Tag: disneyland

$3.3 Billion Disneyland-Style Theme Park To Open In Egypt

Rumors of the possibility of a Disney Park coming to Egypt have been going around for quite some time and recently they have started back up again after Martouh Governor Alaa Abu Zeid signed an investment contract with the Entertainment World Company establish a Disneyland-style amusement park worth $3.3 billion.

The news comes from an Egypt Independent report on February 1st and it has caused some confusion. The reports are on multiple news outlets in Egypt and they have stirred up the rumors again, most likely because of the choice words “Disneyland-style amusement park.”

It started back in 2014 when the state-run news MENA agency reported “There are discussions going on between Disney International to build in Egypt its first Disney Park in the Middle East, similar to Disney France,” Ashraf Salman, Egypt’s investment minister, said.

At that time Disney flat out denied any plans for a new park in Egypt according to The Washington Post. “At Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, we continually look for ways to grow our business and as part of that process, we have conversations with many different entities,” a spokesperson for the company said in an e-mailed statement. “While Egypt is an attractive market, we have no plans for the region at this time.”

While that’s not a denial that they could have been in talks, there were not and still are no plans by the Walt Disney Company to build a park in the country. Well that was then and this is now and it looks like Egypt is moving forward without Disney in a joint US-Saudi Arabian investment project and making their own theme park which would be in the “style” of Disneyland, but not with the theme of disneyland.

The theme park will be built on an area of 5,080 acres in Sidi Heneish, Marsa Matrouh. The Local Development Minister Abu Baker Al-Gendy, Investment and International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr, and Chairperson of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones Mona Zobaa were present at the signing ceremony hosted by Abu Zeid and Lisa Marie Stephen, the Managing Director of Entertainment World in the Middle East and Africa, the report states.

According to Nasr, the park will be the biggest foreign investment project after the new investment law and its executive regulations. The project is expected to take up to ten years to complete and would generate around 40,000 new jobs. The first phase to be completed in around two years.

While Egypt may not be getting a Disney theme park, Saudi Arabia may actually be in the running to be the first in the middle east to be home to a Disney Park after a delegation of Saudi officials, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, met with Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger on Wednesday.

They discussed Disney’s future in the Saudi Kingdom and the meeting mainly focused on movies and entertainment, but the crown prince highlighted the massive opportunities which exist in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where a solid infrastructure and a massive demand for Disney products and services exist. While nothing specific was mentioned about a theme park, it seems like the crown prince was hinting that there is a market for it, but they are just talks at this point and nothing has been planned.

One thing is clear, the region is clearly making an effort to increase its entertainment industries and boost their tourism numbers.

April 6, 2018
Mobile Ordering Service Is Coming to Disneyland Resort Soon

A new mobile ordering service will soon be available at the Disneyland Resort!

Mobile ordering is just one more option for guests to further customize their Disney vacations, allowing them to conveniently place orders at select fast casual and quick-service restaurant locations using the Disneyland App from anywhere across the resort.

Using the new mobile ordering service, guests will be able to easily search for a participating location, select an arrival time window for pickup, choose items from the menu and place their order. As an added convenience, Annual Passholders will be able to apply their discount to meal purchases using the app. Guests notify the restaurant of their arrival on the app and within minutes, an app notification indicates the meal is ready to pick up at a designated window – without ever waiting in line to order and pay.

The mobile ordering functionality is part of our continued efforts to enhance the guest experience. Combined with the recently launched Disney MaxPass, also part of the Disneyland App, guests will spend more time with family and friends enjoying everything Disneyland Resort has to offer – including the upcoming Pixar Fest celebration!

We’ll share more details soon, including which guest favorite locations will be featured.

April 5, 2018
Pixar-Themed Disneyland Monorail Unveiled at Disneyland Resort

The Disneyland Monorail has received a special, Pixar-themed enhancement just in time for Pixar Fest which begins April 13! The orange and blue Mark VII trains feature characters from Disney•Pixar’s “The Incredibles” and “Finding Nemo,” respectively.

On the orange train, Mr. Incredible and Mrs. Incredible, along with Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack can be spotted on one side, while Frozone makes a cool splash on the other.

Meanwhile, the blue train has been creatively wrapped with a curvaceous wave. Crush can be seen surfing alongside pals Marlin, Nemo and Dory.

