Twilight Zone Tower of Terror “Authentic” Merchandise Line Arrives February 13th at Disney Parks

WDWNT on January 29, 2015

Friday, February 13th 2015 will be the official release date for the Hollywood Tower Hotel Authentic line of merchandise (celebrating the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror) coming to the Disney Parks in Florida and California! The products will be available at the attraction’s exit shop at both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney California Adventure.

With the release of the new merchandise, some of the Disney Design Group artists behind this collection will be appearing at Tower Hotel Gifts on Friday, February 13. This event will be held at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m and Disney Artists Tyler Dumas, Brian Blackmore, Richard Terpstra and Quynh Kimball are scheduled to attend.

Tom Corless’ 12/8/14 WDW Photo Report (Hub Remodel, New Magic Kingdom Merchandise, Animal Kingdom Construction, ETC.)

WDWNT on December 30, 2014

I recently visited the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom theme parks at Walt Disney World and have plenty of newsworthy photos to share with you from my trip, so let’s see what’s new and exciting:

We begin with the latest progress on the Hub at the Magic Kingdom

It may look rough, but with some dirt moved, some lamps installed, and some concrete poured, this is done

The other side looks a lot more complete

Most of the lamp & speaker towers are already installed here, leading us to believe this side will open by Christmas week

The new lampposts are nice, but I will miss the green coloring on everything…

A look over the walls from the other side

So… this happened…

Anyway… there are touch-points at the exit of Splash Mountain now to claim your photos

Provided everyone kept their clothes on, you can tap this to get your pictures

The “Made with Magic” wand is now out

You can change the color of other Made with Magic items

An incredible new line of Magic Kingdom merchandise has been released

I LOVE this notebook

Not related, but a new shirt

Some 2015 items are out

iPhone 6 Plus cases have arrived in GIANT packaging

Moving over to Animal Kingdom, work continues on the new pathway on Discovery Island

Walls in front of the Tree of Life were pushed back

So there’s a new area with planters that has been revealed

New Animal Kingdom merchandise

Not much new to see at the walls to AVATAR

Can’t see much at the future site of the Africa Marketplace either

Rivers of Light construction still isn’t much to look at yet…

The other side of Disney Outfitters and the new walkway through Discovery Island

Some people believe the work near Flame Tree BBQ is for a covered queue, but it looks like a service window to me…

It’s fairly small, but has openings on each side…

I’m guessing Starbucks or maybe a place to offer picnic packages once Rivers of Light begins in 2016

A look at the new path in front of the Tree of Life

Expedition Everest also has touch-points to claim photos as well

Not quite as well themed as some of the other ones…

I at first was excited about this Expedition Everest shirt

Until I saw that i had the wrong year…

Animal Kingdom is open after dark most nights currently, so if you can, get over there and do some walking around with the park’s light son (yes, they have lights)

See? LIGHTS!

Disney Springs Parking Structure Opening Date Revealed, Surface Lots to Close

WDWNT on November 25, 2014

The first parking garage at Disney Springs is essentially complete, and will open for “Cast Member previews” beginning on November 2nd, ahead of the “Early 2015” date Disney started to publicize a few months back when the project seemed behind schedule.

The structure will first open to the public on November 20th. Floors 1 through 4 will be fully open by December 1st. The top floor will open at a later date.

With the opening of the parking structure comes the closure of Downtown Disney surface parking lots A-G on December 1st.

Work will begin on the second parking structure for Disney Springs and the new Town Center district on December 1st as well.

Vote Now! 4th Annual Dee Vee Vinylmation Awards Ballot

WDWNT on November 25, 2014

Here is the ballot for the 4th Annual Dee Vee Awards brought to you by the Destination Vinylmation podcast.

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Dirk Wallen’s 11/3/14 WDW Photo Report (Walls Down at Disney Springs, New Concept Art, Big Hero 6, Christmas Merch, ETC)

WDWNT on November 25, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Disney Springs, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot this week and he has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us in this HUGE photo report, so let’s get started:

Plenty of roadwork still to be done for Disney Springs

A new piece of elevated track is rising on the West Side, between Splitsville and Wolfgang Puck

We now know this large building with be the Boathouse

Disney announced this new restaurant concept last week

They wasted no time in adding ads to the walls for the restaurant

Concept art for the faÃ§ade of the Boathouse

The small waterside park in The Landing opened this weekend

A nice little area for relaxing and live entertainment

Some of the buildings are out from behind construction walls in The Landing

New concept art for the area now on construction walls

There is a giant inflatable Baymax from Big Hero 6 on the West Side…

These storefronts in The Landing are just about done

The bridge in the Marketplace is also nearing completion

Two small, temporary stores operated by Something Silver opened by Fulton’s recently

The Marketplace bridge with the Rainforest CafÃ© faÃ§ade refurbishment in the background

Shifting gears, Christmas merchandise has invaded the resort

Ornaments

Some Star Wars holiday pins were released

Plenty of Big Hero 6 merchandise is available around the resort

2015 calendars available

New “I Conquered” shirt

Iron Man and Captain America shirts

New Star Wars character glasses

New Darth Vader t-shirt

Some new merchandise was released at the Art of Animation Resort

Over at Epcot, walls finally came down around the area that was closed when a water main was hit after the Flower and Garden Festival

No visible progress at Norway’s Frozen attraction

We tweeted these weeks ago, but if you haven’t seen, some new retro EPCOT Center merchandise has been released

A quick stop at Animal Kingdom reveals work walls near Pangani Forest and Kilimanjaro Safaris

No visible changes at AVATAR, it’s impossible to see from inside the park

Moving to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, work continues on Starbucks and the Trolley Car CafÃ©

Nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey…

Big Hero 6 merchandise carts replace the Frozen carts

Banners up in the Animation Courtyard

Work has finally begun on the Big Hero 6 meet and greet inside The Magic of Disney Animation

Big Hero 6 billboard by The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow

Let’s journey inside the new Wandering Oaken’s

Purchase with purchase Frozen bag available

Jim Shore has released some Frozen statues

Osborne Lights are ready to go

No more Backlot Tour…

Tom Corless’ 9/30/14 WDW Photo Report (Big Hero 6 Art, Backlot Tour, Rivers of Light, New Frozen Merchandise, ETC.)

WDWNT on October 24, 2014

It was quite the busy weekend at Walt Disney World, so I managed to visit all 4 parks to see what was new and have a ton of newsworthy photos to share with you in today’s report:

The Studio Backlot Tour closed forever on Saturday

A Big Hero 6 exhibit can now be found at the Magic of Disney Animation

Moving over to Epcot, menu changes have been made a the Electric Umbrella

I decided to try the French Dip burger

It was surprisingly good!

I also tried the Pumpkin Macaroon from the France ice cream parlor and it was amazing.

Over at the Magic Kingdom, this low clearance was added in the bus stop to ensure busses go the right way through the loop

The awning on the boat dock at the entrance was replaced, it’s now red instead of green

The latest progress on the hub at the Magic Kingdom

The Astro Orbiter reopened this weekend, but you can read more about that here

The leave-your-phone charging stations in Tomorrowland have all been closed, the test period came to an end and we’ll now have to wait to see if it was a success and is brought back

New Space Mountain ladies’ shirt

New men’s “I conquered Space Mountain” shirt

This artwork was previously on a black t-shirt and slightly different

Dumbo character sketches are now being sold at Big Top Souvenirs

New Beast plush for sale at Bonjour Village Gifts

Instead of selling generic items, there is a now a Beauty and the Beast shield toy

If you don’t have a FastPass for it, prepare to arrive at Be Our Guest at park opening to get a return time to eat lunch there or you’ll be turned away

Even more of Sir Mickey’s has been taken over by Frozen merchandise, even Ariel merchandise got pushed out

Some new Frozen artwork for sale

A two-sided Olaf ceramic ornament was just released

Queue work continues at Peter Pan’s Flight

We thought it would only be at Disneyland, but the Zero popcorn bucket was released at the Magic Kingdom! It costs over $13 but has a light-up nose feature

Strange new t-shirts…

LOVE this new sweatshirt!

Odd new Magic Kingdom shirt

Simple, but nice

Halloween 2014 Duffy

Some of the Haunted Mansion 45th anniversary lithographs have made it to Florida

An awesome new print by Alex Maher

In preparation for “Move It! Shake It! Dance and Play It!”, video screens are being installed on the floats

Moving over to animal Kingdom, it’s still a mess

At least all of the construction walls are decorated now

The UP meet and greet has seen better days

“it’s tough to be a bug” re-opened this weekend

Most of the nets installed to protect guests from falling particles have finally been removed from the queue

There are still nets by the base of the tree, not sure if these will stay here

work is picking up on the new nighttime show, Rivers of Light

The Everest shrine is behind walls and probably will be until the construction is done in late 2015/early 2016

Since one of the Wilderness Explorers’ answers is behind walls, they made a copy and placed it on the walls

The walls wrap around most of the river

We can peek through and see that the construction vehicles are already in place, ready to start working on the show and viewing area

Some sort of new structure is going up by Flame Tree Barbecue

An Oswald Christmas ornament was released

Dirk Wallen’s 10/10/14 Disney Springs/Downtown Disney Photo Report (The Landing, EPCOT Center, Food Truck Park, ETC.)

