More Downtown Disney Details

WDWNT on June 28, 2008

Here are some more details on the changes coming to Downtown Disney, including the replacements for some of the Pleasure Island clubs:

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (June 27, 2008)– Walt Disney World Resort today unveiled a new vision for Downtown Disney, with extraordinary new shopping, dining and other experiences including a completely re-imagined Pleasure Island. Also planned are numerous enhancements to popular Downtown Disney locations, as well as additional theming and storytelling brought to life by Walt Disney Imagineers.

“We are committed to offering guests new and exciting experiences they can only have at Walt Disney World Resort,” said Downtown Disney Vice President Kevin Lansberry. “Our bold new vision for Downtown Disney reflects the feedback we receive from our guests each and every day and will enable us to continue to offer the high-quality entertainment that is our hallmark.”

Over the next year, the 120-acre entertainment-shopping-dining complex will add a number of one-of-a-kind, immersive experiences for guests. Downtown Disney will even get its own iconic attraction, in the form of a giant, tethered balloon that will take guests 300 feet into the air to view the amazing vistas of Walt Disney World Resort. Other new experiences include:

· In fall 2008, guests will enter a world of prehistoric creatures at T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family Adventure. The dinosaur-themed family eatery will serve up pizzas, pastas, seafood and more, and will feature life-size animated dinosaurs that dwell among bubbling geysers, waterfalls and a fossil dig site.

· Also this fall, a design-your-own t-shirt store from Hanes will add to the growing collection of merchandise guests can personalize at Downtown Disney.

· E-brands Restaurants, an Orlando-based, multi-concept restaurant group, will premier its newest concept at Downtown Disney in spring 2009. The high-energy, casual eatery will feature authentic Central and South American cuisine, specialty drinks and live music along the waterfront.

Guests also will enjoy a brand new mix of shopping and dining experiences at Pleasure Island as it is transformed over the next two years.

“Our guests tell us they want additional shopping and dining experiences at Downtown Disney,” added Lansberry. “We are currently considering a number of unique concepts from around the globe as we re-imagine Pleasure Island and look forward to sharing our progress over the coming months.”

To make way for the new offerings, all of the clubs currently on Pleasure Island will close on Sept. 27. Other locations on Pleasure Island , including Raglan Road , Fuego by Sosa Cigars, Curl by Sammy Duval, Orlando Harley-Davidson and outdoor food and beverage locations, will remain open during the transition.

To complement these new experiences, many popular Downtown Disney locations will undergo enhancements.

· Beginning this summer, Portobello Yacht Club will be transformed into a Tuscan Country Trattoria. The refreshed menu features authentic Italian dishes and signature favorites and a re-designed interior along with an outdoor dining space.

· This fall, Goofy’s Candy Company will add a special new room that will enable families to host one-of-a-kind birthday parties at Downtown Disney.

· The Marketplace Stage will be completely replaced with a larger, covered stage this fall to welcome even more entertainment to Downtown Disney and serve as a new premier venue for Disney Magic Music Days.

· Fulton’s Crab House will update its interior fixtures and furnishing and exterior in Spring 2009. The enhancements include a refreshed third floor deck dining area to offer additional Disney guests and larger private parties the traditional Fulton’s experience.

· Next year, Wolfgang Puck Café will update its interior fixtures and furnishings and will feature an enclosed glass patio offering guests a year-round outdoor dining experience.

These efforts come on the heels of recent enhancements at World of Disney, Wolfgang Puck Express, Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop, Earl of Sandwich and Cap’n Jack’s Restaurant.

Character Dining Changes

WDWNT on June 28, 2008

Some interesting rumors about dining changes to Walt Disney World are making the rounds this weekend, claiming that the Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Tree Tavern restaurant will be removing its character dinner as an option in January 2009 and that Epcot’s Garden Grill Restaurant inside The Land pavilion will remove the lunch option and only offer a character dinner starting this October. While we can-not deny or verify these rumors at this time, we will keep you informed on the subject as information becomes available.

