Dirk Wallen’s 10/10/14 Disney Springs/Downtown Disney Photo Report (The Landing, EPCOT Center, Food Truck Park, ETC.)

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Downtown Disney (Disney Springs as it will be known soon) yesterday and has some great newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

The large waterfront building in The Landing is coming along nicely

It was supposed to open Summer, but Food Truck Park still isn’t finished

The concept art

There’s an EPCOT Center bag hidden in the artwork…

A look at the new boardwalk and the large new structure in The Landing, which is currently still Pleasure Island

Originally, the Landing was supposed to be just new dining options, but some retail space has been built

New, small retail locations can be found in front of Fulton’s

The first one appears to sell bar accessories

The second is called Sublime… no idea what it is…

The Marketplace bridge will be completed by early 2015, maybe even for the 2014 holiday season

Even though it is only a year old, the Rainforest Café volcano is being fixed up

Ghirardelli has a new sundae

They also have some great holiday treats

MINI CHOCOLATE!

PHOTOS & VIDEO: Downtown Disney’s Rainforest Cafe Adds Erupting Volcano and Lava Bar

After many months of construction, the new volcano on the Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney building was finally completed recently. Much to our surprise, the restaurant now features an erupting volcano! The show takes place in the evening and is best viewed after dark every half-hour starting at 8:30PM (this will probably be an earlier time once we slip into the Winter months). Along with the Volcano, the restaurant also added a new Lava Bar on the outside of the establishment. Photos taken by Joe Hogarty, video by Tom Corless:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

The new volcano smokes during the day

At night it is really stunning

There is a new animatronic crocodile at the base

The glowing lava is a nice touch

The LAva Lounge is down a path through the volcano, but is really just attached to the side of the building and not the volcano

The bar is nice, but the seating area is fairly plain

IT’S GONNA BLOW!

Crowds gather to watch the 2-minute eruption

 

 

Here is our video of the volcano and Lava Bar featuring the full eruption show:

Personally, I think this is a great addition to Downtown Disney. The Lava Bar is fairly standard, but the volcano is definitely of Disney quality and will fit nicely into the new vision of Disney Springs. In a town of many theme parks, it is kind of surprising that the only erupting volcano is in a shopping area, but I think it is offerings like this that will make Disney Springs stand out from other similar venues in town.

What do you think? Is the volcano eruption worth a trip to Downtown Disney? Does this excite you for more Disney Springs changes?

Dirk Wallen’s 4/23/13 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Downtown Disney, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom last week and has some newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

The Rainforest Cafe volcano is done

Tons of Marvel stuff in Once Upon a Toy

They also now have the Star Wars Droid Factory

Over at Epcot, work continues on turing Fountain View into a Starbucks location

The old Character Spot is still closed… at this point I’m starting to think it will become Starbucks seating…

Tarps are down at Mission: Space and the facade looks great

Tarps are up where Spice Road Table will be going in Morocco

A temporary stage up for Mo’ Rockin’

The waterfall at Maelstrom is being worked on again for some reason

Moving to Animal Kingdom, the Anandapur Ice Cream truck is gone

Work continues on the new home for Festival of the Lion King in Africa

Dirk Wallen’s 8/16-19/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen was all over the Walt Disney World Resort this weekend, visiting Downtown Disney, the Magic Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. He took some great photos on his trip and has them to share with us in this photo report:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Looks like the Earful Tower is being painted or repaired

At the Magic Kingdom the Bakery has been out from behind tarps for a while now

The old Swan Boat dock is getting refurbished at the moment

Work continues on Princess Fairytale Hall

The Castle Walls are approaching completion

We still can’t go on the second level of Village Haus to take photos…

More grass being placed on the facade of Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

The structure for the new Fantasyland restrooms is coming along nicely

The Yankee Trader is open but behind tarps

The Crow’s Nest is still being worked on

Next-Gen FASTPASS has been installed at Haunted Mansion, but it is still covered

Work is wrapping up on the Tomorrowland bridge and we can now see new futuristic railings have been installed

Another look at the Swan Boat dock

Another look at the work on the new bathrooms

Moving over to Epcot, Habit Heroes is still closed!

Epcot 30th anniversary merchandise is starting to hit shelves, like this awesome lanyard!

Perry the Platypus/Phineas and Ferb snacks are available, but I’m more interested in what’s on those Epcot-only popcorn buckets and cups…

A permanent DVC booth is being built next door to the Canada pavilion

Phineas and Ferb topiary still up

A quick stop at Downtown Disney shows us the progress on the new Rainforest Cafe volcano

Moving to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there’s a Frankenweenie ad in the parking lot

The first sign of work on The Legend of Jack Sparrow is this blue coat of paint on the building matching the colors now used for the Superstar Television Theater complex

Oz billboard behind the Great Movie Ride

Frankenweenie as well

Wreck-It Ralph and Frankenweenie up in the Animation Courtyard

Finding Nemo banners hanging in the courtyard

At the end of PPIXAR Place, you can find this Finding Nemo billboard

Halloween merchandise is out!

