Disney Personal Checks

The rumors have swirled for years that the Walt Disney Company was planning on building a Disney theme park in Shanghai.  They have reached a peak this week now that it is believed a deal will be announced in the next few days or weeks. 

The residents in the area have invested in the land and their homes in the hopes that Disney will build there.  They would like to receive a relocation package in case their land is needed in the name of progress. 

Here are some details according to a recent article:

The recent buzz has been fanned by Chinese media reports saying that Disney and Shanghai officials had come to terms, with the Burbank-based entertainment giant easing up on some of its earlier demands because of the current financial climate. A Disney spokeswoman in Hong Kong, Alannah Hall-Smith, responded that there was “no deal, no announcement.”

But informed Shanghai officials, among others, believe that the project is pretty much settled. All that’s needed, they say, is a stamp of approval from leaders in Beijing at a key economic planning session expected to be held this month.

Shanghai is the largest city in China.  It is hoped that a Disney theme park project there would stimulate the economy.  Disney may be hoping to introduce Mickey Mouse and the other Disney characters to more people in China.

If you have ever wondered what happens to the turkeys that the President pardons for Thanksgiving, then here is your answer.  They go to Disney World!  According to a recent article the pardoned turkeys have called Disney home since 2005.  For over 60 years the President has been pardoning a turkey, the traditional food on Thanksgiving.  Normally they had been going to a farm in Virginia before the change was made to Disney.

Disney spokesman Duncan Wardle remembers it a bit differently. One Thanksgiving, chatting about the pardoned turkey over coffee, someone on his staff said, “Doesn’t that make him the happiest turkey on earth? We should bring him to the happiest place on earth.”

Last year’s birds — named May and Flower via online poll_ are currently living the good life at Disney World in Florida, where they were flown by a United Airlines flight that was renamed “Turkey One” for the occasion.

The pardoned turkeys are well taken care of at Disney with a special diet, handling, and private quarters.  The turkeys are generally overweight when they arrive, so a new diet is implemented to help them slim down.  The turkeys that will pardoned this year will go to Disneyland in California where they will be visible to the public at Big Thunder Mountain Ranch.