Duffy the Disney Bear Arrives! (Video & Pictures)

WDWNT on October 15, 2010

WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee and his fiancee Sidney Lee were on assignment today for the debut of Duffy the Disney Bear at Epcot, so let’s take a look at some pictures and video of today’s festivities:

Most of the Disney Traders store/Tower East shop is dedicated to Duffy

Guests were gobbling up bears and outfits. The 12-inch Duffy is $14.95, the 17-inch is $24.95, and the 28-inch is $59.95.

The famous Epcot podium is here for the ceremony

Duffy is here!

Sailor Mickey

Here’s a video of today’s festivities:

Disney Parks Blog Hosts “Villains Victory Party”

WDWNT on October 14, 2010

From the Disney Parks Blog:

UPDATE: Congratulations to all our Villains Victory Party Trivia Contest winners! The complete list of winners can be seen here. Here are the correct answers to the contest questions:

  • Which Disney animator created both Maleficent and Cruella De Vil?
    A: Marc Davis
  • Who was in the lead in the “Vote for Villains” race on October 8?
    A: Maleficent
  • On which Disney Cruise Line ship can you see the show, “Villains Tonight!”?
    A: Disney Magic
Jafar Maleficent Ursula
Evil Queen Captain Hook Cruella De Vil

If you’re an avid reader of the Disney Parks Blog, then you’re probably familiar with the Disney Villains who have been battling for the title of “baddest of them all.” Jafar, Maleficent, Ursula, the Evil Queen, Captain Hook and Cruella De Vil have been duking it out for four weeks now, and the madness will end October 28, 2010, when the baddest Disney Villain will be announced at the Villains Victory Party.

If that sounds like fun to you, then I have good news. You could win a spot at the Villains Victory Party!

If you are one of the first 75 people to answer the three trivia questions below correctly, you and a guest may be able to attend the “after hours” Villains Victory Party at Disneyland park on October 28. Access to this very special event cannot be purchased and can only be won through the Disney Parks Blog or participating radio stations in the Los Angeles area.

Winners will have several attractions all to themselves from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on October 28, including Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion Holiday, Indiana Jones Adventure©Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd and Haunted Voyages aboard the Mark Twain Riverboat. The party will also include eerie music, Club Skellington, tarot card readers, palm readers and special photo locations with characters. Haunted Mansion Holiday is inspired by Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Here are the questions:

  • Which Disney animator created both Maleficent and Cruella De Vil?
  • Who was in the lead in the “Vote for Villains” race on October 8?
  • On which Disney Cruise Line ship can you see the show, “Villains Tonight!”?

To enter, e-mail your answers along with your full name to contests@disney.go.com. Once the contest is over, we’ll send notifications to the winners via e-mail. If you win, you must provide verification of your age and residency and be able to attend the Villains Victory Party on October 28. Check-in on October 28 will begin at 3 p.m. PT, and you are welcome to enjoy both parks after 3 p.m. and before the party starts. To read all the contest rules and eligibility requirements, click here. If you have any questions, please ask them here on the Blog.

Good luck!

P.S. Please don’t spoil it for others by posting guesses or answers in the comments.

Contest open to US residents 18 and over. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. Ends 10/15/10.

10/13/10 Fantasyland Expansion Video Update

WDWNT on October 14, 2010

As buisness picks up in Fantasyland at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, WDWNT is looking to provide you with the most complete coverage of the largest expansion in the history of the park. In addition to the constant picture updates in our photo reports and the Fantasyland Forest Project Tracker (which we are working on getting up-to-date), we are proud to introduce the very first video update of the constructions from Banks Lee:

C-3PO Strikes Back in Star Tours: The Adventures Continue

WDWNT on October 14, 2010

Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald has posted another Star Tours update on the Disney Parks Blog:

Things are very busy in the world of Star Tours, both here in California and in Florida as well!

A few weeks ago I shared a first look at two new characters joining Star Tours, and today, I want to take you behind the scenes and show you what we were working on back in April 2009. We occupied a large soundstage in Hollywood to film a key sequence of the new show. Anthony Daniels flew in from London to bring C-3PO to life on the stage, as well as workshop the script with our writer Steve Spiegel.

I spoke with Anthony Daniels the other day about what it felt like to be back working on Star Tours.

“Wow! Back in the gold suit for the first time since ‘Revenge of the Sith,’” was Anthony’s reply. “But on this occasion in front of a beloved Starspeeder, a bit like the one R2 and I’d repaired every day since Disneyland first opened the Star Tours Spaceport all those years ago. I’d enjoyed being a part of the original Star Tours, one of the most wonderful jobs I ever had. I’d been alerted that amazing things were in store for passengers on the new Starspeeder – and for me too – and so here I was again, working with many of the same creative teams, with even more spin and excitement than the first time.”

