Disney Vacation Blog
New Terror for Tower, too

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Feb. 10, 2010) – The “Main Street Electrical Parade” lights up the streets of Magic Kingdom and headlines a season of after-dark excitement coming to Walt Disney World Resort.
“After the sun goes down, our Walt Disney World parks will light up the night with ‘Summer Nightastic!’, ” announced Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World Resort, at a media event Wednesday.
Disney magic will shine and shimmer in a whole new light. Here’s a look around:
* With floats and characters appearing for the first time at Walt Disney World Resort, Disney’s “Main Street Electrical Parade” returns with its joyous sights and sounds. Direct from Disneyland and marking its first engagement in Florida since 2001, the cherished parade will be led by Tinker Bell waving from the basket of a magical balloon aboard a new float. Pinocchio and Snow White join the parade this summer, aboard bright new floats. Disney’s “Main Street Electrical Parade” is set for its summer-long nighttime premiere in early June at Magic Kingdom.


* The Twilight Zone™ Tower of Terror welcomes “drop-ins” this summer with even more pulse-racing surprises. New lighting effects and the addition of a new drop sequence, created especially for “Summer Nightastic!”, will bring unexpected frights to guests who step into that infamous service elevator. If they dare.
* What could be more summery than fireworks on a star-studded night? Magic Kingdom will treat guests to a special summer fireworks spectacular. The night sky will explode in vivid colors and brilliant visual effects as whimsical music fills the air.
* Other fun! The return of the Sounds Like Summer concert series to Epcot and extended evening hours at Disney’s Animal Kingdom several times a week add up to summer fun as only Disney can do – at all four Walt Disney World theme parks.
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Over at the Contemporary, one of the hotels closest to the Magic Kingdom, you can see a holiday tree inspired by Disney Legend Mary Blair. The tree is located on the 4th floor of the hotel and measures in at 17 feet high, made completely with gingerbread shingles. Disney has plenty of traditional sweet sculptures during the holiday season, and one of them is celebrating its 10th anniversary! Over at the Beach Club Resort, the life-size edible carousel is celebrating 10 years of pleasing guests from all over the world. The carousel is made of gingerbread, chocolate, and sugar paste. You can buy your own gingerbread house from the marketplace to take home with you. If you’re a fan of Hidden Mickeys, we hear the carousel has 10 of them.
For you Disney pin traders, make sure you head over to the Board Walk for their walk-through Holiday Gazebo. It also has Hidden Mickeys, but you can also purchase a limited edition Stitch pin featuring the gingerbread display. But the most popular sweet sculpture in the Disney resort world is housed at the beautiful Grand Floridian. Here you will find their enormous gingerbread house created from a traditional Austrian recipe. This house has been featured on a variety of travel show specials and is a highlight of the Grand Floridian hotel during the holiday season. It takes 400 chefs to bake everything needed for the house and 160 hours to assemble it. Make sure you explore some of these great edible sculptures during your visit to Walt Disney World.
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On your visit to the Orlando theme parks area, sports fans can stay at the Walt Disney World All-Star Sports Resort. This is one of Disney’s value hotels and a great destination for sports fans. Its 1,920 rooms, their cafes and stores all carry baseball, basketball, football, surfing, tennis and even hockey themes. The merchandise at their gift shops features adorable Disney figurines in their own sports getup. You can find a baseball-playing Mickey Mouse or a hockey-playing Goofy, among other cute figures.
Disney also has a 220 acre sports complex known as the Wide World of Sports Complex. This massive facility hosts 200 amateur and professional events every year. It is also the home to the spring training camp of the Major League Baseball Team the Atlanta Braves. The facility just recently added the Jostens Center which is a 75,000 square foot complex that will host a number of indoor sports events. The Jostens Center has 12 volleyball courts, 6 basketball courts and 2 hockey rinks. You can also quench your thirst and grab a bite to eat at the Wide World of Sports Café where you are surrounded by great sports memorabilia.
No trip is complete without a little souvenir shopping. The ultimate mix of Disney and sports souvenirs can be found at Downtown Disney at the Team Mickey Athletic Club. This shop, found within the great entertainment, dining and shopping complex that is Downtown Disney, features a great selection of sports merchandise. Not only will you find Disney related items, but the Team Mickey Athletic Club also features jerseys from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA and other national sports leagues. While we may no longer have the ESPN Sports Zone at the Disney Boardwalk, there is still plenty to do for sports fans in Disney.
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ANAHEIM, Calif., April 24 – Disneyland Resort will glow like never before this summer as it debuts an all-new fireworks show, Magical, along with sensational new characters and effects that will brighten the Summer Nightastic! lineup of after-dark entertainment.
WHAT: Guests can see Disneyland Resort in a whole new light as Summer Nightastic! brings nighttime shows and parades to life – bigger, better and brighter. A huge new dragon and other special effects will highlight Fantasmic! Explosive surprises will illuminate the night sky in the all-new fireworks spectacular, Magical. Guests can rock the night away at a new dance club in Tomorrowland. Sparkling new magic comes to “Disney’s Electrical Parade,” as well as to Pixie Hollow, the enchanting home Tinker Bell inhabits with her fairy friends.
WHEN: Nightly, beginning Friday, June 12, and continuing through Sunday, August 23, at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure parks. All shows and immersive experiences are free with park admission.
A BOLDER FANTASMIC!: Guests will find new thrills at the popular Fantasmic! on the Rivers of America in Frontierland. The evil Maleficent from “Sleeping Beauty” transforms into a 40-foot tall, fire-breathing dragon. Ursula the Sea Witch from “The Little Mermaid” introduces her pet eels, Flotsam and Jetsam, who slither into the show with new power. In addition, the Fantasmic! video projections practically leap off the giant mist screens, thanks to HD (high-definition) technology … (in this case, HD takes on a new meaning - Huge Dragon).
AN EXPLODING CELEBRATION IN THE SKY: Magical is a new Disney fireworks spectacular created especially to celebrate Summer Nightastic! at Disneyland. Tinker Bell is once again your host, waving her wand to ignite the brilliant color, stunning special effects and charming music. But she won’t be alone in the sky this summer. Dumbo will make his surprise airborne debut in the new show. Tink’s sparkling touch awakens a fantastic array of Disney’s most magical characters, from Pinocchio to Mary Poppins to Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, and the Three Good Fairies from “Sleeping Beauty.”

