Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider has an interesting look at one of the side effects of low occupancy rates and bargain rack rates. You start to attract the wrong element of guests, or at least have the appearance there of. And that’s usually enough to drive away potential customers who are looking for a safe family vacation experience.

Osceola County really needs to get together with these hotels and figure out some sort of game plan to bring back business to the area. I have a few ideas, which I hope to post about in a future post. But feel free to suggest a solution in the comments below.

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Off-property Hotels in Kissimmee Really Hurting

The American Musical Theatre of San Jose says it is filing bankruptcy after losing $225,000 it invested with Atlanta’s Theater of the Stars. The money was supposed to have been used for a co-production of Disney’s “Tarzan,” which was to open at the Fox Theatre in January, move to California in February and Dallas in March.

“I’m devastated. I’ve had to lay off my whole company here,” Michael Miller, CEO and executive producer of the San Jose playhouse, said Tuesday. After planning the co-production of “Tarzan” for more than a year, Miller said he was informed on Nov. 18 by Theater of the Stars president Nick Manos that the show was off.

The “Tarzan” production has had a rough go of it from the start. Might be a lot tougher to fund a revival of it now.

(via AJC)

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Troubled Tarzan Production Dooms Theater

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LOST Season Five Sneak Peek

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Disneyland Dining Reviewed on Chowhound

The Hundreds is a product line and store in Los Angeles and San Francisco that appears to have its finger on the pulse of California Surf and Street Culture. So you may be surprised to see what’s painted on the door of their LA store… yep… Disney’s The Lost Boys. I wonder what this collaboration with the Walt Disney Company will bring in the future.

Back on November 13th they also hosted some excellent coverage of the BLOC28 gallery event featuring more street art interpretations of Mickey Mouse.

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More Disney Street Wear

Here are the details from the official press release:

The interior of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, long closed to guests, has “reawakened” in time for the holidays. A vibrant new version of the classic walkthrough attraction features colorful scenes of Aurora, her gallant prince, the evil Maleficent and other characters from the beloved fairy tale film.

This revived Sleeping Beauty Castle “show” differs from the window-display dioramas which could be seen in the castle during the 1980s and ’90s. It takes its inspiration from the unique style of the original Disneyland castle walkthrough attraction of 1957, co-designed by animation art director and color stylist Eyvind Earle, who was credited with giving the motion picture “Sleeping Beauty” its distinctive and colorful look of storybook illustrations in medieval style.

Enhanced with new scenes and special-effects magic, the re-Imagineered attraction employs technology not available in the 1950s to tell the story of Sleeping Beauty, including the magic of good fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, and the more sinister spells of the evil Maleficent.

For the first time, guests who are unable to climb stairs or navigate the passageways of the Castle will be able to experience the walkthrough “virtually” in a special room on the ground floor of the Castle

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Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-Through Re-opens

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Shanghai Disney Rumor Persists

It’s doggone fun for pups as they enjoy the yuletide cheer, pose for pictures, and share their Christmas wish list with Old St. Nick himself. Additionally, special comfort areas and water stations have been created for man’s best friend throughout the Disney shopping and dining district.

Santa Paws is located near World of Disney store at Downtown Disney Marketplace and is open daily for guests until Dec. 24. Disney has provided the following video of Santa meeting some of his canine friends last week.

For hours and more information about Festival of the Seasons, visit disneyworld.com/holidays.

(Photo of Jack The Pug courtesy Disney, Diana Zalucky, photographer)

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It’s a Dog’s Day with Santa at Downtown Disney Orlando

• Twilight Vampires may have ruled last weekend, but Disney’s Bolt was the dog that could the rest of the week besting Twilight and picking up numbers at the box office. That dog has legs (four of them). Here’s hoping they’ll see it through the holidays.
• If you haven’t yet played around with the LIFE magazine archives that were just released, go and search for for Disney. A lot of photos from the South America trip in 1941 pop up.  The archives are available here: http://images.google.com/hosted/life
• Last week there was a bit of a rumor going around about what changes could be expected at SeaWorld now that InBev has finalized the purchase of Anheuser-Busch. The future of Busch Entertainment and it’s theme parks is still unannounced. I’m sure AB-InBev is taking another look at the numbers now that the sale is final.
• BlooLoop has an interview with Matt Ouimet, former Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line president, as he reflects on his Disney years.
• The AP has a story on the Happiest Turkeys on Earth, those being pardoned by outgoing president Bush. Guess where they’re ending up this year?

