Disneyland Diamond Celebration Begins 5/22, 3 New Nighttime Shows Announced

WDWNT on January 29, 2015

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Each of the Disneyland Resort’s iconic centerpieces will receive diamond studded overlays. Image © Disney Enterprises Inc.

Before an invitation only crowd at Disneyland Park tonight, Tom Staggs, Chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts was joined on stage by Steve Davidson, executive for parades and spectaculars with Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Entertainment, as they revealed the entertainment line up for the park’s 60th Diamond Celebration that will debut May 22.

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The “Disneyland Forever” pyrotechnic spectacular will seemingly surround viewers with incredible Disney motifs. Image © Disney Enterprises Inc.

A new fireworks spectacular “Disneyland Forever” will feature pyrotechnics, immersive projections, and other effects that will transform several areas of Disneyland Park. This new generation edition of traditional Disney nighttime entertainment boasts the largest installation of projection mapping technology in a Disney park and up-close special effects. Main Street, U.S.A., and several other Disneyland Park locations become a “magical canvas” transporting guests into familiar Disney experiences, from flying above the London skyline from “Peter Pan” to a dance with King Louie in “The Jungle Book.”

“Disneyland Forever” also features two original songs, the theme “Live the Magic” and the inspiring closing song “Kiss Goodnight,” written by Disney Legend Richard Sherman.

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A couple of the Pixar units from Paint the Night. Image © Disney Enterprises Inc.

After a nearly a 20 year hiatus, Disneyland will host an evening parade with the U.S. premiere of Paint the Night. A modern alteration of the long departed, fan favorite Main Street Electric Parade, the new show will feature classic Disney and Pixar character scenes, magically realized with state of the art lighting technologies. Paint The Night is currently running at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort where it will continue indefinitely. A second copy of the show is being created for the Disneyland fete with a unit portraying a scene from Frozen.

Opening the same day is “World of Color – Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney” – featuring Mickey Mouse on a fun-filled and inspirational journey through the unparalleled imagination of his creator, in a first-of-its-kind spectacular, presented on the magic canvas of “World of Color” with compelling animated imagery, live-action footage, fountains, lasers, special effects and a stirring musical score.

The “Frozen Fun” events that debuted earlier this month will continue through the celebration year. Other events and special enhancements are still rumored to join the party, so check-in often at WDWNT.com.

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Image © Disney Enterprises Inc.

 

42nd Annie Awards to be Streamed Live on Saturday

WDWNT on January 29, 2015

This Saturday the Hollywood branch of the Association Internationale du Film D’ Animation (ASIFA – Hollywood) will honor the best of 2014’s animated films at the 42nd Annie Awards held at UCLAs Royce Hall in Los Angeles. ASIFA-Hollywood, will also be honoring The Walt Disney Family Museum with a Special Achievement Award for its unique and significant impact on the art and industry of animation. Ron Miller— Walt Disney’s son-in-law and the president of The Walt Disney Family Museum’s Board of Directors – will be on hand to receive the honor.

Those animation enthusiasts not able to attend the Black-Tie event will be able to stream the awards show live at the ASIFA website.

The actual "Annie" is a golden zoetrope. Image courtesy of ASIFA - Hollywood.

The actual “Annie” is a golden zoetrope. Image courtesy of ASIFA – Hollywood.

The nominees for Best Animated Feature this year are:

  • Big Hero 6 – 
Walt Disney Animation Studios
  • Cheatin’ – Plymptoons Studio
  • How to Train Your Dragon 2 – DreamWorks Animation SKG
  • Song of the Sea – GKIDS/Cartoon Saloon
  • The Book of Life – Reel FX Animation Studios/Twentieth Century Fox
  • The Boxtrolls – Focus Features/Laika
  • The LEGO Movie -Warner Bros. Pictures
  • The Tale of The Princess Kaguya – GKIDS/Studio Ghibli

This headliner category will be one to watch after the controversial omission of the popular LEGO Movie from the Oscar’s Best Animated Film category.

But as a professional organization, supporting all of the various crafts involved in the creation of animated film, the list of ASIFA – Hollywood’s individual Annie Award nominees is extensive.

