TONIGHT on WDW News Tonight (8/30/17) – The Dating Game Returns, More Weird Epcot Food, Tom’s California Adventure, & More!

Tonight on WDW News Tonight, the Dating Game returns, we eat another weird Epcot food item from World Showcase, and then we probably make fun of Nick some more…

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If you are in the Orlando area, you can tune in to 105.5 FM or AM 1520 WBZW at showtime. For those outside of the Orlando area, the show can be watched via video stream at listen.WDWNT.com on your computer or mobile device. You can also use WDWNT: The App to watch and chat along. The show also utilizes a live chat and the ability to call-in to interact with the show. WDW News Tonight is hosted by Tom Corless and Nick LoCicero, but also features appearances by a number of other WDWNT correspondents.

Coming up on this week’s show:

  • A recap of the last week’s news (with a WDWNT comedic twist)
  • Another edition of “Weird World Showcase Food Item of the Week”, where Tom, Nick, and Michelle try something strange from Epcot
  • The Wonderful World of Psychotic Comments
  • “Who Hates Tom Now?”
  • “WDWNT: The Dating Game” for presented by WDWNT: The App
  • And more!

We hope that you will tune in tonight at 9PM ET for another episode of WDW News Tonight!

If you missed our last show, be sure to watch it:

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Last Chance to Register for WDWNT’s 10th Anniversary Event, Starts This Saturday!

We’re less than a week away from WDWNT: The 10th Anniversary Event, a special celebration of our Tencennial at the Walt Disney World Resort taking place September 22nd through the 26th, 2017.

 

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Tickets are almost sold out for our “WDWNT: The Breakfast Vol. 2” special event taking place inside the rarely seen Living Seas lounge!

The main event on Saturday, September 23rd is our incredible interactive game, “WDWNT: The Order of the Seven”. In this game, groups up to four in size will race around all of Walt Disney World competing for points in what has to be just about the craziest all-day adventure ever devised. The point of the game will be to reconnect the seven themes of EPCOT Center and restore the park’s original vision to stop an evil robotic force. I really can’t say much more at this time, but I do promise it will be a day you will never forget!

The event also includes many other group activities, including meals, attractions, and more (which you can see on the full schedule), and registration is required to attend any of the aforementioned offerings (and is of course open at Events.WDWNT.com). Registration is discounted by 33% if you are a member of the WDWNT Inner Globe Society.

 

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WDWCelebrations “Celebration 35” IllumiNations Dessert Party Almost Sold Out

This is just a reminder to those contemplating attending the WDWCelebrations Celebration 35 event, taking place Thursday – Sunday, September 28 – October 1, 2017.

Although registration for the event will remain open until September 27, the popular IllumiNations Dessert Party on October 1 has a limited capacity and is currently 75% sold out. Because the event capacity is dictated by Disney Park Operations based on the size of the venue, we cannot sell more tickets after we have reached full capacity.

In case you missed our previous post detailing what WDWCelebrations is all about, we’ve reprinted it below.

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In just a few weeks, WDWCelebrations will gather like-minded fans at the Walt Disney World® Resort to celebrate the thirty-fifth anniversary of the opening of EPCOT Center®, the theme park that broke the mold upon its debut in 1982. Exactly ten years after the historic Celebration 25 event that gathered over twelve hundred guests to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Epcot® in October 2007, WDWCelebrations aims to celebrate the past, present and future of the world’s most unique theme park once again! The WDWCelebrations organization was born from the response to Celebration 25, and since that time has hosted an additional eleven unique events, each celebrating the magic of the Disney Parks while raising money for charity.

Celebration 35, a WDWCelebrations Commemorative Event

It has been the privilege of WDWCelebrations to host guests from around the world for the past nine years, and it is a special honor to celebrate the organization’s 10th anniversary this October with Celebration 35, a WDWCelebrations Commemorative Event. This new event at the Walt Disney World® Resort will encompass four days of fun, friends, and surprises. As with previous events, this celebration will include WDWCelebrations’ signature offerings to complement the official activities offered by The Walt Disney Company.

