Up, Up and Oscar! Disney and Pixar Strike Again!

Congratulations to Disney and Pixar for their big Oscar win on Sunday, March 7, 2010 -- Up took home the golden statuette for Best Animated Film. But this was hardly the Mouse's first Academy Award. In fact, Walt himself holds the record for most Oscar nominations and the most awards. In his lifetime, he receved 59 nominations and took home 26, including four special awards -- 1932 Honorary Award for the creation of Mickey Mouse, 1939 honorary award for "significant screen innovation' of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1941 Honorary Award for "outstanding contribution to the advancement of the use of sound in motion pictures through the production of Fantasia," and the Irving J. Thalberg Memorial Award.

Needless to say, the Disney Corporation has been the Academy Awards king when it comes to animated films. For a fun way to celebrate those achievements during your visit to Orlando and the Walt Disney World Resort, try a family scavengar hunt using the list of nominations and wins below--the first person to find something from all the movies on the list wins! It can be a picture, a character, a toy, a ride, whatever you decide counts as a find. Here's the complete list--be sure to comment in the blog when you have your hunt and tell us how everyone did!

Scavenger Hunt Movie List


1940: Pinocchio -- Winner, Best Original Score and Best Song "When You Wish Upon a Star"
1941: Dumbo -- Winner, Best Original Score; Nominated, Best Song "Baby Mine"
1942: Bambi -- Nominated, Best Song "Love Is A Song"
1943: Saludos Amigos -- Nominated, Best Original Score, Best Song, and Best Sound
1947: Song of the South -- Winner, Best Song "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah"
1950: Cinderella -- Nominated for Best Sound, Original Music Score and Best Song "Bibbi Bobbidi Boo".
1964: Mary Poppins -- the most nomiated film in Disney's history! 13 nominations and 5 wins. Winner for Best Actress, Best Film Editing, Best Original Music Score, Best Visual Effects, and Best Song "Chim Chim Cher-ee"
1967: The Jungle Book -- Nominated, Best Song "The Bare Necessities"
1971: Bedknobs and Broomsticks -- Nominated, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Original Music Score and Best Song (The Age of Not Believing0; Winner, Best Visual Effects
1973: Robin Hood -- Nominated, Best Song "Love"
1977: The Rescuers -- Nominated, Best Song "Someone's Waiting for You"
Pete's Dragon -- Nominated, Original Song Score and Best Song "Candle on the Water"
1989: The Little Mermaid -- Nominated, Original Music Score and Best Song "Kiss the Girl"; Winner, Best Song "Under the Sea" (that's right -- the songs competed against each other!
1991: Beauty and the Beast -- Nominated, Best Sound, Best Picture (the first animated film ever to compete in this category), Best Song "Belle"; Best Song "Be Our Guest"; Winner, Best Music and Best Song "Beauty and the Beast" (again, Disney competed against itself for best song, this time with three songs)
1992: Aladdin -- Nominated, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound, Best Song "Friend Like Me"; Winner, Best Song "A Whole New World"
1994: The Lion King -- Nominated, Best Song "Circle of Life" and "Hakuna Matata"; Winner, Best Original Score and Best Song, "Can You Feel The Love Tonight"
1995: Pocahontas -- Winner, Best Original Score and Best Song "Colors of the Wind"
Toy Story -- Nominated, Best Original Score, Best Screenplay, Best Song "You'ev Got A Friend"; Winner, Special Achievement (for being the first full-length computer-animated film)
1997: Hercules -- Nominated, Best Song "Go the Distance"
1999: Tarzan -- Winner, Best Song "You'll Be In My Heart"
2000: Toy Story 2 -- Nominated, Best Song "When She Loved Me"
The Emperor's New Groove -- Nominated, Best Song "My Funny Friend and Me"
2001: Monsters, Inc. -- Nominated, Best Animated Feature, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Score; Winner, Best Song "If I Didn't Have You"
2002: Lilo and Stitch -- Nominated, Best Animated Feature
Treasure Planet -- Nominated, Best Animated Feature
2003: Brother Bear -- Nominated, Best Animated Film
Finding Nemo -- Nominated, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Screenplay; Winner, Best Animated Feature
2004: The Incredibles -- Nominated, Best Sound Mixing and Best Original Screenplay; Winner, Best Sound Editing and Best Animated Feature
2006: Cars -- Nominated Best Animated Feature and Best Song "Our Town"
2007: Ratatouille -- Nominated, Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing; Winner, Best Animated Feature
Enchanted -- Nominated, Best Song "Happy Workign Song," "So Close," and "That's How You Know"
2008: Bolt -- Nominated, Best Animated Feature
Wall-E: Nominated, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Song "Down To Earth", Winner, Best Animated Feature
2009: The Princess and the Frog -- Nominated, Best Animated Feature, Best Song "Almost There" and "Down in New Orleans"
Up -- Nominated, Best Picture, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Screenplay; Winner, Best Original Score and Best Animated Feature

