LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Pick your passion: Whether it's food,
wine, music, art, sports, stargazing, celebrating a milestone
birthday, holiday mirth or Mickey Mouse, September through December
2008 is a season when vacation wishes and dreams come true for
Walt Disney World guests of many interests as Disney's "Year of
a Million Dreams" showcases nearly a dozen special events.
Here's a snapshot of what's in store:
Epcot International Food & Wine Festival:
Delectable foods and stellar wines and beers from some of the best
"foodie" cities in the world -- places such as Lyon, France;
Bologna, Italy; Cape Town, South Africa and trendy Cork, Ireland --
will tempt Walt Disney World guests Sept. 26-Nov. 9 at the
13th Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. New festival flavors
representing great "Cities in Wonderland" will deliver blissful
bites with wine and beer pairings ($2 to $5 each) at more than 25
international and regional marketplaces surrounding the park's World
Showcase. Cultural exhibits along the promenade will showcase
entertainment and traditional crafts of several countries.
Eat to the Beat! concerts at America Gardens Theatre, with three
performances each evening, offer a lineup of classic rock, oldies,
jazz and funk hit-makers such as Spyro Gyra, Kool & The Gang and Jon
Secada.
Other festival highlights include:
- The Festival Welcome Center,
with a Champagne and Wine Bar, complimentary wine seminars, book
signings and festival keepsakes.
- Some 250 Disney chefs and guest
chefs conducting culinary demonstrations and hosting elegant
dinners and tasting events.
- The weekly Party for the Senses
grand tasting event featuring tempting tastes from eminent
chefs, more than 70 wines and beers and live entertainment.
- Music, dance, acrobatics and "improv"
acts at Epcot pavilions.
Most activities, such as wine and
beer seminars, concerts and cooking demos, are included with
admission. Activities that require reservations and separate
admission include Party for the Senses, Food and Wine Pairings at
Epcot restaurants, Epcot Wine Schools, Regional Feasts and other
specialty events.
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Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party:
The Disney characters are decked out in their Halloween finest, and
guests are invited to do the same on 25 evenings between Sept. 5 and
Oct. 31 when Magic Kingdom hosts this popular after-hours event.
There's trick-or-treating galore and a chance to experience popular
attractions during a 7 p.m.-midnight party which features two
scheduled entertainment extravaganzas guests can see at no other
time: the "Boo-to-You" Halloween parade and the bewitching "Happy
HalloWishes" fireworks spectacular.
Parties are slated for Sept. 5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 28, 30 and
Oct. 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31.
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Disney's Royal Quinceañera Weekend:
For the first time, Walt Disney World Resort is offering
a weekend dedicated to celebrating the most magical time in a
Latina's life: turning age 15. The "weekend" (Aug. 29-Sept. 5 --
around Labor Day) will include a tradition-steeped extravaganza at
Epcot that celebrates the passage from flat-soled shoes and dolls to
high heels, elaborate gowns and young womanhood. Every young woman
will walk into a breathtaking ball held in her honor and into a
world of princesses, beauty and enchantment that only Disney can
create, capped by a private viewing of the fireworks spectacular,
"Illuminations: Reflections of Earth."
The exclusive Disney's Royal Quinceañera Weekend includes a 3-, 4-,
or 5-night stay at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, theme park
tickets and the Quinceañera celebration at Epcot.
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Night of Joy: Regarded as one of
the top contemporary Christian music events in the country, Night of
Joy is on the move to a new venue in 2008. Disney's Hollywood
Studios will host two talent-packed evenings Sept. 5-6 featuring a
total of 16 acts including Gospel Music Association Dove Awards
winners such as 2008 Artist of the Year tobyMac, Male Vocalist of
the Year Chris Tomlin, Group of the Year Casting Crowns and New
Artist of the Year Brandon Heath plus 2004 Artist of the Year
MercyMe and internationally popular Grammy Award winners Rebecca St.
James and Marcos Witt.
Guests attending Night of Joy, which takes place from 7:30 p.m. to
12:30 a.m. (after regular theme park hours), can combine an evening
of rockin' Christian music with the thrills and chills of Rock 'n'
Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith and The Twilight Zone™ Tower of
Terror plus the shoot-'em-up fun of the newest Walt Disney World
attraction, Toy Story Mania! For more information about the 2008
event and to purchase tickets, guests can visit disneyworld.com/nightofjoy
or call 407/W-DISNEY. (Youth groups of 10 or more can visit
www.nightofjoy.com/2008 or call 877/648-3569.) Guests are encouraged
to buy tickets early as the event has sold out in recent years.
More than one million guests experienced Night of Joy from 1983
through 2007, a 25-year period during which the event was held in
Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom.
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Festival of the Masters presented by
Sharpie®: More than 150 award-winning national and local
fine artists will showcase their diverse creations at Downtown
Disney West Side Nov. 7-9 during Festival of the Masters. An art
festival for all ages, the 33rd annual 'Masters' includes live music
and entertainment, chalk art sidewalk displays at Downtown Disney
Marketplace and a children's activity area where budding young
artists can create their own masterpieces.
Event hours are 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. each day of the festival.
Admission and parking are complimentary.
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Children's Miracle Network Classic
presented by Wal-Mart: PGA TOUR tradition continues Nov.
