I’m back with another FastForward video. These are fun little experiments with a different view on Disney’s amazing rides and attractions. This new FastFoward is fun ride through Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s popular roller coaster Expedition Everest. I’ve added both a time-lapse and a tilt-shift miniature… Read More »FastForward: Expedition Everest
The 30th Anniversary of Walt Disney World’s EPCOT Center took place on Monday October 1st. While the park didn’t get the multi-month celebration it deserved, the events on Monday were quite good in their own right. Here are a few video highlights of the small… Read More »Highlights from EPCOT’s 30th Anniversary
A new series of commercials from Disney Parks has hit the airwaves. They position a Disney Parks vacation as a sort of memory factory from which there is a limited time to extract those precious moments. I say it a bit cynically, but that really is the formula that Disney and its research partners have found to work the best.
With a world where economic uncertainty is the one thing that’s for certain, surveys and guests have told Disney that guests are looking to make the one thing that can’t be taken away from them, special family bonds built by time spent together.
As it turns out, Disney is uniquely suited to provide this experience. The Disneyland Resort has received a kickstart with the revitalized California Adventure gate making it a true multi-day destination and the Walt Disney World resort has perfected the art of enveloping you in the magic to such a point that you never have to experience anything non-Disney form the moment you arrive at the airport until your departure. Not quite as good as teleporting your from your kitchen to the Magic Kingdom, but it will have to do until the Imagineers perfect that option.
Follow us below the jump to see the rest of the new commercials, then please let us know which commercial works the best for you and rate the whole campaign from “5 – Great Idea” to “1 – Needs Improvement” in the comments.
Storybook Circus was the first area of the expanded Fantasyland area to open a few attractions at the Magic Kingdom. The backstory for the area is that a small circus has come to the small midwest town of Carolwood Park. Over the last few weeks, many of the final details have been added, but the land wasn’t completely open yet.
It’s still not completely open, but yesterday they opened Big Top Souvenirs and the new Fastpass distribution tent for the land. All that remains now is a little landscaping and Pete’s Silly Sideshow, the character meet and greet for the land.
When Imagineering originally wanted to redo the Toontown Fair area, the numbers folk at the park asked that they keep the large tent store since it’s one of the best performing stores per square foot in the park. So the imagineers compromised, give us the budget to really make the tent themed to a circus and we’ll redo our plans for the area to keep the tents.
Read More »Storybook Circus opens Big Top and Fastpass Distribution
The 2012 International Food & Wine Festival at EPCOT officially opens tomorrow, however, the food booths are open today as a soft opening. It will run for 46 days until November 16th and is one of the most popular food festivals in the world. Chefs… Read More »EPCOT Food & Wine Festival Launches Tomorrow
Workers are all over the Magic Kingdom working on projects large and small. Changes are coming at such a rapid pace these days, it’s hard to keep pace with what’s new. Still, I have to try. Some of these pictures are a few days old, but I think they’re exciting anyway, and if you haven’t seen them, they’re new to you, right?. I’ve got almost 50 photos to share in this week’s photo update. We’ll cover New Fantasyland, Rapunzel’s Village, Tinker bell and more!
Today we’re going to get started with some of the final touches coming to Storybook Circus as the land races closer to opening. Make sure you scroll down to the end for a special treat you won’t want to miss. (Note: you can click on the image to see it larger, but you’ll have to click on the link to the full size image on that page to see it in the largest size I uploaded.)
The new Marquee for Storybook Circus is almost done. Looks nice too. Not quite as elaborate as the original concept art showed, but it fits in well with the rest of the area.
Read More »Magic Kingdom Photo Update – Part 1 – Storybook Circus Nears Finish
Back when Big Thunder Mountain Railroad re-opened after its latest refurbishment, there was a lot of speculation about exactly what those nondescript boxes were in the queue. Obviously, they were temporary place holders until something better could be installed, but what is that something. Turns… Read More »Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to Get Interactive Queue
Snuck in at the bottom of a blog post on the Disney Parks Blog is a huge piece of news. When the Beauty and the Beast themed Be Out Guest restaurant opens as part of the New Fantasyland expansion it will serve beer and wine as part of its dinner menu. Outside of private parties, this will be the first time alcohol has been served at the Magic Kingdom, breaking a tradition that goes back to an edict from Walt Disney himself.
Walt did not want adult beverages served at Disneyland. He didn’t think it belonged in a family theme park. He did allow beer at the Holidayland corporate party pavilion, but it was outside the berm. Even then, the park had repeated issues with guests leaving for lunch and then re-entering a few sheets to the wind. Before Walt died, he did approve alcohol sales at Club 33, but went pretty far to make it a private club where the day guest would not be able to get served a drink.
We know that Walt was still against general sales of alcohol in his parks because of his attempt to build a second theme park. After Disneyland was a success, Walt looked east for a great place to build another park. After a lot of research, Walt settled on St. Louis, but when city founders insisted that Walt allow Annheuser Busch to sell beer in the park, Walt declined to build there. Instead he headed south for a little crossroads he remembered from an earlier trip to Florida – Orlando.
Read More »Magic Kingdom to Serve Adult Drinks Starting This Fall