Tom Corless’ 8/23-8/29/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on December 21, 2012

I visited the Walt Disney World Resort last week covering all four of the theme parks and I have plenty of newsworthy pictures to share, so let’s take a look at what’s happening around the Vacation Kingdom:

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The Rainforest Cafe sign inside Animal Kingdom is still missing

Beastly Bazaar is closed to become a character meet and greet experience this Fall

Wreck-It Ralph has taken over the display at the exit of the Magic of Disney Animation show

Vannelope is voiced by Sarah Silverman

That cake looks so real…

The game Fix-It Felix is inspired by games such as Rampage and Donkey Kong

Ralph even started as a monster just like one you would find in Rampage

Niceland is the city in the game

Ralph and Felix

Hero’s Duty might end up being the darkest looking scenes in any Disney animated film ever…

Hero’s Duty is inspired by games such as Gears of War and Halo

Voiced by Jane Lynch

Sugar Rush is inspired by games such as Mario Kart

Looks like a possible villain to me…

They were painting the next Ink and Paint Cell to be released while I was there

A Hatbox Ghost big figure has been released

There’s also a new Stitch figure

For the first time in ages, the decorations in The Studio Store do not represent a single new film!

Nice to see the original intended decorations back for once

Banners for Finding Nemo 3D up

The LEgend of Jack Sparrow building was painted blue

Walls are now up near the front of the building

The menu has been drastically changed at Backlot Express

BUFFALO CHICKEN BREAST NUGGETS! AHHHHHHH!

Next-Gen FASTPASS preparations already made at American Idol

Moving over to Epcot, work continues on the new Disney Vacation Club booth near Canada

A strange wall has popped up in the queue for Journey Into Imagination

Possibly FASTPASS related?

The Kim Possible sign-up areas in Innoventions have been completely removed

While passing by on the monorail we could see that the new parking lot for the Grand Floridian DVC wing is almost complete

Moving on to the Magic Kingdom, the park is ready for Halloween

There is a new banner at the beginning of Celebrate a Dream Come True

I’m not sure when it happened, but Mickey and Minnie are in normal clothing on their float

The Junioe Jungle Boats outside of the Jungle Cruise have reportedly been closed permanently

Next-gen FASTPASS ready to go at the Jungle Cruise

Same at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Meanwhile, some rather drastic queue modifications have been made at Pirates of the Caribbean

There is now a point where the two queues meet

Work continues on the former Fantasyland Skyway site, soon to be home to a new walkway and restrooms

Thought this was an interesting shot as it gives you an idea of where the Mine Train will be as you walk into Fantasyland

Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train construction

The Castle Walls are nearing completion

Some work being done on the roof of Mickey’s Philharmagic

Most of the Snow White facade is now gone in preparation for Princess Fairytale Hall

Grass continues to be installed on the roof of Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

The signage has been installed on Big Top Souvenirs in Storybook Circus

I LOVE the popcorn lights…

FOOD!

Some new Space Mountain shirts are available

Moving back to Fantasyland, the lights were on inside the Castle Walls

Lights were on in the Beauty and the Beast area as well

They were testing lighting on the turrets of the Castle Walls as well

The Mickey-O-Lanterns are much brighter and actually flicker this year

Adam Roth’s 8/18/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on December 21, 2012

WDWNT’s diligent reporter Adam Roth was on the scene at Walt Disney World this weekend, visiting Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. Adam took a number of newsworthy photos on his trip, so let’s take a look at what’s new and exciting:

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Art of disney at Epcot recently was refurbished and is now open once again, now featuring the Castle Collection merchandise

Looks like they just cleaned up the place a bit

They did rearrange some shelves

Work continues to prepare a new entrance at the Seas with Nemo and Friends

This new wave awning replaces the plain umbrellas that had been here

Work continues on a new entrance, presumed to be a new queue for Turtle Talk with Crush

Work continues on what we believe is a DVC booth near Canada

Bistro De Paris is gone…

It will be replaced with a new restaurant from the same company after 30 years at Epcot

The bakery is also being expanded

Construction walls up inside the shop next door

Food and Wine Festival preparations underway

No more Vanity Fair, now the sponsor is Chase

Nice to know that the new patio at Tutto Italia can be enclosed in bad weather

This fountain outside of La Hacienda has been like this for months…

The new exhibit inside the Mexico pavilion seems to be just about finished

Donald was meeting guests inside

The Cool Wash by Test Track is still behind walls

Work continues on Test Track

Heading over to the Magic Kingdom, we can see Grand Floridian DVC construction

AVENGERAIL!

