“The Good Dinosaur” asks the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? Pixar Animation Studios takes you on an epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of.”The Good Dinosaur” asks the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? Pixar Animation Studios takes you on an epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of.
Thanks to some permits recently filed, we know where Walt Disney World is next looking to expand the Disney Vacation Club offerings at the resort: Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. Yes, Wilderness Lodge already has Villas, but this will be something completely different…
The paperwork shows 26 waterside units on Bay Lake which we presume to be themed to log cabins. The concept is very similar to the Bora Bora Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.
There will also be new and remodeled dining and recreation areas, including pools.
While not yet officially announced by the Walt Disney Company, the permits are filed and are now public record. Work should begin soon on the project.
Due to the poor performance at the box office by “Tomorrowland,” Disney has decided to abandon the sequel to “TRON: Legacy”.
According to the Wrap:
The cancellation of “Tron 3” comes on the heels of “Tomorrowland” underperforming at the box office last weekend. Brad Bird’s original film cost Disney $180 million and grossed a disappointing $42.7 million over the four-day holiday weekend.
“Tron 3” had not been officially greenlit yet and after the relative failure of “Tomorrowland,” Disney executives may not have wanted to gamble and risk exposing the studio to another loss.
Instead, Disney will stick to what has worked lately such as live-action versions of its animated films including “Cinderella” and “Maleficent.” The studio has blockbusters such as “The Jungle Book,” “Beauty and the Beast” and an “Alice In Wonderland” sequel on the horizon.
With little-to-no-warning, the new version of “The Great Movie Ride presented by TCM” finally debuted at Disney’s Hollywood Studios earlier today. In 26 years, this marks the largest changes to the ride (other than some minor additions to the finale montage on two occasions, the last being a decade ago).
The Great Movie Ride marquee has been updated to include “Presented by TCM”, it was Coca-Cola many years ago
Outside, all signage was changed overnight to include Turner Classic Movies.
The strange empty space under the attraction posters was finally filled by the TCM logo
Here’s an up-close photo of the new Turned Classic Movies emblem
The 2 displays on the exterior have received new signs for a TCM “Salute” to The Jungle Book and Mary Poppins
New banners in the Chinese Theater courtyard
The new TCM banners blend in well in the existing courtyard
Upon entering the queue, the interactive movie posters and displays we showed you a few weeks back are now running. The posters switch between a logo for the Great Movie Ride and movie posters that come to life with some animated element.
The new interactive movie posters inside the queue switch between The Great Movie Ride attraction poster and movie posters from TCM. Each movie poster has a subtle moving element.
New interactive displays accompany the props inside The Great Movie Ride queue
The pre-show is no longer a 20-minute loop of trailers, but now a 45-minute documentary that spans all of the movies and genres covered in the ride. What’s great here is that some of the trailers even remain in the pre-show, including The Searchers (“No you don’t Ethan. Ethan, no you don’t!”). As time rolls on, many of the older films in the attraction have been forgotten to time and the pre-show does a nice job filling guests in on lesser-known classics such as Footlight Parade or The Public Enemy. The new film does a nice job providing background information that may spark more of an interest in seeing these films, which for TCM is probably the purpose of sponsoring the ride. If you want to find many of these films, Turner Classic Movies is often the easiest place to go.
See the entire pre-show loop for yourself:
The inside marquee on the ride was changed after 26 years to reflect the new sponsor and tagline
The only physical change to the ride that guests can see is the marquee in the loading area. No longer a “Journey into the Movies”, the Great Movie Ride is now “The Ultimate Celebration of Classic Movies”. There’s also now movie posters just under the marquee that feature the new ads for the ride.
Robert Osborne of TCM and the cast-member physically driving the vehicle are now both your hosts. Osborne provides about 60% of the spiel for the ride (pre-recorded of course), while the live cast member still becomes a part of the show and throws in some remarks here-or-there.
The finale montage of the ride is now in gorgeous high definition, and luckily almost every memorable clip and soundbite has returned, repackaged in a rather nice manner.
See the attraction with new audio spiels and the new finale film montage:
The photo-op at the exit of the attraction (which bloggers tried to convince everyone was a new stroller parking area) was also installed overnight. Guests can pretend that their handprints are being placed in front of the Chinese Theater, which really is a photo opportunity that someone should have come up with many years ago.
