Mouse Extra

There are few people left on the planet who are not ingrained in the wonderful world of apps. And no, I don’t mean appetizers. I mean those fun little things you get on your smartphones, ipods and kindles. And one of the most popular is Swampy the Alligator from the Disney game, Where’s My Water? The game itself is relatively simple: get the H2O to the gator so he can bath. Its basically a logic/puzzle game, which to me is good for kids (and adults).

The app itself is one of the most popular out there. I have it on my ipod touch, and my wife has it on her Kindle Fire, and the kiddies can play it for hours. So Disney maybe taking advantage of that popularity (I know, shocking). Swampy will be starring in brief cartoons exclsuively available on Disney.com.

And now, there may be upcoming meet and greets at one the Florida parks. My guess would be either Hollywood Studios or perhaps even Animal Kingdom. The real problem is there are still a whole mess of people who don’t know what a Swampy is. I can only imagine the adults walking by the meet and greet who have failed to pluck down their $0.99 for the app will be puzzled by the gator meet and greet, and the line of kids with thier ipod touches to be signed. The cast members will likely get sick of the “hey is that the crocodile from Peter Pan?” comments.

And then, of course, there are the hardline Disney fans who bemoan the modernization of Disney parks. “Why must we have Swampy meet-n-greets when you can’t meet Jiminy Cricket or The Rescuers? Walt would never have stood for this!” These same people, I assume, don’t like the Phineas and Ferb meet and greet either.

But i do. Swampy isn’t my thing so much, but lots and lots of kids love the game. I know my 7 and 10 year olds would much rather see Swampy or Phineas then they would Peter Pan or Meeko. So I hope they bring Swampy to the parks. The world of the app is what our kids live in.

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.