Two Palm Beach County children who had been reported missing Thursday, have been found safe in Disney World, according to the Palm County Sheriff’s Office.
“The children have been located in Disney World and currently in the custody of Orange County Sheriff’s Office,” the PBSO said in a statement.
Before they were found, Benjamin Fisler, 2, and Kyle Fisler, 3, were last seen with their mother, Kiashara Leonard, 35, on Thursday. The Department of Children and Families advised deputies that there was an active order to take Benjamin and Kyle into their protective custody.
It is believed that Kiashara was aware of this order and absconded the area with the children. The children will now be placed into the custody of DCF after their brief visit to the mouse.
Disney has removed the weapons from the movie posters for Solo: A Star Wars Story. They released new imagines of Solo: A Star Wars Story’s cast without their iconic blasters.
As you can see in the images, with the same ease that the Empire can erase a planet with the Death Star, Disney has eradicated all traces of blasters from all of the movie posters for the upcoming Han Solo flick with the stroke of a digital pen.
There is not word from Disney about the alterations, but the change on the Solo posters appears to be in response to the recent gun control concerns following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida last month as well as some plagiarism charges by a freelance artist, according to Movie Web.
Is this a step too far? We’ll leave that for the readers to decide, but blasters have been a part of Star Wars since Episode IV and it’s not like they are going to go back and digitally remove all guns like they did with E.T. and replace them with walkie-talkies… Well… at least we hope not.
I can’t help but think of Han Solo’s famous line here:
“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.”
Disney likes to be a head of the curve on social issues, evident with the removal of the bride auction from Disney World’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Their plans for the change started way ahead of the #MeToo movement, though it should be noted that the Redhead is now is packing heat herself. So pirates can’t auction brides, and they can carry guns, but space smugglers cannot carry them… Got it!
The new Solo posters maybe aren’t as cool to look at, but they’ll keep Lucasfilm and Disney from getting sued and they take them out of anybody accusing them of promoting gun violence. Perhaps it’s the appropriate time to be sensitive for the moment, because it’s not like they will be removing them from the movie or anything that extreme. It’s just a poster and if these were the posters they released first, no one would have even gave it a second thought.
Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is set open to guests on June 30 and Disney has just announced some more exciting experiences that guests will find when it opens to the public. There are so many things this land has to offer that it is truly the toy box of your childhood dreams and Disney has revealed that guests will be able to meet their favorite Pixar characters right in Andy’s Backyard.
Inside this new land, you’ll have the chance to encounter characters from Disney•Pixar “Toy Story” films, including Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl.
Woody, Buzz and Jessie will be greeting guests throughout Toy Story Land on a daily basis. And each character (along with the rest of the gang) will be joining in on the fun in a land where guests “shrink” to the size of a toy. Guests will be also be able to take a ride on Slinky Dog Dash, a roller coaster Andy has assembled from his Mega Coaster Play Kit, or take a spin on Alien Swirling Saucers, a galactic play set that Andy won at Pizza Planet.
Toy Story Land 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 allow even more guests to take aim at 3D objects – using everything from baseballs to cream pies – in a variety of whimsical, fast-paced games.
Marvel Land will be swinging into Disneyland Resort, the company announced Tuesday. A Marvel land is slated to open at Disneyland Resort in 2020 and New Marvel Lands will also be developed in Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong.
These new experiences at Disneyland Resort, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland will soon invite guests to become part of a bigger universe filled with epic heroes and adventures. Developed in partnership with Marvel Studios and Marvel Themed Entertainment, these three new areas will champion the next generation of Super Heroes.
At Disneyland Resort, the new Super Hero-themed land will begin recruiting guests in 2020, with even more new experiences to follow. The Guardians of the Galaxy will be joined by Spider-Man and the Avengers in what will become a completely immersive Super Hero universe, furthering the evolution of Disney California Adventure park. This new land will be anchored by the popular Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!, in the adjacent space that is currently occupied by “a bug’s land.” “It’s Tough to Be a Bug” closed March 19 to make way for this new heroic experience; the rest of the land will close in late summer.
