A promo for the upcoming fifth season of LOST has popped up online, giving fans something to talk about during the long hiatus. I'm still reeling from all the cliffhangers and surprises from the season four finale, especially Ben's conversation with Jack. Since the show doesn't return until 2009, there's no time like the present to dissect the promo. For the record, I thought the promo was fantastic and gave us just enough to salivate over.

Kate and Aaron - It looks like Kate is heeding Claire's warning about taking Aaron back to the island. She'll probably be the biggest obstacle to Ben's Locke-saving mission.

Hurley is armed and dangerous - I can't wait to see this moment play out. Hurley was so tortured and sad in the flash-forwards last season. If the promo is any indication, Hugo got his mojo back after Sayid took him away from Santa Rosa.

Sun gets locked in - All we saw of post-island Sun was the moment where she was locked in a room. Was that a police officer standing guard outside? The clip also made it look like Sun turned around to look at someone else who was inside. Perhaps her alliance with Widmore has put her in danger.

Is Daniel back on the island? You can see a person in a hazmat suit pulling a gun on someone resembling Daniel Faraday. There was also a brief shot of Daniel in a hard hat. Daniel's fate was still up in the air at the end of last season. He was on the raft with a few redshirts when the island disappeared.

The new trailer video can be found on the official Lost homepage here.

Oriental Land Company has just announced that they will open Mickey’s Philharmagic at Tokyo Disneyland in 2011. The popular attraction from Florida’s Magic Kingdom will be placed into Fantasyland, replacing the current Mickey Mouse Review show that will close down on May 25th, 2009.

Mickey’s PhilharMagic is a theater-type attraction employing Disney’s 3-D technology. Guests are invited into the theater for an orchestra concert, but Donald Duck causes a commotion, taking the Guests into a musical whirlwind through popular Disney films. It’s a fun- filled philharmonic mayhem into the magical world of Disney, with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and other Disney characters popping out of the screen to just an arm’s reach away from the Guests.

Opening date: 2011 (tentative)
Location: Fantasyland
Seating: Approximately 450
Total capital invested: Approximately 6 billion yen
Peripheral facility: Merchandise shop

(Source: Screamscape)

Barack Obama or John McCain -- here's one more issue for voters to consider: Which one would they rather listen to at Walt Disney World in the Magic Kingdom's Hall of Presidents show?

One of them will get to address visitors each day in the theme park once the animatronic attraction undergoes a renovation.

To make room for a new, robotic version of the 44th president of the United States, Disney will close the 37-year-old Hall of Presidents after today for an extended refurbishment. The show will stay shuttered for more than eight months so Disney can update the hall's aging light, sound, mechanical, projection and show systems, just as the company has done in recent years with other "classic" Magic Kingdom attractions such as It's A Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion.

"We're about to get a new president. And so, since we have to shut down the show anyway to welcome No. 44, we're going to take the opportunity to . . . refurbish the attractions and the facility and also kind of wave the magic wand around a little bit," said Pam Fisher, senior show writer for Walt Disney Imagineering.

Updating a '70s show

First envisioned by Walt Disney in the early 1960s, the show premiered when the Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. In an auditorium, visitors view a 10-minute, panoramic film of American history. The film projects, onto five screens, narrated images of paintings produced by Disney artists in the styles of American masters, from John Trumbull to Norman Rockwell. When the film ends and the screens rise, people see a large stage where life-size, robotic figures of every U.S. president are grouped, standing or sitting, for a roll call and a couple of speeches.

The show has always featured a speech by the Lincoln figure. In the 1990s, Disney began adding a second speech by the current president. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush recorded their addresses, and Disney hopes to entice the next president to do the same.

"We'll do everything in our power to make it so," Fisher said. "We've been really lucky so far. It is quite an experience to arrive in the White House and actually be present when the president records his speech for the Hall of Presidents."

When the show reopens next year July 4, a third figure, George Washington, will also be given a speaking part.

Like many Disney theme-park attractions dating from the 1950s through the early '70s, the Hall of Presidents' artwork was created by renowned Disney artists such as Herb Ryman, Sam McKim and John DeCuir. The 70mm film projectors will be replaced with digital-video projection systems, which should give the presentation fresh boldness and clarity, Fisher said.

