WDWNT Podcast Episode 163 Now Available for Download

WDWNT on September 30, 2010

Have you heard this week’s WDW News Today Podcast? If you haven’t, here’s what you can expect:

Join me, Tom Corless, and a cast including Anthony Yacullo, Jason Diffendal, Jay Catalano, and Justin Heyman for a variety show dedicated to the Walt Disney World Resort and its many fans. Plenty of Walt Disney World information and fun awaits you on this edition of the WDW News Today Podcast!!!

On this week’s show, we have the sixth edition of what you voted our most popular segment, “The Top 10″. It’s an interactive and fun segment where the WDWNT Podcast Team and our listeners come together to create top ten lists for Walt Disney World in many different categories. We continue this week with the top original attraction characters ever-made for the Walt Disney World Resort.

To download or listen to the show on-site, go to our podcast download directory page. You can also download episodes of the show by subscribing to the Enhanced Episode and Standard Episode feeds on iTunes.

Goodbye Funky Mohawks, Hello “LASERMAN”

WDWNT on September 29, 2010

From the Disney Parks Blog:

Hey, everyone! Robin here. By now you have heard that on October 8 Disney California Adventure Park will unveil its all-new nighttime interactive event, ElecTRONica. And, as promised, I am here to share with you another exciting offering that will come alive once you “step into the grid” and into the world of “TRON: LEGACY.”

Each night, guests entering ElecTRONica will be captivated by the incredible talents of LASERMAN.

LASERMAN at Disney California Adventure Park's ElecTRONica

LASERMAN will demonstrate his unique talents and skill in a stunning performance that combines music, lights, and lasers. Check it out…

LASERMAN at Disney California Adventure Park's ElecTRONica

I can’t wait for everyone to see this exciting new entertainment offering, and LASERMAN is just a part of what you will experience when ElecTRONica powers up the fun.

Keep your eyes and ears open. There’s more to come…

Oh, by the way, what do aliens, gorillas, and bugs all have in common? Curious? I will reveal the answer in my next post and you’ll see how it all fits in with ElecTRONica.

“There Go The Muppets!” – Volunteer Cavalcade Leaves 10/2/10

WDWNT on September 28, 2010

An inside source has informed WDWNT that “Disney’s Honorary VoluntEARS Cavalcade” will have its final performance on Saturday, October 2nd, 2010, at the Magic Kingdom. If you are a Muppets fan, this will most likely be your last chance to see Kermit and Miss Piggy in the parks for a while.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

The pre-parade was created for the 2nd year of the “What Will You Celebrate?” campaign titled “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day”. The promotion kicked off in January as an effort to get 1 million people to volunteer in their communites. It was such an unbelievable success that Disney ran out of the 1 million gifts (including free admission) in the Spring. The pre-parade was designed to showcase select volunteers visiting the Magic Kingdom that day as a gift for their service. The “Honoarary VountEARS Cavalacade” debuted on January 8, 2010.

Disney has not announced if or when a new pre-parade might debut.

WDWNT Network’s “As The Globe Turns” 9/19-9/25/10

WDWNT on September 26, 2010

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

It’s time for the WDWNT Network’s weekly review of interest topics and new programming, just in case you missed something. Without any further ado, here is this week’s edition of “As The Globe Turns” for September 19th-September 25th, 2010:

News from Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida (Provided by WDW News Today)

–Pollo Campero comes along, Epcot is getting colorful, and the first pieces “Under The Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid” fall into place in Fantasyland in this Josh Siegel photo report from September 22nd

–Two new characters announced for “Star Tours: The Adventures Continue”, including the captain

–Preview of the Cinderella Castle “Memories” show coming in 2011 as part of “Let The Memories Begin”

–“Let The Memories Begin” with details, commercials, and more about this 2011 marketing campaign

–Castle Dreamlights are being installed and you can see Tomorrowland in a new light in this Nick Corjay photo report from September 19th

News from Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California (Provided by Disneyland News Today)

–Updated concept art for Luigi’s Roaming Tires from Cars Land

–If you love TRON, you’ll love elecTRONica at Disney California Adventure!

–Updated concept art for Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree from Cars Land

News on Disney Trading (Provided by The Disney Pincast and The Vinylmation Station)

–Details on new Disney Cruise Line pin-of-the-month series for 2011 and the 10-10-10 Event at WDW

–Duffy the Disney Bear Vinylmation???

–Nerds Rock Vinylmation series on the way

WDWNT Network Podcasts

-The WDW News Today Podcast Episode 162 (9/20/10) – The WDWNT Podcast crew discusses changes to the Fantasyland expansion plan and Tom talks with Jason Paul about the creation of “WDWNT: The Podcast Theme Song”. Available for download on-site or through iTunes in either enhanced or standard edition.

-The Disneyland News Today Podcast Episode 35 (9/13/10) – The DLNT Podcast crew delivers a News and Rumor Report, “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” of Grizzly River Run at California Adventure, and “This Week in Disneyland History” featuring Captain EO. Available for download on-site or through iTunes.

-The Disney Pincast Episode 129 (9/24/10) – Join John Rick and guest Anthony Yacullo for a week of pin releases and more. Available for download on-site or through iTunes.

-The first new episode of The Vinylmation Station podcast since early July will be recorded and released sometime in October 2010.

