Author: disneyparks.disney.go.com

If you’re like me, a trip to EPCOT isn’t complete without a visit to The Seas with Nemo and Friends Pavilion to go under the sea and marvel at the natural beauty of vast marine life, including my favorite…SHARKS! Fans of these often-misunderstood champions of the sea can dive deep into the world of sharks at home during National Geographic’s 8th Annual SHARKFEST with more bite than ever by tuning into programming every night airing now on National Geographic and then on Nat Geo WILD starting August 9^th.  SHARKFEST underscores National Geographic Society’s 132-year legacy in exploring the farthest reaches of Earth and to highlight its commitment to shark and ocean conservation.

Knowing that our Disney Parks sharks are also super
excited about SHARKFEST, we thought
it would be “fin”-tastic to get them involved in the celebration by letting
them tell us more about themselves!

For more on SHARKFEST including stories, downloads, activities for kids, and more visit NatGeo.com/Sharkfest, and for more #DisneyMagicMoments like this one, be sure to keep checking with us here at the Disney Parks Blog.

From our friends at disneyparks.disney.go.com
Filed Under: Epcot, Walt Disney World Resort, WDW

We recently put your Disney Vacation Club knowledge to the test with a fun trivia night. Now, it’s time for a visual challenge. Do you know where this exquisite piece calls “home?” If you know the answer instantly, welcome home, you eagle-eyed pro. If not, no worries. Here are some more clues and images. 

Do you recognize this scene? This mural is comprised of more than 500,000 hand-cut tiles and depicts Rapunzel’s beloved floating lanterns from “Tangled.” This stunning work of art rises 20 feet in the air from walkways on each side of the tunnel’s central fountain, joined at the ceiling above by a shared mosaic sky.  Have you guessed?

In its location at Disney Vacation’s Club’s newest resort, the mural is joined by a second one that shows London at night, with Peter Pan, Wendy, Michael and John flying off to Never Land. One final clue resides in what both murals have in common – the theme of “flight.” Have you figured it out? 

Scroll down for the answer.

Answer: The walkway from Disney’s Riviera Resort to its Disney Skyliner station.

At Disney’s Riviera Resort, families can catch the Disney Skyliner, an aerial gondola system, for magical flights to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. On their way to the Disney Skyliner station, Members and guests pass through a tunnel featuring two spectacular mosaic murals inspired by flight. 

From our friends at disneyparks.disney.go.com
Filed Under: Uncategorized

Standing proudly at the center of Fantasyland, King Arthur Carrousel is one of the original opening day attractions at Disneyland park. The antique carrousel is hand carved, hand painted and maintained by skilled artisans. 

Now is your chance to be a skilled carrousel artisan by downloading and constructing part four of Disney Paper Parks! This release includes King Arthur Carrousel, designed by Imagineer Lyndsey Vincent, a horse-drawn trolley to add to your Disney Paper Parks of Main Street, U.S.A., landscaping, balloons and more. The paper carrousel even spins!

As a reminder, we recommend printing the activity sheets at their actual size, not scaling them to fit the page. We also recommend adult participation or supervision for those with little ones. 

We hope you’ve enjoyed building the already released activity sheets of Main Street, U.S.A., the “Magic Happens” parade and Sleeping Beauty Castle using scissors, glue and other simple supplies. We look forward to releasing more printable, 3D activity sheets of Disney Paper Parks, designed by Imagineers Stephanie Jazmines and Amy Young for the Disney Parks Blog.

By downloading Disney Paper Parks, you acknowledge and agree that these materials are being provided to you for personal, non-commercial use.

From our friends at disneyparks.disney.go.com
Filed Under: Disneyland Resort, WDI

Disney Channel and Make-A-Wish teamed up to provide 9 wish kids the surprise of a lifetime. Select fans were able to pre-screen the upcoming Disney Channel Original Movie, “Upside-Down Magic,” prior to the world premiere on July 31! After the screening of the movie, 2 stars from the DCOM, Siena Agudong and Izabela Rose, provided some Disney Magic to these fans with a surprise video chat where they were able to talk about the upcoming movie!

Check out the full video in DisneyNOW for all the amazing reactions to the ultimate surprise! “Upside-Down Magic” premieres Friday, July 31 at 8 p.m. on Disney Channel and will be available in DisneyNOW beginning Saturday, August 1.

For 40 years, The Walt Disney Company has helped Make-A-Wish grant more than 140,000 wishes for children with critical illnesses. This is just the latest example of Disney’s commitment to creating magic for wish kids and their families when they need it most. Learn how you can transform lives, one wish at a time at wish.org.

From our friends at disneyparks.disney.go.com
Filed Under: Uncategorized

With the Disney+ Original Series “Muppets Now” set to stream its highly anticipated first episode on July 31, I received special permission from our friends at the Muppets Studio to share with you a little clip of Kermit the Frog discussing the show with me on stage last October aboard the Disney Vacation Club Member Cruise.

Part of what made this special presentation in the Disney Magic ship’s Walt Disney Theatre so cool was the rare opportunity it presented for the audience to see Muppets and their human performer together on stage. That human was the extraordinarily talented Matt Vogel, who in addition to performing with Kermit during our show, performed with the Electric Mayhem’s Floyd (who spoke of his love for the “it’s a small world” attraction, saying “It’s a prayer for peace, man!”), the boomerang-fish-slinging Lew Zealand (who threw fish into the crowd) and the ghastly Uncle Deadly (who performed lyrics from the Haunted Mansion anthem “Grim-Grinning Ghosts” as spoken-word poetry).

Thanks to live tight shots from our camera crew on screens flanking the stage, Members in attendance saw Muppets on Walt Disney Theatre screens just as they’d appear on TV or cinema screens, while simultaneously seeing their human Muppet performer working his magic on stage. It was like being on the set of an actual Muppets Studio production (if said production was in the middle of the ocean).

In this fun clip from our show, Kermit gives Disney Vacation Club Members a sneak peek at “Muppets Now,” which was in the earliest stages of production when we sailed. You’ll see that he runs into a little trouble with the studio’s legal department, proving once again that stars are just like us.

As Kermit has become a good personal friend since our cruise (a fact that delights my inner child to no end), I asked him to introduce the clip in this video.

For another inside look at “Muppets Now” before it starts streaming, here’s the video call during which Kermit shared the good news with the gang that Disney+ had given their series the green light. (Watch out for more meddling by their “legal weasel.”)

From our friends at disneyparks.disney.go.com
Filed Under: Disney Vacation Club, DVC, Video