Last week, the new roadway passage to the Magic Kingdom Resort area opened, allowing guests to skip the toll plaza.
The new road extends from a right lane exit on World Drive just before the Magic Kingdom toll plaza. Guests can them turn right or left onto Vista Blvd. depending on their resort destinations.
Below we have a narrated video drive-through of the new road to give you a better idea of how it works:
This Friday at Disney Springs in Cherry Tree Lane inside the Marketplace Co-Op, Guests will find bags made from authentic Walt Disney World cast costumes.
The bags will be made using material from the cast costumes of Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto, The Haunted Mansion, and the shuttered Great Movie Ride.
The totes will retail at $48 each, the cosmetic case at $18, and the zipper case at $14. Disney has not announced what the purchase limits will be on these items.
As of today, the Disneyland Southern California Annual Pass is no longer available for purchase. It was removed from the Disneyland website this morning.
This popular pass was priced at $469 (plus tax) and allowed passholders admission for around 215 days each year. The main blockout dates were holidays, Saturdays, all of July, Fridays in June, and half of August. Note that the SoCal Select Pass, which permits admission for around 170 days each year, is still available at $339. The key difference is that the SoCal Select Pass adds Sundays and most of June to the blockout dates of the SoCal Pass.
This move is not surprising, and indeed was expected to come sooner or later, as Disneyland will be hosting massive crowds once Galaxy’s Edge opens in 2019. This is one step in an effort to reduce crowding in Disneyland, especially on weekends, when millions of locals are expected to descend on the area to be among the first to visit the newest land. The crowds will be even worse since Galaxy’s Edge will open in Disneyland before it opens in Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World, so for a few months it will be the destination for Star Wars fans.
This is not the first time that Disney has discontinued the SoCal Annual Pass. In 2014 it was discontinued due to crowds expected for the Diamond Celebration of Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary. After the Diamond Celebration concluded, the pass became available again in 2016.
A new round of permits have been filed for the upcoming Ratatouille attraction to be located at the France pavilion in Epcot.
This permit shows the expansive show building to be constructed on the expansion pad between Morocco and France. If you look back to our detailed analysis in June, you’ll see that most of the buildings we predicted would be relocated are indeed now shown in their new locations.
You’ll see in the lower right corner the new cast break building as well as relocated merchandise “sheds” located behind Morocco.
North of the new show building you’ll find the one existing entertainment trailer as well as the newly-relocated entertainment trailer.
What is most interesting in these new plans is the new area leading to the attraction, filled with new shopping and dining options.
The new path will follow the canal side of the existing pavilion, then curve along the back of the existing pavilion until it meets with the show building for Ratatouille. While we don’t know everything about this new street area, we do know there is a restroom facility and that one of the new food options will be a establishment selling crepes.
Stay tuned to WDW News Today as these plans slowly comes to fruition, and we’ll bring you updates as construction commences.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is EA’s response to the heavy criticism received from 2015’s first Battlefront. This sequel includes a greatly needed single player campaign, tweaked gunplay, and even promises free downloadable content for players down the road. On paper, Battlefront 2 looks to be the solution to all the first game’s problems and more, but in reality it just trades in the old problems for a set of new ones. While in some ways a vast improvement over the original, Star Wars Battlefront 2 suffers from a convoluted campaign story and an unfair multiplayer progression system.
Developer DICE never puts out a game that is anything less than visually stunning, and Battlefront 2 is no exception. Every inch of this game is bursting with jaw-dropping visuals, from the life-like cutscenes with state of the art motion capture technology, to the gorgeous landscapes that capture every aspect of the Star Wars universe. Playing on my regular Xbox One I felt no need for the One X, as the game just looked that good running on standard hardware.
The sound design is right there on the same level, too. Everything from the sound of blasters firing to the wonderful orchestral music culminates in a truly living world that will have Star Wars fans drooling. If you’ve played the first Battlefront, you’re probably already familiar with what I’m talking about, and Battlefront 2 takes the ball and carries it even further, making it look and sound like an absolute marvel.
The best part of having faithful and beautiful visuals and sound design is that Battlefront 2 features a campaign for the first time. The story takes place between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, and focuses on Iden Versio, captain of the “Inferno Squad,” as the Galactic Empire reaches its demise in the face of the Rebel Alliance.
