Disney World Announces Reopening Dates

Disney World announced dates for post-coronavirus re-opening. 

In no real shock to anyone, Disney World in Orlando, Florida has broken their silence on their reopening. The parks have been closed since mid-March along with most other amusement parks and attractions in the Central Florida area.

News broke today that states Disney World's reopening plan has been approved. The parks will reopen with Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom on July 11th, 2020. Epcot and Hollywood Studios will follow four days later, opening on July 15th, 2020.

This date follows the news that both Universal Orlando and several other parks across the country have dropped opening dates for what is left of the 2020 summer travel season. What many aren't considering in the light of this announcement, are the restrictions which will be in place. The gates are just not being thrown open to the 'happiest place on earth'.

Disney has stated both employees and guests will be REQUIRED to wear masks in the parks and also undergo a temperature screening prior to admittance.  Considering how openly flaunted these restrictions have been at Disney Springs (which reopened on May 20th), it doesn't bode well for those who are concerned with safety. Will Disney actually enforce this rule? How will it be enforced? Will those openly violating the rules face consequences? There are no details it be found in regards to how this will be handled.

Park capacity will be 'greatly reduced' and they will offer no parades, night time fireworks shows or other events which cause large gatherings of people. This means that we're likely looking at these parks having a 20-30% capacity in effect, if they follow the model used in the reopening of Shanghai Disneyland. I can tell you already, this will lead to a massive rise in complaints (please be kind to Guest Services, they are trying.) The shows are one of the great draws of the parks, and missing these will lead to a changed experience.

The resort will enable cashless transactions by expanding contactless payments. This is not much in the way of news, but the expansion is a bonus. Over my years of experience both working at theme parks and visiting them, cash transactions have become rare. Most people are using cards or the debit system linked to their Magicbands.

Disney has stated they will increase the number of available hand sanitizing stations.  This is good, but I've heard the argument put that this will 'ruin the immersion'. After a quick poll on Twitter we found that is a 'weak at best, stupid at worst' argument. If a hand sanitizing station ruins your vacation, you probably shouldn't be on vacation.

While this is a good step in the right direction, concerns still arise from the logistics involved, some of which we have mentioned. By no means are these even the tip of the iceberg but Disney, along with Florida as a whole, are pushing hard to get the tourists rolling back in and thus boost the flagging economy during what should be the busy summer season.

There has also been no word in regards to the reopening of the numerous Disney Resort Hotels, Resort Pools, or the Disney Water Parks.

Epcot- Guardians of the Galaxy Construction Update

Construction Update- Guardians of the Galaxy 

Not due to open until 2021, the new indoor roller coaster at Disney World's Epcot Center is under full construction at the park.  It's shockingly obvious  that this new attraction is doing some heavy editing to the pavilion that once hosted 'The Universe of Energy' and 'Ellen's Energy Adventure'.

The most obvious, and jarring, change to the pavilion is the now missing solar tiles which once covered the roof. It gave Energy the 'glowing' look it was famous for over the years, blindingly bright in the Florida sunshine. We've no idea if these will return or if something new will be added to the roof area. As of now, it's rather a blank concrete slate that holds no real hint of what's lurking in the future.

Moving past the roof, the outward appearance of the building hasn't changed. At least not until you look behind it.

I present to you, the newest 'Epcot Eyesore' which is the ride building for Guardians of the Galaxy. It's.. shocking how big and overly obvious it is, at least in it's current state. Hopefully Disney will do something (ANYTHING) to disguise this thing. Painting some type of designs upon the sides, dressing the area of up with trees.. something!

Because not only is it achingly, painfully dull to look at, it completely mucks the monorail view of Epcot. Passing by this thing, all you can think is 'Why is that even there?'.