The four-day event, set for Thursday – Sunday, September 28 – October 1, 2017, will celebrate the anniversary in a grand way. Planned activities will complement the popular Epcot® International Food and Wine Festival and guests will be able to share in a visit to Pandora, the World of Avatar, the newest offering at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park. Guests will enjoy their favorite WDWCelebrations signature offerings such as scavenger hunts, group rides, group meals, and, of course, a few very special surprises. Check out the WDWCelebrations web site for more details and a tentative schedule.

Celebration 35’s IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth Dessert Party on October 1

WDWCelebrations is pleased to announce the return of the Illuminations: Reflections of Earth Dessert Party, a significant piece of WDWCelebrations’ history and a fan favorite for many years. As was experienced during Celebration 25 and Celebration 30 five years later, guests will once again have the chance to enjoy delectable dessert options on the water’s edge of World Showcase Lagoon with a premium view of the classic nighttime spectacular as it lights up the night sky. On previous park anniversaries, Epcot has added a special anniversary tag to IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth that rivals, if not surpasses, the popular July 4th and New Years Eve tags.

How to Register for Celebration 35, Including the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth Dessert Party

WDWCelebrations charges a nominal fee to event attendees which covers organizational costs. Additionally, a significant portion of the registration fees are donated to the Give Kids The World Village, the WDWCelebrations Charity Initiative charity of choice for Celebration 35 and many previous events. Registration for Celebration 35 costs $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 3-15.  Guests also have the option to donate additional funds to this event’s Charity Initiative when registering. The IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth Dessert Party is an additional cost of $69.99 per person, and tickets can be purchased during the event registration process. Registration closes on September 27, 2017.

About WDWCelebrations

As Epcot® prepared to celebrate its 25th anniversary in October 2007, the online Disney community was in an uproar over the apparent lack of official acknowledgement of this historic park’s milestone. In response to the Internet furor, a group of individuals decided to step up and create a fan-based event – dubbed Celebration 25 – to properly celebrate the silver anniversary. Over 1200 like-minded fans registered to attend the event. The Celebration 25 event was officially embraced by Disney management and was given the rare privilege of working closely with the management and staff of Epcot® to provide in-park event check-in, group history walks, a press conference, and a private dessert party. At the end of the day, the attendees knew they had been a part of something special – and something they didn’t want to end. Out of this demand, an idea was born: to celebrate the many anniversaries, milestones, and bonds between those who share a love for Walt Disney World. WDWCelebrations was born. And since that time, each of their unique events have offered guests the chance to celebrate the magic of the Disney Parks’ past, present and future, together.

PHOTOS: Mysterious Stat Stations Appear at Test Track’s Soon-To-Be-Renamed SIMporium

While at Epcot today, we stopped by for a quick ride on Test Track, and upon existing we noticed some changes in the After Market Shop.

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New “Stat Stations” have been added right as you’re existing Test Track in the gift shop area. Currently, we don’t know What exactly these kiosks will do. The only hint is the tag line below the name “Custom Car[d] Design” which could allow guests to customize RFID cards to use in the attraction’s car creator process.

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Other elements have been added to the store including the four test logos from the ride.

To reflect the changes, the store will change names to the Test Track SIMporium at some point.

PHOTO: Baseline Tap House Sign Unveiled At Grand Avenue

We made our way to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to check out changes and progress today noticed that the sign for the Baseline Tap House has gone up on Grand Avenue. Check it out below!

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Since the bar and lounge is supposed to be an abandoned print shop with ties to the Walt Disney Studios, the sign features individual letter slugs like would be used in printing.

Baseline Tap House and Grand Avenue open this Fall at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

VIDEO: Guardians of the Galaxy – Monsters After Dark Debuts for HalloweenTime at Disneyland Resort

Last night, Guardians of the Galaxy – Monsters After Dark debuted at Disney California Adventure. The ride is a Halloween holiday overlay of Mission Breakout, which opened at the resort in May and is still available to guests during the day. Starting at 6pm, guests can experience this new ride instead, a sequel to the daytime version.

