As we reported back in january, the third track of Toy Story Mania was closed to accommodate the ride’s new entrance into the new land. This caused increased wait times and now Stand-by lines are about to get a little longer as the attraction will stop offering fastpasses for a brief time.
As the park makes final preparations for the grand opening of Toy Story Land, guests will not be able to book FastPass+ for the attraction from April 9th through May 7th. Guests will be able to use the stand-by que during this time.
So if you want to get on the ride you may want to be first in line. 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.
After our most recent trip to Walt Disney World we’re back with some updates on the progress of construction for Disney’s new gondola system. We were able to get a good look at the mechanical and aerial components that will make up the Disney Skyliner entrance area at the Hollywood Studios.
Just past the bus loop, within viewing distance of Tower of Terror, you can see the Dream Builders are hard at work.
One of the poles that will hold up the new transportation system has already been put into place.
And right next it on the ground you can see the actual parts that will attach the gondola to the cables.
The design style of the station at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will fit with that of the park’s main entrance and bus stations. Passengers traveling here from the Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort station can expect a new aerial perspective of the park’s iconic attractions.
When it’s finished, the transportation system will connect Disney’s Art of Animation, Pop Century and Caribbean Beach resorts and other locations with Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the International Gateway at Epcot.
There is no official date, but the Disney Skyliner project is expected to be completed by 2019.
If you have been wondering about the progress of construction over at Galaxy’s Edge, Disney has just released some absolutely stunning flyover video of the area and you can see, up close and personal, exactly what there up to behind those construction walls.
While the highly anticipated Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lands won’t debut to Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort guests until 2019 this new video shows just how much progress they have made and how huge the scope of the project really is.
At Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, guests will be transported to the planet of Batuu, a remote outpost on the galaxy’s edge that was once a busy crossroads along the old sub-lightspeed trade routes. Here, guests will find themselves in the middle of the action at two attractions that take detail and immersion to the next level: one that lets guests take the controls of Millennium Falcon on a customized secret mission, and an epic Star Wars adventure that puts guests in the middle of a climactic battle between the First Order and the Resistance.
As you can see in this video, which Bob Iger shared this morning during the 2018 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is shaping up to be one of the most detailed and immersive lands ever created in Disney Parks history. Take a look at the video above for construction flyover footage that shows the expansive scale of this thrilling addition.
Take a look back below at some of the other constructions updates we have made along the way. Like the video, the progress they have made is truly stunning.
Disney Cruise Line has the most fleet beautiful ships at sea, and the three newest vessels setting sail in 2021, 2022 and 2023 will be no exception. A first rendering was revealed today by Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger at The Walt Disney Company’s annual shareholders meeting and the early look depicts the magnificent exterior of the new Disney ships, which will elevate family cruise vacations to a whole new level.
In keeping with the distinct Disney Cruise Line style, the new ships will embody the elegance and romance of the golden age of ocean cruising with unique touches all their own. The three new vessels will offer more innovation, new technologies, spectacular entertainment and more Disney stories and characters than ever before. Ingenuity and innovation from stem to stern will amaze and delight Disney Cruise Line guests of all ages.
On our new ships, we will bring Disney’s iconic stories and franchises to life in thrilling and surprising ways, building on the creativity we’ve introduced across our existing fleet. Just over the past several years we have added innovations such as Marvel and Star Wars themed spaces in our kids’ clubs…dazzling stage shows like “Beauty and the Beast” that are unrivaled in their originality and visual presentation…and an entirely new genre of dining experience combining live entertainment, storytelling and interactive moments at our Tiana’s Place and Rapunzel’s Royal Table restaurants.
Each new ship will be approximately 140,000 gross tons – slightly larger than the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy – and each is currently planned to include about 1,250 guest staterooms. While design plans, ship names and itineraries are still in development, we are already dreaming up exciting new ways to create the world’s most magical oceangoing adventures.
These new vessels will be powered by one of the cleanest-burning fuels available, liquefied natural gas, or LNG.
