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Search Results for: gran destino

What You Must See Before Visiting Disney’s Gran Destino Tower

16 July 2019 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

Gran Destino Tower

Walt Disney World’s Newest Resort Option – Gran Destino Tower

As I’m sure you’ve heard and seen by now, Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs is now open. We shared video and photos over on our social channels and Christian and I discussed our thoughts on the highlights of this amazing new resort in our latest resort video. But there is something else you must see before you visit or check-in to Gran Destino Tower…

Two Artists Combine Their Vision

Salvador Dalí first met Walt Disney at a Warner Brothers studio party in 1945. He had come to Hollywood to work on a dream sequence in Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound. The pair struck up what may seem to some as an unlikely friendship, but in reality made perfect sense. Disney had already been pushing the boundaries of art and animation for years. Pink elephants on parade from Dumbo, and the frightening forest scene from Snow White to name a few. Of course, Fantasia itself was a lesson in taking feature animation to a higher plane. So a common bond of creative envelope-pushing, combined with boundless self-promotion, naturally brought these two men together. The next logical step was to collaborate on a project combining Dalí’s surreal vision and Walt Disney’s gift for animation.

Here is an excerpt from Salvador-Dali.org about the origin of the Destino project: 

On January 14, 1946, Salvador Dalí signed a contract with Walt Disney to make a short animated film entitled Destino. To work on the project, the painter installed himself in the Disney Studios in Burbank, California, where he set about drafting the screenplay and creating a series of drawings and oil paintings. The main characters, a dancer and a baseball player who is also the god Chronos, develop Dalí’s original concept, which revolves around the importance of time when we are waiting for destiny to enter into our lives. The song chosen for the soundtrack of the film, ‘Destino’, by the Mexican Armando Domínguez, was a major inspiration for Dalí in the development of his work.

The short, intended as part of a package film, was to have a running time of between 6 and 8 minutes, but only 15 seconds were made and it was not until 2003 that Disney resumed and completed the project on the basis of Dalí’s first ideas and original sketches.

A Found Treasure

Despite having 135 storyboards and 22 paintings from Dalí’s eight months in the studio, the project was abandoned when the Disney Studios could not continue funding it. The project was shelved and forgotten until Roy E. Disney, Walt’s nephew, discovered the artwork while working on Fantasia 2000. He secretly sent the project to be completed in France by a team of animators and a director, Dominique Monféry, who attempted and succeeded in continuing the story that Dalí and Disney (and Imagineer John Hench, who is credited as a writer as well) set out to tell. It was released in 2003, and nominated for an Oscar that year for Best Animated Short.  If you haven’t seen it before, here it is below in its (2003) entirety: 

If you happen to own the Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 Blu-Ray + DVD Movie Collection set, there’s a bonus. Destino is actually on the Fantasia 2000 disc! Also included is an 82-minute documentary, Dalí & Disney: A Date with Destino. There you’ll hear more about the collaboration between these two artistic geniuses.

Additionally, the always-impressive Taschen has published a few books on his elaborate dinner parties. Taschen Diners de Gala and the Wines de Gala, if you want to delve deeper. And of course, The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida is an amazing place to explore Dalí ‘s life and work. It’s also not too far from Walt Disney World, if you want to extend a vacation and see something new.

Inspiration for Gran Destino Tower

Getting back to Gran Destino Tower, when you first approach the tower from either the parking lot or the Lago Dorado side, the inspiration of Destino is more than apparent. The shapes and designs throughout the resort come straight from the art in the short. Dahlia, and her morphing into a bell shape in the film, is directly represented in the lamps in guest rooms, and the designs in the Dahlia lounge on the 16th floor. The Dahlia lounge in particular is entirely inspired by the film, with Dahlia’s hair represented in waves on the ceiling, the dandelion images in a painting on the wall, and the seed heads floating away and becoming the light fixtures on the ceiling. 

So before you head to this gorgeous new resort, watch the 6 minute short, and then see how many representations you can see as you explore and discover. Whether Surrealist art is your thing or not, the artistic vision and creativity is undeniably impressive. Gran Destino is enjoyable and breathtaking even without viewing Destino, but seeing it and the inspiration, is, in my opinion, worth your time. I’m sure Disney history buffs, animation and art fans will agree. Kudos to the Disney team for transforming art into function and honoring the work of Salvador Dalí as well as Walt Disney. I’m so excited that Destino has been brought to life for all to see and enjoy in a new way. 

