The parade began its current gig on June 6 and was scheduled to end its run on Aug. 14 with the rest of the Disney parks’ Summer Nightastic programming.  The other elements, such as the Summer Nightastic Fireworks Spectacular and the drop sequence at the Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, still remain scheduled to wrap on Aug. 14.

The Electrical Parade has a long history with Disney, debuting at Disneyland in 1972. Versions of it ran in Florida from 1977 to 1991 and then from 1999 to 2001.

Magic Kingdom vice president Phil Holmes called the 2010 return an overwhelming success.

“Guests begin cheering as soon as they hear the opening fanfare,” he says.

Central Floridian Vienna Girardi, who rose to fame during her stint on ABC’s The Bachelor, visited Typhoon Lagoon this weekend. She and her family cooled off in the warm temps at the Disney World water park. (Photo by Todd Anderson/Walt Disney Co.)

The after-hours event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will showcase the new drop sequence that has been in use during Disney’s Summer Nightastic promotion, which ends Aug. 14.

Advance registration at www.disneyworld.com is required for the event, which will be from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The site says passholders should bring their confirmation slips, valid Passholder IDs and a photo ID to the check-in at The Hollywood Hills Amphitheater from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the day of the event.

Another important note from the site: “Passes affected by seasonal block-out dates are invited to participate but please note that Park Admission is required.”

Here are clues on what to expect, based on the menu and a news release from Patina Restaurant Group, which will open its new Walt Disney World eatery next to its Tutto Italia Ristorante on Aug. 5.

+ The pizza will be Neapolitan style, says Patina CEO Nick Valenti. “We  will make pizza the traditional Neapolitan way – with a textured, soft and charred crust.”

+ The menu indicates that the wood-fired pizzas will be available in three sizes: individual, larger and “1/2 meter.” That last size is meant to be shared, it’s notes on the menu.  Prices range from $15 to $36. Various ingredients listed include eggplant, artichokes, prosciutto, mushroom, calamari, arugula, fontina, “Italian spicy sausage,” brocolli-rabe, pecorino, canteloupe and pepperoni.

+ The mystery of the water used in the dough continues as the release states it is “calibrated specifically to the pH found in Naples.” Note that the claim isn’t that the water is from Naples, just like it.

+ The three ovens will be named after active volcanos in Italy: Mount Etna, Mount Vesuvius and Stromboli.

+ Not in the mood for pizza? Some other edibles on the menu are calamari fritti ($14), a chopped chicken salad ($17), lasagna verde ($20), spaghetti with veal meatballs ($19), mafaldine amatriciana ($22) and fusiloni trapanese ($17).

+ Or maybe just desserts? On the menu are tiramisu ($8), gelato frizzante ($10), ricotta cheese fritters — served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce ($10), applecake with almond sorbetto ($8) and more.

+ The Aug. 5 opening will achieve the goal of being open before the beginning of the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, which kicks off on Oct. 1.

+ Through Sept. 9, guests will be taken on a walk-in basis only. Reservations for Sept. 10 and later will be taken beginning Aug. 6. Call 407-939-3463 to make reservations.

NBA star Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat compared athletic wear with Mickey Mouse at ESPN Wide World of Sports this weekend. Disney World gave the player a trio of basketballs that formed the trademark shape of Mickey’s head. (Photo by Todd Anderson/Walt Disney Co.)

The design of the limited edition pin will not be fully revealed until guests arrive on Dec. 31, a news release says. It’s the second time “La Nouba” has had a pin. The first pin was released in 2005.

 ”We think New Year’s Eve 2010 is the perfect opportunity to launch what we intend to be an annual gift,” says Neil Boyd, company manager of “La Nouba.”

Tickets for the Dec. 31 performances are now on sale and range from $67 to $133 for adults, $54 to $109 for children ages 3-9. Call 407-939-7328 or visit the box office at the plaza level of the theater.