Finally, I’ve listed a few more Disney collectibles from our personal collection on eBay. We’re very sad to have to part with them, but the extra income will really help right now. I particularly recommend this signed 1999 Lynn Haney Santa and Classic Pooh Figure. It’s a very small edition (25) and was only available at the Disneyland Christmas Merchandise event. Please do take a look and see if anything catches your fancy.

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Monday Morning Roundup - Disney News

There were some pretty strong squall fronts. So it comes as little surprise that a tornado was spotted in the area. In fact, Old Lake Wilson Road and the 192 Highway is just about a mile from Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. Too close if you ask me. Luckily no one was reported injured.

Severe weather is always a possiblity during your Disney vacation. If it occurs please make sure to follow all instructions given by Cast Members and take shelter as necessary.

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Tornado Reported Near Disney’s Animal Kingdom today

Now, let’s hop right into it, shall we?

Of course, we get our theme for the evening from Young Ned. He becomes friends with a schoolmate and outcast, Eugene who has a pet python, Bilbo and a pet bunny, Akbar. (hee, hee) After a horrible accident, and the deaths of these two pets, Ned decides to use his gift to help his friend. He learns that an act of charity can outweigh the consequences of it’s actions.

Let’s see how this theme plays out…

First we have Ned (Oh, Ned. Ever afraid, sad, worried and brooding. How is Chuck, ever excited, happy and bubbling in love you?) stress baking in the kitchen. He is certain that Dwight Dixon (former bff of Charles Charles, Chuck’s dad) is going to find out that Chuck is dead…or well, that she’s alive. So, Olive heads off to Lily & Vivian’s house to gossip about Dwight (and do a little investigating while she’s there). And who beats her there? Well, Dwight, of course. He’s there to take Vivian out on the town.

The two new love birds are sitting on a park bench while Dwight serenades her with a clarinet (you know, the usual). Then, he asks her about Chuck. Vivian begins to cry that it’s her fault Chuck died. She shows Dwight Chuck’s obituary and Dwight recognizes her from The Pie Hole. (Notice the evil gleam in his eye!)

Dwight’s next stop is The Pie Hole where Olive is holding down the fort. Dwight leaves “a message” for Ned: Chuck’s obituary with obvious head shot included. Olive begins stress eating (at least 4 pies. Go Olive!).

Soon, Dwight heads back to the aunt’s house. This time for Lily and a heavy conversation that ends with Lily’s shotgun aimed at Dwight’s head. This conversation causes Lily to visit Chuck’s newly unearthed grave…and then Dwight’s hotel room which just happens to be FULL OF GUNS and Charles’ watch. Creeeeepy.

And as Chuck and Ned discuss Dwight and all his doings, they decide the best course of action is to WAKE Charles Charles and find out what Dwight’s intentions are. And this, my dear Pie Friends, is how our episode ends–with Ned and Chuck digging up her father’s grave. *shiver*

The End.

Oh wait. Yeah. There was this one little thing I forgot to mention—the murder investigation. To quote my favorite nanny, “If we must, we must.”

The facts are these…

Gustav Hopper, kabillionaire hires a modern day Robin Hood to steal his treasure…but only to test the faithfulness of his lovely (and mouthy) young wife.

Uhm…that’s really it in a nutshell. Do you want more? OK, ok…

Emerson takes the case because the Gustav is the inventor of the automatic yarn baller (uh, there may have been a better description than that…). And when our Pie Trio interviews poor Gustav (suspended in the chandalier that killed him) they discover why he was so rich–he was very bossy! He does all the talking and demands that his money-grubbing wife gets NONE of his money. He claims the bell man did it. And he mentions a second will in his safe at home.

While Emerson and Chuck interview the mouthy wife, Ned makes his way into the trophy room to find the will…and the trophies? Dead animals. *snicker* Ned finds an empty safe scribbled with the Latin phrase, “Orbis Pro Vox”. Which we soon discover is the slogan for “The Bell Men”…Robin Hood wannabes who ring bells a la The Salvation Army.

To catch this Robin Hood, they set up a sting at Lily & Vivian’s house (here we get to see Olive pretending to be a fabu wealthy wife with a pet pig). And we end with what we should have guessed at the beginning, Mouthy Wife and the Butler were in love lust. Gustav found out after he hired the Bell Man but before he could stop him. While trying to stop the Bell Man, a fight ensued and Gustav was accidentally killed when our Robbing Hood’s gun went off in the direction of his favorite chandelier.

