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Fans who agree Disneyland is indeed the happiest place on Earth will soon be able to take home more than a souvenir. A passionate collector has brought Disney magic to a sprawling 2,800-sq.–m. building in Burbank, California, where fans can hear birds chirping in the Enchanted Tiki Room section or giggle at the animated ghosts from the Haunted Mansion ride as they preview more than 1,500 items up for auction later this month.

Joel Magee has been building his collection of more than 6,000 items – including costumes, rare posters, and life-size vehicles from rides like Dumbo and Peter Pan – for 30 years, and he’s finally ready to share some of it with the public.

“I’m one of those guys – go big or go home. And if you don’t have the biggest, then it ain’t the best,” Magee said in a recent interview, as fans milled about the exhibit. Magee’s is the largest individually owned Disneyland/Disney Park collection in the world.

“It’s really kind of exciting. This is the first time that all of my things have been in the same room at the same time,” he said.

Magee is known in the collectible industry as “the toy scout,” and has amassed a huge collection of toys and Disney items. He says he watched “The Wonderful World of Disney” on TV every week as a kid but had never been to the park and never thought about collecting until he was at a toy show where he met a man selling Disneyland artifacts and got hooked.

“At the time, I couldn’t afford too much. I bought a couple of pieces, but that’s where it all began,” Magee said. “In my travels as ‘the toy scout,’ I meet people all over the country and for the last 25 years, they’ve just been bringing me all their stuff and here it is today.”

The items for sale are as small as a trading card and as large as a 1917 Model T moving van from Disneyland’s original Main Street that Magee says Walt Disney created himself.

Mike Van Eaton is the co-owner of Van Eaton Galleries, which is running the auction. He says among the most sought-after items are those from the Haunted Mansion attraction, including original stretch paintings from the elevator in the iconic ride, and a “doom buggy” — the vehicle guests ride on.

“Joel also has one of the most amazing Disney attraction poster collections in the world. He has every attraction poster ever in the park. And those are also going to do very well,” Van Eaton said.

There are items for every price point, with some starting as low as US$50 – but most go way up from there.

“Some of these items, such as the Dumbo ride vehicle, may go for $200,000 to $300,000. We have trash cans from the park that may go for $5,000 or $6,000, and posters that could reach $50,000 to $60,000,” Van Eaton said.

Magee says it’s hard to choose his favourites in such a large collection, but he is partial to the static props he’s brought to life.

“The Tiki birds, oh my gosh, they were piles of junk when we got them! They were worn out, pieces were missing,” Magee said. “Some good friends of mine that do a lot of work … in that field brought them all back to life better than you could ever imagine. And … people look at that and you can just see the magic in their eyes when they see them.”

The exhibition is at the Burbank Town Center Mall and runs through July 16. The auction will be held July 17 through 19.

First published at Travel Industry Today

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First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

Visitors and locals alike were invited to open their pie holes, literally, this week as the Florida Keys celebrated its bicentennial Monday with a world-recording breaking Key lime pie more than 4 metres in diameter.

The pie-making festivities and other events marked the 200th anniversary of the Florida Territorial Legislature’s establishment of Monroe County on July 3, 1823, and celebrated its history. The county contains all of the Keys and a portion of Everglades National Park.

During the Civil War, Key West remained in Union hands as a base for a naval blockade of Confederate shipping. In the early 1900s, Standard Oil millionaire Henry Flagler spearheaded the construction of the Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad that became widely known as the eighth wonder of the world.

And for nearly six months of his 1945-1953 presidency, Harry Truman governed the US from his Key West “Little White House” that is now Florida’s only presidential museum.

Key lime pie, originating in late 1800s Key West, is a large part of the continental United States’ southernmost island chain’s heritage. In 2006, it was designated Florida’s official pie by the state Legislature.

Monday’s bicentennial version of the Keys’ signature dessert was spearheaded by Key West chefs Kermit Carpenter (banner photo) and Paul Menta.

“In order to make a really good Key lime pie, you must have the perfect graham cracker crust; you must surround it and fill it with condensed milk and the juice of fresh Key limes,” said Florida Keys County Commissioner Michelle Lincoln.

According to Lincoln, the giant pie required more than 16 gallons of Key lime juice, almost 100 gallons of sweetened condensed milk and some 125 pounds of graham crackers.

After its diameter was measured and confirmed, officials served the pie to attendees.

The bicentennial celebration also featured live music, games for kids, and a laser light show and fireworks extravaganza.

Previous “Keys 200” events have included a large-scale concert in Key West and a sunset commemoration on Marathon’s restored Old Seven Mile Bridge.

First published at Travel Industry Today

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First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

The current Festival International de Jazz de Montréal is showcasing some serious star power. Over the course of 10 days, world-renowned artists including Diana Krall, Buddy Guy, Robert Plant & Alison Krause, Melody Gardot, Herbie Hancock and George Benson will rub shoulders with jazz’s rising stars, sometimes even sharing the same stage. Many established artists are performing at the Festival for the first time and jazz is more prominent than ever on both indoor and outdoor Festival stages.