What makes this story special is that it attempts to humanize the Empire which, until now, has always simply been portrayed as the bad guys. The three members of Inferno squad are interesting, and the first couple of missions actually generated some remorse for the Empire that I have never experienced in all my years as a Star Wars fan. Unfortunately, the captivating story of Inferno Squad is short lived, as after the first handful of missions are complete, the story loses focus and turns into a Star Wars greatest hits, of sorts.
Missions start to push Iden and Inferno Squad to the side in favor of forcing unnecessary cameos of iconic Star Wars characters like Leia Organa, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Lando Calrissian. This intrusion of these characters not only doesn’t fit the story well, but it also forces Iden’s story to become condensed, making what should be a great story feel rushed and unbelievable. It’s sad because it almost feels like a group of executives at EA came to the development team at DICE and handed them a list of characters that needed to be incorporated into the campaign, which is too bad because the story that the game was originally on track to tell seems quite interesting. In the end, the story feels disingenuous and forced, and the pacing makes the character’s actions seem unjustified.
Gameplay wise the campaign is a lot of fun. It’s clear that the campaign was built around the multiplayer, which is the game’s main attraction, but the developers still managed to do a great job of making each level feel unique to the plot and interesting to explore. However, crafting a story mode around a multiplayer game does make some aspects of the campaign feel a little odd. For example, you can’t pick up enemy weapons, presumably because this isn’t part of the multiplayer, but it is a little backwards in a modern shooter to not be able to take fallen emery weapons. The campaign also features a loadout system that is eerily similar the the multiplayer’s. The only way to customize a character’s weapons and abilities is to find loadout crates scattered throughout the levels. It doesn’t hinder the experience all that much, but it is a bit of an odd design choice.
Space combat missions are prevalent throughout the five hour campaign, which made me feel like I spent just as much time flying as I did on foot. I usually tend to not like this kind of gameplay, but the controls are really intuitive, making flight combat easy, even for the most novice of players. That said, there were still one or two more space combat missions than I would have liked to play. For the most part the campaign is a good time. There’s a promising story that unfortunately doesn’t get fleshed out well, but it’s still a fun ride from start to finish.
Multiplayer is where the game gets a little more shaky. Among the eleven maps and five game modes is a decent variety of ways to play. Gun play has been readjusted and shooting feels more satisfying than ever before. Tons of customizable options are available for each fighting class, vehicle class, and even heroes. Aside from your overall level, you’re able to level up your individual classes and then unlock new abilities and boosts, as well as upgrades to your existing weapons. Again, on paper everything sounds great, but the execution results in a pretty convoluted and tedious progression system.
Credits are earned through gameplay and can be used towards the purchase of creates. At the time of writing this review, EA has temporarily disabled all in-game purchases that can be made with real money, so throughout my time playing, credits were the only way I could purchase crates. However, theoretically players would be able to skip the process of playing matches and be able to use real currency to purchase crates, giving somewhat of an unfair advantage over players that are unlocking items the normal route by simply playing matches.
The crates contain everything from new Star Cards, which are used for boosting and upgrading your classes, to new weapons, emotes and victory poses for you characters, vehicles, and Crafting Parts, which can be used to upgrade weapons. When EA announced this overwhelming progression system, players were quite furious, as many saw it as a “pay-to-win” system. After spending hours online in Battlefront 2, I can confirm that I did feel like I encountered scenarios where I was simply underpowered due to the fact that I didn’t have enough unlockables. Those that pre-ordered the deluxe edition of the game, or played earlier before the game was fully released were able to get their hands on some pretty lucrative crates, and as a result, many newer players, like myself, were at a severe disadvantage.
I don’t want to get too into the weeds with how EA should have done things differently, or how their in-game purchases are a poor business practice; there are already plenty of other people on the internet criticizing this game for that. Instead, I want to boil down this fiasco to the real problem that results from this tough progression system, and that’s that Battlefront 2 is significantly less fun.
Modern online shooters have latched onto the idea that players should be rewarded for playing despite their skill level, but Battlefront 2′s approach couldn’t be further from that. If you’re a more novice player, and you don’t play bigger modes like Galactic Assault cooperatively with a squad, you’re probably not going to have a good time. In DICE’s defense, this is largely the type of game they’re known for making, but it’s still a disappointment considering that Star Wars is the most beloved thing in pop culture so naturally this game will entice players from a wide range of skills. It’s just too bad that Battlefront 2 favors more hardcore and skilled players over everyone else.
