Imagine walking into Epcot from the parking lot and walking under or through a giant hotel before you reach Spaceship Earth. If plans are approved, this may very well be the scene at the entrance area of Walt Disney World’s 35-year-old vision of the future.
If approved, the resort will stand at one of two proposed sites (seen above), either between The Land and The Seas pavilions in Future World, or directly over the entrance to Epcot, most likely connecting to the preexisting monorail station in some way. If the design located in front of Spaceship Earth is approved, it shouldn’t block the view of Spaceship Earth completely, but rather be used to frame the famous structure between towers or something of the sort.
It is no secret that the Walt Disney Company sees a lot of promise in the idea of resorts connected to or inside of the theme parks. This isn’t a new concept as Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Hotel Miracosta are already in existence (both opened way back in 2001), as well as the Disneyland Hotel at Disneyland Paris, which is sprawled out in front of the park’s entrance, requiring guests walk under it to enter the park. Disney has also already announced a Star Wars hotel that would in theory be connected to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, home of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Guests pass under the Disneyland Hotel in Paris to enter Disneyland Park.
The hotel is still in the very early stages of development, which means it could end up in front of Spaceship Earth or off to the side, or maybe not even happen at all. Either way, should it happen, it will offer quick and easy entrance into Epcot from the front of the park and offer unparalleled views of Future World.
Our latest photo report brings u back to Disney’s Hollywood Studios as it prepares for a transitional Holiday season, offering up a new lineup that Disney hopes will fill the void left by the Osborne Lights over the last two years.
Christmas Shopping
Plenty of blown-glass ornaments for sale at Celebrity 5 & 10, including a new Monorail ornament.
They’re a little pricey at $19.99 each, but they are pretty cool.
Some new holiday apparel for sale.
A few new Beauty and the Beast ornaments have joined the existing collection this year, including this light up rose ornament.
Mickey and Minnie Mouse have both received their own action figures of sorts, exclusive to the Disney Parks. They retail for $14.99 each.
The new Mickey Mouse ear baseball cap is already out.
Sunset Seasons Greetings
As the park prepares for the new Sunset Seasons Greetings offering, a whole lot of new infrastructure is going into place on Sunset Boulevard. The old, white lights for the palm trees have been replaced with these beauties, capable of color changing for show elements.
Some extra hardware was also installed on the star lights, likely to be used to integrate them into the show.
The Fantasmic billboard is likely gone for good as a new billboard that can be projected onto will go in its place. Maybe it will return in some form down the road.
Behind the billboard hides the infrastructure for the projectors that will turn the Hollywood Tower Hotel into a number of holiday items during the shows.
The projectors sit on the stands you can see behind these windows.
People seem confused about a new Paradise Pier billboard that appeared recently at the Studios. I don’t see the confusion as both lands exist in roughly the same time period. Sadly, Paradise Pier will become PIXAR Pier, but this will be a nice nod to the past.
Dirt Street U.S.A.
Construction continues on Two Story Land, opening Summer 2018.
The remnants of the catwalk above the soundstage waits to be sealed in.
On the other side, we still have no idea what this weird, tall section of building is supposed to be.
A dirt wall now seals PIXAR Place, which eventually will be no more once Toy Story Land opens and the entrance to Toy Story Midway Mania moves there.
Just before this dirt wall will lie a cast access road, with PIXAR Place then becoming a backstage area.
The construction walls behind Muppet Vision 3-D expanded outward, now coming into the attraction’s exit.
Here we see the building for the “Battle Escape” attraction in Star War’s Galaxy’s Edge.
This and That
Sunset Showcase courtyard was open, being used for extended queue for Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, as well as some character meet and greets.
The show building for Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster was recently repainted blue to blend into Toy Story Land better. It’s too bad it now doesn’t blend with anything on this side of the park. Why is every “soundstage” building a different color?
Work on Echo Lake continues, with the “logs” under the water now repainted.
With the Coco preview coming soon, the final room of Walt Disney Presents is pretty barren at the moment. The stickers on the walls were taken down and only on display case remains in use.
Our latest photo report brings us to Epcot as we countdown to the extinction of the Universe of Energy, the start of the Food and Wine Festival, and the relaunch of Mission: Space…
If you open the front door to the space, you are greeted by a screen telling you that it is closed and will not reopen.
We have a video and photo tour in case you never were able to experience the Siemens VIP Center:
VIPs of course could get “back-doored” onto Spaceship Earth.
The Siemens and Disney contract is set to expire September 30th, 2017, so expect the references to the company to vanish and Project Tomorrow to close by then.
Feel The Flow, Here We Go…
With the Universe of Energy closing forever on August 13th to make way for the Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster ride, Disney has stationed a PhotoPass photographer outside of the building.
