Latest news with #Olaf
Time Out Abu Dhabi
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out Abu Dhabi
Will Disney Abu Dhabi be indoors? Here's what we know
We've got three words for you: Disney. Abu. Dhabi. The happiest place on Earth is making its Middle East debut and while our inner child is spinning in teacups with joy, one (very valid) grown-up question remains: will the Disney theme park be outdoors or indoors? Because, let's face it – as much as we love Mickey-shaped ice creams and singing Let It Go under the sun, Abu Dhabi's summer doesn't mess around. With temps soaring past 50°C, even Olaf might reconsider his eternal love for summer. So… what's the plan? Will Disney Abu Dhabi be indoors or outdoors? It's (sort of) outdoors – but also indoors. Basically, it's magic. The answer, like any good Disney plot twist, isn't so straightforward. According to Disney Parks boss Josh D'Amaro, the new Yas Island mega-project will be a hybrid, combining the best of indoor comfort with outdoor charm. They're being very ambitious, architecture, tech and water are all coming into play – which sounds like there might be a splash of Moana inspiration involved. Here's the kicker: the park is being built right up against the water. Think cool breezes, waterfront vistas and, who knows – maybe even an indoor-outdoor castle that literally lets the sea into the storyline. Miral Group CEO Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi added that, like other Yas Island hits (hi, Warner Bros. World), Disney will be indoors, but he also called it the most advanced park in the Disney portfolio. So expect something completely new – and 100 percent air-conditioned. So, when can we go? Not tomorrow, unfortunately. With a timeline of up to two years for design and another four to six for construction, we're looking at a 2030 to 2032 opening. But we've waited 100 years for Disney to come to the UAE – what's a few more? Until then, we'll keep dreaming of those castle selfies, futuristic rides and Emirati-inspired storylines (yes, those are happening too). One thing's for sure – whether indoors, outdoors, or somewhere in between – Disney Abu Dhabi will be cooler than cool. Literally. All about Disney Abu Dhabi 7 things we know about the new Disney theme park in Abu Dhabi It's going to be magical – and massive This is when Disney Abu Dhabi is likely to open A Disney official has shared a rough timeline Three key ways the new Disney theme park will change Abu Dhabi A whole new world indeed
Sunday World
01-08-2025
- Sunday World
Seven rules for keeping your cool in Ireland's sauna fad
Hothouses and cold pools may be second nature to the Scandis, but here are some golden rules to follow if you're taking the plunge at home. Once the preserve of our Scandinavian neighbours, saunas and their accompanying cold plunges are fast becoming a national obsession in Ireland, with Finnish-style experiences now dotted the length and breadth of the country from Donegal to Dingle via Dublin. Finns were, earlier this year, crowned the happiest people in the world for the fifth year running, and experts say it's partly due to the nation's sauna culture, with the healthy activity believed to promote everything from a sense of belonging to better sleep. From butt sweat to ear-splitting oversharing, there can, however, also be a few downsides to sweating it out with a bunch of strangers, especially for the fairly recently initiated Irish. So here are our seven golden rules of sauna 'sweat-iquette': Throw in the towel With some traditional saunas reaching temperatures close to 90°C, it follows that the benches can be hotter than the Fires of Mordor too. Apart from avoiding marinating in the 'booty dew' of others, unless you want your backside to resemble a flame-grilled Whopper, be sure to throw a butt-sized towel into your bag along with your swimmers and a bottle of water. Relaxing in the sauna Dial it down Billed as the 'new Irish pub', with punters often packed tighter than hot dogs on a barbecue, it's no wonder saunas are widely credited with helping to break down social barriers, and encourage more open conversation. But that doesn't mean that everyone wants to hear about that suspicious rash, so be a darling and use your indoor