On the more positive side of this eye-sore, you can see where the coaster will be entering the ride building. I'd go so far as to speculate this is a likely lift-hill that we're looking at. While we can be sure if it will  be a launched lift or a more traditional chain-style, currently it's not enclosed but I'd expect that part will come soon. Currently, you can see any visible track under the small 'roof' area currently slanting into the building.

At least the next parts are far more exciting.  From a view on a nearby bench, you can see into the Energy building and since today was surprisingly breezy, the 'no peeking' flaps were moving about enough that we could snag several photos of the gutted interior.

The back end of the building is completely gone, open now for construction equipment. Inside you can see supports and some track already assembled, taking shape into the new coaster. From the view we had, nothing is completed enough to have themeing elements involved yet beyond some cherry-picker and scissor lifts.

Another good peak inside, while not very visible due to the screening, are several curving track pieces. These seemed to be a banked and descending in a curve . Beyond that we weren't able to get a very good look at the track layout, nor even the shape of the track to see how the 'spinning cars' will play into the attraction.

While we weren't able to get a good look at it, we do know this coaster is a Vekoma design.

Over a year ago the 'prototype' train for this new style coaster was spotted. I say 'prototype' as Vekoma has never built a spinning-car coaster before, but considering their current deal with Disney, they'll likely hold the market on this new style and type of coaster for the normal 10 years.


That's all we've got for now, with the opening date not until 2021, we've got plenty of time to keep an eye on this project!

D23 and Epcot- Oh my!

 "Oh my.." Because honestly folks, I don't have a clue what to say about this much less react. 

Epcot is finally getting some love and a much needed influx of money for Disney. Mostly to bring the park 'up to snuff' for the 50th anniversary happening in 2021, which leaves me feeling very conflicted.

Epcot's 'Norway' May be Safe.. for now.

 Epcot's "Norway" May be Safe.. for now.



 For several months now we've been reporting rumors that Walt Disney World has been considering changing Epcot Centers "Norway" area to something with a 'Frozen' theme based off the hit movie as well as the countries reluctance to pay $9 million for updates to the land and ride found within.

In-case you missed these
The rumor of Frozen/Norway can be found here.
The Norway/Disney $9 Million Demand can be found here.

 For the last few days, Disney has been hinting at a 'Big Announcement' coming at the end of their "The Making of Frozen" special which aired last night ABC Family. This had whipped the speculation wagon into a full gallop with many believing we'd finally learn the fate of Disney's Norway and Maelstorm.

 Well, we can take a relaxed breath, for now. The only annoucement found at the end of "The Making of Fozen" involved the movie getting a new 'movie shot' and not a peep about the World Showcase country. While this may be good news, I hesitate still to accept it as gospel. It could be that Norway is just getting the massive refurbishment the ride Maelstorm and the country overall has needed for years.. or it could mean something else.

 Frankly, I don't know. Speculation exists on both sides of the argument with fans of the movie crying for a Frozen-Norway make-over while fans of Epcot and World Showcase scream that it doesn't belong. Personally, I stand firmly with the Epcot/World Showcase folks.

 We'll simply have to wait and see what the next hints from Disney and rumors mill involve.

Disney Demands Norway Pay $9 Million.. or Arendelle is Coming.

Image and Story from Daily Finance

 Disney Goes Crazy, Demands Norway Pay $9 Million Upgrade to World Showcase Pavilion..

 Now, I freely admit I'm rather alone in my unpopular opinions about Epcot Center and World Showcase in general. You won't find any "Everything Disney Does is Sooooo Wonderful" business in the post below, so don't be too surprised at my rather unflattering and realistic opinions. Here we stand among the few in numbers who still believe Epcot could be about education and entertainment, holding to the principle's which Walt Disney himself wanted.

 Somehow I suspected something like this would happen, Disney Management and Igor Iger has finally gone completely stupid, demanding $9 Million to upgrade the World Showcase pavilion.. or they will turn it into Arendelle from the current hit move, Frozen.