As part of the transformative multi-year expansion announced for Disneyland Paris, the new Marvel-themed area at Walt Disney Studios Park will include a reimagined attraction where riders will team up with Iron Man and their favorite Avengers on a hyper-kinetic adventure in 2020. This will follow an epic experience launching this summer, when Disneyland Paris hosts Marvel Summer of Super Heroes from June 10 to September 30. Favorite heroes will take the stage for a brand new, live-action super-production featuring cutting-edge special effects and spectacular projections.
Multi-year expansion plans are also underway at Hong Kong Disneyland, including a new themed area that will include an exciting attraction where guests team up with Ant-Man and The Wasp. This new attraction will join the Iron Man Experience, which opened in 2017 and is already the most popular attraction at the resort.
Pirates of the Caribbean reopened Monday in the Magic Kingdom Park with a new role for the storied Redhead who was once up for auction on the attraction.
So if you ‘wants the redhead’, don’t worry she hasn’t gone anywhere. The famed Redhead now has a new look and a new attitude. She is also sporting a rifle and clearly isn’t taking any guff from any scurvy pirates.
The pirate auctioneer now oversees a sale of the townspeople’s most prized possessions and goods. In this scene, the familiar redhead figure has switched sides to become a pirate named Redd, who’s just pillaged the town’s rum supply and has something to say about it.
“Aw, quit your cluckin’,” Redd says. “The gentlemen wants the rum, dontcha, boys?” she calls to pirates on the opposite side of the ride’s waterway. The pirates shouting back, “We wants the rum! We wants the rum!”
The scene originally depicted a group of women bound to an auction block, with a banner reading “Auction: Take a wench for a bride” hanging above their heads. A group of nearby pirates could also be heard requesting the redheaded “wench,” who was the most prominently displayed woman on the block.
“Just as Walt Disney embraced and encouraged Disney Parks to ‘keep moving forward’ since the opening of Disneyland Park in 1955”, Disney said about the new changes.
This isn’t the first time Disney has modified its “Pirates” rides to become more family-friendly. In 1997, Disney redesigned a scene in which pirates were chasing women, and changed it so the pirates looked to be chasing the women for the trays of food they carried. They have also augmented scenes with Jack Sparrow from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film franchise.
The auction scene in the attraction at Disneyland Paris received a similar revision last year. Disneyland park will also receive similar updates to its Pirates of the Caribbean attraction later this spring, with work beginning April 23.
The trip back home to Texas from a school trip to Walt Disney World ends in tragedy. The bus carrying Texas high school band members crashed into a ravine off the side of an Alabama interstate. According to authorities, the accident happened just before dawn at 5:33 a.m. killing the bus driver and injuring multiple passengers.
First responders used ropes to rappel down the 50-foot ravine in the middle of Interstate 10 to reach the bus, and then had to cut some of the victims free from the wreckage, said Baldwin County Sheriff Huey Hoss Mack, who confirmed the fatality.
Only hours before the crash, the band’s Facebook page had been updated to show a large group posing outside Disney World.
Forty students and six adults were on the bus at the time, according to the school district. In the video below you can see just how steep the embankment is.
RAVINE CRASH: The driver is dead and dozens of students injured after a bus carrying a Houston-area high school band back from Walt Disney World crashed down a 50-foot ravine in Alabama, with emergency crews and investigators on the scene. https://t.co/GkD90rD9gJpic.twitter.com/U3wQJsTGfD
Emergency units were dispatched to evacuate and extricate the passengers. Some were carried out by police deputies, others were brought to the surface by firefighters who rappeled down the ravine.
The interstate was closed down in both directions as the injured were flown to hospitals including emergency rooms in Mobile and Pensacola, Florida, plus a free-standing emergency room in rural Baldwin County, said Chris Elliott, a Baldwin County commissioner who helped out at the county emergency management center following the crash.
