Disney Resort Planned for Hawaii!

Looking ahead with Disney’s future plans. Disney plans a Hawaii hotel complex to be completed in 2011 at the Ko Olina resort in West Oahu.
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts' first venture in the islands will add 830 hotel and vacation time-share rooms, a fantasy-laden water play area and an 1,700-square-metre spa to this rapidly expanding resort area. A detailed scale model of the complex was displayed at a news conference with Disney officials and Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann.
It'll be the first such complex for Disney away from a theme park, combining a 350-room hotel with 480 vacation villas on one of Ko Olina's four man-made lagoons, which already feature a Marriott hotel and timeshares, a luxury condominium project and wedding chapels.
"We plan to offer the opportunity for our guests to vacation in a completely new way, very different than they do at our theme park resorts, when they come here to Hawaii - to be surrounded, to discover Oahu, to discover the Hawaiian Islands," said Disney resorts chairman Jay Rasulo.
The resort is expected to hire 1,000 "cast members," Rasulo said. Many will come from Oahu's relatively low-income Leeward Coast.
Disney has several themed resort hotels near Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida, but has never built a hotel and time-share complex that will stand on its own. Rasulo had said there were no plans to expand the resort into a theme park.
The timeshare units will be part of the 350,000-member family-oriented Disney Vacation Club, which has eight other resorts.

T-REX Cafe' is now open-Disney Downtown

T-REX: A Prehistoric Family Adventure, A Place To Eat, Explore and Discover is now open at Downtown Disney in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.. Landry’s Restaurants and Schussler Creative combined in developing this concept for a new dining and retail experience in an interactive prehistoric environment. Guests visiting T-REX will be greeted with life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, bubbling geysers, a fossil dig site and much more.
"T-REX will attract visitors of all ages with its mix of delicious food and unique entertainment," said Tilman Fertitta, president, chairman and CEO of Landry's. "Downtown Disney is the perfect location for this innovative concept."
"T-REX is the perfect place to uncover never-before-known dinosaur facts and let your imagination roam wild," said Steve Schussler.
Some of the highlights are as follows:

• A large excavation pit with replicas of fossil bones waiting to be uncovered by would-be paleontologists to practice their skills
• The Geode Splitter breaks up geodes to display hidden minerals.
  Pan for precious stones, gems and fossils within Discovery Creek.
• Expand your knowledge of the dinosaur era and play one of several family-friendly games on the interactive Paleo Screens.
• T-REX greets visitors with a skeletal version of a 125-foot long replica of an Argentinasaurus and an animatronic Tyrannosaurus.
• T-REX also greets guests with a giant animatronic octopus sitting on top of the Shark Bar, motioning guests in for a specialty drink and a view of a 5,000-gallon shark tank.
• A 30,000 sq. ft. restaurant seats 600 guests and is divided into several separate, distinctive dining rooms, each with its own theme and animatronic dinosaurs.
• Areas include the Ice Cave, Fern Forest, Coral Reef Dining Room, Sequoia Room and Geo-Tech Room.
• An amazing meteor shower travels across the dining room ceiling every 20 minutes.
• Food facilities are cutting-edge. The Kitchen of Fire offers an open kitchen with a giant rotisserie that allows visitors to see meals being prepared.
• Dishes including Triassic Tortellini, the Bronto Burger and the one-of-a-kind Boneyard Buffet.
• The Dino-Store where you can shop for exciting dinosaur-related apparel and gifts. Young dinosaur fans will especially enjoy the chance to take home their own personal dinosaur at Build-A-Dino.

Sounds like a lot of fun for everyone!

Disney's Pleasure Island phased out-New Attractions Planned!

Pleasure Island of Walt Disney World that caters to young and restless clubbers, has been phased out and is being retooled or "reimagined."
The Downtown Disney area will have new shopping areas, eateries and other attractions.
The 8 Trax, The Adventurer's Club, Mannequins Dance Palace, BET Sound-Stage Club, Motion and The Comedy Warehouse are now closed.
New features are being added, including attractions such as a hot-air balloon and a dinosaur-themed area. But mostly, Pleasure Island will be changed into an eating and shopping area.
A Disney spokeswoman said, "It's been a very smooth transition. We made the announcements early enough in June to provide pass-holders a long enough time to make arrangements."
The changes are based on surveys taken where people responded with a desire for more broad-based dining and retail opportunities.
Attractions being tweaked or added include T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family Adventure, scheduled to open late 2008. The dinosaur-themed family eatery will serve lunches and dinners featuring life-sized animated dinosaurs.
Several new restaurants opening early 2009 in Downtown Disney will feature Central and South American cuisine, specialty drinks and live music along a lake waterfront.
All of this is being done to introduce more family oriented entertainment.
Pass-holders to Pleasure Island have can get a refund on their passes, a prorated amount. Go to any guest relations location or vacation planning booth at Disney World or call (407) 827-2281.
Holders of premium annual passes will be able to play a round of golf at Disney's Oak Trail Golf Course for the inconvenience. To make tee times, which are required, premium pass-holders can call (407) 939-4653 or go to http://www.disneyworldgolf.com/.

