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Joe Hogarty’s 2/20/14 WDW Photo Report (Mine Train, AVATAR, & More)

WDWNT on March 31, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Joe Hogarty visited Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom on Thursday and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

Starting at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Some work still taking place on the paths around the Tree of Life

Nothing much to see over at the AVATAR site

It will hard to track construction unless we try from above… 😉

Another look at the walls around the Tree of Life paths

This could be related to the work needing to be done to the tree for the nighttime offerings, or it could be general rehab

Work continues on the new Festival of the Lion King Theater

Walls still up near the Africa stroller parking

Moving over to the Magic Kingdom, work continues on the steps of City Hall

The Castle is still getting some touch-ups

Time for the obligatory Seven Dwarfs Mine Train construction photos

The waterfall has been running non-stop

It looks great

The refurbishment of Splash Mountain continues

Don’t expect much different when it reopens except some scenes that have been freshened up

It will be Splashing again soon!

Construction Begins on AVATAR Project for Disney’s Animal Kingdom

WDWNT on February 18, 2014

Earlier this week, the long-awaited ground breaking ceremony was held in former Camp Minnie-Mickey for the AVATAR-themed land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. George Kalogridis, president of Walt Disney World Resort; Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Operations, United States and France; Tom Staggs, chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts; a Na’vi; Jon Landau, AVATAR Producer; Bruce Vaughn, chief creative executive of Walt Disney Imagineering; and Joe Rohde, creative executive, Walt Disney Imagineering, pose Jan. 8, 2014 during the ceremonial groundbreaking.

The area, which is being designed by Walt Disney Imagineering in partnership with “AVATAR” creator James Cameron and Lightstorm Entertainment, will be unlike anything ever experienced at a Disney park. Guests will experience the wonders of Pandora when they fly with banshees and explore a rich natural environment with mountains that float and interactive plants that glow at night.

“Disney’s Animal Kingdom is already home to some of our guests’ favorite attractions,” said Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “With AVATAR, we are adding a spectacular new world and an exciting set of attractions unlike any our guests have experienced. The expansion now under way will make the park a true full-day, must-see experience.”

This week’s milestone is just the first step in a larger expansion for the park that will also include the debut of a new evening spectacular, as well as a nighttime version of Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Check out the video below for a look inside the ceremony:

Dirk Wallen’s 1/15/14 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on February 18, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom last week and has some newsworthy photos (and video) to share with us, so let’s take a look:

Banners for The Jungle Book on Blu-Ray now hanging in the Animation Courtyard

A billboard up as well

A billboard for Maleficent is also up near PIXAR Place, and yes, the horns stick out of the top…

The scanner boards at Star Tours have still not been activated to work with MagicBands yet

There’s also a new sign that will interact with guests installed in the pre-show area at Muppet Vision 3-D

The Etch-A-Sketch in the queue at Toy Story Mania was finally turned on last week, here’s a video showing the device in action:

Osborne Lights are coming down

All clear on this end of the street

The AFI exhibit is quietly being updated at the exit of the Backlot Tour

A few props have been switched out and moved around

Among the new additions is a costume from Batman

There are also now some items from E.T.

The croissant doughnut (or Cronut) is our only photo from Epcot, but you can pick up this incredible snack at the Refreshment Port

The Let The Memories Begin signage has been removed from the front of Animal Kingdom

Some walls are up near Island Mercantile where FastPass+ kiosks once stood… not sure if they are moving this help desk or not

Walls now up blocking guests from Camp Minnie-Mickey as it transforms into AVATAR

Camp Minnie-Mickey signage around the park has been removed

Work continues on the new home for Festival of the Lion King and the former Dawa Bar has now been absorbed by walls to accommodate queue construction

A look at the theater construction from far away

Not too long ago, Dug and Russell got some permanent signage for their meet and greet

Since Camp Minnie-mickey is closed and Animal Kingdom is down one show, Dinoland is now hosting a dance party

Here’s a short clip of the new offering that is full of obscure characters:

CONFIRMED: Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade to End in June

WDWNT on February 18, 2014

Walt Disney World’s only afternoon parade currently running is going away soon. Entertainers in Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade have been informed that the 13-year-old parade will conclude in June of 2014. Waiting until June would allow time for the new Festival of the Lion King theater to open in Africa, reinstating some of the much needed attraction capacity for the park in preparation for the Summer. We can only assume that either the parade warehouse in the way of construction staging for the AVATAR project or that the parade route will be altered to accommodate the new nighttime show on the way to the park.

