Stu
28 Dec 05, 02:48 PM
Grounded for Launch?
More rumors are starting to emerge on Space Mountain receiving a fairly major refurbishment sometime in the not-so-distant future. Unlike earlier rumors though, the consensus from the rumor mill seems to be that this refurbishment will not be as major as the one that was recently conducted at Disneyland. While significant, this refurbishment would not replace all of the track and such, at least according to current rumors. There has been no concrete timetable reported for this rumored refurbishment.
Sounds Like a Replacment
The rumors for the replacement of the former Superstar TV & Sounds Dangerous buildings at Disney-MGM Studios appears to be gaining more steam. The current rumors still contend that the replacement will not be a ride attraction, but rather a show or exhibit base attraction. The rumors are now pointing to construction on this area starting sometime in 2006 with no completion date rumored at this time. It has also been additionally reported by Insiders that this will likely be the last new attraction at the Studios for the near term, and rather a number of attraction will receive refurbishments before any more new attractions are built.
(Photo) Movie Premier
Disney’s PhotoMovie service has completed it’s beta test period and has now gone into full operation. The service is still charging the same price as during the beta test period ($49.95 for the first DVD and $19.95 for any additional copies. There appear to be no significant change between the beta test period and the full operation mode.
Music to a Family’s Ears
More information has started to emerge on the test family suites at the All-Star Music. Contrary to previous reports, it is now being reported that all of the test suites do have a kitchenette and there are actually 3 different test suites each one a slightly different model. Another point of clarity is that the former reports of the windows being altered on the exterior of the suite was in reference to the replacement of one of the doors; there is only one door to the suite the other has been replaced by a French window.
One of these test suites has now been reported to be located in the Jazz building and features the general layout of a sitting room and a master bedroom. The suite features a kitchenette with sink, built in mini-fridge and microwave. The suite features 3 televisions; 2 in the sitting room and one in the master bedroom. The 2 in the sitting room are split between on facing the main couch and the other in an alcove facing two large sitting chairs. The sitting room features an a set of bench seats surrounding a small table apparently for dinning. The suite features a new vanity area off the master bedroom with two sinks built into one counter top, but the actual bathroom remains unchanged (it also appears that this is the only bathroom in the suite). The sitting room features a pull out sleeper sofa and two chair pull out sleeper singles while the master bedroom features a double bed; for a total of presumably 6 occupants per this model of suite. There have not been any reports of the other two models so far.
Seas of Change
Rumors are now starting to circulate that the Phase II re-grand opening of the Living Seas Pavilion will be in October 2006. The new ride that is expected to open with the pavilion at this time is rumored to be called Nemo's Undersea Adventure.
Wonders of Operation
The Wonders of Life pavilion has indeed been operational since December 18th as scheduled. One note of interest during this operation has been the reported addition of FastPass machines for Body Wars. While this may seem contradictory to the rumors of the pavilion being shuttered for good in the new year, it has been reported that during previous holiday operations the lines for Body Wars were extremely long. The fate of the pavilion still seems fairly uncertain at this point, but the leading rumors are that the pavilion is currently having it’s last period of operation; of course this has also been the leading rumor before with no fruition of a permanent closure.
Yo-Ho –Yo-Ho A Rehabbed Life for Me
Rumors a Pirates of the Caribbean refurbishment have resurface again. Rumors are now pointing to a May through Mid-September 2006 refurbishment. As previously rumored, this refurbishment would be to a lesser magnitude that what is currently scheduled for Disneyland’s version. This refurbishment is rumored to include the addition of 3 Jack Sparrow animatronics and a few other movie tie-ins. Purely rumors at this point, Disney has made no announcement to support any rehab in the near future.
Make a (Character) Connection
Some new information has started to surface on the new test catch-all meet & greet in Epcot’s Future World. In addition, to the daily operation of 9 am – 5 pm the meet & greet area will also be open during nights when Epcot has Evening Extra Magic hours for the duration of the event. The official description of the characters in rotation are described as “VIP Characters”, there however appears to be no official list of the characters appearing. It also has however been officially acknowledged that this is a direct replacement for the Disney Characters on Holiday daily presentations. The official description of operation is that guests enter one main queue and meet up to five different characters depending on availability. Thusly supporting the reports that it would operate in a similar fashion to the Timekeeper Lobby meets, in that; one main queue feeds into multiple characters. While the current state of the area is quite plain it is reported that if the initial period of testing is received well, permanent backdrops will be added for the remainder of the test period.
CD Your Way
Fairly recently, Wonderland Music CD-on-Demand Systems have been added to the Main Street Cinema and Once Upon a Toy. Not sure exactly when these kiosk were added but they allow guests to obtain of out-of-print Disney music albums. Seven new albums have been released into the system: The Walt Disney World Band, Musical Highlights from the Mickey Mouse TV Show, The Jungle Book Storyteller, The Hall of Presidents, Mickey Mouse and His Friends, Multiplication & Division and Addition & Subtraction. The previous albums already available in the system include Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, The Enchanted Tiki Room, Golden Horseshoe Revue, America Sings, a Professor Ludwig von Drake character album, a “Disney Afternoon” casts album, a character album featuring Mickey Mouse; and star showcases featuring such Disney greats as Annette Funicello and Fess Parker. It is reported that further out-of-print albums will be added to the system in the very near future. Each CD costs $15.98 plus tax.