On the immense soundstage, our production team re-created – full size – a portion of the Starspeeder 1000, so we could film it from multiple angles. Later, the effects wizards at ILM, under the direction of Bill George, completed the scene, adding in a whole range of droids and characters, and expanding the scale and scope of the scene.

Here, for the first time, are some photos from that soundstage shoot. More on Threepio in our next post.

Starspeeder 1000

C-3PO Next to the Starspeeder 1000

Anthony Daniels Bringing C-3PO to Life

C-3PO Strikes Back in Star Tours: The Adventures Continue

WDWNT on October 14, 2010

Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald has posted another Star Tours update on the Disney Parks Blog:

Things are very busy in the world of Star Tours, both here in California and in Florida as well!

A few weeks ago I shared a first look at two new characters joining Star Tours, and today, I want to take you behind the scenes and show you what we were working on back in April 2009. We occupied a large soundstage in Hollywood to film a key sequence of the new show. Anthony Daniels flew in from London to bring C-3PO to life on the stage, as well as workshop the script with our writer Steve Spiegel.

I spoke with Anthony Daniels the other day about what it felt like to be back working on Star Tours.

“Wow! Back in the gold suit for the first time since ‘Revenge of the Sith,’” was Anthony’s reply. “But on this occasion in front of a beloved Starspeeder, a bit like the one R2 and I’d repaired every day since Disneyland first opened the Star Tours Spaceport all those years ago. I’d enjoyed being a part of the original Star Tours, one of the most wonderful jobs I ever had. I’d been alerted that amazing things were in store for passengers on the new Starspeeder – and for me too – and so here I was again, working with many of the same creative teams, with even more spin and excitement than the first time.”

On the immense soundstage, our production team re-created – full size – a portion of the Starspeeder 1000, so we could film it from multiple angles. Later, the effects wizards at ILM, under the direction of Bill George, completed the scene, adding in a whole range of droids and characters, and expanding the scale and scope of the scene.

Here, for the first time, are some photos from that soundstage shoot. More on Threepio in our next post.

Starspeeder 1000

C-3PO Next to the Starspeeder 1000

Anthony Daniels Bringing C-3PO to Life

WDWNT Network’s “As The Globe Turns” 9/26-10/9/10

WDWNT on October 11, 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. Since we missed it last week, here are two weeks worth of “As The Globe Turns” for September 26th-October 9th, 2010:

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

–Disney’s Honorary VoluntEARS Cavalcade at the Magic Kingdom is history

–Fantasyland construction goes vertical in a Cody Smith photo report from September 26th

–Epcot’s Food and Wine menus, Werther’s new candy shop in Germany, WDW 40th Anniversary merchandise, the death of the Noodle Station, and more Fantasyland construction to be seen in Tom Corless’ photo report

–Rooms at Disney’s Old Key West have been remodeled

–WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson makes his debut with pictures of Food and Wine, parking lot trams with doors, and queue work at the Haunted Mansion

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

–Work begins on Buena Vista Street, ElecTRONica, and Carsland, while Disneyland celebrates Halloween in a photo report from Max Guggenheim on September 25th

–Laserman debuts in ElecTRONica

–Murals & Maliboomer come down, ElecTRONica, Little Mermaid, and Carsland go up in a photo report from Conner Purzycki

–Michael Wada takes us to one of the very first Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland

–An inside look at ElecTRONica and Flynn’s Arcade

–Another preview of ElecTRONica? Yes, it’s that cool!

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

–Wake up and smell the pins!

–Vinylmation Park Series #5 and Astrology previews

–Park Series #5 Release Date and another preview

–Magic Mirror on the Wall, What is the Fairest Vinylmation of Them All?

WDWNT Network Podcasts

-The WDW News Today Podcast Episodes 163 & 164 (9/27/10 & 10/4/10) – The WDWNT Podcast crew lists the Top 10 orginal attraction characters of all-time in episode 163 and picks the Golden Age of Mickey’s Toontown Fair on episode 164. Available for download on-site or through iTunes in either enhanced or standard edition.

-The Disneyland News Today Podcast Episode 36 (9/13/10) – The DLNT Podcast crew delivers a News and Rumor Report & “Refurbs, Removes, and Re-imagines” the spinning rides of Disneyland Resort on episode 36, they then cover more news and review D23’s Great Disney Scavenger Hunt on episode 37. Available for download on-site or through iTunes.

-The Disney Pincast Episode 130 (10/1/10) – Join John Rick 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:

–One final look at Disney’s Honorary VoluntEARS Cavalcade

–A look at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party 2010, including the Boo-to-You Halloween parade and Hallowishes fireworks spectacular

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):

-Don’t miss The Disney Pincast and Vinylmation Station LIVE! on Saturday, October 16th at 1:00 PM ET for a great interactive discussion of Disney Pins and Vinylmation.

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

-“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