PHOTOS: Epcot Tests Strange Paint Scheme on Innoventions Buildings

WDWNT on May 12, 2014

If you’ve been to Epcot over the last few days, you probably couldn’t help seeing this…

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When this strange pattern started to appear on the exteriors of the Innoventions buildings, we assumed they were testing paint schemes they might be interested in. It seems this may actually be the desired result…




It’s definitely on the odd side, but I don’t think it looks terrible. It will certainly be interesting to see what the final product looks like…

What do you think?

Dirk Wallen’s 4/22/14 WDW Photo Report (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, ETC.)

WDWNT on May 12, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s animal Kingdom yesterday and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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The lobby lives on…

Still no visible progress at the old Wyland Gallery

The temporary Captain Cook’s is what is usually where Cast Members eat at the resort

The Disney Vacation Club bungalows are progressing nicely

Not hard to believe these will open by next year, they have progressed quickly

Moving over to the Magic Kingdom, work continues on the Hub

Some temporary popcorn and ice cream carts have been added as they demolish the old locations in the hub

Tarps up on some of the buildings in the Agrabah section of Adventureland

Tarps came down, but walls are still up outside of the Tiki Room

Walls still up across from the Little Mermaid in New Fantasyland, related to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train construction

The DVC kiosk got a name…

Most of the walls around Seven Dwarfs Mine Train have come down

Some remain near the entrance

The sign for the attraction is now up

Moving over to Animal Kingdom, work continues on the Harambe Theatre, new home to Festival of the Lion King

Walls still up near the stroller parking in Africa

Walls are also up along the Wildlife Express Train route, not sure if the two are related

Joe Hogarty’s 2/20/14 WDW Photo Report (Mine Train, AVATAR, & More)

WDWNT on March 31, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Joe Hogarty visited Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom on Thursday and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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Starting at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Some work still taking place on the paths around the Tree of Life

Nothing much to see over at the AVATAR site

It will hard to track construction unless we try from above… 😉

Another look at the walls around the Tree of Life paths

This could be related to the work needing to be done to the tree for the nighttime offerings, or it could be general rehab

Work continues on the new Festival of the Lion King Theater

Walls still up near the Africa stroller parking

Moving over to the Magic Kingdom, work continues on the steps of City Hall

The Castle is still getting some touch-ups

Time for the obligatory Seven Dwarfs Mine Train construction photos

The waterfall has been running non-stop

It looks great

The refurbishment of Splash Mountain continues

Don’t expect much different when it reopens except some scenes that have been freshened up

It will be Splashing again soon!

Hayley Nance’s 2/13/14 WDW Photo Report (Flower & Garden, FastPass+, ETC.)

WDWNT on March 31, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Hayley Nance visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot on Monday and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us from her trip, so let’s take a look:

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The Etch-A-Sketch screen in the Toy Story Mania queue is now on and displays puzzles for guests to solve

A billboard for Muppets Most Wanted has gone up


The tip board area is currently being refurbished, so a temporary board has been rigged on the construction walls

We think this is related to FastPass+

The pin station behind the building is also closed

The legacy FastPass machines at Tower of Terror are now being removed

Moving over to Epcot, Flower and Garden Festival preparation is in full swing

If you haven’t seen it already, here is the amazing new Snow White topiary installed for 2014

All of the new topiaries have a computer generated look so they look more like the characters

Lady and the Tramp

Woody

The dancing couples were not updated

Only some of the Winnie the Pooh topiaries were upgraded

Eeyore was upgraded!

Tigger as well!

Crocodile from Peter Pan

New look Captain Hook

Mary Poppins

Dirk Wallen’s 2/24/14 WDW Photo Report (Flower & Garden, Monsters Inc. Meet and Greet, Mine Train, ETC.)