 Yes Folks, Disney has finally lost their collective minds in demanding money in order to get what they want. Supposedly Disney has demanded $9 Million from the country of Norway in order to upgrade and maintain the pavilion or they will turn it into Arendelle, the mythical country in which Queen Elsa and Princess Anna reside.  Now, to be fair, the Norway Pavilion has been needing some attention and updating for several years now. The ride 'Maelstorm' needs a face lift and heavy refurbishment as well as the ending film needing an update. The area could use an overall loving hand to update but all that aside.. never before has Disney entered the world of politics with a demand for money and attention, with a threat tacked onto it.

 Rumors are flying left and right. Since Norway is one of only two countries in World Showcase which have a physical 'ride' involved, it makes it a rather rare place. Many state 'Maelstorm' will be turned into a 'Frozen' themed ride and have been since the movies release. Currently folks are saying this could happen as soon as October if Norway fails to shell out some heavy-duty cash flow.

 Since 'Frozen' has gotten so big, many of us have had uneasy feelings. Disney has a nasty habit of getting exactly what they want, one way or another. With Frozen being so big, they wasted no time in stuffing their newest 'Princess Hit' into a country and theme park where it didn't belong. The movie just keeps gaining in popularity as time keeps going, which has given Disney leverage it's never had in the past, the ability to use thinly hidden threats to gain the upper hand.

 The Norway Pavilion has already suffered from Frozen. The retail store has lost space to host a mass of 'Frozen' merchandise and the Stave Church has been completely converted from Viking and Norwegian History, to that of the mythical country Arendelle. Now, Disney is pushing for the $9 Million they want to 'update' a pavilion which is barely keeping to the culture which inspired it.

 So far, Norway has been very reluctant to fork over that level of cash. More so when you consider their already paying to promote a fictional country rather than their own.

 The downside it that Disney will eventually win on some level. They'll either get the cash to update from Norway or they'll get Arendelle, which has zero business being in World Showcase to begin with.

((Edit: Yes, the source is real.. it's linked up under the photo but I'll re-post it down here for ease of the readers: Daily Finance))

Disney World- "Eat with the Beat" Food and Wine Concerts

 Well Folks,
It's that time of the year again, when preparations for the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival announcements begin!

 While this is one of our favorite events to happen at Disney World over the year, it also happens to be one of the largest and most popular. Drawing in hundreds of thousands, between the established pavilions, the 'country' stands and the concerts, Food and Wine Festival has a winning combination.

 Disney has announced the "Eat with the Beat" concert series artists, which is another one of the large draws to the Food and Wine Festival. Needless to say, we've got the complete list for all your possible planning needs!

The Seas with Nemo and Friends- You Annoy Me

 Many moons ago, when I was a small child I used to love "The Living Seas" pavilion at Epcot Center. It wasn't the most impressive to most people but I always loved how you felt underwater, plus they had one of the only aquariums in Orlando.  However, this new incarnation of the pavilion, featuring projected cartoon Disney fish? It just annoys me.

(Keep Reading- More Below!)

Frozen- Disney's "Next Big Thing "in the Theme Parks and Beyond.

Frozen IS Disney's "Next Big Thing" in the Theme Parks and Beyond.

 Disney's newest movie, Frozen, has been making a killing in theaters. Along with a great cast and wonderful music, the movie is officially becoming the "next big thing" for Disney.

 Already plans have been make to expand upon the property. Disney has announced it will be made into a Broadway Musical, following in the steps of other great movies like Lion King and Little Mermaid.  Disney is already talking Sequels for the movie as well as Video Games and one thing all Disney World Fans are dreading- Integration into the theme parks.

 Bob Iger, the current talking head in charge of The Walt Disney Company, has stated as much on Wednesday according to Variety Magazine.

