After an accident with a similar balloon in Hong Kong, the Downtown Disney Characters in Flight Balloon ride closed on July 1st of this year. The balloon had been scheduled for replacement soon, but they just took it off line out of precaution earlier. This… Read More »Characters In Flight Returns to Downtown Disney with New Balloon and New Look
Tonight I’m continuing my walk through Magic Kingdom and a bit of Downtown Disney. Part One covered much of the Fantasyland Expansion, problems with Splash Mountain, Skyway Station Removal, and more. Part two looks at some of the details that Disney is getting right.
When the Fast Pass for Mickey & Minnie and The Princesses first opened there were signs over head indicating which of the four machines gave out tickets for which queue. However, the machines themselves had no signage. This led Disney to a very simple indicator. Just place a Princess Mickey Hat on the Princess machines and a regular black Mickey Mouse Ears on the Mickey & Minnie machines. While cute, that was probably not the most effective way to do it. They’ve finally added new permanent signs to the FastPass machines.
As nice as these signs are, they’re still not doing much for traffic to the Town Square theater. Both fastpasses were running barely 40 minutes into the future and the wait times for the Princesses were never longer than 35 minutes and Mickey never much longer than 15. I’ve heard that they’re already considering adding a tent to Storybook Circus for Mickey and Minnie and returning Town Square theater to meeting space for special events.
A new food cart appeared in Fantasyland a bit ahead of schedule for its eventual location in the Beauty and the Beast section of the Fantasyland Expansion. Maurice’s Amazing Popping Machine is great because it tells the story of Maurice being an inventor. It also has a wonderful specially themed menu and other fun touches. If they have to have outdoor vending, I hope it looks like this instead of…
Local news is reporting that a French chef who worked at Downtown Disney in Orlando was found shot dead outside a local car wash on Friday. The police aren’t releasing any other details other than they whole thing was caught on tape. They are, however,… Read More »Downtown Disney Chef found dead outside Car Wash in Orlando
Last night I went to Downtown Disney’s AMC Theatres to catch the 8:30 PM showing of THOR on the big ETX screen in 3D (short review: It’s a great superhero flick. See the movie, don’t bother with 3D). I arrived a bit early hoping to get a look at the newest thing to hit Orlando, the concept of a dine-in movie theater. Alas, I was a few nights too early, as a Cast Member preview was under way and the dine-in section won’t open until May 16th.
Since the 1980s when the Bagdad Theater in Portland, OR was converted to a pizzeria and brewpub that showed B-movies, I’ve had it in my head to open a movie theater that served great food along with movies. Now it’s gone main stream. Bagdad was ahead of the curve as lately upscale movie theaters with seat side dining service have been springing up over the last few years. That trend has finally made its way to Orlando.
AMC Theatres (AMC), who calls themselves a leading theatrical exhibition and entertainment company, announced today that guests will be able to watch the latest movies while enjoying their favorite food and beverages at AMC Downtown Disney 24 located in Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World Resort. AMC Dine-In Theatres, the only theatre of its kind in the Orlando area combines restaurant cuisine and cocktails with AMC’s noted immersive movie theatre experience and hit movies.
“We are excited to present AMC Downtown Disney as another one of our flagship AMC Dine-In Theatres,” said Gerry Lopez, chief executive officer and president, AMC. “Since the launch of this concept, we’ve received tremendous feedback from our guests about the enhanced experience and variety of food and beverage options. More than 90 percent of our surveyed guests who attended a Dine-In location said it met or exceeded their expectations.”
AMC Dine-In Theatres offers a meal-and-a-movie option and a bar and lounge. Note that there are now separate entrances. One for the 18 theatres that don’t have dine-in. That’s on the House of Blues/DisneyQuest end of the building. And one for the 6 theatres that feature the new dining options. That’s on the Planet Hollywood end.
More details below the jump:
Read More »Dining comes to Pleasure Island AMC Theatres at Downtown Disney
RIDEMAKERZ announced today its Downtown Disney shop won worldwide “Pop-Up Store of the Year.” They also announced that the current location would remain open through April of 2011. That’s an odd choice of words considering the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim location recently expanded to a… Read More »RideMakerz Wins Award for Orlando Downtown Disney Location, possibly moving?
Guests to Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World Resort can now immerse themselves in the life of one of the most iconic figures of our time. “Diana — The People’s Princess” celebrates the late Princess of Wales in a walk-through experience featuring 800-900 rare artifacts… Read More »Diana – The People’s Princess exhibit opens at Downtown Disney, Orlando
Apparently it was a star filled grand opening day at Downtown Disney’s new “Tren-D” boutique. Above actor Alfonso Ribeiro shops with his daughter during the festivities. The store, located at Downtown Disney, blends both vintage and modern designs with stylized Disney characters. Apparel and accessories… Read More »Tren-D welcomes yet another Celebrity
Construction progress as of March 23rd. This May a new restaurant, Paradiso 37, will open at Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World. The high-energy restaurant and bar will feature cuisine from North, South and Central America. The lakeside eatery will offer a… Read More »Paradiso 37 brings Latin Dining to Downtown Disney this May