New Videos from WDWNTube

The following videos from the Disney Parks around the world were released on the WDWNTube (www.WDWNTube.com) in the past week:

–Cinderella Castle “Memories” show preview

–Honey, I Shrunk the Audience at Disneyland Park and Epcot by Martin Smith

–Disneyland Paris Fantilusion Parade by Martin Smith

Audio Programming from WDWNTunes

The WDWNT Network’s online radio station plays Disney Parks music 24 hours a day, but also features special music blocks and plenty of original programming you won’t find anywhere else. Here’s a look at some current and upcoming special programming for WDWNTunes (www.WDWNTunes.com):

-“WDWNT Network presents (for some reason) The Transformerscast: The Epic, Epic of Epic Proportions – A Play in Five Acts” is replaying nightly at 11PM ET through October 1st. Scott Smith attempted to launch a podcast about his favorite toys twice (unsuccessfully) on “See Ya’ Real Late” with Tom Corless. Tom has give Scott one last chance to make the show a success, and Scott won’t let anyone stop him, including the rest of the WDWNT Network staff. Will Scott finally be able to make The Transformerscast a hit in his epic farewell performance? Tune in to find out!

-Season 2 of the “Super Obscure Show” (or S.O.S.) debuts October 2nd at 11:00PM ET. Episodes will replay for a full week at both 10:00AM and 11:00PM until a new episode debuts every Saturday.

-“See Ya’ Real Late” with Tom Corless Season 2 is tentatively scheduled to debut January 2011.

-Our 2 hour Halloween audio block has begun airing daily at 7AM and 7PM ET and will run through October 31st. The block includes audio from Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and Tokyo Disneyland to get you in the haunted holiday mood.

Everything Else

-In an effort to make the WDW News Today twitter account strictly business, Tom Corless has made a separate, personal twitter account for himself. The WDW News Today website and podcast will be updating through @WDWNT, Tom will now be personally tweeting from @WDWNTom:

-To contact us at any time with questions, suggestions, comments, or concerns, you can email us at wdwnewstoday@gmail.com

Two New Droids Announced for “Star Tours: The Adventures Continue”

WDWNT on September 25, 2010

From the Disney Parks Blog:

Since everything we do at Imagineering starts with the story, it probably comes as no surprise that one of the first things we set out to do with the new Star Tours show was to figure out when our story should take place within the Star Wars timeline.

The existing Star Tours show we internally refer to as “6.5,” since it takes place time-wise after Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Story development for the new show began “a long time ago,” back in 1998, and a story treatment from that year carries the title “Episode 7 – A Star Tours Classic” – referring to the Boonta Classic race that was to be the main feature of the show.

But by the time Episode I hit the screens, we were all anxious to know what would surface in Episode III that we might build on for the show. Naturally, we were then curious how Episode III would complete the series. In the end, after numerous discussions, we decided to place our storyline between the two sets of Star Wars trilogies, giving the project the working title “Star Tours 3.5.”

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

This time period gave our show team the ability to tap into the very best of the Star Wars characters and adventures. But turning the clock back also required some interesting changes for the Star Tours show. The Starspeeder 3000 would need to be an earlier model, the Starspeeder 1000, with a new pilot (especially since Rex, the original pilot, opens the original show saying it’s his first flight!)

Our design team created a new Tour Droid for the show, an AC Series pilot we dubbed “Ace,” with a personality as different from Rex as you can imagine.

We also created a new “spokesbot” for Star Tours, modeled after the WA-7 “Waitress Droid” from the Attack of the Clones. George Lucas suggested the name “Aly San San,” in reference to Allison Janney, the wonderful actress who provides the voice for this new character. We had a terrific time with Allison in the recording sessions for the show – she brought a lot of warmth and humor to the part.

These are just two of the droids you can expect to see in Star Tours “The Adventures Continue” next year. And in our next blog, I’ll tell you about a droid who really steals the show in the new attraction!

Two New Droids Announced for “Star Tours: The Adventures Continue”

WDWNT on September 24, 2010

From the Disney Parks Blog:

Since everything we do at Imagineering starts with the story, it probably comes as no surprise that one of the first things we set out to do with the new Star Tours show was to figure out when our story should take place within the Star Wars timeline.

The existing Star Tours show we internally refer to as “6.5,” since it takes place time-wise after Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Story development for the new show began “a long time ago,” back in 1998, and a story treatment from that year carries the title “Episode 7 – A Star Tours Classic” – referring to the Boonta Classic race that was to be the main feature of the show.

But by the time Episode I hit the screens, we were all anxious to know what would surface in Episode III that we might build on for the show. Naturally, we were then curious how Episode III would complete the series. In the end, after numerous discussions, we decided to place our storyline between the two sets of Star Wars trilogies, giving the project the working title “Star Tours 3.5.”

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

This time period gave our show team the ability to tap into the very best of the Star Wars characters and adventures. But turning the clock back also required some interesting changes for the Star Tours show. The Starspeeder 3000 would need to be an earlier model, the Starspeeder 1000, with a new pilot (especially since Rex, the original pilot, opens the original show saying it’s his first flight!)

Our design team created a new Tour Droid for the show, an AC Series pilot we dubbed “Ace,” with a personality as different from Rex as you can imagine.

We also created a new “spokesbot” for Star Tours, modeled after the WA-7 “Waitress Droid” from the Attack of the Clones. George Lucas suggested the name “Aly San San,” in reference to Allison Janney, the wonderful actress who provides the voice for this new character. We had a terrific time with Allison in the recording sessions for the show – she brought a lot of warmth and humor to the part.

These are just two of the droids you can expect to see in Star Tours “The Adventures Continue” next year. And in our next blog, I’ll tell you about a droid who really steals the show in the new attraction!