Welcome to DisneyBizJournal.com - News, Analysis and Reviews of the Disney Entertainment Business!

Brought to fans, investors, entrepreneurs, executives, teachers, professors, and students by columnist, economist, novelist, reviewer, podcaster, business reporter and speaker Ray Keating

Friday, March 29, 2024

Flamingo Crossing Restaurant is Disney-Adjacent… And Oh, So Good!

by Beth Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 29, 2024

 

Flamingo Crossing is a still under-construction shopping and hotel complex in Winter Garden, Florida, but it is probably better known to locals as the home of Disney’s College Program dorms. Anchored by a quartet of hotels and an abbreviated-size Target store, the recently built store fronts are beginning to fill up with a variety of small retailers and quite a few eateries, including a Skyline Chili on one side of the roadway, and an interesting dessert-only café called White Rabbit Dessert Experience and a scratch-made BBQ place called Ellie Lou’s Brews & BBQ on the other.



Opened in November, one of the pristine new restaurants in the complex might just be one of the best hidden gems adjacent to the Disney Bubble.  Located at Disney World’s western gate around the corner from the Magic Kingdom, and a mere five miles from Animal Kingdom, Simply Capri is a remarkable restaurant that serves up the cuisine of Southern Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Wood-fired pizza, house-made pastas, lots of tantalizing seafood dishes, and creative cocktails are on order, made from specially imported ingredients. The restaurant is also known for its Negroni bar, and there’s a Spritz bar as well.


Its Disney-adjacent location isn’t its only Disney connection, however.  Simply Capri’s Nick Valenti is the gentleman who brought you the restaurants in the Italy pavilion at EPCOT, Space 220, The Edison, Morimoto Asia and other Disney locales. He is the CEO of the Patina Restaurant Group, and has served as Chairman Emeritus at the Culinary Institute of America. General Manager Benito Sevarin was the Head of Operations in the Italy Pavilion at EPCOT. He was also Director of Operations for Le Cirque in New York. (That’s high praise, indeed, to those of us from the north!)  Executive Chef Giovanni Aletto was born and raised in Italy, where he also owned his own restaurant, and his previous role as Executive Chef in the Italy pavilion at EPCOT makes him no stranger to restaurants in the tourist corridor.

   
And while Simply Capri’s executive team may have Disney connections, there’s a bit of a familiar feel with the staff as well – a good number of them are cultural exchange program participants from Italy, just like many of the cast members at EPCOT, giving the restaurant an even greater feel of authenticity. (Check their nametags for their hometowns!)


While the people plating up your lunch and dinner and shaking up your drinks no doubt give the room its Italian flair, the décor does its part as well. Hand-painted Italian fixtures and an imported pizza oven pull it all together in this light and airy space.  The only drawback to the beautiful room? Its high ceilings allow the atmosphere to be a little loud during certain times of the night as the tables pack out.  If the weather is nice, though, there’s also an outside patio that is a bit quieter.

 
Now, on to the food…

 

Our waitress dropped off a plate of sliced bread that had a lightly seasoned olive oil topping. Resist the urge to scarf it all down while waiting for your meal, because this soft, fluffy bread might better serve you when your meal arrives, especially if you’ve ordered one of the entrées with a sauce or broth. (We’ll explain later.)  The only thing that would have made this bread better would have been if it had been served warm.




For our appetizers, we chose the Fior Di Latte Mozzarella ($15) and the Polpette Capresi ($14).  Both were delicious, but the Polpette Capresi is something we would return for again and again.  The Fior Di Latte Mozzarella was plated with a smattering of multi-colored cherry tomatoes, drizzled with a light olive oil and Italian seasonings. The trio of mozzarella balls was extremely fresh, but in hindsight, it wasn’t anything particularly creative.  We should have tried one of the many other appetizers that were a bit more inspired (and also delicious looking as they passed by to other folks’ tables.)  Next time, we might opt for the Fritto Sorrentino ($12), a combination of fried pizza dough, stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella, salami, and marinara. Or maybe the Parmigiana Di Melanzane ($14), a dish of thin-sliced fried eggplant, marinara sauce, mozzarella, and Parmigiano Reggiano. If you are more of a seafood fan, the Carpaccio Di Tonno Agli Agrumi ($22) might be more your style, with its fresh tuna marinated with Valencia orange, lemon, black pepper, olive oil and arugula. That was also intriguing.