Victoria and Albert's at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

Hello all! I'm Dawn and I will be your new DW Tickets blogger. I'm a long-time visitor and former resident of Orlando, so I have a whole lot of love for the place, and all its many forms and functions and fantasy. I'll be blogging about all things Orlando, from the theme parks and big news events to smaller travel secrets and places and things you might not know about without my help. I hope you'll use my tips and enjoy my suggestions on your next visit to Orlando, whether you're hardcore for the Mouse or not.

The first piece of news I'd like to share is about a truly once-in-a-lifetime dining experience. Victoria and Albert's at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa has been considered a culinary treasure since its opening. The restaurant has been awarded the the prestigious AAA Five-Diamond Award for 10 consecutive years, the most of any restaurant in the state. For a long time now, V&A's has served two menus, both prix fixe, both changing daily, and both at over $100 per person: the 6-course menu in the main dining room and the 7-course Chef's Tasting Menu in the kitchen itself. These experiences last 2 to 3 hours, on average, and are worth every penny if you love food and exquisite preparation. It's not for everyone, certainly; the price point and the dress code--jackets for gentlemen and pants ensembles or dresses for ladies--do scare some away. But if you can do it, it's worth doing. I've been lucky enough to try it a few times and I can't wait for more.

Well, now there is more--more food, more experience and, yes, more money. V&A's recently announced a third dining experience. It is their most amazing and their most exclusive yet -Queen Victoria's Room. The room has only 4 tables with one seating time each night. It features French gueridon service, where a rolling cart travels from table to table, offering the most superb cuisine with incredible touches (like a sprinkle of Himalayan sea salt, mined from the mountains themselves, or perhaps a plate of exceptional cheese from all over the world). The experience lasts four hours and features TEN courses of Chef Scott Hunnel's most creative offering, such as "perfectly seared Kurobuta pork tenderloin and belly, or butter-poached lobster with bisque and lobster roe foam." And if that's not enough, why not have the sommelier pair wine to each course? Or choose your own bottle from V&A's well-respected and very impressive wine list. The experience will set you back $200/person for the food, plus $95 for the optional wine pairings--the bottle of your choosing could most a lot less or a lot more than that, depending on your personal taste. And if you have children, you'll also need to pay for a sitter--V&A's does not serve children under 10 years of age. It's an intimate, adult dining experience, an evening worth savoring and enjoying, worth lingering over as long as possible. You'll head home from any of the three dining options with a personalized menu and a rose for the ladies. You'll also remember the meal for a long time, like a perfect mental souvenir you'll ttreasure for years to come. Especially if you opt for the Kona chocolate souffle at desert time, which you definitely should. Save a bite for me, too.

National Cheerleading Competition at ESPN Wide World of Sports

Cheerleaders are a part of nearly every major sport in the US. Even baseball and hockey teams have cheerleaders now. In the Midwest high school scene (as well as in the South) high school sports are a huge deal—especially in smaller towns that don’t have access to national league sports. Every year, the best cheerleading squads from across the nation gather to compete in the National High School Cheerleading Championship, put on by the Universal Cheerleaders Association. Over 400 teams from 32 states will be competing in this 30 year old tournament. One of those squads, the team from Kentucky’s Greenup High School, has participated in the competition since its inception.

“Our 30th Anniversary Championship is a testament to the popularity and growth of cheerleading across the U.S.” said Jeff Webb, founder and CEO of Varsity, parent organization of UCA. “We are proud to celebrate this milestone with the more than 8,000 talented cheerleaders representing teams from all over the country. We feel privileged to give these amazing athletes a proper showcase for their talents.”

