Free Comic Books

Saturday is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. One of the comics you can get for free by stopping by your local participating Comic Shop is the first issue of the new Cars series from Boom Studios.
While there, you might want to purchase the first issue of Incredibles and Muppet Show if your fans of those properties.

Alice in Walt Disney World will be the newest limited edition cel when it is released at the Disney-Hollywood Studios on June 13th. Also makes a nice desktop image.

Mad Hatter D23 Pin

The Mad Hatter pin will be available on Friday, May 1st. It will be interesting to see if it will sell out real fast like the others or not since it is now known that Disney will produce as many as they want.

Of course, Jiminy Cricket and Tinker Bell would have been more popular pins anyway.

Happy Unbirthday!

D23 Magazine 2nd Issue

Arrived home from work today to find the 2nd issue of D23 Magazine waiting for me. Haven't read it yet but looks like a killer issue with articles about the new Monsters Inc ride in Tokyo, the work being done on California Adventure, Rapunzel, Jerry Bruckheimer, the Sherman Brothers and more.
But what really made me happy was this reproduction of a 1955 souvenir fan made for D23 members from the Walt Disney Archives Collection. If every issue comes with a freebie then my mind has finally been made up and becoming a member was a good idea. See. It doesn't take much to make me happy!

Tomorrowland Update

I took a stroll over to Tomorrowland today and was happy to see some of the construction walls have come down. As you probably know, Space Mountain is now closed and will not open again until this fall or later. The above picture shows the finsihed stage for a new Stitch show called Stitch's Supersonic Celebration. It's not open yet but appears to be very close. The monitor was showing Tomorrowland related ads and news items.

The Picture below is of the wall that replaced the theatre that they tore down that was between Buzz and Carousel of Progress. Don't get too excited about that door in the middle. The only thing behind it is a parking lot.

Sticker Shock

When eating at EPCOT the other day, 2 double cheeseburgers and two large cokes now cost $21.40. It seems that whoever is in charge of prices for food and beverage must have missed the memo about wanting guests to stay on property during their visit.

Canine Caddy Returns

The Canine Caddy snowglobe returns to DisneyShopping.com. The guide entry has been updated with the better pics, additional information and I corrected the stupid mistake I apparently made when writing the entry that had said Goofy and Pluto were on it instead of Mickey and Pluto. Duh!

EPCOT Pics

It's been awhile since I've made it over to EPCOT. I stopped by yesterday to take some pics of this years Flower & Garden Festival. In amongst all the topiary shots are this one of the Characters in Flight balloon over at Downtown Disney and the Kim Possible Station.

Disney Snowdomes

From ebay, we have confirmation that the current line of plastic snowdomes are also available at Disneyland in California. I never have been able to find anyone to give us snowglobe updates for Disneyland. If your an annual passholder who goes somewhat regularly and would be willing to take pics and provide us with reports, I'd love to hear from you. That goes for the overseas parks as well.

Fantasia Snowglobe Sneak Peek

Courtesy of Velvet, more Sneak Peeks at whats coming to DisneyShopping.com.
The Fantasia one looks pretty neat. It appears that the Hippo will move around the Gator. Hopefully the gator will turn also.
The Aristocats one has been available in Europe since last year.

So Dear to My Heart Snowglobe

Several weeks ago, someone left a comment that there would soon be a snowglobe featuring Danny the black lamb from So Dear to My Heart. The comment was unsigned so I didn't publish it since the liklihood of it such an obscure character being used seemed unlikely at best. My best guess at the time was that someone was messing with me.

Now comes this Sneak Peek image courtesy of Velvet. My apologies to whoever left the comment. Next time let me know who you are, ok?

Toy Story mini Snowglobe

This mini snowglobe of Buzz and Woody inside the Claw machine has been available at DisneyShopping.com and is now also available on the UK site.

Japan Disney Snowglobes

I've found a Tinker Bell and a Alice snowglobe from Japan in a ebay store. I have never seen either of these before. The ebayer has the pictures protected and although I can easily get around that protection I don't wish to use pics that I don't have permission to use when the person has gone to any noticeable degree to protect them.
I have asked the owner for permission to use the pics and I won't be able to include them in the Collectors Guide if I don't get permission or someone doesn't provide pictures.
But, I did want to make sure everyone knows about their existence so here is a link to the ebay store where they are located. Hopefully I will hear from the owner soon.
Japan Disney Snowglobes
You should check out the rest of the items in the store too. There's some really cool stuff here.

D23 Censors Mickey Mouse

Those following the daily Mickey comic strips on the D23 site may have noticed gaps in the coverage. It seems even the Disney Archives aren't allowed to present certain strips which are considered racist by some. They aren't of course. They are simply drawn is the style of the time they were created. It seems all strips showing or part of the continuity with Mickey's encounter with cannibals are not usable and probably never will be. I mean, if the Disney Archives isn't allowed to be historically accurate when it comes to presenting the material, then who can?

Series 3 Disney Star Wars Action Figures

This June will see the release of the third series of Star Wars action figures with Disney characters in familiar roles.

Characters in Flight

Here's a couple of pictures I took of the new Characters in Flight attraction that is now operating at Downtown Disney West Side. Since it is obviously owned and operated by a company other then Disney I was surprised to see the Disney characters on the balloon. It costs $16 for an adult rider.

Belle Precious Moments Snowglobe

On June 6th Disneyland and Walt Disney World will be hosting a Precious Moments product release that includes this Belle snowglobe. It will retail for $40.

Welcome to Kidani Village

I had the pleasure of doing some work at Disney's newest Vacation Club Resort today and was able to take a few pictures to share with you. Kidani Village officially opens May 1st but various previews start April 21st. I really liked the look of the resort and especially the layout of the drive going in. Lots of lush landscaping and it really feels like something special. It appears that the fantastic reviews that Animal Kingdom Lodge gets will carryover to the new area as well.