New Details on Phineas and Ferb: Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

A few days ago, the Disney Parks Blog had a live chat opportunity with Jonathan Ackley of Walt Disney Imagineering about interactive games at the Disney Parks and the upcoming Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure at Epcot. First-off, we got a first-look at some colored concept art:

Secondly, there were a few interesting questions and answers during the live chat we’ll share with you now:

Comment From Joe: Will Agent P’s world showcase adventure include Phineas and Ferb or will it be just Agent P and Dr. Doofenshmirtz?

Jonathan: When guests play Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure, it will be just like they are in an episode of the show. So, as the guests are trying to defeat Doof, Phineas and Ferb will be building a contraption and Candace will be trying to bust them. I think it’s likely that once you disable one of Doof’s inators, it just might make Phineas and Ferb’s machine disappear.

Comment From Jeremiah: Jonathan, thanks for being here. Kim Possible had her sound for the Kimunicators, what will be the sound for the Agent P game? One of my fav parts was walking World Showcase and hearing that chime go off.

Jonathan: The sound is going to be Agent P’s theme

Comment From Liz: Question … Will Agent P adventure use upgraded technology…not Kim Possible phone?

Jonathan: From a WDI standpoint, the focus is always on the storyline and not the technology. What we will be giving the guests is “Field Operative Notification Equipment,” or F.O.N.E.’s. Very high-tech stuff. (It’s even got a laser).

This sounds like it will be the same devices from Kim Possible, but we can’t be certain…

Comment From Kaylyn: How much did you work with Dan and Swampy to come up with the story of this interactive attraction? What were their contributions?

Jonathan: They were engaged from the very beginning, helping us with ideas and characters, and going over our scripts and making sure that we were creating a theme park attraction that is true to the show.

Comment From Jeff: Do you have a favorite country as far as storyline for both Kim and Perry?

Jonathan: Don’t make me choose between all my children…(Germany!).

Jenn Fickley-Baker: From the blog, Matt asks “When the Agent P game debuts, will all of the missions be available or will more be coming later? If so, when?”

Jonathan: All of the missions will be available once we open the attraction, but there will be new top secret-iniators that will roll out over the summer.

Stay tuned to WDW News Today as we get closer to the grand opening of Phineas and Ferb Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure in late-June.

“Watch Out For That Tree!” – Falling Limbs Mean Safety Nets at Animal Kingdom

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

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When pieces of the Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom fell to the ground a few weeks ago, it forced the closure of “It’s Tough to be a Bug” and the paths around the park icon. For the most part, you still can not walk the paths around the Tree of Life, but above those that you can explore, you’ll find these wood structures with nets. Many more of these structures are going up around the various paths, but until they are complete, these paths will remain closed.

You can still get some good photos of the Tree of Life

More canopies under construction

Does it ruin the area? I’m really not sure, but it has a distinct feel of Jurassic Park for some reason…

What do you think? Is this a good fix or should Disney just close the Tree of Life area and attempt to fix the problem?

Dirk Wallen’s 6/17/12 Downtown Disney Photo Report

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Downtown Disney on Sunday and has a few newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:

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The new volcano rises at Rainforest Cafe

Adventurer’s Club still closed…

Work continues on Splitsville at Downtown Disney

Cool new shirts

FATHER’S DAY DUFFY

Another cool pair of shirts

Adam Roth’s 6/23/12 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited the Magic Kingdom on Saturday and he has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us. Dueling Dumbos are flying, Casey Jr. is splashing and soaking, and whole lot is going on at the park, so let’s take a look:

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Let’s get right to Fantasyland

Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train

More steel rises

Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid looms in the distance

The new Winnie the Pooh meet and greet is open, replacing Tigger’s Bouncy Place

Dumbo FASTPASS is running and at Philharmagic’s old machines

Another look at Mine Train

Mermaid rockwork extending down towards Storybook Circus

Big Top Souvenirs

We finally have dueling Dumbos!

Timothy now spins and moves on the sign

Only 30 minutes for stand-by… it’s working…

A large wall has appeared on the Mine Train structure

Back to Dumbo

FASTPASS return will skip the tent queue

Love the magic feather on the clock…

The old Dumbo is back as the new Dumbo! Wait… what?

