MI News Desk

The Meet Merida Brave meet and greet premiered at Disneyland yesterday near the Small World Mall. Apart from meeting Pixar's new Scottish princess, you can also meet the adorable mischievous bears from the flim and also immerse yourself in the world of the film by taking part in various activities.

There is a similar Meet Merida Brave setup at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World which recently opened offering a slightly more expanded experience.

If you still haven't had enough of Merida, you can meet her again in the new Brave segment in WORLD OF COLOR that will be part of the show starting June 15 at Disney California Adventure.

Welcome back, travelEARS! Today, we leave the caves of Elkep Evi and journey into the treetops of TreeHouse Hideaway.

I like to think of TreeHouse Hideaway as a cross between The Treehouse Villas in Walt Disney World and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. And I think you will soon see why.

Today nftysqrt went to the Disneyland Resort after a week off to bring you a look at Merida's new Meet N' Greet at Disneyland. We also take a look around Disneyland for an update on the Matterhorn, and the new Cars Land wrap for the Monorails, and more.

Then over at Disney California Adventure we find tons of Buena Vista Street updates including new signage on various buildings and more finishing touches throughout the new entrance, Cars Land continues revving up it's final touches, and over at Hollywood Land, Mad T Party is also gearing up for it's rumored Soft Open on May 25th.

Disney Parks Blog has announced today that the Disneyland Resort will be having a ticket price increase starting May 20, 2012. Tickets will increase between $7 -$150 for tickets and Annual Passes.

Disney also confirmed expanded hours with both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park opening at 8am for most of the summer.

Pricing can be found after the jump.

The Disney Parks Blog recently released a behind-the-scenes look at the recording process for the music that will be played inside the upcoming Carthay Circle Restaurant. Music arranger Bill Cantos shows us how he took classic Disney tunes and made his arrangements sound beautifully appropriate for the time period and setting of this restaurant.

Reservations for Carthay Circle Restaurant may be made by calling the Disney Dine Line (714-781-DINE) or emailing dining reservation requests to dine@disneyland.com.

In order to celebrate its 20th anniversary, runners participating in the Walt Disney World Marathon in 2013 will be treated to a specialized route along a speedway and through a baseball stadium. This is in addition to the four Disney theme parks it has run through in the past.

For the seventh consecutive year, the Disneyland Resort presented a total of $50,000 in scholarships to 10 exemplary high school seniors for outstanding community service, academic excellence and overall leadership.

Disney Parks Blog today released some pictures and information about the newest Red Car Trolly Merchandise. This new collection, which will make its debut in Los Feliz Five & Dime on Buena Vista Street, will include ladies’ and men’s tees, fleece sweatshirts, hats, figurines, souvenirs, tin signs and more.

With help from Mickey Mouse and dozens of VoluntEARS, Walt Disney World Resort today kicked off efforts to award a record $1.5 million in Disney Helping Kids Shine grants to 59 organizations that help enrich the lives of Central Florida kids.

The latest episode of Armchair Archivist has premiered and this time we join hosts Josh and Melody at the Walt Disney Archives where the former "Hats Off" display has been replaced with the new "The Magic of Models and Miniatures" exhibit.

We get a peek at several of the small-scale treasures including the sculpts of World of Motion Audio-Animatronics® (from Epcot), the flying Model-T from The Absent-Minded Professor, Captain EO's spaceship, and models from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

Subtle wraps have been placed on the Disneyland Resort monorails in promotion of the June 15th opening of Cars Land in Disney California Adventure. The monorails now have cute little faces giving way to the personalities of Mandy, Mona, and Manny who are the characters that have taken residence on Disneyland's monorail beams. Each Monorail also has a customized spiel with that character welcoming you aboard.

Monorail wraps are not unfamiliar turf to Disneyland; for the opening of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, one of the Mark VI monorails was wrapped to look like a sub. More recently, in Walt Disney World, a monorail was wrapped with a promotion for Marvel's THE AVENGERS.

ABC recently announced the primetime schedule for the 2012-2013 season. Many favorites are returning and a few shows were cancelled.

New series for the 2012-13 season are 666 Park Avenue, The Family Tools, How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life), Last Resort, Malibu

A new video was released today for “Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two” offering a behind the scenes look into the making of the game. Various people involved in the making of the game including Warren Spector share their thoughts.

One of the particularly interesting notes in the clip addresses one of the original complaints about the first game. Spector notes "the camera... is dramatically different, we've made hundreds and hundreds of changes."

MouseInfo's "The Secret World of Arrietty" Sweepstakes gives you the chance to win a Blu-ray combo pack of the film! Simply click on the Blu-ray combo pack to enter for your chance win! Three lucky entrants will win!


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The Secret World of Arrietty is available May 22 on Disney Blu-ray and DVD.

Click here to enter for your chance to win!