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Showing posts with label Star Wars Weekends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Wars Weekends. Show all posts

Monday, September 14, 2015

Holiday Details For Disneyland Released, Is Star Wars Weekends Done at Disney World; and More

Holiday Details for Disneyland Released:

We are now just about two months away from all the holiday fun at Disney Parks returning. Today, the Disney Parks Blog announced details for the Disneyland Resort where holiday festivities begin November 13 and run through January 6. The big news is the "Believe.... In Holiday Magic" fireworks will not be presented instead a Holiday Version of the Disneyland Forever Fireworks will take its place.


"A Christmas Fantasy" parade will return to Disneyland and will show daily along with the new "Paint the Night" parade each night. At Disney California Adventure, "World of Color - Celebrate!" will continue throughout the holiday season along with "World of Color - Winter Dreams."

Santa Claus will greet guests in a new location this year in Disneyland in Critter Country and in Disney California Adventure he will greet guests at Elias & Co. on Buena Vista Street. Here are more of your returning holiday favorites at the Disneyland Resort:

Disneyland:
  • Jingle Cruise
  • "it's a small world" holiday
  • Haunted Mansion holiday
Disney California Adventure:
  • Disney !Viva Navidad!
  • Holiday decor in Cars Land, "a bug's land", and Buena Vista Street
  • Olaf's Snow Fest
  • Buena Vista Street Community Choir
Downtown Disney:
  • Olaf's Frozen Ice Rink
Is Star Wars Weekends Done at Walt Disney World?:


With more Star Wars coming to Disney Parks year round with Star Wars Land, a strong rumor is saying that Walt Disney World may shelve the annual event beginning next year. The rumor was first reported be WDW News Today. With Star Wars Launch Bay opening in December, (signs went up today) and Star Wars Seasons of the Force beginning on both coasts in January, it is with thought the Disney World will elect to end Star Wars Weekends.


It is expected however that Disney World will still celebrated seasonal offerings like the annual Star Wars Day on May the 4th. The annual celebrity appearances and shows though appear to not be returning anytime soon.

Another rumor has surfaced according WDW News today in the same article that Disney plans to retire all Disney characters dressed as Star Wars characters in all merchandise, logos, and meet & greet appearances. Here is what they said:

"The decision was made along the same lines of the retirement of Hyperspace Hoopla a few years back as Disney and Lucasfilm are “re-positioning the brand” leading into the new films. Basically, it’s an image perception concern with Lucasfilm and Disney looking for a more serious tone with the brand."

No confirmation from Disney on if any of this is actually true but like it was said earlier there has been a strong case that 2015 was the last year for Star Wars Weekends. Stay tuned for details on this rumor as it develops.

'Andy's Room' in the Works for Magic Kingdom?:

A recent permit filed by Walt Disney World Resort shows a project called 'Andy's Room' for what looks like the former Tomorrowland Arcade area in the Magic Kingdom, according to The Inquisitr. We all know Andy as the main child character in the "Toy Story" franchise. This comes after last month's D23 EXPO announcement that a Toy Story Land would be built in Disney's Hollywood Studios.

If you look at the permit filed to the Orange County Comptroller, the area is very large at over 15,000 square feet. It appears to be located in the old Tomorrowland Arcade area that closed months ago. Here is the diagram of the area:



At the beginning of this year, Florida passed a new law that states people can't win more than 75 cents worth of prizes for each game played. This led to Disney closing the Tomorrowland Arcade and other arcades or simply just removing a number of games including claw machines and other ticket-spewing machines. There is also speculation that this could be an interactive queue for the Toy Story-themed attraction, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin also in Tomorrowland. 

Nothing is confirmed by Disney and this just remains a permit filed by the company at this time. Stay tuned to see what "Andy's Room" will be in the Magic Kingdom.


Sunday, June 14, 2015

"Don't Know Where I'm Going, Only Know Where I've Been." Trip Report Part 3

If you just finished up part 2 here is part 3 and the final part of my trip report. It may be two weeks since I returned from Walt Disney World, but I still can remember everything as if I just left yesterday. Anyway's here you'll see our last trip to Epcot and our day that seemed it wouldn't end, Star Wars Weekends review, and our last day in Disney.

