At the very end of this video of the Parks Blog meet-up from this weekend, you can catch a quick glimpse of the Wreck-It Ralph character that will be greeting guests at Disney’s Hollywood Studios starting in November:
WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen did some park hopping this weekend, so let’s take a look at some newsworthy photos from the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios:
Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train construction
Princess Fairytale Hall
Work continues on the upper-level of Village Haus
Work continues on the new restrooms coming to the former Skyway site
Modifications are taking place at “it’s a small world” related to new guest flow for when stroller parking once again moves next door at the old Skyway site
More metal guardrails are being installed on the Tomorrowland bridges
Magic Carpets of Aladdin is closed for refurbishment
Work continues on the Grand Floridian DVC wing
EVEN THE WALLS HAVE WALLS!
Moving to Epcot, work continues on in Innoventions central
Still nothing up on the canopy at Test Track
Moving over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the facade of Legend of Jack Sparrow is looking much better than when we first checked in
A large mural of the circular map from “At World’s End” covers most of the soundstage
Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope will start greeting guests on October 28th
AWESOME
Guests can color while the meet and greet is being installed
Plenty of Wreck-It Ralph merchandise available at Mickey’s of Hollywood
children’s shirt
Most of this stuff can be picked up at your local Disney Store
Scented plush
WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and the Magic Kingdom on Friday and has a TON of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:
Flower and Garden Festival in bloom at Epcot
IF ONLY WE HAD XPASS!!!!
Queue modifications are done… it’s a completely different queue experience now…
Peacock
Cool graphics on the Epcot tip board
Enjoy Kim Possible while it lasts
Habit Heroes and the VISION House now on the list inside Innoventions East
Habit Heroes is still closed
I’m offended…
Work continues on the VISION House
Habit Heroes now has a sign on the entry wall
Goodbye
VISION House will be added soon as it opens in April
Phineas and Ferb now have an entire section at MouseGear
AGENT P!
The light-up Vinylmation lamps and Baseball figures now available
Let’s Go Yankees! (Personal bias)
These are buy 1, get 1 50% off
Shouldn’t the Knicks be on the bottom? (I actually am a fan… but I’m realistic)
Let’s go Dolphins! (Please pity me)
2012 dated Vinylmation
Zodiac series
Flower and Garden merchandise
Cool magnets
This is too cool…
If your imagination features Captain EO, seek help
Bambi’s Butterfly House is back
The play area for this year’s festival is called “Let’s Get Moving”
Chimpanzee is coming… before Earth Day?
Can’t imagine why they are changing this…
Exterior work continues at the Seas with Nemo and Friends
A new entrance being worked on, possibly for Turtle Talk
There’s a new path in the queue…
It leads to Seabase
The mural is surviving the work
A new company has taken over the chromakey photo area at Imageworks
It’s pretty empty right now
Amazing Pictures (who you may have seen at Universal Studios) is now here
Hey, why don’t we just start the demolition…
On to the Festival Center
The Flower and Garden, Food and Wine Festival?
A touch-screen map of the Festival available
Body Wars is back there somewhere
The Odyssey has been painted blue
Well, at least the roof
This exhibit is weird…
Tarps are now up for the Tutto Italia refurbishment
FREE SAMPLES!
Another play area
Let’s take a boat over to Studios
We can’t get enough of these
The outline of Roger Rabbit has seen better days
The entrance at Tower of Terror had some pavement replaced
The Star Tours name is on some of the merchandise tags now
On to the Magic Kingdom, Skyway demolition continues in Fantasyland
The Tigger Bounce area being removed from the Pooh queue
Yes, more Dumbo photos…
Storybook Circus sure is something at night
HA!
I love restrooms… there, I said it…
I’ll tell you what I don’t love… the Club 626 Dance Party
A sad not to end on…
WDWNT Reporter John Corigliano visited the Walt Disney World Resort this weekend and has some newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:
MORE CIRCUS PHOTOS!
Can’t get enough of these shirts
New character shirts
The back
On to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, here’s another look at the Brave exhibit at Magic of Disney Animation
Monsters University billboard
Wreck-It Ralph poster
The remodeled Storyroom
Still no Narnia replacement… and I’m fine with that…
Only 90 minutes…
Splash fountain is being refurbished
Cars meet and greet has had short lines recently
Phineas and Ferb has long lines all the time
The Art of Animation sign is in place along the road
Both hands on the wheel John…
Habit Heroes is still closed
Someone is up in that window…
The Honeymooners? WHY?
Awwww…
Tick… tock…
This is one nerdy reptile… we named him fanboy
“Horizons was the greatest thing EVER!”
Land accross from the site of the new Grand Floridian DVC wing is being cleared, probably for parking
At the exit of the Magic of Disney Animation attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the Animation Gallery. This area has been home to a Snow White exhibit for the last several year until recently a new exhibit was unveiled showcasing the artistry of backgrounds in Disney animated films. WDWNT reporter John Corigliano takes a comprehensive look at the new exhibit in a video:
It isn’t very often I post a photo report of my own, but here are some newsworthy photos I took on Thursday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:
The exit exhibit at Magic of Disney Animation has been updated to feature PIXAR’s Brave
Artwork on display
“I got a rock…”
The posters in the exit hallway have been updated
The storyboard room was remodeled
Temporary queue set up for Animation Academy for some reason
The gallery portion was closed for a few days to replace the Snow White exhibit
Lady and the Tramp banners in the courtyard
The new Vacation Club logo is just about everywhere now
WDWNT Reporter visited the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Friday the 13th, so get ready for a not-so-spooky look at what’s new in the parks:
A new Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom window has appeared under the Main Street train station
Some new wall art was added to the Town Square Theater queue
Very creative
I think we’re going to see an elephant fly!
