Walt Disney World hotels urban legend debunked

by Leigh Caldwell on

Even if you haven’t stayed at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, you have seen the convention hotel complex if you have visited EPCOT. The postmodern resort designed by American architect Michael Graves is visible from several places in the park.

The triangular hotel with leaves painted on it is the Dolphin, and the rounded one with waves is the Swan. Which seems to be the opposite of what they should be, right?

And thus, a Disney urban legend was born. It says that when the iconic sculptures on top of the two hotels were hoisted into place, they were put on the wrong buildings, and the names of the hotels had to be changed.

At Yesterland.com, Werner Weiss aims to put the urban legend to rest once and for all. Weiss recounts a conversation with Disney historian Jim Korkis, who has first-hand knowledge of Graves’ intent.

The real story, according to Korkis, is that the Dolphin hotel was raised up from the ocean bed by a volcano or earthquake, and the two dolphins on the roof were raised up with it. It’s an island now, which accounts for the leaves on the building. The swans on the companion building stopped to look at this phenomenon and were turned to stone.

Weiss has many more details, but among the other gems from the interview was the idea that Graves, who then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner handpicked to design the hotels, didn’t even like Disney. According to Korkis, Graves “freely admitted that seeing a four-foot mouse walking around in the parks was just ‘wrong’ as far as he was concerned.”%Gallery-86600%

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It’s Disney characters! In Moss!: Touring the EPCOT Flower and Garden Fest

by Leigh Caldwell on

Nothing says spring like a giant, sphagnum moss Cinderella, right? That’s what all good Disney Parks fans will tell you, at least.

The EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival is open now through May 16 at Walt Disney World, and the more than 70 Disney character topiaries on display around EPCOT have a starring role.

There’s Captain Hook battling Peter Pan near the United Kingdom Pavilion and Rafiki holding up Simba the lion cub just under the shadow of Spaceship Earth. An event map provides a guide so that you can see them all.

(Look! There’s Thumper! Sneezy! Mrs. Potts!)

All kidding aside, though, the Disney topiaries are truly amazing. It takes months to design each one, build the frame and irrigation system and then plant the material that will need to grow to cover it. Dried flowers, plants and other natural materials are then used to create faces for the characters.

And they are being done in a scale you rarely see: Goofy is 14 feet tall, for heaven’s sake!

%Gallery-88501%When you’ve had your fill of marveling at the topiaries and colorful designs in the flower beds around the theme park, Disney has some other festival programs to fill your day.

You can learn more about the plants that make your cup of afternoon tea during a guided walk through the English Tea Garden, or sniff the flowers used to create Guerlain perfumes in a guided tour of the Fragrance Garden.

The festival’s calendar is beefed up on the weekends, with speakers and programs for gardening enthusiasts.

Disney horticulturists teach classes on planting butterfly gardens, irrigation and container gardening.

And superstar gardeners such as Tom and Joani MacCubbin and Ahmed Hassan fly in to meet their fans.

And if you hate everything green, the EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival still might not be a lost cause. There’s still the Flower Power Concert series, which brings in acts from the 60s and 70s for evening concerts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. Starship performs this weekend, and upcoming acts include the Atlanta Rhythm Section and Davy Jones.

The flower and garden festival continues through May 16 at Walt Disney World. Admission to EPCOT is required, but there’s no extra charge for the concerts and most other festival activities.

Disney ends free ticket program after 1 million volunteers sign up

by Leigh Caldwell on

Disney Parks announced Tuesday that the company’s goal of recruiting 1 million people to donate their time and get a 1-day ticket to Disney in return has been reached, and the “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” promotion is ending.

Those participating in the program signed up to volunteer through the nationwide HandsOn Network. Although volunteer registration has ended, those who completed their volunteer activity still have until Dec. 15 to use their free park ticket at Walt Disney World or Disneyland.

In 2009, Disney distributed 1.2 million free tickets to anyone who went to one of their U.S. theme parks on his or her birthday. That’s about 100,000 per month. The volunteer promotion was getting 100,000 participants per week this year.

At a media event last month at Walt Disney World, Disney officials admitted they were “overwhelmed” by this response.

No word yet on what will happen to the daily “pre-parade” in the Magic Kingdom that is designed to celebrate the promotion. It was the first new use of the Muppets at Walt Disney World in several years, and I hope that the promotion’s end doesn’t relegate Miss Piggy back to her dressing room.%Gallery-86600%

Before you go, be sure to check out Episode 4 of Gadling’s Travel Talk TV, which features good and bad pilots, Holi, and a sofa in an aquarium!

Disney opens re-branded ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando

by Gadling Staff on

Walt Disney World opened its re-branded ESPN Wide World of Sports on February 25 in a ceremony that only Disney could stage.