WDWNT on March 31, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Monday and has some newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:

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An extra ferry boat dock is being added to the Transportation and Ticket Center

Work continues on the Disney Vacation Club wing at the Polynesian

A piece of roof for the new buildings is being assembled towards the Wedding Pavilion

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Work continues on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Plenty of greenery to be found

A King Triton statue that looks like it was carved by hand can now be found across from Ariel in New Fantasyland at the Disney Vacation Club kiosk

Walls are down at Mickey’s Philharmagic and more FastPass+ kiosks have gone up

Facade work taking place on Pinocchio’s Village Haus

Some facade work in Adventureland by Magic Carpets

Work continues on the Confectionery facade

Moving over to Studios, he Monsters Inc. meet and greet is back, but some elements from the Monsters University meet and greet remainder

Some of the lockers have fraternity stickers from MU

There’s also a note from Celia

The screens are now used to show the scarer cards, just like those that appeared in Monsters University

Some bulletins related to both movies can now be found

Billboard for Muppets Most Wanted up on Mickey Ave.

Moving to Epcot, the bakery in France has Beignets for Mardi Gras

Mmmmmm….

March 5th is still a few days away, but plenty of topiaries are up at Epcot already

The Cars display is starting to go up

Sulley can be seen over the fences at the Monsters University playground

A new Little Green Men shirt for sale

Dirk Wallen’s 3/1/14 WDW Photo Report (Hub, SpectroMagic, Flower & Garden, ETC.)

WDWNT on March 31, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Drik Wallen visited three of the Walt Disney World theme parks on Saturday and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

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The latest progress on the Polynesian Vacation Club wing

The Magic Kingdom moat has been drained to start work on the new hub

The latest piece of Spectromagic history pin is out and features the Mickey float

Another look at the drained moat

Moving over to Epcot, the Flower & Garden Festival starts Wednesday and it looks like the park is just about ready

Is Mickey cross-eyed?

Moving over to Animal Kingdom, the Festival of the Lion King theater is progressing nicely

One Kodak picture spot remains…

New Walt Disney World t-shirt

New Gaston t-shirt

PHOTOS: An In-Depth Look at the Festival of Fantasy Parade Debut at the Magic Kingdom

WDWNT on March 31, 2014

WDWNT Reporters Joe Hogarty, Dirk Wallen, and Nick LoCicero were all on the scene for the debut of Disney’s Festival of Fantasy Parade at the Magic Kingdom yesterday and have nearly 300 photos of the parade to share with us of this new daily spectacle:

Needless to say, the parade was stunning. We’ll have a full review of the parade on this week’s WDW News Today Podcast and talk all about it in depth, including the cool details you should look for when you see it.

Full parade video will be shared this afternoon once we get it uploaded.

Aerial Construction Photos of Disney Springs From 3/15/14

WDWNT on March 31, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Nick LoCicero once again takes us high above what is today Downtown Disney so we can see what is happening to make it Disney Springs for the future with his photos from last Friday:

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A lot happening in this shot… the parking structure rises as Pleasure Island becomes The Landing

The second story of the structure is starting to go in

Still one level over here

The site of the Boathouse in The Landing

The park between Bongo’s and Starbucks is becoming “Food Truck Park”, new home to the Disney food trucks

Work continues on the new bridge in the Marketplace

Tom Corless’ 3/19/14 Magic Kingdom Photo Report (Hub Changes, Mine Train, Polynesian DVC)

WDWNT on March 31, 2014

WDWNT Reporter Tom Corless visited the Magic Kingdom yesterday afternoon and has a number of newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip, so let’s take a look:

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It was a really beautiful day in Central Florida yesterday

With the monorail out of service in the afternoons for maintenance, the old Discovery River Boats are making trips between resorts instead of the smaller boats

The bungalows at the Polynesian are coming along nicely

I know everyone isn’t a fan, but these will have the be the coolest rooms at Walt Disney World

Maintenance vehicles out on the monorail beams

Moving to the Magic Kingdom, the hub redesign is in full swing

Tarps now block the view into the moat for guests

Cinderella Castle is getting fixed up while all of this is going on, getting ready for a new nighttime show rumored to happen in 2015

The turrets are being stripped and repainted among other changes

An empty moat

Plenty of tarps up in Adventureland

Walls also up at the Tiki Room still

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train could be soft opening any day now, some Cast Members got to ride during recent training

It is starting to look like the finished product

Another section of construction walls came down, revealing more track


Back in the hub, the expanded Casey’s Corner seating area is being enjoyed by guests

Most of the work on enclosing the balcony at Cosmic Ray’s in Tomorrowland is done

No more outdoor seating

The popcorn stand in the hub has already closed