Category: Attractions

  • Petition Calls for Splash Mountain to be Re-themed to ‘Princess and the Frog’

    Petition Calls for Splash Mountain to be Re-themed to ‘Princess and the Frog’

    Fans are calling on Disney parks to re-theme its popular Splash Mountain ride based on a nearly 75-year-old movie that has long been criticized for racist themes.

    A petition posted on Change.org asks Disney to remove all references to its 1946 film “Song of the South” from Splash Mountain.

    The petition says the movie “steeped in extremely problematic and stereotypical racist tropes.” The petition suggests Disney should re-theme the ride around “Princess and the Frog.” Tiana, the main character in the film, is recognized for being Disney’s first African-American princess.

    The petition had more than 8,000 signatures as of Thursday morning. The petition’s current goal is set at 10,000 signatures.

    Disney has been distancing themselves from the movie for quite sometime now. The movie, set on a plantation after the Civil War, is not included on the new streaming service Disney Plus. And former Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger, now executive chairman, says it won’t ever be.

    “I’ve felt as long as I’ve been CEO that ‘Song of the South’ — even with a disclaimer — was just not appropriate in today’s world,” Iger said in March during a shareholder meeting. “It’s just hard, given the depictions in some of those films, to bring them out today without in some form or another offending people, so we’ve decided not to do that.”

    The call for change comes as the country continues to hold discussions surrounding racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody.

  • New Mickey Mouse Attraction Now Open at Disney World

    New Mickey Mouse Attraction Now Open at Disney World

    Last night, Disney’s Hollywood Studios threw a red-carpet premiere nearly a century in the making with a special dedication ceremony for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and today the attraction has officially opened to the public at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

    Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is the first ride-through attraction in Disney history starring Mickey and Minnie. You’re invited inside the park’s re-creation of the Chinese Theatre to see the premiere of “Perfect Picnic,” a new “Mickey Mouse” cartoon short written by Walt Disney Imagineering and produced by Disney Television Animation.

    With a little Disney magic, suddenly you’re taken through the movie screen and into the “Mickey Mouse” cartoon world, where “mouse rules apply” and anything can – and does! – happen. Engineer Goofy invites you aboard Runnamuck Railroad to join Mickey and Minnie on their search for the perfect picnic spot in Runnamuck Park. And with Goofy at the controls, what could possibly go wrong?

    “Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a crowning achievement in the multiyear transformation of Disney’s Hollywood Studios,” said Walt Disney World Resort President Josh D’Amaro, who participated in the ceremony along with Mickey, Minnie and lots of other Disney pals. “What was once a theme park that took you behind the scenes, now puts you in the center of your favorite stories.”

    Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a vibrant, joyous adventure the whole family will enjoy – from grandparents to grandchildren and everyone in between. Tonight’s celebration featured song, dance, fireworks and a bit of Disney magic worthy of this historic new attraction.

  • New Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway-Inspired Merchandise Available at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on March 4

    New Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway-Inspired Merchandise Available at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on March 4

    All aboard! When the attraction debuts on March 4, Disney’s Hollywood Studios guests can head to the Chinese Theatre to experience Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Along with this new attraction opening, guests will be able to purchase new merchandise inspired by Mickey and Minnie’s wacky cartoon world!

    One of the cutest pieces from this collection is this wacky attraction-inspired headband featuring engineer Goofy, along with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Along the side of this headband, guests can find an embroidery of the attraction’s theme song: “Nothing Can Stop Us Now!”

    Within this collection guests can purchase an array of items inspired by the attraction train locomotive including a whistle, ornament, pull back toy, MagicBand and sculpted mug!

    Attraction-inspired tees will be available featuring Mickey, Minnie and Goofy showcasing the zaniness featured in this attraction. New plush featuring Mickey and Minnie with Chuuby perched on her shoulder will also be available.

    Match your new Mickey and Minnie plush with these classic sequined headbands – perfect for any adventurous duo!

    Just in time to hop on board for opening day, one of the new #DisneyParksWishables collections for this month, inspired by the attraction is available on March 4 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and online at shopDisney! This collection offers the open-chase edition of engineer Goofy, with Mickey and Minnie in a car, Daisy, Chuuby and the train locomotive in the blind bags

    Walt Disney World Passholders can celebrate Mickey and Minnie’s first-ever-ride through attraction with all-new Passholder exclusive attraction merchandise including a T-shirt, limited edition pin and limited edition MagicBand. Plus, they can use their 20% discount on all this featured merchandise!

