Category Tuesday Trivia

Oct 8 2018

13 Frighteningly Fun Facts About Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

Every year Magic Kingdom celebrates the Halloween season with the family friendly Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party on select nights during autumn.  There are special parades, exciting dance parties, stunning fireworks, and tons of trick-or-treating stations filled with candy for everyone! Adults and children alike really get into the spirit of the event by dressing in costume, trick-or-treating, and dancing the night away with all of the characters. Here are 13 frighteningly fun facts about this celebration courtesy of Disney:

Let’s boo this! Magic Kingdom Park celebrates fall with the family-friendly Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party on select nights now through October 31, 2018. Here are 13 fun facts about this year’s event:

  1. 2018 marks 24 fantastically fun years of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party with 34 event nights.
  2. NEW! At Pirates of the Caribbean, guests interact with live pirates who encourage everyone to be on the lookout for Gunpowder Pete, a scoundrel with an eye on the same treasure sought by Captain Jack Sparrow.
  3. NEW! The Mad Tea Party will take guests on a colorful teacup ride, as special lighting and other effects put a glowing nighttime spin on the attraction at night.
  4. NEW! Explorers visiting Space Mountain will hurtle through the blackness of deep space to the riffs of a hard-rockin’ soundtrack.
  5. NEW! Storybook Circus welcomes the Storybook Circus Disney Junior Jam, a dance party featuring favorite Disney Junior characters, including Doc McStuffins and Timon from “The Lion Guard.”
  6. NEW! In Frontierland, prospector Cactus-Flower Cate rounds up youngsters for the Frontierland Costume Promenade, encouraging them to show off their costumes in a quest for the greatest treasure in the land – candy!
  7. The mischievous Sanderson Sisters from Disney’s “Hocus Pocus” return to the mortal world during the party for the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular stage show on the Castle Forecourt Stage.
  8. 176 individually themed, carved pumpkins adorn the balconies and windowsills of Main Street, U.S.A.
  9. A cast of 175 performers, float drivers, costumers, cosmetologists, decorators and maintenance cast members bring Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade to life, traveling 23 miles of parade route over the course of the season.
  10. Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade features event-exclusive characters, such as Dr. Facilier, Captain Barbosa, Oogie Boogie, the three hyenas from “The Lion King” – Shenzi, Banzai and Ed – plus three Hitchhiking Ghosts from The Haunted Mansion.
  11. The Happy HalloWishes fireworks spectacular is narrated by the Ghost Host from The Haunted Mansion and features many favorite Disney Villains who go trick-or-treating in the night sky.
  12. 999 Grim Grinning Ghosts enhance a not-too-spooky Halloween experience at The Haunted Mansion.
  13. More than 250 tons of candy, including 40 different kinds of brand-name candies, will be handed out to party guests at 14 tasty treat locations across the park.

It all adds up to zero tricks and countless treats that make Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party a memorable evening for all! Please click here for more information or to purchase tickets.

501 WaysHeading to Disney World soon?

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Mar 7 2017

Fun Facts About The 2017 Epcot International Flower And Garden Festival

Epcot Flower & Garden Festival

Now that the 24th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival has begun, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some “Fun Facts” about this exciting event to get us in the spirit. Here’s everything you need to know, courtesy of Disney:

Epcot Flower & Garden FestivalDisney guests can enjoy 90 days of fresh festival fun during the 24th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival March 1 – May 29, 2017. Thirty million multi-hued blooms, 100-plus whimsical topiaries, nearly 1,000 native butterflies and dozens of new Outdoor Kitchen food and beverage tastes add multi-sensory festival fun to the “Fresh Epcot”-themed Walt Disney World Resort event.

Among this year’s fun festival facts:

