A very reliable source has just informed me that Walt Disney World management has purchased the Parade of Dreams from the Disneyland Resort in California. The parade will make it’s final west coast performance in November 2008 and will debut at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in January 2009. While this is still not 100% confirmed at the moment, the announcement should come towards the end of 2008 and the Year of a Million Dreams celebration.
It has just been announced that both Journey Into Imagination with Figment and Imageworks at Epcot will be closed from January 28 to February 24. While some minor refurbishing will be done, there will also be testing of some new effects for a BIG planned refurbishment of the attraction in the coming year. Stay tuned to WDW News Today as more information becomes available on this in the coming weeks.
Here are some pictures of some notable happenings at Walt Disney World during my trip from December 31 to January 11:
Due to the stage in front of the Sorcerer’s Hat at DHS, High School Musical was performing in the Fantasmic entrance forecourt.
Playhouse Disney is closed until February as it prepares for an all new updated show.
The old Hunchback Theater at the Studios is being demolished for some future development.
Here is a look at the major refurbishment going on at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa:
The following pictures show the layout and new design the marble floors of the lobby will be showcasing:
Out with the old…
In with Disney’s Hollywood Studios!!!
Here is the final part of my photo report, sorry it has taken so long:
Splash Mountain is closed for some general refurbishment until February 17, 2008.
Tony’s Town Square Restaurant is closed until January 27 while its kitchen receives some upgrades.
City Hall on Main Street U.S.A. remains open during it’s exterior refurbishment.
Donald Duck has received his wish and has become a real boy.
I hope you enjoyed the photos!!!
If you visit Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, you are sure to notice some major renovations going on. In the resort’s main building, a giant tarp spanning two floors has engulfed all of the hotel lobby. On the upper level, most of the floor tiles have been ripped up for the installation of new flooring. This refurbishment is only the first step in a lengthy refrbishment that will see every building of the resort upgraded. All of the resort’s changes should be complete by early 2009. I will have pictures available after I return from WDW this weekend.
The top portion of the Buzz Lightyear float in Tokyo Disneyland’s daytime parade, “Disney Dreams On Parade,” toppled to the ground yesterday. Tokyo Disneyland has cancelled all parades pending safety reviews. One wonders if this will have any ramifications for parades at WDW.
TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo Disneyland canceled its popular parades for the first time in its 25-year history Wednesday after a 660-pound steel pillar adorned with colorful planets tumbled from a Buzz Lightyear float.
The pillar on the float, part of its popular Disney Dreams On Parade, crashed to the ground Tuesday afternoon — just yards away from children lined up to watch the twice-daily extravaganza at the theme park.
There were screams but no injuries among visitors and the characters on the float, including Buzz, the hero from the 1995 Disney movie “Toy Story,” according to the park’s operator, Oriental Land Co.
But Disneyland is canceling its two daily parades while it carries out safety checks, the first time both events have been canceled since the park opened in 1983, according to Oriental Land spokesman Tsutomu Kato.
“We’d like to apologize for causing panic,” Kato said.
The accident came after visitors were evacuated after a small fire broke out on the roof of the Swiss Family Tree House attraction at Disneyland last week. Nobody was injured, and firefighters extinguished the flames an hour later.
The park is investigating both accidents but doesn’t yet know what caused them, according to Kato.
Disneyland, the first Disney park to be built outside of the United States, is one of two hugely popular theme parks Oriental Land operates just outside of Tokyo.
In 2007, 25.4 million people flocked to Disneyland and its sister attraction, Disneysea, both just outside the Japanese capital.
I just returned from a very long day at Walt Disney World, spending the entire day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, formerly the Disney MGM Studios. Not much has changed at the park, but some stuff has been updated:
-The sign over the park entrance and parking entrance is still in red lettering but now states the new name. The sign over the bag check area is still not in place.
-New park maps and times guides with the new name are available.
-Most cast members working in attractions still said the old name in their spiels, a big mistake for a big day.
-The limited edition pin that was originally postponed was released, just later in the day than expected.
-Some of the smaller signs in the park were removed and not replaced with the new name.
I’ll be sure to put up some pictures from today and the rest of my trip after I return home and I’ll also have a full trip report on our next episode of the WDW News Today Podcast.
Over at the Disney MGM Studios, all of the original name signage has been removed and the first Disney’s Hollywood Studios sign is now in place. If you head over to the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant, the movie poster in the stroller parking area now has a small black title bar on the bottom with the new park name on it. The Disney MGM Studios will become Disney’s Hollywood Studios on January 7, 2008.
The Disney MGM Studios signage over the parking entrance to the park has been removed. The new Disney’s Hollywood Studios name should be up in this and other locations by Monday. WDW News Today will be there to cover all events as they happen on January 7, 2008, as the Disney MGM Studios becomes Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
I was walking through Animal Kingdom earlier today and came upon a large number of park managers in Dinoland U.S.A. with some papers in their hands. Being the good guy that I am, I decided to stand around like a normal lost and clueless guest would. The group was discussing places to put additional lighting in the park, perhaps planning for longer hours to accommodate longer park operating hours. This could be the early planning stages for “Rivers of Light”, a night parade on the rivers of Disney’s Animal Kingdom park. The earliest I would expect anything to be announced on this is Animal Kingdom’s 10th Anniversary on April 22, 2008. Stay tuned to WDW News Today as more becomes available.
A number of websites have been discussing a possible script that may be given to cast members in the foyer area of the Haunted Mansion due to some ridiculous complaints. A full story can be read over at Jim Hill Media at this link.
