From Walt’s boyhood hometown to an animation celebration, D23—Disney’s official fan club—is making 2012 a fan-tastic year with more unique immersive experiences than ever before – events we know passionate Disney enthusiasts will enjoy.

We’re sure many of you have seen the famed “Partners” statue with Walt and Mickey at one of the Disney parks. If you look closely at Walt’s tie you will see the letters “STR”—that stands for Smoke Tree Ranch, an exclusive Palm Springs resort Walt called “my own laughing place.” And January 23 – 25, D23 Members will have a chance to experience this retreat the way Walt did during the “Smoke Tree Ranch Roundup” with three days of screenings, presentations, activities and delectable meals, all while staying in a Smoke Tree Ranch cottage.

If you have ever visited the “One Man’s Dream” attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Presented by D23) then perhaps you enjoyed learning about Walt’s early years in Marceline, Missouri? This March, D23 will take members on a Journey to Marceline for full-day experience seeing the town that partially inspired Walt’s creative vision for Main Street, U.S.A.

This spring will see the debut of a new event called D23 Fanniversary Celebration, a series of cross-country events marking over 40 magical milestones in Disney’s rich history from attractions and theme park openings to live-action and animated films and beyond. Disney fans will be able to join the “celebration” in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, New York and Orlando.

Speaking of anniversaries, in March D23 will celebrate its third anniversary with a special event at Disneyland park followed by Destination D: 75 Years of Disney Animation which will be held at the Disneyland Resort this August honoring the diamond anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Disney feature animation. At Walt Disney World Resort, D23 will celebrate Epcot’s 30th anniversary and fan favorites like the holiday tradition Magic & Merriment will return along with Sip & Stroll, which in 2012 will get a Halloween twist and become Sip & Scream!

Want more? Well, there’s the new screening series From the Vaults at the Walt Disney Studios, which brings beloved live-action films from the past back to the big screen, like Newsies, Sister Act and Treasure Island. The 50 and Fabulous screening series returns, as do D23′s signature tours of the Studio and Walt Disney Archives—which will double in capacity!

And that’s just the beginning! Look for even more events to be announced in the upcoming months as D23 continues to create one-of-a-kind events for Disney fans.

Tagged: D23, DLR, WDW

Filed: Disneyland Resort, Special Events, Walt Disney World Resort

I’m beyond fascinated with time. Whether you believe that time is linear or cyclical, the biggest challenge I face is that I never have enough of it (oh, 36-hour day – where are you?). Luckily, there are several new timepieces coming to Disney Parks that will help me keep track of my disappearing time. Some of these new timepieces salute the first Mickey Mouse watches made by the Ingersoll Waterbury Clock company. Signed by the late Disney Legend Kay Kamen, Ingersoll was the first Disney licensee to introduce Disney watches at the 1933 Chicago Exposition. The original watches were an immediate hit and are now highly desired collectors’ items. I spoke with Tracie Alt, Product Developer for Timepieces, about the introduction of these tribute timepieces.

“We are excited to introduce these classic Mickey Mouse timepieces to Disney Parks in the United States,” explained Tracie. “There is a lot of history that comes with these watches and they are a great tribute to the heritage of the Walt Disney Company. While the watches look like the originals, they were made with modern materials.”

I think my favorite is the pocket watch as it reminds me of a pocket watch I had when I was younger (except I think I need a waistcoat). Good news if you are attending the D23 Expo this coming weekend! These Mickey Mouse watches will debut in the Dream Store. Tracie also told me that guests attending the Expo will get a sneak preview of something new.

“We will have a sneak preview of several classic Disney watches by Ingersoll at the D23 Expo,” continued Tracie. “These watches feature classic Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck, paired with fashionable designs. They will be released this coming fall.”

Spoiler alert for my mother – I think I found your next birthday gift. She is a Minnie Mouse fan yet I’m drawn to the Donald Duck design. Each classic Disney watch will be packaged in a Mickey Mouse shaped metal tin.

I have “time” for one more preview (yes, I write all the jokes). My fellow Disney Parks Blog author Michelle Harker shared with me this artwork by Disney artist Eric Scales. The designs are part of the Artisan Watch Program at Disney Parks and were created especially for the D23 Expo. Each watch will have an edition size of 100 and a retail of $125.

Tagged: D23, DLR, WDW

Filed: Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort

How many times have you been on a Disney Parks attraction and said, “Hey, that guy looks familiar!” or “I recognize her voice”? We love how Imagineers seamlessly work celebrities into some of our favorite attractions. It can add additional layers to the storytelling as well as the enjoyment a guest experiences when they have the “Ah ha!” moment of, “Hey, that’s Jamie Lee Curtis playing against Ellen DeGeneres on ‘Jeopardy!’”

To celebrate the new issue of Disney twenty-three magazine in honor of Walt Disney World Resort’s 40th anniversary, D23 chatted with some of the incredible talent who appear on and in attractions around the Orlando resort. Currently featured on the D23 website is Illeana Douglas (Ghost World, Goodfellas, Cape Fear), who plays the hilarious rock band manager on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith. She told us she was shocked when she was asked to be a part of the high-speed attraction. “At first I thought it was a joke,” she said. “Growing up, Aerosmith was my favorite band ever!”

We also chatted with Eric Idle who contributed his talents to two Epcot attractions (Journey into Imagination With Figment and Honey I Shrunk the Audience), who is thrilled to a part of Disney history. “I love being able to appear fifteen times a day without having to turn up!” he joked.

Coming up this week we have exclusive interviews with two other big-name talents, including an actress who experienced an Alien Encounter and an actor who sent guests careening into space by giving voice to a lovable robot. We’ll finish up the series with a round up of stories and quotes from a dozen other stars (including a mischievous pirate, a chief flight attendant and lovable bug)! You’ll be able to find them all on the D23 website.

