R.A. Pedersen's Blog, page 18
March 3, 2012
New Fantasyland Photo Update with Mermaid Castle Details
With the first phased openings of New Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World fast approaching, work is chugging along behind the refurbishment walls. Circusland is working on installing planters, trees, and other final touches. One of the tent, seem poking out from behind below, is almost completely re skinned while the other is in final preparations.
Meanwhile, the adjacent Little Mermaid attraction building reached a major milestone by finally adding its last tower cap...
March 2, 2012
Jaws at Universal Mass Grading Permits and Building Layout
We don't often venture into what's going on over at Universal, as it's technically outside the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" boundaries, but if something rather interesting pops up we'll give it a look.
As is the current case with the now defunct Jaws attraction at Universal Studios Orlando. Universal closed the attraction and began demolition without any word on what it was to become. So, it's a mystery with many rumors. It's a large plot of land and Jaws was a major...
Photos: Seas with Nemo and Friends Adding Alternate Entry Tunnel
By this point, if you commonly watch Walt Disney World and Epcot rumor blogs you're probably quite accustomed to seeing photos of the black curtains hung up in the queue of The Seas with Nemo and Friends. They probably look something like this:
Well, with a little bit of exploring, and the brilliant idea to simply walk RIGHT instead of left when leaving Turtle Talk with Crush (it exits into a hallway attached to the side of the Nemo and Friends queue) we discovered it's a tunnel under...
Confirmed: Daytime Monorail Closures Due to Grand Floridian Construction
UPDATE MARCH 2ND: Confirmed, the monorails on the Resort and Express lines will be closed daily from 11:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. through the end March 2012. The original rumor of these closings posted February 26, 2012, is below.
Recently, Disney research teams have been spotted tallying monorail passengers at the various stops on the monorail line as well as at the ferry boat docks during the midday periods. Once questioned, it was reported that they are measuring ridership levels in order to ...
March 1, 2012
Official: Tigger Bouncy Place to Become Pooh Meet and Greet
Disney filed paperwork today to install a new Winnie the Pooh meet and greet in the location of the former Tigger's Bouncy Place portion of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction queue. This explains the permit last month to demolish that portion of the ride queue and will give Pooh a new home at the Magic Kingdom park. However, this doesn't put the FASTPASS for one of Walt Disney World's most popular attractions back -near- the attraction. Back when they first built the...
February 29, 2012
Disney World to Add Property-Wide Wifi
A quick note: today Disney filed paperwork to install property-wide WiFi at the Walt Disney World resort. The contractor is Crown Castle, whose website touts their large scale shared multi-user WiFi installations.
February 28, 2012
How the Art of Animation Resort Gets Its Art Panels
On our most recent trip to Walt Disney World we stumbled onto a painter working on the forthcoming Art of Animation Resort across the lake from the Pop Century Resort. We were lucky to see the process of applying the massive page/sketch/cell designs to the building. We were able to get some pictures to share with you and a glimpse into understanding the process. It's rather fascinating how they accomplish the look.
First they paint the building out in general – for example this below is a...
February 27, 2012
Magic Kingdom to Test FASTPASS for Parades and Fireworks in March
The Magic Kingdom park at the Walt Disney World resort will be testing FASTPASS reserved viewing areas for evening parades and fireworks shows throughout the month of March 2012. The locations along the parade route, primarily in the hub, will be roped off in advance of the showtimes with a Cast Members permitting only guests with the requisite FASTPASS into the area.
Distribution of FASTPASS for the reserved viewing locations will be done by hand, at random, by Cast Members in the park...
February 26, 2012
Rumor of Daytime Monorail Closures Due to Grand Floridian Construction
Recently, Disney research teams have been spotted tallying monorail passengers at the various stops on the monorail line as well as at the ferry boat docks during the midday periods. Once questioned, it was reported that they are measuring ridership levels in order to predict the number of buses and boats needed in operation to compensate for a planned daytime shutdown of the monorail system.
The proposed shutdown would take place daily from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. and affect the Resort and...
February 25, 2012
Walt Disney World Leap Day Midnight Snack Meet from TouringPlans!
My friendly part-time employers and fabulous writers of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World are hosting a Midnight Meet at the Magic Kingdom overnight on February 29th, 2012. As part of the One More Disney Day festivities TouringPlans.com is having Babycakes NYC host a little shindig at the Tomorrowland Terrace at midnight while the park is open until 6 a.m. RVSP via Plancast so they know how many cupcakes to bring.
Afterward, from 1 a.m until park close they'll also be hosting a series ...
