The celebrity host for each weekend will be Jay Laga’aia (Captain Typho) while Clone Wars: Behind the Force will be hosted by Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka).

May 22-24 – Ray Park, Warwick Davis, and James Arnold Taylor

Ray Park thrilled audiences as the unforgettable Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace, and will be joined by Warwick Davis, who played Wicket in Return of the Jedi as well as Anakin’s young friend Wald in The Phantom Menace. James Arnold Taylor, who voices Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Clone Wars, will appear as a guest in Behind the Force.

May 29-31 – Peter Mayhew & Matthew Wood

Peter Mayhew has of course appeared in four of the six Star Wars movies as the mighty Chewbacca. Also appearing will be Matthew Wood, Supervising Sound Editor for the Star Wars Prequels and The Clone Wars as well as the voice of General Grievous and the battle droids.

June 5-7 — Jeremy Bulloch, David Prowse, and Matt Lanter

Jeremy Bulloch is best known for his role as Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and also made a brief cameo in Revenge of the Sith as Captain Colton. David Prowse played ultimate villain Darth Vader throughout the original trilogy as the man behind the mask. Matt Lanter, the voice of Anakin Skywalker in The Clone Wars, appears as a guest in Behind the Force.

June 12-14 — Dave Filoni & Temuera Morrison

The creative force behind The Clone Wars, Supervising Director Dave Filoni is also a die-hard Star Wars fan! Filoni will be joined by Temuera Morrison, who plays Jango Fett as well as the unmasked clones of Episodes II and III!

Events include ESPN Live Telecasts and Taping, ESPN Radio Live Broadcasts and the ESPN Sportszone.

Athletes at the ESPN Weekend include:

Tedy Bruschi
Jason Campbell
Joba Chamberlain
Dennis Eckersley
Donnie Edwards
John Franco
Matt Garza
Steven Jackson
Brandon Jacobs
Shawn Johnson
Jim Kelly
Rick Mahorn
Mist May-Treanor
Warren Moon
Jim Palmer
Aaron Rodgers
Charles Tillman
Hines Ward
Kurt Warner
Brian Westbrook
Roy E. Williams
Adam Vinatieri

There is also a host of ESPN Personalities at the weekend, including:

Skip Bayless
Colin Cowherd
Jay Crawford
Peter Gammons
Mike Golic
Mike Greenberg
Dana Jocobsen
Al Jaffe
John Kruk
Steve Phillips
Karl Ravech
Howie Schwab
Trey Wingo

ESPN The Weekend have their own website with more details about what is happening at the event.

For the more athletic visitor, you can sign up for the “ESPN The Weekend 5k”, a fun-run around Disney’s Hollywood Studios benifiting the V Foundation for Cancer Research. More details about signing up for the event can be found here.

I don’t think the move has pleased everyone, with Brandon Heath saying, “I’m a little bummed that it’s not in front of the castle, but I also like the park we’re going to because it’s got the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster”

“I’m a sucker for Magic Kingdom, man,” Heath says. “I love the nostalgia of it.”

Disney have pretty much said that the Night oj Joy concerts fit more with the show-biz persona they are trying to add to DHS, as this park also hosts other annual and daily events such as Star Wars Weekends, Super Soap Weekends and the High School Musical Street show.

Anyhow, if you can get down to DHS, here’s the two night line-up.

Friday September 5, 2008
Chris Tomlin
MercyMe
Rebecca St. James
BarlowGirl
Matthew West
Rush of Fools
Brandon Heath
Britt Nicole

Saturday September 6, 2008
Casting Crowns
TobyMac
Fred Hammond
Marcos Witt
Mandisa
Aaron Shust
RED
Pure NRG

As you can see, Mandisa stars on Saturday. A nice little tie-in to the American Idol Experience with her being an American Idol 2006 finalist.

Most notable by its absense at this point is the Pixar Place meet-and-greet area, where you’ll be able to get your photos with the Toy Story characters.

Studios Central has some photos of the progress of Pixar Place that can be seen here…

The guys over at wdwnewstoday.com have come up with some rumors (and lets be clear that they have stated these are rumors at this stage). That said, it makes for some interesting discussions.