As we near the closing, guests are certainly showing up in larger numbers to say goodbye…
The bridge from Odyssey to Mexico has seen better days…
The repainting of the exterior of the Mexico pavilion continues, but apparently Disney isn’t happy with what they did. Above, you see blue paint starting to ascend the structure last week.
This week, the blue paint moving upwards on the structure vanished.
Work continues on Choza Tequila, now set to open during the Food and Wine Festival.
Some lovely new booths for the festival have popped up, like this one in Africa.
This new Italy booth is rather nice as well. Don’t forget that the Festival kicks off August 31st. And no, that’s not a typo… and I’m upset that it’s not (I don’t want to stand outside and eat hot food in August).
Club 33 preparations have moved into the lobby of the American Adventure.
The Chat Lounge will not return to the Food and Wine Festival this year as a result (also, it appears Chase is no longer a sponsor anyway).
The Torii Gate in Japan was repainted recently and is looking great!
The remodeling of the Mitsukoshi Department Store in Japan continues…
The pearl jewelry area in the store was moved to a new location that is quite nice.
A new jewelry area has opened further into the store.
They were sold out of Yunker, probably because we ate it on the last WDW News Tonight.
Over in MouseGear, there is some new apparel to be found.
The Electric Umbrella has begun to offer mobile ordering.
Push and Pull
In what is becoming a more regular occurrence, we witnessed monorail teal getting towed through Epcot a few days ago…
The Siemens VIP Center (formerly Base 21) behind Spaceship Earth was abruptly abandoned this week when Siemens left the space months ahead of the end of their deal with Disney Parks. Even though the contract is set to expire on September 30th, Siemens staff left the space forever on Monday, July 31st, 2017. Apparently the relationship between the two companies soured rapidly after Disney turned down a new monorail fleet for Walt Disney World that Siemens offered in lieu of compensation for a new sponsorship deal.
Since 2007, Siemens employees could access the space to relax and enjoy refreshments, and Siemens executives had plenty of board room space inside to hold various meetings. If you have never been inside, be sure to watch our video tour below.
In a sign that another sponsor is not yet lined up and may not be at any point, Disney executives toured the space with Siemens staff ahead of their departure to decide what will stay and what will go. Siemens was supposed to return the Lounge to its original form upon departure, but Disney could choose to keep it as it is now. Regardless of what stays and what doesn’t, Disney is going to be taking over the entire corporate lounge and meeting space immediately.
Now the question is, will Disney use this space for internal meetings and such, or will they begin to hold special events in this building like dessert parties and such, also making the lounge and board room bookable for guests looking to hold special events in the park? Only time will tell, but the ability to enter this lounge for regular park guests is likely something people would happily pay for. Sadly, it seems it is too late to make this space the Epcot Club 33 location as construction has already begun on the upstairs venue at the American Adventure.
Siemens sponsorship is still present at Spaceship Earth and IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth and should be at least until September 30th, 2017.
A transformer failure at the Disneyland Resort resulted in loss of power to much of Fantasyland and Mickey’s Toontown Wednesday afternoon December 27th, in the middle of one of the busiest days of the year.
According to ABC7.com, the local ABC affiliate in Los Angeles, reported that a Disneyland spokesperson said guests were being evacuated from “about a dozen” rides, including the Monorail, which, interestingly, isn’t technically a Fantasyland or Toontown attraction.
As of 3pm PST (6pm EST), power to much of the park had been restored, with all of Toontown plus some Fantasyland attractions, including “it’s a small world” which is currently sporting its holiday overlay.
At least one guest paid way too much for Disneyland tickets and then complained they weren’t offering refunds when the rest of the park, as well as Disney California Adventure, were open and operating.
Nonsensical time spent at Disneyland. There is a power outage and there is no refund either!!! $1100 down the drain!! #disneypoweroutage#poorcustomerservice
The Walt Disney World Monorail system routes around the Magic Kingdom will be operating a little differently on several dates through the end of May 2017.
On these dates, the Resort Monorail will travel between Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Magic Kingdom. It will not stop at the Transportation and Ticket Center or Disney’s Contemporary Resort. The Express Monorail will make a stop at the Contemporary in addition to its regular stops at the TTC and the Magic Kingdom to accommodate guests.
The modified routes will operate on May 16th, 17th, 23rd, 24th, and 30th, 2017, from 11:30AM to 6:00PM.
Our latest photo report brings us to the Magic Kingdom, but not before a quick stop at the Polynesian.
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
Ads for Copper creek are now being handed out since the location is on sale.
A bamboo barrier was erected at Tambu Lounge to separate it from the waiting area.
