Disney today announced that the Star Wars themed lands at both Disneyland Park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will officially open in 2019.
This marks the first date that Disney has given for the completion of the project on either coast.
Tonight, guests of the Disney Social Media Moms gathering at Walt Disney World were shown Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom during an exclusive private event.
Now, this isn’t taken by a professional videographer and the person recording does talk over it a little, but it appears to be the first video of the show from tonight’s preview to be posted online. Regardless, here it is (starts about 7 minutes in):
Most notably, several minutes of the show have been cut since the cast member previews a few months ago, but also some effects were missing that even appeared in those preview shows. It is likely that this is the finished product as cast members are actively scheduled to work at the theater starting this weekend and the show should formally debut around the time.
Tonight on WDW News Tonight, we go in depth on getting around Walt Disney World, we talk all the big news on AVATAR, Star Wars, and Rivers of Light, we review the Paddlefish and Planet Hollywood, and we play WDWNT: The Pyramid – California Adventure Sweet 16 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:
We hope that you will tune in tonight at 9PM ET for another episode of WDW News Tonight!
If you missed last week’s show, be sure to watch it:
Comingsoon.net has gotten their hands on some exclusive action figures that are part of The Marvel Legends line from the upcoming “Spider-Man: Homecoming”.
The picture below shows Spider-Man in the upgraded suit that he received from Tony Stark in “Captain America: Civil War”, now with web wings (also seen in the Spider-Man: Homecoming” trailer):
The same figure from above, just with the web wings removed:
Here is Peter’s first try at a costume, which was shown briefly in “Captain America: Civil War”:
It appears that we could get another version of Iron Man’s armor based on the design below:
Last but not least, we get a very detailed look at the baddie of the film, “The Vulture”. I’m sure this figure will come with wings, but for some reason they aren’t shown here:
Source: ComingSoon.net
Starting sometime later this month the character ‘Doc McStuffins’ from the animated Disney Junior tv series “Doc McStuffins”, will be available for a character meet and greet at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
At this time there is no official start date to when this will happen, all we know right now is that the meet and greet will be added some time later this coming month. Currently ‘Doc Mcstuffins’ is at Hollywood Studios, and will be at both parks.
‘Doc McStuffins’ will be found outside the veterinarian clinic at Rafiki’s Planet Watch. While there, kids will be able to take their pictures with Doc, have her sign autographs, and also learn about conservation and how the vets at Animal Kingdom take care for the animals that live there.
Walt Disney World is looking for actors to portray Star Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy for a special limited time experience.
The experience will likely be in the same vein as the recent Doctor Strange show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Similarly, it will probably not be advertised outside of the parks, but last though the publicity period for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 film.
The Disney Auditions site says the following:
Disney Creative Entertainment is seeking Male Look-alike performers to help portray Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord from the film, Guardians of the Galaxy, at an upcoming special limited engagement at the Walt Disney World® Resort, near Orlando, FL. Performers should be local to the Central Florida area, and should be available to begin work within the next two months.
Well, it has finally happened… Disney has announced the start date for Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and dining package information for the show.
Rivers of Light will begin performances on February 17th, 2017 with just one show per night (that one in particular being at 7:15PM). The show will be presented once nightly (according to the DisneyWorld.com calendar) only on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays until April 8th, when it then becomes a nightly offering. The February 17th show is the only Friday it is offered until April for some reason. April 9th was the first night on the schedule that I could find offering two shows. You can check for showtimes on the official page here (subject to change until any official announcement is made later today).
FastPass+ booking for the show is now open as well.
Rivers of Light Dining Packages are available now for all show dates. The only date it is not offered after April 8th is May 24th, 2017, which we assume will be because of a media event for the opening of Pandora: The World of AVATAR. No Rivers of Light shows are scheduled for that evening.
Tusker House has breakfast, starting at $39.00 adults, $23.00 children ages 3 to 9; Lunch/Dinner, starting at $52.00 adults, $32.00 children ages 3 to 9.
Tiffins has Lunch/Dinner starting at $67.00 adults, $26 children ages 3 to 9.
To book and get more information on these packages, click here.
Since the announcement of the MagicBand 2 back in November 2016, guests who dislike wearing a MagicBand have been clamoring for more information and to get their hands on the MagicKeepers to hold their MagicBand 2 icons. Well, I finally found the “MagicKeepers” accessories out in the wild while at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Tuesday.
MagicKeeper accessories for the MagicBand 2
The MagicKeepers come in two styles for now, one with a bow to represent Minnie Mouse and another without to represent Mickey Mouse.
MagicKeeper accessories for the MagicBand 2
They retail at $12.99 each before tax or any discounts. A screwdriver is included in the package to aid in removing the “icon” from the MagicBand 2 and placing it into this device. The tiny screws are in their as well.
Needless to say, I had to buy one to try it out. My experience did not go well, but I did eventually get the icon into this contraption. You can watch me struggle with the item below (this may be helpful if you plan on picking one up):
Now, while recording the video, I do inadvertently switch the backplates go the MagicBand 2 and the MagicKeeper and then have some problems installing it, but I assure you this was not the issue. The two pieces are identical, and during the cuts in the video, I switched back and forth several times and could not get either of the backplates to go on. The hooks in the back of the plates do bend easily during the process, so be careful. As you can see if you watch the video, I clearly bent both backplates in the process.
Switching these around all of the time will not be easy, if that was your plan. If you are only going to do this once, well, then you might experience zero issues (as you could see I got it to work quite easily early on).
The MagicKeeper with my MagicBand 2 icon properly installed.
There is at least one other MagicKeepers accessory to come still, as seen in the publicity photo below.
The full initial line of MagicKeepers accessories for the MagicBand 2
What do you think? Will you be switching to the MagicKeeper? Buying it as a backup? Or are you waiting for different accessories?
After 14 years, the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular at the Magic Kingdom will say goodbye on May 11, 2017 to make way for a new show beginning May 12th, 2017.
“Happily Ever After” captures the heart, humor, and emotions of Disney films through awe-inspiring fireworks, state of the art projections, and brilliant lasers.
Starting November 6, 2017, guests sailing on the Disney Dream will be able to see the brand new Stage Spectacular ‘Beauty and the Beast’ inspired by the new live-action film.
The musical will tell the classic tale of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ with classic story telling elements along with cutting edge technology to provide you the best theatrical experience you can have. According to the The Disney Parks Blog, in the coming months they will have a behind the ‘magic’ look at this upcoming spectacular, so stay tuned for future updates.
