DLW 174: Former Cast Member Dave Smith Part 2

This week, the State released new guidance for theme park reopening, what that means for Disneyland, plus Disney’s reaction to the news, a pleasant surprise from Bob Chapek during the shareholders call, D23 celebrates 20 years of DCA, we finish our talk with former cast member Dave, and more! Please support the show if you can by going to https://www.dlweekly.net/support/. If you want some DLWeekly Swag, you can pick some up at https://www.dlweekly.net/store/. Book your travel through ConciEARS at no extra cost to you! Be sure to mention that you heard about ConciEARS from DLWeekly at booking! If you want some awesome headwear or one of a kind items, be sure to visit our friends over at All Enchanting Ears! You can use the promo code DLWEEKLY10 to get 10% off your order!

News:

The State of California released new guidance on the reopening of theme parks througout the state. Theme parks can now open at 15% capacity in the red tier, 25% in the orange tier, and 35% in the yellow tier. Some other restrictions include no indoor dining, limits on indoor attractions, and visits are limited to residents of California. – https://www.ocregister.com/2021/03/05/disneyland-universal-and-other-california-theme-parks-can-reopen-april-1/ and https://www.micechat.com/284100-breaking-disneyland-reopening-plans-revealed/ Disneyland President Ken Potrock released a statement shortly after the revised guidelines were posted stating they are encouraged by the revisions and are looking forward to reopening in spring and getting thousands of cast members back to work, allowing other local businesses to open as well. – https://twitter.com/DisneyParksNews/status/1367974539397795844/photo/1 With the announcement of the ability for the parks to reopen on April 1st, there are still a lot of things that have to land in place to actually be able to open. First, Disney has to decide if opening at the lower capacity is financially possible, then cast members have to be called back to work and re-trained. Part of this re-training is becoming recertified on the attraction to be able to operate them in the state of California. Senior attraction operators need to be called back in earlier to get recertified, so they can then train the other cast members for them to get certified. – https://www.micechat.com/284685-disneyland-update-not-quite-as-soon-as-you-think/ On the Disney Company Shareholders meeting Tuesday, Bob Chapek stated that they hope to have Disneyland open in late April. There is no date they are ready to announce, but if the cases in Orange County continue on the decline, guests could be welcomed back shortly after the Touch of Disney event ends on April 19th. Chapek stated that they are calling back 10,000 cast members in preperation. – https://twitter.com/DisneyParksNews/status/1369358327562477568/photo/1 D23 is hosting a virtual event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Disney California Adventure. Tickets are free for D23 Gold members, and $11.50 for D23 general members. The panel will include a multitude of Imagineers and others that worked to bring DCA to life. The panel will be available for viewing from March 10th at 4pm Pacific to March 26th at 11:45pm Pacific. – https://d23.com/d23-event/d23-x-walt-disney-imagineering-magical-milestones-disney-california-adventure-park-20th-anniversary/ Tickets for the Touch of Disney event went on sale last week with no specifics, other than the date. Guests hit up the site at midnight pacific time to no update, then at 7am, then 8am, and finally around 9ish, a button appeared to take guests to a queue to get tickets. This queue then lead to another queue to actually get tickets, which for most folks we talked to said “more than an hour.” Once guests got to the online sales page, the process was quick and easy, with no major hiccups. – https://www.mouseplanet.com/12881/Disneyland_Resort_Update_for_March_8__14_2021 MiceChat has some new photos from the skies above Disneyland this week, giving us a glimpse into the park. Lighting was turned on down Main Street, the pink lapacho trees are starting to bloom in the hub, and cocktail tables have been setup around Jolly Holiday and the Plaza Inn. The Frontierland bridge is looking completed and ready to go for guests, and all the attraction work seems to be compelted, with the exception of the carrousel. Over in DCA, Avenger’s Campus looks to be complete on the exterior, waiting to receive guests. – https://www.micechat.com/284685-disneyland-update-not-quite-as-soon-as-you-think/ The WandaVision photo opportunity in Hollywood Land in Disney California Adventure has added a new prop! Agatha Harkness’ directors chair from one of the last episodes of the show is now setup in a fenced off area near the living room setup that has been there for a few weeks now. – https://dlnewstoday.com/2021/03/photos-agatha-harkness-directors-chair-added-to-wandavision-photo-op-at-disneyland-resort/ The Walt Disney Company turns 100 in 2023 and the Walt Disney Archives are planning an exhibit to celebrate! The exhibit will premiere at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in February, 2023. A second staging of the exhibit will premiere in March 2023 for international audiences. More information will be available on D23.com in the future for this exhibit. – https://d23.com/celebrate-100-years-of-disney-with-exhibit-launching-in-2023/ Once again, a new set of ears have dropped in Downtown Disney. This time, they are themed to look like the Mickey balloons that are so iconic. One of the ears is a pink Mickey balloon, with the other ear containing a purple Mickey balloon. This set of ears is heavier than other sets, so there is some padding to make them more comfortable to wear. The ears are also bi-coastal as the purple ear says Disneyland Resort, while the pink ear says Walt Disney World. They also light up! You can pick them up for around $33, as well as on shopDisney. – https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2021/03/08/photos-the-colorful-new-balloon-ears-are-now-available-at-disneyland-resort/#more-463709 The replacement for the former Chadwick Boseman mural in Downtown Disney was unveiled this week. Imagineer Xiao Quing Chen designed the new mural based on Raya and the Last Dragon. Guests can take pictures in front of the new mural, which is located on the side of the former ESPN building. No word on how long the mural will be on display for. – https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2021/03/imagineer-xiao-qing-chen-designs-artwork-inspired-by-disneys-raya-and-the-last-dragon-for-downtown-disney-district/ and https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2021/03/05/new-raya-and-the-last-dragon-artwork-debuts-at-downtown-disney/#more-462409 Disney has filed a patent for a new multimedia show system. The patent describes a system that could be used with elements in the space to cause the room to change and react to different items, basically transforming the room altogether. – https://dlnewstoday.com/2021/03/disney-files-patent-for-new-multimedia-show-system/ and https://dlnewstoday.com/2021/03/disney-patent-would-bring-video-game-interactivity-to-streaming-services-like-disney/

Discussion Topic:

Dave Smith – Books on Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/David-W-Smith/e/B002WDKU44?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_8&qid=1615392106&sr=8-8