WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee visited the Magic Kingdom this morning to ride “it’s a small world” following its lengthy refurbishment. The only big changes are the queue and exit which have been swapped. Guests now enter the queue and load the boats on the left side and exit on the right. Handicap loading has also been moved to the right side. Here’s a video of the changes (Banks will be updating this video soon to include a full ride-through of the attraction):
WDWNT is proud to introduce our newest reporter Frank Brito for his very first photo report! Let’s take a look at some exciting events around Walt Disney World from October 15th:
The new Walt Disney World ambassadors were introduced with a special ceremony on Friday, supporters brought signs and such
WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios back on October 14th, so without any further ado, here are the photos he took:
I miss seeing Sounds Dangerous down there…
Read More about Zach Larson’s 10/14/10 Hollywood Studios Photo Report
WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee visited Rapunzel and Flynn Rider from the upcoming animated feature “Tangled” during their unannounced debut in World Showcase at Epcot and has video to share of the experience. Starting next Monday (October 25th), you can “play and greet” with these characters at the Fairy-tale Garden at the Magic Kingdom:
WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee and his fiancee Sidney Lee were on assignment today for the debut of Duffy the Disney Bear at Epcot, so let’s take a look at some pictures and video of today’s festivities:
Most of the Disney Traders store/Tower East shop is dedicated to Duffy
Guests were gobbling up bears and outfits. The 12-inch Duffy is $14.95, the 17-inch is $24.95, and the 28-inch is $59.95.
The famous Epcot podium is here for the ceremony
Duffy is here!
Sailor Mickey
Here’s a video of today’s festivities:
As buisness picks up in Fantasyland at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, WDWNT is looking to provide you with the most complete coverage of the largest expansion in the history of the park. In addition to the constant picture updates in our photo reports and the Fantasyland Forest Project Tracker (which we are working on getting up-to-date), we are proud to introduce the very first video update of the constructions from Banks Lee:
Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald has posted another Star Tours update on the Disney Parks Blog:
Things are very busy in the world of Star Tours, both here in California and in Florida as well!
A few weeks ago I shared a first look at two new characters joining Star Tours, and today, I want to take you behind the scenes and show you what we were working on back in April 2009. We occupied a large soundstage in Hollywood to film a key sequence of the new show. Anthony Daniels flew in from London to bring C-3PO to life on the stage, as well as workshop the script with our writer Steve Spiegel.
I spoke with Anthony Daniels the other day about what it felt like to be back working on Star Tours.
“Wow! Back in the gold suit for the first time since ‘Revenge of the Sith,’” was Anthony’s reply. “But on this occasion in front of a beloved Starspeeder, a bit like the one R2 and I’d repaired every day since Disneyland first opened the Star Tours Spaceport all those years ago. I’d enjoyed being a part of the original Star Tours, one of the most wonderful jobs I ever had. I’d been alerted that amazing things were in store for passengers on the new Starspeeder – and for me too – and so here I was again, working with many of the same creative teams, with even more spin and excitement than the first time.”
On the immense soundstage, our production team re-created – full size – a portion of the Starspeeder 1000, so we could film it from multiple angles. Later, the effects wizards at ILM, under the direction of Bill George, completed the scene, adding in a whole range of droids and characters, and expanding the scale and scope of the scene.
Here, for the first time, are some photos from that soundstage shoot. More on Threepio in our next post.
WDWNT Reporter Josh Siegel visited Epcot earlier today and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:
Food and Wine Festival on-going of course!
What difference does a day make? Let’s find out! WDWNT Reporter Josh Siegel visited the Magic Kingdom a day after his last report and you may be quite surprised how much has changed:
The indoor seating area for Casey’s is still behind tarps
Read More about Josh Siegel’s 10/9/10 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
WDWNT Reporter Josh Siegel visited the Magic Kingdom on Friday where a number of projects around the park are really starting to take shape. Let’s take a look at all the newsworthiness from October 8th:
Work continues on the Rapunzel and Flynn Rider (from Tangled) meet and greet experience
Read More about Josh Siegel’s 10/8/10 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