This was my first time going through security at a monorail station and I must say, it was wonderful. This is a HUGE improvement over the way things were done before and it was so nice to step off the monorail and into the park with just the scan of a MagicBand.
Welcome to The Magic Kingdom
The tagline on the grammatically correct busses was changed to “When You Wish Upon a Star” from “Charmed to See You”. I think this fits better for the Magic Kingdom vehicles. Many of the other phrases for other destinations changed as well.
Getting artsy with a monorail.
In what has been a point of much debate, the Railroad Station sign was changed and now simply says “Magic Kingdom” as opposed to “The Magic Kingdom”. The population sign was also removed, but in fairness, it hasn’t been updated in over a decade.
The local ducks do not seem to care either way.
The main reason for our latest visit was the annual Magic Kingdom Easter Parade on Saturday and Sunday, which you can watch below:
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 merchandise for sale in the Emporium.
Some of the taller trees around the Hub area have started to be removed for extra viewing space for Happily Ever After.
Yes, we ate at Pecos Bill’s again…
Mostly just to see this duck who refused to use his other leg. Even as people tried to walk past him, he wouldn’t budge.
Work to prepare for new launches in Happily Ever After is taking place up on the rooftops.
Shopping for Her
A new Snow White handbag for sale, $29.95.
There’s also this new reversible tote.
A new-to-me Belle handbag.
These outfits for little girls with tutus seem to be a big deal now. More on those shortly.
I thought that this Cinderella Horse and Carriage playlet was pretty neat.
It even lights up!
Who doesn’t need a backpack with a crown?
Here are the tutus with the matching shirts.
Some other new apparel.
This and That
For the 3 people who drink and like LeFou’s Brew…
The Easter season brings egg-shaped cake pops to the parks.
Some new apparel from the Disney Boutique line.
Slap band s are still cool, right?
A new Alice t-shirt for ladies.
Interestingly enough, there are Star Wars tutus and an entire portion of what was the Princess section of the Emporium is now dedicated to Star Wars.
The new purchase with purchase backpack available resort-wide.
The Humphrey the Bear mug has finally made its way to Florida.
Yesterday, the Port Orleans Resort Hotels at Walt Disney World held their annual celebration of Mardi Gras on Fat Tuesday with a parade. The event started at 10AM and winded from Riverside down to French Quarter. Cast members and their invited guests showed off some fantastic cart creations in the parade, including a Monorail, a Walt Disney World Railroad Train, and even a Steamboat with a working paddlewheel! Take a look:
The theme this year was transportation, offering all sorts of imaginative vehicles.
The parade ended with a visit from Tiana in a horse-drawn carriage.
Our latest photo report brings us back to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to see the latest progress on the park’s massive overhaul, as well as some recent closures an removals. Let’s take a look…
Welcome to Hollywood!
Work continues out in the parking lot on some of the park’s infrastructure.
Beauty and the Beast: Live Action on Stage
Some significant changes have come to Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage. A new pre-show featuring a song from the upcoming film was added…
Also, the Beast’s character costume was recently updated to the new style…
This and That
A new monorail mystery pin set was released, featuring all 123 monorails. They retail at $16.99 for a box of 2 pins.
The chasers are actually kind of easy to figure out based on the character silhouettes and that only 4 monorail colors remain…
As we informed you on Friday, the Starring Rolls Cafe is now indefinitely closed. No real reason has been given as to why as of yet, but we expect their to be an expansion of the often crowded Brown Derby Lounge.
While I always liked this location, breakfast offerings at Trolley Car Cafe are similar and plenty of sweet pastries can be found next door at Sweet Spells on Sunset Boulevard.
Toy Story Land
For the most complete look at the current work on the Star Wars and Toy Story Lands, also be sure to check out our latest Hollywood Studios Expansion Update video:
Work progresses on the Toy Story themed land behind PIXAR Place, with the maintenance bay for the Slinky Dog Dash coaster looming over the gate by the former Jack Sparrow attraction.
From the edges of PIXAR Place, the removal of the MuppetVision balloon is surely noticeable. It’s easy to see how that would be visible from any land in the back of the park.
Star Wars Land
The trees and such that once separated the Streets of America from Commissary Lane and Star Tours were recently removed and the walls expanded outward. This offers an unobstructed view towards other areas that has never existed within the park.
It’s not even a construction wall, it is actually a chain link fence covered with a tarps twice over (to make sure I can’t see through it and get you guys some better pictures, I assume).
It’s not the prettiest thing, but we’re gonna have to live with it for a while if we want Star Wars Land, and I do.
With the trees gone, it is much easier to see in from the Tatooine Traders patio though…
