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Epcot — 1 Comment
19
May 13

Tour of the Secret Parlor Inside Epcot’s American Adventure at Walt Disney World

As major Disney enthusiasts, I think that many of us would like to say that we know every inch of Walt Disney World property. Sadly there are some areas of the parks that are just off limits to day guests. These special areas aren’t relegated to cast members. Oh no. Some of the most gorgeous spaces are reserved for special events held inside the walls of Walt Disney World Theme Parks.

Let’s talk about the hidden areas of Epcot shall we? Some of you have heard about the sponsored lounges which are attached to the Epcot pavilions. We brought you a behind the scenes look at the secret lounge inside of Mission Space as well as the Siemans Spaceship Earth Lounge. Today we are going to take a look at a private area atop the American Adventure Pavilion in World Showcase. This space is not a sponsored lounge, but a private area used for special events such as meetings and wedding receptions. It’s called The American Adventure Parlor.

Here’s a look at what the view must be like from up here.

Have You Ever Been to an Event Inside the American Adventure Parlor?

Wordless Wednesday – Spaceship Earth Viewed from the Roof of the American Adventure in Epcot

Disney News — No Comments
30
Apr 13

Disney Theme Parks to Stay Open 24 Hours Again Memorial Day Weekend 2013

Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort will kick off a Monstrous Summer by keeping three theme parks open for 24 hours nonstop on Memorial Day Weekend, the traditional start of the family travel season.

The Magic Kingdom Park in Florida and Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park in California will stay open from 6 a.m., May 24 to 6 a.m., May 25, 2013, local time* marking the beginning of a summer of fun inspired by the upcoming Disney•Pixar comedy adventure Monsters University.

Mike and Sulley will take a break from collegiate life and their Scare studies at Monsters University to host the All-Nighter, dropping in to scare up some school spirit. Guests will scream and giggle with delight at the lineup of thrills and entertainment that promises to make this a day and night to be remembered for a lifetime.

In Florida, the Magic Kingdom will feature a Monsters University theme where Mike and Sulley will be the Grand Marshals of the “Celebrate a Dream Come True” day parade – complete with pomp and circumstance – and make appearances in Tomorrowland. Guests also will find extra entertainment throughout the day and night, including characters in their pajamas in Town Square during the late night and early morning, and late-night dance parties in and around the courtyard of Cinderella Castle.

In California, guests can party the night away at both parks with special entertainment, including a Monsters University “TLT Monstrous” Dance Club and Star Wars characters in Tomorrowland, and late-night Character Pajama Party in Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland. The new Fantasy Faire Royal Theatre at Disneyland will become a Royal Dance Hall late at night with a live band and dancing, and guests of Disney California Adventure will find Monstrous photo opportunities with new Monsters University “Dorms” in Hollywood Land and a new Monsters University float leading the Pixar Play Parade.

All three parks will feature limited-edition specialty merchandise and food and beverage offerings plus other surprises throughout the entire day.

runDisney — 10 Comments
27
Feb 13

2013 Disney Princess Half Marathon Meet Up Recap – A Peek Into This Exclusive runDisney Event

You would think it would take some experienced hackers to take down the entire Disney Parks Blog right? The runDisney twitter account hinted that a “sign up” post for the 2013 Princess Half Marathon Meet Up would hit the blog on Friday, February 15th and on that Friday, the Disney Parks Blog went DOWN. Too much runDisney traffic apparently crashed the server. Curious…I’d say there were a lot of runners F5ing the blog that day waiting to nab one of the coveted spots. The Meet Ups after all are pretty amazing! Celebrities, an intimate run thru the parks before opening, food, giveaways, Disney character meets and more! Who WOULDN’T clamour for one of those spots?

This Meet Up surely became a very fond memory for the runDisney enthusiasts who made it in. The event took place at Epcot on Friday morning, the first day of Princess Marathon Weekend. Attendees met up with fellow runners, Jeff Galloway (official runDisney consultant), Tara Gidus (runDisney Nutritionist), Sean Astin (Goonies, Rudy and Lord of the Rings), Ali Vincent (The Biggest Loser) , April Holmes (three-time paralympian) and members of the runDisney Team for the first part of the Meet Up which is the 3ish mile fun run. The group has the option of either a non-stop run or a run-walk-run. One day I will be able to go with the non-stop group but this wasn’t that day. =) We run-walk-runners waited patiently as the straight run group headed out under Spaceship Earth.

Then it was time for our run-walk-run to begin. We headed straight thru Future World and then hooked a left at Mexico making our way to the International Gateway. Once there, we exited the park and runners made the loop around the Boardwalk Resort Area and then back into Epcot via the International Gateway. Once inside the park again, we hooked another left in the UK and followed the World Showcase path back around finally ending at Germany. Here are some shots of the run

Once the running portion of the Meet Up was complete, guests entered Germany’s Biergarten restaurant for a light breakfast and special presentation.

Possibly one of my favorite pieces of information came from Faron Kelley (Director of Marketing and Communications for Disney Sports) who told us that WOMEN are driving the runDisney movement! #GirlPower Makes sense actually, considering Walt Disney World just hosted its first marathon where the ladies outnumbered the men.

