Disneyland's Avengers area to open in June with Spider-Man, shawarma

LOS ANGELES -- A new Avengers-themed area featuring a Spider-Man ride, roaming superheroes and a shawarma food cart will open at Walt Disney Co’s Disneyland Resort in California on June 4, the head of the company’s parks division said on Thursday.

The debut will come weeks after the resort in Anaheim, about 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles, begins welcoming back guests for the first time in a year starting on April 30.

Disneyland, the original Disney theme park, and neighboring California Adventure were closed in March 2020 to help prevent spread of the novel coronavirus. The shutdown thwarted plans to open the Avengers Campus in July 2020.

Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney parks, experiences and products, announced the new opening date as he offered a glimpse of the Avengers attractions during a pre-taped video shown to reporters.

In a new Spider-Man ride called “Web Slingers,” which combines physical and virtual environments, guests will team with Spidey to capture out-of-control Spider-Bots.

“You will swear Peter Parker’s right there,” said Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, referring to Spider-Man’s alter ego.

A swinging Spider-Man character also will perform acrobatics above the park’s rooftops. The character is a “stuntronic” robot designed to perform somersaults while flying 60 feet in the air, Disney said.

Black Panther, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, Iron Man also will found in the park, as well as a Quinjet, an advanced aircraft used by the Avengers.

“There’s only one place you can see one of our Quinjets,” Feige said. “It’s either in the movie or it’s here.”

Food options will include a cart offering shawarma, a nod to a scene at the end of the 2012 “Avengers” movie when various superheroes ate the Middle Eastern dish together after saving the world.

Visitors to Disneyland will need advance reservations and must follow COVID-19 safety precautions including wearing masks and social distancing.

-reuters-

Disneyland to become mass vaccination site in Orange County, California Reuters

ORANGE COUNTY, California - Walt Disney Co's Disneyland, which has remained closed since March, will become the first large site to provide COVID-19 vaccinations in Orange County, California, government officials announced late on Monday.

Disneyland will be the first Super Point-of-Dispensing (POD) sites in the county and become operational later this week, the district officials said in a statement.

"The Disneyland Resort, the largest employer in the heart of Orange County, has stepped up to host the county's first Super POD site – undertaking a monumental task in our vaccination distribution process," said acting chairman Andrew Do, Orange County Supervisor, representing the First District.

The county will announce additional Super POD sites as agreements are finalized.

"Disneyland Resort is proud to help support Orange County and the City of Anaheim with the use of our property, and we are grateful for all of their efforts to combat COVID-19," Pamela Hymel, chief medical officer of Disney Parks, said in an emailed statement.

-reuters-

Shanghai Disneyland re-opens after 3-month closure due to coronavirus

SHANGHAI-- Walt Disney Co reopened its Shanghai Disneyland park on Monday to a reduced number of visitors, ending a roughly 3-month closure caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

This marks a milestone for Walt Disney and provides a glimpse of how it might recover from the pandemic that has forced it to shut parks in Asia, the United States, and France, as well as operations at its retail stores and cruise ships.

At the Shanghai park, Walt Disney has put in place measures, including social distancing, masks and temperature screenings for visitors and employees, and is for now keeping visitor numbers "far below" 24,000 people, or 30 percent of the daily capacity, a level requested by the Chinese government.

Tickets for the earliest days of Shanghai Disneyland's re-opening sold out rapidly on Friday.

"We hope that today's reopening can serve as a beacon of light across the globe, providing hope and inspiration for everyone, and can demonstrate that we can overcome any challenge together," Joe Schott, president and general manager of Shanghai Disney Resort, said at a ceremony.

Prior to the park's reopening, roughly 30 annual pass holders in Mickey Mouse outfits waited outside its gates where, to enforce social distancing, yellow squares had been drawn on the ground for people queuing to stand in.

One of them, who gave her English name as Kaira, said prior to the outbreak she typically visited the Disneyland once every week. "It's relaxing here, it's kind of magical," she said.

Disney executives estimated last week the global closures will cost the company $1.4 billion in profits.

-reuters-

Star Wars theme park opens at Disneyland

ANAHEIM, United States - Hundreds of Star Wars fans lined up before the crack of dawn on Friday outside Disneyland as the California park opened the doors of a new mega-attraction based on the iconic film series.

The $1 billion theme park, called "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge," was open only to lucky visitors who managed to reserve tickets ahead of time that allowed them to roam the new land for a total of 4 hours.

Only those with reservations will be able to visit "Galaxy's Edge" for the first 3 weeks, after which it will be open to the public.

"'Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge' is absolutely amazing and we are thrilled to finally share it with the world," Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company Bob Iger said at a pre-opening ceremony on Wednesday.