“Transformers: The Ride was much better!”

No interactive queue today 🙁

A photo with two Dumbos? MIND BLOWN!

Disney released some footage of the dueling Dumbos for you to enjoy:

More Mine Train

Big Top Souvenirs

Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station is open

Casey Jr. got fenced in… apparently there were some safety issues with the water and guests climbing in

Other than that, the area looks great!

The animals spin and spray, much nicer than other water play areas

Poor Casey sits in a time out…

The attraction sign is pretty cool too

The backs of the 4 train cars have the years that each WDW park opened – 71, 82, 89, and 98

A nicely themed new merchandise cart sells fitting water-play merchandise

and hats…

This car will be the most popular with the fanboys… they will gather here and tell tales of Horizons

The area behind Casey still needs some work…

This PIXAR short reference was added a few weeks ago

You may recognize this emblem from Town Square Theater

Casey does look pretty great though

He even blinks!

This is always pretty disturbing…

Looking into Mermaid, you can see trees and ship wreckage are now visible

The new Winnie the Pooh meet and greet

Castle Wall construction

Mystery walls still up by the Carousel

Snow White is still closed… and it ain’t reopening anytime soon…

Only visible change is the missing attraction sign which we assume has gone to the archives

Dumbo FASTPASS, that way!

It isn’t going to open, so I’m not sure why he turned around…

If you haven’t exited by now…

Winnie the Pooh and Dumbo now share the Philharmagic FASTPASS distribution

The new signs are cool, and they give you the standby wait for each ride

More Castle Wall work

Vertical construction has begun on the old Skyway area

Looks like Rapunzel’s tower to me 😉

For the nerd in your family, anything on this shelf will do

The Crow’s Nest is closed! The sign is down… it would be a shame to lose one of the park’s oldest shops, formerly sponsored by Kodak…. We’ll keep an eye on this

Wendell!

Not sure what happened here

Skyway construction visible from across the park

Work continues on the Main Street Bakery

I still think this has something to do with Starbucks…

Package Pick-Up still behind tarps as well

As is The Confectionary and the Chapeau

Looks like the Snow White poster is finally down and now Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom has its own poster

Big Thunder Mountain is on the maps now… I can’t remember the last time that happened

Menu Revealed for “Be Our Guest” Restaurant, Reservations Open August

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

From Pam Brandon on the Disney Parks Blog:

Braised pork for lunch and a grilled strip steak for dinner – Chef Michael Deardorff had a hard time choosing, but says those are two of his favorites from the new menu for Be Our Guest Restaurant in New Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom Park.

Guests can start making reservations in late August (we’ll let you know the exact date as soon as we can), with the restaurant to be open for the holidays.

Chef Deardorff has been at the helm in Disney kitchens for 25 years, most recently as part of the opening of the restaurants at Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawai’i. Now he’s back to open Be Our Guest, inspired by “Beauty and the Beast,” with three dining rooms and seats for over 500 guests.
“Lunch is quick service, but not traditional counter service,” says Deardorff. Guest-activated terminals make ordering a snap (there also will be traditional cashiers for cash orders and special dietary requests). You order, take a seat and lunch is delivered to your table – on china, not paper.

Back to the menu. “It’s all about simple, fresh ingredients,” says Deardorff. “Just like your favorite quick-service restaurants across Magic Kingdom Park, you’ll be able to enjoy sandwiches and salads at Be Our Guest Restaurant for lunch, but all with a twist that transports you to the French setting of ‘Beauty and the Beast.’”
There’s a little French bistro flavor with tuna Niçoise salad and a Croque Monsieur sandwich with carved ham, Gruyere cheese, béchamel and pommes frites (a fancy term for French fries). Or go for the carved turkey on a warm baguette with Dijon mayonnaise, or the grilled steak sandwich with garlic butter spread, both with pommes frites. Heartier fare includes braised pork that’s cooked for eight hours, and for vegetarians, there’s a loaded vegetable quiche or quinoa, shallot and chive salad.

Dinner is table service, with diverse starters such as a charcuterie plate with cured meats and sausages, mussels steamed in white wine, French onion or potato leek soup, and a salad with champagne vinaigrette. We’re intrigued by the salad trio with three mini tastes of roasted beet, raisins and orange; green beans, tomatoes and roasted shallots; and watermelon, radish and mint.