The removal of the parade was confirmed by a Disney spokesperson since this story was first run.

BREAKING: Details of AVATAR Land Announced, New Nighttime Show & Attraction Revealed!

WDWNT on October 29, 2013

Very late this evening, Disney decided to reveal to the world the details of the AVATAR project for Animal Kingdom, including the announcement of a new nighttime spectacular and a nighttime version of Kilimanjaro Safaris for Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park!

Scheduled to open in 2017, guests will enter the world of Pandora and experience what seems to be two attractions…

First will be a boat ride through the nighttime forests of the planet, sure to be an audio-animatronics extravaganza like Pirates of the Caribbean…

Another attraction will allow guests to board a Banshee and fly through the skies…

Disney didn’t stop at AVATAR projects tonight, also announcing a nighttime show that will take place on the Discovery River. The new show will combine live music, floating lanterns, water screens and swirling animal imagery to delight guests and truly cap off their day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Also announced was that there will be a nighttime version of Kilimanjaro Safaris for guests to enjoy!

Live evening entertainment will also be added to the park, like that seen in the above concept art. We can also assume new nighttime lighting on the Tree of Life will be added like you can also see in the concept art above.

No more information is available at this time, but you can expect we will keep you updated as more becomes available on this breaking story!

So, what do you think? Are you excited about all of these additions to Disney’s Animal Kingdom?

VIDEO: New Concept Art & a Pre-Vis Virtual Ride on Banshee Attraction for AVATAR

WDWNT on October 29, 2013

If the AVATAR news for Disney’s Animal Kingdom from over the weekend wasn’t enough, Disney released a video from the D23 Expo in Japan featuring James Cameron and Joe Rhode talking about the project that shows some new concept art and a first look at some of the scenes from the Banshee attraction:

If you can’t see the video, here is the new nighttime concept art of guests entering Pandora:

Here are James Cameron and some Imagineers taking a pre-vis virtual ride on the Banshee attraction:

In the video, Imagineer Joe Rhode teases that there will be a lot of new technology used in the attractions to really make guests feel like they are in the film. Also, he remarks how guests will be able to interact with the “living” environment around the land outside of the ride-through attractions.

So, do these new details get you any more excited for AVATAR at Disney’s animal Kingdom?

VIDEO: New “Bamboo” Character Debuts at Animal Kingdom, AVATAR Testing?

WDWNT on September 13, 2013

If you like DeVine at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you might be interested to know about a new “living” plant character you can now see at the park…

The character is basically a stilt-walker covered with leaves. Rather than being a new permanent character at the park, we suspect this was a test for the AVATAR walk-around characters that will also be very tall. Disney was probably looking to see how guests would interact with a stilt-walking character. We could be wrong, but judge for yourself with our video:

Festival of the Lion King Moves and AVATAR Land Construction Begin 2014

WDWNT on August 7, 2013

Disney today officially confirmed that Festival of the Lion King at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park will be moving to that new theater in Africa we recently posted about and stated that the new theater will open sometime in 2014.

This announcement confirms that AVATAR Land construction that was supposed to break ground in 2013 will instead be starting in 2014. This also means that we will probably not be visiting Pandora anytime before 2017. While this is another delay, the moving of Festival of the Lion King does in fact dispels all rumors that AVATAR Land is in trouble or might be cancelled. It is coming… just a little later than we thought.

So, what do you think?

Dirk Wallen’s 2/23/13 Walt Disney World Resort Photo Report

WDWNT on March 3, 2013

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen takes us to all 4 Walt Disney World theme parks this time around, stopping to check progress on the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train, the Tangled restroom area, the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival, the Big Thunder Mountain interactive queue, and more! Let’s take a look:

RFID entrance installation continues at the Studios

The large electronic scrolling sign at Sounds Dangerous is now gone, looks like we can finally officially say the attraction is dead

The new Disney JuniorL Live on Stage debuted a few weeks ago

Doc McStuffins was added to the show

As was Sophia the First

Whoops…

It was up there for some of the show…

The Epcot 30th reveal/conceal pin set came out recently

New Spring pins

85th anniversary of the Plane Crazy short

EASTER DUFFY!

