I thought I would use this week to give a synopsis of the highly anticipated yet anticlimactic press conference that Disney gave recently. Rumors were flying left and right about this conference before it began, especially on social media like Facebook and Twitter, but none of these were true. When I found out it was an announcement for the new celebration for the parks, I was not surprised in the least; I had been waiting for weeks for that announcement and knew it had to be coming any day.
Disney Parks Blog made a couple big announcements regarding some new additions to the Walt Disney World Resort last week.
The first announcement is for Hollywood Studios and is about the Block Party Bash. As of January 1, 2011, the Block Party Bash will no longer be running and, after a couple weeks of rest, will be replaced by a new parade. There is no word on exactly what this new parade will be called, it seems to be still in the works, but what it will include are some of your favorite Pixar characters along with a couple new additions, including Emile and Remy from Ratatouille and Carl and Russell from Up!
The word around the Internet this past week is that Kodak, the longtime sponsor of The Imagination Pavilion in Epcot, has pulled out and is no longer the sponsor. There are several sites that say that this has been confirmed by Kodak and the sponsorship ended within the last few months. We have already noticed that some of the signage for the pavilion has been taken down, including the Kodak sign on the park map and the mentions of it in the What If? Labs. There have also been several construction walls put up in the Labs.
Here is the fourth episode of The Disney Driven Life’s broadcast, Inner Mouse. In this week’s show, Scott, John, and JL are joined by guest host, Nicole Siscaretti to toss around Disney rumors and secrets and discuss why Neurotic Disney People are so hungry to hear these little known tidbits of facts and fiction.
The Disney Parks Blog announced last week about a new addition to California Adventure in Disneyland. With the excitement building for the release of TRON: Legacy in December, they will be bringing the excitement to life at night in the Hollywood Picture Backlot area of the park in the form of ElecTRONica.
ElectTRONica will be a nighttime dance party, bringing the lights and technology of the movie to life for all who visit California Adventure. There will be music and food, a recreation of Flynn’s Arcade and an outdoor dance club. There will also be a TRON: Evolution video game area.
Walt Disney World announced last week that a popular buffet, Chef Mickey’s, would get a few added meals, but only for a short time. From September 19th to October 2nd, Chef Mickey’s will offer lunch from 12:30pm to 2:30pm and will include character interactions just as at breakfast and dinner.
This was added due to the popularity of the restaurant and the necessity for more dining options during the free dining package season. This lunchtime opening is not just open to guests with the dining plan though, anyone can book a lunch reservation there. The cost is $28.75 for adults and $15.97 for ages 3 to 9. Under 3 years old is free.
With the rumors and news I wrote about last week, I decided to follow it up with a few more that have come out in the last week. The two rumors that came out this week are from the same source, the Orlando Business Journal and both rumors have been talked about in the past.
First rumor is that there really is a 12th country coming to the World Showcase in Epcot. While there are many ideas that people have as to what country should be added, it seems that the first choice of Disney is Spain, though there has been on confirmation.
Several pieces of news have come out of Disney in the last week that I could not just choose one to write about, so here are the summaries of a few big stories in the Disney community.
Name Change for the TTA: Last week, a small but sudden change was made in Tomorrowland, the name change of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority to Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. Why the heck did they do this you ask? According to Disney, the change is showing the connection from the past to the present and keeping the history of the Disney attraction alive. Personally, I think they changed it because so many fans still called it the PeopleMover and it was confusing newcomers to Disney, but who knows.
Late last week, the Disney Parks Blog posted about a couple changes being made to Magic Kingdom in the near future. There were two things announced and it’s one of those something old and something new situations
First change is the something old; it is old news that “it’s a small world” is under refurbishment now until October 22nd. The announced changes include bringing back the old style of queue that the attraction had prior to the 2004-2005 refurbishment. The Imagineers have said that there are no plans during this refurbishment to put Disney characters in the attraction, as seen in other Disney parks.
When I think of Comic Con, I think of lots of superheroes wandering around and news regarding Marvel and DC Comics. I was quite surprised to find out that there were a couple announcements related to Disney at the convention last week.
After a talk about the upcoming movie Tron: Legacy at Comic Con, a 3D video was shown with Johnny Depp playing is infamous character, Jack Sparrow. Depp talked about the upcoming film in the Pirates of the Caribbean saga, On Stranger Tides. In this film, which will be in 3D, Jack Sparrow will be searching for the fountain of youth. It was reported that the crowd was impressed by the clip, and were looking forward to the movie’s release on May 20, 2011.
From the updated rooms at Caribbean Beach that are Pirate and Nemo themed to the recent announcement of the brand new Animation resort, accommodations have been getting face lift all over the Walt Disney World resort. From now until spring of 2011, it is Old Key West’s turn! This original Disney Vacation Club resort is turning 19 this December and has not gone through much in the way of updates since it opened.
These updates, which have already begun in a building on property, will focus on updating amenities within the resort rooms, including room décor. New flat-panel TVs, which have been seen in several resorts throughout property, will be added to the rooms as well as granite countertops and for the one and two bedroom Villas, a sleeper chair will be added. Some other changes to the rooms include new bedding and pillows, chairs, carpeting, drapes, lamps and some other furniture.
For years, little girls have dreamed about coming to Walt Disney World, running to the Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom to ride Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel. They feel like princesses riding their steeds, especially if they were lucky enough to get what was supposedly “Cinderella’s Horse”. This past week, Disney made a move to change this vision from just little princesses to young princes flocking to the carrousel. This new vision was made a possibility by a simple name change, from Cinderella’s Golden Carousel to Prince Charming’s Regal Carrousel.
How many of you out there use refillable mugs at the Walt Disney World Resort? Do you use them often? Do you get many free refills with them from different counter services? Do you bring back mugs from previous trips and use them on your trip, or bring other beverage holders with you to use? Well, enjoy it while you can because it looks like Disney is looking into a way to change the refillable mug system into an easily monitored system.
In the last few weeks, surveys about countries that would like to be seen in World Showcase have been heard to be floating around the Disney property. Just a few days ago, word starts spreading that Disney is interested in possibly putting a replica exhibit of Machu Picchu in Epcot. It has also been reported that Disney cooks may be visiting Cusco to learn about the food and culture of Peru.
I thought I would update everyone this week on some closures that are happening in Walt Disney World. For anyone who may be heading down to the parks in the next few months, this is what you can expect to be happening.
The first closures, and the ones that many are curious about, are centered around the Fantasyland Overhaul currently taking place. We saw the first closures related to this construction yesterday, when we said goodbye to Ariel’s Grotto and Pooh’s Playful Spot for good. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh façade is currently being changed for the new “Hundred Acre Wood” theming. Other closures taking place in the next few months, though no specific date has been set yet, include the Walt Disney World Railroad closing for three or four months and the permanent closure of Mickey’s Toontown Fair some point in the fall. The Barnstormer closure for retheming has not been announced yet and the only other closure currently planned for Magic Kingdom is the Baby Care Center from May 14 to May 20.
In the last few weeks, there have been many discussions in the Disney community about the 200 foot advertisement called the Tronorail. The Monorail that travels through Epcot has been wrapped with a blue covering that holds an advertisement for the upcoming movie Tron Legacy.
When someone sees a coon-skinned cap anywhere, there is a good chance that their first thought is the King of the Wild Frontier, Davy Crockett. The man that brought this memorable character to life, Fess Parker, passed away this past Thursday of natural causes at the age of 85.
Disney’s Davy Crockett was a three part mini-series in the 1950’s that told of the great feats of this historic character. While Fess Parker is known mainly for the title role in this series, he was also in several other Disney creations, including “The Great Locomotive Chase”, “Old Yeller”, and “Westward Ho the Wagons!”.
Disney has had many Broadway shows over the years, from the greats like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King to the supposed not-so-greats like Tarzan and The Little Mermaid. The rumor for this week is the announcement of a new musical that may be joining the ranks among the Disney Broadway shows. Now, I have imagined that a lot of Disney movies could be made into Broadway musicals, after the way they figured out how to do The Lion King and Mary Poppins, but I will be honest, Dumbo is not one of the ones that even came to my mind. The people at Disney, however, have other plans.
Announcements have been made in the past about some changes and coming to MuppetVision 3D and this week specifics and dates have been given to the refurbishments. The 3D movie will be closed from April 24—May 14 in order to make some changes to the attraction. The queue will be changed during this time as well as a new preshow being put in and some changes to the quality of the main film, though the film itself is staying the same.
Big News for all of you planning to visit Walt Disney World this summer! Beginning in June, the Spectromagic Parade will be temporarily replaced by the…..wait for it……. Main Street Electrical Parade!!! Yes, it is back ladies and gentlemen! With new LED’s on all of the floats and a new float opening the parade featuring Tinker Bell!