Pity the poor Disco Yeti. Touted as the animatronic to end all animatronics; jet powered with an amazing range of motion; guaranteed to scare the living daylights out of thousands of roller coaster riders on Expedition Everest daily; and yet, seemingly forever frozen in a… Read More »Revenge of the Disco Yeti
Events in Japan continue to teeter on the edge of disaster. Whether you’re a villager in Northeastern Japan whose every day is a fight for the basic necessities of survival in a post-tsunami zone or a resident of Fukushima or nearby cities (including Tokyo) where… Read More »When Should Tokyo Disneyland Reopen?
I’ve been holding off on posting about the new Haunted Mansion interactive queue hoping I could get over there and see it in person. Unfortunately, I’ve been under the weather lately, so visiting the Magic Kingdom isn’t an option. So instead, I present a special preview from Walt Disney Imagineering:
The new queue is currently in soft-opening phase. That means it may not be open when you’re there.
I’m a big fan of the idea behind the interactive queue and have been since Roger Rabbit Toon Town Spin and Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland. I can’t wait to see this for myself. In the meantime, if you want a mega-spoiler edition of the above preview, check out this video from Inside the Magic on Youtube below the jump (since it has spoilers):
Read More »Disney Previews New Interactive Queue for Orlando’s Haunted Mansion
The Walt Disney Company has had a presence in Japan almost 30 years and the animation products produced by Walt Disney have a huge following in Japan. So to say there is a lot of goodwill between the Disney legacy and the people of Japan is an understatement. It’s terrific to see the Disney company and its employees reach out to make a sizable donation to help the people of Japan in their time of emergency.
According the press release below, The Walt Disney Company and its employees will send as much as $1.5 million to the relief effort. $2.5 in an initial donation to the American Red Cross and up to another $1 million in employee donations and matching funds to the Red Cross and Save the Children. That’s a pretty sizable sum and a great gesture from Disney.
Additionally Disney has reached out to both US and international employees in Tokyo with help and the OLC will provide those international cast who desire it a round-trip ticket home and then back to Tokyo when the park opens again.
The full press release is below the jump:
Read More »The Walt Disney Company to Donate up to $3.5 Million to Japan Recovery Effort
The Primeval Whirl roller coaster at Disney’s Animal Kingdom added another chapter to its troubled history after a worker injured Sunday while doing repair work on the attraction died today. That worker, identified as 52-year old Russell Roscoe of Webster, FL, died in the hospital… Read More »Disney Worker dies after injuries from accident at Primeval Whirl in Disney’s Animal Kingdom
A few quick updates from Tokyo Disneyland.
Although entertainment cast members had been called in to rehearse on Monday, the rehearsals were canceled due to rolling blackouts scheduled for mid-day at the resort. Cast Members are dealing with their own blackouts and struggles for food and water, but a group of Disney entertainment cast members who found themselves freed up from the canceled rehearsal, picked up rakes and shovels and went out into the community to help clear away some of the debris and silt from the homes of elderly.
Here’s a pic of the crew from Disney performer @JarrodLentz‘s twitter stream. Lentz said of the adventure, “The human spirit will not be broke” and “Helping people was the best medicine so far.” I continue to be astounded by how professional and caring Tokyo Disneyland cast has been in the face of tragedy.
Although myself and others had speculated that liquefaction damage near the Monorail stations would result in a long delay in the trains returning to service. That has not been the case. Here’s a short video showing damage near one of the monorails and in the second half you can see them testing the monorail. So that’s good news for Tokyo Disneyland and OLC.
The parks themselves continue on a schedule to open after the 21st. Meanwhile they’re assessing damage and making small repairs. Below the jump is a press release put out by the Oriental Land Company after the quake:
Read More »Tokyo Disneyland closed to assess damage, Monorail testing underway
A few years ago the Walt Disney Company tried something new, a yearbook. It was available via special order and in limited locations in the parks. Unfortunately, while initial enthusiasm for the product was high, the actual book that was produced failed to meet expectations… Read More »2010 Disney World Yearbook (excuse me) ‘Earbook, a Great Find
Update: It’s not that often, I’m made to eat my words so quickly… but check out this twitpic from @GDPInvestigator – http://twitpic.com/439m6g Looks like a new sign was installed in the last few days. Have to say that’s a vast improvement over what I complained about below. Anyone know if they’ve fixed the menu item issue? Cheers all around if they’ve fixed that too.
The recent switch of the under utilized El Pirata Y El Perico counter service location to Tortuga Tavern encapsulates what Disney does so right and what is so wrong with Disney all in the same spot. A new overlay ties the restaurant directly to the recent Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise and converts that section of Adventureland into a whole Pirate mini-land. Yet, at the same time, something went significantly wrong.
Let’s start with some of the good stuff.