The long-awaited Iron Man Experience attraction has soft-opened in Tomorrowland at Hong Kong Disneyland! Below we have video of the queue and the attraction for you to enjoy:
The attraction will officially opening January 2017, along with an Iron Man meet and greet experience, a first for any Disney theme park.
It looks like one of the characters from “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” will be making the crossover from movie to animated television when Saw Gerrera joins the cast of “Star Wars Rebels: Season 3”!
According to Making Star Wars:
Rebels Reactions Podcast discovered a pretty awesome Star Wars Rebels poster at Toys R Us, the poster reveals for the first time, Rebels Rogue One connection. Saw Gerrera is featured on the poster. This is the first time we see Saw in Star Wars Rebels.
I for one am very excited about this. Mon Mothma tells Jyn in Rogue One that Saw was a problem for the Rebellion and that’s why they weren’t working together anymore, so I would imagine we will see that falling out in Rebels. We will see Saw in the second half of Rebels Season 3 where he will lead a investigation on Geonosis.
Source: Making Star Wars
Since we broke the news about it a few weeks back, the general public and fans alike have been buzzing about the addition of an Express Transportation Service at Walt Disney World. For a fee, this service allows guests to bounce between all 4 Walt Disney World theme parks from internal bus stops within the parks.
Express Transportation Bus Service at Walt Disney World
The service costs $15 per person for 1 day, but can be purchased for up to 7 consecutive days for just $24 per person for the entire period. Guests can book the service at the front desk of their resort, at any guest relations location, or by credit card at the Express Bus Service stops themselves at each park.
Since an annual pass is technically a park-hopper ticket, all annual pass holders are eligible to use the service as well at both price levels.
Since so many of you asked us to do it, we went ahead and tested out the service yesterday so we could give you a good idea of how it works and how best to utilize it.
The busses depart on the half hour, meaning there is essentially a bus to a park departing each station every 10 minutes. So, a bus to Animal Kingdom from the Magic Kingdom may depart on the 10’s and 40’s each hour up until park close (at Animal Kingdom). The one caveat to this is that it is pretty hard to catch nighttime spectaculars near closing time at one park and make it back to another park. For example, last night, we could not have seen Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular and made it back to the Magic Kingdom. The fireworks were presented at 9:30pm, but the last Express Bus to Magic Kingdom was at 9:50pm. Getting to the bus stop just 5 minutes after the show ended on a crowded evening would be quite the challenge for anyone, considering that the check-in spot there is down by Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster.
Other than that, the busses remain strict to their schedules. That being said, if you miss one, another is only 30 minutes behind, or you could always call an audible and just go on whatever bus is next, which will promise a wait of 10 minutes or less until departure for one of the other 3 parks at Disney World.
We never experienced any problems of busses not running on schedule, and other than our last bus ride of the night, we were almost alone on every ride. I became concerned that the system was losing Disney money until we caught the 8:50PM bus from Hollywood Studios to Magic Kingdom, in which all of the seats were filled before we departed. Other than that, there was typically just one other family onboard the bus with us.
Express Transportation Bus Service at Walt Disney World
The four stops within the parks are convenient enough, although it is weird to enter theme parks from these areas. The busses depart and arrive at the points you will see indicated on the pamphlet above.
Express Transportation Bus Service at Walt Disney World
Express Transportation Bus Service at Walt Disney World
Express Transportation Bus Check-In at Epcot, Walt Disney World
The Express Transportation Service does break some “rules” of Disney theme parks, mainly allowing guests to see large portions of the backstage areas. In actuality, this is a really cheap way to see backstage at the parks without taking a tour. Highlights included glimpses of Pandora: The World of AVATAR, Tower of Terror, Test Track, Carousel of Progress, and more. That being said, it is far from the experience of a backstage tour, but you will get that special feeling of being “behind the magic” and seeing places in the parks you may have never seen before.
Space Mountain from the bus route to and from Magic Kingdom park
Pandora: the World of AVATAR from the Express Bus to Animal Kingdom
When you are going to be taking the bus, all you need to do is check-in with the guest relations cast member at the check-in location. They will be able to check you in for your bus and can also provide the bus schedule for the rest of the day to you, should need it. When it is time to take your bus, a guest relations cast member will walk you to the vehicle. Along the way, signage reminds guests that photography of any kind is not allowed in backstage areas.
My only gripe is the timing of the busses towards park closing times. I wish they would at least give you 30-60 minutes past the closure of the park or the end of the last nighttime show to make it to a bus, but instead it is the next scheduled time after park close, which in many case will give you anywhere from 5-25 minutes to make it, possibly. I guess the viewpoint is that you could always still get a normal bus after that time, but it kind of defeats the purpose of the service in some ways.
Overall, I was overwhelmed with what a tremendous value this service is. First off, by using this service, you ensure that you will only need to go through the parking and security/park entry process once. The bus service will drop you off inside of the other parks, meaning you are in the thick of things as soon as you get to your destination.
In our experience yesterday, here were the travel times between destinations:
Beyond the conveniences mentioned above, it saves a tremendous amount of time in park-hopping. A bus every 30 minutes to each park is perfect, where even if you just miss a bus by a minute, it isn’t going to ruin your day. You are guaranteed a bus every half hour and knowing when that bus is coming already makes the service a million times more reliable than the regular bus service at Walt Disney World.
We were able to hit a list of our favorite things at all 4 parks using the service. In fact, within one hour, we arrived at Hollywood Studios from Epcot, rode Star Tours, ordered a Blue Milkshake, and were back on a bus to the Magic Kingdom to enjoy the rest of the evening. This was an insanely cool thing to do that we never could have done without the service. It would have at least taken another hour to do this via car or the regular Disney transportation offerings.
