Disney Resort is going under a major expansion this year, the 25th anniversary of its opening as the first Disneyland outside the United States, with a permanent Cirque du Soleil opening in October. Unlike some other Disney parks overseas, Tokyo Disney Resort has been consistently successful, with trips to the complex almost a rite of passage for Japanese children. |
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Disney honors
crime-fighting Boston pups Boston Herald - Boston’s canine crime fighters were honored for their dogged pursuit of the bad guys yesterday.
They were all recognized for their loyal service by the creators of the animated Disney flick “Bolt,” the story of a precocious pooch pretending to have super powers. The movie is due out this Thanksgiving. The city’s five four-legged members of the Boston Police K9 unit were awarded medals of honor for being the real doggie deal. “At the end of the movie, Bolt realizes that he can be a hero without superpowers, so we wanted to honor real-life heroes,” said the film’s producer Clayton Ferguson, who kicked off a 35-state promotional tour yesterday at City Hall Plaza in Boston. As for Boston’s K9 crusaders, they all have ample experience on the gritty streets. “The dogs average eight to 10 years on the job,” said officer Troy Casey, K9 trainer at the Boston Police Department. They’re on call for a number of jobs, he said, including detecting concealed explosives at public events, searching for ballistics evidence and sniffing out danger at a crime scene ahead of officers. “When we retire them, they remain with the handlers as pets.” Boston’s K9 unit was founded in 1963 after German police donated six canines to the force, said Supervising Sgt. Frank Flynn. It has since grown to include 19 canines, mostly German shepherds, and their handlers. |
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Disney
Reveals High School Musical 3 Posters  The
Celebrity Truth - Disney has released the movie posters for the
upcoming ‘High School Musical 3: Senior Year’, which is set to
be the final movie with the current cast of Zac Efron, Vanessa
Hudgens and the rest of the East High School gang. Check out
the artwork here.The film is due to hit U.S. cinemas on October 24. |
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Village of Jinjia profits before Disneyland is even built
shanghaiist - And so the "will-it-ever-be-built" Shanghai Disneyland saga continues, tediously dragging as long as Celine Dion's love for you. This hasn't stopped residents in the village of Jinjia. According to the Wall Street Journal, good ol' Chinese opportunism has prevailed, as seen in the latest money grab proliferating in Jinjia village in Pudong. Residents strongly believe that they will be the property target for a Shanghai Disneyland, and many have taken to building faux businesses on newly rented land, temporary accommodations for construction workers or expanding their residential property by building sheds and gardens. Why? Because these residents expect that compensation will be proportional to the size of their houses, and even the number of trees on their property. Even shares of a local company located in Jinjia found its shares sky rocketing over 90%. While this is not new to Walt Disney Company which has battled property speculators for decades whenever and wherever it scouted for new land, the penchant for property speculation amidst Chinese, should never be under-estimated. |
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Bon Bon expands Disney
lines Licensing - Bon Bon Buddies is launching a range of merchandise next year based on new and core Disney brands. The firm has worked with Disney for the last seven years. It will develop products for a number of films and TV series for the kids, tween and teen markets which will include Wall-E, Disney Princess, Disney Fairies, Hannah Montana and High School Musical, plus predicted hits for 2009 Camp Rock and Toy Story 3. "We now have some of the best kids and tween ranges for 2009," said licensing, design and innovations director at Bon Bon Buddies, Pauline Howarth. "We're delighted to work again with Disney as we have a successful history together and look forward to developing great products showcasing our new Disney characters. "Our number one prediction for the 2009 tween market is Camp Rock. It's going to be a big seller following on from the popularity of High School Musical. Fans will enjoy a rock n roll adventure." Bon Bon Buddies is one of Europe's leading suppliers of licensed confectionery and biscuits, working with more than 20 licensors. |
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Friday August 1, 2008 |
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Disney's 'Baby Elephant
Walk' A Web of thrills City 'wonders' over Disney film Disney pushes 'Persia' to 2010 Selena Gomez Makes It Clear: There's No Beef With Miley Cyrus Former Disney World exec joins Universal Orlando Disney: Fertile Acquisition Grounds Ahead StormStruck to soft open? Big Hollywood films shooting despite strike threat |
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Disney's 'Baby Elephant