The cheerleading competition, or NHSCC for short, will take place at various spots within the Disney theme parks and the ESPN Wide World of Sports. You can expect to see cheerleading performances over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular Show Stage as well as at the Josten’s theatre and the ESPN Wide World of Sports. You will be able to view the 30th Annual National High School Cheerleading Championship on both ESPN and ESPN2 and then later on in the Varsity Channels.

If you’re a fan of competitive cheerleading then you definitely need to plan your trip to the Walt Disney World Resort and check out this traditional competition. Ever since the opening of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Disney has pulled out all the stops to bring amazing sports events to their brand new state-of-the-art complex. Considering we just passed the Super Bowl and this cheerleading competition is coming up, the ESPN Wide World of Sports is getting plenty of good use and we’re sure there will be more events to come.

Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic

The game of soccer and all of its supporters has been trying to become a dominant force in the world of United States sports for many years now. The LA Galaxy even signed Brit soccer (or football, as they say across the pond) superstar David Beckham to help draw more attention to the sport here in the States. While some may argue it has helped bring soccer a bit closer to the limelight, it can’t compare to football, baseball, or even UFC—not yet. But if the Walt Disney World has anything to do with it soccer will be bigger and better very soon.

The Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic is coming up soon. The ESPN Wide World of Sports, formerly the Walt Disney World Wide World of Sports, will be hosting four Major League Soccer (MLS) teams in a tournament to bring awareness to the sport and to award a championship to one of the teams.

“Bringing four Major League Soccer teams to Central Florida to play in the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic is very exciting and a big win for all of our local soccer players, fans, parents and spectators,” said Disney Sports Area Manager Patrick Dicks. “ESPN The Weekend is serving as a major platform for these teams to prepare for the upcoming season and we are proud to have them be a part of this re-branding weekend.”

The tournament will officially launch the re-branding of Disney’s sports complex into the ESPN Wide World of Sports, which hosts pro and amateur sports of all kinds featuring players of all ages. There will be a new ESPN café for visitors of the complex to grab a bite to eat and all kinds of HD technology including brand new TV’s, cameras and Jumbotrons. ESPN The Weekend will bring the hottest sports stars to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the brand new ESPN Wide World of Sports so fans can take pictures with their favorite athletes and get autographs. Checking out the brand new ESPN Wide World of Sports could be a great way to get interested in sports, fitness, and getting active. This high-tech complex is great for the sports lover in everyone.

Legoland Coming to Florida

The word is officially out regarding the newest addition to the Orlando theme parks coming in 2011. Merllin Entertainment recently announced Central Florida will get the biggest Legoland theme park in the world. Legoland Florida will be built where Cypress Gardens used to be while keeping most of the gardens intact to stay environmentally friendly. This will be the second Legoland location in the USA, the first being in California. Legoland also has parks in Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It’s great that this creative park is coming to the Central Florida area, since we already have the Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort.

Legoland is aimed at kids and kids at heart a bit more than Walt Disney World is. All of the attractions feature creatures, animals, and structures built out of Legos. It’s really an architectural wonder considering how much of what you see was constructed by millions of little Lego blocks, the same ones you probably played with as a kid! Legoland in California has over 50 rides and attractions, many of them without a height restriction. This has to make Legoland one of the friendlier parks for the really little ones in the family. When you want to shop you can go to The Big Shop which is 8,000 square feet large and features every Lego toy and set you can imagine! When you’re hungry you can check out The Market for some delicious baked goods, coffees, and sodas.

We can expect restaurants and gift shops at Legoland, Florida, but also much more. It’s going to be the largest park in the world and we’re sure it can fit way more than 50 rides and attractions. It’s going to be great to see what the engineers and architects come up with as they build the park here in Central Florida. While Legoland is known for being kid friendly, it will definitely need some coasters to compete with Universal Studios and Walt Disney World, so maybe Florida’s Legoland gets an extra bit of attention! We’ll have to wait until 2011 to see. Story developing…

Tables in Wonderland

Part of what’s fun about going to the Disney theme parks is getting to enjoy all of the great restaurants located within. It’s not just about park food—there is much more to the Walt Disney World Resort than turkey legs and pop corn! Plenty of the parks have amazing restaurants like Teppan Edo in Epcot or The Brown Derby at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As always, Disney finds a way to make the park experiences extra special for the most loyal Disney fans. One example is with Tables in Wonderland, formerly the Disney Dining Experience.

