Disney4me

Our celebration of the 50th anniversary of “it’s a small world” continues today with a video performance from the children’s choir, Xin Yin, which is based in Shanghai. View the full article

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Chef Marcel St. Pierre at Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel at Disneyland Resort. When he started his Disney career in 2000, he was a young chef at Granville’s Steakhouse, now Steakhouse 55. “It’s full circle, but this time I’m leading the entire team at the Disneyland Hotel,” he says with a smile. View the full article

The world’s second “it’s a small world” attraction debuted at Magic Kingdom Park at the Walt Disney World Resort on the park’s opening day Oct. 1, 1971. View the full article

Walking through New Fantasyland and watching the evolution of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train has been fascinating, seeing such a large attraction rise up from scaffolding and into a beautiful mountain covered with lush trees and colorful wildflowers. Let’s take a quick photo walk around it today with these shots. View the full article

A while ago, I compiled a group of theme-park quotations and made a quiz out of them. I'm a sucker for accidental catch phrases, some of which were not designed to be humorous. View the full article

Disney World annual passholders are finding MagicBands in their mailboxes, ushering in a new phase of the long-term testing of the company's billion-dollar reservation system. Inside the packaging are instructions on how to wear them ("Mickey facing up") and other details. Here are some facts from the box and from a recent media briefing. View the full article

WHAT: DIY Network's Matt Muenster makes his debut at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival. Muenster, who appears on "Bath Crashers" and "Blog Cabin," will talk about high-end interior design this weekend at the Festival Center. View the full article

Remember If You Had Wings? Did you love Adventure Thru Inner Space? Recall your first time taking the dive on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? So does at D23: The Official Disney Fan Club! View the full article

For children and families around the globe, Walt Disney World Resort is a magical place where dreams come true every day. At Disney, we take great pride in calling Central Florida home for the past 42 years and we're always looking for ways to share our magic with our community. Today, we hit a high note with our ongoing efforts by announcing $3.8 million in Disney grants to 87 deserving local nonprofits. These donations will make a positive impact in the lives of more than 85,000 Central Florida children this year. View the full article

Yesterday, we were pleased to welcome Caryl Stern, CEO of UNICEF, to Disneyland park. In addition to recalling the long relationship between her organization and Disney, Caryl took a moment to look back her own experience as a child, riding “it’s a small world” at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. View the full article

D23, the official Disney fan club, will hold a weekend of sessions saluting former attractions -- including Pleasure Island -- at Disney World this fall. View the full article

One of the highlights of the new “Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade” at Magic Kingdom Park is seeing Maleficent from “Sleeping Beauty” loom overhead in the form of an enormous, fire-breathing dragon. View the full article

Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel will be celebrating Easter with a PEEPS-themed event from April 16-23. View the full article

Actors have their Oscars. Musicians, their Grammys. But for nonprofits throughout Central Florida, the biggest honor is a 13-inch statuette of Mickey Mouse — and the nice, fat check from Disney that comes with it. View the full article

Disney Legend Rolly Crump has very fond memories of being one of the Imagineers who helped create “it’s a small world.” In fact, he was there from day one, when Walt Disney came up the idea. I hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane and vintage footage from our archives. Be sure to join in the 50th anniversary celebration of “it’s a small world” by going to smallworld50.com and uploading your own video of the unforgettable song. View the full article

The life-size Christmas gingerbread house is legendary at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, but we can’t wait for the 3rd annual Easter egg display in the spacious lobby with springtime edible works of art, this year April 4 - 22. View the full article

If you joined us when we announced our celebration of the 50th anniversary of “it’s a small world,” you saw the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing a portion of the song in our worldwide video. It was so good, we’ve decided to kick off our new video series of “it’s a small world” sing-along videos with more of their performance. Enjoy. View the full article

As Thomas Smith told you on Friday, we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary (link to Friday post) of the opening of “it’s a small world” at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. As part of that celebration, my fellow Disney Parks Blog author, Jennifer Fickley-Baker, and I will bring you a look at this iconic attraction as it appears in Disney Parks around the world. Let’s start with the original, here at Disneyland park! View the full article

Breathe in. Breathe out. Now relax. One thing I’d like to try this year is yoga as I’ve heard it’s wonderfully relaxing. I’ve found several of my female friends are already enjoying the benefits of yoga. I have good news for them or for Guests wanting to show their Disney Side during their next workout. The softlines team recently introduced some new workout attire that has a splash of Disney. I spoke with Donna Kozatek, senior graphic designer with Disney Design Group, about this new collection. View the full article

Today, March 25, is International Waffle Day - as if we really needed a reason to celebrate the Mickey Waffle, the Disney Parks breakfast treat that brings a smile to thousands of guests each year. View the full article

Exotic Driving Experience has teamed up with 2014 Rolex 24 winner Christian Fittipaldi to host the Fittipaldi Cup at Walt Disney World Speedway June 13. View the full article

On Saturday, more than 200 volunteers from the Disneyland Resort, Anaheim Family YMCA, KaBOOM! and Anaheim came together to build a new playground at John Marshall Park, less than five miles from the Disneyland Resort. View the full article

To some of us, it seems like only yesterday that Walt Disney introduced one of his best-loved ride-through attractions to us. There are others have never lived in a world without “it’s a small world.” Either way, our lives are all the richer for it. But like many creative miracles, it almost never came to be. View the full article

Mark Hamill, the actor who portrayed Luke Skywalker in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, will be making his first appearance at Star Wars Weekends, the annual multiday fan event at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park, this year. View the full article

Disney Cruise Line will be exploring the Norwegian fjords, Iceland and Faroe Islands for the first time in summer 2015, Disney announced Tuesday. View the full article