If not, now is the perfect time to register! All My Disneyland members who have entered a valid Annual Passholder Barcode Number are eligible for a chance to experience a very special twenty-minute preview tour of the Disneyland Dream Suite.It's all part of the magic of being an Annual Passholder during the Year of a Million Dreams celebration.

Be a part of history — selected Annual Passholders will be among the first to see this magnificent suite based on plans personally crafted by Walt Disney! Plus, the Disneyland Dream Suite is the first Guest room ever located inside Disneyland® Park.

Once you are registered as a My Disneyland member with a valid Annual Passholder Barcode Number, all you have to do is check your e-mail inbox for a possible invitation.

The tours will be held from March 3 to March 6, 2008.
Register at this LINK

The Walt Disney Co channel, known for its squeaky-clean programming, is aiming to tap into the high-growth markets of China and India, Gary Marsh, president of entertainment, Disney Channel Worldwide, told Reuters this week.

Disney Channel, popular with teens and pre-teens, is known for its television series "Hannah Montana" and "That's so Raven" as well as the hit "High School Musical".

"There is huge opportunity for expansion in the Asian market, certainly in India and China. What we tried to do is deepen the connection with our audiences by customizing the content," Marsh said.

Disney Channel, which airs in most Asian countries including India, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia, has a reach of 380 million in the region, compared with 95 million in North America.

GO LOCAL, GO GLOBAL

Marsh cited the production of a short television series, "As the Bell Rings", which started in Italy and now has local versions running in the UK, the United States and Australia, as an example adapting content to local audiences.

Singapore's version will premiere in March this year and China is also filming a version of the program, he said. 

"When we develop an idea, the programmers in every other country around the world comment on it," he said on Tuesday.

Disney Channel has a tie-up with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV and other Chinese broadcasters to show Disney content. It has a reach of 260 million viewers a week in China and is looking to gain exclusive channel rights there.

Marsh said the next step for the Disney Channel would be to form creative teams in countries such as China, Japan and South Korea to come up with local content which would then be fed to a global audience.

Despite the potential of localized programs, the success of shows such as "High School Musical" and its sequel hinged on the universality of the ideas, Marsh said.

"Asian kids are no different from American kids when it comes to the notion of following your dreams and expressing yourself."

The movies, which chronicle the lives of singing students at a high school, form the cornerstone of one of Disney's most lucrative franchises for preteen girls, and a third installment is planned for release to theatres this year.

The two movies racked up more than 30 million in DVD and soundtrack CD sales worldwide and have spun off numerous other merchandise. They were made into a concert and an ice show, and won two Emmy Awards in 2006.

The original was watched by 18.1 million people in Asia and the soundtrack went platinum in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and triple platinum in Philippines and New Zealand.

"If we create programs that embody the right themes and have the appeal our audience wants, it crosses gender, cultural and geographical boundaries," Marsh said.

Prior to this, he was the senior VP and managing director for Branded Television Iberia from 1997 until 2004. In this capacity, he was responsible for the launch of Disney Channel Spain in 1997, the launches of Playhouse Disney and Toon Disney in Spain in 2001, and Disney Channel in Portugal in this same year.

Disney Unveils 2009 Schedule

Cinematical - The Montana madness continues! Now that the writer's strike is resolved, Variety reports that Disney is the latest studio to revamp their schedule and stake out some prime release dates.

Among their 2009 and 2010 releases will be The Hannah Montana Movie, to be released on May 1st, 2009 and pitted against 20th Century Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Wolverine versus Hannah Montana. I'm laughing just thinking about it. I want someone to make a comic book cover of this right now. (Seriously. I will frame it.) My money is on Wolverine to actually win that battle, but who knows what incredible powers Montana may possess.

All sarcasm aside, I imagine this will actually be a very good move by Disney. Moms and daughters can go watch Hannah Montana, while their fathers and brothers go see Wolverine. The whole family wins!
Now, just to clarify, what is currently in theatres now (and causing some scandal) is not really a Hannah Montana movie. That was a live concert. This is a two hour version of the television show. That's why it's The Hannah Montana Movie and not, say, Hannah Montana II: Montana Strikes Back. I know, it seems like there's been ten movies already.

Do you think the Hannah Montana craze will still be going in 2009? Young fans can be so fickle.

Disney was less confident in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and is releasing it a month earlier on June 16th, 2009, rather than on July 10th. This saves it from being released in the wake of Paramount's Transformers 2 (June 26th, 2009) and Ice Age III (July 1, 2009). This has to lower expectations for Prince of Persia if Disney fears competition from Ice Age III.

Thankfully, this isn't the only thing on Disney's schedule. April 10th, 2009 will be claimed by Old Dogs, director Walt Becker's follow-up to Wild Hogs. Despite the rhyming titles and presence of John Travolta, Old Dogs is not a sequel to the middle aged motorcycle caper. Travolta will be joined this time by Robin Williams, playing middle-aged friends and business partners left caring for 7 year old twins. I am sure there will be many hilarious misunderstandings that they are a gay couple.

Thanksgiving 2009 sees the release of Surrogates, a sci-fi thriller starring Bruce Willis as a cop in a world where humans live in isolation and interact via surrogate robots. Willis is forced to leave his home to investigate the murder of several surrogates. Amazingly, this film lacks a Blade Runner comparison.

