The hourlong movie, directed by "Lion King" producer Don Hahn, opens today at the screening room, where it will play until Jan. 4. Museum admission is not required - the screening room operates as a separate entity - although viewers will be better served if they're at least familiar with the museum's themes.

As a narrative, the hourlong movie is all over the place. The 1952 animated short "Pluto's Christmas Tree," images of Disney's daughters opening their Christmas presents and old Disney-themed Coca-Cola commercials are linked with little rhyme or reason. If you rented this movie from Netflix or downloaded it blindly, it might seem like a perplexing mess.

And yet, with the museum's entrance a few feet away, it makes all kinds of sense. Hahn clearly took the mission of the museum into account when he chose the clips and weaved them together. The movie helps paint a wider, more intimate portrait of Disney and his contributions, while feeding the museum's core demographic - ages 45 to 65 - with a variety of treats that range from some of Disney's first cartoons in the 1930s to his final days at Disneyland with his grandchildren.

Some of the clips - especially anything involving Goofy - seem a little dated. Highlights include a witty performance by the Firehouse Five Plus Two (a Dixieland jazz band made up of Disney animators), a clip from the beautiful and timeless "Once Upon a Wintertime" and anything involving Pluto. The Disney-produced commercials were also a crowd favorite, generating laughs both intentional and unintentional. Maybe it's a "Mad Men" thing ...

Orlando Sentinel - World’s mail order department ships merchandise from anywhere at the resort, including the popular Once Upon A Toy Store.

If you’ve arrived home from your Disney vacation and realized you forgot to purchase the perfect gift for someone on your holiday list, don’t panic. The Mouse is happy to have your long-distance business.

Disneystore.com has recently expanded its offerings from Walt Disney World and Disneyland to include 500 of the most popular items sold on Disney property. You can find everything from toys and holiday decor to apparel and autograph books. Plus, you actually can get a discount by using coupon codes when they’re available. When was the last time you used a coupon in the Magic Kingdom?

For parents, toy selection can be key, especially this time of year. The choices are decent, but not complete. For example, the site says its iconic monorail play set is sold out, but I saw it this week at several Downtown Disney stores. The same goes for the Contemporary Resort accessory, which Once Upon A Toy Store began stocking again recently.

This is where the Disney World Mail Order department comes in. If you can describe what you’re looking for, the cast members most likely can locate it on property and ship it to you. I’ve used this option several times when I needed a present and knew I wouldn’t be driving to Lake Buena Vista soon.

The operators were helpful in tracking down items, even calling me back if necessary. Allow yourself plenty of time, though, because the shipping takes two to three weeks. Also, while you’ll pay the same prices for the merchandise, the shipping rate is a little higher than you might be used to  with online ordering.

To order merchandise from Walt Disney World, call 407-363-6200 or e-mail wdw.mail.order@disneyworld.com. Calls are answered 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.

Crowds can add to the festive atmosphere — until your child begins his or her quick descent into a public meltdown when he or she can’t get on Dumbo or the Jungle Cruise right this instant. When that happens, try some of these tips to keep the younger members of your party entertained while waiting.

Also, if you want to bring a taste of Thanksgiving to your celebration at Disney, here are some ideas.

– At Magic Kingdom, grab a turkey leg at the Lunching Pad in Tomorrowland and a seat on the curb of Main Street to see a parade. Be thankful you’re not paying what you would for the fare at Victoria & Albert’s.

– At Epcot, take a ride on Living with the Land and learn how crop production has evolved since Native Americans grew their food.

– And, because Native Americans are at the heart of this country’s Thanksgiving legacy, why not meet Pocahontas at The Conservation Station at Rafiki’s Planet Watch in Animal Kingdom?

– At the BoardWalk, you can follow the game-day football scores at the ESPN Club, which features more than 100 video monitors with satellite feeds. The full-service restaurant and bar recommends arriving at least one hour prior to the start of popular sports events.

Take a look at this exclusive video showcasing the balloon’s journey, from concept to reality.

