LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- A new "star" was recently born at Disney-MGM Studios when the quick-service nook known for years as Starring Rolls Bakery re-opened with a new look, an expanded menu and a new name to reflect the additional offerings.

Starring Rolls Café features sandwiches and salads plus pastries, desserts, gourmet chocolates and a house-blend coffee that is roasted on-site. House-made sandwiches -- including roast tenderloin, turkey on focaccia, vegetarian on flatbread and smoked salmon on a bagel -- are offered along with the signature salad of The Brown Derby restaurant at Disney-MGM Studios, the world-famous Cobb salad.

The Cobb salad, a mouth-watering blend of chopped lettuce, watercress, bacon, chicken, cheese, egg, avocado and more, is the most popular salad ordered by guests anywhere at Walt Disney World Resort. Chefs at the adjacent Brown Derby restaurant hand-prepare the Cobbs, which are served in a smaller portion size at the new Starring Rolls Café.

Pastry Chef Isaac Tamada, who also served on the opening team at Kona Café at Disney's Polynesian Resort, has created a palette of handmade and handcrafted chocolates, pastries and "mini-desserts" such as tiramisu and flourless chocolate cake.

Menu items vary in price from $.99 (mini-pastries) to $8.99 (tenderloin sandwich platter).

Animal Kingdom--Dinosaur has reopened after its rehab ahead of schedule. Apart from general rehab work, the exterior Fastpass queue and distribution has had a change around. The exterior garden area is now serving as part of the queuing system.

It's called "Walt Disney on the Front Lines: The War Years" and is the latest in a "Walt Disney Treasures" series of uncut and restored vintage films, issued in a limited number of tin boxes.

The two-DVD set contains cartoons of Donald Duck getting drafted and trying to pitch a tent; the Seven Dwarfs buying war bonds with their diamonds; clips from military training films never seen by the general public; and most interestingly, the feature "Victory Through Air Power," a politically charged film that argued for a much greater investment in American air power.

Leonard Maltin, a self-professed Disney fan, TV host and author of various film books, oversees the Disney Treasure series and said the company resisted for years releasing its wartime work.

"They were worried about offending someone, that it might be inappropriate to show it under the family brand," he said.

But the special series offered a way to package the films aimed at collectors and film aficionados, even though some of the cartoons will be as entertaining to today's youngsters as those of 60 years ago.

"What we didn't anticipate when we started working on this was that there would be resonance from this day's world activities," Maltin said. "What we find interesting is, it seems every time we go to war or have a skirmish or a conflict, we tend to demonize our enemy. This is part of human nature. If you're fighting someone, you turn him into the enemy, a villain, and caricature or ridicule is one way to do it."

Also released for the first time on DVD are several TV programs about the American space effort, originally broadcast on the "Disneyland" anthology show in the 1950s.

Maltin, 53, grew up on Disney TV fare and said the shows gained an enormous viewership in the days of limited TV choice and even caught the eye of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

"It's almost impossible to measure the impact these shows must have had on the public's consciousness and awareness," Maltin said, "and the possibility of and the benefits from space travel."

The double-DVD package "Walt Disney's Tomorrowland" includes shows on space, the moon, Mars and satellites, all with entertaining segments as well as history and scientific speculation on interplanetary travel.

Perhaps bravely, Disney also included "Our Friend the Atom," an optimistic look at peaceful uses for atomic power without reference to any of the environmental downsides we know so well today.

As he does on all the Disney Treasures discs, Maltin offers commentary and context into the current thinking that the atom isn't the energy panacea many Americans were told 50 years ago.

Also a nonstarter of sorts was Walt Disney's original vision for Disney World in Florida. His promotional film, unavailable to general audiences until now in the "Tomorrowland" set, sketched out an "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" where the latest in urban design and construction materials were to be showcased in a city of 20,000.

After Disney died in 1966, Disney's corporate heirs recast EPCOT into a permanent world's fair of corporate and international pavilions.

