These motion posters are really something else! And check out these new character posters, including our first look at Dan Stevens as Prince Adam, in amazing high quality images.
Disney has given us our first look at these new character posters, as well as the motion posters for Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” the live-action adaptation of the studio’s animated classic, which include: Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast, Dan Stevens as the Prince, Luke Evans as Gaston, Kevin Kline as Maurice, Josh Gad as LeFou, Ewan McGregor as Lumière, Stanley Tucci as Cadenza, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, Audra McDonald as Garderobe, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth and Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts.
Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival 2017 Passholder T-Shirt
The two annual pass holder exclusive shirts for the event feature Figment, as well as the Monorail and Spaceship Earth. Oh, and some flowers and such, those are kind of important to the event I guess.
Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival 2017 Passholder T-Shirt
Moana Island Life has finally released in the States for iOS, Android, and Amazon devices.
This free-to-play kingdom builder game allows players to explore Oceania through voyaging, creating villages, harvesting crops, and completing quests for local villagers.
We originally reported on the game, back in September when it was soft launched on the Canadian App Store. Nearly five months after the game’s release in Canada, and two months after the movie’s theater debut, we finally have the game available here in the States.
As mentioned above, the game is free-to-play, so expect in-game purchases. Here are some screenshots of the game to get a better look.
Yesterday, Marvel and major video game publisher Square Enix announced a multi-game licensing and publishing partnership agreement.
The first game to come from the new partnership will be an Avengers game, currently codenamed “Avengers Project”. The game is being developed by Crystal Dynamics (best known for the recent reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise) as well as Edios-Montréal (best known for the Deus Ex series).
Unfortunately, we won’t hear more about the Avengers game, or any other new projects until 2018, but here is a teaser in the meantime.
Below is a quote from Jay Ong, senior vice president of of games and entertainment at Marvel:
By partnering with Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montréal, we are now working with two of the industry’s most talented and respected game development studios to bring Marvel stories to life in ways our fans have never experienced. The Avengers project is a perfect example of how Marvel is making games a key part of the landscape for Marvel storytelling, alongside comics, television and film. We can only do this by matching our greatest Super Heroes with the world’s top developers, such as the creative minds at Square Enix.
With this announcement, as well as the recent announcements of Insomniac’s Spider-Man game and Telltale’s Guardians of the Galaxy game, it is clear that Marvel is really trusting well-known highly esteemed publishers and developers with their biggest franchises. Hopefully this will all culminate in some of the best super hero video games ever released.
Our latest photo report brings us back to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to see the latest work on the two major themed-lands being added to the park, as well as on a  number of smaller projects. Let’s head on in…
Welcome to Hollywood!
Great Balls of Fire was playing on my radio while I was pulling in, which just made we wish that I had an ADR for the Sci-Fi-Fi Dine-In…
There is a lot of ground being ripped out around the perimeter of the park to run some new utility related pipes and wiring.
The large cranes towards the back of the park are quite visible from the parking lot.
The current times guide for Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
For a park that needs dining capacity, they don’t often keep many of the larger establishments open late.
Many more benches were installed around this planter and the roasted nuts cart has returned in a new location.
Toy Story Land
Work continues on the Toy Story themed land for the park, with dirt being moved just behind Toy Story Midway Mania at the moment.
You could make a little flip book of the next few pictures if you would like.
The desolate alley between Toy Story Mania and the former Jack Sparrow attraction offers a glimpse at the building for the Slinky Dog roller coaster, Slinky Dog Dash.
You can see it better in our last aerial flyover video:
Dirt obscures the view behind the gate.
This and That
The signage o n the Joffrey’s cart by Tower of Terror was moved over so that guests could actually see the person serving them…
Billboards for Beauty and the Beast and Born in China up behind the Great Movie Ride.
Sonny Burbank greeting guests outside of the Tower of Terror.
Fairfax Fare
We enjoyed a lunch at Fairfax Fair consisting of the salad and a giant baked potato.
A review of the baked potato can be found here, and a review of the new tex-mex menu here.
Mousecellaneous
The Fantasia projection in the Great Movie Ride has finally been switched to digital HD. This was the last screen in the ride to still utilize physical film.
The Disney Infinity play area in Star Wars Launch Bay is now closed. No word yet on what will replace it.