And that really is the end.

Best Lines of the Night:

kinda-dead Gustaf to Chuck: “I like your moxy sassafrass!”

Emerson to himself: “Hello motive. Nice to see you again!”

Lily to Dwight, “You got your thumb on a big red button you do not want to push!’

In Conclusion:

We finally got an episode that propels the story and it doesn’t even matter because our precious Pie Hole is being canceled! *sob*

I can’t wait to see what Chuck & Ned discover in Charles Charles’ casket. I’m just guessing that it isn’t Charles. What do you think? (I don’t know what or who it might be, but another empty casket would just be fitting.)

Honestly, this episode wasn’t as amusing and colorful as usual. I only wrote down one Emerson zinger for goodness’ sakes. Of course, Gustav’s wife was quite funny. And Ned’s face when he walked into the trophy room…priceless!

Apparently we’ll be seeing all 13 of this season’s episodes. So, don’t cry too much, we’ll be together the rest of the season. And according to Pushing-Daisies.com, Bryan Fuller has pitched a comic book to DC comics and a big screen movie to finish out our story lines. Now wouldn’t that be great? Can I come to the premiere?

(I’ll be mourning Pushing Daisies at my blog ohamanda.com, feel free to come over. I’ll supply the tissues.)

(oh, and guess what I got? Olive’s Christmas album! Fa-la-la-la-la!)

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I Am In Mourning (or Robbing Hood: Pushing Daisies 2.7)

With the economy the way it is and the state of world affairs as they are, you may not think there is much to celebrate this year. But that makes it even more important to reach out to your friends and neighbors today even if it’s just to say hello.

So from the staff at The Disney Blog to you, I say thank you for being here and sharing your love of Disney with us.

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A Holiday for Thanksgiving

“As you may know, Disney Store closed 88 locations earlier this year to adjust our overall store portfolio,” said Jim Fielding, president, Disney Stores Worldwide. “This occurred during the transition from being a licensed business separate from The Walt Disney Company to becoming part of the Disney family once again. Disney Store has no current plan or announcement to close 98 Stores. This is inaccurate information that has been circulated via the Internet.”

Disney Store currently has locations in more than 220 malls across America. Like many other stores, they are gearing up for the day after Thanksgiving and stocking the shelves with toys and items for Disney fans across the nation. More than 100 locations are opening at midnight this year. To find out if a store near you is opening at midnight, please go to www.disneystore.com and click on the store locator or call 800-757-5933.

The full press release with details on the special deals available beginning on Friday at The Disney Stores, click below the cut:

DISNEY STORE BLACK FRIDAY SPECIALS BEGIN AT MIDNIGHT AT MORE THAN 100 STORES NATIONWIDE
Hottest Holiday Toys for Kids and Tweens 20 Percent off until 10 a.m.

Disney Store locations nationwide will usher in the holiday season earlier than ever with day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) specials starting as early as midnight in more than 100 of its more than 200 stores. In malls across the country, most other Disney Store locations will kick off Black Friday shopping with 5 a.m. openings. All stores will offer an additional 20 percent off almost everything*, including already low one-day only pricing, from opening hours until 10 a.m.

The store for everything Disney is a favorite location for holiday shoppers looking for that perfect gift to fit any budget. Throughout the remainder of the weekend, Disney Store will continue to offer sale pricing on top toys such as Disney Princess dolls, tween and plush toys, and more.

“This Thanksgiving weekend, Disney Store has stocked up on our most popular items for holiday shoppers such as toys and gifts inspired by High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Hannah Montana, WALL•E, Tinker Bell and Disney Fairies, Disney Princess, Club Penguin, Disney∙Pixar Cars, and Disney’s newest animated feature film Bolt,” said Molly Adams, Vice President General Manager, Merchandising & Marketing, Disney Store. “For the first time, we’re opening our doors earlier than ever in more than 100 stores in malls across America. Our midnight openings are sure to please consumers eager to start their holiday shopping extra early, but we’ll continue to restock our shelves for Disney Store guests who need to shop later in the day or at night.”

To find the nearest Disney Store location and check store hours for Black Friday, please call 800-757-5933.

Following are some of the magical Disney Store gifts that shoppers will find at an additional 20 percent off before 10 a.m. on Black Friday this year:

Note: Prices below reflect original retail pricing. Sale prices will be in effect on Black Friday.

