Changing 9 Dragons Over 6 Months

WDWNT on June 3, 2008

Here’s an excerpt from the Orlando Sentinel talking about changes taking place at Epcot’s Nine Dragons Restaurant now through this December:

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Orlando Sentinel) Nine Dragons Restaurant, Walt Disney World’s premiere Chi-nese cuisine diner at Epcot, closed late last week for refurbishment. The work is part of ongoing efforts to re-fresh many of the food offerings and experiences in Epcot’s World Showcase. Nine Dragons interior is to be remodeled and redecorated. The restaurant also will be revising its menu. Nine Dragons is expected to reopen sometime in the fall. Meanwhile, counter service of a limited number of Chinese dishes is still available through the China Pavilion’s Lotus Blossom Cafe, and a food kiosk will be added to the pavilion’s courtyard with additional offerings. The main restaurants in Epcot’s Mexico, Japan and Italy pavilions were refurbished in the past year or two. Nine Dragons Restaurant features several styles of Chinese cooking, with entrees ranging in price from $15 to more than $30.

John Corigliano WDW Photo Update 6/1/08

WDWNT on June 2, 2008

Hi everybody, John Corigliano here to provide you with some photo updates of my wild weekend at the Walt Disney World Resort, visiting both Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Hope you enjoy it!!!

Spaceship Earth's wait time was for 20min today

Spaceship Earth’s wait time for 20 minutes today. Does that look like 20 minutes?

They've added this sign to tell guests how to trade and also a screen that will soon tell guests how much pins are just by scanning the UPC bar code.

They’ve added this sign to Pin Central at Epcot to tell guests how to trade pins. They’ve also a screen that will soon tell guests how much pins are just by scanning the UPC bar code.

Here's the new Price Pin Guide that's being implemented at the EPCOT's Pin Central. Each color is a different price.

Here’s the new Price Pin Guide that’s being implemented at the Epcot’s Pin Central. Each color is represents a different price.

Here’s what the UPC Bar Codes on the back of the pins look like. This pin has a blue sticker denoting that the price is $8.95.

Here’s another example. The price here is $6.95.

Rumors were circulating that Nestle had their signs removed at The Land, for the time being that is totally and completely FASLE. Here’s the proof.

The only thing that’s gone is the Jr. Chef station.

Here’s the “NEW” EPCOT Center shirt that’s been released around Epcot shops.

The only difference is that there’s a 25th Anniversary logo on inside where the tag would be.

Here’s some of Father’s Day merchandise being sold around Walt Disney World.

Here’s a billboard for Toy Story Mania! that’s just down the street near my home.

Now we move over to the actual attraction and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

TSMM had a 90 minute wait on opening day (May 31). Sadly, I one got on the ride once since the ride had technical difficulties after I got off it.

Here was my one and only score. Not as good as Tom Corless who actually holds the all-time high score at the moment.

Here’s the newly unveiled directional sign showing where Toy Story Midway Mania is.

Here’s the only reference to the Disney-MGM Studios that I could find in the entire park. I miss you MGM.

More Disney’s Hollywood Studios merchandise continues to come in.

Already, Imagineering has a Toy Story Midway Mania wait time sign pin. Tom wants this pin so bad.

Progress on enclosing the old Hunchback Theater is almost done.

As you can see from looking over the wall.

Nothing really new over at the old ABC Theater, future home of the American Idol Experience.

Does it seem like something is missing?

Anyone know the answers?

Here’s the new DHS watch design by Jason Zucker, only 50 of them available.

One of Jason’s amazing drawings for Star Wars Weekends.

Here’s one of Jason’s unreleased Star Wars Weekends artwork designs featuring Donald Duck.

Here, again you can see the new Playhouse Disney sign at the entrance.

A lot of progress as gone on over at the DVC Tower.

I finally got to eat here for the first time….on the last day in operation. Too bad I can’t come back for seconds.

So, as we end this WDW Update, we say good-bye to the Concourse Steakhouse.

