Today, Disney is sharing the first details about an all-new show coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Spring 2018 featuring Russell and Dug from Disney•Pixar’s “UP.”
Beginning just in time for the 20th anniversary of Disney’s Animal Kingdom next year, this new experience will offer guests the chance to see Senior Wilderness Explorer Russell and his furry friend Dug as they discover species of birds from around the world in their newest adventure at the Caravan Theater in Anandapur village.
As previously reported here, December 31, 2017 will be the final showing of Flights of Wonder. Until the end of this month, you can still experience Flights of Wonder at the park.
This photo report is a little late as we have been preparing for our fifth anniversary festivities here at WDW News Today, but better late than never. WDWNT Reporter Adam Roth visited Animal Kingdom on June 30th to catch one of the last Sundowner Celebrations held at the park. The celebration only lasted a month but was a unique offering, almost like the food and wine festival at Epcot. Let’s take a look:
A truck is used as an information board at the front of the park
Things going on in 3 lands
It is Animal Kingdom after all…
Wow… not very crowded…
Some fairly new Animal Kingdom merchandise available
Cool ear hat
Carnotaurus knit cap
Russel and Dug from UP meeting in the old “It’s Tough to be a Bug” FASTPASS area
Work continues on some of the side paths near the Tree of Life after the branch falling of a few weeks back
You can still get plenty of good photos of this…
On to Camp Minnie-Mickey
The dragon waterfall is still there
Hey, Meeko is out and doesn’t have a line!
It’s pretty empty
Word is the greeting trails are going away and these characters are moving to the former Beastly Bazaar in a few weeks
It wouldn’t be a trip to Animal Kingdom if we didn’t stop at Pizzafari to visit the greatest mural ever…
Psycho lion and incredibly nervous Zebra!
On to Harambe
Temporary signs inform guests of the festivities
There’s a wine walk
Beer
There are also some cultural demonstrations
The Henna booth was about the only one that wasn’t free
All kinds of special treats available
Fruit salads available as well
Let’s take a walk to Asia
You can learn how to play this instrument
The carts leading to Asia had special menus for the event
You can learn how to make summer rolls
Ta-da!
You can take home a recipe card
The boneless chicken wings are back!
I guess you can just call this place Anandapur Wild Wings! GET IT?
Huh?
I think I’m gonna be sick…
Live music
What is your Asian language?
Plenty of specialty drinks
Learn how to make fried rice!
They had dancers teaching dance moves to guests as Bollywood style music played in the area
I love the DJ’s decorated computer
Dragon Hollow? Now you’re just rubbing it in…
The water play area in Asia is being refurbished
Another Henna booth
Adam got a drink and decided to hang out in a secluded spot
Let’s see what’s going on at Kilimanjaro Safaris
Wilson is still featured in the queue even though his narration and story is gone from the ride
“WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”
JUMPING GAZELLES!
Oh, it’s poachers…
It was…
Hiding, Hiding Hippos
“NOM-NOM-NOM”
Holy giraffes!
Here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the backside of giraffe!
No, the bridge doesn’t collapse right now
Hidden Mickey
Awwww, sleepy cheetahs…
That turtle was moving so fast Adam couldn’t get a picture of him
Blurry, but some work was being done on the bridge
Work on the new finale scenes is visible
This is where Little Red once stood, but soon it will be a home to Zebras
A natural barrier being dug-out
Back to Harambe
The dance party is in full swing
Unlike the hated dance parties at the Magic Kingdom, this band performs music from their culture and teaches you their dances, a much better fit for a Disney park
Here’s a video of the dance party:
There is podium where guests can find out more about Wild Africa Trek
Some people seem to believe this will be the new entrance to Festival of the Lion King once it is forced to move out of Camp Minnie-Mickey
Popcone?
It’s the Enchantment in the Jungle Dance!
Gotta love intricate details…
Let’s take a look at the Tree of Life trails
You can still get some great photos of the Tree of Life
Some work continues
The exit of It’s Tough to be a Bug
Over at Expedition Everest, they have been chopping down some of the bamboo
Beautiful
Still no bird…
Still no movement… and no, there are not two of them…
New Everest shirts
More chopped bamboo
This old map of Dinoland U.S.A. is still up. It still includes Dinosaur Jubilee… look it up kids…
No, you won’t…
It’s time to leave
Not sure if Disney did anything, but the water isn’t bright green anymore!
While Tom and the rest of our cast are down at WDW Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Epcot, I have just returned from a trip and bring you a rare Mayor’s Photo Report! Beware this report contains photos from inside Enchanted Tales with Belle! I also have brought you back some video from inside the attraction which we will be posting soon so stay tuned!
Some of the rock work in the queue of the Magic Carpets is getting some work done
The Rainy Day Cavalcade was out due to some rain earlier in the day
Drizella and Anastasia aren’t thrilled about the rain either
A Trio of Cranes now looms over the Magic Kingdom
Be Warned Enchanted Tales Spoilers Lay Ahead!
