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As of Thursday, August 6, 2010 — enjoying the magic of a Walt Disney World theme park is going to make a bigger dent in your wallet. The theme park giant has raised ticket prices across the board, despite a still-precarious economy and their own recent trend of offering discounted packages and perks. From today, a one-day, one-park pass for all guests 10 and up will cost $82, up from $79. It’s $74 for a one-day, one-park for kids aged 3-9 — luckily, it’s still free for kids under 3 years old. Multi-day passes and annual passes are also getting a price increase — here’s the breakdown, from the Walt Disney World blog itself:
| Days On Ticket | Base Ticket: Ages 10-up | Base Ticket: Ages 3-9 | Optional Add-On: Park Hopper | Optional Add-On: Water Park Fun & More | Optional Add-On: No Expiration |
| 10 Days | $262 ($26.20/day) | $239 ($23.90/day) | $54 | $54 (10 visits) | $213 |
| 9 Days | $257 ($28.56/day) | $234 ($26.00/day) | $54 | $54 (9 visits) | $208 |
| 8 Days | $252 ($31.50/day) | $229 ($28.63/day) | $54 | $54 (8 visits) | $182 |
| 7 Days | $247 ($35.29/day) | $224 ($32.00/day) | $54 | $54 (7 visits) | $142 |
| 6 Days | $242 ($40.33/day) | $219 ($36.50/day) | $54 | $54 (6 visits) | $106 |
| 5 Days | $237 ($47.40/day) | $214 ($42.80/day) | $54 | $54 (5 visits) | $95 |
| 4 Days | $232 ($58.00/day) | $209 ($52.25/day) | $54 | $54 (4 visits) | $67 |
| 3 Days | $224 ($74.67/day) | $202 ($67.33/day) | $54 | $54 (3 visits) | $28 |
| 2 Days | $162 ($81.00/day) | $146 ($73.00/day) | $54 | $54 (2 visits) | $22 |
| 1 Day | $82 | $74 | $54 | $54 (2 visits) | n/a |
| Ticket | Ages 10-up | Ages 3-9 |
| Annual Pass | $499 | $450 |
| Premium Annual Pass | $629 | $567 |
Competing parks like Sea World and Universal Studios Orlando have not yet announced a similar increase in their prices. Let’s hope they stay that way.
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Walt Disney World Tickets from $72.69
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Walt Disney 2 day hopper tickets from $194.00
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Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria
That’s an artist’s depiction of the new retaurant set to open in the Italy pavilion of EPCOT Center. Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria will open in August 2010. The restaurant will seat 300 and feature a family-friendly menu (details below) based on resturant creator Nick Valenti’s travels in Southern Italy and his success with the similalry-named Naples 45 Ristorante e Pizzeria in New York City. The Via Napoli will feature pizzas cooked in one of three wood-burning ovens (ensuring dry baking that makes for the perfect crust). Each oven is named after real, active volcanos in Italy — Etna (located on the island of Sicily), Vesuvius (8 miles east and Naples and famous for destroying Pompeii in 79 AD), and Stromboli (a small volcanic island off the coast of Sicily).
The menu is mouth-watering. Here it is, courtesy of The official Disney Parks website:
Appetizers: Sicilian eggplant with olives and raisins; salad of lettuce, fagiolini (string beans), fennel and tomatoes; arancini (fried saffron risotto balls) with meat ragù, mozzarella and pomodoro sauce; corn-crusted fried calamari; minestrone with basil pesto; shared antipasti plate (arancini, mozzarella, calamari, portobella mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini and carciofi [artichokes])
Main course salads: Manzo (filet of beef) with greens, red onion, gorgonzola, apple and cucumber with a red wine-mustard vinaigrette; chopped salad with lemon chicken, greens, cantaloupe, cucumber, red pepper, green beans, onions, almonds and pasta crisps with honey-citrus vinaigrette; calamari with arugula, carrots and fennel with orange vinaigrette.
Pastas: candele (long, tube-shaped pasta) with sausage ragù; linguine with seafood; malfadine (ribbon pasta) with guanciale (unsmoked Italian bacon) and pomodoro sauce; lasagna verde.
Piatti alla Parmigiana: (dishes topped with Parmesan and mozzarella gratinée): veal, chicken and eggplant.