Walt Disney World will begin charging resort guests for overnight parking beginning next week. The company has officially announced the change today after months of speculation.
Effective for reservations made March 21, 2018 and thereafter, standard overnight self-parking is available to registered Guests for a fee that will be applied to their hotel folio upon check-out. All parking fees include applicable tax.
Standard Overnight Parking charges per Resort Category:
Disney Value Resorts: $13 per night
Disney Moderate Resorts: $19 per night
Disney Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts: $24 per night
Complimentary standard parking is available to Guests staying at the Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. Each campsite provides parking space for one motorized vehicle.
Valet Parking is still available at select Disney Deluxe Resorts and Disney Deluxe Villas but will see an increase to $33 per night (sales tax included).
Disney Vacation Club members will not be charged for standard overnight self-parking when staying at a DVC Deluxe Villa, regardless of whether they use vacation points or another form of payment. Members also will not be charged to park when using vacation points to stay at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel.
For day guests complimentary standard self-parking is still available while enjoying select dining, shopping, entertainment, and recreation experiences at Disney Resort hotels.
Human remains were discovered by authorities in the backyard of a Disney Worker who has been missing for three years. Michael Shaver worked as a monorail mechanic at Walt Disney World according to relatives and has not been heard from since 2015.
Detectives with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office are now investigating the disappearance of a 36-year-old Michael Shaver from Clermont after his best friend requested a well-being check on him. His friend called the Sheriff’s Office to report that neither he, nor any of Shaver’s family, have heard from him since 2015 and requested deputies to go by Shaver’s residence and attempt to confirm his well-being.
Officials went to Shaver’s home in unincorporated Lake County south of Clermont on Feb. 16. Laurie Shaver, his 35-year-old wife, was home and she told investigators that she had not heard from her husband since 2015.
She allowed investigators to search the home and then when Lake County sheriff’s deputies noticed what seemed like new concrete in an area of the backyard, they asked to bring in a cadaver dog. She refused to cooperate any longer and asked for an attorney.
After obtaining a warrant, deputies returned Friday to search the home. They dug up an upper arm bone. The remains were found under a the concrete area in question which was located on an outdoor fire pit at the residence of Michael Shaver. More remains were found over the weekend as well as articles of clothing according to a spokesman with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials said, the remains have been turned over to the Medical Examiner’s office for identification and to determine the manner and cause of death.
Detectives have been diligently investigating the case and have not yet learned any information that would lead to the whereabouts of Mr. Shaver. They are seeking the public’s help and are asking anyone with information concerning Michael Shaver to call the sheriff’s office or Central Florida CRIMELINE at 1-800-423-TIPS, where they could be eligible for a cash reward.
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.
You can now take a self-guided tour of Disney World and Disneyland right from the comfort of your smart phone and with out all of the long lines. Beginning today, you can now explore Disney Parks on Google Street View. Disney just launched a series of 360-degree panoramas featuring Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort locations you’ll want to check out to help plan your next vacation.
The new Disney Parks imagery on Google Street View includes Disney’s theme parks, water parks as well as a variety of areas at Downtown Disney and Disney Springs. Take a look below at Epcot from every angle.
To create the 360-degree imagery at Disney Parks, Google used Street View Trekker, a wearable backpack with a camera system on top. The Trekker is worn by an operator and is moved through walkways and structures, automatically gathering images. Imagery is then stitched together to create the 360-degree panoramas you see today.
Here’s a list of the locations that the Trekker’s captured:
Disneyland park, Disneyland Resort
Disney California Adventure park
Downtown Disney District
Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney World Resort
Disney Springs – Dining, Retail Locations
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Pandora – The World of Avatar
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Epcot
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park
Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park
Disney Parks imagery is also being featured on Google’s Street View gallery page along with breathtaking natural wonders of the world. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments below.