Two other entries in this latest release cover Mickey Mouse's later color cartoons and featurettes, and Donald Duck cartoons from 1934 to 1941. Some have been generally available on video, but all of have been restored to their pristine state.

One treat is the collection of Mickey Mouse introductions to the daily "Mickey Mouse Club" TV segments. Maltin hinted that a future Disney Treasures release will focus on the MM Club – a project he said he is keen to get his hands on.

The Disney Treasures sets, only on DVD, retail for $33.99 each but are widely available at discounted prices. So far, the series has included two sets of early Mickey Mouse cartoons, one on Goofy; a collection of "Silly Symphony" cartoons; the "Davy Crockett" TV shows from the 1950s; various shows and documentaries on Disneyland; and "Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studios," a set of films and TV shows over the years.

On all the DVDs, besides Maltin's commentary, there are additional treats, such as still photos, sketches, interviews with animators and Disney executives and "Easter eggs" of hidden features found by clicking on certain elements in the setup screen.

Maltin said the Disney Treasures series has been renewed for another year.

"I've had the time of my life for the last three years working on the discs," he said.

"I feel like I knew Walt Disney. I grew up with the 'Disneyland' show and 'Mickey Mouse Club.' People who only know the name Disney as a corporate name don't really have that connection to Walt Disney. I did because I watched him every week (as host of 'Disneyland'). That had a lot to do with my becoming a movie buff, an animation buff."

The meeting today by top Disney executives has several goals, including giving a glimpse of the company's future business strategies and detail the economic benefits of the entertainment company's various operations in a 2004 world economic-impact report.

Central Florida is the home of Walt Disney World, one of the world's most popular vacation destinations and major component of Florida's tourism industry.

Meeting at Walt Disney World to officially unveil its newest resort, Disney Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, Al Weiss, president of Disney World Resort, said the company would not open its gates "if we didn't feel it was safe for our guests or cast members."

Weiss and other Disney executives also said they are optimistic about the Central Florida tourism industry heading into the summer vacation season.

"Tourism recovery is happening," Weiss said. "Summer looks very strong."

Weiss noted record passenger loads at Orlando International Airport in March as evidence of the area's tourism rebound. The 2.93 million passengers passing through the airport was the busiest month since March 2001, when 2.91 million passengers used the airport.

Tricia Kearns, spokeswoman for the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau Inc., said a 2002 study put together by the visitors bureau showed 71 percent of domestic tourists to the Orlando area visited at least one of the area's theme parks, including those operated by Disney or its competitors.

Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa is the fifth Disney Vacation Club to be built at Walt Disney World. Disney announced plans for Saratoga Springs Resort, which includes 184 vacation homes, more than two years ago.

The resort is themed in Victorian architecture with the historic influence of horse racing. The lakeside community recaptures the heyday of upstate New York country retreats in the late 1800s.

For three performances a day, every day, the Pioneer Hall Players, better known as The Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, show up for work at Pioneer Hall at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.

Since June 1974, that adds up to more than 28,000 performances, which has to be a record of some sorts, certainly for a dinner theater production in the state of Florida.

Through the years there have been literally dozens of men and women who have played Dolly, Flora, Jim Handy, Johnny Ringo, Six Bits and Clair, the six characters who make up the Pioneer Hall Players.

And once a Pioneer Hall Player, apparently, always a Pioneer Player.

As the Hoop-De-Doo Revue nears its 30th birthday event, Disney officials gathered up a few of the original players to view a performance of the ever-popular Western vaudeville-style show.

And that means plenty of reminiscing and singing along.

“Our guests just come back time after time to see the show,” said Gene Columbus, a former production stage manager with the revue starting back in 1977.

The revue actually got its start as a college workshop summer production, but proved to be so popular that a permanent professional cast began performing the show in September of 1974.

“The audiences just love the characters, and I believe the actors feel the same way” about the roles they play. “It’s hard to find an actor who didn’t love the show.”

