What is the Blue Name Tag at Disney? Legacy Cast Members

 Legacy Cast Members

Have you ever seen a Cast Member at a Disney Park or any other Disney Location with a blue name tag? That name tag is an award, a badge of honor! It shows that Cast Member has been honored with the Walt Disney Legacy Award. They can work anywhere in the Disney Global Company. They are in Disney Imagineering, Disney Parks, Merchandising, Disney Studios or any other arm of the Disney Company.

 

Cast Members with blue name tags are rare, less than 1% of the Disney Cast Members, worldwide are given this award! It is more like 1 in 1,000 Cast Members are granted this honor!

 

It is a Cast Member to Cast Member honor. Cast Members nominate their fellow Cast Members for this honor. They submit testimonials about fellow co-workers who go above and beyond to carry-on Walt Disney legacy to our guests and fellow cast.

 

Most of these Cast Members have worked for Disney for 15-20+ years. It is extremely rare to become a Legacy in less than th
at amount of time, but it has happened.

 

These Legacy Cast Members personify these following traits and is measured against them. They must Dream, Create, and Inspire. These qualities were so prevalent in Walt Disney’s life.

 

I personally know several Legacy Award Winning Cast Members. They are a joy to see in the parks and you know you are in special company when you are with them.

 

If you see a Blue Legacy Name Tag let them know that you understand just how special, they are.

Do you want to book a Disney Cruise Line vacation? Let me know!

 

Carolyn@EliteMemoriesTravel.com

https://www.facebook.com/CarolynsPixieDustedMemoriesAtEliteMemoriesTravel

Dream It! Do It!

Dream It! Do It!

My Half Century Creating Disney’s Magic Kingdoms

By Marty Sklar 

Dream It! Do It! is a wonderful book by Marty Sklar sharing his more than 50 years working for the Disney Company. In his 54 years working for Disney he worked on building EVERY Disney Park in the world!

Marty started working for Disneyland at the age of 19. He was hired to help write the Disneyland newspaper and to help with press relations. He quickly caught the eye of Walt Disney himself and was tasked with writing many scripts for Walt. He did everything from writing scripts for the public to promote the parks to scripts for shareholder meetings and government meetings.

Marty found himself in charge of Imagineering and lead the creative team as they built Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland and he even had some input on Shanghai Disneyland that is being built.

Dream It! Do It! inspires you to dream and do as Marty shares stories of his time working for Disney. He shares personal stories of interactions with Walt Disney as well as many other key executives from the Disney Company. He shares the ups and downs of the Disney Company after the death of Walt Disney.

If you have a desire to know the history of the Disney Company and understand the reasons for some of the things that have happened Marty gives you an bird’s eye view.

I highly recommend this book for any true fan of Disney the Man and Company. It also gives a look at the working of Walt Disney Imagineering.

My Christmas book, “An Angel Remembers 25 Voices of Christmas” is available!!

This is a collection of 26 short Christmas stories that together bring the amazing events of Christ’s birth alive. It is my hope that this will help encourage families to spend 10-15 minutes a day together during the busy holiday season remembering the true reason for the season.

You can find it for ALL eReader formats and PDF at:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/94784

For your Nook the link is:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-angel-remembers-25-voices-of-christmas-carolyn-hoagland/1106912931?ean=2940032802624

It is also available at the iTunes book store and many other ebook seller sites.

The only big site not carrying my book is Amazon.

You can download a Kindle version from Smashwords.com

Re-Imagining the Disney Magic

Re-Imagining the Disney Magic

The Disney Magic is in the Navantia Shipyard in Spain being Re-Imagined. The work should take about 4 weeks to complete. The Disney Magic was launched in 1998 and has been in service ever since. This is the first major refurbishment for this ship. The average lifespan of a cruise ship is 30 years. At that point the cost of maintaining the ship is not very cost effective. There are ships out there that are over 30 years old and a few as old as 50 but not many. It is the caustic sea water and air that do the damage to the ships. Rust sets in and it is a race to keep it from taking over. Given time, no matter how fastidious the cleaning is the ships begin to smell “dirty” after years of service.

The pools on the Magic will be redone and the new AquaDunk waterslide will be added. There will be other upgrades and changes around the ship such as name and theme changes to some quick service food areas on the pool deck.

The Parrot Cay restaurant will be changed into Carioca’s (named after one of Donald Duck’s friends in the 3 Amigos). It will have a South American feel instead of the Caribbean Island feel. Topsiders will become Cabanas as it is on both the Dream and Fantasy. Animators Palate will be re-drawn. Animators Palate will have the technology that is in place on the Dream and Fantasy added. On some “Show Nights” guests will be given special placemats that you can draw on at the beginning of your meal. Your drawings will be animated and shown on the walls during diner. I believe it will also have the same technology that brings Crush and others from Finding Nemo to visit while you eat. Palo’s (adult only restaurant) will get a makeover as well.

The Main Lobby Atrium will be updated to be more like those on the new ships, Dream and Fantasy. The Mickey Statue will be relocated to create a better traffic flow.

The Kids Clubs will be re-imagined bringing in more bright colors and Disney Characters. There will be a Pixie Hallow area, Andy’s Room, Marvels Avengers area and others.

It has not been announced if the Mickey Horn will be upgraded to play the same songs as the Dream and Fantasy. There will be some minor upgrades to the cabins but it has not been announced if the Magic’s inside cabins will get the virtual portholes that are on the Dream and Fantasy.