The chief photographer for the park captured the Disneyland Monorail in action this week and this first look is just “incredible”!

The red train is also expected to join in on the fun soon. Which Disney•Pixar story would you like to see displayed on the Disneyland Monorail? Let us know in the comments.

April 4, 2018
An Inside Look At The Disneyland Railroad at Disneyland Park

The Disneyland Railroad was one of the opening-day attractions at Disneyland park on July 17, 1955. Walt Disney held a lifelong passion for trains, one that was further inspired by the encouragement and collections of fellow railroad enthusiasts and Disney Legends Ward Kimball and Ollie Johnston.

More than 60 years later, the Disneyland Railroad continues to carry passengers on a grand circle tour around Walt’s original Magic Kingdom.

In the early morning, Disneyland Railroad technicians and conductors inspect every vehicle and length of track before a new day’s operation.

The beautiful north bank of the Rivers of America creates a rustic scene as guests travel across the elevated trestle. A steam engine chugs through the jungles of Adventureland, a stretch of line that hasn’t changed much since Walt signed off on the design more than 60 years ago.

For train enthusiasts interested in an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the history of the Disneyland Railroad, “The Grand Circle Tour” offers a unique perspective, including the opportunity to board the lavish parlor car, the Lilly Belle.

On your next visit to the Disneyland Resort, be sure to sit back, relax and soak in the views of Disneyland park aboard the Disneyland Railroad!

April 3, 2018
PANDORA Sparkles at Disneyland Paris With New Multi-Year Deal

PANDORA and Disneyland Paris announced recently that they have signed a multi-year strategic alliance that will introduce new official Disneyland Paris versions of the iconic PANDORA charms and a new retail location for Europe’s number one tourist destination.

The Disney PANDORA collection is a jewellery assortment available at Pandora stores worldwide that also offers a selection of exclusive Disney-themed charms available only in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. As part of this alliance relationship, PANDORA’s core collection at Disneyland Paris is available at five merchandise locations with each location offering a different experience to highlight the range of charms and bracelets inspired by Disney Characters like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and the iconic Disney Princesses. The PANDORA collection will also soon be available for sale in its own unique retail location in Walt Disney Studios Park which opens in April.

This new alliance relationship names PANDORA as the official sponsor of Disney Illuminations, an unforgettable nightly show that brings together groundbreaking special effects and impressive fireworks to transform Sleeping Beauty Castle before taking guests on a journey through beloved Disney stories.

“PANDORA’s arrival at our resort is fantastic news for our guests and our fans,” said Francesca Romana Gianesin, Vice President of Corporate Alliances at Disneyland Paris. “We share a common passion for creating special moments and crafting unforgettable memories.”

This strategic alliance is part of a broader agreement with The Walt Disney Company. PANDORA first entered into a strategic Corporate Alliance with Disney in August 2014. Under the terms of the agreement, PANDORA created an original collection of Disney-themed jewellery, which is since sold in the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif., as well as in PANDORA stores throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central America and the Caribbean. The alliance was then extended in November 2015 to include the Asia Pacific region.

“We are excited about this great opportunity to now have one of our store locations in such a beautiful setting as the Walt Disney Studios Park,” said Delphine Medaouri, Pandora France Managing Director. “Our customers will be able to have a new experience in a place that perfectly matches the values of PANDORA.”

April 3, 2018
Alien Pizza Planet Landing Soon at Disneyland Park

Oooooooooh – everyone’s favorite Aliens from Disney•Pixar’s “Toy Story” will be invading Disneyland Resort for Pixar Fest, and we are eternally grateful! For the duration of the festival, Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port in Disneyland park will transform into Alien Pizza Planet – “A Better Place.”

The Aliens have sourced the finest ingredients from across the universe to deliver fresh, hot pizzas that are out of this world. A specialty of their home planet Pepperonia is a special pepperoni pizza topped with green peppers and mushrooms.

They’ll also be cooking up a hearty cheeseburger pizza with ketchup, yellow mustard and pizza sauce on a sesame seed crust and topped with cheese, caramelized onions, diced tomatoes, slider patties, a house-made burger sauce, and pickles.

If you’re excited for this fun-filled re-imagination of Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port, stay tuned for more details on the deliciously cheesy menu.