The photo-op at the exit was unveiled as well
You can take a photo as if your handprints are being placed outside of the theater!
Overall, the changes are long overdue. While it is sad to lose the original pre-show, the clips do live on as the actual trailers for those films anyway. The finale montage was clearly handled with the utmost care as most every clip, line of dialogue, and musical note was brought back refreshed and in a seemingly more organized fashion grouped by genre (provided Disney or TCM had the rights to it). Yes, there is less live-spieling and more pre-recorded narration, but honestly, Great Movie Ride cast members have been forced to stick to the script word-for-word for at least 15 years now and the spiel was about as tired as could be. With the exception of losing the fantastic pre-recorded spiel about Alien and the spaceship Nostromo, this has to be seen as an improvement over the tired lines such as “the horror movie is my all-time favorite genre”, “no, it’s not George of the Jungle”, and “Can anyone tell me what movie this is?”. This long-overdue refreshing of the ride breathes new life and hopefully is just a taste of larger changes to come to the attraction at the expansion of Disney’s Hollywood Studios moves forward.
“Iron Man” Promo Art From “Captain America: Civil War”
Heroichollywood was able to get his hands on some leaked promo art of Iron Man from the upcoming movie, “Captain America: Civil War.” This looks very similar to the armor that was in “Age Of Ultron” but there are some slight differences. The chest plate that holds the arc reactor is different as is the helmet.
“X-Men” And “Fantastic Four” Characters Removed From Marvel’s “Secret Wars” Merchandise
Well, it’s not all merchandise but this definitely raises a red flag. Marvel t-shirts being sold at Walmart show that the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters, whose movie rights are owned by Fox, are no longer seen as part of the group. This t-shirts display classic comic book covers from the series, “Secret Wars.” In the above image you can see that members of the X-Men and Fantastic Four are replaced with Thor, Dr. Strange, Black Panther, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Black Bolt (Inhumans). It’s interesting that She-Hulk is in both images because she could have easily been removed. Does this meant that Marvel has plans for She-Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or possibly part of a Netflix series?
This above image shows another classic Secret Wars cover on a t-shirt but again all of the members of the Fantastic Four are removed. The She-Hulk is right next to the Thing and again could have easily been removed but she wasn’t. The Human Torch was removed but his flame still remains. In the left hand corner you can see the Thing being replaced with Wonder Man, Mr. Fantastic is just gone, Wolverine is replaced by Captain America and Storm is replaced by Hawkeye.
New “Ant-Man” Stills Released From Empire Magazine
Empire Magazine’s latest issue highlights the upcoming movie, “Ant-Man.”
From Empire: Michael Douglas is super scientist Hank Pym, the man who creates the technology that powers the Ant-Man suit, while Evangeline Lilly is Hope Van Dyne, his estranged daughter. Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang is the thief who Pym takes under his wing to become the new, modern Ant-Man.
You can also see (under a magnifiying glass) Corey Stoll’s Darren Cross in his Yellowjacket suit, the villain of the piece. Cross is the former protege of Pym, and the man who has taken over his business and plans to use the Ant-Man tech for military purposes. The Yellowjacket suit is the super-slick version of the old-school Ant-Man outfit.
Empire also released three exclusive stills from “Ant-Man.”
Director Scott Derrickson Hints That The Character “Death” Will Make Her First Appearance In “Doctor Strange”
Scott Derrickson, the director of the upcoming movie “Doctor Strange,” has confirmed that the character “Death” will make her first person in “Doctor Strange” before we see her in “Avengers: Infinity War.”
So why is Death such a significant character? In the comic book series, Infinity Gauntlet, Mistress Death is upset that the balance between life and death has recently not been in her favor. Her solution is to give her ardent follower, Thanos, a chance at rebirth setting him forth with a mission of killing half the life in the universe. Thanos hopes that accomplishing this task given to him by Death that he will earn Death’s affection. He also battles some of Marvel’s greatest heroes as a way to impress Death.
“Avengers: Age Of Ultron” Series 2 Collectible Set
Following the introduction of the Hot Toys Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron Cosbaby Series 1 and 1.5, Sideshow Collectibles and Hot Toys are happy to expand the series and present the new Avengers: Age of Ultron Cosbaby Series 2!
The “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” Series 2 Collectible Set is available for preorder exclusively through Sideshow Collectibles for the price of $99.99 and will ship in the 4th quarter of 2015.
