Disney just released this must-try list from this year's Food & Wine Festival, just in time for us returning from the exact same mentioned festival. This will be my second year in a row attending, & while I didn't get to try as much as last time, I did my fair share of eating. I even tried octopus, chewy, really fishy. Not for me. I love EPCOT, it's probably my favorite of the parks for now. This festival is EPCOT in top form. I must agree with a couple of the selections in this video. Farm Fresh's fried chicken, cornbread, & gravy was probably the most amazing thing I ate while there. That was the best cornbread I'd ever had. Chocolate Studio's liquid nitrogen chocolate almond truffle with whiskey caramel sauce was once again the best sweet thing there. The big thing this year however, was the Light Lab. It was cool, & I wish I could say I was impressed , but I was just so underwhelmed. The Glonut special was really good. It was just a glowing donut though. The actual things on the menu were just a little off. I was looking forward to the cotton candy, tonic water drink which was really cool watch be made, but tasted horrible. The drink featured in the video, bleu spectrum, was also pretty underwhelming as well. Not horrible, just not great either. I have to throw out some special mentions. The mojo pork form Islands of the Caribbean was once again to die for, but if you're going for "countries" Belgium is still where it's at. The Belgium waffles with chocolate sauce & beer-braised beef with smoked gouda mashed potatoes make up a dish I could eat for the rest of my life. Anyway, has anyone else out there had the pleasure of attending this year's fest? What were your thoughts, & faves? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Star Wars: Secrets Of The Empire... Can December Come A Little Faster?
Why can't home VR look like this? Why can't this be open when I'm in Disneyworld right now for that matter? This experience looks amazing. This is pretty much the most of the details we've got so far. I'm guessing this thing takes you through some sort of real maze with you're crew while you're lost in the amazing world of VR they've created. The tech involved to make this look so real is amazing. I want to do this so bad, I might make the drive just for this when it opens this winter. Check it out & let me know what y'all think? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Disney Files Patent For New "Swinging" Ride System
"One goal in designing the ride system was to deliver an experience similar to what it would feel like to be with Tarzan or a similar character swinging between trees of a jungle on a vine or with Spider-Man or a similar character swinging on webs between buildings as you move down streets of a city. [The ride is] intended to have swinging sensation provided while also having forward travel along a ride path in a direction of travel and for the swinging sensation to feel thrilling and fun." That's the description that came with these pictures according to the Orlando Business Journal. Now the real questions are what is this going to be, & where is it going to go? The easy pick would be a Spider-Man ride. To me that just sounds a little iffy with the studio team-up situation Disney has with Sony when it comes to Spider-Man. I could be wrong, but I'm not sure Disney would want to go with an attraction for a property they only have a half interest in. If I had to go with my gut, I'm thinking this is something for either the Guardians of the Galaxy coaster, or the Millenium Falcon attraction planned for Galaxy's Edge. The patent also mentionsthe movement of the swings could be controlled where the arm could be slower at the top of a roll to simulate a pause before swinging downward quickly, speeding up as it reaches the bottom-most part of the swing to simulate natural movements. That also gives me that idea as opposed to it actually being a Spider-Man ride. It's all speculation right now though until we hear more. What do y'all think though? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
"Guardians Of The Galaxy" Ride Coming To EPCOT To Be A Roller Coaster
According to WDW News Today the Vice President of EPCOT, Melissa Valiquette confirmed that the Guardians of the Galaxy ride coming to EPCOT will be yet another roller coaster at the EPCOT 35 celebration. Y'all know how I feel with Disney & coasters, but this is a little different of a scenario. This will be the first coaster added to Epcot since it's inception. I just hope they find a way to keep this attraction on theme to Future World. WDWNT sources claim the coaster will load in the former Universe of Energy attraction, then it will launch guests through a tunnel into a 10-story tall show building. The ride system is reported to be the first of it's kind, but know details as to how it will differ from traditional coasters. I can't wait to hear a little more on this. Like I said I hope they keep theme, but besides that my actual excitement level will depend on just how unique this attraction winds up being. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this one. What do y'all think? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
This Might Just Be the Nail In The Coffin For "Stitch's Great Escape"
Tomorrowland in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom has seen some changes. This one really hurts. My daughter is a Stitch fanatic, & while I'm not a major fan of the ride, she has finally reached the target height to check it out. It had been reduced to seasonal, but now that we're Annual Passholders, I was going to keep checking for a chance for her to visit her favorite character's attraction. Sadly that chance has seemed to pass. WDW News Today reported, that the sign you see below has had the words changed to what you see below them. Stitch's Great Escape is now Stitch's Alien Encounter Character Greeting. I have to go with them on the easy guess that this will be a meet & greet spot for Stitch. Which in all honesty even if you have a problem with the attraction, this is way more lame. Personally, I'd take almost any attraction over another meet & greet room. If that's your thing more power to ya, I just think meet & greets are just fine outside. I hope some retooling is going on as well. It's sad to think as popular as Stitch is there wouldn't be plans to keep him with an attraction in some sort way. What do y'all think about this loss? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
HAPPY 35th ANNIVERSARY EPCOT!!
