‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ review: A real-live adventure this time from Disney’s recycling bin

• April 28, 2023

You could say “Peter Pan & Wendy,” the latest voyage to the Disney+ recycling bin, is an unexpectedly strong movie. But it’s not unexpected, so really, you shouldn’t call it that.

The director and co-writer David Lowery has made nothing but interesting features, six so far, and while his latest (co-written by Toby Halbrooks) turns into a bit of a Lost Boy here and there in its brooding investigation of why Captain Hook, played by a happily camp-averse Jude Law, got that way, it’s a stirring adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s fantasy, now streaming.

“Peter Pan & Wendy” starts where it ought to, in London at night. In Lowery’s film, the Darling family (Molly Parker and Alan Tudyk appear as Ma and Pa in the bookend sequences) is about to send a trepidatious Wendy off to boarding school. Like the eternal boy she’s been hearing about in stories most of her young life, she prefers not to grow up too quickly.

The magical arrival of Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, and the whisking of the eager Darling children off to Neverland, changes the itinerary. Director Lowery and his digital-effects army deliver a quite-good initial flight (straight through Big Ben, into a kind of time-warp thingie up in the stars) and Neverland is played by the Faroe Islands between Iceland and Norway, plus Newfoundland and Labrador and bits of British Columbia. It looks like a place you’d actually love to visit, as opposed to, say, Steven Spielberg’s soundstage-bound “Hook,” which I still wake up screaming about sometimes.

“Peter Pan & Wendy” relates directly in visual terms to Lowery’s knack for real-world landscape amid fantastical wonders in films such as “Pete’s Dragon” and, more recently, “The Green Knight.” All the Barrie basics, and ideas cooked up in the 1953 Disney animated feature, remain in this version. Peter vs. Hook. Tiger Lily and the Lost Boys. The crocodile. The reluctance to grow up. Sword fights, pirates, flying, you know the drill. But “Peter Pan & Wendy” goes its own ways. Peter, played by Alexander Molony with a determinedly low-key touch, isn’t sidelined, exactly, but Wendy’s in the forefront. As Ever Anderson plays her, she’s a vibrant protagonist on her own quest. The Lost Boys and Hook’s pirates give us a multiethnic array of actors, which is the sort of thing we don’t really even have to note these days.

The narrative stalls periodically in its devotion to Hook’s vicious obsession with Peter, and the story behind that (no spoilers here). “Show me a child who truly knows the difference between right and wrong,” Hook says at one tense point, “and I’ll show you a man who can’t remember why it mattered in the first place.” Some of this psychodrama works; some of it works too hard. But Lowery invests the whole of it with a mood both grave and warm, with serious dramatic stakes.

A scene still from Disney’s live-action “Peter Pan & Wendy,” exclusively on Disney+. (Disney Enterprises, Inc/TNS)

The crocodile has grown: It’s more of a Kraken-dile in size, though Lowery wisely keeps the scares largely in check. It’s a delicate balance, maintaining Barrie’s childhood fantasies and fears while going for the right kind of humor and action. Notably, there’s very, very little in the way of wearying sarcasm or self-referential clutter here. And that, among other reasons, is why the film works.

Show of hands: How many of you like Disney’s business plan, based on the recent animation-to-live-action evidence and the remakes perpetually coming soon? It’s a simple plan, posing a simple rhetorical corporate question: Why chart a course for destinations unknown when there are so many known destinations to revisit?

Don’t love it myself. But hiring creatives who are truly creative doesn’t hurt.

———

‘PETER PAN & WENDY’

3 stars (out of 4)

Rated: PG (for violence, peril and thematic elements)

Running time: 1:46

How to watch: Disney+

Ever Anderson as Wendy in Disney’s live-action “Peter Pan & Wendy,” on Disney+. (Disney Enterprises, Inc/TNS)

©2023 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

‘Culture war’ erupts over mortgage fee hikes for borrowers

• April 28, 2023

The news landed like red meat at a conservative political rally.

Acting “in the dark of night,” the narrative goes, the Biden administration is raising mortgage fees for low-risk borrowers to pay for discounts on riskier borrowers with lower credit scores.

