Disneyland Hotel to get long-overdue makeover ----

---- The long-anticipated renovation of the Disneyland Hotel will begin in phases in August and is scheduled to wrap up in time for the 2012 debut of Cars Land at Disney’s California Adventure. Built in 1955, the old and outdated hotel — which Disney euphemistically calls “historic” — has been showing its age for years. The major rehab features extensive interior and exterior facelifts and a complete infrastructure upgrade — including a much-needed overhaul of the plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning systems. Construction will proceed at one vertical half of a tower at a time — starting with the Dreams tower, which is scheduled to be completed by June 2010. The Magic and Wonder towers will follow. The hotel and all three towers will remain open throughout construction. Each renovated room will feature a flat-screen TV, wireless Internet connections and a Sleeping Beauty Castle headboard with a fiber-optic fireworks display.

The Walt Disney Co. has proposed a 56-acre ----

---- production studio on property it has long owned in the Santa Clarita Valley. The Disney / ABC Studios at the Ranch, planned for the western edge of Disney’s Golden Oak Ranch, would create about 2,800 full- and part- time jobs.  MORE….

The Disney Co. announced an executive job switch ----

---- that pointed to an eventual successor to Chief Executive Robert Iger. Iger, 58, said he was behind the decision to turn Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs into the parks and resorts chairman, while making parks chairman Jay Rasulo the new CFO. Staggs, 49, is well respected among Wall Street analysts and had been in his job for 11 years. Rasulo, 53, has pushed a theme park expansion into China and the construction of two new cruise ships, and has been in his current job since 2005.  MORE….

A renewed focus on how movies are delivered ----

---- to consumers, The Walt Disney Co. has elevated its home video chief to a new distribution role covering all formats The changes were announced Wednesday by Rich Ross, who last month replaced Dick Cook as the chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. Cook left after more than a year of disappointing results.  MORE….

Bob Iger, the Walt Disney chief executive ----

---- has issued a stark warning to Hollywood , saying the film business is “changing right before our eyes” after a turbulent year in which studios have been forced to re-examine their business models. “The business model that underpins the movie business is changing,” Mr Iger told the Financial Times “If we don’t adapt to the change there won’t be a business – that’s my exhortation to my team.”

Remember when going to  ----

---- the Disney Store was cool? Well, there’s hope! The Walt Disney Company, with the help of Steven P. Jobs and his retailing team at Apple, intends to drastically overhaul its approach to the shopping mall. At a time when many retailers are still cutting back or approaching strategic shifts with extreme caution, Disney is going the other way, getting more aggressive and putting into motion an expensive and ambitious floor-to-ceiling reboot of its 340 stores in the United States and Europe — as well as opening new ones, including a potential flagship in Times Square

Disneyland has now added ‘Audio Description’ ----

---- to many of its attractions, a service Walt Disney World has been offering for a bit more than a year now. Disneyland Resort Guests with visual disabilities can now be more fully immersed into Disney attractions and storytelling through a new Audio Description service created by Disney engineers. The service, which launched Nov. 1, is enabled through wireless technology via a handheld device available to Guests visiting the Resort. “The Disneyland Resort welcomes millions of diverse visitors each year, and we are committed to making the Disney tradition of rich storytelling available to everyone,” said Betty Appleton, who oversees the Resort’s Guests with Disabilities program. “Audio Description supports our longstanding commitment to providing outstanding services to all Guests as it enables our visitors who are blind or have low vision to more fully enjoy our attractions.”

The largest expansion ever of the Magic Kingdom ----

---- will effectively double the size of Fantasyland by 2013. The first phase of this expansion involves the closing of Toontown, so that new areas can be built. In the first new area, there will be spots featuring Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle. Also featured will be Beast's castle, which will include a new restaurant that will be counter service during the day and table service by night. Another part of the first phase of the expansion will be the doubling of Dumbo, and a new interactive, three-ring circus tent that will effectively eliminate queues for this popular attraction. In addition, you'll be able to journey under the sea with Ariel, The Little Mermaid, in her very own attraction (which will also open at Disney's California Adventure). The first phase of the expansion should be concluded in 2011. The second phase of the expansion, which should be finished by 2013, will be the construction of Pixie Hollow, featuring Tinker Bell and her fairy friends.

The inaugural Disney Wine & Dine ----

---- Half Marathon Weekend is set for October 1-2, 2010 , culminating with a 13.1-mile nighttime race that will be run on a never-before-trekked course through multiple Disney theme parks. Spectators can also purchase tickets to the party and help kick off the 15th annual Epcot Food & Wine Festival. For more information on the race, visit www.disneywinedinerun.com

Disney Cruise Line News:

---- Disney Cruise Line guests who completed their online registration no longer have to present their credit card during check-in at the Port. If you have decided to use a different credit card than the one you used during the online registration, you will have to present that card at Port check-in

-- During the ongoing expansion and construction at Port Canaveral traffic patterns are subject to change. At this time, personal vehicles with guests who are sailing that day may enter the southernmost security gate for terminal drop-off. Parking is now quite a distance from the drop-off area, so keep that in mind when you decide who should park the car. If you are driving, but only dropping off those who are sailing, you can use the Number 3 Entry Area.

-- Platinum-tier repeat guests (those who have completed 10 or more DCL cruises) can check in at the concierge red carpet area. Platinum guests will receive a "Number 1" boarding group number. They will also be escorted to the security photo area so they do not have to wait in line. 