Dateline Disneyland Picture Update

WDWNT on May 31, 2008

Let’s take a look at some various things going on through-out the Disneyland Resort from this week’s Dateline Disneyland on MiceAge:

Banners for Toy Story Mania in Downtown Disney


Another Toy Story Mania ad, this one in the Esplanade


Cast Members at the parking toll booths are passing out flyers for the Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries


The It’s a Small World train has been stripped down to the bear


The pond underneath Gadget’s Go Coaster has gone dry while the connecting water for Donald’s Boat is drained during the Boat’s refurbishment


The fire truck in front of the Toontown Fire Depot is missing


The article (linked above) has a detailed look at the Create Your Own Ear Hat station in the Gag Factory in Mickey’s Toontown


A look at the new Hot Dog Hut’s menu

Lights, Camera, Rumor Control!!!

WDWNT on May 30, 2008

Just wanted to take a moment to clear up two rumors about the future of Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

-The space next to Toy Story Midway Mania (known as sound-stage 1) is not being prepared for Pixar Place area expansion at this time. As we reported in April, the space will be the merchandise location for Star Wars Weekends at the Studios beginning in June. I even took a peek inside the studio this week to be sure, and all that I saw were boxes and shelves full of merchandise.

-Of course there has been another leak about the new Star Tours attraction in development (as if there was any doubt this was happening) this week. From what I have been told, the attraction will either close later this year or right after the conclusion of the 2009 Star Wars Weekends at the Studios. Either way, the current feeling is that the attraction can not miss a Star Wars Weekend event during this lengthy refurbishment, so It can only be closed for a year at the most.

The Happiest Cruise That Ever Got Laughs

WDWNT on May 29, 2008

The Jungle Cruise attraction returned into service at the Magic Kingdom this past Memorial Day weekend with a few noticeable changes. The first thing you should notice while aboard is that most of the props and sets throughout the attraction have been repainted and repaired, all looking practically brand new. Besides the general maintenance, some of the audio-animatronics characters from the attraction are still missing or have been removed. The Tiger from the cave scene and Chief Nami (the man holding the two shrunken heads near the very end) were still missing from the attraction as of early Wendesday morning. WDW News Today will be sure to keep an eye on the attraction in the coming weeks, as it is believed that this was only the first phase of a larger refurbishment that thisclassic Magic Kingdom attraction will be receiving in the near future.

Checking In From The World

WDWNT on May 28, 2008

Hello everybody, Tom Corless here reporting from the Walt Disney World Resort in Orland, Florida. It has been a fun and hectic nine days here, but I’ll be returning home to New York tomorrow evening. I apologize for the lack of news lately, but here are some tidbits to tide you over until we are fully operational again on May 29.

-Toy Story Midway Mania was operating perfectly at Disney’s Hollywood Studios the first few days of my vacation, but has suffered greatly from the addition of the fastpass system this past weekend. The stand-by line moved very fast prior to the changes, but wait times after the changes went up to 2 hours in length, despite what the estimated time was stated to be. Expect either limited fastpass distribution or the removal of the system from the attraction sometime in the near future. Also expect the new store and dining location across the street inside the Pixar Studios area to open during the later part of June.

-Work on Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa continues as the entire pool area is slated to be refurbished over the next week or so. In addition, the now delayed new flooring for the main building will be arriving in September and should be in place before the holiday season.

-The Mad Tea Party will be closed for refurbishment May 28th, 2008.

-The Jungle Cruise, Ariel’s Grotto, and Cinderella’s Golden Carousel re-opened from refurbishment recently and are all looking great. The Carousel has received new loading gates that are really well themed and decorated. Expect pictures from me later this week of all of these changes plus other items from my ten day trip.

The American Idol Experience

WDWNT on May 23, 2008

The official web-page for the new American Idol Experience, opening January 2009 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, has been put up. More artist concepts, videos (including newly crowned American Idol, David Cook, singing “When You Wish Upon a Star”), & information on the audition process for the attraction, are on the site.