Maybe one of the things that makes a couple from Ohio who saw the show 10 years ago on their honeymoon and return for their anniversary is its continuity.

The more the world changes, the more the Hoop-De-Doo show remains the same.

Maybe the price has gone up over the past 30 years — a newspaper article reviewing the show in 1976, commented that the adult ticket priced at $12.50 was a bit expensive, “you do get fed and feted right,” — there is a lot of comfort in the familiar down home humor and music, served up along with all those spare ribs, fried chicken, corn and baked beans, and that strawberry shortcake.

The dinner show, including tax and gratuity, is now $49.01 for adults, ages 12 and up, but that doesn’t stop the show from being sold out daily. Indeed, reservations are required.

Sitting at a table full of former Hoop-Dee-Doo performers is not unlike attending a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Everyone knows the words to every song, along with all that corny, homespun dialogue.

“The show has changed somewhat through the years, but it really hasn’t strayed that much,” said Patty Kalber, who played Dolly from 1983-89 and is now an entertainment manager at Epcot.

Kalber, who is also a veteran of the old Diamond Horseshoe Revue over at the Magic Kingdom, said being a part of the Hoop-Dee-Doo ensemble, was something she always wanted to do, and like her fellow former Pioneer Players, she still misses those performances.

Both on-stage and off, just about everyone associated with the show is part of one big family.

“Even the service staff feels the same way,” said Kalber, who was greeted time and time again with hugs and smiles as more food was brought to the table. “Some of them have been here for 25-30 years.”

“People who come back year after year, usually look for the same server,” said Wayne Gagne, who performed Jim Handy in the 1970s, moved to California, only to return for another stint with the show 1981-86.

If anyone should be familiar with the show, it would be Gagne, who also worked as stage manager. And even though the years have passed, he still seemed to know every line and routine from the show. So he wasn’t all that surprised when he was singled out by Dolly early in the show as the object of her flirtation and sweetly called him Wayne at tableside.

What Gagne forgot, though, is that the bit has a closure at the end, and the entertainer, who is still an entertainment team leader at Disney, was immersed in conversation at the table when Dolly purrs up on stage that what she really wants is Wayne.

Gagne looked up in horror and said his own name in unison with Dolly.

Dolly immediately came running down from the stage, with bright spotlight in pursuit, and planted a big kiss on the former performer.

“I can’t believe I forgot about that,” said the red-faced Gagne, “but actually, it was kind of fun.”

And fun is what the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue has been excelling in for the past 30 years. The cast really has a good time putting on the show, and it rubs off onto the audience.

“I really miss the feeling of family with the cast and the audience,” said Gagne. “And the ribs. I miss the ribs.”

There will be a special private midnight performance of the Hoop-De-Doo Revue on June 14 marking the 30th anniversary of the show. The cast will include many of the original performers from the show, and the audience as well will be made up of former members of the Pioneer Hall Performers.

Daily showtimes are 5, 7:15 and 9:30 p.m. For reservations call 407-WDW-DINE.

"The unproven writing and graphics quality of Disney's work with computer-guided-image animation may have an unintentional 'contagion' impact since consumers may subconsciously associate these films as Pixar product," Reif Cohen said in a report issued Thursday. "In addition, too many releases may fatigue CGI's scarcity value, which has created consumer intrigue for this 'event' animation format."

Reif Cohen's comments mirror those made by Pixar CEO Steve Jobs (news - web sites) in recent months. Addressing the issue of Disney-produced sequels during his company's fourth-quarter earnings call in February, Jobs was blunt about his feelings on the subject.

"We feel sick about Disney doing sequels because if you look at the quality of their sequels ... it's been pretty embarrassing," Jobs said, citing such examples as Disney's recent sequels to "Peter Pan" and "The Lion King."