Walk' Orlando Sentinel - When African elephant Tsavo was born this summer at Disney's Animal Kingdom, two pachyderm families were already in place to welcome the 327-pound calf. Five years ago, his mother, Moyo, gave birth to Tufani, a built-in brother for Tsavo, who shares his name with a region of Kenya. He'll have playmates from other breeding groups, which is how the animals divide themselves in the wild -- and at Animal Kingdom. "They live very highly socialized existences," says John Lehnhardt, animal operations director for Animal Kingdom. "They have individualized personalities that are as distinct as any two people. So they're infinitely interesting, as are people." Lehnhardt, who has studied elephants for 32 years, shared observations about the park's herd, some of whom guests can see in the Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction. *One group is led by Rafiki, an original resident of Animal Kingdom. She's joined by Vasha, mother of 3-year-old Kianga, and Donna, mother of 2-year-old Nadirah. Rafiki, mysteriously, is unable to reproduce -- but she's in charge. "She makes all of the decisions for the family group. She makes sure everybody is OK. She breaks up any squabbles between the kids," Lehnhardt says. "She is the authoritative leader of the group." *The other group is led by Tondi, who has been pals with new mother Moyo for 24 years. They came here as a pair from a Tacoma, Wash., zoo. "Little" Tsavo and Tufani belong here, although big brother is a social butterfly. "Tufani, being a young boy elephant, likes to get around," Lehnhardt notes. "He likes to visit the other family group and does quite a bit. He shares his time." *By the time Nadirah was born, the other elephants were accustomed to the calves, and they became very tolerant. "She became just this little princess," Lehnhardt says. "They allowed her to walk up to virtually any elephant and suckle. Very unusual, we'd never seen that before." *The three adolescents are playful. "It's often like a mud-wrestling match. . . . They love to roughhouse, wrestle and play. It's a joy to watch." *There currently are three adult male elephants on the premises: Willy, Bulwagi and MacLean. The biggest is Willy -- more than 13,000 pounds and more than 10 feet tall. Jackson, on loan here for four years, fathered Kianga, Nadirah and Tsavo, but now he's back in Pittsburgh. *For a happy ending, we turn to Donna. The U.S. government took her from a private exhibitor after mistreatment, and she ended up at an Albuquerque zoo. There were no other African elephants there. "She came to us on loan. We got her on Thanksgiving day, and three months later, we introduced her to Jack. The first time she was bred, she conceived," Lehnhardt says. "She's a great mom. She took to it instantaneously." |
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A Web of thrills Theme-park lovers can now keep a running tally of their experiences on thrillscore.com, where attractions from around the world are being judged by the site's users. Guests rank rides and shows from 1 to 10 and tally a "thrill score" based on their experiences. Elements such as height, speed, duration and "wow factor" bolster scores. "Thrill" is its first name, but founder Nate Smith says he wanted broad appeal and soon will add more social-networking elements. "I wanted to include everything," says Smith, who works for an educational company in Pennsylvania. "There are a lot of people that enjoy amusement parks and theme parks that can't go on big rides." That would explain inclusion of nonthrill, nonride Comic Strip Lane at Islands of Adventure. But that's a quibble. It's a fun site to play with and judge our attractions. I used Epcot World Showcase features as a base of 5 and went from there. Islands' Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man rates a 10 from me, and I'm a tough grader. That wow factor is a biggie for Smith, he says, and it influences his current top pick. "At this time, I don't think anything has the scale of Expedition Everest," he says of Animal Kingdom's coaster. "It's the most fascinating ride I've been on." |
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City 'wonders' over
Disney film BBC News - Casting director Ilenka Jelowicki has confirmed the studio is looking for 250 local people to play extras. But she refused to confirm the film is the remake of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, with Hollywood A-lister Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. It was set in Victorian England and female extras should have long hair while men should be bearded, she said. The Mad Dog casting director said Disney would be filming in and around Plymouth for two weeks but said she could not confirm the name of the movie. Special effects "It's a period movie, set in Victorian England, so we're very specific about the look we need," Ms Jelowicki said. "In an ideal world, out of the 125 women we need, they would all have long, naturally coloured hair. "We'd love men with beards or facial hair - lamb chops or big sideburns - that sort of thing." The historic cobbled streets of the city's Barbican area fit in with Lewis Carrol's Victorian tale, which was written in 1865 and may have been a factor in the studio's location decision. Auditions will take place at the New Continental Hotel in Plymouth on 6 and 7 August, between 1000 and 1800 BST. "Most of the people chosen would be required for almost the full two week duration, so we need people who have some flexibility in their work or time to allow that to happen," Ms Jelowicki said. A young Alice Despite the casting director's reluctance to name the film, the Theatre Royal's director of creative learning Victoria Allen told BBC News they were helping look for a young Alice for a Tim Burton production. The animated version of Alice in Wonderland was made by Walt Disney in 1951. The new version, a mix of live action and special effects, is due to be released in 2010 and is being directed by Burton. He has previously directed Johnny Depp in seven films, including Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and, most recently, Sweeney Todd. |
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Disney pushes 'Persia' to