All of the presidents' faces were sculpted by Disney artist Blaine Gibson. But he's 90 years old and, though he remains involved, he is handing off the job of sculpting the 44th president to prot�g� Valerie Edwards.

Better view of presidents

The attraction's technology upgrades should improve the view of Gibson's (and Edwards') work as well. As the narrator introduces each president, a spotlight shines briefly on that figure, which waves or nods. But the presidents are randomly arranged, the introductions pass quickly, and the spotlights flit about, so some viewers have a hard time following the progression. With LED lighting, 21st-century controls and a longer spotlight for each president, it should become easier for the audience to tell John Tyler from James K. Polk.

"That is my No. 1 dream and hope of the show: to make the introduction of the presidents easier to follow," Fisher said. "We think that's really the highlight of the show."

(Source: Orlando Sentinel)

Dylan and Cole Sprouse sent Disney's ratings soaring when their new spinoff, "The Suite Life on Deck," debuted in September. This new life on the high seas sits with the brothers just fine.

"Life on Deck" is an offshoot of the twins' former show, "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," in which the boys ran amok at the fictional Tipton Hotel. Now older and maybe wiser, Zack and Cody are attending school at sea on the S.S. Tipton and still getting into mischief, though perhaps not as much as on dry land.

"I think Disney wanted us to be more responsible on the show," said Cole, "and they felt that putting us on a boat would be the best way to do that."

"With growing older comes responsibility, [which] if you don't acquire sooner or later, you're gonna be in trouble," said Dylan. "So the new show definitely teaches responsibility. We get jobs, and essentially every single show has a moral."

The brothers, identical 16-year-old twins, got their start in acting at the age of 6 months, appearing in a toilet paper commercial, then on ABC's "Grace Under Fire" as the same character, Patrick Kelly. They appeared in movies such as "Big Daddy" and eventually landed the Disney show.

The first season of "Life on Deck," airing Fridays at 8 p.m., will explore all the follies of living at sea, including fighting off a Loch Ness-type monster and an eerie encounter in the Bermuda Triangle. There are also plans for a "Life on Deck," "Wizards of Waverly Place" and "Hannah Montana" crossover episode.

Unlike most of their Disney counterparts, the Sprouse brothers swear they have no singing aspirations. They'd rather just concentrate on their acting before heading off to college when they're old enough - Dylan to art school and Cole maybe to USC to study film.

In the meantime, the boys are grateful for their show and work hard at staying levelheaded in the Hollywood environment.

"Some people do shows because they want to be famous and I'm honestly telling you right now, if that's the reason, they're going to get swept up," said Dylan. "Cole and I just came into acting because we like to act and we like to work."

And just in case you're curious, there are no plans for the boys to shave their famously coiffed heads anytime soon.

"I don't think they would be too happy about that," said Dylan. "On the Disney Channel, the skinhead look doesn't do too well, let me tell you."

(Source: NY Daily News)

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Central Florida woman had a prescription for her chronic pain that included riding Disney's Tower of Terror. She says it actually worked, but says Disney kicked her out for riding the ride too many times and now she's suing.

"I actually hold the record right now for the most rides of single riders which is 56 times," said Denise Mooty.

Every Saturday for the past three-and-a-half years, Mooty has visited Hollywood Studios to ride the attraction. She rode it over and over, as many as 20 times in a row.

Mooty has adhesions in her abdomen, essentially, internal scarring. She needs four to six surgeries a year to get rid of the adhesions.

Mooty's doctor wrote a letter to Disney stating, "The benefit of riding the Tower of Terror breaks down these adhesions thus relieving her of so much pain."

"Every since I've been riding the Tower of Terror, I only have to have one surgery versus several. It really works, the G-force of going up and down," said Mooty.

Mooty had a guest assistance card and would either go through the Fast Pass lane or the back entrance. But then one day in August it all changed.

"A different manager said she didn't care what my card said, I'm only allowed to ride the ride four times," said Mooty.

Mooty said she was also told she could no longer use the back entrance. She spent the next couple of weeks arguing with Disney. In the end, she got booted out and was cited for trespassing and for using profanity. Mooty claims she did not do those things.

For its part, Disney said there was never a restriction placed on the number of times Mooty could ride the Tower of Terror. The park said she used profanity in front of guests and that's why she was ordered out. But the park did say it would listen to an appeal of her case.

Mooty is suing to get back on the ride and also to collect damages.

(Source: WFTV)