It now advertises the home video release of the film

It turned into a nice day

The Country Bear Jamboree is closing for a few months this week

Some people seem convinced the show will be shortened and some songs will be removed

Shaker says “Probably not”

Trixie would be sad…

Gomer is befuddled

Some people think Big Al will be cut… yeah, OK…

The Yankee Trader is now behind tarps as work continues on the new path and restrooms in Fantasyland

Next-gen FASTPASS looks ready to go at the Haunted Mansion

The store is open during this

A strange structure has risen on the Skyway site which makes these people angry at each-other…

Chubby Moonliner?

I’m not sure what that is supposed to be

Next-gen FASTPASS installed at Peter Pan as well

People like to lean on things

The castle walls are nearing completion

Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train construction

Work continues on Princess Fairytale Hall

Caught someone picking their nose… fantastic!

Just like in the concept art, Prince Eric’s castle is visible just over the mountain

Next-Gen FASTPASS at Winnie the Pooh

More grass appearing on the roof of Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

Big Top Souvenirs

Next-Gen FASTPASS installed here as well

The presumed Humphrey the Bear counter service location through the trees

Looks like a sign will be installed soon

Another look at the roof grass…

Work continues on the Tomorrowland bridge

And the old Swan Boats dock

Infrastructure for the eventual move to RFID tickets is being installed at the Magic Kingdom entrance

Another look at Grand Floridian construction

Adam Roth’s 8/7/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on December 21, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited the Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney on Tuesday and has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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Work continues on Princess Fairytale Hall

Castle Wall construction rolls on

Plenty of turrets installed now

The Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train is being enclosed

It may look like snow on top of Under the Sea, but they are actually installing real grass as they weren’t happy with how the green paint looked

You can actually see the entrance to Big Top Souvenirs now

The rock-work over the backstage entrance looks good

Let’s see how the Dumbo interactive queue is doing

Pretty cool system the Cast Members sue to track the capacity

It was pretty busy

My favorite part of this queue?

LED fireworks!

Looking beyond Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak…

The canopy is finished on what we expect to be a small food service location themed to Humphrey the Bear

A look back at Dumbo

The photo-op with the ride vehicle has returned

A quick stop at the Contemporary for our first look at the new RFID pay system where guests can use Key to the World cards by just pressing it up to the Mickey icon, provided a credit card is on file

Work continues on Splitsville, set to open in the Fall

Characters in flight is still down for maintenance

But in the meantime, you can buy merchandise to mark the day you didn’t ride it…

No Pleasure Island… No Hyperion Wharf…

Work continues on the new volcano at Rainforest Cafe

Looks like they are getting ready to install the “D-Tech Me” area

Cool castle mosaics available as part of the Castle Collection currently being displayed at the Disney Gallery in California

Thanks for reading!

Tom Corless’ 7/25-26/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on December 3, 2012

I don’t often get to contribute with a photo report, but I took a short two day trip to Walt Disney World stopping at Epcot and the Magic Kingdom so I took some photos. Let’s take a look at a rare Tom Corless photo report:

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Work continues on the separate entrance to Turtle Talk

One of the exhibits in the Turtle Talk pre-show is being fixed up

Some work happening between the Refreshment Port and the Canada pavilion in World Showcase

On to the Magic Kingdom, work continues on the former Skyway site, expected to soon be home to restrooms, a new pathway, and the Tangled meet and greet