Athletes (everyone from golf legend Annika Sorenstam to the Cincinnati Bengals’ Chad Ochocinco) walked a “green carpet” made from turf and signed autographs for fans, many of whom had won sweepstakes or booked special travel packages to be there. Florida Governor Charlie Crist even flew in to take the stage and discuss how important youth sports are to Florida, both in tourism dollars and in health and wellness.

New Orleans Saints (and Super Bowl Champion) kicker Garrett Hartley put one over the gate of the complex with an assist from Minnie Mouse. The gate opened and out poured dozens of sports stars, ESPN personalities and youth sports athletes, led by Mickey Mouse, who was dressed and ready to take the field himself.

And then the real fireworks began. Really. Fireworks.

And confetti cannons, because it’s not a Disney event without confetti cannons.

But unless you are the parent of a child who plays sports, you probably didn’t know that Walt Disney World had a sports complex. This grand re-opening is part of Disney’s push to change all that.

Youth sports is big business for Walt Disney World. The 14-year-old complex hosted more than 300 events last year and drew hundreds of thousands of people to Central Florida. Faron Kelley, Disney’s director of sports marketing, says 85 percent of those people would not have vacationed in Central Florida otherwise. That’s a lot of add-on Disney park hoppers and hotel rooms.

%Gallery-86600%The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex was already home to a baseball stadium (where the Atlanta Braves do spring training), two field houses that can be set up to house everything from college basketball to inline hockey to robotics competitions, and dozens of baseball, softball and soccer fields.

Through a direct pipeline with ESPN studios, SportsCenter hosts will provide intros to the youth sports clips. And some of the action may even make it to ESPN’s cable or online networks. The goal is to make even the flag-football players “feel like they’ve made the big time.”

The ESPN name change brought some new additions, mainly in the form of high-definitions cameras and screens throughout the complex. The plan is to film many of the events taking place around the sports complex and edit highlight reels that will be shown on the big screens around the ESPN Wide World of Sports, as well as on a dedicated TV channel in Walt Disney World’s 27,000 hotel rooms.

Through a direct pipeline with ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn., SportsCenter hosts will provide intros to the youth sports clips. And some of the action may even make it to ESPN’s cable or online networks.

The goal, says Disney Sports Enterprises Senior VP Ken Potrock, is to make those Pop Warner flag-football players “feel like they’ve made the big time.”

ESPN President George Bodenheimer announced that ESPN will continue to use the Wide World of Sports Complex, and its year-round access to outdoor sporting events, to develop new broadcast technologies. The ball tracker used in last summer’s broadcast of the All-Star Game Home-Run Derby was developed here. And future development for ESPN’s 3D cable network, which launches June 11, will happen at the ESPN Innovation Labs nestled among the Atlanta Braves practice fields at the complex.

Also new to the ESPN Wide World of Sports is the Playstation Pavilion, where players can come between games to try out the latest video games (sometimes before they are available in stores). And there’s a new central marquee with a giant video screen and scrolling news ticker at the crossroads of the complex. Underneath? An information booth where those youth sports enthusiasts can extend their hotel stays and buy water park tickets.

Potrock says while no plans have been announced, there are more than 250 acres set aside for new development at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. And this spring, while dozens of softball, baseball, golf and soccer teams travel down from the Northeast and Midwest to thaw out and train, Potrock’s staff is working on bringing down an event for a fast-growing, new sport: Pickleball.

“Just don’t ask me what it is,” Potrock says.

So, we looked it up. Pickleball is a game played on a badminton court with the net lowered to 34 inches. Players use a paddle (like a ping-pong paddle), to bat a plastic baseball with holes (like a waffle ball) over the net. There’s even a USA Pickleball Association.

We’re guessing Disney could fit six, maybe even 12, Pickleball courts inside one of its fieldhouses for a round-robin tournament. And I, for one, can’t wait for that SportsCenter highlight reel.

Get tips on visiting Disney with a special needs child at Mouse-Aid

by Katie Hammel on

Disneyland and Disney World are supposed to be the happiest places on Earth. Every child wants to go to this place of wonder and excitement, and special needs children are no exception. But for parents of these children, the thought of organizing a trip may seem like a far too difficult task. That’s where the Mouse-Aid website comes in.

The website is not affiliated with Disney, but it is designed to help parents of children with special needs negotiate the obstacles to taking their kids on a Disney vacation. There are tips for travel, packing, get around the parks, dining and choosing a room, and what issues parents of special needs kids should consider The special needs covered range from physical and mental disabilities to ADHD and terminal illness.

For many parents, the most helpful part of the site might be the forums. Here parents can discuss the issues important for their children, like which rides might scare kids frightened of the dark. They can also find support in parents dealing with similar issues as themselves. As the aunt of a special needs child, I’ve seen how just knowing that there are other parents who understand your situation can be a big help in and of itself. If you are the parent of a child with special needs, and you are planning a trip to a Disney theme park, it might be worth checking out the Mouse-Aid site.