As much as Jobs dislikes them, such sequels have been major hits for Disney, which has generated more than $1 billion in cash flow to date from direct-to-video releases. Reif Cohen estimates that Pixar would receive an 8% royalty fee from Disney on such releases, while Disney would keep the lion's share of the profits.

Reif Cohen said Disney is looking to turn out these sequels in hopes to in some degree replicate the 'Shrek 2' phenomenon. The DreamWorks-produced sequel to "Shrek" has broken several box office records since being released last week.

"[The books are] about five teenage girls (ages 13-14) who practice witchcraft. Disney is not only selling witchcraft, they are selling lust and astrology – to children! Look at the way they have them dressed!" shouts the site.

According to a statement from Disney Publishing Worldwide, the book series was introduced in the U.S. last month after years of success in other nations.

"Since W.I.T.C.H. was first introduced in Italy in 2001, we have experienced an unprecedented global response to the characters and the concept," said Robert Iger, president and COO of The Walt Disney Company. "W.I.T.C.H. is a great example of Disney's ability to create and launch exciting properties in different parts of the world and by the many talented people at Disney's different divisions. Its expansion into the world's largest market through multiple business units of the company should ensure duplicating the success it has seen around the world."

The nine-book series is patterned after "the fastest growing girls' comic magazine in the world, published monthly in over 64 markets and in 27 languages," Disney says.

The name W.I.T.C.H. is comprised of the first initials of the five girls who are "ordinary friends with an extraordinary secret – they each have the power to control a natural element."

Said the Disney statement: "Will controls energy, Irma commands water, Taranee has power over fire, Cornelia controls earth, and Hay Lin dominates air. The girls use their powers to guard against evil and to uncover the truth behind mysterious portals leading to other worlds."

The critical site, ac18.org, claims the books "no doubt will begin a gradual progression toward the occult practice for some young people. Satan wants nothing more than for a person's life to be filled with things that appear to have meaning, but in the end have none and keep a person from tasting the truth. He tries to use a world filled with illusions and fantasies … to fill our lives with things that only deceive and bear no fruit."

On the W.I.T.C.H. website, each of the five girls has a page with a bulletin board that provides information about them. Among other things, each board contains a sign announcing that person's astrological sign.

Disney claims 50 fan websites have begun in response to the "W.I.T.C.H. phenomenon," and that a major consumer-products campaign is under way to respond to "tweens … clamoring for more W.I.T.C.H."

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At Walt Disney World

Friday
4 p.m.
1) Backdoor to the Future

Your hotel room at a Disney resort comes with a parking pass. Make good use of it by driving to the Beach Club Resort. Then it's just a five-minute walk through Epcot's backdoor, the International Gateway, to the heart of the park. In the northeast corner of the Future World section are two of Disney's most popular thrill rides: Test Track and Mission: Space. Depending on which attraction still has Fastpasses (by 4:20 on a recent Friday afternoon the ones for Test Track were gone, while Mission: Space had slots starting at about 7), get a Fastpass for one and get in line for the other. Either way, expect to wait more than an hour for a five-minute ride. At Test Track, where you're supposedly testing out a new model for G.M., you'll spend most of that time listening to head-banging assembly-line percussion punctuated by a near constant whoosh! from overhead — which will soon be you, roaring around the steeply banked outdoor curve of the track in your test car, screaming with joy.

6 p.m.
2) What's Cooler Than Cool?

To kill some time before your Fastpass comes up, head across the Epcot plaza to the Imagination building. Each of Disney World's parks has its own 3-D show, and Epcot's "Honey I Shrunk the Audience," with Rick Moranis reprising his movie role as the inept inventor Wayne Szalinski, is fairly mild (though you'll want to watch out for the sneezing dog). On your way to "Honey," make a quick detour through Ice Station Cool, a lumpish igloo near the Innoventions West building. Inside is an unexpectedly child-pleasing walk-in fridge with free samples of Coca-Cola brands from around the world, including VegitaBeta from Japan, Krest ginger ale from Mozambique and the acutely medicinal Lychee Mello from Thailand. On your way out of "Honey" make time for the dancing fountains nearby. And when you finally do get on Mission: Space, heed the advice of a father dropping his sons off for their second ride: "Look straight ahead and don't shut your eyes."