Overall, Monsters After Dark is a really fun overlay that basically gives you a seventh (yeah, seventh) ride profile for the attraction. The completely unique pre-shows and lighting make this more special and the fact that it is a seamless sequel to the daytime version is sheer brilliance. The song during the ride is a little silly as it feels pretty basic and just had the lyrics “Monsters After Dark” over and over again, but this overlay will undoubtedly be enjoyed just as much as the daytime version.

Guardians of the Galaxy – Monsters After Dark is now open from 6pm to park close nightly during HalloweenTime at the Disneyland Resort.

VIDEO: Epcot Memories, Hurricane Irma Impact, The Map Game and More on WDW News Tonight

This week on WDW News Tonight…

    • Hurricane Irma’s aftermath
    • What Christmas will look like at DHS and Epcot
    • What Halloween will look like at DCA
    • Our fondest Epcot memories
    • “The Wonderful World of Psychotic Comments presented by The WDWNT Inner Globe Society
    • We play WDWNT: The Map Game for great Disney themed prizes

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Hosted by radio veterans and life-long Disney fans Tom Corless and Nick LoCicero, WDW News Tonight is a live, weekly, audio and video program presented on 105.5 FM, 660 AM, and AM 1520 WBZW in Orlando, Florida, as well as online at WDWNewsTonight.com every Wednesday from 9-11pm EST. The show covers the Walt Disney World Resort and other Disney news. The show combines the latest headlines, comedy, trending vacation topics, call in games, and in-depth discussions to bring Disney fans a one-of-a-kind 2-hour program covering the Disney Parks. While the show is being live-streamed in both audio and video, listeners and viewers also interact via a live chat online. The show is also available on demand as an audio download, online audio stream and can be watched live or recorded on YouTube.

VIDEO: Take a Ride on Cars Land’s Two Haul-O-Ween Attractions

On the first day of Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort, we have some of the first videos of the two attractions in Cars Land that have gotten the Halloween overlay.

First is Mater’s Graveyard JamBOOree, with the “Monster Truck Mash” soundtrack.

Next we have two videos of Luigi’s Honkin’ Haul-O-Ween, the first with the “Haul-O-Ween” theme song, and the second with “The Chop Top of Carsoli” soundtrack.

We’ll be bringing you more of Halloween Time over the next several days, so stay tuned!

ANALYSIS: Calculate How Much You’ll Spend at Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

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Like many of you, I look forward to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival every year. Every year that I go, I try to sample at least one item from every booth. Right now I’m in the middle of planning my upcoming trip for WDWNT Tencennial Celebration and Epcot’s 35th, so I decided to create a tool in the form of a spreadsheet to help me forecast my expenses at the festival this year. After completing the spreadsheet, I thought I would share the sheet with our readers so that you can use it too. It is a Google Sheet so you need to have a Google account to use it.

Click here to copy the Google Sheet to your own Google Drive. This link will make a copy of the master spreadsheet in your own Google Drive so you can edit it and save your changes for future reference.

The spreadsheet calculates the total price automatically as you update what items and how many you want in the “Number to Order” column. You can also click the “Reset” button at the top to reset all of the items to zero.

Using this spreadsheet, you can quickly figure out fun things like:

  • Ordering one of every item at each booth will cost you $1,324.05 plus tax (if you utilize flights instead of individual wines and beers when available).
  • Ordering one item from every booth will cost a minimum of $137.50 plus tax (assuming you order the least expensive item).

I hope this sheet is helpful to you and if you want to see more of these types of tools, please let us know in the comment section below!

PHOTOS: “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” Model Now on Display at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Today, a small piece of the large model for Star wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios debuted in the Walt Disney Presents exhibit.

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The model piece isn’t really very different from the larger, full model we saw of the Disneyland project back at the D23 Expo. Both lands will be very similar, with only a few small differences.

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Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens in 2019 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.