Adam Roth’s 4/15/12 Epcot Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Epcot to say goodbye to Test Track on Sunday and while he was there, he took plenty of newsworthy photos to share with us:

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Habit Heroes – Still closed

Some portions of it are now behind a large curtain

I don’t think so

The original Test Track is now gone…

They wasted no time removing the infamous Test Track pizza truck

The Odyssey building is slowing getting a blue paint scheme

All of the water features in Canada were off

Shoes?

Still can’t get used to this weird sandy patch in front of the Seas with Nemo and Friends

You can see where the new pavement begins

No visible progress from here of the rumored new Turtle Talk entrance

You can squeeze past all this work into the ride

Ooooooooo

The Cool Wash remains… for now…

At the very least, they’ll have to change the look of this area at some point

Time to say goodbye

Time to shut the door

Goodbye Test Track as we know it…

Zach Larson’s 2/6/12 WDW Photo Report

From Super Bowl MVP parades to Animal Kingdom, WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson brings us around the world with him on a very busy photo report. Let’s take a look:

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Land clearing continues for the Grand Floridian DVC wing

overgrowth getting cleared away

Meanwhile, some brush is being cleared from this island in the Seven Seas Lagoon

The main street characters were out entertaining guests waiting for Eli Manning to parade down the street. I really don’t like the new one in the beige shorts…

They were offering free balloons with every audio guide purchased! 😉

Giants fans out in force

Here comes the Super Bowl MVP

Congratulations to our hometown champions, the New York Giants… even though I’m a Dolphins fan… stop laughing…

The Big Thunder Mountain refurbishment rolls on

I love this sign

The Pecos Bill’s facade is out from behind tarps and looks great

More of the facade still covered

The Frontierland Trading Post still behind tarps

Pathway work continues and Electrical Parade takes a break and Celebrate a Dream Come True stays on Main Street

Work continues on the old Fantasyland Skyway

Restrooms are coming, but rumors say to expect more

Rumors indicate that a Tangled play area and an area for guests to rest and recharge electronics is coming

Work continues on the Peter Pan’s Flight queue

Crane up in New Fantasyland

The new Tomorrowland/Fantasyland vending cart costume is a better fit for Tomorrowland in my opinion

Work continues on the castle walls

The crane! The crane!

Storybook Circus

The Dumbo queue is coming along

Beast’s Castle

They are finally topping Prince Eric’s Castle at Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

A spire finally appears at the very edge of the castle! PROGRESS!

Fantasyland Station is looking great

The old Dumbo spinner is now sitting next to the completed new spinner

I really love the pastels

It’s hard to improve a simple spinner, but I think they have

Circus tents

Awww….

Bye balloons… sniff…

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Main Street bridge work continues

Center Street still behind tarps

Chamber of Commerce/Package Pick-Up behind tarps as well

Cosmic Ray’s installed these screen menu boards a while ago

I like this shot…

Lights were on in Space Mountain

Long line for the Peoplemover

Something is missing…

Oooooo…

Walls still up behind the shrunken pet cemetery

Ooooo….

Another new Haunted Mansion shirt

On to Epcot

Test Track on the map, get them while you can

Kind of empty…

The screen works!

This scene may be gone soon…

GM cars out in the loop

Punch it Chewie!

Plenty of blue Chevy labeled cars out

The VISION House is coming to Innoventions soon

Habit Heroes is testing

Some clever puns… good thing this isn’t DCA…

The Final Boss, He's defeated with exercise.

There were quite a few bugs and they weren’t allowing pics inside, so listen to next week’s podcast for a full review

Doors locked for some reason

MINE!

No, they are not putting FASTPASS machines in…

Nemo?

In case you don’t know how to play Simon…

Preparations have begun for the Flower and garden Festival

They keep adding more and more signs for Kim Possible

The new Future World directional signs

The Canada facade refurbishment is done and it looks brand new

Leave a Legacy being fixed up

Over to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, work continues on one of the paths in the Oasis

Kali River Rapids is closed for refurbishment

These were added some time ago, but the seating area at the Yak and Yeti counter service now has covered sections

I miss these signs that don’t say dream builders…

The drink window was open

AJ P’s 2/12 Walt Disney World Resort Photo Report

WDWNT reader AJ P. was nice enough to offer us some newsworthy photos they took on their recent trip to Walt Disney World, so let’s take a look around all 4 parks and Downtown Disney:

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Land clearing continues for the Grand Floridian DVC wing

the rain left some large puddles

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom

Chamber of Commerce behind tarps

The Bakery as well

On to New Fantasyland

Work being done on the facade of Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

Large walls popping up on the site of the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train

Supports and such for the Mine Train in the foreground, Storybook Circus tents in the background

A green and red wall will separate the forest from Storybook Circus

A look across to Belle’s Village

The remains of Dumbo right in front of an expanding Castle Wall

Dumbo is coming along quickly

The backside isn’t themed in any way, but it faces the Speedway, so it will match nicely…

