News Round Up

[DDLand]

I noticed something on http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/?m=1. A link to an article for from another website with one of the first renderings of Shanghai Disneyland's Tomorrowland!
Click below to give the site for clicks!
http://insightsandsounds.blogspot.fr/2015/07/shanghai-disneylands-jet-packs.html?m=1

 

[Bolt4Life17]

MK has been closing for some due to capacity.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...d-to-some-guests-due-to-reaching-capacity.htm

That has to be miserable crowds!

I've only gone during the off-seasons as an adult, and even then it gets crowded.

 

[Josh Hendy]

I noticed something on http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/?m=1. A link to an article for from another website with one of the first renderings of Shanghai Disneyland's Tomorrowland!
Click below to give the site for clicks!
http://insightsandsounds.blogspot.fr/2015/07/shanghai-disneylands-jet-packs.html?m=1

The structure in the foreground, on the right, is the Tron Light Cycles "cover" dome under which the motorbike coaster will run before entering the show building. On the right, you have what WDI Imagineers call the "Superblock" building with inside the Buzz lightyear ride and the Stitch Encounter attraction, as well as restaurants on the ground floor. And the white ball in the background is where will be the Jet Packs ride. The structure in the foreground on the left should be the Tomorrowland theater. Not a lot of rides in this land at opening day but for sure more should be added later.

A Stitch Encounter? You mean they're cloning that ride where they lock you in a chair and somebody burps on you?

 

[101disneyfan]

A Stitch Encounter? You mean they're cloning that ride where they lock you in a chair and somebody burps on you?

Stitch Encounter is from Disney Studios Paris and Tokyo Disneyland. It is a Living Character Initiative show like Turtle Talk with Crush or Monsters Inc Laugh Floor.

 

[jtwibih]

Anyone know when the castle turrets will be revealed? I seem to recall someone saying it was going to happen on July 4, yet it looks like that didn't happen.

 

[rteetz]

Anyone know when the castle turrets will be revealed? I seem to recall someone saying it was going to happen on July 4, yet it looks like that didn't happen.

No I assume they will reveal them closer to the overall finishing date of the hub.

 

[rteetz]

Work on the nighttime safaris

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2015/07/nighttime-safaris-project-update.html

 

[rteetz]

Hub update


http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2015/07/magic-kingdom-hub-update-new-towers.html

 

[Josh Hendy]

Stitch Encounter is from Disney Studios Paris and Tokyo Disneyland. It is a Living Character Initiative show like Turtle Talk with Crush or Monsters Inc Laugh Floor.

whew

 

[Josh Hendy]

Jim Hill's latest podcast musings
AK
6-800 million for avatar
Avatar boat ride will be like no disney boat ride before
DHS
Plan to at some point to change the Chinese theater but has been pushed back
Pieces of cars land, toy story play land, and bugs life will come to DHS
indoor RSR coming to DHS
Star Wars 5 years away
Disney Hollywood Adventure maybe won't be the name
D23
There will be a toy story day, theme parks day, and star wars day
Pixar announcement for DHS
vague Star Wars announcement, not really telling us anything

I just listened to the podcast, and that's a pretty good summary. J.H. sounded disappointed with the news that he has been hearing and he was "ummming" even more than usual trying to come up with a coherent description for what's happening at DHS (and why it's happening).

Possibly the podcast was out of date - sometimes Len records a couple of hours of chatter then releases portions them over several weeks (or months) as "topics". But FWIW J.H. was clear that this year at D23 there would again be only vague information about Star Wars at DHS, which he pointed out is the same message that they've been putting out for 2 years.

My takeaway from the J.H. rumor mongering is this. And please note these are my words, not his: Phase 1 is small-potatoes additions to Pixar Place (TSMM clone, kiddie rides, kiddie playground). Star Wars additions will be big, but will take a long time to be firmly announced and a very long time to get built.

 

[luisov]

Well, if the rumors are true, Star Wars is still over 5 years away (unless they are planning phased openings for that particular addition). What if Disney doesn't want to repeat what they did with Avatar, which was announced waaay too early? Not long ago the rumor was that something big was going to be announced for DLR but not for WDW. They could show some artwork and stuff, but I don't think big plans are going to be announced just yet. Disney has learnt that it's not a good idea to announce something that two years later could change or get cancelled.

 

[BigBlueWho]

MK has been closing for some due to capacity.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...d-to-some-guests-due-to-reaching-capacity.htm

So, if it closes due to capacity and you have an ADR, do you get stuck paying the no show fee?

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

So, if it closes due to capacity and you have an ADR, do you get stuck paying the no show fee?

The link stated it was not closed to those with dining reservations or even FP+ reservations.

 

[rteetz]

Well, if the rumors are true, Star Wars is still over 5 years away (unless they are planning phased openings for that particular addition). What if Disney doesn't want to repeat what they did with Avatar, which was announced waaay too early? Not long ago the rumor was that something big was going to be announced for DLR but not for WDW. They could show some artwork and stuff, but I don't think big plans are going to be announced just yet. Disney has learnt that it's not a good idea to announce something that two years later could change or get cancelled.

