Tidbits
June 2008




Price Pruning

6/23/08 Effective July 1, 2008; Disney’s Animal Kingdom lodge will be reducing the price of its Bush Camp Children’s Program from $70 plus tax to $30 plus tax per child. Additionally, the amount of the price donated to the Wildlife Conservation Fund will be reduced from $20 to $10 per reservation. In accordance with the price decrease, the program itself will be scaled back as well. Effective with the price reduction, the program will be shortened from 3 hours to 2 hours, discontinue the Lion King character visit, and discontinue the taste testing activity. The truncated version of the program will also be moving its start time from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

Bye Bye Barn

6/23/08 Based on Studios Cast reports and recent construction permits, it appears that Al’s Toy Barn character meet and greet location will soon be re-themed to a permanent Cars themed meet and greet location. Studios Cast have reported that the Toy Story Friends Meet and Greet will soon vacate the Al’s Toy Barn location and moving to a new location soon to be completed in the Pixar Place section of the park. Upon this move, The Stars of Cars Meet and Greet will reportedly move to the Al’s Toy Barn location. Supporting a thematic change of the location, Disney has recently filed paper work for the Al’s Toy Barn location with the description of work of, “Design and install new sign reinforcement and base structure for Cars Character Backdrop”. Although the permit does not specifically state the replacement of the Al’s Toy Barn facade, it is widely presumed that the new “Cars Character Backdrop” will wholly replace the existing back-drops.

A Cell Splash

6/23/08 The Walt Disney World Resort have recently introduced a new interactive option for Guests who bring a cell phone with a data plan to their water parks. Disney’s Blizzard Beach and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon have introduced a new interactive program called DSplash. Through DSplash, Guests who text “H20” to 775274 (SPLASH) gain access to descriptions of attractions, back stories, specialty wallpaper, and lingo definitions all on their cell phone.

Rehab Round-Up

 6/17/08 Room refurbishments are on the horizon for Disney’s Boardwalk Inn and Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resorts. Disney has filed construction permits with the scope of, “General demolition, finish carpentry, sealants & caulking, painting, plumbing, reupholstery of select existing upholstered furniture, installation of new window treatments, refinishing of select existing items, assembly and installation of new FF&E {Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment}, installation of carpet and base, installation of new crown molding in guest room” for 374 of the existing 378 Guest rooms at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn Resort. Disney has also filed construction permits with the scope of, “General demolition, finish carpentry, sealants & caulking, painting, plumbing, reupholstery of select existing upholstered furniture, installation of new window treatments, refinishing of select existing items, assembly and installation of new FF&E {Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment}, installation of carpet and base” for 1,728 of the existing 2,112 Guest rooms at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. The permit further specifies that the 384 rooms not designated for renovation are located in the Trinidad South section of the resort. Timetables for neither of these projects are reportedly known at this time; however, based on prior projects it is expected that the refurbishment work could start as early as Late Summer 2008. Similar room refurbishment projects for the Coronado Springs, Beach Club and Yacht Club resorts and the Wilderness Lodge Villas are reportedly planned for Late 2008/Early 2009.

A Bustling Backlot

 6/17/08The renovations of the Backlot Theater are complete and have brought a new name in addition to other new features. The newly dubbed Premiere Theater has been demonstrating its newly enclosed and air conditioned structure to Guests attending some of the Star Wars Weekend special events. Post this current use, the Premier Theater has only been announced to be next used for the Night of Joy event in September, but may be used for other special events intermittently as well.

2/11/08 As work continues on the Backlot theater it has become apparent that the finished theater will be enclosed. Recent work has shown the installation of an HVAC system and other work that appears to be aimed at the direct enclosure of the theater. It appears the theater will continue to be hidden behind the San Fransisco Street facades.

A Bibbidi Bobbidi Price Bump

 6/17/08 Effective June 9, 2008; the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique has instituted a price increase for its Coach, Crown and Castle styling packages. The Coach package has increased from $44.95 plus tax to $49.95 plus tax, the Crown package has increased from $49.95 plus tax to $54.95 plus tax, and the Castle package has increased from $179.95 - $229.95 plus tax to $189.95 - $249.95 plus tax.

Reflections of Upgrades

 6/17/08 Preparation for a refurbishment of the Illuminations Earth Globe appear to be quietly continuing. New screen panels were recently added to a supporting show barge to test the resolution and clarity of the forthcoming upgrades. The most current reports from those close to the refurbishment project is that the Earth Globe Barge is tentatively scheduled to be removed for upgrades after the July 4th Peak Period and return prior to the start of the 2008 Food and Wine Festival.

What’s Up Dock?

 6/17/08 The Downtown Disney Marketplace Dock Stage will be getting a major overhaul in the near future. Disney has filed construction permits for the location with the description of work as, “Build a new covered stage.” Although a timetable has not been specified for this work, area Cast Members except the work to start during Summer 2008.

Toy Snackery

 6/17/08 Although yet to be announced, evidence of a new snack location has started to emerge behind construction walls at Pixar Place at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Viewable above a construction wall, across from the exit of the Toy Story Midway Mania attraction, is a marquee that reads “Hey-Howdy-Hey Take-Away" ;as well as, the top of a menu with Disney Dining Plan Snack Item symbols. Besides the title of the location, other themeing (viewable above the wall) points to the location being themed to Woody and Friends. Based on what is currently viewable, the forthcoming snack location will offer (at least) frozen beverages.

Future Fuel

 6/17/08 After incurring a lengthier test and adjust period than anticipated, Attraction Cast are now anticipating that the first Guest previews of the hybrid cars on the Tommorowland Speedway will occur Late June/Early July 2008. Cast training on the test vehicle has been reportedly rescheduled for this week with intermittent periods of regular operation planned to begin shortly after.

3/21/08 Tests continue on the gas/electric hybrid ride vehicle on the Tommorowland Speedway. Attraction Cast are reportedly scheduled to be trained on the new ride vehicle in the next few weeks with the first Guest preview of the new vehicle expected to take place prior to Late April 2008. There is currently no expectation on when the whole fleet of ride vehicles may be changed over.

Poly Wanna Sushi?

 6/17/08 The Polynesian Resort has been conducting a test period for a new snack location offering. Adjacent to the Kona Island Coffee Bar, the resort has recently been operating a kiosk dubbed “Kona Island Sushi Bar” during evening hours. The kiosk is offering a selection of sushi priced $9.99 - $13.99; as well as, a selection of cocktails, beer, wine and sake priced $5.25 - $12.75.