The castle walls are coming along nicely

This section looks nearly complete

A beautiful lighting fixture has been installed in the passageway

If you were worried about being able to see the corner of the show building for Enchanted Tales with Belle, don’t be, they have covered it with rock-work

More castle wall work

The work to remove a planter in back of the Carousel is complete

The walls have expanded and scaffolding has gone up on the former Snow White’s Scary Adventures, soon to be Princess Fairytale Hall in late-2013

Despite 101-degree temperatures, construction workers are out and about

Work continues on the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train

Be Our Guest Restaurant off in the distance

More Mine Train

Heading into Storybook Circus, you get plenty of notice that Dumbo FASTPASS is available near Philharmagic

With a little paint, the facade for Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid will be complete

The backstage entrance is pretty much done

Big Top Souvenirs

I decided to check out the Dumbo queue

Pictures don’t do it justice, it’s really nice inside

Pull the string and it sets off LED fireworks!

This lights up above the box

Your “ticket”

Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak was awesome!

I took these photos early on Wednesday, but on Tuesday afternoon there was at least 100 guests playing in here

Even the little merchandise cart is intricately themed

These work walls have been here since Storybook Circus opened

I don’t think it is anything of substance as it is simply on the back of the storage shed for the Barnstormer trains

An Aerial View of New Fantasyland Construction – July 2012

WDWNT on December 3, 2012

Scott Keating was once again nice enough to provide some aerial shots of the current New Fantasyland construction site after a few month absence, so let’s see all that has changed:

As you can see, everything but the Mine Train is nearing completion

If there was any doubts that the Skyway Station was going to become a Tangled meet-and-greet, the appearance of a tower frame has just about confirmed it…

The framework for Mine Train looks to be just about complete

The castle walls are taking shape

Just the three tent-like structures left to go in Storybook Circus, we expect these to open in the Fall/Winter

A look at Mine Train

As you can see, the beauty and the Beast realm is almost complete as paths and trees are already installed and all scaffolding is down. Trees are up in the Mermaid queue as well.

A closer look at the tents that will be Big Top Souvenirs, Pete’s Silly Sideshow, and a Humphrey the Bear-themed counter-service location

The concept art we say in 2009 is finally coming to life… Stay tuned…

Adam Roth’s 5/19-20/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom this past weekend, so let’s take a look at his photos, including an in-depth look at the Fantasyland model now on display at Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream:

Darth Vader cupcake

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Adam had himself frozen in carbonite in the ABC sound Studio, former home of Sounds Dangerous

Pretty neat for $120

Star Wars Weekends merchandise is in the tent behind Rock ‘N’ Rollercoaster again, Darth’s Mall

The huge Fantasyland model has moved in at One Man’s Dream

super cool

Princess Fairytale Hall won’t change the exterior of Snow White too much according to the model

A sign explains the model to guests

Some stuff isn’t labeled, like Triton’s Treasures, Ariel’s Grotto, and some minor facilities like restrooms, food stands, etc.

Some interesting points to note from this artwork:

  • Pete’s Silly Sideshow is the entire second tent towards the back and it appears it will remain a meet and greet experience only. We know Goofy should be there, but no other characters have been announced yet.
  • The unlabeled building next to Pete’s Silly Sideshow is probably the Humphrey the Bear counter service location that has been rumored, but again, we have no further confirmation.
  • You can make out the train lines that lead to the Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station if you look closely at Storybook Circus.
  • Triton’s Treasures (the Little Mermaid gift shop) does not appear behind the Mine Train anymore, so it may be gone from the plans altogether.
  • The unlabeled building between Gaston’s Tavern and Bonjour Village Gifts is a restroom facility.
  • You can see the track layout of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, including when it goes through the show building with the dark-ride type scenes.

So I guess they will be done by 2013 unofficially?

