Dirk Wallen’s 8/16-19/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on December 21, 2012

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen was all over the Walt Disney World Resort this weekend, visiting Downtown Disney, the Magic Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. He took some great photos on his trip and has them to share with us in this photo report:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Looks like the Earful Tower is being painted or repaired

At the Magic Kingdom the Bakery has been out from behind tarps for a while now

The old Swan Boat dock is getting refurbished at the moment

Work continues on Princess Fairytale Hall

The Castle Walls are approaching completion

We still can’t go on the second level of Village Haus to take photos…

More grass being placed on the facade of Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

The structure for the new Fantasyland restrooms is coming along nicely

The Yankee Trader is open but behind tarps

The Crow’s Nest is still being worked on

Next-Gen FASTPASS has been installed at Haunted Mansion, but it is still covered

Work is wrapping up on the Tomorrowland bridge and we can now see new futuristic railings have been installed

Another look at the Swan Boat dock

Another look at the work on the new bathrooms

Moving over to Epcot, Habit Heroes is still closed!

Epcot 30th anniversary merchandise is starting to hit shelves, like this awesome lanyard!

Perry the Platypus/Phineas and Ferb snacks are available, but I’m more interested in what’s on those Epcot-only popcorn buckets and cups…

A permanent DVC booth is being built next door to the Canada pavilion

Phineas and Ferb topiary still up

A quick stop at Downtown Disney shows us the progress on the new Rainforest Cafe volcano

Moving to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there’s a Frankenweenie ad in the parking lot

The first sign of work on The Legend of Jack Sparrow is this blue coat of paint on the building matching the colors now used for the Superstar Television Theater complex

Oz billboard behind the Great Movie Ride

Frankenweenie as well

Wreck-It Ralph and Frankenweenie up in the Animation Courtyard

Finding Nemo banners hanging in the courtyard

At the end of PPIXAR Place, you can find this Finding Nemo billboard

Halloween merchandise is out!

Awesome shirt featuring the Haunted Mansion and the Fab 5

Another shirt has the Hatbox Ghost

Our last stop is a look at Grand Floridian DVC wing construction

It’s coming along…

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:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

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

Even More Art of Animation Press Photos

WDWNT on December 15, 2012

Disney has released even more press photos from inside the Finding Nemo wing of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort:

Nemo and Marlin in their home, an anemone

TThe giant Mr. Ray

Crush and Dory nearby

Squirt in the play area

Another look at Crush and Dory

WDWNT has a room booked to be amongst the first to stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and will be providing live coverage of the grand opening on May 31st, 2012, so stay tuned!

In-Depth Look at the Finding Nemo & Cars Wings of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

WDWNT on October 30, 2012

WDWNT’s own Katey McGregor went on a special tour of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort on Monday and was nice enough to take a number of photos to share with us prior to the resort’s official opening on May 31st:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Pulling up to the resort

One of the large sketches on the exterior of the main building

A palette of colors dominate the check-in area, while early character concepts cover the opposite wall

An animator at work in the lobby. I hope this is a regular thing and not just something they were doing for the special event…

Wall opposite the front desk, showing concept art for the main characters of all four films. You can even catch a glimpse of British Sabastian!

More concept art from lobby

Some of your favorite characters looked a little different at first

Concept from the four films makes up this awesome lighting fixture- look for the hidden John Lasseter signature :)

Storyboard artwork covers a chandelier

Hidden John Lasseter signature!

This one is actually signed by hand by John Lasseter

Watercolor renderings outside the Ink & Paint Shop

More artwork on another wall

Cars section of food court

Landscapes of Flavor has 4 themed sections like the resort – Cars

Little Mermaid section of food court

The Little Mermaid

Lighting fixture in Little Mermaid section of food court- it's Ariel's treasure cave!

Lighting fixture for the Finding Nemo part of food court

Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo food court section

Lion King section of

Lion King

The Ink and Paint Shop looks ready to go

Front of resort

The back of the Cars wing

Even the staircases are themed to the different films

A glimpse of the Lion King section- you can see Simba on Pride Rock way back there if you look closely

The Lion King section is coming along nicely

Close up of Pride Rock- you can see Simba through the trees

I can kind of see Simba there…

Big Blue- the largest pool at any resort- is to the right

Finding Nemo is ready to open on May 31st

It's the EAC!

The jellyfish spout water

A look inside the rooms

Inscription on Nemo bathroom mirror

Nemo bathrooms designed to look like a submarine!

The bathroom looks like the sunken ship where the sharks live

Shower curtain in other bathroom

Shower curtain

Nemo playground

Squirt’s Righteous Reef

Restroom and Laundry signs made up of little fish

Ha…

Welcome to Radiator Springs!

A little bit of Cars Land in Florida

Sheriff hiding near the billboard as always

A picture with Doc Hudson

The Cadillac Range is on the buildings

Cozy Cone Motel is straight ahead, and the pool is behind it

Some of the town establishments were built

They even have the Cozy Cone sign

Sarge’s Surplus Hut

Guests are staying at the Wheel Well Motel

I didn’t know Luigi sold Lightyear tires

Another building has an entrance through Casa Della Tires

Guido!

The Cozy Cone motel

A look inside the rooms

The TV is on a toolbox

brilliant

The bathroom is a car wash…

Thanks for the report Katey!

All Art of Animation Resort Opening Dates Announced

WDWNT on September 8, 2012

While we knew that the Finding Nemo wing of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort was opening May 31st, we really could only guess when the other wings might open. Well, we now have the official dates:

  • Finding Nemo (Grand opening) – Opens May 31
  • Cars – Opens June 18
  • Lion King – Opens August 10
  • Little Mermaid – Opens September 15

Guests can begin booking all of these tomorrow, March 23rd.

Disney also released a second preview video for the resort a few weeks ago, now seems like a good time to share that with you:

Art of Animation Resort Construction Photo From Above

WDWNT on June 23, 2011

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

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

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:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

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:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

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!