Mickey’s Toontown Fair-well

WDWNT on February 11, 2011

Last night, Mickey’s Toontown Fair hosted a special cast member farewell event. WDWNT Reporter Josh Siegel was on hand for the event and has a very special video to share of the closing ceremony:

A few pieces of news from the video concerning New Fantasyland:
-In Enchated Tales with Belle, guests will have 12 minutes of interaction with characters
-The Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train will have 2 lift-hills, a mine scene with millions of gems, and will rock guests back and forth through the landscape.

Stay tuned to WDW News Today for more information on the Fantasyland Expansion as it becomes available.

A “Star-Studded” Cast for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue

WDWNT on February 11, 2011

From the Disney Parks Blog:

One of our goals for the new Star Tours show was to pack as much Star Wars into the attraction as possible. That meant traveling to different planets, and meeting up with classic characters from the saga.

Of course you already know that R2-D2 and C-3PO are back, reprising their roles in the pre-show, and taking on bigger roles (especially C-3PO) in our Starspeeder adventures. And some time ago, we introduced you to two new droids in our show…Star Tours Pilot Ace (AC-38) and Spokesbot Aly San San.

So who else is joining the cast?

Admiral Ackbar

Well, it wouldn’t be a Star Wars adventure without Darth Vader. The Dark Lord of the Sith will be accompanied by legions of stormtroopers and some new “skytroopers,” designed especially for our show. Boba Fett, everyone’s favorite bounty hunter, also will be after us, as well as an assortment of nasty droids and creatures.

Balancing out the villains are some classic good guys – and even a princess! Master Yoda, Admiral Ackbar (pictured above in a still image from Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi) and Princess Leia will appear in the show to help guide our adventures. We may even run into Chewbacca along the way!

It’s Going To Be A Circus In There…

WDWNT on February 11, 2011

WDWNT Reporter Josh Siegel attended a cast member only farewell to Mickey’s Toontown Fair tonight at the Magic Kingdom and Disney is already previewing some of the new sights you will see when the Storybook Circus arrives in 2012:

It appears that County Bounty will become Big Top Souvenirs featuring The Flying Piggolinis (Three Little Pigs)

The Great Goofini replaces the Barnstormer

Not sure what Pete’s Silly Sideshow will be, but it’s part of the circus…

Stay tuned to WDW News Today for more details on New Fantasyland as they become available. We will also have coverage of Toontown Fair’s final day on Friday, February 11th.

More Magical Vinylmation to Celebrate WDW’s Birthday

WDWNT on February 7, 2011

The Disney Vinylmation Blog released some treats for us today because their Facebook account reached over 7100 likes. If you haven’t liked them on Facebook yet, do so, because the more people who do, the more stuff we find out about. And now today’s stuff:

In 1981, WDW turned 10 years old. 1981 also marked the year Disney discontinued the coupon books in favor of these 1-Day Passports into the park. Here, courtesy of AllEars.net, is a scan of an original WDW 1-Day Passport.
For more looks at some really great old WDW tickets, visit http://allears.net/tix/tickethistory.htm. Especially check out the “Cast Member and Comp Ticket” page.
I can’t wait to see how the images are represented on the 3D finished Vinylmation figure! They have been doing a lot of great things with the painting and style and quality these days. I hope they capture the old, vintage feel of the ticket with a real stamp like quality for the date and ticket number.
Also a WDW 40th piece:
This is an amazing retro look at EPCOT Center. Both Future World with the iconic ball and the World Showcase are represented here. These Thomas Scott designed figures do not have a release date yet. I’m excited about all things retro when it comes to Disney… so I can’t wait to see what comes out this year at WDW. The 6 figure 3″ open window set was a good start, and these two new 3″ figures look incredibly impressive. (According to the blog they are 3″, but the designs are so cool we hope that’s a typo.)

Pictures from allears.net and
the Vinylmation Blog

The Turtle Replaces the Pirate and the Parrot

WDWNT on February 7, 2011

WDW News Today’s own Justin Heyman is in WDW this week and will have a full report upon his return, but for now we bring you the new menu at Tortuga Tavern, which replaced El Pirata Y El Perico, across from Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland.  The Mexican-themed food remains, as well as the original sign featuring the pirate and the parrot.  A new semicircular cutout with the words Tortuga Tavern has been installed over the old name of the restaurant.  The new menu features beef, chicken, and vegetarian burritos as well as a taco salad and nachos.  Kids can choose from quesadillas or a PB&J sandwich.

First Look at Your New Star Tours Pilot

WDWNT on February 2, 2011

From Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald on the Disney Parks Blog:

It was a big day for Star Tours recently, as Star Wars creator George Lucas, joined by producer Rick McCallum, paid a visit to Disneyland Park to take a few test rides on the attraction with our Walt Disney Imagineering team. After experiencing adventures to several of the Star Wars worlds aboard the Starspeeder 1000, George and Rick gave the team a big thumbs up on their progress. George even took a moment to pose with the Audio-Animatronics figure of C-3PO in the Starspeeder cockpit!

Stay tuned for more Star Tours updates.