    Looking to commemorate the opening day for this attraction? Be sure to check out this 2020 dated limited edition pin. 

    Find all these wacky treasures across Disney’s Hollywood Studios and select items on shopDisney.com on March 4. All merchandise available while supplies last. Share all your looks with the #MouseRulesApply hashtag and keep checking back to Disney Parks Blog for more excitement surrounding Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway!

  • BREAKING: People Mover Trains Collide at Disney World

    BREAKING: People Mover Trains Collide at Disney World

    It’s been a rough couple of days at Disney World as trains collided on Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover at the Magic Kingdom earlier today.

    This is the second accident at the theme park in as many days as a Jungle Cruise boat with guests on it sank yesterday.

    Posts immediately began showing up on social media and Sorcerer Radio posted a photo to Instagram stating that their “train slammed into the train in front” of them. Take a look below:

    There haven’t been any reports of injuries as of yet, but well keep you up to date as this story develops.

  • BREAKING: Jungle Cruise Boat With Guests Aboard Sinks at Disney World

    BREAKING: Jungle Cruise Boat With Guests Aboard Sinks at Disney World

    Jungle Cruise at Magic Kingdom is known for it’s funny jokes and whitty puns, but it was no laughing matter today when one of the boats with guest on board sank during the ride.

    Pictures of one of the boats taking on water started to pop up on social media around noon. And the skipper quote “I get paid for the number of people I take out… not the number I bring back!”, hit a little too close to home today.

    Matthew Vince posted two pictures on Twitter of the boat taking on water. The first shows guests standing on benches and railings trying to not get their feet wet. In the second, a cast member wades around waist-deep water as the seats on the boats are almost fully submerged. Take a look below to see for your self:

    As of 2:40 p.m., the Disney World app showed wait times steadily climbing from 35 minutes to 105 minutes for the Jungle Cruise ride. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train has the park’s longest wait time Thursday at 140 minutes.

    Disney World has yet to comment on the incident, but there have been no reports of injuries.

  • New Patent Filing Could Shake Up Disney Parks Attractions in a Big Way

    New Patent Filing Could Shake Up Disney Parks Attractions in a Big Way

    According to a patent filed by Disney Enterprises, Inc. in October with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Disney Parks may be looking to shake things up on their attractions in a big way with a new invention that would create momentary earthquakes under the feet of park guests, whenever a character stomped or pounded on the ground.

    The patent, dubbed “Haptic Floor System with Quake Plate Assemblies Producing Large Vibration Effects,” appears to be looking at how these large-scale earth-trembling features can be simulated in a setting to add another level of immersion for a viewer.

    A drawing included in the filing shows a person pounding on the floor with what appear to be Hulk hands as you can see in the picture below:

    “There are many applications where it is desirable to provide people with new and surprising entertainment experiences,” says the patent application. “For example, there is a demand for a physical world environment to be designed and built that can selectively provide people in that environment with haptic feedback in the form of a vibrating floor or ground.”

    “The special effect delivered by the haptic floor system,” says the application, can create “ground trembling and vibrations similar to that felt in an earthquake or when a super strong fictional character strikes the floor nearby or a large animal or robot walks or runs by the person.”

  • First Look: Mickey Mouse Leading ‘Magic Happens’ Parade, Debuting Feb. 28 at Disneyland Park

    First Look: Mickey Mouse Leading ‘Magic Happens’ Parade, Debuting Feb. 28 at Disneyland Park

    In just a few weeks, the all-new “Magic Happens” parade will delight guests at Disneyland park, revealing its stunning floats, beloved Disney characters, artistic costumes and energetic musical score and Disney has released a first look of Mickey Mouse leading the parade!

    In the parade’s whimsical opening sequence, Mickey Mouse sports an all-new sorcerer-inspired costume and leads the way, gliding along on glistening swirls of magic that emerge from a giant, 15-foot tall iridescent magical hat.

    This incredible daytime spectacular celebrates the awe-inspiring moments of magic that are at the heart of so many Disney stories. To learn more about this show-stopping introduction, watch the video below!

