The new rendering of STK obtained by the Orlando Business Journal
The Orlando Business Journal obtained the preceding rendering of the STK steakhouse, a new venue opening this year in The Landing as part of Disney Springs. The multilevel restaurant will be the chain’s largest location, at 14,000 square feet, and includes a rooftop dining option.
The new Super Hero Headquarters store at Downtown Disney’s West Side will be open by May 1st, just as The Avengers: Age of Ultron opens in theaters.
Official store logo
To celebrate the opening, Avengers Vinylmation are being released on May 1st at the new store:
Disney Design Group Artist, Thomas Scott, will be on hand for a special appearance and signing from 5p.m.- 6p.m. at Super Hero Headquarters that day as well.
The anxiously-anticipated Super Hero Headqaurters store soft-opened today at Downtown Disney West Side, and lucky for us, WDWNT’s own Nick LoCicero was there to check it out:
The Super Hero Headquarters takes over what was United World Soccer
There is nothing but tons of MARVEL items in the store
The location is themed to a S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters
Hero and villain bios come up on various screens
There are also wanted posters on the walls
You can get super-imposed as or with one of your favorite heroes in the store
The Avengers Vinylmation series will be released May 1st
There is a hidden reference to the opening date, as well as cast services…
Due to legal restrictions, there is no sign of the MARVEL logo on the store
We also have a short video walk-through of the store to share with you:
When the Boathouse opens as the first new restaurant of Disney Springs next week (April 13th), several new retailers will be following close behind, joining it in the lineup for The Landing:
No opening dates were given for these new businesses, but they should be fairly soon. New Downtown Disney guidemaps will be released on the 13th to reflect all of the new additions.
WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen was all over the Walt Disney World Resort this week and has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look at what’s new and exciting:
Starting at the Polynesian, the right side of the entrance is out from behind walls and looking good
The pool area is nearing completion also
Moving to the Magic Kingdom, work on the center of the hub is picking up speed
New planters await railings
The old Rose Garden is now being demolished as part of the hub expansion
The final remnants of the Plaza Swan Boats are being erased
Moving over to the Studios, walls are up around the former site of the Sorcerer’s Hat, at least through late-April
Strange to see this sight again, but if Echo Lake is demolished, it won’t be a sight for long
Over at Epcot, work continues on the mysterious “colorful” new Innoventions exhibit
Meanwhile, there is no visible progress on the Frozen attraction
Moving to Disney Springs, the Marketplace Co-Op has these Adventurer’s Club signs back in stock
These photos were taken just before the first pedestrian bridge was installed yesterday
The Town Center will rise upon this site over the next 12-14 months
One large structure is already rising
The small park area in front of Planet Hollywood and the Orange Garage entrance is nearing completion
New planters being installed outside Harley Davidson
No visible progress on STK Orlando, the supposed replacement for the BET Soundstage
The Hangar restaurant is now completely sealed, but still no announcement from Disney
The new Margarita Bar and pier in the Marketplace is coming along nicely
The BOATHOUSE, as seen from the Village Causeway
Still to early to tell, but this looks like one fo the facades that will hide the second parking garage from view
A lot of work still to be done on Morimoto Asia
Meanwhile, flags have gone up outside of the BOATHOUSE, leading us to believe it is nearing completion
Work on the dock is wrapping up
Another look at the Hangar Restaurant, whatever it might be…
Disney has announced that today will be the final day for the United World Soccer store on the West Side of Disney Springs/Downtown Disney. In May (just in time for “Avengers: Age of Ultron”), the space will re-open as “Super Hero Headquarters”.
According to Disney, the store will “feature popular superhero-themed merchandise”. No other details have been provided. Rumors have indicated that a Marvel store was coming to Disney Springs, but nothing in the information released so far by Disney states this is an official or Disney-operated Marvel store, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t be.
Marvel merchandise can currently be found at D-Street on the West Side, but we are expecting all of the merchandise to be either removed or moved to the new store if it is in-fact Disney owned.
Planet Hollywood at Disney Springs is indeed stripping away its globe theme to become a turn-of-the-20th-century observatory, as has been rumored for some time. Planet Hollywood released the new artwork for the conversion this evening to media. The restaurant’s name is also changing to Planet Hollywood Observatory.
The restaurant will continue to feature movie and TV props, but the interior will be changed to a planetarium with stars and constellations on the ceiling above guests.
The remodel will be completed in 2016, but no word has given yet on when the work will commence.
Many establishments coming to Disney Springs are being modeled after shops and restaurants that would fill the space of abandoned businesses. Morimoto Asia will be in the Springs Bottling Co. building, while the Boathouse occupies a former waterside home (all in backstory of course, these are new or remodeled buildings from Downtown Disney).
Let’s catch up with what’s new and exciting at Walt Disney World with some photos from our reporters taken in the last week or so:
The Polynesian Resort bungalows look just about ready
Work is also wrapping up on the villas as we have less than a month until opening
Rock work has appeared on the remodeled volcano pool
The kids water-play area looks like a lot of fun
Moving to the Magic Kingdom, some of the Main Street facades are still behind tarps
Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid is still closed for a few more days for modifications
The refurbishment of the Castle continues
Moving on to Downtown Disney/Disney Springs, new planters and lights seem to be going in all over the place
Beautifully Disney has closed in the Marketplace Co-Op, to be replaced with Wonderground Gallery
A new Margarita bar is being built in the Marketplace
Work continues on the Boathouse, which will open soon in The Landing
They are enclosing the hangar restaurant
St. Patrick’s Day and Easter Eachez Vinylmation now for sale at D Street
Some of the planters by Planet Hollywood have come out from behind walls
The escalators and stairs that will take guests out of the Orange parking structure are almost finished
Erin McKenna’s Bakery NYC recently opened in The Landing
This is the samecompany that operated Babycakes inside the Pollo Campero building
If you drove down Buena Vista Drive this past weekend, you surely noticed all of the work happening on both sides of the road, including the giant pieces of the first pedestrian bridge to be installed over the busy roads.
The bridge will be installed on March 19th between 1AM and 7AM. Road detours will be occurring during those hours to accommodate for the work. The bridge should open a few weeks after that.
This will be the fist of several pedestrian bridges being installed as part of the Disney Springs project, aiming to speed-up the flow of traffic in the area by removing several traffic lights and expanding lanes.
PHOTOS BY DIRK WALLEN
WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen traveled far and wide this week, visiting Disney Springs, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Polynesian Village Resort, and the Magic Kingdom, taking plenty of newsworthy photos to share with us today:
Starting at Disney Springs, work continues on the area outside of the AMC
The Wonderground Gallery opened inside the Marketplace Co-Op recently
Also new at the Co-Op is The Sign Shop, selling soem brand new Disney-inspired signage
The finishing touches being placed on the rear facade of Raglan Road
The Boathouse is nearing completion
The facade of the Hangar restaurant is now being worked on
The new pier area and margarita bar in the Marketplace should be open soon
Moving over to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, the new volcano pool area is nearing completion
Cinderella merchandise has invaded the Emporium at the Magic Kingdom
Even with Cinderella’s Royal Table re-opened, work continues on the castle via the infamous crane
The Sorcerer’s Hat may be gone, but the foundation and such from it will still take a bit to remove
The tarps are down at what we expect to be the TCM sponsored photo-op at the end of the Great Movie Ride
Work has begun on the Toy Story Mania expansion we told you about last year
St. Patrick’s Day snacks have started appearing around the resort
HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!!!