Oscar-winning actress Mo’Nique prepares to view “Captain EO” at Epcot with 3-D glasses and one Mickey Mouse glove — very Michael Jackson on Friday, the re-opening day of the film at Walt Disney World. Mo’Nique is a comedian but won the Academy Award earlier this year for her dramatic role in Precious.

Also attending Friday were guests Jaymes Gabourel (sporting a glove of his own) and his aunt Andrea Smith, both of Washington, D.C.  The Captain EO signage in the background is the original decor used for the attraction during its original run at Epcot from 1986 to 1994. When EO was replaced by Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, the sign was moved and bolted inside a maintenance building at Disney World.

EO will be at Epcot for a limited time, although Disney has not yet announced an end date.

The movie poster for 'Captain EO' (Walt Disney Co.)

Walt Disney World continues its wave of nostalgia with the rebirth of Captain EO — a 3-D sci-fi movie featuring Michael Jackson and a crew of fuzzy space explorers — at Epcot. 

The film, which ran at the theme park from 1986 to 1994, returns July 2 for a limited run, although Disney has not announced when it will stop the show. EO fans will see a familiar production through their special glasses. 

“It’s a 3-D film, 70 mm, two projectors. We are showing it the same way we showed in 1986,” says Joe Tankersley, show producer. 

“It’s also one of the first ‘4-D’ films, one of the first 3-D films with in-theater effects — wind, water and lighting,” he says. “That’s part of what makes it so special.” 

(Check out photos of the movie at Epcot) 

EO, with its bag of in-your-face tricks, led the way for other productions such as MuppetVision 3-D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and It’s Tough to Be a Bug at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The new/old film will run in its original home at Epcot’s Imagination Pavilion and temporarily replace the 3-D production that took the place of EO in the ’90s, Honey I Shrunk the Audience. 

This year, Disney already has presented a revival — with tweaks — of a fan favorite, the Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom. It’s also toyed a bit with Toy Story Mania and Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios. The new bits for Captain EO are mainly “4-D” effect involving the 570-seat theater’s floor, which was altered when Honey moved in. 

Disney World guests will start seeing EO a little more than a year after Jackson’s unexpected death. The building did not require major modifications, mostly cosmetic painting and redecorating to get away from the Imagination Institute theming in the pre-show area. 

“We had to take down all the wall graphics and re-do the wall graphics with EO,” says Debbie Petersen, art director. 

“We took out the carpet because it had Imagination logos,” she says. “We just took all that out and brought in a really fun kind of retro, colorful carpet.” 

During the planning for the EO relaunch, someone from the maintenance team mentioned that the show’s original marquees were still on Disney World property. After the last EO show in ‘94, maintenance had unbolted the signs and mounted them high on a wall in the maintenance area. 

“I remember thinking they would be in some dusty, dirty closet with dust bunnies all over it,” Petersen says. “They were in pristine condition.” 

They’re a physical tie to the past. 

“We were excited to have that little piece of history,” she says. “It’s something that none of the other EO shows have.” 

EO started playing again at Disneyland in February and is also playing at Disney parks in Tokyo and Paris. 

Petersen worked at Epcot when EO replaced an original park show, Magical Journeys. 

“When EO came, it was such a jump in technology,” she says. “And just the experience with the music and everything tied together, it was so fun.” 

Disney expects that fun to return with the 17-minute film, which also stars Anjelica Huston as “the Supreme Leader.” 

“It’s a classic show, it’s really timeless. The humor still works,” Tankersley says. “I think you are going to see a lot of people quoting those lines again.” 

Re-opening day 

Epcot will open at 8:30 a.m. Friday for guests who want to see EO. (The park typically opens at 9.) There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony, said Dan Cockerell, vice president for Epcot, and the event will include recognition of a couple of cast members who were working at EO when it closed back in ‘94 and are back in 2010.  

Our Guide to ‘Captain EO’ 

It has been 16 years since Captain EO played at Epcot. We don’t want to print spoilers, but here are a few elements of the production that might spark memories. 

