About once a month, we’ll print your photos — giving you credit, of course — in the hard-copy edition of the Register.

Want to share your photos with like-minded Disney fans and get a chance to have them published in the Register? Visit our OCR Around Disney Flickr group and join up — you have to have a Flickr account, but setting one up is super easy. Just go to flickr.com and click “create account.”

If we pick your photo, we’ll e-mail you for your your full name and the caption information for the photo, and pop it online.

Right now, we’re especially looking for holiday-themed photos featuring guests. Have a picture of your kids with Santa? Get a photo with the reindeer? Take a shot with characters dressed in festive gear? Please share it with us.

This week’s first two photos are from Flickr user Loren Javier, also his real name. He lives in Los Angeles.

Both are of Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee, a new show at Disneyland.

The first shows Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen on the riverboat.

The second is of Dr. Facilier, the villain in the upcoming movie, along with Prince Naveen.

The next photo shows a reflection on the walkway along Paradise Pier in Disney’s California Adventure.

It was taken by Flickr user Guerrewhoa. Click on the photos to see more of Guerrewhoa’s photos.

The last photo is of a Mickey Mouse decoration on the “C” in the California letters outside of Disney’s California Adventure. It was taken by Ring of Fire Hot Sauce 1. His real name is Michael Greening. He’s from San Diego.

Thanks to everyone who contributed new art to the OCR Around Disney Flickr group this week! We love seeing the parks through your eyes.

Need some help deciding which pictures to contribute? Visit our Flickr page. Photographer Joshua Sudock posted some tips in the body of a discussion topic titled, “How to get your photos published at arounddisney.com.”

Keep snappin’ and having fun

Previous Flickr photo posts:

Post from: Around Disney

From Stitch Kingdom:

We are pleased to present our newest addition to our library of already established collection of Definitive Guides: Disney Apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

iPhone and iPod Touch users now have a single source to turn to in order to find the entire list of Disney related apps available on Apple’s iTunes Store in addition to applications authored by The Walt Disney Company itself.

Find the Disney apps guide HERE.

Previous Disney apps reports:

• Disney apps news
• Free iPhone app available for Disneyland visits
• Thousands buy O.C.-based Disneyland iPhone app
• OC lawyer invents iPhone app for Disneyland
• REVIEW: iPhone app creates virtual Disneyland

Post from: Around Disney

Actors John Travolta, center, and Robin Williams, right, talk with New York Mets Shawn Green while filming the movie 'Old Dogs' at Shea Stadium before the Mets play the Pittsburgh Pirates Thursday, July 26, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

This is a story about a handful of penguins, a giant gorilla head, the Santa Ana Zoo and the new Disney movie, “Old Dogs,” which opens next week.

You may have seen commercial trailers for the movie. They show stars Robin Williams and John Travolta sneaking into a zoo …  a very familiar zoo. They also show actor Seth Green cradled in the lap of a gorilla, but we’ll get to that.

The scenes were filmed last summer at the Santa Ana Zoo. Set workers changed the sign at the front entrance to make it the “Burlington Zoo” and transformed an exhibit that usually houses howler monkeys into a gorilla enclosure.

They also brought in three or four live penguins and turned the zoo’s Tierra de las Pampas exhibit into a penguin-perfect snow scene.

And that gorilla holding Seth Green in the commercials?

Hollywood magic. Zoo employees got used to seeing its animatronic head and other parts lying around between shoots. A few also saw it in action – flinging a tire at stunt doubles for the lead actors.

Cathi Decker, the executive director of the Friends of the Santa Ana Zoo, chatted with Robin Williams for a few moments at a goat paddock during the filming. He joked that he liked the goats so much he might take one home, she said.

“He’s just like he is on camera,” she said. “He is really entertaining, all the time. Such a nice guy.”

The filming shut down the zoo for four days. The production company paid about $13,000 to compensate the zoo for lost ticket revenue, concessions, staff overtime and security.

The zoo also received some Frisbees, t-shirts and other promotional tie-ins that it will be giving away in the coming days.

The movie tells the story of two friends and business partners whose lives are turned upside-down when they find themselves caring for two 7-year-old twins, according to the film site imdb.com. It is scheduled to open Nov. 25.

Click here for the official movie site.

Post from: Around Disney

The Troubadour Tavern, which was previously called Enchanted Cottage, is next to the Princess Fantasy Faire in Fantasyland.

The structure is described as a medieval tent, like those that would be assembled for “a royal tournament, festival or concert,” according to Disney.

Here are some key menu items:

• Bratwurst with sauerkraut served with apple slices or chips.
• Baked potatoes with toppings, including broccoli, cheese, bacon, sour cream, butter and chives.
• Barbecue chicken tenders.
• Corn on the cob, buttered or chili lime.

Previous theme-park food news:

Post from: Around Disney

Then President George W. Bush pardoned the National Thanksgiving Turkey, who was moved to Disneyland, at a ceremony last year.