 We've talked about this before, when rumors first began that "Frozen" could likely take over the attraction "Maelstrom" in Epcot Centers, World Showcase Norway Pavilion (Please See- Rumor Alert: Could Maelstrom become a "Frozen Themed Ride at Epcot?"). However, how Frozen could be developed into the theme parks is still unknown. We're still classing "Frozen Taking Over Maelstrom" as a rumor until some harder news comes to light to change that fact.

Epcot's International Flower and Garden Festival- Event and Concert Info

 Epcot's International Flower and Garden Festival- Event and Concert Information

 While it may be winter in most places, Epcot Center at Walt Disney World has been preparing for their spring event- The Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival.

 This special event runs mostly weekends from March 7th, 2014 through May 18th, 2014.

 While you might not be a huge fan of flowers and gardening, the event has a lot of offer even non-garderny type folks. Amazing topaires, Special events and it's own concert series.

 This year again boasts over 100 specialty floral designs of both popular Disney characters but also designs themed on each country of World Showcase. Along with this the event has returned the popular outdoor food pavilions, much like the popular "Food and Wine" festival with special dishes.

 The two biggest draws are the Concert Series and the Appearance by HGTV stars. We've got the full list of both down below!

Rumor Alert- Could Maelstorm become 'Frozen' themed ride at Epcot?!

Rumor Alert- Could Maelstorm become Frozen Themed at Epcot's World Showcase?!

 Alright, this rumor came out of left field today and really is rather a bit of a surprise. Although I'm surprised it took this long for a "Frozen coming to the theme parks" rumor to surface!

 According to a rumor posted on Screamscape today, WDI is pondering if they can turn the iconic ride "Maelstorm" located at the Norway Pavilion into a "Frozen" theme.

 Now I've got some issues with this as most of the pavilions at World Showcase are partly funded and operated by the country they represent, so Disney would likely require permission from Norway to change over the fan-favorite attraction.

Image from Disney

 While it's also very true that the current versions of Maelstorm is in dire of need of a face-lift due to attraction aging and lack of up-keep, I'd hate to see it disappear. Although no one is currently sure if much needed attention will be paid to the ride anytime soon or if they're simply going to wait for it to fall apart, replacing it only at the end with something new.  Rumor has it the ride is scheduled for a massive refurbishment in 2017 but this is also unconfirmed.

 However, this is still an unconfirmed rumor. As of right now, I rate this as PURE SPECULATION.  If true, all it shows is that Disney has given WDI the go-ahead to dream up various ideas of how an attraction would look and operate, on various budgets. This is often called "Blue Sky Dreaming" by Fans and Insiders.

 As of right now, it's just a concept and a rumor.

Even though Wiki is trying to report this as confirmed, it is NOT!

2013 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Menus

2013 Epcot Food and Wine Menus

Image from Travel with Rick

 Disney has released the menu's for the 2013 Epcot Food and Wine Festival which begins on September 27th and runs through November 11th at World Showcase. Epcot hosts one of the largest Food and Wine festivals out of any of the theme parks and each year adds in something new. This year they have added Scotland, which looks to have some tasty treats!

 Epcot also is one of our favorite theme parks and we try to time our visit's so that the Food and Wine Festival is going on during our visit. We will be in attendance this year during the preview day as well as opening weekend.

Fixing Attractions- Epcot's Imagination Pavilion: Image Works

Time for another in our running series of "Fixing Attractions". This is when there is an attraction, be it a favorite character or a beloved childhood memory that's fallen in the wayside. Passed up for bigger and better things when it's really just the simple charm we all want back. These are solely my ideas, created within my own head and have nothing to do with the theme parks other then how I would fix them if someone let me in charge. I retain all rights to these ideas although your welcome to comment and repost them if you wish!  More ideas make attractions better, after all! 

EPCOT's Imagination! Pavilion

...and boy does it need some love! 

Image from the vaults of my personal photos

This post was originally going to be in two parts. Once focusing on the ride and one on the upstairs area. However I came to the realization that Imagination can't be fixed anymore, it can only be restored to it's original operating condition. Nothing myself or anyone else can come up with will ever hold a candle to the original attraction. So I give you my rant on the Imagination Pavilion's history (for anyone who doesn't already know it) and my own idea on how to fix the Imageworks!

