Results tagged “disney”

A newsbit posted this morning on OC Metblogs about Disney prepping a third amusement park called DisneySea America--a venture based around water-themed rides and attractions--turned out to be more for the birds than the fish. The OC Register responded to the ensuing hubub: "Everyone can calm down. There’s no third Disney theme park on the way to Anaheim." Check your calendars, people. That's right, it's April 1st. We might have a bridge or some oceanfront property in Phoenix to sell you, or can offer you a peek at Nine Inch Nails' newest album...

Disney Cruise Line and the Port of Los Angeles announced today that in 2011, Disney's "Wonder" will be setting sail from our shore. The vessel is one of a trio of ships currently offering family-friendly cruises from Port Canaveral, Florida; no itinerary has been announced, but the Mexican Riviera is the rumored destination. Bringing another cruise ship to LA is a revenue booster for the city: "It will bring about 250,000 passengers through the Port of Los Angeles, create about 2,600 new jobs, and yield for L.A. and the state of California $7 million in state and local taxes," boasts L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Disney's "Wonder" has 875 staterooms and a crew size of 945, per their official site. It's smaller than Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas, who made the move from Florida last month and is now sailing from San Pedro.

The four men who play Captain Jack Sparrow from the popular Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise were told it was time to walk the plank, so to speak, when they lost their Disneyland jobs recently. So why did the Mouse cut the swashbucklers loose?

Pumpkin, the turkey pardoned by President Bush on Wednesday in Washington DC, was honored as the grand marshal at Disneyland's Thanksgiving Day Parade today in Anaheim. He, along with Pecan--the backup turkey--will now be part of the park's holiday display of live reindeer. After that, the two will retire to Disneyland's Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland.

The sales tax hike proposed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday raised more than just some eyebrows around the Southland, as the plan includes taxing things that were previously un-taxed, including amusement park admission tickets. The tax on entry to places like Disneyland would begin on March 1, 2009 if the proposal is to go through, and the folks at the mighty Mouse are mad:

“We oppose the Governor’s proposed theme park tax because it unfairly targets the tourism industry and may deter new visitors to the Golden State at a time we need them most,” said resort spokeswoman Lisa Haines in an e-mail statement. “This tax is not worth the risk to an industry that is a proven job creator and economic engine for California’s growth.”

This Monrovia man was arrested last week at Disneyland following a five-day crime spree that began on September 19th. After carjackings, home-invasion robberies and an attempted murder, the 27-year-old Anthony Hislar visited Disneyland with a couple of people before his arrest just outside the park (was he there rewarding himself or something?). LA County Sheriff's tipped off the Anaheim Police saying that Hislar was at the park. Police found him leaving the park and followed him from there.

Disney wants you to spend your birthday money at their parks next year so they're letting you in for free in 2009. You've just got to prove your birthday with a valid ID. And for those who are annual pass holders, then you get a FastPass which lets you cruise to near the beginning of the line. Maybe street artist Banksy will visit again after installing his Guantanamo Bay piece (video) a couple years ago.

Wanna buy a historic Hollywood theatre? Well, the El Capitan is rumored to have been put on the market today, with a price tag of $31 million. The purchaser will have a ready-made tenant, namely Walt Disney Co., and can boast they own a key piece of the entertainment industry, old and new.

Tween and teen boys and girls around the world may have gone into panic if they stumbled on either Yahoo! news or Wikipedia on Friday and learned that their beloved Hannah Montana, aka 15-year-old actress and singer Miley Cyrus, had died in a horrible car accident in Los Angeles. The report was a hoax that sent shockwave ripples through the internet, but was easily confirmed as false. MyFox Los Angeles knows it just couldn't be true because, well, they are The Media: "We would have heard about the story if it were true, especially since it was reported to have happened here in Los Angeles," the explain in an article posted today on their site. They also direct us towards the "old" version of the Wikipedia page that listed Cyrus' death. Only, well, another way to know it couldn't be true--look at the given date of death. Hopefully Wiki isn't in the prediction business.

