Disney Secrets - Best guide to Disney World, Disney park hours, Disney Tickets, Disney theme park information and discounts

Today, Disney announced that one of its most beloved shows, the Main Street Electrical Parade, will be returning to the Magic Kingdom this summer.  The classic attraction, which will debut in early June 2010,  will feature new LED lights and audio technology and is expected to be better than ever.

The parade will be lead by Tinker Bell waving from the basket of a magical balloon aboard a newly designed float.  The return of the Main Street Electrical Parade's is just part of the exciting new lineup Disney has in store as part of its Summer Nightastic!  Additionally, guests can also expect new lighting effects and a new addition to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, as well as a special summer fireworks spectacular at the Magic Kingdom.

 

The post-Super Bowl celebratory cry of “I’M GOING TO DISNEYLAND!” is almost as recognizable as “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” or “Houston, we have a problem.”

But have you ever wondered where the phrase originated? Or who the first person to make the now- famous exclamation was? I mean, why not, “I’M GOING TO UNIVERSAL!” or “I’M GOING TO RED LOBSTER!”

I must admit, this “Disney Secret” had me guessing as well, so I did a bit of research.

Apparently, as the story goes, in the winter of 1986 pilots Dick Routan and Jeana Yaaeger were having dinner with then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner after having just set a new world record for round-the-world-aviation. During the course of the conversation, Eisner asked them their plans, to which they laughingly replied, “Well, we’re going to Disneyland.” Eisner laughed, but his wife immediately smelled a catchphrase. So, with Super Bowl XXI only a few weeks away, an on-field crew was assigned to Giants quarterback Phil Simms, who delivered the line with such accuracy and enthusiasm that Disney has used it, with the exception of 2005, every year since.

Hoping to capitalize on an economic stimulus funding for high-speed rail in Florida, Walt Disney World has pledged to devote 50 acres of its resort property to a train station. This is a departure from its earlier reaction to a previous plan to bring high-speed rail to Orlando. The former plan included a stop at the Orange County Convention Center (an area very close to Disney World's major competitor, Universal Studios) which may explain Disney's reluctance to support the plan. There is speculation though that Disney's recent purchase of Marvel Entertainment (whose prior contracts with Universal Studios will now benefit Disney financially) has softened its concern about the train stop.

The Tampa-Orlando high-speed rail system would reduce traffic along sections of I-4, shorten travel times between Central Florida's major metropolitan areas, and provide an environmentally friendly alternative to driving. Additionally, tourists wishing to combine travel to Disney World and Florida's Gulf Coast beaches would be able to do so without renting a car.

In an effort to continue its 14-month-old rebranding campaign as a global software solutions provider in addition to its more traditional hardware and technical services, IBM has launched a redesigned exhibit called "Smarter Planet" in EPCOT’s Innoventions pavilion.

The exhibit, which opened Friday, offers visitors a peek at an energy efficient IBM data center that, according to IBM, reduces energy costs by up to 25 percent.

IBM spokesman Clint Roswell explained that "Smarter Planet is our way of describing what the possibilities are in the more intelligent, interconnected world.”

In fact, the exhibit itself is powered by the data center. In addition, it will also service 200 clients outside of Disney property and donate the unused computing capacity to the World Community Grid. The Grid, in turn, offers excess capacity to medical, humanitarian and environmental research projects.

Visitors are also invited to create avatars of themselves which then become players in a video game. The video game is based on IBM's history of computing achievements. Once done, guests are then asked to consider how technology might help solve the complex problems facing our world.