The "Forget Me" Files: Disney Edition

"Disney" Edition
Round One

We all have them. Those memories parks that we wish we didn't have, the one we wish had gotten lost someplace in our mental coding but didn't. The few memories about what scared us as children or even still freak us out as adults. In some cases even things we liked as innocent children that now make us collectively stop and go "My God, That's some freaky shit".

Digging into my own personal memory banks, I give you a small list of things that fall into my own mental list of "Shit I wish I could FORGET, Disney Edition". This is by no means a full collection nor even my own photos as my parents have those and I haven't yet got the motivation to dig threw dusty boxes of ancient history, although I probably should get to that one of these days!

Tonight, I'll give your three examples of various things I WISH I could forget about various trips to Disney World. Each week I plan to present another three things which in turn wigged me out at some point in my life. There is quite a bit of materiel here to work with! So with that, let's begin with the very first set of things which come to mind...

1. The 25th Anniversary Birthday Cake Castle

(As I called it "The Barbie Barf Castle")

Image from Intercot.com

What in the seventh level of Dante's own hell is THIS shit? Yeah that was my reaction too the very first time my innocent childish eyes spotted the beyond pepto-bismal pink shade that Cinderella's Castle was sporting the fall of 1996.  

It was a nightmare. A monstrosity. It was Barbie throwing up her party cake after to many Comsos' in Kens convertible Porsche! The true horror of this thing can't even be explained with words or pictures, you really had to see this for yourself to understand the levels of "DEAR GOD, WHY?!" that happened. 

Hundreds of complaints happened because of this fiasco. People wanted to sue Magic Kingdom for ruining wedding photos and vacations since they didn't tell anyone the dirty trick they where playing on the general public with this one. To this day I can still recall vowing not to step foot in Magic Kingdom until it was gone, I didn't either because.. well just look at it!

2.  The Magical World of Barbie

(As I called it "Barbie Does Epcot")

No. I'm Not Kidding.This shit was REAL. I remember it, I remember being mildly horrified by it.

In 1994 Barbie became the "Friendship Ambassador" of Epcot Center and the bimbo got a series of dolls and her own damn show at American Adventure. Why? We don't have a clue but I'd be willing to bet all my "good" alcohol on the fact Mattel had sponsorship with Disney World and according to some rumors was in contract to give the broad her own show (according to Walt Dated World).  This show was a little girls nightmare come true. Fireworks, Birds, Bad 80s-90s fashion and a pink limo for those must have family photos!

3. Epcot's "People of the World" Dolls.
(As I once said "Incomprehensible SCREECH!")

Image from http://disneyshawn.blogspot.com

Holy Shit. These damn things. I HATED these things, they scared the ever-lovin' hell out of me as a small child. Imagine an 8 foot doll, they walked, they hugged, they BLINKED and LOOKED AT YOU. No, I'm not kidding these things could WATCH you.
In the early years of Epcot these 'Giant Dolls' where dressed as People of the World and wondered about World Showcase shortly after opening in 1982. They didn't last very long, probably due to the fact they terrified both kids and adults! I have a picture someplace of my young toddler self entirely terrorized by one of these things.

Is the END near for Wonders of Life?

BREAKING NEWS

Yesterday on Stitch Kingdom some rather alarming news broke into our normal day.

  Disney World has filed a Notice of Commencement for "Selective Demolition" on the Festival Center which as we should all know by now is the Wonders of Life Pavilion. Once housing such things as BodyWars and Cranium Command,  it was been sitting mostly unused since it's final season in 2006. 

