The Latest Absurd Upcharge is a Disney Springs Personal Shopper

Are you ready for another absurdly priced add-on?

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Melanie Pace, distinguished fashion advisor, on-air style expert and wardrobe stylist who has been featured in outlets including “Women’s Health,” “Shape Magazine,” and “E! News” and who has partnered with major brands like Amazon, Lilly Pulitzer and Jimmy Choo, is now accepting appointments for new clients at Disney Springs.

Not sure if a Personal Shopping Session is right for you? Here’s what you’ll get:

  • Personalized, one-on-one consultation with a proven fashion advisor
  • Fashion recommendations to suit your unique style for everyday wear or a special occasion
  • Beauty advice including make-up and skincare tips
  • Special access to Disney Springs retailers

Personal Shopping Sessions are a whopping $250 per hour and small group experiences can be arranged if you’re the type who’d rather shop with friends.

To book a session, visit melaniepace.com or call 321-377-1337 and ask for a “Disney Springs Style Session” – appointments are booked on a first come, first-served basis during normal Disney Springs operating hours.

Vinylmation Park Starz 5 Coming 1/27; Alien Encounter, Tiki Room, Spaceship Earth, and More!

On January 27th, 2017, Vinylmation Park Star Series 5 will be released at the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts, and it features what is probably the most amazing character lineup to date:

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Figures in series 5 include:

  • Henry – Country Bear Jamboree
  • Pele – Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
  • Mexican Child and French Poodle – “it’s a small world”
  • Computer Technician – Spaceship Earth
  • Goat chewing dynamite – Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
  • Waldo C. Graphic – MuppetVision 3-D
  • Phineas the Hitchhiking Host – The Haunted Mansion
  • Pirate with Map and Key – Pirates of the Caribbean
  • Skippy – Alien Encounter, Stitch’s Great Escape
  • Elephant – The Jungle Cruise
  • Trader Sam – The Jungle Cruise
  • Mystery Chaser

TONIGHT on WDW News Tonight (1/25/17) – Jeopardy Premieres, Housekeeping at WDW, Guest Interview, & More!

Tonight on WDW News Tonight, Housekeeping at Walt Disney World gets an overhaul, we bring in a special guest, and we play our first game of Jeopardy: The WDWNT Edition for fabulous prizes…

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If you are in the Orlando area, you can tune in to 105.5 FM or AM 1520 WBZW at showtime. For those outside of the Orlando area, the show can be watched via video stream at listen.WDWNT.com on your computer or mobile device. You can also use WDWNT: The App to watch and chat along. The show also utilizes a live chat and the ability to call-in to interact with the show. WDW News Tonight is hosted by Tom Corless and Nick LoCicero, but also features appearances by a number of other WDWNT correspondents and announcer Michelle Wargo.

Coming up on this week’s show:

We hope that you will tune in tonight at 9PM ET for another episode of WDW News Tonight!

If you missed last week’s show, be sure to watch it:

Disneyland Opens 21 Royal, Exclusive $15,000 Dining Venue in Walt’s Apartment

Disneyland is unveiling a new fine-dining experience, available to just a single party of 12 per night. Called 21 Royal, guests can book the experience for $15,000 (including tax, gratuity, valet, and park admission) as of today.

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The 21 Royal event begins with specially trained guides greeting your party at the Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa and leading guests to the new, most exclusive address inside the park: 21 Royal Street, which is part of what was originally envisioned to be Walt Disney’s apartment above New Orleans Square.

A cocktail hour gives you and your guests time to explore 21 Royal and be regaled by your guides and sommelier Matt Ellingson with the lore and history of the space. The personal connection to “the man behind the mouse” infuses the suite with a lovely intimacy, and the colored lanterns and firefly lights of the courtyard at the heart of the floor plan cast a gentle glow over close conversations.

Storytelling remains the theme in the just-completed dining room, where executive chef Andrew Sutton and chef de cuisine Justin Monson present what they call “epicurean theater”: fine cuisine with an exciting dash of showmanship. Sutton, the culinary director for signature restaurants at the Disneyland Resort, aims at 21 Royal to give the kind of dinner party Walt and Lillian would—but in the present day, and with a culinary style that ranges wide while staying rooted in California.