2010 Variety - Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have pushed back the release of fantasy actioner "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" by nearly a year, from June 19, 2009, to Memorial Day weekend 2010. Officially, Disney said it wants to allow plenty of time for post-production considering that the tentpole will require extensive special effects to create its fantasy world and setpieces. In addition, however, the move takes "Prince of Persia" out of the path of "Transformers 2," which DreamWorks and Paramount open on June 26, 2009. Filmmaker Mike Newell began lensing the pic last week in Morocco and will remain there until the production moves to London. Decision to delay the release by a year caught some by surprise, although the calendar could continue to see major reshufflings because of the ongoing labor strife in Hollywood. Studios may want to allow for extra cushion in case of any production delays. Bruckheimer and Disney don’t want to take any chances with "Prince of Persia," which they are hoping turns into a mega-franchise, along the lines of "Pirates of the Caribbean," that can feed the entire Disney empire, from sequels to potential TV or direct-to-DVD spinoffs, merchandise and Disney theme-park attractions. Pic, based on Ubisoft’s bestselling vidgame, toplines Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina. In its new date, "Prince of Persia" opens a week after the release of "Shrek Goes Fourth." Disney isn’t relinquishing the June 19-21, 2009, weekend completely. In a twin move, it is pushing up the release of Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy "The Proposal" from September 2009 to June 19, 2009. Counterprogramming in the heart of summer with female-skewing titles has become a potential goldmine, with Disney looking to continue that trend. Disney also has dated "Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert Movie" for Feb. 27, 2009. |
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Selena Gomez Makes It Clear: There's No Beef With Miley Cyrus MTV - "Dealing with the press is something that you've gotta start getting used to," Gomez told MTV News, "and you know people want something to talk about, so they're going to have the two Disney girls — or three Disney girls — kind of feuding. "There's no feud — there's nothing to feud about, so why start a fight?" she continued. "It's something that we all have to live with, and unfortunately it involves friends." Of course, Miley later apologized for making the videos, but recent media chatter about Gomez being "the next Miley" has only added to the drama. "I'm not interested in being anybody but myself, and I'm not here to replace anyone," Gomez said. "I think that she's a wonderful performer, and of course it's a compliment. But I would like to take a different route." Gomez said she already has a plan, and it may not include the Disney family. "Acting is definitely my passion all the way," she said. "I would love to step out of Disney and maybe do a couple of roles — maybe challenging roles and fun roles, new things like that," but she quickly clarified that she'll "always be with my Disney Channel family." (Not least because she's got a record deal with Hollywood Records.) One thing that Selena is really looking forward to is the opportunity to vote in 2012. Until then, she's out there spreading the word and working with the campaign UR Votes Count and letting young people know it's cool to vote. "I'm very excited to be supporting it. It's basically educating teens on why it's important to vote and what's going on in the nation and what's going on the world," she said. "So as a teen it's a huge responsibility to think about who I want to run our country. So I think kids don't really get that, so I would love to educate them more on that." |
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Former Disney World exec joins Universal Orlando Bizjournals - Former Walt Disney World executive Alice Norsworthy has been named executive vice president of marketing and sales at Universal Orlando Resort.
Universal Parks & Resorts
Chairman and CEO Tom Williams says Norsworthy will oversee
the marketing and sales divisions for the resort. She
replaces Gretchen Hofmann, who retired in January.
"We have great attractions planned in our future and there is enormous opportunity for our destination. We will look to Alice to help us maximize that opportunity," Williams said in a prepared statement. Before accepting the Universal job, Norsworthy was senior vice president of marketing for Royal Caribbean International. Prior to that, she worked 17 years for Walt Disney World in a number of executive roles, including senior vice president of operations for business integration. Norsworthy has been recognized by Advertising Age as one of America's Top 50 marketers, and was named one of the 100 most powerful women in travel by Travel Agent Magazine. Universal Orlando Resort features two theme parks -- Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure -- CityWalk, a 30-acre nighttime entertainment complex and three on-site hotels, the Portofino Bay Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel and Royal Pacific Resort. Universal Studios is a working film and TV production studio. |
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Disney:
Fertile Acquisition Grounds Ahead
Seeking Alpha - The Walt Disney Company (DIS), the entertainment major, announced Q3 results yesterday, reporting a 9% rise in net income for the quarter. Revenue for the quarter grew 2% annually and 6% sequentially to $9.2 billion, beating market expectations of $9.1 billion. EPS grew by 7% for the year and over the quarter to $0.62, compared with the Street’s expectations of $0.61.
Media revenue grew by 8% to
$4.1 billion. Parks and resorts
revenues grew by 5% to $3.0 billion,
products grew by 20% to $0.6
billion while studio revenue
fell by 19% to $1.4 billion on account of the dismal
performance of Disney’s release The
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. During the
quarter the company reacquired Disney Stores, sold off
Movies.com and repurchased 32 million shares at $1.0
billion.
Unlike in the earlier quarter, Disney did not manage to ward off economic challenges. The company noticed weakness in advertising sales in the ESPN and ABC networks that was primarily driven by softness in the U.S. auto, financial services and consumer electronics segments. However, given that advertising contributes only 20% of its revenues, the company is better off than some of its peers. The company is expecting better performance in the movies segment through the recent release of Wall-E. The company continued to invest in content development for video games and have planned to spend $200 million in the current year in this area, going up to $350 million in the years to come. This is in line with Disney’s strategy of driving growth through high-quality branded content. The company is also using a pricing strategy to increase visitors to its parks. Seventy-four percent of hotel rooms in Orlando are either value priced or moderately priced, and it has launched family deal packages to make the experience more accessible.
The company
continues to believe in the Internet as a media of
content distribution and have sold more than 5 million
movies through iTunes since putting movies on the
platform.
Online efforts at strengthening its presence in the children and family entertainment verticals have moved forward with acquisitions such as Club Penguin. With an abundance of virtual worlds and gaming portals all over the web, more may follow, and given the market conditions, many of these would be available at a much cheaper price than the $700 million the company paid for Club Penguin.
The stock
fell $0.87 following the results release to $30.80 in
the after-hours session, and closed Thursday at $30.35.
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StormStruck to soft open?
Touringplans - Rumor has it that the StormStruck show in Innoventions East at Epcot will begin soft openings on Monday, August 4th. The show takes over a large area of the Innoventions space and is said to be a fairly in depth experience. Guests will enter a house and experience the ravages of a major storm on the structure - with them inside. The second half involves guests getting involved in preventing the demolition of the home by adding new reinforcements and technology that help homes weather the storms in real life. If well executed this experience may become one of the more popular diversion in Innoventions, drawing a moderate wait time during peak periods akin to "Where's the Fire?" in Innoventions West. |
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Big Hollywood films shooting despite strike threat Reuters - The de facto strike in Hollywood may be slowly coming to an end, with several big-ticket studio projects starting production despite the stalemate in the Screen Actors Guild's contract talks. Director Roland Emmerich began filming his latest disaster picture "2012" in Vancouver this week. The Sony project, which will feature heavy special effects, comes with a contingency plan in case of an actors walkout or strike. On Wednesday, Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger told investors, "We have decided to move forward with a number of our productions and address any issues later as they arise." Disney's "Persia," which has begun filming, also has some wiggle room since the studio has shifted the film's planned release date by a year to May 2010. A Universal executive said the studio has the Judd Apatow project "Funny People" and "Lost for Words" scheduled to shoot in September. The studios, fearful of industrial action, had wound down production ahead of the June 30 expiration of SAG's contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). On that date, the AMPTP presented its final offer to SAG, and some impatient members are now demanding that SAG put that offer up for ratification. But there is a growing sense that the stalemate will extend through September, when the guild's leadership will be up for re-election. The election is likely to become a referendum on the bargaining committee's efforts to achieve a contract. "Everyone is working under the assumption that nothing will happen until there is an election and the results are known," said a source close to the AMPTP. "I think SAG thought, 'Let's drag this into July and August; let's force the studios to make a mistake. Maybe they'll impose, maybe they'll lock us out, and that will galvanize the members and then we'll get a strike vote.' That didn't happen." While it's possible there are behind-the-scenes outreach efforts under way, there has been virtually no formal contact between SAG and the studios for nearly two weeks. The AMPTP has not received any phone calls, e-mails or other forms of communication from SAG. But as one Los Angeles SAG board member put it, "It's a two-way street. The AMPTP knows where to find us." Even if current SAG leadership wins the election by a comfortable margin, officials would likely not be able to muster the 75% vote necessary to authorize a strike barring any inflammatory actions -- such as a lockout -- by the studios. And despite last week's show of unity by SAG's board, which unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming the guild's determination to bring all new-media work under its jurisdiction, there are clear signs that many within the union would like to see the contract offer brought to a vote. Several Emmy nominees recently used that platform to urge a vote on the offer, and several New York board members say off the record that their patience is wearing thin. |
It
was a moment in the spotlight for Narro, Ajax, Jerry, Tiburon
and Peggy - the city’s finest on four legs.