The more challenging nature of the gameplay leads to a significantly less rewarding progression system for most players, and that’s pretty frustrating when considering how difficult it is in the first place to unlock new abilities and items. Crates aren’t always going to get you what you want. For example, you may receive doubles of the same card, or unlocks for your heavy class when you’re trying to earn unlocks for your assault class. This tedious and grindy approach left me not caring what I unlocked because the rewards simply didn’t seem worth the effort.
Lastly there are the heroes, which have been drastically changed. To play as a hero, you first have to purchase them via game credits, which can take a while to earn. Then once you’ve purchased a hero character, you can customize their abilities and powers through the same monotonous progression system that is used for your regular character. To use a hero in game, you’ll have to earn enough Battle Points in a match. This is done by completely objectives and getting lots of kills. Unfortunately it takes a lot of Battle Points to be able to use a hero, and that mostly limits them to more skilled players. I wish DICE had taken a more Titanfall-inspired approach that offers a chance for every player to use a hero at least once per match. This is especially frustrating when considering that you have to grind so hard just to unlock the ability to use the hero in the first place.
I don’t mean to be completely down on the multiplayer. The maps are well designed, the mode variety offers something for everyone, and there is even Arcade mode, which offers offline multiplayer against AI with up to two players split screen. There’s a lot here, it’s just unfortunate how grueling the progression system is and how much the game skews towards skilled players.
In short, Star Wars Battlefront 2 is in some ways an improvement over its predecessor. Gunplay is better than ever before, the introduction of a campaign is a welcomed one, despite its shortcomings, and the multiplayer offers great variety, despite its unfavorable progression system. It’s hard to think fans of the first game won’t find things to love about this followup, there really is a lot of good here. It’s just too bad that EA let what should have been a huge victory for them become such a nightmare with all the paid content and the messy progression elements. I’m not done with Battlefront 2Â just yet, and there is still some promising free DLC on the horizon. I just wish this game came came out swinging like everyone hoped.
For more on Star Wars Battlefront 2, check out our playthrough of “Mission to Pilliar” below.
Lucasfilm has released a new TV spot for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and it has some new footage including Finn awaking from his coma. Check it out!
Source: Star Wars
Pandora: The World of AVATAR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom has been quite popular since it opened back in May, but the wait times and crowd levels inside the park’s newest addition have certainly become more manageable since the Summer. However, the massive crowds expected at Walt Disney World for the Thanksgiving Holiday through Christmas have Disney expecting the return of those higher crowd levels in the new land.
As you can see in the photo above, the barricade to seperate guests entering and leaving Pandora has returned. Should the crowds in the land reach its capacity, the space to the left can become a queue just to enter the area, nevermind to experience the two attractions or any other offerings inside it. Just two days ago we witnessed a 300 minute wait for Flight of Passage, so demand for Pandora attractions is clearly on the rise once again as many guests who haven’t been to Disney World since the land opened are now clamoring to visit during their holiday vacations.
With lines expected to be quite long for the Windtraders store and the Banshee Rookery experience, a pop-up shop of some kind is being installed in some unused space outside. It will be interesting to see if this is used for express sales of the Banshee toys that won’t include the adoption experience.
If you are visiting Pandora: The World of AVATAR this week or during any of this holiday season, you should be prepared to battle some massive crowds based on these changes Disney is making.
By Barbara Cash, Small World Big Fun Disney Authorized Travel Agent
So you are going to Disney World during the holiday season but, for whatever reason, you didn’t purchase tickets to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in the Magic Kingdom. No worries! There is so much to see and do at Disney World to get into the holiday spirit.
Below are some “insider” tips and advice for things to do that are not always included in the standard maps and guides. If you have any questions you can contact me anytime!
The holiday season is a special time at Disney World. You can visit resorts, take in the decorations at the theme parks, happen upon special groups sharing their cheer, and have some fantastic treats that are beyond the usual at Disney World. Don’t let the lack of a party ticket keep you from getting into holiday cheer.
Barbara Cash is an Agent with WDWNT’s Exclusive Disney Travel Partner – Small World Big Fun. You can learn more about Barbara here.
Disney•Pixar has just released the first teaser trailer for “Incredibles 2”.
Bob (voice of Craig T. Nelson) is left to navigate the day-to-day heroics of “normal” life, giving him an opportunity to bond with his younger son, Jack-Jack, whose superpowers are emerging—much to Dad’s surprise.
And check out the first teaser poster for “Incredibles 2”:
Everyone’s favorite family of superheroes is back in “Incredibles 2” – but this time Helen (voice of Holly Hunter) is in the spotlight, leaving Bob (voice of Craig T. Nelson) at home with Violet (voice of Sarah Vowell) and Dash (voice of Huck Milner) to navigate the day-to-day heroics of “normal” life. It’s a tough transistion for everyone, made tougher by the fact that the family is still unaware of baby Jack-Jack’s emerging superpowers. When a new villain hatches a brilliant and dangerous plot, the family and Frozone (voice of Samuel L. Jackson) must find a way to work together again—which is easier said than done, even when they’re all Incredible.
Directed by Brad Bird (“Iron Giant,” “The Incredibles”) and produced by John Walker (“The Incredibles”) and Nicole Grindle (“Sanjay’s Super Team” short, “Toy Story 3” associate producer), “Incredibles 2” busts into theaters on June 15, 2018.
Source: Disney•Pixar
To conclude our celebration of Mickey’s 89th birthday and our very early look at Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, why don’t we take a walkthrough of the upcoming ride?
As with any attraction, the story begins in the queue. The facade of the Chinese Theater and the first part of the exterior and interior queue will be the same as they were for The Great Movie Ride, with the original lobby still very much intact. Obviously the displays will be different, but otherwise it will still have all of its original charm.
Guests will literally step through the movie screen and into the cartoon world in one of two pre-show rooms.
Things start to change where the large pre-show theater showing classic movie trailers once stood, just before guests would board their “journey into the movies”. This large room has been broken down into two identical pre-show movie theaters where guests will be going to see this new Mickey Mouse cartoon about the trio (including Minnie and Pluto) heading to the park for a picnic, with the screen ultimately opening up and guests walking through it to the load area of the attraction. Guests will then board Goofy’s train in a train barn before embarking on the ride.
The attraction begins with a trip through the park, followed by a tunnel. In the tunnel scene, guests encounter Minnie and Mickey in the car driving alongside them. Mickey and Minnie will be audio-animatronics figures here, inside of a physical car that will travel alongside guests through the entire scene. A maquette of the classic duo in the car can be seen at the preview of the attraction currently at Walt Disney Presents.
An Imagineer works on a maquette of the Mickey and Minnie animatronic figures who will travel in a car alongside guests through a tunnel.
The next scene appears to be a stampede or “running of the bulls” type scenario, where the cars break apart and try not to incur the wrath of the stomping creatures. This is followed by a trip to the carnival, which somehow ultimately ends with Mickey and Minnie caught up in a twister. The twister may or may not be a reference to The Great Movie Ride, which was famously set to have a twister scene before some arguments over the Wizard of Oz led to the scene being cut and replaced with Sorcerer Mickey Mouse.
Imagineers working on the carnival scene of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
The twister drops guests and the characters in a tropical locale with 4 separate rooms, one for each car of the 4-car train to pull into. These individual rooms have a large screen and water effects that will spray guests as they teeter near the edge of a waterfall.
Concept art of the waterfall scene, with the train car teetering on the edge via projection technology and water effects.
The train cars then go down a drainage pipe into the big city. Guests somehow end up taking a detour into a dance studio, where an audio-animatronic Daisy Duck is giving lessons. The cars will dance while in this dance studio, similarly to Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters at DCA.
Kevin Rafferty and fellow Imagineers at work on the factory scene of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Guests end up in a alleyway leading to a large factory, where they may come up close and personal with a giant furnace before being saved by Mickey and Minnie.
Imagineers at work with the factory furnace in the background
Once guests are safe, they arrive back in the park for a picnic. This scene includes audio-animatronic figures of Mickey, Minnie and their dog, Pluto. Guests then head to the unload station, disembark, and go back through a movie screen in a new postshow theater, to eventually exit out the same exit doors as The Great Movie Ride.
An Imagineer working on the park scene for the ride, which could be the area as seen in the first or final scene of the attraction.
Do keep in mind that all of this will be combined with cutting-edge trackless ride technology, an original musical score and theme song, over 10 audio animatronics, and the first-ever “2.5D” effects (think of it as 3-D without the use of special glasses), so text probably does not do every scene justice. Also keep in mind that many of the events that will take place in each scene are still a secret, so Runaway Railway has plenty of tricks up its sleeves.
If all of this sounds exciting, well, sadly we still have 18 months or more to wait for this attraction to open, but it sure does sound pretty cool. Of course, stay “tooned” to WDWNT.com for the latest on Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Some screenshots were collected from a video by Attractions Magazine, which you can see here.