Although Toy Story Mania only opened in May, there are whispers that there are further ideas for the new attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This includes some chatter around the Disney Imagineers coming up with new ideas for the ride and speculation around a holiday version of the ride planned for 2009 (not sure if they meant Holiday as in vacation or maybe a Christmas special). Also with Toy Story 3 planned for 2010/2011 you could see that the new characters in that movie could make the way into the ride.

The new shop, food service area and the “top secret” meet and greet spot for the Toy Story characters are all nearing completion. According to Disney, the waiting area for the meet and greet will feature something they “have never done before”, to quote an Imagineer. Also slated to debut on the street, around the same time in June as the other Pixar Place offerings, is the Wall-E interactive living character animatronic. Plans are to have the “living” character roam the street now through January 2009, where he will be put away until work is completed on the second phase of the Pixar Place project.

Already rumored for the next phase of the project is an interactive Pixar animation making attraction to fill in soundstage 1 and a smaller-scale version of the Car’s inspired Radiator Springs Racers attraction debuting Disney’s at California Adventure park in a few years, replacing the Studio Backlot Tour. I have heard this particular rumor around other forums on the net. Another rumor is that the Honey I Shrunk The Kids playground will become an It’s Tough To Be a Bug themed area. One obvious rumor is that there will be a Ratatouille themed restaurant, but up to this point it has been denied by Disney. Do you think that the rat theme might actually be putting Disney off?

WDWNewsToday summed up by saying “While most of these points are still completely rumor, many of these plans should eventually be executed. The current plan has the final pieces of Pixar Place (the Cars E-Ticket attraction) being put into place by 2013, with the minor pieces all completed by 2011. “

Disney have posted some cute photos of Woody watching Buzz on his launch from Cape Canaveral.

TO INFINITY…AND BEYOND!: Woody, the sheriff from the “Toy Story” films, watches the Space Shuttle Discovery with oversized binoculars as it launches May 31, 2008 from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Aboard Discovery is a 12-inch tall action figure of Woody’s pal from “Toy Story,” Buzz Lightyear. Woody joined thousands of launch-watchers to view the launch in Veterans’ Memorial Park in Titusville, Fla. Disney Parks worked with NASA to include the Buzz Lightyear toy on mission STS-124 to celebrate the opening of a new attraction — called “Toy Story Mania!” — that features Buzz Lightyear and Woody. The toy on the spacecraft will be transferred to the International Space Station where it will spend several months, before being sent back to Florida later this year on a future Space Shuttle mission. A series of educational programs for school children has been planned for the toy’s time in space. (Scott Miller, photographer)

It’s true, Buzz will live out the dreams of many a young child as a 12” toy Buzz Lightyear will get to blast off in Space Shuttle Discovery on the 31st of May. The cynics amongst you have probably already realised that this is the same date as the official opening of the Toy Story Mania ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We know from experience though, that the shuttle launches rarely get off at the scheduled time. I wonder if Buzz can work some of his Space Ranger magic on this one.

Cape Canaveral, Fla., May 29, 2008 — It’s a dream come true for Buzz Lightyear as Disney Parks and NASA send the 12-inch-tall action figure “to infinity and beyond!” Buzz Lightyear will blast off aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-124. Liftoff from Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for 5:02 p.m. ET on May 31.

Buzz’s dream of going “to infinity and beyond” will finally come true during the mission when — with the help of the crew — he will fly in zero gravity inside the International Space Station as part of NASA’s “Toys in Space” initiative. Through this program, Buzz will help introduce fun elements from space into science and math classrooms across the country.

With Buzz will launch the aspiration of millions of school children who dream of space travel. STS-124 will coincide with the kickoff of the Space Ranger Education Series — part of NASA’s “Toys in Space,” an educational program for teachers and students. The program builds on NASA’s educational goals of encouraging students to pursue studies in science, technology and mathematics (STEM) subjects, which are vitally important in sustaining U.S. economic competitiveness and technological leadership.

Developed by Disney and NASA, “Toys in Space” features materials for educators to download and integrate into their classroom curriculum as well as online, educational games linked to each key component of the mission. The series, hosted at www.nasa.gov, will be available throughout 2008.