Critics say the change, effective Monday, May 1, penalizes sensible, middle-income borrowers to help low-income and minority households buy homes.

“This is left-wing, socialist ideology,” said Fox News business commentator Larry Kudlow, a Trump Administration economic advisor. “This is an outrage. This is an attack on the American dream.”

On Wednesday, 18 GOP senators sent a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, calling the fee revision a shortsighted policy that “punishes hardworking Americans for their fiscal prudence.”

The FHFA pushed back, adamantly denying that low-risk borrowers are subsidizing fee cuts for higher-risk borrowers.

“Higher-credit-score borrowers are not being charged more so that lower-credit-score borrowers can pay less,” FHFA Director Sandra Thompson said in a statement Tuesday. “The updated fees, as was true of the prior fees, generally increase as credit scores decrease.”

Meanwhile, real estate industry groups weighed in, complaining that fee hikes are bad because they put homeownership — already unaffordable due to high prices and high interest rates — even further out of reach.

“I think, unfortunately, a debate about a housing policy issue became very politicized and is clearly being used … as an opportunity to beat up on the FHFA and Freddie and Fannie,” said Dave Stevens, a former Mortgage Bankers Association CEO who served as Federal Housing Administration commissioner during the Obama Administration. “A simple debate over a housing policy issue has now clearly become wrapped up into a kind of culture war.”

Upfront fees

For more than half a century, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ensured there was adequate cash in the housing market by buying “conforming” mortgages from banks and other lenders, freeing them up to lend more money to additional buyers. It’s also part of their “statutory mission” to make homeownership affordable, Thompson said.

The two enterprises accounted for 52% of U.S. mortgage volume since 2019, according to figures from Black Knight. The combined value of those new loans totaled nearly $7.3 trillion over the past 4 ¼ years.

As compensation for guaranteeing their loans, the two lending agencies charge upfront fees that vary based on the borrower’s down payment and credit score.

Lenders pay Fannie and Freddie the upfront fees when selling the loans, then pass them on to the consumer, typically as a bump in their mortgage interest rate.

Starting in January 2022, the FHFA began announcing a series of changes to those upfront fees, known at Fannie Mae as “loan-level price adjustments,” or LLPAs, and as credit fees at Freddie Mac.

The FHFA said the changes were part of a long-overdue recalibration designed to strengthen Fannie and Freddie’s “safety and soundness.”

Some of the changes, FHFA added, seek to help first-time homebuyers and low- and moderate-income borrowers. Among those changes:

— Elimination of upfront fees for moderate- to low-income first-time homebuyers as well as the elimination of fees for borrowers participating in affordable mortgage programs like HomeReady, Home Possible and HFA Advantage loans.

— Higher upfront fees for second-home loans, high-balance loans (ranging from $726,201 to $1.089 million) and cash-out refinances — loans that aren’t part of Fannie’s and Freddie’s “core mission.” Customers for these types of loans have other alternatives in the marketplace, The FHFA said.

— A new upfront fee for borrowers with debts exceeding 40% of their income. (An outcry over the so-called debt-to-income or DTI fee prompted FHFA to postpone implementation until Aug. 1.)

— A new fee structure that raises fees for some borrowers and lowers it for others. FHFA said it’s designed to improve Fannie’s and Freddie’s capital position while also helping households “limited by wealth or income” to buy homes.

“These actions … create a more resilient housing finance system,” Thompson said.

‘Misperceptions’

Among the misperceptions, the FHFA says, is a claim that those with lower credit scores will pay smaller fees than better-performing borrowers under the new plan.

Not true, the agency said.

While fees will go up for some good-scoring borrowers and down for others with lower scores, those with poorer credit still will pay more overall. However, the gap between the two will be smaller.

For example, a borrower with a score of 640 putting 20% down on a $500,000 mortgage will see his or her fee drop to $11,250 under the new plan, down from $12,500.

For a borrower with a score of 740 making that same down payment on that same loan, the new fee will rise to $4,375, up from $2,500 before the change. Despite the increase, this borrower’s fees still are lower than the borrower with lower credit scores.

According to the FHFA, the new fees typically translate into a 0.05% percentage point increase in a borrower’s mortgage rate.