Here are some fun facts about Sailor Mickey:

• Mickey Mouse was last seen in the Macy’s Parade in 2000 as Bandleader Mickey.
• The Sailor Mickey balloon is approximately 61 feet high, 33 feet wide and 48 feet long. That’s more than six stories tall!
• It takes about 14,000 cubic feet of helium to fill the Sailor Mickey balloon.
• The Sailor Mickey balloon will be guided by a team of 70 volunteers.

Orlando Sentinel - All those extras mean ticket prices will be substantially higher than for a normal picture. Disney is charging $30 for general admission tickets, $50 for the best seats and $20 per person for groups at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City and on the studio lot in Burbank. (Disney’s El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, its traditional spot for high-profile L.A. runs, is currently using its 3-D projection system to play “A Christmas Carol.”)

The “ultimate Disney event,” as the studio’s Web site calls it, will play until Sunday, Dec. 13, the first weekend that “The Princess and the Frog” plays nationwide. Disney already has racked up more than $3.2 million in pre-sales. In Burbank, all but one show from Wednesday through Sunday is sold out, while the larger Ziegfeld in New York has fully booked half of its screenings over the holiday weekend.

The filmmakers have brewed up a delicious roots story in every sense of the word. “The Princess and the Frog” is set in the 1920s jazz age in the New Orleans heart of it all. It’s the studio’s return to the lush, fluid beauty of hand-drawn animation. It’s an old-fashioned fairy tale, even though they’ve had some fun with the story. And it’s set to music in the grand tradition of “Beauty and the Beast,” which is to say the neoclassic ‘90s brand of Disney animation.

That might make “The Princess and the Frog” seem like a creature of ancient times, particularly since kids these days are raised on 3-D flash. The effect, though, is the opposite. After being bombarded by so much computer-generated, motion-captured high-and-higher jinks, the film feels fresh — a discovery, or a rediscovery, depending on your age.

At the keyboards, we have the always flavorful Mr. Randy Newman creating a spicy gumbo of blues, gospel, jazz, Dixieland and, because we are in the Big Easy, a dash or two of zydeco along with the Tobasco (nothing says “now” like product placement).

There’s plenty of razzle-dazzle, starting with Anika Noni Rose, the perky third of the “Dreamgirls,” who’s lending her fabulous pipes to Tiana, the hardworking lovely with big plans at the center of this story. Yes, a prince on the side might be nice, but this career girl from humble beginnings has her eye on an empty warehouse that will make a fine restaurant where the flappers will be hot, the jazz will be cool and the food oh so divine.

Though there are all sorts of barriers to be broken and despite a day job as a maid that has her forever pinching pennies, Tiana is not one to give up. That shouldn’t come as a complete surprise since she has the ultimate overachiever in Oprah as her mama, though for some reason directors John Musker and Ron Clements, who wrote the script with Rob Edwards, call her Eudora. No matter.

This being New Orleans, the dark arts are a major factor in the story with Keith David’s Dr. Facilier making so many deals with so many devils it will make your head spin and possibly frighten some little ones when those voodoo masks start multiplying and moving.

In keeping with the ethnic blend, the song and dance man with the Hugh Jackman good looks, only darker, is Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos), from the mythical kingdom of Maldonia. Whether it’s a worry about offending African Americans with “cartoonish” exaggeration, or a desire to make the film palatable for white audiences, or both, the animators have been very careful with their pens when it comes to drawing black characters on the page. Just about everyone here has “good hair,” and Tiana could be Halle Berry’s kissing cousin. So while it’s not Disney’s first time at dipping a toe in multicultural waters — “Aladdin,” “Mulan” and “Pocahontas” were there first — “The Princess and the Frog” still feels like baby steps.

With all of Dr. Facilier’s scheming, Naveen is about to be green anyway, which makes him very jumpy, especially since there are gun-toting moonshiners who fancy frying up his legs. He was supposed to be kissed by Charlotte (Jennifer Cody), a rich Southern belle, but in a mistake of monumental proportions, he smooches Tiana instead and we have two frogs, not one, and no happily ever after in sight.

The rest of the film trots out many of the swampy tropes of childhood — always be good, be careful who you trust, follow your dreams, it’s what’s inside that counts. But what could be tried as well as true is not, because the filmmakers have done to the bayou what Mardi Gras does to the French Quarter — put music, magic, light and laughter everywhere.