The clear winner for our appetizer choices, though, was the Polpette Capresi, the homemade meatballs smothered in a bright tomato sauce and topped with fresh ricotta, mozzarella, basil, and Parmigiano Reggiano. The sauce was perfectly made, not too sweet, but also lacking in any acidic notes. There was just a hint of a garlic undertone. The fresh made ricotta, which added so much flavor,  melted right into the sauce, and we wanted to scoop up every last drop in the dish. (This is what you needed to save some of that bread for!)  The meatballs had a slight, but very welcome, firmness to them - we don’t like mushy meatballs!  This appetizer was a definite “get this again.”



The main entrées for the night were where Simply Capri really shined.  Both of our picks were spectacular, and worth the drive to Winter Garden.  

 

The first selection, the Scialatielli Dei Faraglioni ($30), was a large bowl of house made egg ribbon pasta, tossed with shrimp, clams, mussels, calamari, and cherry tomatoes, seasoned with parsley and Italian herbs, and drizzled with olive oil.  With the thick, fettucine-like egg pasta, you’d expect this to be a heavy dish, one that you’d avoid in the Central Florida heat, but you’d be wrong.  This dish was put together with a broth that was light and tasty, and didn’t detract from the various shellfish piled into the pasta.  The entrée was the kind of dish that you’d imagine eating if you were sitting in Italy, staring out at the Mediterranean.  The dish also works in a place like Florida, though,  simply because of its seafood-laced broth, rather than a sauce that is heavy with cheeses.  The broth was strongly flavored of the ocean, and the dish was teeming with plenty of fresh seafood.  No complaints there! The various kinds of seafood were perfectly cooked, not overdone in the least, and we thoroughly enjoyed this dish.  Our suggestion to you as the diner?  This is the other place for which you might want to save your fresh bread, because it would be a great vessel for sopping up the rest of that delicious broth.  We left too much of that goodness behind, even after trying to scoop it up with a spoon.



Entrée #2 was also a delight…. And only available on Wednesdays!  We opted for the baked Ogni Mercoledi Lasagna Bolognese ($28). The multiple, uber-thin and truly delicate sheets of pasta were filled with plenty of tender meat sauce, Parmigiano Reggiano, and beschamel, and served in a perfect red sauce.  This was, perhaps, the best lasagna we’d ever had, and we make a pretty good homemade lasagna ourselves!



If our two choices aren’t what you are looking for on your visit, there’s also a series of salads ($14-$20), soups ($10-$12), and woodfired pizzas ($18-$26) that looked great. Linguine with clams ($28); more traditional spaghetti and meatballs ($24); Pennette Al Salmone (Smoked Salmon in white cream, $26); house made Ravioli Caprese ($27); Filet of Florida Red Snapper ($38); and Seabass ($36) are among some of the other choices.


We almost skipped dessert because we were reaching capacity at that point, but since it was our first time at Simply Capri, we threw caution to the wind and ordered two to share.  

 

The Coppa Tricolore ($15) was an enormously tall glass of high-quality gelato, served with a spoon so long it stretched from our hand to our elbow (no lie!).  There are several different gelato combinations on menu, but we chose the vanilla, chocolate, and cookies and cream gelato, topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. There are also pieces of chocolate cannoli crumble sprinkled in, and while some folks might like the added texture, we’d have left them out and just enjoyed the super creamy gelato.



Our additional dessert was the Tiramisu ($11), because if you are in an Italian restaurant, you have to get the tiramisu.  (There’s also a cannoli available for $12 if you are so inclined.). The tiramisu was good, but not great. Served in a small glass canning jar, it had a layer of dark cocoa powder over the creamy custard.  Unfortunately, the custard was a bit on the watery side, and not as sweet as we’d expected.  The Lady Fingers were light, and almost disappeared into the custard.  The coffee soak was also a light touch, so even those who aren’t as big of a coffee aficionado won’t be overwhelmed.



There are lots of adult beverages on the menu, from the Negroni bar, to the imported Italian wines, and some designer cocktails.  We opted for one of the mocktails, though. It’s springtime, and as former northeasterners, we thought the Cherry Blossom ($8) would be fun.  Made from fresh lemonade, cherry juice, and vanilla syrup, this drink was just as tasty as it was pretty.  It was refreshing, without being too sweet, and though it was made from a lemonade base, it wasn’t overwhelmingly tart.

Service at Simply Capri was well-paced, and the food came out consistently (and correctly!). Our wait staff was cheerful and friendly, offering explanations (and pronunciations) of the menu details.  We also got an unexpected follow-up text from Simply Capri the next day, inquiring about our visit and providing a chance for feedback.  Our response?  We’ll definitely be back. Our meals were much appreciated.

