Yesterland.com is now featuring an excellent article recapping and explaining the reasons behind the name change from “The Disney MGM Studios” to “Disney’s Hollywood Studios” earlier this year. It is truly an exciting read, as there are a few little known facts about the relationship and deal between Disney and MGM, as well as just who owns the rights to the few remaining non-Disney pieces of the park. To read this full article, go HERE.
Disneyland begins riderless daytime tests of the Mark VII Monorail Red next week in anticipation of a public debut by mid-May, Disney officials said.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) could sign off on Monorail Red as early as this week, clearing the way for employee test runs and eventually park visitors, a Disney spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the shrink-wrapped Monorail Blue trains recently arrived at Disneyland via flatbed truck, according to MiceAge’s Dateline Disneyland column. Late last week, sections of Blue were lowered by crane onto the beamway and pushed into the backstage roundhouse, according to MiceAge’s Monday in the Parks column.
Nighttime testing of Monorail Blue is scheduled to begin in early May, Disney officials said.
In late March, Disney put to rest persistent Internet chat room rumors that Monorail Red would have to be sent back to the assembly plant in Canada for major modifications.
The Mark VII’s sleek iconic exterior features color-shifting paint with gray pinstriping that evokes the stainless-steel side panels of the 1959 original designed by Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr.
— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Following very quickly in the steps of our sister site, WDW News Today, I was very happy to see Disneyland News Today linked to in an article on the LA Times Travel Blog! This link was included in an article published yesterday about the new Indiana Jones show for Adventureland:
Indiana Jones swings into Disneyland this summer in a live-action stunt show timed to coincide with the fourth installment of the movie series, “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
The Anaheim theme park is casting actors with combat experience for the Indy role, a duplicitous female archaeologist and a physically imposing bad guy for “The Summer of Hidden Mysteries,” a staged show to be performed on the balconies, rooftops and streets of Adventureland, according to the Disneyland auditions website. Park visitors would be enlisted to help solve mysteries and uncover ancient artifacts during the performance.
The stunt show ties together the highly anticipated movie opening, May 22, with the theme park’s Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye attraction.
According to the casting call:
* The Indiana Jones character, a rugged adventurer in his 40s, tosses off comic lines, throws a punch and interacts well with children — all with equal ability.* The female archaeologist, in her late 20s to early 40s with an English accent, starts out kind and helpful but eventually reveals a villainous side.
* The bad guy, a brute with physical agility and stamina, pursues Jones through the crowded streets of Adventureland before a culminating series of balcony and rooftop confrontations.
If the new Indiana Jones movie proves successful, the Disneyland stunt show could take up residence in Adventureland’s current Aladdin’s Oasis theater through Christmas, according to MiceAge’s Al Lutz.
— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
We’re hearing that, like with the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage last year, exclusive first rides for Toy Story Mania will be given out as prizes in the Year of a Million Dreams.
Of course this is only a rumor, but seeing as it happened last year, it’s likely to happen again this year!
Today at 2:30pm on KCRW 89.9FM, they had an interview with Imagineer Kim Irvine, talking about the planned It’s a Small World changes.
To describe the interview, here’s an excerpt from this thread on MiceChat by Master Gracey:
The segment just ended… Unsurprisingly, WDI failed to address the issue yet again.
This is NOT about aesthetics — we know that they’re going to make the additions look like Mary Blair’s work — that is NOT the issue.
The issue is that the characters simply don’t fit the theme of the show — not the aesthetic theme, but the theme in terms of message and intent.
But Disney just isn’t willing to address that concern. They keep coming out and saying the same old “Disneyland is not a museum” and Walt Disney liked change with a lot of buzz words like “relevance.”
And as for the America scene — the KCRW host said “By the way, about that Papua New Guinea rainforest scene and whether it will be replaced with a themed display called ‘Up with America,’ Kim told me that no firm decision has yet been made.”
You can direct download this interview from the KCRW website here (half of the interview is something to do with architecture)!
Jose Eber returns with another video update from Walt Disney World!!! This time, Jose updates us on American Idol and Pixar Place construction, as well as some other minor updates from Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Enjoy!!!
The latest addition to the Attractions Refurbishment list, is a short refurb of the Disney Animation building in Disney’s California Adventure. This refurb is just to remove the 70th Anniversary of Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs Exhibit. It will close on April 28th, & re-open on May 2nd.
Check out our Attractions Refurbishment page for up-to-the-date attraction refurbs!
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — An outdoor adventure that has been a favorite with Walt Disney World guests since 1971 is receiving some enhancements. As part of a resort-wide renovation project, on now, changes are coming or already in place across the 700 acres of Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.
“Over the last 37 years, the average length of an RV has increased by 27 feet,” says Fort Wilderness spokesperson Darcy Cormier. “Many feature ‘slide outs’ that mechanically extend from the sides of the vehicle.”
To address the needs of today’s larger vehicles, an intensive effort will widen and lengthen the concrete parking pads while maintaining privacy and tranquility provided by natural vegetation. A new “Premium” campsite will be available that features extra large concrete pads for larger vehicles — also upgrades to existing amenities such as picnic tables and grills.
