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Disneyland Shanghai Coming in 2015; Get Your 'Made In China' Mickey Ears Out!

Here's to unholy matrimony: Disney announced yesterday that China has allowed them to move forward with construction of a new park in Shanghai, its first new resort since 2005's Hong Kong Disneyland and its third in Asia. You thought the fight over EuroDisney was good? Wait till you see the Chinese version of "It's A Small World."

According to the New York Times, the park has been in the works since the 1990s when a mayor of Shanghai visited Disneyland in Anaheim and could take up to 6 years to build. At 1,700 acres, the planned park, in the city's Pudong district, will be slightly bigger than Original Flavor Disneyland but resemble the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World.

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Tags: 2009-Halloween-Theme-Park-Map / 2009 Halloween Theme Park Scare Guide / Halloween Travel / Scary Travel / Theme Parks / Disney / Disney World / Family Travel / → All Tags

2009 Halloween Theme Park Scare Guide: Mickey's Not So Scary Party

You know Disney has some deep pockets when it comes to their theme parks, so visitors looking to celebrate Halloween have nothing to worry about if they make Walt Disney World their spooky holiday headquarters. For many years the Magic Kingdom has been shutting things down early and welcoming families to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

It’s a Halloween bash that encourages both parents and their kids to dress up; however, some of the adults get a little carried away and that’s always slightly frightened us. As you take in all the seasonal decorations be sure to stop and fill your bags with candy. There’s plenty of trick or treat spots throughout the park and they are usually pretty generous. The best part of the party is that the crowds are manageable. Disney only sells a certain amount of tickets to the shindig, so it’s a great chance to ride Space Mountain like five times in a row without waiting.

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Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, The Disney Family Museum Opens October 1

The Walt Disney Family Museum will open its doors October 1, but don't expect to see Mickey's mug plastered all over the place. Instead, the museum explores the man behind the mouse in Walt Disney’s own words through listening stations, interactive media and more than 200 video monitors.

Within the museum's 10 galleries, you'll find drawings Disney made when he was young; drawings and cartoons from Laugh-O-gram Films, Disney’s first company; early sketches of Mickey (see, you'll get some mouse fun); storyboards, a technique Disney developed to map out film classics; the multiplane camera, an innovation at the time that brought depth to his revolutionary Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs flick; the unusual Academy Award Disney won for Snow White, which included a full-size Oscar and seven mini Oscarettes; the narrow-gauge Lilly Belle train he built for his Hollywood home, which recalled his youth and helped spur his vision for Disneyland; and a model of the Disneyland that the animator envisioned.

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Spend One Day Volunteering And Get A Free Pass From Disney

Mickey's giving away free one-day passes to Disney's Theme Parks and all you have to do to get one is spend a day volunteering. Beginning on January 1, 2010, you can sign up to volunteer with any participating organization for just one day, and in return you will receive a one-day pass to any Disney park. Disney is hoping to inspire one million people to volunteer (and spend money at Disney World) next year.

If you're not sure how or where to volunteer, Disney has made it easy by teaming up with HandsOn Network, which links volunteers with more than 70,000 nonprofits across the country. Once you've completed your day of service, it will be verified by HandsOn and you will receive a voucher good for one day at any Disney park.

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Disney Expo Surprises Include Johnny Depp And New Rides

While most were firmly planted on the couch watching Sunday’s football games, things were wrapping up at the D23 Expo in Anaheim. Disney hopes that this year’s expo—which is much like Comic Con for Disney fans—is just the first of many for years to come. If they announce as much as they did during this year’s edition, then we’ll definitely be intrigued year after year. However, we did know about a lot of their new projects already, including a revamp of the Star Tours attraction, thanks to the ol’ rumor mill.

One big surprise was to see Johnny Depp himself step onto the stage in full Captain Jack Sparrow regalia. He was in character and playfully going back and forth with one of the Disney suits on stage; he even commented about what poor Kermit the Frog tasted like. Depp was there to confirm that he will be returning in 2011 to star in the fourth edition of the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise.

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Oops, They Did It Again: Disney Raises Prices On Theme Park Tickets

Apparently the fact that the country is in a huge economic mess doesn’t seem to phase the suits at Disney. We understand that earnings were down this quarter compared to last year, and that you need more cash, but the ticket prices to your parks already cost a lot of money. Nonetheless, over the weekend the admission costs to Disneyland and Walt Disney World both went up by a few bucks, just like they have for the last couple of years.

If you have your heart set on heading to the mouse house in Florida this summer, a one-day ticket will now cost $79. This is an increase of $4 over the former rate, and once you add in the tax, you’re looking at well over $80 for a day with Mickey and friends. Like always, it pays to stay longer—they want to fatten you up on churros. The difference between a three day base ticket and a ten day base ticket is less than $30, but it will still cost you over $200 per person.

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Disneyland Is Already Thinking About Pumpkins And Candy

With Independence Day barely in the rear view mirror, another theme park is already prepping their offerings for Halloween. Hoping to build the excitement for the autumn amusement season, Disneyland in California has announced its plans for the spookiest of all holidays. Halloween Time will run from September 25 through November 1, just in time to take down all the pumpkins and put up all the Christmas trees.

Space Mountain will be getting a special holiday-themed overlay to spice things up for those looking to celebrate all things black and orange. The Ghost Galaxy idea premiered at Hong Kong Disneyland, but the folks in Anaheim will borrow this concept to add some new music and ghostly images to the walls of the roller coaster—sounds spooky awesome.

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Extreme Makeover: Disneyland Hong Kong Edition

It's a small world after all, and for the first time there’s actually some positive news to report about Hong Kong Disneyland. In the past, all we’ve heard about their situation is that no one is showing up to ride the rides and eat the churros, but that might be changing sooner than later. The park has gotten the green light to expand its offerings, and hopefully this will result in a steady stream through the main gates—instead of just a trickle.

The park has been approved for a cash infusion of almost $500 million. There’s a debt to equity exchange within the spending package, but the Hong Kong government will still be majority owner in the park; however, Disney will now have a little bit more ownership in their smallest plot. Over the next few years, the park will look to add more attractions within several new, themed areas. All this work should be done by 2014, so you'd be better off postponing your Disneyland HK vacay until then.

New areas like Grizzly Trail and Mystic Point will be exclusive to the park, but unfortunately there’s no real details about what these areas will offer. There will also be a land devoted to the Toy Story film franchise, and that sounds great to us, since we’re suckers when it comes to anything related to Buzz Lightyear and Woody. It’s nice to hear that despite the recession, officials recognize that this park has been a disappointment, and are trying to fix it up before it’s too late.

Related Stories:
· Hong Kong Disneyland Expansion Financing Approved [LAT]
· Hong Kong Votes for $468 mln Disneyland Expansion [Reuters]
· Disneyland Travel: Hong Kong Gets Aggressive [Jaunted]

[Photo: niallkennedy]

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Play A Pickup Game Of B-Ball With Mickey Inside The Matterhorn

When you visit Disneyland, you’re supposed to be immersed in the magic and theme, and not walking around wondering what’s behind each and every ride. Well the folks over at the OC Register probably have visited the theme park more times than most, and they wanted a closer look at what makes the Matterhorn tick.

For the ride’s fiftieth anniversary, they've managed to reveal much of the secret and inner workings of the park’s famous attraction. Did you know that the “mountain” rises to 147 feet above the park? That’s also where Tinkerbell “flies” off during her starring role in the nightly fireworks. There’s also a basketball court within the mountain, just in case Mickey and Minnie want to spend some time shooting hoops during their break.

In the 1990s the mountain was patched up to fill in the holes made for the Skyway attraction, which once dangled tourists above Disneyland from a wire. The bobsleds that twist and turn around the ride actually only use the bottom 80 feet of the Matterhorn, and the top is just a place to stick the engines that make the whole thing work. Finally, no matter how hard your scream, you’re still only going about 18 mph during your trip.

Related Stories:
·Matterhorn Turns 50 [OC Register]
·Rumors Confirmed! Star Tours 2 In The Works At Disneyland [Jaunted]
·Theme Parks coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Eccentric Scholar]

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Disney World's Monorail Has First Fatal Crash In 38-Year History

The long weekend wasn't kind to everyone off and about on their mini-trips. For those vacationing in Orlando at Walt Disney World, they awoke to the news that the park's loved transportation system, the Monorail, had crashed around 2am on Sunday and taken the life of one 21-year old driver. The news is that one Monorail malfunctioned and backed into another outside of a station.

Onboard at the early hour—who knew the Monorail even rain at the at that hour—were only 8 guests, including a family of six who were possibly too late partying at Chef Mickey's or Goofy's A La Carte Sandwich Shoppe. This marks the first fatal accident in the history of Walt Disney World's Monorail, which began its operations back in 1971.

Service on the Monorail was understandably shut down following the accident, but was back on schedule for rush hour later on Sunday as families headed home after the holiday weekend. And now for the token Simpsons quote: "Well, sir, there's nothing on earth like a genuine, bona fide, electrified, six-car Monorail."

Related Stories:
· Disney World monorail crash kills driver [CNN]
· Disney World monorail crash victim was working in his dream job [Orlando Sentinel]
· Disney World Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: weathermanfsu/TwitPic]

Tags: Theme Parks / Disney / Walt Disney World / Amusement Parks / Barack Obama / → All Tags

Disney Imagineers Welcome Obama Robot Into Presidential Roll Call

Of must-see things to visit at Walt Disney World, the Hall of Presidents is certainly not as exciting as Space Mountain, but it continues to draw visitors in for a little history with a side of air conditioning. However, starting Independence Day weekend, the show becomes a little more interesting. You see, it'll reopen for the first time since the 2008 election, as President Obama takes the stage in audio-animatronic form.

To craft the figure, Disney folks traveled to the White House in March to make sure every little part of the Obama robot was correct, right down to his braided wedding ring. The President shared his busy schedule with park designers to lend his voice and measurements, so that the new figurine could be practically perfect in every way.

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Tags: Worlds-Coolest-Pools / Disney World / Pools / Disney / Pirates / → All Tags

Indulge Your Inner Amphibian At Disney's Stormalong Bay

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

Without a cutesy shape or a benevolent aura, you'd never recognize this mega-pool as the domain of the Mouse. But we had to check out the Yacht and Beach Club combined pools after a tipster promised not only a sandy bottom but "a slide from a pirate ship." And you all know we have a weakness for pirate travel.

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