The seven-course menu is fully tailored for every group, whether your wish is for the chefs to delight you with untrammeled inventiveness or to design an entire meal from the starting point of sourcing a fondly remembered wine from a special occasion in your past. No matter what shape your menu takes, the chefs and Ellingson introduce each course and pairing with stories about their inspiration that draw you into their lives and help build the experience of communal connection that defines the most memorable shared meals.

As the evening draws to a close, you adjourn with coffee and desserts in the dining room or on the spacious private balcony for a view of the charm and lights of the park at night; if the skies are clear, you might enjoy the fireworks spectacular from your perch.

And when it’s inevitably time to part, the fabled sweet sorrow is tempered by the warmth of an evening spent in an incomparable setting enjoying peerless service and food in lively company—true magic.

More information can be found online at 21royaldisneyland.com.

SOURCE: Robb Report

PHOTOS, VIDEO: Latest Progress & Projection Mapping on Pandora – The World of AVATAR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

It’s time to check in on the latest progress on Pandora: The World of AVATAR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where more and more details are being revealed and Disney is preparing to illuminate the massive land in the evenings for guests. Let’s check it out…

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From a far, we can see the entrance to the land just over the bridge, as well as the floating mountains, but not really much else.

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The second set of construction walls was open for some reason, giving us a glimpse further inside.

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Sadly, all we can see is a construction fence.

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There is one structure on the horizon, one we suspect to be a restroom facility, but we could be wrong.

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The strange plant structure by the entrance continues to get new details added each time we visit.

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For a better look, please check out the video provided below:

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Upon returning in the evening, we could see that all of the lighting on the bridge to Pandora was turned on.

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I will say, if the level of detail on the bridge and the strange plant structure are any indication, then we are really in for something special here.

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As we were leaving the park, we noticed that a projection mapping test was taking place on the floating mountains above the land. We suspect that there will be a nightly lighting show much in the same vein as Cars Land, but this one using projection mapping technology similar to the Tree of Life Awakenings and Once Upon a Time.

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It may be just a grid now, but some bright, bioluminescent projections could really make this something special to behold every evening in the park.

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So, who’s excited to visit Pandora this Summer? What part of the project are you most excited about? Tell us in the comments below!

PHOTO REPORT: Hollywood Studios 1/26/17 (Star Wars & Toy Story Land, Goodbye Kermit & Darkroom, ETC.)

Our latest photo report brings us back to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to see the latest work on the two major themed-lands being added to the park, as well as on a  number of smaller projects. Let’s head on in…

Welcome to Hollywood!

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Great Balls of Fire was playing on my radio while I was pulling in, which just made we wish that I had an ADR for the Sci-Fi-Fi Dine-In…

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There is a lot of ground being ripped out around the perimeter of the park to run some new utility related pipes and wiring.

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The large cranes towards the back of the park are quite visible from the parking lot.

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PHOTO REPORT: Hollywood Studios 1/26/17 (Star Wars & Toy Story Land, Goodbye Kermit & Darkroom, ETC.)

The current times guide for Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

PHOTO REPORT: Hollywood Studios 1/26/17 (Star Wars & Toy Story Land, Goodbye Kermit & Darkroom, ETC.)

For a park that needs dining capacity, they don’t often keep many of the larger establishments open late.

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Many more benches were installed around this planter and the roasted nuts cart has returned in a new location.

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Toy Story Land

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Work continues on the Toy Story themed land for the park, with dirt being moved just behind Toy Story Midway Mania at the moment.

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You could make a little flip book of the next few pictures if you would like.

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The desolate alley between Toy Story Mania and the former Jack Sparrow attraction offers a glimpse at the building for the Slinky Dog roller coaster, Slinky Dog Dash.

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You can see it better in our last aerial flyover video:

PHOTO REPORT: Hollywood Studios 1/26/17 (Star Wars & Toy Story Land, Goodbye Kermit & Darkroom, ETC.)

