Astro Orbiter – WDWNT Archive

Tom Corless’ 9/30/14 WDW Photo Report (Big Hero 6 Art, Backlot Tour, Rivers of Light, New Frozen Merchandise, ETC.)

WDWNT on October 24, 2014

It was quite the busy weekend at Walt Disney World, so I managed to visit all 4 parks to see what was new and have a ton of newsworthy photos to share with you in today’s report:

The Studio Backlot Tour closed forever on Saturday

A Big Hero 6 exhibit can now be found at the Magic of Disney Animation

Moving over to Epcot, menu changes have been made a the Electric Umbrella

I decided to try the French Dip burger

It was surprisingly good!

I also tried the Pumpkin Macaroon from the France ice cream parlor and it was amazing.

Over at the Magic Kingdom, this low clearance was added in the bus stop to ensure busses go the right way through the loop

The awning on the boat dock at the entrance was replaced, it’s now red instead of green

The latest progress on the hub at the Magic Kingdom

The Astro Orbiter reopened this weekend, but you can read more about that here

The leave-your-phone charging stations in Tomorrowland have all been closed, the test period came to an end and we’ll now have to wait to see if it was a success and is brought back

New Space Mountain ladies’ shirt

New men’s “I conquered Space Mountain” shirt

This artwork was previously on a black t-shirt and slightly different

Dumbo character sketches are now being sold at Big Top Souvenirs

New Beast plush for sale at Bonjour Village Gifts

Instead of selling generic items, there is a now a Beauty and the Beast shield toy

If you don’t have a FastPass for it, prepare to arrive at Be Our Guest at park opening to get a return time to eat lunch there or you’ll be turned away

Even more of Sir Mickey’s has been taken over by Frozen merchandise, even Ariel merchandise got pushed out

Some new Frozen artwork for sale

A two-sided Olaf ceramic ornament was just released

Queue work continues at Peter Pan’s Flight

We thought it would only be at Disneyland, but the Zero popcorn bucket was released at the Magic Kingdom! It costs over $13 but has a light-up nose feature

Strange new t-shirts…

LOVE this new sweatshirt!

Odd new Magic Kingdom shirt

Simple, but nice

Halloween 2014 Duffy

Some of the Haunted Mansion 45th anniversary lithographs have made it to Florida

An awesome new print by Alex Maher

In preparation for “Move It! Shake It! Dance and Play It!”, video screens are being installed on the floats

Moving over to animal Kingdom, it’s still a mess

At least all of the construction walls are decorated now

The UP meet and greet has seen better days

“it’s tough to be a bug” re-opened this weekend

Most of the nets installed to protect guests from falling particles have finally been removed from the queue

There are still nets by the base of the tree, not sure if these will stay here

work is picking up on the new nighttime show, Rivers of Light

The Everest shrine is behind walls and probably will be until the construction is done in late 2015/early 2016

Since one of the Wilderness Explorers’ answers is behind walls, they made a copy and placed it on the walls

The walls wrap around most of the river

We can peek through and see that the construction vehicles are already in place, ready to start working on the show and viewing area

Some sort of new structure is going up by Flame Tree Barbecue

An Oswald Christmas ornament was released

VIDEO: Astro Orbiter Takes New Color-Scheme Out for a Spin at Magic Kingdom

WDWNT on September 30, 2014

The Astro Orbiter has been undergoing a major refurbishment over the last several weeks and is now finally starting to take its very first test spins after being completely ripped down and reassembled. With testing now in full swing, we can get a look at now only the shiny new planets and rings, but also the new teal and red color scheme on the rockets:

These new colors compliment the new color scheme we saw debut at the Peoplemover loading area a few weeks ago when that attraction returned to service.

Here’s what the Astro Orbiter looked like before:

What do you think? A positive change?

PHOTOS & VIDEO: Astro Orbiter Resumes Flights; New Color Scheme for Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom

WDWNT on September 30, 2014

Over the last few months, there had been some speculation that the new colors adorning Rocket Tower Plaza (home to the Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover, and the Lunching Pad) would spread beyond the center of Tomorrowland and perhaps mean a new color scheme and look for the entire Magic Kingdom realm. Well, with the re-opening of the Astro Orbiter and the Disney Vacation Club booth nearby this past weekend, it seems Tomorrowland is about to get a fresh, bright new look…

Teal, orange, white, and lime-green make-up the new colors on the DVC booth

Astro Orbiter rockets are now predominantly blue, with beige, red, and green accents

These colors will likely extend to other buildings in Tomorrowland later, but are just in the center area for now.

The now-orange elevator shaft that lifts guests to the loading platform for Astro Orbiter

The Astro Orbiter re-opened with not only fresh paint on the rockets, but also a completely reconstructed centrifuge. With the new spinning structure, the rockets angle inward a bit more when you steer upwards, creating a sensation that you may spill out towards the center. The surrounding planets and such on the structure will no longer spin as it was decided the effect was just too unreliable over the years. Many a time, Disney would spend months working on fixing the planets, only for the effect to break a few weeks later. Regardless, we have a video of the updated attraction for you to enjoy:

So, what do you think of the new Astro Orbiter and the new Tomorrowland colors?

7/25/14 Magic Kingdom Photo Report (Hub Work, TTA, Frozen, ETC.)

WDWNT on August 7, 2014

WDWNT Reporter John Corigliano visited the Magic Kingdom one evening this week and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip, so let’s take a look:

Another curb flattened, this time by Tony’s, probably having to do wioth the eventual pathway around the back of Main Street that will dump guests here

We thought it strange that there were no fences near the new Casey’s seating area, well, that has since been rectified

Work on the Hub continues

Tarps are still up at the Enchanted Tiki Room

July seems like a good time to board up the Peter Pan’s flight queue, right?

We expect it to just be some routine painting and such

The FastPass sign with tic tock croc is gone… it dated back to the days of Hook’s Tavern which was located here

New Simba and Mufasa plush for sale

Instead of overloading the queue, guests are now being given stand-by return times for Anna and Elsa, as this point they were gone for the day

The fancy new FastPass and Stand-By line sign at Mad Tea Party was taken down for some modifications

Work continues on the TTA and the Astro Orbiter in Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland Terrace is open, TRY THEIR FROZEN LEMONADE* (Item not related to Disney’s animated hit Frozen)

A closer look at the work near the Plaza Restaurant for the new Magic Kingdom Hub

Another look at the new flattened curb by Tony’s

6/24/14 Walt Disney World Photo Report (Polynesian Resort, Magic Kingdom, & Animal Kingdom)

WDWNT on June 29, 2014

WDWNT Reporters Joe Hogarty and John Corigliano visited Disney’s Polynesian Resort, the Magic Kingdom, and Disney’s animal kingdom over the last few days and have plenty of exciting pictures to share with us, so let’s take a look: