Mouse Extra

A new wine bar is coming to Epcot in the not so distant future. The Gusto wine bar will be open on April 28th after a several month rehab of the Tutto Italia restaurant. According to Disney, the place will have the look and feel of an old italian wine cellar. Gusto will have a large fireplace, wood furniture and wine barrels as well as other interesting decor.

Plus, there will be food. Speculation is the food will be similiar to the La Cava del Tequila. That is, appetizer type. It seems this place will be modeled after the very well received (especially by this author) Cave of Tequila. I like the idea and hope it gets expanded into other areas of Epcot’s World Showcase. A quaint sake bar sounds like fun.

Although certainly not official there has been some interesting tidbits on the Inside the Magic website. According to thier sources, the ride will shut down around April 15th not to reopen again until sometime in late September. Its certainly a long refurb, but more interestingly, it will be shut down for the entire summer season. It will, of course, be open for the Easter/spring break and the Christmas rush, but all summer long, the guests will be lacking the high speed attraction.

The ride will have “upbeat music, engaging media, dramatic lighting and a collection of Chevrolet concept cars and model vehicles.” Guests will use design stations to “make” thier car and then test it out the on Test Track course. Accoridng to Inside the Magic the “design area can be likened to interactive queue elements that Walt Disney World has been adding to other attractions in recent months and will precede the ride itself, which should include many (if not all) updated show scenes.” After the ride, there will be a post show involving your concept vechile.

Sounds like a nearly complete overhaul with mostly just the track itself sticking around. Hopefully, Disney will release more news and concept art in the coming weeks.

Test Track is getting a redo this Fall according to the Disney Parks blog. Although a specific date has not been given, the fall seems an odd choice. After all, that means the attraction will potenitally be refurbing in the summer. I imagine it won’t close until August but still.

According to Disney, the testing facility theme will be replaced and turned into the “Chevrolet Design Center of Epcot.” What that means is not enitrely clear. All Disney says is that you will design your own car and then ride in it. A fascinating concept to be sure but I am interested to see exactly what that means and how they pull that off. Or how 6 people who will be riding the thing agree on a car concept.

One thing I hope happens is a new interactive queue here. Test Track can use it. I suppose the retheming away from a testing facility would necessitate a new queue. Perhaps they queue would even incorporate the concept of designing your own car. In other words, maybe you will begin that process while you line up. I’m not sure. What I do know is that there are certain things I like about the current Test Track, like that last bank. I would think that would stay.

Everyone here at Mouse Extra wish all of our readers a wonderful holiday season!

I have to admit I was not one of those people who got terribly upset that Dinsey closed Pleasure Island. I was hopeful that whatever they put there would be fun. I am not the type of guy who enjoys dance clubs. Still, Pleasure Island was an enjoyable experience. I, of course, loved that pure Disney invention- the Adventurers’ Club. But then, who didn’t? When you see people lamenting the loss of PI on the internet it invariably leads to the mourning of the Club.

One other thing I enjoyed about Pleasure Island was the Comedy Warehouse. I always liked improv comedy and would watch “Whose line is it anyway?” all the time. Well, now, from December 35 to New Year’s Eve, the troupe from the old club will playing shows at the ABC Sound Studio at Hollywood Studios. And I like this idea. I suppose this does mean that Sounds Dangerous is officially dead. If a “seasonal” attraction is not open Christmas week, then it ain’t seasonal anymore.

I encourage anyone braving the parks during that week to check this show out. If its anything like the old show at PI, it will be great. And maybe this could become more of a staple to the park. as well.

In recent weeks, there have been 2 announcements on the issue of the Disney Vacation Club. The first was the cancellation of the project at the National Harbor in Washington D.C. In theory, this resort was the next in the “off property” line of the DVC joining Hilton Head, Vero Beach, and the most recent Hawaii resort. But Aulani has experienced numerous problems including sales and that lead to new management at DVC. It also may have killed any further attempts at stand alone resorts.

Then Disney finally announced one of thier worst kept secrets: a DVC expansion to the Grand Floridian. Although everyone and thier mother knew about the construction thanks to the internet, the expansion wasn’t officially announced until the December 9th.

 

The question now is what next? Where does Disney take the DVC? Will we ever see another stand alone resort? I hope so. I am looking forward to taking the Disney experience to Hawaii. I think Disney can find some potential in these types of facilities. How about a Wilderness Lodge near Yellowstone or Yosemite? I’d go. How about a ski resort? I don’t ski, but I would think this could do well with families.

But where does Disney go “in parks”? I suppose they could add to existing resorts but I would think they are starting to run out of hotels to add to. I am not sure if they could add a house or two to the Polynesian. Buzz is there is no real room, but that would be an enormous success in my opinion. Where else could they go? The Yacht Club or maybe one of the moderates? And these resorts are starting to take longer to sell out, a sure sign of over saturation, at least in Flroida. It sure will be interesting.