Archive for the ‘theme parks’ Category

Earlier today, it seems as if construction blueprints for Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland expansion leaked out to the public. After looking them over, they seem to be pretty realistic to me, and not just the work of some overzealous Disney fan. For one thing, they seem to match up with various news and rumors we’ve heard the past few years about a new attractions and areas.

The plans look like Fantasyland will expand back into Mickey’s Toon Town Fair, and almost get rid of the entire land completely. The only thing that seems to be safe is Goofy’s Barnstormer.

Disney princesses Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, and Ariel will be getting the royal treatment with newly added meet and greet areas. The long rumored The Little Mermaid ride is also on the plans, along with a possible dinner theater called “Be Our Guest” over by Belle’s area.

Overall, it seems like it will be a very good (and much needed) expansion to the Fantasyland area, and definitely a way to drive more traffic in there.

Check out the proposed blueprint below, and click to see it full size!

After months of rumors, Disney announced yesterday that they will indeed be expanding Hong Kong Disneyland. The much needed new additions will expand the park another 23%, while adding three new lands for people to enjoy.

According to the press release, here’s what people can expect:

Grizzly Trail
Hold on to your hats! — the path along Grizzly Trail offers plenty of high-spirited frontier fun in an abandoned mining town called Grizzly Gulch. Set amidst a colorful backdrop of mountains and woods, the town was founded August 8, 1888 — the luckiest day of the luckiest month of the luckiest year — by prospectors looking to discover gold; however, bears are now wreaking havoc at the Big Grizzly Mountain Mining Company!

Guests visiting Grizzly Gulch will enjoy hands-on water features, massive geysers and leaking structures in the abandoned town. Life-size Audio Animatronics bears set the story in motion on Big Grizzly Mountain Coaster, a white-knuckle adventure aboard a runaway mine train through town. Guests careen backward down an incline before a launch sequence “blasts” the mine train out of the mountain. Photo opportunities abound at the Wild West stagecoach, an old-time Jailhouse and the world’s largest nugget of gold. Of course no pioneer town is complete without some refreshment Wild West style, and Guests to Grizzly Gulch can get a cold drink at the Saloon or shop for mining supplies at the Bear Necessities merchandise stand.

Mystic Point
Mystic Point (shown on the previous page), located in the heart of a dense, uncharted rain forest, is a place of mysterious forces and supernatural powers. In a beautiful garden full of relics and mythological figures, guests will discover a hidden world of illusions and mysteries.

Mystic Manor is home to an eccentric world traveler and adventurer and his collection of exotic international artifacts, where strange things happen when an enchanted music box releases magical powers, courtesy of a mischievous monkey! Guests will see the story unfold from their perches onboard a trackless ride system, which enables them to move “freely” around the attraction as the story unfolds, while special visual and audio effects unforgettably tell this story of mystical phenomena.

Toy Story Land
Andy has left his toys unattended in this immersive and highly themed environment based on one of Disney·Pixar’s most popular series. And while Andy’s away, the toys will play!… and guests are invited to join!

Oversized outdoor rides and photo opportunities let guests experiences the different perceptions of scale and shrink to the size of a toy. A drop-style parachute attraction lets guests join a “training mission” and plunge from a 25-meter-high tower! And you can always try the shuttle coaster — which propels guests along a U-shaped-style track.   

All the new additions sound fantastic. Hong Kong Disneyland, as it stands now, isn’t all that big to begin with. They have a few signature attractions, but it doesn’t offer the same experience as the other Disney parks. This additions will definitely liven up the park a bit, and bring in some new crowds.

Grizzly Trail seems to be a take off of our own Frontierland, but with a bit more “Country Bear Jamboree” added in. The thrill ride also sounds awfully similar to Big Thunder Mountain, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see how that turns out. This looks to be the largest part of the addition.

Mystic Point might be taking some of the left over ideas from the “Myst”-themed island that never came to fruition at Walt Disney World. Mystic Manor seems to be a variation of the Haunted Mansion, which Hong Kong Disneyland doesn’t have as of yet. This new ride will use the same technology that Tokyo Disney’s Pooh’s Hunny Hunt does.