Tables in Wonderland is a members-only program that allows Disney fanatics to experience amazing dining adventures within the parks. Whether it involves having special dinners with top chefs, attending private functions, or getting other great Disney privileges, this program will not disappoint. Just recently, Tables in Wonderland held an event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios where Tables in Wonderland members got to dine in The Great Movie Ride! This classic ride takes you through a tour of Hollywood’s most famous movies, from Casablanca to Alien, and Tables in Wonderland members recently got a chance to have an amazing themed dinner there!

The dinner was set up in the Mobster and Wizard of Oz sections of the ride, with table décor following the appropriate themes. The Wizard of Oz tables had lollipops and ruby slipper party favors while the gangster movie section included actors dressed like 1920’s mobsters. They got to dine on great food like miniature calzones, house cured salmon with caviar and arancini with spicy Italian sausage. Also on the menu were great creations featuring gorgonzola and hazelnut along with white bean and eggplant dishes.

If you’re a Florida Resident it costs $155 to join the Tables in Wonderland program and annual pass holders usually get a bit of a discount. You also have access to complimentary resort parking, reimbursement for eating in the theme parks along with 20% discounts on food and beverages within the parks kiosks. Overall if you’re a Disney fanatic Tables in Wonderland would be an amazing club to join!

Up Wins Golden Globes

The awards season is here and already Disney movies are getting some amazing recognition! While the buzz about Avatar and movies like The Blindside continue to fill up the papers, here in Orlando we’re all rooting for our favorite Disney films to be recognized for how great they really are. It was great to see both The Princess and the Frog and Up nominated alongside other animated movies as great as Coraline. The Disney theme parks all have plenty of merchandise available from both The Princess and the Frog and Up. Last year, the Magic Kingdom had a special parade for Princess Tiana called Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee, which made use of the beautiful steamboat near Tom Sawyer’s island. Over at Downtown Disney, you can take a hot air balloon ride and experience your own balloon adventure much like in Up!

The heartfelt story of a journey to fulfill a promise captivated audiences and brought in plenty of money at the box office for Up, making it yet another huge success to add to Pixar’s list of huge movies. Let’s not forget, Toy Story 3 is coming up soon along with Rapunzel; which will continue to make the Pixar/Disney team up almost unstoppable. They were certainly unstoppable at the Golden Globes and already people are looking towards the Oscars!

At the Golden Globes, where the decisions are made by the Hollywood Foreign Press, Up won in two categories. The most important award of all was the Best Animated Feature, where it defeated Coraline and its own company with The Princess and the Frog! The other category Up! won in was for Best Original Score. In a way, this win was also tied to Disney! Michael Giacchino, the hottest new composer in Hollywood, created the score for Up along with the blockbuster Star Trek and ABC’s LOST—and Disney owns ABC! So far the House of Mouse is scoring big with all of these awards shows. Will some Oscars be next for Up? What about The Princess and the Frog? Sure it got some nominations, but Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation definitely deserves an award of its own! We’ll just have to wait and see.

Polar Plunge for the Special Olympics

All of Central Florida is in a giving mood, including the Orlando theme parks. A variety of them have been coming up with different ways to get guests to sign up for volunteering programs or donate whatever they could to various charities in the New Year. One theme park joining in on the fun is SeaWorld’s Aquatica. The beautiful water park, which draws its character themes and color schemes from Australian and New Zealand cultures, has quickly become one of the top water parks in the theme park area.

Now Aquatica will be teaming up with the Special Olympics to host their own version of a “Polar Plunge” to raise money for the charity that deals with disabled athletes. The Polar Plunge is a popular event held throughout the country where people raise money on the promise they will jump into a pool of freezing (or at least, really cold) water. It seems like perfect timing for a Polar Plunge, considering Florida has been going through one of the longest, and coldest, cold weather spells in history!

“We’re turning the heaters off in one of wave pools,” says Rick Beddow, Aquatica vice president. “We’re expecting it’s probably going to get somewhere between 65 and 68 degrees. It really depends on the ambient air temperature as to how cold it will get.”