6-9 when pro golf's top tier returns to Walt Disney World
Resort and to Disney's Magnolia course for the 38th consecutive year
-- the eighth longest streak of same-course use in pro golf. As the
last official money event of the year, the Classic promises a
scramble among players jockeying for positions in the final money
standings, a key factor in determining who makes the fields of TOUR
events in 2009. Stephen Ames is reigning champion.
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ABC Super Soap Weekend presented by
Colgate® Total®: One of the largest annual soap opera fan
events held anywhere in the world, ABC Super Soap Weekend presented
by Colgate® Total®, returns to Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park
Nov. 15-16. Stars from the ABC Daytime dramas "All My Children,"
"One Life to Live" and "General Hospital" step off the television
screens and into the theme park in meet-and-greet autograph and
photo sessions, celebrity motorcades, star conversations,
interactive games and more.
Admission to the 13th edition of the soap fanfest is included in
regular admission to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Fans will be able
to visit disneyworld.com/SuperSoapWeekend for additional
information.
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Old Spice Classic: NCAA "Sweet
16ers" Tennessee and Michigan State top an eight-team lineup that
ESPN Regional Television is serving up as a Thanksgiving weekend
feast of college basketball in The Milk House at Disney's Wide World
of Sports and on ESPN2 and ESPNU Nov. 27, 28 and 30. The third
edition of the Old Spice Classic also features five more teams that
played in the NCAA and NIT tournaments in spring 2008.
Georgetown, Maryland, Oklahoma State, Gonzaga, Siena and Wichita
State round out the lineup of teams that amassed a combined 181
victories during the 2007-08 season. They will play 12 games over
the three days of the Old Spice Classic. North Carolina State won
the tournament in 2007.
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Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party:
On 18 select evenings in November and December, guests can
experience the enchantment of "Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime
Parade" and the excitement of a holiday-themed fireworks
spectacular, "Holiday Wishes--Celebrate the Spirit of the Season,"
during a special after-hours party inside the Magic Kingdom theme
park.
The jingle-jolly event also features live Disney character stage
shows, like "Celebrate the Season," Mickey's "Twas the Night Before
Christmas" Show and Fantasyland Pavilion Cotillion, character
greetings, cookies and cocoa, and even "snow" on Main Street, U.S.A.
Plus, the most-popular Magic Kingdom attractions are open to party
guests.
Dates are: Nov. 10, 11, 14, 16, 20, 21, 30; Dec. 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11,
12, 14, 16, 18, 19. Admission to this event requires a separate
ticket.
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Holiday Highlights: It was once
suggested that while there's no place like home for the holidays,
the next best place on the planet may be Walt Disney World
Resort. The good news is that guests don't have to choose: They can
experience the sparkling decorations and joyous seasonal
entertainment throughout the Vacation Kingdom and still be home for
Christmas, because the festivities begin weeks before December 25.
Here's a sampling of what's in store:
The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights -- As "snow"
falls overhead, the Streets of America backlot cityscape at Disney's
Hollywood Studios comes alive with millions of holiday lights that
dance to music, animating sparkling displays to create twirling
carousels, marching toy soldiers and even Santa and his reindeer
taking flight. The synchronized music and light show is presented in
collaboration with famed Arkansas businessman Jennings Osborne, who
developed the dazzling display for his daughter more than a decade
ago at his Little Rock, Ark., home. The spectacle is included with
Disney's Hollywood Studios admission.
Holidays Around the World / Candlelight Processional -- An
Epcot tradition continues with holiday customs from around the
globe, international storytellers, a nightly tree-lighting ceremony
featuring Disney characters, a stunning display of snow-white and
colored lights, and Candlelight Processional. A beloved Disney
tradition that began long before Epcot, Candlelight Processional
features celebrity guest narrators accompanied by a mass choir and
50-piece orchestra for a retelling of the Christmas story. All of
the Epcot holiday fun is included with regular theme park admission.
Castle Dream Lights -- A dazzling lighting spectacle
transforms the iconic Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom into a
glimmering, shimmering ice palace at holiday time. Bathed in more
than 200,000 tiny white lights, the castle glows and glistens
nightly. It's all a fulfillment of Cinderella's holiday wish, as
guests learn during a special show that climaxes with the
transformation of the famous Magic Kingdom icon.
Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade -- A Disney's Animal Kingdom
tradition, the procession results from Mickey Mouse's invitation to
a special group of friends to join him on a holiday adventure. The
parade is filled with gaiety -- the sights, sounds, smells, tastes
and feelings of the season. Mickey and his friends are no exception.
They've added holiday accessories to their safari costumes. Add in
some special music and you have a combination that celebrates the
holidays as only Disney's Animal Kingdom can.
The holiday fun begins as early as
Nov. 10 with the first Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, which
will showcase the Castle Dream Lights. Disney park officials are
currently checking in with Santa's elves to find out when they'll
have everything else ready to meet and treat Walt Disney World
guests.
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Disney Parks is encoring its 2007 "Year of a Million Dreams" in 2008
with more dreams, even bigger dreams, more dreams money can't buy,
dreams only Disney can make come true. Among the over-the-top
experiences for the 2008 Disney Dreams Giveaway being awarded to
eligible lucky guests in the right place at the right time is a New
Year's Eve night stay inside Cinderella Castle Suite. Talk about a
dreamy way to usher in 2009! |