I think the most intriguing and highly announced change is the addition of the AquaDunk. In my opinion it looks like a scaled down version of the AquaDuck that is on the Dream and Fantasy. It appears to be about half the length or less of the AquaDuck and it starts out with a sharp almost strait down drop. Here is an animated “virtual ride” on the AquaDunk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VZxZNaU3AQ

Overview of changes:

Water fun:

            AquaDunk Waterslide, Deck 13

            AquaLab interactive water playground and pool, Deck 9

            Nephews’ Splash Zone for infants and toddlers, Deck 9

New fun for Kids and Teens:

            Disney’s Oceaneer Club for kids ages 3-12 being completely re-imagined, Deck 5

Marvel’s Avengers Academy, Andy’s Room, Pixie Hallow, Mickey Mouse Club, Disney’s Oceaneer Lab for kids ages 3-12, Deck 5

It’s a Small World Nursery is replacing Flounder’s Reef, for babies 3 months to 3 years, Deck 5

Chill Spa for teens ages 13-17, Deck 9

Just for Adults:

After Hours nighttime entertainment district (replacing Beat Street), Deck 3

Fathoms nightclub (replacing Rockin’ Bar D), Deck 3

Keys piano lounge (replacing Sessions), Deck 3

O’Gills Irish pub and sports bar (replacing Diversions), Deck 3

Senses Spa and Salon (replacing Vista Spa & Salon), Deck 9

Palo adult only restaurant (dining room makeover) Deck 10

Dining changes:

Carioca’s (replacing Parrot Cay), Deck 3

Animator’s Palate (adding Drawn to the Magic and Animation Magic shows), Deck 4

Cabanas (replacing Topsider Buffet), Deck 9

Family Areas:

Atrium Lobby (reimagined), Deck 3

D Lounge Family Lounge (replacing Studio Sea), Deck 4

Staterooms and suits (redesign), Decks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8

Here is a link to the Navantia website. At this time they do not have any pictures up of the Magic or any word about her. They did on Monday but they took them off their website and Facebook page.

http://www.navantia.es/

Disney Buys the Hasbro Toy Company

Disney Buys the Hasbro Toy Company

            I saw the headline “Disney Buys the Hasbro Toy Company”. It’s been a few days and I still haven’t figured out totally how I feel about it. I still don't know if this is just a rumor.

            On the pro side of this purchase Disney has full control over the merchandise being made to market their movies and characters. They will be able to ensure the safety and quality of the toys that bear their brand name. There have been issues in the recent past with toys having to be recalled due to various safety concerns such as lead content. Disney will have more quality control.

            On the con side is a well-known and well-respected namebrand that is been around for generations has been gobbled up by Disney. What about non-Disney theme toys? Will those be lost or will everything become Disney? Hasbro owns Playskool toys. Will all toys made for that division now have Mickey Mouse on them? Will you be able to buy a Monopoly game that is not Disney theme?

            There’s another interesting thought, what about the Transformer Franchise? Does Disney get that as well? Will Optimus Prime be seen with mouse ears? What about the Transformer ride at Universal Studios Hollywood? Will they have to remove it? Sorry so many questions with so few answers! Will Disney takeover the Transformer Franchise and start making Transformer movies?

            So Disney not only has multiple movie studios, Disney, Pixar, Lucas Films to name a few. They also now own a comic book empire, Marvel and of course their amusement parks and cruise line. What will Disney not be into? While I love Disney and believe it is one of the best entertainment companies out there I would not want to see it be the only choice. When one person, company or group controls too much they tend to become domineering and less likely to listen to public opinion.

Disney Buys Lucasfilm!

Disney Buys Lucasfilm!

I’m sure you have heard that the Disney Company has purchased Lucasfilm. You may be wondering why and if it is a good match. I say simply YES!!

Star Wars, the largest of the Lucasfilm franchises is already a part of Disney Parks and has been for a long time. The Disneyland Star Tours opened in 1987 so it has been part of the parks for 25 years. Indian Jones is at both DLR and WDW already as well. There is a show at WDW and a ride at DLR.

Lucasfilms, much like Disney has focused on ‘Family Friendly’ entertainment and pushed the advancement of film technology. Many of the current cutting edge special effects were created by Industrial Light and Magic, a part of Lucasfilm that was purchased by Disney.

George Lucas had retained ownership of Lucasfilm and I believe he wanted to assure his vision for films made by the company he founded continued. I think he made the right choice in Disney. Disney had already shown respect for the Star Wars franchise in how they have done Star Tours and Star Wars Weekends. There is also the Jedi Academy show at DLR. Disney has treated Indiana Jones with equal respect.

Could we and should we expect to see more of the Lucasfilm characters around the park? Why not? Many great movies have come out of Lucasfilm with numerous characters worthy of having a place in Disney parks!

I can see characters from the American Graffiti films around the 50’s Prime Time Café or even Mama Melrose’s. Characters from Land Before Time could be in the Animal Kingdom around Dinoland. I will be honest and say I believe Star Wars is a much better fit for Disney than Avatar. I think Disney would do better to scrap plans for Avatarland and instead expand Dinoland with characters from Land Before Time. Indiana Jones could be expanded with more shows and rides. Star Wars can expand more in Tomorrowland with new rides and shows. I can see more Storm Troopers and Jedi running around the parks. There are many more that can be brought out to play!

Star Wars Episode VII is in development and the plan is for a 2015 release with Episodes VIII and IX  to follow but release dates are to be announced. This is good news for Star Wars Fans!

All in all I feel this is a good match! I’m looking forward to seeing how this continues to develop.