I’m also a bit jealous of the Toy Story Land. Although we’ll be getting a Cars themed land here in the USA soon, Toy Story would be a neat addition to have as well.

As some of you may know, Walt’s original vision for Epcot was to be a living city of the future. He wanted people to be able to work and play in the same place, and have everything they ever needed in their own self contained little town.

Unfortunately, that’s not how Epcot is today.

Though Walt’s original vision does live on in some way in the form of Celebration, I’m sure we all would have loved to have seen Walt’s dream come true.

However, we can still see what Walt originally had in mind with these original concept drawings for Epcot. Click on them for full sized versions.

Epcot – The City Of The Future At Night:

Another view of Epcot at night:

The shopping area. Notice the early rendition of the Monorail going through town as well:

The transportation center. Not only can we spot the Monorail as we know and love it today, but also get a view of the WED People Movers!:

Another, earlier, view of the transportation center:

And finally, the original concept drawing of Epcot, drawn by the man himself:

Well, the rumors are true!

In early April, Walt Disney World’s Space Mountain is going down for a bit of a refurb!

You may remember a few years ago when the Disneyland version did the same. This planned refurb is going to try to make the WDW version a bit more like DL’s.

They are replacing the track to allow for a smoother ride, but they are not redesigning the track layout itself. They are also updating the loading area, a bit of the queue line, and the ceiling. Because of the refurb, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority will also be down, but it is unclear what they will be doing to it at this time (I guess they don’t want too many people to see Space Mountain with the lights on!).

I think this is a great idea. Last time I was on Space Mountain back in July, it was a bit bumpy. Even my brother, who loves it like that, complained a bit.

Regardless, I’ll be heading back in early March, right before the refurb, so I’ll be sure to enjoy it one last time before it gets updated!

Storm Struck: A Tale Of Two Homes, the latest ‘experience’ at Epcot’s Innoventions pavilion, is now open for business!

Storm Struck allows people to experience what happens to their home during a hurricane. When you first arrive, guests are given 3D glasses, and sit through a simulation of a hurricane. They observe how a house reacts to the storm, and then given a chance to improve upon it. As a group, the audience thing picks what type of doors, windows, and so on to outfit their house with, and then go through the experience again to see how well their ‘new’ house stands up to the test.

To me, this seems like an interesting experience, and I can’t wait to hear some ride reports about it. It seems to be a bit of a different take of Universal’s Twister ride.

Disneyland is planning on closing their three in-park McDonalds as part of a planned refurbishment, according to Reuters. The three ‘quick serve’ kiosks will be closed at the beginning of September, and reopen at a later date with a different theme. According to Disney, the new themes have not been chosen yet.

This is kind of a big deal for Disney, who also ended their movie promotion partnership with McDonalds after the second Pirates film. Though the fast food giant is losing its footing at Disneyland, it’s keeping its three eateries at the Magic Kingdom open. It’s unknown at this time if these kiosks will close as well.

In recent years, Disney has really pushed a more healthy variety of meal choices at their parks, and getting rid of McDonalds is definitely a step in the right direction. I like McDonalds as much as the next guy, but having this fast food machine inside the parks sometimes ruins the magic for me. The image of walking through Frontierland is usually shattered when I come across the french fry cart at WDW. Maybe in the next few years, Disney will give McDonalds the boot completely.

One of those things that rarely happen to people is having their birthday fall on a day that they are at a Disney park. Birthdays add an extra layer of magic to your Disney vacation, and it really stands out in the person’s Disney experience.

Last month, I was lucky enough to be at the Magic Kingdom on my girlfriend’s birthday, and it truly was a whole different Disney experience.

If you’re staying at a Disney hotel, and you tell the concierge desk before hand about the birthday, they make sure you start your day off right. First off, they greet you with a wake up call from whoever your favorite Disney character is. They sing you happy birthday, and tell you to make sure you stop off at the Guest Relations building of whatever park you visit that day.