  Now the bigger problem is, 'Selective Demolition' can really mean anything. However I decided to do some research and basiclly 'Selective Demolition' is the gutting of a building, one website describes it as "Selective Demolition, sometimes known as strip-out can include, but is not limited to, the removal of exterior/interior equipment, walls, floors and ceilings". 
  If you'd like to read the public notice, please follow "THIS LINK".

  So in a nutshell we are looking at the true death of this pavilion which has been sitting forever, barely used with most of it's core attractions still in place... to a point. We know BodyWars has been stripped down to an entirely unsafe level to support save money on parts for Star Tours. We know Cranium Command is still sitting while poor Buzzy gathers dust bunnies. We know 'The Making of Me' has been turned into festival space.

  It's just very sad, to see another pavilion going up in flames of nothingness at Epcot. This is how we lost such great attractions like 'Horizons' and this is exactly how our beloved Figment went missing for so very many years. While I've been pushing for years for this space to be re-used I have severe doubts that we'll see anything but more festival space and not a re-birth of a pavilion here. However I hope that Disney and Epcot will surprise me but the way things have been going, I can't say I've got high hopes.

Goodbye Wonders of Life, Many of us shall remember your story and history.

..I just hope someone saves poor Buzzy!

Don't just let him go down with his sinking ship!

Tales from the Firing Line- Test Track: The Legend of Car 19

Happy Friday!
And it's a wonderful Friday for Insanity Lurks Inside, because it's VACATION TIME!
I love vacation, even though our planned trip was cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control it's always nice to have a few days off from the grind! If nothing else it gives time to write out more fun pieces for you wonderful viewers! Cause viewers make me happy and hopefully I give all of you some entertainment too!

Since it's Friday, it's time for yet another "Tales from the Firing Line" and do I ever have a special tale for you today! While it's not a tale of 'When Stupid Attacks.." it is a story your not likely to hear unless you know the right folks who where in the right place, at the right time.

I present to you..

Test Track:

The Legend of Car 19 

Now like most of my stories, this one also requires a basic understanding of the situation. 

When Test Track opened, it was supposed to have exactly 33 ride vehicles. However, it opened with 32 which is still the same number which operated until it went down recently for the massive refurbishment.  The missing car was "Car 19" and let me tell you a story, passed to me from someone who was there to watch it in person.

Before any attraction opens, in any theme park across the country they go threw rather rigorous testing. Not only to work out the kinks in the programing but to ensure the ride is as safe as humans can make it. The more complex the ride and it's systems, the longer and more detailed the testing will be. 

Before Test Track soft opened to the public in December of 1998, they where going threw training and testing when this all began one night.


As we all can guess, the computers controlling Test Track are very complex and have multiple redundant systems controling every action of not only your ride vehicle but the elements of the ride also. This was a seriously complex system, one entire system was devoted to "Car" controls and another massive system controlled the ride elements (Such as the Hot and Cold testing as well as speed and breaking systems which are part of both computer systems).

When the ride went into testing mode before the soft opening, they ran several cars around the track under normal operating parameters, such as the exact show we've all seen. Things worked great!
Then those nice people, the engineers at WDI decided they wanted to know what would happen if there was a major failure or a massive computer problem, when the two controls (One for the cars and one for the Track) stopped communicating. This is when things got interesting.

This is as exact as I can remember it being explained to me.


"So they yanked a few cords to see what would happen just in case. Well they yanked the cords that kept the car in touch with the computer. Imagine a giant sound proof wall stuck in between two things trying to talk. The computer keeps yelling "STOP, STOP!" the car can't hear anything so it assumes everything is normal.. and translates that silence as "Okay, Go anyway!".

So the redundancies in the programing of the car allow it to remember the programed coarse, HOWEVER the braking on the speed test was controlled entire by the computer.
Yeah, so you see the problem and exactly where this is going!

The computer is going "Stop. Stop? STOP!!!" the car is going "Faster. Faster? FASTER!" making it's merry way around the track and as no surprise..  it completely missed the break spot thanks to no computer (telling it when to brake and if it missed the area to stop it) and well.. GIANT FUCKING HOLE was the result.

