'He suffered a lot:' California man who died from COVID-19 visited Disney World, Universal Studios
GLENDORA, Calif. -- A California man who died after testing positive for COVID-19 recently visited Walt Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida, it was reported Thursday, March 19.In a Facebook post, family members of Jeffrey Ghazarian, 34, said he died Thursday morning at a Pasadena hospital after being hospitalized for several days, according to TMZ."He suffered a lot and put up a good fight," his sister stated, according to TMZ. "We will miss our Jeff every day, but we are thankful for all the fun, happy memories of the times we had together."According to his family, Ghazarian flew from Los Angeles to Orlando on March 2 for a work conference.
Disney World's 'Fantasy in the Sky' New Year's Eve fireworks display will be streamed live
ORLANDO, Fla. — If you can't make it to the most magical place on earth for New Year’s Eve, don’t worry.
Disney characters say tourists inappropriately touched them
ORLANDO, Fla. — Walt Disney World employees who portray Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck each filed police reports this month claiming they were inappropriately touched by tourists.The woman inside the Mickey Mouse costume went to the hospital with neck injuries caused by a grandmother patting the character's head, while the employees wearing the Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck costumes were groped by tourists, according to Orange County Sheriff's Office reports.The incidents come after a 51-year-old man was arrested in November after an employee portraying a Disney Princess told investigators he groped her breast while getting a photo taken.“Everyone should feel safe at work, and we encourage Cast Members to come forward in any uncomfortable situation,” said Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger in a statement. “We provide multiple resources to protect our Cast Members’ well-being, including on-site law enforcement officers who respond, and are available to them, if needed.”A 36-year-old woman who plays Mickey Mouse at the Magic Kingdom told investigators a woman patted the head of her costume five times, causing it to slide down and strain her neck, the Orlando Sentinel reported.The employee told investigators she didn't believe the woman intentionally hurt her, and the sheriff’s office ruled the Dec. 4 incident a civil matter, not a criminal one.The tourist's family said they weren’t aware the employee had been taken to the hospital until they were contacted by the newspaper Thursday.Boone Scheer told the Sentinel his mother-in-law patted Mickey to prove to her nearly 2-year-old nervous grandson that he shouldn't be scared of the giant rodent.“She barely touched him,” said Scheer, adding his mother-in-law wouldn’t intentionally hurt Mickey Mouse. “It was very minimal.”The family was confused whether Disney has a no-touching rule for the costumed characters since they give high-fives and hugs to visitors, he said.Scheer said no one at the park said anything to them after until hours later when they tried to check into their Disney hotel.
Much anticipated Star Wars-based ride debuts at Disney World
ORLANDO -- The highly anticipated “Rise of the Resistance” ride is debuting this week at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios.
Disney unveils Epcot transformation, new details about Star Wars hotel
Disney unveiled new details about its multi-year transformation of Epcot, its upcoming innovative Star Wars hotel, and several other attractions coming to its parks across the globe during a two-hour panel at the company's D23 Expo in Anaheim over the weekend.Details included updates on a Spider-Man ride coming to Disney California Adventure Park, a Moana attraction and an overhaul of the Epcot theme park in Florida.Here's a breakdown of the major announcements:A Starcruiser with fabulous views
Mom celebrates 1st day of school with solo trip to Disney World
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – A Florida mother treated herself to a celebratory trip to Walt Disney World after dropping her children off for their first day back at school.Lisa DiNoto Glassner told WOFL she thought about just going home to take care of some laundry after dropping her boys off, "but I was like, you know what?
Disney hides Pixar Easter eggs inside Google Street View of Toy Story Land
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Never underestimate Disney's attention to detail (and Pixar's love for Easter eggs).Since the first Toy Story film, Pixar has become famous for inserting Easter eggs in its films and shorts.
Seven-year-old boy gives up savings for Disney trip to help find missing Connecticut woman
WETHERSFIELD, Conn. – A young boy in Connecticut is giving up the money from his savings account to anyone who comes forward with information about the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, according to WTIC.New Canaan Police said they have received over 400 tips now to help with their investigation.
Watch: This Connecticut father's Disney World opera debut will blow you away
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Connecticut father and volunteer firefighter is becoming better known as the star of a viral video featuring him singing opera at Disney World.The video, posted to social media almost two weeks ago, has gotten close to 10,000 likes and over 2,000 retweets on Twitter."When I put it on Twitter, it shows every single tweet, so it’s just constant buzz, buzz, buzz," Justin Gigliello said.Gigliello was on an eight-day vacation at Disney World with his family.
Disney World now has 'mermaid school' at select resorts
FLORIDA -- It's a childhood dream turned into reality.
