Brave – WDWNT Archive

Two More Floats Previewed for “Festival of Fantasy” Parade, “Celebrate a Dream Come True” Ends in January 2014

WDWNT on October 29, 2013

Walt Disney World announced a new daytime parade for the Magic Kingdom several months ago, but today they are previewing two more floats from the parade:

Ariel will sit on a large music box float to the tunes of Under the Sea

Merida from Brave and her bear-brothers will travel with a troupe of Scottish dancers and this giant bagpipe

Also announced for the parade thus far is a Princess Royal Court Garden Float, the previously previewed Mickey and Minnie hot-air balloon, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider on a longship, and the Nerverland unit with Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Wendy, and Tinker Bell. The Sleeping Beauty, Dumbo, and Pinocchio units in the parade have still not been previewed to date. Festival of Fantasy is scheduled to debut at the Magic Kingdom in early 2014.

Also announced is that the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade will return after Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade for 4 final performances January 1st-4th, 2014. Until Festival of Fantasy premieres a few weeks later, there will be no 3PM parade at the Magic Kingdom, just the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party and Main Street Electrical Parade.

PHOTOS: Merida Becomes a Disney Princess at Magic Kingdom Ceremony

WDWNT on June 4, 2013

Yesterday morning at the Magic Kingdom, Merida from Disney-PIXAR’s Brave was officially made a Disney Princess during a special ceremony. Celebrities and dignitaries were on hand, but most importantly, so were all of the Disney Princesses. Joe Hogarty took plenty of photos to share with us of the ceremony:

Jeff Lukas’ 5/5/12 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

WDWNT on December 31, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Jeff Lukas visited the Magic Kingdom on Saturday and has some great newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

Welcome

We’re still letting the memories begin…

Work continues on the Main Street Bakery facade

Tangled characters meeting in Town Square until a new home in Fantasyland is ready

Pillow pets everywhere!

Still funny

Something for the ladies

That’s… different…

The Plaza Ice Cream Parlor is looking great following the refurbishment

Everything looks brand new inside

The Tangled meet and greet is being turned into the home for Merida from Brave

More steel rises for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Coaster

What appears to be a large weathervane appeared on the roof of Maurice’s Cottage, Enchanted Tales with Belle

We just keep moving ours…

The second tent is Storybook Circus is slowly being covered

No more steel frames to see at Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

The Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station is coming along nicely

Just a peek over the walls and we can see Casey in all his glory! This looks fantastic for being just a water play area.

RFID FASTPASS scanner outside the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

The crane, the crane!

Most of the framework for the Castle Walls is standing now

“I wonder what they are building…”

Stroller parking now happening outside of Village Haus

It’s been quite a shuffle the last few years

Some facade work happening on “it’s a small world”

Work continues on the former plot of the Fantasyland Skyway Station

Work is wrapping up on the Big Thunder Mountain refurbishment

Everything out in the queue looks good

Bigger changes are expected for the indoor queue, at the very leas most of it has been rebuilt

I know it’s blurry, but you can see that the railroad ties are back

The new track should be a nice adjustment

Oooooooo….

Booooooooo….

The Robo-News man in Tomorrowland returned to service recently

He looks brand new!

Some new shirts at Philharmagic, I LOVE both of them

This shirt has been around, but still cool!

Center Street looks great as does all of Main Street following the 3 years of facade work that has been going on

Dirk Wallen’s 5/14-16/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on December 31, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited the Walt Disney World theme parks over the last three days and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip. We’ll take a look at New Fantasyland, Star Wars Weekends preparation, and more from around the Vacation Kingdom of the World, so let’s get started:

The Main Street Bakery is still behind tarps (I’m starting to think this has something to do with Starbucks moving in)

Facade work continues on the Confectionary and Chapeau

The temporary Tangled meet and greet rolls on

Work was completed on the Main Street bridge

Work on the Princess Merida meet and greet has been completed

A nearby cart has Brave merchandise

I find it hard to believe that they will sell much before the movie is released

I fully expect to get shot with arrows by smaller guests on a regular basis now…

The second Dumbo spinner is rapidly nearing completion

If I were a betting man… and I am…

I’d wager that the second spinner will be open by Memorial Day

The official opening is July, along with the interactive queue

The Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station looks nearly complete

We’re still not entirely sure if the center portion will spin at a slow speed like a roundhouse

98? An Animal Kingdom reference? We think about these things too much…

A look at Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

Near the construction of what we assume is a new Pooh meet and greet, a mysterious box has appeared

The Castle Wall is rising…

More scaffolding finally went up on the detailed portion near Village Haus

This steel frame should be covered soon

This side is further along

Some walkway work being done near the Carousel as well

I had to stare at this for a while to realize what I was seeing… this is the view from the Haunted Mansion across the old Skyway site. I assume this will be addressed as construction moves forward.

Construction of the Grand Floridian DVC wing continues

A new parking lot being built across the way

Going up!

Star wars Weekends preparation underway at Studios

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

You can still become an unwanted action figure… ZING!

The Droid Factory recently opened at Tatooine Traders. You can make your own R2 unit toy!

Scott Smith just died

Brave banners up in the Animation Courtyard

Work was completed on the Disney Junior queue

Looks like they just replaced the awning

The same seems to be happening to the meet and greet area

Goodbye Kim…

Work continues on the new, separate Turtle Talk entrance at the Seas

A “Brave” New Attraction Comes to Epcot This Summer

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

From June 1-July 8, Epcot will be home to a special offering called “Brave – The Highland Games Tournament”. Being billed as a “kid-focused offering”, guests will get to play games like Mini Caber Toss, Cake Toss, Haggis Flip and archery. Also included is a small playground and a little something for the parents… FREE WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS!

