Disney News

Tag: Attractions

  • ‘Mickey’s PhilharMagic’ New ‘Coco’ Scene Coming Soon to Disney World Resort for 50th Anniversary Celebration

    ‘Mickey’s PhilharMagic’ New ‘Coco’ Scene Coming Soon to Disney World Resort for 50th Anniversary Celebration

    Disney World is adding a new “Coco” scene in “Mickey’s PhilharMagic” in Magic Kingdom at Disney World later this year during the Walt Disney World Resort 50th anniversary celebration. 

    One of the original composers of “Coco” – Germaine Franco – produced a score unique to “Mickey’s PhilharMagic,” bringing the musical number “Un Poco Loco,” from Disney and Pixar’s “Coco” to the fan favorite attraction.

    The 3D, animated scene extends Donald Duck’s musical journey, bringing the fantasy adventure to new heights alongside all the attraction’s fan-favorite musical numbers. Take a closer look below:

    In addition to Germaine Franco, Walt Disney Imagineering collaborated with Pixar and Disney Animation Studios to add the scene to the attraction’s other classic musical sequences. Learn more about the collaboration in this video!

    The addition of the new scene can already be seen at Disneyland Resort and Disneyland Paris.

  • Disneyland’s new Snow White ride criticized for including Prince Charming’s ‘non-consensual’ kiss

    Disneyland’s new Snow White ride criticized for including Prince Charming’s ‘non-consensual’ kiss

    Disneyland just reopened after being closed for more than a year and they are already receiving backlash for the new ending added to the park’s reimagined Snow White ride.

    The ride, now known as Snow White’s Enchanted Wish, has garnered a lot of praise for its upgrades which include new audio, new animation, new music, and stunning visual technology that includes laser projections and LED lights.

    But there’s one part of the ride that hasn’t been as well-received: the grand finale of the movie, where Prince Charming kisses a sleeping Snow White to wake her up with “true love’s kiss.”

    In a review of the new ride for SFGate.com, the outlet’s managing editor Katie Dowd, and contributor Julie Tremaine, wrote that the kiss should be removed like other “problematic scenes from rides like Jungle Cruise and Splash Mountain’.

    “Haven’t we already agreed that consent in early Disney movies is a major issue? That teaching kids that kissing, when it hasn’t been established if both parties are willing to engage, is not OK?” they wrote.

    Disney announced earlier this year that it would redesign The Jungle Cruise to replace the “Trader Sam” character, a salesman of shrunken heads. Splash Mountain, meanwhile, was being overhauled to remove stereotypes.

  • Snow White’s Scary Adventures Reimagined at Disneyland

    Snow White’s Scary Adventures Reimagined at Disneyland

    Snow White’s Scary Adventures has been reimagined into Snow White’s Enchanted Wish.

    The classic attraction has been reimagined with new music, LED black lighting and a new animation system, officials said. It also has about 50 new figures.

    A team of Imagineers have spent the last year to making the attraction decidedly less scary as the creative arm of Disney reimagined the backstory for the classic Fantasyland dark ride and added new scenes. Take a closer look below:

    “It’s a lot brighter,” city spokesman Mike Lyster said. “The ride before was a little dark. But it’s noticeably brighter and newer.”

    Now this new ride is in full sparkle as Disneyland park and Disney California Adventure reopen to the public following a year-plus closure. “Snow White’s Enchanted Wish” officially debuted on April 30, the reopening date for The Happiest Place on Earth.”

  • New Enhanced Lighting Design Coming to Spaceship Earth will be Permanent at EPCOT

    New Enhanced Lighting Design Coming to Spaceship Earth will be Permanent at EPCOT

    In honor of Disney World’s 50th anniversary, Spaceship Earth — the parks icon — is recieving an “EARidescence” lighting design that will be a permanent fixture of the park long after the celebration ends.

    “This permanent new lighting will continue beyond ‘The World’s Most Magical Celebration’ as a defining feature of the park,” according to Disney Parks.

    As we previously reported, a multi-year transformation of EPCOT is underway that will reimagine the park while keeping true to the original vision and the new lights will shine across the reflective panels of Spaceship Earth, connecting to one another and resembling stars in a nighttime sky as you can see below:

    • Spaceship Earth Beacon of Magic

    At the 2019 D23 Expo, Imagineer Zach Riddley discussed a new and enhanced lighting package will soon be installed on the exterior of Spaceship Earth, EPCOT’s icon.

    Take a look below at all of the transformations underway at EPCOT:

    Beginning Oct. 1, Walt Disney World Resort will throw “The World’s Most Magical Celebration” in honor of our 50th anniversary of the Resort.

  • Leave A Legacy Wall Returns to Epcot with a New Look and Location

    Leave A Legacy Wall Returns to Epcot with a New Look and Location

    Disney World has announced that Leave A Legacy is returning to EPCOT!

    As part of the multi-year transformation EPCOT, the original Legacy sculpture (previously in front of Spaceship Earth) was removed, but Leave A Legacy now lives on in a beautiful new setting just outside the park.

    These newly designed panels are the first of many that will be installed outside the EPCOT touch points, featuring vibrant hues from the park’s new color palette. Along with the fresh look for Leave A Legacy, the beautiful fountain and gleaming pylons further illustrate the park’s transformation and the magic of possibility.

    For anyone ewho wants to search for a tile at the new location, guests can use their smart device to scan the QR code at the Leave a Legacy display. This opens up the tile finder search feature, which can provide the coordinates for a tile’s location. Guests can also visit the EPCOT guest Relations team for assistance.

    The former home of the Leave a Legacy monuments now features additional flower beds, followed by a reimaged water fountain that harkens back to Epcot’s opening in 1982.

  • VIDEO: Disney Parks Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Look at New Ratatouille Ride

    VIDEO: Disney Parks Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Look at New Ratatouille Ride

    During he fifth anniversary edition of “The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration,” Disney Parks revealed a behind-the-scenes look at the Ratatouille Adventure ride coming to EPCOT.

    The attraction will expand the pavilion and shrink guests to Remy’s size and scurry to safety in a dazzling chase across a kitchen with the sights, sounds and smells of Gusteau’s legendary Parisian restaurant.

    Take a look at the behind the scenes video Disney Parks posted to Twitter below:

    The loading area is made to look like to rooftops of Paris, with oversized chimneys and rain gutters. This is the area where riders will board trackless ride vehicles, which are made to look like rats.

    Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure opens in 2021. In addition to the Ratatouille ride, the expansion of the France Pavilion will include new shopping, dining, and more.

  • New Look at the Guardians of the Galaxy Coaster Ride Vehicles

    New Look at the Guardians of the Galaxy Coaster Ride Vehicles

    Disney has released an exclusive sneak peek of two of their ride engineers as they prep some of the ride vehicles for the new Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster coming to EPCOT at Disney World.

    Epcot’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is a family-friendly “storytelling coaster” that will feature a groundbreaking ride system with vehicles that rotate 360 degrees and can even do a reverse launch.  

    The attraction boasts a brand new ride system, and now we have a new look at the ride vehicles themselves, which have been designed with the same color scheme as the Milano, Peter Quill’s ship from the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Check them out below:

    If you look closely at the colorful paint design on the ride vehicles (called coaches in roller coaster engineering parlance), each one is unique with different wear patterns and impact marks. Imagineers were inspired by markings that appear on NASA Space Shuttles and other spacecraft upon reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.

    Keep check back on Disney Dorks as we share more on this truly out-of-this-world, awesome attraction as they make progress on construction and put these coaches on the track!

  • ‘Space Mountain’ Live-Action Movie in the Works at Disney

    ‘Space Mountain’ Live-Action Movie in the Works at Disney

    Continuing Disney’s trend of turning classic attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise into blockbuster movie franchises Disney is now developing a live-action Space Mountain movie.

    Space Mountain is an indoor rollercoaster in the dark based on Jules Verne’s 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon. The ride first landed at Disney’s Florida theme park, Walt Disney World Resort, in 1975. Two years later, the ride was implemented at California’s Disneyland.

    Logline details for the project, which is still in the early stages, are being kept under wraps, but it is described as a family adventure and is intended for theatrical release.

    Helming the project as producer and writer is Joby Harold — who is also currently writing and executive producing the upcoming Obi-wan Kenobi series for Disney+ — and his wife, Tory Tunnell, who is producing the film under their shared company, Safehouse Pictures.

  • Petition Calls for Splash Mountain to be Re-themed to Black Panther Instead of Princess and the Frog

    Petition Calls for Splash Mountain to be Re-themed to Black Panther Instead of Princess and the Frog

    Shortly after a petition hit the internet, Disney announced back in June that it was re-themeing Spash Mountain to the 2009 Disney Princess animated movie The Princess and the Frog and now another petition is gaining traction asking for the classic attraction to be themed to Black Panther, in honor of the late Chadwick Boseman.

    Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman passed away in September following a private four-year battle with colon cancer.

    Titled “Redesign Splash Mountain to Black Panther in honor of Chadwick Boseman,” the petition has gained more than 3000 signatures. You can read the petition’s official description below:

    This is to petition to change Splash Mountain to Black Panther.  Disney has announced to change Splash Mountain to Princess and the Frog, but in recent news encourage them to redesign splash mountain to Black Panther theme in honor of Chadwick Boseman.

    Splash Mountain currently stars the animated characters from Song of the South, the 1946 film long criticized for stereotypes of “spiritual” black men and its seemingly nostalgic view of the antebellum South.

    The current re-themeing plan is inspired by the all-time favorite animated Disney film, “The Princess and the Frog.” The story picks up after the final kiss where guests will join Princess Tiana and Louis on a musical adventure – featuring some of the powerful music from the film – as they prepare for their first-ever Mardi Gras performance.

    According to the Disney Parks Blog, the idea for re-theming the 1989 thrill ride started over a year before the announcement and quite a bit of planning has gone into the reimagining so it’s not clear how much Disney will listen to the call.

  • Frozen Sing-Along Returning to Hollywood Studios

    Frozen Sing-Along Returning to Hollywood Studios

    “For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration,” is returning to Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

    For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration is a musical show based on Disney’s 2013 animated film Frozen and the songs from the film, located at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Shanghai Disneyland Park. It was also formerly hosted at Disney California Adventure, Disneyland Park in Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland.

    Beginning Monday, October 5, you can once again join Erik and Aria, the Royal Historians of Arendelle, for their comedic retelling of the unique story of their kingdom, filled with delightful, sing-along moments from Disney’s “Frozen” and special appearances by Anna, Elsa and Kristoff.

    Disney said is a blog post that the Frozen Sing-Along “will be the same incredible show guests have loved for the past six years, with some adjustments to staging and audience seating to allow for appropriate physical distancing.”

    The show originally premiered at the Premiere Theater in the Streets of America section of Disney’s Hollywood Studios during the 2014 Frozen Summer Fun on July 5, 2014. The show moved into its current location at the Hyperion Theater in Echo Lake on June 17, 2015, the former home of The American Idol Experience.