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New Haunted Mansion 3D Model based on Sam McKim Concept Art

From almost at the beginning of that period when Walt Disney was envisioning how his little part to be known as Disneyland would come together there was a Haunted Mansion. At one point it was located on Main Street, in another in Adventureland. Disney Artist… Read More »New Haunted Mansion 3D Model based on Sam McKim Concept Art

Toy Story Midway Mania: New 4-D Video Game from Disney/Pixar

Toy Story Midway Mania! MarqueeToy Story Midway Mania is a new 4-D video game opening soon at Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts. Guests ride through a series of Midway games, each with a different concept related to a Toy Story character, and use a unique ‘pull-string cannon’ to launch various projectiles at various targets and easter eggs in order to score points and be awarded a virtual prize.

What puts the Disney touch on this game is the great design of the queue and loading area and the amazing integration of 3-D and 4-D (real world) effects to raise the experience above something you could otherwise find at home in your living room. That and the addition of the characters from Pixar’s popular Toy Story series.

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Star Tours 2.0 confirmed (again)

It was last year about this time when Anthony Daniels (C3PO in the Star Wars trilogies), talking at the 30th Anniversary Star Wars Celebration, let slip that he had recorded some tracks for a new version of Star Tours. Needless to say, that generated a… Read More »Star Tours 2.0 confirmed (again)

Behind the Scenes at Turtle Talk with Crush

Disney’s Living Character Initiative combines computer animation, video games, puppeteering, and themed design with the goal of totally involving the audience in the manufactured world through new levels of interaction. One of LCI’s earlier appearances in Disney’s theme parks was as part of “Turtle Talk… Read More »Behind the Scenes at Turtle Talk with Crush

Disney Links for Thursday Night – Roundup

  • The Orlando Sentinel reports that much of the McDonald’s food offered at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is going away. That would certainly be good news if Disney is able to replace it with quality food for the same prices.
  • The OC Register has a pretty odd story concerning The Cheesecake Factory at Gardenwalk Anaheim. Did you know that Cheesecake Factory restaurants don’t have kid’s menus. Isn’t that odd in an area where you’d expect to find a lot of families with kids.
  • Doug Meacham examines the Walt Disney Company’s efforts when it comes to Online Virtual Games. He also wonders why Disney is closing VMK.
  • Speaking of VMK, Blue Sky Disney has a wonderful vision of what a real Virtual Magic Kingdom would be like. It’s very similar to a column I wrote back in February of 2000 (which in turn pre-saged the PalMickey’s now sold in the parks).
  • Eric Haseltine used to lead Walt Disney Imagineering’s R&D department, now he works for the NSA. Jason Kottke reports on a recent speech Haseltine gave. Apparently there is some overlap between working for the mouse and snooping on your fellow citizens.

Below the fold see the latest WALL-E clip where he encounters a pair of earphones. Very funny.

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Real WALL-E to Greet Tourists at Theme Parks

Update: the photos below have been removed. There has been a rumor that Disney’s Imagineers whipped up a real life version of WALL-E, the star of the same named film from Pixar later this year. Well, it’s no rumor. Mr Fox was at the Walt… Read More »Real WALL-E to Greet Tourists at Theme Parks

Hong Kong Disneyland opens “it’s a Disney character world”

Hong Kong Disneyland has shown some recent success in growing its attendance numbers by selling the Chinese on what they already know — their own culture. Year of the Rat Mouse and Chairman Mickey have been two successful promotions for the struggling park. Now the… Read More »Hong Kong Disneyland opens “it’s a Disney character world”

Linky Disney Goodness – Thursday Roundup

Bob Logan has some amazing up-close portraits of the audio-animatronics from Disneyland’s Pirates Of The Caribbean attraction. Elisabeth reports back from her trip to Disney World as part of the Disney Mom’s Panel. She dishes on the one thing that really excited her… the food.… Read More »Linky Disney Goodness – Thursday Roundup