 

Have you visited Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort? What was your favorite part of this newest area of Walt Disney World? 

Walt Disney and Dahlia

*Disclosure: some links above are affiliate links.

Filed Under: Commentary Land, Disney Parks, Resorts, & Entertainment, Disney Resorts, Family Travel, Top Stories, Travel Tagged With: Gran Destino, Gran Destino Tower, Roy E. Disney, Walt Disney World resorts

VIDEO: Gran Destino Grand Opening!

10 July 2019 by Chris Ryan Leave a Comment

Today Christian and Zanna are checking out all the details of the brand new Gran Destino Tower at the Coronado Springs Resort in WDW. Let’s see what this new place has to offer!

For more info, and for current room rates, please visit: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/res…

Disclosure: Disney hosted us for this pre-opening stay and grand-opening celebration, but our opinions and thoughts are our own! We just really liked this new option at WDW. Thanks for watching!

Filed Under: Disney Resorts, Videos, Walt Disney World

Best Scenic Spots in Disney Parks – Up the Waterfall

17 February 2020 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

Disney California Adventure - Best Scenic Spots in Disney ParksThis week on Up the Waterfall we took a break from the deep dives into Disney history and have a palate cleanser of sorts with a Best Scenic Spots in Disney Parks episode. This came about from my handful of recent visits to the newest Disney hotels – Disney’s Riviera Resort and Gran Destino Tower, both of which have rooftop restaurants or lounges with amazing views. It made me really appreciate some of the great scenery that exists around Disney parks. Of course, I mean outside of the normal ones we expect like Cinderella Castle and the main “weenies” of the parks.

In this episode we share our favorite scenic spots in Walt Disney World, Disneyland and the Disney resort hotels as well. Do any of our picks align with yours? What did we leave out? Let us know in the comments below, we’d love to hear your best scenic spots in Disney parks picks too!

 

We hope you enjoy this week’s episode of Up the Waterfall!

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Head to our Up the Waterfall YouTube Playlist – where you can see our opening sequence and some unique images of the places we mention. Here’s the latest episode:

 

Feel free to comment below with your favorites spots, any questions or info you’d like to add, or if it’s easier, head to the Zannaland Facebook page and join the discussion there with fellow Disney fans!

 

 

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Filed Under: Disneyland Resort, Latest News, Top Stories, Up the Waterfall Podcast, Walt Disney World Tagged With: Best scenic spots in Disney, Best views in Disney parks, Disney history podcast, Disney parks, Places to celebrate in Disney parks, Scenic Disney spots, Up the Waterfall, Up the Waterfall podcast

Disney’s Sangria University Returns for 2021!

9 February 2020 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

Now you may be asking yourself, “Disney’s Sangria University, what’s that?!” First of all, your reaction would be totally understandable because I didn’t know the answer to that myself until a few days ago!

EDIT 12/21:  Sangria University is reopened and now available to book on the My Disney Experience App! You can still email [email protected] to request a reservation or set up a private session. Continue reading for what the experience was like when we tried it last year!

See how it looks on the app as you check availability and can book. Thanks to Sara J. for that info!

Sangria University My Disney Experience
Sangria University My Disney Experience
Sangria University My Disney Experience

You can also watch our accompanying video of Sangria University below, to see just what it’s like to attend this fabulous Disney recreational activity!

 

 

 

Since I hadn’t heard of Sangria University before, I wanted to tell you all about it. Keep reading to learn where to find this experience, and if it’s worth spending your time and money on! Now let’s get right to the facts and figures!

Sangria University
4 different sangria samples you get to enjoy!

What is Sangria University?

Sangria University is a separately booked experience where you get to sample four different sangria types and then make your own sangria!  You’ll hear some fun info from your bartender/class leader and receive a certificate at the end! Each session holds 14-15 people.

What’s included in Sangria University? 

When you arrive, you are seated with 4 glasses of sangria to sample (these are a good size too) and then create your own sangria in one of the gorgeous balloon glasses from the Dahlia Lounge and Toledo.

