New show featuring Jack Sparrow coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios

A new show that will immerse guests into the world of the four "Pirates of the Carribean" films will open this fall at Hollywood Studios in Disney World.

The show, called The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow" will let guests walk in the footsteps of the famous pirate captain, the Disney Parks blog reports.

No specific details were released other than to say this is not "the making of" and not a "behind the scenes" look at.

Jason Roberts, show producer for Walt Disney Imagineering told the blog: , “We’ll really delve into the story of Captain Jack Sparrow and put our guests in the middle of it all in new and exciting ways.… it is really a first-person experience. We worked with the archives as well as the filmmakers while they were shooting the last movie. And as a fan, I just loved sitting through those films again and again, going through all the details and leveraging them for this new experience. It’s really been a blast.”

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Smile of The Day: Toy Story soldiers on night maneuvers

There are always great photography opportunities around Disney World at night. Sometimes, all you need to do is look up. Here at Hollywood Studios are the toy soldiers from "Toy Story" on top of a building in the Pixar section of the park.

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Disney Facts: What makes up Mickey's Sorcerer's Hat at Hollywood Studios

Sitting in front of the Chinese Theater in Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida sits the central icon: Mickey's Sorcerer's Hat.

The 122-foot-tall hat weighs 156 tons and is made of composite fiberglass. The foundation was made of enough concrete to cover the length of a football field, according to Disney.

Now, if Mickey were to wear the hat, he would have to be 350 feet tall and would have a hat size of 606 7/8.

The hat itself is 100 feet tall with an interior space equalling 60,000 cubic feet. It would be able to hold 444,744 gallons of water, if those broomsticks from "Fantasia" wanted to fill it up.

According to a Disney fact sheet, the hat is painted with something called “chameleon paint,” which shifts color as guests move around it. The paint job is enough to cover 500 cars. And to keep the hat together builders used 13,493 bolts, 26,986 washers and 17,000 feet of underground utility piping.

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• Animal Kingdom By The Numbers
• How Expedition Everest village was built
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Disney Facts: Hooked on The American Idol Experience

I admit it, I am not an "American Idol" fan. I have watched the TV show a few times, have never voted, and am not one of the millions who need to come back week after week and cheer someone on. However, I am hooked on the American Idol Experience at Disney World.

There is something about being in a live audience cheering on guests who have the guts to go on stage and give their all to the hundreds of strangers in the studio.

The studio where this all takes place is phenomenal and is a great replica of what is seen on television.

For all of who have attended and for those who plan to visit, here are some things to know about the venue By The Numbers:

25,000: Square feet of indoor space

3,000: The size of the stage in square feet

1,000: The number of seats for the audience

113: Video screens in the theater and audition space

105: Speakers in the theater and auction space

76: Miles of cable wired in the high-tech theater

25: Miles of conduit in the theater

3: Number of judges on the show, all of whom are industry professionals.

Source: Walt Disney World

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Disney Facts: Secrets of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

The Hollywood Hotel at Hollywood Studios in Disney World and at Disney's California Adventure hold many secrets, not just that you will enter into The Twilight Zone.

Once entering a freight elevator you take a ride up into the Twilight Zone and fall back to earth - repeatedly.

The Hollywood Tower Hotel

In Florida, starting in the library, take a look at the director sign. Inside the glass-encased box you'll see that some of the letters have fallen to the bottom spelling out --  “evil tower u r doomed.”

When you are watching the television in the library, look for the little girl getting on the elevator and watch what she is holding - a vintage Mickey Mouse doll. And when the stars begin to swirl when the elevator car reaches the "fifth dimension" you'll find a hidden Mickey Mouse.

According to a Disney news release, "Walt Disney Imagineers searched Hollywood auction houses for the hotel furnishings. French bronzes by the 19th century artist Moreau are found in the attraction, as well as furniture pieces that graced Hollywood clubs and hotels throughout the 1920s."

Not only did the Imagineers pay great detail to the interior of the building, but they built a landscape to resemble the hills of the Elysian and Griffith Parks in Los Angeles, according to the news release.

And don't forget to listen to the music for Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo,"and Bunny Berigan's "We'll Meet Again."

In California,  the glass display cases outside the library contain props that reference two “Twilight Zone” episodes. One is a gold thimble from  "The After Hours,” starring Anne Francis as a woman who has forgotten that she is not actually a human being but a department store mannequin; and a broken  stopwatch from “A Kind of a Stopwatch,” the story of a watch that stops time.

The biggest secret is probably how the elevator -- which drops about 13 stories -- works. The elevator doesn't drop. It's on a piston which pushes the elevator up and pulls it down.

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Smile of The Day: Classic nighttime photo of the sorcerer's hat at Hollywood Studios

The classic nighttime photo of the Mickey Sorcerer's Hat
 at Hollywood Studios in Disney World.

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Star Wars weekends return to Walt Disney World

May and June will see the return of Star Wars Weekends at the Hollywood Studios in Disney World.

The annual special event will be held every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 18 to June 10, according to a Disney news release.

A Disney handout photo showing a Stormtrooper.

"The centerpiece of the celebration is the spectacular 3-D attraction, 'Star Tours – The Adventures Continue.' The attraction, which opened last spring at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, uses eye-popping 3-D, a dramatic musical score and motion simulator-based technology to immerse guests in the Star Wars galaxy like never before," the release reads.

The “Jedi Training Academy,” allows children to learn from a Jedi Master before testing their newly acquired skills in a battle with Darth Vader. In addition, there is a special parade, motorcade and chances to meet various characters.

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Disney Fact: The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster By The Numbers

The Rock music is blaring. The Freeway awaits. The countdown starts. And away you go.

The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, at Disney Hollywood Studios, launches riders from 0 to 57 mph in 2.8 seconds making it the second fastest ride at Disney World. The fastest is Test Track, located in Epcot.

Here's a look at the Rock' n' Roller by the numbers:

32,000: Watts on board audio system

3,403: Feet of track in the ride.

900: Speakers throughout the ride.

125: Speakers in each car.

24: Sub-woofers in each car.

4.5 : The number of G-forces riders experience from launch to the first loop. This is more than an astronaut  feels during a launch.

3: Inversions the ride takes you through

2.8: Seconds it takes to go from 0-57 mph.

Source: Walt Disney World

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Smile of The Day: Video of Wizard of Oz segment at The Great Movie Ride

MORE SMILES OF THE DAY

• Photo of the Dinosaur Smile
• Photo of Dumbo smiling
• A fairy godmother vamps it up
• Taking a ride on the Test Track
• Video of SpectroMagic
• Mo'Rockin performs at Epcot
• Video of The British Invasion

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Disney marathon weekend sold out, new race announced

If you still haven't signed up for the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend, you're a little late. The weekend is sold out, according to Disney.

The marathon weekend includes a number of races for family and kids. The main attraction is the 26.2-mile race which goes through Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.

But don't worry, if you still need a race to run Disney has added the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror theme run. The 10-mile run will be held in Hollywood Studios and take place Sept. 29, according to a Disney news release.

The nighttime race, will be the sixth signature Disney event and the second nighttime race, the other is the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend, which moves to Nov. 9-10 next year during the final weekend of the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. 

Race registration opens Feb. 14, 2012. More information is available here. 

To help you out for other race planning or other planning for 2012 go here for the complete list of events.

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Smile of the Day: Video of Osborne Lights performing "Feliz Navidad"

This favorite song of many, Feliz Navidad --performed by Jose Feliciano -- is put to the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights treatment on the Streets of America at Disney's Hollywood Studios This was taken last year. Next week, we will post new video from this year.

Some facts about this popular song: The song was written in 1970 with the simple Spanish chorus, "Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad" meaning "Merry Christmas, a prosperous year and happiness" is followed in English by "I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart."

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Holiday Photo: Mickey and Santa

Mickey Mouse and Santa shake hands as part of the Osborne Family of Lights at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

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Disney Facts: Macy's Thanksgiving Balloons at Walt Disney World

For nearly 85 years large balloons have been walked down New York City streets as part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. For a brief period those large balloons were brought to the Disney-MGM Studios, when it was was called that.

In 1992, Kermit, the Frog, Betty Boop, Santa Goofy and Humpty Dumpty all hung out out along the old New York Street backlot. Eventually, the balloons and parade moved to Universal Studios.

All photos here were taken during the 1992 trip.

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Smile of The Day: Boardwalk Barker Mr. Potato Head

This Spud's for you. 


He's larger-than-life in more ways than one. Mr. Potato Head welcomes, cajoles and distracts everyone in line at Toy Story Mania in Disney's Hollywood Studios and Toy Story Midway at California Adventure. The nearly 5-foot  Audio Animatronic figure gives you his special "Boardwalk Barker" routine explaining how the attraction is "a ride. It's a game. It's a game. It's a ride."

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