I've been waiting to share this gloriously 80s video from Disney Parks to celebrate EPCOT's 35 Anniversary today. EPCOT means a lot to me. From what I hear from most EPCOT means a lot more to me than a lot of people. I got to go to this park when I was a kid, within the first 6 years of the parks life. Later in life I found that this EPCOT greatly differed from Walt's original name for it. This video however, perfectly showcases the EPCOT I fell in love with as a child. Even that young, I remember being amazed by the amazing inventions in Innovations. I was enthralled with the story of life told by Spaceship: Earth. This place holds almost all my earliest memories of life. Figment was all the sudden one of my favorite characters. The dinosaurs from the Energy Ride etched themselves into my brain forever, even if I didn't remember anything else about the ride. Even my parents, & now my wife & kids, are confused by just how much I love Living with the Land. I mean, it's a friggin' boat ride about growing plants, & I'm not the biggest fruit & veggie consumer. It would be a sin not to mention the World Showcase as well. Not only was I blown away at the fact, I could "visit" other countries, developed through amazing feats of engineering in my own, but the rides became instant classics. I can't even put into words how much I miss the original boat ride through Mexico. Even more so the Maelstrom. As much as I love the Frozen ride, the Maelstrom might just be my all time favorite ride. So, that is all the reasons EPCOT means so much to me. To me it's a reminder of the positive, amazing future we should all be striving to achieve for the whole human race. I'm scared that may be beginning to change for my favorite theme park, but only time will tell. Hopefully, as this park goes into it's next chapter throughout the next few years it keeps it's integrity as a vision of humanity's steps into a always better future. Anyway, I went on for long enough, what makes EPCOT special to you? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Talking Disney Characters Closest Thing To Being In An Actual Cartoon
This one's got me a little jealous. It was put up by Inside the Magic, & it features the new talking characters featured at Disneyland. As a person who thinks Walt Disney World is Disneyland perfected, I've already had to acknowledge that Anaheim's park probably does Halloween better than ours just yesterday. So it pains me to see this the next day. This is friggin' awesome!! It's on a whole real-life Who Framed Roger Rabbit tip. Talking characters in the park?!? Now there's three?!? We don't have one in Florida?!? Why is this?!? I'm sure there's going to be a split, & this'll be either the most amazing or most terrifying thing you could think of. I'm definitely on the amazing side of that spectrum. Funny thing is now that they talk, I don't know if I'd even know what to say. I do wish Walt could see this though. This was the dream. We're finally getting there. Total immersion & escape from reality in the worlds he helped create. I hope these make it to my world soon! I can ask Mickey his perspective on his ever changing role in cinema. Not really, but that does make me wonder the actual speaking capabilities. Can they say anything, & if not what's the limit of their vocabulary? That's the limit of what I want to know about these new talking characters though. I don't want to destroy any of the "magic" by understanding the ins & outs. To me this will be the real Mickey, Minnie, & Donald. What do y'all think of these amazing additions to California Adventure? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
If You Can't Make It To Disneyland For Halloween, This Is A Taste Of What We're Missing
Disneyland put up this little montage of what to expect at Disneyland & California Adventure this Halloween Time, & it's definitely no Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. A couple of the things look legitimately creepy. Like whatever the heck that is after the shot of Space Mountain. Also, a lot of the rides are themed out for the occasion. The Haunted Mansion has been totally re-hauled as Nightmare Before Christmas, Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout has changed the whole adventure, Cars Land is throwing a Haul-O-Ween, & that's just the biggest changes. I loved the Not-So-Scary Party when we went, but after seeing this I'm hurt to say Disneyland may be doing it better. I can only tell from the videos & pics I've seen, but this looks amazing. I love the extent it looks like they go through to change the whole atmosphere. Especially the ride overhauls. I see myself planning this trip in the future. What do y'all think? In fact, if you've been to Not-So-Scary, what do you think in comparison? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Disneyland Gives A Closer Look & This Is No Gingerbread House, It's An Edible Audio-Animatronic!!