You might say Disney Cruise Line is on the threshold of reimagining the cruise industry once again, just like we did in 1998 with our very first ship. I couldn’t be more excited about the expansion of our fleet, and I know our guests will be, too.
It seems like Disney may finally be looking to do something with the area near Ft. Wilderness which is still home to the former rustic waterpark — now abandoned — known as River Country. According to permits filed Monday they are looking to do some geotechnical borings in the area which could indicate new development for the area. What could it be!?
According to the new permits filed with the South Florida Water Management District, Disney is looking to “Conduct geotechnical investigation to assess the suitability of subsurface soils”. In layman’s terms, they are asking for permission from the state to drill and evaluate the soil conditions at the River Country site.
Specifically, the applicant is evaluating current conditions in Wetlands 7.1G, 7.1K and 7.22. and they are requesting the ability to permit temporary wetland impacts to allow for entry by sub-aqueous geotechnical drill rigs to collect data and assess the suitability of subsurface soils, documents state.
Known as Project 89, the documents also say the type of authorization being requested is “Construction or operation of new works, activities and/or a stormwater management system; or a new Conceptual Approval”.
This process is usually used to find out if an area is suitable for a new construction project. This could be anything from a new theme park to a new resort, but at this point there is no telling what Disney is up to. However these types of permits often indicate the first stages of future development and since Disney probably isn’t considering any type of new theme park anytime soon, the most likely answer could be a new Magic Kingdom area resort.
Disney’s River Country was the first water park at Walt Disney World. It opened on June 20, 1976, and closed indefinitely on November 2, 2001. On January 20, 2005, The Walt Disney Company announced that River Country would remain closed permanently.
Along with Discovery Island, it is one of only two Disney parks in their history to close permanently. Both were left to deteriorate rather than be demolished. Take a look at the video below to get a sense of what it looks like today. Keep in mind that it’s in a restricted area and trespassing is strictly prohibited. It can also get you banned and it’s not a bright idea to go exploring if you want to be able to keep going to Disney World.
You can still catch few glimpses of the old park from non restricted areas of Ft. Wilderness and you can see some of it when traveling by boat on Bay Lake. It’s a bit of an eye sore, but even in its current state it’s still hidden jewel for Disney history buffs.
One rumor for the closure was that it closed down due to rare but deadly disease, amoebic meningoencephalitis, caused by an amoeba which lived Florida’s fresh-water lakes.
In 1980, a child died while swimming at River Country. The amoeba entered his nose, traveled through his naval passage and attacked the nervous system. There were no other deaths from amoebic meningoencephalitis linked to River Country and it remained open for another 21 years!
Health officials stated that there was no reason to blame Disney World for the tragedy, because the amoeba can breed in almost any freshwater lake during hot weather.
The real reason the park didn’t reopen was because of low attendance and two new bigger water parks that had opened on Disney World Property. In 1989, Disney opened a second water park, Typhoon Lagoon. It had much more parking, many more slides, newer amenities, and was much larger. In 1995, Disney opened a third water park, Blizzard Beach, which was also much bigger than River Country.
As it did every year, River Country closed at the end of the warm-weather season in November 2001, with the expectation that it would reopen in spring of 2002. That never happened.
On April 11, 2002, the Orlando Sentinel reported that “Walt Disney World’s first water park, River Country, has closed and may not reopen.” Disney World spokesman Bill Warren stated that River Country could be reopened if there’s enough guest demand.
The attraction may also have been affected by a change in Florida laws, which prohibited unchlorinated natural water bodies from being used for water park attractions. River Country never reopened.
Although it’s mostly out of sight from the public, it was only a matter of time before Disney decided to start exploring its options and imagining a new future for the area is really exciting. Whatever Disney is planning for the area, we can’t wait to find out, so keep checking back because we will be following this one closely.
We still have no official announcement from Disney about Club 33 coming to Walt Disney World, but it certainly seems that it’s inevitable at this point. Today there is some more conformation that not only is it coming, but the posh club will most certainly have a location in all four parks. Recently some new clues may have tipped off the location of the club planned for Hollywood Studios.
