Walt Disney World

Disney unveiled plans today for the largest expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, provided updates on its $1-billion expansion of Disney's California Adventure and said it would modernize the popular Star Tours ride at its domestic parks. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo chose the D23 Expo in Anaheim, the first-ever gathering of Disney devotees, to announce the ambitious new project in Orlando, Fla., that will nearly double the size of Fantasyland.

In need of a job in 1944, Santa Monica High School graduate Joyce Carlson followed a friend to Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, where she landed work in the traffic department delivering mail, and office and art supplies. But what started out as just a job turned into a career for Carlson, who spent the next 56 years involved first with Disney animated movies and then theme park attractions worldwide.

WITH vacation season looming, finding ways to cut the cost of a trip to Orlando, Fla., is a concern for many families. Adult tickets to Disney World cost $67 a day, and children's tickets aren't much less. And Disney's value-class resorts (the All-Star Sports Resort, the All-Star Movie Resort, etc.) are often booked; they also now cost a minimum of $79 per room per day. You can save money at properties away from the theme parks. These acceptable digs cost about $50 a night most of the year.

Walt Disney Co. said it was planning two big expansions to its Walt Disney World theme park in Florida, including a 900-acre luxury resort and a commercial district outside the gateway entrance. Burbank-based Disney said the resort would be anchored by a Four Seasons hotel and would include a golf course and vacation homes. Work on the resort could begin this year, and the hotel is forecast to open in 2010.

Walt Disney World has reached a tentative agreement with its largest employee union. One of the six groups fronted by the Service Trades Council, however, will recommend that its members oppose the deal. The Teamsters says the pay raises are too low and healthcare costs are too high. The proposed contract carries pay raises of at least 4% for the majority of workers.

Since California Adventure made its debut six years ago, billed as Disneyland's hipper, edgier younger sibling, the entertainment colossus founded by Walt Disney has wandered far from the Orange County city where he launched his first park in 1955.

Cal State Fullerton will hold a forum tonight on the long-running housing dispute in Anaheim's Resort District. Anaheim Councilwoman Lorri Galloway will represent housing advocates, and Todd Ament, president of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, will speak on behalf of the tourism industry. The League of Women's Voters will moderate the event, which begins at 6:45 in the Titan Student Union.

Walt Disney Co., which says it employs more people in one place than any other company in the United States, announced plans Wednesday to build a medical center for workers at its Florida theme parks. The $6-million, 15,000-square-foot clinic is scheduled to open on Walt Disney World property in 2009, Disney said. More than 40,000 of the resort's 60,000 employees, along with their dependents, participate in the company's healthcare plan.

Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. set a holiday-season attendance record at its Walt Disney World resort in Florida, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Staggs said. A marketing campaign to promote the 50th anniversary of Disneyland in Anaheim boosted attendance throughout Disney's parks, Staggs said. Walt Disney World's strong performance came despite disruptions and closures caused by hurricanes.

MARKING a formal end to hot meals in coach on domestic flights, American Airlines in September plans to start removing rear galleys from its MD-80 jets, which fly most of its domestic routes. Front galleys, where food is prepared for first-class passengers, will remain. "We've pretty much concluded that hot food in the coach section is not something we'll be able to afford," said Art Pappas, American's managing director in Los Angeles.