"Now, for the first time, fans will be able to immerse themselves in the iconic stories that have captured audiences' imaginations for decades and live their own Star Wars adventures in the most creative, innovative, and ambitious land we've ever built."

The park features rides, including on the Millennium Falcon, as well as Star Wars characters such as Stormtroopers, the mighty Chewbacca and Rey, a hero of the resistance in the futuristic land of Batuu.

On "Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run," guests will go on a cargo run that features multiple storylines depending on how they pilot Han Solo's beloved spaceship.

'WAITING FOR THE LONGEST TIME'

Star Wars fanatics will also be able to down exotic drinks such as spicy Bloody Rancor or Carbon Freeze at Oga's Cantina or refresh themselves with Blue or Green Milk.

And if they have any money left at the end of the day, they can fork out $200 -- before tax -- to build their own lightsabers at Savi's Workshop or spend nearly $100 for a custom droid.

A similar Star Wars park will also open at Disney World in Florida at the end of August.

Miguel Langarcia, one of the lucky fans who was able to reserve a ticket for the Friday opening in California, said he was over the moon at being among the first to experience the new attraction.

"I had 4 computers open at one time, trying to get a reservation," he told AFP as he entered the park. "I finally got in, so I’m excited to go today."

Joe Kaniwa, another visitor, said he didn't mind the steep entrance price of nearly $150 per-adult given the experience.

"They want to make a lot of money, and they are making money," he said. "But they also want to make people's dream come true.

"Like you can have people from all generations, you know 40-, 50-year-olds, who have been waiting for this for the longest time, and now they can be part of (this) world."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Blackout prompts evacuations at Disneyland California

LOS ANGELES - A blackout forced evacuations at a number of Disneyland attractions in California on Wednesday, which was crowded on a day many were off for year-end holidays.

Visitors at "Toontown" and "Fantasyland" attractions were plunged into darkness, as was the monorail that runs through the park, local media said.

It was not immediately clear how long it might take to restore power fully at one of California's most popular attractions.

The park was near full, during the busy Christmas vacation season.

"We had an issue with one of our transformers. So we lost power to certain areas of Disneyland park earlier today," said Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown.

"Power has been restored to Toontown and we still have some areas of the park that are without power.

"The monorail is one of the attractions that are down ...(but) the majority of the park is operating," she added.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

More than 100 cases of measles now confirmed in US

LOS ANGELES - More than 100 people in the United States have been confirmed as infected with measles including 91 in California, most of them linked to an outbreak that began at Disneyland in December, public health officials said on Friday.

The California Department of Public Health said at least 58 of the cases of the highly infectious disease in the state have been epidemiologically linked to the Disneyland cluster. More than a dozen other cases have been confirmed in 13 other U.S. states and in Mexico.

No deaths have been reported in connection with the outbreak, which public health officials suspect began when an infected person from outside the United States visited Disneyland in Anaheim between Dec. 15 and Dec. 20.

The White House on Friday urged parents to heed the advice of public health officials and scientists in getting their children vaccinated.

"People should evaluate this for themselves with a bias toward good science and toward the advice of our public health professionals," President Barack Obama's spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.

Asked whether people should be getting vaccinated, Earnest said: "That's what the science indicates."

The measles outbreak has renewed a debate over the so-called anti-vaccination movement in which fears about potential side effects of vaccines, fueled by now-debunked research suggesting a link to autism, have led a small minority of parents to refuse to allow their children to be inoculated.

Some parents also opt not to have their children vaccinated for religious or other reasons.

Earnest said Obama believes decisions about vaccinating children should rest with parents but that "the president believes that everybody should be listening to our public health professionals." Earnest said the White House will continue to closely monitor the outbreak.

Earnest's comments came one day after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans to get vaccinated for measles.

Measles was officially declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 after decades of intensive childhood vaccine efforts. But last year the nation had its highest number of measles cases in two decades.

In addition to California, since December cases of measles have been confirmed in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington state, as well as Mexico.

Most people recover within a few weeks, although it can be fatal in some cases.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Hotel workers' union protests at Disneyland

ANAHEIM, California - Mickey Mouse mask-wearing protesters were among about 325 union members and supporters who demonstrated against Disneyland over a hotel employee contract dispute.

Protesters on Monday wore masks colored with a black eye to represent the union's message that Disney is the black eye of Anaheim, where the amusement park is located.

About 2,100 Disney hotel employees have worked without a contract for about two and a half years and there have been periodic protests.

The main sticking point is health care costs.

Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown says it's unfortunate that the union "continues to focus its energy on protesting" rather than ensuring its members have the security of a contract. - AP


source: gmanews.tv