The DisGeek Podcast

Your Guide to the Happiest Place on Earth

Mousework – Factoids From Disney Employees

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When I was younger, I used to work for Crown Books (this was before the rise of Barnes & Noble, Borders and Amazon.com, when most books stores were quaint and much smaller). I remember that whenever I told someone that I worked in a book store, people usually thought I was a lucky guy, but working in a book store was no different from any type of retail job. Which is to say it was mostly a well disguised slice of Hell.

I see Disney employees all the time. Some of them even recognize me now, and they are always smiling and always happy, so one may think “Wow it must be great to work at Disneyland!” But since I labored under that same species of misconception from my days as a book store clerk, I know it can’t all be smiles. I have put together some interesting little factoids from Disney Employees around the Net that I have gathered:

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Character Fan Days – The Poll Results Are In

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For the first time ever, Disneyland gave us a chance to decide which rarely seen Disney characters we want to see in Disneyland park. The selections will be included in the entertainment for “Character Fan Days” (Jan. 28-30), which are part of Disneyland’s “Family Fun Weekends” – eight weekends of fun, January 14 through March 6, at Disneyland.

The votes from the polls have been tallied and the winners are:

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Disneyland’s “Family Fun Weekends” details

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From the Disney Parks Blog:

Do you like fiestas, hoedowns, Mardi Gras, Lunar New Year and Disney Characters? Then you won’t want to miss the next eight weekends at Disneyland park. We’re calling them “Family Fun Weekends” and they run Jan. 14 through March 6.

Families know they can find magic and excitement whenever they visit Disneyland Resort, and the next eight weekends will offer a special reason to play at Disneyland park.

“Family Fun Weekends” are themed events that invite guests to enjoy music, dancing, and special food and merchandise, along with a chance to meet and take photos with some Disney characters in specially themed attire. This weekend, for example, Fiesta Mickey and Minnie Mouse will greet you at Festival Arena in colorful, folklorico attire.

These events take place weekend days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The first five weekends will be held at Festival Arena (at the back of Frontierland), and the final three weekends will move to New Orleans Square.

Here’s a brief description of the fun, and we’ll tell you more in the coming weeks.

Fiesta Disneyland – Jan. 14-16: The first weekend celebrates the Hispanic culture and experience in a colorful, lively event, featuring performance groups such as award-winning Mariachi Divas.

Disney’s Kickin’ Country Weekend – Jan. 21-23: This weekend will feature live music – including band Forth Worth West – and a Disney hoedown with Cowboy Mickey and Cowgirl Minnie Mouse.

Character Fan Days – Jan. 28-30: This is your chance to meet and take photos with some rarely seen characters. Think of this as the ultimate Disney character reunion – featuring the characters that you told us you would most like to meet. (We’ll announce the results of our Character Facebook poll later this week on the Disney Parks Blog.)

Lunar New Year Festival – Feb. 4-6 and Feb. 11-13: Two weekends will be devoted to Lunar New Year, when time-honored traditions and family celebrations are observed within the Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese cultures as the sun and moon begin their journeys for another year.

Mardi Gras – Feb. 18-20, Feb. 25-27 and March 4-6: Three weekends will be devoted to a lively, New Orleans-style Mardi Gras event, with vibrant excitement, jazzy music and sensational food of New Orleans. Where else? At New Orleans Square. Princess Tiana, along with a cavalcade of some Disney characters in their Mardi Gras finery, will appear at a photo location in the Court of Angels, staffed by Disney PhotoPass photographers.

Check back on the Disney Parks Blog each week, for more details on the weekend events.

Construction Walls Now Up at DCA Entrance

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As reported earlier the letters at Disney California Adventure are in the process of being removed. Thanks to the magic of Twitter we have some pictures to share. @ryosh808 provided these great images. The artwork on the walls are especially cool. Old school Disney Characters FTW! We got Oswald, Pete, Clara Cluck, Horace Horsecollar. Plus images of Micky and the gang with their look from back in the day.

Of course this all makes sense as the Buena Vista Street is to represent LA as Walt saw it back in the 1920’s.

Here is a new render of the final entrance and Buena Vista Street.

Disney Parks Reach Capacity with Holiday Crowds

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From the OC Register:

Disneyland traditionally fills up during the holiday season, often prompting the park to temporarily shut its gates.

But this week’s crowds appear to be bigger than usual at both parks. Perhaps that was because some visitors postponed trips originally planned for last week until the heavy rain arrived.

Disney stopped visitors from entering both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure after the parks filled to capacity Tuesday.

It was the second day in a row for restrictions at Disneyland, which was stuffed by 10 a.m — just two hours after the park opened.

Disney California Adventure’s gates were closed shortly before 1 p.m.
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