Christmas is upon us in just a little over a month.  With the holiday gift giving going on it brings a question to my mind.  What does Mickey Mouse get for Minnie Mouse at Christmas?  I am sure that they exchange cheese, and things like that.  I wonder if Mickey would get into video games?  I know he needs something to take his mind off the continual work that they have him doing in Walt Disney World, DisneyLand, and all the other parks.

One of these years I think Mickey should just pop the question and ask Minnie to marry him.  This would be the ultimate in Christmas gifts for girlfriends in my opinion.  It should have happened by now as far as I am concerned.  At least they were living in seperate houses until the Fantasyland Expansion started.

While I am in Disney World this December I plan on going to visit them with my family.  We usually get some good group shots with them.

What do you think about how long this relationship has been going on?  Don’t you think that they should get married, and get it over with?

I think that Disney could do a lot of good if they started offering things like workout classes, and other things like the ever growing zumba work out.  I know nothing about Zumba, and don’t think that I want to, but I will support my wife 100% if she decides that she wants to do something like that back at home.  Disney could make some money at this if they thought about the idea. It surprises me that they don’t even have things like zumba on the cruise.  I have read many peoples posts on some sites about how they wish the cruise had zumba.

If you want to get in a little bit of sweating and exercise just look around whatever Disney resort you are staying in.  There is almost guaranteed to be a fitness room.  Some properties even have bicycle rentals.

(Reuters) – Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Bob Iger will step down as CEO in March 2015 after nearly a decade at the helm, setting in motion a succession plan for the largest U.S. media and entertainment company.

The company did not mention possible successors, but industry speculation centered on Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo and the head of Disney’s huge theme parks and resorts division, Tom Staggs.

Iger, 60, succeeded Michael Eisner as Disney’s CEO in October 2005, which means his tenure as chief executive would be less than a decade long.

Eisner’s reign at Disney, which ranks among the longest and most storied — for better and worse — in CEO history, lasted 21 years, from 1984 until 2005.

Disney shares fell 1 percent to close at $31.70 on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has increased in value by more than a third since Iger began his term.

Disney, which generates some $40 billion in annual revenue, is grappling with economic uncertainty and its impact on its three largest divisions: media, its movie studio and theme park resorts.

In August, the company posted better-than-expected quarterly results, but Wall Street analysts warned that low consumer spending may pinch in coming months.

“It’s wise for Disney’s board to have a very clear succession plan,” said Miller Tabak & Co analyst David Joyce.

Still, he said, Iger’s plan to leave the CEO post is “a little surprising given he’s still a little young-ish CEO.”

Speculation that Iger might have identified a successor picked up in 2009 after Disney said Staggs and Rasulo were swapping jobs.

Staggs, 50, was known as a favored executive and is considered a potential successor to Iger, but the former Wall Street analyst lacked operational experience. By putting Staggs in charge of Disney’s all-important theme parks, analysts said, Iger may have been affirming Staggs as a strong internal candidate for the top job while giving the finance chief much-needed operating experience.

Iger will assume the post of chairman, in addition to CEO, starting in March 2012, when Chairman John Pepper retires. Iger will hold the jobs through March 31, 2015, and continue as executive chairman through June 30, 2016.

His annual salary rose to $2.5 million from $2 million now. Iger also could receive as much as $12 million in annual cash bonuses and up to $15.5 million a year in options and restricted shares.

Iger, who got his start as a TV weatherman, joined Disney after Eisner’s deal to buy Capital Cities/ABC in 1995, a $19 billion deal that caught everyone flat-footed when announced. Iger served as Eisner’s second-in-command for the last five years of his tenure.

His loyalty and deference to Eisner led to mocking from media insiders that Iger had no thought that Eisner did not already approve.

After taking over in 2005, however, Iger stunned the very same people with bold moves that betrayed his prior image. In a matter of months, he not only smoothed over the friction Eisner created with Apple Inc co-founder Steve Jobs, but also convinced Jobs to sell Pixar animation studios to Disney for $7.4 billion.

In addition to the studio, that deal also made Jobs the company’s largest individual shareholder and landed him on Disney’s board, giving Iger unfettered access to Jobs’ insights on how to re-orient an old media company to the digital world.

Iger bought Marvel Entertainment for $4.4 billion, aggressively moved Disney programing online through partnerships with online video service Hulu and others, and ousted longtime executives such as Dick Cook, David Westin and Stephen McPherson who he felt were underperforming.

In terms of style, Iger and Eisner could not have been more different. Eisner was brash, aggressive, confrontational and hands on in every aspect of Disney’s business. Iger is quiet, laid back, borderline robotic and prefers to allow those under him to run their fiefdoms as they see fit.

“He’s a very calm personality,” Wunderlich Securities analyst Matthew Harrigan said, adding that “people are very happy with Iger from a strategic perspective.”

Iger rose to the CEO role in part because of disenchantment among investors at Eisner’s leadership, particularly the way he handled the $66 billion hostile takeover offer from Comcast Corp in 2004.

At the company’s annual shareholder meeting following that offer, Eisner received a stunning 43 percent no-confidence vote from shareholders and was forced to relinquish his chairman of the board title.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine. Editing by Peter Lauria and Robert MacMillan)

I would not want to have to do the night audit clerk jobs, merchandising, or the maintenance.  These jobs all seem to have the same exact thing going on, and that is repetition, and for the most part very little guest interaction.  I have had to check into our room late on a few occasions.  There is probably a better pay, but those people must really hate it when they want to see their family, but can’t because they are sleeping so that they can work the night shift.

I like to meet people, and work with people.  I am not sure if you feel the same, but working in Disney without guest interaction just seems very dull.

After reading I noticed that it is only a fake fireplace.  This obviously has to do with many factors like use, safety, cleaning, and more.  Are there actual fireplace inserts there, or is it just a piece to look like a fireplace?

Info from the Disney Blog…

“This suite takes guests on the most luxurious safari ever. With the feel of an explorers’ camp from the 1930s, the Adventureland Suite features a master bedroom fashioned as a safari lodge with a claw-foot bathtub in the living area. In the master bathroom lies a grotto with a foot spa, steam and rain showers, and lighting and sound effects that make you feel like you’re in a rain forest or a savanna. Younger explorers will love the second bedroom, which makes you feel like you’re sleeping in a safari tent.

The Asian/Indian-inspired main living area includes a wet bar, a flat-screen TV hidden behind artwork above the faux fireplace, and a “hidden” closet (hint: try the bookcase). When you’re in this suite, it even sounds like you’re in the jungle: the doorbell “rings” with tiki gods playing drums, and – for the first time in a Disneyland Hotel suite – themed background music plays three separate tracks inspired by the Jungle Cruise, Disney adventure-themed movies and world music first created for Disney’s Animal Kingdom.”

Have you ever stayed at any of the Disney suites?