Tom Corless & Dirk Wallen’s 3/13 WDW Photo Report

Things have been so crazy around here at WDW News Today lately that we’ve had some minor news stories slip through the cracks. In an effort to get you up to speed on some of the stories we haven’t covered on the site lately, here are newsworthy photos from myself and Dirk Wallen taken earlier in March:

Some new “flat” snowglobes for sale

There are some new hot sandwiches in Liberty Square

Most of the arcades at Walt Disney World are replacing their prize counters with one of these

An automated prize machine is a pretty cool concept

The new purchase with purchase item for sale is an expandable duffle

Wriost gift cards are available for the Flower and Garden Festival

Work continues on expanding the Boardwalk Bakery

The arcade next door is gone

The sign is still up and the door still enters the small ESPN shop

The arcade section is covered by a curtain

A few weeks ago, Test Track introduced a new car type guests can choose

Triton’s Treasures behind the Mine Train now has shutters on it

An ADA compliant ramp was installed on the Yankee Trader

Some of the new Haunted Mansion merchandise is for sale in Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe

Picture frame

Hourglass

Coasters

Work continues on installing A Pirate’s Adventure in Adventureland

Work continues on the exterior of the Adventureland Veranda

Rumors indicate that this may finally become a Pirate restaurant in 2014 once the Disney Fairies move out

More tarps on the front of the building

St. Patrick’s Day shirt

Spring Break and graduation merchandise out

Two new Oswald shirts for sale

Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny are in town square

Awwwwww

More Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train construction

Some trees up on the mountain

We can finally see some rock work

In preparation for FastPAss+, a large section of the Pirates of the Caribbean queue has been re-routed

Work continues on the Villas at the Grand Floridian

Thanks for reading!

RoE: Park 13 Haunted Mansion Stretching Room Combo

Haunted Mansion Stretching Room
LE from Park 13
LE 2000
12/20
$59.95

Update: Back of figures and HQ photos added.

Figures based on the Haunted Mansion Stretching room. I hope there’s something special that shows the rest of each painting (as seen below). What do you think they could do?

Dirk Wallen’s 2/2/13 Magic Kingdom Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited the Magic Kingdom on Saturday and has some fantastic pictures of new progress on the Big Thunder Mountain interactive queue, A Pirate’s Life: Treasures of the Seven Seas, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and more, so let’s take a look:

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While the Main Street Bakery is closed, guests can head to the Tomorrowland Terrace

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Plenty of options at Tomorrowland Terrace, including beignets!

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The flowers in the hub have gone to Valentine’s Day colors and the ducks love it…

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Valentine’s Day cupcakes available at Big Top Treats

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I’ve heard of panning for gold…

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More props and interactive elements have been installed in the queue at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

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The “exploding” crates are no longer under tarps

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These huge machines popped up in the second-half of the queue over the weekend

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It looks like guests will play some sort of game where they turn a lever

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Spinning handles on the back of another machine

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The refurbishment of Splash Mountain continues

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Lots of painting going on

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Golden Oak Outpost is closed again

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Work continues on the Adventureland Veranda building

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Another area of the building is also walled-off

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The Crow’s Nest is out from behind tarps and it looks quite different… we expect it to play a role in “A Pirate’s Adventure”

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More props for “A Pirate’s Adventure” have been installed throughout Adventureland

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Jack Sparrow’s compass

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This was the first prop installed a few months ago

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A cannon

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Ball and chains

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Some props by the Jungle Cruise

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Nearby, a pirate skeleton lies under the water near a treasure chest

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It appears these skulls near the Pirates of the Caribbean entrance will talk

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Another strange set of props

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Gun powder

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Sleepy Hollow Refreshments is open while the exterior is refurbished

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Walls up outside of the Haunted Mansion and Yankee Trader

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Tarps still up on Columbia Harbour House

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The latest progress on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

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Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day lanyards are out

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As is the new Test Track logo pin

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Over at The Villas at the Grand Floridian, we can start to make out windows

Haunted Mansion Stretching Room Combo Turnaround Photos

The Park Limited Edition combo sets are really impressing me. I can not wait for the Tower of Terror blind box set or this, the Haunted Mansion Stretching Room four 3″ figure combo pack.