Thanksgiving week draws large crowds to the Disneyland Resort, including on turkey day, believe it or not. In fact, it’s believed to be the biggest dining day of the year at Disney restaurants.

Parks will be less packed earlier in the week, but will fill up more once the four-day weekend hits.

So, we are providing you with some tips and ideas of how to navigate the resort next week.

Where to eat

Reserved tables: Most of the reservations for sit-down dinners and buffets on Thanksgiving Day were already booked as of Thursday morning, according to a reservation agent. Here are places where you could still make reservations for a family of four:

• Disney’s California Adventure: Ariel’s Grotto and Wine Country Trattoria
• Disneyland: Carnation Cafe
• Downtown Disney: Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen
• Disneyland Hotel: Hook’s Pointe
• Paradise Pier Hotel: Disney’s PCH Grill. This was the only buffet meal with open spots as of Thursday. Cost is $29.99 for adults and $13.99 for children ages 3 to 9.

Call Disney Dining to make reservations: 714-781-3463.

Other restaurants:Guests also can find traditional Thanksgiving foods at other non-reservation locations, such as Plaza Inn in Disneyland, said John McClintock, a Disneyland Resort spokesman.

Finger food:You can always gnaw on a turkey leg, instead. Pick one up at carts at Disneyland’s central plaza in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle, in Disneyland’s Frontierland near the river dock, at the Edelweiss stand near the Matterhorn and in Paradise Pier in Disney’s California Adventure.  Legs cost about $7 each.

What to see

National Turkey: The National Thanksgiving Turkey is set to move into Disneyland next week after being pardoned by President Barack Obama in a traditional White House ceremony. The turkey will be in a special Give a Day, Get a Disney Day parade set for 10 a.m. Thursday (The parade’s name is tied a 2010 program: Those who volunteer for a day to a qualified charity can get a pass to a Disney park). Read about last year’s pardoning ceremony HERE. Check back next week for more news about this year’s national turkey.

White Thanksgiving: During the finale of the “Believe… In Holiday Magic” fireworks show, “snow” swirls down on Main Street, New Orleans Square and near “it’s a small world” ride. Check out these tips for watching fireworks and how to leave Disneyland quickly after a fireworks show.  The spectacular will be shown nightly during Thanksgiving week at 9:25 p.m. in Disneyland.

Holiday rides: Although it may still be Thanksgiving, enjoy the holiday-themed rides and attractions.  Among the Christmas attractions are “it’s a small world” holiday, Haunted Mansion Holiday, Santa’s Reindeer Round-up and “A Christmas Fantasy” parade.

Line tips: Beat the crowds by using Disney’s Fastpass Service. If you do not use Fastpass, try these other tips for waiting in line including Child Swap and Single Rider.

Festive decorations:Along with the attractions, all of the Christmas decorations will be in place by Thanksgiving.  Some of our favorite decorations can be found in Mickey’s Toontown, New Orleans Square and the Christmas tree on Main Street.

How to escape

Touchdown: Keep up with the other Thanksgiving tradition — football — by watching the classic Dallas and Detroit games at the ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney. The restaurant and sports bar will be open starting at 9 a.m. Thursday. Traditional Thanksgiving meals will be served on a first-come, first-served basis.

Shopping: If the lines for rides and attractions get long, get started on Christmas shopping. The Emporium on Main Street and the World of Disney in Downtown Disney have almost any type of Disney merchandise.

For more unique gifts, the shops in New Orleans Square sell crystals, parasols and of course, Christmas merchandise. Or if you’re not in the mood for Christmas so soon, stop by any pin cart or store to pick up a limited-edition Thanksgiving pin.

Get out: Visit the parks earlier in the week and spend the rest of the days at the hotels or in Downtown Disney.

Have more Thanksgiving week tips? Please put them in the comments below or send them to stully@ocregister.com

Around Disney writers Sarah Tully and Sally French wrote this report.

Recent holiday news:

Post from: Around Disney

Anika Noni Rose makes guest appearance in jubilee for T.V. show taping. Photo by Sally French

Disneyland began its new show and parade to promote the upcoming “The Princess and the Frog” movie earlier this month.

“Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee” has a cavalcade that winds through New Orleans Square and then continues on the Mark Twain Riverboat, appearing four times a day. The show is part of a major push to promote the new film, which is Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation and the first featuring an African-American princess.

If you’ve had a chance to see the show, let us know what you think. Take a poll and write comments below.

See a previous blog post for more information and a video of the Tiana show.

Previous “The Princess and the Frog” news:

Post from: Around Disney

From the Orlando Sentinel:

The Walt Disney Co. plans to bring a delegation from Shanghai to Orlando early next month for a series of briefings with executives at Walt Disney World, as the company accelerates design of its first resort on mainland China.

The meetings, which will include tours of Disney World’s fire and emergency-response operations and water-quality-monitoring labs, come with Disney attempting to finalize an agreement to build Shanghai Disneyland in the world’s most populous country.

Read the rest of the Disney World story HERE.

Previous news about Disney’s Shanghai park:

Post from: Around Disney

Union members stage a protest over contract negotiations in July.

Some Disney hotel employees say they have been going to work with flu-like symptoms since losing their paid sick time off — a benefit that got dropped amid a drawn-out contract dispute between their union and Disney.

Hotel workers have been working without a contract for nearly two years since Disney and their union hit a stalemate in negotiations over health care.

In June, the union axed sick pay from the health plan that it runs, saying Disney is failing to contribute enough money to cover that benefit.

Disney officials counter that hotel employees can get sick pay if they agree to join Disney’s health program, which 30 of 31 unions companywide have joined. At the Disneyland Resort, 10,000 full-time employees qualify for paid sick time under the company plan, said Suzi Brown, a Disney spokeswoman.

Caught in the middle are between 900 and 1,500 hotel workers, including Glynndana Shevlin and Kristi Richards, who have no paid sick time during the swine-flu pandemic. Both are union negotiators and full-time employees.

And both decided to go to work when they were sick recently, saying they couldn’t afford to lose wages.

Shevlin, a 21-year Disney employee, said she woke up with a runny nose, aches and chills, but went to work anyway as a Disneyland Hotel food and beverage concierge host. She said she used gloves and washed her hands as she set up cheese-and-vegetable buffets and opened wine bottles for VIP guests. But Shevlin left work early after vomiting in the bathroom, losing about $57 in pay.

“I just felt like I was being punished for doing the right thing,” Shevlin said.

Richards, a cashier at the Grand Californian Hotel, went to work recently with a sore throat, runny nose and the chills. Another time, she had a severe migraine. Richards carries hand sanitizers and tissues, but she has seen other sick employees without the same precautions.

“I don’t like going to work sick.  I know I’m putting other people in danger, but it’s my livelihood,” said Richards, who makes between $9 and $12 an hour.

Still, the loss of sick pay isn’t enough to make Shevlin and Richards consider Disney’s health plan, even with the perk of paid sick time. They said it’s still more economical to keep their current program.

Hotel employees have no money taken out of their paychecks for the union health-care plan, while Disney’s proposal requires deductions. Disney has offered to phase in the deductions — free the first year and 100 percent in five years. About 92 percent of union members voted to reject the Disney plan in August.

The Disney plan, which other employees have, costs between $26 and $216 monthly next year. The most comparable Disney health plan to the union program would cost about $60 monthly next year, Brown said.

But union officials estimate that the cost could grow to hundreds of dollars monthly over the course of five years, topping out at about $500 for a family, said Ada Briceno, president of the union, UNITE HERE.

Disney has offered the plan again, but no meetings have been scheduled, Brown said. Disney has contributed about $12.1 million to the union program while the health-care plan is being debated.

Brown said that Disney urges employees to take time off when they are sick.

“(The union) is using the H1N1 issue as a shameless scare tactic since they cannot get what they want — free health care — at the negotiating table,” Brown said in a prepared statement. “Had (the union) accepted our offer, they too would be eligible for sick pay, just like the other 30 unions (out of 31) at the Disneyland Resort.”

Here are other ways Disney is helping employees with the swine flu pandemic:

• Gives seasonal flu vaccines for free.
• Plans to provide swine flu vaccines, if they become available.
• Provides hand sanitizer to employees who are in regular contact with visitors.
• Allows hotel housekeepers and custodians to wear gloves for cleaning.
• Health professionals are available at work to help employees.

Read how Disney is helping guests prevent swine flu HERE.

More news about the union:

Post from: Around Disney

Included in the exhibit are connections to Disneyland, Walt Disney and his love of trains.

In one area, there is a recreation of Grizzly Flats, the railroad line run by Ward Kimball, one of Walt Disney’s famed “Nine old men” animators.

The display includes models of Kimball’s two full-sized steam trains that he used to run on track at his house. There’s also a model of the train station, water tower and train barn.

Also on display are sections of Disneyland’s original monorail. Then Vice President Richard Nixon helped Walt Disney with the ribbon cutting ceremony when the monorail originally opened at the park.

Check out more in the video.

The Holiday Festival of Trains runs through Jan. 19, at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda.

Recent Disneyland Resort news:

Post from: Around Disney

From the Los Angeles Times:

In his first move affecting a major film project, newly named Walt Disney Studios chief Rich Ross has pulled the plug on a planned $150-million production of “Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” — the last project approved by his predecessor Dick Cook.

The family adventure movie — a high priority for Disney that the studio had envisioned as a potential franchise along the lines of “Pirates of the Caribbean” — was scheduled to begin shooting in February in Mexico. Disney had already spent about $10 million hiring crews, who were prepping the movie and planning to build elaborate sets in Rosarito Beach. Artwork and construction of models were underway.

“Nemo” is one of many projects that are being reevaluated by Ross and his boss, Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger, in the wake of Cook’s forced departure in mid-September.

Read the rest of the Disney movie story HERE.

Previous Walt Disney Studios news:

Post from: Around Disney