  • 30 million blooms blanket the park throughout the festival, which runs 90 colorful days and requires two complete crop rotations to keep floral displays fresh and seasonal.
  • flower-garden-415 Outdoor Kitchens (2 more than last year) include the new Northern Bloom and The Berry Basket kitchens and gardens. Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market returns at the Germany pavilion and La Isla Fresca returns for a second year. Dozens of new sweet and savory food and beverage menu items add tasting fun and variety to the festival. Each marketplace will feature a garden planted with select produce and herbs to represent more than 70 overall beverage choices and more than 40 food items featured.
  • The festival’s front-entrance Welcome Spring Fun, Food & Flowers topiary maypole scene celebrating a rite of spring with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy and Pluto  is inspired by a vintage Walt Disney short film. More than 30 varieties of flowers, plants, and other garden materials are used to create the scene.
  • A brand-new 5-foot-tall Figment topiary of the feisty dragon mascot of the Imagination! Pavilion greets guests from atop a bright yellow floral ball of Joseph’s Coat, brightening the landscape behind Spaceship Earth with purple petal power. A brand-new, next-generation Belle topiary with sculpted facial features will join Beast in France – her yellow ball gown is crafted using Joseph’s Coat and Creeping Jenny plants.
  • Music Garden Melodies with musical note topiaries, a themed playground for children complete with innovative play systems featuring interactive musical gadgets, is one of the largest festival gardens created at nearly one-third acre. The garden includes a collection of plants with features that resemble musical instruments as part of the ambiance.
  • 2017-flower-garden-1Anna and Elsa in cool floral splendor grace a wintry topiary vignette straight from the hit Disney film, “Frozen” and the Norway pavilion attraction Frozen Ever After. In the scene that’s wired to sparkle by night, Elsa works her magic to conjure a snowy garden filled with flowers of lavendar, white and silver. More than a dozen varieties of flowers evoke the scene and include white Dianthus, Diamond Frost Euphorbia, Dichondra Silver Falls, lavender Pentas, blue Delphinium and white Cleome, Pentas, Alyssum and Nicotiana. Anna and Elsa topiaries are each about 6-1/2 feet tall and are created with plants that include variegated Ficus, green Ficus and the succulent Sedum Coral Reef. But Elsa will look taller because she’s standing closer to guests than Anna by about 8 feet.
  • At least 25 different plants, grasses and mosses of various colors, including pink and red begonias, dusty miller, palm fiber, palm seeds, ficus and lichen, are used to create and define facial and other features of festival character topiaries. The topiary team uses about 200 one-pound boxes of hairpins to attach plants and flowers to the topiaries.
  • Epcot International Flower And Garden FestivalNearly 1,000 native butterflies represent up to 10 species at the expansive Butterflies on the Go butterfly house presented by GoGo squeeZ. Among the garden’s two dozen nectar plants are passion flower, coral honeysuckle, lantana, butterfly bush, blue porterweed, scarlet milkweed and canna lily.
  • 240 extra playground hours add extra festival magic for children and their families with the illuminated garden playgrounds staying open through park closing.
  • More than 500,000 plants, trees and shrubs are planted for the festival; 250,000 of those are annual blossoms installed for the festival.
  • Festival plants include 60 different species of trees, 47 types of palms, and 48 varieties of bedding plants.
  • 78 hands-on gardening demonstrations and seminars will be presented
  •  More than forty 8-to-9-foot tall, multi-hued “flower towers” make colorful statements across the festival landscape.
  • Epcot International Flower And Garden FestivalMore than 200 floating mini-gardens, each three feet in diameter, of multi-hued New Guinea impatiens provide splashes of color on two ponds that border the walkway between Future World and World Showcase.
  • Nearly 500 container gardens of flowers, herbs, plants and vegetables in clay pots, barrels and urns enhance the landscape throughout Epcot.
  • 400 Walt Disney World horticulturists are needed to install the festival landscape, topiaries and many exhibits; 100 Epcot horticulturists maintain topiaries and other festival displays.
  • It takes more than one full year and about 24,000 cast member hours to prepare for the annual festival.
  • The festival’s weekend Garden Rocks Concert Series includes 16 bands known for their Top 40 hits across five decades. This year’s musical hit-makers from the 1960s through 2000s include new-to-the-festival acts Simple Plan, Exposé, Berlin featuring Terri Nunn and Plain White T’s.

I’m looking forward to my visit to the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, and I’m so excited to enjoy some of my old favorites as well as to check out what’s new this year!

501 WaysHeading to Disney World soon?

If you are planning a vacation to Disney World, be sure to check out these valuable resources to help you save time and money:

Will you be going to the Flower & Garden Festival this year?
What are you most looking forward to? Please leave a comment!

Sep 7 2016

Fun Facts About The 2016 Epcot International Food And Wine Festival

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival ©Disney

In just a few short days the 21st annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival kicks off, and I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some “Fun Facts” about the festive event to get us in the spirit. Here’s everything you need to know, courtesy of Disney:

Epcot International Food & Wine FestivalWalt Disney World Resort guests are invited to join the fun when the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival presented by Chase turns 21 from September 14 – November 14, 2016. The longer-than-ever party will feature global and specialty cuisine, refreshing new beverages and three live concerts nightly.

The 62-day festival at Disney’s Epcot theme park will showcase 30 global marketplaces including four new Future World marketplaces featuring fresh culinary concepts to pair with select wines, beers, cocktails and other beverages. ABC’s Emmy Award-winning lifestyle series, “The Chew,” will broadcast from the festival for the second year and will participate in one of the new Future World festival marketplaces, The Chew Collective. The festival is believed to be the largest food and wine event of its kind in the world.

