Fort Wilderness Facelift

WDWNT on April 15, 2008

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — An outdoor adventure that has been a favorite with Walt Disney World guests since 1971 is receiving some enhancements. As part of a resort-wide renovation project, on now, changes are coming or already in place across the 700 acres of Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.

“Over the last 37 years, the average length of an RV has increased by 27 feet,” says Fort Wilderness spokesperson Darcy Cormier. “Many feature ‘slide outs’ that mechanically extend from the sides of the vehicle.”

To address the needs of today’s larger vehicles, an intensive effort will widen and lengthen the concrete parking pads while maintaining privacy and tranquility provided by natural vegetation. A new “Premium” campsite will be available that features extra large concrete pads for larger vehicles — also upgrades to existing amenities such as picnic tables and grills.

The main pool at Fort Wilderness will be enhanced with a themed water slide, hot tub and children’s wet play area. The pool’s deep end has been made shallower.

Nestled in the woodlands, the resort’s 409 Wilderness Cabins feature brand-new furniture, carpeting, fixtures and linens — plus a fresh coat of paint. Each spacious cabin features more than 500 square feet of air-conditioned living space as well as a private patio deck with a charcoal grill and picnic table. The master bedroom sleeps four with a full-sized bed and set of bunk beds, while the separate living room sleeps two with a full-sized pull-down bed. All cabins also feature vaulted ceilings, color cable television, DVD player, telephone and a spacious oval dining table. Daily housekeeping service is provided to all Wilderness Cabins.

“With all of the comforts of home, the Wilderness Cabins are perfect for guests who want to wind down in a tranquil, relaxing atmosphere after a fun-filled day at the theme parks,” said Jean Gallagher, general manager of Fort Wilderness.

Fort Wilderness has always been the pet-friendly choice for guests to Walt Disney World Resort, and now dogs are getting a playground of their own at the newly opened Waggin’ Trails Dog Park, an off-leash play area.

Of course there is plenty of recreation for humans, too, including horseback riding, fishing excursions, nature trail exploration, boat rentals, volleyball, tennis, bike rentals and the new Wilderness Back Trail Adventure, where guests can experience, first-hand, a Segway X2 Personal Transporter. Guests can unwind on a white sand beach, play a leisurely game of shuffleboard, take the little ones on a pony ride or enjoy an evening horse-drawn wagon ride around the resort.

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground is located in the Magic Kingdom resort area on the banks of Bay Lake. Convenient boat transportation to Magic Kingdom and motorcoach transportation to all Walt Disney World destinations, including Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, is provided.

For more information, or to make reservations at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, visit www.wdwcamp.com or call 407/WDW-CAMP. To book the two-hour guided Segway X2 experience, contact 407/WDW-TOUR.

Catching Up With The World

WDWNT on April 13, 2008

After enjoying a fantastic weekend at The Central Jersey Disney Pin Traders’ “Trade Till You Fade” event along with staff members John Rick of The Disney Pincast, Jason Diffendal of WDWCelebrations, and Justin Heyman, we’re back with some news updates from around the Walt Disney World Resort:

-Over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, construction of the American Idol show has forced the new Block Party Bash parade to make it’s two show stops on Hollywood Blvd. and at the Sorcerer’s Hat and then go straight back down the street again into the gates through which it arrived. We expect this to be the parade’s route until construction of the attraction is completed this Fall.

-Construction of the new north wing at Disney’s Contemporary Resort is picking up, as glass panels are actually being added to the building already.

DLR Picture Update

WDWNT on April 12, 2008

I just got back from 2 wonderful days at the Disneyland Resort! Let’s get straight to the pictures:


A new Kodak sign up on the Honey, I Shrunk the Audience entrance marque


The new Tinkertoy in the Pixar Play Parade


A wall up by Grizzly River Run. As reported earlier this week, the attraction is still open


The new emergency bridge from DCA to the Grand Californian


The Toontown room in the World of Disney store


A construction wall up by the Tomorrowland Terrace


The new Disneyland map front, that debuted today…


… And the DCA one


Today was the first day in this year’s California Food & Wine Festival


The Festival Welcome Center


Let’s take a look at the Festival Guide Booklet…


This year is the 3rd annual California Food & Wine Festival


A special restaurant has been set up in Pacific Wharf just for the Food & Wine Festival, in place of the old Lucky Fortune Cookery


The place to get Food & Wine merchandise. I got the pin!


The menu for this special restaurant, The Taste of California Marketplace


Construction on the ODV structures outside Toy Story Mania


The fountain outside of King Triton’s Carousel is working for once!


The sign for Seasons of the Vine has finally been removed. Weird how the attraction closed just as the Food & Wine Festival started


A new sign for the Year of a Million Dreams on the security tents


This could be DCA’s temporary entrance


Just to give you an idea where it actually is

Stay tuned tomorrow for bigger versions of these pictures & many more pictures in our Image Galleries!

“A Long Time Ago, In a Studio of a Previous Name….”

WDWNT on April 11, 2008

Yesterland.com is offering up a great look and analysis at an opening day map from the Disney MGM Studios in 1989. Be sure to look at a current day map as you take this trip into the past, you will be surprised at how unbelievably different the park looks today from its very humble beginnings almost 20 years ago. To see the full article, go HERE.

Disney

WDWNT on April 10, 2008

I found a rather funny press release put out by Disney earlier this week and felt I should share it with our readers. This is probably the first time Disney has acknowledged that they have a huge number of attractions based on Pixar films:

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — It’s a Pixar palooza at Disney Parks! In family-friendly attractions and immersive experiences on both coasts of the United States, guests can do it all — find Nemo, zap Zurg and meddle with Monsters.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Coming this summer to Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif., is a whole new interactive adventure: Toy Story Mania!

Celebrating Disney-Pixar classics “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2,” this new ride-game experience combines delightful film characters with personality-matching games guests can play. Donning 3-D glasses, guests shrink to the size of a toy and hop fanciful ride vehicles following a midway-themed route. At each game booth, they aim for animated targets using special on-board spring-action shooters. And since games adapt to the skill level of each player, beginners and gamers alike have plenty of reasons to ride — and play — again and again.

Toy Story Mania! debuts at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida in late May and at Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim in late June. It joins these other experiences inspired by favorite Disney-Pixar characters and films.

At Walt Disney World Resort:

  • Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor — Guests find the power of laughter in an engaging and interactive adventure inspired by “Monsters, Inc.” as they match wits with the one-eyed hero Mike Wazowski and his friends. As Monster-of-Ceremonies, Mike recruits comedian wanna-bes whose humor delights audiences at a 400-seat theater in Magic Kingdom.
  • Finding Nemo-The Musical — The undersea world that charmed audiences in “Finding Nemo” comes to life in a musical stage show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The 30-minute Broadway-style production immerses guests in the story of Marlin and Nemo, an overprotective clownfish father and his curious son, with imaginative puppetry, dazzling special effects and an original musical score.
  • The Seas with Nemo & Friends — This whimsical and visually stunning attraction at Epcot picks up where the film “Finding Nemo” left off. Riding aboard “clamobiles” in a colorful coral reef setting, guests meet Mr. Ray and learn that Nemo has wandered off. The journey continues as Dory, Bruce, Marlin, Squirt and Crush help with the search. These deep-sea friends inhabit a variety of vibrant vignettes, including a huge aquarium that contains more than 65 species of marine life.
  • Block Party Bash — This high-energy extravaganza at Disney’s Hollywood Studios cranks the music and excitement to the max, putting guests in the middle of the wildest Disney spectacle ever — a non-stop musical block party that doubles as a fun-filled interactive street spectacular. Featuring characters from “Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Monster’s, Inc.” and “The Incredibles,” “Block Party Bash” combines dancers, acrobats, stilt performers and a caravan of electric scooters to fill the performance area with awe-inspiring visual and sound sensations.

    •           At Disneyland Resort:

  • Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage — Guests embark on an underwater expedition where they discover Nemo and his finned friends from “Finding Nemo.” Thanks to cutting-edge imaging technology, characters such as Dory, Marlin, Crush, Bruce and, of course, Nemo, come to life before guests’ eyes in a brilliantly colored lagoon at Disneyland Park. 
  • a bug’s land — Designed especially for kids, this land at Disney’s California Adventure features Flik’s Fun Fair, which is full of attractions inspired by the film “A Bug’s Life.” Children can experience the world from a bug’s point of view by visiting Flik’s Flyers, Francis’ Ladybug Boogie, Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train, Princess Dot Puddle Park, and Tuck and Roll Drive’Em Buggies. Families can then cap off their adventures with a screening of the 3-D spectacular “It’s Tough to be a Bug.”
  • Monster’s Inc., Mike and Sulley to the Rescue — Disney’s California Adventure guests are in for a ride of “monstrous” proportion as they climb aboard taxis and hit the streets of Monstropolis with Mike, Sulley and Boo. Along the way they’ll encounter the super-sneaky Randall Boggs, the yellow-suited agents of the Child Detection Agency and other characters from the film.
  • Pixar Play Parade — Characters from Disney-Pixar films “Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Monsters, Inc.,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” “Cars” and “Ratatouille” dance onto the parade route and invite guests of all ages to join in a whirling, spinning, fun-for-all animated playground. This daily spectacle at Disney’s California Adventure is brought to life in giant parade floats, puppetry, acrobatics and interactive surprises including bubble, fire and water effects.

    •           At both Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort:

  • Turtle Talk With Crush — Crush from “Finding Nemo” has made a different kind of screen debut at Epcot and Disneyland Park — as a chatting, joking quipster who engages guests in conversation from his movie-screen undersea environment. The interactive show is a breakthrough experience in real-time animation using digital projection and sophisticated, voice-activated animation.
  • It’s Tough to be a Bug — Inside the massive trunk of Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life, and at the heart of Disney’s California Adventure’s “a bug’s land,” is “It’s Tough to be a Bug,” a humorous 3-D film and special effects show starring Earth’s least-known wild creatures — and a few familiar faces from “A Bug’s Life.” Guests will recognize friendly Flik and the villainous Hopper, but the rest of the show promises some “stingingly” surprising antics.
  • Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (WDW) / Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters (DLR) — Armed with infrared lasers, guests join forces with Buzz Lightyear to defend Earth’s supply of batteries from the evil Emperor Zurg in a spinning, brought-to-life spin-off of the movie “Toy Story.” The shoot-’em-up fun at both Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park triggers sight and sound gags, while a lighted display inside toy-spaceship vehicles allows guests to keep score.