Dateline Disneyland Picture Update

WDWNT on June 28, 2008

Let’s take a look at some of the various things going on through-out the Disneyland Resort from this week’s Dateline Disneyland on MiceAge:


The information sign that’s been missing for well over a year now has returned to the security tents, with the only change being the “new DCA logo”


While New Century Timepieces is closed, New Century Jewelry is remaining open


The Three Magic Fairies crystal shop in Sleeping Beauty Castle has been closed, & will be converted into the disabled room for the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-through


Monorail Blue has finally started daytime testing! No guests yet unfortunately


As previously reported, the Department 56 store in Downtown Disney has been cut in half, & a new store is expected to take over the currently closed half

Be sure to take a look at the Dateline Disneyland article (the link is at the top of the post) for more news & information from through-out the Resort, including a look at all 3 McDonald’s locations in the Resort, which will soon be a thing of the past!

MintCrocodile’s 6/26 DLR Update

WDWNT on June 28, 2008

Staff Photographer MintCrocodile was also at the Disneyland Resort yesterday, & he managed to find a few things that I didn’t snap:


The golden apple is back at the entrance to Snow White’s Scary Adventures


The new menu at the French Market


A new wait time sign outside Pirates of the Caribbean


First High School Musical, now this!

More of Mint’s pictures from yesterday can be found here!

No More Pleasure On This Island

WDWNT on June 28, 2008

From the Orlando Sentinel:

The six nightclubs at Pleasure Island will soon shut down, as Walt Disney World redevelops the adult-focused district at Downtown Disney.

BET SoundStage Club, Mannequins Dance Palace, 8Trax and three other nightclubs that have for years catered largely to young, single adults — rather than to Disney’s bread-and-butter family market — will close after Sept. 27. Over the next couple of years Disney will reopen the Pleasure Island area with a broader mix of restaurants and shops.

Though Pleasure Island’s possible demise has been the subject of rumors for awhile, the announcement surprised many in the Orlando nightclub business. Pleasure Island, now 19 years old, may have seemed an odd venture for Disney but it appeared to thrive — so much so that some in the industry have blamed it for accelerating the decline of the nightlife district in Downtown Orlando during the 1990s.

In announcing what they called “a bold new vision” for all of Downtown Disney on Friday, Disney officials framed the Pleasure Island nightclub closures as a response to their customers, who say they want more broad-based dining and retail opportunities throughout the 120-acre district.

“Our bold new vision for Downtown Disney reflects the feedback we receive from our guests each and every day and will enable us to continue to offer the high-quality entertainment that is our hallmark,” said Downtown Disney Vice President Kevin Lansberry.

Pleasure Island is the middle section of Disney World’s 120-acre dining, shopping and entertainment district, called Downtown Disney. While the two flanking areas, MarketPlace and the West Side, also have nightclubs, they are parts of restaurants, appealing to broad crowds. In general, those areas appealed to families. Until recently, Pleasure Island has been mostly about nightclubs, and it created an awkward bridge between MarketPlace and West Side.

Other businesses on Pleasure Island, including a couple of restaurants, a cigar bar and a couple of clothing shops, will remain open. They already offer the broad appeal that Lansberry said Disney’s patrons want from the rest of Pleasure Island. He did not offer specifics about what might replace the clubs, but said Disney was looking worldwide for restaurant and shopping concepts.

In addition, Disney is sprucing up the other two areas, adding new restaurants, expanding and updating a band shell, and bringing in a giant, tethered balloon attraction, which visitors can ride in, going up 300 feet above Village Lake.

Be sure to stay tuned to WDW News Today as more information on this breaking development becomes available.

DLR Pictorial – Part 1: 6/23

WDWNT on June 27, 2008

I’m back from a wonderful 4 day trip to the Disneyland Resort, which included checking out the Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries, & of course Toy Story Midway Mania. Let’s start this pictorial off with my pictures from Monday:

Sign for Toy Story “Midway” Mania in the Esplanade


The Adventure Roadmap was handed out at both Mickey & Friends as well as Timon (more on this tomorrow)


The latest DCA maps


Now on to my first ever ride on Toy Story Midway Mania!