You also get an appetizer sample to enjoy during the class. The Lentil Hummus appetizer, which has a harissa topping and pepitas on top. It is normally served with pita triangles, but since I’m vegan, it came with sliced cucumber and carrot sticks to enjoy the hummus with.

Finally, you are presented with a personalized Certificate of Mastery too!

Tinto Sangria
Tinto Sangria
Sparkling Sangria Three Bridges
Sparkling Sangria made with Cava
Rosado Sangria
Rosado Sangria made with Rose wine
Sangria University Blanco
Blanco Sangria made with white wine
Three Bridges Lentil Hummus
Three Bridges Lentil Hummus vegan version with cucumbers and carrots
Sangria University
The create your own Sangria ingredients
Sangria University recipes
Recipe and info cards from Sangria University

Where is Sangria University?

You’ll attend this interactive activity at the Three Bridges Bar and Grill, at Villa del Lago, which is right in the middle of Lago Dorado, the lake at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. Three Bridges has been open for a little while now and is a wonderful addition to the already amazing dining and lounge choices at Coronado Springs. This would be a perfect mid-day pick-me-up before a dinner at Toledo in Gran Destino Tower, or you could just pop back over for dinner at Three Bridges too!

When is Sangria University? 

The sessions currently take place on Saturdays from 2:30-3:30pm. If this offering becomes really popular, that time could change or more times/days could be added, so check back to see if there have been any updates. Edited to add: We just heard from the Proprietor of Three Bridges Bar and Grill and they have committed to adding Sundays to the Sangria University Schedule, so you can reserve Sundays from 2:30-3:30pm as well now!

How Much is Sangria University? 

$45 per person inclusive of tax. For that price, you get all of the drinks mentioned above, the appetizer, and the personalized certificate at the end.

You can also add additional liquors to your sangria creation, which at the time of posting were $4 each.

There are currently no discounts accepted for Sangria University (so no Tables in Wonderland, Annual Pass, DVC, or Cast discounts).

Zanna at Sangria University
Salud!

How Do I Book Sangria University?

At this time, you cannot book on the My Disney Experience or on the Disney Dining line or WaltDisneyWorld.com. But, all you have to do to book Sangria University is call the Coronado Springs Resort Recreation line at 407-939-1004 to make the reservation. You can also email Three Bridges Bar & Grill directly at [email protected] to request a reservation or set up a private session. They also will accept walk-ups if you happen to be at Coronado Springs around that time, if they have any space for the current class.

Can I book a private party for Sangria University?

YES! If you want to book this fun experience for a bridal or engagement shower, a team building event with your company, a birthday party, or just a fun private party with a group of your friends, you can set up a special time and day to experience Sangria University! See above for the email address to set that up.

So there you have it, all the facts! I really enjoyed this experience, and would definitely recommend it for a unique activity to enjoy with the beautiful surroundings of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, learn a little bit, and enjoy some delicious sangria and hummus too.

It’s definitely more of a fun and low-key session, not super heavy on the traditions of sangria or history. In fact, all of the sangria that you sample are created by the Three Bridges, so they aren’t tied to any one traditional blend. It’s a great way to enjoy 4 very different ways to experience sangria, and even more exciting that you get to try your hand at blending your own flavors!

Special Thanks to Athena from Three Bridges Bar & Grill for inviting my friend Amanda from VeganDisneyFood out to experience this, and to Amanda for asking me to join her! We were provided with a complimentary session, however, my thoughts and opinions are, as always, my own! 

    • Have you experienced Sangria University?
    • What did you think? What about any other unique resort offerings?
    • Let us know in the comments below if you have, or plan to be, a graduate soon! 
Want to remember these tips? Save the Disney’s Sangria University-How to Book pin to your favorite Pinterest board! 

Sangria University

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Filed Under: Disney Dining, Disney Resorts, Things to Do, Top Stories, Walt Disney World Tagged With: Coronado Springs Resort, Dahlia Lounge, Disney Sangria, Disney's Coronado Springs, Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, Gran Destino Tower, Sangria tasting, Sangria University, Sangria University 2021, Sangria University Facts, Sangria University How To, Sangria University reopened, Sangria University Review, Three Bridges Bar and Grill, Toledo, Villa del Lago

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