Car 19 ripped nearly in half with parts falling into the backlot, there was a huge whole in the steel side of the building. For a year or so one could spot the welding marks before they replaced that panel in 2009.  One half that car was dragged in from the emergency tow chains on the bottom. It was bad.. that's why they don't have a car 19 on the track.
 Some years later, another car was painted and marked as "Car 19" but for the first few years one simply didn't exist.  Rumor has it that in the "Testing" area of the queue line the remnants of Car 19 lurked but I was personally never able to find it. Now with Test Track being completely re-themed and refurbished, we may never know.


Now, before you panic.. the ride wasn't open yet when this happened! It's what is normally called "A dry test run" when no one, not even ride dummy's are in the ride vehicle.  So no humans or dummy's where hurt in the testing of this ride.. just the wall!
This also wouldn't be reported as an accident. It was technically still testing, it let them fix a flaw in the computer systems that otherwise would have existed without a heavy testing period. So now if communications did somehow get cut off between the cars and the computer system the ride can and will Emergency stop the entire ride, even in the middle of the speed run.

This has been the Legend of Car 19.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Independence Day America!

In honor of today being the 4th of July and this year being Epcot's 30th Anniversary, I give you something fun to watch! Because who doesn't love a good Fireworks Show! 

  

May you all have a safe and wonderful Holiday Celebration!

Insanity Lurks Inside would also like to say:

THANK YOU

To all the American Soliders who keep us a safe and free country to live in! 

Without you wonderful and dedicated folks, we'd be lost!  

Daily Distractions- 6/26

Daily Distraction 6/26

Good Morning!
You may have noticed, Daily Distractions has been a bit spotty on updates lately. Well it's an easy explanation, I've got to dig up new material for you lovely folks! That's right, the list I made when I began 'Daily Distractions' has pretty much empty now. So this week, I'll be hunting down fun and exciting new things to post up for the Daily Distractions!

Anyway, let's get onto today's distraction!

Today I've got something fun and very much geeky for you, a lovely set of blue-prints which feature many of Disney's Signature rides from all their parks across the globe! This lovely set of goodies comes to us from a Flickr user named Enfilm. How they have all these I've got no idea but I'd love to have some of them printed as wall art for myself!

Enfilm's Photostream

Random News- Things Missed Edition. Part 1.

Good Afternoon,

Well I promised an update of all the crazy things which have been going on, most of which where missed due to the lone staff member here being out of town for the weekend. Well, It took some digging around online and checking of many various websites but I've got it now!

Let's start with Universal Orlando.
-As expected USO has raised their ticket prices, this comes not long after Disney Parks had raised all of their rates across the board. It seems like every two years if one raises prices the other shoe drops not far behind them. USO's new base ticket price is sitting at $89. An increase of $1 to match the old rate of Disney World. Orlando Sentinel- USO Ticket Price Raise

-Also over at USO the new attraction Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem has begin limited "Technical Rehearsals" to limited numbers of guests. This means they are working out the various kinks in the ride and it's not yet open for full operation. Universal stated it will be opening this summer but they have not yet announced a date, you can read the full blub about Minion Mayhem in the Orlando Sentinel!

Epcot Center.
-The new "Brave: Highland Games" attraction is now open over at Epcot Center now threw July 9th.

Orlando Theme Park News has a great photo line up and write up of this new kid-friendly attraction themed off their new Pixar movie Brave.

Magic Kingdom.
-Well Disney Parks Blog posted up a 'Sneak Peek' of the new Dueling Dumbo's snazzy interactive queue line that's hidden within the massive tent directly behind the attraction. This is where the new line will be housed as soon as the effects are completed. Personally, I like the way it looks and it seems like a lot of creativity went into this project. Check out the video below! 