There are the big Broadway-style numbers we’ve come to expect from Disney musicals of that only slightly bygone era, the kind that let the animation team go wild. One of “The Princess and the Frog’s” best comes when a swarm of fireflies seeks a blind voodoo queen named Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis), who might be the only one powerful enough to break Dr. Facilier’s curse. Led by a hopeless romantic named Ray (Jim Cummings), a bit of a dim bulb, the bayou turns into a high-kicking extravaganza with singing and dancing swamp critters pulling off complicated choreography while Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley), a gator with a jazz obsession, blows a really mean trumpet.

Clements and Musker are pretty much Disney born and raised with two of the studio’s best musical showstoppers, “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin,” heading their resumes. With “The Princess and the Frog” they’ve gotten just about everything right. The dialogue is fresh-prince clever, the themes are ageless, the rhythms are riotous and the return to a primal animation style is beautifully executed.

The tourists, who arrived on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas and Disney Cruise Line's Disney Wonder, were accosted Friday as they toured the 200-acre Earth Village on off-road vehicles called Segways, officials said. No one was injured.

They were on a tour called "Segway Off Road Back To Nature."

Terry Miller, the founder of Earth Village, said Monday the Bahamian government has promised to set up "an intensive security system in the forest" in response to the incident.

Miller said he arrived at the scene minutes after the robbery and found the tourists shaken but calm.

"They were soldiers, man, every one of them," he said. "They took it very well. But we apologized at every opportunity."

Miller called tourists "our life blood."

The Bahamian newspaper The Tribune reported Monday that armed thugs tied up the Bahamian tour guide who was with one group of visitors and ordered them to the ground before robbing them of money, passports, cell phones, credit cards and other items.

During the robbery, a second group of visitors approached and were also held up, the newspaper said.

The attackers also hit a Bahamian woman with a gun, The Tribune reported. Her injuries were minor, the newspaper said.

"Clearly, this incident is very troubling to us," said Vernice Walkine, director general for Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. "We have 5 million visitors a year, and we have always had a good reputation as a safe destination."

Walkine said Bahamian police told her Monday morning that they were questioning a suspect in the robbery. "They have assured us they would give it their full attention to make sure there is no repeat of this sort of thing," she said.

Among the robbed tourists were Americans, Canadians, Irish and Chinese, said Walkine.

Disney Cruises in a statement said it took immediate action by cancelling the tour from its list of shore excursions.

"No guests were injured and our shipboard and shore side teams worked closely with these guests once back aboard, to make certain their needs were met and provided them with any additional assistance," the statement said. "The crime was reported to Bahamian police who are investigating the situation."

In a statement issued Tuesday, Royal Caribbean said nine of its passengers were in the group robbed at gunpoint. "We are thankful that none of our guests were injured in this unfortunate event, and will continue to provide them any support they may need," the Miami-based company said. "An act of crime should not be part of any vacation, and we regret our guests had to experience those events. "

Officials from Royal Caribbean and Disney said they had removed from its suggested activities the visit to Earth Village.

Every November, a few hundred people travel to Walt Disney World Resort to build tepees and then spend the holiday weekend living inside. Many say they’ve never done Thanksgiving any other way.

Walt Disney World Guest Linda Hawley of Jacksonville is part of the group. She says building a tepee is tough work but certainly worth it because “the history just pours in on you.” Others describe spending Thanksgiving in a tepee as “romantic.”

A big part of the gathering called the Lodge Owners Rendezvous is Thanksgiving dinner — and it’s remarkable. To pull it off, about 24 turkeys are put into a large pit lined with aluminum foil. The food is surrounded by charcoal and then covered with giant lids. When it’s ready, the group sits down to what’s believed to be one of the largest sit down, family-style meals in the southeast. And then it’s back to the tepees.

TV Buzz - We have crowned our champion! And it was a bit of a surprise for everyone. Donny Osmond outlasted every other man running to become the ninth celebrity to take home the mirror ball trophy on "Dancing With the Stars." Although he finished 13 points behind Mya on the judges' dance card, the audience votes made all the difference. Donny has been the consummate entertainer, and his charm and grace make him an ideal champion. Bravo!

