It sounds to be like we’ve got one last fun episode of Castle left before the season is over, and that episode is on Monday night. We’re going into the world of extreme sports The mystery revolves around an up-and-coming professional skateboarder who is gunned… Read More »Castle 6-21 Preview: Law and Boarder
from Instagram We just mentioned how two big changes to Fastpass+ start on Monday. While visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom today, I saw a solution to one of my big pet peeves. Previously, guests would get in queue for a Fastpass+, but may not have realized… Read More »Instapic: Another good improvement to Fastpass+, a sign showing availability
All the Walls are Down at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train giving us our best view yet of the queue area, and finally revealing all the exterior track on the roller coaster. Sounds like a good excuse for our third update this April.
There was still quite a bit of finishing and touch up work going on. Among some painting and landscaping, Imagineers were tinkering with the new interactive queue elements and the ubiquitous on-ride photo was being installed while we were there. Cast members are telling guests it will open sometime next month. However, media have been invited for a ribbon cutting ceremony to be held on May 2nd. Everything is subject to change, of course.
There are a few elements around the track that have me worried. It looks like they’ve jury-rigged evacuation lighting around part of the track. They might have to make that more permanent before it can open to guests. But the good news is they have been testing the coaster with people, and even filmed a commercial recently.
Here’s some video taken of newly opened areas:
I hope they’re able to open it soon, it looks amazing. Head below the jump for a huge gallery of photos of the newly exposed areas.
Read More »All the Walls are Down at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – April Construction Update #3
This post brought to you by Christina Wood of Pixie Vacations, the preferred Disney vacation travel planner of The Disney Blog.
There are a ton of great places to eat on Disney property and I’ve tried most of them (and I’m working on the ones I haven’t!), but what if you just want drinks and a quick, sweet snack later at night? The good news is, most restaurants have a bar attached or nearby that serves the restaurant’s menu. I’ve compiled a list here which is by no means complete, but I think it’s close to the best choices for a quick late night nosh on property.
5. Brown Derby Lounge in Disney Hollywood Studios (pictured above).
Confession: This location, part of one of my favorite signature restaurants, is kind of a cheat: You’re not exactly in the restaurant. Instead, you’ll eat outside in the lounge area, a pretty little walk-up place that lets you people watch and snack. It’s especially nice in the early evening, when you’re “snack” hungry but want something a little more upscale than a Mickey Bar or a carrot cake cookie. Bonus: If you want something that’s not sweet, they have great tapas-style plates.
4. Rose and Crown Pub at Epcot’s UK Pavilion.
Well, it’s a British-style pub so it’s kind of a given that you’ll find great beers on tap plus a lively crowd that gets even livelier after dark, but if you’ve got a hankering for something sweet, try the Sticky Toffee Pudding. It’s a caramel, moist, pudding-like British tradition that deserves your attention right now if you haven’t tried it yet. Oh, and don’t share. I mean, share your beer if you must, but keep the dessert to yourself.Read More »Top Five Restaurants for Dessert and Drinks.
Yesterday in part one of this update we looked at some fresh concept art and changes on the Westside of Downtown Disney as it transforms into Disney Springs. Today we’ll take glimpse at the area that will become the “Waterfront District” and the Marketplace Marina area.
Up first is a little video highlighting a few of the changes going on near the water front and marina areas.
Below the jump we have more updates in our photo gallery
Read More »Disney Springs Construction Update – April 2014 – Part II
from Instagram Are you part of the rebellion or the galactic empire? Disney is pushing the MyMagic+ enabled MagicBands hard. There are a ton of accessories you can add to yours. Above are a few of the Star Wars themed ones, perfect for the upcoming… Read More »Instapic: Star Wars Bandits. All the cool kids will be wearing them at Star Wars Weekends
Since Day One of Disney’s acquisition of Star Wars and Lucasfilm, fans were concerned about what would happen to the Expanded Universe of Star Wars. Lucas has always said that his projects (the two movie trilogies and The Clone Wars show) were officially canon and… Read More »Star Wars and Disney Discard Expanded Universe For Alternate Universe
I had a few free moments this afternoon and my son and I decided to visit the Magic Kingdom to sneak in a few rides and see Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with all the walls finally removed. More on that later this weekend. As we were headed out of Tomorrowland toward the hub, just about 3pm, we saw a small puff of smoke and then fire quickly growing around a generator / water pump near the edge of the Magic Kingdom Plaza Improvement project construction zone (read my recent update of that construction).
In a few moments, it had burnt through most of the fencing directly adjacent to it and looked to be threatening the fern bushes between it and Tomorrowland Terrace. Guests were dining just a few feet away in the restaurant, but quickly took notice of the flames, some moving away, some coming over for a closer look.
I felt that on the Tomorrowland Bridge, I was a safe distance away. I took out my camera and my mobile phone to get some video. It’s hard to film both at the same time and upload to Instagram, so I handed the camera off to a poorly trained monkey nearby. The first part of the video is the footage I could save from his unfocused attempts at documenting the incident.
From when we arrived to when the fire was extinguished took almost exactly 5 minutes.
As it turns out, there was one worker in the construction zone. After standing a few paces away and thinking about the best course of action, he left the scene, traveled under the bridge to the other side of main street, then returned with a bucket full of water. Which did almost nothing to put out the flames. Luckily there was a closer source of water, so he took a few steps down the bank and refilled the bucket then dumped it on the flames again, still with little impact on the fire itself. But I think he did prevent it from spreading any further.Read More »Construction Fire at Magic Kingdom Plaza Improvement Project