WDWNT on October 24, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Downtown Disney (Disney Springs as it will be known soon) yesterday and has some great newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:

The large waterfront building in The Landing is coming along nicely

It was supposed to open Summer, but Food Truck Park still isn’t finished

The concept art

There’s an EPCOT Center bag hidden in the artwork…

A look at the new boardwalk and the large new structure in The Landing, which is currently still Pleasure Island

Originally, the Landing was supposed to be just new dining options, but some retail space has been built

New, small retail locations can be found in front of Fulton’s

The first one appears to sell bar accessories

The second is called Sublime… no idea what it is…

The Marketplace bridge will be completed by early 2015, maybe even for the 2014 holiday season

Even though it is only a year old, the Rainforest Café volcano is being fixed up

Ghirardelli has a new sundae

They also have some great holiday treats

MINI CHOCOLATE!

PHOTOS: In-Depth Look at Every Shelf of the Haunted Mansion Store, “Memento Mori” at Magic Kingdom

WDWNT on October 24, 2014

The Haunted Mansion store in Liberty Square finally opened this week, titled Memento Mori. The store will carry some existing Haunted Mansion merchandise, but mostly the over 100 new items for the attraction arriving now at Walt Disney World. WDWNT reporter Joe Hogarty visited the store on Friday and took a TON of photos, so let’s take a tour of the shop and all of the new items:

The exterior of what was the Yankee Trader and is now Memento Mori

Yes, you can get a lenticular “dying” portrait of yourself for $20

We begin our look around inside the store… try not to drool…

Art and collectibles first

Statues of the busts in the interactive queue

Jim Shore created pieces

Art

Examples of the guest lenticular portraits and the frames for sale

Note the new version of the playing cards available

Constance the Bride plush!!!

There’s even stuff for the kids now…

Smaller items

Hitchhiking Ghost Action Figures

There’s so much stuff…

The rather plain GHOST HOST hat is a head scratcher…

Apparel and such

New-ish iPhone cases

The popular ghost hearse die-cast vehicle is back after several years off the shelves, you can get the black one here and a white one at Disneyland

Some of the Haunted Mansion merchandise released last year made it into the store

Madame Leota, before she passed away, has a portrait on the wall of her store

Not that the cast members have specific costumes for the store

It’s scary to think that there is even more of this merchandise on the way…

Wine glasses

The infamous urn… you know someone is actually going to put ashes in that…

I can… ONCE I BUY ALL OF THIS!

The plates with the layout of the Haunted Mansion house… if it were a real house with no show building…

Amazing bookends, note that one book is titled “Tales of a Rat”

Bookends

More plateware

Spider-web shelving for the home-goods

Ladies apparel

iPhone 5 accessories

They sell some treats with a Haunted Mansion theme

Spooky green cotton candy

Green and purple popcorn

The Haunted Mansion “Beautifully Disney” line is now out

More for the ladies

Men’s apparel, including a Hatbox Ghost sweatshirt

There is a tie…

Some shelves feature the same merchandise from other areas of the shop, at least until more items arrive

Decals, magnets and window clings

Hitchhiking Ghost iPhone 5 case

Madame Leota iPhone 5 case

A cast member trying to get guests to enter the photo booth a get a portrait made

Hats…

These are insane…

Somehow, not as bad as these… 😉

The store has been very crowded since opening

Thankfully, some of these older items will be sticking around

The sign on the Fantasyland side

Notice Madame Leota in the center of the sign

The sign on the Liberty Square side appears to follow you

Hopefully a template for future attraction shops, Momento Mori offers unique, non-generic, attraction-specific merchandise. We can only hope sales will be strong enough to push forward more creative merchandise and retail spaces for neglected, headliner attractions like the Haunted Mansion.

So… how much are you going to be spending in this shop on your next visit?

“Big Thunder Mountain Railroad” is the Next Comic Book In Marvel’s “Disney Kingdoms” Series

WDWNT on October 24, 2014

Today at the Magic Kingdom, a poster was hung outside of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad revealing artwork for the next chapter in Marvel’s Disney Kingdom series. It looks like the next chapter will indeed be based on the classic attraction, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Marvel’s DISNEY KINGDOMS is a comic book series created in close partnership with the world-famous Walt Disney Imagineers, and Marvel’s best and brightest creators to unleash entire worlds inspired by and built around the attractions and characters that you’ve always known—but will experience for the very first time. The first two series were “Seekers of the Weird” and the critically-acclaimed “Figment”.

The Disney Kingdoms line introduces new and exciting adventures expanding upon already beloved lands, attractions, characters, and worlds of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

Disney will be releasing an official announcement on the series tomorrow, October 18th.

Upcoming Pin Releases for Disney Parks Previewed at the Imagination Gala

WDWNT on September 30, 2014

At this year’s annual Walt Disney World pin and Vinylmation trading event called the Imagination Gala, Disney merchandisers previewed a slue of pins that will be released over the next couple months and also gave us a sneak peek at what to expect in 2015.

We will start with the Open Edition pins that will be released at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort…