Mouse Extra

In yesterday’s posting about what rumors may be happening at Walt Disney World in 2009 we mentioned the possibility that Space Mountain may be going down for a long refurbishment resulting in something of an extreme makeover.  Well, according to WDW News Today , one of my favorite sites if you haven’t already picked up on that, the work will indeed occur and it is set to begin on April 19.

But before I pat myself on the back for picking this rumor as one that is most likely to come true in 2009 we need to take a closer look at the information provided.  It appears it will be down all summer and reopen in the fall of this year.   That’s roughly a six month project.  Now that is a long time and much can be accomplished, but is this enough time to totally makeover the ride?  According to WDW News Today, “it will only be a relatively small refurb, with nothing too major happening.”  Now I don’t believe that is entirely accurate, but it remains to be seen how much is done.

I am doing my best to get as much on this for you as I can, but so far I am finding nothing too explanatory.  What leads me to believe that this is not going to be a truly “extreme makeover” is that lack of a marketing blitz going on.  In the past, if an e-ticket was going to close for major “plussing”, Disney would be yelling from the rooftops.  So far they are not doing that.  This just sort of slipped in under the radar.  If we get more, we will get it to you as soon as possible.

For today’s preview of Disney World’s 2009 we jump head first into the fun and often silly world of rumor and speculation.  Nothing keeps the midnight oil burning bright for the Disney internet community like some good guessing.  We all clammer to our computers to see what might happen and get excited over things that usually end up never occurring.  But, let’s be honest.  It’s the fun stuff!

I’ll try my best to keep these to the rumors with the best and most concrete information behind them.  These are the ones that seem to be the most persistent and least willing to go away.  But just remember, no one, not even most of Disney’s employees, have any idea if these projects will happen or not.

Space Mountain Extreme Makeover:  Especially in the last few weeks, this rumor has picked up some steam in the later half of 2008.  Whenever something major happens to an attraction in Disneyland or a new e-ticket opens in another Disney theme park you can always count on the rumor that the same will happen in Walt Disney World.  Normally I throw these away, but this one seems imminent.  Most of the information points to Space Mountain being down for a significant time in 2009, so if this is going to happen we should find out soon.  On a personal note, I love Space Mountain the way it is so this one makes me nervous.  But I am willing to give Imagineering their chance to impress.

Star Tours Part 2:  Speaking of being nervous about a refurb, this one makes my palms sweat just writing about it.  Ever since Anthony Daniels spilled the beans about shooting a new Star Tours film, the Disney community has been buzzing with speculation.  The question that has most of us trembling is will George Lucas turn this into an attraction based on the newer prequels and no longer on the classic original trilogy?  In my heart I feel that neither Lucas nor Imagineering are dumb enough to think the prequels will draw the kind of attention the original films will…I hope…

Another Big Pixar Attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:  Ever since the Imagineers decided to call the area the new Toy Story Mania occupies Pixar Place, people have speculated on what they will add to it.  You can’t really have a “land” with only one attraction, can you?  Will it be a rollercoaster?  Will it be a dark ride?  Will we get something completely new?  Or will we get a version of an already existing attraction?  What movie will it be based on?  Monsters Inc.?  Finding Nemo?  Ratatouille?  I would put the chances of this project being green lit 2009, and concrete information released by Disney, at about 70-30 against.  I think this will eventually happen, but the economy might slow it down a bit and push it back beyond the coming year.

Now there are others floating around.  We have heard a lot recently about a major Fantasyland expansion, and there is always a chance that Disney’s Animal Kingdom will finally get that new land or nighttime parade.  But we can’t expect it all to happen in a year when the purse strings are likely to be tightened a bit.  I’m going to stick my neck out and say these three are the most likely, but considering how these rumors usually go I can almost assure you that come January 2010 we will look back at this post and see how wrong I am.