Smoking Not-so-Pop
The number of smoking rooms at the Pop Century Resort has been reportedly reduced. It should be noted that the number of smoking rooms here were small relative to other resorts, so the new number of smoking rooms is now even smaller.
Update: Everest
The Walt Disney company has recently purchased the following internet domain names everestclimberguy.com and mountainclimberguy.com. Neither site is currently active, and Disney does have a past history of purchasing domain names to simply prevent others from obtaining them, however; this has lead to some speculation about the net that Expedition: Everest may have” climbers” performing daily on the mountain. These purchase could have some other purpose as well. There is no concrete evidence to support this claim, it is nearly pure speculation based off the purchase of the domain names.
In regards to the construction, a new beverage kiosk and vacation club booth have both reportedly opened near the attraction. The new beverage location is called the Royal Anandapur Tea Company. In other Everest related new it is expected that the official site for the attraction will go into full launch January 16th, 2006. It is expected at this time Disney will make a formal announcement for the official grand opening of the ride, which this point has officially only been narrowed down to April 2006.
Pleasure Island
The big buzz going around Orlando’s mouse house is that Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney will never been the same again after this New Years Eve.
The nightly NYE celebration (with Fireworks) will apparently no longer take place starting January 1st.
The West End Stage will be demolished to allow for a complete rebuilt of the entrance area to take advantage of the crowds in the West Side that didn’t exist back with Pleasure Island was built other than a little run-off from the smaller version of the AMC Theater.
With free admission to PI now in place for most of the last year (you only pay cover at the door to get into certain clubs now) Disney seems ready to redesign the concept of the entire complex and it’s offerings. And older rumors that was tossed about the rumor mill for some time was a rumored conversion of the Rock ‘n Roller Beach Club into a bowling alley. If my source is right, Disney may have scored a deal with Lucky Strike Lanes to bring one of their hip “Bowling Lounge” attractions to Pleasure Island in the near future. The Lucky Strike Lanes feature a restaurant area, a bar, bowling lanes mixed with cool music and artwork, and often a billiards area as well. More on this as we find out.
More rumors are starting to emerge on Space Mountain receiving a fairly major refurbishment sometime in the not-so-distant future. Unlike earlier rumors though, the consensus from the rumor mill seems to be that this refurbishment will not be as major as the one that was recently conducted at Disneyland. While significant, this refurbishment would not replace all of the track and such, at least according to current rumors. There has been no concrete timetable reported for this rumored refurbishment.
Sounds Like a Replacment
The rumors for the replacement of the former Superstar TV & Sounds Dangerous buildings at Disney-MGM Studios appears to be gaining more steam. The current rumors still contend that the replacement will not be a ride attraction, but rather a show or exhibit base attraction. The rumors are now pointing to construction on this area starting sometime in 2006 with no completion date rumored at this time. It has also been additionally reported by Insiders that this will likely be the last new attraction at the Studios for the near term, and rather a number of attraction will receive refurbishments before any more new attractions are built.
(Photo) Movie Premier
Disney’s PhotoMovie service has completed it’s beta test period and has now gone into full operation. The service is still charging the same price as during the beta test period ($49.95 for the first DVD and $19.95 for any additional copies. There appear to be no significant change between the beta test period and the full operation mode.
Music to a Family’s Ears
More information has started to emerge on the test family suites at the All-Star Music. Contrary to previous reports, it is now being reported that all of the test suites do have a kitchenette and there are actually 3 different test suites each one a slightly different model. Another point of clarity is that the former reports of the windows being altered on the exterior of the suite was in reference to the replacement of one of the doors; there is only one door to the suite the other has been replaced by a French window.
One of these test suites has now been reported to be located in the Jazz building and features the general layout of a sitting room and a master bedroom. The suite features a kitchenette with sink, built in mini-fridge and microwave. The suite features 3 televisions; 2 in the sitting room and one in the master bedroom. The 2 in the sitting room are split between on facing the main couch and the other in an alcove facing two large sitting chairs. The sitting room features an a set of bench seats surrounding a small table apparently for dinning. The suite features a new vanity area off the master bedroom with two sinks built into one counter top, but the actual bathroom remains unchanged (it also appears that this is the only bathroom in the suite). The sitting room features a pull out sleeper sofa and two chair pull out sleeper singles while the master bedroom features a double bed; for a total of presumably 6 occupants per this model of suite. There have not been any reports of the other two models so far.
