Episode 082 Goofy
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Ep. 082 Goofy This week we review the new Animation 2 Rhino LE figure. We also dive into the aftermarket debate and have an update on the Disney Store Online. |
Robert Ashburn’s 1/24/12 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
WDWNT Reporter Robert Ashburn visited the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us, including Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom play-testing and Grand Floridian DVC wing construction, so let’s take a look:
Work continues on the Main Street Bakery facade
Is this crane for Fantasyland construction? No…
They are fixing a few small things on the Castle
Nice to see maintenance being done after such a short period of time
That is one tall crane
Work continues on the Main Street bridge
Renovations continue inside Plaza Ice Cream
Main Street characters out and about
The Chapeau and some of the Confectionary behind tarps
It is a strange look down Main Street these days
Package Pick-Up/Chamber of Commerce also behind tarps
Time to take a look at the progress on the Big Thunder Mountain refurbishment
Almost every roof is being replaced
Painting the mountain
They sure are friendly!
Some scrims are up to block some of the view
Still plenty to see though
Tumbleweed is practically being rebuilt, as are the lift hills
Another roof being replaced
Workers still up on the Castle
No, it can’t be…
EVERYONE RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!
The Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom windows on Main Street have all been installed
Sorcerers play-tests every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday currently
A window under the Train Station
I warned you that more and more Disney Store merchandise is invading the parks…
Many windows now have a permanant floor marking
A look at Robert’s cards
Now let’s take a quick look at the construiction progress on the Grand Floridian Disney Vacation Club wing
Nothing to see here yet…
Opportunity to Experience Animal Kingdom with Jane Goodall
There is a pretty interesting experience being made available at Disney’s Animal Kingdom around the park’s 14th anniversary for those with a little expendable income:
The 2012 Walt Disney World Safari VIP Weekend
A VIP Family Weekend at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park
April 20, 2012 – April 22, 2012
While many people dream of going to Africa to live like renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall, most of us just don’t have the time to pack up and fly around the world, particularly those of us with children. The Jane Goodall Institute, together with our longtime friends at Walt Disney World, would like to offer you and your family the next best thing: An Exclusive VIP Weekend at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge® featuring the chance to spend time with Jane.
Trip Highlights
- Relax around a campfire and swap stories with Jane while enjoying hot chocolate and s’mores;
- View the wildlife right outside the window of your savannah view room in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge®;
- Get an up-close and behind-the-scenes view of majestic animals on Disney’s special Backstage Safari Tour;
- Enjoy breakfast with Jane and some of Disney’s famous characters at Backstage Prop Shop in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge®;
- Explore all of Disney’s Orlando theme parks with your Park Hopper® passes and much more!
The tickets for this three day, two night adventure include all scheduled events, two nights in a savannah view room in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge®, select meals, unlimited three-day admission to all Disney theme parks, a Disney Dining Card, and transportation to and from the Orlando airport as well as all of the Disney parks.
The trip costs $5,000 per person for members of Jane’s Peak Society (JGI’s $1,000+ giving circle) and $6,000 per person for new members. A significant portion of this payment is a tax-deductible donation to support JGI’s programs. For more information please contact John Davison, Major Gifts Coordinator, at jDavison@janegoodall.org or (703) 682-9281.
Guests Can “Glow With Show” With New Interactive Ear Hats
From Erin Glover on the Disney Parks Blog:
tarting June 15, Disney California Adventurepark guests will have the chance to light up the night when Glow with the Show Ears become available for purchase at select locations throughout the park.
For more than 55 years, the classic, black Mickey Mouse ear hat has been a Disney Parks guest favorite. In 2005, those ears got a golden touch to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Disneyland park, and there have been more than 200 different ear hats including limited-edition and novelty ear hats. Now, using the latest interactive technology, our newest ear hats will quite literally let you “Glow with the Show.” Watch as the iridescent ears change to complement and harmonize with what’s happening around you, allowing you to become a part of the magic of our nighttime spectaculars, such as “World of Color” and Mad T Party. But that’s not all – there are lots of surprises in store when you visit Disney California Adventure park with Glow with the Show Ears, so I’ll let you discover them for yourself!
