A preview of the 21st annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. June 26, 2016.

As a Contributing Writer/Photographer to MousePlanet, on June 26, 2016, I attended the first Preview for the 21st annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. My article, including lots of photos, is here (link will open a new window on the MousePlanet website).

Tree of Life comes alive at Disney's Animal Kingdom. May 2016

Photos taken in May, 2016 — Visits to all Four Parks plus Disney Springs opens its Town Center (though there is still more construction going on); featuring photos from the final month of Epcot’s longest-ever Flower & Garden Festival, Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s new nighttime hours and attractions, Olaf gets a meet-and-greet at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, a visit to the closing-one-of-these-days DisneyQuest, a visit to House of Blues, Turtle Talk with Crush at Epcot gets a few more friends, Magic Kingdom fireworks viewed from Disney’s Polynesian Resort’s boat dock and Soarin’ re-opens with “Soarin’ Over California” while we all await the grand debut of “Soarin’ Over the Horizon” in Shanghai in June so we can see it the next day, and more.

STK Orlando Steakhouse held a Grand Opening Preview Party on May 24, 2016

As a Contributing Writer/Photographer to MousePlanet, on May 25, 2016, I attended the Grand Opening Preview Party for the newest “fine dining” location at The Landing at Disney Springs: STK Orlando Steakhouse. My article, including lots of photos, is here (link will open a new window on the MousePlanet website).

As a Contributing Photographer to MousePlanet, on May 15, 2016, I attended the opening ceremony for the new Town Center neighborhood at Disney Springs. The Update for May 17-23, 2016, is mostly my report on the area. Read about it here (link will open a new window on the MousePlanet website).

April 2016

Photos taken in April, 2016 — Visits to all Four Parks plus Disney Springs construction; featuring a farewell to Lights, Motors, Action! and the Streets of America at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, a new (mostly video screen) Star Wars stage show, a SpaceX rocket launch was visible over Epcot, and lots more photos from the second month of Epcot’s longest-ever Flower & Garden Festival.

I was invited to visit Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Magic to see Tangled: The Musical, to have lunch in the Animator’s Palate, and to take a tour of the ship. (Except for tolls and gas, Disney Cruise Line issued me a Media credential and covered all of the expenses of the visit.) The ship is impressive. The show is broadway-caliber with a top-notch cast, a score by Alan Menken, impressive costumes and sets that mixes physical and digital elements. Animator’s Palate (the restaurant) is quite a sight to see — the food was a sampler of the ship’s major restaurants and I only ate a small sampling of that, but the service here was top-notch too and then there was the video-based animation which included the works drawn by every guest in the room mixed with classic Disney animated scenes. During the tour, in addition to the ship, I got some nice photos of NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building at neighboring Kennedy Space Center. With the rest of the media, was escorted off the ship before its sailing this afternoon. March 17, 2016.

March 2016

Photos taken in March, 2016 — Visits to all Four Parks plus Disney Springs construction and views from the Characters in Flight balloon; featuring lots of photos from the first month of Epcot’s longest-ever Flower & Garden Festival and playing with the camera settings for more vibrant fireworks photos. Also, Easter Egg decor at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort

Photos taken in February, 2016 — Visits to all Four Parks plus my first ever to Hoop-Dee-Doo Review; DVC Celebrates its 25th Anniversary with a Members-Only Bash at Magic Kingdom; The Springs emerge at Disney Springs; Epcot begins to set up for the longest-ever Flower & Garden Festival.

Photos taken in December, 2015 — Star Wars Experiences opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Holidays Around the World at Epcot, Comedy Warehouse Holiday Special returns for a two week run, welcome 2016 at Epcot and more….
Oh yeah, and a couple of nights at Disney’s Beach Club Villas

As a Contributing Photographer to MousePlanet, I attended the media day for Disney’s Hollywood Studios “Star Wars Experiences” on December 4, 2015. I wrote most of the Update for December 8-13, 2015, reporting on the event. Read about it here (link will open a new window on the MousePlanet website).