Creatures of Central Florida: Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill

• Native to Florida: Found in coastal regions on the Gulf of Mexico
• Spotted in captivity at Disney's Animal Kingdom
• Also on exhibit at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, Aquatica at SeaWorld Orlando, and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
• Best viewed in the wild at the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge

2012 Olympics Merchandise Available at Epcot

With the Olympic Games kicked off in London, it should come as no surprise that a wide array of 2012 Olympics merchandise is available in Epcot's United Kingdom Pavilion.  Available at the Sportsman's Shoppe, products range from t-shirts and posters to toys and mugs.   Many of these items feature Wenlock, the official mascot of the 2012 Olympic Games.  My personal favorite item is the Wenlock plush dressed as a Royal Guard.

New Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom Trading Card Game Announced

Photos courtesy of DisneyParks Blog.

Today DisneyParks Blog announced a new trading card game coming in August based on the interactive Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom attraction.  The Magic Kingdom attraction features battles with Disney villains throughout the park, utilizing a randomly distributed  pack of spell cards as weapons.  These cards already featured extra information, such as power numbers and card types, that some speculated had greater importance than the basic game described.

An Underwhelming First Look at the Art of Animation Resort Lion King Wing

 

DisneyParks Blog claimed to have an exclusive first look yesterday of the Art of Animation Resort's new Lion King themed expansion.  The entire first look is that singular photo above.  That's it.

Rather than give a decent overall view of the area, or a nice picture of the pool, or even an overview of some of the new themed rooms, we get a picture of a Simba statue with no perspective.  At least they could have made it a shot that gives any real sense of the size of the statue.  As it is, all this photo tells me is that Simba will be appearing in the Lion King section of the of the hotel.   Hopefully next they'll tell us if there will be water in the swimming pool and if the beds will have sheets.

Intense sarcasm aside, I've heard many good reviews of this new resort so far, and I'm sure the Lion King wing will be stunning when completed.  Hopefully we'll get a better view of it soon than just Simba's big rocks.

Mr. Nixon Will Not Be Appearing on Tonight's Mickey Mouse Club

Courtesy of the National Archives.

For me, the two most fascinating figures of the last century are Richard Nixon and Walt Disney.  They shared a surprising amount of similarities in upbringing and even some of their views.  In a lot of ways they represent two sides of the American Dream, one using talent and opportunity to enrich the world, the other wasting it on power and corruption.  If I have to explain who did what in the previous sentence, then you need to read a lot more about history.

There's already been a decent amount of coverage about Nixon's connections to Disney.  Still, researching the topic myself, I come across some interesting things.  This letter from 1956 personally requests then Vice President Nixon appear on the Micky Mouse Club show to address the question "Why should I be a Republican?"  Most likely meant for a segment about the upcoming election, Nixon was unfortunately unable to fit the appearance into this schedule.

Apparently it was only a tight schedule that prevented the appearance, as two years later Nixon appeared on an episode of the program.  Unfortunately, recordings of the episode or even transcripts of it are not readily available online, but it's safe to assume he probably didn't talk about his dog Checkers or sweat too much in front of the camera.  At least, I hope not.

Alice Cooper Bringing His Own Brand of Horror to Universal Orlando

In what's proving a trend this year, Universal announced yesterday in a press release that both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort will feature mazes inspired by shock rock artist Alice Cooper at their respective Halloween Horror Nights.  As I noted yesterday, Halloween events at both Universal parks are sharing a large amount of licensed themes this year, which breaks with recent tradition of both events being largely independent of each other.

Halloween Horror Nights Orlando will be receiving a copy of Alice Cooper: Welcome to my Nightmare, a maze that was featured at last year's event in Hollywood.  No word yet on whether the maze will be an exact copy, and undoubtedly reuse many of the same props, or whether the Orlando team will put their own twist on the concept.  Welcome to my Nightmare is supposed to be a journey into the loose storyline of Cooper's most famous album, utilizing classic iconography from his stage show and career.

Disney's Animal Kingdom Celebrates Primates in August

Photos courtesy of DisneyParks Blog

DisneyParks Blog just announced that August is a special celebration of some our primate friends at Animal Kingdom.  August 1st is a celebration of all primates at Animal Kingdom, with extra learning opportunities across the park, as well as face painters and caricature artists.  

The rest of August will focus specifically on Cotton Top Tamarins, squirrel sized monkeys that originate from South America and Colombia.  Disney will present special information about these tiny, critically endangered creatures to raise awareness of their plight.