Overnight, the top of the Sorcerer’s Hat at Disney’s Hollywood Studios was removed…
They didn’t even have time to haul the tip of the hat off somewhere
We’ll keep you up to date on the progress of the removal of the Sorcerer’s Hat at Disney’s Hollywood Studios every step of the way, so stay tuned!
During the first-ever “food truck takeover” January 16-18 at Exposition Park at Downtown Disney, visitors will experience a fun way to get a taste of the new Trattoria al Forno menu.
Superstar Catering food truck, which usually features tastes of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, will be the makeshift kitchen for the Trattoria chefs to serve three of the restaurant’s most popular dishes: an oversized beef and spinach meatball in a sourdough bread bowl (inspired by the restaurant’s Polpetta Gigante) with housemade “Sunday gravy” ($12.25); lasagna ($10.75), and tiramisu ($6). They’ll also be pouring Sogno d’Italia Chianti from Tuscany, representing the restaurant’s all-Italian wine list and a perfect pairing for the lasagna and meatball.
Exposition Park hours are noon-11 p.m., weather permitting. More Disney restaurants will showcase menu favorites with upcoming food truck takeovers.
If a taste at Exposition Park should leave you wanting more, Trattoria al Forno on Disney’s BoardWalk is open 7:30-11 a.m. for breakfast, 5-10 p.m. for dinner.
Since 1988, we have been patiently waiting for a new pavilion to grace World Showcase at Epcot, filling one of the many expansion pads around World Showcase Lagoon. Well, the addition of Frozen to Norway at Epcot will apparently include a large meet and greet pavilion for the Frozen characters that will take up one of these plots.
Filings with the South Florida Water Management District discovered this week by StitchKingdom reveal Disney’s plans for the space next door to the existing Norway pavilion.
The 13,000 square foot building will be located just across from the restrooms, Kringla bakery, and Stave Church. The space at the very least includes a Frozen character meet and greet and new women’s restrooms (we expect the existing restrooms will be remodeled and made into a larger men’s restroom). Behind the building, parking spaces and needed facilities for the pavilion will be constructed. The new building may also house something else because of the size of the structure, but it seems likely Disney will make the most of the space to make sure as many guests could meet Anna, Elsa, and Olaf as possible with a minimal wait.
The former Anna and Elsa meet and greet space in Norway was too small to handle the long queues and guest demand for the characters, thus prompting Disney to build this new facility which will have its very own entrance. While the historical facades of Norway will not be altered, we can expect this meet and greet’s facade to be themed to the fictional kingdom of Arendelle from Frozen.
Dates for the sixth annual Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic have been announced. The popular event is set for Friday October 30, and Saturday, October 31, 2015, at the Swan and Dolphin.
The two-night, outdoor festival will feature more than 40 stations with culinary selections from the hotel’s award-winning restaurants and wine from more than 30 wineries. Guests will also enjoy live music, a beer garden featuring local and seasonal brews from around the world and food and beverage seminars led by the hotel’s chefs and certified beverage experts.
More details about the event, including specific ticket packages, will be announced later. For the latest information, guests can visit www.SwanDolphinFoodandWineClassic.com, like www.facebook.com/swananddolphin or call 1-800-227-1500.
There’s a little less hat today…
Based on the way they are now cutting into the structure, we can throw away that theory that the Sorcerer’s Hat may ever be rebuilt somewhere else…
The Trolley Car Cafe at Disney’s Hollywood Studios may not be set to open until next month, but we are taking a look inside the new Starbucks location for the first time today…
The facade still looks great and thankfully the patio crammed with plush is no more
The sign mirrors the decorative paint scheme you would find stemming from the light on the front of the Trolley
The vintage style Starbucks sign was added just a few days ago
Menu displays are up as well
Great to see neon signs still being made for this section of the park
The new wrought iron is great too
Looking inside, the back wall against Sunset Boulevard is the service counter, with guests entering through the front on Hollywood Boulevard and exiting through the side door at the intersection of the two Boulevards
It looks like just some interior decorating and training remain before we see the Trolley Car Cafe open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
Guests always seem to be confused about how to get to Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom, so Disney is going to be making it a little easier for them to find it…
The former home to the old FastPass machines for the ride will be the new attraction marquee and entrance when the ride returns from its refurbishment scheduled from January 20th through February 9th, 2015. Hopefully this will help guests locate the attraction easier than the more subtle signage and location in use today at the park.
The second teaser trailer for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ will appear before the movie, ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron,’ when it opens in theaters on May 1st. This isn’t to much of a surprise since ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ is expected to have the biggest opening of 2015 and it makes sense to show the trailer before what is expected to be the second biggest opening, ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron.’ It is rumored that we will get our first at look at Han, Leia, Luke and possibly Chewbacca, C3PO and R2D2 .
It is possible that we will see the second teaser even earlier than May 1st. ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’ will open a week earlier in Australia and New Zealand. Also keep in mind that ‘Star Wars Celebration,’ which is the official Star Wars Convention, will take place on April 16-19 in Anaheim, California and there is a very strong probability that fans attending may see the teaser there.
Update: I just got some new information regarding the next trailer. /Film is saying that although they agree that the new trailer will debut before the film ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron,’ they do not believe that the characters from the ‘Original Trilogy’ will be shown in the next trailer because Lucasfilm wants to keep their specific roles as secret as possible. This makes more sense to me and I will tell you why in the spoilers below.
SPOILERS: Your first clue is in the actual title, ‘The Force Awakens.’ Luke has been missing for 30 years. If Luke was around during all of that time, they would not have called the movie ‘The Force Awakens.’ As the last known living Jedi, Luke would not have just given up being a Jedi and stopped practicing the Force. MAJOR SPOILERS: Most insiders are saying that the movie opens up where Luke’s severed hand and his light saber are floating in space and the light saber lands on a desert planet (might be Tatooine, might not). This is what brings the main characters, John Boyega (Finn) and Daisy Ridley (Rey), together. They find the light saber and eventually find Han Solo, who confirms it is Luke’s light saber. Han, Rey and Finn then take off on the Millennium Falcon to search for Luke.
Original Source: Latino Review
Photo courtesy of the Walt Disney Family Museum
The boarding opportunity has been extended for the Walt Disney Family Museum’s comprehensive exhibition, reflecting Walt Disney’s personal and professional interest in railroading. For those who haven’t seen the show or want another look, it will mercifully be extended until March 15.
American railroading is certainly an allegory for Walt Disney’s personal and public life. He arrived at so many of his triumphs, figuratively and literally, on a train. From his first job as a News Butcher on the Missouri Pacific line, to the “birth” of Mickey Mouse on a train; from his creation of Disneyland, surrounded by a train, to his vision of a City of the Future, bisected by fleets of sleek trains of assorted sizes, quietly serving the public.
Unseen, this exhibition might be judged to be a most casual of glimpse into one of Walt’s interests. But the level of the show’s execution takes it far beyond any backward glance at an elite hobby enjoyed by some of the Studio hands. It quite possibly exposes a type of zeitgeist in evidence there and then. It is a rare group of people who have enough passion for a pastime, especially one with the myriad of intricacies involved, in fabricating and running practically “living and breathing” machines. They were precisely the type of people who could successfully surmount the difficulty of making art and music into something that is perceived as “real.” The challenges involved in creating the illusion of life.
The Lilly Belle plans were reduced from a schematic of the Central Pacific engine No. 173. Image © Disney
Despite, or maybe because of the intricacies of a seemingly antiquated pursuit, the boss’s interest drew collaborators from the apex of the studio’s shops and animation stable, Ward Kimball and Ollie Johnston among them. These two were members of Disney’s group of Animation Directors, dubbed his “Nine Old Men.” They were also among the first American “civilians” to restore and install full sized railroads in their “backyards.” But still other skills were needed to push this pursuit forward.
The destination sign from Ollie Johnson’s “backyard” railroad.
Roger Broggie came to the Disney Studio in 1939 as a precision machinist, mostly to work with cameras and the tools of movie making. Broggie also worked with Walt Disney to create the model trains for Disney’s 1/2 mile-long, backyard Carolwood Pacific Railroad and its “Lilly Belle” locomotive. He subsequently went on to work on the bigger trains for Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Seeing Walt ride around the studio lot on his diminutive live steamer must have contributed to a lightened atmosphere on the lot in the late 1940s. A little bit of Post War, Post Strike glee during the Studios’ final period before the landmark diversifications into television and theme parks.
Several elaborate electric train layouts in the exhibit pay tribute to these Disney Rail Pioneers.
This fanciful layout pays tribute to Ward Kimball’s Grizzly Flats Railroad. It includes a Hobo Camp from which is heard a plaintiff solo harmonica contributed by musician Neil Young – himself a devout miniature railroad fan.
And then there is of course Walt’s long time alter-ego – Mickey Mouse who shortly after his debut in Steamboat Willie, would pilot Mickey’s Choo-Choo in a 1929 short of the same name. Trains of all sorts that made appearances in Disney shorts and films, either as plot devices or as characters of their own in animated films also appear here.
