Eleven new acts join the Eat to the Beat concert series this fall during the 2017 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, the longest event ever in the festival’s history.
Festival first-timers include The Hooters, Baha Men, Lauren Alaina, Mark Wills, American Authors, Devon Allman, Postmodern Jukebox, 10,000 Maniacs, Kenny G, Blue October, and Squeeze.
Here’s the full lineup:
Delta Rae — August 31-September 1
NEW! The Hooters – September 2-3
NEW! Baha Men — September 4-5
Fuel — September 6-7
Starship featuring Mickey Thomas – September 8-10
NEW! Lauren Alaina – September 11-12
Plain White T’s — September 13-15
Sister Hazel – September 16-17
Air Supply — September 18-20
David Cook — September 21-22
Everclear — September 23-24
Sugar Ray — September 25-27
38 Special – September 28-29
NEW! Mark Wills — September 30-October 1
NEW! American Authors – October 2-3
Christopher Cross – October 4-5
NEW! Devon Allman – October 6-8
Dennis DeYoung: The Music of STYX — October 9-11
Taylor Dane — October 12-13
Jeffrey Osbourne – October 14-15
NEW! Postmodern Jukebox — October 16-17
NEW! 10,000 Maniacs — October 18-20
Toad the Wet Sprocket — October 21-22
NEW! Kenny G — October 23-24
Billy Ocean – October 25-26
Tiffany – October 27-October 29
Hanson — October 30-November 1
NEW! Blue October — November 2-3
Living Colour — November 4-5
Boyz II Men — November 6-8
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy — November 9-11
NEW! Squeeze — November 12-13
Performances are 5:30, 6:45 and 8:00 p.m. daily, and included in Epcot admission. As always, the lineup is subject to change. The 2017 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival runs August 31-November 13 at Walt Disney World Resort.
Our latest photo report takes us to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, to see what is new and exciting for this park in transition…
The Hollywood That Was
Heavy demolition continues in the Hollywood Studios parking lot as they prepare to expand and reconfigure it ahead of Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land opening.
The stage in front of the Chinese Theater was gone for a few days, but sadly they could not figure out a roll-away stage to replace it, so the old one is already back up.
New trees were planted on Hollywood Boulevard for some reason. They are much smaller than those they replaced.
The packaging for the various Chip and Dale Snack Co. products was changed, and it is pretty much the cutest thing ever.
New versus old in a side by side comparison.
The vegetable chip packaging was also updated.
Get Your Licks on Route 66
A Cars 3 cupcake is now available at most counter service locations at Hollywood Studios.
We got it and decided we needed to take this cupcake out for a photo shoot. My life now consists of cupcake photo shoots and pretzel packages.
It wasn’t the worst cupcake I have ever had, but I prefer chocolate in my desserts. That being said, it pretty much tasted like strawberry Nesquik that was turned into a cake, which isn’t a bad thing.
WARNING: The white chocolate Lighting McQueen may be hard to break…
Cruzin’ into PIXAR Place
Cruz Ramirez from Cars 3 is now meeting guests towards the end of PIXAR Place.
The awning isn’t very conducive to early morning photos…
Cruz looks pretty cool up close with the metallic paint job.
This and That
The Express Transportation stops all have the bus times posted now, a nice offering.
Disney World is somehow able to sell this Thor mug in the parks, I’m not sure how as items like this weren’t allowed before. Disney Springs and the resorts are typically where you would have to go for stuff like this.
Some new items for pets now available in the Disney Tails line.
Limited edition Pirates of the Caribbean and Cars 3 MagicBands for sale.
A new Lion King MagicBand 2 for sale.
There is now a hard plastic version of the Haunted Mansion wallpaper phone case available.
A growing trend is Disney moving away from the “Disney Parks” branding on items. This will make it hard to tell what is park exclusive and what may also be at your local Disney Store. This is a real shame for guests who want to bring something unique home. Hopefully this doesn’t mean we will see less park exclusive items as well.
There are ads for PizzeRizzo plastered all over the Muppets Courtyard area now.
Seems odd to heavily advertise a restaurant that’s only open for lunch…
More Cars 3 Stuff
One Man’s Dream is currently home to the Cars 3 preview.
There are Cars 3 advertisements everywhere outside of the exhibit…
Inside, guests see a small exhibit very similar to what used to be displayed for new films over at the Magic of Disney Animation.
There was a curtain up when we visited. This has since become a merchandise stand…
Some of the art and displays around the final rooms were changed as well.
Star Wars props were replaced with Dr. Strange.
The Music of PIXAR Live! – A Symphony of Characters
We did the dining package for The Music of PIXAR Live! – A Symphony of Characters, which is running 3 shows a night through the summer. The dining package was a great deal for the food alone, never mind our seating which was dead center. That being said, if you don’t wish to buy one, a FastPass can yield you a very similar seat.
A nearby merchandise cart.
PIXAR Live takes over the Theater of the stars in the evenings.
This is also now the FastPass entrance, but it was just dining package earlier in the run.
While rumors have been circling that Marriott would be looking to grow their presence at Walt Disney World by leveling the site of the Swan and Dolphin Hotel tennis courts, we now have some idea of their plans for the space.
Rumored plans for The Kessler Collection resort (possibly another Grand Bohemian Hotel for Orlando) operated by Marriott at Walt Disney World
A source inside of the Marriott organization has informed us that the Kessler Collection will likely be constructing a hotel on the former tennis court site. The Kessler Collection hotels are part of Mariott’s Autograph Collection Hotels, owned by Kessler and operated by Marriott. Kessler already has a strong presence in Central Florida with their Grand Bohemian Hotel Orlando, Bohemian Hotel Celebration, and the Castle Hotel Orlando, so it would not be strange for them to have yet another location in town. The Kessler hotels are typically smaller, luxury lifestyle hotels, which would be about right for a plot of this size. The hotels are typically themed to their location and this plot would be just across the street from Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Below are examples from two of their other locations.
