Walt Disney Studios Releases 2014 Slate of Upcoming Films

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures today released their list of upcoming titles for 2014.

Disney Films 2014

The films and their expected release dates are:

February 28, 2014 – The Wind Rises
March 14, 2014 – Need for Speed
March 21, 2014 – Muppets Most Wanted
April 4, 2014 – Captain America: The Winter Soldier
April 18, 2014 – Bears
May 16, 2014 – Million Dollar Arm
May 30, 2014 – Maleficent
July 18, 2014 – Planes Fire & Rescue
August 1, 2014 – Guardians of the Galaxy
August 8, 2014 – The Hundred-Foot Journey
October 10, 2014 – Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
November 7, 2014 – Big Hero 6
November 21, 2014 – McFarland
December 25, 2014 – Into the Woods
Keep checking wdwnt.com for details on all these films as details become available

Tom Corless’ 12/30/13-1/1/14 WDW Photo Report

I managed to spend the last three busy days citing Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World and I have some photos to share with you all from my journey, so let’s tai a look at what’s new and exciting:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

New 2014 iPhone 4/4S and 5 cases have hit stores

These have a new design as they are hard cases with a bumper

Disney’s Hollywood Studios once again had the stage up for the holidays and used the screens to give guests park information

The Legend of Jack Sparrow is now only available to guests via a ticketing system done on a first-come, first-serve basis. Disney’s thoughts are guests will be less let down that this isn’t a ride if they don’t have to stand in line for 30 minutes or more. The tickets were all gone by the time we got there on the 30th.

Specialty holiday drinks were available in the park

Comedy Warehouse returned again for the busy holiday season

Moving to Downtown Disney, the new barbecue quick service location at House of Blues is nearing completion

These two-layered t-shirts were found at World of Disney

It’s a mesh layer over a colored character layer

The Disneyland 4-D puzzle has made its way to WDW

A whole bunch of new charms for charm bracelets have been released, including the Orange Bird

The 4th and final food truck debuted at Downtown Disney, Fantasy Fare

There are a lot of good offerings

CORN DOGS!!!

I dared to venture to the Magic Kingdom for New Year’s Eve again this year…

This looks much worse than it actually was, it took less than 3 minutes to get through bag check

Some lines were long, as to be expected, especially at Starbucks

Casey’s Corner was offering breakfast due to crowds

The ham, egg, and cheese croissant was excellent

Golden Oak Outpost has re-opened and now has a spicy chicken sandwich, the lines were just too long to try it on the 31st…

Pirates of the Caribbean reached an 80 minute wait at one point

Work continues on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Friar’s Nook is open as well and now has gourmet mac and cheese dishes

There are 3 choices of different mac and cheese styles

Here is the Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese

And the mac and cheese with bread crumbs, both were very good

The 31st was your last chance to catch Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade

See you in 2014 Santa!

Prince Eric’s Village Market was offering soup since it was cold

90 minute wait for Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

Cinderella’s Coach is out for photos through the 4th to deal with some crowds

The second seating planter by Pinocchio’s Village Haus came out from behind walls recently

A new sign was added to the facade of the Country Bear Jamboree in an attempt to draw in more guests

We dined at the Tortuga Tavern buffet that was only open for the busy holiday season and I have to say it was pretty good

Some great desserts as well!

The animated Pluto bank is now available in stores for $19.95

As always, free cookies and cocoa were offered at the end of the night to keep guests in the park during the midnight rush to leave

Moving over to Animal Kingdom, the Dawa Bar in Africa has moved opposite the Tusker House check-in desk to accommodate the eventual queue for Festival of the Lion King

A new limited release iPhone 5 case available at the park

Some new clothing

A sweatshirt

Construction continues on the new Festival of the Lion King theater

All guests visiting Animal Kingdom can now use FastPass+ by heading to any service center or FastPass+ location

This is the first KODAK picture spot sign I’ve seen blank, but it should have a new NIKON picture spot sing in it soon

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Some new Toy Story action figures made by Disney Parks have been released

Episode 146 Earful Tower

Ep. 146 Earful Tower

This week we discuss updated details on the Aladdin Junior Series. We now have a release date, a clear look at the series and the reveal of the chasers. We also invite Brendt on the show along with us to share our top Vinylmation of 2013.


Download podcast

A Little Extra Magic at Orlando’s D-Street

We brought you the story a few weeks ago about a couple Orlando Magic Vinylmation that were released at the Amway Center’s gift shop. The Amway Center is the home court of the NBA’s Orlando Magic. These two vinyls have now been released at Orlando’s D-Street location. One features Stuff, the Magic’s mascot. The other features the Orlando Magic logo.

Disney Parks Online Offering Dreamfinder and Figment Holiday T-Shirt Until 12/8

Recently, WDWNT shared with you the news that Walt Disney World was offering an online-exclusive t-shirt honoring the 30th anniversary of the Horizons attraction. Disney’s Design Group Artist, Casey Jones, has another unique collector’s shirt ready for the holidays, and this one features Epcot’s Journey Into Imagination attraction, which opened at Epcot on March 5, 1983.

figment

From December 4-8, 2013, you can visit www.DisneyStore.com/ParkEvents to order this holiday-themed T-shirt featuring Dreamfinder and Figment. (This shirt will ship in 6-8 weeks, and express shipping will not be available, so it may not arrive in time for this Christmas season, but you will have it for many Christmases to come!)

These one-of-a-kind shirts will make you the life of your next holiday party; order your’s today!

Will you be getting this Dreamfinder and Figment Holiday shirt?

