Dateline Disney - December 2002

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- With more excitement than eight Minnies a-milking and ten Aladdins a-leaping, Magic Kingdom offers 12 nights of "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party" merriment in 2002.

Guests can celebrate the season from 7 p.m. to midnight each night at the Magic Kingdom party on Dec. 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20. The park is packing everything except a partridge in a pear tree into this year's celebration including returning favorites "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade," a special edition of the "Fantasy in the Sky" fireworks show and other holiday-themed entertainment. Guests can also sip hot cocoa and eat Christmas cookies as they watch snow fall on Main Street, U.S.A. -- a party tradition.

As part of "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party," Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom will offer a family-style holiday meal featuring Disney characters.

Ticket prices: $33.95 (plus tax) in advance, $38.95 (plus tax) at the gate; children ages 3-9 $23.95 (plus tax) in advance, $28.95 (plus tax) at the gate. For tickets or more information about "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party," guests may call 407/W-DISNEY or visit at www.disneyworld.com. For more information about the dining experience, guests may call 407/WDW-DINE.

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Disney-MGM Studios Hosts Disney's Spectacle of Pins Event

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Disney-MGM Studios kicks off the holiday celebrations with Spectacle of Pins, an "en-LIGHT-ening" evening of pin trading, delicious delights and sparkling entertainment on Dec. 7.

Spectacle of Pins event packages include:

Opportunities to purchase limited edition pins and sets created by Disney Design Group artists.
A Residential Street party with a private viewing of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights.
An array of food and beverages.
Opportunities to pin trade at Mickey's Pin Trading Cart and continue to build your collection with rare and hard-to-find pins.
A pin gift exclusive to package holders, pin giveaways and more.

Event admission is $75 and does not include park admission. Reservations can be made via the Internet at www.OfficialDisneyPinTrading.com.

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Deck the Halls with Donald at Disney's Animal Kingdom

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Disney's Animal Kingdom will celebrate the yule with a little help from Donald Duck, Santa Goofy and other ‘toon pals. From Nov. 29, 2002-Jan. 1, 2003, Donald will host a special holiday edition of "Donald's Breakfastosaurus" in DinoLand U.S.A. For more information or priority seating arrangements for the special character dining experience, guests may call 407/WDW-DINE.

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The Osborne Family Lights Up Disney-MGM Studios

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- What began as a family tradition in the mid-1980s in Little Rock, Ark., has blossomed into a holiday tradition for many guests to Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World Resort.

Now in its eighth year at the theme park, the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights boasts five million lights and even enjoys its very own Florida "snowfall." The Osbornes' light display transforms the entire studio backlot into a winter wonderland, festooning the urban and residential facades with elaborate aerial creations like spinning carousels, giant globes, "chasing" lights and sparkling holiday trees. Guests at the theme park may stroll through the sparkling scenery, soaking in the beauty of the multi-colored bulbs and intricate ornaments through special holographic glasses provided to them.

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights is included in park admission to Disney-MGM Studios and will be presented nightly Nov. 27, 2002-Jan. 5, 2003.

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Tasty Treats, Artful Sweets Take Center Stage

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Disney pastry chefs have a season to remember on the 2002 menu, with elaborate confectionary creations and larger-than-life, edible displays planned for locations across Walt Disney World property:

A life-size spinning carousel will glide in the lobby of Disney's Beach Club Resort. Featuring ponies made of sugar, giant candy cane poles, hand-crafted poinsettias and portraits of famous Disney characters on a lighted roof of gingerbread, the carousel will greet guests next to the resort's giant holiday tree. As Walt Disney World Resort continues the 100 Years of Magic celebration through the holidays, it's fitting that Disney pastry chefs will work with more than 100 pints of eggs, 100 pounds of icing, 100 pounds of flour and 100 pounds of sugar to create the colossal confection.
Disney's BoardWalk features a 15-by-20-foot display depicting a boardwalk area with a five-foot-tall Ferris wheel, carousel, water slide, buildings and a beach area. Everything is made of chocolate, sugar and gingerbread.
At Epcot, The American Adventure pavilion in the park's World Showcase will be home to Santa's Bakeshop, a life-size house made entirely of gingerbread, icing and cookies.

A few miles away from Epcot, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa will again feature its 16-foot-high house made from more than 16,000 pieces of gingerbread.

In fact, both gingerbread homes are so large that merchandise locations -- selling fresh cookies and seasonal beverages -- will be inside each structure!

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Downtown Disney Celebrates the Holidays

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- It's "Christmastime in the City" -- Downtown Disney, that is -- and the entertainment, shopping and dining center is celebrating with seasonal songs and Santa.

From Nov. 29 through Christmas Eve, Santa Claus will make appearances at his very own chalet, right outside World of Disney, the world's largest Disney merchandise store. In all, there are more than 50 one-of-a-kind stores and merchandise locations across the 120-acre Downtown Disney area.

