The operating hours at Disney’s Animal Kingdom have been extended for New Year’s Eve.
The park will now be closing at 10pm, up from the originally scheduled 8pm. There are no fireworks at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Month: December 2014
D23 Reveals 2015 Membership Gift
As 2014 comes to an end, D23 is excited to announce its 2015 Annual Member Gift: a reproduction of a rarely seen Disneyland pitch portfolio. The gift, created in honor of the 60th anniversary of Disneyland, is based on an original piece of artwork from the Walt Disney Archives collection that features more than 20 pieces of stunning concept artwork used to sell the park to prospective licensees on the East Coast.
Uniquely colored photographic reproductions of artwork that was originally designed by such artists as Bruce Bushman, Peter Ellenshaw, Harper Goff, and Herb Ryman have been recreated in the gift. “These beautiful and detailed works of art served to convince organizations to bring their businesses and products to the park,” writes Disney Legend and Walt Disney Archives founder Dave Smith on a notecard included with each gift, “forging relationships that helped bring Walt’s dream for Disneyland to reality.”
The gift will be available to all members who join—or renew their 2014 membership—at the Gold level in 2015. For more information about the benefits of D23 Membership, click here.
Disney & DirecTV Ink New Multi-Year Distribution Deal
From Tech Times –
DirecTV and the Walt Disney Co. have mutually agreed to a new multiyear distribution deal that grants the satellite TV company rights to ABC, ESPN and online video services authenticated by the Disney Channel.
The renewal of the agreement between the two companies allows subscribers of DirecTV access to the entertainment content of Disney, which can be accessed through all Internet-connected devices such as computers, TVs, gaming consoles and mobile devices.
DirecTV, the leader in the satellite TV industry, is the final major pay-TV company to sign up for the “TV Everywhere” service of Disney as it renews its agreement with the company, which was due to expire at the end of this year.
The agreement between Disney and DirecTV was originally set to expire on Sept. 30. However, the term was extended as the two companies commenced negotiations regarding this new deal. The two companies avoided interruptions to the services of subscribers, which have happened between other content companies and satellite TV companies while negotiating new deals.
The provisions of the new deal were not disclosed.
The 20 million subscribers of DirecTV in the United States will gain access to video-on-demand content and live feeds from all cable networks of Disney and ESPN and all TV stations owned and operated by ABC. The agreement also includes the Watch services of Disney, and allows subscribers to access all these content both inside and outside the home.
The agreement also calls for DirecTV to launch several channels, including the ABC News and Univision joint venture Fusion, ESPN Buzzer Beater, ESPN Goal Line and Longhorn Network. DirecTV subscribers will also be granted access to ESPN3, which is the live multi-screen channel of ESPN, and SEC Network +, which is the digital service of the SEC Network.
According to Dan York, chief content officer for DirecTV, the agreement between the company and Disney allows for the two companies to “evolve together into the future,” in addition to the wide range of content that DirecTV subscribers will gain access to inside or outside their home.
“It’s an immense and exciting undertaking to work together to shape the future of content consumption, and the possibilities are endless,” York added.
The deal with DirecTV is the final one that Disney had to make to secure partnerships with the top 10 pay-TV companies in the U.S., which Disney had been working on for the past several years, said Disney and ESPN Media Networks VP of affiliate sales and marketing David Preschlack.
Island Supply in Magic Kingdom to Reopen as Sunglass Hut in early January
Island Supply in the Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland will open as a Sunglass Hut early next year.
Opening on January 8th, the Island Supply Sunglass Hut will sell a range of high-end sunglasses such as Ray Ban and Oakley. Sunglass Hut operates stores throughout the country, and a flagship store at Downtown Disney West Side.
Island Supply closed on October 22nd this year where it had previously sold a range of clothing and accessories.
IBM’s THINK and Test the Limits exhibits closing in early January
THINK by IBM at Inventions West will be closing on January 1, 2015 and Test the Limits Lab at Inventions East will close on January 6, 2015.
Both exhibits have reached the end of their sponsorship period, with no word yet on any replacements. THINK by IBM opened in January 2013.
Full Entertainment Schedule for New Year’s Eve at Epcot
Epcot is the place to be for the most New Year’s Eve entertainment and here is the full run-down of what you can expect for the celebration this year.
Hours
Park hours: Future World 8am to 1am, World Showcase 9am to 1am.
Special hours – Universe of Energy 8am to 11pm, Innoventions 8am to 7pm, Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure 9am to 3pm.
Hat and Horn distribution is from 6pm to 9:15pm in Future World West at the Performing Arts Stage, Future World East along the Wonders Walkway, The American Adventure Pavilion, Germany Pavilion and Morocco Pavilion.
