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Dateline Disney – March-April 2010

Published Feb. 17, 2010 at 5:00 a.m.
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In this Edition:ESPN Wide World of Sports: The “boys of summer” are back for spring training, and the Atlanta Braves have a 16-game Grapefruit League schedule at Champion Stadium; Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend returns with three days of events.Disney parks: Epcot flowerfest opens March 3; flower festival seminars offer plenty of how-to’s for “green thumbs”; classic hits come alive during Flower Power concert series.Disney Dining: Victoria & Albert’s takes dining elegance to a new room … and level.Disney Cruise Line: Mediterranean, European cruise itineraries begin in April; kids can now customize their activities to suit their tastes.Disney Moms Panel: Popular demand leads to largest-ever panel of online Disney-expert moms in 2010. Epcot Landscape Dons Spring’s Vibrant ColorsFor 17th Flower & Garden Festival Beginning March 3LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – While much of the country’s landscape hibernates to escape winter’s chill, spring arrives on butterfly wings for the 17th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival beginning March 3 at Walt Disney World Resort.  Besides browsing the popular Fawn’s Butterfly House at Pixie Hollow, guests can flex their green thumbs and gather bouquets of ideas for their own spring and summer gardening projects.This year’s festival, which continues for 75 days through May 16, promises to be “a gardener’s dream-come-true,” says festival horticulture manager Eric Darden, because the early opening features more brilliant color and greater opportunity to soak up gardening tips for successful home plantings.  Here are some of the highlights:
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  • Guests can sit in on Disney Gardening at Home presentations, scheduled twice daily each Friday through Sunday, to learn valuable tips that Disney horticulturists employ to keep Epcot gardens thriving.  There’s a bonus, too: guests will participate in a hands-on, take-home gardening project.
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  • Celebrity gardeners and authors get in on the fun each weekend when they make appearances and share their own gardening secrets during the Great American Gardeners series.
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  • Families won’t want to miss the festival’s first Community Garden, where carefully manicured topiaries of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy oversee a thriving garden of tomatoes, beans, peppers, herbs and other vitamin-rich edibles. 
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  • Guests who like to stop and smell the roses can stroll the Fragrance Garden at the France pavilion, where they can sniff the flowers and plants used to create popular Guerlain perfumes.
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  • Each year, expertly crafted topiaries debut across the park, and this year there are several, including the new American Gothic Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse topiaries at World Showcase Plaza based on the 1930 Grant Wood painting.  More than 100 topiaries and lush floral beds decorate the park landscape and showcase the craftsmanship of Disney gardeners.
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  • Guests will find useful and decorative gardening merchandise at The Garden Town Festival Center. 
More information about the 17th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is available by calling 407/W-DISNEY (934-7639) or by visiting disneyworld.com/flower. The festival, including all gardening programs and exhibits, is included in regular Epcot admission.
 

Great American Gardeners + Disney Gardening at Home = Spring Training for ‘Green Thumbs’ during Epcot Flower & Garden FestivalLAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – “Green Thumbs” will have a chance to go to “spring training” during the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival at Walt Disney World Resort.  National, regional and Disney gardening experts will be featured in a series of enlightening presentations each Friday-Sunday of the festival, beginning March 5-7.Topics such as “Easy-to-do Water Features,” “The Small-Budget Garden,” “The Truth about Garden Remedies,” “Creating Backyard Garden Retreats” and many more will be presented on designated weekends during the 17th annual festival, which runs March 3-May 16. Here’s the weekend-by-weekend lineup for March and April:......................................................................................................
...March 5-7......Disney Gardening at Home: Easy-To-Do Water Features
...Great American Gardeners: Florida Fruit & Vegetable Gardening (Robert Bowden)...
...March 12-14......Disney Gardening at Home: Fun Family Gardening Projects
...Great American Gardeners: The Truth about Garden Remedies (Jeff Gillman)...
...March 19-21......Disney Gardening at Home: What’s Old Is New
...Great American Gardeners: Gardening with Heirloom Seeds (Lynn Coulter)...
...March 26-28......Disney Gardening at Home: Butterfly House-How To Create a Pollinator
...Great American Gardeners: The Small-Budget Garden (Maureen Gilmer)...
...April 2-4......Disney Gardening at Home: Disney’s Horticulture Past-Festival Favorites
...Great American Gardeners: Bringing Nature Home (Douglas Tallamy)...
...April 9-11......Disney Gardening at Home: Irrigation ‘How To’
...Great American Gardeners: Stylish Sheds & Elegant Hideaways (Debra Prinzing)...
...April 16-18......Disney Gardening at Home: Creating Backyard Garden Retreats
...Great American Gardeners: Sweet Herbal Recipes & the Creative Herbal Home (Susan Belsinger)...
...April 23-25......Disney Gardening at Home: Disney’s Top Picks for Mixed Containers
...Great American Gardeners: His & Hers–What Makes a Great Garden (Tom & Joani MacCubbin)...
The opening-weekend Great American Gardeners presenter, Robert Bowden, is executive director of Orlando’s Harry P. Leu Gardens, which features 50 acres of southern-styled gardens.Disney Gardening at Home is presented at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. each Friday-Sunday, with Great American Gardeners at 12 noon and 3 p.m. on those days.   All sessions take place at the festival’s Garden Town, located adjacent to Mission: SPACE at Epcot.  The opportunity to attend sessions is included with Epcot admission.