Wood-fired pizzas: made with caputo flour imported from Southern Italy, San Marzano tomatoes, handmade mozzarella and water from a local spring just like in Italy’s Campania region – 10-inch, 20-inch or 1/2 meter to share: a dozen choices will be available, from pizza Margherita with tomato, mozzarella and basil to carciofi pizza with artichoke, potato, pecorino cheese, prosciutto and cantaloupe.
Sweets: tiramisù, zeppole di ricotta (ricotta cheese-fried dough, whipped cream and chocolate sauce); apple cake with almond sorbetti; gelatie; and vanilla gelato with almond cookies and amarena cherries.
You have finally arrived at the Walt Disney World® Resort! There you are standing in front of that thrill ride you have been waiting your whole vacation for…and realize that someone in your party is not tall enough to ride. What do you do?
Your family may have run into this same situation during your last visit. For example if you have five members in your group, Mom, Dad, a ten year old son, six year old daughter and three year old son. Your ten year old is now tall enough to ride everything so he was not a problem; not so for your six and three year olds.
At the Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain attraction in Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park. The height requirement is 44 inches or taller. Everyone in your family could ride except the three year old, so use Disney’s Rider Switch Program.
What is Rider Switch? It is a great feature for families or traveling parties to use when you have a wide variety of ages and heights for some of the more thrill seeking rides.
Here’s how it works:
- Locate a Disney Cast Member, there will always be one stationed at the beginning of the queue.
- Explain to the Cast Member that you need to do a Rider Switch.
- Next, you will be asked who is riding first (ex: Husband and Son).
- The Cast Member will hand a ticket to another member of the party which looks similar to a FASTPASS® ticket.
- Our daughter, three year old son and I were asked to step out of the line and wait for the rest of our party.
- Once my husband and son returned, my daughter and I entered the FASTPASS® line to go straight to the ride without waiting in the regular queue again.
Rider Switch is a great advantage to use for any thrill rides where the waits can get hours long. This way the complete party or family only wait in the long lines once and everyone gets to ride. We also used Rider Switch for Rockin’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith (height requirement: 48 inches) at Disney’s Hollywood Studios™.
Not sure if a particular ride has Rider Switch? Just ask a Cast Member, they are always ready to help! Talk
A vacation in Walt Disney World is all kinds of fun, but it can also cost all kinds of money. There’s the cost of the vacation itself (hotel, travel costs), tickets to the parks, meals, endless souvenirs, sunscreen, and snacks, to name but a few. But there are some free ways to entertain yourself in the Happiest Place on Earth too. Here are a five fun ways to spend part of the day or all of it, without dipping into your rapidly-thinning wallet.
Disney Quest
1. Downtown Disney — as long as you can trust yourself to window shop and you avoid the tempting treats and restaurants, it’s actually very easy to while away some pleasant and cost-free hours wandering Downtown Disney. The Westside is more modern and more varied. You can find everything from candy bars to designer sunglasses and clothes, so window shopping is a must. There is also House of Blues, where live shows featuring top artists are a nearly daily occurrence and fans have been known to haunt the stage door in the hope of grabbing a photo and an autograph during daytime sound checks. Check out the other side of things at Disney Marketplace (once known as Disney Village). The shops here are more Disney-focused, notably the massive World of Disney. There is also a Lego store complete with huge, intricate Lego sculptures outside where you can feel free to touch and poke and take pictures. Inside the store are tables full of those iconic plastic bricks, where customers of all ages are encouraged to build and play.
Floridian Walt Disney World
2. Disney Hotels — Disney theming extends much father than just the theme parks. The Walt Disney World Resort includes 19 hotels, all beautifully decorated and well worth their own visits. This is especially true during the holiday season, when some of the hotels even offer special tours of the more spectacular sites. Take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom hotels, like the Polynesian or the Grand Floridian, or take a walk to the EPCOT resorts like the Boardwalk or The Yacht Club. The Animal Kingdom Lodge even has its own Savannah views, with animals that live specifically on the hotel’s property. A short walk from Downtown Disney is Hotel Row and are even more hotels whose grounds also offer a lovely way to while away from time. All the hotels — both Disney property and the Hotel Row properties (including The Royal Plaza and the Hilton — check out the turtles in the Hilton’s pond!) There are shops and restaurants in all of the hotels, so take your time and explore.