This exciting transformation is just one of the many offerings coming as part of Pixar Fest at the Disneyland Resort, which will run from April 13 through September 3. The festival will span both Disneyland park and Disney California Adventure park, bringing not only creatively-themed food, but also a new fireworks show, “Together Forever—A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular,” the return of the “Paint the Night” parade and much more!

April 2, 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
What’s Being Demolished At Downtown Disney For New Disneyland Resort Hotel
Construction on the upcoming new Four Diamond Disneyland Resort Hotel is scheduled to start in summer 2018. The new luxury resort edition will add fourth Disney-themed hotel to the area and while that is really exciting several businesses that have been part of Anaheim’s Downtown Disney since it opened in 2001 will be demolished.

Disney is looking to expand lodging at the Disneyland Resort and to make room for a new 700-room hotel they will be tearing down several popular spots.

Here’s a breakdown on what is being demolished:
- Earl of Sandwich
- ESPN Zone
- Rainforest Cafe
- AMC 12 Theatres
- Alamo Rent-a-Car
- (west side) Starbucks
Basically, everything west of the Lego store and Disneyland Drive will be demolished making plenty of room for the resort. The addition of the new hotel shows Disney’s new strategy to try to attract more out-of-town guest as they have historically catered to local Cali residents, according to The Orange Count Register.

Here’s what’s closing at Downtown Disney to make way for a new hotel https://t.co/icJOMKnGTV pic.twitter.com/mSYOiOzCpI

— O.C. Register (@ocregister) March 27, 2018

It is the largest renovation in Downtown Disney District history clearing up 17 acres for the resort. Disney officials announced that the businesses will be closing by June 30 with demolition slated to begin in early July. Talks are ongoing and it is still possible that a few of the closed businesses will reopen inside the new hotel complex.

The new hotel will have a dedicated Monorail platform inside the hotel for direct transport into Disneyland park and a new restaurant that will offer a magical view of the Disneyland fireworks. Disney has yet to receive expected final approvals from the city of Anaheim for the new hotel.
March 30, 2018
New Four Diamond Luxury Hotel Coming to the Disneyland Resort in 2021

Construction is set to begin soon on the upcoming New Four Diamond luxury hotel at Disneyland Resort! It will be the first new resort in almost two decades and will transform the west end of the Downtown Disney District and anchor a new gateway to the Disneyland Resort.

The stunning 700-room hotel will feature a sophisticated design and be a game-changer for Anaheim, creating a dynamic dining, entertainment and hotel experience for resort visitors and local residents. Extensive landscaping and water elements will create a resort oasis, showcasing nature on every level of the hotel. The hotel’s location embraces the iconic Disneyland Monorail with a dedicated platform inside the hotel for direct transport into Disneyland park.

Guest rooms, public spaces and gardens will provide views of the Downtown Disney District. In addition, an upper-level restaurant and lounge will give guests a view of the popular Disneyland park fireworks.

The ground level of the hotel will include shops and restaurants opening onto an expansive landscaped plaza complete with playful water features, creating a gathering place for guests and visitors. The new hotel also connects all four Hotels of the Disneyland Resort through lush gardens and beautifully landscaped walkways, transforming the gateway on the west side and creating a welcoming entry for our Disneyland Resort guests.

And that’s not all. This new hotel creates great benefits for the community, generating approximately $25 million in new taxes in its first five years of operation that go directly to Anaheim’s general fund. It also will create thousands of additional construction and permanent jobs and attract new hotel guests to the resort area.

Construction is scheduled to start in summer 2018, with a grand opening slated for 2021.

March 30, 2018
VIDEO: ‘Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular’ at Disneyland Park Premiering April 13 During Pixar Fest

As we shared in last week’s first look, Disneyland park will light up when “Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular” celebrates the heart of Pixar!

Debuting at the start of Pixar Fest on April 13, this all-new nighttime spectacular will take guests on an emotional journey of friendship with their favorite Pixar Pals—when unlikely characters first meet one another, set out on adventures and overcome adversities that forge everlasting bonds. Learn more about “Together Forever” in the video below.

The stories will come to life through dazzling pyrotechnics, memorable music and colorful projections at iconic locations throughout the park. I hope you can join us to experience “Together Forever” when Pixar Fest kicks off April 13!

March 28, 2018