Thursday:

I'm just going to start off by saying there will be no pictures from this day. It was a long day and I couldn't even begin to imagine this happening again ever. We began the day by returning to Epcot one last time. We made our way to our first fastpass in the Imagination pavilion where the first unimaginable thing happened.

 My sister and I got on Figment where they say watch your sunglasses there will be wind in segments. I decided to take my sunglasses off even though the other day I had worn them on the ride. I must have put them on my hat and forgot because they blew off my hat at some point in the ride and I lost them. We alerted cast members and they said unfortunately they couldn't retrieved anything until 7 that night when they did their final walkthrough of the ride. So to put in plain and simple I was miserable thinking I lost my favorite Oakley sunglasses. There is a happy ending however but more on this later. 

After our unhappy ride with Figment, my sister and I headed over to Nemo to meet my mother and father for our next fastpass. We enjoyed our ride with Nemo and friends and had some time before our last fastpass at Test Track. Looking for something to do we dropped off my medication at First Aid and then decided to go on Mission: Space. It had been a few years since we rode this attraction of course we decided on the light version. Then the next unimaginable thing happened my sister got light-headed towards the end of the ride. We left the ride and she sat down with my father in the shade and drank water while we went to ride Test Track.

Test Track of course was amazing, the updated version by Chevrolet is even better than its previous version. Being able to create your own car is awesome and I thoroughly enjoy going on Test Track. After Test Track we headed off to lunch at the Electric Umbrella. I of course had the same thing I had on Tuesday, the French Dip Burger again. With no fastpasses left it was time to enjoy one final walk through the countries before dinner at Via Napoli in Italy. 

As we walked through the countries we took one last visit to America and The American Adventure. I can't say how great this show is, it makes you really proud to be an American. We had a snack in Germany of curry and paprika kettle-cooked chips. I discovered the Werther's shop in Germany (yes I never knew it existed). We decided to return later to take some snacks back to our room. After walking through the rest of the countries we decided to visit Mexico and see The Grand Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros. It was time for dinner at Via Napoli. We all had pizza because I'm just saying very well could be the best pizza in Disney World.

After another delicious dinner, my sister and I ran over to the Imagination pavilion to see if they could find my sunglasses. We arrived right at 7:00, we alerted the cast member in front they said they would be doing their final walkthrough shortly and they would be looking for them. It seemed like we waited forever and after praying all day that they would be found a cast member came out with my sunglasses. I couldn't thank them enough, a big THANK YOU to the cast members who found my sunglasses in the Figment attraction. 

We made our way over to the Germany pavilion to pick out our snacks from the Karamell-Kuche, it smelled so heavenly. We decided on a caramel drizzled chocolate covered rice krispie treat (it was huge), chocolate caramel covered marshmallow stick, two bags of the popcorn, and a dark chocolate sea salt bar. We made our way out of the park and back to the hotel hoping to swim. The swimming was out of the question however my dad while taking a shower, the shower backed up and flooded part of the main room. If you want to hear more about what happened at the hotel read my review of our stay here. Everything was fixed and that ended the nightmare of the day.

Friday:

The day I had been waiting for all week had finally arrived. We were going to Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Weekends weekend 3. We all woke up early that day and arrived at the park just after 9:00. This is pretty good for us considering we couldn't get to the park before 10 any other day. 


The Chinese Theater was behind the stage but it still was nice to see it without the Sorcerer's Hat in front of it. We had some time before our fastpass at Tower of Terror so I decided to check out the show on the stage with the stormtroopers and the carbon-frozen Han Solo. Those stormtroopers are hilarious. 



On my way over to Tower of Terror I finally found the Tomorrowland pin, I had been looking all week for it. It was time to go on Tower of Terror and take a visit into the Twilight Zone. My sister can't go on this because of back problems but my mother and I go on this attraction every time we visit. It's my niece's favorite attraction. There is nothing like getting tossed up and down and not knowing what's going to happen each time you go on the attraction. Note: Rock N' Roller Coaster was down for emergency maintenance all week. While every other guest was waiting for the parade, we decided to head over to Darth's Mall to get some of the merchandise.

Before that though we stopped to see about the Frozen show if you didn't have a fastpass and stopped to see Lightning McQueen and Mater. This visit was exclusively for my youngest nephew who is obsessed with Cars. We finally headed over to Darth's Mall which is located in the old Backlot Tour area. It was a great area for it and themed amazingly. 






Inside the shopping area we entered the limited edition store first where I picked up the logo pin and the trilogy scenes pins from episodes four, five, and six. They are amazing and I am so glad I got them. At the time by the way you could walk into both store. We then headed over to Watto's Grotto where I picked up the Star Wars Weekend t-shirt and we all picked up some of the Star Wars cars for my nephew. They didn't have some of them so he is short a few for the complete set. It was a successful trip to Darth's Mall. 

My family and I headed over to the Muppets, it's a must do at Hollywood Studios if your a fan of the Muppets. After we got out of the show it was time to head over for our lunch reservation at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. This restaurant is hilarious, remember no elbows on the table and definitely no spitballs. I got in trouble with our waiter because my mother thought it would be funny to roll up her straw and place it in front of me. Anyway's for lunch I had Aunt Liz's Golden Fried Chicken. It was quite good. Another place that I wasn't going to have dessert but once again my arm was twisted and I couldn't resist, the Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake was calling me. It was so moist and rich I couldn't even finish it all, it was amazing though. 

After lunch, my mother and I went over to Star Tours for our fastpass. I couldn't be at Hollywood Studios and not go on this attraction, especially during Star Wars Weekends.  The ride takes you on a different tour every time and its just amazing since they updated it. We met up with father and sister afterwards and made our way over to the Frozen show. Now I know Frozen has gone overboard at the parks but the show was really well done in my opinion. Here are some pictures that I took from the show. 






After the show it was time to head over to Toy Story Midway Mania for our final fastpass of our trip. This is another must do at Hollywood Studios as it brings all your favorite Toy Story characters together in competitive multi-game attraction. I didn't do as well as I do on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin but it is still a fun ride.  Before the ride here were some Star Wars characters roaming through the park.





Anyway's after Toy Story Mania we headed over to One Man's Dream. This is one of my favorite shows in Walt Disney World. From all the pictures and dioramas before the show to the show and story of Walt Disney itself. It is just amazing and reminds that "it was all started by a mouse." The show lasts 20 minutes and after that it was time for dinner. We headed over to ABC Commissary to try something new out. That something new was the steak dinner that was a nice size 11 oz. New York strip steak served with broccoli and fries. Surprising for a quick serve dinner it wasn't half bad. For dessert I had the Darth Vader chocolate peanut butter cupcake, it was delicious.

Dinner was over and all we had left to do was The Great Movie Ride and then it was sadly time to say goodbye to the parks. The Great Movie Ride had just re-opened as it is now presented by TCM. Both the pre-shows, the queue, and the ending were re-done. The queue now has picture frames of movies that will change every few seconds to a different movie. There are new movie props in the lobby as well. The pre-show is a continuous show that runs almost 45 minutes long so you will never see the whole thing. The most shocking is now the hosts of the ride itself do not talk as much as the voice over by TCM host Robert Osborne. It was done over nicely and it was better. I believe though that some of the attraction itself could be re-done maybe add some more modern movies to the attraction. 


It was time to leave Hollywood Studios and head back to our hotel. We arrived back at the Art of Animation and decided to go swimming for a little bit. After swimming the realization was hitting us that we were going home the next day, so it was time to begin packing to go home.

Saturday:

It was going home day and it was depressing that we were having to come back to Pennsylvania. We woke up and had a small breakfast. We finished up packing in our room and went over to airline check-in to drop off our luggage.  After we walked around the resort and took some photos of around this beautiful place. I was really sad that we had to leave, it really was a great week. Here are some photos I took around the resort.






After leaving the room at 11, due to checkout we headed over to Animation Hall because we still had 3 hours before we were to be picked up by the Magical Express. In that time we visited the arcade for awhile before we had lunch. It was around 11:45 when we had lunch for the final time at Landscape of Flavors. I had a delicious chicken burger with bacon, pickles, mushrooms, and american cheese. Lunch was over and finally all our meal and snack credits were used up. We now only had about an hour and half before we were due to be picked up. We decided to look at our photopass photos to pass the time and it was worth it. A little after two the Magical Express came to pick us up and take us to the Orlando International Airport. 

Goodbye, Art of Animation and Walt Disney World = (
Once we got through the airport of course we had to take the tram over to the terminal and get through security. We got through security pretty quickly and went over to McDonald's to have a quick bite to eat before our plane left at 5.  We then headed over to our gate and shortly thereafter boarded the plane to come home. Thus, ending our wonderful trip to Walt Disney World and back to Pennsylvania. Overall it was a great trip, very relaxing and I can't wait to get back to my favorite place on Earth.

Friday, May 15, 2015

Brunch at Chef Mickey's and Star Wars Weekends 2015 Officially Begins

Brunch at Chef Mickey's Begins May 31:

The Disney Parks Blog announced today that Chef Mickey's at Disney's Contemporary Resort will begin serving brunch on May 31. Guests will be able to begin making advanced dining reservations on May 22. There now will be three different options for guests to dine with Mickey and the gang with choices of breakfast, dinner, and now brunch.


The brunch menu buffet will include the traditional breakfast favorites like Mickey waffles, soups, salads, seafood, fresh vegetables, antipasto, chicken, barbecued ribs, seafood etouffee, and baked salmon. The ice cream and dessert bar will also be available in the expansive buffet. Brunch at Chef Mickey's will be served between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. and will be one table service credit for guests using the Disney Dining Plan. Guests can make reservations by visiting www.disneyworld.com/dine or by calling 407-WDW-DINE.

Star Wars Weekends 2015 Officially Begins:

Star Wars Weekends has officially begun at Hollywood Studios today. Guests lined up to go into Darth's Mall where the wait time was a few hours long. Darth's Mall has three different locations to buy merchandise and even a drink or two in Watto's Grotto, X-Wing Collectibles, Prop Shop, and Tusken Fridge Raiders.

Guests interested in the celebrity meet and greets are taking place in the old American Idol theater. This weekend's meet and greets are: Amy Allen, Ashley Eckstein, and Tiya Sircar. Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine) is also at Star Wars Weekends this weekend but will not be available for meet and greets. Here are some photos from the first day of Star Wars Weekends 2015 taken by guests at the park:









Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Rebel Hangar: A Star Wars Lounge Available during Star Wars Weekends/ Star Wars Finally Joining Disney Infinity

Another day and more Star Wars news for Disney. It certainly is an exciting time to be a Disney fan and a Star Wars fan. First, up today the Rebel Hangar will bring a Star Wars lounge experience to Disney's Hollywood Studios only during Star Wars Weekends. The new experience is available for dining reservations and will take place at the Studios Catering Company. The new dining experience will be only offered from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Pricing isn't provided for the Star Wars-themed items but are said to be $14.99 or less.

Here is the menu items:

Pilot's Pomme Frites - French Fries tossed with parmesan cheese, garlic, and parsley with a garlic aioli for dipping.


Ensalada Naboo - seared chicken breast, bibb lettuce, grape tomatoes, watermelon radish, almond frica all served with a parmesan-peppercorn ranch dressing.

Lightsaber Bites - hand-dipped corn-battered knockwurst sausages with house made chips and mustard dipping sauce.


The Dark Fried - Chicken tender nuggets and Darth Vader waffles served with maple syrup and a sweet barbecue sauce.

Trio of Thermal Detonators - spicy pork wings topped with spicy piquillo-pepper sauce served with a slaw.


A slider sampler featuring "The Sith" a barbecue-braised brisket with slaw and "The Jedi" a barbecue pulled chicken slider with arugula served with house-made chips.

Fruit and Cheese "Sabers" which will feature Tillamook cheddar, Brie, goat cheese, pickled vegetables, crostini, cheddar crackers, blueberries, raspberries, honeydew melon, strawberry, olives, and gherkins. 

Chips and Sith - hummus with a red pepper coulis, black sesame dust, and corn tortilla chips 

For dessert you can choose from the Yoda Key Lime cake or the trio of Star Wars mini cupcakes. The trio of Star Wars mini cupcakes consist of the Mini Darth Vader (chocolate peanut butter), Mini Yoda (chocolate-hazlenut), and Mini Jabba the Hutt (salted caramel latte), all three are served in a Han Solo carbonite souvenir box. The Yoda and Jabba the Hutt cupcakes will also be available at Tuskegen Fridge Raiders inside Darth's Mall, Trolley Car Cafe, Starring Rolls Cafe, and Backlot Express. The Darth Vader cupcake will also be available at all quick service locations, Starring Rolls Cafe, Trolley Car Cafe, and Tuskegen Fridge Raiders.



A special drink menu will also be available with drinks including Imperial Blue, Tatooine Sunset, Rebel Red, Dagobah Swamp Juice, The Dark Side, and an Alderaan Ale. For reservations at Rebel Hangar: A Star Wars Lounge Experience you can visit www.DisneyWorld.com/dine or by calling 407-WDW-DINE.

Star Wars is Finally Coming to Disney Infinity:


Disney Interactive finally announced that the Star Wars Franchise is coming Disney Infinity 3.0. It is joining the Disney, Disney/Pixar, and Marvel in the latest edition of the best-selling "hybrid toy/video game" of 2014. The starter pack is even going to be sold cheaper than the previous two editions with it being sold for $64.99 retail price. The new edition will include:
  • Three Star Wars Playsets one for each set of trilogies, Episodes I-III, Episodes IV-VI, and the third playset will be available in the winter will concentrate on "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
  • Other playsets will include a new Disney/Pixar set based on the upcoming film "Inside Out" and another new Marvel playset based on "Avengers: Age of Ultron" featuring Hulk, Ironman, Ultron, and other Marvel characters. 
  • A fully enhanced Toy Box with two new multi-player expansion games: Toy Box Speedway (kart racing) and Toy Box Takeover (action-adventure).
  • More Disney classic favorites will be released including: Mickey and Minnie, Sam Flynn and Quorra from Tron:Legacy, Mulan, Olaf, and more characters yet to be announced.
Disney Infinity 3.0 - Star Wars will be available this fall and here is the trailer that was released with the announcement.


Also watch the Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition Announcement on Toy Box Tv:




Monday, May 4, 2015

Happy Star Wars Day and May the Fourth Be With You

It is almost over but it feels like the day has just begun, Happy Star Wars Day everyone. May the Fourth be with you. The Disney Parks are celebrating the next two days with new merchandise and Star Wars Weekends at Hollywood Studios is just around the corner. Today, of course is the official Star Wars Day with the term 'May the Fourth Be With You.' Tomorrow, the celebration continues with Revenge of the Fifth. New merchandise was released just in time for the celebrations today with t-shirts, pins, water bottles, and more are now available at the Disney Parks. The water bottles are available at Walt Disney World only.


Other merchandise released today included a new ewok plush named, Teebo, will be available on both coasts. Two open edition magic bands are being released today at Hollywood Studios. One is of Luke Skywalker the other a Stormtrooper. Both will be sold for $19.95 each and can be linked later. New Star Wars SMS headphones will be released a second edition on both coasts. The second edition themes this year consist of TIE-fighter, R2-D2, Chewbacca, and Darth Vader. 



 Also on DisneyStore.com, a limited edition 'I am your Father's Day' shirt is being sold online today through Sunday, May 10. The shirt will be available on Disney Parks Online and will be shipped in the next 3-5 weeks. 

The Disney Parks Blog also announced a new contest in honor of Star Wars Day. You can share your 'Star Wars Style' for your chance to win a grand prize trip to Walt Disney World. Entries for the contest can be entered on www.StarWarsStyle.com from May 4, 2015 until June 1, 2015.


The grand prize is a trip for two to the Walt Disney World Resort plus a Star Wars gift basket, that is exclusive to Disney Parks. Eight semifinalists will also receive special edition Star Wars gift baskets. Official rules of the contest can be seen here

Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios begins May 15 and will continue on weekends through June 14. Once again May the Fourth be with you.