PICTURES: First-Look Inside Radiator Springs Racers!

We may be just days from the opening of Cars Land’s E-ticket attraction Radiator Springs Racers, but we’re just now getting our first look inside this gate-busting extravaganza:

RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS -- Disney California Adventure park guests will pass under a themed archway to enter Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land at the Disneyland Resort. The

The sign for the attraction

RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS -- Coming to Disney California Adventure park June 15, 2012, Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

The mountain range is as close to the real thing as you can get

ORNAMENT VALLEY -- Coming to Disney California Adventure park June 15, 2012, Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

Right out of the movie

ORNAMENT VALLEY -- Coming to Disney California Adventure park June 15, 2012, Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS -- Coming to Disney California Adventure park June 15, 2012, Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS -- Coming to Disney California Adventure park June 15, 2012, Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

ORNAMENT VALLEY -- Coming to Disney California Adventure park June 15,  2012, Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

Even the bridge with the waterfall from Lightning and Sally’s drive is here

ORNAMENT VALLEY -- Coming to Disney California Adventure park June 15,  2012, Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

As day turns to night, the facade takes on a magical appearance

ORNAMENT VALLEY -- Coming to Disney California Adventure park June 15,  2012, Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

ORNAMENT VALLEY -- Coming to Disney California Adventure park June 15,  2012, Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

ORNAMENT VALLEY -- Coming to Disney California Adventure park June 15,  2012, Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

ORNAMENT VALLEY -- Coming to Disney California Adventure park June 15, 2012, Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

DOC HUDSON IN RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS -- Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

Inside Radiator Springs Racers, Doc Hudson talks you through a tire change

RED IN RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS -- Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

Through a projection effect, Red is watering his plants

LIZZIE IN RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS -- Coming to Disney California Adventure park June 15, 2012, Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

Lizzie at the Curio shop

RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS -- Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

SARGE AND FILLMORE IN RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS -- Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

Sarge and Filmore at Flo’s V8 Cafe

TAILLIGHT CAVERNS IN RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS -- Cars Land features three immersive family attractions showcasing characters and settings from the Disney-Pixar film,

The finale of the ride, your car rolling through taillight caverns

Josh Siegel’s 1/12/12 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Josh Siegel visited the Magic Kingdom on Thursday and has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom was testing

There is a window at the head of the queue area to give guests more info

It is still a fire station, just with three added Sorcerers stations

WDWFD used instead of the customary MKFD

Package Pick-up/Chamber of Commerce behind tarps

Pooh and Tigger now greeting guests in the garden

New flowers planted for the season

Roy and Minnie await the move back to Town Square

Some of the Confectionary and The Chapeau facades behind tarps

Sign pointing guests to character FASTPASS

Waits are short

This will soon be a Sorcerers window

A well hidden window

I can’t wait for someone to ask a price on it…

Another window

Yet another… they probably should move that bench…

The WDW/DLR trains merchandise in the window

Center Street behind tarps

The Bakery as well

This will complete the multi-year Main Street facade clean-up

I want ice cream… sniff…

I want soft serve ice cream… sniff…

The Main Street bridge is being repaired

Way too many in the treehouse for a not-so-busy day…

The Sunshine Tree Terrace is still behind tarps

The restaurant is closed, but the Sorcerers window inside is still available

Pecos Bill’s behind tarps

I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am about the Golden Oak Outpost menu returning

Big Thunder Mountain is closed for refurbishment through late-May

Cool pin trading idea

Looks like they are already rebuilding this lift hill

Frontierland Trading Post behind tarps as well

Madame Leota’s cart is now close to the Liberty Belle dock

LOVE this shirt!

From far away, we can see the roof of a tunnel being replaced

Workers out on the track as well

all of the railroad ties were removed to be replaced as well

Work continues on the new Fantasyland/Liberty Square path

The pet cemetery is being moved, it should return later

Walls in Fantasyland

Some trees being removed

Peter Pan’s Flight is being painted before the interactive queue installation begins this week

This will soon be a restroom

Dumbo removal

The beginning of the new Castle Wall

This should begin to grow shortly

A look over the walls

The old gives way to the new

The circus tent top is starting to appear

Another look at the new Dumbo queue, now set to open in March

Less and less scaffolding visible on the Be Our Guest Restaurant

Some final touches of snow being added to the Beast’s Castle

Belle’s Village

Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

Storybook Circus tents

Fantasyland Station

Back to Dumbo

You can see some of the Storybook Circus pavement already

The brick facade is starting to appear and it looks spectacular!

Back to Mermaid

Back to Belle’s Village

Enchanted Tales with Belle

Wide shot

Circus tent covering should go up on these queues soon

Timothy is expected to return as an audio-animatronic living character since he won’t be on the spinner anymore

All of the racks in the Seven Dwarfs Mine store are gone

The store will either be removed or replaced during the Castle Wall construction

Say goodbye to the diamond mine theme

This stroller parking is getting out of hand

The Sorcerers window in Frotnierland has a lighted element

It’s pretty cool

Once Upon a Pin Podcast #006 – July 12, 2012

Have you checked out our new pin podcast? Once Upon A Pin is a podcast all about Disney Pins. Pins Charming and Rapinzel deliver all the latest news, release dates and reviews with a fun Disney magic twist.