It has been rumored that the location for Disney’s Hollywood Studios Club 33 will be the former Catwalk Bar located behind The Hollywood Brown Derby and now after WDW News Today posted a picture on Twitter showing a speaker system next to the entrance it seems that inevitability is getting closer and closer.
The speaker is used to communicate with guests coming in and it is a very similar system set up outside Club 33 at Disneyland. This intercom set up with a doorbell is also very similar to one just found installed at The American adventure in Epcot. That setup had a MagicBand reader and even though there doesn’t appear to be one here, you can clearly see where one might go in the further.
There is no official word on where the various locations will be, but in addition to this location at Hollywood Studios and the one at Epcot, other rumored locations include; the Adventureland Veranda at the Magic Kingdom and a back room at Tiffins at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
So far the rumors have been pretty accurate if the rather obvious assumptions for speaker systems turn out to be true.
This morning, Disney Chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger announced plans for a two billion euro, multi-year expansion for Disneyland Paris alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais de l’Elysée in Paris.
The new development will include a transformation of Walt Disney Studios Park, adding three new areas based on Marvel, Frozen and Star Wars, along with new attractions and live entertainment experiences. A new lake will be the focal point for entertainment experiences and connect each of the three new areas, completing one of the most ambitious projects at Disneyland Paris since its opening in 1992.
“We’re very excited about the future of Disneyland Paris and continue to invest in its long-term success,” said Iger. “The resort is already the leading tourist destination in Europe, and the transformative expansion we announced today will add even more of our beloved characters and unparalleled storytelling to create new lands, attractions and entertainment that further elevate the guest experience and drive new opportunities for tourism in this dynamic region.”
The multi-year development will roll out in phases beginning in 2021, significantly expanding Walt Disney Studios Park. Each new area will bring to life some of Disney’s most popular stories and characters, including the previously announced reimagining of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith as a high-speed, hyper-kinetic adventure with Iron Man.
This new development will build on the success of the resort’s 25th Anniversary celebration and enhance the guest experience for millions of visitors in the years to come.
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.
As we recently reported Main Street, U.S.A., at Disneyland park is currently undergoing a refurbishment and the progress they are making looks quite beautiful. And while the Disneyland Horses are currently on a vacation we are getting a first look at some of the beautiful new brickwork.
While the horse-drawn streetcar track is replaced in its entirety for the first time. This complete replacement has also incorporated new brickwork along the length of this iconic thoroughfare, and today now we have a first look at this gorgeous enhancement as the sections around Town Square and Central Plaza (also known as the Hub) have been revealed!
The pieces of original track remaining prior to this refurbishment are being salvaged and preserved, and the previously updated pieces of track are being recycled. One thing is for sure, Donald obviously thinks it’s great!
Were back with some more construction updates on Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios and one of the most recent installations is one that will get fans excited. It seems they have been moving along at hyper speed as pieces of the Millennium Falcon ride were spotted being lowered into place.
These close up shots of the work really give a sense of how the construction is coming along thanks to Yensid 55 who has been monitoring the progress of Star Wars Land construction on his YouTube channel.
Every piece put into place is an important one, but seeing what is clearly a piece of the inside of the hull of the Millennium Falcon is really exciting.
Thats right… For those who haven’t heard yet, one of the land’s two signature attractions will put you in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, piloting the ship, shooting blasters or preparing for hyperspace – all while completing a critical mission.
At Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, guests visit Batuu, a remote outpost on the galaxy’s edge was once a busy crossroads along the old sub-lightspeed trade routes, but its prominence was bypassed by the rise of hyperspace travel. Now home to those who prefer to stay out of the mainstream, it has become a thriving port for smugglers, rogue traders and adventurers traveling between the frontier and uncharted space. It’s also a convenient safe haven for those intent on avoiding the expanding reach of the First Order.
If you want to see more of the progression they have made so far take a look back here. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is set to open in 2019.
