Category: Attractions

Meet The Redhead From Pirates of the Caribbean Ride In Person At Disneyland

Guests have been chanting “we wants the redhead” for years and now they are finally getting what they want! Arriving soon at Disneyland park will be a fierce and independent pirate known as Redd and she’ll soon be in New Orleans Square Disneyland where you can actually meet her in person.

The redhead has been part of the auction scene in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction since it first opened, but last year Disney announced that it would be reimagining that section of the ride. The attraction has already opened in Disney World with its new scene and refurbishment for the attraction at Disneyland is currently underway.

In Disney World’s new version the famed redhead is no longer being auctioned off. She has a new look and a new attitude! Now she sports a rifle and clearly isn’t taking any guff from any scurvy pirates.

A bit mysterious by nature, Redd travels to various ports throughout the Caribbean—selling rum and collecting coin. She has been given a full back story and even told Disney when asked if she knew Captain Jack Sparrow, “That Sparrow owes me a new ship. Wouldn’t be surprised if he found himself in irons once more. If you see Mister Sparrow, I’m lookin’ for ‘em!”

Redd is no longer anyones bride, auctioned or otherwise, and according to Disney it seems she’s only married to the coin!

Keep an eye out for Redd this summer strolling around New Orleans Square!

May 4, 2018
First Look: Alien Swirling Saucers at Toy Story Land at Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney Imagineering released new images Wednesday of the highly-anticipated Alien Swirling Saucers attraction, which is part of the Toy Story Land expansion of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Toy Story Land will “shrink” guests to the size of a toy and allow them to explore Andy’s backyard – and all the fun he’s set up for his toys to have. At Alien Swirling Saucers, which is an attraction that’s been designed to look like a toy from Pizza Planet and placed in his backyard next to his Buzz Lightyear’s Star Command playset, Aliens fly around in their toy flying saucers while “The Claw” appears overhead. As you whirl around the toy planets and space stations as part of the game, you’ll swirl to the beat of a fun electronic space music soundtrack that includes eight songs that may sound familiar, but will be heard in a quirky way you’ve never experienced before. Guests will also see pizza details throughout the attraction, including pizza columns, a pizza space station and the Planet Pepperonia.

Alien Swirling Saucers is one of two new attractions planned to debut at Toy Story Land on opening day. The other is Slinky Dog Dash, where guests can take a ride on a roller coaster Andy has assembled from his Mega Coaster Play Kit – and placed Slinky and Jessie on top. Guests can also walk through a new carnival game box to experience Toy Story Mania!, a current guest-favorite attraction at the park.

In addition to experiencing attractions in Toy Story Land, guests can also be entertained by the Sarge and the Green Army Man Drum Corps, who will march through the land several times a day and stop to play “Sarge Says” with guests, and other games with a larger-than-life Pixar ball and crayons. Guests also have the option to join in on their interactive boot camp to see if they have what it takes to become an official recruit in Andy’s Backyard.

For more on what to expect when Toy Story Land opens on June 30, check out the list of related blog posts below.
May 3, 2018
First Look: New Incredicoaster Trains at Disney California Adventure Park

When Pixar Pier opens this summer California Screamin’ will be permanently transformed into Incredicoaster! The attraction is already closed for construction and today Disney gives us a first glimpse of the new Incredicoaster trains that will ride the rails of the newly redesigned high-speed wooden roller coaster.

Disney Imagineers have been putting the final details on the new trains, which will take you on a thrilling race alongside “The Incredibles.” The superhero family, each with special gifts, will race alongside guests during the attraction, trying to catch their baby Jack-Jack.

The Incredicoaster will glide around Pixar Pier on steel tracks that cover a distance of almost 1-1/8 miles—the longest and fastest roller coaster at the Disneyland Resort. The attraction will feature a super combination of character figures, lighting, music and special effects, bringing all the action of “The Incredibles” to life!

The coaster’s existing tunnels will be fully enclosed, and the character of Mrs. Incredible, also known as Elastigirl, will stretch inside, over the heads of coaster riders, trying to catch her baby.

The new loading area for the ride will be a soaring glass mid-century-modern building inspired by the Parr family home in the movie. Music will be provided that hypes the new “Incredibles 2” movie slated to open July 14.

