Dirk Wallen’s 4/5-7/13 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT on April 24, 2013

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen has been all-over the Walt Disney World Resort as of late and has a ton of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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While most of the new parking lot at the Grand Floridian Villas is open, some is still closed to accommodate construction

Work continues on the Villas at the Grand Floridian

This appears to be the drop-off area

Iron Man-O-Rail running

Moving to the Magic Kingdom, work continues on the Main Street Bakery

The new Dumbo popcorn bucket available on Main Street

Purty

Work continues on the exterior of the Adventureland Veranda

The glass canopy on the other side of the building is still missing

Some work happening at the Swiss Family Treehouse while it is open

Kodak picture spots are still up around the parks

Some new Splash Mountain shirts have come out

Work continues on Columbia Harbor House

The other side looks completely new

More rock-work appearing everyday on the Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train

A new shirt featuring Main Street U.S.A.

Some new sports shirts

They put a cardboard popcorn bucket inside the Dumbo popcorn bucket

Moving over to Epcot, work continues on the facade of Mission: Space

Walls are already up and work has begun on the Spice Road Table restaurant in Morocco

A temporary stage is now up for Mo Rockin’

Work continues on turning the old France bakery into an ice cream parlor

Moving over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios…

Kodak signage is gone from Muppetvision 3-D

A dance party truck was rolled out on Streets of America to deal with the heavier crowds recently

The Disney Truck Shop at Downtown Disney

The latest pin in the 2013 poster collection was released last week

Huey, Dewey, and Louie are now 75 years old

Disney-PIXAR Vinylmation pins are now on sale

PHOTOS: Monorail Black Has Become the “Iron Man-O-Rail”

WDWNT on April 24, 2013

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While the latest installment of the “Iron Man” films doesn’t hit theaters for a few more weeks, an “Iron Man 3”-themed monorail train began rolling around the Walt Disney World Resort Seven Seas Lagoon last weekend.

The WDI project team – Jim Armagost, Jay Aquilanti, Brian Crosby, Anna Colaizzi and Rick Faber – tackled the challenge of designing for this unique canvas. The Monorail Black exterior has been completely transformed to feature graphic depictions of Tony Stark as Iron Man.

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“It was important to us at Imagineering that the end result celebrates the movie and remains true to the vision of the monorail,” Creative Designer Brian Crosby said. “So, when designing the graphics, I thought to myself ‘if I was Tony Stark and designing for the monorail, how do I celebrate me [Tony Stark]?’”

With that in mind, the art prominently features the superhero’s colors of red and gold, and looks like an armored vehicle that Tony Stark would invent. Two Iron Man characters are depicted flying alongside the monorail train.

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Imagineers worked closely with Walt Disney World Resort, Walt Disney Studios and Marvel Entertainment representatives throughout the design process.

“It is a great collaboration among the four groups,” Brian said. “Everyone brings a unique perspective to the process.”

What do you think of the Iron Man monorail wrap? Good? Bad?

MARVEL’s Avengers Take To the Highway in the Sky for the “Avengerail”!

WDWNT on September 8, 2012

From Jennifer Fickley-Baker on the Disney Parks Blog:

Hi everyone, we have exciting news to share today – our partners at Marvel Studios are bringing Marvel’s “The Avengers” to Walt Disney World Resort this spring!

In Marvel’s “The Avengers,” super heroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.

Similar to the “Tron”-themed wrap, one of our Magic Kingdom Park Monorails is currently undergoing a Marvel’s “The Avengers”-themed changeover to celebrate the May 4 opening of the film, which stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsgård and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Here’s a sneak peek, with more details to come.