I have returned from my latest trip to the Walt Disney World Resort, and there were plenty of things going on in the last week. So let’s not waste any time, on to my photo report:
There is a large balloon promoting “UP” outside the AMC Theater in Downtown Disney West Side
I think the “UP” balloon was fly ing higher than this one…
We managed to grab dinner at the new Paradiso 37 restaurant on Pleasure Island with no wait
A really nice chandelier in the lobby area
You may recognize some parts of the chandelier…
Corks from the bottle
Most drinks come in large glasses
Some specialty drinks come in a “crushed” cup
The food was very good
So was the Paradiso 37 sundae
Characters in Flight and Paradiso 37 have now been added to the Downtown Disney map
The back of the Downtown Disney map and some billboards around WDW feature a new marketing campaign for the area, stating that you can have the night or daytime of your life, a play on some of the lyrics from the “Celebrate You!” theme song
A poster for the upcoming Disney film “G-Force” near the Magic Kingdom entrance
And a poster for “The Princess and the Frog”
The new signage outside the Hall of Presidents makes it much more noticeable
As of July 4th, The Hall of Presidents is officially open
I managed to see the show 3 times while I was there, and It has been vastly improved
This sign was also changed. The new attraction tag-line “A Celebration of Liberty’s Leaders” was added
There was a long line to see the show during the Annual Passholder previews
The lobby has experienced some minor changes
The new tag-line again
A new exhibit featuring some artifacts from the first ladies has been added
It was a packed house
The show now focuses on the Presidents more than American history, featuring a new speech by Abraham Lincoln (who actually appears alone in the middle of the show), a high-definition projection system, a surreal sound system, and much more. Even if you are not a big fan of this attraction, it’s worth a another look.
Stitch enjoyed the “Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It! Street Party”
Some of the facades in Liberty Square are still under tarps
The Diamond Horseshoe is open for the holiday weekend, with a fake sign up for some reason
The location serves a few interesting items as an extra option for guests during the busy weeks
There were actually quite a few people eating at The Horseshoe
Where’s the Diamond?
A new stage was built for Captain Jack’s Pirate Tutorial, but it isn’t yet in use
The Rum’s not gone!!!
The Pirates League is now open inside Caribbean Plaza
The shop is beautifully themed to the film series
Faded away above the entrance is the insignia of the East India Trading Company
There are also two “damaged”" icons
The map from “Dead Man’s Chest” makes an appearance
A damaged flag from “the company”
You can find all of the Brethren Court flags throughout the location
The shop blends beautifully into the 36 year old
The prices and details are explained in this pamphlet
The characters usually in the “Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party” boxes were out of the boxes as the parade was rolling out, presumably due to the extreme heat
Many of the facades on Main Street U.S.A. are still under tarps
Main Street U.S.A. is decorated for the holiday weekend
Donald and Goofy were at the beginning of the “Celebrate a Dream Come True” parade, and there was no Lilo, Stitch, Woody, Jessie, Baloo, or King Louie appearing that day
Due to the weather, the Princess floats were not in the parade, so the Princesses were on the Castle unit instead
I managed to get a perfect score on “Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin” pretty early on…
So I decided to take some on-ride photos, since I had never taken any
Can you find the hidden Mickey?
Something was wrong with this banner outside of Stitch’s Great Escape, rust or something more?
As usual, 5 minute wait…
I tried to be artsy with some of these pictures….
The Magic Kingdom map now features Splash Mountain
Stitch’s Supersonic Celebration, the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party, The Pirates League, and the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade are all on the map
Stitch’s Supersonic Celebration is on the Times Guide, it’s just not performing
The exterior’s of many of the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa buildings are being worked on
Moving over to Epcot, the pavement in the Innoventions breezeway is being changed
Definitely more futuristic….
But I am really going to miss this!!!
As many of you know, my main reason for going to WDW was to attend this year’s pin event
Bobby Pinback welcomed everyone to…
A giant T-Rex greeted traders
With Pluto at the guard
While you can’t see it here, the top of the building had a Rebel Alliance logo from Star Wars on top of it
The Haunted Mansion
Donald was making a Chernabog statue
A large Sphinx stood in the background
Some of those icons look familiar…
R2-D2, C-3PO, and an icon I’ll leave for you to solve
The stage area had plenty of seating
The art area had some interesting artifacts
Statues of Pain and Panic from Hercules
A sculpture of Sorcerer Mickey’s hat
Some props from the classic shorts “Plane Crazy” and “Steamboat Willie”
A large Figment stood over the preview area
A very cool auction piece
One of the grand prizes
One lot contained a Hollywood Studios 20th Anniversary jumbo pin that was never produced
Notice the Alien Encounter/Stitch’s Great Escape pin that was never made
Another prize package
Another auction lot
A White Glove pin auction lot
A lot full of surfboard pins
On to some pin previews!!! Here are some pins coming to the Disneyland Resort
A boxed set featuring the World of Color construction walls at California Adventure
There is also a load of pins coming out at the D23 Expo in September
A limited Release pin that will be member exclusive
Some of the public merchandise
The “One Man’s Dream” collection covers company milestones
The Magical Destinations collection looks really cool
As well, Alex Maher and Tyler Dumas designed 4 artist choice pins that will be released each day of the Expo
There is also a Legends Ceremony limited edition pin
Some merchandise being released at both DL and WDW to commemorate ten years of Disney Pin Trading
The EPCOT Center set we previewed a few weeks ago will be released on October 13th
A new Figment set also coming in October
Some new Marquee collection pins
A Big Al White Glove pin is on the way
The pins from this year’s “Not So Scary Halloween Party”
I love the Spaceship Earth apple pin for Food and Wine 2009
More Vinylmation pins are on the way
The 2010 logo pins
Some new lanyards on the way
A look at some pins coming to the Soda Fountain & Studio Store in California
Haunted Mansion action figures are coming
As well as the game of “After-LIFE”
Moving on to some Vinylmation previews, you can see the NYC exclusive piece coming soon
The Carnotaurus from Dinosaur
A preview of some upcoming 3 inch figures
The Vinylmation plush are coming later this year
There are also 3 exclusive pieces for the holiday offerings this year
On Saturday, I attended Scoop Sanderson’s One O’clock Pin Chat
Scoop’s guest for the chat was Steven Miller, project manager for Disney Pin Trading
They discussed the tenth anniversary of pin trading
10th anniversary open edition pins
10th anniversary limited edition pins
The tribute collections featuring some classic Disney pins
Some special limited edition of 100 pins will be released on the tenth of every month in 2010 at WDW
Disneyland will have a Limited Edition of 10 framed set
There will also be a purchase with purchase promotion for WDW
and for the Disneyland Resort
Next year’s WDW Pin Celebration will be titled Trade City U.S.A.