For someone buying a Southern California home with a median price of $705,000, that’s equivalent to an $18 increase in his or her monthly mortgage payment, or $6,480 over the life of a 30-year loan.

Credit risk

While the FHFA maintains it merely is updating its pricing framework to protect Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac against credit risk, critics argue it’s doing just the opposite.

“FHFA … willfully ignores the realities of creditworthiness in an effort to push Americans into homes they may be ill-suited to afford,” said the GOP letter, spearheaded by Sen. Roger “Doc” Marshall, R-Kan., and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. “The fact that a proposal flaunting credit risk is being openly pushed by FHFA just a decade-and-a-half after the housing-led 2008 financial crisis is staggering.”

The FHFA denies there’s an increased risk of a 2007-style mortgage meltdown because underwriting standards remain unchanged.

And it disputes claims the new fee structure subsidizes bad credit scores at the cost of good credit scores.

There is a subsidy in the new framework, but it’s coming from fee hikes on second-home loans, high-balance loans and cash-out refinances, not from borrowers with higher credit scores, the FHFA said.

Nevertheless, some industry leaders dispute FHFA claims there’s no subsidy coming from higher-scoring borrowers.

“It’s quite the opposite of risk-based pricing,” said Jerry Howard, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, calling the new matrix “income distribution.”

Stevens, the former FHA commissioner, said he knows better after four decades in the mortgage industry, including almost a decade running the single-family business for Freddie Mac.

“I know LLPAs and their history,” Stevens said. “These are significant adjustments. And it wasn’t just a pure risk-based price adjustment based on some new view of risk.”

In a statement issued Wednesday, National Association of Realtors President Kenny Parcell praised the fee cuts contained in the new matrix. But he criticized fee hikes, calling them unnecessary and saying they impact both trade-up borrowers and middle-wealth Americans affected by rising home prices and higher mortgage rates.

“These borrowers face the same surge in financing costs as entry-level homebuyers experienced over the last year,” Purcell said.

Taken together, the fee reforms are “a mixed bag,” said the NAHB’s Howard.

“It potentially will provide people with homeownership opportunities they wouldn’t have had. And that’s important,” Howard said in a phone interview. “(But) unless there is some really strict monitoring and underwriting, you are allowing a more risky borrowing pool into the market. … Robbing Peter to pay Paul is a nice political maneuver to appeal to the base that the administration wants to appeal to, but it is not a fix for the problem.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Wendy’s ‘beloved’ chili to be sold in grocery store cans this spring

• April 28, 2023

Karu F. Daniels | New York Daily News

Wendy’s famous homestyle chili will be coming to grocery store aisles later this spring.

The fast food chain announced a partnership this week to package its signature comfort food in a can that will hit shelves across the country.

According to the company, each can will contain 29 grams of protein, and be made with “savory all-natural beef, and the perfect mix of peppers, beans and a rich tomato-based sauce.”

“Wendy’s Chili has been a beloved menu item since our beginnings in 1969,” marketing chief Carl Loredo said in the announcement. “We’re thrilled about the partnership with Conagra Brands and to have the opportunity to bring our brand’s iconic chili flavor to even more fans. When the Wendy’s chili craving hits, you now have two delicious ways to get your fix — at retail stores or in our restaurants.”

Conagra Brands’ portfolio of grocery store brands include Birds Eye, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice and Marie Callender’s.

Juliette van de Walle, an executive at the Chicago-based company, said: “We worked closely with Wendy’s culinary team to ensure we brought through the indulgent flavors and delicious ingredients of the chili that has been a long-time staple on the Wendy’s menu.”

Wendy’s — known for its freshly prepared square-shaped burgers and chocolate Frosty shakes — was founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio. Their moderately priced chili has been on the menu since the early days when its enterprising owner reportedly came up with the idea to cut down on waste from leftover hamburger meat.

The chili will have a suggested retail price of $4.99 per can.

©2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

Abortion bans fail in conservative S. Carolina, Nebraska

• April 28, 2023

By Margery A. Beck and James Pollard | Associated Press

LINCOLN, Neb. — Abortion bans in Nebraska and South Carolina fell short of advancing in close votes amid heated debates among Republicans, confounding conservatives who have dominated both legislatures and further exposing the chasm on the issue of abortion within the GOP.