5/9/08 Walt Disney World Update

WDWNT on May 21, 2008

WDWNT was at the Walt Disney World Resort the weekend of May 9th, & as usual, we snapped some lovely pictures. Here are a few of them:

Here’s the Build Your Own Lightsaber stand at the Once Upon a Toy store in Downtown Disney.

A look inside the newly refurbished Wolfgang Puck Express at Downtown Disney.

A look at the track layout for Toy Story Midway Mania.

Predicting The Future With a Doctor and a Prince

WDWNT on May 16, 2008

The next two weeks of business at your local box office may be determining the future of your favorite Disney Parks and your future vacations. Disney management will be closely watching the performance of two summer blockbusters over the next two weeks, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

For the Narnia series, everything is riding on this weekend and the latest film’s success. If the film doesn’t perform as well as the Walt Disney Company is hoping, we may have seen the last or next-to-last Narnia film. Whether or not that takes place, a decision will be made soon on the now-in-developement Narnia 3-D attraction being planned for Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s California Adventure. If the film shows strong results, then expect the new Narnia 3-D show to debut at both parks around Summer 2010.

As far as Dr. Jones is concerned, Disney is dying to know if Indy can still swing some good box office numbers after 19 years of script battles between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. If Indiana Jones does as well as many are expecting it to do, I would expect a green light for the long in development Indiana Jones Adventure (same name as Disneyland attraction, but extremely different beyond that), an updated Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectatular, or both. Be sure to keep an eye on box office results the next two weeks, because the newest attractions at Walt Disney World are riding on it.

Star Wars Weekends Gets Cloned

WDWNT on May 15, 2008

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., and SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (May 13, 2008) — The Star Wars adventures continue on Aug. 15 with the theatrical release of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS from Lucasfilm Animation, and this year’s Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort will offer fans an exciting, in-depth look at the making of this big-screen animated epic.

Among the features at this year’s Star Wars Weekends, which run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from June 6 to June 29, 2008, will be “Behind the Force — Experience THE CLONE WARS,” an exploration of the creation of this groundbreaking Star Wars feature film. During “Experience THE CLONE WARS,” fans will get a chance to meet a representative of Lucasfilm Ltd. and, at the culmination of the presentation, see an exclusive clip of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS that can be seen only at Disney’s Hollywood Studios during Star Wars Weekends.

“The Clone Wars is Star Wars as you’ve never seen it before, so it makes sense that we’re offering fans at Star Wars Weekends something completely unique — an early glimpse at a Star Wars movie,” said Kayleen Walters, director of marketing for Lucasfilm Ltd. “We’re working with Disney to create an event no Star Wars fan will want to miss.”

In addition to the excitement surrounding Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars will feature celebrities from the classic, live-action movies, who will be on hand each weekend for photos, Q&A, autograph sessions and Hollywood-style motorcades. All four weekends, Star Wars actor Warwick Davis (who portrayed “Wicket” the Ewok) will serve as celebrity emcee and host of the event.

Among the scheduled celebrities and special guests at this year’s Star Wars Weekends are Dave Filoni, director of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS; and MatthewWood, who performs voices in the movie and the CLONE WARS TV series debuting this fall.

A weekend-by-weekend lineup of celebrities scheduled to appear includes (subject to change):

June 6-8: Jeremy Bulloch (“Boba Fett”) and Daniel Logan (young “Boba Fett”)
June 13-15: Peter Mayhew (“Chewbacca”) and David Prowse (“Darth Vader”)
June 20-22: Amy Allen (“Aayla Secura”) and Matthew Wood (“General Grievous” and voice artist in THE CLONE WARS)
June 27-29: Dave Filoni (director of the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars)
In addition, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will offer a host of surprises throughout the four weekends, promising to bring an unprecedented level of “sneak preview” excitement and fun to the popular Star Wars Weekends.

Other activities included in the fan-fest fun: the “Padawan Mind Challenge,” allowing kids under 12 to test their wits before the Jedi Council; “Legends of the Force,” a motorcade featuring favorite Star Wars celebrities; and “Jedi Training Academy,” where young Jedi-wannabes can learn lightsaber battle techniques and test theirnewfound skills against Darth Vader or Darth Maul.