As part of the big refurbishment that the Chapeau on Main Street U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom recently went through, the shop has expanded into the former Disney Vacation Club area next door. In response to the removal of this DVC information location, a new Vacation Club kiosk with a Circus theme will be added across from the Dumbo the Elephant attraction in Fantasyland. Stay tuned to WDW News Today for more info on this as it becomes available.
Sara K. Clarke and Jason R. Garcia | Orlando Sentinel Staff Writers
Most of Disney’s Epcot Center lost power this morning, according to park employees and visitors. Power was back on in some parts of the park in the afternoon, but some major attractions were down.
At about 1:30 p.m., Spaceship Earth and Journey Into Imagination were still listed as “down,” according to a park board that updates visitors on the status of rides. Honey, I Shrunk the Audience was closed, but it wasn’t clear whether that was because of the outage. Contacted early this afternoon, Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty said she had not yet heard of the outage.
It was not immediately clear what caused the outage. There was a long line at Guest Relations, where some visitors were trying to get refunds or tickets to transfer to a different Disney park. One guest said people were given the option of getting a Park Hopper ticket to use today or a one-day pass to use another day.
Power went down about 11:30 a.m., said Bobbi Baessler, a park visitor from Chicago. “We saw the monorail, and it was stopped,” said Baessler, who was in line hoping for a refund or admission to another park. “We were waving to all the people. At least we weren’t stuck up there.” Baessler said it was her family’s last day in Orlando. “So it’s not like we can come back tomorrow.”
Tom Connelly, of New York, said he was waiting for the Living with the Land ride with his family of five when the line stopped moving. They eventually got out of line and went looking for another attraction. “We were walking around from ride to ride,” he said. “Everything was closed.”
One thing that added to confusion was that many park workers were reluctant to say why rides were closed, Connelly said. He and his family passed the time by going to the World Showcase, which had power. But outside concessions there were closed as well, and many vendors were draining their freezers, he said.
The Pixar Play Parade returned to Disney’s California Adventure yesterday after about a week off due to damage on the Bug’s Life unit. Due to the damage, the Bug’s Life float has been temporarily pulled out of the parade, & we have no idea yet as to when it will return.
As we catch up on the last two days, here is some Walt Disney World news that has come out since our site difficulties:
-As reported on our forums, the Figment’s Place meet and greet and the Figment walk around character have been retired at Epcot. Expect Dreamfinder and his “little” purple dragon to return to the park sometime in the next few months, probably late 2008/early 2009.
-The “Partners” statue depicting Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse at the Magic Kingdom has been repainted with a new look. Some of the Mickey (his face, pants, and shoes) has been repainted gold. The new look is very nice and we hope to have a picture of it up soon.
Here are the dates our “sources” have stated for the following events pertaining to the new Toy Story Mania attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:
-Soft Openings begin on or around April 25, 2008
-Cast Member Previews of the attraction from April 26-27 and May 2-4, 2008
-Media Preview on May 9, 2008
-Annual Passholder Previews from May 10-12, 2008
-Media Press Event on May 16, 2008
-Official Grand Opening on May 20, 2008.
These very same dates were also posted on the Inside the Magic Forums, which leads me further to believe they are accurate as of the current moment. Be sure to stay tuned to WDW News Today as more information becomes available on any of these events and this upcoming attraction.
Even though we released and confirmed most of these details last week, here is a look at a press release from LaughingPlace.com about Toy Story Mania:
Disney Parks guests will don 3-D glasses and enter a wild and wooly 4-D world of Woody the Cowboy and Buzz Lightyear when Toy Story Mania! premieres this summer. The attraction will debut on both coasts: at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, and along the Paradise Pier midway in Disney’s California Adventure at Disneyland Resort in California. Celebrating the Disney•Pixar classics “Toy Story†and “Toy Story II,†Toy Story Mania! raises the bar for interactive ride-game attractions. It’s a high energy, immersive adventure that makes guests a key part of the action as their game play triggers special effects that provide a fourth dimension of fun. “Toy Story Mania!†engages guests in a whole new way with the delightful characters of the films.
Upon entering the attraction, guests will be welcomed by Mr. Potato Head, more than five feet tall and looking like he stepped right down from the movie screen. The state-of-the-art Audio-Animatronics Mr. Potato Head makes a perfect carnival barker for the immersive Toy Story Mania! experience, since he is the first attraction-based Audio-Animatronics figure who can engage guests in a two-way conversation.
