The Wall Street Journal checks in on the village of Zhaohang outside of Shanghai, China. This is the location that the Walt Disney Company and Chinese officials have selected for a new theme park from the Mouse. Many of the village’s 4000 residents are getting relocation packages, but that has led to some strife among citizens.

Fearing they would be left out of an opportunity for compensation, more than 100 villagers launched two days of protests that culminated with the death on Aug. 5, apparently by a stroke, of a woman who had led them.

At the same time hopes of an economic payoff come with a big project on your backdoor.

One of them, Zhao Jingfang said, “We can’t welcome it more.” Nearby, an elderly woman wearing a yellow Minnie Mouse T-shirt beamed as neighbors cleaning beans mused about their impending payday.

That said, nothing is yet official until the project actually begins. News of the project has been very slow.

For those of you who saw Steven Davison do his recreation of the pitch he gave that sold Disney management on “Believe… There’s Magic In The Stars” he will forever be known as Mr Forty-two shells in six seconds (read this interview from 2001 on Laughingplace.com and watch clips of the presentation in part two). “Believe…” was the show that rewrote what was possible to do with fireworks at a theme park. Davison used the pyrotechnic explosions as if they were paint on a canvas and brought music synchronization to a new level.

Now Steven and his team at WDI are bringing the water fountain and projection show to new levels. “Disney’s World of Color” is coming into the Paradise Pier Bay and, well, it’s best if we just let Steven describe it himself…

See parts two and three below the cut:
[Read more →]

I’m trying to compile a list of known changes made to procedures or operations at Walt Disney World since the Monorail Accident that resulted in the death of one monorail pilot. If you can help me add anything I’m missing I’d appreciate it.

• Guests are no longer allowed to ride in the nose cone with the monorail pilots.
• Added new sensors to all monorail switches and the spur line.
• Added additional set of visual confirmation to all switches.
• Require Monorail Pilots to drive forward through the switch from the EPCOT loop to the Magic Kingdom express look. This requires moving from the forward cab to the back cab in the EPCOT station and then backing out until they’ve passed the switch.
• Monorail Control Coordinator is no longer allowed to leave the monorail station area without having a qualified replacement taking that position. It’s unclear if they’re also required to stay in the tower when trains are switching beams.
• Three employees involved in the incident have been suspended with pay pending the results of the investigation.
• The Behind the Magic Steam Train tour at Magic Kingdom has been canceled through October 12th. This is probably due to the close proximity of the train barn to the monorail barn. They’re in the same building behind the MK.

Some of these are just temporary changes and some will likely become permanant pending the results of the OSHA and NTSB reports.

The Orlando Sentinel has posted a very moving video of Austin Wuennenberg the monorail pilot killed in the tragic Sunday morning accident at Walt Disney World. The video was recorded just a few weeks ago when the Cimino family of Briton, Conn., took a ride in the nose cone with Austin.

In the video you see Austin doing the job he obviously loved so much and doing it very well. He interacted with, entertained, educated, and awarded the Cimino family, and especially one little boy whose dream Austin was making come true, with a memory that they will cherish forever.

Now the Cimino family has done the same for us. We get a chance to see Austin in his element and shining in his role of Monorail Pilot. It’s magical moments like this that helps set Walt Disney’s theme parks apart from any other. Austin was just doing what so many of his fellow cast members do so well. But it’s nice to have this as a tribute to the young pilot who died before he could make many more dreams come true as I’m sure he would have.

See the video and read the Cimino family’s story.

The Orlando Sentinel has come out with a long anticipated update on the progress of Universal Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter project. Inspired by the movies, Harry Potter will get a multi-attraction treatment with re-themeing of two existing attractions and a new ‘Robocoaster’ :

a ride system in which guests sit in seats suspended from a robotic arm that can swivel and swoop in multiple directions while it advances along a track.

Plans show the track snaking through more than a dozen scenes, though what those scenes will be remains a mystery. The attraction, according to the people familiar with it, will also feature an elaborate pre-show queue with special effects such as floating candles and snow falling indoors.

There will be two main sets of the new ‘land’ at Islands of Adventure. First will be a 150 foot tall version of the famous castle that is the Hogwarts school of Wizardry. The second themed area is the town of Hogsmeade. Both are expected to totally immerse the guest in the Harry Potter world.

All this sounds great, and should be open sometime in 2010. Unfortunately we don’t have a more specific date than that, although I’m sure they’re shooting for sometime in the spring. Many businesses in Orlando are pinning their hopes on this project reviving the local tourist economy. Let’s hope they’re right.

Spent the night of July the 3rd at the Magic Kingdom to see their 4th of July Fireworks one night early. For anyone going tonight, you might want to get on the road now to see it yourself. I got some great photos, but there is no way to appreciate this show via photos or video.

The show producer uses fireworks like paint and punctuation and they surround you front, back, and sides with all the pyrotechnics you could possibly fit into 17 minutes. Plus, since its Disney, there’s a great story and fabulous music to go along with it.

I’ve put up a Flickr set with the best shots from last night. If you aren’t going tonight, you’ll at least get a taste of what you’re missing.

The crowds last night were pretty crazy, but Disney had a pretty decent Guest Control plan in place. Where we were, on the Tomorrowland side of the hub, cast members made announcements about how guest control would work between the end of fireworks and the parade, so everyone was aware of where to go.

Basically, everyone in the Magic Kingdom was routed through Fantasyland or Tomorrowland down to where the old Galaxy Theater was located. From there the crowds went backstage into a parking lot and then out into Town Square. Alas, there were still a few bottlenecks, but for the most part, moving bodies around kept traffic flowing between the fireworks and the aprade.

We took our time and wandered around a few stores to let the crowds thin down before before heading out ourselves. A good strategy if you’re going tonight.

The news that was spreading across the internet 10 days ago about LEGOland’s serious look at building in Central Florida has started to pick up steam with coverage by print and TV media.

I’m hearing two rumors about the potential new theme park and some news that I think could bad news.

The bit of potential bad news is that LEGOland actually looked at the old Splendid China site, but that the current owners wouldn’t give them a good enough deal for LEGOland to commit. If that’s true for other Central Florida theme park zoned real estate owners, then that is probably what’s driving LEGOland to look southward to Winter Haven and Cypress Gardens. A foolish move by those land owners who should be doing what they can to get creative with a deal that will work for all parties, instead of turning away a brilliant partnership.

One rumor I’m looking to confirm is that Blackstone, which owns LEGOland, has an agreement with Universal Studios that bars it from opening another theme park in Florida without approval from Universal. Somehow I don’t think that Universal is going to want its partner owning a competitor in its own backyard. Now, if Blackstone added some incentive for Universal…

The biggest rumor, and the most interesting, is that Walt Disney World’s rumored 5th gate will be LEGOland. Chatter about a possible fifth gate has been picking up recently and there is definitely a need to have more tot-friendly attractions inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. But I just don’t see Disney opening a plot of land to a competitor like that.

Perhaps LEGOland should be looking at a plot near Disney’s back door (the Western Way entrance that was to be developed as Flamingo Crossing). If the Blackstone rumor is true, I hope they’re able to work out that conflict.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune profiles a team of three Cal State Fullerton Students who were finalists in a Walt Disney Imagineering contest to design and build a prototype of an attraction. Their idea is an interactive adventure featuring a guy named Otto.

Their concept, called Operation SNAP: Destination Dragon, would supplant riders as explorers on a boating adventure with Otto as he pursues a legendary Chinese dragon.

The real culprit is total immersion — in the ride, in the scenery, in Otto — something Berger would want riders to experience, too.

To that end, guests on Operation SNAP (Otto’s Society of Natural and Artificial Phenomena, of which he is the sole member) would be equipped with mounted camera devices to collect photographic evidence of all the mythical creatures residing in and around the professor’s Chinese wildlife preserve. The more photos, the more points earned by riders.

Click through to the article to see some of the concept art and storyboards from the attraction.