The event will take place in August 2010
Some retro-style WDW pins are coming soon
Notice the Carousel of Progress 35th anniversary pin
As well as pins of the Little Orange Bird from Adventureland
The summer pin festival at Disneyland next year will be titled “Dateline Disneyland 1955″
As noted earlier, there is a plethora of pins being released at the D23 Expo
8 special hidden mickey pins were created just for this year’s Pin Celebration
A new viral marketing campaign interrupted the pin chat multiple times
Start searching!!!
This appears to be the DeeBees language, looks familiar…
For more coverage of the 2009 Pin Celebration, tune in to The Disney Pincast and go to the WDWNTube for video from the events
On Monday, I was able to take part in a tour of the new Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
The tour began with a presentation in the Contemporary’s Ballroom of the Americas
A character called the “Wish-Meister” made appearances throughout the show, granting wishes
We were then transported to Hawaii
Some new concept art for the Hawaii Disney Vacation Club property
We were then taken on an Adventures by Disney trip to Italy
A quick look at the Treehouse Villas
All of the attendees were given a few small gifts
We then saw a short presentation about Bay Lake Tower
The wall behind the presentation room opened at the end, revealing a dance and dessert party!!!
After some dancing and dessert, it was on to Bay Lake Tower
A sign welcomes guests home
This glass is actually temporary and will be removed before the tower officially opens
I really wanted to buy a lot of the artwork
The pool area looks phenomenal
The water slide will actually feature special lighting effects at night
We were then taken into a Grand Villa
The Grand Villa has two floors
The kitchen
Even though you couldn’t see the Magic kingdom, the view was phenomenal
A hidden Mickey in the carpet
A look down into the living room
It was then on to the “Top of the World” lounge
Guest will need to use their key to access the lounge and viewing platform
The terrace is HUGE
I love the speakers that will pump in the fireworks soundtrack
The view from inside the lounge
The chandelier in the lounge
The Monorail mural behind the bar is phenomenal
The view from out on the terrace is astonishing
Some benches have large speakers under them
Can you spot the Magic Kingdom skyline?
Bay Lake Tower may be the nicest Disney Resort ever built
Moving over to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, “The Good Times Gathering Spot” has replaced the “Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends” show
It appears to be similar to the Belle’s Storytime show at the Magic Kingdom, with appearances from other characters such as Koda and Kenai from Brother Bear
What’s this?
Not only does Restaurantosaurus in Dinoland offer 10 different soft drinks, but they are a t a self-serve station
I thoroughly enjoyed free refills of Sprite Zero….
I then went to see Festival of the Lion King, believe it or not, for the first time
It was a very good show, not as good as Finding Nemo: The Musical, but very good
In another personal first, I got to ride Expedition: Everest at night, an experience I highly reccomend
A look at Primeval Whirl at night
Finally over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the San Francisco facade has been replaced
“The Incredibles” Blockbuster Weekend has been replaced by “UP”
Sounds Dangerous (thankfully) remains closed
Luxo Jr. has been experiencing problems and has not come back out in quite a while.
The line for Toy Story Mania! got pretty bad
Soundstage One is now a “Hot Set”
The popularity of Toy Story Midway Mania seems to be helping the line for the Backlot Tour
The Backlot Catering Coke bottles have returned from refurbishment
Nothing going on at the Premiere Theater at the moment
A new area designed for kids has opened outside Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster
It’s called Walt Disney Records: On The Road
Kids get to make their own cardboard “album” while the more adventurous go on the ride
A new lighting effect is in use in the Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster queue
Lights now “dance” around the G-force Records album on the ceiling
Mickey was caught off-guard by the rain
While I didn’t have it in mind when I took this photo, notice the new signage on Playhouse Disney Live on Stage!
I had to take time this trip to visit the characters from “UP” at the Magic of Disney Animation
There are now posters up from “Rapunzel”,
“Toy Story 3″,
and “The Princess and the Frog”
Over at the Animation Gallery, you can pick up the latest Gallery of Light piece, Splash Mountain
The DHS maps have been changed to urge guests to ask about American Idol Experience auditions
The map also has a 2A and 2B, separating and promoting both the show and the audition area
That concludes my report, I hope you enjoyed it!!!