3. Boats and Monorails — The Disney Water transportation and monorails cost nothing to ride, though once you arrive at the parks you’ll need tickets to go inside, and while the rides are short, they can be pleasant and relaxing. The monorail in particular can be a great respite on boiling hot days; it’s always cool and comfortable inside the monorail! You can even request to ride in the front car along with the driver and you’ll receive your own pin when you’re done!
4. The Boardwalk — A short walk from EPCOT or just a Disney bus ride away is the Boardwalk, a line of shops and restaurants modeled after the classic East Coast boardwalks. It’s a quarter of a mile long and is on the border of Crescent Lake, one of the many man-mad lakes at the Walt Disney World Resort. The Boardwalk offers food, drinks, shopping and entertainment. It’s a great place to wander and people watch, and things definitely heat up at night with street performers, street vendors and entertainment. A lot of it is free, so take a walk on the Boardwalk and enjoy the sights.
5. Celebration — Take a Disney shuttle from the theme parks to Celebration, the planned community just minutes from the parks themselves and home to approximately 8000 lucky (and definitely upper-upper middle class and higher) home owners. Celebration has small-town atmosphere and a quaint downtown area that includes some great restaurants, interesting shops and a movie theater. There’s also the romantic and lovely Celebration Hotel, with a charming lobby reminiscent of early 20th century inns. Check out the piano bar, too.
Mark your calendar! Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios starts Friday, May 21st and continues every weekend through June 13th. Will you be there? Click the event link and make plans to show your allegiance!
Come immerse yourself in the power of the Force during Star Wars™ Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 21–June 13, 2010. Here, you’ll find an entire saga’s worth of characters and more celebrities than ever before on hand for autographs, pictures, motorcades, Q&A sessions and more, including the Jedi Training Academy for your Padawans.
Weekend 1 Featured Celebrities (May 21 – 23)
– Temuera Morrison (“Jango Fett”)
– Daniel Logan (“Boba Fett” – Episode II)
– Dee Bradley Baker (voice of Captain Rex in Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Characters:
Jedi Mickey • Leia Minnie • Vader Goofy • Stormtrooper Donald • Ahsoka • Anakin • Queen Amidala • Aurra Sing • Boba Fett • Cantina Band • Chewbacca • Clonetroopers • Darth Maul • Darth Vader •Ewoks • Gamorrean Guard •Jango Fett • Jawas • Kit Fisto • Mace Windu • Princess Leia • Luke Skywalker • R2-D2 • Shaak Ti • Stormtroopers • Tusken Raiders • Zam Wesell • And more!
Appearances and entertainment subject to change without notice.
For the latest information on Star Wars™ Weekends, please visit http://www.disneyworld.com/starwars.
Plus, Call Upon the Force!
Call (407) 827-2799 and choose from either the Light Side or the Dark Side of the Force to hear a special message from a Star Wars character inviting you to be a part of this special event!
This event is included with admission to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Thinking about heading to the Walt Disney World® Resort, but not sure what would be available for your toddler? The Walt Disney World® Resort has much to offer for visitors under 3 years old. Starting with free admission, there are also several attractions, shows, etc. available to young dreamers ready for their introduction to the most magical place on earth.
The Magic Kingdom® Park offers a variety of options. Fantasyland® is a virtual paradise – with an abundance of rides to delight both young and old. The railroad provides a nice, relaxing tour of the park and there are a variety of shows exciting enough to maintain interest. There are also parades and an outstanding castle show. Add to that the chance to meet a variety of characters – including Mickey Mouse himself!