There has been a 13-year wait for The Incredibles 2, finally coming to theaters next year, but the anticipation is even higher as we wait for Incredicoaster’s debut this summer. You can enter for a chance to win a Pixar Pier getaway here! The new area opens June 23 at Disney California Adventure park.

April 23, 2018
Six Wild Facts About “UP! A Great Bird Adventure” At Disney’s Animal Kingdom
There’s a new show in the wilderness! Senior Wilderness Explorer Russell and his furry pal Dug from Disney•Pixar’s animated hit film UP join bird experts on a new adventure featuring encounters with birds from around the world. UP! A Great Bird Adventure makes its onstage debut at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Earth Day, April 22, coinciding with the theme park’s 20th anniversary.

Here are six wild facts about the new 25-minute show:
- Led by an avian enthusiast and bird experts, this unique experience features a close-up look at bird species from South America, North America, India, Africa, and other locations around the globe.
- More than 15 species of birds make appearances, including toucans, parrots, macaws, and an African fish eagle with a magnificent 7-foot wingspan.
- This is the first time that Russell and Dug from DisneyPixar’s UP appear onstage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
- An original, authentic Indian musical score features themes from DisneyPixar’s UP.
- Twenty animal trainers were involved in the training and rehearsal that brought the show to the stage. Four trainers work with the birds and the actors during every performance.
- The production team’s goal is to showcase beloved Disney characters and the amazing natural behavior of birds to inspire guests to connect with nature.
April 21, 2018
Disney Imagineering and NVIDIA Team Up To Develop New Tech For Millennium Falcon Attraction

Walt Disney Imagineering teamed with NVIDIA and Epic Games to develop new technology to drive the Millennium Falcon attraction that will be part of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Resort and the Walt Disney World Resort when it opens in 2019.

When it launches, riders will enter a cockpit powered with a single BOXX chassis packed with eight high-end NVIDIA Quadro P6000 GPUs, connected via Quadro SLI.

When the attraction opens next year, park guests will visit the planet of Batuu, a remote outpost that was once a busy crossroads along the old sub-lightspeed trade routes. But you don’t have to wait another year to get a glimpse of it.

An in-progress animated sequence from the Millennium Falcon attraction was unveiled Wednesday. Produced by ILMxLAB and running in real-time, it gives fans the first ever glimpse of the incredible detail and immersion the attraction will offer.

Quadro Sync synchronizes five projectors for the creation of dazzling ultra-high resolution, perfectly timed displays to fully immerse the riders in the world of planet Batuu.

Working with NVIDIA and Epic Games, the Imagineering team created a custom multi-GPU implementation for Unreal Engine. This new code was returned to the Epic Games team and will help influence how multi-GPUs function for their engine.

“We worked with NVIDIA engineers to use Quadro-specific features like Mosaic and cross-GPU reads to develop a renderer that had performance characteristics we needed,” says Bei Yang, technology studio executive at Disney Imagineering. “Using the eight connected GPUs allowed us to achieve performance unlike anything before.”

Yang and Principal Software Developer Eric Smolikowski dove into more details during their GTC talk, “Walt Disney Imagineering Technology Preview: Real-time Rendering of a Galaxy Far, Far Away,” and discussed how Disney Imagineering took advantage of the latest NVIDIA technology and the technical modifications they made for the Unreal Engine, which allows eight GPUs to render at unprecedented quality and speed.

March 31, 2018
RUMOR: IllumiNations Fireworks Display at Epcot Could Be Getting Replaced Soon

IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth at Epcot which has been the parks signature nighttime show, since it started in 1999, may be coming to the end of its run and could be replaced by a whole new nighttime spectacular.

The show utilizes fireworks, pyrotechnics, water fountains, fire effects, lasers, and searchlights to create a visual production on the park’s World Showcase Lagoon and has been a favorite guests.

It’s been expected for some time now that the show would be updated somehow or possibly even replaced with the park currently undergoing a reimagining, but it may be happening sooner than anticipated according to a report from WDW News.

Apparently it has been fast-tracked and may even debut sooner than first thought in expansion plans for the park. “The score and vocals for the new show are being recorded this week, according to sources”, the report reads.