 

 

 

Tom Corless’ 12/1/13 WDW Photo Report

I made a few visits to the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and Downtown Disney over the last couple of weeks and have been taking quite a few photos to share with you, so let’s take a look at what’s new and exciting at Walt Disney World:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Disney Infinity store displays can now be found in the parks

The gingerbread display at Disney’s Contemporary Resort is once again “it’s a small world” themed

There’s a tiny Contemporary made of out of gingerbread

Some of the offerings have Monorails filled with children of the world

There are even 5-legged goat crispy treats…

They also have a hidden Mickey cupcake!

Belle’s Village at the Magic Kingdom has been decorated for Christmas

Gaston uses antlers in all of his decorating…

There is now a Gaston’s Tavern antler hat

Also now for sale at the parks are these Disney food magnets

Moving to Downtown Disney, the path in the front of the West Side is now closed to guests

Pleasure Island is now the Walkway to the Marketplace…

The new bridge around Pleasure Island opened recently

Disney Springs artwork can be found on the construction walls

It seems all of the buildings not staying have been removed at this point and construction should go vertical soon

Captain Jacks and the marina should be removed very soon

Some new iPhone 5 cases with a better safety bumper came out recently

Also, we found the Master Gracey lenticular phone case

Another bumper case

Starbucks is coming to the West Side, replacing Wetzel’s Pretzels

Another look at Disney Springs construction

Another bumper case featuring Mickey Mouse

The food trucks have moved…

They can now be found between Disney Quest and La Nouba

The Namaste Cafe menu

The Superstar Catering menu

Joe Hogarty’s 11/29/13 Epcot Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Joe Hogarty went to Epcot on Friday to experience the first day of Holidays Around the world and he has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Holidays Around the World has returned to Epcot

Joyful! has returned for 2013

As has the Santa Mickey popcorn bucket

Holidays Around the World of course brings us the story of Christmas from each culture

Santa’s Village is back at the American Adventure

The Norsk Kultur cultural exhibit featuring Frozen in Norway finally opened

A really cool model in the exhibit featuring the castle

The American Adventure Christmas tree at night

The World Showcase Christmas tree looks great, as always

These snowflake decorations in Future World are new this year

Happy holidays from Epcot!

Disneyland Resort 11/29/13 Photo Report

After several months, we finally have a photo report from the Disneyland Resort. YAY!!! (Wild Applause) So here are a few pictures of some stuff going on at the Disneyland Resort.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
 
An external queue has been built outside of Earl of Sandwich 

 
Starbucks construction in Downtown Disney 



 
Over in Disneyland, Main Street Station has been set up for the Candlelight Processional which thankfully does not run 20 nights this year 


 
Quick mandatory photo of Jingle Cruise 


 
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad still closed. CMs telling us January reopening though it rumored to be delayed to late February. 



 
The Black Friday crowds were in full force. It it historically a very busy day though the rain kept it manageable 

 
Over in DCA, the Buena Vista Street Community Bell Ringers are back 


 
Cars Land Christmas 

 
Viva Navidad is going on in Paradise Gardens. 

 
Where you can meet sombrero Donald 

 
And buy some special event food 
 
Happy Holidays from DCA! 
 

“You Could Be In Pictures Kid!” Hollywood Brown Derby Lobby To Interact with MagicBand

Story courtesy of Jeremiah Good @JeremiahGood

image

The Hollywood Brown Derby just began some early testing with changing framed “magazine covers” on the walls in the lobby. The frames were installed several weeks ago, but tests actually using these screen pictures just began this past weekend.

image-4

At this point, if a cast member with a photo attached to their MagicBands walks into the lobby, they will appear on the cover of the framed magazines. When the final product rolls out with MyMagic+, when guests with reservations come into the restaurant, it will trigger with a “set” picture attached to their MagicBand to appear on the screens.

image-1

Once the guest is seated at a table, they will be brought a photo print of their cover. There is no word yet on if this would be an added cost to buy or included with PhotoPass. It is also possible that this will be part of MyMemoryMaker, which we still have no further details on.

image-3

The pictures you see in this post are the default pictures. The little black dot on the upper left hand corner of the pictures is the sensor.

So, what do you think? Is this a cool use of MagicBand technology, or a waste?

Dirk Wallen’s 11/23/13 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Saturday and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:

The free Jingle Cruise posters may be gone, but you can still snap a shot of this one…

New souvenir holiday cup

Some tarps are up on the top of the buildings that house Country Bear Jamboree and the Enchanted Tiki Room

Walls came down in front of Pinocchio’s Village Haus revealing a new planter/bench

It seems this will also serve as some overflow seating for guests at the restaurant on busy days (the seating area was also expanded slightly)

The paint is still drying in some areas

Walls are still up on this section

The giant Mickey wreath is now up on the Contemporary

Moving over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Christmas tree has been installed replacing the long-running Monsters University display

Yummmmmm…

A sparse collection of celebrity autographs now hangs in Sid Cahuenga’s at the Studios, no longer a store and now a MyMagic+ service center

Phineas and Ferb wearing holiday attire

Much of the Sid Cahuenga’s merchandise has moved to the AFI Showcase by the Backlot Tour

The final display in the AFI Showcase from Life of Pi is now gone

Inside the Magic of Disney Animation building, posters are now up for Big Hero 6 and Inside Out

As well as The Good Dinosaur and Planes Fire and Rescue

Next door to the Cars meet and greet, a new quick service coffee and pastry stall is going up

The web at the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playset Adventure is under refurbishment

Some sort of permanant stall is going up at the front of PIXAR Place as well…