The first Annie awards were presented in 1972, hosted by the legendary animator Grim Natwick. They honored animation pioneers Max and Dave Fleischer. ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film D’ Animation) was founded in 1957 in France, and chartered under UNESCO in 1960 as a membership organization devoted to the encouragement and dissemination of film animation as an art and communication form.

To stream the show, or learn more about the nominees, live visit annieawards.org/watch-it-live.

Disney Continues Installation of Monorail Automation Systems, Service Changes in February/March 2015

WDWNT on January 29, 2015

Monorail maintenance has been a fairly frequent thing the last few years as Walt Disney World has been testing and installing a possible automated system of running the Monorails. More infrastructure for the system will be installed over the next few months, leading to following Monorail service changes:

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From 11 AM to 7 PM on 2/3-5, 2/9-12, 2/23-26, and March 2-5, the resort Monorail beam will take guests between Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, and the Magic Kingdom. The express beam will offer a third stop on these days, stopping at Disney’s Contemporary Resort between the Transportation and Ticket Center. Busses to Epcot will be offered at all of the Monorail Resorts during this time.

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror “Authentic” Merchandise Line Arrives February 13th at Disney Parks

WDWNT on January 29, 2015

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Friday, February 13th 2015 will be the official release date for the Hollywood Tower Hotel Authentic line of merchandise (celebrating the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror) coming to the Disney Parks in Florida and California! The products will be available at the attraction’s exit shop at both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney California Adventure.

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With the release of the new merchandise, some of the Disney Design Group artists behind this collection will be appearing at Tower Hotel Gifts on Friday, February 13. This event will be held at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m and Disney Artists Tyler Dumas, Brian Blackmore, Richard Terpstra and Quynh Kimball are scheduled to attend.

Dirk Wallen’s 1/26/15 Disney Springs Photo Report (BOATHOUSE Construction, Signs Go Up, ETC.)

WDWNT on January 29, 2015

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Downtown Disney over the weekend and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip, so let’s take a look:

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Work continues on the Marketplace bridge

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Some new pins were released this week, including Mardi Gras…

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President’s Day…

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And Valentine’s Day

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Signs on the shops around the Landing have indeed started to go up, beginning with Chapel Hats

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Scaffolding has come down at the BOATHOUSE

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Work is wrapping up out by the dock for BOATHOUSE as well

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The “hangar” restaurant is still unannounced

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But we can see there is an outdoor seating area disguised as a suspended boat

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Work on the shores of the West Side continue, just across from Starbucks and Harley Davidson

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From upstairs at Planet Hollywood, we can get a good look at the work on the Town Center and the finishing touches for the Orange parking structure

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By 2016, the Town Center will be standing in this space

Emma Watson Cast as Belle in Live-Action “Beauty and the Beast” Film

WDWNT on January 29, 2015

News from Walt Disney Studios Publicity this morning is that actress Emma Watson (of the Harry Potter film world) has been cast as Belle in Disney’s upcoming live-action interpretation of Beauty and the Beast.

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The actress and fashion icon posted her reaction on her Facebook page following this morning’s announcement:

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The film is directed by Bill Condon and produced by Mandeville Films’ David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. Production is anticipated to begin later this year.

WDWNT will keep you updated on this new Disney film as information becomes available.

State of the Apps Address – January 2015

WDWNT on January 29, 2015

Hey there everybody! I just wanted to take a few minutes to update everyone on the status of various apps and things that I’m working on for WDWNT.

Let’s dive in!

Pushbullet

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If you’re not familiar with the service, Pushbullet is really great. They have both an Android and iOS app and they allow for you to get phone or tablet notifications on your computer, as well as push links, notes, and files to your computer or devices from your other devices. Basically, they’re a hub for getting things from one device to another.

I use it all the time to send text messages from my Chrome browser to my friends and family.

WDWNT has a few cool features that implement Pushbullet. Our Now! site allows you to create an account and receive temporary attraction closure notifications and upcoming itinerary notifications sent through Pushbullet. It’s super simple to set up and I personally use it all the time!

Another cool feature we have is the ability to get push notifications of new blog posts. You can click the below image to sign up.

Pebble Watchapp
I got a Pebble watch for Christmas and I love this thing. I’ve never been a big watch person but having notifications from my phone show up on my wrist (and have them be actionable!) is pretty amazing.

