 |
Ep. 122 DHS Clapboard This week we cover a lot of news by Disney including the extension of the Bakery series with a new twist, the next installment of Disney Afternoon, a few LE combos for Park 12 and the turnarounds for Muppets 3. There are also rumblings about a new case size for Park 13, a Little Mermaid set and a long awaited Marvel series. |
The Disney Collections Blog posted a new Disney Cruise Line Vinylmation. It will be released on May 27, 2013 aboard the Disney Wonder on its Alaskan itinerary. The edition size is only 1,000, was designed by Maria Clapsis and retails for $14.95.
This cute little guy appears to be Spot the Whale from The Little Mermaid cartoon series. He was a killer whale calf whom Ariel adopted and secretly raised in the palace.
The little details like the silhouette of Ariel in the ear on the front and the Hidden Mickey bubble on the rear make this 3″ figure a real gem. Now that you are in the mood, click here to book a DCL Alaska cruise for MC and I and we will pick you up a few.
WDWNT Reporter Dirk Wallen headed over to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort after hearing that the construction walls were down at The Little Mermaid wing, the final phase of the resort scheduled to open on September 15th. He took plenty of photos for us to enjoy:
Ursula with Flotsam and Jetsam
Ariel and Flounder
The conga line fish are everywhere
Guests being surveyed on their experience
King Triton
Many of Ariel’s belongings are scattered around
I love the lampposts
How many older guests will climb this to get a picture of them smoking it?
We are about the size of Sebastian at this wing
The plants will eventually grow in and block the supports at the bottom
A look inside the rooms
While the exterior is very similar to all of the other value resorts, I still think the rooms are much nicer than any at All-Star or Pop Century. What guests wouldn’t rather stay in a room based on a Disney animated film over a sport or a decade?
There was an interesting article in the latest cast member publication regarding the Little Mermaid wing opening soon at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. We thought you might like to see this:
Completing the picture
‘The Little Mermaid’ joins Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
BY DANIELLE IGLESIASWhen “The Little Mermaid” opened in theaters in 1989, it brought the classic musical fairy tale back to the Walt Disney Animation Studios and ushered in a string of films that marked the “renaissance” of Disney animation. Besides making a splash at the box office, the film chronicling a young mermaid’s dream to become part of the human world also gave young fans a new aquatic heroine to admire.
On Sept. 15, “The Little Mermaid” will do more than round out an already colorful hotel; it will introduce three buildings of 846 standard rooms and a new pool to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, as well as mark the completion of a resort region that began nearly 10 years ago with Disney’s Pop Century Resort. Opened Dec. 14, 2003, Disney’s Pop Century Resort debuted as a larger-than-life tribute to the fads, phrases and cultural icons from the 1950s through the 1990s. So it’s fitting that the final buildings in the “pop art” region will pay tribute to such an iconic film from the late 20th century.
Unlike the family suites in the “Cars,” “Finding Nemo” and “The Lion King” wings of the resort, the standard rooms feature a more traditional layout that’s perfect for smaller families with ambitious little princes and mermaids of their own. They sleep up to four Guests and feature distinct themed décor that will place them right into King Triton’s kingdom, with details like seashell chairs and a grotto in the shower. Sebastian and his undersea orchestra can be found in the courtyard where they prove that they’re devoting full time to floating at the Flippin’ Fins Pool. As the resort reaches completion, Rick Allen, general manager of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, has enjoyed hearing impressions from Guests and Cast Members.
“As each theme has opened, we have had so much fun hearing from Guests and Cast Members which is their favorite room, whether it be because it is their favorite movie or has their favorite character in it,” he said. “The Little Mermaid rooms will be a perfect addition with Ursula, King Triton, Sebastian and, of course, Ariel … . We couldn’t be more excited.”
While we knew that the Finding Nemo wing of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort was opening May 31st, we really could only guess when the other wings might open. Well, we now have the official dates:
Guests can begin booking all of these tomorrow, March 23rd.
Disney also released a second preview video for the resort a few weeks ago, now seems like a good time to share that with you:
Brandon Struve was kind enough to send us some photos from a recent trip over to Disney’s Pop Century Resort, taking a look at the current state of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort now under construction. Let’s take a look:
In we go…
Read More about 8/6/11 Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Update
Jennifer Fickley-Baker on the Disney Parks Blog has posted an in-depth look at Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid. Notice that we get a first look at the model of the exterior, a piece of concept art from the queue area, and the official attraction logo:
I love sharing New Fantasyland updates with our readers, and this one is no exception. Our friends at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) recently created a behind-the-scenes video on the creation of New Fantasyland to feature within the One Man’s Dream exhibit at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. (This attraction showcases Disney milestone projects of the past, and now includes a preview area of exciting projects WDI is currently working on atMagic Kingdom Park).
WDI also shared the following teaser video with us, which focuses on one of these exciting new projects: the Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid attraction. The expanded video will debut at One Man’s Dream this week.
In the video, Imagineer Chris Beatty gives us a sneak peek at the making of Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid through some never-before-seen sketches, artist renderings, attraction maps and more, and shares some details on Prince Eric’s castle and the attraction’s creative queue. Imagineer Eric Miller also takes us onsite to see the current state of the attraction’s progress.
Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid is one of many attractions planned as a part of the Fantasyland expansion currently taking place at Magic Kingdom Park. The new Fantasyland is set to open in phases beginning in late 2012.
Our own Adam Roth also does a fair amount of work over at Theme Park Review, and while taking an aerial tour of Walt Disney World for the site, he came across this:
This is Disney’s Art of Animation Resort which will be opening in phases beginning May 2012
The Finding Nemo buildings opens in May 2012, Cars in July 2012, The Lion King in September 2012, and The Little Mermaid buildings in December 2012. If you compare the two photos, you’ll see that the Nemo buildings are indeed the furthest along, so it’s not hard to believe that area will open first.
The back of the building has already been decorated with the character sketches we saw in concept art:
The buildings in the Cars wing seem to be on the same track:
Meanwhile, vertical building construction is still going on in The Lion King section, making it hard to believe that will open only 4 months after the Nemo building:
Unfortunately, The Little Mermaid buildings are not in the picture, but they were pretty far along last time we looked. Another thing to take notice of is that the facade of the main building is really coming along. Here is the concept art:
Here’s what it looks like now:
It certainly will be fun to watch this new resort grow over the next year! Stay tuned to WDW News Today for more information on Disney’s Art of Animation Resort!
We have been previewing Fantasyland’s next “dark ride” an awful lot for it still being over a year away from opening, but that’s because Disney California Adventure has been nearing the opening of their version of “Under the Sea”, titled “The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure”. Now, don’t let the name confuse you, this is the same attraction in a different location and with a different facade. Otherwise, the on-ride portion is identical to what is being constructed right now at the Magic Kingdom, scheduled to open in late 2012. The first soft openings for the California attraction were held yesterday and Disneyland News Today‘s Conner Purzycki was on the scene and has a video of the entire ride to share with us. If you don’t want this attraction spoiled for you, I wouldn’t watch. However, if you want a look at what the fine people at Walt Disney Imagineering are capable of these days, this video is certainly worth a view. Enjoy:
With the level of detail, the amount of high-tech audio-animatronics figures, and the classic story of The Little Mermaid, we fully expect this to become one of the most classic Disney attractions ever built. Even though we have now seen the ride in action, stay tuned to WDW News Today as we continue to cover the Fantasyland Expansion and our version of this ride (which I’m sure we all just can’t wait for after seeing that) coming next year!
Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been a hotbed of changes, refurbishments, and improvements over the last few days, so WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee headed out to the park to take photos of all of this activity:
There’s a lot closed
Read More about Banks Lee’s 9/11/10 Hollywood Studios Photo Report
