Mechanical Kingdom Explained

WDWNT on July 16, 2012

Mechanical Kingdom Explained
Release Date: October 5 at D-Streets and Online
Price: $12.95
Details: This is a 7 figure open window set. It is based on a 2010 pin series of the same name. The vinyls, as well as the previous pin series, were designed by Mike Sullivan. All will be at D-Street except Ludwig Von Drake who will be an Online Exclusive.

I am so glad they are finally giving us this series! There was a whole pin series based on this concept of Disney Characters as Steam Punk and I half expected that first Steam Punk boxed set to be this.

 

 Mickey Mouse


Decked out in hat and gloves. 


Donald Duck 


He dons his cap and is ready for adventure.

 

 Pete 


He appears to have his over sized face well drawn onto the canvas. His sword looks epic as well. 

 

 Goofy

 

 Ludwig Von Drake
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE


Brilliant addition to the world of Vinylmation! It’s about time.

 

 Minnie Mouse

 

 Daisy


Looks like one of the more detailed faces in the set.

First Look: Pictures and Video of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom Play-Testing

WDWNT on July 16, 2012

The new Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game ran a short play-test earlier today and our own Scott Smith was on the scene to be amongst the first to cast spells and battle the Disney Villains. The journey begins at the Main Street Fire House where guests are handed a map and some spell cards. Merlin and the cast member will assist you in training before you embark on your mission to rid the Magic Kingdom lands from the resurrected Disney Villains. The main antagonist of the story is Hades who will bring the other Villains back to life to take over the park by capturing all of the pieces of the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom that are spread throughout the lands.

Here’s a look at the maps guests are given and the current Sorcerers game window locations:

Merlin instructs you to your first location. At each window, you must press your key card against the key hole to open the portal. Once the first portal is open, Merlin will appear and usually explains he is too busy and will hand you off to a corresponding hero character from a film. That character will give you all of the story information you need to know. Before facing the main Villian in your story, you are usually given a second window where you fight a henchman of the villian. Regardless of what happens in the middle windows, the final battle will be with the main villain of your story. Once you have foiled this villain, you can move on to another land or choose to walk away. If you do walk away, you can reportedly return later in the day or even later in your vacation. The ultimate goal is to free all the lands of villains leading to an eventual final battle with Hades.

As far as the cards are concerned, there are 70 in all and it appears each has its own separate animation. For example, with the Mickey’s Magic Beans card, beans would fly at the enemy and beanstalks would grow upwards (this will be much clearer in the provided video). Here’s a look at the cards Scott was provided:

 

Enough explaining in text, it’s probably a lot easier to just show you a video of Scott and the game in action:

Up and Out

WDWNT on July 16, 2012

Almost as fast as Carl and Ellie appeared on the DisneyStore.com last night around Midnight PST… they were gone.

By all accounts they were available for around 20 minutes. But already there are accounts of confirmation emails yet DSO doesn’t show record of your purchase. People adding items to carts, but not able to check out. Slow loading pages where the figures could not be accessed. I was among the frustrated that went to add a set to my cart only to find them not available on the next page. Tell us your story and let us know what time you were or were not able to grab this combo set? And what does this mean for the rest of the week’s purchases?

Also, if you are a Comic Con attendee, did you try to purchase through your QR code yet? I’m hearing that avenue says Sold Out as well, but I do not have any confirmation if they were ever available through that route.

“CALIFORNIA” Letters Have Been Donated

WDWNT on July 16, 2012

From Kevin Rafferty of Disney Parks Blog:

The “CALIFORNIA” letters previously located in the esplanade of the Disney California Adventure park entrance have found a new home! The Disneyland Resort will donate the set of letters, which were removed to make way for the Disney California Adventure park expansion project, to the Friends of the California State Fair, a nonprofit organization that benefits California Exposition & State Fair (Cal Expo) in Sacramento. Cal Expo is the site of the California State Fair and hundreds of other events annually.