– The ship is manned by a “ragtag band led by the infamous Captain EO.” That’s Michael Jackson, backed by a bunch of furry creatures that have a bad — yet unspecified — combat record. The most comic of the comic relief is a character named Hooter, who keeps foiling things, which makes the captain giggle. Hooter also plays keyboard. 

– Future Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston, playing the Supreme Leader, is almost unrecognizable and evil. She sentences our hero to 100 years of torture. (Other characters are to be turned into trash cans.) 

– Jackson looks young — he turned 28 the year EO debuted — and, from certain angles, looks like he could be, oh, Janet Jackson’s brother. 

– Michael’s wardrobe is mostly a white, leather space-captain number, but he accessorizes with a cape. 

– The two songs (“We Are Here to Change the World” and “Another Part of Me”) lead to dance numbers (moonwalk alert), and the captain obtains the power to turn enemy guards into (very ’80s) dancers. 

– The film was pricy to make — upwards of $30 million — but it had pedigree with director Francis Ford Copolla and executive producer George Lucas in the credits.

Renee Collette danced in 'EO,' says Jackson was a big influence on her.

Two people with up-close-and-personal memories of Jackson are Debbie Lee Carrington and Renee Collette, who performed in Captain EO, the 17-minute film that returns to Walt Disney World for a limited (but open-ended) engagement beginning Friday, July 2.

At the time of the shoot, she didn’t know what the project was all about, says Collette, who danced in EO.

“I had no idea it was for a theme park,” she says. “I just knew that it was Michael Jackson’s big 3-D extravaganza.”

The EO set was relaxed and professional, she remembers.

“Michael was a great teacher. He knew what he wanted, and he was adamant – not rude to people at all, ever – but he was adamant on what he wanted,” she says. “We’d do it over and over.”

Carrington had a speaking role and a distinctive costume for EO.

“I’m half of the three-legged, two-headed character called the geex,” Carrington says. “We are the navigator and the pilot for Michael Jackson, who is Captain EO.”

She says a body cast was made for her and another actor while they were lying down and “connected” at the hip. From there, a harness was made to keep them together while in the furry costume.

Debbie Lee Carrington played one-half of a geex in 'EO."

“It wasn’t very comfortable,” Carrington says. “It was actually quite challenging to coordinate and walk together with the other actor because we had to act as one.”

Director Francis Ford Coppola spent the first part of the rehearsal period with the cast, including Jackson and Anjelica Huston, doing improvs. The purpose was to get them to open up to one another and act like a team, just like in EO, Carrington says.

“Michael came out of his shell after the first day,” she says. That led to a fun, playful environment on the set, complete with practical jokes, Carrington says.

Both Collette and Carrington saw Captain EO for the first time in many years when the film came back to Disneyland earlier this year in California.

“It brought tears to my eyes to see it again,” Collette says. “It really was emotional.” It reminded her of what an influence Jackson had been on her and others.

“He was an inspirer,” she says.

Collette saw EO a few times a Disneyland, both back in the day — the initial run ended in 1994 — and in 2010.

“I smiled through the whole thing,” she says. “It just makes me feel so good when I see it because it’s a whole bombardment of emotions.”

After EO, Collette continued to dance but settled on a career making wildlife documentaries. Carrington has continued in the entertainment industry with acting work and stunt jobs. She says that she and Jackson remained friendly and,  although he invited her to his house, she never went.

“Looking back, I wish I had,” she says. “I always thought ‘Well, we’ll work together, we’ll see each other again at another time.’ Unfortunately, it never happened. Then we lose him and you realize the permanence of that.”

Singer Gloria Estefan poses with Toy Story 3’s Jessie the cowgirl as co-star Woody looks on Saturday near Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom. Estefan is visiting Walt Disney World with family and friends. (Photo by Gene Duncan/Walt Disney Co.)