Hub – WDWNT Archive

Tom Corless’ 6/17/15 Magic Kingdom Photo Report (New Pirate Items, Hub Construction, Jungle Cruise Restaurant, ETC.)

WDWNT on December 7, 2015

Last night I visited the Magic Kingdom and I took some newsworthy photos of what’s going on at the park while I was there, so let’s see what’s new and exciting:

Work continues on the northern hub area

A lot of the old Adventureland Veranda and the backstage area inside has been gutted for the upcoming Jungle Cruise restaurant

On the other side of the hub, a structure reminiscent of those that housed the food and drinks stands has appeared

Tarps still up for this set of turrets

The center hub area is finally finished

The Little Orange Bird has returned to signage and inside the Sunshine Tree Terrace

Not sure why this took 6 months…

The egg roll cart in Adventureland has moved over between Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean is closed until September for modifications

More new Pirates of the Caribbean merchandise is rolling out, including this mug

This strange plush

AND THIS PEG LEG PETE PLUSH!!!

New notebook set

For $3.99, you can get a paper map of the one that appears in the Disneyland attraction

Dirk Wallen’s 3/20/15 WDW Photo Report (Polynesian Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Disney Springs, ETC.)

WDWNT on April 13, 2015

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen was all over the Walt Disney World Resort this week and has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look at what’s new and exciting:

Starting at the Polynesian, the right side of the entrance is out from behind walls and looking good

The pool area is nearing completion also

Moving to the Magic Kingdom, work on the center of the hub is picking up speed

New planters await railings

The old Rose Garden is now being demolished as part of the hub expansion

The final remnants of the Plaza Swan Boats are being erased

Moving over to the Studios, walls are up around the former site of the Sorcerer’s Hat, at least through late-April

Strange to see this sight again, but if Echo Lake is demolished, it won’t be a sight for long

Over at Epcot, work continues on the mysterious “colorful” new Innoventions exhibit

Meanwhile, there is no visible progress on the Frozen attraction

Moving to Disney Springs, the Marketplace Co-Op has these Adventurer’s Club signs back in stock

These photos were taken just before the first pedestrian bridge was installed yesterday

The Town Center will rise upon this site over the next 12-14 months

One large structure is already rising

The small park area in front of Planet Hollywood and the Orange Garage entrance is nearing completion

New planters being installed outside Harley Davidson

No visible progress on STK Orlando, the supposed replacement for the BET Soundstage

The Hangar restaurant is now completely sealed, but still no announcement from Disney

The new Margarita Bar and pier in the Marketplace is coming along nicely

The BOATHOUSE, as seen from the Village Causeway

Still to early to tell, but this looks like one fo the facades that will hide the second parking garage from view

A lot of work still to be done on Morimoto Asia

Meanwhile, flags have gone up outside of the BOATHOUSE, leading us to believe it is nearing completion

Work on the dock is wrapping up

Another look at the Hangar Restaurant, whatever it might be…

PHOTOS: First Section of New Magic Kingdom Hub Opens to Guests

WDWNT on February 26, 2015

The first section of the new Magic Kingdom hub opened to guests this afternoon, revealing many months of work that has gone into turning the old waterway space into expanded paths and nighttime show viewing space for the park:

The side of the hub with Casey’s Corner is now open to guests, no word on when the other side might open

I would think this is hub west since it faces west, but this sign isn’t helping

The area with AstroTurf will be used for FastPass+ fireworks viewing

Wishes! is presented by Pandora jewelry, so the sections is sponsored as well

Some railings are still missing today

A great fountain flanks both sides of the hub now

The smaller hub statues that once surrounded Partners are now spread out around the hub

Lots of path space to make traversing the park easier

A look back at the viewing area

The views of the Castle from the section are really nice

Some more railings that need to be installed

WHICH HUB IS IT?!?!

Tom Corless’ 1/22/15 Magic Kingdom Photo Report (Hub Construction, Barnstormer Queue, Polynesian DVC, ETC.)