In Nebraska, where abortion is banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy, an effort to ban abortion at about the sixth week of pregnancy fell one vote short of breaking a filibuster. Cheers erupted outside the legislative chamber as the last vote was cast, with opponents of the bill waving signs and chanting, “Whose house? Our house!”

In South Carolina, lawmakers voted 22-21 to shelve a near-total abortion ban for the rest of the year. Republican Sen. Sandy Senn criticized Majority Leader Shane Massey for repeatedly “taking us off a cliff on abortion.”

“The only thing that we can do when you all, you men in the chamber, metaphorically keep slapping women by raising abortion again and again and again, is for us to slap you back with our words,” she said.

The Nebraska proposal, backed by Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, is unlikely to move forward this year. And in South Carolina, where abortion remains legal through 22 weeks of pregnancy, the vote marked the third time a near-total abortion ban has failed in the Republican-led Senate chamber since the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade last summer.

Katie Glenn, the state policy director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, characterized the failure of both proposed abortion bans as disappointing.

“It’s a sign that legislating is hard, and there’s a lot of pieces and parts that all have to come together,” Glenn said.

The bans’ staunchest supporters have promised political retribution.

Since the fall of Roe, both states have become regional havens of sorts as they’ve watched neighboring states enact stricter abortion bans. Conservative lawmakers have bitterly made that observation in Nebraska, which has a long history as a leader in abortion restrictions. In 2010, it was the first state in the nation to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Most aggravating to some Republicans is that the pushback is coming from inside the house. The Nebraska bill on Thursday failed when Republican Sen. Merv Riepe, an 80-year-old former hospital administrator, refused to give it the crucial 33rd vote needed to advance. Riepe was an original co-signer of the bill but later expressed concern that a six-week ban might not give women enough time to know they were pregnant.

When his fellow Republicans rejected an amendment he offered to extend the proposed ban to 12 weeks and add an exception for fatal fetal anomalies, Riepe pointed to his own election last year against a Democrat who made abortion rights central to her campaign. His margin of victory dropped from 27 percentage points in the May primary election, which occurred before the fall of Roe, to under 5 percentage points in the general election.

“Had my opponent had more time, more money, and more name recognition, she could have won. This made the message clear to me how critical abortion will be in 2024,” he said. “We must embrace the future of reproductive rights.”

Riepe and some Republicans across the country have noted evidence pointing to abortion bans as unpopular with a majority of Americans. An AP VoteCast nationwide survey of the 2022 electorate showed only about 1 in 10 midterm voters — including Republicans — believe abortion should be “illegal in all cases.” Overall, a majority of voters said abortion should be legal in all or most cases. That includes nearly 9 in 10 Democrats and about 4 in 10 Republicans.

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll in July showed Republicans are largely opposed to abortion “for any reason” and at 15 weeks into a pregnancy. But only 16% of Republicans say abortion generally should be “illegal in all cases.”

Even so, Republican politicians who buck party leadership on abortion can find themselves targets of political retaliation. The backlash against Riepe was swift, with public reprimands from the governor and fellow Republican lawmakers. Anti-abortion groups demanded his immediate resignation. And the Nebraska Republican Party issued a statement warning that Riepe would be censured.

“The entities and individuals who aided in the defeat of a Core Republican Value have been duly noted by the leadership of this party. ‘The Watchfulness in the Citizen’ applies now more than ever,” the statement reads.

Riepe did not return a message Friday seeking comment on the backlash.

Likewise, some of the South Carolina Republican holdouts shared last week that they received anatomical backbone figurines from an anti-abortion group urging them to “grow a spine” and pass a ban starting at conception.

The South Carolina vote came with days left in a session that began shortly after the state’s highest court struck down a 2021 law banning abortion when cardiac activity is detected, about six weeks into pregnancy. Since then, both chambers have advanced abortion bans at differing stages — a disagreement that Massey, the Senate majority leader, hoped to resolve by considering the stricter House bill.

Frustrated after his last-ditch effort to break the impasse, Massey issued a warning for the ban’s fiercest Republican opponent.

“The response to Sen. Senn will be in 2024,” Massey told reporters after the vote, referring to elections next year.