I wrote a quick little “WDWNT Now!” watchapp that you can check out here: link

It includes many of the same features as our Now! site, including finding attractions that are near your current location. It looks like it won’t be available for iOS Pebble users for a while because a new version of the Pebble app is needed, but Android users can have at it.

Android
The official WDWNT Android app is coming along quite nicely! It includes content from the blog, the Now! site, our podcasts, Twitter, On the Air, and YouTube. The WDWNTunes Android app will be discontinued very soon as the WDWNT app will contain all of its features and updated looks.

Begin “Nerd Talk” for a second: I’ve learned a lot at work about dependency injection, SOLID design principles, and things like that so I’m incorporating them into the app (which only makes the process take longer). There are so many great Java libraries out there that make Android development a beautiful thing. End “Nerd Talk”

I’m very much looking forward to releasing this and getting some feedback!

iOS
Well, here we are. If it’s not apparent already I’m an Android user/fan. Personal opinions about iOS and whatnot aside, there’s still quite a bit of work to be done on this app. I’m using C# for the Now! site and this app (with the help of Xamarin) and to be honest, I’m having trouble getting going with it.

With the latest release of iOS, Apple is requiring many new things including new versions of OSX, Xcode, etc. Keeping up with an OS and mobile platform I’m not in love with is tough!

If there are any WDWNT readers out there who would like to help me with the iOS app, are familiar with C#, Xamarin, and source control, please let me know. You can email me at rob@wdwnt.com.

Now that the holidays are over and my family is (currently) healthy, I’ve got my work cut out for me. Please stay tuned as we have some great things lined up for you!

Thanks so much for your time!

RUMOR: Next Year’s ‘Star Wars Spin-Off’ Will Feature ‘Han Solo’ And ‘Boba Fett’

WDWNT on January 29, 2015

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Last month I reported that there was a rumor going around that the first ‘Star Wars Spin-Off’ would center around a heist story dealing with several Bounty Hunters from the Star Wars Universe. Now LatinoReview is reporting that we may see a Spaghetti Western like movie taking place in the Star Wars Universe that will star Han Solo and Boba Fett. It sounds like a great idea to introduce a young Han Solo, who originally had a shady past, either competing or working with Boba Fett and a group of Bounty Hunters over a certain mission concerning the Empire’s Death Star Plans.

MakingStarWars.com also got their hands on some information regarding the upcoming ‘Star Wars Spin-Off’:

  • Expect more on-location shooting than for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
  • Crew members are hearing their start dates now.
  • Many believe they are doing a lot of work on-location in Mexico for the first spin-off.
  • There have been some Star Wars: The Force Awakens re-shoots going down recently at Pinewood using some of those people.
  • Bounty hunters are important to the film.
  • Painters are expected to redress some set pieces from The Force Awakens and there are lots of cost cutting measures like that in place for the first spin-off film. Most of the reshoot materials are to be saved when possible for this reason.

The first ‘Star Wars Spin-Off,’ directed by Gareth Edwards, is scheduled to open on December 16th, 2016

 

Walt Disney World Ticket Price Increase Coming; Water Park-Hopper Option Being Added; “No Expiration” to be Discontinued

WDWNT on January 29, 2015

To no one’s surprise, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort ticket prices are expected to see a small increase again in mid-February 2015. No exact pricing could be obtained yet, but some interesting changes coming to tickets were discovered.

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Hollywood studios ticket booth circa 2010

A Water Park-Hopper ticket add-on will be introduced. At the very least, this will be an option for single-day water park tickets, but it may also be available as an add-on for other tickets as well.

The largest change will be the discontinuation of the “no expiration” ticket option, which allows you to keep an unused days on your Disney Parks tickets. Obviously, those who already have this option on a ticket will still have them honored, but the option will no longer be given to guests come next month.

We will provide more information on these ticket changes as they become available.

VIDEO: New Winter Version of the Main Street Trolley Show Debuts at Magic Kingdom

WDWNT on January 29, 2015

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Several seasonal version of the Main Street Trolley Show at the Magic Kingdom have popped-up over the last few years, including Summer, Fall, Spring, and a Holiday version, but now there is a “Winter” edition of the show for guests to enjoy. Expected to run until March, the new show features the beloved “Walkin’ right Down the Middle of Main Street U.S.A.” song, but also unexpectedly features a song from Disney’s Enchanted (which I don’t think is a bad thing):

 

What do you think?