The rumor still is that Star Wars will get announced for DLR but not WDW at D23.

 

[DDLand]

I don't know why we even bother listening to Jim Hill. When discussing Star Wars he said that recently the board had rejected the plans for not being ambitious enough. Martin over at WDWmagic sets it straight...
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...llywood-adventure.901419/page-11#post-6782910
That actually explains a lot. Why there was an approved Star Wars plan when supposedly they had just rejected a comprehensive plan a few weeks prior.

 

[BigBlueWho]

The link stated it was not closed to those with dining reservations or even FP+ reservations.

Thanks. I didn't read the link, just the post.

 

[Dean Marino]

Thanks. I didn't read the link, just the post.

Ditto - appears to have been one of the new "letter" phase closings, which pretty much hit locals with one day tickets.

 

[rteetz]

Ditto - appears to have been one of the new "letter" phase closings, which pretty much hit locals with one day tickets.

Yep. The phased closing system changed a year or so ago.

 

[Josh Hendy]

I don't know why we even bother listening to Jim Hill. When discussing Star Wars he said that recently the board had rejected the plans for not being ambitious enough. Martin over at WDWmagic sets it straight...
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...llywood-adventure.901419/page-11#post-6782910
That actually explains a lot. Why there was an approved Star Wars plan when supposedly they had just rejected a comprehensive plan a few weeks prior.

Thanks for the correction. I have no problem believing that J.H. is a little bit out of touch and/or out of date. I don't really blame him. It's hard to set yourself up as rumor monger and then expect that your friends from the old days will still want to feed you the hottest and freshest news.

I wonder if one of the reasons why the story is particularly muddled in the case of DHS is that the layout and infrastructure of the park was done in such a hasty and ill-conceived way that it's hard to re-imagine it or add anything significant to it without shutting it down and rebuilding from scratch. Or shutting down at least half of the park, and then shoe-horning new stuff in and around the elements which you just can't afford to shut down. Which is what seems to be happening now.

The story was supposedly that a Disney exec was shown the plans for Universal Studios Florida, then broke their non-disclosure agreement by going to Disney and convincing them to build a quick and dirty copycat park.

I think that current park layout looks suspiciously like what someone would come up with who had seen the plans for USF, couldn't remember the exact dimensions or details, but made a quick sketch for the imagineers to use. The imagineers then flipped the sketch left-to-right in order to have some (implausible) deniability of the violated NDI.

Now they're stuck with a water feature that's too small and un-aesthetic to keep but is too much "in the way" to easily work around or replace, a hub that's not really a hub with a weenie that's not really a weenie, dead end roads leading to the most popular attractions, and a completely illogical and un-modular layout with not only buildings and water features in the wrong places, but wiring and plumbing too.

Sucks to be them, but I can't help thinking, this is karma for the original dirty deed that led to the conception of the park ... allegedly.

 

[rteetz]

Thanks for the correction. I have no problem believing that J.H. is a little bit out of touch and/or out of date. I don't really blame him. It's hard to set yourself up as rumor monger and then expect that your friends from the old days will still want to feed you the hottest and freshest news.

I wonder if one of the reasons why the story is particularly muddled in the case of DHS is that the layout and infrastructure of the park was done in such a hasty and ill-conceived way that it's hard to re-imagine it or add anything significant to it without shutting it down and rebuilding from scratch. Or shutting down at least half of the park, and then shoe-horning new stuff in and around the elements which you just can't afford to shut down. Which is what seems to be happening now.

The story was supposedly that a Disney exec was shown the plans for Universal Studios Florida, then broke their non-disclosure agreement by going to Disney and convincing them to build a quick and dirty copycat park.

I think that current park layout looks suspiciously like what someone would come up with who had seen the plans for USF, couldn't remember the exact dimensions or details, but made a quick sketch for the imagineers to use. The imagineers then flipped the sketch left-to-right in order to have some (implausible) deniability of the violated NDI.

Now they're stuck with a water feature that's too small and un-aesthetic to keep but is too much "in the way" to easily work around or replace, a hub that's not really a hub with a weenie that's not really a weenie, dead end roads leading to the most popular attractions, and a completely illogical and un-modular layout with not only buildings and water features in the wrong places, but wiring and plumbing too.

Sucks to be them, but I can't help thinking, this is karma for the original dirty deed that led to the conception of the park ... allegedly.

In the case of Disney beating universal to the punch a lot had to do with Eisner. Disney and universal were actually looking into maybe partnering on a studios type park. Ron Miller was all for it but had to get the board to agree. Prior to getting them to agree he left and Eisner came in the door. Eisner actually had knowledge of what universal wanted to do because of his previous job. MCA Universal came back to ask if Eisner would do the partnership and he said no and showed them the door. They didn't know when he said no that he was planning a studios park of their own. Universal almost scrapped the idea at that point until Steven Speilberg came in and gave them the idea to make it more of a theme park and less of a full working studios.