Disney Update: New Attraction!

New atracttion at Disney's Hollywood Studios-Toy Story Mania. This is an interactive ride you and your family will immensely enjoy. It is inspired by Disney Pixar's Toy Story film. The lines are long so get a FastPass. If you decide to wait in line you will have plenty of time to do some people watching or engage in some light conversation. Close to the end of your wait you will be entertained by a robot Mr. Potato Head who will talk to you and even ask you questions. Finally, your wait is happily coming to an end and it is now time to get ready to board the ride. You will grab a pair of 3D glasses before boarding the 4D attraction ride vehicle that will take you through a series of midway-style games. Highlights are as follows:

• Games are hosted by your favorite characters including Woody, Buzz, Rex, and Hamm. Your spring-action shooter will launch virtual darts at balloons, rings at aliens, eggs at barn-yard targets and more!


• Certain targets trigger fun surprises.


• You compete for high scores.


• Its never the same experience twice and is another great reason to visit during the Year of a Million Dreams!

Click on this link http://toystorymania.com/, you and your kids will have fun with this site!

Disney Update: American Idol coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios in January 2009!

The American Idol Experience will provide guests the opportunity to watch, vote and perform at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort. If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming part of the American Idol phenomenon, then “Welcome to Hollywood!” You can live the dream at The American Idol Experience!

Click on the link below for more information and interactives:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/special/americanIdol/?id=AmericanIdolExperiencePage

Long weekend at Disney!

Long does not mean time dragged on as in "It was a long day." Long refers to more than a two-day weekend. Any long time spent at Disney is fun time. Of course, this is from Vacation Rick's perspective. Disney is kind of a family tradition for us.

We stayed at The French Quarter in Port Orleans with a river view this time around. Everyday walking to and from our room we were greeted by the scent of jasmine that covered the landscape along the walkways. The accommodations were pleasant and comfortable. The pool was simple. The restuarant where we got the quick meals could improve on their service. I will cut them some slack since they deal with alot of people in a typical morning on a holiday weekend. It was just one morning where the servers were somewhat rude and unfriendly, but everyone has an off day once in awhile.

Our first day we went to Animal Kingdom. Highlights: Expedition Everest and Killmanjaro Safaris ride. We didn't stay long, took in what we wanted to and went back to The French Quarter and swam in the pool and enjoyed the sun. Time for dinner, we went to the new restuarant in Contemporary called The Wave. Excellent choice. At night went to Magic Kingdom because it stays open the longest. Highlights: Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Buz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and the Monsters Inc. Laugh floor attractions. Always enjoy the Monster Inc, very funny.

Second day weather started out good, went to Blizzard Beach to spend the bulk of the day in the water and on the slides. Highlight: Summit Plummet. This was the very first attraction we went to. Stood in line for a long time, but was worth plunging 120 ft almost straight down at 55 mph covering a distance of 360 ft. Next was Teamboat Springs. Twelve hundred feet of white water and rushing waterfalls make the twisting, turning journey from the top of the mountain to the bottom. Alot of fun for the family. It was on this ride storms began to move into the area. Then we floated on Cross Country Creek, a river that flows around the whole park. This is a ride you can take your time on and enjoy the water. Watch out for the water falls and sprays, the water is very cold. It was now time for a snack and it started to pour rain with lighning and thunder. The attractions were closed and we left the park, went back to our accommodations for a few and at dinner time went to Animal Kingdom Lodge, ate at Boma, a buffet. Great place to eat. After Boma's we went back to Magic Kingdom for the evening, took in more rides. The highlight was the fireworks at the end of the night. A must see.

On day three we went to Disney's Hollywood Studios formerly MGM. It was very crowded. Twilight Zone was first on our list and then Rockin' Roller Coaster, not my choice, been on it, wanted to go on something else, but had to give in to the majority. The highlight was Toy Story Mania, a new attraction. We waited in line for over an hour because Fastpass ran out for the day. Recommend getting Fastpass for this attraction. It was well worth the wait. Great fun!!! A 4D adventure. A must do for the whole family. In was afternoon and we went to Epcot, always my favorite. Highlight: Turtle Talk with Crush. You must take your young ones to this attraction because it is the best. It is an interactive and alot of fun. For dinner we ate in England at Rose and Crown Dining Room and had fish and chips and my son had lamb for the first time. Enjoyed the meal. Next, went on Test Track and then Spaceship Earth. New features with an interactive. Finally we went on Soarin' located in The Land. You enjoy a panorama of California landscapes that gives you the feeling of flying. To close the day we watched the fireworks and laser light show. End to a great time at Disney.

We had alot of fun. Suggest getting the meal plan , it is well worth the expense. Disney is always a great experience, even greater when you share it with your loved ones. Vacation Rick is a kid at heart.
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