Here is the latest News From the World of Disney parks and entertainment including Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line for February 23 – March 8, 2018.

Highlights from the World of Disney:

• The Disney shareholder meeting took place on Thursday, March 8.
• It was movie trailer-plooza this week with the release of three different trailers.
• Purple Wall fan get swag.
• ESPN is getting a new leader.
• Disney Cruise Line is headed to Rome.

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THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

March 4 – Bob Iger has named James Pitaro as the new president of ESPN. (Link)

March 7 – Disney announced they will be donating over $100 million to “reinvent the patient and family experience at children’s hospitals across the globe”. They will even be lending their Imagineers to leading the creative design work at select hospitals. (Link)

March 8 – The annual Disney shareholder’s meeting took place in Houston. While there weren’t any Earthshattering announcements, there were some items of note:

• Disney and Fox are in the regulatory process for the purchase.
• ESPN Plus and the new and improved ESPN app will be available this spring. ESPN Plus will utilize the technology of BamTech.
• Jon Favreau, director of The Jungle Book and the upcoming live action version of The Lion King, will be the Executive Producer of the new live action Star Wars direct-to-consumer series.
• Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will open in Disneyland and Walt Disney World in 2019. Iger said, “construction is going well, we are making great progress.”
• The new Disney Cruise Line Ships will maintain the elegance of the rest of the DCL fleet while featuring new innovations.
• Disney will earmark $50 million to offer college tuition assistance to any full-time hourly cast members.
• Disney is continuing it’s initiative, which because under Walt Disney himself, to employee our country’s veterans. Currently, there are 24,000 veterans employed comnpany-wide. They are also looking for ways to increase their spending with veteran-owned businesses.
• Bob Iger, who admitted he gets up at 4:30am everyday, will be releasing a book in 2019 with his thoughts on leadership and best practices.
• Disney is already in discussions with Fox-owned National Geographic to find ways to integrate their emense catalog and obvious brand presence into the Disney family.

WALT DISNEY WORLD

February 23 – Victoria & Albert’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa has been named a 5-Star restaurant by Forbes. This is a one star upgrade from 2017. (Link)

February 26 – The Atlanta Braves began their2018 spring training season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. This year they will host St. Louis Cardinals, the Detroit Tiger and the Philadelphia Phillies among other teams. (Link)

February 25 – The Princess Half Marathon weekend is a time for miles of smiles. However, a sad story came or of the weekend’s festivities. Runner Chasity Foster who lost her daughter in a tragic car accident just the month before the race was wearing a cross pendant containing the ashes of her daughter. Somewhere around Mile 3 she realized the pendant had fallen off. As is expected, Foster is deparate to get the cross back. (Link)

February 27 – After the incredible success of Marvel’s Black Panther, Disney will donate $1 million to develop STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs across the country. (Link)

February 28 – Fans of the Magic Kingdom’s “Purple Wall” now have merchandise to celebrate their fandom. The new merchandise includes Magicbands and apparel.  (Link)

March 6 – Walt Disney World and Disneyland are now available for view on Google Street View. (Link)

DISNEYLAND

February 23 – The stars of A Wrinkle in Time, Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon and Storm Reed surprised guests seeing a sneak preview of the movie at Disneyland Resort. (Link)

March 8 – The Disney Parks Blog released a flyover video of the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land at Disneyland. (Link)

DISNEY CRUISE LINE

March 1 – The itineraries for Summer of 2019 were released. This includes a first-ever round-trip cruise from Rome and visit seven new destinations in Europe. Also new in 2019 are three-night Short Escapes which are pre-cruise guided excursions in Rome and Vancouver offered by Adventures by Disney. (Link)

March 8 – Some details were released regarding the three new DCL ships. The new ships will be slightly larger than the Disney Dream and Fantasy and will hold roughly 1,250 passengers.These new vessels will be powered by liquidied natural gas which is one of the cleanest-burning fuels available.  (Link)

DISNEY MOVIE/ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

February 23 – Two new Disney Channel animated series are set to premiere in 2018. Amphibia is about a girl who gets transported to the titular world and The Owl House is a horror comedy about a teenage human girl who stumbles upon a portal to the Demon Realm.  (Link)

February 28 – The new trailer for Wreck-it Ralph: Raplh Breaks the Internet.

March 1 – In the saddest news of the week… for me. The release date for Mulan was moved back 2 YEARS! I don’t know if I can wait that long! However, to temper my sorrow Disney also announced Avengers: Infinity War has been moved up one week to April 27, 2018. (Link)

March 4 – Coco garnered two Academy awards. They won Best Animated Feature and Best Song for “Remember Me”. (Link)

March 4 – The first Mary Poppin Returns trailer aired during the Oscars.

March 4 – Also during the Oscars, the trailer for Christopher Robin was released.

REFURBISHMENTS

Refurbishments are now located on their own page.

CURRENT SPECIAL OFFERS

That’s all the news for now. Be sure to check back on February 9, 2018 for our next News From the World of Disney and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for breaking Disney news.

Sue Nowicki is an alumnae of the 2014/15 Disney Parks Moms Panel. She is a recovering team mom trying to find out how to fill her time now that her Team Mom days are over. When not planning her next Walt Disney World vacation she is the Business Sales & Incentive Coordinator for a community bank in Northern Indiana. You can follow her on Twitter @MQPodcast.