Editor's Report
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"When You're the Best of Friends"

Building a Community
At LaughingPlace.com we try to provide you with as much Disney news and information as possible. We know there a lot of readers that simply want to come to the site, get the latest and move on. But we also know there are many readers that want the communication to be more than one way, and it is for that reason we hope LaughingPlace.com is more than a Disney website, we hope it's a Disney community.

With that in mind, we've recently added several elements to the site that allow readers to be active participants. The most obvious are the Discussion Boards where you can talk Disney with people from around the world in a friendly setting. Our attraction guides - we have them for Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom - allow you to add your own ratings and comments on every Disney attraction in the United States. Less obvious are the places where we allow readers to enter comments in the Millennium Celebration Guide, Disneyland's 45th Anniversary Guide and the recent movie guides (Toy Story 2, Fantasia/2000 and The Tigger Movie). Even FastPass (at Disneyland and Walt Disney World) and Walt Disney World E-Ride Nights have areas for reader comments.

Of course, it'll take time for all of these areas to build up, but we're off to a great start. Nearly 1,000 reader comment have been entered on various pages, over 2,500 attraction ratings have been entered and over 1,500 messages have been posted in the discussion boards.

We're also always looking for stories from our readers. If you have an idea for a feature or you have an idea for a guest column, please let me know, we love outside submissions. If you're the owner of Disney website and you make a major change or addition to your site, let me know and we may mention it in our headlines or highlight it in some other way on the site. If you hear about something - anything - that you think may be of interest to other Disney fans, let me know. If you have any comments, criticisms or suggestions about anything on LaughingPlace.com, let me know. I love to hear from readers and every email or feedback submission (with a return email address) gets answered.

Building a community isn't easy ... but it sure is fun!

News of the Week
Here are last week's major stories:

• The February 8th Orlando Sentinel reports Mickey Mouse is more of a focus for the Disney Company.
• The February 7th Orlando Sentinel discusses Eisner's hands-on management style.
• Ain't It Cool News had an interesting feature story on Roy E. Disney and what it's like inside Disney's Feature Animation division.
• Disney and eBay announced a deal to offer Disney auctions. Click for the press release from the two companies.
• Disneyland announced Kenny Loggins will perform his song from The Tigger Movie at Disneyland on February 16th.
• Collectors Showcase Live offered a pair of feature articles related to Fantasia/2000. The first is written by Disney historian John Culhane. He talks about the caricature of himself that appears in Fantasia/2000 and how it reflects the philosophy Walt Disney shared with him. The second features Fantasia artist Joe Grant who returned six decades later for Fantasia/2000.
• A February 10th Associated Press article reports Disney revenues were up 5% percent for the first quarter although internet holdings continue to drag down overall results.
• The Los Angeles Times, in a lengthy article dated February 11, 2000 offers information on the career of the Sherman Brothers including an interview with Richard and Robert Sherman whose latest project is creating songs for The Tigger Movie.
• The Disney created town of Celebration, Florida has launched a website featuring photos and lengthy descriptions of the towns entertainment, dining, business and housing opportunities.
• On February 11th The Tigger Movie was released to mostly positive reviews. Visit our Guide to The Tigger Movie for links to 20 reviews, film details and much more.

This Week
This week's trivia contest is all about Princes and Princesses and this week's Online Poll asks the question "Which is your favorite Disney couple"? Also this week look for much more on Disneyland's 45th anniversary.

Note
Starting this month both the West Side of the Kingdom Column and the Forever Magical column are being moved back a week. West Side of the Kingdom will now be published on the third Wednesday of the month and Forever Magical on the fourth Wednesday of the month.

-- Doobie Moseley (February 15, 2000)