Thanksgiving Week: Disney and Thanks

 by Ray Keating

Podcast

DisneyBizJournal.com

November 23, 2023

 

All this week on the “Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating” podcast, Ray is touching on the mix of Disney, thanks and Thanksgiving. Tune in, and Happy Thanksgiving!

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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?

 

Support the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating Podcast at https://www.buzzsprout.com/1724143. Subscribe at the $8 or $10 level, and get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. Remain a supporter and you'll get a FREE BOOK by Ray Keating every six months going forward. Thanks!

 

Consider books by Ray Keating, including…

 

• The Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. There are 18 books in the series now.

 

• Order The Weekly Economist II: 52 More Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist. Kindle editions and paperbacks via Amazon here and signed books here. And don’t forget the first book in this growing series, i.e., The Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist at Amazon.com.

 

• Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel is at Amazon. 

 

• The Lutheran Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement, inspiration and consolation from the Christian faith.

 

• Signed editions of Ray’s books are at www.RayKeatingOnline.com. 

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

Disney Shares Schedule for 2023 Holiday Specials

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

November 22, 2023

 

Disney fans will have two separate holiday specials to watch in coming weeks – one for Thanksgiving, and one for Christmas morning.

For Thanksgiving weekend,  “The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration” will air on ABC on Sunday, November 26, from 8:00-10:00 p.m. (EST), but if you miss it with all the family celebrations going on, it will also begin streaming the next day on Hulu and Disney+.

Courtesy of Disney Parks Blog

Siblings Derek and Julianne Hough will be returning to host “The Magical Holiday Celebration,” and among the featured performances on the Thanksgiving special will be:

 

• Derek Hough and Julianne Hough – “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” “What Christmas Means to Me,” “Dance to the Music” medley

• Michael Bolton & Mickey Guyton – “Christmas Isn’t Christmas”

• Andra Day and Adam Blackstone – “Someday at Christmas” and an Adam Blackstone original song “Legacy Christmastime”

• Ariana DeBose– “This Wish” from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Wish

• Mickey Guyton – “Jingle Bell Rock”

• Chris Janson – “Holiday Road”

• Tori Kelly – “This Christmas” and “Winter Wonderland”

• Chrissy Metz – “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”

• The Smashing Pumpkins – “Silver Bells”

• Robin Thicke – “Let it Snow” and “Perfect Holiday”

• Iam Tongi – “White Christmas”

 

There will also be a special look back at Mariah Carey’s 2016 version of “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

 

And while you may be watching the Christmas morning parade from Disney with your family after opening your stockings and gifts, you’ll be forgiven for assuming it’s live from the parks – the parade already filmed last week.  If you weren’t in the parks to see it in person, you can catch the 40th anniversary airing of the “Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade” on ABC on Monday, December 25, from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (EST) or 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. (PST).  It will also stream the next day on Hulu and Disney+.

 

Derek Hough and Julianne Hough will again host the Christmas Day festivities, along with co-hosts country music star Mickey Guyton and “The Golden Bachelor” host Jesse Palmer.  In addition to the parade (that’s what you’re really waiting for, right?), there will be musical performances from:

 

• Derek Hough and Julianne Hough – “Good Morning” and “Deck the Halls” Medley

• Chrissy Metz – “Silver Bells”

• The Smashing Pumpkins – “Evergreen” (A new, original holiday song)

• Iam Tongi – “Mele Kalikimaka”

• The Broadway and North American Tour Cast of Disney’s “Aladdin” – “Friend Like Me”

• Meg Donnelly – “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)”

 

The holiday specials were filmed at a variety of Disney locations, including Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Disneyland Resort in California, Aulani in Hawai‘I, Disneyland in Paris, and on board the Disney Cruise Line.

 

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

 

Support the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast at https://www.buzzsprout.com/1724143. Subscribe at the $8 or $10 level, and get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. Remain a supporter and you'll get a FREE BOOK by Ray Keating every six months going forward. Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving to All DisneyBizJournal Readers!

 by Beth Keating

Lifestyle/News

DisneyBizJournal.com

November 24, 2022

 

At our house, we are a divided family when it comes to the holidays. A few family members have been playing Christmas music since late October, while others do not consider the Christmas season ushered in until Santa makes his way to Herald Square at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.  Then, it is permissible to start putting the tree up.

 

However, as a Disney family, it takes some adjusting to the fact that the “Disney Holiday Schedule” is a few beats off from the rest of the world.  Halloween starts in August, Mickey’s Christmas parties have been firing off for several weeks now, towering trees and snowflakes have graced the parks since November 1st… you get the idea.  In the past few weeks, the holiday gingerbread displays have also begun assembling.

We’ve enjoyed the Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian in past years, and the themed carousal at Beach Club is always fun, but this year we were especially impressed by the gingerbread building at the BoardWalk Inn.  The BoardWalk display had been missing for several years, and in addition to being glad to see it back, we offer up a hearty round of applause to the culinary team who created the new confection.  It is incredibly detailed!

 

The gingerbread building is a replica of the Resort’s newest restaurant, the BoardWalk Deli. 

 

A large window allows a peek into the deli, with Chefs Mickey and Minnie hard at work on teeny tiny little samples of the BoardWalk Deli’s menu offerings in a kitchen so sculpted that the itty bitty appliances and cooking utensils seem ready to start baking.  The petite dishes lined up on the deli counters are adorable, and we particularly got a chuckle out of the miniature Mickey Ear cakes lined up on a bakery shelf. (Not saying that we’ve ordered those cakes for family birthdays in the past or anything…) 

 

Outside the “building,” the deli’s red striped awnings overlook tiny Christmas trees and a selection of benches, tables and chairs for hungry guests to enjoy Chef Mickey’s culinary treats. There are even miniature ornaments on the trees!  Talk about attention to detail!