 

Plans are underway to make the letters an integral part of a new Cal Expo entrance. The “CALIFORNIA” letters will make their way to their new home sometime in late September and will be placed high enough at the entrance to be seen from Exposition Boulevard. They’ll continue to create memories at a fitting location as Disney California Adventure park welcomes Cars Land and Buena Vista Street!

The donation is the latest among several other Disney California Adventure park artifacts over the last five years, including:

  • The cab of the California Zephyr train that was formerly the home of Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream and Bakers Field Bakery was donated to the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, Calif.
  • The sun icon that welcomed visitors to Sunshine Plaza was donated to the City of Anaheim for future use.
  • The giant toy train from EnginEARS Toys will be donated to Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC Children’s) for future use.
  • Postcards and displays from the Greetings From California store at the main entrance of Disney California Adventure park were donated to many Southern California nonprofit organizations and educational facilities, including the Boys & Girls Club of Tustin, the Anaheim Family YMCA, the Child Abuse Services Team office in Orange, the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach, and Betsy Ross and Orange Grove elementary schools in Anaheim.
  • Signs and character displays from Greetings From California were donated to Pretend City in Irvine.
  • The Reboundo Beach surfboard basketball game was donated to the Boys & Girls Club of Garden Grove.
  • Benches from throughout Disney California Adventure park were donated to the City of Anaheim for use in public spaces.

Zach Larson’s 1/6/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on July 16, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson visited the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot on Friday and has some newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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Land clearing continues for the Grand Floridian DVC wing

More Main Street U.S.A. facades are going behind tarps, this should be the last batch

A temporary sidewalk ramp installed

Signs point guests around to the meet and greet FASTPASS distribution

Center Street tarps still up

The Bakery is now behind tarps

A temporary cart is also serving some bakery items

Plaza Ice Cream is closed

This facade will be behind tarps soon

Storybook Circus construction

Dumbo is almost ready to roll

The queue seems a bit behind

Dumbo was testing

We’re ready… we’ve been ready…

Belle’s Village

Trees in place, this is most likely where they will be staying

The details on Prince Eric’s castle are visible

The Beast’s Castle, Maurice’s Cottage, and the Castle Wall all in this shot

The path around Yankee Trader is now being constructed

It will put guests right about here

See?

The Madame Leota merchandise cart has moved closer to Columbia Harbor House

The Frontier Trading Post is still behind tarps

Pecos Bill’s is still behind tarps as well

Big Thunder is closing for a few months for major upgrades on the 9th

The queue should be the most radically different thing when it re-opens

The Barnstormer/Great Goofini looks like it is nearing completion

The times guide has been expanded to include the parade route, probably since it will change to a short loop this week as Electrical Parade goes dark for a paving project

Over to Hollywood Studios, where Toluca Legs Turkey Company is back in action…

During PIXAR Pals, an escape route… I mean alternate route is being opened to help guest flow

IT’S DONE! Oh, wrong park…

MUSH! MUSH!

Now on to Epcot

The tip board still works! A new record!

It indicates if FASTPASS is available

Time is almost up…

The pre-show monitors are now flat screens!

More and more cars are getting the Chevy branding

The new directional signage in Future World is color-coded and looks great!

Is it open?

Barely…

Oh, this side has lights…

No visible progress on the upcoming Habit Heroes exhibit

Thanks for the report Zach!

Adam Roth’s 1/6/12 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

WDWNT on July 16, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited the Magic Kingdom yesterday and has a TON of newsworthy photos to share with us (including a lot of New Fantasyland), so let’s take a look:

Work has begun on the new path into Liberty Square from Fantasyland

The path will cut around the Yankee Trader

Walls still up at the Skyway station, soon to be restrooms

Dumbo closes in the original location on January 9th

Plenty of trees planted in New Fantasyland now, these will be staying

The pavement is a bit messy still

Castle wall construction

PROGRESS!