“It sounds cliché in the festival world, but it’s worth saying because it’s so true: we are incredibly proud to present a truly balanced program that is jam packed with gems!”, said Maurin Auxéméry, the new director of the FIJM programming.

“With the full backing of the big Festival family, each member of the programming team passionately defends their vision of jazz, which has sparked engaging discussions and a program that embodies what the genre is today. Jazz from the 21st century is changing and mutating, drawing on other musical styles, and our programming reflects this refreshing change. Jazz lovers are becoming more diversified, new generations are tuning in, and we couldn’t be happier.”

And there are prizes to be won. The Grand Prize in the “J’aime le Festival” is offered by Louisiana. The lucky winner will win a trip to … you guessed it … Louisiana!

The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, is presented by TD Bank Group in collaboration with Rio Tinto.

Check the schedule HERE

First published at Travel Industry Today

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First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

It was simply time for the Golden Gate City to start playing ball again in Canada – literally, as a delegation from the San Francisco Tourism Association invited a select group of travel friends to attend a Blue Jays game against their own Giants at the Rogers Centre last week.

And while the visiting Giants lost the game, the event, and SFTA’s Canadian trade mission, was a resounding success, Hubertus Funke, Executive VP for the organization, told Travel Industry Today.

“It’s been a few years (since the team’s last mission to Canada),” he admitted, alluding to the pandemic, and added, “There’s nothing like face-to-face connections.”

Moreover, there’s a lot going on in the California city, and has been since Canadians last visited.

And with a high percentage of repeat visitors from Canada, Funke says, “We know Canadians have an affinity for San Francisco, and California, and we want to make sure it stays that way.”

To that end, besides talking up the town, Funke introduced the city’s new marketing campaign, “Always San Francisco,” the domestic marketing organization’s largest-ever global initiative to promote tourism to the city. The multi-million-dollar campaign targets leisure travellers and meeting planners in major domestic markets and key international markets – including Canada.

Celebrating the city’s bold, inviting, and playful ethos, the “Always San Francisco” campaign features iconic locations visitors already connect to San Francisco – the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, cable cars, and Lombard Street – and ones that showcase the city’s vibrant neighbourhoods and the diversity of visitor experiences.

It’s the latter that enthuses Funke. “We talk about these deeper experiences and exploring neighbourhood,” he says.

Like Chinatown, or one if his own favourite neighbourhoods, Hayes Valley, an under-the-radar gem filled with quirky restaurants, bars, and boutique shops, with nary a Starbucks in site.

Then there’s famed former hippie haven, Haight-Ashbury, and the Italian enclave of North San Francisco.

In all, the city – surrounded by water on three sides – is compact and easy to explore. At seven miles by seven mile square, Funke says “We call it the most unusual 49 square miles in the world.”

Meanwhile, across the Golden Gate Bridge is sensational Sausalito, a town that provides the best view of San Francisco’s skyline – and is idyllic on its own for lunch or just walking around. Funke recommends renting a bike and cycling over the bridge, then taking the ferry back.

And beyond Sausalito lies Napa and Sonoma, popular wine regions that are often paired with a city visit by Canadians.

To the south is Santa Cruz and its 100-year-old boardwalk amusement park, Monterey, and Carmel, and the famed coast Hwy 1, including Big Sur.

“There’s a lot of options for visitors,” says Funke, noting nearby Redwoods and the alternative East Bay wine region, plus culinary, wellness, golfing, a ball game in the Giant’s home park perhaps, plus just plain spectacular scenery.

Among the many options are also a host of events across the city all summer, including concerts and festivals, and milestone events marking the 125th anniversary of the city’s iconic Ferry Building (July) and well as 150 years of cable cars – one of the only moving US National Historic Landmarks – in August.

The milestone event features a six-month-long series of events that includes the first-ever public tours of the Muni shop in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighbourhood, where cable cars are built and rebuilt; history-themed walk/ride tours of neighbourhoods served by the cable car lines; the planned operation of “ghost” cable cars from disappeared lines; and a reenactment of cable car founder Andrew Hallidie’s historic first run. All are detailed on sfcablecars.org. And until the end of the year, special fares are in effect, including a $5 all-day pass.

Also, currently taking place (through Jan 21, 2024) at the California Academy of Sciences, is ‘The World’s Largest Dinosaurs’ exhibit which takes visitors beyond the bones and into the bodies of the massive marvels, shedding light on how heart rate, respiration, metabolism, and reproduction are linked to size and includes playful interactives that dig deeper into the palaeobiological research on present-day living organisms.

And then in 2026, many may have a passing interest when the Super Bowl comes to town.

“There is,” says Funke with epic understatement, “a lot of things to do.”

First published at Travel Industry Today

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First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News