This week we dive into all the pins shown off at the last WDW Trade Night including Epcot 30th, Disney Princesses and Fantasyland pins.

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First-Look at the Exotic Driving Experience at the WDW Speedway

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth had the chance to test drive the new Exotic Driving Experience at the Walt Disney World Speedway earlier today during a media event. The experience is set to officially debut on Monday, January 16th, but we’re providing an early look for those of you interested. We’ll start off with a video of Adam driving the Lamborghini SuperLeggera on the added modified course:

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The walls are decorated to promote the new offering in the briefing room

The briefing room is now shared for both experiences

Professional racer Christian Fittipaldi talking to the media

Gary gave details about each car and the track layout

The cars were then put into a hat and drawn at random to be paired with drivers, a fair method

Audi R8

Lamborghini Gallardo 560-4

Lamborghini SuperLeggera which Adam drove

Ferrari 458 Italia

Your video is stored on a flash drive if you choose to buy it for $90

Lamborghini Aventador

Ferrari 458

A new sign up on the building

You can see where they bought the car…

Adam gets ready to drive

Not the car he drove, but you get the idea

A car in action

Signage outside has been updated

If you look closely, you can see the old signage underneath

Merchandise available

Reservations can be made at www.exoticdriving.com or by calling 855-822-0149

Fun facts:

-They are looking to expand their fleet of supercars in the future, including a dedicated car for Thrill Ride (ride along) passengers.

-Ride videos are available for purchase at the end of the experience and run around $90 for a CD copy, with an extra charge for a USB version. The video includes a program loggin statistics from your run, including lateral forces, lap data and driver speeds.

-Vehicle speedometers are covered, preventing drivers from looking at their supercar’s speed. The Exotic Driving Experience aims to bring a focus on “technique rather than speed.”

-The vehicles all feature a paddle-shift system that eliminates the need for a traditional clutch. Gear shifting is accomplished using paddles located behind the steering wheel for easy access. Onboard computers aid in the shifting of the gears to accomodate for seamless shifting without requiring a release of the gas pedal.

-For those not comfortable with the idea of shifting manual (using the paddle shift), all vehicles are capable of being placed in an automatic shifting program led by the onboard computers. This program can be accessed at the touch of a button at any point during the drive, allowing drivers to try paddle shift but to switch to automatic mid-experience.

Episode 081 Epcot 82

Ep. 081 Epcot 82

In a guest filled podcast we talk with Matt from Vinylmation Kingdom about all the Vinylmation previews at Comic Con. We discuss the state and future of the hobby with Kristina from Tomopop. And Annemarie calls in to give insight on her Hurley 9″ custom and Comic Con. We also fit a review of Park 9 in there with the latest news and up to date release calendar. 

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Bucket of Popcorns

Vinylmation World found a few more Popcorns figures on display at Comic Con.

This Dumbo Popcorns is the normal version of the LE Variant we saw at the last WDW Trade Night. Love it!

Goofy was assumed because of the John Carter video a few months back. His eyes look great. The hat is wonderfully sized with the rest of the figure.

Jack Skellington! Wow, so glad the bat bow tie is a separate piece instead of just painted on.

Disney Artists: Fans Too!

Just like you and I, Disney artists are fans of things too. They wait in lines. They have people sign things FOR them. Yesterday, Caley Hicks tweeted the above picture of a vinylmation she had signed by Chris Hardwick. Over at Destination Vinylmation MC is a big fan of Chris too. In fact, that’s why the “borrowed” Chris’ Nerdist podcast format for episode 60 (see the special logo we made for it).

If you are ever interested in seeing what the people we are fans of, are fans of, Twitter is a great place to watch.

What artists have you seen turn into “fans” of other celebrities? And who was the celebrity who made them into fan boys/girl?

Tim Alcoser 6/5/12 DLR Photo Report

DLNT Reporter Tim Alcoser visited the Disneyland Resort on June 5th and has some great photos to share with us as we countdown to the re-opening of California Adventure in just a few days:

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There is a TRON themed trailer sitting in the Downtown Disney Parking lot, featuring a preview of TRON: Uprising

Brave banners up near the AMC

The new Sunglass Icon store is open

Cast members are really into the new Brave meet and greet…

Work continues on Fantasy Faire

Merida and the 3 bear cubs

Long lines to see Merida by It's a Small World.

Long lines to see Merida by “it’s a small world”

The skyline has changed a bit at California Adventure

Happy painters…

A photograph of more simpler times.

