Loyalty Day is an opportunity to express and reaffirm our loyalty to our country. In proclaiming this day, President George W. Bush wrote: “We express allegiance to our Nation and its founding ideals, we resolve to ensure that the blessings of liberty endure and extend for generations to come.”

But, this day did not start with George Bush’ proclamation. It dates back to the 1920′s.

On Loyalty Day, we reaffirm our allegiance to our country and resolve to uphold the vision of our Forefathers. We should also take a moment to appreciate the members of our armed forces who are displaying the ultimate in loyalty and service to protect our freedoms, and liberty, and our way of life.

Loyalty Day was first celebrated in the 1920′s. Communism was on the rise, and feared in America. At the time, May Day (May 1st) was perceived by some as a Communist holiday. In a sense, Loyalty Day was intended to counter this.

The U.S. Congress made this an official holiday on July 18, 1958 with the signing of Public Law 85-529. Then President Dwight D. Eisenhower, proclaimed May 1, 1959 the first official observance of Loyalty Day.

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So, Loyalty day. There are many ways loyalty is on display at Walt Disney World…most of all seems to be the Disney Vacation Club (DVC). If you’re not aware, that is Disney’s timeshare offering, and if you buy in it rewards owners with discounts on tickets, deluxe accommodations for the price of moderate, etc. More on DVC if requested, but…

I also see loyalty when it comes to certain attractions. The Great Movie Ride at Disney Hollywood Studios on one end and The Carousel of Progress at The Magic Kingdom on the other end. The Great Movie Ride to me is dated and sorely in need of an update, but there are diehard loyal fans that don’t want to change it. On the other hand, The Carousel of Progress is ALSO out of date, but I am in the loyalist party that thinks it should NOT be updated, as it’s a point of time that Walt Disney himself personally oversaw.

BUT, for Loyalty Day, I have to go to the initial anti-communist leanings the holiday was invented for: The American Adventure at Epcot. I loyally attend at least one showing each trip I take to Walt Disney World. It is a tour-de-force of all that is phenomenal about Walt Disney Imagineering: Forced Perspective trickery for the show building; period details in the theming and cast members’ costumes, history lesson in edutainment, and the show itself with a gigantic rear-projection screen and dozens of advanced animatronics. In short, it is all I hold dear about Disney Parks. And what keeps me loyal.

So today, I salute YOU, The American Adventure, on this Loyalty Day!

GREETINGS PROGRAMS!

Buried Guide Wire will (eventually) be an in-depth (at least 3/4 of an inch) look at Disney happenings. I hesitate to say “All Things Disney”, as I feel that phrase is overused A LOT these days.

Now you may wonder why am I talking about American Idol which airs on FOX, then you remember that there is the American Idol Experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studio.  That is part of why I am writing about this topic, but the other part also includes the new judges, well actually just one of the new judges, Steven Tyler.

As hopefully you now realize, Steven Tyler is prominatly involved in another attraction at the Studios with his band Aerosmith at Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster.  This is two huge reasons that Disney needs to step up and use the highly rated show to promote themselves.

This idea of cross-promotion should be a no- brainer right?  Wrong!  Last year in Season 9, Aaron Kelly was a finalist who got his start in the audition process at the American Idol Experience.  He was a “Dream Ticket” winner meaning he didn’t have to wait in the 10,000+ person cattle call audition but was moved straight to the front of the line for the American Idol Producers (not judges, he had to make it past the producers first).  Think of the “Dream Pass” as a fastpass during the first step in the audition process.

Now Aaron proved himself and managed to make it all the way to the Top 5, yet we saw very little of Disney during the last season.  I am not sure why Disney dragged their heals as I thought this was a great time to promote the newly opened attraction and show that anyone on any given day can go from The American Idol Experience to being a Finalist on the show.  Must have been some contractual issues, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have at least purchased ad time for the show and advertise the attraction.

This year, like I said previously, we have two major tie-ins to two of the major attractions at the Studios and not to mention the Ryan Seacrest connection of him co-hosting the Christmas Day Parade for a number of years.  Hopefully we will see a little more Disney promotion during American Idol either directly in the show or indirectly with advertising spots.  Who knows, maybe within this time of me typing up this article it has already happened, I guess I need to check my DVR now.

Jon Favreau, director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2, has been slated to direct movie based on the Magic Kingdom.

Disney has been looking for a way to feature the entire park in a full feature film much like it has featured its attractions such as The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.

The orginal script, pitched and writen by Ronald Moore, has now been shelved.  A new writer will be hired to help Favreau get his vision to the big screen.

