Dirk Wallen’s 10/19-10/21/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen did some park hopping this weekend, so let’s take a look at some newsworthy photos from the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

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Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train construction

Princess Fairytale Hall

Work continues on the upper-level of Village Haus

Work continues on the new restrooms coming to the former Skyway site

Modifications are taking place at “it’s a small world” related to new guest flow for when stroller parking once again moves next door at the old Skyway site

More metal guardrails are being installed on the Tomorrowland bridges

Magic Carpets of Aladdin is closed for refurbishment

Work continues on the Grand Floridian DVC wing

EVEN THE WALLS HAVE WALLS!

Moving to Epcot, work continues on in Innoventions central

Still nothing up on the canopy at Test Track

Moving over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the facade of Legend of Jack Sparrow is looking much better than when we first checked in

A large mural of the circular map from “At World’s End” covers most of the soundstage

Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope will start greeting guests on October 28th

AWESOME

Guests can color while the meet and greet is being installed

Plenty of Wreck-It Ralph merchandise available at Mickey’s of Hollywood

children’s shirt

Most of this stuff can be picked up at your local Disney Store

Scented plush

Adam Roth’s 10/22/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited the Magic Kingdom and the surrounding resorts on Monday and has a TON of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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Work continues on RFID turnstiles at the Magic Kingdom

Walls up on the other side too

Holy…

That’s more like it…

That isn’t Osh Popham…

These “black and white” plush have been out for a few months now

We look at Wreck-It Ralph stuff for the 40th time

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom shirts are selling well

Still gross…

Wow…

Magic Carpets of Aladdin closed for refurbishment

A lot of guests want to see mermaids!

Walls still up at the Crow’s Nest

Golden Oak Outpost closed

I’d rather not…

This would be why

Holy lines Batman

You know what doesn’t have lines?

The new, shorter Country Bear Jamboree!

It will never break 12 again…

Lobby wasn’t touched

The theater is another story

New lighting is quite noticeable

These guys look brand new

All of the bears got new fur and clothing

They look incredible

The bad part of all this is the cutting of much of the show

The Five Bear Rugs no longer sing “Devilish Mary”

“Fractured Folk Song” was also cut, then the song order was changed as well

Lines from some songs were even cut

HE LOOKS AWESOME!

A lot of dialogue was cut as well…

It’s great that the attraction was completely restored, but it’s a shame we had to lose so much of it

The Gaston’s Tavern mugs are being repurposed at Sleepy Hollow

I think it’s a neat idea

Work continues on the new restrooms on the former Skyway site

There’s a chimney

The construction walls now extend to the “it’s a small world” exit tarps

Tarps still up at Village Haus

Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train construction

Cast Member previews are currently taking place

Guests are confused! EVERYONE SAID IT WAS OPEN!

I hope something will be done with pavement land at some point

Work continues on Princess Fairytale Hall

The exit test is still happening

Work continues on the Grand Floridian DVC addition

A beautiful sight at your wedding!

The parking lot is just about finished

Let’s head over to the Polynesian

RFID is in full use over here

Let’s go shopping

A lot of the 40th anniversary merchandise has been rebranded

Toothpick holders!

Let’s go eat

BACON CUPCAKES!

IT’S BACON! Well, not completely…

Adam had to get one…

A nice secluded spot to enjoy a Dole float

A look across the Seven Seas Lagoon at the Grand Floridian DVC

We have our first wall

I think it will blend nicely

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Rust This World

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

Rust this World delivers us some more classic Disney in custom form.

Destination Vinylmation: First of all, Splash is my favorite ride at Walt Disney World and your depictions of Brier Bear, Brier Fox and Vulture are fantastic. Why did you decide on these three Villains?
Rust This World: I think the characters from Song of the South and Splash Mountain are under utilized. I know Disney likes to pretend that the film doesn’t exist, but I’m pretty shocked that we haven’t gotten a single park figure based on Splash Mountain yet. I love the character designs, and of course they add to my huge villain collection. I got to try some new stuff on them too like sculpting hats and painting parts of their bodies so that they didn’t match up with the same part on Mickey’s body.

DV: What are some of your favorite features about the Queen, Hook and Tremaine?
Rust: The others I did because I wasn’t satisfied with the official designs. Though instead of just stretching them out, I framed their bodies with a background or other features, so they keep their look without becoming fat, but aren’t split in half on the bridge of the nose. I really liked putting Lucifer on the feet of Tremaine.

DV: And where can people reach you?
Rust: My webpage is www.rustthisworld.com and my facebook is www.facebook.com/rustthisworld

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Karen Turner

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

Today we would like to share the work of Karen Turner. Karen lives in Valrico, FL where she creates custom jewelry and Vinylmation. We recently talked with her about her passion for Disney and creating these works of art.