Another treat. This little firecracker is four time runDisney Half Marathon winner Rachel Booth. She got up and talked a little bit about her training and fielded questions from the crowd.

Season Five The Biggest Loser winner, Ali Vincent had the crowd raising their hands high in the air as she asked audience members who had lost the most weight. This was a real eye opener for me as someone who has lost 35 pounds. There were so many ladies in the room who had lost as much or MORE weight than I. I still have another 60 something pounds to lose and this was just the motivation that I needed. If these ladies could do it, by god so can I!

Two lucky gals were plucked from the audience to be a part of the next presentation. One of the gals was my girlfriend Susan Pazera. Professional therapists from the new Senses, a Disney Spa at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort demonstrated massage recovery techniques. If you’d like to book a massage or other spa service you can give Senses a call at (407) WDW-SPAS.

The pinnacle of the Meet Up came when April Holmes, three-time paralympian, took the stage. I was so moved by her talk that I didn’t take one picture and just hung on to every word she said. Here’s a shot of her with just one of her Olympic medals. She relived the story of the moment in her life where she slipped getting onto a train and was subsequently pinned under that train costing her her leg. She then told us how her doctor brought her a magazine in the hospital right after she lost her leg highlighting the paralympics and how that started the fire in her to set some world records. What an inspiration!

April Holmes three-time paralympian disney princess half meet up

and what Meet Up would be complete without a few random draw runDisney giveaways with Sean Astin as the name picker?

Attendees were gifted a swag bag and park hopper ticket to return and enjoy the parks on their own before being escorted outside for photo opps with the celebrities and Disney characters.

sean astin princess minnie mouse half meey up disney

Of course I have to share this pic of me making a crazy face because one should always be able to make fun of ones self. That’s MacKidSuze and RunningatDisney looking cool as ever next to me.

Amanda Tinney Susan Pazera Sarah McGovern Luka runDisney

If you’d like to participate in a runDisney Meet Up please keep your eyes on the Disney Parks Blog which is where the events are announced. You can also follow runDisney on facebook and twitter where teasers are often announced before the event sign up post goes live! You can follow DisneyEveryDay on facebook as well as instagram for more runDisney and Disney fun.

I was invited to this event as media for DisneyEveryDay.com. I was not required to write this post and all opinions are my own.

Epcot — 3 Comments
23
Sep 12

A Rare Look Into the Private Siemens VIP Lounge Above Epcot’s Spaceship Earth

Did you know that the Spaceship Earth attraction in Epcot has a secret lounge? It’s located directly above the Project Tomorrow exhibit space. In fact, I’m sure you’ve seen the windows of the lounge before and never knew that there may have been people looking down at you!

The Lounge, officially titled Base21 Siemens VIP Center, is accessed by a door inside the “Project Tomorrow: Inventing the Wonders of the Future” exhibit area located at the exit of the omnimover portion of the attraction.

The entry door is very non descript. Just a teeny tiny sign that says Siemens.

Once you make it past this door you enter a small holding area with a large screen.

At this point you have two options if you want to proceed any further.

Because we were attending a private event, we did not have to do either. Our event host told us that normally when you are finally authorized and buzzed in, the door that you open from this holding area emits a fog that covers the door entryway. I’m thinking its something similar to the fog you cross through on Pirates of the Caribbean attraction in the Magic Kingdom.

After making your way out of the holding area…

Because you are on the ground floor and the lounge is one the second level you have the option of taking the elevator or a spiral of stairs.

The lounge itself has no windows (read in your best Haunted Mansion voice), but the attached meeting space has sweeping views of Epcot. If there are no events being held in that space guests are welcome to enjoy the panoramic views of Future World.

Complementary beverages are offered to lounge visitors. Visitors consist mainly of Siemens employees and customers. The Director of Operations for the lounge told us that “Give Kids the World” families also have access to the lounge when they need a respite from the hubub of the park.

My favorite feature of the lounge was this touch screen. Where you could change the color of the LED lights inside the tile flooring that leads to the larger meeting space.

This amazing LED lighting is one of the key features of the Siemens Lounge. In fact, the entire color scheme of the lounge and meeting space can be changed remotely. Look for the little antennas on the table lamps in the pictures to follow of the large meeting space. So techy!

Besides color lighting control, the touch screen also has apps that display park info and wait times. I especially liked the facial recognition game!

What tour would be complete without a trip to the ladies room?

And now, a look inside the large meeting space!

and now for the views!!!!

Here’s looking down at the Art of Disney storefront…

If you look beyond Pin Central and the Fountain of Nations you can see the American Pavilion in the distance!

Innoventions!

(click to enlarge panoramas)

The Siemens Lounge is open from 9 AM – 4 PM Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 9 AM – 1 PM. While the lounge and meeting room are not available to the public, they are available to Siemens employees and customers. The space is visually stunning! Even more so than the HP Lounge inside Mission Space. Such a treat for this Disney Nerd Girl to be able to take a look inside. I hope you enjoyed the photo tour!