8 p.m.
3) Fill Up and Wind Down

The tacos al carbon ($6.99) and combo platters (a chicken taco, a beef burrito and a quesadilla; $7.49) are only passable at the Cantina de San Angel, but a bracing frozen margarita ($7.25) should help clear the space whirl in your head. After dinner at one of the Cantina's outdoor tables, get another margarita to sip as you stroll back toward the International Gateway bridge, a perfect spot for taking in the 12-minute IllumiNations spectacular that lights up the sky with lasers, fireworks and a giant floating globe. Even better, as soon as Kellie Coffey stops singing "We Go On," you can scoot back to your car and be home within minutes, while everyone else is still waiting for the parking lot tram.

Saturday
8 a.m.
4) Glass-Slipper Special

If you think getting a reservation at Chez Panisse is hard, you haven't tried breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table in the Magic Kingdom, the holy grail of character breakfasts (call exactly 90 days in advance at 7 a.m. Eastern time, credit card in hand; spots are usually gone by 7:15). Easier to land is a priority seating at the Crystal Palace restaurant, below, also in the Magic

Kingdom, where Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and friends make the rounds of the tables. (If it's princesses or bust in your household, try the Princess Storybook Breakfast at Restaurant Akershus in Epcot's Norwegian castle.) The extensive buffets run from the staggering breakfast lasagne (a concoction involving pancakes, waffles, pound cake, pastry cream and fruit) to granola and yogurt; Mickey-shaped pancakes are cooked to order (children, $8.99; adults, $16.99). Book for as close to 8 o'clock as possible. You need to be at "rope drop" — the park's official opening — by 9.

9 a.m.
5) Head for the Mountain

On top of many Disney must lists is Space Mountain, a rocket ride in the dark filled with quick turns and unexpected drops. If you're game, cut across Main Street U.S.A. toward Tomorrowland, above, and join the crowd waiting for the rope-drop stampede. Then send one of your group to Space Mountain to get Fastpasses while the rest of you get in line for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. This ride-through arcade game — you're helping Buzz fight the evil emperor Zurg — is far more fun than it ought to be for anyone over 6. By the time you can get on Space Mountain, you'll have been able to ride Buzz twice, not to mention take a spin on the Astro Orbiter and maybe even the Indy Speedway.

10:30 a.m.
6) Twin Peaks

Remember, your children won't know what they're missing if you don't tell them. So avoid Mickey's Toontown Fair and cut back across Main Street to Frontierland, where two more mountains beckon: The Old West-themed roller coaster Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain, above, a water flume ride with a Br'er Rabbit storyline and one big, wet drop. They're right next to each other, so Fastpass one and get in line for the other.

Noon
7) Hunny Pots and Teacups

By this point you've done the Magic Kingdom's major thrill rides, so head over to the tamer attractions of Fantasyland, including old favorites like the spinning teacups of the Mad Tea Party, Cinderella's elegant Golden Carrousel and the singing dolls of "it's a small world," if you must. One of the mysteries of childhood is just how enthralling these can be for the same child who loved Mission: Space. Fastpass what you can — Peter Pan's Flight, "Mickey's PhilharMagic" (the Kingdom's 3-D show featuring the mouse as maestro) and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (you ride a hunny pot past scenes from the Pooh movies) and wait where you have to.

2 p.m.
8) In the Swim

The line for Dumbo is more than an hour, the people behind you are eating Vienna sausages straight from the can and your son won't stop harping on the toy Zurg you refused to buy hours ago. It's time for a break. Depending on where you're staying, take a boat or the monorail, below, back to your hotel for some time by the pool. At the Wilderness Lodge, the Silver Creek Springs

Pool can become noisy and crowded, but its spouting geyser, twisting water slide and pair of spas make up for the crowds.