Entrées include a thyme-scented pork rack chop with au gratin pasta, rotisserie rock hen with roasted fingerling potatoes, pan-seared salmon in leek fondue, grilled strip steak with pommes frites, sautéed shrimp and scallops with veggies in puff pastry with creamy lobster sauce, and an oven-baked ratatouille.

Oh, and dessert – we vote for the cupcakes, strawberry cream cheese or triple chocolate. If cupcakes aren’t your favorite sweet ending, there’s a chocolate cream puff and a passion fruit cream puff.

For kids 9 and under, the lunch entrées include a carved turkey sandwich, roasted pulled pork, Mickey meatloaf, seared mahi mahi, or whole-grain macaroni topped with marinara and mozzarella. For dinner, it’s grilled steak, grilled fish of the day, whole-grain macaroni or grilled chicken breast.

“We think guests will be pleasantly surprised with the menu and the value,” says Deardorff. More updates soon!

Photos & Video: Cars Wing Opens at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

Thanks to WDWNT photographers Jeff Lukas and Adam Roth, we have an in-depth look at the Cars wing of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort which opened recently. Let’s take a look:

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Welcome to Radiator Springs

Doc Hudson

Sheriff

Ramone

One building enters through Tow Mater’s junkyard

Flo

The Cadillac Range

The Cozy Cone office has restrooms

Another building enters through Casa Della Tires

Unlike in the movie, the sign spins

Luigi

Guido

The Cozy Cones are first-come first-serve cabanas

The back building is the Wheel Well Motel

Lightning McQueen

Sally

Fillmore

Sarge’s Surplus Hut

Sarge

The interior hallways look great

Hidden mickey in the carpet

A look inside the rooms

The sink area looks like a car wash

The table has a map of Route 66

Convertible sofa… GET IT?

Awww, Mater is sleeping

The Lion King wing opens August 10th

Rafiki!

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Back to Cars

Flo’s license plate

Ramone’s plate

Hidden car

Alright… that’s too cool

Looking back towards Nemo

Here’s a video of the new wing:

The Little Mermaid “Completes the Picture” at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

There was an interesting article in the latest cast member publication regarding the Little Mermaid wing opening soon at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. We thought you might like to see this:

Completing the picture
‘The Little Mermaid’ joins Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
BY DANIELLE IGLESIAS

When “The Little Mermaid” opened in theaters in 1989, it brought the classic musical fairy tale back to the Walt Disney Animation Studios and ushered in a string of films that marked the “renaissance” of Disney animation. Besides making a splash at the box office, the film chronicling a young mermaid’s dream to become part of the human world also gave young fans a new aquatic heroine to admire.

On Sept. 15, “The Little Mermaid” will do more than round out an already colorful hotel; it will introduce three buildings of 846 standard rooms and a new pool to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, as well as mark the completion of a resort region that began nearly 10 years ago with Disney’s Pop Century Resort. Opened Dec. 14, 2003, Disney’s Pop Century Resort debuted as a larger-than-life tribute to the fads, phrases and cultural icons from the 1950s through the 1990s. So it’s fitting that the final buildings in the “pop art” region will pay tribute to such an iconic film from the late 20th century.

Unlike the family suites in the “Cars,” “Finding Nemo” and “The Lion King” wings of the resort, the standard rooms feature a more traditional layout that’s perfect for smaller families with ambitious little princes and mermaids of their own. They sleep up to four Guests and feature distinct themed décor that will place them right into King Triton’s kingdom, with details like seashell chairs and a grotto in the shower. Sebastian and his undersea orchestra can be found in the courtyard where they prove that they’re devoting full time to floating at the Flippin’ Fins Pool. As the resort reaches completion, Rick Allen, general manager of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, has enjoyed hearing impressions from Guests and Cast Members.

“As each theme has opened, we have had so much fun hearing from Guests and Cast Members which is their favorite room, whether it be because it is their favorite movie or has their favorite character in it,” he said. “The Little Mermaid rooms will be a perfect addition with Ursula, King Triton, Sebastian and, of course, Ariel … . We couldn’t be more excited.”

