Even More Star Tours and Little Mermaid Attraction Details

WDWNT on June 14, 2010

From an article about “What’s Next?” at Disneyland Resort on Disney’s D23 website, here’s more on Star Tours II and Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid:

The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
A couple sen-sea-tional reveals were made about this mega-attraction sprouting up now along the side of Paradise Bay.

  • As guests descend into the water, a cool blast of air will give them the sensation of headed under the sea.
  • Scuttle the seagull will be the first character guests will meet once they have loaded into their “clam-mobiles.” And there will be several places you will see him along you way as he helps weave Ariel’s story together.

Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
While it may not open until the fall of 2011, a few exciting elements of the reimagined Star Tours were announced.

  • The enhanced attraction — featuring multiple destinations — takes place in between the two Star Wars trilogies, which will enable Imagineers to utilize characters from both sets of films.
  • While the planet of Tatooine was unveiled as a destination at last year’s D23 Expo, Walt Disney Imagineering Senior Show Producer Kathy Rogers announced that the bustling urban environment of Coruscant will be another.
  • There will be several points during each journey where the audience will be able to change where the story is going. “There’s an incredible number of different variations,” explains Al Weiss, president, Worldwide Operations, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “You will rarely, if ever, see the same show twice. And it’s all in 3D.

Looks like we may be waiting until Fall 2011 for Star Tours at Disneyland Resort and we imagine it will be a similar wait for the Disney’s Hollywood Studios version. Stay tuned to WDW News Today for more details on these two upcoming attractions as they become available.

New Star Tours and Little Mermaid Attraction Details

WDWNT on June 14, 2010

At the media festivities last week at Disneyland Resort, we got a closer look and a few more details about both “Under The Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid” and “Star Tours II” (note that Disney has dropped the II from the name, but we’ll be using it just to differentiate it from the current version of the attraction). While the previews are meant for Disneyland, both attractions will be almost identical at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort.

First looking at the Little Mermaid dark ride, the clam vehicles are actually different from the Seas with Nemo and Friends

Read More about New Star Tours and Little Mermaid Attraction Details

“What’s Next?” at The Disneyland Resort

WDWNT on June 14, 2010

“What’s Next?” for the Disneyland Resort after the debut of World of Color? Find out more details about The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, Star Tours 2, Carsland, and much more!

Robert Ashburn’s Summer Nightastic Photo Report

WDWNT on June 12, 2010

While Tom is off on his Summer Nightastic “research” trip, we thought we would bring you a short preview of Summer Nightastic with photos from our good friend Robert Asburn of FloridaThrills.net:

Robert visited with some of the WDWNT Crew at our WDWNT Fan Meet held at the Magic Kingdom on June 6th for the offical start of Summer Nightastic

Tinker Bell Starts off the Main Street Electrical Parade and Summer Nightastic!

It’s been a while since Main Street USA has seen these sights

The Chesire Cat has been updated since he last visited WDW.

Is it time for Spectromagic?

SNFS is based on the great fireworks show Magic, Music and Mayhem held during the Pirate and Pricess Parties.

We will end this short taste of summer nightastic with a salute to all nations but mostly America. Tom will be back soon with full coverage of all the Summer Nightastic offerings from both coasts soon including Disney’s Electrical Parade, the Summer Nightastic Fireworks Spectacular and World of Color from the Disneyland Resort as well. Stay Tuned here and to Disneyland News Today as well for full coverage!

WDWNT: The Wallpapers #4

WDWNT on June 10, 2010

Thanks to the amazing talent and generosity of photographer Tim Goodchild of timgoodchild.com, we are able to provide these downloadable wallpapers for your computer monitor. Simply click the link corresponding to your monitor’s resolution, then save the resulting image file to your computer. We will have select wallpapers available for dual-monitor and triple-monitor setups as well.

We will try to present a new wallpaper image once a week. This week, sit back and hold on for the launch at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster:

1024×768
1280×800
1280×1024
1440×900
1680×1050
1920×1080
1920×1200
Dual Monitor 1024×768 = 2048×768
Dual Monitor 1280×1024 = 2560×1024
Dual Monitor 1680×1050 = 3360×1050
Triple Monitor 1024×768 = 3072×768
Triple Monitor 1280×1024 = 3840×1024

Summer Nightastic! Video Spectacular

WDWNT on June 9, 2010

We apologize for the lack of updates on the site lately, we’ve had a lot going on as we prepare for a number of new projects and continue to cover Summer Nightastic! at both the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts. In the meantime, here are some videos of the first performances of the Main Street Electrical Parade and the Summer Nightastic! Fireworks Spectacular from this weekend (embedded via the WDWNTube):


Jose Eber’s Memorial Day WDW Video Update

WDWNT on June 2, 2010

WDWNT Reporter Jose Eber has provided us with a video update of construction projects all around the Walt Disney World Resort including Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, the Best Friends Pet Resort, the Four Seasons Resort, and Pollo Campero at Downtown Disney:

WDW Marathon Finishers Get New Medal & Free Day in the Parks

WDWNT on June 1, 2010

New 2011 race enhancements include reward of complimentary admission to a Walt Disney World theme park for marathon finishers, plus first-ever online voting to select new race medal; race registration well underway after record marathon weekend exceeded 55,500 in 2010

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (June 1, 2010) – In addition to a tremendous sense of accomplishment, a magical reward will await everyone who completes the Walt Disney World Marathon presented by Cigna in 2011: a new Mickey Mouse race medal and a free day at Disney.

As part of Disney’s ongoing efforts to encourage guests to celebrate the milestones in their lives at a Disney park, finishers at the Disney Marathon on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011, will receive complimentary admission to a Walt Disney World theme park the Monday after the race.

And for the first time ever, runners and fans can choose the official 2011 Disney Marathon medal, which will be their unofficial “ticket’’ to Disney on “Marathon Monday.’’  Through online voting this summer, fans can vote for their favorite from three medal designs, all created by Jostens Inc., which has designed Super Bowl rings and college football’s prestigious Heisman Trophy.  The medal with the most votes will become the official medal of the 2011 Walt Disney World Marathon.

Voting is underway now and runs through July 28 at disneyworldmarathon.com.  The winning medal will be announced in early August.

“Running 26.2 miles is quite an accomplishment even if you’re energized by Disney entertainment along the way, so what better way to celebrate such an achievement than a complimentary fun-filled day at Disney where you can show off your new medal,’’ said Faron Kelley, director of marketing for Disney Sports.  “These new features are just more ways runners and their families can combine their passion for running with a memorable trip to their favorite vacation destination.’’

Registration remains open for the 2011 Walt Disney Marathon Weekend (Jan. 6-9), which is approaching 50 percent of capacity.  The Disney Marathon Weekend (typical race start temperature 48.6 degrees) will once again include a variety of events for all ages and running abilities – kids races, a Family Fun Run 5K, the Goofy Race & a Half Challenge, the Disney Half Marathon and the Disney Marathon, plus the Health & Fitness Expo.  To sign up for any of the weekend events, go to disneyworldmarathon.com.

Last year’s Disney Marathon Weekend, which drew a record 55,500 registered runners from all 50 states and 50 countries, was highlighted by Adriano Bastos’ sixth consecutive Disney Marathon victory and Lisa Mizutani’s second straight women’s title.