A Tower By Any Name….

WDWNT on May 14, 2008

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Looks like Disney may have changed the name of the new time-share tower the company is building next to its Contemporary Resort.

“Bay Lake Tower” has replaced “Kingdom Tower” as the name of the project, at least in filings with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

What’s more, earlier this month Disney filed paperwork to create a “Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort Condominium Association,” presumably to manage the resort once it is sold off to individual owners. Disney had created a “Kingdom Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort Condominium Association” in January.

Disney still has not publicly announced its plans for the partially-built Contemporary addition, which now stands 14 stories and will be linked to the resort’s main A-frame building by a pedestrian bridge. A spokeswoman said the company had nothing to announce today, either. But Disney has indicated in documents submitted to the state that it intends to use the tower for Disney Vacation Club, the company’s Celebration-based time-share arm.

The “Kingdom Tower” name was criticized by some Disney fans when it first surfaced in those documents. Some posters on Internet forums said it evoked religious overtones, noting that “Kingdom Hall” is a term for a place where Jehovah’s Witnesses worship.

“I think a lot of people were drawing comparisons to Kingdom Hall,” said Tim Krasniewski, publisher of DVCNews.com, a website devoted to Disney Vacation Club.

Krasniewski said he was personally fond of “Kingdom Tower,” which most assumed referred to the Magic Kingdom theme park that sits next door to the Contemporary. But he said he likes “Bay Lake Tower” — which refers to one of the lakes that the Contemporary and its addition overlook — even better.

“I think it’s a wonderful name,” he said. “I think everybody’s familiar with Bay Lake, with the fact that Bay Lake is right there. It has a Disney feel to it.”

“Screw” It

WDWNT on May 14, 2008

Scott Joseph | Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer

When The Wave, a new full-service restaurant at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, opens next month, it will boast an unusual wine cellar. Besides stocking no California labels — those wines are available upstairs at the California Grill — the ground-floor restaurant will feature wines of the Southern Hemisphere, including vintages from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile and Argentina.

But that’s not the most unusual aspect. The Wave will offer only wines that have screw caps; no wines with corks will be available. One exception will be sparkling wines, which are not yet available with screw caps. John Blazon, master sommelier and manager of wine sales and standards for Walt Disney World Resort, said he wants “to show middle America that you can enjoy a great bottle of wine despite how it’s sealed.”

Blazon said he has collected 80 wines of various varietals and price points to present at the restaurant’s opening, which is scheduled for June 7. Once considered an indicator of low quality, screw caps, also known as Stelvin closures, have been gaining popularity among premium wine producers for several years as a more reliable means of sealing a bottle of wine.

More on the Future Choice Stations

WDWNT on May 14, 2008

In the new Future Choice Stations in Innovention’s Project Tomorrow, your picture is taken, you answer some questions about your lifestyle, & then you’re future life is made, with you embedded into it… Literally!

You can then send your picture to your email. This is mine:

The DVC Is Coming

WDWNT on May 14, 2008

We’re hearing that the new Disney Vacation Club add on to the Grand Californian will be called the Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Resort & Spa.

Of course, this name could change at any time, so stay tuned!

ESPN: The Complex???

WDWNT on May 13, 2008

NEW YORK (May 13, 2008) — Aligning the world’s No. 1 family vacation destination with the worldwide leader in sports, Walt Disney World Resort and ESPN are joining forces to re-brand Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex with the ESPN brand, creating an entertaining and immersive experience for the nearly 2 million athletes, coaches and spectators who come through the Disney sports complex each year.

Plans for the re-branding initiative — which was announced today during the ESPN upfront presentation to advertisers and sponsors — are still in the development stage, but initial concepts involve renaming the sports complex and incorporating the signature elements of ESPN throughout the 220-acre facility, which is a leading venue for amateur and professional sports in the country. The project aims to enhance the experience of both athletes and spectators by connecting them to their favorite ESPN programs, personalities and elements. It also will provide advertisers new sponsorship opportunities at the grass roots level.

“This is a natural and exciting pairing of two powerful brands to create a one-of-a-kind, immersive sports venue that will enable athletes, coaches and guests to experience sports in a whole new way,” said Jay Rasulo, chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts. “This project builds on our collaborative successes and positions us to explore more opportunities with ESPN to create new experiences for guests at Walt Disney World Resort.”

