Tidbits
September / October 2010




If it Meets like a Duck …

10/28/10 A permanent Meet & Greet for Donald Duck opened at the Magic Kingdom earlier this month. The new location is located on the banks of the Rivers of America, across from the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon in Frontierland. The Meet & Greet features crates, barrels, and other cargo with a large sign reading “Rivers of America Crossing”.

Jambo, Addax

10/28/10 Kilimanjaro Safaris has recently added new animals. The Animal Kingdom attraction has added five male Addax to its East Savannah section. Although no animal sightings are guaranteed, Cast are reporting that the Addax should be “regularly” viewable on safaris. Guests can identify the new antelope species by their long corkscrew shaped horns and scraggily beards.

Craisin Crazy

10/28/10 Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has recently announced a strategic alliance with Ocean Spray Cranberries. As a result of the alliance, Guests will be able to purchase packages of Ocean Spray brand Craisin dried cranberries from fruit carts and kiosks across Walt Disney World theme parks. The packages are planned to be a special Disney Parks exclusive edition featuring a Chip ‘n’ Dale theme. Guests will also find the Ocean Spray brand Craisin dried cranberries being used by Walt Disney World Resort chefs in various dishes; such as, salads and baked goods.

 A Final Milestone

10/28/10 The Magic Kingdom park will be discontinuing its Mickey Mouse focused tour later this Fall. The Mickey’s Magical Milestones tour will be discontinued after November 20, 2010. At the time of the announcement a reason was not cited for the ending of the offering.

One Man’s Refurb ...

10/28/10 As the refurbishment of One Man’s Dream continues, several reports have indicated that the unusual length of the refurb is tied to changes to the attraction. According to Studios Cast, the newly refurbished attraction will feature many updated exhibits and displays. It is also rumoured, but not confirmed, that part of the refurbished attraction will be dedicated to new Imagineering projects-- like the Fantasyland Expansion and other future attractions.

6/14/10 One Man’s Dream at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is scheduled for a multi-month closure Late Summer through Mid-Fall 2010. The attraction is scheduled to be closed for refurbishment August 16 through November 2, 2010. A reason for the lengthily refurbishment has yet to be announced.

Nothing to Dread, but Dread themselves

10/5/10 Based on the apparent success of the test this past April, construction has begun to add permanent interactive elements to the Haunted Mansion queue. It has not been reported if the interactive elements will be similar to those tested or not, although the the new elements will reportedly replace much if not all of the existing graveyard. Construction walls are currently up around the affected areas of the queue, but a launch date for the new queue has not been reported. So far, there have been no reports of the construction affecting those queuing for the attraction.

4/28/10 The Haunted Mansion has temporarily added an interactive element to its queue themed to the lost fortune of the Dread family. The themed element is a Mausoleum wall etched with images of departed Dread family members. If Guest's listen closely to each etching, the Guest will hear a whispered clue relating to the location of the fortune of family patriarch Jacob Dread. Once a Guest has listened to all of the clues, they should be able to figure out the fortune's location on the Mansion grounds. This test is expected to be operating from 11 am - 3 pm, but may be active for only a short period of days.

Fantasyland Fall-out

10/5/10It has been internally announced that the new queue for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh will feature multiple interactive elements. The more themed and interactive queue will open on November 15th when the attraction re-opens from its multi-week refurbishment.

9/20/10As a result of further construction, FASTPASS ceased operation for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh on September 17, 2010. FASTPASS will resume operation for this attraction on November 15th when the attraction re-opens from its multi-week refurbishment (which starts October 25th).

8/9/10 As work continues in the area of the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, the queue has now been re-routed. The existing queue has closed for refurbishment and a temporary queue is being utilized until October 25th when the attraction closes for refurbishment. The attraction is expected to open from its scheduled refurbishment on November 15th with a drastically different queue.

7/9/10 On-going Fantasyland construction has recently affected the FASTPASS procedure for one of the area’s most popular attractions. The FASTPASS distribution area for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh closed on July 7th due to on-going renovations of the attraction queue. As a result of the closure, the near-by FASTPASS distribution area for Mickey’s Philharmatic has been re-opened and is being used to distribute FASTPASS’s for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. It has yet to be announced when the FASTPASS distribution area at the Winnie the Pooh attraction will re-open.

Appetizing Additions

9/22/10 Two of Animal Kingdom’s counter service restaurants have recently added some new items. Pizzafari in Discovery Island has added Antipasto Salad and Vegetable Pizza with Caesar Salad entrees to their menu. Restaurantosaurus in Dinoland has made a few menu changes. The Bacon Double Cheeseburger, Hot-Dog Osaurus, Vegetable Burger, and Madarin Chicken Salad have been removed from the menu. In their place, 1/3lb Angus Bacon Cheeseburger, Shrimp Po' Boy, Vegetable Sub with sweet-potato fries, and a house salad have been added. The house salad (named Dig Site Salad) contains Romaine lettuce, Beef Chili, Tortilla Chips, Corn Relish, and Cheddar cheese.

Bongo Booking
9/22/10 Bongo’s Cuban Café at Downtown Disney Westside has been added to the Walt Disney World Dining Reservations System. Guests can now make Advanced Dining Reservations for this location via the phone line or the website for October 15th and beyond up to 180 days in advance. Previously, Guests needed to make a reservation through the restaurant directly or encounter a nice Disney Dining Reservationist who would place the reservation on behalf of the Guest.

Characterization

9/24/10In the past weeks there have been a number reports from Character Cast Members regarding additions to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and The Magic Kingdom. The Fab Five have been reported to begin a Meet & Greet in Hollywood Blvd area period costumes in part of the green space to the left of the Sorcerer Hat courtyard. Kermit the Frog has been reported to appear in an interactive Meet & Greet in the Muppet Courtyard. The long delayed Phineas & Ferb Meet & Greet at the Studios is now being reported to begin Spring 2011. Finally, Peg Leg Pete has been reported to be added to the Regular Operation line-up for Magic Kingdom Characters. The Sorcerer Hat Meet & Greet has been confirmed sans the specific character appearing, however; the remainder of these additions does not appear to be confirmed by any internal announcements at this time.