The event will take place on the Rose Walk (right where Future World blends into World Showcase), from 11 a.m.-7 p.m., daily.

Jose Castillo’s 5/29/12 Epcot Photo Report

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

Contrary to popular belief, there is some newsworthy stuff going on at Epcot right now. Our good friend Jose Castillo has some photos to share from our journey to the park on Tuesday:

Removal of Kim Possible has begun for the installation of Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure

Habit Heroes is still closed

Test Track closed too, but not a surprise…

The Test Track All-Stars entertaining guests

Work continues on the exterior of Maelstrom in Norway

Brave sand artwork in progress at the time

So, one of the Universe of Energy ride vehicles got a new plastic body with a light and dark blue color scheme

It definitely wasn’t painted as it felt like brand new plastic

Not only is the Pizza truck gone, but the tables and props are gone too

Jose got a new camera, so he took some artsy shots…

Youy can clearly see the new automated door that will act as the Turtle Talk entrance

A new sign at the exit of the Seas with Nemo and Friends ride

We haven’t had this photo yet, but Chiquita has been sponsor for a few months now

Perry the Platypus ear hat!

Dirk Wallen’s 9/10/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on October 29, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen was on the scene at the Magic Kingdom earlier this morning and has some newsworthy photos to share from his trip:

Work continues on the Grand Floridian DVC wing

Lampposts installed in the new parking lot

If you closely, you can see the new children’s water play area themed to Alice In Wonderland that is being installed

There is a new Fall trolley show running every morning at the Magic Kingdom. We have a short video clip:

Everyone likes to point out budget-cuts and declines in show, but offering seasonal new shows like this prove Disney still cares despite what you may read elsewhere

Speaking of declines though… the bears are gone from the Brave meet and greet

This is a permanent change as Merida may not have much longer at the Magic Kingdom anyway

No one wants to color?

The new Fantasyland restroom facility project keeps chugging along

A new walkway through the Castle Walls has been set up to accommodate pavement work and other minor things

New directional signs on the walls

Work continues very slowly on finally installing the Storybook Circus entrance. Looks like we won’t be getting the ticket booth in the concept art as there just isn’t enough path space…

Fantasyland Character Shuffle Moves Rapunzel Out and Merida In

WDWNT on September 8, 2012

As announced on the Disney Parks Blog earlier today, Merida from Disney-PIXAR’s Brave is going to be taking over Rapunzel’s current home in Fairytale Gardens in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom.

Merida’s Fairytale Garden meet and greet will be a a setting inspired by her Scottish Highlands home, where young guests will be invited to engage in archery lessons and other activities until it’s their turn to meet her. Joining Merida will be the three bear cubs from the film, who will no doubt be up to plenty of mischief.

To prepare for Merida’s arrival, Rapunzel will be moving from Fairytale Garden April 15, to a new spot at the outskirts of Adventureland where she will continue to do meet and greets, possibly along with Flynn Rider once again.

With the Tangled characters remaining so popular, it is apparent that the move to Adventureland won’t be permanent and that the rumors we reported a few months back of the Fantasyland Skyway replacement including a new meet and greet experience are true. When work is done, we expect to see a new Tangled meet and greet, complete with Rapunzel’s tower from the movie, open in Fantasyland later this year.

Stay tuned for more information on this story as it becomes available.

Tom Corless’ 3/1/12 Hollywood Studios Photo Report

WDWNT on August 30, 2012

It isn’t very often I post a photo report of my own, but here are some newsworthy photos I took on Thursday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

The exit exhibit at Magic of Disney Animation has been updated to feature PIXAR’s Brave

Artwork on display

“I got a rock…”

The posters in the exit hallway have been updated

The storyboard room was remodeled

Temporary queue set up for Animation Academy for some reason

The gallery portion was closed for a few days to replace the Snow White exhibit

Lady and the Tramp banners in the courtyard

The new Vacation Club logo is just about everywhere now

Spotlight On: Custom Artist Aaralyn

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

To have your custom work spotlighted, please send an email to DestinationVinylmation@gmail.com

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On the opening day of the new Disney Pixar film Brave, it is fitting to see a custom featuring the heroine Merida. This one comes to us from Aaralyn. I was sad to hear it is already sold out, but Aaralyn has many more customs to look at and order at her website: www.customsbyaaralyn.com. Now let’s take a look at this custom set.

“As soon as I saw the trailers for Brave, I knew it was going to be an amazing movie. The beauty of the animation inspired me to create this custom set. I attended the midnight premier of the movie, and I have to say it lived up to all my expectations and more. It was a phenomenal film.” – Aaralyn

Merida is designed on a 9″ Vinylmation and comes with a custom bow! The bear cubs are expertly painted onto three 3″ vinyls.

“Personally I think Brave is my new favorite Pixar film because there are not many Disney films that portray the entire family unit as well as Brave does. The interactions and emotions between the characters along with the stunning animation and storyline ranks it number one in my book. And of course, there are the baby bears, and I can’t resist cute things.” – Aaralyn

Facebook: www.facebook.com/customsbyaaralyn
Twitter: @ArtistAaralyn
Instagram: @ArtistAaralyn

Tag: Brave