Here’s a peek at what the new Glow with the Show Ears will look like:
“Glow with the Show now lets our guests become part of the color of our magical ‘World of Color’ at the Paradise Bay lagoon,” describes Steve Davison, Creative Entertainment Vice President of Parades & Spectaculars. “Throughout the show, the Glow with the Show Ears become a set of pixels that dance and play along with each sequence in ‘World of Color’ in a bright and dynamic way. For example, during the show, guests become part of the ocean with the Little Mermaid, a shining galaxy of stars for WALL-E and Eve, an extension of the Genie’s magic in ‘Friend Like Me,’ among other interactive explosions of color throughout the entire show. It truly brings the show’s environment out of the lagoon and into the audience in an amazing and dazzling new way!” Are you planning to “Glow with the Show” on your next visit to Disney California Adventure park?
This is an interesting concept that has actually been tried before with The Magical Moments promotion in Florida. Guests could buy pins that would light up when you walked past certain buildings in the parks, watched parades, or even went in to certain attractions.For example, on Tower of Terror in the hallway scene, when the walls turned into a star field, your pin would light up as well.
Field Trip! Nerds go to Epcot
It’s Summer vacation for most kids out there, but the Disney Nerds can’t get enough of school. So they have been sent off to summer camp to keep on learning. Last week, they took advantage of the beautiful Florida sunshine with a field trip to Epcot. Math, Science, Art and History are all at your finger tips at this Walt Disney World park.
The class is on their way to the park entrance.
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Chip ‘n Dale don’t need too much help in this area, but they picked up some tips on how they can better live with the land.
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They took in the sights and sounds of nature.
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Donald was amazed at the physics of an up side down waterfall.
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Daisy was also drawn to water, but she wanted to learn about The Living Seas.
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No goofing around here… lets learn about speed!
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Double bonus! Not only is Pluto a Bill Nye fan, but he also loves energy!
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This is one thing they do not teach you in class… but Figment is an expert in Imagination.
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Stitch isn’t looking to escape… he’s just on a mission to learn more about the galaxy.
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Is an Imagineering degree in the works? Mickey discovers that this shape is everywhere in nature. (at least here at Walt Disney World.)
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Always excited about culture, Minnie explores the World Showcase.
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Only the nerdiest of Nerds would be interested in the survey marker found in the parking lot.
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A “What if” experiment went wrong and Nerd Mickey was super sized!
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Speaking of experiments… Stitch is in awe of the Mickey Spaceman statue…
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…so he poses for one of his own.
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Nerd Figment went home with a bunch of cool souvenirs.
Cars Land Opening Day Commercial
A new commercial advertising the opening of Cars Land with all the Cars Characters. Its a fun watch…
Romance Blooms in “The Magic, The Memories, and You!”, Summer Overlay Teased
From Shawn Slater on the Disney Parks Blog:
One of the true delights of the recent holiday season at Disney Parks was a special segment during our evening projection show, “The Magic, The Memories and You!” The faces of Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom Park and “it’s a small world” at Disneyland park were transformed into gingerbread masterpieces, brightly colored packages and palaces of ice.
Well if you enjoyed that, our Creative Entertainment team has another treat in store, just in time for Valentine’s Day! A new show segment is set to debut Feb. 1, inspired by some of the most romantic moments in Disney animation. Cinderella Castle and “it’s a small world” will be covered in red roses for one sequence and turned into a beautiful, star-filled sky for another. During part of the show, spectacular stained glass windows will grace the façades, depicting the stories of Cinderella, Snow White and Belle.
One of my favorite moments comes when the king and queen from “Tangled” appear on a balcony, lifting a single lantern to the sky for their missing daughter. It’s soon joined by hundreds of others, creating a magical sight sure to draw “oohs” and “ahhs” from the crowd. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it! Of course, the most heart-warming part of any segment of “The Magic, The Memories and You!” is the images of our guests, captured by Disney PhotoPass photographers during the day and incorporated into the show each night.
The romance segment is planned to run as part of “The Magic, The Memories and You!” through mid-April but we’re not stopping there. Wait until you see “it’s a small world” as a sand castle in a segment we’re working on for summer. It’s chock full of detail… right up to the point where Goofy rides a wave across the façade, washing it all away to reveal… well, I don’t want to spoil all the surprises!
Adam Roth’s 1/20/12 WDW Photo Report
WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Epcot on Friday and has some noteworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:
One of the rock arches is being rebuilt in the Oasis
Major reconstruction
Could we refurb this please?
This water fits the theme, but it is disgusting…
Waterfalls running at Everest
Is this photo from 1971?
