Our friend Robert Ashburn of FloridaThrills.Net has provided us with photos from his latest trip to the Walt Disney World Resort, and there is a lot going on, so let’s get started:
Starting at Downtown Disney, the braille map at Pleasure Island has finally been updated
Our good friend Robert Ashburn of FloridaThrills.net sent us some newsworthy photos from his latest trip to Walt Disney World:
Let’s head on over to the Magic Kingdom
Read More about Robert Ashburn’s 4/30-5/1/10 WDW Photo Report
Big things are happening at the Magic Kingdom right now and WDWNT Reporter Brandon Struve visited the Magic Kingdom last night to see exactly what’s going on at the world’s leading theme park:
‘Tis a stormy night on the Seven Seas…. lagoon….
Read More about Brandon Struve’s 4/20/10 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
Our friend Robert Ashburn of FloridaThrills.net made a visit to the Magic Kingdom last night to say goodbye to a few attractions (that have now gone away) and he took plenty of newsworthy pictures to share with us:
Express monorail to the Magic Kingdom
Read More about Robert Ashburn’s 4/11/10 Magic Kingdom Photo Report
WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee spent his President’s Day at a very busy Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios on Monday and he has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us:
Work continues on the queue for the new Mickey and pals meet and greet  in the Exposition Hall
Brady MacDonald over at the LA Times Travel Blog has posted exclusive sneak peeks at High School Musical 3: Right Here! Right Now! & Pixie Hollow, which are both scheduled to debut tomorrow:
The new “High School Musical 3” parade debuting at Disney’s California Adventure on Friday features six new songs from the movie, including a pair of step-by-step reproductions of elaborate dance numbers.
A cast of 60 performers has been preparing three weeks for the new show — officially called “High School Musical 3: Senior Year: Right Here, Right Now” — enduring six-day-a-week, eight-hour-a-day rehearsals that start at 4 a.m. before the Anaheim theme park opens to the public, show director Randy Wojcik said.
Disney doesn’t call the show a “parade,” even though it travels along the Anaheim theme park’s parade route. A self-described “Wildcat geek,” Wojcik dubs the latest incarnation a “traveling rock concert” and a “street party.”
Just like the similarly themed “High School Musical 2″ show it replaces, the new “HSM3″ production will make stops at the Sun Plaza near the main entrance and the Golden State Stage near the former Golden Dreams attraction. A 14-person cast will perform three shows daily from the late morning to early afternoon.
The live show replicates two iconic production numbers from the upcoming movie — “A Night to Remember” and the “High School Musical” theme song.
Audience members are encouraged to participate during two songs — busting out their own signature dance moves during “A Night to Remember” and donning top hats, canes and feather boas during “I Want It All.”
The songs performed in the California Adventure “HSM3″ show include:
- “Now or Never” (opening drum cadence)
- “I Want It All” (Broadway show tune)
- “A Night to Remember” (upbeat prom dance number)
- “The Boys Are Back” (urban R&B)
- “Just Wanna Be With You” (pop anthem)
- “High School Musical” (finale theme song)
Personally, I can’t get “I Want It All” out of my head. My 8-year-old daughter, Hannah, has been listening to the song nonstop since she got the CD earlier this week.
“High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” starring Zac Effron, Vanessa Hudgens, and Ashley Tisdale opens in theaters on Friday.
How do you sit down for a photo with Tinker Bell without actually sitting on the palm-size pixie? We’ll soon find out when Peter Pan’s fairy friend gets her own meet-and-greet area at Disneyland.
Pixie Hollow, which takes the place of Ariel’s Grotto near the Matterhorn Bobsleds, is expected to soft open on Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 in advance of an official opening next week.
Visitors walking past an “enchanted” pond will feel as though they are shrinking to the size of a fairy through a series of visual and audio cues. Bronze statues of the five Disney fairies — Iradessa, Rosetta, Fawn, Silvermist and, of course, Tinker Bell — line the pathway. Along the way, whispers and echoes emanate from the fantasy fairy world. Tinker Bell, played by a 5-foot-tall face character, poses for photos in front of her home, an upside-down tea pot.
Most folks won’t think twice about posing for a picture next to a pixie that can fit through a keyhole. After all, Disneyland is a place where dogs walk on their hind legs, pants-less ducks swear like sailors and squeaky-voiced mice run the place.
Life-size Tinks already appear in Disneyland’s Parade of Dreams and high above Sleeping Beauty Castle in the nighttime fireworks show.
The evicted Little Mermaid will be shedding her tailfin and donning a dress over in the Princess Fantasy Faire at the Fantasyland Theater.
The latest Dateline Disneyland article on MiceAge has a fine update on construction through-out the Disneyland Resort. Let’s take a look at some of the latest happenings:
The King Triton & Ariel statues have been removed, as well as most of the current theming in Ariel’s Grotto.
This is what has become of the turntable where Ariel entered to meet ‘n greet guests. No word on if the turntable structure will remain for Pixie Hollow.
A construction wall has popped up near the old Fantasyland Skyway Station. Don’t get your hopes up though, because there’s no way the Skyway is ever returning.
Let’s take a quick tour of the new Wishing Star Crystals store, which opened August 30th.
A window display.
In the store, you can buy personalized “magic crystals”.
The Conestoga Wagon near Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is still 100% in tact.
This sign is in place at Harbour Galley.
Some of the exterior Haunted Mansion Holiday decorations have already arrived, & are waiting to be installed in the queue area.
Many of the Halloween displays in the shop windows on Main Street USA have already been installed.
Finally, over at Department 56 in Downtown Disney, the new wall sectioning off the store looks to be mostly complete.
Though unconfirmed, it is highly likely that today was the last day of operation for the Ariel’s Grotto meet ‘n greet. In honor of this closing, I’d like to link you over to a video tour of Ariel’s Grotto that I put up last week on WDWNTube.
Again, we’re not 100% certain that it closed today, but we will certainly let you know on its fate tomorrow. As previously reported, Ariel will move over to the Princess Fantasy Faire in her human form for 2-3 years, until a new meet ‘n greet for her mermaid form is built as part of the upcoming Little Mermaid attraction over at Disney’s California Adventure. Ariel’s Grotto’s replacement, Pixie Hollow, reportedly will open up on October 28th.
We have received confirmation that the Pixie Hollow meet ‘n greet that is replacing the Ariel’s Grotto meet ‘n greet will officially open on October 28th, 2008. As previously reported, the latest set of auditions for the Fairies takes place this Sunday. Ariel’s Grotto closes this Sunday as well.
Stay tuned to Disneyland News Today for the latest on Pixie Hollow!
Last week we shared with you the rumor that the Vineyard Room restaurant at Disney’s California Adventure may be closing, & sadly enough, that rumor was made official by Disney yesterday. According to the OC Register, the restaurant will permanently close on August 31st, 2008. Disney spokeswoman Betsy Sanchez said that “In the short term, the area will be used as additional seating for the popular Wine Country Trattoria. Long-term plans are still being considered”.
The closing of this restaurant will leave California Adventure with just 2 table service restaurants, them being the Wine Country Trattoria & Ariel’s Grotto.