Epcot® offers one of the most exciting experiences – a large aquarium with Nemo as your guide! Beginning with a ride in a clamshell, young guests will be amazed by the variety and color of marine-life. The journey ends in one of the largest aquariums in the country. Educational (and still fun!) rides are abundant in The Land Pavilion as well as in the Mexico and Norway Pavilions in the World Showcase. There are multiple shows throughout Epcot® as well as several Kidcot stations where crafts and other activities take place. At the Epcot® Character Spot, there is another chance to meet Disney favorites Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios™ showcases the great tradition of Disney entertainment with a plethora of enchanting and entertaining shows – including Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage™, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast- Live on Stage. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure is a fun playground to play on. The Block Party Bash® Parade is unique in that it stops several times and breaks into a giant dance party! There is also a spectacular show that runs a couple of times a week called Fantasmic!. It is intense but highly enjoyable, and of course, the good mouse wins! Toddlers and children have a chance to meet their favorite Playhouse Disney® characters as well as Buzz and Woody from the Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story films.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park is simply put a wildlife experience like no other. Part zoo, part adventure, Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park provides an escape to Africa, Asia, and even the pre-historic. Jump on the Kilimanjaro Safaris® Expedition as early as possible and to get incredible views of the animals in action and to beat the crowd. There are a couple of walking trails available where Guests can bird watch, check out a variety of reptiles, and see several gorgeous tigers. Ride the rails to Rafiki’s Planet Watch® Land and not only will Jimney Cricket, Rafiki, and Pocahontas be available for photos, but a petting zoo awaits young visitors! The DinoLand U.S.A.® Area provides all guests with the chance to ride dinosaur themed rides and for toddlers and little ones to enjoy some prehistoric fun.
The Walt Disney World® Resort accommodates families with young children beyond the attractions. Baby Care Centers in all four Disney Theme Parks offer private rooms with rocking chairs for nursing mothers, diaper-changing rooms and rooms with highchairs. Diapers, formula, baby food and teethers are available for purchase. Dining locations offer children’s menus, crayons and coloring books. Length-of-stay stroller rentals are available for Guests who don’t want to bring their own.
The resort hotels of the Walt Disney World® Resort offer plenty of things for your little ones as well. Childcare is available (for additional fee) and to help in packing, port-a-cribs and bedrails may be available upon request. Each of the resorts provides a pool as well as playgrounds (in select resorts). Highchairs may be available for request in Disney’s Deluxe Villas Resorts. When staying at a Disney Resort, it’s a short trip back to the room for a nap before returning to the Park to watch fireworks at night!
The Walt Disney World® Resort offers such a variety of activities for all generations – including guests 3 and under. Imagine the excitement and enchantment achieved through shared experience that awaits your entire family! Come enjoy the Magic through the wondrous eyes of a child!
History will record that the strongest survive during hard times
Despite the worst recession since the great depression, Disney World’s four theme-parks continued to maintain attendance but at a high cost.
Albeit, Disney World lowered it’s premium prices on tickets and hotel accomodations, it managed to capture a larger portion of the market share while it’s rivals diminished in shares.
Using the global economic downturn to it’s advantage, Disney offered special promotions in 2009-2010 including four nights get three free, free accomodations for children, and $750 gift cards.
According to industry estimates, nearly 17 million visitors, up 1%, descended on the Magic Kingdom making it the world’s busiest theme park in 2009. Meanwhile attendance at Orland’s #2 theme-park Universal Studios declined some 10% to 5 million.
Declines were so sharp at Universal that SeaWorld rang in as Orlando’s #2 busiest theme-park of 2009.
One thing is for sure, Disney World now sees promotions as a strategy to undermine the market in order to maintain a larger portion of the market shares.
With some amazing vacation packages at Disney World including 30% off on a Deluxe Resort Reservation, 20% off on a Moderate, and 15% off on a Disney Value Resort, it’s going to be difficult weaning customers off of these promotions without experiencing a sharp decline in attendance.
But attendance boosts may shift the other way when the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens in June combined iwth joint ticket packages with SeaWorld.
Disney World discounts do not necessarily mean that the market will be sustainable in the days to come.
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Walt Disney 3 day hopper tickets (FREE upgrade to 5 day ticket) from $187.00
Park Hopper Tickets can be used at all theme parks – Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom – on the same day and also includes use of the Disney transportation system
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Walt Disney World Tickets Prices from $72.89
Base Tickets – Admits guest to one Disney theme park per day’s use. Park choices are: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
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Walt Disney 2 day hopper tickets from $194.00
Park Hopper Tickets can be used at all theme parks – Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom – on the same day and also includes use of the Disney transportation system
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Cheerleaders are a part of nearly every major sport in the US. Even baseball and hockey teams have cheerleaders now. In the Midwest high school scene (as well as in the South) high school sports are a huge deal—especially in smaller towns that don’t have access to national league sports. Every year, the best cheerleading squads from across the nation gather to compete in the National High School Cheerleading Championship, put on by the Universal Cheerleaders Association. Over 400 teams from 32 states will be competing in this 30 year old tournament. One of those squads, the team from Kentucky’s Greenup High School, has participated in the competition since its inception.
