Winter 2009 vol. 18 no. 4 Disney Files Magazine is published by the good people at I look at this edition of Disney Files Magazine, and I see a world of laughter. A world of Disney Vacation Club tears. A world of hope. A world of fears. (Well maybe not tears or fears, but stay with me.) P.O. Box 10350 I’m reminded that there’s so much that we share. That it’s time we’re aware. Sing it with me Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830 now. “It’s a small world after all.” To help celebrate the debut of Disney Vacation Club’s first California resort (cover and All dates, times, events and prices pages 2-4), we’ve reached beyond our home state of Florida to deliver a broader mix of news printed herein are subject to change without notice. (Our lawyers and perspectives than ever. This puppy’s so global and happy that it should’ve been delivered do a happy dance when we say that.) by a pack of singing dolls. (Stupid budget constraints.) Let’s begin our journey in the aforementioned Golden State, where D23, the official MOVING? community for Disney fans, recently hosted the first D23 Expo. Fans gathered. News broke. Update your mailing address Films premiered. Legends were crowned. (Or inducted. But we think there should’ve been online at www.dvcmember.com crowns.) And your Disney Files staff recorded the highlights for those unable to attend (pages 5-6). Perhaps you were too busy sailing on the S.S. Member Cruise to attend the MEMBERSHIP QUESTIONS? Expo. If not, check out the cruise recap on page 7. Contact Member Services from Staying out west, we’re pleased to report that President Abraham Lincoln has returned 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Eastern daily at (800) 800-9800 or (407) 566-3800 to Disneyland® Park (page 17). Alright, so it’s a state-of-the-art Audio-Animatronics® representation of honest Abe. We’re just glad he’s back, advancing the art form, inspiring Fax Number: (407) 938-4151 Guests and preparing to intervene if any tensions mount between Critter Country and New Orleans Square. (That’s right, a Civil War joke. Too soon?) Throw in some notes about a new E-mail Member Services at: Downtown Disney® “studio,” a new Main Street, U.S.A.® window honoring a great friend of [email protected] Disney Files Magazine and transformation plans for the iconic Disneyland Hotel (all on page 21), and we’ve covered California like Seacrest on a red carpet. (For more Seacrest references, Stay up to date on the news between see pages 8 and 25.) magazines at www.dvcmember.com Further broadening our scope, we present Walt Disney Imagineering’s blue-sky This edition’s cover art by concepts for the expansion of Hong Kong Disneyland® Park (page 18) and span the globe to Don “Ducky” Williams break down the merry mix of holiday happenings at Disney Parks everywhere (pages 19-20). Add an exclusive visit with the creators of The Princess and the Frog (pages 23-24), an exploration of Disney’s connections to the film’s “hometown” (pages 27-28) and a fun look at Members enjoying their magazine during worldwide travels (pages 29-30), and you have an editorial reminder that there is just one moon and one golden sun. That a smile means friendship to everyone. That, while the mountains divide, and the oceans are wide, it’s a small world after all. (Note to self: no more Fantasyland® rides before writing.) Disney Files Magazine proudly uses Welcome home, recycled paper and soy-based ink. Ryan March Disney Files Editor Disneyphiles (Diz-nee-fyles) noun, plural: really cool people who love, or are attracted to, all things Disney Disney Files (Diz-nee-fyles) noun, plural: a really cool magazine for Disney Vacation Club Members, the ultimate Disneyphiles Parham Keelan by Illustration DVC-MBR-65-I FROM THE DESK OF JIM LEWIS top news & perspectives by Jim Lewis, President, Disney Vacation Club REALIZING A GOLDEN DREAM In 2005, as Disney our originally announced November opening date. Parks prepared to mark the I’m so pleased to see Member families enjoying their golden anniversary of the new California “home” and being part of Disney history. Disneyland® Resort with Some are experiencing our villa-style accommodations for “The Happiest Celebration the first time. Others are discovering how the iconic hotel’s On Earth,” Disney California Arts and Crafts style has influenced the amenities Vacation Club saw a they’ve come to enjoy in other Disney Vacation Club Resorts. golden And all are reminding us that this golden dream was worth opportunity. dreaming. While Disneyland Resort Hotels had long been part of our Disney Collection of exchange resorts, we knew that Members wanted – and deserved – much more at the place that started it all. We recognized that Disney Vacation Club wouldn’t even exist without Walt’s