WDWNT on January 29, 2015

I took a trip to the Magic Kingdom this past weekend to see the new Peter Pan queue in action and managed to take some photos of some other newsworthy things happening around the park right now:

The entire back section of Uptown Jewelers is closed, likely Pandora jewelry related

New “it’s a small world” fleece throw

New attraction poster magnets

Island Supply Sunglass Hut opened in Adventureland recently

Even though it has closed yet, some of the new black-light elements coming to Under the Sea have already been installed

The covered extended queue at the Barnstormer was recently completed

There are some cool details on the coverings

Another reference to the original Barnstormer

The back section of the main circle in the hub is now closed off and the Partners statue behind walls

Progress as seen from the Tomorrowland bridge

The old production booths near the Castle are going to be replaced, so a temporary booth is going up

Walls are up around the old booths

Another look at the center

The castle stage shows will go dark for a few weeks as well

Water features now being installed on the Adventureland side

Walls also up in front of the train station for some reason

The entrance arch for the Polynesian Villas and Bungalows has gone up

Tom Corless’ 12/8/14 WDW Photo Report (Hub Remodel, New Magic Kingdom Merchandise, Animal Kingdom Construction, ETC.)

WDWNT on December 30, 2014

I recently visited the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom theme parks at Walt Disney World and have plenty of newsworthy photos to share with you from my trip, so let’s see what’s new and exciting:

We begin with the latest progress on the Hub at the Magic Kingdom

It may look rough, but with some dirt moved, some lamps installed, and some concrete poured, this is done

The other side looks a lot more complete

Most of the lamp & speaker towers are already installed here, leading us to believe this side will open by Christmas week

The new lampposts are nice, but I will miss the green coloring on everything…

A look over the walls from the other side

So… this happened…

Anyway… there are touch-points at the exit of Splash Mountain now to claim your photos

Provided everyone kept their clothes on, you can tap this to get your pictures

The “Made with Magic” wand is now out

You can change the color of other Made with Magic items

An incredible new line of Magic Kingdom merchandise has been released

I LOVE this notebook

Not related, but a new shirt

Some 2015 items are out

iPhone 6 Plus cases have arrived in GIANT packaging

Moving over to Animal Kingdom, work continues on the new pathway on Discovery Island

Walls in front of the Tree of Life were pushed back

So there’s a new area with planters that has been revealed

New Animal Kingdom merchandise

Not much new to see at the walls to AVATAR

Can’t see much at the future site of the Africa Marketplace either

Rivers of Light construction still isn’t much to look at yet…

The other side of Disney Outfitters and the new walkway through Discovery Island

Some people believe the work near Flame Tree BBQ is for a covered queue, but it looks like a service window to me…

It’s fairly small, but has openings on each side…

I’m guessing Starbucks or maybe a place to offer picnic packages once Rivers of Light begins in 2016

A look at the new path in front of the Tree of Life

Expedition Everest also has touch-points to claim photos as well

Not quite as well themed as some of the other ones…

I at first was excited about this Expedition Everest shirt

Until I saw that i had the wrong year…

Animal Kingdom is open after dark most nights currently, so if you can, get over there and do some walking around with the park’s light son (yes, they have lights)

See? LIGHTS!

Tom Corless’ 9/30/14 WDW Photo Report (Big Hero 6 Art, Backlot Tour, Rivers of Light, New Frozen Merchandise, ETC.)

WDWNT on October 24, 2014

It was quite the busy weekend at Walt Disney World, so I managed to visit all 4 parks to see what was new and have a ton of newsworthy photos to share with you in today’s report:

The Studio Backlot Tour closed forever on Saturday

A Big Hero 6 exhibit can now be found at the Magic of Disney Animation

Moving over to Epcot, menu changes have been made a the Electric Umbrella

I decided to try the French Dip burger

It was surprisingly good!

I also tried the Pumpkin Macaroon from the France ice cream parlor and it was amazing.

Over at the Magic Kingdom, this low clearance was added in the bus stop to ensure busses go the right way through the loop

The awning on the boat dock at the entrance was replaced, it’s now red instead of green

The latest progress on the hub at the Magic Kingdom

The Astro Orbiter reopened this weekend, but you can read more about that here

The leave-your-phone charging stations in Tomorrowland have all been closed, the test period came to an end and we’ll now have to wait to see if it was a success and is brought back

New Space Mountain ladies’ shirt

New men’s “I conquered Space Mountain” shirt

This artwork was previously on a black t-shirt and slightly different

Dumbo character sketches are now being sold at Big Top Souvenirs

New Beast plush for sale at Bonjour Village Gifts

Instead of selling generic items, there is a now a Beauty and the Beast shield toy

If you don’t have a FastPass for it, prepare to arrive at Be Our Guest at park opening to get a return time to eat lunch there or you’ll be turned away

Even more of Sir Mickey’s has been taken over by Frozen merchandise, even Ariel merchandise got pushed out

Some new Frozen artwork for sale

A two-sided Olaf ceramic ornament was just released

Queue work continues at Peter Pan’s Flight

We thought it would only be at Disneyland, but the Zero popcorn bucket was released at the Magic Kingdom! It costs over $13 but has a light-up nose feature

Strange new t-shirts…

LOVE this new sweatshirt!

