I know this is hard to believe for most Disney fans, but many families only visit Walt Disney World once or twice while the kids are still young. So when and how families decide to tell their children they’re going to the most Magical Place on Earth for vacation is a big deal. In fact, there’s a whole genre of YouTube videos dedicated to taping the big moment of surprise.
Sometimes you wait until the very last minute. Like when they’re already at the airport:
Left him speechless. Kids usually have a slightly more excited reaction, like this:
Or there’s the tried and true, try to figure out the clue method:
While you’re out hopping around Walt Disney World this week, check out these egg-cellent Easter Festivities Delectable chocolate Easter eggs are on display for the fourth year in a row at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. The springtime edible works of art are enormous… Read More »Things to do for Easter while at Walt Disney World Resort
The rumors of a new restaurant opening in the old Adventureland Veranda have been going on for half a decade (if not longer). It hosted the occasional quick service test, was remodeled to host character meet and greets, including most recently Tinker Bell and her… Read More »Adventureland Veranda Restaurant at Magic Kingdom to Reopen with New Theme
My friend’s son is famous. Yesterday, during the stockholder meeting for The Walt Disney Company, her six year old son told her he wanted to asks a question. He waited in queue and when he got to the front he asked a simple direct question,… Read More »Disney’s Hollywood Studios to be receive new name, eventually.
Were you in downtown Boston this morning? If you passed by Faneuil Hall you may have seen the kickoff for Walt Disney World’s summer promotion – the “Coolest Summer Ever.” There is, of course, a Frozen theme and Olaf is the host.
To get the summer season kicked off, Walt Disney World will host its third 24-hour day on May 22-23 at the Magic Kingdom. Olaf will play host at the event.
To announce the 24-hour event and the cool summer season, Disney today brought to life a warm summer scene inspired by Olaf’s dream, creating a 20-foot-wide beach complete with a Cinderella Castle made of sand in the middle of winter-weary Boston.
Surprised pedestrians near historic Faneuil Hall were greeted by Olaf and joined by playful beach-goers in summer attire with beach chairs and beach balls – all reminders of an exciting season of fun ahead at Walt Disney World Resort and a welcome relief from the city’s near-record snowfall approaching nine feet.Read More »24-Hour Day Kicks off the “Coolest Summer Ever” at Walt Disney World
Country singer-songwriter Luke Bryan is known for many hits including “I Don’t Want This Night to End,” “That’s My Kind of Night,” and “Roller Coaster” any one of which he could have been singing to himself while he walked through the Magic Kingdom on vacation… Read More »Country Star Luke Bryan visits the Magic Kingdom
We recently looked at seven attractions that Disney will likely never build again in their theme parks, everybody told me that while the list was accurate, it was also depressing. Today I want to offer a little more hope (in most cases) with ten technologies I expect to see in Disney use in its resorts and attractions soon.
I wrote about some of these in my book “Dispatch from Disneyland” back in 1999 by extrapolating from some very early experiments Walt Disney Imagineering was doing a the time. It’s great to see some of these becoming less speculative fiction and more non-fiction.
1. Increased personalization – This is one of the true promises of MyMagic+ and the RFID and NFC chips that make it possible. As a guest, you won’t just just hear or see your name or image in an attraction, but attractions will change their environment around you based on your preferences. For instance it could adjust sound level, brightness, scariness factor, etc.. Disney can analyze your shopping, dining, and attraction patterns and make suggestions on merchandise, food locations, and attractions may have have missed or when a short line is available for a suitable attraction. The list is pretty much endless and the technology to do most of this is here today.
2. Augmented reality – We’ve seen limited use of virtual reality in Disney Quest, but AR is more about laying facts, data, experiences on top of our existing reality resulting in a more immersive, connected experience. Aurasma is just a parlor trick compared to what we could see here. 3D Augmented Reality is in the near future. There are any number of demo videos out there, here’s a semi-recent one where it’s easy to see some of these ideas translated into theme park experiences.
3. Self-driving Podcars – Yes, it’s the future WALL-E warned us about, but just like the Monorail was the future of transportation back in 1959, the autonomous self-driving podcar is the future of all transportation. Walt Disney World is the perfect place to model this. I wrote a little about this before. The technology has become much more advanced in the last 18 months and Google even has a prototype vehicle which would work perfectly within the confines of Walt Disney World. Come on Bob Chapek, make it happen as your first big move as new Disney Parks & Resorts Chair.
4. Minority Report / Corning Glass – In the not too distant future any surface can be made interactive. Remember this video from Corning?
Yeah, that was 2011. They’re getting a lot closer to making it ready for retail. But first, it needs to show up in a showcase location, and really what better location that Disney, right? I mean you could redo EPCOT’s FutureWorld in this stuff and really blow everyone away.
5. Drones – The burrito drone may seem like a practical joke, but in a resort setting like Walt Disney World, having delivery to your room or spot at a water park by drone is a real possibility. Doesn’t have to be food either, could be lost magic bands, a toothbrush, a special gift from Mickey Mouse. Not sure how this would work inside an attraction, but I trust Disney’s Imagineers to figure it out.
6. Haptic feedback / ultrasonics – This technology will allow what you see in the virtual / augmented reality space to feel real to the touch. Disney Research has been doing a lot of work in this area and I expect to see it brought to theme park attractions in the not too distant future (maybe even in Avatar).
For fans of the Magic Kingdom it’s the two biggest nights of the year, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. It’s a chance to see the park dressed up with extra dose of pixie dust sprinkled liberally around. Definitely two of… Read More »2015 Magic Kingdom Holiday Party Dates Announced
