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:

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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

Oswald 2013 Poster Art Figure Release Details

WDWNT on August 27, 2013

The lucky rabbit gets the unluckiest date of the year to debut. The Oswald 2013 Poster Art Figure (December 2012 on the calendar if you’re playing along at home) will be released online on September 13. It was previously thought that a quantity will be available inside the Reflections of Evil Trade Event, this appears NOT to be the case. Instead, park goers will have to wait until September 20. Each poster art figure is LE 2013 and $14.95.

Ep. 127 Sonny Eclipse

WDWNT on April 24, 2013

Ep. 127 Sonny Eclipse

This week we talk about another guest incident at D-Street. We discuss the upcoming Oswald poster art release, WDW trade night and the premier of “Blank: A Vinylmation Love Story.” We learned the Muppets 3 chaser and indulge in a Comic Con Vinylmation Rumor. Recent releases are reviewed and Vinylmation Exchange admins stop by to give you the Top 5 Online Trading Tips.

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

WDWNT on April 24, 2013

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!

Oswald Merchandise Coming to Disneyland Resort

WDWNT on September 8, 2012

From Steve Miller of Disney Parks Blog:

As my fellow author Jennifer Fickley-Baker recently shared, this week marks the debut of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. At Disney Theme Park Merchandise, we’ve introduced a variety of Oswald merchandise this past year in honor of his 85th anniversary. Being a fan of Walt Disney Company history, I find it wonderful to see so many new items featuring this classic character. Here is a quick look at some of the Oswald merchandise.

One of the more celebrated (and highly desired) items created this year was an Oswald hat. The hat was created for our partners with Disney Interactive Studios to celebrate the upcoming release of Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two on November 18. The hats were distributed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo and at San Diego Comic Con this past summer. I’m happy to report a Disney Parks version will be released in late October/early November. The hat features a different Oswald logo than the previous hat but is still just as awesome (I intend to wear it while playing the game).

This past summer also saw the opening of Oswald’s on Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure park. This new location contains a variety of “road trip essentials” including autograph books, hats, bag and more. During a recent visit to the park, I spotted the amazing vintage-inspired knitted Oswald plush. Denise Edelmaier, product developer for plush, said that the knitted plush was in development for about three years as they finally found a way to make the plush extra soft (early versions were too coarse).

Oswald also found his way onto a popular men’s tee-shirt and a collectible big figurine (or “big fig” as we sometimes call it) designed by Disney Design Group artist Randy Noble.

Disney pins started celebrating Oswald in January by releasing an 85th anniversary pin. We also released an open-edition pin, a limited-edition pin and a Hidden Mickey pin for Disneyland Resort. Look for another open-edition pin next spring.

But one of my favorite items (besides the hat) will be a new 3-inch Vinylmation figure from the Classic Collection series designed by Disney artist Eric Caszatt. Planned for release in early November, Oswald will be the mystery chaser figure. I know, it’s a spoiler but I couldn’t resist – the figure looks great!