Jose Feliciano Lights Fires of Musical Nostalgia at Epcot, Kicking Off Flower Power Concert Series March 5-7 at Flower & Garden FestivalLAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Jose Feliciano kicks off a schedule of concerts certain to light the fires of musical nostalgia each weekend of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival at Walt Disney World Resort.With his March 5-7 concerts, Feliciano lifts the curtain on a Flower Power concert series lineup featuring 11 acts that produced 126 Top 40 hits from the 1960s through the 1990s.  America’s music-loving public turned 16 of their releases into No. 1’s.Jose Feliciano, whose 1968 recording of “Light My Fire” climbed the charts to No. 3, will be followed in March and April by Paul Revere & The Raiders (March 12-14), David Cassidy (March 19-21), Starship featuring Mickey Thomas (March 26-28), Tony Orlando (April 2-4), Herman’s Hermits Starring Peter Noone (April 9-11), Ricky Nelson Remembered Featuring the Nelsons (April 16-18) and Atlanta Rhythm Section (April 23-25).  (Entertainment is subject to change without notice.)The groups’ shows are at America Gardens Theatre on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 5:15, 6:30 and 7:45 p.m.  Concerts are included with Epcot admission.
 

World Champion Yankees, National League Champion Phillies Among Braves’ 16-Game Grapefruit League Slate at Walt Disney World ResortLAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Atlanta Braves Spring Training returns to Walt Disney World Resort for the 13th consecutive year, with a 16-game Grapefruit League home schedule in March featuring Major League Baseball’s top teams at the newly re-imagined ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Marquee opponents visiting Champion Stadium include the World Champion New York Yankees, World Series runner-up Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Guests also will be treated to game-day entertainment and additional fan experiences in a way only Disney can do – from character appearances … to an exclusive On-Field Spectator Experience and the return of the fan-favorite All-You-Care-To-Eat offering.Information on the Braves’ spring training season, group tickets and mini-packs is available by calling 407/939-GAME (4263) or online at disneysports.com. Individual game tickets are availablethrough Ticketmaster (800/745-3000 and /atlantabravesticketmaster.com) and at the sports complex box office. Braves Spring Training Home Schedule (ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex).....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
...Date......Team......Time...
...Wednesday, March 3......New York Mets......1:05 p.m...
...Thursday, March 4......Pittsburgh Pirates......1:05 p.m...
...Friday, March 5......Washington Nationals......1:05 p.m...
...Sunday, March 7......Houston Astros......1:05 p.m...
...Tuesday, March 9......Philadelphia Phillies......7:05 p.m...
...Wednesday, March 10......New York Mets......1:05 p.m...
...Friday, March 12......Pittsburgh Pirates......1:05 p.m...
...Saturday, March 13......Toronto Blue Jays......1:05 p.m...
...Tuesday, March 16......Florida Marlins......1:05 p.m...
...Friday, March 19......Detroit Tigers......6:05 p.m...
...Sunday, March 21......St. Louis Cardinals......1:05 p.m...
...Wednesday, March 24......Philadelphia Phillies......1:05 p.m...
...Friday, March 26......Detroit Tigers......1:05 p.m...
...Saturday, March 27......Washington Nationals......1:05 p.m...
...Tuesday, March 30......New York Yankees......1:05 p.m...
...Wednesday, March 31......Houston Astros......1:05 p.m...

 Princess Half Marathon Weekend Returns to Disney World March 5-7LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend presented by Lady Footlocker returns to Walt Disney World Resort March 5-7, 2010, bringing together women of all ages to participate in an event designed just for them.Now in its second year, the event includes the Disney’s Fit for a Princess Health and Fitness Expo plus a series of race opportunities – Disney’s Royal Family Kids’ Races, the Royal Family 5K and the 13.1-mile half marathon.  The signature event takes runners on a course through multiple Walt Disney World theme parks, each themed around Disney’s beloved princess characters. Due to popularity, this year’s half marathon race field has been expanded beyond last year’s capacity of 7,500.  More than 13,000 runners are expected to participate in the half marathon – with more than 18,000 cumulatively for the weekend race activities, making it one of the country’s largest road-race events geared toward women … and the only race where runners can experience a storybook start and a fairytale ending.