    To help Mickey open this stunning parade are Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto and Chip ‘n Dale, along with a group of eclectic and contemporary dancers.  These performers, known as “magic makers,” represent stylized aspects of “Disney magic” – from beauty to strength and everything in between. Magic is there any time a pumpkin becomes a carriage, or a sword is plucked from a stone.

    For more details on this exciting, new parade, check out our “sneak peek” story on Disney Dorks. Stay tuned for a few more exciting details to share before “Magic Happens” debuts on February 28!

  • Disney Animatronic’s Hand Falls Off Mid-Show at Magic Kingdom

    Disney Animatronic’s Hand Falls Off Mid-Show at Magic Kingdom

    An animatronic character of Disney World’s Carousel of Progress attraction reportedly had its hand fall off in the middle of the show according to a recent Reddit post.

    “John’s hand fell off during our show,” anonymous user ColtsMcgree wrote alongside a photo of the animatronic — named “John” — missing his right hand during the 1900s portion of the rotating theater attraction.

    In the photo listed as “not suitable for work”, the animatronic figure’s hand can be seen off to the right of him, on the floor as you can see in the post below:

    John’s hand fell off during our show. from r/WaltDisneyWorld

    No other technical issues were reported by the visitor, but this isn’t the first time something has gone awry at the Carousel of Progress in recent months. Back in December, a guest had to be dragged off after they climbed onto the stage and damaged one of the props before lying down on stage.

  • BREAKING: Disney Adds FastPass Service for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

    BREAKING: Disney Adds FastPass Service for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

    Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will open March 4, 2020, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and now Disney has added FastPass+ service for the new attraction for visits beginning March 4.

    FastPass+ reservations for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway just became available in the My Disney Experience app for guests visiting on or after opening day (March 4).   When the attraction opens, you’ll be able to enjoy the amazing world of Mickey using either FastPass+ (as available) or a standby line.

    As many of you know, at Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway,  you’ll enter the NEW Mickey Mouse cartoon short “Perfect Picnic” for a one-of-a-kind adventure where anything can happen.  Why? Because here, mouse rules apply!

    And when making FastPass+ plans for up to three experiences at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you can select between either Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run or Slinky Dog Dash.  Then, you can add additional experiences to plans, including Toy Story Mania, Alien Swirling Saucers, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Fantasmic! and more.

  • VIDEO: Real-Life Spider-Man Will Be Swinging Above Disney’s Marvel Land

    VIDEO: Real-Life Spider-Man Will Be Swinging Above Disney’s Marvel Land

    Disneyland’s upcoming Marvel-themed Land will feature a new Spider-Man ride that will let riders shoot virtual webs from their wrists and now Disney has revealed that a real-life friendly neighborhood Spider-Man will be swinging above the rooftops in the new land.

    Imagineers are hard at work to bring to life an amazing new experience at Avengers Campus coming to Disney California Adventure which will be the home of the new Spider-Man experience, housed in the Worldwide Engineering Brigade — aka, WEB — and will be the first Disney ride-through attraction to feature the webslinger.

    Check out the amazing video below of Spider-Man practicing some of his amazing acrobatic feats at a top secret location:

    Visitors to WEB will find themselves helping Spider-Man try and catch “spider-bots” that need to be web’ed-up. During the panel it was also explained that guests on the attraction will be able to shoot their own webs out of their wrists via immersive technology. Also, if you happen to spot Spider-Man walking around the Avengers Campus, he’ll be wearing an exclusive Spidey-suit.

    When Avengers Campus opens this summer, guests will be recruited to become the next generation of Super Heroes. The campus will be home to a variety of new experiences giving guests the chance to feel the power, adventure and exhilaration of teaming up with some of their favorite Super Heroes including:

    • The Worldwide Engineering Brigade – also known as “WEB” – which will house the new Spider-Man attraction where guests can sling webs alongside Spider-Man himself.
    • Pym Test Kitchen, an all-new eatery, where Pym Technologies Researchers are using Ant-Man and the Wasp’s growing and shrinking technology to create super-sized and super small foods.
    • Heroic encounters throughout the campus where guests can team up with some of their favorite Super Heroes including Spider-Man, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther and the Dora Milaje, Thor and Loki, Iron Man and for the first time, Ant-Man and The Wasp.
    • Avengers Headquarters where guests may witness Earth’s Mightiest Heroes springing into action at a moment’s notice all over the building.