Odd new Magic Kingdom shirt

Simple, but nice

Halloween 2014 Duffy

Some of the Haunted Mansion 45th anniversary lithographs have made it to Florida

An awesome new print by Alex Maher

In preparation for “Move It! Shake It! Dance and Play It!”, video screens are being installed on the floats

Moving over to animal Kingdom, it’s still a mess

At least all of the construction walls are decorated now

The UP meet and greet has seen better days

“it’s tough to be a bug” re-opened this weekend

Most of the nets installed to protect guests from falling particles have finally been removed from the queue

There are still nets by the base of the tree, not sure if these will stay here

work is picking up on the new nighttime show, Rivers of Light

The Everest shrine is behind walls and probably will be until the construction is done in late 2015/early 2016

Since one of the Wilderness Explorers’ answers is behind walls, they made a copy and placed it on the walls

The walls wrap around most of the river

We can peek through and see that the construction vehicles are already in place, ready to start working on the show and viewing area

Some sort of new structure is going up by Flame Tree Barbecue

An Oswald Christmas ornament was released

Dirk Wallen’s 8/7/14 Magic Kingdom Photo Report (Hub Work, Halloween Merch, Mansion Store, ETC.)

WDWNT on September 5, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen returns with some fantastic, newsworthy photos from the Magic Kingdom to share with us, so let’s take a look at what’s new:

The parking lot at the Vacation Club wing at the Polynesian is taking shape

Work continues on the Hub expansion at the Magic Kingdom

Halloween merchandise has arrived

This year’s shirt features Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion

Mad Hatter Mocha cake cup served at Cheshire Café

The Seven Dwarfs Mine store is closed for refurbishment, but it’s unclear if it will return as the same store or carry Seven Dwarfs merchandise currently on sale at Hundred Acre Goods

The Yankee Trader is now closed for conversion into The Haunted Mansion-themed store

John Corigliano's 8/11/14 Magic Kingdom Photo Report (Peoplemover, Hub Construction, ETC.)

WDWNT on September 5, 2014

WDWNT Reporter John Corigliano visited the Magic Kingdom this weekend and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip, so let’s take a look at what’s new:

A Stitch photo-op is up on construction walls near Tomorrowland

Alright…

The Peoplemover has returned from refurbishment

Besides some new paint, not much has changed on the Peoplemover, but we still have a video ride-thru to share with you today

This side of the Astro Orbiter elevator shaft has still not been painted

Work continues on the expansion of the Hub

As you can see, an orange and red paint scheme has taken over the entrance and the center of the structure

Some of the painting hasn’t been finished yet

A look at the other side of the Astro Orbiter elevator shaft, painted orange now

Most of the Astro Orbiter is still missing

7/25/14 Magic Kingdom Photo Report (Hub Work, TTA, Frozen, ETC.)

WDWNT on August 7, 2014

WDWNT Reporter John Corigliano visited the Magic Kingdom one evening this week and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip, so let’s take a look:

Another curb flattened, this time by Tony’s, probably having to do wioth the eventual pathway around the back of Main Street that will dump guests here

We thought it strange that there were no fences near the new Casey’s seating area, well, that has since been rectified

Work on the Hub continues

Tarps are still up at the Enchanted Tiki Room

July seems like a good time to board up the Peter Pan’s flight queue, right?

We expect it to just be some routine painting and such

The FastPass sign with tic tock croc is gone… it dated back to the days of Hook’s Tavern which was located here

New Simba and Mufasa plush for sale

Instead of overloading the queue, guests are now being given stand-by return times for Anna and Elsa, as this point they were gone for the day

The fancy new FastPass and Stand-By line sign at Mad Tea Party was taken down for some modifications

Work continues on the TTA and the Astro Orbiter in Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland Terrace is open, TRY THEIR FROZEN LEMONADE* (Item not related to Disney’s animated hit Frozen)

A closer look at the work near the Plaza Restaurant for the new Magic Kingdom Hub

Another look at the new flattened curb by Tony’s

6/24/14 Walt Disney World Photo Report (Polynesian Resort, Magic Kingdom, & Animal Kingdom)

WDWNT on June 29, 2014

WDWNT Reporters Joe Hogarty and John Corigliano visited Disney’s Polynesian Resort, the Magic Kingdom, and Disney’s animal kingdom over the last few days and have plenty of exciting pictures to share with us, so let’s take a look: