The remaining dates for the after-hours Pirate and Princess Party at the Magic Kingdom are now on sale if you call 407-WDW-AHOY. Those new dates that have just gone on sale are:
April 1, 4, 6, 11, 16, 23
May 2, 9, 16, 21, 26, 31
June 2
Staff member Jose Eber has provided us with some live updates from the Walt Disney World Resort:
-Monorail Black returned from its refurbishment today. The monorail now has the four central handrails much like the other ten monorails which have already received the renovations. Monorail Red headed in for refurbishment today and is the last to recieve the modifications.
-The Earful Tower at Disney’s Hollywood Studios has received a glossy black finish on its ears and should receive its finishing touches any day now. The Animation Archway at the studios should receive new signage around the same time.
-The new marble tile at the Grand Floridian should be installed in the next 1-2 weeks.
-In what has become a frequent occurence, Space Mountain broke down and went out of commission at about 11:45 today. One wonders how much longer the big refurbishment for the Magic Kingdom attraction can be put off.
While Tony’s Town Square Restaurant at the Magic Kingdom and the new and improved Playhouse Disney Live! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios re-opened today, some other attractions have been shuttered for refurbishment. Among the latest attractions to close for refurbishment are Journey Into Imagination with Figment at Epcot, Imageworks at Epcot, and Snow White’s Scary Adventures at the Magic Kingdom. These new attraction closures come in addition to ongoing refurbishments of Splash Mountain, The American Adventure, and Journey Into Narnia. Remember, you can always check our attraction closures page to see what refurbishments are occurring now and in the future.
The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh attraction at the Magic Kingdom was unexpectedly closed yesterday after a major breakdown inside one of the show rooms. In the Tigger scene, it appears one of the “Bouncing” characters flew off it’s base and caused some minor damage to the attraction. The Fantasyland dark ride was closed for the duration of the day, but has now re-opened to the public. It has been rumored that the attraction may go down for refurbishment in the next year or so to make some minor changes and add some new cutting edge effects.
While I was at the Magic Kingdom last week, I noticed some cast members testing a new interactive park map using a Nintendo DS gaming console. I must admit I didn’t know much about the project, but our good friends over at Jim Hill Media have an excellent article about the project and how you can be amongst the first guests to try it out. For the full story, visit Jim Hill Media at this LINK.
A very reliable source has just informed me that Walt Disney World management has purchased the Parade of Dreams from the Disneyland Resort in California. The parade will make it’s final west coast performance in November 2008 and will debut at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in January 2009. While this is still not 100% confirmed at the moment, the announcement should come towards the end of 2008 and the Year of a Million Dreams celebration.
A number of websites have been discussing a possible script that may be given to cast members in the foyer area of the Haunted Mansion due to some ridiculous complaints. A full story can be read over at Jim Hill Media at this link.
It appears Walt Disney World made a mistake when they announced the upcoming refurbishment of Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, they forgot how heavy crowds will still be for the three days following the New Year’s holiday, The refurbishment of Splash Mountain will now be from January 4, 2008 until February 15, 2008.
The upcoming refurbishment of Minnie’s Country House in Mickey’s Toontown Fair has been pushed back until sometime in 2008. Small children who will soon be visiting the Magic Kingdom are very grateful.
You can now download episode 23 of the WDW News Today Podcast for live (well, sort of) coverage of the first annual Christmas Podcast Parade from the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The parade features appearances by Judi Dench, Amy Adams, Roz, Tom Corless, Steve Swanson, John Corigliano, Brian Sommer, Luke Manning, Nick McLamb, Larry Mongello, Jason Diffendal, Adam Roth, Rascal, The Muppets, Mickey, Minnie, and many more!!! So tune in for Magic, Music, and Mayhem on this most festive of occaisions.
To hear WDWNT’s audio coverage of this special event, subsribe to the WDW News Today Podcast on Itunes, click this link or, if you do not have Itunes, go HERE to download the show after its release.