Destination Vinylmation: Were you into creating artwork before custom Vinylmation?

Karen: Definitely!!  I have painted ceramics for years and years and have always been working on some sort of project or another, even as a kid.  I majored in art in college for awhile, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with an art degree. I then changed my major to History (I was going to be a teacher).  After college I managed my Brother’s insurance office for several years (thereby proving that what your college major is often has nothing to do with what career you will have after college!!)  while toying with the idea of selling my work online.  Finally, a couple of years ago, I worked up enough nerve to open a shop online and create full time.  In my shop I have jewelry, hand crafted boxes, hand painted ceramics, ornaments, and my latest edition to my shop is of course, custom Vinylmation.

Karen’s “All the Colors of the Ocean” necklace

DV: How many customs have you done?

Karen: About a dozen or so.  Right now I have five in my shop, but I first started with making customs for my Niece.  She and I both love Vinylmations, so I painted one for her based on drawings she would make for me when she was younger of a winged heart with a halo (Angel Hearts she called them).  I also painted a tonal gold and silver one and a pink polka dotted one for her. Those got me hooked on painting custom Vinylmations.  When the Jr Raindrops came out, I thought a rainbow would be neat to go with it and a sunshine as well.  So I painted a 3″ rainbow and a Jr sunshine.  When my Dad saw the rainbow one, he said you should sell that and you could name him Roy G Biv for the colors of the rainbow.  So, now I have a line of different Roys – traditional, pastel, and bright.

Roy G Biv 3″

DV: Do you collect Disney’s Vinylmation?

Karen: Oh definitely!!  And I must say, when I discovered your website my Vinylmation addiction grew!!  I love all the updates and in depth analysis you do on the different vinyls.  I have a feeling from the pictures of Vinylmations I have seen from the D23 Expo, my wallet is going to be hurting in the coming months!!

DV: What is your favorite figure?

Karen: Just one?  That’s impossible!! My favorites that I actually own are: It’s a Small World 3″ from Park 3, Squares from Urban 4, Mardi Gras, and  Love 9″ from Urban 6. My favorites from the ones I don’t own (yet) are Magical Stars from Park 1, It’s a Small World 9″ from Park 1, Teacups from Park 1, Birds on a Wire, Red Scream, Railroad from Park 9, Skyway from Park 9, Living with the Land from (a future Park series), and the Gumball Ear hat set.

Urban 4 Squares

DV: What is your personal favorite custom that you have done? Tell us about it, the design and inspiration.

Karen: Well, I love my Roy G Bivs, but I think my absolute favorite customs I have done are Cumulus Mouse and my Autograph Mouse.

Cumulus Mouse 3″

I got the idea for Cumulus Mouse while watching Up – a super favorite movie of mine.  The scene where Carl and Ellie are cloud watching and finding shapes in the clouds gave me the idea for it.  I used a textured paint to build up the clouds and kind of let the clouds take their own shape, except I did put a few hidden Mickey shapes in the clouds (I love hidden Mickeys at the Parks) just for fun.

Autograph Mouse 9″

Autograph Mouse is a 9″ I did for my own collection using the 9″ Glow in the Dark.  I had read about the problems people when having with their vinyls that had been signed by characters smearing.  So I made up a list of all the characters I would want to have an autograph of and Googled them and found images of their autographs.  For the characters that don’t give autographs (Nemo, Dory…) or don’t really make appearances in the park (Jessica Rabbit, Bolt..) I creates a signature that made me think of that character.

Autograph Mouse 9″

I also Googled Walt Disney’s and Roy Disney’s signature and put them on the vinyl – I figured without them there wouldn’t be any of this, so they definitely had to be on it.  I really like how it turned out.  It would have been great to have had the characters sign it, but this way I had no smears, and signatures I couldn’t have gotten any other way.

DV: What have you learned from creating your customs that you can pass onto other custom artists?

Karen: The first few are hard – more like learning experiences.  But once you get a feel for the material it’s gets easier to translate your idea to the figure.  Really, you have to be flexible with vinyls – sometimes their shape works great with a design, sometimes it makes the design really difficult and you may have to tweak your idea some.  So just be open to a little change and have fun!!

DV: What’s next?

Karen: Lots!!  I am working on a Night sky vinyl now that is looking really good.  I’ve got a hidden Mickey in the stars, which I love!!  I am also working on some Christmas themed vinyls – holiday lights, one that looks like an ornament that are turning out really well.  I have some other ideas brewing that I need to take time to get down on paper to see if they will translate to the vinyl well.  And I should get some inspiration soon because I have several trips to WDW planned for the next few months and I always get great ideas there!!

Topiary Mickey 3″

DV: Where can people go to see more of your work, see what you have for sale and contact you? 

Karen: You can see all of my work at my shop www.flightsoffancydesign.etsy.com  and even more photos on my Facebook Fan Page Flights of Fancy Design. I am delighted to take custom orders as well.  My email is flightsoffancydesigns@gmail.com.

DV: Thanks for showing us your work Karen.

Karen: Thanks so much for featuring me in your Spotlight On series – I am so delighted by this!!  I am glad you had such a great time at Disneyland – I have been trying to get everyone on board with making a trip out there in the next few years so both my nieces can see Disneyland. I included some other pictures of some of the Vinylmations discussed in the questions for you.  Let me know if there is anything else you need.  Thanks!!

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Brian Shapiro

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

To have your custom work spotlighted, please send an email to DestinationVinylmation@gmail.com
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Destination Vinylmation: TRON seems to be a fun choice for custom artists, and you have a few in your portfolio. Your TRON Donald and Pooh are wonderful. What was the inspiration for these? 

Brian Shapiro: I created those two figures before TRON: Legacy came out. I’ve been a huge TRON
fan since I saw the original as a teenager in 1982. Like Beauty and the Beast, other
artists had already done customs that we’re based on characters from the original film
and from the soon to be released sequel. That’s when I decided to do mash ups with
Disney characters, since I loved the action figure mash ups of the Disney and Star Wars
characters (I can’t wait to get my hands on the Disney Character Star Wars vinyls, quite
possibly my favorite set ever). I selected Donald Duck for TRON since his name
worked perfectly as TRONald, and I selected Pooh since his name worked perfectly for
Winnie the CLU. I thought it would be funny to adapt their GRID outfits to the
characters’ traditional outfits, so TRONald has a bow-tie and Winnie the CLU just has a
belly shirt!

I also gave each character a back story. TRONald’s is as follows:
“Once there were three young ducks who wanted their uncle to buy them the latest
video game console with motion sensing technology. Since he was a thrifty duck, the
uncle tried to build them his own game console instead. To his surprise, not only did his
homemade creation scan his movements, it scanned him right into the digital world
where he became TRONald! While his three nephews were disappointed not to get the
console they wanted, they sure had fun putting TRONald through all kinds of video
game trials on the Game Grid!”

Winnie the CLU’s is as follows:
“One day, a silly ol’ bear tried to digitize a pot of hunny so he could replicate an infinite
supply without having to worry about getting stuck in trees or stung by bees.
Unfortunately, the honey spilled from the pot, causing the computer to go haywire and
digitize the bear. Now, trapped in the Hundred Acre Grid, Winnie the CLU is desperate
to escape back to his home!”

When I get the time, I want to create JessiQuorra Rabbit…

Destination Vinylmation: You also have another TRON figure. When creating these, is there any rhyme or reason to the lines, or are they just a random aesthetic design choice? 

Brian: The other TRON figure I painted was inspired by the classic look of the original movie. I
love the scene when TRON, Flynn, and RAM escape the Game Grid on their light
cycles while being chased by Recognizers. I wanted to capture that on a vinyl, and I
thought the feet on the Vinylmation canvas look like two light cycles side by side. I
made one blue and one yellow. I then painted a classic Recognizer on the torso, and
covered the dark areas of it with a hand painted gloss finish to offset it from the rest of
the black areas on the figure. To keep the rest of the Vinylmation interesting, I used the
ears, head, and back for the angular light trails that the classic cycles created.

Mickey’s Circus- Popcorns

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

We learned a lot about Popcorns at Mickey’s Circus including the actual creation of the series.

Artist Doug Stayer created this art that Thomas Scott decided to turn into a series of Vinylmation. The series will be released in waves. No set number of figures in each wave, but it seems that they will let us know what will be in each series. If you didn’t know by now, Popcorns is a new platform for Vinylmation that will be sold in open window, popcorn shaped, boxes. Each will be based on Characters from the Disney movies or cartoons. The first series will be released at D-Streets on September 28th and retail for $24.95 (even the variants).

This series will include: Chip/Dale, Chernabog, Jack Skellington, Kermit, Sully, Dumbo, Goofy, Mickey

Pluto (online exclusive).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As far as variants go, there are at least 2 in the first series and they are both LE 2500. A Black and White Mickey that debuted at Comic Con and can still be found for sale at DisneyStore.com and a Clown face Dumbo. The Dumbo was first sold at Mickey’s Circus, but can now, as of 9/11, be found at D-Street Orlando.