An exploratory sketch of the Casey Jr. Circus Train from Dumbo. Image © Disney
Not only are the familiar “American Type” steam trains explored in this wide-ranging and ambitious show, curated by Michael Campbell, president of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society. Other trains that were used to further different stories in the Parks and films are in evidence: The Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland, the Casey Jr. Circus Train, the View-Liner and it’s descendant The Disneyland- Alweg Monorail System among them. Iron trains only! There is no evidence of Disneyland’s extinct Pack “Mule Trains.”
The actual Lillie Belle from Walt’s backyard remains on regular display in the museum’s main galleries. It is the little train that spawned a game-changing amusement experience. Photo courtesy of the Walt Disney Family Museum
This familiar looking poster actually promotes the Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad. Image © Disney
To this point in time, railroading has remained a vital component in all of the Disney Theme Parks. Here’s hoping that tradition steams forward, as the trains continue, like Walt Disney, to tell a story that runs right down the middle of The American Century.
The Walt Disney Family Museum is located at 104 Montgomery St. in the Presidio of San Francisco.
Take this with a very heavy grain of salt. This story was originally posted by Latino Review, which has a decent track record for nailing exclusive stories, but they are not perfect. We still have not heard anything official from the SONY and Marvel Spider-man summit, which is to take place this month, but it sounds like some sort of agreement will be met where Spider-man will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Disney and Marvel will co produce future Spider-man movies with SONY.
According from a reliable source at Latino Review, the Spider-man deal is done. Since this article was written, SONY has denied any kind of deal has occurred but I also doubt that SONY would come out and say, “Yes, that is true,” until they are ready to do so.
Massive SPOILERS ahead concerning the fate of many of the Avengers and Spider-man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nothing here is confirmed but comes from a reliable source. Do Not Read Unless You Want To Be Spoiled!
This definitely sounds great and if this is all true, part 2 of Infinity War is going to be incredible. Again this has not been confirmed but hope Marvel is heading in this direction.
Marvel Entertainment official announced the premier date for the Netflix series ‘Daredevil’ will be Friday, April 10th. The poster above was released for the series as well as a small teaser below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h334vn103YM]
‘Marvel’s Daredevil’ is a live action series that follows the journey of attorney Matt Murdock, who in a tragic accident was blinded as a boy but imbued with extraordinary senses. Murdock sets up practice in his old neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen, New York where he now fights against injustice as a respected lawyer by day and masked vigilante at night.
Entertainment Weekly recently had a cover story on ‘Ant-Man’ as well as a ton of new images and behind the scene pictures.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
The images above are from the official 16 month 2016 calendar. Have I said how much I love the new Captain America suit?
Marvel Comics’ ‘Star Wars #1’ came out January 14th and it sounds like it sold even more than expected. According to Marvel, they sold more than one million issues to retailers. And the final tally for variant covers was 74! A second printing for ‘Star Wars #1’ has already been announced. Basically, anything Star Wars is gold. Marvel and Entertainment Weekly shared with us a special preview of some of the first panels from the first issue.
Ever wonder how tall everyone is in The Avengers? Well now you don’t have to, thanks to the 東尼史塔克 鋼鐵人 Tony Stark Facebook page (yeah, I can’t pronounce his name either 🙂 ).
I thought it would be fun to add their weights too:
Also check out these before and after pictures of Chris Pratt (Starlord from ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’) and Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) that he posted on his Facebook page. Damn!
When the new ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’ trailer premiered last week the big question on everyone’s mind was who is this woman and where is she? The general consensus is that it could be one of two characters. The first would be the character Hela:
Hela is the Asgardian goddess of death in the Marvel universe. Originally appointed by Odin to rule over the dead in the realms of Hel and Niffelheim, she tried to expand her power to Valhalla, but was defeated by Thor. This led to her embracing the life of villainy and frequently clashing with the God of Thunder and many other Asgardians.
In the second trailer you can see below that Thor is being attacked in what seems to be a similar place to where this woman is and it does look like it could be on Asgard. Also Thor should never have any problem with lightning being the God Of Thunder. So this could be Hela and could lead directly into ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.
The other person that this woman could be is a member of the Dora Milaje, who are the personal bodyguards of the Black Panther. The movie did film in South Africa and from the rumors it does sound as though Wakanda, which is the Black Panther’s kingdom, may be one of the locations in the movie. This could lead up to ‘Captain America: Civil War’, which is supposed to have the first appearance of Black Panther.
I’m kind of hoping it is the former because I think that would be a great way to set up ‘Civil War’ and the future movies. Also in my first story above it would make somewhat sense if the possible spoilers for ‘Avengers: Infinity War Part 1’ were true.
That’s it for this week!