Simply Capri is located at 114 Ruby Red Place in Winter Garden, Florida. They are open seven days a week, serving lunch from noon to 3:30 p.m., and dinner from 4:00 p.m. until 10:30 p.m.  Sunday Brunch is available from 11:30 a.m.  to 3:00 p.m.


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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at

https://raykeatingbooksandmore.com/shop/ols/products/disneyplanner. And please listen to the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast 

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Disney and DeSantis: Politics and Business as Usual

 by Ray Keating

Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 28, 2024

 

The announcement that the Walt Disney Company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have agreed to move on from their dueling lawsuits is a case of politics and business as usual.

 

Disney has a major shareholder meeting coming on April 3, and, no doubt, wanted this controversy to go away. Meanwhile, since DeSantis’s attempt to become the Republican presidential candidate for 2024 crashed and burned, the governor had little reason to drag on his political show of attacking Disney to gin up the GOP base.



So, it was time to move on for all parties. In fact, new development deals between Disney and Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which signed off on the settlement with the House of Mouse, will be hammered out.

 

CNN reported:

 

A trial was set to begin in June. But now, Disney holds that prior agreements are null and void and intends to negotiate a new deal that likely would be beneficial to Disney’s development plans in the area.

 

Separately, in January a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Disney filed accusing DeSantis of weaponizing his political power to punish the company for exercising its right to free speech. Disney quickly filed an appeal, but it will now put that on hold “pending negotiations” on a new development deal, among other matters, with the district.

 

Additionally, both parties agreed to drop the various state-wide lawsuits they’ve filed against one another. Instead, both agreed to resolve their differences outside of the courtroom in way that would not require either to admit any fault or liability, according to text of the settlement.

 

That’s nice.

 

Of course, serious questions are left on the table. For example, does it make sense for a business to weigh in on political issues that have nothing to do with its actual business? Can politicians get away with abusing the powers of government to attack particular businesses with whom they disagree on an issue?

 

Anyone thinking that a company like Disney would stand on principled ground regarding free speech and fighting government overreach fails to understand that publicly traded businesses will go only so far as management believes it will benefit the company. (That is, unless a company is captured by a leftist social agenda, and then management tends to blindly step into politics even if it creates risks and uncertainties for the bottom line.) None of this should surprise anyone.

 

Meanwhile, anyone thinking that politicians today take stands based on principle fails to understand politics as it particularly has further degraded over the past decade-and-a-half or so. On both sides of the aisle, few, if any, serious thinkers hold elected office. Instead, Democrats make a point of pandering to the party’s hard-core leftist base, and Republicans pander to its recently emerged populist base. 

 

If you doubt these points, consider that for all of the attacks Governor DeSantis had hurled at the Disney company, including the special treatment it received, CNN noted the following from the press conference this week announcing the Disney-DeSantis deal: “DeSantis suggested the settlement could give Disney more of an edge to compete with neighboring Universal Orlando’s theme park, which recently announced an expansion slated to be complete next year.”

 

If it weren’t all so sordid and dangerous, it might be funny.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement and fun for Disney fans, including those who love Mickey, Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, princesses and more.

 

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Monday, March 25, 2024

For a Limited Time – Get the Two Latest Pastor Stephen Grant Adventures by DisneyBizJournal.com’s Ray Keating for FREE!

 Join the Pastor Stephen Grant Fellowship at the Bronze Reader level or higher, and receive For Better, For Worse and Christmas Bells at St. Mary’s for FREE! And get every new book by Ray Keating as a key benefit of your membership.



 

And with more books coming in Pastor Stephen Grant, Alliance of Saint Michael, and new series, this is the right time to join!

 

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As you know, Ray Keating is the author of 19 Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, as well as Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel, which is the first book in a historical fiction series. More books are coming in these series, as well as books in new series. So, don’t miss out!

Saturday, March 23, 2024

New Drone Show Coming To… Disney Springs?

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 23, 2024

 

When new shows appear on the Disney World horizon, guests typically expect them to take place in the parks. A new parade, a new stage show, new concerts during festivals… But they all make their homes in one of the four theme parks. The upcoming “¡Celebración Encanto!” sing-along show beginning June 10 at EPCOT is just one example.



Beginning Memorial Day weekend, however, Disney World’s “fifth park,” Disney Springs, will be debuting a limited time drone show in the skies over the west end of the shopping and dining complex.

  
“Disney Dreams That Soar” will take place nightly from May 24 through September 2, 2024. Using music and Disney movie quotes, the state-of-the-art show will tell Disney stories that celebrate the joy of flight.

 
Disney fans have been hoping for a drone show at the Florida resort, following amazing drone shows in other theme parks around the world, including earlier this year at Disneyland Paris with its “Disney Electrical Sky Parade,” utilizing hundreds of drones, fountains and projection lighting;  and the “Avengers: Power the Night” show at Walt Disney Studios Park.

 
Universal Studios Hollywood has also put on a drone show, with the Wizarding World’s popular (and spooky) “Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle” show.


This will not, however, be the first drone show for Disney Springs. In 2016, “Starbright Holidays” briefly entertained guests over the Springs.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at

https://raykeatingbooksandmore.com/shop/ols/products/disneyplanner. And please listen to the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast

 

Friday, March 22, 2024

Easter Goodies Available at Grand Floridian’s Easter Cottage

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 22, 2024

 

A sure sign of spring at the Walt Disney World Resort is the arrival of the dozens of giant  chocolate Easter eggs at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.


These eggs are, without a doubt, not just candy. They are detailed works of art. That they are temporary and fleeting makes them all the more interesting. 




Talented pastry chefs have created these intricately decorated eggs, each with its own Disney character or theme, and made from such components as modeling chocolate, fondant, Krispie rice, and cocoa butter paint.  Many times, you’ll be able to actually watch one of Disney’s culinary artists hard at work, designing a new egg for the display tables. (In fact, we watched Yadi, a member of the culinary team who’d created the Alice in Wonderland egg on the side tables, as she painted a multi-character egg in front of guests.) The creators will be happy to chat with you as they work, answering any questions you might have about the egg making process.



Some of our favorite designs this year were definitely the double-sided Alice in Wonderland egg with its working clock parts; the rotating Beauty and the Beast egg with its interior rose; the Sword in the Stone egg with Merlin; and the Donald and Daisy Duck house, with Daisy peeking out an upstairs window.





There are nearly two dozen eggs on display at the Grand Floridian, depending on whether you count them by themed display, or by individual creations.  You have to make sure you walk around both sides of the eggs, because many are three dimensional, and are decorated on the inside, the outside, and the back and the front.  They range from whimsical (Al’s Toy Barn) to educational, with multi-faceted sketches of Snow White and Cinderella, looking like diagrams from the Ink and Paint departments’ guidebooks. Some, like the Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway tribute and the Main Street Electrical Parade, even light up.






The eggs also ranged from small bunnies, to the larger Munchlings “kitchen stove,” to a James and the Giant Peach that was nearly as tall as many of the guests visiting the display.  The Kakamora coconuts from Moana were also large (as far as coconuts go!), balanced precariously together in fight mode on a tabletop.  Jasmine’s palace was downright gorgeous, and it took me awhile (and reading the chef’s personal notes below the egg) to figure out the blue cat egg was a tip of the pastry brush to Yzma from Emperor’s New Groove.  If you want to know the inspiration behind each creation, a brief note from each artist is on the table next to the egg.






The egg displays may be the main draw at the Grand Floridian, but there’s also a “Grand Cottage” set up for guests to buy a yummy goodie.  Now in its third year, this people-sized cottage offers edible on-the-go snacks, as well as treats that you can take home and craft yourself.





The goodies range from the more tea time or breakfast items like the Guava Cream Cheese Sweet Roll ($4.75); Hot Cross Buns ($4.50); or Cream Cheese Carrot Coffee Cake ($9.75);  to the sweeter stuff, like Easter Marshmallow Pops ($4.50);  Bunny Burrow Dirt Cups ($7.00); Fruity Cereal Mickey Pops ($7.25); Carrot Blondie Pops ($7.50); White Chocolate Bunny Pops ($8.00); Marshmallow Eggs ($8.00); Lemon Blueberry Whoopie Pies ($8.25); Confetti Pops ($9.75); Milk Chocolate Bunnies ($12.00); a variety box of Macarons ($15.00); a Bunny Flower Pot ($15.00); and The Grand Egg ($20.00).  Can’t make up your mind?  The Easter Treat Box ($80.00) will let you take home an assortment.


Disney Parks Blog video on how these fascinating eggs are made!


The Grand Cottage is open daily through April 1 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.  