Fourteen states have bans in place on abortion at all stages of pregnancy. Four other states have bans throughout pregnancy where enforcement is blocked by courts. The majority of those bans were adopted in anticipation of Roe being overturned, and most do not have exceptions for rape or incest.

In Utah, a judge on Friday heard a request from Planned Parenthood to delay implementing a statewide ban on abortion clinics set to take effect next week. Planned Parenthood argues a state law passed this year will effectively end access to abortion throughout the state when clinics stop being able to apply for the licenses they’ve historically relied on to operate.

In North Dakota, Gov. Doug Burgum signed a ban Monday that has narrow exceptions: Abortion is legal in pregnancies caused by rape or incest, but only in the first six weeks of pregnancy. Abortion is allowed later in pregnancy only in specific medical emergencies. The North Dakota law is intended to replace a previous ban that is not being enforced while a state court weighs its constitutionality.

And on Friday, Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee reversed course and signed off on softening the state’s strict abortion ban. That change came after several high-profile Republican lawmakers warned early in the session that doctors and patients were facing steep risks under Tennessee’s so-called trigger law, arguing that the statute did not include clear exemptions when a physician may provide abortion services.

Pollard reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writer Freida Frisaro contributed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. James Pollard is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

​ Orange County Register 

Galaxy’s young defenders gain vital on-job experience

• April 28, 2023

The Galaxy has undergone an in-season makeover on the defensive backline.

It isn’t common for a team to send out most of its defensive back four with no first-team MLS experience, but this is the path the Galaxy has chosen.

Jalen Neal, 19, has already settled in as a key component from the start of the season. Lucas Calegari, 21, joined from Fluminense and Julian Aude, 20, has recently moved into the starting lineup after coming over from Argentina.

The fourth member, Martin Caceres is the elder of the group at 36.

“When you look at Calegari, he’s 20-21, but he’s also played 70 matches in (Brazil) Série A. … he was an under-20 in Brazil, so he’s got experience. Even though he’s young, he has experience. The second we saw him in training, we’ve seen him in the games, we could tell right off the bat that he’s got a good education for the game,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said.

“Jalen (Neal) has proven himself through preseason and through the early games. … and Julián (Aude) is another guy … I’ve watched Julián for a couple years. I’ve actually seen him play for a couple of years and he’s played through difficult times of Lanús and through good times of Lanús. He’s had to play through some of those tough moments.”

The Galaxy (1-4-3, six points) will visit Orlando City SC on Saturday (4:30 p.m., Apple TV+), looking to build off last week’s 2-0 win over Austin FC.

Cáceres, aside from a two-yellow card game against Houston that led to a one-game suspension against LAFC, has tried to guide the young trio.

“Lucas and Julian are players that have played for important national teams like Brazil and Argentina and you have Jalen who also played international matches with the national team. They have great careers ahead of them,” Caceres said.

The Galaxy added another young defender last week, bringing back former Academy product Mauricio Cuevas.

Cuevas, 20, joined the Galaxy Academy at 16 in 2019. He made his was up to Galaxy II before leaving to join Club NXT, the Belgian-based youth academy of Club Brugge.

“It’s been an ongoing discussion,” Vanney said of the process of signing Cuevas. “We never wanted him to leave to begin with because we liked his game and we like his trajectory, so it’s just an opportunity that made sense for everybody on all sides.

“He gives us more depth, more competition, more future. He and Lucas (Calegari) are both obviously pretty young guys and that gives us two guys we can look toward the future.”

The Galaxy signed Cuevas to a three-year contract through 2025 with two option years through 2027.

Cuevas will likely join the U.S. U-20 national team for the upcoming FIFA World Cup (May 20-June 11).

Costa makes his way back

Like Caceres, Costa sat out the LAFC game, serving a one-game suspension for a red-card incident against the Houston Dynamo. He returned last Saturday against Austin FC and was greeted to loud boos from the fans at Dignity Health Sports Park.

In his limited time (20-plus minutes), he was credited with creating three chances. Vanney believes this is where Costa has to work to regain the fans’ trust.