Everyone gets a front row seat when guests put on their 3-D glasses, “shrink†to the size of a toy, and board the Toy Story Mania! carnival tram ride vehicles, whose fast travel and spinning add a huge amount of fun to the interactive experience. The exciting and colorful route takes guests through “Andy’s Bedroom†filled with oversized murals and toys. The vehicles spin to face Toy Story Mania! game booths – high-tech yet rooted in classic midway games of skill – and guests aim for 3-D animated targets using their own on-board “spring-action shooters.†Players pair up and sit side-by-side for a friendly competition that delivers an ever-changing variety of targets and surprises. As they play, guests can actually see the “virtual†objects they’ve launched leave their “spring-action shooters†and hit the targets (or not). And thanks to 4-D special effects technology, they may sense objects whirring past them as they pop out of the 3-D scenes.
The Toy Story Mania! games – five of them, plus an introductory practice round – are designed to be enjoyed by audiences of all ages and skills, from beginners to serious gamers. Play is energized by the spirit of the “Toy Story†characters cast in games that best suit their very animated personalities.
First comes the “Pie Throw Practice†round in which guests can try splattering targets with “virtual†pies. Next Hamm the pig hosts a “Hamm & Eggs†booth in which players launch “plastic virtual eggs†at various barnyard targets. “Bo Peep’s Baaa-loon Pop†presents a landscape full of balloon sheep, trees and other objects at which guests can launch virtual darts. But players had better be careful! A popped virtual water balloon might add an additional 4-D wet dimension to the game. From there it’s on to “Green Army Men Shoot Camp†where the challenge is to break plates with baseballs. Next up is “Buzz Lightyear’s Flying Tossers,†a ring-toss game hosted by everyone’s favorite space ranger, with Little Green Aliens as the targets. For the grand finale game, Toy Story Mania! players will ride through Wild West scenes launching virtual suction-cup darts at targets in “Woody’s Rootin’ Tootin’ Shootin’ Gallery.†A final “Woody’s Bonus Roundup†encourages guests to fire their “spring-action shooters†as rapidly as possible at one last super-target for extra points. When scores are tallied, players’ skill levels are identified with the reward of an onscreen “virtual plush.â€
The game play of Toy Story Mania! is accompanied by ingenious musical variations of Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got A Friend in Me,†arranged by veteran music editor Bruno Coon, a frequent Newman collaborator, to compliment the games – for example, a military brass band version for “Green Army Man Shoot Camp.†No matter how many times guests return to ride and play, they can be sure every ride-through will be different.
Disneyland has been conducting regular after-hours tests of Monorail Red, putting to rest persistent Internet chat room rumors that the new Mach VII would have to be sent back to the assembly plant for major modifications.Disney officials said that the new monorail has been cycling around the beamway under its own power and that sending the futuristic bullet-nosed train back to the Vancouver, Canada, assembly plant was “never considered.”
After the test-and-adjust phase, Monorail Red will undergo state inspections, and Disney employees will be trained in the operation of the five-car burgundy train before visitors get their first ride.
Monorail Blue, still under construction in Canada, is scheduled to arrive at Disneyland between mid-April and early May.
The monorail’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
From TMZ.com:
No, not our world, the Small one. According to the LA Times, the family of the woman who helped create “It’s a Small World” is begging Disney not to screw up the iconic ride with “idiotic” changes.
The ride has been closed since January to upgrade its boats – which some think was needed in order to accommodate the ever increasing weight of the general population. But now other changes are being tossed around.
MiceAge.com is reporting that Disney Imagineers are considering adding Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Peter Pan, Nemo and other Disney characters to locations throughout the ride while replacing the Papua, New Guinea, rain forest scene with an American tribute.
In an open letter to Disney execs, the family writes, “The Disney characters of themselves are positive company icons, but they do NOT fit in with the original theme of the ride. They will do nothing except to marginalize the rightful stars of the ride ‘The Children of the World.'”
Disney officials say some additions will be made to Small World but that no decision has been made on specific creative changes to the ride despite the speculation.
I find it funny that about 90% of the readers of TMZ think adding Disney characters to It’s a Small World is a bad idea. And it’s not even a Disney related website!
From the OC Register:
Some families changed their flights. One guest postponed a job interview. And others invited family and friends to gather on the balcony to watch Fantasmic.
As of last Friday, 17 parties had won overnight stays at the Disneyland Dream Suite, which opened Jan. 31, said Steve Arneson, manager of the Dream Squad at the Disneyland Resort, during sessions with reporters last week.
The suite gives winners, who are randomly selected at spots in Disney property, the chance to spend a night at a special apartment in Disneyland over the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
The suite only has enough room for six people to sleep there. But guests have invited up to 16 people to watch the Fantasmic! show from the balcony. Overnight guests get a two-hour tour after the park closes and receive a gift basket, including a crystal bowls engraved with their names and the dates of their stay.
Disney has committed to 266 nights, but may extend the contest another year.