Additional signage was added outside of Red Carpet Dreams to make sure that guests know who is meeting there.
The remote control Mouse Droid is finally available, we found them at Tatooine Traders. They retail for $54.99 each.
It’s time to check in on the latest progress on Pandora: The World of AVATAR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where more and more details are being revealed and Disney is preparing to illuminate the massive land in the evenings for guests. Let’s check it out…
From a far, we can see the entrance to the land just over the bridge, as well as the floating mountains, but not really much else.
The second set of construction walls was open for some reason, giving us a glimpse further inside.
Sadly, all we can see is a construction fence.
There is one structure on the horizon, one we suspect to be a restroom facility, but we could be wrong.
The strange plant structure by the entrance continues to get new details added each time we visit.
For a better look, please check out the video provided below:
Upon returning in the evening, we could see that all of the lighting on the bridge to Pandora was turned on.
I will say, if the level of detail on the bridge and the strange plant structure are any indication, then we are really in for something special here.
As we were leaving the park, we noticed that a projection mapping test was taking place on the floating mountains above the land. We suspect that there will be a nightly lighting show much in the same vein as Cars Land, but this one using projection mapping technology similar to the Tree of Life Awakenings and Once Upon a Time.
It may be just a grid now, but some bright, bioluminescent projections could really make this something special to behold every evening in the park.
So, who’s excited to visit Pandora this Summer? What part of the project are you most excited about? Tell us in the comments below!
Disneyland is unveiling a new fine-dining experience, available to just a single party of 12 per night. Called 21 Royal, guests can book the experience for $15,000 (including tax, gratuity, valet, and park admission) as of today.
The 21 Royal event begins with specially trained guides greeting your party at the Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa and leading guests to the new, most exclusive address inside the park: 21 Royal Street, which is part of what was originally envisioned to be Walt Disney’s apartment above New Orleans Square.
A cocktail hour gives you and your guests time to explore 21 Royal and be regaled by your guides and sommelier Matt Ellingson with the lore and history of the space. The personal connection to “the man behind the mouse” infuses the suite with a lovely intimacy, and the colored lanterns and firefly lights of the courtyard at the heart of the floor plan cast a gentle glow over close conversations.
Storytelling remains the theme in the just-completed dining room, where executive chef Andrew Sutton and chef de cuisine Justin Monson present what they call “epicurean theater”: fine cuisine with an exciting dash of showmanship. Sutton, the culinary director for signature restaurants at the Disneyland Resort, aims at 21 Royal to give the kind of dinner party Walt and Lillian would—but in the present day, and with a culinary style that ranges wide while staying rooted in California.
The seven-course menu is fully tailored for every group, whether your wish is for the chefs to delight you with untrammeled inventiveness or to design an entire meal from the starting point of sourcing a fondly remembered wine from a special occasion in your past. No matter what shape your menu takes, the chefs and Ellingson introduce each course and pairing with stories about their inspiration that draw you into their lives and help build the experience of communal connection that defines the most memorable shared meals.
As the evening draws to a close, you adjourn with coffee and desserts in the dining room or on the spacious private balcony for a view of the charm and lights of the park at night; if the skies are clear, you might enjoy the fireworks spectacular from your perch.
And when it’s inevitably time to part, the fabled sweet sorrow is tempered by the warmth of an evening spent in an incomparable setting enjoying peerless service and food in lively company—true magic.
Tonight on WDW News Tonight, Housekeeping at Walt Disney World gets an overhaul, we bring in a special guest, and we play our first game of Jeopardy: The WDWNT Edition for fabulous prizes…
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 and announcer Michelle Wargo.
Coming up on this week’s show:
A recap of the week’s news (with a WDWNT comedic twist)
On January 27th, 2017, Vinylmation Park Star Series 5 will be released at the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts, and it features what is probably the most amazing character lineup to date:
Figures in series 5 include:
Henry – Country Bear Jamboree
Pele – Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
Mexican Child and French Poodle – “it’s a small world”
Computer Technician – Spaceship Earth
Goat chewing dynamite – Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Waldo C. Graphic – MuppetVision 3-D
Phineas the Hitchhiking Host – The Haunted Mansion
Pirate with Map and Key – Pirates of the Caribbean