Considering Orlando has seen temperatures in the low 20’s, they might not want to turn the pool down too much! Participants of the Polar Plunge at Aquatica receive a day at the park, a commemorative t-shirt and of course a dip (or swim) in the pool if they raise $50 or more. There are other great goodies for those that raise even more money for the Special Olympics. You can win all day food passes, passes to Aquatica for a later date, Publix gift cards and even hotel stays.
Of course, not everyone would want to jump into the cold water, so you can register online and fundraise as a “Virtual Plunger.” The minimum age to register is 15. If you’re heading to the park, no diving is allowed, but you can certainly go for a swim if you’re ready to brave the cold for a good cause.

Muppets at the Magic Kingdom

2010 is the year of volunteering in the world of Disney and The Muppets are here to usher in Disney’s Give a Day Get a Day program in a very special way. The Muppets are the creation of genius Jim Henson who is also behind television and movie greats like Sesame Street, The Dark Crystal, and Return of the Jedi. Loved by many, the cute characters of Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog and Sweetums (the friendly monster) are all coming together to get the world to volunteer and they’re using both the Magic Kingdom and viral videos to get everyone involved!

If you do a quick internet search you will find a video of Fozzie and Kermit encouraging people to volunteer. The great thing about this is that you can insert your name, website or even blog and they will show up on the white cards Fozzie and Kermit use in the video. If you go to the Disney theme parks you will be able to enjoy a special “pre-parade” that will feature special floats and vehicles dedicated to volunteerism and people that have dedicated themselves to the craft. It was reported that in the New Year, around 59% of Americans considered volunteering as one of their New Year’s Resolutions. So if you’re one of those in the 59% category, what are you waiting for?

“Volunteering is incredibly easy, and it’s never been as easy as it is now with this new partnership between Disney Parks and HandsOn Network,” said Maggic Jones Patton, with the Youth HandsOn Network. “It’s really about finding a match that you can be passionate about,” Patton said. “There’s opportunities ranging from education, the environment, the economy -- it can be as simple as packing care packages to send to our troops that are serving abroad.”

The Muppets promotion might just be for a limited time only, but don’t forget you can get your puppet laughs at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Muppetvision 3-D Experience! This 3-D adventure is fun for the whole family and involves classic Muppets comedy along with music and an adorable story—definitely a Hollywood Studios classic! Lend a hand this year for the Give a Day Get a Day program and enjoy both your free theme park ticket and the Muppets!

Disney Marathon Weekend

Do you have a New Year’s resolution? It seems like everybody gets motivated to get healthy at the beginning of the year. After all, it’s a fresh start and a second chance—right? The gyms are packed and the Internet comes alive with diet and exercise articles geared toward everyone looking for a health fix. If you’re a beginner, running a marathon isn’t something you should consider. But for those of you health nuts out there looking for a way to shake up your New Year’s fitness goals, you should think of attending the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend.

The Disney theme parks are known for being massive and requiring plenty of walking, but during marathon weekends everyone from competitive runners to families with children have a chance to run through the beautiful Epcot park and the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex. Last year’s Marathon Weekend featured 45,000 runners, and that’s not the end of Disney’s marathon events! There’s also the Princess Half Marathon Weekend and the Wine & Dine Marathon Weekend. Both Disneyland and Walt Disney World have marathon events that give participants goody bags, medals, treats, t-shirts and personalized bibs for contestants that sign up on time.

Disney is considering 2010 the year of giving, and there’s no better gift than the gift of health. Training for the great fun of a Disney marathon will keep you motivated to stay healthy, and what’s cooler than getting a medal from the House of Mouse? For those of you that are marathon die-hards, there is a special medal for those runners that complete both the Disney World and Disneyland full marathons in one year. Are you up for it? As for the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, there are a number of great races to sign up for. If you’re interested, we recommend signing up quickly because they fill up fast! The categories are: Full Marathon, Half Marathon, Goofy’s Race and a Half, Disney/Pixar UP & Away Family Run 5k, and Mickey’s Marathon Fest. So if you and your family are ready to start the New Year with a healthy twist, head to Walt Disney World for their Marathon Weekend!