The outdoor covered space near Fantasia Gardens would also be leveled for additional parking, but the adjacent Fantasia Gardens mini-golf should remain in operation despite the proximity to the hotel. The hotel’s prescense would likely also help business at the adjacent courses, a plus for Disney.
Of course, none of this has been confirmed as of yet, but it seems highly likely at this time. It is unknown when such a project might commence, but likely it would be very soon to coincide with the needed demands of the opening of Star Wars Land.
You can see from the aerial image that the area encompassed by the permit entails all of the empty expansion pad between France and Morocco (expansion pads were originally designated for the addition of countries to World Showcase), as well as some additional space directly behind the France pavilion. The show building will be built on the expansion pad, and the queue area will travel behind the existing France pavilion and connect to the existing guest area in front of the pavilion.
According to the permit (which can be downloaded in full here), the area inside the red outline totals 5.70 acres. Currently, 1.10 acres are paved, 0.31 acres are occupied by buildings (mostly trailers), and 4.29 acres are “pervious” aream which is either dirt or landscaping.
The plans are to pave an additional 2.94 acres of the current “pervious” area and build retention ponds on the other side of Avenue of the Stars (the service road that circles World Showcase) to hold the additional runoff from the added impervious area. Several buildings will also be removed, but some additional buildings will be built to replace them.
As you can see from the imagery, some of the expansion pad is used for storage of food kiosks from the Epcot festivals, which will easily be relocated.
I’ve analyzed the multiple drawings in the permit and additional documents filed and have drawn up the rough plan below which shows the extent of the work, where existing structures are located, and where many of them will be relocated. In addition the dark shaded area shows a new access road to be built to serve the back of the restaurants in the France pavilion, since the current access road will be blocked by either the show building or the queue area. (Note: If I’ve mislabeled any of the backstage buildings, please let me know so I can correct it. I’m only going by what I can see on the permits and don’t have firsthand knowledge! Email me directly at jason@wdwnt.com in case I don’t see it in the comments.)
Stay tuned to WDW News Today for more information on this new construction. Once things get underway, we hope to have construction photos for you on a regular basis, as you’ve come to expect from WDWNT!
Walt Disney World will likely not be reopening the Hall of Presidents at the Magic Kingdom in time for the 4th of July holiday as originally planned.
Despite zero announcements since the attraction closed in January, Disney closed the Hall of Presidents attraction to add new president Donald Trump to the show. Internal documents stated that the show would re-open in late June 2017, but are now simply stating “Summer 2017”. Cast members standing outside of the closed attraction are also telling guests that it will not reopen prior to July 4th.
Disney has still made no public statement on when it will reopen and what role Donald Trump will have in the attraction. It is unknown if the delays are related to remaining work to be done or for political reasons and public appearance.
The American Adventure lounge in World Showcase now has its main entrance walled-off. This does not happen routinely, even before the space is used prior to the park festivals.
This space has been used as the Chase Lounge at past Food and Wine Festival events, but may now be getting a conversion into Epcot’s Club 33. The spot would make sense as it offers great views and is connected via elevator to a kitchen downstairs.
While this is not confirmed and we are purely speculating, it does seem likely. However, the park does offer several other possibilities if this is not it.
Joining with the Walt Disney World theme parks, Disney Springs will offer a preferred parking service starting June 1st.
Starting 6/1, guests can purchase preferred parking for $10 in the Lemon or Grapefruit lots conveniently located near West Side or Marketplace. Otherwise, parking at Disney Springs is free, and they do offer a valet service if wanted.
For a limited time, guests can enjoy a quick-service breakfast at Restaurantosaurus in DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
The location will open with the park (including Extra Magic Hours mornings) and serve breakfast until 10AM from May 27th, through June 10th, 2017.
Selections will include Mickey Waffle Platters for adults and children, as well as a toppings bar featuring up to 12 different toppings including: warm syrup, whipped butter, walnuts, warm cinnamon apples, warm cherries, warm bananas foster, warm caramel, warm chocolate sauce, strawberry topping, whipped cream, sprinkles, and chocolate chips.
Cereals with milk, yogurt parfaits, and fruit cups will also be available.
In Celebration of the opening of Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park, iTunes is providing a limited time offer on the film AVATAR.
The AVATAR Extended Collector’s Edition on iTunes is available at the reduced price of $7.99 (reg. $19.99) through June 5th. Exclusively on iTunes, the Extended Collector’s Edition will include a video behind the scenes look inside of Pandora: The World of AVATAR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
The over eight minute piece features an in-depth look at how this dream world became a reality through the collaboration between Lightstorm Entertainment, led by James Cameron (Creator/Director of Avatar) and Jon Landau (Producer of Avatar), and the Walt Disney Imagineering team led by Joe Rohde, Creative Executive.
The Extended Collector’s Edition also offers a look at the filmmakers’ journey in the documentary Capturing Avatar, featuring interviews with the creative team behind the film. The set includes three versions of the film including a Family Friendly Audio version, plus over 45 minutes of never-before-seen footage, the Exclusive Alternate Opening on Earth, The Art of Avatar and more.
Visit apple.co/Avatar for this very special, limited time offer.
Pandora – The World of Avatar is now open at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Following the success of the Satuli Canteen in Pandora: The World of AVATAR in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Pizzafari will launch the mobile ordering program starting next week.
Pizzafari is located just steps away from Pandora on Discovery Island.
The mobile ordering program allows guests to order at Disney counter service restaurants from their mobile devices and then pick-up the order when they are ready to eat. Check out our comprehensive review of the service to see how it works.
