The theme park, Central Florida’s largest employer, unveiled a pricing menu that will increase admission costs from 2.5 percent to 5.3 percent.

Under the new schedule, which is effective Aug. 2, the cost of a one-day admission for those 10 years and older will rise from $75 to $79. The price for multi-day tickets will all increase. A seven-day pass, for instance, will cost $234, or $33.43 a day, up from $228, or 32.57 a day.

Florida resident tickets will also rise. A three-day ticket will cost $134, or $44.67 a day, rising from $129, or $43 a day. A four-day ticket climbs to $164, or $41 a day, from $160, or $40 a day.

Johnny Depp is already set to reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow, though the details of the script are not yet known. Variety reports that Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have held several meetings with Marshall in recent weeks as they look to begin shooting before Depp begins work on another Bruckheimer project, "The Lone Ranger." Production on the fourth "Pirates" would commence in 2010.

While a deal with Marshall is not yet in place and Disney has not confirmed the news, Variety reports that a pact is close enough that the studio has begun the casting process for new characters. Keira Knightley, however, has indicated she will not return for the fourth film.

Verbinski has steered the franchise to $2.6 billion in worldwide box office business since the first installment, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," debuted in 2003. But the director announced in April that he would not return for a fourth movie, choosing instead to concentrate on his big-screen adaptation of the video game "Bioshock."

We watched safely from a bridge as two of Disney's Animal Kingdom tigers sniffed around new elements in their on-stage habitat. Would they go for the pepperminty barrel, the pumpkin-scented log or the perfumed bamboo?

On the line were valued points FETCH!, the kids reality game show that taped segments this week at Disney. The show, which airs on PBS stations, is science-based and features six youthful contestants who receive assignments and challenges from an animated dog called Ruff Ruffman.

"He's kind of a know-it-all who knows nothing," says Paul Serafini, series producer. "Frequently the challenges that the kids do are based on some conundrum that Ruff has gotten himself into."

Ruff sends the kids on challenges such as wind surfing and developing new ice cream flavors (based on three vegetables), Serafini says. The show is produced by WGBH Boston and is partially funded by the National Science Foundation.

Shreya and Marco, the two contestants in tow, had encounters with sea turtles, crocodiles, tigers, Saimang apes and more while with Disney. They were selected from 2,000 applicants to be on the show, which tapes during the summer months.

"Basically we went through rounds and rounds of callbacks," Marco, 14, says. "They were brutal!" He they were asked "really random" questions like "If you were a cookie, what kind of cookie would you be?"

"We had to be creative and come up with a story," says Shreya, who turns 13 soon. The audition process was fun, she says, and they made new friends there.

The difficult economy and poor advertising market have certainly taken a toll on the entertainment company. Disney has had to offer promotions to entice people into its theme parks and ad buyers have delayed buying time on the company's networks, leading to more uncertainty. So far in the company's fiscal fourth quarter, ending in September, bookings at the theme parks are down 7% year over year.

But Disney appears to be managing the downturn better than skeptics thought.

Operating margins, for instance, surprised some analysts. Despite the aggressive promotions, Disney posted 21.5% margins, just below Street consensus but "well ahead" of the estimates by bearish Citi analysts, who continued to rate the company at Sell even though they raised their target price to $25.

The 21.5% margin is a marked improvement over the 18.9% and 15% figures the company reported in the previous two quarters. It's encouraging that the company can cut costs effectively even as revenue slips.

And revenue numbers were arguably better than what was reported. Cable programming weakness appears to be caused partially by an accounting technicality about when ESPN can recognize revenue. Buoyed by affiliate fee revenue, cable network revenues grew 3.4% year over year after taking out the technicality, Barclays Capital analyst Anthony DiClemente wrote.

There was other good news. On the earnings call, management also said it expected to buy back stock "in the relatively near future" after it had suspended buybacks last year. Management is not expecting the economy to roar back, but did express optimism.

"We do see signs of economic stabilization but the pace and strength of recovery remain uncertain and we are managing accordingly." said Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger on the earnings call.

While revenues continued to slip year over year – they fell 6.9% this quarter – the decline is not as precipitous as it has been in the past two quarters, giving hope that the company has begun to stabilize itself.

Disney shares have risen about 3% since Barron's wrote about the company and some of its competitors on July 20. It now trades at a very reasonable 14.6 times estimated earnings for the next four quarters, slightly above a 13.6 P/E for its peers in the entertainment sector.

Whether it continues its rise will depend heavily on whether the economy improves, and whether it can produce some hits for the big and small screen.