Mouse Extra

There is a fascinating article recently at damouse.com showing photos from a test run of a new adventure game in the mold of Kim Possible and the recently announced Sorcerors of the Magic Kingdom. It takes place at the Animal Kingdom and features the characters of my favorite Pixar movie, Up.

There does not appear to be any video of the characters of the movie. I sure hope they do add Russell and Dug, but for now I do like this idea. Essentially, its a treasure hunt through the Pangani Forest Trail. I would love for them to add a walkie-talkie type gizmo where you can receive information/ideas from Dug (Squirrels!) and Russell. You earn badges as you explore the Pangani. It seems a simple yet fun idea.

My kids for instance absolutely love Kim Possible and Sorcerors of the Magic Kingdom is sure to be a hit too. I do hope they add some tech to this but even what I see here will be well recieved I think.

Now that Disney is adding a game to the Animal Kingdom, one can only imagine that the Hollywood Studios won’t be far behind. I would love to see a Phineas & Ferb interactive game there. It would be amazing thwarting the plans of Dr. Doofensmirtz and getting info from Major Monogram and even Perry.

Mere weeks after the D23 Expo, where in theory Disney makes their big announcements, they pulled a doozy on us yesterday. Disney has announced an agreement with James Cameron to bring Avatar to Disney Parks. And first up is a brand new land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

I can only assume that this wasn’t announced a few short weeks ago at the expo because the deal hadn’t been finalized yet. But it is done now.

Disney has not announced anything with substance yet, other than this will not replace current attractions at DAK and construction will likely begin in 2013. They have indicated that imagineering is just starting to sink their teeth in this so nothing has been designed. We have been told to expect multiple attractions as well as shops, eateries and “other immersive elements.” That is, a Pandora land.

I, for one, am not a fan of the movie, although it was clearly an acheivement in special effects. The beauty of the film could translate well to a themed land. And imagineering will likely have a field day with the subject matter. And even though I am not a huge fan, if the attractions are great, I will be happy. Personally, I would have preferred an Australia or, better yet, a Beastlie Kingdomme.

Of course, we have said for a long time that Disney’s Animal Kingdom needed more attractions to expand its operating hours and rid itself of the stigma of being a “half day park.” And there has been talk of adding the Wonderful World of Color to Florida, perhaps at the Animal Kingdom. And we know that Pandora is awfully colorful…..

Disney has officially announced plans for the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game. Rumors about the game have been swirling around the internet for some time. Merlin will be recruiting people to play the game inside the Magic Kingdom, which apparently will be similiar to the extremely popular Kim Possible game at Epcot. Work has already begun on the project in Adventureland.

My kids love the Kim Possible game. In fact, both played it this past August. And I loved playing along with them. My only conern about this would be space. The Magic Kingdom gets a lot more congested than the wide open World Showcase.

Personally, I would love to see a Phineas & Ferb game as well. I originally though Phineas and Ferb would be a good replacement for Kim Possible as Kim Possible is not really in the kid’s culture these days. But the more I think about the more I would like to see a 3rd park use this. I would love a Phineas & Ferb game for Disney Hollywood Studios. And while we are at it, Disney’s Animal Kingdom could be an interesting choice for a game like this. Perhaps, Donald’s Safari Interactive game and what not.

The podcast, BetaMouse, did an excellent episode on the potentials of this game in thier episode 73, back in July. I recommend you check that out.

On the official Disney blog, there was an announcement of two new Disney specialty rooms coming to Florida in the fall. One is a suite located at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, called health and wellness suites. They will contain non-allergenic wrapped mattresses, 100% cotton linens, rainwater showers and special flooring. Cardio workout equipment will be in your suite, just in case traipsing all over Epcot wasn’t enough of a workout. The floor itself will have yoga sessions and there will be organic food served through the concierge lounge. I imagined this will be quite pricey.

In March, Disney will unveil the princess rooms at Port Orleans. According to the blog, there will be a staggering 512 guest rooms that will become “royal.”  We saw some concept art for these rooms awhile back, but now we know where they will be and when it will happen. The concept is that Princess Tiani (from Princess & The Frog) has invited some of her princess pals to New Orleans.

At the time Disney unveiled concept art for the Princess rooms, they also unveiled concept art for Haunted Mansion rooms. No word on when or even if these will come to fruition, but it seems this is a direction Disney is going with this announcement and the rooms coming to the Art of Animation resort, so we can hope.

I live outside of New York City so I heard absolutely wonderful news the other day. Disney has announced some new home ports for thier cruise line. One of those ports will be New York City starting in 2012. The iteneraries for the Disney Magic look fantastic.

One cruise will take passengers on an 8 day cruise to the Bahamas stopping at Castaway Cay and Disney’s Port Canaveral. There guests can head on over to Walt Disney World with a one day park hopper pass. Thats right, Disney World itself is a stop along the way. Another itenarary will take guests up the New England Coast with stops in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Finally, Disney will have three weekend trips wtih no stops, just boat time.

Disney also announced new Ports of Call out of Galveston, Texas and Seattle for trips to Alaska and the Western Carribbean respectively.

OK. I know this isn’t really news, but Disney has officially through its blog announced the destinations you will see at Star Tours. Disney has shown a “Destinations” board with what are the locales you will see once Star Tours relaunches.

Many of these were known already mostly due to the release of images showing us the pins that were to be released with the updated attraction. But, be that as it may, the destinations are Kashyyyk (home of the wookies), Genosis (where we will see the first Death Star), Hoth (the ice planet from the Empire Strikes Back), Naboo (home of everyone’s pal, Jar Jar Binks), Coruscant (the city planet where much of the episodes 2 and 3 took place), and Tatooine (the home of Luke and Jabba).

Disney has also stated that guests will take off from a new Spaceport. I assume this means the queue is being re-imagineered. We will all find out on May 20th when the attraction reopens.