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away… three fans assembled to develop a new type of talk show. The Disney Universe is ever expansive, but imagine a place, where Disney, Star Wars and Marvel topics come together. That place is the Jedi, Hero & Princess Podcast.
Hosted by Nick LoCicero, Brendt Mendelblatt and Zoe Dokas, this show sets out to bring casual disscussions about the latest Disney Universe news to a passionate audience. Disney Parks, Movies, TV, Star Wars, Marvel and of course, tons and tons of merchandise and collectibles (we love to spend)… all topics are on the table.
We are excited to bring this unique show to WDWNT’s great lineup of original programing. Each episode will have casual talk among Disney fans, fun games and unique segments that balance each host’s strengths and weeknesses on the topics.
Tune in live to The Jedi, Hero and Princess Podcast every other Thursday (begining tonight, May 28) at 8pm EST streaming live at listen.WDWNT.com. Podcast details to be announced soon.
Nick LoCicero, The Jedi, lives in Orlando, FL. He is the co-host of WDW News Today The Radio Show and of the Destination Vinylmation podcast.
Brendt Mendelblatt, The Hero, lives in NYC, NY. He is the co-host of the Destination Vinylmation podcast. He is a life long Marvel fan.
Zoe Dokas, The Princess, lives in Anaheim, CA. She does not host any podcasts, but frequents a few. She loves everything that sparkles.
There are over 500 new items for sale at the Disneyland Resort as part of the 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration, so we thought it would be smart to make a post showing you all of the items currently available during this once-in-a-lifetime event:
BALLOONS!!!
Yes, they are selling big diamonds…
The leather jacket retails for $395.00
Shoe ornament
Pin bag
Precious Moments statue
Lenox tea cup and saucer
Jumbo pin
The back of the t-shirt has the opening dates of every current attraction
WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and the future site of Flamingo Crossing this week and has some newsworthy photos to share with us:
A panoramic view of Hub construction
Not much progress to see around the north sides yet
The new castle tower control booths are still being constructed
New pavement is finally being poured around the south side of the Partners statue
At Epcot, construction of the third Soarin’ theater is visible from the monorail
Out at Flamingo Crossing, work continues on the two new Marriott hotels: TownePlace Suites and SpringHill Suites
The witch sisters from Hocus Pocus will be hosting an all-new show at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in 2015 (this is not a typo…):
All of the Villains on stage, surrounded by some familiar Haunted Mansion icons
In “Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular,” the mischievous Sanderson Sisters from Disney’s “Hocus Pocus” return to the mortal world for one night during the Halloween season. With only a few hours to run amuck, the three sisters decide to use their magic to throw the best, evil Halloween party this side of the graveyard!
With the help of the Disney villains, Winifred, Mary and Sarah gather together sinister shadows, nefarious nightmares and the power of their frightful friends to conjure the ultimate Hocus Pocus Party Potion and cast a spell on everyone in the Magic Kingdom Park. “Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular” features appearances by Dr. Facilier, Oogie Boogie, Maleficent and other great Disney villains, along with dancers, projections and special effects that combine to make this new show a not-to-be-missed Halloween treat.
“Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular” will be presented exclusively during Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, held select nights at Magic Kingdom Park from September 15 – November 1, 2015.
The long-awaited Harambe Marketplace opened in Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park over the weekend:
Harambe Marketplace is located on the path from Asia to Africa, just off to the right side of Tamu Tamu Refrshments
The level of detail in the area is what you would expect at Animal Kingdom: stunning
Plenty of shaded seating with loads of props and details
The Lion King meets Corn Dog Castle
Several food service windows make up the location with one shared seating area
The Wildlife Express train passes every-so-often, a nice touch
The Ground Beef Kabob Flatbread (which was the the table favorite) is refreshing and filling. Nice and lean.
The Spice-rubbed Karubi Ribs have great flavor; super tender and spiced just right. The portions are also very nice.
The curry corn sausage was good but it was the least favorite of the table. Lacked spices compared to other dishes.
For dessert, the African Milk Tart is pretty good with an interesting coconut aftertaste
The watermelon lemonade is super refreshing. A must have on a hot summer day!
Expect a review of the full menu in later posts and podcasts, but for now, it is clear this is a welcome addition to the park and a much needed additional dining option with the expansion in full swing!
