Adam Roth’s 10/24/12 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday evening and has some great newsworthy photos to share with us, including New Fantasyland and our first look inside of the Be Our Guest Restaurant and how the counter service portion of the restaurant will operate. Let’s take a look:

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Frankenweenie merchandise available in Caribbean Plaza

Still not selling…

A Halloween collectible cup is now available at Sunshine Tree Terrace along with that Orange Bird thing…

Lights on inside Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train

Let’s check out Storybook Circus at night

Still strange…

As they need this path to move consturction items into Mine Train, it may be a long time before you can travel from Circus to Mermaid

The calliope looks great

Look closely

HA

We’re already in Storybook Circus… so this can be confusing…

Another look at Mine Train

Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid looks great at night

A great new place to watch fireworks

Gaston’s chair has arrived at Gaston’s Tavern!

Be Our Guest restaurant was open for guests to tour

The lobby

Gorgeous interior

Lots of ordering kiosks for counter service

It’s a scroll

RFID technology like the new room keys will be used in the ordering system

Touch the magic rose thing… you will get a plastic rose “puck” with an RFID chip which you will scan at your table so they know where to bring your food

It will be interesting to see how this works

Menu

Different kiosks look like different items

The ballroom

I assume this is “Be Our Guest” in French

Hopefully we will see more soon

You can see a early carving of the music box from Be Our Guest restaurant in Maurice’s workshop at Enchanted Tales with Belle, since Maurice built it and all…

I love this animatronic so much…

Plenty of Imagineers and construction workers out at Mine Train

Video & Analysis: Over 5 Minutes of the Original Country Bear Jamboree Removed

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

The Country Bear Jamboree returned to operation at the Magic Kingdom on October 17th following a 2 month refurbishment. As expected, all of the lighting, audio, and audio-animatronics were upgraded or fixed and all of the technical aspects of the attraction are working and looking better than ever. However, rumors of cuts in the show to make it shorter and increase the theoretical hourly capacity also came to fruition. We have video of the show to share with you so you can see the multiple songs, verses and lines fo dialogies cut from the show:

For those either unfamiliar with the show or in case you forgot what the show formerly was, I have compiled a list of everything that has been removed:

Opening and Pianjo
Buff: “We can’t hang around here all day”
Max: “Takes a little doin’ to set these things up”
Henry: OK, OK boys, take it easy, take it easy, now we’re ready to start. Sorry folks, I’ll be right with you. (Clears throat)”
Henry: “But enough of this chat chat, yak-yak, and flim-flam. Just refrain from hibernatin’ (laugh), and we’ll all enjoy the show because we’ve got a lot to give.”
(Several seconds of Pianjo number cut)

Bear Band Serenade with Five Bear Rugs
Henry: “Plus Gomer” (When introducing Five Bear Rugs number)
(One verse of “One sure thing the bear band’s got is real old country rhythm” cut)

Fractured Folk Song by Henry and Wendell
Song completely removed from show

If Ya’ Can’t Bite, Don’t Growl (Moved up in the show)
No cuts

My Woman Ain’t Pretty by Liverlips McGrowl
No cuts

Mama Don’t Whup Little Buford by Henry and Wendell
No cuts

Tears Will Be The Chaser For Your Wine by Trixie
(Introduction)
Henry: “A little bit of ever-lovin’ cuddlesome fluff”
(Ending)
Henry: “Beautiful, beautiful. That was a mighty big song Trixie.”
Trixie: “Oh thank ya’ Henry (giggles)”
Buff: “That sure ain’t all that’s big”
Max: “Well, you’re no lightweight yourself Buff.”
Henry: “Boys, boys, watch your manners.”
Melvin: “Yeah, if you can’t say somethin’ nice…”
Henry: “Now boys, boys, ok now boys if you just stop carrying on like, we just might dedicate this next song to ya’ll. And we so dedicate.”

Devilish Mary performed by Five Bear Rugs
Song completely removed from show

How Long Will My Baby Be Gone performed by Shaker
No cuts

All The Guys That Turn Me On Turn Me Down by Bunny, Bubbles, and Beulah
Repetition of “Nothing ever seems to work for me” at end of number

Heart We Did All That We Could by Teddi Barra
(Introduction)
Henry: “Swing it teddy!”
Max: “Wow, here she comes”
Buff: (Whistling)

Blood On The Saddle by Big Al
No cuts

The Ballad of Davy Crockett performed by Henry and Sammy
No cuts

Ole Slew Foot By All Bears
Opening verse removed

Exit and We Hope That You’ll Be Comin’ Back Again
(Opening)
Henry: “And bear around to see us again”
(Song)
Several lines of “We Hope That You’ll Be Comin’ Back Again” removed including spoke dialogue like “We had such fun but don’t you cry” & “We just can’t bear to say goodbye”

Luckily we have video of the original show that you can still enjoy:

So, what do you think of the changes to the Country Bear Jamboree? Good, bad, or a little bit of both?

“Give Me a T!” Test Track Exterior Concept Art Revealed

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

For those of you wondering what the facade of Test Track will look like when it is completed, wonder no more:

If you look closely, you’ll even see the World of Motion pavilion logo in the giant T on the canopy. Test Track presented by Chevrolet opens December 6th at Epcot.

So, what do you think of the new look for Test Track?

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.

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!