“NASA is excited to help students understand the science and engineering currently underway on the International Space Station,” said Dr. Joyce Winterton, NASA assistant administrator for Education. “The educational games and resources from this partnership will allow students to explore the science and math behind space exploration with a beloved character.”

Buzz’s groundbreaking mission into space also coincides with the launch of his latest debut on Earth in Toy Story Mania!, Disney Parks new attraction that opens May 31 at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and June 17 at Disneyland Resort in California.

“The Space Ranger Education Series will give teachers an opportunity to incorporate a fun and engaging moment into the classroom with a character that children really love,” said Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “We’re pleased to join NASA in creating a program that can help keep kids excited about math and science.”

Buzz’s Space Itinerary

Buzz will spend several months in space at the International Space Station (ISS) testing the limits of zero gravity before returning home to a hero’s welcome at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida later this year. While in space, Buzz will participate in an experiment flying in zero gravity and appear in a video downlink from the ISS.

The Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-124 will travel with seven astronauts to install Kibo’s large Japanese Pressurized Module (JPM) and the lab’s robotic arm system.

For additional information about the educational series and NASA programs, guests may visit www.nasa.gov.

Watch

Well, you can watch as a member of the audience in a fully rigged-out American Idolesque studio.

Vote

You get the chance to determine the outcome of the show by voting on the “performers” by pressing one of the keys on your interactive keypads.

Perform

As a performer you get the opportunity to perform in front of a judge before being thrown into the live on-stage performance. The big draw for performers will be the chance to win a dream ticket. If they win the Americal Idol Experience finale show. This’ll give the winner the opportunity to sing in front of an official American Idol representative at an actual regional audition.

Disney have also confirmed that January 2009 is the planned opening on the new site.

I know some of the visitors that have been trying to get on the attraction recently have said that even waiting times for the single rider lines has been around the hour mark, so fastpass will be a welcome relief.

The reason I’m dredging up this old news is that the finale of this years American Idol has just been taking place with the winner, David Cook, bellowing ‘I’m going to Disney World!’ during the celebration. He also starred in the latest ‘I’m Going to Disney World!’ commercial just hours after the event. The attraction is due to open in January 2009.

So wind yourself back to February 2008 when the press release for American Idol was announced. They said the show would include an audition process for all who register, vocal coaching, makeup session and the chance to perform live on stage. Guest performers who get the highest votes will get to appear in the end-of-day finale of the show.

I guess the main question I have is, as a participant how long will all this take? As a member of the audience, again how long will this take out of my day and why do I want to waste my time listening to other people sing badly? One of the main draws of the show for many people is listening to the judges barbed comments. I cannot see someone on the Idol stage at DHS being ripped apart?

Besides the fact that I’m not an American Idol fan, don’t you just feel that Disney are pitching up with a lot of money a little late down the road of this franchise? I’m not too sure how many more seasons are lined up for American Idol, but I do feel that Simon Fuller is going to be the main winner out of this tie-in.

Official Press Release celebrating David Cook’s win on American Idol:

LOS ANGELES — To celebrate “The American Idol Experience” attraction coming to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, David Cook shouted the famous words “I’m Going to Disney World!” Wednesday night, May 21, after being crowned the newest “American Idol” in the popular show’s star-studded season finale in Los Angeles. Camera crews captured Cook’s pronouncement on the Nokia Theatre stage just moments after “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest announced his name to millions of viewers watching worldwide.

Later that night, Cook was featured in the newest “I’m Going to Disney World!” commercial that aired only hours after the finale. Starring in a role usually occupied by sports stars — such as Super Bowl or World Series champs — Cook is the first singer to ever star in the Disney commercial.

Cook’s role in the “I’m Going to Disney World” ad is all in celebration of the new “American Idol” attraction that will open at Walt Disney World in Florida in January 2009.

Currently under construction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park, it’s the first attraction anywhere in the world based on the popular television series, through an agreement with FremantleMedia Enterprises and 19 Entertainment.

When complete, Disney guests will be able to experience the thrill of an interactive attraction amidst all the glitz and glamour of the “American Idol” television show.

By starring in the commercial, Cook joins a line up of superstar professional athletes from the fields of football, basketball, and baseball, who have shouted the famous line during the past 20+ years, “I’m Going to Disney World!”

http://wdwnews.com/ViewPressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=109908