 

Like many of the gingerbread spots on Disney property, there’s a pop-up shop to purchase some yummy gingerbread goodies and other treats and libations (and themed holiday merch, including BoardWalk ornaments and collectible pins, as well).

Just outside this enormous gingerbread construct is a sign that lists all the hard work and sweet ingredients that went into baking this beauty, with 200 hours of decorating time by the bakery “elves.” In all,  21 gallons of honey, 182 pounds of whole wheat rye flour, 182 pounds of light rye flour, 168 pounds of bread flour, 168 eggs, 3 gallons of egg whites, 30 pounds of powdered sugar, 0.5 pound of Cream of Tartar, 140 pounds of granulated sugar, 20 pounds of fondant, 5 pounds of ammonium carbonate, 10.58 pounds of Lebkuchen, a “heaping teaspoon of magic,” and “a sprinkle of pixie dust” went into this enormous replica.

And if you have the time, you’ll find 26 different hidden Mickeys throughout the gingerbread.  It could be a nice Thanksgiving… or Christmas… scavenger hunt for your family.

 

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

 

Baby Yoda to Join Macy’s 95th Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 10, 2021

 

Move over, Pikachu! There’s a new big-eyed creature coming to town!

 

StarWars.com has announced that Baby Yoda will be joining the line-up for this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City.  

Image courtesy of StarWars.com

Funko and Macy’s, in collaboration with Lucasfilm, have a giant Grogu balloon in the works for the 95th Annual parade, and he is the very first Star Wars themed balloon in the celebration.  The mischievous and adorable baby is sure to wow audiences at 41-feet high, 29-feet long, and 37-feet wide!

 

The balloon is an original Funko Pop! design by Funko art director Reis O’Brien, and there will, of course, be corresponding limited edition merch for sale that will commemorate the Grogu-inspired balloon. Some of the merchandise will be available at Funko.com, while others will be featured at Macy’s Herald Square location in New York City.

Image courtesy of StarWars.com

 

“This is the way” you can watch Grogu, as well as all the other beloved balloon characters, as they travel to Herald Square on Thanksgiving: The broadcast airs on NBC on Thursday, November 25th from 9AM to 12PM in all time zones.  

 

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Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

 

Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!

Disney Offers Thanksgiving Night Special

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

November 25, 2020

 

Before you find yourself sinking into a turkey-induced coma, or perhaps because that is all you are capable of by the time the sun goes down on the holiday festivities, Disney is offering you an opportunity to relax with the family in front of their annual celebration of Disney magic. 

The fifth anniversary edition of The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration will be a bit different this year in its COVID-era, flashback style iteration. Rather than a live, park-streamed event, viewers will take a “wintry ride through fan-favorite performances from the past five years and new heartwarming family moments.”  The show airs Thanksgiving night (November 26) from 9-11 p.m (EST) on ABC, and will give families a chance to reminisce over some of the performances gracing previous holiday celebrations.

 

Professional dancers Derek and Julianne Hough (Dancing with the Stars) and Trevor Jackson (Freeform’s grown-ish) host the evening, and in traditional Disney fashion, viewers will also get to take a behind-the-scenes look into the parks between musical numbers, including a sneak peek at “Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure,” scheduled to open in 2021 in EPCOT. Coincidentally, siblings Derek and Julianne Hough were the hosts of the original edition of the special five years ago.

 

There will also be a preview of Disney and Pixar’s upcoming feature film Soul, which will begin streaming on Christmas Day (December 25, 2020) on Disney+. Soul is the story of a middle-school band teacher who “teams up with a sarcastic new soul on a mission to figure out exactly what makes life worth living.” The lead characters are voiced by Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey.

 

According to Disney Parks Blog, the evening’s musical performances include:

 

• Emmy® Award-winning hosts Derek Hough and Julianne Hough sing and dance through a medley of holiday classics in a fantastical new show open
• GRAMMY® Award-winning singer/songwriter Ciara gives a festive spin on a “Jingle Bells/Jingle Bell Rock” medley (2017)
• Multiple GRAMMY® Award-winner Kelly Clarkson belts her version of “Underneath The Tree” (2016)
• Global superstar Jason Derulo performs his take on “Silent Night” (2017)
• Grammy® Award-nominated OneRepublic perform a rocking rendition of “What a Wonderful World” (2016)
• GRAMMY® Award-winner Meghan Trainor and CMA Award-winning country artist Brett Eldridge share a sweet rendition of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” (2018)
• Grammy® Award-winning and multi-platinum-selling artist Pentatonix give their rendition of “Deck the Halls” (2019) 
• TONY® Award-winning actress Idina Menzel joins fellow Frozen star Kristen Bell for a chilling performance of “When We’re Together” from Olaf’s Frozen Adventure (2017)
• Boyz II Men take on “Let It Snow” alongside “December Baby” singer/songwriter JoJo (2016)
• World renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli lends his voice to a rendition of “White Christmas” (2018)
• GRAMMY Award-nominated artist Aloe Blacc performs “I Got Your Christmas Right Here (2018)
• Global superstar Becky G performs “Santa Baby” (2018)
• Following the release of his new album “Christmas in the Islands,” multiple GRAMMY® Award-winning global reggae/dancehall & pop music icon Shaggy sings “Jamaican Drummer Boy” (2019)

 

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Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

 

Pre-order The Disney Planner 2021: The TO DO List Solution today!

 

Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!