Totally Tween – Inspired by Disney Channel Hits

• Camp Rock Electronic Drum Set ($39.50) and Camp Rock Keyboard ($69.50): Kids and tweens can create their own rock band with these musical instruments. The drum set comes complete with five drum pads, two drumsticks and carrying handle to take your show on the road. The keyboard has multiple sound effects and five different musical instruments and even comes with a stand to rock out!
• Hannah Montana MP3 Video Camera ($79.50): Kids and tweens can record their favorite dance moves while singing and playing their favorite songs. The MP3 video camera features a docking station, detachable microphone and volume control, and also plugs into the TV so kids can enjoy their own show! Also available in High School Musical 3: Senior Year theme.
• Hannah Montana Wireless Drumsticks ($39.50): Kids and tweens will discover their inner pop star with ready to rock outside the box wireless drumsticks. Equipped with two wireless drumsticks, volume control and realistic drum effects, all kids need is air space!
• Hannah Montana Holiday Stocking ($19.50): A boot shaped design in Hannah’s signature color—purple.
• High School Musical Wardrobe Dolls ($29.50 each) Gabriella & Sharpay dolls come with three additional High School Musical 3: Senior Year inspired outfits for graduation and the prom. Comes in a fashionable re-usable box for storage of clothing.
• High School Musical 3: Senior Year Fashion Dolls ($12.50 each): Gabriella, Sharpay and Troy dolls are dressed in trendy outfits ready to make the most of their senior year.

Wondrous Widgets – Celebrating Disney and Disney·Pixar Favorites

• WALL∙E and Eve Remote Control Robots ($49.50 each): These fully functional robots come with a wireless remote control that allows users to make them walk, talk and interact with each other.
• Infra Red Remote Controlled Cars ($49.50): On your mark, get set, GO! These remote control cars follow the Infra Red beam and come in a variety of characters for both girls and boys, including Disney Princess, Buzz Lightyear, Lightning McQueen and Power Rangers Jungle Fury.

Preschooler Treats – Playtime with Playhouse Disney

• Little Einsteins Rocket Remote Control ($24.50), Ages 3+: Take Rocket on an adventure with his pals, the Little Einsteins. Remote control moves forward and backward with an easy-to-use remote specially made for preschool age hands. Features three character voices and light-up after burners!
• Little Einsteins Musical Adventure ($14.50), Ages 2+: Flip open the panels to explore the world of music with each adventure. 20 unique melodies play when all panels are open, or enjoy creating your own music with four interactive instrument buttons.
• Handy Manny Tool Set ($14.50), Ages 3+: Preschoolers can play with these handy tools and pretend they have their own workshop.

Favorites for Girls

• Disney Princess Wardrobe Dolls ($29.50): These dolls inspire storytelling and creativity. Choose from Ariel, Belle and Cinderella. Each doll comes with four outfits true to her character, complete with three tiaras, jewelry and hair accessories
• Disney Princess Royal Bath Set ($39.50): The little princesses in your life will be able to care for their water-proof dolls with our new Royal Bath set, complete with a real shower head that sprays water and all the accessories she will need to give her baby a real bath.
• Disney Princess Doll Stroller ($59.50): Girls can give their dolls the royal treatment with the Disney Princess Doll Stroller. It has an adjustable canopy and includes a satin baby blanket and pillow.
• Tinker Bell Styling Head ($24.50): Unleash your inner stylist, with this Tinker Bell styling head. Comes complete with hair extensions, a floral halo, charm bracelet, barrettes and sticker sheet.
• Media, electronics, gift cards, theme park passports, Disney Dollars and shipping charges not included in this offer and will not be discounted.

About Disney Store North America
The Disney Store retail chain is owned and operated in the United States by Disney Store USA, LLC and in Canada by Disney Store Canada Inc. Disney Store is an affiliate of Disney Consumer Products, the business segment that extends the Disney brand to merchandise. Disney Store carries high-quality products, including exclusive product lines that support and promote Disney’s key entertainment initiatives and characters. In 1987, Disney Store opened its first store in Glendale, California and, in doing so, originated the themed retail business model. There are currently more than 200 Disney Store locations in North America, each offering a magical shopping experience that can only be delivered by Disney, one of the world’s largest and most successful entertainment companies.

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Disney Store Black Friday Deals and Rumors

We’ve got a long road to go, so what do you say we get to it?