But the biggest and most interesting film Disney dated was Tim Burton's 3-D Alice in Wonderland, which is set to be released on March 19th, 2010. If only this was the film Disney was moving up instead of Prince of Persia! Still, it is comforting to know that if we can all just survive Hannah Montana, there will be something truly (potentially?) awesome on the horizon.

'The Little Mermaid' Celebrates CD Release at World of Disney Feb.26

Broadway World - On Tuesday, February 26, Walt Disney Records will release the original Broadway cast recording of Disney's The Little Mermaid. In celebration, there will be a cast performance and CD signing at World of Disney (711 5th Avenue at 55th Street) on Tuesday, February 26 from 4–6PM.

Stars Sierra Boggess (Ariel) and Tituss Burgess (Sebastian) will perform "Part of Your World" and the Academy Award-winning "Under the Sea." Following the performance, attendees are invited to join Sierra, Tituss, Sherie Rene Scott and other members of the cast who will sign copies of the cast recording. This event is open to the public.

Disney's The Little Mermaid is currently playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street).

Disney Theatrical Productions (Thomas Schumacher, Producer) is proud to present the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid, based on the Disney film and the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The company features Sierra Boggess as 'Ariel,' Sean Palmer as 'Prince Eric,' Norm Lewis as 'King Triton,' Tituss Burgess as 'Sebastian,' Eddie Korbich as 'Scuttle,' Jonathan Freeman as 'Grimsby,' Derrick Baskin as 'Jetsam,' Tyler Maynard as 'Flotsam,' John Treacy Egan as 'Chef Louis,' Trevor Braun and Brian D'Addario as 'Flounder,' and Sherie Rene Scott as 'Ursula.'

"The Little Mermaid takes place in a magical kingdom beneath the sea, where a beautiful young mermaid named Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above. But first, she'll have to defy her father, the king of the sea, escape the clutches of an evil sea witch and convince a prince that she's the girl with the perfect voice," describe press notes.

Led by the award-winning director, Francesca Zambello, some of the theatre's most innovative artists have collaborated to create The Little Mermaid. The score features the classic songs: "Part of Your World," "Kiss the Girl" and the Academy Award-winning Best Original Song, "Under the Sea," composed by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken and his longtime collaborator, the late Howard Ashman, as well as 10 new songs by Mr. Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater. The book for the new musical is by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Doug Wright.

The playing schedule for The Little Mermaid is as follows: Tuesday – Saturday evenings at 8pm, Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2pm, and Sunday matinees at 3pm. Tickets for are $51.50 - $121.50 (includes a $1.50 facility fee), available through Ticketmaster at (212) 307-4747, online at www.DisneyOnBroadway.com, or in-person at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street).

Part of a through-the-line campaign for the April launch of the ride, disneytowerofterror.com allows users to upload photos that can then be manipulated to make them look like the subject has travelled to the 4th dimension.

The site is supported by Disney Resort Paris's first viral campaign, as well as an online ad campaign.

Federico Gonzalez, senior VP of marketing for Disneyland Resort Paris, said, "We know from experience in the US that Twilight Zone Tower of Terror appeals to older children, so we've designed this campaign to engage with 13-15-year-olds through media platforms that they engage with."

The announcement, made during last week's International Builders Show in Orlando, named Bradenton-based Taylor Morrison Inc. as the exclusive home building partner of the Disneyland's Innoventions Dream Home in Tomorrowland. Financial terms of the five-year agreement were not disclosed.

The home, set to debut in late May, will showcase current and future technology in one complete package, according to a news release. Other partners on the project include Microsoft, HP and Lifeware.

Approved in the fall of 2006 by the Presidio Trust — the panel created by the federal government to oversee operations of the former military base, which is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area — the Walt Disney Family Museum will incorporate 56,000 square feet in three buildings of the Presidio's hallowed Main Post.

Construction started in September 2007 and is expected to be completed by September 2009, said Walt Miller, grandson of Walt Disney and president of the Walt Disney Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization which has been a Presidio tenant since 2001.

The museum will house drawings, photographs and other documents related to the iconic Disney founder, Miller said, adding that his grandfather's strong admiration of the military connected ideally with the Presidio's past.

Presidio Trust spokeswoman Tia Lombardi said the organization carefully weighed the pros and cons of the Disney Family Museum before deciding to approve the project for the Main Post.

According to Lombardi, the trust receives $20 million a year from the federal government in funding, but it must be financially self-sufficient by 2013 — a gap they will fill by renting out building properties.

Other proposed projects for the Main Post area include an international center for nonviolence, a 100-room hotel and the Fishers' plan to build a new 100,000-square-foot museum in which to publicly display their private art collection.

The Disney museum's architecture will adhere strictly to the historical guidelines of the Main Post, which has helped it avoid the controversy generated by the Fisher museum's proposed modern design.

"The outside will look exactly the same," Miller said, declining to state how much the project will cost. "We cannot even remove paint the Army put on granite thresholds."

Despite its efforts to remain true to the Main Post's architectural makeup, the museum's plan does have its critics.

Whitney Hall, a member of the Presidio Historical Association, said the Disney Family Museum's dedication to preserving the architecture of the Main Post is admirable, but it is a matter of concern that Walt Disney could be a major attraction in the Presidio, without any history center explaining what the Presidio is all about.