The people behind SaveGriffithPark.org write in and ask the hard questions:

Seems like everyone is running to the web these days as a secondary broadcast option. NBC did it a long time ago and now a couple more big names are heading that direction. Viacom will be adding an assortment of its shows to Fox-NBC joint-venture HULU - yeah, finally we'll be able to see full length episodes of "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" rather than the ridiculous little clips we've been getting off of the Comedy Central website.

You're going to be thinking scrumptious cupcakes, but don't even try... you're too cool for that, right? That's Johnny Cupcake for ya. Coming soon to a Melrose Ave. storefront soon.

No, this isn't Care Bear Puke, but that would be pretty cool (in a strange way). This is the peppermint ice cream cookie sandwich ($4.25) at Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store, attached to the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.

No longer the CEO of Disney, but now immortalized on Hollywood Blvd. in the Walk of Fame, Michael Eisner was joined by Mickey, Minnie, current CEO Bob Iger and John Travolta (whoa, that moustache) when he was honored with a star today. The chosen spot, of course, appropriately themed, was outside Disney's Hollywood Blvd. property -- El Capitan Entertainment Center, home to Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Reported earlier this week, Disney was set to begin service of its new Red Monorail, the Mark VII. Today, the OC Register's Disney blog says that mouse officials "decided to take a few extra days for test and adjust."

After the odd news that broke this morning about the verboten action of snapping photos in Disneyland parking lots, more news comes out of the House of Mouse today -- in the form of transportation. Ray Bradbury may want a monorail in Los Angeles, but Disney is the only place you'll actually get some one-on-one action with it. And beginning Friday, "the first new monorail car in two decades — called the Monorail Red or Mark VII — is expected to open to the public," according to Around Disney, an Orange County Register blog.

      

Remember that scene in I Am Legend where we see a gas station selling a regular gallon for $6.63. Well if we're lucky those prices won't hit us until 2012, along with vampire zombies.

The defending Stanley Cup champion (and recently reassembled) Anaheim Ducks are holding a contest tomorrow for a chance to sing the national anthem at one of their upcoming games.

HISTORY

Holy Fuck, A Place to Bury Strangers, In Waves @ Spaceland (Silver Lake)

Since the recent opening of LACMA's Broad Contemporary (BCAM) a flurry of international eyes have been on Los Angeles, and an ensuing flurry of words have issued forth in review. It seems irresistible to review the Broad without also reviewing the city that houses it, which was precisely the tact taken by Chris Haslam in London's Sunday Times today.

We can't think of a better way to celebrate a new book than to invite musicians, poets, visual artists, performance arists and writers to respond to the new book. This is exactly what Maggie Nelson has done for her new book Women, the New York School, and Other True Abstractions and tonight is the night.

This Thursday through Saturday, award winning Argentine choreographer Diana Szeinblum is bringing four performers to REDCAT to present "Alaska" in its theater below Disney Hall. In her promotional material, Buenos Aires-based Szeinblum calls the work a "container of memories where everything that has not been said regarding a personal experience is kept." With original music by Ulises Conti for piano and viola and a physical language Szeinblum calls "extreme," the performers "desperately . . . seek to arrive at that state of the past."

Get Your Lit On: The Week in Bookish LA includes some outstanding readings this week from some fine, fine writers including Maggie Nelson, Anne Enright, Colm Toibin, Toby Barlow, Amy Hempel, Peter Carey, John Rechy, Martha Grimes and Russell Banks.

Just moments ago, in a letter to its members, the WGA announced that writers have voted by a 92.5% margin to lift the “restraining order” and officially end the strike. The move comes on Day 100 of the labor dispute.

The PBR bucks their way into Anaheim this weekend for three days of bull riding at the Honda Center. 45 riders will compete for over $125,000 in prize money distributed in a number of mano-a-toro showdowns.

In an interview on CNBC's "Fast Talk," ex-Disney CEO Michael Eisner said the writers strike is over but was noted "to hesitate initially about whether it was possible that the writers could still reject the agreement," yet finally suggesting the acceptance of the deal was inevitable.

"A deal has been made, and they'll be back to work very soon," Eisner said, adding, "I know a deal's been made. I know it's over."

Continue reading "Writers Strike is Over According to Ex-Disney Exec"