Well, the moment has finally arrived. Walls and other items are starting to vanish from New York Street, part of the former Streets of America at Disney’s Hollywood Studios as construction continues on the Star Wars themed land. Also, work continues on PizzeRizzo in the Muppets Courtyard in our latest video update on the expansion of the park:
I made a short trip over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios thsi weekend to see what was new and exciting around the park, and honestly, a lot more had changed in a week than I had expected. This trip, we’ll take a look at the Halloween merchandise the Disney Parks will be selling this year (yes, it is mid-August), some new Star Wars merchandise, the latest progress on the Muppets Courtyard overhaul (including the Muppets eatery, PizzeRizzo), and the rather earnest start to the demolition of the Streets of America area.
Halloween 2016 merchandise has landed at the Walt Disney World Resort
A rather large assortment of Halloween merchandise can already be found in the Celebrity 5 & 10 store on Hollywood Boulevard.
Halloween 2016 merchandise has landed at the Walt Disney World Resort
Stitch vampire antenna topper
Stitch vampire antenna topper
Hanging Trick or Treat sign
Halloween 2016 mug
Halloween 2016 mug
Halloween 2016 merchandise has landed at the Walt Disney World Resort
I don’t even really know what this is…
How is this $19.99?
New for 2016 Mickey Mouse Halloween Plush
New for 2016 Minnie Mouse Halloween Plush
Mickey Mouse spider antenna topper
Large metal Mickey Mouse Jack-O-Lantern
Halloween 2016 plate
Halloween 2016 bowl
Halloween 2016 bowl
Halloween 2016 countdown calendar
Halloween 2016 ceramic jack-o-lantern
Halloween 2016 headwear
Oasis Canteen
Oasis Canteen, near the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, might have the most reprinted menu in all of Walt Disney World.
Oasis Canteen
The menu was remade once more, this time with pictures of most of the offerings. As good as it might look, stay away from the Mickey Brownie…
New Star Wars toys
All 4 of the Star Wars wind up toys are now on sale at Tatooine Traders.
New Star Wars toys
New Star Wars toys
New Star Wars toys
New Star Wars toys
Streets of America demolition
Much of the New York Street facade has been gutted of anything useful at this point and is just an empty shell.
Streets of America demolition
Speakers that play the Muppets Courtyard music were ripped from the structure, so they now rest on temporary speaker stands behind the Star Wars construction walls.
Streets of America demolition
Streets of America demolition
MuppetVision 3-D
Gone are posters for the ABC television series The Muppets and back are the original MuppetVision 3-D posters.
PizzeRizzo
Work continues on PizzeRizzo, opening this Fall.
PizzeRizzo
PizzeRizzo
Railings were installed on the second level patio this week.
PizzeRizzo
The faux fire escape was also installed above the main entrance.
PizzeRizzo
Streets of America demolition
The pile of rubble behind MuppetVision 3-D remains.
Streets of America demolition
Streets of America demolition
Streets of America demolition
A rather large wall from a New York Street facade is now missing, likely meaning that the removal of the area has finally begun.
Streets of America demolition
If you prefer your update in video form, be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube for the now-weekly Hollywood Studios Expansion Update, as well as some other fantastic videos and shows:
DESTINATION D: AMAZING ADVENTURES ADDS JAMES CAMERON, JON LANDAU, AND BOB CHAPEK TO EVENT ROSTER
Additional panels include an exclusive look at Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana, Tales from the Jungle Cruise, and Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort’s 45th Anniversary, happening November 19 and 20 at Walt Disney World Resort
BURBANK, Calif. — August 18, 2016 — The roster of talent and panels continues to grow for D23 Destination D: Amazing Adventures presented by Ethan Allen | Disney, taking placeNovember 19 and 20, 2016 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World Resort. AVATAR creators James Cameron (writer, director, producer) and Jon Landau (producer) will join Imagineer Joe Rohde for Pandora – The World of AVATAR, a presentation where they will unveil new details about the immersive, 12-acre land coming soon to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. In addition, the event will include a conversation with Bob Chapek, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Plus, Moana screenwriter Jared Bush (co-writer/co-director Zootopia) will be on hand to provide guests an exclusive advance look at the making of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ newest animated feature.
Cameron, Landau, and Chapek join previously announced Disney Legends Marty Sklar and Tony Baxter; Walt Disney Imagineers Rohde, Chris Merritt, Jason Grandt, and Wyatt Winter; producer Don Hahn (The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast); and Walt Disney Archives Director Becky Cline. The event, exclusively for members of D23: The Official Disney Fan Club, celebrates landmarks of the past, present, and future, from the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean to the planet of Pandora.
The Walt Disney Archives will present a special exhibit created exclusively for the event: Walt’s Great Adventures, featuring photographs, props, and models that showcase Walt Disney’s personal voyages, including his trip to South America in 1941, as well as some of his most memorable creations for television, film, and theme parks, such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Additionally, during the weekend, guests will be among the first to see the new Ethan Allen | Disney home furnishing line in person.
Additional D23 Destination D: Amazing Adventures presentations announced include:
The weekend event will take place in the convention center at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Tickets, currently on sale, are $190 each for D23 Gold and Gold Family Members. Tickets are also available to D23 General Members for $250 per ticket. All guests will receive a special gift created exclusively for the event, and attendees are guaranteed seats at all panels and presentations. Mickey’s of Glendale, the famed Walt Disney Imagineering store, returns with a pop-up shop at the event for attendees, featuring a selection of exclusive Walt Disney Imagineering merchandise as well as limited-edition pins, apparel, and collectibles themed to the event.
