As heard on The WDW Radio Show, show #109, for the week of March 8, 2009
Congratulations to everyone who just completed the inaugural Disney’s Princess Half Marathon, Sunday, March 8, 2009. Liza Galvan from San Antonio, Texas won the event, besting a field of more than 7500 women runners from around the world. Over 11,000 runners participated in the weekend events, including the family and kids races, making this one of the largest endurance event weekends focused on women. While the weekend is designed for women, more than 200 men participated on behalf of the women in their lives. For more information about this year’s and next year’s events, please visit disneyenduranceseries.com.
Walt Disney World has announced the dates for the 2009 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. This year there will be 23 party nights:
September: 4, 11, 15, 18, 22, 25, 29
October: 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31
The Party features a special Halloween parade twice nightly at 8:15 and 10:30 p.m. and the fireworks display at 9:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale May 1, 2009
Breathless II, the boat commissioned to the Disney’s Yacht Club Resort in 2007, went out of service last week for two months for maintenance and refurbishment. Built in the early 1990’s, Breathless II is a Hacker Craft replica of a 1920’s runabout, used for 30-minute day cruises on Crescent Lake, as well as evening specialty cruises. While Breathless II is out of service any damages will be repaired, the faded finish sanded down and redone and the seats will be mended. When she returns to service she will feel like a brand new boat.
Due to this refurbishment, all day and evening cruises on Breathless II have been canceled. For guests who booked an evening specialty cruise there is an option to still be able to see the fireworks on a cruise. Instead of taking the cruise on Breathless II, guests will be offered a pontoon boat instead. You will still get the same view as you would on Breathless II, the only thing missing will be the speed of the cruise before the show begins.
If you booked a day or evening cruise on Breathless II during March or April, call 407-WDW-PLAY for an update, to switch your boat or to cancel your cruise. If you have booked a cruise, you should have already received a call regarding the refurbishment of the boat, but if you have not, call ahead just in case.
Virgin Megastore will close its stores around the nation this summer, including one at Downtown Disney West Side. According to Virgin’s Web site, the Downtown Disney store is the largest music and entertainment store in the Southeast, with more than 300 listening stations. It often held live performances and autograph signings. The Downtown Disney store’s last day will be May 31, 2009.
TrenD, a hip new Downtown Disney Marketplace boutique with urban-inspired fashions, is scheduled to open in Summer 2009. It replaces Summer Sands which closed in February 2009.
Paradiso 37, a restaurant from E-Brands featuring Mexican and South American cuisine opens in the summer of 2009. The restaurant opens in the waterside location directly opposite the Harley Davidson Store and Curl.
Construction crews in Germany recently began work on Disney Cruise Line’s two new ships. The first steel cut in the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, was a piece of the retro scrollwork that will cover the bow of the ships (similar to the scrollwork on Disney’s existing Magic and Wonder ships, which the company says are designed to evoke memories of classic ocean liners from the 1930s). The unnamed new ships, which will each have 1,250 staterooms and weigh 128,000 tons, are scheduled to arrive in Port Canaveral in 2011 and 2012. They will carry 4,000 passengers each, about 1,300 more than the Magic and Wonder. Both of the new vessels will remain based at Canaveral through at least the end of 2014.
If you have any news to report, email Lou here or leave a voicemail at the WDW Radio Show voicemail box: toll free at 888-703-2171.
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