Mouse Extra

Rumors are once again surrounding a potential dismantling of Pooh’s Playful Spot, something we have been hearing for quite some time.  I have been hearing this from a few sources.  Lou Mongello also reported it this weekend on his WDW Radio podcast.

“What I am being told is that based on what people are reading and hearing the Pooh’s Playful Spot maybe removed but not to become the Villains themed area or roller coater as been talked about in the part, but is to become something completely different altogether.”

When it comes to Pooh’s Playful Spot, I am usually in lock step with the purists on this.  Though I understand 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea had its structural challenges, as well as a painfully slow loading system, it was a far superior attraction to what they have replaced it with.  Now I understand the need for playgrounds for the little ones.  Sometimes they just need things like this.  But this is the Magic Kingdom.  The whole thing is a playground.  In the other parks, which focus a lot more attention to adults and teenagers, these make more sense, but not here.  I am all for dismantling this and adding an attraction, even if it’s not an e-ticket.

Also know there are many of you out there who are hoping Lou is wrong about the Villain’s theme.  This is one of those concepts, like the Beastly Kingdom, which many of us have been pleading for Disney to finally pull the trigger on.  But I am going to go with Lou on this.  I don’t think that will happen anytime soon.

Well the rumors were half right.  Yes, the Disney-MGM Studios is going to receive a name change.  But no, it will not be the Disney-Pixar Studios.  According to a press release today, the park will soon be called Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  Here’s what Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World, had to say about the reasons behind the change…

“The new name reflects how the park has grown from representing the golden age of movies to a celebration of the new entertainment that today’s Hollywood has to offer — in music, television, movies and theater,” she said.

The release continues on…

Framed by the park’s supporting cast of classic Hollywood architecture are shows and attractions straight from contemporary Hollywood, such as Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, “Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show” and many more. Disney’s Hollywood Studios is also the place to meet favorite character stars of today including Lightning McQueen and Mater from Disney-Pixar’s “Cars,” Power Rangers and Little Einsteins.

The release indicates the change will go into effect January 2008.  It also confirms changes to the park such as the “Block Party Bash” replacing the current “Disney Stars and Motor Cars” parade and a new Playhouse Disney.  It also lists “summer 2008” as the possible opening date for Toy Story Mania, which indicates it has been slightly delayed.

So what do you think of the change?  Personally, I think it’s pretty good.  It does the job of encompassing most of the park and redefining the objective into something that finally makes sense with what is currently there.  It makes much more sense then the rumored Disney-Pixar Studios name which seemed to do nothing more than aggravate the purists.

So now the argument that any new attractions going into the Studios do not fit the theme is pretty much ended.  With this new name, virtually anything fits. 

Taking a look at the latest news and rumors offered by the Disney Enquirer we are able to perhaps draw some conclusions about an old and often repeated rumor.  The clue is found in a small portion of a sentence…

…while a new flooring system and carpeting will be installed at Disney Quest’s 1st floor.

Remember a rumor from a few months back that suggested Disney Quest may soon be closing and in its place would be the flagship store from ESPN Zone?  It even said the ESPN Club over at the Boardwalk may close as a result.  Well, if the rumor was to be believed, construction should either have already begun or would commence soon.   Now I understand this is only flooring and some carpeting, but I find it hard to believe Disney would be investing anything at all into a site the plan to close soon and gut.

Personally, I am a bit disappointed.  I was hoping this would happen.  Disney Quest never really seemed a good value to me and I have never returned after my first time there.  A huge ESPN Zone has some serious potential.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Disney has decided to extend the “Year of a Million Dreams” promotion until the end of 2008. 

“This has been a huge success with our guests and our cast members. To date, more than 846,000 dreams have been awarded to our guests at Walt Disney World and at Disneyland,” Sylvain said. “We expect to hit a magical one million dreams late next month.”

Now, before you start applauding Disney for wanting to give away for stuff to their beloved guests, Tom at WDW News Today is reporting a slightly less impressive reason for the extension.

The reason for the extension is that the prize obligations promised by Disney have yet to be fulfilled and must be finished to avoid any legal problems.

Personally, I have never liked this promotion and I have said that from the beginning, and it has nothing to do with the terrible decorations they have littered throughout the parks.  This is not a celebration or even a way to “empower the cast members”.  It is a sweepstakes, plain and simple.  Instead of offering all guests the opportunity to participate in something special, they advertise “dreams” and then leave the vast majority of guests wishing and hoping for something they’ll never get.   Nothing is more upsetting then seeing guests following around the “dream squad” through the park hoping for something free.  That’s not what a Disney park should be about.

And now we find they have not even given these so called dreams away at the pace they promised.  I just wish this sweepstakes would just end already.  It just feels cheap to me.

The latest addition of the Mickey Monitor, the newsletter for Disney World Annual Passholders, has some official information on the changes coming to the Haunted Mansion.

When The Haunted Mansion reopens this fall, you’ll notice that strange things occurred.  “We increased the feeling of presence and movement between Guests and ghosts,” said Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Show Producer Kathy Rogers.

Digital audio will give our old pal the Ghost Host the power to hop around the stretch room, and to dart back and forth on your “doom buggy.”  In the gallery, a lightning storm will cause the portraits to become more and more ghostly!

Even disembodied medium Madame Leota’s had a face-lift -literally.  Her crystal ball will float in midair!  In the attic, look for an extra-creepy bride with a string of grooms, all pictured before her.  Each undergoes a change as the bouquet in her hand changes to an…well, we just can’t give it all away.

I can’t wait to see these.  This rehab has been a long time coming, but the payoff should be worth the wait.  I have heard people saying the Haunted Mansion at the Magic Kingdom will become the best of all Disney’s mansions.  That’s saying a lot, but it does make it intriguing.

Not too long ago I received an email from Walt Disney World, and I am sorry I can’t recall exactly what email it was since I get so many, regarding something called “National Treasures”.  At first, I just assumed it was a promo of some kind for a mediocre Nicolas Cage movie, but after reading a bit it was regarding a new display opening at Epcot.  All I can remember about the email is that it was frustratingly short on detail and the link it offered went to a page that had nothing to do with it.  I simply ignored it.

Then yesterday, the Orlando Sentinel finally reported some details about “National Treasures”, and let me just say that for a history lover like me this sounds fantastic…

Abraham Lincoln’s hat, George Washington Carver’s microscope, Mark Twain’s pens and Sen. Daniel Inouye’s Purple Heart are coming to Walt Disney World’s Epcot as part of a new gallery exhibition called “National Treasures.”

Those items and about three dozen other American history artifacts, from such figures as Benjamin Franklin and Rosa Parks, and other items ranging from the original sheet music from the “Rosie the Riveter” song to a moon rock, will be displayed indefinitely in the American Heritage Gallery of the American Adventure pavilion.

I don’t know about you, but this sounds like it will quickly make the American Adventure Pavilion, which to me was never the most appealing outside the attraction, one of the most exciting at the World Showcase.  It is this kind of idea that really wows the audience.

With regards to my assumption that “National Treasures” must be a tie-in to the films, take a look at this paragraph from the article…

Show designers also looked for items that tied in with the newly updated American Adventure film, the main attraction at the pavilion. There is no tie-in with Disney’s National Treasure movie starring Nicholas Cage; Clark called the name coincidental.

How great does this sound?