The amazing Mr. Potato Head


He can remove his ear (if you didn’t already know)!


A few of the posters in the queue for TSMM, giving tips on game-play & the individual games


Here’s where you pick up your 3D glasses


The start of the ride


The ride vehicles


The back of Mr. Potato Head’s toy box


My score on my first ride… Contrary to what Tom Corless says, I don’t think it’s that bad of a score!


Top scores from Monday & the month


A lovely little display thingy at the exit of the attraction


The new seating for Award Wieners


The Honda Pilot display outside of the entrance to DCA


Over to Disneyland with the new Disneyland Park map cover


Still not much visible progress at Small World


Donald’s Boat has returned from its refurbishment


As of today (Thursday 6/26) the Innoventions Dream Home is still closed


The walls are down however, so I managed to snap a few pictures


Club Penguin has joined Toontown & Pirates of the Caribbean Online in Innoventions


The bungee rats are back in the Ratatouille float in the Pixar Play Parade


Also back is the back end of the a Bug’s Life float


Also worthy to note is that the Ratatouille & a Bug’s Life floats have switched around with each other


And the acrobats are back on the Toy Story float


The new, & amazingly themed Churro cart across from Toy Story Midway Mania


A look at the queue for Toy Story Midway Mania


The new Hot Dog Hut (also quite nicely themed)


Clever


Banners advertising Toy Story “Midway” Mania in Downtown Disney


And to end off Part 1 of my pictorial, me with Cinderella

Stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of my DLR Pictorial, covering Tuesday through Thursday. Also tomorrow, we’ll have bigger versions of the pictures from this post in the Image Galleries!

American Idol Experienced

WDWNT on June 27, 2008

I’M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!: Singer David Cook, who was recently crowned “American Idol” champion on the popular television show, poses during a break in shooting June 26, 2008 in a Los Angeles recording studio. A crew from Walt Disney World in Florida taped video segments with Cook to utilize in “The American Idol Experience” attraction, scheduled to open in January 2009 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Currently under construction, “The American Idol Experience” is the first theme park attraction to be based on the television series, through an agreement with FremantleMedia Enterprises and 19 Entertainment. This summer, Cook and other finalists from the 2008 season of “American Idol” will begin a nationwide concert tour. The “American Idol Live Tour 2008” will be presented in 50+ cities across the United States.

Disney-Pixar’s Wall-E

WDWNT on June 26, 2008

Besides loving the Disney Parks, most of the staff here at WDW News Today are big fans of all the Disney and Pixar animated films. As most of you know, Disney and Pixar’s newest film, Wall-E, opens in theaters everywhere June 27. In honor of this release, we have assembled a number of videos to watch for those of you who can’t wait to see the film this weekend. Remember, whether or not your looking forward to this film, it will most likely play a huge role in the future of the Disney parks. There is also a video here of the Wall-E interactive character is already slated to debut at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s California Adventure this week. Enjoy the videos, and go see Wall-E!!!

 

It’s Opening Again!!!

WDWNT on June 26, 2008

From disneypins.com, some news on the release of the long-awaited Toy Story Mania opening day pin:

Walt Disney World® Resort released their Opening Day 2008 pin today at Disney’s Hollywood Studios™. Alex Maher also created the artwork for this pin. Below is an image of the new merchandise location near the attraction which opened this past Monday. The first item sold at the new location – a Slinky Dog!

Notice that the paragraph above does not reveal the name of the store across the street from Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, even Disney doesn’t know what it is!!!

Hollywood Studios and Epcot Update

WDWNT on June 25, 2008

Our good friend EpcotServo has finally returned with a new photo update featuring some of the new happenings around Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. When you head over to his update, be sure to take a look at the now completed Pixar Place meet-and-greet, the Journey Into Narnia: Prince Caspian exhibit, and the new quick service food location outside of the now-closed Nine Dragons restaurant at Epcot. You can see the entire photo report HERE.