5:30 p.m.
9) Flying With Elephants

The Florida sun and toddler meltdowns will have thinned the crowd a bit, making another sortie through the Magic Kingdom seem less daunting. If you can, get into Pirates of the Caribbean or the Magic Carpets of Aladdin in Adventureland, or, failing that, grab a Fastpass to ride one of the doom buggies in the Haunted Mansion. While you're waiting for your time slot, give in and get in line for Dumbo: A late afternoon spin in the flying elephants, with sunlight glinting

off the medieval roofs of Fantasyland and a view of the ducks paddling in Ariel's Lagoon, is a lovely way to end your day.

8:30 p.m.
10) Cafe Societyland

No one will blame you — really — if you park your children at the kids club and sneak out for an adult dinner. On the top floor of the Contemporary Resort, the California Grill is the Disney version of a hip Los Angeles restaurant, complete with a sushi bar, a "market-inspired" menu and an extensive list of California wines, many offered by the glass. It's all as ersatz as everything else at Disney, and you don't usually find children sleeping in strollers at Matsuhisa. What's not fake is the view of the Magic Kingdom, making this spot a major draw for the 9 p.m. fireworks display. The sushi appetizer of yellowfin tuna three ways (poki, tartar and tataki) is an intriguing combination of tastes ($18.75), and the halibut steamed in a banana leaf is moist ($28), though the molten chocolate cake wasn't the least bit lava-like. But with a glass of Mer Soleil chardonnay ($19.75; a bottle is $79) in hand, and light filling the sky over Cinderella's Castle, do you really care?

Sunday
9 a.m.
11) Good Morning, Hippo

Many critics complain that there's not enough to do at Disney's newest park, the Animal Kingdom, but that means you can squeeze it into Sunday morning. Arrive a little before the gates open at 9 (the Rainforest Cafe by the front gate starts serving at 8:30), then head straight to the park's biggest attraction: Kilimanjaro Safaris, the Disney version of a trip to the East African savanna, featuring a drive-through photo safari with a tacked-on story line (you're supposedly chasing some poachers). Tune out the plot and concentrate on the up-close views of giraffes, lions, crocodiles and hippos in extraordinarily realistic habitats.

10:30 a.m.
12) Switch Continents

For even more intimate views of animals, head to the park's Asia section and the Maharajah Jungle Trek, which winds through what Disney calls the Anandapur Royal Forest. The main attraction is the group of Bengal tigers that lounge regally among the picture-perfect ruins of a jungle palace (the giant fruit bats and Komodo dragons are pretty neat, too). On your way out, check out the Fastpass situation at the Kali River Rapids — by now, the return times will probably be about 1 o'clock. Take one.

11 a.m.
13) Prehistoric Pleasures

Walk east out of Asia and over the bridge — it's so new, it isn't even on Disney's maps yet — to DinoLand U.S.A. On the way, you'll pass what's likely to be the park's next big attraction, Expedition Everest, under construction. DinoLand is a kitschy recreation of a summer carnival, complete with arcade games. Ride the TriceraTop Spin (think Dumbo with dinosaurs) but be forewarned: the animatronic Dinosaur ride is too intense for some children. ("Mom, are we going to do that again?" asked one 5-year-old nervously on the way out.) Much gentler is the Boneyard, a themed playground where children can climb, slide or dig for dinosaur bones in a giant sand pit, while parents relax and listen to cleverly chosen dino rock, from "I'm a Little Dinosaur" by Jonathan Richman to "Alley-Oop" by the Hollywood Argyles.