“Our 30th Anniversary Championship is a testament to the popularity and growth of cheerleading across the U.S.” said Jeff Webb, founder and CEO of Varsity, parent organization of UCA. “We are proud to celebrate this milestone with the more than 8,000 talented cheerleaders representing teams from all over the country. We feel privileged to give these amazing athletes a proper showcase for their talents.”
The cheerleading competition, or NHSCC for short, will take place at various spots within the Disney theme parks and the ESPN Wide World of Sports. You can expect to see cheerleading performances over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular Show Stage as well as at the Josten’s theatre and the ESPN Wide World of Sports. You will be able to view the 30th Annual National High School Cheerleading Championship on both ESPN and ESPN2 and then later on in the Varsity Channels.
If you’re a fan of competitive cheerleading then you definitely need to plan your trip to the Walt Disney World Resort and check out this traditional competition. Ever since the opening of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Disney has pulled out all the stops to bring amazing sports events to their brand new state-of-the-art complex. Considering we just passed the Super Bowl and this cheerleading competition is coming up, the ESPN Wide World of Sports is getting plenty of good use and we’re sure there will be more events to come.
WALT DISNEY WORLD Pro Soccer Classic
Toronto FC, FC Dallas, New York Red Bulls, Houston Dynamo start the MLS competition when the four clubs compete in the inaugural Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
The tournament, which kicks off the re-launch of the complex and is part of the 2010 ESPN The Weekend, begins on Thursday, Feb. 25, with the Dynamo taking on the Red Bulls at 6 p.m. ET, followed by a clash between Dallas and Toronto at 8:30 p.m. ET. The winners will meet in the championship game on Saturday, Feb. 27, with the losers of the opening matches meeting in a third-place game earlier in the day.
“Bringing four Major League Soccer teams to Central Florida to play in the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic is very exciting and a big win for all of our local soccer players, fans, parents and spectators,” said Disney Sports Area Manager Patrick Dicks. “ESPN The Weekend is serving as a major platform for these teams to prepare for the upcoming season and we are proud to have them be a part of this re-branding weekend.”
Daily tickets to the Disney Pro Soccer Classic will include admission to the complex for both games and entrance to ESPN The Weekend events that are taking place at the complex. Tickets can be bought on-site at the complex box office or through ticketmaster.Watch two professional games for only $13.50!
The WALT DISNEY WORLD® Pro Soccer Classic will feature:
FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, New York Red Bulls, and Toronto FC. Two games will be held each night on Thursday, February 25 and Saturday, February 27 at the newly re-imagined ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
For tickets visit ticketmaster.com
For group ticket sales, please call 407-939-1529.
With Disney giving FREE tickets in 2010 for volunteering in Disney’s Give a Day Get a Day program. The Muppets are the creation of genius Jim Henson who is also behind television and movie greats like Sesame Street, The Dark Crystal, and Return of the Jedi. Loved by many, the cute characters of Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog and Sweetums (the friendly monster) are all coming together to get the world to volunteer and they’re using both the Magic Kingdom and viral videos to get everyone involved!
The muppets are using the character of Fozzie and Kermit encouraging people to volunteer. The great thing about this is that you can insert your name, website or even blog and they will show up on the white cards Fozzie and Kermit use in the video. If you go to the Disney theme parks you will be able to enjoy a special “pre-parade” that will feature special floats and vehicles dedicated to volunteerism and people that have dedicated themselves to the craft. It was reported that in the New Year, around 59% of Americans considered volunteering as one of their New Year’s Resolutions. So if you’re one of those in the 59% category, what are you waiting for?
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- Muppets parade
“Volunteering is incredibly easy, and it’s never been as easy – it can be as simple as packing care packages to send to our troops that are serving abroad.”
The Muppets promotion might just be for a limited time only, but see them at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Muppetvision 3-D Experience! This 3-D adventure is fun for the whole family and involves classic Muppets comedy along with music and an adorable story—definitely a Hollywood Studios classic! Lend a hand this year for the Give a Day Get a Day program and enjoy both your Free Disney Tickets and the Muppets!
Orlando Vacations 