Awesome shirt featuring the Haunted Mansion and the Fab 5

Another shirt has the Hatbox Ghost

Our last stop is a look at Grand Floridian DVC wing construction

It’s coming along…

Dirk Wallen’s 6/17/12 Downtown Disney Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen visited Downtown Disney on Sunday and has a few newsworthy photos to share with us from his trip:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

The new volcano rises at Rainforest Cafe

Adventurer’s Club still closed…

Work continues on Splitsville at Downtown Disney

Cool new shirts

FATHER’S DAY DUFFY

Another cool pair of shirts

Dirk Wallen’s 9/14/12 Downtown Disney Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen went to check out the progress on several projects happening at Downtown Disney right now, so let’s see what’s going on:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Characters in Flight is still down

Phineas and Ferb and You is running currently at the West Side

Guests get super-imposed in the cartoon

A nearby merchandise cart

Work continues on Splitsville… does it seem like they are a bit behind to anyone else? They are supposed to open sometime in the Fall.

Not sure if these are new but these carts are located between Marketplace and Pleasure Island

Work moving slowly on the new exterior and bar at Rainforest Cafe as well

Some work is also being done on the exterior of T-Rex

Ads are already up for the D-Tech Me princess experience at World of Disney

Adam Roth’s 12/10/12 WDW Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited the Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney yesterday and took plenty of newsworthy photos, so let’s take a look at what’s new:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

It appears some of the elements for the Adventureland interactive game have been installed

This icon should help guests locate the game area

Not sure what this will do

A different icon near this cannon

You can see the cannon aiming at something behind this tarp

Another game area

Looks like there is a skeleton under the water where the Junior Jungle Boats used to be

Another game area being set-up

The Crow’s Nest is still behind walls

We expect this is where the game will begin for guests

Golden Oak Outpost is closed again…

The tower from Tangled visible from Frontierland

Kind of strange…

Work is speeding along on the restrooms on the former Skyway site, rumors still indicate we will see guest charging stations for electronics in this area as well

The tower was installed recently

The Royal Majesty Makers out and about in Fantasyland

Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train construction continues

The construction walls were updated with the Dwarfs now mimicking the areas they are in

This scene is near Enchanted Tales with Belle

The small Lumiere on the signage now swings his arms back and forth

Looks like another device built by Maurice

More new Mine Train walls

Some new concept art shows off the interactive queue

Looks like fun

The finale scene

Everyone has clocked in, meaning they are working hard on the new attraction

Another look at Mine Train

Some more walls came down revealing a small section of the bridge

A look from the other side

100 minutes for Mermaid… yeah, Fantasyland is a total failure 😉

All of the screen-based wait times signs in the park were themed recently, all of them now match the physical signage now

The back side of Mine Train

Triton’s Treasures is being built and is coming along quickly

Wait for Ariel’s Grotto

Some cool walls you can look through were put up as well

Let’s take a look inside

A lot of work still to be done

This wall is near Winnie-The-Pooh

Near the Mad Tea Party

Another look through the walls

Moving to Downtown Disney, the volcano at Rainforest Cafe is coming along nicely

Splitsville opens December 19th

Curl is also moving to some small space next door to Splitsville

Looks like there is space for another store as well

There’s an outside bar as well

Jeff Lukas’ 4/15/12 Downtown Disney Photo Report

WDWNT Reporter Jeff Lukas visited Downtown Disney on Sunday and has some newsworthy photos to share with us, so let’s take a look:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

They are pretty much rebuilding the entire top portion of the building

Concept art of what it will look like when completed

The conversion of this section to the Lava Lounge has begun

The signage around marketplace was freshened up not too long ago

I can’t believe this is still open…

The former trading area outside of Disney’s Pin Traders is now a Ridemakerz demonstration area

New shirts with the fab five…

It’s a bit strange that Goofy looks modern and the others have a more classic look

Some new tropical-themed shirts

Phineas and Ferb shirts

New Pirate shirts

I really like these 2012 shirts

Weird…

That’s funny…

Still cool…

Still closed…

KUNGABUSH!

One fo the few things open in Pleasure Island

This is scary…

I hope so…

Blink by Wet Seal opened recently

No visible changes to the Splitsville facade

PEOPLE!

A Few New Restaurants Join The Disney Dining Plan in 2012

For those of you who make use of the Disney Dining Plan, you’ll be happy to know that a few new restaurants (mostly at Downtown Disney) are joining the fray in 2012:

-Bongos Cuban Cafe Window
-Bongos Cuban Cafe
-Marketplace Snacks
-House of Blues
-Paridiso 37
-Portobello
-T-REX Cafe
-Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney Marketplace and Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park

They are are all non-Disney owned restaurants. Is this an attempt to bring more guests to the struggling Downtown Disney, or just some long overdue additions to the Disney Dining Plan?