Seas of Change
Rumors are now starting to circulate that the Phase II re-grand opening of the Living Seas Pavilion will be in October 2006. The new ride that is expected to open with the pavilion at this time is rumored to be called Nemo's Undersea Adventure.
Wonders of Operation
The Wonders of Life pavilion has indeed been operational since December 18th as scheduled. One note of interest during this operation has been the reported addition of FastPass machines for Body Wars. While this may seem contradictory to the rumors of the pavilion being shuttered for good in the new year, it has been reported that during previous holiday operations the lines for Body Wars were extremely long. The fate of the pavilion still seems fairly uncertain at this point, but the leading rumors are that the pavilion is currently having it’s last period of operation; of course this has also been the leading rumor before with no fruition of a permanent closure.
Yo-Ho –Yo-Ho A Rehabbed Life for Me
Rumors a Pirates of the Caribbean refurbishment have resurface again. Rumors are now pointing to a May through Mid-September 2006 refurbishment. As previously rumored, this refurbishment would be to a lesser magnitude that what is currently scheduled for Disneyland’s version. This refurbishment is rumored to include the addition of 3 Jack Sparrow animatronics and a few other movie tie-ins. Purely rumors at this point, Disney has made no announcement to support any rehab in the near future.
Make a (Character) Connection
Some new information has started to surface on the new test catch-all meet & greet in Epcot’s Future World. In addition, to the daily operation of 9 am – 5 pm the meet & greet area will also be open during nights when Epcot has Evening Extra Magic hours for the duration of the event. The official description of the characters in rotation are described as “VIP Characters”, there however appears to be no official list of the characters appearing. It also has however been officially acknowledged that this is a direct replacement for the Disney Characters on Holiday daily presentations. The official description of operation is that guests enter one main queue and meet up to five different characters depending on availability. Thusly supporting the reports that it would operate in a similar fashion to the Timekeeper Lobby meets, in that; one main queue feeds into multiple characters. While the current state of the area is quite plain it is reported that if the initial period of testing is received well, permanent backdrops will be added for the remainder of the test period.
CD Your Way
Fairly recently, Wonderland Music CD-on-Demand Systems have been added to the Main Street Cinema and Once Upon a Toy. Not sure exactly when these kiosk were added but they allow guests to obtain of out-of-print Disney music albums. Seven new albums have been released into the system: The Walt Disney World Band, Musical Highlights from the Mickey Mouse TV Show, The Jungle Book Storyteller, The Hall of Presidents, Mickey Mouse and His Friends, Multiplication & Division and Addition & Subtraction. The previous albums already available in the system include Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, The Enchanted Tiki Room, Golden Horseshoe Revue, America Sings, a Professor Ludwig von Drake character album, a “Disney Afternoon” casts album, a character album featuring Mickey Mouse; and star showcases featuring such Disney greats as Annette Funicello and Fess Parker. It is reported that further out-of-print albums will be added to the system in the very near future. Each CD costs $15.98 plus tax.
Smoking Not-so-Pop
The number of smoking rooms at the Pop Century Resort has been reportedly reduced. It should be noted that the number of smoking rooms here were small relative to other resorts, so the new number of smoking rooms is now even smaller.
Update: Everest
The Walt Disney company has recently purchased the following internet domain names everestclimberguy.com and mountainclimberguy.com. Neither site is currently active, and Disney does have a past history of purchasing domain names to simply prevent others from obtaining them, however; this has lead to some speculation about the net that Expedition: Everest may have” climbers” performing daily on the mountain. These purchase could have some other purpose as well. There is no concrete evidence to support this claim, it is nearly pure speculation based off the purchase of the domain names.
In regards to the construction, a new beverage kiosk and vacation club booth have both reportedly opened near the attraction. The new beverage location is called the Royal Anandapur Tea Company. In other Everest related new it is expected that the official site for the attraction will go into full launch January 16th, 2006. It is expected at this time Disney will make a formal announcement for the official grand opening of the ride, which this point has officially only been narrowed down to April 2006.
Pleasure Island
The big buzz going around Orlando’s mouse house is that Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney will never been the same again after this New Years Eve.
The nightly NYE celebration (with Fireworks) will apparently no longer take place starting January 1st.
The West End Stage will be demolished to allow for a complete rebuilt of the entrance area to take advantage of the crowds in the West Side that didn’t exist back with Pleasure Island was built other than a little run-off from the smaller version of the AMC Theater.
With free admission to PI now in place for most of the last year (you only pay cover at the door to get into certain clubs now) Disney seems ready to redesign the concept of the entire complex and it’s offerings. And older rumors that was tossed about the rumor mill for some time was a rumored conversion of the Rock ‘n Roller Beach Club into a bowling alley. If my source is right, Disney may have scored a deal with Lucky Strike Lanes to bring one of their hip “Bowling Lounge” attractions to Pleasure Island in the near future. The Lucky Strike Lanes feature a restaurant area, a bar, bowling lanes mixed with cool music and artwork, and often a billiards area as well. More on this as we find out.