Transport
Friendship Boats will operate from 7am to 2pm at the International Gateway, with World Showcase Lagoon boats stopping at 4pm.
Live DJs
Future World Fountain Stage – DJ Scooter 7pm to 11:35pm, 12:10am to 1am.
Japan – Silent Groove 7pm to 1am.
American Gardens Theatre – DJ Steve Dunlap 2pm to 6pm
American Gardens Theatre – DJ Carlos Carrion 7pm to 7:20pm, 8pm to 8:50pm, 9:30pm to 10:05pm, 10:45pm to 11:35pm, 12:40am to 1am.
American Gardens Theatre – Orquestra Punto y Coma 7:20pm to 8pm, 8:50pm to 9:30pm, 10:05pm to 10:45pm, 12:05am to 12:40am.
China – DJ Dominic Morrison 7pm to 11:35pm, 12:05am to 1am
Italy – DJ Mark Sanchez 7pm to 1am
UK – DJ Dave Griffiths 7:30pm to 8pm, 8:30pm to 9:30pm, 10pm to 10:30pm, 11pm to 11:35pm, 12:05am to 12:15am
Fireworks
IllumiNations with holiday finale at 6pm
IllumiNations with New Year’s Countdown at 11:40pm
Bars
8 temporary bars will be in place around World Showcase, and 1 in future world, operating from 3pm.
Complete New Year’s Eve Entertainment Schedule for Magic Kingdom
The Magic Kingdom will be hosting two nights of New Year’s Eve entertainment this year.
Park Hours
Dec 30, 8am to 1am with EMH 7am to 8am and 1am to 3am.
Dec 31, 8am to 2am with EMH 7am to 8am.
Entertainment
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade – 12pm and 3:30pm
Frozen Holiday Wish – 6pm and 8:30pm
Celebrate the Magic – 8pm and 11:25pm
Main Street Electrical Parade – 6:30pm
Holiday Wishes Fireworks – 7:30pm
Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks – 11:50pm
Scenes from the new live-action movie Cinderella will be show on screens around the Castle Stage through the night, and photo opportunities with the Cinderella coach will be available in the Castle Courtyard.
Dance Parties
- Near Country Bear Jamboree, Dec 30 – 8pm to 1am, Dec 31 – 8pm to 2am.
- Castle Stage, Dec 30 – 9:30pm to 1am, Dec 31 – 9:30pm to 2am.
Complimentary Treats
Cosmic Rays, Columbia Harbour House and Tomorrowland terrace will be handing out complimentary cookies and hot chocolate from midnight to 1:30am.
Hats and Horns
On Dec 31, hats and horns will be distributed from 4pm at Tomorrowland Speedway, Splash Mountain, Adventureland Veranda, and near Little Mermaid meet and greet.
Walt Disney World to Begin Accepting Apple Pay on Wednesday
Walt Disney World has been listed on the official webpage of Apple Pay as one of the locations that are expected to begin supporting Apple’s mobile payment platform since its launch in October. That is about to change. Walt Disney World is scheduled to begin accepting Apple Pay on Wednesday, December 24th.
Guests will now be able to tap to pay using their iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus at the resort. At this time most stores, quick service restaurants, bars and ticket sales booths will be included. Disney has stated that nny locations that use portable payment terminals, such as table service restaurants, will be added later.
In addition to Apple Pay, other contactless payment methods, including Google Wallet and RFID-enabled credit cards, will be supported by Walt Disney World through its MyMagic+ technology, which it rolled out last year.
Apple Pay is already supported in the brick-and-mortar locations and the official iOS app of Disney Store, Disney’s specialty store chain.
The Disneyland Resort, which is located in Anaheim, California, is also expected to begin accepting Apple Pay in 2015.
‘Frozen’ Now Featured in Disneyland’s Storybook Land Canal Boats
Guests visiting Disneyland park will now be able to visit a miniature version of Arendelle from the hit Disney animated feature, “Frozen,” when Storybook Land Canal Boats reopens this weekend.
Holiday Week Changes for Disney’s Animal Kingdom
The operating hours for Disney’s Animal Kingdom have been extended on select days during the holiday week of Christmas.
The park will now be closing at 9pm on December 27, 29 and 30. This is one hour later than the originally scheduled 8pm closing.
Daisy Duck will be meeting and greeting on Discovery Island at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, across from Creature Comforts December 21-31.
Daisy will be appearing from 10am to 1:30pm, and then 2:40pm to 5:30pm.
And finally, the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail will fully reopen on December 21st after a lengthy refurbishment.
The aviary, research station and underwater viewing areas have been closed since September, although other areas of the trail have been accessible.
The reopening comes just in-time for one of the busiest weeks of the year.
Disney News Today 