Further details about the program and tickets for D23 Destination D: Amazing Adventures presented by Ethan Allen | Disney can be found at D23.com/Events. Additional details about the schedule will be shared in the coming months.
Events and talent are subject to change.
Disneyland Reporter Conner Purzycki brings us back to Disneyland Park in his latest photo report, as we check in on Star Wars land, the Rivers of America, and more:
The Market House Starbucks is open while the facade is being refurbished
Mickey and Minnie march into the final month of the Diamond Celebration, concluding September 5th
The Rivers of America will return in Summer 2017, but until then work continues
Life find a way…
The Columbia has been on the move… more on that later today…
Star Wars concept art now on the walls in Frontierland
The structures on Tom Sawyer Island got a very different paint scheme
Most of the island is still behind tarps
Now over to the Star Wars land construction site
This lot is the what will be the Eastern Gateway project transportation hub
This will be a very different sight in just a two years time…
Until next time…
Disney today share a look at concept art for the new “enhanced” interior of the Wedding pavilion, nestled on the shores of the Seven Seas Lagoon between Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa and Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort:
No completion date on the project has been announced as of yet. Here is what the interior looked like previously:
From io9 on Gizmodo:
As most of us are patiently twiddling our thumbs waiting for Disney to open its Star Wars lands, James Cameron’s Avatar is going to beat it into the parks. Pandora: The World of Avatar will open in 2017 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida and io9 can exclusively reveal that Cameron himself, along with his producer Jon Landau and Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde, will be on hand at the upcoming D23 Destination D event in November to reveal brand new details about the 12-acre immersive theme park section.
Taking place November 19 and 20 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World Resort, D23 Destination D: Amazing Adventures is open only to D23 Fan Club members but you can read more about it here. The event takes place on the years the D23 Expo doesn’t and, addition to the Cameron panel, there will be events based on the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean and more.
When Fantasmic returns to Disneyland in the Summer of 2017, the Pirates of the Caribbean will be joining the crew in what should be an entirely re-imagined version of the show internally being referred to as “Fantasmic 2.0”.
Original poster for Disneyland’s Fantasmic!
When Fantasmic returns to Disneyland Park in 2017, guests will find a number of upgrades to the show on the technical side. A brand new HD projection system, lighting upgrades, and a completely new sound system (which wasn’t replaced in the 2009 overhaul) are expected in the change-over.
Pirates appearing soon on the Sailing Ship Columbia?
In addition, the show will be sporting a few new segments, including one for Pirates of the Caribbean, which would replace the Peter Pan segment which has been in the show since it debuted in 1992. Using projection mapping technology, the plan will be to turn the Sailing Ship Columbia into the Black Pearl. The ship will host a large fight between Jack Sparrow’s crew and that of Captain Barbossa. Of course, The Columbia will be re-rigged for all new stunt work featuring Captain Jack Sparrow and his pirate friends. The truly amazing part (if true) is that the projection mapping technology will follow the ship around the river, also projecting onto the performers on the boat. This effect would allow performers to change in appearance, jumping between a skeleton and human form just like the characters in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Other new segments are expected to replace some of the older ones when Fantasmic! returns to Disneyland next year. Sadly, we have no solid information on these at this time. Work on the Sailing Ship Columbia to prepare it for these new show elements are already underway.
Sailing Ship Columbia getting altered for “Fantasmic 2.0”
The new “Fantasmic 2.0” is expected to run nightly starting in early-Summer 2017. If our source is correct, it will continue to be a nightly, non-seasonal offering for at least a year through the end of 2018. There is no reasoning being given for the expanded schedule, but guest demand for a re-imagined show should be strong enough to warrant such an elongated performance season.
On September 14th, 2016, the Sum of All Thrills and Stromstruck exhibits inside Innoventions at Epcot will close.
Innoventions West exhibits were closed last year and some of the space was utilized for meet and greet areas for Baymax and Joy & Sadness. Colortopia, the newest Innoventions exhibit to open, will remain open at this time, but will close whenever the contract with Glidden concludes. Disney has stated they will make an announcement about the future of the Innoventions space at a later date.
All signs point to a massive overhaul of Future World at Epcot coming in the next few years, and those plans may include the demolition/repurposing of the Innoventions East and West buildings, thus why no replacement exhibits are being added.
Here are the rules and disclaimers:
Click here to enter!
Theefish and Planet Hollywood continue to be remodeled while more Star Wars merchandise invades in our latest Disney Springs photo report:
Star Wars Galactic Outpost was stripped of all of the former D Street decorations
Some new Toy Story opened edition pins were released recently
Some new Fab 5 Pirates of the Caribbean pins as well
The new other facade for the Planet Hollywood Observatory
The Empress Lilly is being pretty much ripped apart for the conversion into the Paddlefish
the new “it’s a small world” Donney & Bourke collection is available at Marketplace Co-Op
The Star Wars attraction posters are now appearing on yet another piece of merchandise, playing cards
These new motorized walking toys started showing up at the parks, looks like there will be 4 in total
Walls by Planet Hollywood now direct guests towards the stores inside the Market Building in Town Center
The new Billboard for T-Rex in the Town Center is nearing completion
Additional seating was added between D-Luxe Burger and Blaze Pizza