I had been seeing pictures for awhile of this Nightmare Before Christmas inspired Haunted Mansion gingerbread house. When I first saw it I thought it was really cool just due to it's shear size. It's enormous, I would love to take a picture with my littlest standing by it. She'd probably almost fit inside it. Disneyland put out this video showing the massive task of building this thing in time-lapse, & then this thing went from cool to amazing. Like it says in the title, it's not just a gingerbread house. This thing's an edible audio-animatronic. There's stuff moving all over this thing from the bugs to Oogie Boogie in the background. I wish this thing wasn't on the west coast. I really would love to check it out in person. I'll never look at a gingerbread house the same. What do y'all think? Could y'all eat this, or is it just too pretty? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
If You Haven't Seen The "Boo To You" Parade At Not-So-Scary Halloween, They Streamed It, & It's Awesome
I've actually got to attend this parade. Now, I'm not usually a parade person when it comes to Disneyworld, but when I went this thing was started off by the Headless Horseman barreling through the streets with his flaming pumpkin on his black horse. I don't know if they do this anymore, as it's not shown in this video as the opening, but I will say it was a sight to see, that really got my attention. The parade features the Disney characters donning costumes along with prominently featuring the villains, who's floats are awesome I might add. It's your standard parade stuff other than that except for the gravediggers. The gravediggers are friggin' awesome. They have a choreographed "dance" that involves them scraping their shovels on the concrete to produce sparks. It's probably the coolest sight I've seen in a Disney parade. I'm so glad Disney Parks are streaming all these things for those that don't get to see them. If you think they look cool on video though, they're even more amazing in person. Check out the video, & not only do I want to know what you think, but what's your favorite Disney parade? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Hollywood Studios Debuts Toy Story Land & Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Models Along With Concept Art For Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway
Walt Disney Presents in Hollywood Studios has finally revealed Toy Story Land model along with the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge model from D23, & concept art for the upcoming Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, taking the former spot of the Great Movie Ride. Inside The Magic has put up these awesome videos giving everyone a look at them. We already saw the Galaxy's Edge model at D23, & talked about it here. However, this video seemed to give me a better since of scale. I could be imagining things, but it seems to come of taller in this look than at D23. Since I had already seen this model though the real thing that caught my eye was Toy Story Land. The giant Jenga & the whole place being made of Tinker Toys... I can't even explain how much tis does for me. This place screams fun. And as much as I talk about not wanting another roller coaster with the Slinky Dog Dash, that thing looks massive. If it has the Slinky effect while in motion this thing might actually wind up being something different. Fingers crossed. Last up, & kinda falling a little short just because there's not much to show yet, concept art for Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. You get to see a glimpse of the model for the ride car. As well as some shots of the inspiration that stems from the newest Mickey Mouse cartoons. It's a "2 & 1/2D" whatever that means, they are describing it as 3D without the glasses. I got a lot of hope for this, as I really enjoy the new Mickey Mouse cartoons, but they better knock this one out of the park. It's replacing a classic. Anyway, what do y'all think of these? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Disneyland's Cars Have Their "Carstumes" For Halloween
This made me smile. It's Halloween in Car's Land & the stars of Cars have donned their "Carstumes". The Disney characters in their costumes were the coolest thing for me when we went to the Not-So-Scary Halloween party last year at WDW Magic Kingdom. These guys are going to be posted up at Disney's California Adventure. I already want a Car's Land on my coast, this extra little Halloween setup just makes me want it even more. So since it's Halloween we have to judge a contest for these two. I love me some superheroes, but my vote is going to have to go to Mater's "Dracarla". What do y'all think? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
The Slinky Dog Has Been Hooked To The Track
Disneyworld has released this video celebrating yet another milestone in the life of the upcoming Slinky Dog Dash Ride to be featured in the upcoming Toy Story Land. I've already discussed my views on another roller coaster being added to a Disney Park. I personally just feel like Disney Parks are better than that. A roller coaster just seems child's play amongst all the amazing attractions of Disneyworld. After this video I'm a lot more intrigued though. One, I've never seen a vehicle be added to a coaster track. That was a pretty neat behind the scenes look. Two, they mentioned that the slinky springs on the vehicle will have some incorporation into the ride. That's the out the box thinking from Disney that can actually get me into the idea of another coaster. What do y'all think though? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Behind The Scenes Of GOTG: Mission Breakout Shows Disneyland Going All Out
I didn't know they put this much effort into re-making this ride. I'm not one for "tower drop" rides, but seeing this makes me want to check this out even more. I love me some Guardians of the Galaxy & not only do you get the actual cast members in this ride, you get the direction of James Gunn himself. I usually only ride "tower drop" rides once to remind myself I don't care for them. Apparently, this one has random show experiences though, & with all this work put in I might actually break my usual code & check this out more than once. What do y'all think though? Does this look cool or like an awful lot of work to put into a "tower drop"? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Coco's Coming To Disneyland!
Can't wait until November 22 for the release of Pixar's Coco? Disneyland is providing a little something to hold you over in the form of Plaza de la Familia. I'm actually a little jealous of this one. I wish it was coming round my way. There's even an awesome spot in Epcot's Mexico to set it up. Hint, hint. Anyway, it's a festival beginning Sept 15 & running through Nov 2 at the Paradise Gardens Bandstand in Disney California Adventure Park. Pixar Post reports this is "A Musical Celebration of Coco" where singing host Mateo will be joined by Folklorico dancers & the GRAMMY-award-winning Mariachi Divas to bring three of the films songs to life. Also to be included in the festivities is mariachi music, The World of Coco exhibit, a Tree of Life interactive photo location, & a whole new menu of Mexican food. Every part of this sounds awesome. I've been all about this movie since I first heard the music. I would LOVE to see this show. (And also eat the food!) If this isn't streamed, someone on the west-coast please record this & put it up on YouTube. I have to see this experience. What do y'all think? Does this show sound as great in your head as it does in mine? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Please Tell Me These Really Aren't The Best Names Hollywood Studios Could Come Up With As A Replacement
I've been seeing this a little of everywhere, but it's origins come from the Mickey Views YouTube Channel. There's been a rumor that with all the upcoming changes, Disney may be looking to rename Hollywood Studios. Mickey Views posted shots from a survey tossing around some proposed names. These names are just tragically horrible: Disney Kaleidoscope Park, Disney Storyverse Park, Disney Hyperia Park, Disney Beyond Park, Disney Cinemagic Park, Disney Legends Park, Disney XL Park, & Disney Cinemagine Park. I'd have to wish for more wishes & send the survey back asking for more choices. These are bad. It's a hard choice for a re-name, with the additions of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge & Toy Story Land, Hollywood Studios just works. I guess the lesser of two evils would be Cinemagic or Cinemagine. How about a Toontown resurgence, & just go with Maroon Studios? I don't know, it just seems like they could do better than those. That's almost the equivalent of saying, "Let's just call it Disneyworld the Sequel." What do y'all think though? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Video Shows An Excited Toy Story Cast To Celebrate The Arrival Of Slinky Dog Dash Ride Vehicle
This thing's been sighted all over the highway, & now Disney has put up this video celebrating it's official arrival at Hollywood Studios. I'm actually more into this video than I am this ride's arrival. The video is great & has some fun with the arrival involving the Toy Story characters from the park. The ride cart's cool, looks like a slinky-dog. It's just, as excited as I am about the addition of Toy Story Land next year, I'm not really excited about a roller coaster being added to the park. When I think of Disney Parks, I think of attractions far more immersive than just a roller coaster. A coaster seems like an easy way out of sorts compared to the out the box fare one expects from a Disney Park attraction. At least the TRON coaster is something different, this just seems like a run of the mill coaster. Anyway, check out he video it's great, but I really want to know what y'all think of the addition of this coaster? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
First Look At Disney Cruise "Beauty & The Beast's" Beast
A while back we talked about the Beauty & the Beast "Music Box" show coming to Disney Cruise Line. Now Disney's giving us a small glimpse at re-creating & costuming the Beast. After watching this I really want to see the finished make-up & costume. From what they do show it looks friggin' phenomenal. I might actually have to book a cruise just to see this show. If you're at all curious as to how far we've come in live-action make-up/prosthetics, check this out. The hands & headpiece have amazing detail. I NEED to see this show. What do y'all think? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Check Out Rivers Of Light Streamed From Disney's Animal Kingdom
The last time I was at Disney's Animal Kingdom I didn't get to catch this show. I was knee deep in opening day of Pandora: World of Avatar & just ran out of time. So, that said, I was pretty excited to be able to see this streamed live. I wasn't blown away by this show, but I'm not sure if it's the show or the stream. On the streams in the past, I've felt like I was there. This one didn't really feel that way. Some of the angles they chose gave away some of the magic. That makes me really want to reserve my full judgement until I see this live. Rivers of Light is a very pretty show, it just doesn't seem to hold it's own with the likes of Fantasmic. I really enjoyed the aurora borealis effect, as well as the lotus flower, dancing fountains, & the true star of the show was the music. Those were the real highlights of the show for me. Your "animal guides", a lion, owl, elephant, & turtle, are represented with giant glowing floats, along with real actors in boats helping the story along through dance & even small puppetry. Like I said I didn't really like how the show was recorded, & it's no Fantasmic, but Rivers of Light still looks like an awesome show. With a little tweaking here & there, this thing could really be special. Check it out though, because I really want to know what everyone else thinks. Did y'all like this show? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Congratulations To Sohni On Delivering Her Two New Cubs & Expanding Disney's Animal Kingdom
It's always refreshing to hear about more additions to an endangered species. Sohni, the Sumatran tiger that resides in Disney's Animal Kingdom has given birth to two little cubs. I can't wait to see these little bundles of cuteness this fall. It's beautiful to see Disney's Animal Kingdom truly living up to it's namesake. Hopefully, we get to see more of this.