Here are some fun facts about the 21st festival celebration:

  • Now 62 days long, the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival began in 1996 with a first run of 30 days
  • At the 2016 festival, 30 global marketplaces will include new offerings like The Chew Collective in Future World’s Next Eats festival area and Islands of the Caribbean along the World Showcase Promenade
  • The Chew 2Producers of ABC’s “The Chew” will tape 5 episodes of the show before 5 festival guest audiences numbering in the hundreds for each show
  • The 21st festival will feature 32 new marketplace dishes and 49 new cocktails, beers, wines and ciders
  • In 1998, 200 domestic and international wines were poured at the festival. This year, at marketplaces and premium events, more than 300 domestic and international wines will be offered
  • More than 50 wineries and more than 35 breweries from around the world, including local craft beer operations, will be represented at festival marketplaces
  • The new “The Best of Epcot Festivals 2016” cookbook by Pam Brandon and the Disney Chefs features 75 recipes from the global marketplaces.
  • 3 Rockin’ Burger Block Parties and 6 Party for the Senses grand tastings will take place at World Showplace during the festival run. In all, the festival will feature 204 premium events ranging from Signature Dinners and Food & Wine Pairings to Beverage Boot Camps and Festival Events in World Showcase pavilions
  • Food & Wine 2016 fGuest chefs and Disney chefs numbering 250 will present culinary demonstrations and will cook for festival events
  • Celebrity chefs and visiting culinarians from 10 countries and 26 U.S. states will participate in the festival at culinary demos, book signings, and special tasting events and dinners.
  • Nearly 400 culinary demos, beverage and interactive seminars will take place during the 62-day festival
  • RemyDuring Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak festival scavenger hunt, guests can help Remy scour the park for the ingredients to make his signature dish, ratatouille. Along the way, they’ll find 12 Remy statuettes hidden in each of 11 countries of the World Showcase and at the African Outpost location. Guests can redeem the 12 stickers they’ve collected for one of 6 special pins at Select merchandise locations
  • More than 375 hours of scheduled seminars will take place at the Festival Center for the 62 days of the festival.  These include culinary demos and beverage seminars, the new Mix It, Make It, Celebrate It! interactive events, plus more
  • Eat To The Beat 2016 Delta Rae186 Eat to the Beat concerts will be performed; 8 musical acts will appear for the first time at this year’s festival featuring entertainment ranging from rock and soul to funk and blues
  • The Festival Passport (previously called the Marketplace Discovery Passport) was introduced in 2010 for the 15th annual festival; today, the free passport will feature pages with all 30 festival marketplaces
  • More than 1,200 fireworks will explode each night over World Showcase Lagoon in IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth nightime spectacular
  • Chase is the festival’s presenting sponsor for the 5th year; its Chase Lounge at the American Adventure Pavilion is open exclusively to Chase cardholders and offers an inviting place to relax and recharge
  • More than 225,000,000 festival dishes were served during last year’s 53-day festival
  • Food & Wine 2016 b100,000-plus desserts, including the Hard Soda Floats at Desserts & Champagne Marketplace, are expected to be served
  • In 1997, during the festival’s second year, festival planners introduced the first Grand Tasting culinary extravaganza; in 2002, the event was renamed and moved to World Showplace as Party for the Senses, now featuring up to 50 food and beverage stations and, in 2016, new and different themed entertainment for each event

I’m looking forward to my visit to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival this month, and I’m so excited to enjoy some of my old favorites as well as to check out what’s new this year!

501 WaysHeading to Disney World soon?

If you are planning a vacation to Disney World, be sure to check out these valuable resources to help you save time and money:

Will you be going to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival this year?
What are you most looking forward to? Please leave a comment!

Oct 14 2015

Festive Facts About Christmastime In Disney World

Christmas 3

Can you believe that Christmas is only a couple of months away? Disney World is already selling tickets to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and booking Candlelight Processional Dinner Packages. In honor of the upcoming holiday season, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some festive facts about Christmastime in Disney World. Thanks to Disney for the trivia!