fulfilled vision in those Southern California orange groves, and we were committed to bringing our magical community full circle. Step one, achieved during an astonishingly fast 14-week effort, was establishing our first Disney Vacation Club sales operations in Anaheim. With Guests discovering the “best- kept Disney Secret” at Information Centers throughout the Disneyland Resort and learning more about the magic of Membership through our new onsite preview center (where a miniature doll-house-style replica of Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa accommodations preceded our eventual full-scale model room), we officially became part of the Disneyland family and opened new doors for our Member community. Our heightened presence at this landmark Disney destination immediately enhanced the Member experience, with new Member perks, attraction previews and Member events making the Disneyland Resort feel a lot more like “home.” We were proud of what we achieved in Anaheim in such a short amount of time, but we were far from satisfied. (We rarely are.) We understood that, for Members to really feel at home, we needed to build them a “home.” Fast forward to 2007, and we were raising walls on The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel® & Spa, the first Disney Vacation Club Resort accommodations on the West Coast. Granted, the wall I helped raise personally was purely ceremonial, Disney Vacation Club President Jim Lewis, left, assists Mickey but the real ones soon followed with remarkable speed. Mouse at a 2007 “wall-raising” ceremony marking the official Construction work on this ambitious project was so smooth, in start of construction on The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian fact, that this new addition to your neighborhood was able to Hotel & Spa. welcome its first Members “home” in September, well ahead of page 2 dvcmember.com If you’re an avid reader of Disney Files Magazine (and we trust that you are), you already know a lot about The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel® & Spa, now open at the Disneyland® Resort in Anaheim. For example, you know that the 50 new two-bedroom-equivalent Disney Vacation Club villas – the first on the West Coast – reflect the California Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, showcased in painstaking detail throughout the hotel. You’re aware of the hidden Mickeys in the villas’ carpeting and the Pinocchio cues detailing bathroom walls. You even know that Mariposa (the new pool nearby) is Spanish for “butterfly.” But how much do you really know about the grand hotel upon which the new villas were built? Are you truly prepared to impress others with your knowledge of its art, architecture, flora and fauna? Are you suitably equipped to beat your traveling party in a spontaneous game of “name that beam style?” We can’t leave anything to chance. So to help celebrate the newest addition to the Disney Vacation Club neighborhood, your Disney Files staff is pleased to present this handy guide to Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa fun facts. We’ll even give you the conversation starters. It’s what we do. page 3 dvcmember.com Where: Front of hotel center, crews cut through traditional tie beams and support What: Trellis-like entry gate the remaining portions, known as hammer beams, with You say: “Unmistakably Bernie.” curved braces from the wall. If you want to really impress (or annoy) your traveling party, make a snooty reference to The entry gate was inspired by renowned architect Bernard England’s Westminster Hall, which houses what many Maybeck’s designs for the Lawson House, built in the San experts believe is the finest example of hammer beam roofs. Francisco Bay Area after the great earthquake of 1906. The scored lines and tile accents seen on the hotel’s exterior also Where: Hearthstone Lounge reflect the influence of Maybeck, who’s noted as being What: The “three-circle” chandeliers hanging from the ceiling among the first architects to use cement in his buildings. You say: “I’m getting flashbacks to Berkeley!” Where: The Porte Cochere Insipired by a Bernard Maybeck design, which features What: The vintage car on display three identically sized circles, Imagineers shrunk the upper You say: “Quick everyone, name that Clooney film!” two circles in their version, paying homage to the same mouse celebrated in the aforementioned clock. The original This 1932 Cadillac V-8 seven-passenger sedan has been used Maybeck chandelier is located in the First Church of Christ in Hollywood as a studio prop, appearing in such television Scientist in Berkeley, Calif., which is the only Berkeley shows as “Charmed” and in a variety of feature films, building to be designated as a National Landmark.