Mouse Extra

Well, it seems the Pirates League we at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom which we reported on earlier in the week is nearly official as the Orlando Sentinel is now reporting prices and even a concept drawing.  Here is the description offered on the Sentinel’s Theme Park Rangers blog.

The attraction, which will open at Magic Kingdom theme park June 29, will perform swashbuckling makeovers. Participants will receive pirate names before receiving a variety of accessories, including beards, eye patches, scarves, scars, earrings and gold teeth. These will be applied by a “veteran pirate” with sea-sailing tales.

After taking a sacred oath and an official portrait, guests will be part of Jack Sparrow’s gang.

It then goes on to list the package prices which are as incredibly outrageous as the famous Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.  For instance the cheapest package is $49.95, and that gets you a bandana, some make-up, a plastic sword and necklace, a 5 x 7 photo and a personalized oath.  Maybe I’m just getting to be an old curmudgeon, but it certainly seems like fifty bucks ain’t what it used to be.

But despite my continuing dispute with Disney and their price structure for nearly everything, I really like this concept.  And I love this rendering as well.  But I wonder how it will do compared to the BBB.  But I certainly am looking forward to a crowd full of small pirates roaming the Magic Kingdom.

So what is The Pirate’s League?  No, it’s not a bunch of smelly fugitives playing baseball.  It’s Disney World’s latest attempt to cash in on the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and connect to young boys in the same lucrative way they have connected with girls through the Princesses franchise.  According to many reports, this new Magic Kingdom spot will try and create more pirates to plunder the Mouse.  Here is the story from wdwmagic.com.

A new “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique” type experience is headed to the Pirates of the Caribbean gift shop area aimed at providing boys with an alternative to the mainly girl-orientated Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. The new “Pirates League” will be built in the section of the Pirates of the Caribbean gift shop that closed some years ago. The experience is less hair and makeup, and more about costume and accessories, including some pirate and swordsmanship training. The experience is set to open around June/July 2009. More details should surface in the next few weeks including costs and a more precise opening date.

With parents bringing their little princesses in droves to shovel out unspeakable amounts of money at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique I can only imagine that Disney suits must spend countless sleepless nights trying to figure out how to also cash in on the other gender as well.  But it has not been nearly as easy.  Pirates are great, but pirates are fading somewhat as well.  Is there enough interest left in Captain Jack Sparrow for Disney to make the registers ring?

I think the trick here will be the experience.  Disney has done a good job with the Pirate Tutorial and the Jedi Training Academy.  I know my nephew loves them both.  This idea comes down to the cast members that will be initiating the new pirates.  If they are inconsistent, this could flop.  If they are as good as we know Disney’s cast members can be, this will be a huge hit.  All in all, I like this idea.

MiceAge.com’s Al Lutz, reporting from California, has a story today that concerns fans of Orlando’s Magic Kingdom.  It appears Fantasyland may close to getting a major upgrade that could reshape this long ignored section of Disney World’s most popular park and forever change the course of Disney dark rides.

…A big budget proposal fighting its way through the approval process in Orlando involves not only adding a clone of DCA’s Little Mermaid E Ticket to the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland, but also upgrading the rest of the Fantasyland attractions with an updated look and new technology. While the tired 1970’s vibe of Florida’s Fantasyland could definitely use a makeover, it’s the new technology to be added to the existing attractions that has the most promise.

Using a system of tiny Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags embedded in park tickets, key characters on the attractions could interact with each passing vehicle and use personalized information on the riders in each vehicle to embellish the storytelling with personalized references. A Resort guest would fill out a survey form prior to their arrival, and then that information would be downloaded onto the RFID tag embedded in their tickets. Think of this as a much advanced version of the gimmick in Universal’s Hollywood’s now shuttered E.T. attraction where E.T. would bid you farewell by name at the end of the ride, and you’ve got the basic idea. The concept has been branded “Next Generation,” or NextGen for short, in the halls of WDI and they have high hopes for it.

Okay folks, this is where I need your help.  You see, I avoid Fantasyland almost entirely.  I don’t care for the stuff over there and I don’t have little ones who would.  It’s usually nothing more than a crowded and painful passage from the Haunted Mansion to Space Mountain that almost always includes getting run over by a stroller or crashed into by a kid (which for someone over six feet tall can be very painful…if you know what I am getting at…).  So I guess I must ask, do you like this idea?

Also, do you agree with Mr. Lutz’s slightly snotty description of Fantasyland as having a “tired 1970’s vibe”?  I’m old enough to remember the 1970’s vibe, and I am not sure how many Victorian carousels or gothic castles there were back then. 