“Our involvement in the Disney sports complex will provide greater opportunities for us to connect directly with athletes, coaches and fans in a highly immersive way,” said George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN Inc. and ABC Sports, and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks. “Our involvement also provides us with a unique and exciting new media platform that will enable our advertisers and sponsors to reach new customers and bring their products and services to life.”

The re-branding of the Disney sports complex is the latest initiative in the growing sports business at Walt Disney World Resort. In December, the sports complex debuted additional outdoor playing fields for football, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey competitions. And this summer the sports complex will open Jostens Center, a new state-of-the-art field house that will allow Disney to accommodate twice as many indoor sports events each year. Additional expansion plans are being explored.

The Disney sports complex annually hosts more than 180 events in 50 different sports involving athletes from more than 70 countries. Among those events are the Atlanta Braves spring training season, a Tampa Bay Rays regular-season series, the Major League Baseball Draft, the NBA Pre-Draft Camp, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp, Chelsea Football Club events, the Pop Warner Super Bowl, AAU National Championships, Varsity All-Star Cheerleading competitions, USSSA events and the Walt Disney World Marathon, one of the top marathons in the nation. ESPN televised 20 sporting events from the complex in the last year. Walt Disney World Resort and ESPN also annually work together to host the popular ESPN The Weekend event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Refurb Time!

WDWNT on May 13, 2008

We have 3 new additions to the attractions refurbishments list. First up, Mickey’s House will be closed from May 12th through May 15th. Donald’s Boat will be closed for a rather long refurbishment from May 19th through June 20th. Finally, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will be closed just on May 20th.

As always, be sure to keep an eye out on our Attractions Refurbishment page for the latest attraction refurbs!

Prince Caspian Is Coming

WDWNT on May 13, 2008

Multiple sources have confirmed that the new Journey Into Narnia: Prince Caspian exhibit at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be opening this Friday as the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian movie is released in theaters. The opening of this exhibit marks the conclusion of 5 months of total inactivity for the right-east corner of the park as Toy Story Midway Mania enters a full-time soft-openings schedule beginning, as well, on Friday. 

DLR Picture Update

WDWNT on May 12, 2008

Post edited with the rest of the pictures

I’m back from another lovely day at the Disneyland Resort, & I of course have a picture update for y’all. So let’s get straight to it:


Today was Mothers Day, & complimentary flowers were given out to mothers


The latest Disneyland Park map


The banners that were added to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle a couple of weeks ago have been removed for some reason


Random people got given a free Year of a Million Dreams pin… I got one obviously!


Space Mountain desperately needs a clean or paint job


A copy of the Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters mural behind the Segway Experience in Innoventions

The new Future Choice Stations inside Project Tomorrow in Innoventions, which are basically the new ending to Epcot’s Spaceship Earth


My Future Choice!


A treehouse (maybe) for the new Innoventions Dream Home


I tried out the relatively new game Power City for the first time


The new Air Scooter II display


A look at construction for It’s a Small World


The facade is now completely under tarps


The It’s a Small World Toy Shop is also closed


Work is still being done to the Sunshine Plaza Fountain


Let’s take a look at the newly opened Midway Mercantile!


Could this be the TSMM attraction poster?


The exit to Toy Story Midway Mania (it’s roped off, obviously)


Some well needed shade for DCA


The new food stand, Don Tomas, is open…


… This is its very limited menu


Let’s take a look around the mini Disney Gallery at the exit to Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years


Not a lot of water dropping, is there?


And now a look at the new Prince Caspian Pre-Parade to Walt Disney’s Parade of Dreams


We’ll have more photos of Walt Disney’s Parade of Dreams up in the Disneyland Park Gallery later tonight


Ever since the Bug’s Life float in the Pixar Play Parade came back, the floats have been in a different order: The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Finding Nemo, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story


This is pretty much all of the main Bug’s Life float at the moment


To cap this DLR Picture Update off, me & Ariel at Ariel’s Grotto, which will be closing soon to make way for the new Disney Fairies meet ‘n greet

That’s it for this DLR Picture Update. We will of course have bigger versions of all of today’s pictures, plus many additional ones up later tonight in the Image Galleries. We will of course let you know when they’re up!

Summer of Hidden Midways

WDWNT on May 11, 2008

The picture bellow, taken by the website Original D, of the latest Disneyland Resort maps, shows off 2 interesting things:

First off, more confirmation of the Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries, which will begin on May 22nd. And secondly, this is the first time that the new Toy Story Midway Mania attraction has had the Midway part of the name including in anything promotional. That makes me happy!