After visiting Guest Relations, they ask you your name, and hand you a Happy Birthday pin with your name on it. Here’s a photo of one I found on Google:

Honestly, I thought that would be about it, and we would go about our day. I was definitely wrong. It seems that Disney trains all of their employees to wish the bearer of these pins happy birthday. And I literally mean everyone.

Our entire day, from start to finish, was filled with cast members wishing my girlfriend a very happy birthday. From ride operators, to cashiers, to food vendors, and even the custodial staff!

Right before we left the park, we stopped in at the Main Street Confectionery to pick up some goodies for the way home (we were leaving later that night). The woman running the cash register wished my girlfriend a happy birthday, much like everyone else had. However, a few minutes later, she found us browsing in the store, and gave the birthday girl a huge chocolate covered marshmallow as a birthday treat!

And right after that, the famous Dapper Dans, Disney’s own barbershop quartet strolled in, and noticed her button. They announced it to the entire store (much to my girlfriend’s embarassment!), and proceeded to sing their birthday song, as follows:

This is your birthday song! It isn’t very long!

After that, they sang another few songs in honor of her birthday (and I must say, aside from sounding fantastic, these guys had great comedic timing! But, that’s a story for another post).

All in all, it was an incredibly different experience to what I was used to. I was amazed at how many cast members went out of their way to share a smile with us that day. It was truly amazing. Even my girlfriend, who isn’t a Disney freak like me, felt that her birthday was made extra special by Disney.

So, next time you’re at Disney and it’s your birthday, be sure to tell them. They’ll definitely make it a magical day.

My favorite ride at any Disney park (as I’m sure a good portion of you out there will agree) is The Haunted Mansion. Ever since I was a child, I have been obsessed with all things HM.

In 2007, my girlfriend and I took an one day trip to Walt Disney World while we were visiting some of her family in Florida. I was extremely disappointed that the Mansion was closed for refurbishing. To make up for it, when we went last month, I must have went on the ride at least 15 times throughout the week.

In any event, The Ghost Relations Department is reporting that WDW recently added yet another new addition to the Mansion, this time in the Corridor of Doors. A painting of the Ghost Host, which also appears at the Disneyland variation of the attraction, has now been hung among the photos of the Mansion’s ghoulish residents.

Click on the link above to check it out (along with a new take on the original painting!).

To me, it’s incredible that Imagineers are still tweaking Disney’s attraction. It shows their level of love for these places. Even after an extensive refurbishing at the WDW attraction, it’s nice to see new little touches being added from time to time.

If you’re like me, you’re quite fond of the music that Disney plays at its parks. From the jungles of Adventureland to the rocketships of Tomorrowland, there is always a music track that sets the mood. Most of the time, this music follows you home, and continues to invade your head long after the vacation is over!

A lot of people have wondered where they can hear this music so they can enjoy it outside the parks as well.

Lucky for us, Main Street Mom over at The Daily Earful has compiled a list of a few places where you can get your park music fix.

Check out what she has to say here.

And if I may offer a suggestion to her list, A Musical History Of Disneyland is a fantastic six CD set that contains more offerings than any other collection out there. It contains tracks from when the park first opened up until present day…even including some slightly rare ones!

Starting today, The Walt Disney Company is raising ticket prices at all of its domestic parks.

For Walt Disney World, single day tickets for children 3 to 9 will raise from $60 to $63. Tickets for guests 10 and older are now $75, up from $71. The Park Hopper option, which was $45, is now up to $50.

On the other side of the country, Disneyland single day tickets for children 3 to 9 went from $56 to $59, while 10 and older went from $66 to $69.

With the raise in prices, it can be assumed that annual passes will rise as well.

With the way the economy is today, I can’t say I’m really surprised at this. Not that Disney really needs the money, but I’m sure with prices soaring all over the place, less people are making the trek to the parks. Raising prices is the best way for them to keep their ticket sales consistent.