New Muppet shirt

Moving over to Animal Kingdom

Kodak picture spots are still up…

RFID entrances still being installed at Animal Kingdom as well

More Kodak

Hard to believe, but they are still installing the nets at Tree of Life

This is taking forever…

Some areas look completed

Others look like no work has even started

Beastly Bazaar will soon open as the Adventurers Outpost, a Mickey and Minnie meet and greet

The Character Landing will soon host Donald and Daisy, Pooh and Tigger are heading to Camp Minnie-Mickey

Pocahontas has already moved out of Camp Minnie-Mickey

The old theater for Pocahontas and Her Forrest Friends is still stroller parking

Some walls up in Camp Minnie-Mickey

We believe they are installing FastPass+ behind these walls at Theater in the Wild

Moving to Epcot, Flower and Garden Festival preparation is in full swing

Some scrims still up near the Oz playground

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs near Germany

Toy Story characters in the American Adventure

Lady and the Tramp in Italy

All of the booths are up… it’s so weird to see these out so early in the year…

They are giving out seed packets to promote Oz: The Great and Powerful and the festival

The Mission: Space facade is being refurbished, the ride is open still

Don’t try to park at the Polynesian Resort, there is a ton of construction equipment sitting there…

Work continues on The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. There’s some strange tower rising on the right…

Another somewhat similar structure is rising outside the building on the other side

It’s starting to look like the Grand Floridian

Moving to the Magic Kingdom, Main Street Apparel is behind tarps again

Work continues on Princess Fairytale Hall

Work continues on the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train

Work continues on the Tangled restroom area

You can see the tree-stump shaped charging stations gusts can use to charge electronics

Work is nearing completion on the exit of “it’s a small world” that has been behind tarps

Columbia Harbour House is still behind tarps

Work continues on Splash Mountain which is closed until mid-March

More and more progress is being made on the interactive queue at Big Thunder Mountain

I see Marc Davis and Blaine Gibson references…

The detail on the new props is stunning

A nod to Western River Expedition, the attraction originally designed for this space

Most of the work on the mountain looks complete

A few tarps still out there…

This looks like way too much fun…

YES… MUST BLOW STUFF UP!

Rafiki’s Planet Watch To Become The Planet Pandora?

WDWNT on November 23, 2011

Since the announcement of the AVATAR-land coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, there has been speculation as to where the it would go. Would Camp Minnie-Mickey finally be bulldozed, making use of the land once meant for Beastly Kingdom? Was the expansion plot behind Asia where the Nav’i would call home? We may finally have an answer…

The area marked in blue is what is now being rumored as the plot for the AVATAR-land expansion. If you know Animal Kingdom well, you will realize that a now-open guest area is included in the zone: Rafiki’s Planet Watch. It was recently announced that Jiminy Cricket and Pocohontas will no longer be conducting meet-and-greets in this location by December and it is being rumored that the entirety of Rafiki’s Planet Watch (Conservation Station, Affection Section, Habitat Habit!, and the Wildlife Express Train) will be closed in January 2012.

This is just a rumor right now, but interestingly enough, this plan would save Camp Minnie-Mickey once again and make the AVATAR-land accessible only via Asia or Africa. It is possible that the track of the Wildlife Express Train will be recycled for some sort of transport into the world of AVATAR, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that idea. While we wait for confirmation on this breaking story, it sure is fun to imagine the possibilities. Stay tuned…

Tag: Avatar

Joe Hogarty’s 2/20/14 WDW Photo Report (Mine Train, AVATAR, & More)

Construction Begins on AVATAR Project for Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Dirk Wallen’s 1/15/14 WDW Photo Report

CONFIRMED: Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade to End in June

BREAKING: Details of AVATAR Land Announced, New Nighttime Show & Attraction Revealed!

VIDEO: New Concept Art & a Pre-Vis Virtual Ride on Banshee Attraction for AVATAR

VIDEO: New “Bamboo” Character Debuts at Animal Kingdom, AVATAR Testing?

Festival of the Lion King Moves and AVATAR Land Construction Begin 2014

Dirk Wallen’s 2/23/13 Walt Disney World Resort Photo Report

Rafiki’s Planet Watch To Become The Planet Pandora?

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