The major shift in the timeline could be due to recent shakeups in the creative team responsible for the parks overhaul.

IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth is the longest continually running fireworks show at the Walt Disney World Resort.

February 27, 2018
Aladdin’s Oasis To Be Transformed into The Tropical Hideaway At Disneyland

Disneyland is always looking for new ways to keep the park fresh and exciting and there will soon be a new area of Adventureland to explore. The area that used to be home to Aladdin’s Oasis will be transformed into a brand new guest experience called The Tropical Hideaway!

The popular Aladdin-themed show ran for over a decade ending in 2008 and it will now undergo a tropical renovation.

This new experience will soon appear along the tropical shores nestled between the Jungle Cruise and “Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room.” This one-of-a-kind destination will be a popular rest stop for Adventureland locals and weary explorers alike. Guests will be able to rub elbows with their favorite skippers in an exotic traders’ market, featuring all of the sights, sounds and flavors of the tropics.

The name is surely a nod to the nearby Tiki Room’s theme song which lyrics include, “Welcome to our tropical hideaway, you lucky people, you”.

The Tropical Hideaway will sit on the former grounds of Disney’s long-running restaurant, Tahitian Terrace, a Polynesian-inspired eatery that stood from 1962 to 1993 before transforming into a theater for the former Aladdin live show.

There’s no word yet whether the Tropical Hideaway will try to replicate the original Tahitian Terrace concept—which included Tahitian dance shows that involved live firewalking.

February 27, 2018
A First Look At New Entrance For Toy Story Mania! Attraction

On Friday Disney announced on ABC’s Good Morning America that Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will officially open June 30 2018, but we also got to see a new look at the entrance for Toy Story Mania!

The attraction has been a guest-favorite since it opened in at the park in 2008, but it now makes up part of the new land and guests will now walk through a new carnival game box to experience the Midway Mania.

Now expanded with a third track, the popular attraction will put even more guests in the action taking aim at 3D objects – using everything from baseballs to cream pies – in a variety of whimsical, fast-paced games.

February 17, 2018
Toy Story Land Officially Has An Opening Date

Toy Story Land is set to open this summer and today we have an official opening date. Disney has announced the highly-anticipated toy-filled land inspired by the beloved “Toy Story” films, will open to guests at Disney’s Hollywood Studios June 30, 2018.

When it opens, guests visiting Toy Story Land will “shrink” to the size of a toy and join in on the fun Woody, Jessie, Buzz, and Andy’s other beloved toys are having in Andy’s backyard. Here, guests can take a ride on Slinky Dog Dash, a roller coaster Andy has assembled from his Mega Coaster Play Kit and topped off with Slinky and Jessie. Check out the time-lapse video below above of one of Slinky Dog Dash’s first test runs.

Families will also be able to take a spin on Alien Swirling Saucers, a galactic play set that Andy won from Pizza Planet. Here, adorable little green aliens swirl about in their flying saucers with guests in tow in their rocket ship toys, while “The Claw” hangs overhead.

Guests can also walk through a new carnival game box to experience Toy Story Mania!, which has been a guest-favorite attraction at the park since it opened in 2008. Now expanded with a third track, the popular attraction will put even more guests in the action taking aim at 3D objects – using everything from baseballs to cream pies – in a variety of whimsical, fast-paced games.

February 16, 2018
The Dapper Dans Delivered A ‘Singing Villaintine’ to the Haunted Mansion

Everyone is celebrating Valentine’s Day today, but on Tuesday Disney Parks was celebrating Villaintine’s Day and they brought in the Dapper Dans to help.

It was a perfect day to celebrate all Disney villains and the fun they add to Disney films or attractions – and no attraction houses more “creepy creeps” who “pretend to terrorize” than the Haunted Mansion.

When they started making plans on how to celebrate Villaintine’s Day, one question came to mind – what would happen if we sent the cheerful, happy-go-lucky Dapper Dans quartet from Main Street, U.S.A., to deliver a Singing Valentine to none other than Master Gracey at the Haunted Mansion? Check out the video below to watch as the Dapper Dans’ “vocalize” their Singing Valentine into a Singing Villaintine.

February 14, 2018