New Dining Room at Victoria & Albert’s a ‘Must Do’At Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & SpaLAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – True Disney foodies know you haven’t arrived until you’ve dined at the crème de la crème of restaurants – Victoria & Albert’s in Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World Resort. But now the top-rated dining room has a new “must do”: the gorgeous Queen Victoria’s Room.Queen Victoria’s Room, behind closed doors just off the main dining room, features just four tables, and restaurant manager Israel Perez promises attention to your every whim. His staff has brought back French gueridon service, which involves a fancy rolling cart (a gueridon) that moves from table to table for customized service and “wow” factor – a flourish of Himalayan sea salt atop your filet, a decadent wine sauce or a lavish display of cheese, for instance. Anyone who’s tasted Chef Scott Hunnel’s exquisite creations knows this is a memorable affair. How often do you savor perfectly seared Kurobuta pork tenderloin and belly, or butter-poached lobster with bisque and lobster roe foam? And vegans and vegetarians are Hunnel’s favorite challenge. The sommelier happily will pair something delicious with each of the 10 courses. Yes, 10 courses, but they’re small. Still, plan on three to four hours of leisurely dining. It’s worth the price of a baby-sitter – no kids under 10 are allowed in the dining room, so you’re guaranteed an evening of blissful quiet. Be advised: men must wear jackets (tie optional) for this formal affair.    You’ll float out the door with a long-stemmed rose for women and personalized menus for everyone to carry home. Cost for Queen Victoria’s Room is $200 per person, plus $95 for wine pairings. The restaurant has its own reservation line, 407/939-3862. There is just one seating nightly. 

Disney Cruise Line 2010 European and Mediterranean Itineraries Set Sail In AprilCELEBRATION, Fla. – In April, Disney Cruise Line will set sail to Europe for an unprecedented five-month season of Northern European and Mediterranean cruises.On April 24, the Disney Magic will return to the Mediterranean for 10- and 11-night cruises with three new ports of call.  In addition to ports in Italy, France and Spain, the Disney Magic will visit Tunis in Northern Africa, the island nation of Malta, and Corsica, an island oasis off the southern coast of France.  Departing out of Barcelona, Spain, the Disney Magic will sail the Mediterranean in April, May, August and September.During June and July 2010, Disney Cruise Line will offer a 12-night Northern European Capitals cruise for the first time.  Guests can experience breathtaking fjords and Viking lore at the Scandinavian ports Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm.  The ship will also sail to Warnemunde, Germany, and to St. Petersburg, Russia.  The cruises will depart out of Dover, England, aboard the Disney Magic.Throughout these itineraries, family-friendly Port Adventures will allow guests to best experience the culturally rich locales.  All Port Adventures will offer impeccable Disney guest service and are designed to entertain and inspire both children and adults.To see special offers on 2010 itineraries or to book a vacation, guests can visit disneycruise.com, call Disney Cruise Line at 888/DCL-2500 or contact their travel agent.
 
Children Customize Their Cruise Experience on Disney Cruise LineCELEBRATION, Fla. – Disney Cruise Line, the leader in family cruising, is once again reinventing onboard children’s experiences.  Through an entirely new approach to youth activities, kids can let their imaginations set sail by customizing their cruise vacation.  More youth activities than ever before are available and children choose experiences based on interest, not age.On Disney Cruise Line, children can personalize their cruise vacation by selecting activities and events, regardless of age.  The entire menu of youth activities offerings is now open to every child.  Children and parents choose programs based on the specific interests of each child to create a customized and very personalized experience.  Best of all, children of different ages – siblings, extended family and friends – can participate in youth activities together throughout their cruise.The majority of children’s events and free-time activities occur within dedicated youth spaces on the ship and on Castaway Cay.  As always, Disney Cruise Line youth activities are supervised by specially trained, experienced counselors.With more than 100 activities, events and programs, and with all youth activities open to all ages, children have more choices than ever before on Disney Cruise Line.To learn more about Disney Cruise Line or to book a vacation, guests can visit disneycruise.com, call Disney Cruise Line at 888/DCL-2500 or contact their travel agent.
 

More Moms for The Mouse: Online Panel Expands to 43LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Due to the increasing popularity of the Walt Disney World Moms Panel Web site, 22 panelists from 2008 and 2009 are joining 21 new panelists for the largest-ever group of Disney-savvy vacation gurus in 2010.“Walt Disney World is so much more than a theme park, and being on the Moms Panel allows me to help people discover all that Disney has to offer,” said 2010 panelist Amanda Allen of Raleigh, N.C.  “I’ve been traveling to Walt Disney World for over 35 years, and even after making countless trips there, my family still finds something new to experience.”Chris Gildea, a teacher from Boston, Mass., feels that planning a trip to Walt Disney World Resort can be a once-in-a-lifetime event, and he has been helping people plan those kinds of trips for years.   “Being a part of the Walt Disney World Moms Panel allows me a greater platform to expand the magic to others!”The panelists work from home, helping answer guests’ vacation planning questions.  Many panelists feel that in some ways they are helping spread Disney pixie dust all over the world.  Florida resident Maria Marquez says, “I love knowing I help other families relax and take in the Disney magic and joy on their trips.  I get to share my own perspective and it brings me that much more happiness!”For Walt Disney World Resort, Disney Cruise Line and Adventures by Disney trip planning advice, visit www.DisneyWorldMoms.com. -30-  MARCHAPRILF-N10/2-17-10:dh


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