Radio Disney’s Next Big Thing (aka N.B.T.) is sort of the mouse’s equivalent of American Idol, only without all the glamor, or the huge recording contract at the end. This weekend Disney World guest’s will have a chance to get to know the Season Five… Read More »Radio Disney’s Next Big Thing Concerts at Hollywood Studios this weekend
A small electrical fire has dimmed the marquee sign for the Magic of Disney Animation exhibit at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. According to a report on CFNews13, the fire was actually on a part of the sign that controls the current to the fluorescent lights, not… Read More »Magic of Disney Animation Sign at Hollywood Studios Suffers Fire
Comedian Sean Klitzner, whom you may remember from his stint hosting the American Idol Experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, has produced this nifty little YouTube interactive tour of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s sort of choose your own adventure style: Nice to see Sean back from… Read More »Sean Klitzner’s Interactive Disney’s Hollywood Studios Visit
One of the new merchandise features coming to Star Wars Weekends in 2012 is the Droid Factory where you can build your very own Droid figure. The Droid Factory is open now and will run at least through the Star Wars Weekends festival. Similar to… Read More »Build a Droid Factory at Star Wars Weekends
It’s the same television ad every year, but it’s still cool. Plus this year there’s a #SWW2012 hashtag we can all join in. Of course, I’m also a bit partial to the ad I filmed for last year’s grand opening of Star Tours 3D. Previously:… Read More »Star Wars Weekends TV Spot
When is an attraction announcement not really an announcement? When it’s published accidentally, that’s when. It’s no secret that the Prince Caspian exhibit has been moved out of its Sound Stage in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. There has even been some speculation about what would be going into that space on various fan sites.
Usually those exhibits are ‘sponsored’ by some marketing budget or another from the Walt Disney Studios. Typically the goal is to sell DVDs or build audience affiliation for a sequel. So it was assumed that the next exhibit would be for a movie that had seen some success (which means it has a decent marketing budget) and is likely to have a sequel.
If the first movie that comes to your mind in The Muppets, then let’s say Great Minds Think Alike. Other likely candidates include John Carter or TRON: Legacy. However neither of those have had sequels greenlit. So Muppets it is. It even already has a tie-in with DHS.
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If I had to rank the four Walt Disney World parks just in frequency of my visits, Disney’s Hollywood Studios would place third. It’s not that I don’t enjoy being in the park, it’s just that the things I do enjoy always sends me walking from one side of the park to the other based on the show schedule, fastpass availability, and availability of decent counter service with air-conditioned seating. The haphazard nature of DHS’s pathways are an artifact of its status as a working studio during its initial years. But this park is top of my list for a drastic new series of placemaking.
Alas, my armchair Imagineering will have to wait for another day, today I have a photo update capturing a few of the changes since my last visit.
We’ll start our tour at The Magic of Disney Animation, which now features this Campus Map. Note how it shows that guests can now skip the movie to get into the main building. It also specifically lists the characters inside by name. So it looks like it will be a while before we see a replacement for Winnie The Pooh. Important to note if an autograph with Winnie the Pooh is a must. You can avoid the crowds at the Magic Kingdom and get it at DHS.
The biggest change inside the Magic of Disney Animation was the updated Animation Gallery. A new exhibit called ‘Setting the Scene’ has been installed. You can still see some of the Academy Awards Disney has won, but everything else is changed.
Disney has announced what looks to be a nearly full roster of Star Wars Celebrity guests for the 2012 Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s going to be hard to beat last year’s event, when they re-opened Star Tours, here’s the scheduled celebrity… Read More »Star Wars Weekends 2012 Celebrity Guests Announced