voice. Don't be selfie-ish Much like the proverbial tree falling in the woods, if you don't post about your steam on Instagram, did it even happen? The impulse to Insta-brag about how superior you are on a Sunday morning, especially when your pals are nursing sore heads, is entirely understandable. So snap away — just try not to capture the rest of us looking like a boiled ham in a two-piece in the background. Saunas are fast becoming a national obession in Ireland News in 90 Seconds, Friday August 1 Ban the tan Now, we all want to look gorgeously golden, and not hypothermically purple, in our Speedos at whatever trendy sauna village has just popped up. But, ladies (and lads), can we all lay off the slippery body products before our next dunk? Sinking into an ice-cold plunge pool is hard enough without having to brave one with a visible layer of second-hand fake tan floating on top. Be chill Admittedly, even Olaf, the Frozen snowman, might have second thoughts about dipping a toe in a cold plunge, with the ideal temperature typically between 7-12°C. Once you've committed to a dip though, don't bottle it, causing a tailback up or down the steps, as well as others to potentially wuss out. Feel the fuar — and do it anyway. Don't make a splash There's always one — the person who takes it upon themselves to keep sloshing water on the sauna coals, when it's already hotter than all seven circles of hell combined. The practice, known in Finland as 'löyly' (pronounced 'loy-loo), is designed to ramp up the heat and humidity, making the sauna more relaxing, and is generally done gradually, starting with half a cup of water. Among the heavy-handed though, it's more likely to cause coughing fits, so maybe leave the ladling to the experts. No nudes is good news Our more body-confident Scandinavian friends may be happy to let it all hang out at the bathhouse. Here at home, however, where 'clothing optional' sounds more like a threat, it's best to keep your bottoms on at a bare minimum in the spate of communal saunas across the country. Call us prudish, but nothing negates the mental health benefits of a steam like bumping into your next-door neighbour in the nip.
Time Out
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Cool down with an igloo bar, ice-themed market, and frozen treats in Repulse Bay
As Olaf in Disney's Frozen famously said, 'The hot and the cold are both so intense, put 'em together it just makes sense!' That's exactly what The Pulse has done this summer, launching an icy wonderland named Endless Summer: The Great Icecapade for Hongkongers to cool off amidst the intense heat. Step off the burning sand of Repulse Bay Beach and into the air-conditioned comfort of The Pulse shopping mall to find a bar made to look like it's encased in ice blocks, a 'frosted tree' pumping out bubbles filled with cool smoke, and interactive photo spots like an adorable polar bear installation. Check out the Ice Bites Market every Friday to Sunday, where well-known brands such as Perfume Trees Gin, Shari Shari Kakigori House, Cheesy the Goat, and The Captain's will be around to present alcoholic beverages, shaved ice desserts, online viral cheesecakes, ice cream cups, and Hong Kong-style snacks like double-layered milk custard egg waffles. A highlight of the festivities will be their two-night-only drinks event, hosted by none other than the founders of The Opposites, Antonio Lai and Samuel Kwok. Their bar has been ranked in the Asia's 50 Best Bars' extended list this year, so you know you're in good hands with these mixologists shaking up a range of cooling cocktails. Catch Kwok on July 19, and Lai on August 2, from 4pm to 8pm. Finally, stick around till nightfall to join in the party, where Cantopop remix master Beat Friday and electro music collective Truffleent's founder Fatty Cool will be spinning beats live on July 27. The ice celebration culminates in a Soho Beach House party, organised by Soho House, turning The Pulse's rooftop garden into a club, barbecue, and workshop all rolled into one – and with a gorgeous 180-degree sea view, no less! The Endless Summer activities will run on weekends from July 19 to August 24, with events spread across the calendar, so check out their website for the full schedule.
USA Today
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Josh Gad's favorite travel splurge isn't what you'd expect
Josh Gad is best known for voicing lovable snowman Olaf in Disney's "Frozen," but at home, he plays a very different role: that of an overly enthusiastic travel planner and book evangelist for his daughters. The actor and father recently partnered with Kindle Kids to encourage summer reading – something he admits has become a small miracle in his own household. Fresh off a family trip to Malta, Gad spoke with USA TODAY about his mission to raise curious, engaged readers, how he navigates family travel with a jam-packed itinerary, and why his Kindle is currently filled with historical nonfiction and literary classics. Along the way, he reveals his go-to vacation splurges, travel pet peeves, and the moment he realized his kids had started choosing books over screens – on their own. The following interview was edited for length and clarity. What prompted you to partner with Kindle Kids? Josh Gad: When we travel, it's a very difficult thing to pack a bunch of heavy (books), and so when this technology presented itself, it was a no-brainer. You know, my wife and I, in general, are people who want them to – if they're going to use technology – for it to be technology we can get behind. ... You engage with reading, you know, the Book Crew, which is something that comes with signing up (with Kindle Kids). It's just a really fun opportunity for younger kids to utilize, to be part of something that gives them a sense of community, and it was really engaging for them. We just got back from Malta, and… I'm the worst person to travel with when it comes to my family because I push, push – we get up at like 6 a.m., and we don't stop going until like 10 p.m. It's always like, "Gotta go see history!" But there were times when it was super hot, and so there was one day in particular when we got back to the room, and I was so impressed because I do basically "free time" for my daughters. And they could have easily turned on their iPads to watch something, and they started reading books. My wife and I just looked at each other, and we were like: "This is a miracle." ... The fact that our kids are voluntarily choosing to do this is like everything you could hope for as a parent. You just got back from Malta, what other family trips do you have planned for the summer? JG: We're gonna go again (to Europe) later this summer, and we are still deciding which country we're gonna go to. I always like to go places I've never been. But I also love return trips. Italy is the favorite out of ours – my wife is Italian and that's where we go more often than not. But we're going to try new places this summer. We're thinking about Croatia, Switzerland, maybe Austria or Germany – giving the kids a sense of culture, a sense of appreciation for, as I said before, history and art. Those are the kinds of trips we love the most because it's entertainment – we try to make it a really fun experience while, in the process, giving them the ability to learn something new. For instance, in Malta – I had never been before, and I'm a history buff – and being able to walk my daughter through these ancient medieval fortified walls, or bring them to a Neolithic temple … and sort of walk them through this written history where everybody from the Phoenicians to the Arabs to the Knights of Malta have all been present, it was really … cool to engage with them in a methodology of learning where you're actually walking in the footsteps of ancient cultures. And seeing their eyes light up – we went to this place called the Hypogeum, a 6,000-year-old burial site for the Neolithic community that lived there – and to look at them and go, 'Guys, this is older than the Great Pyramid, this is older than Stonehenge,' and see them engaged in a way that is really cool. You sound like a very go-go-go traveler. What's your family's – or your own – travel pet peeve? JG: I don't like when I do (a beach destination); I then need to do something else because I feel like I've wasted my vacation … I feel like being idle is like a wasted opportunity of travel. I'm a consumer. I love to consume information – obviously food, but I love to consume culture, knowledge, music, history. So, like, I get travel FOMO (fear of missing out). And what I mean by that is when I'm in a place, and I don't see it all, I get FOMO. So, much to the chagrin of my wife and my daughters, they have to suffer some of the consequences of my curiosity. They are always like, 'Can we please do a day where we do nothing?' And I'm like, 'It depends on how many more days we have!' Story continues below. What do you tend to splurge on during your travels? JG: I'm never more alive than when I'm out on the open water. I think that's the byproduct of being born in South Florida and being raised by the ocean. One of my favorite things to do is get out and explore a new area by water. So, oftentimes, we go to Lake Como (in Italy) or to many of the great lakes in Lago Maggiore or Lago d'Orta, and we will always rent a boat and explore the perimeters of these beautiful regions. Similarly, when we go down south to Positano or Malta or Capri, we do the same. So, everywhere we go that has either a lake or Mediterranean coast or an ocean – whatever it is – if we're in proximity to water, I'll charter a boat. We'll be on the water at some point. That's my big splurge. That's usually where I drop the most money, and my wife will go, 'Are you nuts?' And I'll say, 'Yes – but think about the memories.' I also love to splurge on good food. I love when my daughters are in a different culture and eat the cuisine of that culture. We're very adamant about not doing chicken fingers and burgers. You will eat what the people of this region eat. And sometimes they won't enjoy it – but as long as they try things, we're happy. So we try to take them to meals that are influenced by the region we're visiting. What's on your Kindle reading list right now? JG: I love early reading nonfiction or historical fiction. One of my favorite authors is Erik Larson. I love "In the Garden of Beasts" and "The Splendid and the Vile." I've also been absolutely the biggest fan of a young author named Madeline Miller, who wrote "The Song of Achilles" – they're sort of Greek mythology-influenced books. And now I'm doing something very interesting – I'm actually having a summer of classics. I really don't remember "The Odyssey" or "The Iliad," and maybe it's the presence of one of the upcoming movies that's piqued my curiosity. So I'm going back and revisiting some of the greats. I've never read "Moby Dick" – that is on my list. I'm going back and reading "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" because my daughters have never read them and did not know who Mark Twain was. And I was like, 'This is outrageous.' So, it's an ambitious summer, for sure. But I'm excited to check off some books that I otherwise never got around to reading.
Time of India
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Why do astronauts take soft toys to space? Shubhanshu Shukla carries swan 'Joy'. A look at their companions from past missions
During a live broadcast from space, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla introduced 'Joy,' a soft swan toy floating beside him aboard the ISS. Serving as a Zero-G indicator, the swan also holds deep cultural symbolism. Shukla's gesture joins a long tradition of astronauts bringing symbolic or whimsical toys into orbit, blending science, education, and emotional connection. As soft toy swan 'Joy' floated towards astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla during alive stream from space, it joined the long legacy of Zero-G soft toy indicators. From Olaf, to Red from Angry Birds and Buzz Lightyear from Toys. (Images: X/ ISRO Spaceflight , NASA) Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads A Long Legacy of Floating Companions Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads SpaceX Zero-G indicators, sparkly dinosaur called Tremor and penguin named GuinGuin. (Images: NASA) Not Just Toys, but Symbols When Indian astronaut c greeted the world from space with a namaste and a floating soft toy swan named Joy, it was far more than just a cute interlude. 'It looks really cute, but we have a very important swan in Indian culture,' said Shukla in his live broadcast from the International Space Station as part of the Axiom Mission 4 . 'The swan symbolises wisdom. It also has the ability to discern… what needs to be focused on and what does not,' he explained, making it clear that Joy was not merely an ornamental object but a deeply symbolic was officially serving as a Zero-G indicator , a now-iconic tradition aboard spaceflights to demonstrate when the spacecraft enters microgravity . These toys, typically suspended near the crew, begin to float as soon as zero gravity kicks in, offering a visual cue that the spacecraft has entered aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from NASA 's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, Shukla's mission is the fourth under private space company Axiom's banner. But while the mission represents a milestone for private spaceflight and international collaboration, it's the swan that has won hearts on Joy joins a legacy of adorable, meaningful, and sometimes pop-culture-driven soft toys that have soared into the cosmos with astronauts. According to the Copernicus Science Centre, this tradition goes back as far as Yuri Gagarin's pioneering flight. The first human in space brought along a small doll, beginning a whimsical yet meaningful ritual that continues 2012, the 'Angry Red Bird' plush from the mobile game Angry Birds was part of a mission to explain physics in space. Olaf from Frozen made it aboard the Soyuz TMA-15M in 2014, courtesy of cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov fulfilling a promise to his Lightyear, the Toy Story astronaut action figure, travelled aboard Space Shuttle Discovery and remained on the ISS for 15 months. And in recent years, SpaceX has taken the tradition mainstream with Zero-G indicators like a plush Baby Yoda, a penguin named GuinGuin, and a sparkly dinosaur called aren't just passengers for show. As NASA's 2004 'Toys in Space' initiative highlighted, these objects serve as engaging tools to demonstrate how motion, gravity, and physics work differently in microgravity. Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa even built a LEGO model of the ISS while aboard it, bringing childhood pastimes into orbit for educational and scientific choice of a swan connects these floating companions to cultural identity and heritage. While Olaf or Baby Yoda draw on global media icons, Joy represents something uniquely Indian—a cultural motif steeped in ancient philosophy and national symbolism.'We all have some symbolism—in Poland, in Hungary, in India,' Shukla said in his broadcast. 'It looks like a coincidence but it's not. It has more meaning.'As astronauts continue to push the boundaries of exploration, their Zero-G companions reflect both scientific curiosity and emotional grounding. In Joy, Shubhanshu Shukla has carried not just a symbol of gravity lost, but of wisdom held close.