The holiday celebration will also feature nightly entertainment including Magic Music Days concerts at 6:45 and 7:45 p.m., carolers at 7, 8 and 9 p.m., and other variety performers.

Two new retail shops at Downtown Disney Marketplace -- Once Upon A Toy and Disney's Pin Traders -- highlight holiday shopping. Once Upon a Toy is a 16,000-square-foot, interactive toy shopping experience and Disney's Pin Traders is the largest pin location at Walt Disney World Resort.

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Roy Disney Highlights Candlelight Processional at Epcot

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Roy Disney, vice chairman of The Walt Disney Company and chairman of Walt Disney Feature Animation, will be the first celebrity narrator to deliver the traditional Christmas story to guests during the Candlelight Processional at Epcot Nov. 29-Dec. 30.

Roy Disney will appear at the park Nov. 29 and 30 at 5, 6:45 and 8:15 p.m., and Dec. 1 at 6:45 and 8:15 p.m. He is the nephew of company founder Walt Disney and appears during a park-wide celebration of the 100th anniversary of his uncle's birth.

Candlelight Processional, one of Disney's most beloved holiday traditions, is a joyous retelling of the Christmas story by a celebrity narrator accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and a mass choir. Other celebrity narrators scheduled for the 2002 Candlelight Processional include actor Gary Sinise, performers Jodi Benson and John Tesh, and actress Marlee Matlin.

Special dining packages at Epcot restaurants that include preferred seating for the Candlelight Processional are available by calling 407/WDW-DINE.

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Disney Cruise Line

Holiday Magic Hits the High Seas

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- On sailings between Nov. 24, 2002, and Jan. 1, 2003, Disney Cruise Line is planning a magical holiday season on board Disney Magic and Disney Wonder. Guests will find both ships decked with boughs of holly and filled with entertainment.

The Disney Cruise Line culinary team will prepare holiday meals in each of the ships' three themed dining rooms, and families can make their own gingerbread houses on-board. And despite the tropical weather on the high seas, "snow" will magically fall around the three-deck-tall tree in the ships' atrium lobby areas.

Ship-wide New Year's Eve parties will be held to ring in 2003, and for those who want to enjoy the college football bowl games on New Year's Day, Disney Cruise Line is planning a special Tailgate Party at its ESPN Skybox.

To learn more about Disney Cruise Line or to book a Disney Cruise Line vacation, guests can contact their travel agent, visit at www.disneycruise.com or call Disney Cruise Line at 888/DCL-2500.

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Sports

Pop Warner Super Bowl and Cheer & Dance
National Championships -- Dec. 8-14

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- There is nothing pee wee about it. The NFL's all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith, got his start in Pop Warner football. Hundreds of youngsters look to follow in his footsteps when 64 teams travel to Disney's Wide World of Sports complex Dec. 8-14 for the 2002 Pop Warner Super Bowl. Nearly 70 percent of all current players in the National Football League played on the Pop Warner gridiron as kids.

Football competition at this year's Super Bowl will be divided into five divisions, broken down by age and size -- Midget (ages 11-14), Junior Pee Wee (8-10), Pee Wee (9-11), Junior Midget (10-12) and Junior Bantam (12-14). Teams from across the country, and even some international representatives, will compete.

Inside The Milk House, more than 150 cheer and dance squads will strut their stuff in their own national competition before cheering on the football players in the championship games on Dec. 14.

Pop Warner Little Scholars, now in its 73rd year, is the only youth football and cheerleading/dance squad organization in the country. Pop Warner's relationship with the Walt Disney Company dates back to 1959 when Walt Disney himself attended the First Annual Pop Warner Disneyland Bowl Football Festival in southern California. The relationship continued in November 1960 when ABC-TV featured a two-part Disney movie special called "Moochie of Pop Warner Football." The program even included footage of Walt Disney at the 1959 Disneyland Bowl.

The Pop Warner Super Bowl is in its sixth year at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex and its eighth at Walt Disney World Resort.

Tickets may be purchased at the Disney's Wide World of Sports box office. Single-day general admission ticket prices are $10 for adults and $7.50 for children (ages 3-9). Length of event tickets are $57.75 for adults and $40.25 for children.

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The Home Depot College Football Awards Show -- Dec. 12

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The guest list will have college football fans drooling. Miami's Ken Dorsey, Marshall's Byron Leftwich and Colorado's Chris Brown are among the stars expected to contend for top honors at The Home Depot College Football Awards. The Davey O'Brien Award (Top Quarterback), Doak Walker Award (Top Running Back) and Maxwell Award (Best All-Around Player) are among the awards to be presented. For the sixth consecutive year, the Disney's Wide World of Sports Spirit Award will be presented to an inspirational player who overcomes adversity through his actions on and off the playing field.

The awards show will be broadcast on ESPN (live from 7-9 p.m. EST) for the 12th straight year from Walt Disney World Resort, again from Atlantic Dance at Disney's BoardWalk. ESPN college football anchor Chris Fowler will emcee the awards show, along with analysts Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso, and sideline reporter Michele Tafoya.

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