All Disney ships to sail from Florida in early 2015

Posted on 13 November, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

All Disney ships to sail from Florida in early 2015

By Jerry Limone

All four of Disney Cruise Line’s ships will sail from Florida ports in the first four months of 2015, three from Port Canaveral and one from Miami.

Bookings for these 2015 winter cruises open to the public on Nov. 14.

The Disney Dream will sail three- and four-day Bahamas cruises, and the Disney Magic will sail seven-day eastern and western Caribbean cruises. Both ships will be based in Port Canaveral. The Disney Fantasy will sail seven-day eastern Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral.

The Disney Wonder will sail from Miami on four-day Bahamas and five-day western Caribbean cruises.

Ships will call at Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay, on all cruises.

Disney plans Star Wars and Marvel attractions for theme parks

Posted on 11 November, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Disney plans Star Wars and Marvel attractions for theme parks

By Michelle Baran

On the heels of announcing the date for the next Star Wars movie — Dec. 18, 2015 — and that it would begin developing a Marvel-themed series for Netflix, executives at the Walt Disney Co. said that its two most recently acquired franchises will eventually have a greater presence at the company’s theme parks.

“Both of today’s announcements underscore the value of two of our major acquisitions, Marvel and Lucasfilm,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday.

“As you know, over the last several years, we’ve made a number of major acquisitions and capital investments to drive growth and create shareholder value. Now that some on those investments have been completed and the acquisitions are fully integrated, their positive impact is clear in our results, especially in parks and resorts.”

Iger said that the Disneyland Resort in California had record attendance, revenue and profitability during Cars Land’s first full year of operation at Disney’s California Adventure. It was an example of how the Pixar franchise enhanced the parks experience.

As for integrating the newer franchises, Hong Kong Disneyland will become home to the company’s first Marvel themed attraction, the Iron Man Experience, in late 2016.

Disney’s Parks and Resorts division continues to be a strong and growing segment of the company’s business. Revenue for the fourth quarter, which ended on Sept. 28, increased 8% to $3.7 billion, and segment operating income increased 15% to $571 million. For the year, Parks and Resorts revenue grew 9% to $14.1 billion and segment operating income increased 17% to $2.2 billion.

Walt Disney World set attendance records for the year, assisted by the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland expansion, which will be fully completed in 2014. Disney has also begun construction on an Avatar-themed area at the Animal Kingdom park in Florida, and is continuing to work on a full rollout of the MyMagic+ program.

The Tokyo Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland also had record attendance this year.

The Walt Disney Co.’s fourth-quarter revenue grew 7% to $11.6 billion, and net income grew 12% to $1.4 billion.

Full-year revenue increased 7% to $45 billion, and full-year net income increased 8% to $6.1 billion.

Disney adds lifeguards to its cruises

Posted on 4 November, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Disney adds lifeguards to its cruises

Disney Cruise Line has reportedly become the first major cruise line to install lifeguards on all of its ships.

Although no official announcement has been made, passengers on board the Disney Dream and Disney Magic have seen lifeguards stationed by family pools since late September, according to Cruise Critic.

Disney Fantasy and Disney Wonder are expected to follow suit with the new policy within the next couple of weeks.

Lifeguards will be on duty at all times the pools are open, which is generally all hours of the day, apart from night-time and if there’s bad weather. Disney stated that it regularly looks at its policies on these and all issues and is always willing to make changes where necessary.

Currently, most cruise lines do not provide life guards for their pools. However, the issue has been cast into the media spotlight in the last few weeks following the drowning of a young boy onboard a ship operated by Carnival.

The tragic event occurred onboard the Carnival Victory while it was at sea and en-route to Port Miami in the US. At the time, Carnival told the Associated Press: “To the best of our knowledge it is the first time a child has drowned aboard one of our ship.

“Carnival extends its heartfelt sympathy to the family during this very difficult time. The company’s CareTeam is providing assistance and support.”

Although such cases are rare, it did prompt many to suggest that cruise lines and hotels have an obligation to ensure that youngsters in their pools are safe. On the other hand, some remain adamant that the responsibility for watching children while they are on a cruise ship remains with parents.

According to Carol Finkelhoffe, chair of the Cruise Line & Passenger Ship Committee in the US, all cruise lines should be providing lifeguards for family pools. She said earlier this month: “Someone should be watching the pool. It’s foreseeable that these types of accidents can happen … and they should do something to prevent them.”