Noon
14) Lunch in the Shade

On your way to lunch snag a Fastpass for the "It's Tough to Be a Bug" 3-D show, which has Flik and Hopper from "A Bug's Life" doing battle (a little too fiercely for some children). Depending on the time, you may be able to fit it in just after lunch. Then grab a table on one of the patios behind the Flame Tree Barbecue. While the food — pulled-pork sandwiches ($6.79), grilled chicken salads ($6.99), barbecued ribs ($8.49) — doesn't quite live up to the smells wafting through the park, the cool, leaf-dappled shade is welcome.

1 p.m.
15) Take the Plunge

The people donning plastic garbage bags should be your first hint: On Kali River Rapids you will get wet. This faux whitewater rapids ride (you're floating in a 12-person rubber raft) takes you past artfully decaying temple ruins and spouting fountains and through a clearing where voracious loggers have devastated the scenery (the ubiquitous Disney plot working overtime). Depending on where you are sitting, when you tip over the edge of Kali's big cataract, brace yourself for a deluge. You can change in the car.

Visiting Disneyworld

Orlando International Airport is 20 miles from Walt Disney World. You'll need to rent a car. From the airport take the south exit to Route 417S to the Osceola Parkway West (Exit 3) to the Walt Disney World exits.

Doing Disney World quickly means staying at one of the so-called on-campus resorts that have easy access to the Magic Kingdom. The Victorian-style Grand Floridian is perhaps the most luxurious of Disney's hotels, and it looks across the Seven Seas Lagoon to the Magic Kingdom (reachable by monorail or boat). Its 867 rooms are $339 to $840 a night.

The Wilderness Lodge, above, was built to resemble the great national park lodges of the American West, with added Disney touches like an artificial geyser and a bubbling hot spring. The rooms, $199 to $475, tend to be small. Boat service to the Magic Kingdom starts a half hour before the park opens, before then, take the boat to the Contemporary Resort and walk to the park.

Farther away, but also a boat ride from the Magic Kingdom is the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, which has 784 campsites (from $36 to $86 a night) as well as 409 air-conditioned cabins that sleep up to six people ($229 to $329). There's a nightly campfire and marshmallow roast with Disney characters, as well as a Disney movie shown outdoors.

Length-of-stay tickets give you unlimited access to the parks from the time of check-in through the day of check-out (you have to stay at a Disney resort). Two-night, three-day passes are $161 each for those 10 and over; $129 each for children aged 3 to 9.

Disney's also announced that resort membership sales were so brisk that plans have been put forward to expand the property by another 276 units

Top Disney executives plan to release a 2004 world economic-impact report, showing the economic benefits of the entertainment company's various operations.

Scheduled to make comments at today's event are Walt Disney Parks & Resorts President Jay Rasulo and Walt Disney World Resort President Al Weiss.

Central Florida is the home of Walt Disney World, one of the world's most popular vacation destinations and major component of Florida's tourism industry.

Tricia Kearns, spokeswoman for the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau Inc., said she couldn't estimate how much a new Disney resort might boost tourism in the area.

However, she said a 2002 study put together by the visitors bureau showed 71 percent of domestic tourists to the Orlando area visited at least one of the area's theme parks, including those operated by Disney or its competitors.

Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa is the fifth Disney Vacation Club to be built at Walt Disney World. Disney announced plans for Saratoga Springs Resort, which includes 184 vacation homes, more than two years ago.

The resort is themed in Victorian architecture with the historic influence of horse racing.

The lakeside community recaptures the heyday of upstate New York country retreats in the late 1800s.

Downtown Disney changes: In another development, visitors to Downtown Disney now will be able to enter Pleasure Island for free after dark.

In what is expected to be a three-month test, the $21.84 admission fee will be waived. However, if guests go into any of Pleasure Island's eight nightclubs, they will be charged.

"This is a test," said Rena Langley, a Disney spokeswoman. "This kicked off on Sunday, where we're allowing guests to walk into the Pleasure Island area without paying to enter."

Pleasure Island separates Downtown Disney's Marketplace area from the West Side.