The second series will be released next fall, but we already have a peak at two of the figures, Frankenweenie and Stitch.

 

 

D-Tour Photoshoot

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

D-Tour took Vinylmation to new places in design and creativity… We took D-Tour to all kinds of places inside Disney Quest at Downtown Disney Orlando.

D-Tour Color makes a splash!

D-Tour Color livens up the drawing.

D-Tour Headphones shows up for his recording session.

D-Tour Hearts knows the 411.

D-Tour Hearts leads the design class.

D-Tour Key West is alive and well.

D-Tour Vines is hanging around by the safari arcades.

D-Tour King Mickey presides over his jungle kingdom.

D-Tour Mean Mickey hangs out with his buddy.

D-Tour group at entrance to Disney Quest.

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Brian Shapiro

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

To have your custom work spotlighted, please send an email to DestinationVinylmation@gmail.com
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Destination Vinylmation: Today we will talk about a couple movie themed customs of yours. We will start with Thark from John Carter. Although a flop in the theaters, this figure came out spot on. You must be proud of all the detail in this one?
Brian Shapiro: Out of all my customs, this is my favorite. As you can see from my portfolio of work, I rarely ever create nine-inch figures. Besides the Thark and the Partners set, I’ve only done one other nine-inch design. I eschew the platform because I prefer to work in miniature. However, when I saw production stills and previews of John Carter before it came out, I was struck by the appearance of the Tharks, and I knew the only way to do them justice was to use the larger blank canvas. It allowed me to convey the height of the creature and gave me room to paint an extra set of arms. The Vinylmation took a long time to paint, consuming many little pots of Games Workshop paint and brushes, and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish it until a week or so after the movie’s release. Unlike the Tharks in the books, the ones in the movie had expressive eyes, and I think I captured them just right. I also had a little fun in that I painted the two extra hands to only have four fingers each to match the ones on the canvas’ arms. I replaced the design typically seen on the creature’s breastplate with a hidden Mickey, and I painted a Martian landscape on the ears. Finally, I couldn’t resist making my first large accessory, the spear, from a wood dowel, some ribbon, and a custom painted spearhead crafted from dental acrylic. I was proud to see it featured on Tomopop’s site, and when I posted a picture of it on Facebook, I was honored to see Thomas Scott both commend it and recommend that I post it on a John Carter fan site!

DV: Are you a fan of the books, movie, both? 
Brian: As much as I loved TRON: Legacy last year, I have to admit John Carter is a much better film. It is such a shame it didn’t get the recognition it deserved. I had not heard of the character until I saw the first previews last year. In anticipation of the movie I read the first book, and I’m partway through the second. It’s impressive to think they were written one hundred years ago, and it’s amazing how many modern franchises from Superman to Star Wars to Avatar are derivative from them. The movie did great justice to the material. It had great acting, brilliant special effects, and some clever humor. Hopefully people will pay more attention to it when it’s released on DVD on June 5. There’s no doubt it will be a cult classic like TRON, and hopefully we won’t have to wait thirty years for a sequel!

DV: You also created a Rocketeer. On this custom, you decided to not fill the entire Mickey head with the Rocketeer’s head. I can see this one being tricky, because the side view will have split heads. I ran into this issue myself with a custom. How often do you have to alter a design that works on paper, but not once you paint it on the mold? 
Brian: My Rocketeer custom was one of my first, and it was back in the days when I thought using accessories was cheating. I felt the entire concept had to be conveyed only through painting in the details. At the time, the only way I could imagine doing the fin on the helmet was to paint the helmet on the lower portion of the canvas’ head to allow room to paint the fin on the forehead. It also meant painting the non-helmet portions of the head to look like the sky. Today I would craft a fin out of acrylic. I knew when I painted the Rocketeer the design would look strange as viewed from the side, but I felt I had no choice.

Release Day! – June 22, 2012

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

A ton of releases today! Here we go…

Celebrate the 4th of July with a 3″ Uncle Sam figure. It’s designed by Thomas Scott and retails for $16.95. Available both online and D-Streets.

My favorite of the day, Mascots. A series of 4 open window vinyls that retail for $12.95 each and designed by Maria Clapsis. These are available both online and D-Streets as well.

Next up is the LE 2500 Golden Yeti Park Starz variant. This is available at the D-Streets but shows up as “Sold Out” online as of this post. He will set you back $26.95.

Next up, Nerds Rock! Figment and Stitch for $12.95 each. Available at D-Streets and the Disney Vinylmation Facebook Store.

Lastly, the 6 figure Disneyland set. Check out the full series here. And if there are Cast Member trader variants as assumed, please let us know as you find one!