Adam Roth’s 9/6/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot yesterday and has plenty of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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The parks are dead

You can see FastPass+ installed at the end

Probably a 5…

FastPass+ installed at Tower as well

Ummmm….

The old Carthay Theater on Sunset Boulevard

Eat your heart out DCA

How am I supposed to take a shortcut through Starring Roles if you are fixing the path?

Heading into Magic of Disney Animation

John Lasseter in Wreck-It Ralph form

Fantastic video game humor on dispaly

Ha

Artists working hard on the new Ink and Paint Cells

There is a Fix-It Felix machine on display, although it is behind glass 🙁

The movie ads on the wall have been updated

Will do a barrel roll? OK, I MUST see this film…

The Animation Gallery still has railroad merchandise

As well as 40th anniversary and “it’s a small world” merchandise

Neat!

Work continues on The Legend of Jack Sparrow

Some strange white markings have appeared on the walls

I’m guessing these are supposed to be the dotted line on a treasure map, but it is too early to tell

I originally thought they might be markers for something, but I don’t think so

We’ll find out soon enough

A crane backstage for some reason

NO WAY…

Yep…

Wow, a TRON penny machine

This machine probably made more money than the movie did… ZING

Phineas and Ferb merchandise has taken over the old Loony Bin

Wait…

Yeah, that isn’t what that was meant for…

The smoking section near Star Tours is behind walls

This planter in front of Sounds Dangerous is also behind walls

American Idol Experience is ready for FastPass+

Moving over to Epcot, Adam was so excited about the blue vehicles at Universe of Energy that he couldn’t hold his camera still

The Test Track facade is getting ripped apart

Wow…

Food and Wine Festival preparations are well underway

After months of work, the La Hacienda fountain is out from behind walls!

Ummm, you’re in the wrong area, Italy is behind you…

AHHHHH!

Wendell from the Country Bears was out as well

“Am I early? “

Cool World Showcase shirt!

Some work being done near the waterway in the France pavilion

Work continues on what is believed to be a DVC booth near the Canada pavilion

More walls up near the Refreshment Port

KHALUA PORK SLIDERS! SOON!

Dirk Wallen’s 9/10/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen was on the scene at the Magic Kingdom earlier this morning and has some newsworthy photos to share from his trip:

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Work continues on the Grand Floridian DVC wing

Lampposts installed in the new parking lot

If you closely, you can see the new children’s water play area themed to Alice In Wonderland that is being installed

There is a new Fall trolley show running every morning at the Magic Kingdom. We have a short video clip:

Everyone likes to point out budget-cuts and declines in show, but offering seasonal new shows like this prove Disney still cares despite what you may read elsewhere

Speaking of declines though… the bears are gone from the Brave meet and greet

This is a permanent change as Merida may not have much longer at the Magic Kingdom anyway

No one wants to color?

The new Fantasyland restroom facility project keeps chugging along

A new walkway through the Castle Walls has been set up to accommodate pavement work and other minor things

New directional signs on the walls

Work continues very slowly on finally installing the Storybook Circus entrance. Looks  like we won’t be getting the ticket booth in the concept art as there just isn’t enough path space…

Photo Tour of The Little Mermaid Wing at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen headed over to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort after hearing that the construction walls were down at The Little Mermaid wing, the final phase of the resort scheduled to open on September 15th. He took plenty of photos for us to enjoy:

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Ursula with Flotsam and Jetsam

Ariel and Flounder

The conga line fish are everywhere

Guests being surveyed on their experience

King Triton

Many of Ariel’s belongings are scattered around

I love the lampposts

How many older guests will climb this to get a picture of them smoking it?

We are about the size of Sebastian at this wing

The plants will eventually grow in and block the supports at the bottom

Guests at Disney's Art of Animation Resort are invited to slumber in Ariel's colorful retreat at

A look inside the rooms

Guests at Disney's Art of Animation Resort are invited into Ariel's secret grotto at

While the exterior is very similar to all of the other value resorts, I still think the rooms are much nicer than any at All-Star or Pop Century. What guests wouldn’t rather stay in a room based on a Disney animated film over a sport or a decade?