We have obtained what is essentially concept art for the next generation (NextGen) interactive queue for “it’s a small world” at the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. Taking advantage of the NextGen infrastructure in which guests will be able to personalize their experiences at Walt Disney World, the “it’s a small world” interactivity begins at home. Using their computer or smart phone, guests will design their own “it’s a small world doll.” When they visit the attraction at the Magic Kingdom, monitors placed throughout the attraction will virtually ride along with the guest (or the monitors may be installed in the vehicles, this is an unknown at this time). Guests will also be able to send e-cards spotlighting their virtual trip aboard the happiest cruise to have ever sailed the seven seas.

Below is our gallery of art we have obtained for the NextGen queue which highlights some of the options available when creating the virtual doll (in the Mary Blair style, naturally) as well as some sample virtual postcards.

[View with PicLens]

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Post tags: IASW, it's a small world, NextGen

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Post tags: Closures, Liberty Belle, Refurbishments, Refurbs, Rehabs

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Photo courtesy Walt Disney World Resort

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Post tags: Celebrities, Events

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Actress/model Uma Thurman poses here with Donald Duck this past weekend in a 1900s-inspired fire engine while visiting the Magic Kingdom park at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Thurman, star of films including Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, will be seen in the upcoming film Bel Ami, which also stars Twilight actor Robert Pattinson.

Photo by Preston Mack, courtesy Walt Disney World Resort

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Among the changes are evening extra magic hours being offered at Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but not at the Magic Kingdom. In addition, Disney’s Hollywood Studios will feature a special fireworks display at 7 pm titled ‘Rock the Night!’ All of this, it is suggested, is to drive guest traffic away from ‘the event.’

But whatever it is, here’s what it’s not. President Obama will not be at Walt Disney World, at least not in the evening, nor even the afternoon. For starters, Obama is due in New York City on January 19 before 4 pm, when the Obama Victory Fund 2012 will be holding a fundraiser in his honor. Shortly after that, a concert featuring India Arie and Al Green at the Apollo Theater held by Gen44 NYC.

While Barack is expected to attend both events, First Lady Michelle Obama is not mentioned to appear at either event and while she hasn’t been confirmed to be in the Orlando area on January 19 either, it is plausible that the birthday girl (January 17 to be precise) could be visiting the Magic Kingdom with daughters Sasha and Malia. Michelle is no stranger to the Walt Disney Company given their joint efforts with a healthy living campaign as well as Disney contributing to Obama’s Joining Forces campaign, supporting the families of the U.S. Military.

Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will be taking over the Magic Kingdom for ‘the event,’ but #44 just isn’t likely to be the one.

CORRECTION/UPDATE: According to the Orlando Sentinel, a White House aide has confirmed the President will be visiting Walt Disney World to promote tourism.

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When the attraction re-opens, it will come face to face with a nearly identical Dumbo attraction, although the new version of Dumbo will be the first Dumbo attraction to spin in the opposite direction, creating the ‘Dueling Dumbos’ effect. That ride is already at least in the final Testing and Adjusting phase by Walt Disney Imagineering. When the area opens, Dumbo is expected to finally feature water like its foreign siblings and domestic distant cousins. The current Dumbo system was originally built for Disneyland Paris and able to include water as a feature, but the location above the Utilidors made that impossible.

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Post tags: Dumbo, Fantasyland Expansion, FLE, Refurbishments, Refurbs, Rehabs

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The first 1,000 passholders who plan on visiting the Magic Kingdom can sign up online for the offer.  In order to qualify and receive the ears, the passholder must then check-in for the event no later than 5:30 am on February 29 (check-in begins at 5 am, the park opens at 6 am). Limit of one pair of ears per guest.

Apparently the offer had been announced via an email to passholders according to this thread, but many (including myself) are reporting not having received the email. The opportunity began at 3 pm EST today.

No word on whether the offer is being extended to passholders at the Disneyland Resort at this time.

UPDATE: As of 3:30 pm, the site is reporting that all available ears have been spoken for.

via

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Post tags: OMDD, One More Disney Day, Passholders

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What makes this particular installation of the classic attraction is that this will be the first time in any Disney theme park that Dumbo will fly in a clockwise direction (i.e., if you were to look at the attraction from an aerial vantage point), or more simply put, Dumbo faces left. In every other installation, Dumbo flies in the opposite (counter-clockwise) direction. The attraction topper is also more ornate than previous incarnations, replacing Timothy Mouse with a bevy of storks mid-job.

The existing Dumbo attraction is expected to close on January 9 and be relocated to its new space, next to the new Dumbo attraction, offering guests a ‘Dueling Dumbo’ effect when the attraction is expected to re-open on February 18, 2012 for Presidents’ Day Weekend March 12, 2012.

Effectively doubling the theoretical hourly ride capacity (THRC), Dumbo is also expected to offer another Disney first: no traditional queue. Instead of guests lining up for what is notoriously one of the longest and slowest queues in the parks, a circus tent area will offer entertainment for guests as they wait for their respective boarding group to be announced, as was previously tested at Rock’n'Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZkBQM6qM74

For more photos from the Dumbo testing in the Magic Kingdom New Fantasyland Expansion, visit MouseSteps.

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Post tags: Dumbo, fantasyland, Fantasyland Expansion, FLE, New Fantasyland

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CONFIRMED!: DISNEY HAS CONFIRMED BOTH DISNEYLAND AND MAGIC KINGDOM WILL OPEN AT 6 AM ON FEBRUARY 29 AND REMAIN OPEN FOR 24 HOURS. PLUS THEY WILL BE GIVING AWAY A FREE VACATION EVERY DAY BETWEEN JANUARY 1, 2012 AND FEBRUARY 29, 2012. ALSO, BOOK A 3+ NIGHT PACKAGE AT WALT DISNEY WORLD OR DISNEYLAND BETWEEN FEBRUARY 26, 2012 AND MARCH 10 AND GET ONE FREE NIGHT (must book by January 31). SEE ONEMOREDISNEYDAY.COM FOR DETAILS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsCR2QiuA4s

Those of our readers who have been playing along at home know that we first announced news of a Disney Parks campaign titled ‘One More Disney Day’ back in early August. Although we were off on the timeline for the reveal, we have gradually come across confirmations that what we first suspected is in fact true — that the ‘One More Disney Day’ is tied to a new Disney Parks campaign for 2012.

Although Disney Parks has been actively trying to throw us off by putting up pseudo-pages for the campaign, playing it is not much more than a sales pitch (e.g.., ‘What can you do with one more Disney day? Visit a water park or Downtown Disney’), we confirmed just two days ago that the campaign will be teased on the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade event when it’s broadcast on the ABC network on December 25. Though it’s likely that the mention will just refer to the official announcement being made live on ‘Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Years Eve,’ on December 31, also broadcast on ABC.

Since that last confirmation, Disney Parks has come clean and has now updated its sites ONEMOREDISNEYDAY.COM and UNDIAMASDEDISNEY.COM with a special teaser video along with a countdown to the announcement. According to the new page (which also invites guests to sign up for an email of the announcement), ‘Disney Parks will be celebrating like never before!’ How exactly is to be determined, but we believe based on circumstantial evidence and rumors with some substance that both Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and Disneyland will

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Post tags: OMDD, One More Disney Day

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The photo of Beast’s Castle was taken earlier this month by Matthew Cooper and shared on his Flickr account which shares additional images from Walt Disney World and other locations worth taking a look at.

The weenie of the New Fantasyland Expansion at the Magic Kingdom, the Beast’s Castle sits atop the Be Our Guest Restaurant which will be the first eatery to offer counter service for lunch while being a full reservation service dinner and will feature three rooms representative of the castle plus many special effects including a 1:1 scale fully articulated audio animatronic Lumiere, part of the Disney living character initiative (LCI). Weenies were so named because the large, fanciful objects help draw the attention of the guests further into the park. The term was said to be coined by Walt Disney himself who took the namesake from the ability to coax his dog into doing things in exchange for a hot dog.

Beast’s Castle also makes use of another Walt Disney Imagineering staple, forced perspective. For example, the windows gradually become smaller and closer together (smaller floors) as your eyes scale up the building, helping to give the impression that it is taller than it really is.

The Beauty and the Beast portion of New Fantasyland which includes a story time meet and greet with Belle that takes you from Maurice’s cottage through the magic mirror to the castle to meet Belle and Gaston’s village featuring Gaston’s tavern will open beginning fall of 2012. Thanks to Matthew Cooper for allowing us to share his photo.

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Post tags: BATB, Beauty and the Beast, fantasyland, FLE

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The first of the new closures announced is that of the ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure’ which is slated to join the previously announced Backlot Studios Tour closure beginning on January 13 and re-opening on March 11.

Also re-opening on March 11, but closing on February 26, 2012 is the ‘Magic Carpets of Aladdin’ attraction in Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland.

House of Innoventions at Epcot’s Innoventions East is now closed, presumably due to the recent announcement that Green Builder Media will be transitioning it into what will be known as the ‘VISION House.’ No specific date has been provided for the re-opening other than an expected time frame of May, 2012.

The Studio Backlot Tour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is now slated to close on February 13, 2012 and re-open on March 11.

There is also a minor quiet pool refurb scheduled at the Beach Club Villas on December 14 and 15.

Lastly, a correction on the previous update. The Ice Cream Parlor at Magic Kingdom, scheduled to close on January 9, 2012, is not scheduled to re-open until March 28.

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Post tags: Closures, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Refurbishments, Refurbs, Rehabs

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In addition, we have learned of additional counter service and dining location closures which include the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor in the Magic Kingdom (closed January 9 through February 17) and an extension of Tutto Italia Ristorante in the Italy Pavilion at Epcot. The restaurant is now scheduled to close a day earlier and re-open a month later.

Lastly, those staying at the Polynesian Resort in January should be aware that a beach renourishment project will be taking place between January 4 and January 17. While the beach itself will remain open, various sections of the beach will be unavailable at the time. This may also affect those who plan to watch the nightly fireworks from the beach.

Planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Be the first to know when changes that potentially affect your trip occur by signing up with ReSearch! The only Disney Parks refurbishment schedule that covers attractions, dining and resorts, lets you drill down to your own specific dates and even emails you when your dates are affected — and it’s completely free!

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Post tags: Closures, Refurb, Refurbishments, Refurbs, Rehabs

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Walt Disney Parks began taping its portion of the 28th Annual ‘Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade’ special today at the Magic Kingdom theme park. Performances were provided by Cee Lo Green, Jennifer Hudson and ‘American Idol’ winner Scotty McCreery, with some additional appearances by the Buddies (promoting their new film, Treasure Buddies and Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets.

[View with PicLens]

The tapings continue tomorrow with expected performances by Bella Thorne and Zendaya Coleman of Disney Channel’s ‘Shake It Up’ and a rumored performance by Justin Bieber.

The Disneyland Resort performed its portion of the parade in early November.

The parade will air nationwide on the ABC television network on Christmas Day, December 25.

Photos by Mark Ashman, courtesy Walt Disney World Resort

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The lifetime achievement award, now named after Disney Legend Harrison ‘Buzz’ Price, will be bestowed upon Joe Rohde, Executive Designer and Vice President, Creative for Walt Disney Imagineering, in recognition for his 30 years with The Walt Disney Company. Beginning his career as a model designer for EPCOT Center, Rohde has been influential and an integral part of Disney Parks and Resorts projects worldwide. Notably Rohde led the team that conceptualized, designed and built Disney’s Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort and, most recently, he was responsible for the creative design and content of Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa, at Ko Olina, O’ahu, Hawai’i, which debuted in August 2011.

Star Tours [2.0] at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort won the Thea Award for the category of ‘Attraction Refresh. According to the nomination committee, tThe refreshed attraction has succeeded both operationally and with the extremely loyal Star Wars fan base. For the guests, the most compelling feature is the variable content that affords multiple storylines, locations and characters. This element of surprise is driving multi-generational audiences to return again and again to get a shot at exploring different vistas into many realms of the Star Wars Galaxy. Today’s audience expectations for a high tech science-fantasy world as renowned as Star

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Post tags: Awards, TEA

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Unfortunately the end result wasn’t as promising as one might have hoped, with questions often answered in ways that conflict with previous announcements or seemingly dodged altogether.

In addressing the first question as to whether the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Coaster would be along the lines of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad or if it will be child-friendly. Although politically correct, Beatty’s response was that ‘being that it’s Magic Kingdom, we want all of our guests to enjoy our attractions, so this will definitely be a family coaster that everyone can enjoy together.’ While this is of course the case, Big Thunder is also in the Magic Kingdom, so essentially the question was just not answered. The real answer, as defined by Imagineering in the past, is that this new coaster would lay between The Great Goofini (Barnstormer) and Big Thunder, having two lifts, where as the former attractions have 1 and 3 lifts respectively.

Another case in point just happened to be the following question in which Beatty was asked regarding a timeline as to when the New Fantasyland Expansion and its attractions would open to the guests. While Beatty answered it would open in phases beginning in in fall of 2012, previous announcements have pointed to at least some of the Storybook Circus area to open in early/spring 2012.

The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Coaster seemed to be the reoccurring theme with Beatty attributing the vehicles to be the most technically advanced aspect of the New Fantasyland Expansion. Arguably enough, however, one guest did ask a leading question about Lumiere, who was mentioned at the Disney Parks and Resorts panel at D23 Expo as being a ‘life size’ audio animatronic (living character initiative), but Beatty deflected, noting a separate Disney Parks blog entry exploring Lumiere is on the way.

In addition to a large amount of trees and foliage and sitting areas to enhance the atmosphere of the Fantasyland Forest, Beatty also noted the strong presence and usage of water: ‘We’ve added lots of water! Water also tells an integral part of the story, from the Beast Castle, underneath the bridge you’ll cross, past the front of The Little Mermaid and all the way to Dumbo.’

Below is a gallery of some of the concept art that was shared during the chat:

[View with PicLens]

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Post tags: FLE, MK

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