In Disney News...

...The grand reopening of Disney's California Adventure is next Friday, June 15th! (I guess at some point I'll have to grudgingly start using the new official park name, which drops the possessive from Disney.) I'm happy to say that our family was among a fairly limited number of passholders who won preview tickets to see Cars Land and Buena Vista Street next Monday. We're very excited to see everything! My understanding is guest photography will be allowed at the preview, so I'm sure I'll have plenty of photos to share here next week.

...Needless to say, there will be oodles of new merchandise available to commemorate the park's reopening and the launch of the new lands. I love the new graphic design, seen above, which will appear on some merchandise, and I'm also taken with the Red Car Trolley collection.

...SlashFilm and Al Lutz of MiceAge have detailed previews of the new DCA attractions. The new lands promise to be a visual feast for the eyes, with a new "E" ticket attraction, Radiator Springs Racers, for good measure. Flo's V8 Cafe looks amazing in terms of both decor and the menu. All this, and Ghirardelli too!

...Speaking of "E" tickets, one of my all-time favorite magazines was the "E" Ticket, a treasure trove of Disney history and vintage photos, as well as the occasional article on the design of classic Knott's Berry Farm attractions such as the Mine Train and Calico Log Ride. Fascinating interviews with Disney Imagineers were a regular part of the "E" Ticket, which played a significant role in recording Disneyland history. I have a large collection of the magazine on my shelves; I used to buy new issues at the Disneyana store on Disneyland's Main Street, and painstakingly ordered as many back issues as I could afford. (One of these days I need to start visiting eBay to complete my collection.) SamLand chronicles the history of the magazine, which was published by Jack and Leon Jantzen, and there was also a nice long story at the Walt Disney Family Museum website in 2010.

...MousePlanet has detailed information on the recent price hikes (gulp!) and this summer's Early Entry offer for Annual Passholders.

...A must-have book coming this September: POSTER ART OF THE DISNEY PARKS.

...I'll be attending D23's Destination D: 75 Years of Disney Animation at the Disneyland Hotel this August 11th and 12th. In addition to previously announced concerts by Dick Van Dyke and Alan Menken, more details for both Saturday and Sunday have been announced. The biggest thrills for me are seeing dancer Marge Champion, beloved by me for MGM musicals years before I knew of her teenage role as the live-action model for SNOW WHITE (1937), and Kathryn Beaumont, the voice of both ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1951) and Wendy in PETER PAN (1953). Dickie Jones (the voice of PINOCCHIO) and Chris Sanders (the voice of Stitch) will be there as well. It's going to be an amazing weekend!

...Disney has imposed a 28-day embargo on the rental of its new DVD releases. At least one company, Redbox, will skip buying the DVDs from Disney and instead acquire Disney DVDs through "alternative means."

...Disney has donated the CALIFORNIA letters which previously stood at the entrance to California Adventure to the California State Fair in Sacramento.

...Disney has opened membership for the first time in a decade to some of the people on the long waiting list for its semi-secret, utterly fantastic Club 33. Membership will also be available to the new Club 1901 in California Adventure.

...Diane Disney Miller and D23 remember Walt Disney's friend, the late, great Ray Bradbury, who wrote the storyline for Epcot's Spaceship Earth ride. D23 quotes a letter Bradbury sent to Walt Disney after visiting Disneyland: "Dear Walt, I shall be eternally grateful that you made it possible for me to fly out of a child’s bedroom window in a pirate galleon, setting sail over moonlit London, past the stars and then on to Never-Land." Amen and farewell, Mr. Bradbury.

...For more recent Disney news, please visit last month's Disney link roundup!