They started by bringing back all the stars who had been eliminated. Not all of them danced, however. Misty May-Treanor obviously couldn’t dance yet. But she has been cleared to walk on her leg and is healing nicely. She is begging to be allowed back on the show once she is healed, too. I’ve heard soonest would be next fall. I guess we’ll see if it happens. They also had to interview Toni Braxton who had some unspecified successful surgery. Cloris got to dance and talk, leading to a great exchange with Tom that involved pregnancy and delivery.

They did interrupt the trip down memory lane to bring Jeffrey Ross out for a roast. He started out making fun of himself, then Cloris. Best line to her? “That wasn’t dancing, that was Weekend at Bernie’s: the Musical.” But then he turned the focus to the finalists. The best line to the three of them was Jeffrey to Warren: “You’re an inspiration. I mean, how to you dance 8 hours a day every day for three months and stay so out of shape?”

The second hour kicked off with a recap of the semi-finals and Cody and Julianne dancing again and talking to Tom and Samantha where Tom gave Cody some good advice, “Cheer Up.”

(And as an aside, it’s comments like that which remind me why Tom should win best reality show host this coming year. I can understand why Jeff from Survivor won the first year. He was the first. But Tom is so quick on his feet with an appropriate comment he has proved he’s the best.)

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post.

It’s now time for the final dances of the show. The three couples will do one of their favorite routines one last time.

Warren Sapp & Kym Johnson - Hustle - It was funky. Seriously, I spent most of the routine trying to remember it from before. But I gave up. It was fun with some great moves. At times, it seemed like he was concentrating a bit too hard, but for most of the time he was so much fun to watch. Len said that, while he wasn’t the judge’s champion, he was the people champion. And he makes Len smile the entire time he is dancing. Bruno called him a hustler. Carrie Ann praised him for making all people, especially men, want to dance. I’m thinking they aren’t going to be that picky in their comments, tonight. Which makes sense. I mean, they can’t really improve at this point.
Scores: Carrie Ann - 9 Len - 9 Bruno - 9 Total - 27 And a total with the judges of 80 out of 90.

Lance Bass & Lacey Schwimmer - Jitterbug - Since this was their best scored dance of the season (if my memory is correct), I’m not surprised they are doing it again. The real question is, can Lance keep both his shoes on this time? The answer is yes. And it’s just as much fun as it was last week. Lance really has improved over the beginning of the season, I can’t argue with that. Bruno said he has become a big showman. Carrie Ann did find a problem with a lift, but she praised them for never once taking the safe road on their journey to the finals. Len said what I just did. Lance was very weak at the beginning, but he’s really begun to shine in the last few weeks and grew in leaps and bounds.
Scores: Carrie Ann - 9 Len - 9 Bruno - 10 Total - 28 So their judges total is 81 out of 90.

Brooke Burke & Derek Hough - Viennese Waltz - I know I’ve said it before, but grace and elegance are the only way to describe this dance. The elements were there, and she looked to confident doing them. They were smiling the entire time. And yes, they included her daughters at the end once again. She moved Carrie Ann to tears and she said they deserved the trophy more than anyone else. Len said this is still the dance of the season. Bruno called her the jewel in the crown of the really grand finale. And they gave us a close up of her fiancee crying.
Tom said before they danced that they need 24 points to stay ahead of the others in the judges leader board. I’m guessing a perfect score here.
Scores: Carrie Ann - 10 Len - 10 Bruno - 10 Total - 30 And their total with the judges is 88 points out of 90.

So now we can start eliminating people. They told us that the third place couple was Lance and Lacey. Frankly, I’m shocked. I had them pegged for second.

Miley Cyrus sang, and we finally got to hear from the stars who hadn’t been interviewed before.

And another commercial break.

Not that I’m surprised. I knew they wouldn’t tell us before the last couple of minutes. And the winner is…

Brooke Burke & Derek Hough

Needless to say, I am thrilled. I’ve been praising her for weeks, so in my mind, the right person won. And it’s nice to see Derek get a trophy since his sister has won twice. And I guess he and Mark Ballas are best friends, too. So really, it’s a tight group that has been winning the next few seasons.

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone, and I’ll see you in March when the new seasons begins.

Mark

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Dancing with the Stars: And the Season Seven Winner is….

First make your tables sparkle with clever themed floral decorations. The Disney Florists make it simple to do.