“He made a silly mistake (against Houston) and that lost some momentum that he was picking up and maybe in that he lost a little bit of trust of some people, whether it’s fans or whatever,” Vanney said. “He’s been around the block a time or two, so he knows that he has to get out there and perform. I thought he put in a great shift and he knows that’s what he has to do game in and game out. Put in the proper shift and his talent will take care of itself.”

GALAXY AT ORLANDO

When: Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

Where: Exploria Stadium, Orlando

TV: Apple TV+ (MLS Season Pass)

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​ Orange County Register 

Quick Fix: Tortilla strips a colorful addition to taco salad

• April 28, 2023

Linda Gassenheimer | Tribune News Service

Here’s a new take on one of America’s very popular Tex-Mex dishes: the taco salad. It has the flavors of a handheld taco but with a new twist. Instead of using tortilla chips, I use tortilla strips. When I found multicolored ones ready-made at the market, I decided they would make a colorful, crunchy addition to a salad. A dressing made with salsa mixed with yogurt adds a little extra spice.

I use shrimp in this salad, but you can use chicken, beef or even any leftover protein you might have on hand.

Helpful Hints:

— You can use broken tortilla chips instead of tortilla strips.

— You can use any type of cheese.

— If your chili powder or ground cumin is more than 6 months old, it’s best to buy new ones.

— You can use any type of salsa.

— Place frozen corn kernel in a strainer and run hot water over them to quickly defrost them.

Countdown:

— Assemble all ingredients.

— Mix dressing together and set aside.

— Make salad.

Shopping List:

To buy: 1 jar salsa, 1 container nonfat plain yogurt, 1 bag washed, ready-to-eat lettuce, 1 bottle chili powder, 1 bottle ground cumin, 3/4 pound peeled shrimp, 1 ripe avocado, 1 container frozen corn kernels, 1 container cherry tomatoes, 1 bag tortilla strips, 1 bag shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese and 1 bunch fresh cilantro.

Staples: canola oil.

—

TACO SALAD

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

3 tablespoons salsa

1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt

4 cups washed, ready-to-eat lettuce

2 teaspoons canola oil

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 pound peeled shrimp

1 ripe avocado

2 cups defrosted corn kernels

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 cup tortilla strips

1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves

Mix salsa and yogurt together and set aside. Divide the lettuce between two dinner plates.Drizzle half of the yogurt dressing over the lettuce. Heat oil in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chili powder, ground cumin and shrimp. Saute 3 to 4 minutes until the shrimp turn pink. Divide the cooked shrimp in half and place on one corner of the lettuce. Peel the avocado, remove the pit and cut the avocado into cubes. Place them next to the shrimp. Place the corn next to the avocado and the tomatoes next to the corn. The toppings should cover the lettuce.

Sprinkle the cheese over the toppings and drizzle the remaining dressing over the all the toppings. Sprinkle the tortilla strips on top along with the cilantro leaves.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 538 calories (37% from fat), 22 g fat (1.5 g saturated, 8 g monounsaturated), 286 mg cholesterol, 45.6 g protein, 46.6 g carbohydrates, 10.6 g fiber, 48 mg sodium.

©2023 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

​ Orange County Register 

Meet the Cast Members Behind the Newest Guided Tour: ‘Celebrating Disney100 at the Disneyland Resort’

• April 28, 2023

By Kristen Lewis

For Disney fans looking to deep dive into the company’s 100-year history, the new “Celebrating Disney100 at the Disneyland Resort” Guided Tour is a living story that takes guests on a journey through past and present at iconic locations across the resort.

The new guided tour, which debuted earlier this month, was designed by four Guest Relations cast members who were passionate about bringing the company’s storied history to life.

“We wanted this tour to be inspirational for our guests and cast and remind them to never give up. Everyone has a story to tell, and you need to believe that your story is worth telling,” said Guided Tour Hostess Paula Hasler. She, along with cast members Sam Denny, Emma Sickles and J’Amy Pacheco, worked to curate the tour with additional input from colleagues.

Cast members Paula Hasler and Sam Denny don the famous Guided Tour host uniform in front of Tour Gardens in Disneyland park, where guests arrive to begin the tour.

“Getting to write a tour was a dream come true,” said Pacheco. “Working with three people who shared my passion for Disney and love of storytelling was an exciting experience.”

