“There aren’t plans to bring back Captain EO at this time. We are looking at it. It’s the kind of thing that, if we did it, would get a fair amount of attention and we’d want to make sure we do it right.“

– The Walt Disney Company President and Chief Executive Bob Iger addressing rumors about the return of Michael Jackson’s short film Captain EO to Disneyland.

Jay Jennings, the curator over at The Knott’s Berry Farm Museum, alerted me to this video of his recent book signing event. It’s nice to see people still love the place and frankly I haven’t seen a line like that since I waited in like for chicken dinner. Mmmmmm mmmmmmm!

The video features Jay signing his book Knott’s Berry Farm: The Early Years inside the famed Chicken Dinner Restaurant on Aug 29, 2009. Nearly 300 people lined up to see the author – including Disney Imagineer Tony Baxter.

Well, miracles never cease. Murphy, the fire-breathing dragon in Disneyland’s Fantasmic, finally made his debut and he looks incredible! Click here to see the big guy in all his glory! Has anyone been out to see him yet? If so, what did you think?

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As our constant readers know, I am prone to fits of nostalgia about the wonders of Knott’s Berry Farm. I can’t help it; it’s a condition. Needless to say I was thrilled, wait let me rephrase that… I was THRILLED (!!!) when I saw Jay Jennings (pictured below), the Curator/Historian of The Knott’s Berry Farm Museum was releasing a new book entitled Knott’s Berry Farm: The Early Years.

[Photo courtesy of The Knott’s Berry Farm Museum]

A nice feature over at The OC Register quotes Jennings as saying ”I hope my book brings back fond memories of when families visited Knott’s Berry Farm and Ghost Town and the sheer fun and joy of walking up and down Main Street“. Indeed it does! With all the recent hubbub about D23 it’s nice to see a little history and street-cred being bestowed on Orange County’s original theme park!

There was a book signing on Saturday but, alas I was being burned alive in LA on that day so I was unable to attend. There is something to be said for an event that is smaller, more personal and rich with history. I encourage you to check it out the KBF Museum web site and of course, order that book! One more photo after the jump…

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It will now cost you a whopping 99 cents if you go to a quick service location inside of the Disneyland Resort and request a tomato on your burger. That’s right, for the price of the McDonald’s Value menu you can add one (count it, one) slice of tomato to your mouse-based burger.

Here’s a link to the original article over at OC Register’s Around Disney blog. They’ve got their own poll going on over there so I won’t bother posting one here. Personally I don’t like tomatoes but I am willing to wager this particular change is going to irritate quite a few Annual Pass holders who may feel like the parks are stripping more and more money from their wallets.

What do you think? Do you care that the only quick service location where you can get a tomato included with your burger is at Taste Pilots Grill?

Our friends at Mice Age have posted an update by their chief commentator Al Lutz. While often didactic and prone to instructive (rather than constructive) criticism, one cannot help but be fascinated by Mr. Lutz’s juicy tidbits he throws to the drooling Disneyland devotees all over the world. This particular update focuses heavily on D23, Murphy the invisible dragon and the current DCA expansion. However, at the very end of his column he addresses the alleged headaches Disneyland is enduring over this year’s Free-On-Your-Brithday campaign. Essentially he reports the promotion has been one gigantic pain in the ass. Who am I to argue with that? :) He then casually drops this little bomb:

The new campaign for 2010 will allow anyone a free ticket to Disneyland, but only after they complete a certain number of volunteer hours in their community with a Disney approved charity or nonprofit organization.

Say what? Really? That’s sounds like an administrative nightmare!! Still, I really like the idea of encouraging volunteerism and rewarding people with a magical experience. If they really do bring this concept to fruition it will be one of the most unique promotions the Resort has ever seen. I like high concept ideas like this and am interested in seeing it in action.

Would you complete a certain number of volunteer hours to earn a free ticket?

This might be fun! ABC’s Wipeout wants you to compete on their show while snarky hosts John Henson and John Anderson make fun of you. Why would anyone put themselves through that? For 50,000 dollars of course!

An open call casting will be held in Anaheim at ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 29th – you don’t need to be an athlete to participate. They are looking for men women over 18 years of age, legal residents of the U.S., strong swimmers and fun, outgoing, people with a great sense of humor.

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Get out your walking shoes and get ready to walk the parks! Wait, first you need to register then you can get out your shoes!

You still have plenty of time to sign up because the walk isn’t until October 18th! If you have never been, it’s a fun early morning walk through Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure with thousands of other CHOC supporters walking right along with you! The event benefits CHOC Children’s and CHOC Children’s at Mission Hospital and last year they raised a record 1.6 million dollars! Excellent!

Anyone interesting in starting up a OC/LA Metroblog CHOC Walk team?

Simply put, this home movie filmed inside Disneyland in 1956, is nothing short of enchanting. It’s two minutes of pure nostalgic joy. Watch closely as Walt himself makes a casual appearance to meet and greet Guests. It’s astounding. I ask you this: When was the last time any of you saw the current Disneyland Resort President or better yet CEO Bob Iger, just strolling through the park chatting with Guests? He was remarkable and thus far, irreplaceable.

[Unfortunately Metblogs does not support the embedding code for this video. Just click the link below the preview picture and you'll be whisked off to Vimeo's web site]

CLICK HERE TO SEE Home Movies At DisneyLand – 1956 from Jeff Altman on Vimeo.

The OC Register reports that Murphy, the much maligned new dragon in Disneyland’s Fantasmic, will not make an appearance during the official summer season. Whether Mr. Fire-Breath will make posthumous summer appearance remains to be seen. Maybe, just maybe, Murphy will rear his fully articulated head in time for Halloween.

[Image courtesy of Kevincollins123]