"It allows guests to walk from the Marketplace, which is the Downtown Disney shopping district, to the west side of Downtown Disney, where there are movie theatres, Cirque du Soleil and House of Blues," Langley said. "This allows people to walk through Pleasure Island."

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Animatronic Stitch for Walt Disney World

Here is a picture of Disney's Animatronic Stitch that will be used at Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. 
The attraction is currently under construction and Slated to be open late 2004.  Here you see a Disney Imagineer putting the final touches on one of the Stitch animatronics.

  

The Good ‘Ole Days: Lilo & Stitch and Mulan showed what Florida had to offer. © Disney Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.

Disney Orlando employees had heard about the troubles at Disney’s worldwide feature animation operations, including massive layoffs in California and at the company’s Paris- and Canada-based studios. Closer to home, they had taken pay cuts and seen smaller layoffs of Orlando workers. But many believed that Orlando would be exempt from any large upheaval because of its strong track record since it was established in 1989.

Orlando had begun as a satellite operation with between 50 and 100 animators, working on Roger Rabbit shorts including Rollercoaster Rabbit. After successfully completing portions of Beauty and the Beast, among other feature projects, the studio built a reputation for quality and was able to pitch Florida-developed projects, such as Mulan and Lilo & Stitch, to the studio. By 1998, the Orlando animators, which numbered 400 at peak times, had their own four-story building and seemed to be going from success to success.

It was this history that made the closure so surprising. At a minimum, animators thought they had until the completion of A Few Good Ghosts (a.k.a. My Peoples), at least a year away, before any significant cuts would occur. Even then, the generally accepted worst-case scenario was that Disney Orlando would be reduced to a satellite capacity of 40 to 50 people, like it had been in the early days. Virtually no one thought the studio would be shuttered completely.

The biggest shock came a month prior to the closure, when Disney announced it was ending production on A Few Good Ghosts. While the company cited creative problems as the reason, Orlando animators point out that other films, like The Emperor’s New Groove, had faced more significant challenges but the studio had invested what was needed to overcome the difficulties and finish the film. The new regime at feature animation, however, with David Stainton replacing Tom Schumacher as the division’s president, supported an altered strategy, animators say.

The stoppage of A Few Good Ghosts came without warning. “That was upsetting and disheartening,” said Tom Bancroft, a former Disney and Big Idea animator and now a partner in Funnypages Productions, which is relocating from Orlando to Franklin, Tennessee.

After production on A Few Good Ghosts ended, the studio took a month to ponder the future of Orlando. When the decision finally came, “it was a surprise and it wasn’t a surprise,” said Rob Corley, Bancroft’s partner at Funnypages, who was working on My Peoples/A Few Good Ghosts. “Many people were expecting that after My Peoples, that would be it.”

“It’s a culture shock,” says Jeffrey Varab, founder of Genesis Orlando, a nearly four-year-old 3D studio that has hired and trained some former Disney employees. “There’s sort of a pseudo-security when you’re at a studio.” He notes that while there are always ups and downs in animation, people who joined the industry within the last 10 years caught a rising wave and are adjusting to the new realities of the marketplace. 

Florida animators found it frustrating when Disney wouldn’t rise to overcome creative problems with A Few Good Ghosts as it had for Emperor’s New Groove. © Walt Disney Pictures. All rights reserved.

New Directions
Disney kept staffers on salary for three months after the closing, opening up the editorial department and archives so employees could update their reels, and selling equipment ranging from desks to LunchBox systems (for pencil tests) to animators at a significant discount. Recruiters from studios such as Pixar, ILM, DreamWorks and CORE Animation of Canada immediately came to Orlando. “It was like buying a Disney animator cheap,” said Bancroft.

“A Disney-seasoned veteran is a pretty prime opportunity for a studio,” says Corley. “It’s not just about the talent and the classical training, but about a professional production mentality.”

“A lot of people are leaving, which is sad,” Corley continues, adding that many of those who have decided to stay in Florida for personal reasons are finding jobs outside animation. Clean-up artists, in particula