The steam is still working
Well, he moves more than Harold…
The new Disney Vacation Club logo is everywhere now
On to Epcot where the old Alfredo’s facade is being ripped apart in the long-delayed remodeling of Tutto Italia
This makes me want to cry…
The quick serve window is open at Via Napoli to accommodate guests
Mmmmmm…
More and more of these new directional signs showing up in Future World
The Seas mural is being repaired
Sleepy cuttlefish…
I think they sponsor a golf event of some kind… or am I confused? 😉
How different will this look come October?
This board could use a good washing
Cast Members wrote on some props, probably will be replaced in the refurb
The heat chamber is rumored to be leaving
As is the cold chamber
And those robots might actually be turned off permanently
Plenty of the Chevy cars out there now
These diplays aren’t super-new, but they are all Chevy-related
Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Brian Shapiro
We recently put out a call for custom artist designs on the new Vinylmation 95 mold and have received a great response! Keep those customs coming. Today, we feature an artist familiar to DV, Brian Shapiro.
Destination Vinylmation: What inspired you to choose Maleficent as the subject of your first Vinylmation 95 custom?
Brian Shapiro: Maleficent is my hands down favorite Disney Villain. Whether she’s in Sleeping Beauty, Fantasmic, or even Kingdom Keepers, she never disappoints! Also, I think she has the most striking features in both her humanoid and dragon forms!
DV: You managed to place all of Maleficent’s iconic features onto the canvas to make it instantly recognizable. Did this take much planning on paper, or were you able to instantly picture it on the mold?
Brian: When I saw the Vinylmation 95 canvas for the first time, I immediately noticed the horn shaped side windows and instantly thought of the Maleficent dragon. From that starting point, it was easy to imagine her features on the new mold. The hood of the car worked perfectly for the snout, and the spoiler was a perfect place for wings. I did sketch out the design, though, before painting it. I downloaded an image of the canvas from disneystore.com and inverted the colors on my iPad to make it black. Then I used a paint program to layout the basic design features. In the end, she came out looking exactly as I imagined her!
CPU Rendering
DV: What was the most challenging part of the this design?
Brian: The most challenging part was the placement of the wings. While the spoiler on the back of the car was an ideal location, it wasn’t split down the midline to provide two separate wings. As a result, I had to take some artistic license and make the wings appear pressed together in the midline. I’m really happy with how they came out.
DV: You pulled off exactly what I hoped an artist would do. You ignored the features of the car itself (tires, windshield, etc.) and just painted a design onto the canvas… sort of like an artist ignoring the placement of eyes, feet or arms on a Mickey shape. Was this difficult to do?
Brian: Not with this particular design, which was pretty obvious to me once I saw the canvas. As you have previously spotlighted, I created a version of the Maleficent dragon on the 3″ Mickey shaped mold, and Disney recently released a version on the 9″ Mickey shaped mold, but a lot of compromises had to be made in both of those instances. I think the Vinylmation 95 canvas is ideal for characters with snouts and bills like Figment, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto.
DV: As an artist, what is the major difference between working on a Lightning McQueen shaped mold as opposed to Mickey?
Brian: Other than the shape, I think the biggest difference is that you can’t disassemble the figure into separate pieces like you can with the Mickey shaped mold. As a result, you are forced to handle the figure in areas that have already been painted. Because the Maleficent dragon is mostly black in color, it was hard for me to keep the black paint clean. Every little piece of dust would show, and if I had the slightest trace of yellow or purple on my fingers, it would appear where it wasn’t supposed to. In this case, once I finished painting in all the features, I placed her on top of a jar of peanut butter and painted back in all the black areas!
DV: Did you enjoy working on the Vinylmation 95 mold enough to do more?
Brian: I really enjoyed working with the canvas a lot! Ironically, I’m not a huge fan of the Cars movies or even cars in general, but I think the Vinylmation 95 canvas has a lot of potential. I have another blank that I would like to paint.
DV: Can you give us any hints to what we might see next?
Brian: I have a few ideas, but I’m undecided on which one I will pursue. I will definitely keep you posted, and I appreciate your generous support of my art!
P.S. – Brian sent us a little tease of his next project just before this article went live:
Concept Art & Details on Innoventions VISION House Revealed
Inspired by Green Builder Media’s VISION House demonstration home series, the experiential exhibit will highlight the major themes of whole-home automation, energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor environment quality, security, multi-generational design, and durability. Visitors will learn that each house is a set of interactive systems, and that proper management of those systems will maximize comfort and minimize operational costs.