German tourist arrested for bomb threat at Disney World

by Katie Hammel on

Seriously folks, who out there doesn’t know by now that it’s just not okay to make a bomb threat? It’s not okay at the airport, and it’s not okay at Disney World either. But still, we have yet another story about someone getting arrested for making a false bomb threat.

A 37-year old German tourist told security that he had two bombs in his backpack as he was passing through security at Walt Disney World in California. Not surprisingly, the security guards detained him and had a bomb-sniffing dog check out his bag. No bombs were found, and the man, who then claimed he was just joking about those bombs, was arrested and taken to the Orange County Jail. Bail was set at $10,000.

According to ABC News, this isn’t the first bomb scare at Disney. In September, a mysterious device was found under a bus. Bus service around the resort was suspended, but the device was not found to be explosive.

A tilt-shifted day in the life of Disney’s “The Magic Kingdom”

by Scott Carmichael on


There are thousands of videos posted to the Internet each day – but every now and then you come across one that just makes your jaw drop. Such is the case with the Disney video published above.

October 1st was the Magic Kingdom’s birthday, and to celebrate, Disney shot a video showing a day in the life of the Magic Kingdom park at Walt Disney World. This isn’t just any boring old video – it was shot using “tilt shifting”, which gives the whole thing a really nifty appearance.

Click play, and see for yourself how awesome the effect is, and how amazing a day in the life of the park looks. Make sure to hang around till the end of the clip for a special greeting from some Disney characters.

If you like the tilt shift effect, then check out this post from back in May, describing how you can take your own photos and add a similar effect.

(From: Disney Parks Blog, via: Boing Boing)
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Disney offers free park admission to volunteers

by Katie Hammel on

Volunteer one day of your time next year, and you could receive a free day of admission at a Walt Disney theme park in return. The Disney company has announced that one million people who volunteer with the HandsOn Network can get into any Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, or into Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, for free in 2010 through the “Give a Day, Get a Disney” promotion.

The HandsOn Network works with 70,000 agencies across the country, including Habitat for Humanity and local food banks and churches. After volunteers gets their service verified with the agency, they get a voucher for free admission. The work must be done in 2010 and the voucher needs to be used by December 15 of that year. Volunteers must be 18 or older to sign up, but kids ages 6-17 who complete volunteer work with their parents can also get into the park free.

Those who have multi-day annual passes can use their free-day voucher for up to six FASTPASS tickets that will get them to the front of the line for certain rides. Only residents of the US, Canada and Puerto Rico are eligible to redeem the free admission vouchers.

This isn’t the only deal Disney has offered recently. All of the US Disney parks offered visitors free admission on their birthday this year, and many Disney resorts offered “stay two nights, get a third free” promotions as well.

TSA claims Disney souvenirs equal weapons – takes toys from an 8 year old

by Scott Carmichael on

OK, this does it – the TSA has finally proven that they are incapable of any rational thought.

When 8 year old Jeremiah Ramirez took a trip to Disney World, he did so in order to take his mind off the loss of his father, who died of cancer.

What was supposed to be a normal flight back home with some of the toys he purchased at the park, turned into a show of power by the security staff at Ft. Lauderdale airport.

Apparently, they are of the opinion that a toy sword and Disney gun, could be used to take down the plane – so they confiscated them. And if that wasn’t enough, the family then saw the TSA agents playing with the toys.

The story does have a happy ending, as Disney was kind enough to replace the toys when they heard about the incident.

I can fully understand that the TSA does not want to take any risks with weapons designed to look like the real thing (that rule is spelled out on their site), but do any of the people hired to protect our nation really think that an 8 year old boy getting over the loss of his father would be able to hijack a plane using a plastic “Pirates of the Caribbean” sword?

Common sense is gone from the checkpoint, and to me, that is score 1 for the terrorists.
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Daily travel deals – 6 nights Disney World, $79 Marriott rooms and $429 Caribbean packages

by Scott Carmichael on

Welcome to our new format for daily travel deals. Starting today, we’ll let you in on the hottest trips from our network.

As with all travel deals, these trips can sell out at any moment, and the price we publish may not always be based off a departure from your home town.

Disney vacation package

Starting at just $1360, a family of 4 can spend 5 nights/6 days in a Disney hotel, receive a 6 day park pass and eat for free (one snack, one quick service meal and one table meal per person, per day). The price is based on accommodations in a Disney Value resort.

Click here to book this deal, or to learn more about the package.

$79 Marriott sale + 20% extra off

On Thursday through Sunday nights, till September 7th, Marriott is offering a variety of their hotels starting at just $79/night, plus an additional 20% off.

Click here to book a room or to learn more about this Marriott hotel deal.

Caribbean package deals 50% off + $50 bonus

With packages starting at just $429 (after $50 bonus discount) for a trip to Jamaica, this is the best time ever to book a Caribbean vacation. That low price includes air, all meals, drinks and entertainment.

Click here for an overview of all the Caribbean destinations included in this sale.