Prince Eric’s castle is coming along nicely

Awww…

Not too bad…

Another look at the Castle Walls

The first interactive queue

A look at Maurice’s Cottage

Work on the new Dumbo queue

The tower that Goofini will crash through is coming along as well

Belle’s Village

Mermaid rock-work

Bonjour Village Gifts

Goodbye old Dumbo…

Although we will see this one again, slightly remodeled for Storybook Circus

The Barnstormer building looks great off in the distance

If you look in the bottom right, you can see the Dumbo title “D” clearly on the new spinner

What a mess!

Hopefully this will be cleaned up and ready to open next month

This area will take a little longer…

More of Belle’s Village

A better look at barnstormer and the top of the new Dumbo

They have practically rebuilt these tents from scratch at this point

The Be Our Guest restaurant building

Work continues on the facade of Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

A lot of construction workers out and about

That’s still one long wall…

Work has shifted into high-speed on Dumbo

Some Storybook Circus pavement is now visible

Back to Under the Sea

Back to Dumbo and Storybook Circus

Maurice’s Cottage, home to Enchanted Tales with Belle

The Castle Wall again

Cement, FINALLY!

Some Haunted Mansion 40th anniversary shirts have been released

Big Thunder Mountain is closing for a 4.5 month refurbishment on Monday


Rumors are that an interactive queue, some new show elements, and a general fix-up will happen over this period

Work pretty much started months ago when the railroad ties were removed

More Main Street facades are being worked on and these will be like this until May. Here is the Bakery

Work continues on the new semi-announced Disney Vacation Club wing at the Grand Floridian

Ads for a special Florida resident pass up outside of the TTC

Go wild today!

Character Updates in DCA

WDWNT on July 16, 2012

From Shawn Slater of the Disney Parks Blog:

When it’s officially reopened on June 15, Disney California Adventure park will feature even more Disney than ever before, with our famous cast of characters making special appearances in delightful new entertainment offerings.

Down on Buena Vista Street, it’s the 1920s and 1930s, and you may run into those young upstarts, Chip ‘n’ Dale, who are looking pretty snazzy in spiffy period outfits. Goofy’s got a plaid suit that’s the “cat’s pajamas,” while a new fella named Mickey Mouse has just arrived in town, hoping to make his dreams come true just like his pal, Walt Disney. He might even join the Red Car News Boys for a song and get discovered in the process.

In Hollywood Land, you can kick it Disney-style as “Dancin’ with Disney” takes over Stage 17, inviting you to join some of your favorite characters in a fun-filled, interactive party. From 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. each day this summer, you can step inside for music videos, trivia and surprise character appearances. You never know who might show up!

Over at Paradise Park, the inimitable Goofy becomes maestro extraordinaire, as he dons his topcoat and tails to lead an invisible orchestra during several daily mini-concerts. As he conducts, the fountains of Paradise Bay begin to “dance” to the music, providing dramatic – and often comic – interpretations of the compositions.

Of course, on a visit to the all-new Cars Land, you may just cross paths with two of Radiator Springs’ most famous residents, Lightning McQueen and Mater. Throughout the day, these best pals will be driving through town to the Cozy Cone Motel to make a few new friends.

With all this, plus the return of the Pixar Play Parade and continuing favorites like “Phineas & Ferb’s Rockin’ Rollin’ Dance Party,” “Minnie’s Fly Girls Charter Airline” and Wilderness Explorers Dug and Russell at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, Disney California Adventure park is shaping up to be a Disney character fan’s paradise!

Possible Comic-Con Freebie Variant?

WDWNT on July 16, 2012

You might have seen this picture from a earlier post, but look below the Star Wars 2 set. What are those? They look like vinylmation! They are green and white and black. The colors sorta make them seem like Kermits wearing Mickey Ears.

We got the answer from Thomas Scott in a tweet today. He posted the above picture.
It looks like these will be a green variant of the Theme Park Favorite Classic Fan. Below is the Red version.

What do you think?