Tagged: D23, WDW

Filed: Walt Disney World Resort

Can you recall the first three E-Ticket attractions at Disneyland Resort that premiered in 1959? Do you know how many Academy Awards were personally awarded to Walt Disney? Which was the first animated Disney film that Alan Menken composed music for? If you know even some of these answers, you may want to head to the Anaheim Convention Center on Thursday, Aug. 18, for the Ultimate Disney Trivia Tournament presented by Hasbro Trivial Pursuit: Disney for All Edition!

The final rounds will be held as part of the D23 Expo — the ultimate Disney event for fans and families! — on Friday, Aug. 19, and the winner of the Tournament receives a special preview cruise on the Disney Fantasy! Here are five sample Disney Parks-related questions to whet your appetite for the fun (answers at the bottom, so don’t cheat!):

1. The Matterhorn Bobsleds attraction at Disneyland park is based on what Disney live-action film?
2. What is the name of the attraction that closely resembles The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland Paris?
3. What Epcot attraction narrator makes a cameo appearance in the 2011 film “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides?”
4. What Hong Kong Disneyland attraction features a thrilling finale where fire and water gods battle one another?
5. Name the pet store once featured at Lake Buena Vista Village (today known as Downtown Disney Marketplace) in which guests could purchase hamsters, parrots, and … albino skunks?!

The first round starts at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, so rise and shine and remember what you learned in your “Disney A to Z!” Because you can’t win if you don’t play!

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Tagged: D23, DLR, WDW

Filed: Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort

Hi everyone…D23, the Official Community for Disney Fans, celebrated its first anniversary in style this week at Disneyland Park, as more than 1,500 D23 Members and their guests took over Fantasyland for an after-hours blow out with classic attractions, beloved characters, scrumptious desserts, and some very special guests!

After Disneyland theme park closed to guests on Wednesday night, D23 Members were welcomed into the happiest land of all with a burst of pyrotechnics from Sleeping Beauty Castle. From there, guests—who had traveled from 25 different states as well as from places like New Zealand and Japan to be at the event—crossed the drawbridge to enjoy the event.

As part of the festivities, D23 announced the next D23 Expo, which will be in Anaheim in 2011, as well as a new D23 Member event—Destination D: Disneyland ’55, which will take place at Disneyland Park in September of this year, and will celebrate the rich legacy of Walt’s original theme park. For more information about D23, Destination D, and the D23 Expo 2011, visit Disney.com/D23.

Tagged: D23, DL, DLR

Filed: Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort

Disney’s official fan community, D23, is starting off 2010 with a unique gift that’s sure to get any Disney fan excited — Disney Undiscovered: A 23-Month Calendar of Disney’s Unrealized Masterpieces.

The calendar is brimming with rare and never-before seen images from Disney theme-park, live-action and animation projects that were not completed, many of which have achieved legendary status among Disney fans. “Disney Undiscovered” features art from never-built project like the Mineral King ski resort and Walt Disney’s St. Louis Project, theme park lands such as Discovery Bay at Disneyland, and unproduced films including a watercolor from the original Little Mermaid that Walt had in early preproduction in the late 1930s.

D23 is giving Disney Parks Blog readers a first look at three of the pages in this stunning calendar. They show Mickey’s Madhouse (conceived as part of Dumbo’s Circusland at Disneyland back in 1976 before Toontown was created), the Swiss pavilion at Epcot (designed in 1985 and meant to stand between the Italy and Germany pavilions), and Rock Candy Mountain (which, had it been created back in 1957, would have been Disneyland’s first “mountain”). Have a look and enjoy!

Everyone who joins or renews their D23 Membership in 2010 will receive a calendar.

For more information on D23, visit Disney.com/D23.

Tagged: D23, DLR, WDW

Filed: Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort

Hi, I’m Jeffrey Epstein guest writing for the Disney Parks Blog about our latest unique experience at Walt Disney World. For two candy-coated days and nights, D23, the Official Community for Disney Fans, presented Magic & Merriment at Walt Disney World. December 12 and 13, 200 D23 members and their guests (from 25 different states!) were treated to a behind-the-scenes look at how Walt Disney World transforms each year into a winter wonderland with the help of some of Disney’s most creative talent.

Holiday Services’ Lisa Borotkanics talked about the incredible team that installs hundreds of trees, wreaths, and snowy displays throughout the resort (and the Disney Cruise Line!) before handing out sets of multiple FASTPASSes to the group for the weekend. Then Erich Herbitschek, Master Pastry Chef of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and Stefan Riemer, Pastry Chef, Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts came out and decorated one of their signature gingerbread houses before everyone’s eyes (and were pretty hilarious while doing so). And Saturday evening on a darkened Streets of America at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Show Director John Phelan talked about the origins of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights—before flipping a giant switch (with the help of a young guest), igniting the Spectacle to glorious fanfare.

Other weekend highlights included reserved seating to see Tony award winner Chita Rivera narrate Epcot’s Candlelight Processional, a private feast on the set of Lights, Motors, Action!, a delightful lunch inside the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon with a visit from the Dapper Dans, tours of the Cinderella Castle Suite, and tickets to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party—complete with a cookie-filled hospitality suite on the Liberty Belle!

Whether they came from Iowa, Oregon, or just down the road, the weekend was truly memorable not only because of the incredible once-in-a-lifetime experiences shared by all, but thanks to the passionate D23 members in attendance, whose enthusiasm and passion about Disney may only be matched by a certain special mouse.

Tagged: D23, WDW

Filed: Walt Disney World Resort