Mya was the frontrunner for almost the entire competition, and she has nothing to be embarrassed about. She gave so many thrilling performances, and really spurred her fellow celebrities on by setting the bar so high.

Here are the details from the Downtown Disney icon:

Fulton’s Crab House, located at 1670 Buena Vista Drive in Downtown Disney, is hosting a Holiday Wine Dinner on Sunday, December 13^th. 

The dinner features six courses of Fulton’s specialty items, each paired with a complementing wine by Palmer Vineyards. The menu also showcases Fulton’s very own wine blend! Tom O’Dea from Palmer Vineyards will also be speaking so guests can learn all about the Palmer wines.

PRNewswire - The Walt Disney Company in China today announced the start of production on its third local co-production project in just two years, "Disney High School Musical: China." Working with local partners Shanghai Media Group (SMG) and Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, the movie is planned for cinematic release in summer 2010.

Under development for over a year, and created uniquely for Chinese audiences, "Disney High School Musical: China" is the story of a new student who meets a gifted young man with whom she shares a secret passion for singing. With the help of their friends they overcome the odds to win an inter-school singing competition, and discover their true calling in the process.

"Disney's ongoing commitment to local content development underpins our strategy to connect with new audiences around the world," said Mr. Jason Reed, general manager, Walt Disney Studios International Production. "Our local team has done an amazing job and we are fortunate to be building on the Disney Channel's success by working with a world class cast and crew led by our producer Janet Yang and visionary director Shi Zheng Chen.

"The choice of the right stories and best local partners is key to the success of our localization strategy. Shanghai Media Group and Huayi Brothers Media Corporation are leaders in their field and their involvement and contribution to this project is invaluable," added Mr. Reed.

In 2007, the Studio's first Disney branded local co-production, the award-winning, "The Magic Gourd" was released, followed by "Roadside Romeo" from India in 2008, "Trail of the Panda" (China 2009) and the feature film, "Book of Masters" (Russian 2009), based on a classic Russian fairy tale which opened in first place at the box office in October. Disney's sixth local production "Zokkomon" is currently in development in India and is expected to open in 2010.

"Chinese audiences enjoy great storytelling. "Disney High School Musical: China" promotes classic values of teamwork, optimism, friendship, pride and the spirit of self discovery which have made HSM a worldwide phenomenon and further cements Disney's position as a family entertainment brand in China," said Mr. Stanley Cheung, executive vice president and managing director, The Walt Disney Company Greater China.

"Disney High School Musical: China" is being filmed in Shanghai and features six new young stars drawn from across China.

Ms. Yang Wenhong, head of SMG's Film and TV Drama Centre said, "High School Musical is a brand recognized and is beloved by kids and families globally. For SMG, this is a whole new experience to develop a China version by working with Disney and Huayi Brothers. Through our collaboration, we hope we can also bring the musical genre to movie goers here as well."

"Disney HSM: China is destined to pioneer a new genre for young Chinese moviegoers by seamlessly combining the art forms of dance, music and film together with valuable themes like teamwork, youthful energy and friendship," said Huayi Brothers Media Corporation President James Wang.

CHEN SHI-ZHENG (director), one of China's leading stage and film directors, most recently helmed "The Coronation of Poppea" for English National Opera. His other Western operatic credits include "Vespers of 1610," "Orfeo" (a nominee for a Laurence Olivier Award), "Cosi fan Tutte," "Dido and Aeneas," and "The Flying Dutchman." Born in Changsha, Hunan, China, Chen made his directorial debut in 1996 with "The Bacchae" for the China National Beijing Opera Company. In 1999, his landmark 19-hour production of "The Peony Pavilion" was hailed as one of the most important theatrical events of the Twentieth Century. Additional directing credits include the operas "Monkey: Journey to the West," "Orphan of Zhao," "Snow in June," "Peach Blossom Fan," and "Night Banquet." His first feature film, "Dark Matter," was an official entry at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Alfred P. Sloan Award. In 2000, Chen was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.