For Sickles, working on this tour was nothing short of destiny. “I remember coming to Disneyland and seeing this beautiful woman dressed in a plaid skirt, leading guests around,” she said. “I turned to my mom and said ‘I don’t know what she’s doing, but I want to do that.’ So, I practiced in my garage and little did I know that I would get to write a new tour for the Disneyland Resort.”

“J’Amy created a beautiful beginning that drops guests right into the story of Walt sitting underneath his dreaming tree in Marceline, Missouri,” said Denny. “It made us cry when we all read it aloud for the first time.”

“We had to start with that story,” said Pacheco. “You cannot talk about the company’s 100-year history without talking about the roots, where it all started.”

Starting in Disney California Adventure park, guests learn about the founding of The Walt Disney Company and Walt’s move to California in the 1920s, with a suitcase and a dream. Unique to this tour is the opportunity for guests to chat with an animation artist and sketch a special character for the Disney100 celebration at Animation Academy in Hollywood Land.

After putting pencil to paper, guests travel to Disneyland park to learn about opening day and the technological advancements that made the park the place we all know and love!

“In a personal letter to [Walt’s wife] Lillian after Walt’s passing, President Johnson wrote ‘Beauty, joy and truth are immortal. The magic of Walt Disney was larger than life and the treasures he left will endure to entertain and enlighten worlds to come,’” said Denny.

The approximately two-hour tour ends with a complimentary photo in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and reserved viewing for the “Magic Happens” Parade, which returned for the Disney100 Celebration. Reservations for the tour are encouraged and can be found on Disneyland.com or the Disneyland app.

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County swimming leading times, April 28

• April 28, 2023

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Top reported times in O.C. swimming through April 27. Please submit updates to [email protected].

BOYS SWIMMING

200-yard medley relay (O.C. record 1:29.97, Santa Margarita 2023) — SM 1:29.97

200 free (O.C. record 1:33.26 Shoults 2016 SM) — Cehelnik (SM) 1:38.65

200 IM (O.C. record 1:45.42 Okubo 2014 Uni) — Verdolaga (SM) 1:48.72

50 free (O.C. record 19.69 Cavic 2002 Tus) — Crane (HB) 20.50

100 butterfly (O.C. record 47.13 Cavic 2002 Tus) — Verdolaga (SM) 47.75

100 free (O.C. record 43.85 Buyukuncu 1994 Wood) — Cehelnik (SM) 44.68

500 free (O.C. record 4:12.87* Shoults 2016 SM) — Maksymowski (Nor) 4:27.26

200 free relay (O.C. record 1:22.76 SM 2023) — SM 1:22.76

100 back (O.C. record 47.50 Buyukuncu Wood 1994) — Najera (SM) 49.72

100 breast (O.C. record 53.40 Pellini DH 2017 ) — Leung (Nor) 54.52

400 free relay (O.C. record 3:01.96 SM 2022) — SM 3:03.23

GIRLS SWIMMING

200 medley relay (O.C. record 1:39.04 SM 2022) — SM 1:47.40

200 free (O.C. record 1:43.01 McLaughlin SM 2015) — A. Kozan (SM) 1:45.82

200 IM (O.C. record 1:53.90** E. Eastin CL 2015) — O’Dell (SM) 1:57.32

50 free (O.C. record 22.53 Engel CL 2013) — Salvino (SM) 22.77r

100 butterfly (O.C. record 51.53 McLaughlin SM 2015) — O’Dell (SM) 52.21

100 free (O.C. record 48.63 A. Spitz NH 2019) — A. Kozan (SM) 49.47r

500 free (O.C. record 4:37.30 Evans ED 1988) — O’Dell (SM) 4:42.90

200 free relay (O.C. record 1:29.61* SM 2023) — SM 1:29.61

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100 back (O.C. record 51.85 Tran Edi 2010) — O’Dell (SM) 53.28

100 breast (O.C. record 59.73 O’Dell SM 2023) — O’Dell (SM) 59.73

400 free relay (O.C. record 3:14.80* SM 2022) — SM 3:16.84

Legend: r = relay leadoff, * =  overall national high school record, ** national private high school record

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