Whether you are only visiting the parks for a short period of time and NEED to hit all of your favorite attractions, or looking for a hassle-free way to get around the parks for a week, the Express Transportation Service is a tremendous value. The convenience and price can not be beat. Yes, it does take you to places you aren’t supposed to see, but it offers a service that takes so much of the pressure out of planning a Walt Disney World vacation and gives you a lot more freedom to do just about whatever you could want to across four parks in just one day (FastPass reservations permitting of course). It could also allow you to remove the need for a rental car from your trip (provided you don’t need to go to see any SCREENZ down the road at Universal Orlando). As a resort guest, I would enjoy return service to my resort somehow at the end of the day, but other than that, this is truly the only way to park hop in my book.
In a world of unnecessary vacation add-on packages, this is the first one that will certainly improve your theme park experience if you plan on park-hopping. The Express Transportation service is highly recommended and a nice way to take some commuting stress out of a trip to Walt Disney World.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story released this weekend and to celebrate, many games in the popular franchise have gone on sale. Here is a breakdown of some of the best deals in gaming you can find to scratch that Star Wars itch.
Star Wars: Battlefront
Star Wars: Battlefront is on sale right now for $10 through most major retailer (Amazon, GameStop, etc.). Additionally, the recently released ultimate edition, which comes with all the game’s DLC including Rogue One: Scarif, is also on sale for $30 on Amazon (for Prime members). Other retailers are selling the ultimate edition for $40 (in case you don’t have Prime).
Star Wars Collection
Steam is really going all out with a big Star Wars sale. Save 77 percent when you buy the Star Wars Collection this weekend. Originally sold for $99, the bundle is currently only $23. Games include: Knights of the Old Republic, Battlefront 2, The Force Unleashed 2, and many more. Honestly if you haven’t played most of these games before, there’s no better deal.
App Store Star Wars Sale
Apple’s App Store is having a sale on Star Wars apps that will be available through December 30. Games like Knights of the Old Republic and LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens are on sale for up to 50 percent off. In-game purchases are also being discounted up to 35 percent off in games like Star Wars: Commander, and Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes.
There you have it, a number of ways to go spend some money on Star Wars. Get out there, start gaming, and uhh, you know… may the force be with you…
The long-closed Tree of Life Garden pathway that has been closed for several years has finally reopened at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
The area can be accessed across the path from Creature Comforts (Starbucks) or at the other end by the entrance to “it’s tough to be a bug”.
It is much easier to see the kangaroos from this pathway.
This area might be the most photogenic in all of Walt Disney World and a wonderful place to go and relax and escape the crowds.
With this path now open, (and the other recently opened trails) the years of work around the Tree of Life are finally finished
In many cases in the news articles here on WDW News Today, we tell you when attractions, eateries, shows, etc. will be closing, but often there is not enough advance notice for you to say your goodbyes. This time, however, you have at least a few years to say farewell to the Crossroads at Lake Buena Vista shopping center on SR 535 at the intersection with Hotel Plaza Blvd.
Anyone who’s traveled that stretch of SR 535 in the past 10 years has realized that the traffic in this area is a nightmare. Perhaps going to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner? Sweet Tomatoes for lunch? Goodings for groceries (Oh the horrors!) or maybe you remember Jungle Jim’s? The shopping center that is home to these locations and more may one day be no more. As you can see from the aerial imagery, the SR-535 exit from I-4 Westbound is a single exit ramp for traffic heading in both directions on SR-535. The Orlando Sentinel reports that Florida Department of Transportation has looked at a number of options for reconfiguring this interchange, possibly with one of those fancy flyover ramps or maybe a direct connection to Hotel Plaza Blvd. But whatever the final design, the Crossroads Shopping Center looks to be clearly in the way, along with the Radisson and Waffle House just south of the shopping center.
Disney originally owned the land on which the shopping center sits, and originally developed Crossroads at Lake Buena Vista in 1988. The shopping center was sold off in 2005. It is likely that Disney would benefit from the demolition of a shopping center so close to Disney Springs, as it would drive more traffic to its own eateries and shops. Personally I’d be sad that I’d have to travel much farther to find a Sweet Tomatoes or Buffalo Wild Wings, but the loss of the shopping center would have been much harder to take if Jungle Jim’s had still been there.
In celebration of the release of Rogue One in theaters today, Disney Parks have started to sell a brand new bubble blower shaped like Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter!
The bubble blower sells for $20 and is currently on sale at outdoor carts around Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Pretty neat, huh?
Beginning December 21st, Walt Disney World Annual Passholders can utilize their very own designated entry lines at the four major theme parks.
No end date has been announced for the program. No further details are available as of yet.
In an unexpected turn of events, Remember… Dreams Come True fireworks are returning to Disneyland Park.
The show is currently set to return in early February for an undisclosed amount of time. Remember was replaced by Disneyland Forever in 2015 after several years operating as a seasonal show following its debut run in 2005.
Disneyland has yet to confirm this return, but should soon.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters today, and to celebrate, Apple’s App Store is having a sale!
Download a handful of Star Wars games for up to 50 percent off. Games include Knights of the Old Republic, LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, and more.
In game purchases are also available for 30 percent off in Star Wars games like Galaxy of Heores, Star Wars: Commander, and Star Wars Pinball 4.
For a complete list, click the link here.
Happy gaming, and uh, you know.. may the force be with you.