This set was designed by Ron Cohee and will be released on December 20th at both D-Streets and Online. The price is $59.95 for an LE size 2,000 combo.

Episode 145 America on Parade

Ep. 145 America on Parade

This week we review the Park 13 Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror LE box sets. We preview the upcoming Indiana Jones series. We have news about Valentine’s Day, Aladdin and Disney Store figures. And we have an interview with Disney Design Group artist Maria Clapsis.


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Zach Larson’s 5/7/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Zach Larson visited the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Monday and has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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Construction has gone vertical on the Disney Vacation Club wing of the Grand Floridian

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom

There are two of these posters in the tunnel now… not only is it not an attraction… but it has more posters than any others…

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom sign near Town Square Theater

Work continues on the Confectionary and Chapeau facades

Work still going on near the Main Street bridge

This new railing was installed during the work

Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to touch trash-cans?

Still not a whole lot of theme to this walkway between Tomorrowland and Storybook Circus

Work on the water tower at Fantasyland Station is complete

A look from the Barnstormer reveals that the second Dumbo spinner is nearing completion. We can also see the true height of the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train

The mountain of the Mine Train will be pretty tall

The second Dumbo is fully decorated

Workers on top of Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

The covered part is the lift hill as the train will roll out of the mountain

Work continues on turning Tigger’s Bouncy Place into something else

Some tarps now up in front of the Castle Wall construction

A second set of walls now makes for a tight passage

They are working on the back end of the Village Haus facade now

It’s still quite a mess back here

Now “it’s a small world” has tarps up

Work continues on the former Skyway site

Next-gen FASTPASS testing at the Haunted Mansion

It will be interesting to see what this looks like when they are done

They were forcing guests down the graveyard side if you weren’t using FASTPASS, but you could still bypass the interactive queue

Work continues on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Everything looks fantastic!

GOAT!

Package Pick-Up still behind tarps

Awesome shot of the Avengerail in action… I hope you’ve seen the movie by now…

A look at the Grand Floridian DVC construction from across the water

They’ve installed a rocky shoreline

Moving over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, it looks like the Sorcerer Mickey topiary is on the move again as walls are up

Stage for Star Wars Weekends is going up

Citizens of Hollywood recently had a character shuffle. This is the “new” Mimi Kaboom

Things got heated…

ACTING! BRILLIANT!

I don’t think the security booths are coming back…

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

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:

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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…

Adam Roth’s 8/18/12 WDW Photo Report

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

A Hauntingly Fun Release

We have more details now about the Haunted Mansion releases at WDW and DLR. (Hanted Mansion explained page)

On Friday, September 21, the series will be released at D-Street Walt Disney World. Casey Jones will hold a signing that day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will also be a one-of-a-kind custom 9″ Mariner figure designed by Casey Jones available for purchase on site (pictured below).

Casey will then make an appearance from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 22, at D-Street Disneyland. The series will release that morning on the west coast and Casey Jones will also have a one-of-a-kind custom figure for purchase here too… the 9″ Bride pictured above. Additional custom figures will also be for sale:

John Henselmeier

Javier Soto

Julie West

Miss Mindy
According to a Disney Parks Blog interview with Steven Miller, series artist Casey Jones said: “We knew we couldn’t feature every single character from the attraction,” explained Casey. “So we selected a character from almost each of the different show scenes. This set gives us a strong foundation to build upon for a future Haunted Mansion series.”
The article reveals that the beautiful packaging for this series was designed by Thomas Scott with help from artist Dan Salgo. Thomas gave some insight into it’s creation, “We used the cover of the ‘The Story & Song from The Haunted Mansion’ vinyl album as inspiration for the packaging,” said Thomas. “We even used the unique ‘Haunted Mansion’ lettering found on that album as a nice tribute.”

We have waited along time for this series. What are your thoughts as we go into release weekend? Have the variants re-energized the passion for this set?

Haunted Mansion Vinyl Spook the Net

The Haunted Mansion series ended up online when it was released last weekend. That’s pretty cool, since we know a lot of people who wanted to purchase the set, but didn’t live near the parks. But I can only find the individual boxes for sale. $12.95 each.

Did you pick up this set? What do you think of the variants?