The basketball court in the Matterhorn...true

Always nice when you find out one of the Disney myths is actually true:

http://boingboing.net/2012/11/30/the-basketball-court-inside-th.html

new topiaries, food around World Showcase, Village People

Yes, the most important thing about the headine is Village People:

Disney World has released details about its upcoming Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, which will feature topiaries and other attractions based on "Phineas & Ferb," "Monsters University," "Cars 2," "Oz: The Great and Powerful" and more. The 20th annual festival, which runs March 6 to May 19, will add special food kiosks in World Showcase and add the Village People to its Flower Power concert series for the first time.

Starbucks

While I'm thrilled that WDW will finally have some decent coffee (although Kona was a good reason to hop on the monorail) in a couple of parks...I hope they keep some of the goodies at the Main Street Bakery instead of replacing with Starbucks "not so tasty treats".

Two new Starbucks opening at Disney

Two new Starbucks locations will open in 2013 at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and Epcot theme parks, Local 6 reports.

The cafes will replace the Main Street Bakery at the Magic Kingdom and The Fountain View at Epcot, and are included in the six Starbucks locations set to open at Disney parks in California and Florida

The bakery will close for refurbishment in January and open as a Starbucks early next summer, while The Fountain View will close in March and re-open as Starbucks in midsummer.

 

AvatarLand...what AvatarLand?

I have some guarded excitement over the Disney purchase of Lucasfilms.  I really believe we could easily see a whole new theme park in the not to distance future based on Star Wars...but hey, could we maybe scrap AvatarLand and put a nice Indiana Jones feature or two in Animal Kingdom?

Does Disney’s Star Wars deal freeze Avatar plans in carbonite?

So did the Oct. 30 announcement of The Walt Disney Co.’s $4.05 billion purchase of Lucasfilms Ltd. make you forget about those Avatar Land plans for Animal Kingdom? Yeah, me too.

Walt Disney Company Considering Buying Disneyland Paris

Now this could get interesting:

After two decades of putting up with lackluster financial results at its European theme-park resort, Disneyland Paris, the Walt Disney Co. is considering a possible buyout of the publicly traded French company that manages the resort, Euro Disney SCA.

Disney currently owns 40% of Euro Disney, and sources close to the Burbank, Calif., entertainment giant told TIME that serious discussions have been taking place internally about buying out the stock it doesn’t currently own. Of the remaining shares, 10% is owned by Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, and the rest is held by individual and institutional investors.

Disney to replace French restaurant in Epcot

Walt Disney World has closed the French restaurant Bistro de Paris in Epcot in preparation for a renamed, less formal eatery that is set to open in mid-December, the Orlando Sentinel reports.


The Bistro de Paris was one of the more formal and pricy options in Epcot. In the transition for a less formal restaurant concept, the waiters also will no longer wear tuxedos.

Vote for Chris

Hey, vote for a fellow Disney Dad over on the Disney Store Design By Me contest...you can vote once a day until May 3rd.  Here's his design:

Big News for Coffee Fans

One of my only complaints over the years has been the coffee at the Disney Parks (only Kona Cafe was tolerable):

Starbucks Coming to Disney Parks

In June, the first of six planned Starbucks locations is scheduled to open at Disney California Adventure park. And more locations are planned at Disneyland park and Walt Disney World Resort (Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom).