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No More Happy Hauntings

Daniel — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 17:12:31 +0000

For almost a decade, guests have traveled to Downtown Disney on Oct 30 and 31 for a chance at free trick-or-treating and fun Halloween experiences. Walt Disney World has announced that the Happy Hauntings event has been canceled due to detracting from the overall guest experience. Disney still plans to have Halloween and Fall-themed events, including some surprises.

The Journey to Pandora

Daniel — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:42:30 +0000

In a surprising announcement, Walt Disney Imagineering announced today that a new land is coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom at WDW. You might be asking, “What is that new land?” and I would be tempted to trick you with Beastly Kingdom, but the truth is that Disney has teamed up with Lightstorm Entertainment to bring the world of Pandora (the mythical moon in James Cameron’s “Avatar”) to both parks. From the announcement:

We believe Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a great fit for this project because it was created to give guests the opportunity to experience the worlds of animals and nature – real and mythical – in new ways. Disney’s Animal Kingdom also celebrates adventure, living in harmony with nature and environmental stewardship – themes that are deeply rooted in the story of AVATAR.

Construction is slated to begin in 2013, with opening by 2016.

UPDATE:

RE: Whether or not the world of Avatar belongs in Animal Kingdom, I present you this:

Welcome to a kingdom of animals… real, ancient and imagined: a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs and dragons; a kingdom of balance, harmony and survival; a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama, and learn. — Michael Eisner, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Dedication, April 1998

In the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room

Daniel — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 03:38:41 +0000

“In the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room, all the birds sing words and the flowers croon, in the tiki, tiki, tiki room”

Disney has finally confirmed that Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room will (tentatively) reopen on August 15th in Walt Disney World’s Adventure Land. This follows a nearly year-long refurbishment after a fire broke out in the attic of the show building, damaging many of the “Under New Management” animatronics. The new show will be a re-imagination of Walt Disney’s original Enchanted Tiki Room show with Jose, Fritz, Michael, and Pierre returning to their rightful ~~posts~~, er, perches.

Disney Shutters ESPN The Weekend

Daniel — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:13:42 +0000

Straight from Disney: ESPN The Weekend has been cancelled. What had been a 3-day weekend event featuring ESPN personalities, professional athletes, and a load of interactive exhibits has now been deemed as excessive and unnecessary in light of the new re-branding of Disney’s Wide World of Sports into the ESPN Wide World of Sports.

To justify the cancellation of the event that’s been running for 7 years, Disney points out the increased presence of ESPN at Walt Disney World and the increased number of events, innovation, and athletes that have been brought to the Wide World of Sports. Turning from ESPN The Weekend, Disney looks to improve the ESPN RISE Games along with other experiences.

WDW Monorail to Stop Running Earlier Than Normal

Daniel — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 23:48:15 +0000

In an interesting move, Walt Disney World has decided to shorten the time the monorails run from the parks to one hour after the normal park closing time (this begins July 11 for the Epcot Monorail and August 1 for the Magic Kingdom Monorail). This change will affect those using the evening Extra Magic Hours for now as well as those attending Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, should the early bedtime continue into the Fall. For alternative means of transportation, seek out bus travel and the ferry (for return to the TTC and all resorts they reach to).

From Disney:

“From time to time, we make adjustments to our operations to accommodate for planned transportation maintenance. With that in mind, operating hours for the Epcot Monorail system will be modified to operate one hour after regular park close beginning July 11, 2011 and the Magic Kingdom Monorail system will also operate one hour after regular park close beginning August 1, 2011. At that time, watercraft (where applicable) and additional buses will be available to transport guests to their destination.

Return service from evening Extra Magic Hours in the parks will be supported by watercraft (where applicable) and bus transportation.

(Hat tip to The Examiner)

Disney Buys Marvel [Again]

Daniel — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 03:42:11 +0000

According to The Deadline, Disney has agreed to purchase Iron Man 3 and The Avengers from Paramount Pictures for the tidy sum of $115 million. Under the new deal, Disney gets distribution rights for the two aformentioned films while Paramount will retain distribution rights over Thor [May 6, 2011], Captain America [July 22, 2011], Iron Man, and Iron Man 2.

Captain EO Returning to…Walt Disney World!

Daniel — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:52:37 +0000

In a not surprising move, the Walt Disney World Company has decided to bring Captain EO back to Epcot on July 2 after seeing the popularity of the film at Disneyland’s Magic Eye Theater.

The film will also be opening at Disneyland Paris on June 12 and Tokyo Disneyland on June 30.

Toy Story Midway Mania! Update Coming

Daniel — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:46:18 +0000

Toy Story Midway Mania! will be getting its first update in late May. Imagineers have decided to replace “Bo Peep’s Baaa-loon Pop” with “Rex and Trixie’s Dino Darts” in which you try to pop balloons in pre-historic scenery in both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s California Adventure.

This is the first time that Imagineers have tested the “switch-a-bility” of the games in Toy Story Mania!

Also coming to the parks is Lotso (aka “Lots-o-Huggin’ Bear”). He will debut in Walt Disney World at The Magic of Animation and at California Adventure as part of the “Disney Pixar Play Parade.”

Disney Bus Crashes Near EPCOT

Daniel — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:41:20 +0000

In the second Disney bus crash since July 2009, a Disney vehicle crashed into a charter bus at the entrance to the EPCOT toll plaza. Eight people were injured including 7 passengers with non-life-threatening injuries while the driver of the Disney bus was taken to the Orlando Regional Medical Center in serious condition. was involved in a crash with a second bus at a toll plaza at Epcot Center Tuesday afternoon. No one was aboard the charter bus at the time of the accident. The EPCOT toll plaza was closed while Orange County Sheriff’s Deputies conducted their investigation.

The park remained open through the incident and the toll plaza has been re-opened.

Teen Queen Suing Disney

Daniel — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:31:23 +0000

ABC and Disney are being sued for $100,000,000 by Alicia Guastaferro, the “princess of pagentry” for emotional harm (i.e. suicidal thoughts, school transfers, death threats, and a reduction in intellectual performance, among others) caused by appearing on ABC’s “Wife Swap” program as well as claiming that the producers staged certain scenes (e.g. asking Guastaferro to “act a little more spoiled” or suggesting that the teen received a present every day).

The suit alleges that ABC/Disney never obtained consent for Alicia Guastaferro to be on the episode, but her mother received $20,000 in compensation.