As you enter the area behind the walls you see a expertly themed entrance to Maurice’s Cottage
Cottage Light posts
Looking out from just outside the front door you can see the gargoyle lamp posts that line the entrance to Be Our Guest and in the distance Prince Eric’s Castle
More of the Cottage
Be Our Guest!
Signage for the Restaurant
A close up of the entrance to be our guest
Maurice’s water wheel not turned on yet
Picture inside the cottage of Belle and her Mother inside the first room of the cottage
This room is loaded with tiny details
Thanks to my wife for playing photographer but she forgot to hide in this picture!
More details in the first room
A book Belle has left out
Clearly a favorite of Belle’s
Moving into the workshop we see different items including this curious gift from the Beast to Maurice
Other Items in the workshop
Soon we will have full video from this experience but here are a few shots from inside the attraction after the pre-show casting room with the wardrobe and I was lucky enough to get a unique view of the show!
Is that a guard or our own Mayor?
Belle and the FANTASTIC Lumiere who plays host to us in the Castle
Belle finding her “father” locked in the dungeon
Pictures don’t do this justice
Before we move over to Animal Kingdom (Yes there is news in that park too) Let me just say how great this small attraction is.If WDI continues to put this much work and effort into everything they do we are all in for a lot of high quality fantastic attractions! The story is there, the kids (and adults) love it and the special effects are amazing.
Near the Local Foods Cafe (Yak and Yeti counter service) Anandapur Travel and Tourism was presenting Bhangra Dance Party with a Live DJ
Beastly Bazaar is closed
Though the signs say that this is only temporary we know that this is making way for a new Meet and Greet location
The queue at It’s Tough to Be a Bug is completely covered by the new netting though I don’t think it takes away much
Area’s that haven’t been covered by the netting are walled off
Wilderness Explorers Meet and Greet near the old bug fastpass machines
Rockwork near the entrance to Dinoland is getting a refresh
Recently we received an email with two special pieces Evilos has been working on. We asked him a little about each piece and this is what he said…
“I made this for the VMK custom swap. Its a 3” figure painted sky blue and with airbrushed clouds. The house and balloons is made from a block of wood painted to look like the house. (Next Limited versions LE10 will have a JR. in place of the painted wood block). The wood block example is just a one off for the swap.
All placed together in a glass dome with wooden base. This “look” will be a staple of mine over the next few years, glass domes. I have plans on doing 9″ custom dioramas in glass domes also.
I’ve made a Topiary version for Blind Bags Two LE10 and a One of a kind “Balloon Kid’ version for the epilepsy charity Art From the Heart held at the UCLA campus, that sold in a silent auction.
I found out about the “Art From The Heart” event through my artist buddy Mike Peraza (Art Director for the Little Mermaid). The event would be one night where Disney Artists would talk about Epilepsy, have a Disney panel where they would talk about the movies they worked on and donate art to raise money for Epilepsy. The roster of Disney Animators was amazing. From Mike Peraza, Rob Minkoff (Director of Lion King), Ruben Procopio (Famed Disney Sculptor) and many more. There was also a good amount of Disney artists not in attendance who donated art like Larry Nikolai (Art Director for The Little Mermaid Ride and Disney Pin Designer) and plus many more.
I asked if I could be apart of this event and represent Vinylmation. He was very excited and added me to the artist list. I quickly began work on my two customs for the silent auction. One being a Purple Candy 9″ Custom that would be signed by all the Disney panelist and a one of a kind Topiary entitled “From the Heart” where a little child holds a Red Mickey Balloon against a Purple/Green Mickey Topiary.
The event was a huge success, we raised awareness of Epilepsy. Both my Vinylmations sold at the silent auction to the biggest vinylmation collector in the world, Gabriel Luna.
The panelists talked for a couple hours about all the great times they had working on The Black Cauldron, Little Mermaid, Lion King and many more. It was very surreal to be grouped in with such Disney legends.”
-Evilos
Congrats on the great work Evilos! If you’d like to find out more about the things mentioned in this post check out the following websites.
Disney has released an image of the Carl and Ellie Up combo set that will be released at Comic Con and online on July 12 for $26.95. It is an LE 2000
This looks like a perfect representation of the two kids who we meet early in the Pixar movie Up. It is one of my favorite movies of all-time and although we only know these characters for a short while, they are two of my favorites. The use of ears is fantastic. Check out Comic-Con Explained for the rest of the lineup.
There was a lot of buzz outside D-Street this morning for this figure. Even though, in my eyes, two other great pieces were coming out, Up was the Vinylmation everyone wanted.
To me, it is the simplest of designs. It is just the floating house and a head full of balloons. Normally I like simple, but with such dynamic characters in Up AND no official Up Vinylmation released yet, I think myself and other fans were wondering why there were none on this piece. There is one simple answer… it doesn’t need it.
I was nervous that the Up Vinylmation wouldn’t look too impressive in hand, but I was wrong. The artwork is done very well and they pulled off some good looking balloons in the head.
And in true Maria fashion, she gives us something special near her signature. She customizes a little piece of art for each piece. On the bottom off this one is a hand drawn heart with “C + E” written in it for Carl loves Ellie. What a fantastic little touch!
Would it be cool to have a Kevin on the roof or a Carl in the window? Yes, but this is just a nice piece of artwork that represents the film well. There is a painting of the sky with a little floating up house way in the background. I love that painting. I like simple and subtle Disney merchandise. Two things here… the desire to have Up characters on vinyl and the fact that pictures don’t do this one justice had me worried, but the final product is a must add to any Up’s fan’s collection.
What’s your favorite Pixar movie? Mine is Up. It not only is a great Disney movie, but one of the truly great films ever made. What is it missing? It has amazing characters. You are emotionally connected to Carl from scene one. Kevin and Dug are comedic genius. Up has a beautiful storyline. It is real. It is sad and not everything works out as planned. But it is also uplifting. Up also takes viewers on a great adventure. It has everything… except an official Disney Vinylmation. Until now. Friday, June 24 is the release date for the 9″ Maria Clapsis designed Park 6 Up (LE 1000 $44.95) at D-Street Orlando and California. So the movie has it all, but does the Vinylmation?
Take a peak. At first glance it looks like a beautiful piece. It has the house. It has the balloons. The design is well placed. But Up is a beautifully SQUIRREL!
Copyright Disney and Pixar
…drawn movie, and I would expect more beauty in this figure. Instead it just… gets by.
I would have liked to see more definition in the details. Like the clouds, the sky and the balloons. I really hope, when we see this figure in person, the balloons will not have poor, overlapping paint job that shows up in a few 9″ vinyls.
Flip it over and you see… the back side of a house and balloons. The big miss on the 9″ Up is the lack of characters. Up has some of the most beloved characters of any Pixar film, and they are not here. Carl peaking out the window. Russell on the front porch. Kevin on the roof. Something. Anything.
Copyright Disney and Pixar
This figure is kind of stuck in the middle to me. I’d take the lack of detail for some characters. I’d take the lack of characters for more detail. Let’s be honest, as an Up fan, I’ll probably pick it up unless I really don’t like it in person. What about you? Is Up a must add to your collection?
Make sure you check back on Thursday for our Alien Encounter preview. Also, if this Up doesn’t float your house, check out these previously featured customs.
The PIXAR Pals: Countdown to Fun parade debuted at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Sunday, January 16th. To say that reviews of the “new” parade have been negative would be an understatement. Imagine Block Party Bash at full speed, without guest interaction, without a number of floats, with horrible choreography, and with the toy block floats repainted to look like blocky explosions, cheese, & balloons. Oh, and I almost forgot to loop one of the songs from the PIXAR Play Parade. Can you imagine it? Neither could we, but that’s what is now running at 3:00PM everyday:
Rumors are still circulating that Disney is waiting for some Play Parade floats to arrive in Florida for the Spring, and we certainly hope these rumors are true. If not, one of the shortest and worst received parades in Disney history may have you squeezing in another ride on a DHS favorite instead of waiting for a parade.
The Block Party Bash came to an end on January 1st at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The parade/show was just approaching it’s 3rd anniversary at the park, debuting in March 2008 after a run at Disney California Adventure from May 2005 through January 2008. Luckily, Banks Lee was there for the final performance and captured it on video for all of us to enjoy:
Now that Block Party Bash is gone, we can turn our attention to the upcoming “PIXAR Pals: Countdown to Fun”. The new parade is scheduled to debut on January 16th, but as always, we can expect some early performances at some point in the days before the official first performance. There has been a lot of speculation as to what floats will be included in the parade since the announcement. We expect to see the existing Block Party Bash floats that carry characters from “A Bug’s Life”, “Monsters Inc.”, and “Toy Story”, but what are the floats carrying characters from “The Incredibles”, “Ratatouille”, and “Up” going to look like? Here’s our theory:
Either Walt Disney World has built a new float for “The Incredibles” or we can expect to see these floats make their way to Florida from California Adventure this week
Construction and new float height requirements are being cited for the removal of the PIXAR Play Parade from DCA, and this is one of the taller floats, so it would make sense to send it to the Studios.
The “Ratatouille” float was the tallest in the parade and was only used during busy Summer months, so we can assume we will see this at DHS
The “Up” float is another mystery, but the little seen pre-parade float from California in 2009 seems like a candidate
Another question is the parade soundtrack. Yes, we can expect to hear the PIXAR Play Parade main theme and the songs that were in that parade to play along with characters from “Ratatouille”, “The Incredibles”, “Monsters Inc.”, “Toy Story” and “A Bug’s Life”, but what about “Up”? These characters were never in that parade, so we should expect to hear something new for Carl Fredrickson and the gang. Again, this is all purely speculation at this point but are the most likely outcomes for this new parade we’ll see at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2 weeks. Stay tuned to WDW News Today as more information becomes available on the “PIXAR Pals Countdown to Fun”.