    • For more information about Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort visit disneyworld.com and www.disneyland.com.

    WASH. RESIDENT FIRST IN THE NATION TO REDEEM HIS FREE DISNEY PAR

    WDWNT on April 9, 2008

    (JANUARY 1, 2009): Using an oversized park ticket created for the occasion, Seattle, Wash. resident Andrew DaCosta enters the Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. on Jan. 1, 2009. DaCosta was honored this morning as the first person in the nation to receive free admission to a Disney theme park on his birthday as part of Disney’s “What Will You Celebrate?” campaign. DaCosta, who is celebrating his 49th birthday today, redeemed his “Free On Your Birthday” registration at the Magic Kingdom Guest Relations window at 7:31 a.m. Jan. 1 is the first day of the “What Will You Celebrate?” campaign at both Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Resort in California. In addition to offering everyone who visits a Walt Disney World or Disneyland theme park on their birthday in 2009 free admission, the “What Will You Celebrate?” campaign features new theme park entertainment, added celebration experiences and new ways for guests to customize their own “celebration vacation” at both vacation resorts. (Preston Mack, photographer)

    Animal Kingdom Anniversary Details

    WDWNT on April 9, 2008

    Here is a list of the special events that are scheduled for Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s tenth anniversary on April 22, 2008:

    -A rededication ceremony for the park will be held in front of the Tree of Life from 8:45-9:00am

    -Imagineer Joe Rohde will be giving a talk/question & answer session in the Theater in the Wild starting at 9:45am and lasting for about an hour. This will be very similar to the talk session that Imagineer Marty Sklar gave at Epcot’s 25th Anniversary back in October 2007.

    WDW News Today will have full coverage of Animal Kingdom’s 10th anniversary on April 22, as we will be part of WDWCelebrations “A Wild Decade” commemorative event. Stay tuned for coverage in just two weeks!!!

    MiceAge DLR Rumor Update

    WDWNT on April 9, 2008

    The plans for the DCA renovations always keep changing, & the latest changes were reported today in Al Lutz’s latest column on MiceAge. We’ll also take a look at some other new stuff supposedly coming to Disneyland, & the resort as a whole:

    • The Walt Disney Story show that was supposed to of gone into the new Walt Disney Plaza has been dropped from the plans. Team Disney Anaheim’s idea behind this is that DCA already has too many shows, & too little good rides. So the last thing DCA needs is another new show! But the extravagant Carthay Circle Theater will still be built, but will only be a facade.
    • With the Walt Disney Story not happening, this now may have Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln being re-installed into the Opera House on Main Street.
    • When Sunshine Plaza is under refurbishment, the temporary entrance may now be the big gate right by Soarin’ Over California, instead of the Millionaire building. You can see exactly where this is by viewing this picture.
    • A water play area themed to King Triton is now planned to be put right next to the new Little Mermaid attraction.
    • The Ariels Grotto restaurant may be re-themed a general Princess restaurant, Princess Palace. The more modern sections of the current exterior of the restaurant would be made more “Princessy”.
    • Originally, the renovation plans for the Disneyland Hotel was to of had each building extensively refurbished, one at a time. Well now, TDA & WDI are looking to completely rip down the current Disneyland Hotel, & re-build it all from scratch!
    • This summer, a Indiana Jones stunt show should take place in Adventureland. We’re not sure if it will last past the summer though.
    • No new attractions are currently planned for the resort in 2009, except for the new It’s a Small World. So Disneyland Park will have a major entertainment themed ad campaign, which will include the proposed new Wonder day-time parade, a new ending to Remember… Dreams Come True, new effects added to Fantasmic, & get this… the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade!

    For complete details on all of the things mentioned above & more, check out this MiceAge article!

    “Saw This Comin’!” for The Kingdom

    WDWNT on April 8, 2008

    In an announcement we have been expecting for a long time, Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom online game is finally shutting down forever next month. As stated on the VMK website, the game was only meant to run throughout the Happiest Celebration on Earth in 2005-06 and has lasted well beyond that. The Virtual Magic Kingdom did make it to the real-life Magic Kingdom during that time, gaining space over in the Main Street Cinema at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom from early 2005 until the Fall of 2007.

    The game will open for one final day of operation on May 21, 2008 before becoming the first virtual member of Yesterland.

    4/7/08 Jose Eber Update

    WDWNT on April 8, 2008

    Jose Eber is back with another WDW photo update, this time covering Disney pin trading and the Ghirardelli shop refurbishment at Downtown Disney, one of the Walt Disney World Railroad trains heading in for some maintenance, road work at the car entrance to the Magic Kingdom, and a few added surprises. Enjoy!!!