Dirt obscures the view behind the gate.

This and That

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The signage o n the Joffrey’s cart by Tower of Terror was moved over so that guests could actually see the person serving them…

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Billboards for Beauty and the Beast and Born in China up behind the Great Movie Ride.

PHOTO REPORT: Hollywood Studios 1/26/17 (Star Wars & Toy Story Land, Goodbye Kermit & Darkroom, ETC.)

Sonny Burbank greeting guests outside of the Tower of Terror.

Fairfax Fare

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We enjoyed a lunch at Fairfax Fair consisting of the salad and a giant baked potato.

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A review of the baked potato can be found here, and a review of the new tex-mex menu here.

Mousecellaneous

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The Fantasia projection in the Great Movie Ride has finally been switched to digital HD. This was the last screen in the ride to still utilize physical film.

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The Disney Infinity play area in Star Wars Launch Bay is now closed. No word yet on what will replace it.

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Additional signage was added outside of Red Carpet Dreams to make sure that guests know who is meeting there.

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The remote control Mouse Droid is finally available, we found them at Tatooine Traders. They retail for $54.99 each.

FIRST LOOK: Figment Takes Center Stage in 2017 Flower & Garden Festival Merchandise

The Figment topiary for the event may already be in place, but Figment will also be getting in on all the fun of the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival merchandise for 2017.

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Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival 2017 Passholder T-Shirt

The two annual pass holder exclusive shirts for the event feature Figment, as well as the Monorail and Spaceship Earth. Oh, and some flowers and such, those are kind of important to the event I guess.

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Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival 2017 Passholder T-Shirt

The Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival 2017 runs for 90 days, March 1st-May 29th, 2017.

Kermit the Frog Hot-Air Balloon to be Removed for Star Wars Land at Hollywood Studios

The MuppetVision fountain at Hollywood Studios was temporarily turned into a planter to accommodate the Star Wars themed-land construction nearby, but it seems the galaxy far, far away will have a long-lasting impact on the look of the 1991 Hollywood Studios attraction.

The Kermit the Frog hot air balloon as it has looked since it was repainted in 2008 to remove references to the Jim Henson name.

The Kermit the Frog hot air balloon as it has looked since it was repainted in 2008 to remove references to the Jim Henson name.

It appears as if the iconic Kermit the Frog hot air balloon (which has loomed over the Muppets Courtyard for nearly 26 years) will be removed at some point over the next few weeks. Disney has not stated if the balloon will be reused somewhere else, but it doesn’t sound like the balloon will be returning as of this time.

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The balloon as it appeared from 1991 until 2008.

The balloon is being removed because it would be visible from inside of the Star Wars-themed land that is being constructed.

PHOTOS: New Security Screening Procedures in Place at the Magic Kingdom

With the move of the Magic Kingdom welcome to show to Cinderella Castle, it has allowed the park to move it security screening points out further and completely alter the way it screens guest entering.

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Upon entering the park this morning, we noticed that a single bag check table and metal detector were placed at the end of the path from Disney’s Comtemporary Resort.  While they did use the old security screening points before the park opened this morning, they were indeed using the new set up by the time we left around 9:30 AM.

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The new set up includes bag check tables ahead of the metal detectors. All guests are now being made to go through the metal detectors. This area has been used for security screening on select days over the last few months, but it appears it will now be a regular occurrence.

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What now has to be seen as a true Resort guest benefit, guests walking over from the Contemporary have their own private bag check table and metal detector with little to no wait. These guests can then proceed directly to the turnstiles for the Magic Kingdom after this screening.

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The center section of security checkpoints and metal detectors are now used exclusively for guests arriving via the monorail or Resort launches. Guests coming off of the ferry boat will have to go through the new security area over to the right. This method is only used once crowd levels rise to a certain point later in the morning. If you arrive early enough, all guests we’ll be going through the center security checkpoints.

Overall, this seems somewhat more efficient than the procedures that were already in place and I applaud the Magic Kingdom for trying their best to expedite the wait times of those coming into the park. Will it work? That remains to be seen, but only time will tell.