Last Year for Grad Nite in Orlando

The high school graduating class of 2011 sure is lucky; they are the last students able to celebrate their graduation at Disney World. The official Disney Parks blog just announced that after this year Disney World has no intention to continue the Grad Nite tradition. For decades the resort has hosted Grad Nites in the spring, offering seniors an exclusive party in honor of their achievement. On several nights in late April, May, and early June, both Disney World and Disneyland open their gates for high school seniors to throw a massive party. It’s like an uber prom; celebrity DJ’s … Continue reading

Disney Watches Recall; Dapper Day at Disneyland

Today’s article, like my pets blog post yesterday, is going to be a bit of a mixed bag. I’m doing this because an important news item broke yesterday morning that I need to share. Because the story isn’t very long, however, I’ll then go over the details of an unrelated event at Disneyland. First things first: The Disney Blog reports that yesterday the Walt Disney Corporation issued a recall on hundreds of watches that were sold at the park. The children’s watches, which light up when a button is pressed, could potentially burn the skin of the wearer. All of … Continue reading

Family Fun Weekends

Visit Disneyland next weekend to meet Baloo and other rarely-seen Disney characters Everyone knows that the Disney Parks don’t need much of an excuse to throw a party. Sometimes their festivities for actual holidays seem dimmed, because fireworks and parades are almost daily occurrences at the parks. Still, we can trust Disney World or Disneyland to roll out something special for even the most minor of holidays. The first few months of the year are packed with various cultural celebrations, and this year Disneyland has decided to take advantage of that and host a months-long party. The official parks blog … Continue reading

D23 in 2011

Recently I wrote of an upcoming D23-sponsered event that didn’t seem to include any special tickets or opportunities for its club members. So now I will highlight what’s on D23’s agenda for 2011. For those not in the know, D23 is the official Disney fan club. I have a post on all the details about it here. After taking a year off to celebrate Disney history with the debut of Destination D, this year’s biggest affair is definitely the return of the D23 expo. Despite its name, the expo is actually open to the public, not just club members. Being … Continue reading

Special Offers for the New Year

With a new year comes a new crop of Disney Parks Special Offers. First let’s look at the deals for Disney World. As always, one of the primary deals involves booking your Disney World vacation early. This time around, you can accrue 30% savings for a spring Orlando vacation if you make your reservations by February 13. Of course, not all of the savings go as high as 30%. Rooms at Disney Deluxe Villa Resort Hotels booked by Feb. 13 net guests a 30% discount. The less fancy of a hotel you choose to stay at the smaller the deal … Continue reading

TabbedOut iPhone App

When I was a little girl I had my first savings account. Mom or Dad would take me down to the bank to deposit or withdraw money. The bank was open limited hours during the day, shorter hours on Friday, and closed on Saturday. When I was old enough I could ride my bicycle or walk to the branch in our foothill town. Then our bank had the most amazing contraption installed outside; it was called an ATM or automated teller machine. With the ATM customers could do a number of simple transactions without having to talk to a teller … Continue reading

Disney Vacation Discounts

If you’re thinking of taking a Disney vacation in the near future, then there’s an essential web site you shouldn’t miss when doing your planning: Disney Special Offers. Part of the official Disney Parks web site, Disney Special Offers has all the details on Disney’s latest vacation discounts for those looking to make a trip to one of the parks. Right now the primary featured deal is a free Disney World Dining Plan. If you’re heading out to Disney World anytime between August 15 and December 21 of this year, you’ll want to check it out. If you purchase a … Continue reading

Disneyland’s World of Color

Tonight Disneyland premieres a beautiful new exhibit called the World of Color. Playing exclusively in the evening, World of Color is a high-tech water and light show celebrating the magic of Disney. Powered jets shoot water up to 200 feet above spectators’ heads, and rotate to let the water dance amidst colorful beams of light. Within the water and light play scenes and clips from famous Disney films, all set to music. The type of music isn’t specified, but a New York Times profile on Bob Iger mentioned he tweaked it to sound more contemporary. Frankly I’d be surprised if … Continue reading

Disneyland Scholarships

The month-long period between mid-May and mid-June seems full of one thing: graduates. Starting with college graduations in the middle of May and continuing with the high school graduations scattered throughout June, it seems there’s a fete for a graduate everywhere we turn this time of year. Of course Disney, as famous as is it for throwing huge celebrations, has to get in on the fun. Every year the Disneyland Resort grants 10 high school seniors $5,000 each in scholarships to help further their education. The Disneyland Scholarship Program is about more than just good grades. Students who want to … Continue reading

Disney’s New Destination D

Remember when I talked about Disney’s new fan club D23, and couldn’t decide whether or not to join? The price of membership was a little high, and I was mostly interested in the earlier and cheaper ticket benefits D23 members get for the D23 Disney convention. A Disney convention sounds like a playground to me. Only tickets for the convention are open to the public, not just fan club members, hence my indecision. Well, it looks like it’ll be another year before I need to make up my mind. Disney execs have decided not to hold the D23 convention again … Continue reading