Disney movies

Length: N/A mins. Year: 2008

Cast: Voices by Jodi Benson, Sam Wright

Movie Description
Coming soon.

The Little Mermaid 3 Teaser Trailer

Changes are underway at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, the first such major improvements since this area opened 37 years ago.

Among the plans are a dog park, scaled down water park, internet access and cable TV throughout the campground, larger pads for today’s RV’s and an upgraded electric cart system. Also being addressed is the problem with proliferating plant species which are not indigenous to the area.

While Fort Wilderness does have three Wi-Fi hot spots as well as access from the Cabins, the same is not true for the campsites. The planned addition of both cable and internet access is being widely praised by those who camp at this resort.

The Meadows pool area will see a major overhaul with the addition of a a splash zone and water slide. Disney’s first water park, River Country, which has been closed, is adjacent to this area. While the plans do not include reopening that park, there is discussion to incorporate some of the more iconic elements of River Country into this new themed pool area. One such feature being looked at is River Country’s water tower.

The expanded campsites which are being built are expected to rent from $66 to $116 a night, varying by season and will also feature grills and picnic tables.

Jean Gallagher, General Manager of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness stated “The fort is a treasure at Walt Disney World. There really is so much history with the success of Walt Disney World that stems back to Fort Wilderness. And because of the nature of this property, and the theming, we really haven’t done a lot of changes. … We have not made a lot of investment from a site perspective in the 37 years we’ve been open. So this opportunity to meet what our guests are asking for, and how the industry has changed, this is more than we could expect.”

While the changes are being welcomed and are considered long overdue, Linda Profaizer, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds speculated that the campsite pad expansion may be happening at a time when the trend of oversize campers may be ending in response to current gas prices.

Disney’s CEO Bob Iger previously commented “We have a big RV park in Orlando, and I would think that they would be hit the hardest, because it’s pretty expensive to fill up a tank in one of those babies. Those parks have been completely full. And there’s demand going forward from a bookings perspective.”

Port Canaveral is scheduled to reopen today following its Monday closure due to Tropical Storm Fay.

Stan Payne, Chief Executive Officer of the Canaveral Port Authority stated “There’s no apparent shoaling, or buildup in the channel, and that’s a testament to the work we have been doing on the port since the hurricanes of 2004. The weather gave us challenges, but our operations during this storm have been successful.”

The closure forced both Disney Cruise Line and Carnival to dock at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. Passengers scheduled to sail on the Disney Wonder on Thursday were bussed to the alternate port.

Payne commented “The weather really made busing the people a challenge, but overall, because we had learned our lessons from before, we had backup generators operating. In 2004 it was a learning experience but this time, we had a firm grasp on what we needed to do, and we have our procedures in place for the future.”

Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu will participate in a news conference with Disney representatives on September 10 to announce the state being a part of the 2008 Epcot Food and Wine Festival.

Louisiana is scheduled to be featured the week of October 19 - 25. Stacy Brown, the president of the Louisiana Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau, estimates that 1.3 million will be in attendance at the annual Disney event.

Lisa Johnson, the executive director of the Bossier Chamber of Commerce is expected to represent the state during the Food and Wine Festival.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is claiming that an anonymous donation to the group will enable them to purchase a Sea World theme park. It is anticipated that the Anheuser Busch owned theme park will go on sale once InBev’s takeover of Busch is complete.

According to reports, PETA would release the animals and replace them with animatronics and virtual displays.

ESPN is expected to bid for rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympics.

NBC, which as the rights to the Olympics through 2012, has made certain that ESPN gets little in the way of coverage of the sports event.

With Disney owned ESPN’s growing popularity and increased revenues, it is expected that it will challenge NBC’s lock on the Olympics rights.

In commenting on ESPN’s expected bid for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia and the 2016 games which Chicago is vying for, John Skipper, head of ESPN’S content, stated “We would never put an event on tape delay.” The network has vowed to air all of the competition live.

With NBC’s unprecedented success with this year’s Beijing Olympics, both CBS and Fox may be joining ESPN in geting the air rights for the future games

Disney news

Hurricane warnings were canceled as Tropical Storm Fay failed to meet the 74 mile per hour sustained wind threshold required by the National Hurricane Center.

Fay made landfall at Cape Romano early Tuesday where residents of nearby Marco Island were encouraged to evacuate.

Tropical Storm Fay’s path is expected to bring it close to Orlando on Tuesday and eventually reach the Atlantic as a tropical depression on Wednesday.

It is anticipated that Fay will dump up to 10 inches of rain in certain areas and could generate isolated tornadoes.

Florida utilities are busy restoring power where outages have been reported.

Length: 70 mins. Year: 2008
Cast: Voices by Mae Whitman, Kristen Chenoweth, America Ferrera, Raven, Lucy Liu

Movie Description
One of Disney’s most beloved characters comes to the big screen with her first feature film, Tinker Bell. Captivating audiences with her timeless charm and beauty, Tinker Bell uses her mystical, miniature powers to rescue Pixie Hollow from big trouble, and in the process learns the secret to the magical pixie dust.

Police arrested 32 protestors who were involved in a labor protest staged outside the Disneyland Resort.

Misdeameanor charges of failure to obey a police officer and two traffic violations were filed against the protestors. Those arrested were sitting in a circle in a main intersection disrupting traffic. As they were taken into custody, they were cheered by Disneyland hotel staffers.

At issue is the contract for the 2300 cooks, dishwashers, maids and bellhops at the Disneyland, Paradise Pier and Grand Californian hotels.

The union members have been working without a contract since February. According to reports, Disney’s latest offer dramatically increases the cost of healthcare for their workers and will include the implementation of a two tier wage system. Additionally, Disney is seeking to put a new category of part time employees into place. Those in this employment level will have fewer benefits.

Ava Briceno, president of Unite Here Local 681 stated “The other hotels around the area all have health care that is provided by the boss and have been able to get wage increases. At the other hotels in the same classification, for the same work, the workers get paid $2 to $3 an hour more.”

Lisa Haines, Disney spokeswoman, pointed out that the union has come to negotiations 11 times since the contract expired while staging 14 protests in the last six months. Haines stated “Clearly we’re disappointed that Unite Here Local 681 has spent more time protesting. Publicity stunts are not productive and are extremely disruptive to the resort district.”

Joining the most recent protest were local religious leaders and community activists. Some of the picketers carried signs reading “Disney is unfaithful” and “Mickey, shame on you.”

A Disneyland Hotel bakery worker expressed concern that Disney’s latest proposal will further increase the challenges she has supporting her family on the $14.32 an hour she currently makes. Vasquez commented “Disneyland is being unfair with us because we’re fighting for our health care and they’re trying to take it away. They’re trying to cut our hours and take away our seniority.”

The main issue is the free health care that workers have access to through a trust fund that area unionized hotels, including Disney, contribute to. Disney workers have accepted lower salaries for their first three years of employment in exchange for the health coverage.

According to the Union, Disney wants to do away with free health care for new employees while increasing the hours needed to be eligible for coverage. The other proposal which the Union objects to is the creation of a new classification for workers who have less than 30 hours a week. Employees in this category will not get sick, vacation or holiday pay.

Haines commented that host of the other Disneyland employees contribute towards their health coverage, with Disney covering close to 75 per cent of the cost. She said that this is also an issue of fairness to those workers who pay for this benefit.