The Mine Train looks pretty awesome

A closer look at the Mine Train track layout

The recent rockwork expansion at Little Mermaid is present

Let’s take a look at the real thing

The two tents are covered

The Circus animals from the Splash ‘N’ Soak Station are peeking over the wall

A wall has appeared near the Silly Sideshow tent

A look over the walls at Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station

Adam Roth’s 6/23/12 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited the Magic Kingdom on Saturday and he has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us. Dueling Dumbos are flying, Casey Jr. is splashing and soaking, and whole lot is going on at the park, so let’s take a look:

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Let’s get right to Fantasyland

Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train

More steel rises

Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid looms in the distance

The new Winnie the Pooh meet and greet is open, replacing Tigger’s Bouncy Place

Dumbo FASTPASS is running and at Philharmagic’s old machines

Another look at Mine Train

Mermaid rockwork extending down towards Storybook Circus

Big Top Souvenirs

We finally have dueling Dumbos!

Timothy now spins and moves on the sign

Only 30 minutes for stand-by… it’s working…

A large wall has appeared on the Mine Train structure

Back to Dumbo

FASTPASS return will skip the tent queue

Love the magic feather on the clock…

The old Dumbo is back as the new Dumbo! Wait… what?

“Transformers: The Ride was much better!”

No interactive queue today 🙁

A photo with two Dumbos? MIND BLOWN!

Disney released some footage of the dueling Dumbos for you to enjoy:

More Mine Train

Big Top Souvenirs

Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station is open

Casey Jr. got fenced in… apparently there were some safety issues with the water and guests climbing in

Other than that, the area looks great!

The animals spin and spray, much nicer than other water play areas

Poor Casey sits in a time out…

The attraction sign is pretty cool too

The backs of the 4 train cars have the years that each WDW park opened – 71, 82, 89, and 98

A nicely themed new merchandise cart sells fitting water-play merchandise

and hats…

This car will be the most popular with the fanboys… they will gather here and tell tales of Horizons

The area behind Casey still needs some work…

This PIXAR short reference was added a few weeks ago

You may recognize this emblem from Town Square Theater

Casey does look pretty great though

He even blinks!

This is always pretty disturbing…

Looking into Mermaid, you can see trees and ship wreckage are now visible

The new Winnie the Pooh meet and greet

Castle Wall construction

Mystery walls still up by the Carousel

Snow White is still closed… and it ain’t reopening anytime soon…

Only visible change is the missing attraction sign which we assume has gone to the archives

Dumbo FASTPASS, that way!

It isn’t going to open, so I’m not sure why he turned around…

If you haven’t exited by now…

Winnie the Pooh and Dumbo now share the Philharmagic FASTPASS distribution

The new signs are cool, and they give you the standby wait for each ride

More Castle Wall work

Vertical construction has begun on the old Skyway area

Looks like Rapunzel’s tower to me 😉

For the nerd in your family, anything on this shelf will do

The Crow’s Nest is closed! The sign is down… it would be a shame to lose one of the park’s oldest shops, formerly sponsored by Kodak…. We’ll keep an eye on this

Wendell!

Not sure what happened here

Skyway construction visible from across the park

Work continues on the Main Street Bakery

I still think this has something to do with Starbucks…

Package Pick-Up still behind tarps as well

As is The Confectionary and the Chapeau

Looks like the Snow White poster is finally down and now Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom has its own poster

Big Thunder Mountain is on the maps now… I can’t remember the last time that happened

Adam Roth’s 10/7/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Epcot and the Magic Kingdom on Sunday and has a TON of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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Great chocolate art at the Festival Center at Epcot

It’s dark, but nice to see them use more of the pavilion space

Work continues on Test Track as we race towards December 6th

The IBM Runtime game is now closed inside Innoventions, it opened back in 2008

Rumor is that IBM Smarter Planet is getting some updates

I hope so because it wasn’t really working…

The seating area that was formerly Rockin’ Robots is now walled off as well

Some scaffolding inside

Still nothing going on at the former Segway Central

Habit Heroes is still closed…

The Epcot 30th display remains at MouseGear

What remains of the merchandise is on display

A lot of generic Epcot merchandise has filled in some space

Moving to the Magic Kingdom, the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train construction is picking up

An Orioles hat… how cute… 😉

Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

The now completed Storybook Circus

I love these seats…

That is some fancy lighting for an outside tent…

Let’s go to Pete’s Silly Sideshow!