Also, this RFID idea he speaks of seems like a good one, but I wonder what the cost of it might be.  Would having your name called inside Peter Pan really make the difference for you?  Maybe for some it would, but I would prefer they develop something a bit more fun and exciting.  I guess the whole concept would certainly blow the little ones away who aren’t aware of how it’s done, but filling out the survey would be the big giveaway for the rest of us.  And isn’t there something very “Big Brother” going on here?

Oddly enough, one of the stories making the most noise in the Disney community this weekend is about Disney’s new food option at the Animal Kingdom theme park.  It is called “Picnic in the Park” and it will give families the opportunity to purchase a pre-packed meal of sandwiches and more to eat anywhere they want in the park.  Here is this morning’s update from the Orlando Sentinel.

Under the plan, guests pre-order picnics in front of Animal Kingdom’s guest-relations office or at the Tusker House Restaurant and then pick them up at their chosen time (as long as it is no earlier than two hours after the order is placed) at the Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery next to Tusker House. They then head for one of 14 designated picnic spots around the park

The picnics feature either sandwiches or rotisserie chicken or ham, one or more sides, desserts and bottles of water. Each comes in a reusable bag with plates, utensils and a map marked with the picnic locations.

Prices start at $24.99 plus tax for a sandwich meal for three and range as high as $56.99 plus tax for a rotisserie meal for six.

My first thought upon reading about this plan was that it seemed, I don’t know, a bit strange.  It’s not like the Animal Kingdom is filled with open spaces where families can break out the blanket and have a picnic.  It would seem to me that most folks would just find a bench on a crowded promenade or slip into a counter service restaurant and eat at one of those tables.  Doesn’t sound much like a picnic to me?!?

And as far as the logistics go, does it really take two hours to make three ham sandwiches?  That seems more than a bit odd, as does the whole “meal for three” option.  But hey, this is a silly thing to be negative about, right?  More food options can only be a good thing.

Our intrepid reporter Mike noted to me this section of the AMC website.  If you scroll down to the “Coming Soon” section you will notice that Downtown Disney is slated to receive an IMAX theatre in the future.  No dates are announced on this page and I have not been able to find it anywhere else.

Disney film fans will already no that the studio is starting an aggressive 3D campaign that will also include IMAX presentations in the 3D format.  Tim Burton’s version of Alice In Wonderland is slated to be released in IMAX 3D next March.  Here is an article on that from the UPI early this month.

“If ever there was a film that cried out to be presented in Disney Digital 3D and the premium IMAX 3D format, Tim Burton’s fantastic interpretation of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is that film,” Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group, said in a statement. “This is going to be an eye-popping cinematic experience as Tim takes moviegoers down the rabbit hole and into the dimensional world filled with incredible characters, sly humor, and wild adventures.”

Presenting films using the latest technology and most impressive new methods is certainly a legacy Walt Disney himself left behind.  This new IMAX 3D has the potential to be a real “wow” moment to say the least.  Thankfully, Walt Disney World will be able to present these films in the future.

So now we all know about Disney’s new “fan club”, D23. One of the biggest aspects of the club is Disney’s new quarterly magazine, Disney Twenty Three. What may not be as clear to the average Joe is the product is available for purchase at the Disney Store, Barnes & Noble, and other outlets, and not just for those who join the club. Cool, right? Well, at $15.95 per issue, it better be.

And the first issue falls flat. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly not a bad read by any means. There are some interesting articles such as an article on the California Grille at the Contemporary Resort, a history of Sleeping Beauty castle walk thru, a backstage look at PIXAR studios, and an early look at Tim Burton’s upcoming Alice in Wonderland movie. There are several ongoing departments, the best of which in my opinion is a reprinting of old Disney comic strips. The magazine is large, the pages thick and sturdy, and the pictures are downright terrific. There is no doubt the periodical is attractive.

But for all that is good, there is still that huge sixteen buck price tag, and frankly, the magazine is just not worth it. The print, like the magazine, is large so you are not getting anymore words. The magazine is only 64 pages, albeit ad-free. Like many other things Disney, the magazine is very much about self-promotion with articles on the movie, Up, and the Little Mermaid Broadway production. All of this would be more than tolerable if not for the unreasonable cost. To me, for a fraction of the money, you can get a subscription to the far better and more informative (and independent) Celebrations magazine.

Today’s posting is from Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra.  While Mike speaks for himself, I also must agree with his assessment of Disney Twenty Three.  While I have been a critic of the club itself, I have always been excited about the idea of the magazine.  Everywhere I went, people told me something like “wait until you see this incredible magazine”, or “it is more like a gorgeous coffee table book then just a magazine”.  While Disney’s Twenty Three is visually wonderful, it is terribly lacking in content.  Put ads in the magazine and charge is seven bucks and I will buy every issue.