DisneyLand.
Well not to leave the West Coast out, Disneyland has finally opened up the new CarsLand area to Special Guests and Annual Pass Member's as a soft opening. Needless to say it didn't take very long to photos and video to hit the interent! I've been trying for months now to get photos of the progress but none of my sources have ever panned out, so I guess we're let to folks with more time and money then me to get these photos and videos!
Theme Park Insider did a nice PhotoTour of the area.
I also found online a full ride-threw video of the big ticket attraction "Radiator Springs Racers" on YouTube! It reminds me a LOT of Test Track but with a new theme and better technology! Check it out below.

Needless to say this isn't all the news floating around in the theme park world right now! However, I'll devote another page to even more news here shortly!

Hope you've enjoyed this little news round-up, keep your eyes open for more coming soon!

Daily Distraction- Saturday 6/2

Saturday 6/2-

We've got something special for you this morning!
From the journal of Steve Alcorn, a major designer and builder of one of my favorite places on earth.. Epcot Center. Full of pictures and notes, watch epcot grow threw the eyes of an Imagineer.  If your a reader, I'd also suggest picking up his book "Building a Better Mouse" it's a fun read if your into the history and details of building a theme park!

Steve Alcon- Building Epcot

Epcot Food and Wine Festival 2012

Disney Parks Blog has released new, updated information about the 2012 Epcot Food and Wine festival. New additions are abound this year! Running September 28th threw November 12th, 46 days of fun at Epcot! Also note that there is almost always a preview day for Food and Wine, probably on September 27th.. but you didn't hear that from me.

Two New Market Places: Terra Market Place offering up vegan and vegetarian plates like "Trick'n Chik'n Curry" and "Cashew Cheese" for the non-meatitarians. Florida Market Place is offering local favorites for the tourist trying to get in touch with the real Florida.

VIP Market Place Chief Tours:  Every Wednesday, feel like a star as a Food and Wine chief takes your group around to five various locations for food and wine tastings.. perhaps even a secret or two.

 Kid-Friendly Tastes: New recipes for kid-friendly juice drinks and food, such as beef empanadas and cheese fondue.

Back for an Encore: HGTV designers will be present randomly, Celeberity chefs will also be popping in and out. Culinary demonstrations and special Wine seminars are always on the offering table at the Events Center (Former Wonders of Life Pavilion).  Party for the Senses is also returning again this year, the dates are:  October 6, 13, 20, 27 as well as November 3.

Eat to the Beat: Returning again this year, Eat while enjoying music from top bands all included with your admission! Bands and Dates are below.

2012 Eat to the Beat Concert Line Up

9/28-9/30: Night Ranger
10/1-10/3: Sugar Ray
10/4- 10/7: STARSHIP starring Mickey Thomas
10/8-10/10: Boyz II Men
10/11-10/12: Smash Mouth (NEW)
10/13-10/14: Javier Colon, winner of “The Voice” (NEW)
10/15-10/17: Air Supply
10/18-10/19: Gin Blossoms
10/20-10/21: Survivor
10/22-10/23: Hanson
10/24-10/25: The Pointer Sisters
10/26-10/28: Sister Hazel
10/29-10/31: Billy Ocean
11/1-11/2: 38 Special
11/3-11/4: Howard Jones LIVE
11/5-11/6: Blues Traveler (NEW)
11/7-11/8: Dennis DeYoung, original member of the group STYX (NEW)
11/9-11/11: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Personally, the Food and Wine festival is one of my favorite times at Epcot. Lucky me it also falls during my Anniversary so I can almost always count on a trip to Disney! You can eat (and drink) your complete way around the world! For those that aren't familiar with Food and Wine,  Epcot sets up dozens upon dozens of additional countries to sample in the form of kiosks.  From the Caribbean islands of Jamaica and Porto Rico all the way to Korea, Australia and Taiwan. Never think your just sampling the Pavilion Counties, Epcot goes all out for the foodie (and Drinker) extravaganza!