Jose Eber is back with another WDW photo update, this time covering Disney pin trading and the Ghirardelli shop refurbishment at Downtown Disney, one of the Walt Disney World Railroad trains heading in for some maintenance, road work at the car entrance to the Magic Kingdom, and a few added surprises. Enjoy!!!
A construction wall has been put up by the Grizzly River Run lift hill, that is just for work on the Pelton Wheel structure. The attraction is open & operating normally:
Both pictures by David “Darkbeer” Michael
DLRP Today has news on the fate of some of Disney’s parades. While this isn’t entirely Disneyland related news, I still thought I’d mention it.
Disney’s Stars & Motor Cars Parade recently finished performances at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, & has been replaced by DCA’s old parade, Block Party Bash. Disney’s Cinema Parade also finished performances at Walt Disney Studios Paris a couple of weeks ago. It looks like Stars & Motor Cars will replace the Cinema Parade in Paris. And then looking even further into the future, the plan is to have the Pixar Play Parade go to Paris & replace Stars & Motor Cars, instead of it going to Florida to replace Block Party Bash. There’s currently no word on what might happen to Block Party Bash though.
Of course, it is still just a rumor. Stay tuned to Disneyland News Today (and DLRP Today in turn) as more information becomes available!
The long running Fantastic Plastic Works inside Innoventions at Epcot has closed to make way for a new exhibit. While speculation is that this will be the site for the new weather themed exhibit, it is a rather large space and may come in use for more than one new spectacle. Stay tuned to WDW News Today as more becomes available on this story.
The Animation World talks back on Re-Imagineering about the planned It’s a Small World changes! Here’s one of the 11 comments made:
“Mary Blair is one of the most remarkable artists of our time, and her work on “It’s a Small World” one of her crowning achievements. The attraction is the result of many talented artists working at the peak of their creative powers. Restoration aside, I can’t imagine improving on the original ride.”
Pete Docter
Director / Monsters Inc.
We finally have our first listen to the theme song to Toy Story Mania, thanks to the already operating Mr. Potato Head barker at Disney’s California Adventure:
Toy Story Mania is scheduled to debut at Disney’s Hollywood Studios later this month, with the official opening around May 20, 2008.
The Disney VISA rewards program had a little Meet ‘n’ Greet thing inside the Seasons of the Vine theater, that gave you a free PhotoPass photo with Disney characters. Well since Seasons of the Vine has closed to make way for the Disneyland Resort Preview Center, the Meet ‘n’ Greet opportunity has moved to somewhere in Hollywood Pictures Backlot.
The LA Times really slamed DCA down today! You just have to read this one paragraph to see what I mean:
When the park opened seven years ago, its deficits were clear even to the children who visited. One fabulous ride — “Soarin’ Over California” — was buttressed by a small array of standard county-fair attractions, albeit given a Disney gloss: the ubiquitous flume ride, a Wild Mouse coaster, centrifugal-force swings, a giant Ferris wheel. Compared with Disneyland, where delights are tucked into every corner, California Adventure seemed barren, low on rides and big on restaurants and souvenir shops. Mainly, it seemed as if the Imagineers had taken the day off to go to Knott’s Berry Farm.
To read the read of this somewhat disturbing article, plus commentary, check out MiceChat!
It seems to be an hour for refurbishment news. This just in, the Corn Dog Castle refurb that was planned for 5/5/08-5/6/08, has been moved to 5/12/08-5/22/08. Which does mean it has been extended quite a bit! It is probably just routine maintenance though…
A refurbishment for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was/is planned for April 28th through May 1st. But looking through Disneyland.com, it seems that the planned refurbishment has been removed.
Stay tuned to Disneyland News Today to see if this refurbishment happens or not.