Also visit The Disney Blog’s Youtube channel to learn some cooking tips from Walt Disney World Executive Chef Lenny DeGeorge:

• how to carve a roast turkey quickly and safely.
• where to find an often overlooked tasty piece of the holiday turkey.
• a quick and easy way to make a can of cranberry sauce into something special
• how to make a grilled holiday leftovers sandwich.

A big thanks to Disney Parks for making these videos for us all to share.

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Helpful Thanksgiving Tips from Disney’s Experts

Now, on to your regularly scheduled blog post. 

Frankly, I can’t believe we are down to the finals.  The three remaining couples will do a dance to the same song, then do their freestyle.  While my money is still on Brooke, it really is anyone’s game. 

Shall we get to it? 

Apparently not.  Before we got to the new dances, each couple chose their favorite Ballroom and Latin dance to show us again.  They just used the footage from the performance.  Then their partner talked about why that star should win.

Brooke and Derek chose their Quickstep and Paso Doble.  Lance and Lacey chose their Tango and Mambo.  Warren and Kym replayed their Viennese Waltz and Paso Doble.  It’s funny, Lance and Lacey’s were the only ones I remembered from previous weeks.

I hadn’t been paying any attention to the kids competition this year, but they did announce that Craig and Samantha won.

I was wondering how they were going to fill the hour and a half, and I guess this was it because we were half an hour in before they started with the new content.  They even did a formal introduction again at this point.  And Samantha Harris and the judges didn’t come out until now.

Samba Smackdown - Up first tonight, all three couples take the floor to do a Samba to the same music.  But they will be on the floor at the same time (okay, taking turns but no breaks in between), each with a solo that will be individually judged.

Up first were Brooke Burke and Derek Hough.  After what looked like a rough start where Derek was showing off while Brooke stood there, they really stepped up and brought lots of fun content.

Next came Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer.  Again, I was less than impressed with the beginning, but then they really started to shine by the end.

Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson were the final couple.  And just to change things up, I liked the beginning, but thought they fell apart in the middle.

Finally, all three couples came out for a fun end.

It’s hard to summarize the judge’s comments since they talked to all of them in whatever order they wanted.  They basically praised all of them for something, although they did pick on Warren’s lack of technical skills while pointing out how fun he is to watch.  But Carrie Ann did say that Warren’s technique is getting better every week.

Scores: Brooke & Derek
Carrie Ann - 9 Len - 9 Bruno - 10 Total - 28

Scores: Lance & Lacey
Carrie Ann - 9 Len - 8 Bruno - 9 Total - 26

Scores: Warren & Kym
Carrie Ann - 9 Len - 7 Bruno - 9 Total - 25

Tight scores, but Brooke is just barely in the lead.  Let’s see what the Freestyle has in store.

Brooke Burke & Derek Hough - I had a smile on my face form the very beginning.  It did indeed have the tricks and lifts they had been promising.  And the tricks looked great.  They even included a costume change in there.  I’m not sure how Lance and Warren will top this one, but I know I’ll be praising theirs in just a couple minutes.  Bruno called it beyond belief and one of the best he’s ever seen.  Carrie Ann said they brought it (although for a minute I thought she was going to say they didn’t do quite enough.)  Len called it the best he’s ever seen as well.  Considering how he looked while Bruno was talking, I thought he was going to hate it, too.  I’m going to be shocked if this isn’t a perfect score.
Scores: Carrie Ann - 10 Len - 10 Bruno - 10 Total - 30  Frankly, I’m not sure there is much more to say.

Lance Bass & Lacey Schwimmer - I’m just not a fan of hip hop, so their freestyle didn’t do nearly as much for me as Brooke’s did.  Still, I can’t fault them because it looked good.  I do think the lack of lifts hurt them some.  I loved their Lancey shirts and the opening at the judge’s table.  Plus Lance taking off his shoe at the end was priceless.  Carrie Ann started things off by saying she liked it except for when they went into the Cha Cha for a little bit in the middle.  Len praised the fun and the few bars of Cha Cha.  (Of course, they did throw that in for him.)  Bruno enjoyed the creativity and wit.
Scores: Carrie Ann - 9 Len - 9 Bruno - 9 Total - 27  I expected at least one 10, but not from Carrie Ann.  Still, they couldn’t all give it 10’s if they were praising Brooke’s as the best they’ve ever seen, could they?