-- Each stateroom currently receives a public health questionnaire to fill out at check-in. The form asks about symptoms within the past seven days. So far, no problems have been reported associated with H1N1 virus. In an effort to keep it that way, DCL encourages guests to answer the questions truthfully. Any guests answering "yes" to one or both of the health questions will meet with the ship's doctor or nurse before boarding to ensure their seaworthiness. Contrary to popular belief, a "yes" answer does not automatically disqualify a guest from sailing. It does give the ship's medical staff the opportunity evaluate the guest before sailing. All guests' safety is always the number one priority at Disney.

Disney Cruise Line will offer Alaskan cruises ----

---- ---- during a four-month season of seven-night sailings aboard the Disney Wonder in summer 2011. The Disney Wonder will depart out of Vancouver , B.C., calling on popular ports such as Juneau , Ketchikan and Skagway . Join Donald as he explores the new Alaskan ports of call:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPc5PaUuLv8

Before and after the 2011 summer season in Alaska , the Disney Wonder will sail seven-night Mexican Riviera cruises from the Port of Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta .

Some great video of the ‘water coaster’ ----

---- on the new Disney Dream which will debut in 2011.  Click Here….

According to Variety, the upcoming film ----

---- "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", has signed Italian actress Monica Bellucci to play Veronica, a sorceress, who also happens to be Nicholas Cage's character's long lost love. The film is currently being shot in New York City and is scheduled for release on July 16, 2010 .

Walt Disney Co. has launched a new websites ----

---- offering select merchandise from Disney's domestic theme parks and resorts. The new site, DisneyStore.com replaces the former site DisneyShopping.com. Visitors to DisneyStore.com can browse and buy more than 100 products previously available only at Disney theme parks.  MORE….

Son of a Beach!  Two entertainment giants ----

---- have come together as Brian Wilson, the pioneering musical genius who co-founded the Beach Boys and wrote many of the band's greatest hits, has signed with Walt Disney Records. In the months ahead, Wilson will record two new solo albums for the label's Disney Pearl imprint, including one featuring covers of classic songs by great American songwriters, George and Ira Gershwin. For that recording, the Gershwin estate has given Wilson access to rare, unfinished pieces of music by George Gershwin, with which he will craft collaborative compositions unlike anything the world has seen. He will follow that with an album of classic Disney songs, which the artist promises to “Brian-ize” with his trademark vocal stacks and unique arrangements. Release dates for each album have yet to be determined. 

Disney’s Key to the Digital Kingsom  ----

---- The Walt Disney Company is expected to unveil a new technology called Keychest, designed to allow users to buy permanent, on-demand access to its content across multiple platforms. Keychest would rely on cloud computing, used for Web-based apps such as Google Docs, which stores files on remote servers that can be accessed from any device, as opposed to being downloaded to a computer. So, for example, with Keychest, when a user purchases a Disney movie, the user's accounts with other services, such as a mobile network carrier or video-on-demand cable provider, would show the content as available for viewing. The purchased content wouldn't be downloaded, but would reside with each delivery service.  MORE….  (Thanks Dave!)

If you purchase a select Adventures by Disney ----

---- vacation from now through January 15, 2010 , you will receive a free (with restrictions) three-night Disney Cruise to the Bahamas . Some of Adventures by Disney's most popular destinations are eligible for this offer, ranging from Europe , China , Australia , Costa Rica and the American Southwest. Families have the opportunity to book the cruise through 2011, literally getting two family vacations for the price of one. For more information about this offer or Adventures by Disney, visit www.AdventuresbyDisney.com/freecruise, call 877-728-7282, or call your travel agent..(Thanks Dave!)

2009:

Disneyland , Walt Disney World, Disney Movie Premiere & Other

December 6

D23's Candlelight Spectacular

December 10

D23 presents "Disney and Dickens"

Dec 12 & 13

D23's Magic & Merriment at Walt Disney World

Various

Nov 10 – Dec 18

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Call (407) W-DISNEY (934-7639) to order tickets

Nov 27 – Dec30

Candlelight Processional - America Gardens Theatre in Epcot - WDW

December 11

“The Princess and the Frog” – opens nationally

2010:

Disneyland , Walt Disney World, Disney Movie Premiere & Other

January 29

“When in Rome” – opens nationally

March 5

“Alice in Wonderland”  opens nationally

Mar 3 – May 16

EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival

May 28

“Prince of Persia” – opens nationally

April -- – June – Dates TBA

Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival

May -- - June --

Dates TBA

Star Wars Weekends at WDW’s Hollywood Studios

June 18

“Toy Story 3” – opens nationally

July 16

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" opens nationally

July 17

Disneyland ’s 55^th Birthday

Dates TBA

Disneyland Halloween Celebration

Various from

TBA

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Sep DatesTBA

Sep Dates TBA

Disneyland Halloween Celebration

Sep Dates TBA

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

(T) Sep Dates TBA

(T) Disney’s D23 Expo

Sep Dates TBA

Night of Joy

Sep Dates TBA

Disney Vacation Club's Member Cruise 2010.

2009:

Paris, Hong Kong & Tokyo

Nov 8 – Jan 6

Christmas at Disneyland Paris!

Nov 10 – Dec 25

Christmas Fantasy – Tokyo Disneyland

Nov 10 – Dec 25

Harborside Christmas – Tokyo DisneySea

Nov 15 – Dec31

Sparkling Christmas

2010:

Paris, Hong Kong & Tokyo

Jan. – Feb.

Chinese New Year Celebration

Mar

St. David Welsh Festival

Mar17

St. Patrick’s Day Celebration

April 22 – June 30

Spring Carnival at DisneySea

July 8 – Aug 31

Summer Program at Disneyland & DisneySea

July 14

Bastille Day

Sep 10 – Nov 3

Disney’s Halloween at Disneyland & DisneySea

Sep 15 – Oct 31

Haunted Halloween

Oct 3 – Nov 1

Halloween at Disneyland Paris!