NEW FLOATS BRING NEW MAGIC TO ‘DISNEY’S ELECTRICAL PARADE’: Everything about “Disney’s Electrical Parade” will have a new glow as Tinker Bell leads the way, waving from the basket of a magical balloon aboard a new opening parade float. The parade’s beloved music and floats will feature electrifying audio and lighting technologies, with sparkling pixie dust added to all the parade floats. Snow White and Pinocchio return to the parade this summer as well, after several years’ absence, riding bright new versions of their classic floats.
AN EXCITING NEW DANCE CLUB ‘IGNITES THE NIGHT’ IN TOMORROWLAND: Tweens, teens and families will be drawn to the TLT Dance Club at Tomorrowland Terrace in Disneyland. Dazzling décor will include an illuminated DJ console where the TLT Dance Club DJ will spin the hottest dance tunes, guaranteed to keep Tomorrowland rockin’ all night. Live bands and the hottest Southern California radio stations will appear on select nights throughout the summer.
PIXIE HOLLOW ENCHANTMENT: Tinker Bell and her friends have been welcoming guests into their Pixie Hollow home, tucked into the glen near the entrance to Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, since fall of 2008. This summer, for the first time, nighttime visitors will find magical surprises as Pixie Hollow and the nearby pond come to life in iridescent light shows. Pixie dust cascades across the landscape and radiates down into the pond. Even the water becomes enchanted as playful fountains spring to life, pop jets perform with whimsical precision, and sparkling strobes shine throughout Pixie Hollow.
More information about Summer Nightastic! can be found at www.disneyland.com/summer.
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