A photograph of a simpler time

The look ready for the premiere

Red Car Trolley looks ready to roll with all of its signage up

This park sure has come a long way

I think you’re going to need some more chains this summer…

No dancing on the Trolley

The facade of “It’s Tough to be a Bug” being repaired for the park re-opening

Some new fish should be swimming along soon

Speaking of new, Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop has opened

Free Ghirardelli caramel filled, chocolate samples.

Free Ghirardelli caramel filled chocolate samples

Great look to the interior

An animated mural

Every small improvement goes a long way…

Rita’s was closed

The Cove Bar has reopened

Signs and pictures inside now fit the theme and backstory of the new Paradise Pier of the 1920’s

$10.00, extra, to sit at the Cove Bar during World of Color.

Step up and grab a Root Beer.

Some signs reflect the Pier attractions

More happy painting

Respectfully, I asked permission.  I wonder if Anaheim P.D. officers fight to serve at the Disneyland Resort, or resist.

Respectfully, I asked permission. I wonder if Anaheim P.D. officers fight to serve at the Disneyland Resort, or resist?

Thanks for reading!

Prep your Landing for Frankenweenie?

Looks like there’s more today from SDCC, and Vinylmation Exchange is the place to find it. The first is a preview of the Prep and Landing Two Pack posted by Bryce Hamamoto. Check out the cool hats!

The second is another free giveaway, this time advertising the Frankenweenie movie. Now we saw the Wreck-It-Ralph freebie going for lots of money on eBay, I wonder if this figure will be as popular.

What do you think?

Numbers on the New Happenings @ DCA

From Disneyland News:

On June 15, Disney California Adventure Park celebrates its grand reopening with the premiere of two, highly anticipated themed lands, Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, completing a five-year expansion of the Disneyland Resort.  Add new attractions, merchandise locations, entertainment and food offerings, plus opportunities for families to have fun together, and guests find an immersive experience full of memory-making opportunities for the whole family. Here’s a closer look at Disney California Adventure, by the numbers.

280,000 – Square feet of rockwork in Cars Land, making Ornament Valley mountain range the largest rockwork created in a domestic Disney theme park; built to an unusual level of complexity with very few 90-degree angles

125 – Height in feet at the tallest peak of Ornament Valley range in Cars Land

6 – Distinct car tail fins represented in the Ornament Valley range, inspired by classic car models from 1957 to 1962; hood ornaments, wheel wells and radiator caps also represented in the rockwork

4,000 – Tons of steel used to construct the Ornament Valley range and Radiator Springs Racers attraction in Cars Land

45 – The steepest degree of banking on the track of the thrilling Radiator Springs Racers attraction in Cars Land

36,000 – Approximate number of miles per year each Radiator Springs Racers vehicle will travel, equivalent to more than 14 trips down the original Route 66

6,714 – Air vents keeping the tires flying at Luigi’s Flying Tires attraction in Cars Land

7 – Songs sung by Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) at Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree attraction in Cars Land

525 – Approximate length, in feet, of the Route 66 that runs through Cars Land

70 – Species of native plants in Cars Land (450+ specimens of trees and cactus)

16 – Neon signs in Cars Land, with the Flo’s V8 Café sign standing tallest at 27 feet

89.5 – Height in feet of the Carthay Circle Theatre on Buena Vista Street – 12.5 feet taller than Sleeping Beauty Castle at the end of Main Street, U.S.A., in Disneyland Park

1937 – Year “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” premiered at the original Carthay Circle Theatre, lending inspiration to the Carthay Circle Theatre icon now on Buena Vista Street

200 – Number of seats in the Carthay Circle Restaurant dining room, in addition to a 56-seat terrace and the 68-seat Carthay Circle Lounge

235 – Approximate number of different wines offered at Carthay Circle Restaurant, including 35 by the glass; also 16 craft beers

20 – Number of passenger seats on each Red Car Trolley, with additional space for a wheelchair

623 – Number on one of the Red Car Trolleys, representative of the 600 series of trolley cars built for the Pacific Electric Railway; also reflects 1923, the year Walt Disney first arrived in California

717 – Number on the second Red Car Trolley, representative of the 700-750 series of trolley cars built for the Pacific Electric Railway; also reflects July 17, the month and day Disneyland opened in 1955

1.1 – Miles of LED ribbon lighting at Mad T Party, fantastic, new nighttime fun in Hollywood Land

715 – State-of-the-art lighting fixtures illuminating Mad T Party

1923 – Year listed on embedded plaque at Storytellers statue at Disney California Adventure, reflecting the date when Walt Disney left Kansas City to embark on his new adventure in California and the year he founded his world-famous company

779 – Trees planted in Disney California Adventure during the five-year expansion

3,000 – Number of jobs Disneyland Resort added from 2010-2012

23,000 – Number of cast members employed at Disneyland Resort, making it the largest single-site employer in Orange County