It was only a matter of time before the Monorail Cars decided to stretch their wheels (tracks?) and visit the parks. Austin and I caught them rolling around Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot on Tuesday and took a number of newsworthy photos to share with us , so let’s take a look:
The Mater and Lightning McQueen topiaries from the Flower and Garden Festival are now outside of Studio to promote the home video release of Cars 2
Time to hit the road for the D23 Expo and an exciting, high-octane look at one of the largest projects ever created for the Disney Parks!
In this presentation, John Lasseter and Roger Gould from Pixar and Kathy Mangum, Kevin Rafferty, & Jennifer Mok from Walt Disney Imagineering take us on a in-depth exploration of the upcoming Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. While it may not be a Walt Disney World related presentation, it is a fascinating look at the project and a rare opportunity to hear the creative forces behind the project talk for over an hour about every last detail of next Summer’s blockbuster addition to the Disneyland Resort. Enjoy!:
Brandon Struve was kind enough to send us some photos from a recent trip over to Disney’s Pop Century Resort, taking a look at the current state of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort now under construction. Let’s take a look:
In we go…
Read More about 8/6/11 Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Update
WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson visited the Studios on Monday and has some photos from his trip to share with us:
Do you know your Streetmosphere? Officer Percival Peabody and Otto Von Bonn Bonn
Read More about Zach Larson’s 7/25/11 Hollywood Studios Photo Report
Lightning McQueen from the Disney-PIXAR Cars series finally debuted in the “Lights, Motors, Action!” Extreme Stunt Show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Tuesday. WDWNT Reporter Adam roth was on the scene and has video to share of the new scene that replaces the Herbie the Love Bug sequence:
Our own Adam Roth also does a fair amount of work over at Theme Park Review, and while taking an aerial tour of Walt Disney World for the site, he came across this:
This is Disney’s Art of Animation Resort which will be opening in phases beginning May 2012
The Finding Nemo buildings opens in May 2012, Cars in July 2012, The Lion King in September 2012, and The Little Mermaid buildings in December 2012. If you compare the two photos, you’ll see that the Nemo buildings are indeed the furthest along, so it’s not hard to believe that area will open first.
The back of the building has already been decorated with the character sketches we saw in concept art:
The buildings in the Cars wing seem to be on the same track:
Meanwhile, vertical building construction is still going on in The Lion King section, making it hard to believe that will open only 4 months after the Nemo building:
Unfortunately, The Little Mermaid buildings are not in the picture, but they were pretty far along last time we looked. Another thing to take notice of is that the facade of the main building is really coming along. Here is the concept art:
Here’s what it looks like now:
It certainly will be fun to watch this new resort grow over the next year! Stay tuned to WDW News Today for more information on Disney’s Art of Animation Resort!
From Merchandise Communications Manager Steven Miller on the Disney Parks Blog:
The Disney•Pixar film “Cars” has a special meaning to me; it was the first movie my son saw in a theater. Despite the fact he was quite young at the time, he enjoyed it (though the part with Frank was a little scary…for me). I’m looking forward to seeing “Cars 2” with my son on June 24 (two words – Finn McMissile!). Yet I won’t have to wait that long to experience “Cars,” especially with the Downtown Disney Car Masters Weekend coming up on May 13-15. The weekend event sounds awesome (I used to attend car shows with my father while growing up in Columbus, Ohio). To celebrate this special Pixar-filled weekend, we made arrangements to release select “Cars 2” merchandise ahead of the national street date. I have a special look at several new items coming that weekend.
There will be three new youth shirts with original artwork created for Disney Parks. I love the bold, colorful graphics on the shirts! It looks like I’ve found what my son will be wearing next.
We will also release new pins including “two-on-a-card” pins featuring Finn (my favorite) with Holley Shiftwell and Professor Z with Acer. A mystery pin set is scheduled for release that weekend, too. Each set will contain two randomly selected pins from the 10-pin collection. I selected my favorite five pins for the image above.
There are some items that I am unfortunately unable to show yet – the new die-cast toy cars. Cody Hampton, Associate Developer for Toys and Games, shared some details of these new items.
“The new die-cast toys were created by Mattel and expand upon the ‘Cars’ universe with new characters,” explained Cody. “There will be 16 individual cars for the initial release. Each car will retail for $6.95. We are also introducing six different two-car sets and each contains an ‘exclusive vehicle’ found only in the set.”
While I can’t show the newest die-cast cars, I can show Mater and Lightning McQueen from the new “Cars in the Parks” line. This art program places characters from “Cars” at Disney Parks, and they inspired a recently released Disney ear hat featuring Tow Mater sporting a Goofy hat (to which I fully expect to see being worn during the Car Masters Weekend).
These select merchandise items will be found at D Street and DisneyQuest Emporium located at Downtown Disney West Side starting May 13. Select items will also be carried at Once Upon a Toy and World of Disney located in the Downtown Disney Marketplace.
While I am doubtful I will find an actual Finn McMissile car during the weekend (I’m in the market for a new automobile), I hope to see you at the finish line.
WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Pop Century Resort on Wednesday, and luckily for us, he took a TON of newsworthy photos:
Sounds Dangerous has made the board, but Star Tours is still closed too
