Disney Facts: A look at the Disney Ambassador program

This ambassadorship is not one that is appointed by the President to represent the United States in a far away land. This is post is probably one more people would desire - to be a  Disney Ambassador.

The ambassador program is a tradition that began at the Disneyland Resort in 1965 when Walt Disney realized the need for an official representative of Disneyland. Up until 1994 there was just one Disneyland Ambassador at  time, but after that teams were appointed. And the program has expanded.

Currently, each of Disney's resort destinations around the world has an Ambassador, according to the Disney Parks blog,  whose full-time duties include participating in more than 200 events each year.The events include cast member recognition ceremonies, grand openings, marketing events, special promotions and media interviews.

Jolie Hales and Rene Torrico are the current ambassadors. Scott Wolf has interviews with them and all the history of the ambassador program on his site.

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Smile of the Day: Video of Mo'Rockin at EPCOT

Walking past the Morocco Pavilion at Epcot and the you may soon be transfixed by the Rock and Roll music set to Arabian rhythms - oh and the bellydancer. This 6-person musical group blends rhythms from around the world using traditional and modern instruments.

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Disney Facts: Happy Holidays in Walt Disney World

The holiday season transformation at the Walt Disney World Resort means more than 15 miles of garland draped with 300,000 yards of ribbon on more than 1,500 holiday trees.

Now, those trees are, which are located not only in the parks but all the resorts, have more than 700,000 LED lights. According to Disney, if you were to string the bulbs end to end the strand would stretch for 96 miles.


An intricate, life-size gingerbread house cooked up by Walt Disney World pastry chefs is constructed at  Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. The shack is baked with 1,050 pounds of honey, 600 pounds of powdered sugar, 35 pounds of spices and more


A magnificent gingerbread carousel complete with chocolate and soft-candy ponies and oversized candy-cane poles takes center stage at Disney’s Beach Club Resort.

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DVC annual mixer happening inside EPCOT for first time

For the first time the Disney Vacation Club annual mixer will be held inside a park at Walt Disney World.

According to DVC member website, the mixer will take place inside EPCOT at the World Showcase Pavilion between Canada and the United Kingdom pavilions. Usually, the mixers have been held outside of EPCOT at the International Gateway entrance.

The events are taking place on Tuesday's Nov. 29, Dec. 6., Dec. 13 and Dec. 20  between 3 and 5 p.m. Dec. 20 is a blackout date for Florida Resident Seasons and weekday selected passes.

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Smile of The Day: Video of SpectroMagic at Walt Disney World

A little more than 20 years ago the SpectroMagic evening parade was unveiled at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort. Similar to the Main Street Electrical Parade, the 20-minute parade, contained about 36 floats with over 100 miles of fiberoptic strands, 600,000 miniature lights, 204 speakers and 72,000 watts of speaker power.

The parade's first run was from Oct. 1, 1991 to May 21, 1999 and then from April 2, 2001 to June 5, 2010. The nighttime parade now at Magic Kingdom is the Main Street Electrical Parade.

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Play the Mickey Clothes Game - Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse

As we celebrate Mickey Mouse's birthday today it's time to review the fond memories of the 83-year-old icon - and his wardrobe.

If you are in Walt Disney World or Disnelyand spend the day spotting Mickey and count how many different outfits you see him wearing. If you are at home, pull out your photos and again count the get-ups.

According to Disney, Mickey has more than 290 different costumes ranging from a scuba suit to a tuxedo to a safari outfit. Yes, Mickey is a clothes mouse. He always seeks to have the best ensemble around, even more so than Minnie Mouse. You see his steady girl's closet is only filled with a little more than 200 outfits - from evening wear to a cheerleader costume.

I would hate to have to carry his luggage.

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Smile of the Day: Cinderella Castle Lighting at Walt Disney World

For the past few years during the holidays Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World is adorned with 200,000 holiday lights. The LED lights are attached to more than  40,000 square feet of fisherman’s net dyed to  match the colors of the castle. To bring the lights  together 18 miles of electrical cable is used. And, according to the Disney Parks blog,  it’s all run on the amount of power that it takes to run three clothes dryers.

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