There he goes
He seems happy about it
Moving on to Studios
A look at the wait times
The stage is still up in front of the Sorcerers Hat
A pretty long wait for Star Tours
Most of the Muppetvision posters were replaced with posters for  The Muppets
The lenticular Muppets poster was also replaced inside the pre-show area
Osborne Lights are being taken down
Some Narnia props were moved to the Backlot Tour
The Block Party Bash cones are still sitting back here
The old fire truck that used to be located near the exit of Muppetvision 3-D was restored and is now along the Backlot tour route
Some minor changes over at the Magic of Disney Animation
The animation studio theme is being embraced with new signage
There is a campus map as if it were a real studio
Something HUGE is going to happen at Walt Disney World this week and in response Disney is preparing with some major entertainment changes. The following information was sent to cast members today:
Due to an event this week, please ensure Cast Members are aware of the information attached regarding updated operating information for this week. Note that updated Guest collateral will be delivered to operational areas beginning Tuesday evening, Jan. 17. In addition, an in-room letter is being placed in occupied Disney Resort Guest rooms starting tomorrow morning. Channel 19 (on in-room TVs) will be updated daily to reflect these changes.
The changes are for Thursday, January 19th and they are pretty significant. First off, Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be running a fireworks show since Fantasmic! is not currently performing. The show is being called “Rock the Night! Fireworks Spectacular” and will perform at 7PM that evening. Three parks are also offering Extra Magic Hours that day: Animal Kingdom from 8-9 AM, Epcot from 9PM-12AM, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios from 7-10PM.
UPDATE: The Magic Kingdom’s Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade will also be moved to 3:30PM that day.
While we can not confirm it at this time, rumors are circulating of a special guest visiting the parks on that day. This news article may shed some light on the subject.
So, is President Obama heading to Walt Disney World with the family? It certainly is an interesting rumor since he admitted to having never visited when recording his lines for the Hall of Presidents back in 2009. We’ll let you know more as it becomes available…
1/17/12 UPDATE: It has been confirmed that President Barack Obama will visit Walt Disney World to “unveil a strategy that will significantly help boost tourism and travel.” Walt Disney World was chosen because it welcomes over 45 million guests a year, possible the most popular tourist destination in the world.
One of our WDWNT Reporters visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios earlier tonight to see the one-night-only performance of the “Rock The Night” fireworks spectacular, which turned out to be a slightly altered version of the usual New Year’s Eve show. Enjoy a complete video of the show:
The show was an attempt to get guests away from the Magic Kingdom for the day while President Obama visited. Disney’s Hollywood Studios would typically run Fantasmic! in this situation, but it is currently under refurbishment, so running this show was the only other option. Guests seemed to have a great time, so I would deem this a very successful temporary replacement.
WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson visited the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot on Friday and has some newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:
Land clearing continues for the Grand Floridian DVC wing
More Main Street U.S.A. facades are going behind tarps, this should be the last batch
A temporary sidewalk ramp installed
Signs point guests around to the meet and greet FASTPASS distribution
Center Street tarps still up
The Bakery is now behind tarps
A temporary cart is also serving some bakery items
Plaza Ice Cream is closed
This facade will be behind tarps soon
Storybook Circus construction
Dumbo is almost ready to roll
The queue seems a bit behind
Dumbo was testing
We’re ready… we’ve been ready…
Belle’s Village
Trees in place, this is most likely where they will be staying
The details on Prince Eric’s castle are visible
The Beast’s Castle, Maurice’s Cottage, and the Castle Wall all in this shot
The path around Yankee Trader is now being constructed
It will put guests right about here
See?
The Madame Leota merchandise cart has moved closer to Columbia Harbor House
The Frontier Trading Post is still behind tarps
Pecos Bill’s is still behind tarps as well
Big Thunder is closing for a few months for major upgrades on the 9th
The queue should be the most radically different thing when it re-opens
The Barnstormer/Great Goofini looks like it is nearing completion
The times guide has been expanded to include the parade route, probably since it will change to a short loop this week as Electrical Parade goes dark for a paving project
Over to Hollywood Studios, where Toluca Legs Turkey Company is back in action…
During PIXAR Pals, an escape route… I mean alternate route is being opened to help guest flow
IT’S DONE! Oh, wrong park…
MUSH! MUSH!
Now on to Epcot
The tip board still works! A new record!
It indicates if FASTPASS is available
Time is almost up…
The pre-show monitors are now flat screens!
More and more cars are getting the Chevy branding
The new directional signage in Future World is color-coded and looks great!
Is it open?
Barely…
Oh, this side has lights…
No visible progress on the upcoming Habit Heroes exhibit
Thanks for the report Zach!