Warren Sapp & Kym Johnson - I was beginning to wonder about that opening.  I thought the song was just a little slow for a Freestyle that was going to be everything they promised it would be.  Then they took off the red part of their costumes and picked up the tempo dramatically.  And I think parts of Kym’s costumes were coming off on one of their lifts.  The dramatic, death defying lift they promised delivered.  I certainly wouldn’t want to try that.  It was fun and entertaining.  Not quite as good as Brooke’s but better than Lance’s in my opinion.  Len praised him for being the best entertainer for the season.  Bruno said the only thing to do was sit back and enjoy the ride.  Carrie Ann called it her favorite freestyle tonight, however, she caught a mistake I missed and said that Warren even gave it away with a horrified look.
Scores: Carrie Ann - 9 Len - 10 Bruno - 9 Total - 28  Well, in aggregate, the judges agree with me tonight in the rankings of the freestyles.  I don’t think that has ever happened before.

 So, the final standings of the season are:

1. Brooke - 58
2. Lance - 53
2. Warren - 53

Tomorrow night includes a roast of the finalists, all the stars from season seven, one more judged routine, and the crowning of the winner.

I’m going to guess that with the couples dancing one last time for scores there won’t be an encore.  If there is, it will either be the Samba Smackdown or Brooke’s Freestyle.

The winner?  You know I’ve been saying it will be Brooke all season.  I started this post with that prediction.  With a five point lead over the others with the judges I still feel confident in saying that.  But with the votes and the final routine tomorrow anything might happen.

 Agree?  Disagree?  Let me know what you think, and we’ll find out who is right tomorrow night.

 Mark

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Dancing with the Stars: Season Seven Finals

You have to love those classic Harper Goff stylings of the original boats. I wonder what cake I’ll get for my birthday this year.

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Amazing Jungle Cruise Birthday Cake

It’s almost showtime as Disney’s Hollywood Studios prepares to raise the curtain on its newest showbiz-themed attraction, “The American Idol Experience.” The giant TV Screen you see here will be used to let the expected over-flow crowds see what’s happening in the American Idol theater as the all day process draws to a close for the chosen contestants.

Opening in early 2009, all the excitement of the popular “American Idol” TV show will come to life in this first-of-its-kind attraction. Walt Disney World guests will be able to vote on their favorite performance, or audition with the chance to perform on stage.

(Photo courtesy Disney. David Roark, photographer)

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Prepare for “The American Idol Experience” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Although I haven’t seen either film, both have received okay ratings, with BOLT! actually having the edge there. Twilight, however, has the advantage of having a mythology, the four Stephanie Meyer books, with fans of its own to support it. BOLT! comes out of no where. That said BOLT! has the advantage of the well practiced Disney marketing machine behind it as well as the legendary history Disney animation.

I don’t think you can blame the effort of Disney’s much improved animation team or of marketing for the poor showing this weekend. I think the biggest fault here is scheduling.

When Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince backed off November 21, 2008 to July 2009, Disney moved up the release of BOLT! one week to fill that slot. Obviously Disney thought they’d pick up all those young ‘tweens’ who are so valuable at the box office since they bring their parents and friends with them. With Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana herself, voicing one of the main characters, this move must have seemed like a “no brainer”.

As it turns out Walt Disney Animation Studios wasn’t the only company to have that idea; a little studio called Summit moved the release of its Twilight property from mid-Decmeber to the same weekend. Now Disney and Summit were competing head to head for the same ‘tweens’ audience. And judging by the box office results Summit won that battle by a landslide.

While the media is busy playing up the obsessed pre-teen fan card, those same teens were recently as devoted to Miley Cyrus as they are to Robert Pattinson (as the vampire Edward). I have to wonder how much the over-saturation and slight ‘passe’ feel of the Hannah Montana property played into Disney’s slide from grace this weekend.

I wish I was as optimistic as Walt Disney Studios spokesperson Heidi Trotta, who believes that word of mouth will help BOLT through the Holiday weekend. Instead I’m betting we’ll see those obsessed fans return again and again to see the object of their obession on the big screen. And as Twilight fans all know, it ain’t going to be a dog.

Update: OMG!!!!!!!!!!! To get an idea for how obsessed tweens can get, you have to watch this video of some young girls as they watch David Archuleta lose American Idol and then proceed to self-destruct. These same girls are now, no doubt, simiarly obsessed over Edward. (Thanks Rucker)

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BOLT! sucked dry by Vampire Romance Flick