The Barnstormer tower

Circus tents

Walls still up near the Haunted Mansion

The Sunshine Tree Terrace is still behind tarps

Tarps still up at Pecos Bill’s

The planters have been repaired in Tomorrowland, but they have temporary covers until plants are placed

On to Downtown Disney, work continues on Splitsville

Doesn’t look like much has happened inside yet

Rainforest Cafe is open while work is done on the exterior

Concept art shows the new exterior and the new Lava Lounge

Stitch is gone from the World of Disney sign

Work being done on the pavement outside the store

Moving over to Epcot

Flower and Garden Festival preperation

Work continues on the entrances to the Seas with Nemo and Friends

The water play areas in Future World are being fixed-up

Tutto Italia is finally being remodeled after 5 years in the former Alfredo’s building

The exterior is being ripped apart

The old waiting area is gone…

The horror… THE HORROR!

I hope they are fixing the menu here as well, because Via Napoli makes this place look silly

The other water play area behind walls

Modifications being made to the Spaceship Earth queue in preparation for the eventual roll-out of Xpass…

We’re going to animal Kingdom!

For one piece of news… they are still repairing the rock-work in the Oasis

Josh Siegel’s 12/15/11 Epcot Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Josh Siegel visited Epcot last night and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:

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The Germany train village is decorated for the holidays

Candlelight Processional

Santa’s Village at the American Adventure

Plenty of holiday merchandise available

Precious Moments Disney dolls

More Precious Moments

You can build your own Disney Christmas village with these pieces

Decorations at the American Adventure

Hanukkah display

How to make one large gingerbread house

Katsura Grill at the Japan pavilion is now open

It looks nice after the long remodel

A look at the menu

Epcot Christmas tree

New directional signage is up around Future World

The signage is either blue or green, again pointing to the eventual renaming of Future World East and West as Blue/Green that we have been talking about for a few years

Topiary display near Innoventions

A booth on the walkway between Future World and World Showcase behind walls

Stage set for Joyful!

The tip board still works and is decorated for the holidays!

The Stitch topiary lights up at night

Lilo and Stitch signed the back

Bambi

Thumper and Flower

If you can’t have real snow…

Adam Roth’s 11/28/11 Epcot Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Epcot yesterday and took a TON of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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The RFID ticket test is over for now while they work out the bugs…

They should be back soon

The holiday topiary display is up

Bambi

Stitch bit the card…

No line for Spaceship Earth

Holiday floral behind Spaceship Earth

The tip board still works!

It now sports a Holidays Around the World image

Club Cool has been decorated for the holidays

Joyful! is back

Another set of topiaries by the fountain

New sign outside of Kim Possible World showcase Adventure kiosks

The Epcot Christmas tree is up

More decorations

Canada is still behind tarps

No Off Kilter, but Papa Noel was performing for Holidays Around the World

Rose and Crown decorated

France storyteller stage

On to France

France decorations

The temporary Japan booth from Food & Wine remains as Yakitori House is still closed

Walls still up at Yakitori House

A look inside…

The Storytellers stage in Japan

More walls

Walls also up around the small food vendor

A look from above

A look inside

Workers finishing up

Candlelight Processional running

Santa’s Village is open at the American Adventure

Precious Moments doll signing

Candlelight Processional booth… and I won’t comment on anything else in the photo…

Santa and Mrs. Claus

Kwanzaa booth

There is a sign for the gingerbread house outside of the Liberty Inn

Mmmmmmm….

The Liberty Inn is decorated

The snowman Mickey buckets are back

The overflow restrooms are back for the Candlelight Processional

Long line to enter the theater

Storytellers in Italy

The train village in Germany now celebrates the season

Germany decorated

Storyteller on the schedule in Germany

Germany stage

Mmmmmm….

Ornaments and alcohol, a great mix!

China stage

Storytelling going on in Norway

Decorations on La Hacienda

The Mexico stage

Decorations on La Cantina

Stitch also got caught up in some lights…

Donald and Goofy are ice skating

Bambi looks on… goodbye sweet prince…

The Habit Heroes Are Coming to Innoventions

In the space formerly occupied by “Don’t Waste It!” in Innoventions at Epcot, the Habit Heroes are coming…

The signs simply say that guests will be battling those bad habits in eating, TV watching, and more sometime soon… stay tuned for more as it becomes available.

The Epcot Tip-board Has Been Replaced!

For years, regular visitors to Epcot have complained about the state of the tip board attached to Pin Central. The board was always somewhat broken, seemingly only months after it was installed during the Millennium Celebration. Well, Epcot recently replaced the tip board… FINALLY!:

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The board is now a cluster of four flat screen monitors

On an interesting side note, the board would occaisionally display tweets about the Food & Wine Festival from anyone using the special hash-tag for the event. The feature has since been removed thanks to some wise-cracks from guests trying to get themselves on the board and further their comedic careers…