We’re hearing that the new Disney Vacation Club add on to the Grand Californian will be called the Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Resort & Spa.

Of course, this name could change at any time, so stay tuned!

From the OC Register:

ANAHEIM – Authorities have identified a 48-year-old man who apparently jumped to his death Friday from the 14th floor of the Disneyland Hotel’s Wonder Tower.

John Newman Jr., of Santa Cruz, jumped from a balcony in the hotel’s south tower onto a parking lot at 1150 Magic Way, authorities said.

Newman was in town on business and was staying in a room with a business associate; the business associate was in the room when the man jumped, said Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez.

Newman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives interviewed possible witnesses to see if anyone saw what happened.

The hotel has been the scene of at least two other suicides. In 1994, a 75-year-old man jumped from the ninth floor and was pronounced dead at the scene. Two years later, a 23-year-old man committed suicide by jumping from the 14th floor of the hotel.

In 1998, a 23-year-old Walt Disney Co. employee jumped from the 14th floor but survived the fall.

According to MousePlanet:

At approximately 11:00 a.m. today, a man jumped to his death from the 14th floor at the Disneyland Hotel. According to Anaheim Police Department spokesman Sgt. Rick Martinez, APD is treating this as a suicide based on what police have found so far.

A couple of onlookers turn to view the activity at the Disneyland Hotel, as a police officer keeps the area clear. Numerous police cars are parked in the hotel’s driveway as the Anaheim Police Department investigates an apparent suicide of a man who jumped out of the 14th floor. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

The man, approximately between 30 and 40, was in a south-facing room of the Wonder Tower (formerly Bonita) of the hotel, facing a parking lot. According to police, the man was in town for business. He was in the room with an adult male associate when, shortly after 11 a.m., he stepped out onto the balcony, made a statement, and jumped.

Emergency services are on scene at the hotel, and although the area is cordoned off, the scene has been visible from the balconies by hotel guests staying in the tower.

If you want to know what’ll be happening around the Disneyland Resort in the next decade or so (or at least the current plans), check out the latest Blue-Sky Alert over on Blue Sky Disney!

Trust me, it’s a really good read.

I just got back from 2 wonderful days at the Disneyland Resort! Let’s get straight to the pictures:

A new Kodak sign up on the Honey, I Shrunk the Audience entrance marque

The new Tinkertoy in the Pixar Play Parade

A wall up by Grizzly River Run. As reported earlier this week, the attraction is still open

The new emergency bridge from DCA to the Grand Californian

The Toontown room in the World of Disney store

A construction wall up by the Tomorrowland Terrace

The new Disneyland map front, that debuted today…

… And the DCA one

Today was the first day in this year’s California Food & Wine Festival

The Festival Welcome Center

Let’s take a look at the Festival Guide Booklet…

This year is the 3rd annual California Food & Wine Festival

A special restaurant has been set up in Pacific Wharf just for the Food & Wine Festival, in place of the old Lucky Fortune Cookery

The place to get Food & Wine merchandise. I got the pin!

The menu for this special restaurant, The Taste of California Marketplace

Construction on the ODV structures outside Toy Story Mania

The fountain outside of King Triton’s Carousel is working for once!

The sign for Seasons of the Vine has finally been removed. Weird how the attraction closed just as the Food & Wine Festival started

A new sign for the Year of a Million Dreams on the security tents

This could be DCA’s temporary entrance

Just to give you an idea where it actually is

Stay tuned tomorrow for bigger versions of these pictures & many more pictures in our Image Galleries!

The plans for the DCA renovations always keep changing, & the latest changes were reported today in Al Lutz’s latest column on MiceAge. We’ll also take a look at some other new stuff supposedly coming to Disneyland, & the resort as a whole:

• The Walt Disney Story show that was supposed to of gone into the new Walt Disney Plaza has been dropped from the plans. Team Disney Anaheim’s idea behind this is that DCA already has too many shows, & too little good rides. So the last thing DCA needs is another new show! But the extravagant Carthay Circle Theater will still be built, but will only be a facade.
• With the Walt Disney Story not happening, this now may have Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln being re-installed into the Opera House on Main Street.
• When Sunshine Plaza is under refurbishment, the temporary entrance may now be the big gate right by Soarin’ Over California, instead of the Millionaire building. You can see exactly where this is by viewing this picture.
• A water play area themed to King Triton is now planned to be put right next to the new Little Mermaid attraction.
• The Ariels Grotto restaurant may be re-themed a general Princess restaurant, Princess Palace. The more modern sections of the current exterior of the restaurant would be made more “Princessy”.
• Originally, the renovation plans for the Disneyland Hotel was to of had each building extensively refurbished, one at a time. Well now, TDA & WDI are looking to completely rip down the current Disneyland Hotel, & re-build it all from scratch!
• This summer, a Indiana Jones stunt show should take place in Adventureland. We’re not sure if it will last past the summer though.
• No new attractions are currently planned for the resort in 2009, except for the new It’s a Small World. So Disneyland Park will have a major entertainment themed ad campaign, which will include the proposed new Wonder day-time parade, a new ending to Remember… Dreams Come True, new effects added to Fantasmic, & get this… the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade!

For complete details on all of the things mentioned above & more, check out this MiceAge article!

Here’s a few interesting topics brought up in this week’s MousePlanet Disneyland Resort Update:

• A few new things have been added to the line-up for this year’s California Food & Wine Weekends. Junior Chef sessions with an (at the moment) unnamed celebrity chef will be held through-out the Festival. Chefs from Cafe Orleans will show guests how to prepare a Monte Cristo. Many Downtown Disney restaurants will have culinary demonstrations. And finally, “signature” dishes will be added to DCA’s counter service restaurants, such as a chili cheese corn dog at Corn Dog Castle.
• 2008’s Mothers Day Brunch will be held on May 11th in the Disneyland Hotel Grand Ballroom. The price will be $83 for adults, & $23 dollars for children (3-11).
• The Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs 70th Anniversary exhibit inside Disney Animation may possibly be leaving at the end of April, to be replaced by a similar Sleeping Beauty themed exhibit in the Fall.
• The Mark Twain Riverboat will have a very short refurbishment from April 21st to the 23rd.
• Finally, Bill Stevens on MousePlanet caught a glimpse of the Mark VII Monorails actually running on the track by the Matterhorn. But to see the picture, we’re gonna have to make you check out the DLR Update on MousePlanet!