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at

https://raykeatingbooksandmore.com/shop/ols/products/disneyplanner. And please listen to the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

The Edison Offers Fun Classes to Learn While You Are “Sipping”

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 20, 2024

 

The Edison is one of our favorite restaurants in Disney Springs, and we’ve not only enjoyed the food, but we’ve also been there in the evening when a variety of entertainers have been giving great performances. The restaurant has a cabaret-style stage downstairs, and this old “power plant” themed restaurant offers a mash-up of steam-punk, gothic, Art Deco, and Industrial décor. The live music acts have always been spot on, whether it was one of the jazz ensembles or the more vintage nightclub vocalists.




In addition to being an entertaining place to eat, The Edison also offers a number of different opportunities to learn while you enjoy sipping on the unique beverages at this Roaring '20s -themed spot. Monthly workshops abound, but there are also some upcoming specialty events, too.



This week, The Edison is participating in “Sip, Savor & Stroll,” a chance to “drink, dine and dash your way with us from restaurant to restaurant,” stopping at three different Disney Springs eateries along the way.  The EdisonEnzo's Hideawayand Maria & Enzo's Ristorante will host traveling guests on March 21 with different curated food and drink pairings at each location.  Timed tickets, priced at $75 and starting after 4:30 p.m., will control the flow of the crowd, and guests will have a guide to lead them through the restaurant rotation. Diners first meet at The Edison, and then have a guide escort them to Enzo's Hideaway for the next pairing, before ending the stroll at Maria & Enzo's patio.


At The Edison, you’ll enjoy the “Sunny Disposition Porthole” and The Edison's sourdough grilled cheese and lemon-basil tomato soup shooter.  Stop two, Enzo’s Hideaway, will be serving an “Enzoni” (made with Ford's gin) and saffron arancini. Your final stop at Maria & Enzo’s will wrap up with a “Blood Orange Mule” and a sweet dessert cannoli. Space is limited, and open only to ages 21 and older.


In April,  “Whiskey & Wonder” is a chance to visit eight different whiskey stations in a walkaround format.  It takes place at 12:00 p.m. on April 13, 2024.  VIP tickets are $90, and VIP access gets guests in a half hour early at 11:30 a.m., with provided seating.  General Admission tickets for 12 p.m. are $75. An add-on Luxury Station will pop up your ticket price by an additional $40, but will feature Spherified Black Manhattan with A5 Waygu & Hokkaidō Scallops. There will also be demonstrations during the event.  Once again, space is limited, and open only to ages 21 and older.

 
Food and beverages pairings at “Whiskey & Wonder” include:


• Barrel-aged Boulevardier with Carnitas Tostadas


• Shaker Plane with Tuna Crudo


• Whiskey Smash French Press with Sugarcane Shrimp


• Single-malt American Whiskey with Clothesline Bacon Station


• Porthole with St. Louis Ribs


• Lynchburg Peach Lemonade with Biscuits & Country Ham


• Liquid Nitrogen Whiskey Ice Cream (dairy-free available) with Handmade Waffle Cone


• Nitro Irish Coffee Draft with Tiramisu Push Pop

 

The next fun (and educational!) event at The Edison is being offered on several different dates.  The restaurant’s Saturday “Shaken and Stirred: Cocktail Classes” will be presented on eight afternoons between March 23 and June 29, all starting at 1:00 p.m.  Classes are designed for both beginners and more experienced “mixologists,” and will help guests delve into the ingredients, recipes and techniques involved in crafting cocktails.  Class size is limited to ten guests at a time, so participants will get lots of hands-on experience. Tickets are $100 per guest, except for the “All Things Sazerac” class, which is $175.



Themes change for each class, and include:

 

• March 23:  Pre-Prohibition Era Cocktails

 

• April 6: Mixology 101: Building Off the Basics

 

• April 20: American Whiskeys: Bourbon, Rye and Single Malts

 

• May 4: The Great British Shake Off (U.K. Spirits & Cocktails)

 

• May 18: South of the Border (Central & South American Spirits & Cocktails)

 

• June 1: Amari, Vermouths and Aperitifs

 

• June 15: The Classics – Where Are They Now?

 

• June 29: All Things Sazerac

 

Tickets for the events are available online at The Edison’s website

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at

https://raykeatingbooksandmore.com/shop/ols/products/disneyplanner. And please listen to the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

2024 “Disney Legends” Inductees Announced

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 19, 2024

 

Every once in a while, when I look at the list of the hundreds of Disney Legends, I’m taken off guard by who is on — and not on — the list.  This is one of those years that you would’ve assumed some of these illustrious nominees had achieved this honor long before some of the newer celebrities and magic makers with shorter Disney resumes.