Disney closes $71B deal for Fox entertainment assets
NEW YORK -- Disney has closed its $71 billion acquisition of Fox's entertainment business, putting "Cinderella," ''The Simpsons," ''Star Wars" and "Dr.
Entire Disney collection to be made available on Disney+ streaming service this year
LOS ANGELES -- When Disney+ (pronounced “Disney Plus”) launches later this year, subscribers will have access to Disney’s entire library of movies.Disney CEO Bob Iger announced Friday the company’s entire library will be available on the new streaming platform, Polygon reported.Disney traditionally released films to home video, DVD and BluRay for a limited time before returning them to “the vault,” but with Disney+the entire collection will be at your fingertips.
Mother sues after crash killed 5 children heading to Disney
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The mother of one of the five children who died in a fiery wreck while on their way to Walt Disney World has filed a lawsuit.The Palm Beach Post reports that attorney Joseph Fried filed the lawsuit Thursday in Palm Beach County against trucker Steve Holland and others on behalf of the mother of 14-year-old Jeremiah Warren.Warren and the other children were in a church van from Louisiana on Jan. 3 when they were killed in the crash near Gainesville, Florida.
Retired robot's clothing stolen from Walt Disney World
ORLANDO, Fla. — Authorities say they're investigating the theft of clothing that belonged to a retired animatronic character at Walt Disney World.The Orange County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday that the theft occurred in August.
15 people with minor injuries after Disney World bus crash
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Fifteen people have been taken to a hospital with minor injuries after two buses collided at Walt Disney World.The Florida Highway Patrol says one bus rear-ended another at a parking booth near Epcot Tuesday morning.
Man with ‘Trump 2020’ sign banned by Disney ... again
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Disney has banned Dion Cini from company properties for, once again, displaying pro-President Donald Trump messages, according to WFTV.Back in September, Cini lost his annual pass for unfurling a giant flag at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.The 49-year-old New Yorker told the local news station that he'd had it for 24 years.
Disney workers: Please stop scattering your relatives' ashes in the park
FLORIDA -- It's all fun and games until someone finds the ashes—which is disturbingly not that hard to do at Walt Disney parks.Confirming what Gizmodo says has been an urban legend for years, current and former custodians tell the Wall Street Journal that ashes of loved ones, often big Disney fans, are deposited on rides, lawns, and other spots at Disney World and Disneyland about once a month, often enough that such cases have a special code."HEPA cleanup" signals to workers that a special vacuum is needed to collect the ultrafine remains."I had two fistfuls of the ashes and I literally leapt like I was a dancer," says a Florida woman who sprinkled her mother's ashes outside Cinderella's castle and on the It's a Small World Ride at Disney World in 2009. (The story includes a photo to prove it.) "Anyone who knew my mom knew Disney was her happy place."Disney tries to dissuade guests as much as possible."This type of behavior is strictly prohibited and unlawful.
Hi Mickey, 'Bye Mickey: 6 Disney parks on 2 coasts in 1 day
ORLANDO, Fla. — Heather and Clark Ensminger breathed sighs of relief when their Los Angeles-bound plane took off from Florida on time: Their biggest hurdle was now eliminated for achieving their goal of visiting six Disney parks on two coasts in one day.They succeeded Wednesday, visiting four Disney parks in the Orlando, Florida, area and two in Anaheim, California, with a 2,500-mile cross-country flight and two time zones in between, all within 20 hours."It was incredible, unbelievable, surreal," Heather Ensminger, 30, said in a phone interview early Thursday as the Kingsport, Tennessee, couple prepared to return to the California Disney parks for a second day.
Couple plans to visit 6 Disney parks on 2 coasts in 1 day
ORLANDO, Fla. — A Tennessee couple plans to visit six Disney parks on two U.S. coasts in one day.Heather and Clark Ensminger on Wednesday plan to visit Disney World's four theme parks in Florida, hop a cross-country plane and end the night at Disney's two California parks.The couple from Kingsport, Tennessee, will be armed with a spreadsheet showing what time they need to be at each park.In Florida, they plan to have breakfast at Disney's Hollywood Studios before walking over to Epcot.
'IllumiNations' pyrotechnic show ending next year at Epcot
ORLANDO, Fla. — After almost two decades, Walt Disney World is ending the pyrotechnic, light and fireworks show which nightly lights up the sky above its Epcot theme park.The theme park resort said on its blog this week that the "IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth" show would be replaced with a new show once it ends in summer 2019."IllumiNations" debuted in 1999 as part of the theme park resort's celebration of the new millennium.The replacement show for "IllumiNations" will join a slew of other changes at Epcot, including a "Guardians of the Galaxy" roller coaster, a "Ratatouille"-inspired attraction and a new restaurant adjacent to Mission: SPACE.