The calliope is from Disneyland PAris’ Main Street U.S.A.

Reference to a classic Disney animated film by the same name

Into Pete’s mouth!

Meeting Minnie and Daisy

The theming is insane… the walls are labeled for easy construction, insinuating that the Circus moves from town to town

Goofy and Donald

A look up at the ceiling

It’s a tent

PANORAMA!

ANOTHER PANORAMA! AMAZING!

Minnie trains trick Poodles…

It looks much better when Adam doesn’t use the world’s brightest flash…

Awwww…

Daisy

Daisy will see you now!

Looks very “Museum of the Weird” like the Madame Leota cart

Exit

Into Big Top Souvenirs

Very fitting that they sell Popcorns Vinylmation here

Everyone loves this carpet!

The “Under the Big Top” series is also available

My favorite display

A close second is the Penguins cage holding the cold drinks

The strange tiny MousekeEars are also available here

A look at the new food carts in the area

I’m in love with a food cart…

Usual cart food though

So much time and energy spent on such little details

I love the striped curtain for when they are closed

Let’s go back in

Those random doors look themed…

THEY ARE!

GOOFY!

He crashed his motorcycle

Donald is a snake charmer

ANOTHER PANORAMA! ASTOUNDING!

Could have been a sign, but it is a material banner

I wonder if someone could go in that booth…

I hate to say this so soon, but I love Storybook Circus. It is simply 2 small rides, meet and greets, and shopping, but it is so well done. Kudos to Disney on delivering with a land that was rushed in as a replacement in the expansion.

If Storybook Circus is that cool, I can’t wait to see this…

Another new cart near the entrance

Not listed, but they have roasted almonds too

Another look at Mine Train

A look at what will be Princess Fairytale Hall

The former Skyway site which will now be restrooms and maybe something more…

They are still working on Village Haus

Another piece of track should be lowered into place shortly

FastPass+ equipment was simply covered after the tests ended, so it might just be permanent now

Cool popcorn bucket, but it must be pretty easy to spill…

Going back to Epcot, we take a look at Test Track through a rainy monorail window

Well, that was neat… I guess…

Adam got to stuff his face at the Disney Dessert Discovery event as part of the Food and Wine Festival

So much to eat and drink

Live entertainment

FLAMING DOUGHNUTS!

IN 3D!

WOOOOOOOAH!

Fruit? We didn’t come to a dessert event for fruit!

We came for flaming doughnuts!

Gross…

Thank you for the flaming doughnuts! Oh, and all these photos Adam…

Jose Castillo’s 10/2/12 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Jose Castillo visited the Magic Kingdom and Tuesday and has some great newsworthy photos to share with us of all the fantastic progress in New Fantasyland:

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Big Top Souvenirs is now open in Storybook Circus

Humphrey the Bear got his billing on Big Top Treats inside

The checkout areas are animal cars from the train

A candy dispenser is disguised as a stand for fire-hoses

Plenty of baked goods available

Drinks are in the Penguin car…

Some new Dumbo merchandise was ready for the opening

The cast costume for Storybook Circus merchandise

The side entrance

The third tent features more seating and FastPass distribution for Dumbo and Barnstormer

The tables outside are pretty neat

They look like the Toy Story ball…

Pete’s Silly Sideshow was still closed

New carts in the middle section

Looks like the mesh mountain will start appearing on Mine Train soon

Water was running on the Mermaid facade

Another new cart by the entrance to Storybook Circus

Another look at Mine Train

More work on the Castle Walls happening

The amount of detail on the wall is insane

Work still being done at the very top

The old Snow White facade is long gone

Work continues on the former Skyway site

We’re still expecting this to be restrooms and a Tangled meet and greet


Rockwork went up quick on the side by the Haunted Mansion

The TVs in the queue for Carousel of Progress were replaced… too bad they just covered the brand with black tape…

If you look close enough, you can see water running on the Be Our Guest facade