Miles of garland, glitter, twinkling lights and ribbon transform Walt Disney World Resort into a winter wonderland during the holiday season.  Here’s a sample of what guests will experience throughout the Vacation Kingdom:

  • 1,300 decorated trees throughout Walt Disney World Resort
  • A wreath 25 feet in diameter adorning the Cirque du Soleil building at Disney Springs
  • 150 semi-trailer truckloads of decorations for 27 resorts, 4 theme parks, Disney Springs and other locations
  • 15 miles of garland strung and 1,314 wreaths hung throughout the Vacation Kingdom
  • 300,000 yards of ribbon and bows draping over Christmas trees across property
  • 8.5 million lights strung throughout Walt Disney World Resort
  • 98 percent of the lighting used for holiday décor is LED, 2 percent is compact florescent
  • 11 countries dressed for Holidays Around the World at Epcot World Showcase
  • Candlelight ProcessionalMore than 800 performers each night during Candlelight Processional at Epcot
  • More than 200 guest choirs during the entire run of Candlelight Processional
  • One 70-foot-tall tree takes center stage in Disney’s Contemporary Resort entrance lobby featuring nearly 35,800 white LED lights
  • The 45-foot-tall tree in the lobby of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge features authentic African decor of handmade baskets and reproductions of traditional African masks
  • 365 days of the year that guests can shop for holiday merchandise at the Disney’s Days of Christmas shop in Disney Springs
  • 170 Costumed performers and 15 floats dazzle Main Street, U.S.A. in Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade at Magic Kingdom
  • Frozen Gingerbread Castle6 life-sized creations cooked up by Walt Disney World pastry chefs, including:
    • One 16-foot-tall gingerbread house at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa baked with 1,050 pounds of honey and involving more than 160 hours of decorating
    • One life-size gingerbread carousel at Disney’s Beach Club Resort featuring ponies made of chocolate and fondant, giant candy cane poles, handcrafted poinsettias and hand-painted portraits of famous Disney characters

501 WaysHeading to Disney World soon?

If you are planning a vacation to Disney World, be sure to check out these valuable resources to help you save time and money:

Will you be visiting Disney World for Christmas?
Did any of these facts surprise you? Please leave a comment!

Sep 24 2015

Frightening Facts About The Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror

Tower of Terror 4

Can you believe that Halloween is next month? Disney World is already celebrating the spooky season with Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom on select nights through November 1. In honor of creepy things, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some “frightening” facts about one of Disney’s most scariest attractions – The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Read on, if you dare..

  • Walt Disney Imagineers viewed 156 episodes of “The Twilight Zone” for inspiration when creating The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
  • The ride vehicle is an elevator car.
  • The storyline of the attraction sets the date as Halloween night – October 31, 1939.
  • Tower of Terror 3The architecture of the tower was inspired by multiple Southern California landmarks, such as the Biltmore Hotel and the Mission Inn.
  • The building features 27,000 roof tiles.
  • The outdoor queue area features the songs “Inside” by Fats Waller and “Mood Indigo” by Duke Ellington.
  • The grounds of the Hollywood Tower Hotel were inspired by the look of California’s Griffith Park and Elysian Park.
  • The lobby of the Hollywood Tower Hotel was outfitted with antiques and furniture purchased at Los Angeles-area auction houses.
  • Some of the sculptures featured in the lobby are the work of 19th century sculptor Auguste Moreau.
  • Tower of Terror 2A copy of “Four Pages of Hilarious Star Caricatures by Walt Disney” is featured in Photoplay Magazine on the lobby’s concierge desk.
  • The Library room features a hidden nod to Mickey Mouse in the sheet music, which is for the song “What! No Mickey Mouse?”
  • The clip of film in which Rod Serling introduces the attraction was taken from a “Twilight Zone” episode called “It’s a Good Life.”
  • While actor Rod Serling appears in the film in the Library room, the voice you hear is actually voice actor Mark Silverman.
  • The young girl who disappears in the elevator carries a Mickey Mouse doll.
  • Tower of Terror 1The attraction’s “Fifth Dimension” scene was inspired in part by the “Little Girl Lost” episode of “The Twilight Zone.”
  • The attraction offers a 13-story drop.
  • The drop sequence for each elevator car is selected at random by the attraction’s computer system.
  • Measuring 199 feet tall, Tower of Terror is one of the tallest attractions at Walt Disney World Resort.
  • There is a Disney ghost story that has been passed around for years that the Tower of Terror is haunted by a former “Bell Hop” (cast member) that died during his shift on one of the loading platforms. The story goes that this “Bell Hop” ghost is known to appear on Platform D, flicker lights and freeze the attraction when cast members are trying to do their final ride through at the end of the day. True or not, it sure is spooky!

The Stanley HotelDo you love ghost stories?

If so, please check out my latest article on the Living The Dream Podcast Blog about the very real and very scary haunted hotel: The Stanley in Estes Park, Colorado. The Stanley Hotel inspired Stephen King to write “The Shining” after staying there for just one night. Click here to read more!

501 WaysHeading to Disney World soon?

If you are planning a vacation to Disney World, be sure to check out these valuable resources to help you save time and money:

Do you love The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror?
Are you a fan of the show? Please leave a comment!