The concept of an entire based around the entire theme park is not a new one for Disney. Ridley Pearson has a Young Adult Book series, “Kingdom Keepers” which follow a group of teens as they are transformed into holographic guides and battle characters from the attractions as they come to life.

Image courtesy of Peter E. Lee

This image has been shared from Flickr user jurvetson under the Creative Commons License.

Mad Tea Party 09/26/10 – 11/10/10

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 10/25/10 – 11/14/10

Pooh’s Thotful Shop 11/01/10 – 11/14/10

Astro Orbiter 12/05/10 – 12/09/10

Splash Mountain 01/03/11 – 01/31/11

Epcot

None

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Star Tours 09/08/10 – 05/16/11

Sounds Dangerous Temporarily Closed, Operates Seasonally

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Kali River Rapids 01/03/11 – 01/29/11

Primeval Whirl 01/17/11 – 04/05/11

Typhoon Lagoon

Seasonal Refurbishment 10/31/10 – 01/08/11

Blizzard Beach

Seasonal Refurbishment 01/09/11 – 03/26/11

A new kind of Disney store just opened yesterday at International Plaza in Tampa.  Want to know what it’s like? Disney fan Paul Einselen checked it out:

Overall
Overall the store was nice and had some cool elements which you expect from Disney.  There are some fine details that many will miss but those that pay attention will appreciate them.  The trees are really cool as the image can change since it is done with projectors.  In addition to that Disney has their scent boxes hidden away around the trees so they can also spray the area thus further bringing the trees to life.  The walls also seem to have lighting which will be able to change multiple times through the day but not be too flashy that it is distracting.

The Theater
The Disney Store Theater is nice area which will entertain kids for possibly a whole day.  The touchscreen is very responsive, easy for a kid to use and the playlist screen is really cool because the parents will be able to tell their kid when their selection will play.  Also when someone has a birthday it will be announced on the screen, the lights in the theater ceiling will turn multicolor, music will play in the entire store and the CM will cheer.

The Castle
The princess castle is great for little girls as they can walk in front of the mirror and wave a wand and a Disney Princess will appear.  I couldn’t get a good shot of the castle, but I did take a picture of the top to show how they have a chandelier handing over it, again paying attention to those little details.  Of course for the boys there is the Disney/Pixar Cars RIDEMAKERZ station where you can build and customize your own RC car.

The Interactive Kiosk

I also liked playing with the interactive kiosk.  It was cool to be able to see by category all the different products as well as upcoming events.  I wish the screen was a little bigger and sometimes the gestures and swiping gave me issues (like at the main screen you just tap between the three catagories where naturally as an iPhone user I was trying to swipe), but it was impressive technology.

The Crowd
Disney also thinking ahead is great with crowd management.  When I arrived an hour and half after opening there was still a line of about 25 or so people to get into the store.  Expecting a crowd and to make the shopping experience more enjoyable Disney was limiting the number of guests into the store.  Cast members (and even suits) stood at the door to help direct people to the line and even on the line, cast members, managers and even the district manager were interacting with guests, asking kids about their favorite characters, birthdays, etc.  Once in the store it was very easy to move around, so much so they could have let the rest of the line in behind me (maybe another 20 or so guests) and I feel there still would have been room to shop.  The staff was also phenomenal, very friendly, upbeat and personable.

Today is All or Nothing Day. How will your day go? Will you have it all….or nothing. (Sounds to me, a little like “Deal, or no Deal?”

How would one describe All or Nothing Day. It is certainly as day of extremes. If you’re a gambler, it’s a day to go for broke. A little drastic day, perhaps. There’s definitely no grey area in how you spend this day

We hope you have it all on All or Nothing Day, and every day.

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This one came to me VERY quickly, but let’s go about this a little more closely.

An honorable mention could be The Magic Kingdom’s Mad Tea Party; as there is always a reason to celebrate: a Birthday, or an UN-Birthday. This would be a case of All. A celebration of Nothing can be found in Epcot’s Ellen’s Energy Adventure, when Bill Nye (The Science Guy) shows Ellen the time before the Big Bang, when there was…well…Nothing!

Since there are no Shades of Gray, I guess Shades of Green resort is out as well. Sorry, Veterans!

Back to my initial thought…when I think of All or Nothing…I think of none other than Epcot’s Mission:Space. You choose the Orange (intense) mission, or the Green (gentle) mission. I for one see this as a “you can ride this ride as intended, or watch it on TV” kind of choice. For me, It’s ALL SYSTEMS GO on the Orange Mission!

I know there are those who are prone to claustrophobia or motion sickness, who would not get to ride, so it’s nice that thee is the TV version they can “ride”. But, I’m a Black or White kind of guy!

So, today I salute you, Mission:Space, for being my epitome of All or Nothing Day!