D23

[ktlm]

According to the Disney Blog, posted a few hours ago: One Man's Dream will close right after D23 Expo is over instead of September 27th.
Also other certain, likely and less likely announcements are listed.

http://thedisneyblog.com/2015/08/09/disneys-hollywood-studios-reimagining-what-we-know-so-far/

UGH, I was really hoping One Man's Dream would still be open for our trip later this year. DD has been obsessed with Walt's history since she did 2 different school projects about him last year and I was really looking forward to taking her through it for the first time. I know she would have loved it.

 

[Mom of Jack 2009]

Between the closure of Animation Academy, One Man's Dream, and the rumored Lights Motors Action show, I am seriously disappointed. Had I know that all of these attractions were closing when I booked, I may have chosen to do one fewer day at Disney and have saved some money or planned a day at Universal. It seems like they should give more advance notice.

 

[soniam]

Between the closure of Animation Academy, One Man's Dream, and the rumored Lights Motors Action show, I am seriously disappointed. Had I know that all of these attractions were closing when I booked, I may have chosen to do one fewer day at Disney and have saved some money or planned a day at Universal. It seems like they should give more advance notice.

I don't think they know that far in advance. It seems that the plans at DHS, especially related to Star Wars have been very fluid all year. Supposedly, the board rejected the initial proposal for not being "cool" enough (my words), so I think everyone is scrambling to create something awesome.

 

[JoshuaShaw]

If this is true I'm so glad I made my family do it on our last trip. WHY WHY WHY would you get rid of an attraction dedicated to the man who started this all???? And WHY WHY WHY close yet another attraction???

For the same reason they've excised "Walt" from the Walt Disney splash screen before all of their movies. Which, personally, I think still looks odd.

Though I wouldn't be shocked if OMD opened up in a different location.

 

[Micca]

I read somewhere (sorry can't recall where now) that parts of OMD are moving to the family museum in California. So at least all those wonderful historical items aren't just going to rot away in a warehouse. Hopefully the move is temporary and will return when the construction is over. Personally, I think putting OMD in MK, maybe near Carousel of Progress, would be a wonderful idea. I agree that we must never forget the man who made all our dreams come true.

Thing is it's not some boring museum exhibit, Walt's story is really cool. It's like a real-life fairy tale and the guy is an American icon.

 

[bcrook]

Or "maybe" Tusker House.

That "mess hall" concept is a little odd for a TS. I don't know about Tusker house, do they usually combine Character Meals and Dining packages? I can't think of any....

 

[bcrook]

For the same reason they've excised "Walt" from the Walt Disney splash screen before all of their movies. Which, personally, I think still looks odd.

Though I wouldn't be shocked if OMD opened up in a different location.

I certainly hope so.

 

[bcrook]

According to the Disney Blog, posted a few hours ago: One Man's Dream will close right after D23 Expo is over instead of September 27th.
Also other certain, likely and less likely announcements are listed.

http://thedisneyblog.com/2015/08/09/disneys-hollywood-studios-reimagining-what-we-know-so-far/

No mention in this article of a bigger and better animation academy. I fear it is gone. Replacing that area with a model of the DHS improvements is a little weak.

 

[Rgonzalez79]

Is the Little Mermaid confirmed to be gone as well or is that still a rumor? I have get one last hurrah at One Man's Dream quick! Walt always professed the need for progress so I can some of the changes but this and the Animation Academy will be missed by our family. There can be more at a park than just attractions...right?

 

[andyman8]

Couple things worth noting about that model at the P&R Pavilion today. Firstly, it gives us a good idea of the exact positioning of this land. As expected, we'll see two entrances into James Cameron's Pandora - Land of AVATAR: one being the bridge formally providing access to Camp Minnie-Mickey and the other entrance being a continuation of the path back by the Harambe Theater District in Africa (there's also a bridge to DI near there as well). Like other posters have indicated, near that entrance, we'll see a mess hall restaurant concept, but keep in mind, this is a large quick-service location, not table-service. While there certainly is a need for more TS dining at DAK, there's also concern about QS dining, particularly QS locations that are indoors (thus not subject to the fluidity of Florida weather) and have high capacities. Right now, DAK has really only two entirely indoor QS locations and the fate of one of them (Pizzafari) is up in the air. My understanding is it will stay with just some new added enhancements, though there are a wide range of rumors about it flying around. My expectation is that this new mess hall will have a very wide range of entrees ranging from native Pandora food (something that is being previewed at D23) to typical theme park food. Keep in mind, TS dining at DAK is also being addressed. We know construction is well underway on a new TS location near Pizzafari, bringing DAK's total TS dining up to 4 (Tusker, RC, Y&Y, and now this). And yes, Y&Y could host a RoL dining package; they are on the DDP. Although nothing's certain, I have heard some small rumblings of yet another TS on the way for DAK as well, though this would be post-AVATAR probably.

There are also some smaller details that came from this model like the location of Pandora's two attractions. They both will, more or less, be sharing a show building in the back (or technically in the western most) part of the land with the forest and floating rocks separating them from the mess hall and bridges. Also expect to see small touches of MyMagic+ involved in this as well. It's going to be absolutely amazing, and I really can't wait until 2017!

Oh, and don't expect any DHS news (and remember, it's not guaranteed) until tomorrow when the P&R presentation is scheduled for. If we do see something, it will be Star Wars and Pixar additions with a detailed focus on the Pixar additions and some brief and vague ideas and concepts for Star Wars. If we're lucky, we might get the park's new name and/or an opening year for some of the additions. Again, AN ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT GUARANTEED! There is still a chance that this doesn't get announced tomorrow, but I'd be surprised.

 

[WEDWDW]

I don't know about Tusker house, do they usually combine Character Meals and Dining packages? I can't think of any....

Hollywood & Vine/Fantasmic!?

 

[bcrook]

Hollywood & Vine/Fantasmic!?

I've done that twice for dinner no characters with that.

 

[WEDWDW]

I've done that twice for dinner no characters with that.

I was thinking about the Lunch F! Package at H&V.

 

[amg35]

Couple things worth noting about that model at the P&R Pavilion today. Firstly, it gives us a good idea of the exact positioning of this land. As expected, we'll see two entrances into James Cameron's Pandora - Land of AVATAR: one being the bridge formally providing access to Camp Minnie-Mickey and the other entrance being a continuation of the path back by the Harambe Theater District in Africa (there's also a bridge to DI near there as well). Like other posters have indicated, near that entrance, we'll see a mess hall restaurant concept, but keep in mind, this is a large quick-service location, not table-service. While there certainly is a need for more TS dining at DAK, there's also concern about QS dining, particularly QS locations that are indoors (thus not subject to the fluidity of Florida weather) and have high capacities. Right now, DAK has really only two entirely indoor QS locations and the fate of one of them (Pizzafari) is up in the air. My understanding is it will stay with just some new added enhancements, though there are a wide range of rumors about it flying around. My expectation is that this new mess hall will have a very wide range of entrees ranging from native Pandora food (something that is being previewed at D23) to typical theme park food. Keep in mind, TS dining at DAK is also being addressed. We know construction is well underway on a new TS location near Pizzafari, bringing DAK's total TS dining up to 4 (Tusker, RC, Y&Y, and now this). And yes, Y&Y could host a RoL dining package; they are on the DDP. Although nothing's certain, I have heard some small rumblings of yet another TS on the way for DAK as well, though this would be post-AVATAR probably.

There are also some smaller details that came from this model like the location of Pandora's two attractions. They both will, more or less, be sharing a show building in the back (or technically in the western most) part of the land with the forest and floating rocks separating them from the mess hall and bridges. Also expect to see small touches of MyMagic+ involved in this as well. It's going to be absolutely amazing, and I really can't wait until 2017!

Oh, and don't expect any DHS news (and remember, it's not guaranteed) until tomorrow when the P&R presentation is scheduled for. If we do see something, it will be Star Wars and Pixar additions with a detailed focus on the Pixar additions and some brief and vague ideas and concepts for Star Wars. If we're lucky, we might get the park's new name and/or an opening year for some of the additions. Again, AN ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT GUARANTEED! There is still a chance that this doesn't get announced tomorrow, but I'd be surprised.

I'm soooo excited!!! And I just watched a short (relatively cheesy) video about it...nighttime hikes, love it!! ​

 

[famy27]

I was thinking about the Lunch F! Package at H&V.

We did character dining for dinner at H&V with F! for SWW as well.

 

[bcrook]

We did character dining for dinner at H&V with F! for SWW as well.

Then I would imagine Tusker House would be in play as a package restaurant.

 

[aribelle]

Thing is it's not some boring museum exhibit, Walt's story is really cool. It's like a real-life fairy tale and the guy is an American icon.

The Disney Family Museum is named museum, but we found it absolutely fascinating and fun.....not your typical museum of boring stuff. So the items from OMD will be well placed there....the problem is that the Museum is a day's drive from Disneyland and across the country from WDW, so it is just not visited as much as it should be. Personally, I think because it has the word museum in it's title....only the most dedicated Disney fans go.

 

[williamscm3]

Jungle Cruise themed restaurant opening in MK later this year confirmed!

 

[Micca]

The Disney Family Museum is named museum, but we found it absolutely fascinating and fun.....not your typical museum of boring stuff. So the items from OMD will be well placed there....the problem is that the Museum is a day's drive from Disneyland and across the country from WDW, so it is just not visited as much as it should be. Personally, I think because it has the word museum in it's title....only the most dedicated Disney fans go.

Oh, just because it's a museum exhibit doesn't mean it's boring, what I meant is there are boring museum exhibits and OMD isn't one of them. Museums of all types have plenty of fascinating exhibits.

 

[andyman8]

Jungle Cruise themed restaurant opening in MK later this year confirmed!

Breadcrumbs, people! Breadcrumbs leading to the good stuff today! At least, let's hope!