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!

Be Couture with Disney Merchandise

As an adult it’s hard to fully indulge in all of the merchandise available at the Disney theme parks sometimes. The products, whether they are sweaters, t-shirts or even jewelry, can sometimes be too childish. Or, sometimes they are brightly colored and don’t fit the style of some of the park guests. Then there are those that might be too shy to admit their love of Disney (or teenagers don’t want to lose their cool factor) and don’t want mouse ears and princesses plastered all over their clothing and accessories.

For those of you that go to the Orlando theme parks ready to shop for merchandise you can only find in the parks while visiting the House of Mouse, you might want to head down to Downtown Disney and check out one of the newest stores in the shopping and dining complex. Vault 28 is a new accessory and apparel store that is carrying Disney’s line of “couture” products. Scarves, bags, jewelry, apparel and more are all designed with subtle Disney themes in mind. Both celebrities and noted fashion designers have come together to work on Disney Couture.

Kidada Jones, an actress and model, designed accessories for Disney Couture based off of the newest princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. For those of you that can’t wait to see Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, designer Tom Binnes created an entire line of scarves, bags and other apparel that focuses on the upcoming Burton adaptation of the Disney classic.

The jewelry line at Vault 28 will be especially popular. According to Sr. Designer Jina Kim, "The looks are right on-trend with what's happening in jewelry -- especially patina finishes and bib necklaces. Our Tinker Bell line is a modern take on vintage with a touch of found trinkets … a very important part of Tink's world." The couture line plans to expand into hosiery, watches and eyewear. You can find the line at Vault 28 in Downtown Disney, online and upscale boutiques across the nation. If you have any holiday money or gift cards left over, browse through the Disney Couture line!

Want to Omaka Rocka?

You might be wondering what in the world an Omaka Rocka is. Well next year you’ll be able to find out when you head to SeaWorld’s water-themed sister park Aquatica. All of the Orlando theme parks are planning massive expansions to keep things new and exciting for returning and new guests, so we’ll have a lot to talk about next year!

While Universal Orlando Resort and the Walt Disney World Resort’s plans have overshadowed some of the other parks’ new attractions, that doesn’t mean DWTickets.com will leave it out of the picture. If you love water slides and enjoy a day in the sun at the beautiful Aquatica water park, you’ll be happy to know they will be expanding the park with a brand new slide called Omaka Rocka, meaning “rocky river.”

This new water slide will allow people of all ages to ride as long as they follow the rules—no height restrictions here! What you will find with Omaka Rocka is 2 slides with 3 funnels each. These funnels will feature 2-seater tubes that will send riders zooming through colorful fiberglass tubes. Some will be translucent and others will keep riders in the dark for an exciting experience! Even those who are waiting in line will be able to see Omaka Rocka riders zooming overhead in the colorful tubes.

"They're going to slide up one side and get a sensation of near weightlessness. They'll come down that side and back up the other. They'll probably be going backwards, but most definitely going to be screaming," Aquatice VP Rick Beddow told the Orlando Sentinel. "It's going to be a taste of a half-pipe — near vertical thrills experienced only by skateboarders or snowboarders."

The Omaka Rocka will share a tower with Whanau Way and be similar in ride style to both Whanau Way and the Tassie’s Twisters. This will be Aquatica’s first new attraction since it first opened two years ago. While the Omaka Rocka is scheduled to open in 2010 we don’t have a specific date yet. Considering it’s a bit chilly in Orlando right now, springtime seems perfect, and March is the rumored month of completion.

Go See The Princess and the Frog!

If you are looking for something to do indoors this holiday season but don’t want to go to the mall and can’t make it to the Disney theme parks, we highly recommend you head to the movies. We know there’s a lot of buzz about James Cameron’s Avatar, but you can’t call yourself a true Disney fan unless you head out and see The Princess and the Frog. We finally got a chance to go see the movie and we have to agree it was a fantastic feeling to see the work of Disney animators back on the screen again. After years of Pixar flicks like Up! and Toy Story we finally get to see the magic of hand-drawn animation back on the big screen with this lovely tale set in New Orleans.

Like other Disney films that borrow from classic stories (The Little Mermaid, Snow White) The Princess and the Frog is an interpretation of the old story where, instead of the frog becoming a prince after a princess’s kiss, a hard-working New Orleans girl becomes a frog after kissing a frog (formerly a prince!) The movie’s twist is sure to be a hit with the kids as Tiana and Naveen head off on an adventure through the Bayou in their frog forms. They meet Louis, an alligator that wants to play in a jazz band with humans, and Ray, a Cajun firefly in love with a star he calls Evangeline.

When the crew meets Mama Odie, the good Voodoo priestess, we get to hear one of the best, if not the best song of the movie “Dig a Little Deeper” which is catchy and full of gospel influence. The song, along with the rest of the movie’s plot, teaches you that what is most important is who you are inside! Unlike the classic Disney films, Tiana isn’t waiting on her prince to achieve her dreams. She saves up money to open up her own restaurant by working hard. While in the end love conquers all, the viewer will be delighted with the beautiful animation and wonderful story that is a trademark of the Disney name. We only hope The Princess and the Frog is only the beginning of Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation!