Mouse Extra

We here at Mouse Extra would like to wish a Happy Halloween to all of our readers.  For those of you who are among the extremely lucky few who get to attend tonight’s edition of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, let me just say that the rest of us are very, very jealous.

If you’ve never been to the Magic Kingdom in October, it is decorated almost as much as it is for the holidays.  Main Street is filled with pumpkins and the train station at the front entrance is covered with autumn colored banners.  It is really impressive.

So have a safe and fun Halloween, and don’t eat too much candy your kids bring home.  Yeah, I know how that works.  The little ones nod off and you start chomping on the Milky Ways.!

Changes have come to the American Adventure Pavilion at Epcot.  Some are good and some are not so good, but you tell me.  Perhaps I am making a bigger deal out of the not so good than I should.

Let’s start with the positives.  As many of you already know, a new exhibit of American historical artifacts called National Treasures is now inside the American Adventure building, just off the entrance to the escalators leading to the attraction.  In a word, it is wonderful.

It is small, only a few cases of items, but what is there is the perfect compliment to the spirit of Epcot and the American Adventure attraction.  Among the items you will find is one of Abraham Lincoln’s stovepipe hats, pictured below, as well as items from great Americans spanning the country’s entire history.

It is an amazing display, perfectly placed and fascinating.  The only criticism I have is that they do not make a big enough deal about it.  I can easily see how the average park guest could walk right past it without knowing the magnitude of what is there. 

Now let us move on to the not so good.  The little gift shop next to the entrance to the American Adventure attraction was once a great place to find American themed merchandise, including books, patriotic clothing and more.  It is a very small shop with only a few racks.  And now a large portion of the store is dedicated to a certain soccer player…well “football” to more specific…

Can someone please tell the folks at Disney that David Beckham is NOT American!  The man is English.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love soccer and I have nothing against Beckham.  In fact, as a season ticket holder to the New York Major League Soccer franchise I can’t be happier that he has decided to come here and add some legitimacy to this fledgling league.  I am also probably one of the few Americans you’ll find who follows British football religiously, from both Scotland and England.  And I can’t be happier that many of the countries around the World Showcase have decided to sell soccer merchandise. 

But didn’t’ the folks making this decision find it a bit odd to choose the world’s most popular British athlete to take up such a huge chunk of a store that is supposed to be dedicated to America?  Here’s a thought; maybe selling the U.S. National Team shirt would have made just a little bit more sense.  What a ridiculously silly thing to sell.

Let’s do a couple of more construction updates for today, so you can get an idea of the work going on at two of Disney World’s major projects.  There seems to be an awful lot of work going on at the Mouse, and that is always exciting to see.

First, let’s start over at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  For those who don’t already know, soon a full service sit-down restaurant and bar will open called the Yak and Yeti, named after a famous resort in Kathmandu, Nepal.  The photograph below, taken late last week, shows that much of the building is finished.  It appears only the face of the building is getting some final touches.

The photo below shows that this restaurant will at least have some beautiful woodwork to show off.  At first I thought there were doors, but since none of them were mounted in view I can not say for sure.  They could be just some detail work, either exterior or interior.

Now, let’s head over to Epcot’s Future World where construction continues on the icon Spaceship Earth.  The shot below does not show much, as most of the work is happening inside the sphere.  What it does show, however, is that so far little to nothing has been done on the exterior.  This does seem a bit surprising as a refurbishment of this magnitude usually includes some exterior reminder of what’s new inside.

Expedition Everest became one of my favorite Disney World attractions from the minute I stepped off the train for the first time.  I can ride it over and over again, but this past trip was very disappointing for an Everest junky like me.  Each time we tried to ride the Forbidden Mountain throughout the week, the Yeti was not working.  It was more than a little frustrating.

Finally, I asked a cast member what was going on.  Why is this happening every time I ride?  Has this been going on for awhile?  Can I expect to see this amazing creature in action soon, hopefully before I go home?  What she told me was that the Yeti has been down for a “couple of weeks” and that she was not aware of when it would be fixed or even if the work was going to be done anytime soon.  According to her, they were waiting on a part to be sent in from…wherever one buys parts for a giant mechanical creature.

Expedition Everest opened to an awesome array of fanfare, and mostly great reviews.  Those who thought less of it often pointed out that it was prone to these moments when the ride worked fine but the Yeti simply stood frozen amidst strobe lighting that gave the illusion of movement.  This was the first time I saw the Yeti in this state, and I must admit it does really make the ride a letdown.  All the buildup you get before seeing the Guardian of the Mountain only to not see much of anything but some fur flapping in the breeze is more than anti-climactic. 

The thing that bothers me here is that after months and months of service this is still happening.  Did Joe Rhode and his Imagineers bite off more than they could chew when they built this amazing audio-animatronics beast?

One of the things I realized when I was at the Disney-MGM Studios last week was that this was the last time I would be there with the same name and logo.  Next time I set foot in the park it will be called Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  Sure there is not much to a name, but just knowing such a change is coming leaves me with a sense of excitement and nostalgia

Thanks to Scott Powers in this morning’s Orlando Sentinel, we now have the new logo…

According to Mr. Powers, Disney will still continue to use some of the MGM properties, most likely the films used within the Great Movie Ride.  This change has been a long time coming.  And though I am sad to see it go, opening the park to new possibilities is always exciting.  The Studios has seen its fair share of ups and downs, and hopefully this is the beginning of a trend towards excellence.

After five days at Walt Disney World, we are back.  Thank you for your patience and I promise we will make it up to you with lots of great new pictures, updates and more.  I will be bringing you a tour around Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, the obligatory trip report, and the good and bad we experienced this past week.  All of that and more will be posted in the coming days so check back often.

But first, construction is moving along over at the Disney MGM Studios on the new e-ticket attraction Toy Story Mania.  This shot is from over by Journey into Narnia…

And this one is from the opposite side…

Also, the construction wall is covered with signs, like the one pictured below, which do a good job at hyping this one up.

I plan on being there in early May of 2008.  Even though it appears it may not open until sometime in the summer, I am hoping to have some previews or soft-openings when I am there.  This is a huge building and hopefully the ride delivers the good.