The main pool at Fort Wilderness will be enhanced with a themed water slide, hot tub and children’s wet play area. The pool’s deep end has been made shallower.
Nestled in the woodlands, the resort’s 409 Wilderness Cabins feature brand-new furniture, carpeting, fixtures and linens — plus a fresh coat of paint. Each spacious cabin features more than 500 square feet of air-conditioned living space as well as a private patio deck with a charcoal grill and picnic table. The master bedroom sleeps four with a full-sized bed and set of bunk beds, while the separate living room sleeps two with a full-sized pull-down bed. All cabins also feature vaulted ceilings, color cable television, DVD player, telephone and a spacious oval dining table. Daily housekeeping service is provided to all Wilderness Cabins.
“With all of the comforts of home, the Wilderness Cabins are perfect for guests who want to wind down in a tranquil, relaxing atmosphere after a fun-filled day at the theme parks,” said Jean Gallagher, general manager of Fort Wilderness.
Fort Wilderness has always been the pet-friendly choice for guests to Walt Disney World Resort, and now dogs are getting a playground of their own at the newly opened Waggin’ Trails Dog Park, an off-leash play area.
Of course there is plenty of recreation for humans, too, including horseback riding, fishing excursions, nature trail exploration, boat rentals, volleyball, tennis, bike rentals and the new Wilderness Back Trail Adventure, where guests can experience, first-hand, a Segway X2 Personal Transporter. Guests can unwind on a white sand beach, play a leisurely game of shuffleboard, take the little ones on a pony ride or enjoy an evening horse-drawn wagon ride around the resort.
Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground is located in the Magic Kingdom resort area on the banks of Bay Lake. Convenient boat transportation to Magic Kingdom and motorcoach transportation to all Walt Disney World destinations, including Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, is provided.
For more information, or to make reservations at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, visit www.wdwcamp.com or call 407/WDW-CAMP. To book the two-hour guided Segway X2 experience, contact 407/WDW-TOUR.
Laughing Place spoke with Dave Smith of the Disney Archives on the planned It’s a Small World changes:
[…] from Dave Smith, Chief Archivist for the Walt Disney Co.
With regard to the current controversy about changes being made in It’s a Small World at Disneyland, allow me, as the Chief Archivist at the Disney company for the past 38 years, to remind those who are complaining that Walt Disney never intended Disneyland to be static. To a reporter when Disneyland opened he said, “Disneyland will never be completed; it will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” He continued those thoughts to Pete Martin who was working on his biography, saying that Disneyland is “something that will never be finished. Something I can keep developing, keep plussing and adding to. It’s alive. It will be a live, breathing thing that will need change. A picture is a thing, once you wrap it up and turn it over to Technicolor you’re through. The one I wrapped up a few weeks ago, it’s gone, I can’t touch it. I wanted something alive, something that could grow, something I could keep plussing with ideas; the Park is that. Not only can I add things, but even the trees will keep growing. The things will get more beautiful each year.” Walt Disney was constantly changing his park, just as he said he would. And those changes did not end with Walt’s death over 40 years ago. The Disney Imagineers have continued to follow his dream, frequently adding and changing things in the park to give today’s guests the best possible experience. The public expects more from Disney than they do from most companies, and we try to live up to that trust by continually improving a guest’s visit to our park. And, sure enough, those trees have kept growing and getting more beautiful every year.
As a follow-up we asked him this question:
I’ve read many people who have said they’re not opposed to change in Small World – or anywhere at Disneyland for that matter – but they are opposed to this specific change. While obviousy none of them know exactly what will be done, the addition of characters to what has up until now been a character free attraction is itself a change they are opposed to. Many feel it changes the focus away from “children of the world” to “Disney characters” and that’s not what Small World is supposed to be about. Is that something you might be able to speak to?
Dave Smith answered the following:
It is difficult for me to speak to that, since I do not know what characters are being put in the attraction, or what they will look like. But, we have added characters to previous character-free attractions: witness Pirates of the Caribbean (Jack Sparrow), Tiki Room (Iago, at the Magic Kingdom in FL), Treehouse (Tarzan), Big Thunder Ranch (Little Patch of Heaven), Tom Sawyer Island (Pirates Lair), Main Street Cinema (Disney cartoons), Haunted Mansion (Haunted Mansion Holiday), Submarine Voyage (Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage), El Rio del Tiempo (Gran Fiesta Tour, at Epcot), The Living Seas (starring Nemo and Friends, Epcot). Because of the great number of Audio-Animatronics children in Small World, I cannot imagine that the addition of a few characters like Alice in Wonderland will affect the theme.
After enjoying a fantastic weekend at The Central Jersey Disney Pin Traders’ “Trade Till You Fade” event along with staff members John Rick of The Disney Pincast, Jason Diffendal of WDWCelebrations, and Justin Heyman, we’re back with some news updates from around the Walt Disney World Resort:
-Over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, construction of the American Idol show has forced the new Block Party Bash parade to make it’s two show stops on Hollywood Blvd. and at the Sorcerer’s Hat and then go straight back down the street again into the gates through which it arrived. We expect this to be the parade’s route until construction of the attraction is completed this Fall.
-Construction of the new north wing at Disney’s Contemporary Resort is picking up, as glass panels are actually being added to the building already.