Disney has just announced the list of the 14 men and women who will be inducted into this year’s class of Disney Legends.  For those who don’t know what this honor is, becoming a “Disney Legend” is the equivalent of Disney’s Hall of Fame, and Burbank is their Cooperstown.  At the Disney headquarters, there are rows upon rows of plaques detailing the contributions these creatives have brought to the Disney company during its history.  The Legends program has been honoring Disney creatives for 37 years.


Disney explains, “The Disney Legends Award honors artists and visionaries throughout the company’s history who have pushed the envelope of creativity, challenged conventional wisdom, and broken the restraints of the status quo in search of new possibilities and excellence.”

 
The inductees will receive their awards at the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony during the D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim, California (August 9-11, 2024).


Among those who should have been inducted eons ago is Harrison Ford.  Why wasn’t Indy brought in before this, considering the enormity of the body of work that he’s brought to Disney?  (By the way, many of Han Solo’s Star Wars cohorts, including  Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and George Lucas, are already Legends.) James Cameron got an entire Pandora land gifted to him at Disney before becoming a Legend, all movie-making skills aside.  And Joe Rohde?  Lordy, he is probably the most influential creative force behind Animal Kingdom, not to mention his  myriad other accomplishments as a Disney Imagineer.  (OK, we’ll overlook the whole “Disco Yeti” thing.) He’s the reason guests enjoyed The Adventurers Club at Pleasure Island for so many years, and still mourn its demise.  Frank Oz gave voice to Yoda, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, and a host of other Disney characters…. How was he not inducted years ago? John Williams?  Disney itself says, “The unforgettable music of John Williams is the soundtrack of our lives.”  What more needs to be said to that?  The man created the music for more than 100 movies, including the Star Wars films and the Indiana Jones franchise, and has five Academy Awards to his name. Disney even lauds him as the “Academy’s most-nominated living person and the second-most-nominated person in the history of the Oscars, a number second only to Walt Disney.”


A hearty congratulations to each of them, for achieving what fans have celebrated all along – the amazing depth of creativity that this year’s class brought to the world. What took the Legends committee so long to catch up with the rest of us?

 
If you’d like to see a more detailed biography of this year’s honorees, you can go to Disney’s media website.


The complete list of 2024 honorees includes: 

• Colleen Atwood (costume designer)

•  Angela Bassett (actress)

• Martha Blanding (Parks & Resorts/cast member)

• James L. Brooks (producer/director)

• James Cameron (filmmaker/director)

• Jamie Lee Curtis (actress)

• Miley Cyrus (singer)

• Steve Ditko (comic book artist/writer)

• Harrison Ford (actor)

• Mark Henn (animator)

• Frank Oz (director/Muppeteer)

• Kelly Ripa (actress/talk show host)

• Joe Rohde (Imagineer)

• John Williams (composer)

 
Ryan Seacrest will be hosting the Legends Ceremony at 5:00 p.m. on August 11, and it will take place at the Honda Center. The show always pays tribute to the honorees and their accomplishments, but there are typically additional performances and guest appearances as well.

   
Bob Iger, Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, added, “To be named a Disney Legend is the highest honor our company can bestow on anyone, reserved for those whose talent and achievement have earned them an enduring place in our history. The fourteen individuals to be honored as Disney Legends this year have each made extraordinary creative contributions across the worlds of Disney and we look forward to celebrating them at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event.”


Actor Fred MacMurray (The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor) was the first Disney personality to be given Disney Legend status in 1987. Since then, 318 recipients have placed their handprints in bronze in the Disney Legends Plaza, and received the two-foot-tall bronze Disney Legends sculpture that “signifies the imagination, creativity, and magic they have brought to the company.”  Previous inductees have included Mark Hamill; Carrie Fisher; Robin Williams; Julie Andrews, Howard Ashman; Wayne Allwine; ; Robert Downey Jr.; Annette Funicello; Angela Lansbury;  George Lucas; Tony Baxter; Jim Henson; Steve Martin; Alan Menken; Jon Favreau; James Earl Jones; Stan Lee; Marty Sklar; Josh Gad;  Johnny Depp; Danny Elfman; Steve Jobs; Dick Van Dyke; Barbara Walters; Betty White; Bob Gurr; Rolly Crump; Yale Gracey; Lillian Disney; Roy E. Disney; X Atencio; Thurl Ravenscroft; the Sherman Brothers; John Hench; Marc Davis; and Tim Allen, among the more than 300.

 

Tickets to the D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event go on sale March 23.  Details can be found at D23.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

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